leveling my warrior-monk

[xreciae]

leveling my warrior-monk

i have wanted to make a warriormonk for a while, but had a bit of trouble getting some decent amount of runes/pgems, but since i finished of a lf zon, i can now get gems and socketables from cows etc.

so, now im gonna make my warrior-monk, classicaly using bf for normal enemies, and dtalon against bosses/champs etc

the layout i was thinking was:
18-20 dtalon(depending on how many +skills my equipment gets. not sure about which yet)
1 DF
20 venom
1 BF
1 MB
1-20 DS (might pump this when the rest is done)
1-? points in fade(i'd like your help to tell me how many points i could make use of here. especially considering the diminishing returns.)
now, should one need a shadow as a warrior-monk, or are they pure luxury?
and if i dont need one, where should my points go otherwise?

and now, my next question is:
which equipment should i use to level her up, and which should i use in the end?
please keep in mind that im on a budget from hell countess(meaning her keys and whatever rune she might want to drop)+pgems

i was thinking first khalims will, then swap up for ptopaz/ort crystal sword, but
after that i dont have a clue. maybe end with fleshripper?

i was thinking about using goblin toe until i can get goreriders for boots.

dont have a clue about which belts that can be useful. nosferatu's coil?
neither shields.

for jewelry i thought about cathans and manald for leveling up, then replacing one of them with ravenfrost, but what about amu and other ring?

for headgear, i know that i want to end up with guillames face, but what could i use before i get to that point?

for gloves im not totally sure either. should probably end with draculs or LoH, but draculs are probably out of my pricerange for a while, but which could be used for leveling? sigons?

i was thinking about threachery for armor, or maybe smoke if i find my resists lacking.


my biggest concern is not hitting things with BF when i get to hell, so any ideas on final equipment would be appreciated as well.
just keep in mind that i can not afford fancy stuff as last wish and such, and im not aiming towards ubers at the moment. just good ol fashioned play in hell difficulty

 

[Senshiki]

Max venom, Shadow master and Dragon Talon. That is the basis. Don't worry about the + skills gear to get that last kick. Even if it doesn't net you another kick, the few points will STILL add damage and attack rating for your kicks, which is invaluable. As for the rest of the points, during some heavily researched testing with the hero editor, I find that it is actually worth it to max Blade Shield, because everytime a monster gets hit by it when they are life tap'd, it heals you like a regular attack. The only reason I maxed it is because the duration is lousy. So that is my build, finished at level 68.

For leveling, Sigon's works wonders. Use the Hellforge Hammer from level 1-7, then Blood Crescent (unique scimtar), until level 23 then use a Strength runeword (Amn, Tir, for the Crushing blow.) I made one out of a war axe, it works really well.

Then around level 47-50, I used Fleshrender (unique barbed club with Druid skills, it has CB, DS, and OW with damamge. Shael it for speed.) Gore Riders are great too, and I personally like the full Orphan's Call set. The bonuses are perfect for a mid level warrior monk. Then use something like a Smoke armor (Nef + Lum) for lots of resist in Nightmare. Get a Ravenfrost for CBF.

As far as getting keys and doing ubers, you SHOULD be able to do it JUST BARELY with this setup here:

Helm: Orphan's Helm
Armor: Smoke
Weapon: Fleshrender w/ Shael
Belt: String of Ears
Shield: Sanctuary, or if you can't afford it, Moser's Blessed Circle w/ 2 P. Diamonds for resist.
Rings: Ravenfrost and Mandal Heal
Gloves: Dracul's <--- A Must have!
Boots: Gore Riders
Amulet: Mahim Oak, or Eye of Eltich

With this setup, you get about +100 resists, good defense, some mana/life leech, high crushing blow, a good swing speed, damage reduction, good blocking and CBF.

Oh and definitely max Fade. Even if you use Last Wish eventually, there is a hidden bonus of -0.5% Damage Reduction per point invested, and the resists are worth it.

I advise you to not try ubers until around level 85. By that time, you should have about 200 dex, for good blocking. You CAN go for max dex, but at that level it would not allow for enough life, and you NEED life! At least 1,500 for ubers. I personally got 120 strength. That gives me exactly 100% bonus to my kicks, and anyhting from gear is just gravy. You shouldn't need more strength unless you want to use stormshield, in which case some charms will work fine.

That setup is less than 3 Hr's, good luck!

 

[xreciae]

thanks for the post, cleared out loads of questionmarks

only things i wonder about is. is shadow master really needed?

it might be because i only played trapassa before, but when i did that i found the shadow master quite crappy.

and, if i can find the unique elite fanged knife fleshripper, wouldnt that be better than fleshrender? both have cb/ow/ds, but fleshripper is generally better.