Runes of Magic US / AU

Ok ok so I've heard it over and over again that the battlemonk just isn't viable and not worth rolling, but I went ahead and rolled one anyway because they just seemed so fun. Now I'm lvl 45 and still having an absolute blast. Admittedly, this is actually my second battlemonk, my first one I got to lvl 70.

I just first wanted to see if there were still any other battlemonks out there and how they are doing with the class at higher levels. How are the elites, which are your favorites and least favorites?

Also, what gear are you guys currently using? I hear some people say go with a full healer set and just stat straight physical dps so that you can better heal yourself in combat (not be a main healer of course) while others say the mem sets are better to at least get closer to the top DPS classes.

Next, I know that everyone goes axe/shield because we lack crit rate, but are there other options for crit? Whether it be gear, accessories, or food, etc? Has anyone tried using a staff instead? I saw a thread in the archives that talked about how the physical damage was actually quite high on the 2-h staves, but that they just lacked crit. It seemed like an interesting idea, but again, just may not be viable.

And yet another question, I know monks mostly play as DPS but with the right aggro runes in a weapon etc, is there a chance a good battlemonk could tank? I know they can get quite beefy with their phys def boosts etc, but I just am not sure they will be able to hold the aggro from top DPS classes, thoughts?

And one last question, as a DPS monk, how would you guys recommend statting, again, I know opinions will vary on this. Should I through 1 or 2 dex on a piece to increase my accuracy? I know strength stats scale poorly on priests, like .8 patt per 1 str or something like that, but is it still worth it to throw in some str/patt just for the extra damage to stay up with the other dps classes instead of going all stam/patt? Because yes the stam makes us beefier, but if we aren't tanking, at some point, that much health would become obsolete right?

I know I have a lot of questions about the battlemonk, but I LOVE the class whether or not its the best, I have spent months researching and watching any videos I could find, even finding articles in other languages to translate in google.

Any help you guys have or thoughts and insight is greatly appreciated!

The Hunk Monk

Thanks for your reply Cike!

I will definitely give str/patts a go then and see if that helps a bit as well as get an accuracy rune for my weapon.

Any others out there with more advice, I would love to hear from you! Keep the battlemonk alive!

Agreed, I wouldn't go STR if there was a better dmg option for the battlemonk, but after a while, as a dps which isnt supposed to be taking a ton of hits, too much stam becomes a waste and I'd rather get the slightest extra dmg off of stacking strength in a few places. But yes, both stam/patt and wis/patt are two top priority stats. Maybe just a few str/patts for when the survivability is no longer needed?

Thanks for the advice Auros, I've run enough endgame to know that if you're not r/m wd/s w/m etc people dont always want you. But I do know that not EVERYONE out there is diehard elitists and I'm hoping there'll be groups willing to give the battlemonk a chance. I will definitely give patt/def a cahnce knowing how expensive stam/patt and str/patt are. Would it be reasonable to throw in maybe 1 wis/patt per piece as well? Those are also fairly cheap and I would think work well for the battlemonk.

Most likely I will go for a damage build as much as possible, but how well do you think a battlemonk might be able to tank with the right aggro runes etc? I know AoE is an issue but other than that, how is aggro? Is it simply not enough?

That's okay, that's totally what I was expecting. So madness runes eh? Good to know I'll have a look at starting to get me some of those

And yes Achilleas, I am more than prepared to not be at the top and to not always be welcome. But I would like to at least show people what a battlemonk is capable of. We all know that they aren't the top dps class, there's no denying it. But sometimes I think people tell others battlemonks arent the best and other people take it as they are completely aweful and not worth in a party. I think the battlemonk could very well have a solid place in a group raid if not everyone wanted to super speed burn everything, I actually think they offer quite a lot and I hope to maybe show people that ;P

Sorry for the double post, I just wanted to know also if any of the monks out there had experimented with staves? I saw somewhere that the level 77 staffs had quite high physical dmg and wanted to know if that continued to be the case up through 85 gear and even if it would be viable.

I know it lacks the crit which may be a problem and I also know that we aren't healers but a tiered staff, if it gave us at least comparable dps would also give us much much better heals than an axe. But then we also lose out on the insane defense and extra stat slot of a nice shield.

I don't see it being the best option honestly I just wanted to know if anyone had given it a go and actually tested it.