Best magic items for a monk? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best magic items for a monk? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DragonsArt
11-26-05, 09:39 AM What are the best magic items for a monk? The obvious ones are:

* Monk's Belt - Oh yeah!
* Ring of Protection (deflection bonus to AC)
* Amulet of Wisdom (helps AC and stun DC) - but you can't get an amulet of natural armor
* Bracers of Armor or Bracers of Striking

Any other items that are extremely useful?
nordyboy
11-26-05, 09:44 AM The Amulet of Mighty Fists is a good one.

p.s. This thread might do better in the Equipment Forum. Just a thought.
Yak of Darkness
11-26-05, 09:55 AM * Monk's Belt - Oh yeah!Depending on your level/stats, you may want to consider a Belt of Giant's Strength, too.

Any other items that are extremely useful?Gloves of Dexterity.

An Ioun Stone that boosts your Con (since the amulet slot is taken).

Various other Ioun stones (+1 AC is nice, +1 to everything is very nice).

Vest of Resistance.

Something, anything, that lets you fly.

A Minor Cloak of Displacement (not the major one, as that is limited in use . . . the minor one is an always-on 20% miss chance, so if you're trying to boost your AC to unhittable levels, this can help take care of the few times the bad guys roll lucky).

A few basic magic weapons that cover the different damage types and special materials (a +1 cold iron siangham and a +1 silver kama, for example).

From personal experience, if you have access to Sword and Fist in any way, check out the Headband of Ferocity (effectively gives you the Diehard feat). I can't speak for anyone else's monks, but mine won at least three battles in a short career while in negative hit points.
Yak of Darkness
11-26-05, 09:58 AM The Amulet of Mighty Fists is a good one.I'd disagree with that one, as

(1) The cost is prohibitive, and

(2) It takes up the slot of both the Wisdom and Constitution boosting items

It certainly looks like a, "Monks, take me!" item, but factoring in the ginormous cost (compared to normal magic weapons) and what you'll have to give up to get it, it's not really all that.
BelRex
11-26-05, 10:09 AM The gauntlet of the talon, relic in CD of Bahamut. It is made specifically for monks and stacks some of the monk's belt effects. There are shirts in the miniatures handbook which give DR. If you have one of the recent Dragon magazines and your DM allows the Nerve pinching feat(various useful effects based on the number of SF uses you activate it with), you need an item that gives extra uses of stunning fist. Get an item with fly on it, and change the wisdom amulet into a headband..think karate kid :P
Darth_Azalin
11-26-05, 10:27 AM What are the best magic items for a monk? The obvious ones are:

* Monk's Belt - Oh yeah!
* Ring of Protection (deflection bonus to AC)
* Amulet of Wisdom (helps AC and stun DC) - but you can't get an amulet of natural armor
* Bracers of Armor or Bracers of Striking

Any other items that are extremely useful?

well there are amulets of natural armor. because this Stated NPC 10th wizard in dmg p 126 has it as a possession.. bracers of armor +2, ring of pro +1 and amulet of natural armor +1 along with a cloak of resistance +1 plus other items
Atar
11-26-05, 11:28 AM Boots of Striding and Springing, Ring of Sustenance.
Also, if you have access to Sword and Fist, look at the Ki Straps. These are leather straps you bind around your hands and add 5 to your Stunning Fist DC.
TattooedMonk
11-26-05, 11:37 AM I also need help with this. I am making a level ten Warforged Monk and I have no Idea about what to buy. I have 60,000gp.(I am making a replacement for a Fighter, and he had 30k of stuff and 30k gold.)
Liox
11-26-05, 11:44 AM Here are some stuff you may want to get your monks

* Some Psychic poison ( Gets the Psions everytime )
* A bunch of thieves tools
* Some money ( Gets the rogues and bards everytime - and than Bam )
* A torch
* A mule/Pack Animal
* Some dry rations
* Some nice alchemist fire
* A nice wand of dispelling
* A powerful Ring of AMF ( Gets the Wizards everytime )
* A bunch of religious symbols ( Be nice to the Clerics ! )
* Some poison capsules for a weapon

- Overall, you are set for everything. Don't try the magical stuff. With exception to a Ring of AMF or a wand of dispelling.
Surreal
11-26-05, 12:04 PM The Monk's Tattoo (Magic of Faerun... I think) which works similar to Monk's Belt. With the belt, tattoo, and claws of the talon, I think it effectively bumps you monk level up by 12.
The Mad Dragon
11-26-05, 04:23 PM Boots of Striding and Springing, Ring of Sustenance.
Also, if you have access to Sword and Fist, look at the Ki Straps. These are leather straps you bind around your hands and add 5 to your Stunning Fist DC.

Ring of Sustenance is useless as later on(lvl 10+, can't remember which lvl exactly)the monk no longer requires to eat or drink.
BelRex
11-26-05, 11:40 PM Ring of Sustenance is useless as later on(lvl 10+, can't remember which lvl exactly)the monk no longer requires to eat or drink.
Even a monk who gains perfect self at level 20 needs to eat, they are native outsiders. Only Extraplaner Outsiders(plus alot of others..like undead, elementals..etc) don't require food.
Thurbane
11-27-05, 12:08 AM A magical crossbow for ranged attacks is also useful.
2y1y1z2
11-27-05, 12:21 AM From Sword and Fist: Headband of Perfect Excellence.

It gives (I think) a +6 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.
solbergb
11-27-05, 01:12 AM I find belt of strength > monk belt. Helps to-hit, trip check, grapple check, str skills, keeping in light load and also helps damage, although not as much as a monk belt does.

For similar reasons - at some point you want a good weapon, that does things you can't do with your fists (lots of elemental dice, or holy or ghost touch, etc). Some monks will want some extra "d6" shuriken someday too, just to finish off those flurries when you drop your first target and your others are out of reach. This tends to be a luxury for a long time though, mostly shuriken are just a vehicle to project your strength out a bit further. At a minimum, and early, your weapons and shuriken should cover cold iron and silver, and an adamantium weapon is really really nice prior to L16.

For most monks amulet of wisdom beats amulet of mighty fists. GMW or GMF is generally readily available at levels when you can afford the Amulet, and raising will saves, AC, alertness skills and stun fist DC matter more. For monks that don't emphasize stunning fist, amulet of health gets the nod (fort saves, hitpoints...both very important). For similar reasons, gloves usually end up being gloves of dex, with ioun stones filling in for whatever attributes you didn't choose to take.

A resistance item (vest or cloak) is vital...monks rely heavily on making saving throws, your naturally high checks still need to be boosted to be truly reliable.

Boots of speed remain useful, although my monk chose boots of spider climb and winged boots are also very good. Whether you need boots of speed depends on your arcane support - most high level fighter types end up with the damn things by default. Extra attacks are good. Someday I might get an ebony fly, but potions of fly get the job done for when the spellcasters don't have time to get a spell on you (I prefer air walk to flight actually, but what I get depends on what caster has an action free.

I don't think bracers of armor are worth it at all until you get to where the +6-+8 variety seem cheap. It is too easily simulated with mage armor or even magic vestment if your party has clerics and not arcanists. I'm not fond of using the ring slot for deflection either, but some like to do so.

The mini handbook has a number of cheap and useful items, but many conflict with the above items.

Gloves of Fortunate Striking - reroll an attack roll 1/day. These beat out gloves of dex on my monk, I'll do the ioun stone thing for that attribute. I get a "1" pretty much every day when I adventure on an attack roll, but usually only one. I almost always hit (a good portion of my attacks on a high-ac target will be touch attacks) so a reroll is very valuable.

Amulet of Fortune Prevailing - reroll a save 1/day. Monks have good saves. Getting a reroll is a big deal, in particular rerolling those damn "1"s. Unfortunately it competes with both wisdom and constitution magic items, which makes it a very hard call.

Bracers of quick strike. Pretty much boots of speed for only 1 attack/day and without the haste bonuses to movement/AC/attack/reflex save. Still if you don't have boots of speed, you'll get that extra attack when you need it most. Often it's just overkill anyway, but when it isn't - it is there. In conjunction with gloves of fortunate striking I find these items undo bad luck when I was "counting" on an "average" amount of damage from a flurry and the dice don't cooperate.

on the pricier end - ring of freedom of movement is fantastic, making grappling safer, eliminating most restrictions on your mobility and using a slot that isn't overloaded. Ring of spell storing can be handy, especially if you can wangle one big enough to store divine power or tenser transformation and have a friendly caster. Any item that raises AC or saves are good (yes, more ioun stones, yes, you look silly. Monks look stupid anyway, get over it :))

My monk also values a few other items he's run into over the years. Between his Field Rations Box and magic sleeping bag (yet more mini handbook items) plus his cold weather gear, he can travel anywhere without support, choosing the part of the day with most "clement" temperature (night in desert, day in cold regions) to travel, holing up in his sleeping bag in the bad times and eating out of his ration box. As for terrain challenges, well, he's a monk - anything he can't overcome with skill can usually be brute-forced with slippers of spider climb. His adamantium kama is actually more useful as a tool than as a weapon - he's chopped far more firewood with it over the years than constructs, and it lets him open doors with graceful kata (the door falls into 3 neat pieces after a flurry) instead of brute force bashing like the barbarian.
solbergb
11-27-05, 01:22 AM Boots of Striding and Springing.

Uh..no.

After level 3, a monk already runs as fast as the boots provide, and it doesn't stack. The +5 to jump isn't any big prize, a ring of jumping is cheaper if you want that, but you really don't need it. Natural speed increases plus a few ranks tossed in (5 anyway for your tumble skill synergy) mean most monks have formidable jump skills anyway.

So these are a waste of cash. If you want to spend ~5k on boots, spider climb has better synergy (getting a climb speed probably means the monk enhancement bonus to speed applies to that climb speed - like "Haste", the monk bonus isn't restricted to land speed. Some DM's don't agree, so be sure to check). Eventually, when 12k doesn't seem like so much, speed or flying is likely to be the boot of choice.
kage inazuma
11-27-05, 02:36 PM well a monk would also benefit from the boots of swifness (+6 dex X2 base land speed) epic handbook, also the amulet of natural weapons to alow extra damage ^_^ the epic feet extra body slot or something (alows you to were an aditional item )

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DragonsArt 11-26-05, 09:39 AM	What are the best magic items for a monk? The obvious ones are: * Monk's Belt - Oh yeah! * Ring of Protection (deflection bonus to AC) * Amulet of Wisdom (helps AC and stun DC) - but you can't get an amulet of natural armor * Bracers of Armor or Bracers of Striking Any other items that are extremely useful?
nordyboy 11-26-05, 09:44 AM	The Amulet of Mighty Fists is a good one. p.s. This thread might do better in the Equipment Forum. Just a thought.
Yak of Darkness 11-26-05, 09:55 AM	* Monk's Belt - Oh yeah!Depending on your level/stats, you may want to consider a Belt of Giant's Strength, too. Any other items that are extremely useful?Gloves of Dexterity. An Ioun Stone that boosts your Con (since the amulet slot is taken). Various other Ioun stones (+1 AC is nice, +1 to everything is very nice). Vest of Resistance. Something, anything, that lets you fly. A Minor Cloak of Displacement (not the major one, as that is limited in use . . . the minor one is an always-on 20% miss chance, so if you're trying to boost your AC to unhittable levels, this can help take care of the few times the bad guys roll lucky). A few basic magic weapons that cover the different damage types and special materials (a +1 cold iron siangham and a +1 silver kama, for example). From personal experience, if you have access to Sword and Fist in any way, check out the Headband of Ferocity (effectively gives you the Diehard feat). I can't speak for anyone else's monks, but mine won at least three battles in a short career while in negative hit points.
Yak of Darkness 11-26-05, 09:58 AM	The Amulet of Mighty Fists is a good one.I'd disagree with that one, as (1) The cost is prohibitive, and (2) It takes up the slot of both the Wisdom and Constitution boosting items It certainly looks like a, "Monks, take me!" item, but factoring in the ginormous cost (compared to normal magic weapons) and what you'll have to give up to get it, it's not really all that.
BelRex 11-26-05, 10:09 AM	The gauntlet of the talon, relic in CD of Bahamut. It is made specifically for monks and stacks some of the monk's belt effects. There are shirts in the miniatures handbook which give DR. If you have one of the recent Dragon magazines and your DM allows the Nerve pinching feat(various useful effects based on the number of SF uses you activate it with), you need an item that gives extra uses of stunning fist. Get an item with fly on it, and change the wisdom amulet into a headband..think karate kid :P
Darth_Azalin 11-26-05, 10:27 AM	What are the best magic items for a monk? The obvious ones are: * Monk's Belt - Oh yeah! * Ring of Protection (deflection bonus to AC) * Amulet of Wisdom (helps AC and stun DC) - but you can't get an amulet of natural armor * Bracers of Armor or Bracers of Striking Any other items that are extremely useful? well there are amulets of natural armor. because this Stated NPC 10th wizard in dmg p 126 has it as a possession.. bracers of armor +2, ring of pro +1 and amulet of natural armor +1 along with a cloak of resistance +1 plus other items
Atar 11-26-05, 11:28 AM	Boots of Striding and Springing, Ring of Sustenance. Also, if you have access to Sword and Fist, look at the Ki Straps. These are leather straps you bind around your hands and add 5 to your Stunning Fist DC.
TattooedMonk 11-26-05, 11:37 AM	I also need help with this. I am making a level ten Warforged Monk and I have no Idea about what to buy. I have 60,000gp.(I am making a replacement for a Fighter, and he had 30k of stuff and 30k gold.)
Liox 11-26-05, 11:44 AM	Here are some stuff you may want to get your monks * Some Psychic poison ( Gets the Psions everytime ) * A bunch of thieves tools * Some money ( Gets the rogues and bards everytime - and than Bam ) * A torch * A mule/Pack Animal * Some dry rations * Some nice alchemist fire * A nice wand of dispelling * A powerful Ring of AMF ( Gets the Wizards everytime ) * A bunch of religious symbols ( Be nice to the Clerics ! ) * Some poison capsules for a weapon - Overall, you are set for everything. Don't try the magical stuff. With exception to a Ring of AMF or a wand of dispelling.
Surreal 11-26-05, 12:04 PM	The Monk's Tattoo (Magic of Faerun... I think) which works similar to Monk's Belt. With the belt, tattoo, and claws of the talon, I think it effectively bumps you monk level up by 12.
The Mad Dragon 11-26-05, 04:23 PM	Boots of Striding and Springing, Ring of Sustenance. Also, if you have access to Sword and Fist, look at the Ki Straps. These are leather straps you bind around your hands and add 5 to your Stunning Fist DC. Ring of Sustenance is useless as later on(lvl 10+, can't remember which lvl exactly)the monk no longer requires to eat or drink.
BelRex 11-26-05, 11:40 PM	Ring of Sustenance is useless as later on(lvl 10+, can't remember which lvl exactly)the monk no longer requires to eat or drink. Even a monk who gains perfect self at level 20 needs to eat, they are native outsiders. Only Extraplaner Outsiders(plus alot of others..like undead, elementals..etc) don't require food.
Thurbane 11-27-05, 12:08 AM	A magical crossbow for ranged attacks is also useful.
2y1y1z2 11-27-05, 12:21 AM	From Sword and Fist: Headband of Perfect Excellence. It gives (I think) a +6 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.
solbergb 11-27-05, 01:12 AM	I find belt of strength > monk belt. Helps to-hit, trip check, grapple check, str skills, keeping in light load and also helps damage, although not as much as a monk belt does. For similar reasons - at some point you want a good weapon, that does things you can't do with your fists (lots of elemental dice, or holy or ghost touch, etc). Some monks will want some extra "d6" shuriken someday too, just to finish off those flurries when you drop your first target and your others are out of reach. This tends to be a luxury for a long time though, mostly shuriken are just a vehicle to project your strength out a bit further. At a minimum, and early, your weapons and shuriken should cover cold iron and silver, and an adamantium weapon is really really nice prior to L16. For most monks amulet of wisdom beats amulet of mighty fists. GMW or GMF is generally readily available at levels when you can afford the Amulet, and raising will saves, AC, alertness skills and stun fist DC matter more. For monks that don't emphasize stunning fist, amulet of health gets the nod (fort saves, hitpoints...both very important). For similar reasons, gloves usually end up being gloves of dex, with ioun stones filling in for whatever attributes you didn't choose to take. A resistance item (vest or cloak) is vital...monks rely heavily on making saving throws, your naturally high checks still need to be boosted to be truly reliable. Boots of speed remain useful, although my monk chose boots of spider climb and winged boots are also very good. Whether you need boots of speed depends on your arcane support - most high level fighter types end up with the damn things by default. Extra attacks are good. Someday I might get an ebony fly, but potions of fly get the job done for when the spellcasters don't have time to get a spell on you (I prefer air walk to flight actually, but what I get depends on what caster has an action free. I don't think bracers of armor are worth it at all until you get to where the +6-+8 variety seem cheap. It is too easily simulated with mage armor or even magic vestment if your party has clerics and not arcanists. I'm not fond of using the ring slot for deflection either, but some like to do so. The mini handbook has a number of cheap and useful items, but many conflict with the above items. Gloves of Fortunate Striking - reroll an attack roll 1/day. These beat out gloves of dex on my monk, I'll do the ioun stone thing for that attribute. I get a "1" pretty much every day when I adventure on an attack roll, but usually only one. I almost always hit (a good portion of my attacks on a high-ac target will be touch attacks) so a reroll is very valuable. Amulet of Fortune Prevailing - reroll a save 1/day. Monks have good saves. Getting a reroll is a big deal, in particular rerolling those damn "1"s. Unfortunately it competes with both wisdom and constitution magic items, which makes it a very hard call. Bracers of quick strike. Pretty much boots of speed for only 1 attack/day and without the haste bonuses to movement/AC/attack/reflex save. Still if you don't have boots of speed, you'll get that extra attack when you need it most. Often it's just overkill anyway, but when it isn't - it is there. In conjunction with gloves of fortunate striking I find these items undo bad luck when I was "counting" on an "average" amount of damage from a flurry and the dice don't cooperate. on the pricier end - ring of freedom of movement is fantastic, making grappling safer, eliminating most restrictions on your mobility and using a slot that isn't overloaded. Ring of spell storing can be handy, especially if you can wangle one big enough to store divine power or tenser transformation and have a friendly caster. Any item that raises AC or saves are good (yes, more ioun stones, yes, you look silly. Monks look stupid anyway, get over it :)) My monk also values a few other items he's run into over the years. Between his Field Rations Box and magic sleeping bag (yet more mini handbook items) plus his cold weather gear, he can travel anywhere without support, choosing the part of the day with most "clement" temperature (night in desert, day in cold regions) to travel, holing up in his sleeping bag in the bad times and eating out of his ration box. As for terrain challenges, well, he's a monk - anything he can't overcome with skill can usually be brute-forced with slippers of spider climb. His adamantium kama is actually more useful as a tool than as a weapon - he's chopped far more firewood with it over the years than constructs, and it lets him open doors with graceful kata (the door falls into 3 neat pieces after a flurry) instead of brute force bashing like the barbarian.
solbergb 11-27-05, 01:22 AM	Boots of Striding and Springing. Uh..no. After level 3, a monk already runs as fast as the boots provide, and it doesn't stack. The +5 to jump isn't any big prize, a ring of jumping is cheaper if you want that, but you really don't need it. Natural speed increases plus a few ranks tossed in (5 anyway for your tumble skill synergy) mean most monks have formidable jump skills anyway. So these are a waste of cash. If you want to spend ~5k on boots, spider climb has better synergy (getting a climb speed probably means the monk enhancement bonus to speed applies to that climb speed - like "Haste", the monk bonus isn't restricted to land speed. Some DM's don't agree, so be sure to check). Eventually, when 12k doesn't seem like so much, speed or flying is likely to be the boot of choice.
kage inazuma 11-27-05, 02:36 PM	well a monk would also benefit from the boots of swifness (+6 dex X2 base land speed) epic handbook, also the amulet of natural weapons to alow extra damage ^_^ the epic feet extra body slot or something (alows you to were an aditional item )