Monk Ascension Kit

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Having ascended a Valkyrie (finally) I want to try and ascend a
spellcaster - ie, priest, wizard, or monk (yes, other classes can cast,
but these are the 3 that are 'best' at it)


So I am trying my hand at monks.



However, not being able to wear body armor limits your choices for
magic resistance and reflection.



Without gray dragon scale mail, I assume everyone uses a cloak of magic
resistance to satisfy that end. OK, I can handle that one.


Without silver dragon scale mail, there are only 2 options for
reflection (outside of artifacts) - an amulet or a shield. Both are
unattractive options - the amulet removes the possibility of wearing an
amulet of life saving; the shield ruins your spellcasting ability,
something normally fixed by a robe, which unfortunately can't be worn
because that slot is your only real source of magic resistance.


Any advice from monks who have ascended?? I am curious as to what
trade-offs you made in reflection and magic resistance.

 

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> Having ascended a Valkyrie (finally) I want to try and ascend a
> spellcaster - ie, priest, wizard, or monk (yes, other classes can cast,
> but these are the 3 that are 'best' at it)

Wizards are fun.

> Any advice from monks who have ascended?? I am curious as to
> what trade-offs you made in reflection and magic resistance.

I haven't ascended a monk (valk, tourist, wizard, barbarian,
archaeologist), but 2 thoughts:

1. Don't rule out armor; the to hit penalties aren't that bad once
you're higher levels.

2. "oLS is one of those things that is less useful the more you play.
I'm still in the middle of a priest that I believe is ascendable (he's
in the Valley with a pretty full ascension kit and 5 wishes on tap if
he needs them). My priest is wearing "oR even though he has the shield
because I think he'd be more likely to die from a random
disintegration/death/whatever after taking of the shield in a "safe"
spot to cast spells than anything else.

I'm planning a monk next, I'll probably go with cloak+amulet and try to
do without armor for fun.

 

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Brigand <markashall@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Having ascended a Valkyrie (finally) I want to try and ascend a
> spellcaster - ie, priest, wizard, or monk (yes, other classes can cast,
> but these are the 3 that are 'best' at it)

Actually, while A, H and T are restricted in more schools, they have better
base casting ability than monks.

> So I am trying my hand at monks.

> However, not being able to wear body armor limits your choices for
> magic resistance and reflection.

But they can use weapons.

> Without gray dragon scale mail, I assume everyone uses a cloak of magic
> resistance to satisfy that end. OK, I can handle that one.

Or a cross class quest artifact, or Magicbane.

> Without silver dragon scale mail, there are only 2 options for
> reflection (outside of artifacts) - an amulet or a shield. Both are
> unattractive options - the amulet removes the possibility of wearing an
> amulet of life saving; the shield ruins your spellcasting ability,
> something normally fixed by a robe, which unfortunately can't be worn
> because that slot is your only real source of magic resistance.

You can overcome the -tohit penalty with high experience level and high
enchantment weapons, if you really want to wear an "oLS. And if you go
the casting route armor isn't an issue.

 

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> > Any advice from monks who have ascended?? I am curious as to
> > what trade-offs you made in reflection and magic resistance.

> 1. Don't rule out armor; the to hit penalties aren't that bad once
> you're higher levels.

Agreed. Don't rule out wishing for a MR artifact either.

For monks (and every other class), I like to have SDSM plus the Eye. That
leaves the cloak, amulet and off-hand slots all free, which is very nice.



--
"Ruleless 'law' will be a political weapon and control of the
judiciary will therefore be a political prize. 'Democracy' will
consist of the chaotic struggle to influence decision makers who are
not responsive to elections." -- Robert Bork

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

On 8/11/05 1:53 PM, Brigand wrote:
> Having ascended a Valkyrie (finally) I want to try and ascend a
> spellcaster - ie, priest, wizard, or monk (yes, other classes can cast,
> but these are the 3 that are 'best' at it)
>
> So I am trying my hand at monks.
>
> However, not being able to wear body armor limits your choices for
> magic resistance and reflection.
>
> Without gray dragon scale mail, I assume everyone uses a cloak of magic
> resistance to satisfy that end. OK, I can handle that one.

Nope.

> Without silver dragon scale mail, there are only 2 options for
> reflection (outside of artifacts) - an amulet or a shield. Both are
> unattractive options - the amulet removes the possibility of wearing an
> amulet of life saving; the shield ruins your spellcasting ability,
> something normally fixed by a robe, which unfortunately can't be worn
> because that slot is your only real source of magic resistance.

Wrong again.

> Any advice from monks who have ascended?? I am curious as to what
> trade-offs you made in reflection and magic resistance.

In my monk ascension, I did wear a robe to enhance spellcasting. I used
the Eyes (quest artifact) for MR. Knowing that could be dangerous, I
also wished for Magicbane in case I got into a spot. I wore an amulet of
reflection.

From my ascension post (some from memory; possessions were cut & paste):

Lao Tse - Monk Hum Mal Law
Str:18/12 Dex:23 Con:18 Int:23 Wis:23 Cha:18
Astral Plane $:0 HP:317(317) Pw:300+? Xp: 17 T:39091

Possessions:

Amulets
an uncursed amulet of reflection (being worn)

Weapons
the rustproof +7 Frost Brand (weapon in hand)

Armor
a blessed greased fireproof +5 pair of speed boots (being worn)
a blessed fireproof +5 pair of gauntlets of dexterity (being worn)
an uncursed rustproof +5 helm of brilliance (being worn)
a blessed fireproof +6 robe (being worn)
a blessed fireproof +5 Hawaiian shirt (being worn)

[...]

Tools
a blessed greased bag of holding
an uncursed skeleton key
an uncursed stethoscope
an uncursed towel
a blessed +0 unicorn horn
the blessed Eyes of the Overworld (being worn)
a blessed magic marker
the Bell of Opening (0:0)
the uncursed Candelabrum of Invocation (7 candles attached)

Contents of the bag of holding:
[...]
the +0 Magicbane // Never needed it

Voluntary challenges:

You never genocided any monsters.
You used 5 wishes. // Magicbane, Gauntlets of Dexterity, wand of sleep
// (wanted death), magic marker, ring of levitation
// (don't remember for sure)

--
Kevin Wayne

"Stark raving sane."
--Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

 

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I just checked my first (and only) monk ascention and I found had
SDSM for reflection (and I wore a small shield as well). I was
also wielding the +7 Grayswandir - no role playing here.
The to-hit penalty wasn't too bad, as only guy I had a problem killing
(read ever missed) was one of the characters trying to ascend on the
Astral plane that had a -28 AC (I think I later got his speed boots
+8).

I used a CoMR for the ascention run, but switched to a robe for
the bit of spellcasting (identify/remove curse/charm purple worm)
I did, relying on the Eyes for MR (just gotta be careful).

Knnn.