Pathfinder: WotR - Ranking 199 Classes Part 14: Monk & Archetypes

greetings everyone hope all of you are having an absolutely fantastic day we are back again with more Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous let's dive into monk the class that excels at letting you fight unarmed or with specialized monk weapons we've already reviewed these mechanics in my 25 Base Class mechanics video so I'll just come out with it and let you know I ranked this class in a monks are absolutely fantastic both offensively and defensively the only issue is I feel most of that power comes right up front which is why so many people love using them for dips they don't have a strong ramp up in power the way some of the other most powerful classes do and that ever so slightly hurts their ranking the first archetype on the list is Quarter Staff Master you lose the scaling damage increases to unarmed strikes in that same vein you also lose the key strike mechanics style strikes and stunning fists along with its upgrades you are also limited to only using flurio blows with the Quarter Staff in exchange for all of this you gain perfect strike which lets you roll your attack roll twice and take the higher result this is really nice it will help you hit opponents all throughout the game you also gain three ranks of Quarter Staff damage which increases the size category of your Quarter Staff until Level 20 when your weapon will be considered three times its actual size this causes the weapon to do significantly more damage and the Damage rises even higher if you stack it with a spell like legendary proportions you also gain three style strikes but instead of manually selecting an ability you will gain a combat maneuver that will automatically trigger during a fluria blows attack up through level 15 you can use either trip Sunder or disarm your opponent for free when connecting with a Flurry of Blows attack I don't consider Sunder disarm worth your time unless you are playing on an extremely hard difficulty trip is absolutely fantastic and remember you get a steady bonus to CMD as you level up so it's definitely possible to connect with these attacks overall I give this class an A plus because I think it works slightly better than bass monk the weapon will give you more reach and it has a higher damage ceiling plus the Quarter Staff is probably not a weapon you would use unless you are playing this class so I think there's a thematic pull here as well obviously Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles immediately comes to mind but I think the storyline also lends itself well to a playthrough as Morgan from The Walking Dead a man of Peace who was slowly pulled into a life of Violence by the zombie invasion that surrounds him next on the list we have scaled fist most of what you lose from the monk Base Class is replaced by something else so we will cover what is removed and what is added at the same time you lose the wisdom bonus to AC but it's replaced with a Charisma bonus to AC this can be really nice if you want to take an oracle or a sorcerer and make the class more tanky you lose monk bonus feeds and instead gets scaled fist bonus being states which removes a couple of options from the list but also adds the dragon style feels these feeds will allow your strength modifier to deal significantly more unarmed damage your key pool is changed so it works off of Charisma instead of wisdom you also lose one rank of key power you lose the plus two bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells but you gain a plus two bonus on saving throws against fear paralysis and sleep effects you should be using something that makes you immune to fear but the other bonuses are nice at level 3 you select a dragon and then as a swift action you can imbue your attacks with 1d6 points of Elemental energy from the dragon you selected at level 12 you can expend three points from your key pool to instead do a breath attack of that same element more damage is always welcome and the breath attack will be useful when you cannot do a full attack finally the monk has stunning fists but it scales off of Charisma not wisdom I get this class in a minus in my opinion building up wisdom instead of charisma is more valuable for your character the game gives you multiple party members that are very skilled in Persuasion which removes the need for most bills to have high Charisma a high wisdom stat will obviously raise your will save so it's more valuable the exception of this is if you multi-class it to something else that uses Charisma to a greater degree oracles and Sorcerers are two obvious examples of this our ranked classes based on taking them all the way to 20 consequently scale this is rated worse than the base monk but as a dip it could be invaluable to a really powerful build next up we have Sensei you lose fluria blows which is a massive hit to the damage dealing abilities of this class you also lose four rankings of bonus Feats which is another massive hit against a class that was already feet starved in addition you lose fast movement which believe it or not is another huge hit against this class because unlike some other classes fast movement for monks scales with their level so so by level 20 you would have a plus 60 enhancement bonus to speed which is no freaking joke losing this definitely hurts finally you also lose evasion along with improved evasion which obviously makes this class less tanky in exchange for all of this you gain advice which allows you to use bardic performances like a Bard the only difference is instead of Charisma your performance scales off of wisdom at level 1 you'll gain inspired courage which will provide a competence bonus of up to plus four to your team's attacking damage while providing a morale bonus to two saves competence bonuses are rare and will almost certainly stack with what your allies already have so this is a really nice buff at level two you'll gain insightful strike which lets you use wisdom instead of strength or dexterity to determine your attack rules or combat maneuver checks with unarmed strikes or monk weapons at level 3 you get inspired competence which provides your team of competence bonus of up to plus six on all skill checks this could be nice to have in a pinch to cover unusually high checks at level 6 you can use points from your key pool to activate key powers on one other party member at 10th level you can use this ability to apply powers on your entire team most party members do not have bark skin so this is a fantastic way to apply it true strike is also a really useful ability to give your entire team at one time this functionality definitely helps you at level 9 you get inspired greatness which provides hit points temporary hit points a competence bonus to attack rolls and a bonus on fortitude saves when you first get it the busts are nice but a couple of levels afterwards you get your third ranking of inspire competence which will have a higher attack bonus and therefore render this obsolete finally at level 10 you can use key pool points to get any online evasion fast movement or purity of body at level 14 for two key pool points you can give these abilities to your entire team evasion will make your team more resilient against area of effect spell casters so this is definitely nice fast movement is the monk version that scales and while it's not as good as haste which you should be using regularly it's still great for getting across the map quickly or sprinting into a fight finally purity of body is good for your tanks unless your tank isila considering she already has disease immunity by the time you get this ability I rank this class to b-plus it's definitely serviceable and being able to give your entire team true strike at one time is really really nice but in my opinion it doesn't feel like a monk you lose too much of the bass class to add on the bar capabilities next on the list is sohei like scale fist a lot of what you lose is replaced by something else so we will jump back and forth this class gains a pet at level one you must choose a horse which is unfortunate since they do not automatically trip like wolves or dogs the advantage of a horse is you can mount it right at level 1 unlike most pets where you have to wait until level seven pets are also them both as tanks and offensive combatants so this is a huge Boon for the class at level 6 you will gain your first rank in weapon training just like a fighter this will give you a bonus of up to plus three towards the attack and damage of one particular weapon group higher attack rolls are always nice so this feature is welcome you lose the regular mechanics of Florida blows and instead it can only be used on a weapon in which you have weapon training you also lose the scaling increases to unarmed damage and instead those bonuses stop at the level 4. you lose monk proficiencies and instead are only proficient in light armor simple weapons and martial weapons you lose one rank of Monk bonus Feats and the other ranks allow you to choose mounted combat Feats in addition to the Monk's usual options you lose all ranks of stunning fists your key strikes for overcoming damage reduction will now apply to any weapon in which you have weapon training you lose one ranking of key power and it's replaced with key weapon this lets you as a swift action speed spend a point from your key pool to Grant Your Weapon up to a plus five enhancement bonus this mimics the effects of Greater magic weapon so it's not really all that great but depending on your party members it might be nice to have starting at level one you can spend one point from your key pool to give your Mount temporary hit points you also gain a bonus on initiative rolls equal to half your level on that level 20 when rolling for initiative you'll always get a natural 20. high initiative becomes more important the further you get into the game so this is a really nice boom finally Lord nature is added as a class skill overall I rate this class in a plus having a pet is definitely a Big Boon and a lot of the great core monk mechanics are still present here next we have student of stone which is the Orient specific class you lose fast movement which again is definitely impactful you also lose two rankings of key power which isn't that bad because it's not like there's a huge list of good ones finally you lose evasion and improve Invasion which again makes you less tanky in exchange for all of this you get hard and stone which increases your AC when enemies attempt to confirm Critical Hits against you technically this is nice but to be honest with you I am not a fan of mechanics that you don't really notice unless you are watching the log like a hawk you are not going to realize an enemy misconfirming a critical hit against you so yes it helps but it does so in an invisible way that probably won't make you feel more powerful at level 3 whenever your feet are touching dirt you gain a plus one bonus to attacking damage rolls bull rush and trip attempts and CMD a nice early game bonus that you will trigger all the time at level 6 your monk bonus Feats are expanded to include Elemental fists and The Shining style line of Feats you could trigger Elemental fists with a swift action and it will cause your next attack to deal an additional 1d6 acid damage cheating style causes Elemental fists to deal additional damage equal to your wisdom bone and if the attack misses the enemy still takes 1d6 as the damage cheating skin will give you one additional Elemental fist use and acid resistance and forces enemies to pass a reflex save or be staggered for the first round when hit by your Elemental fist finally shine Earth blast requires two uses of Elemental Fist and let you release a column of acid in a 10-foot radius up to 30 feet from you this column will do your unarmed and Elemental fist damage to all enemies in the radius and stagger them if enemies pass a reflex save they can have the damage and resist being staggered overall I think this lineup feature is great for the class as long as you take ascendant element acid to ensure the damage isn't resistant this does mean that there are other great feats you cannot take but some later mechanics make up for that a little bit at level 7 as a swift action for one key point you can give yourself additional damage resistance against all sources except chaotic there are a lot of of evil sources of damage so this can still be useful at level 9 you gain the light fortification property which provides a 25 chance to negate Critical Hits and sneak attacks which causes the damage to be rolled normally obviously this pair would Harden Stone makes you very tanky at level 12 as a swift action for one key point you can gain trimmer sense which is equivalent to Blind sight combining premises with true seeing will allow you to ignore enemy concealment making the game significantly easier this also means you don't need to get blind fight or improve blind fight the disadvantage of this is the functionality doesn't come until Level 12. and if you are leveling a regular monk you can have both Feats by level 10. I would argue this is not a huge sacrifice because concealment really becomes an issue in Act 4 and Beyond but depending on the difficulty level you play your mileage may vary finally at level 20 you gain damage resistance against all sources except chaotic and tremorsets up to 20 feet if you wanted it to go out to 30 feet you could still use the Swift action but I don't think that's necessary overall I ranked this class in s mechanically it works really well letting both your AC and some additional damage scale off of wisdom automatically cutting through concealment is another Big Boon but honestly if we're only looking at the mechanics this is probably just an A or a plus at best thematically this class is really freaking cool and that pumps up its rating essentially you play as an Orient monk who gathers strength from the earth is wise enough to see through enemy deceptions runs around hitting enemies with acid infused punches and all the while looks like they were carved straight out of a mountain this class just has a whole lot going for it next up is traditional monk you lose four rankings of key Powers which is definitely impactful but not necessarily a death kneel you also lose use the ability to choose your own key powers and instead must stick with the ones that have been chosen for you I ranked this class in F there is no reason to take this losing bark skin and true strike is absolutely unacceptable it makes this class worse than all of its peers barks can provide you with a natural enhancement bonus of up to plus five that Stacks with the bonus you get from legendary proportions having this spell frees up a necklace slot since you won't have to use it for natural armor buff accessories it's very easy for you to have a team with no access to this spell so being able to use it yourself is huge truestrike provides a massive plus 20 Insight bonus to your next attack roll and that will almost certainly stack with the other attack Buffs that you have this is great to throw on right before a fight starts or when you are in a fight but know the monk can't hit anyone with a full attack playing a monk that doesn't have access to these abilities makes very little sense quick note before we review Zen Archer if you enjoyed this video I would really appreciate you subscribing and hitting the like button this information tells me which content the channel is enjoying and helps my videos spread to more people I really appreciate all of the support alright last on the list let's cover Zen Archer you lose one ranking of key power which is not a big deal at all you also lose the monks plus two bonus to saves against enchantment spells evasion improved evasion and their immunity to diseases obviously this makes you less tanky but it's just as obvious you are not meant to be a tank so this still isn't terribly impactful you also lose all the style strikes in the stunning Fist Line of abilities which would not help you since you will not fight with fist the monk bonus Feats are a place with Zen Archer bonus Feats that focus more on Range combat finally fluria blows his chain so that it can only be applied if you are using a bow in addition this ability will only work if you are not using rapid shot technically this is fine since Florida blows does the same thing that rapid shot does does anyway the problem is that rapid shot is the gatekeeper for a couple of other Feats you probably want similar to how dazzling display locks away useful feet for melee characters you will probably have to take rapid shot even though you will never use it in exchange for all of this you get perfect strike which works exactly the same way it does for the Quarter Staff Master and it's just as awesome here the Zen Archer also adds long bows and short bows to the list of weapons they are proficient with at level 2 you can take a weapon focused beat in longbows or shark bowls and then a level six you can also get weapon specialization for whichever one you chose getting the weapon focused feet automatically is obviously very nice and provides a plus one bonus to attack early in the game when it's useful weapon specialization is usually only available to Fighters and it's a big deal adding a plus two bonus to your damage rolls having this feat also unlocks the Mythic version of weapon specialization which will add a bonus to your damage equal to your Mythic level another nice bonus that makes this class powerful at level three you get Point Blank Master which prevents your range attacks from triggering attacks of opportunity a must for any Archer that wants to attack up close you'll also gain the ability to add your wisdom modifier to attack roles instead of dexterity this is also really nice because again monks can scale their AC off of wisdom so essentially Zen archers can make themselves better offensively and defensively by just getting as much wisdom as they can while maintaining a respectable strength score at level 5 Zen are to start dealing their unarmed damage with their bowls that means the unarmed strike table you see here applies to you it also means that unlike other archers Zen archers greatly benefit from increases in size so instead of using reduced person to shrink your Archer and get more dexterity you would use legendary proportions on your Archer so they can get the largest damage bonuses possible this also ties in with the bonus at level 9 which automatically gives you snapshot snapshot let your Archer perform a text of opportunity against enemies in melee range by itself this isn't all that great improved and greater snapshot increase the range at which you can do a tax of opportunity by 10 meters your Zen Archer whose size has massively increased with legendary proportions standing up front with your tank and flipping at any enemy who attempts to run past your front line is a real game changer this is why land is so useful to have give them one extra point in strength dump the rest in wisdom put them up front and let the Arrows fly I give this class in a plus Zen archers not only provide a different flavor of Monk they also give a different play style than most other archers cannot reasonably engage in that wraps up my rankings for Monk and all of its archetypes in summary I rank a quart of Master a plus scaled fist a Sensei B plus sohei A Plus student of stone s traditional monk F and Zen Archer a plus hope all of you enjoyed this video if you did please leave me a like share this content and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already I will see you all in the next video take care

Channel: Slandered Gaming

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Length: 19min 20sec (1160 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 28 2022