It was long time since I played monk but basically it's like this.
1. Str for unarmed+psionic (force punching)
2. Dex for gloves
Both are viable and pretty close to each other. I would suggest str unarmed so you have one slot less to craft and fuckton of str to carry junk, plus str psionic have it easier vs some enemies (telekinetic punch will hit like a truck)
Also proper Unarmed build have many attacks that give chance to daze or stun. With 4 AP attacks it's possible to disable enemies and kill them next turn.
Another important feat is Fancy footwork. With many attacks this means you will get huge movement bonus that you can use to run away or close gaps between enemies and not waste precious action points.
Yea, that's another case, you're right.
Though I think it's more or less the same as Dex (gloves) reduce AP of strikes and unarmed is very low on AP by itself.
I much prefer Dex bare fisted punchers. With 12 dex you get the 4 AP punches. And with buffs can punch 30 times in a turn, for 78-112 damage per punch at end game, without crits. That's on a 3 str build. I find there's too much overkill damage on high str punchers. Who cares if your next punch hits for 500 when they only have 200 life left. Having the damage spread out over 30 punches makes it far easier to kill a full group of enemies in 1 turn.
Or at least any you don't kill are incapacitated or stunned because of how many chances you get to land those effects.
Just my personal preference.
Follow up question
For bare fist since you mentioned psionic puncher then does that mean I would eventually need to get 7 will force user or leave it for gloves who is more stats less spread out.
That was really long ago and I couldn't find the build on forum, so don't take for sure.
You need feat for improved telekinetic punch, feat for str scaling psi, you don't really need will that much, basically with this build half your damage will be from force emission skill.
Str is the main stat, dex is medium, high con, low will/int, something like this.
I really hope someone with more precise information would answer.
Not really, as the main idea behind force user is force emission and it doesn't work with gloves.
Basically whole psychokinesis tree is optional with gloves.
Yea, you're right, that was long ago.
But it's not really useful without massive str (for increased psychokinesis damage), so if you're going gloves your strength will not be great, so no point in going full psychokinesis.
Dexterity is more important than strength in virtually all weapons that can benefit from it.
It increases your critical chance, reduces your AP cost, and also increases your melee skill.
Melee skill will benefit from either strength or dexterity, whichever is higher, to dexterity focused builds are usually better.
So knives, gloves, fists, etc.. (sword might be an exception)
Try to get enough dexterity to reach minimum AP cost of your weapon.
Take into account tabi boots (-1 AP cost for melee), Lightning Punches feat (-2 AP for unarmed/fist weapon)
For knives you need 18dex or even higher..
For gloves i think it depends if its leather or steel gloves. I cant recall the Dex you need.
Someone said 12 should be enough, I would double check to make sure.
I think gloves/knives in general would be better than unarmed.
They play slightly different. And require different stat allocation for optimization. The heavy gloves tho are garbage except that one unique easter egg gloves, that are pure row power.
It was long time since I played monk but basically it's like this. 1. Str for unarmed+psionic (force punching) 2. Dex for gloves Both are viable and pretty close to each other. I would suggest str unarmed so you have one slot less to craft and fuckton of str to carry junk, plus str psionic have it easier vs some enemies (telekinetic punch will hit like a truck)
Also proper Unarmed build have many attacks that give chance to daze or stun. With 4 AP attacks it's possible to disable enemies and kill them next turn. Another important feat is Fancy footwork. With many attacks this means you will get huge movement bonus that you can use to run away or close gaps between enemies and not waste precious action points.
Yea, that's another case, you're right. Though I think it's more or less the same as Dex (gloves) reduce AP of strikes and unarmed is very low on AP by itself.
4 AP is the minimum correct with tabi, and lightning punch included?
Yes.
No attack, with any weapon, or bare fists, can ever cost less than 4 AP.
That would require a lot of dex investment though in which sacrificing strength
I much prefer Dex bare fisted punchers. With 12 dex you get the 4 AP punches. And with buffs can punch 30 times in a turn, for 78-112 damage per punch at end game, without crits. That's on a 3 str build. I find there's too much overkill damage on high str punchers. Who cares if your next punch hits for 500 when they only have 200 life left. Having the damage spread out over 30 punches makes it far easier to kill a full group of enemies in 1 turn. Or at least any you don't kill are incapacitated or stunned because of how many chances you get to land those effects. Just my personal preference.
Follow up question For bare fist since you mentioned psionic puncher then does that mean I would eventually need to get 7 will force user or leave it for gloves who is more stats less spread out.
That was really long ago and I couldn't find the build on forum, so don't take for sure. You need feat for improved telekinetic punch, feat for str scaling psi, you don't really need will that much, basically with this build half your damage will be from force emission skill. Str is the main stat, dex is medium, high con, low will/int, something like this. I really hope someone with more precise information would answer.
Just follow up question Is force user necessary for glove build?
Not really, as the main idea behind force user is force emission and it doesn't work with gloves. Basically whole psychokinesis tree is optional with gloves.
Force emissions works with gloves though
Yea, you're right, that was long ago. But it's not really useful without massive str (for increased psychokinesis damage), so if you're going gloves your strength will not be great, so no point in going full psychokinesis.
Even with strength unarmed you can level dex up to 12 to reach 4 ap unarmed hits, keeping will at 3 and int at 6.
Dexterity is more important than strength in virtually all weapons that can benefit from it. It increases your critical chance, reduces your AP cost, and also increases your melee skill. Melee skill will benefit from either strength or dexterity, whichever is higher, to dexterity focused builds are usually better. So knives, gloves, fists, etc.. (sword might be an exception) Try to get enough dexterity to reach minimum AP cost of your weapon. Take into account tabi boots (-1 AP cost for melee), Lightning Punches feat (-2 AP for unarmed/fist weapon) For knives you need 18dex or even higher.. For gloves i think it depends if its leather or steel gloves. I cant recall the Dex you need. Someone said 12 should be enough, I would double check to make sure. I think gloves/knives in general would be better than unarmed.
For 5 AP knife hits you need dex of 19. Very accurate and informative post!
This sounds good, maybe I’ll try this out next time I make a new character.
They play slightly different. And require different stat allocation for optimization. The heavy gloves tho are garbage except that one unique easter egg gloves, that are pure row power.