Zen Monk ability question

[ayman999]

So it says I get the 150% damage bonus when I have to armor. So it means I should be completely naked and just rely on my health, regen and weapon parry chance to keep me alive and to get this bonus?

[Noxxfire]

I am currently doing a Zen Monk run, taking Yeren as my race, and from my understanding, this is exactly what you should be pushing for. The whole gimmick of this class to never wear ANY armor on yourself. Anything that belongs in the armor shop is useless to you unless you want to forgo the ability which skyrockets your damage. (Which if you do, what's the point of playing this subclass?)

In my case, I decided that a best defense is the best offense, so I opted for a polearm build (Any two handed will do actually, pick your faves) that focused on Vitality, Strength and Attack. And although with Yeren's bonuses your HP will be very high, the lack of armor makes you really... really squishy. Which is why you need to prioritize offense since what's dead can't kill you

And oh boy, let me tell you, this subclass can do INSANE damage, even surpassing champions that just snowballs into something terrifying.

Essentially, you are a melee glass cannon that until way, way later into the game must rely on killing the opponent as quickly as possible before it kills you. You can only benefit from parry and defense in terms of avoiding damage, and soon you'll find out that even though you have a lot of HP, Champions will still shred thorugh it. On the flip side, any non boss opponent you will often times take down in three maybe even two hits cause you deal so much damage you just rip through armor and health. Bosses usually take a little bit of trying but also tend to not last long, even the ones that are very durable.

Your only issue will be accuracy at the beginning, so you will need to make sure you can land your hits consistently so that you can kill effectively. Also, going first in a fight will be especially important, so you should invest in initiative enchancing passive in the warfare tree (Don't remeber what's its called)

[ayman999]

Well said! Thanks for your input! Yeah I guess Yeren should be the optimal build for this. and their limb for limb special.

[Noxxfire]

Yes, though It's has always been too finicky of an ability to be reliable, so I tend to not use it unless the chances are a bit better.

Its worth noting, that although your defense will be for the most time nonexistent, you shouldn't forgo vitality, because you can't really fight if you get instakilled.
Skills that destroy multiple pieces of armor, as well as skill that stun the opponent will be your bread and butter. Until you get to the throw weapon skill, your spirit hammer will be your only ranged option in cases where you will get outranged, which will kinda suck, so make use of command and teleport skills, but do not bother investing in intelligense for spells, you will be spreading your skillpoints too thin for it to work.

Lastly, from my observation, your biggest counter will be Fighters/Barbarians with very thick armors and huge melee damage that will be difficult for you to hit and will be able to withstand 3 or more hits. Anything else that will have average or below defenses will be a free kill for you as Zen Monks destroy anything as long you can hit it.

[caglarcokadar]

Try spellblade bro It's also a beast