ADOM, Monks, and You.

This guide is a work in progress. New sections will be added as I (hopefully) complete my current game as an Orcish Monk.

This guide is not for profit and any videos present are not monetized.

Monks

Monks are a martial class with powers and abilities that allow them to excel in combat in ways that other classes simply can not. At least not inherently.

Monks start the game with a plethora of valuable skills, in additition to any skills provided by race, and are a great class for new players and veterans alike.

This guide assumes you are attempting a normal ending.

For further reference:
http://ancardia.wikia.com/wiki/ADOM_Wiki
http://www.adom.de/forums/
http://adomguides.blogspot.com/2008/05/guide-to-being-monk-by-molach.html

Class Abilities

Monks recieve bonuses in unarmed combat, defensive value, and speed as they level up. This makes monks less reliant on gear as they naturally get stonger as they level up. Note that unarmed combat bonuses are lost if burdened and DV bonuses are lost if burdened, wearing armor weighing more than 60s, or wearing a shield.

At level 13 monks can 'k'ick down walls. This is incredibly useful as you are granted on demand digging where applicable. This is especially useful for tunneling through the Animated Forest and in a pinch acts as a means to maneuver around enemies or gain an advantageous postition

Satiation depletes slower for monks than (most) other classes. Monks of all races benefit from this throughout the course of the game as you acquire more artifacts or perhaps intrinsic invisibility. Trollish monks in particular have one less thing to worry about early game. Note that this specifically impacts the rate at which satiation depletes as opposed to increasing the amount of satiation gained from food. As you can not eat once bloated you may miss out on eating some useful corpses. Drakelings can alleviate bloat by spitting acid.

Monks do not lose Mana points when using magical writing sets and thus can write scrolls as they please if lucky enough to have a magical writing set. Monks who have read certain scrolls may find it worthy of wishing for "magical writing sets". Some useful scrolls inlude scrolls of corruption removal, education, danger, and magic mapping. Reading the "crumpled scroll" only to write one later is an alternative, if not very specific, way of preserving it.

Monks cannot true berserk.

Monks never start with gold unless the 'Wealthy' talent is chosen.

Monk starting gear is for the most part, terrible.

Class Powers

The monk, in addition to a cornicopia of useful class abilities, also receives game changing class powers at levels 12, 18, and 25. This means that even the least learned races can reach their potential as a monk with relative ease.

At level 6 monks can perform a circular kick (kick every adjacent being) at the cost of 2500 energy. This is for all intents and purposes, as of v1.2.0, useless. Being surrounded by enemies is generally regarded as bad and more often than not the result of poor play. Should you find yourself surrounded your goal should be to clear a path by any means necessary and escape.

At levels 12 and 18 monks receive generous reductions to the base energy cost of movement. While the manual states that the energy cost of movement is reduced to 800 and 600 at levels 12 and 18 respectively, these are actually percentage modifiers (20% and 25%) and not flat reductions. These effects, in additon to being more powerful than seven league boots on their own, stack with seven league boots and the 'Long Stride' talent.

These reductions combined with a monks natural speed more often than not gives you priority to act first in combat, attack and move during a turn, and retreat as you please.

These class powers also free up the boot slot which is nice as Boots of the Divine Messenger are a potential crowning gift as a monk. Not to mention you may not find seven league boots during the course of a game and by proxy seven league boots are less important if you generate a wish.

At level 25 monks can swap postions with hostile monsters by using the command ':s'. This class power is only shared with the beastfighter and obtained 7 levels sooner. Changing positions with a hostile monster can potentially be the difference between life and death as well as a means of winning the game.

Again, coupled with the class powers gained at levels 12/18 and evergrowing speed, monks that reach level 25 have little to no obstacles in combat granted they aren't suffering any debilitating status effects (confused, blind, stunned).

At levels 32 and 40 monks, if unencumbered, can score instant kills in melee against humanoids less than human size and any humonoid respectively. These powers, as flavorful as they are, are more or less useless as the chance to trigger this effect is quite small. Most monks will be in a position to win the game, or in the process of doing so, by the time these powers are unlocked.

At level 50 the effects of chaos on monks are reduced by 10%. Again, the game is more or less over for most races at this point so this isn't the most useful level 50 class power. Thankfully monks get the best ones early.

Star Signs

Assuming you are playing the Steam version of ADOM, can pick your star sign, and choose to do so, I find these are the best star signs as a monk:

Candle

Heals faster, the gods are more forgiving when asked for favors, one free talent.

Arguably the best star sign in general. Useful to every race/class combination. Monks, being primarily melee fighters, always benefit if born under the Candle.

Candle born characters have an additional source of regeneration and get bonuses to their natural regeneration and regeneration from the Healing skill.

Monks regenerate fast to begin with as they start with the Healing skill and it only gets better under the Candle. Take the 'Healthy' talent and you have a monk that refuses to die.

A free talent is always great. In the case of dumb races it usually means 2 starting talents. Up to 3 if you're lucky and the sum of your initial stats are divisible by 7. Potentially 4 for gnomes and hurthlings. Elves if their mana is 18 or more. In general this means quickly finishing certain talent trees (Treasure Hunter/Immune to Pain) or taking a wider variety of talents that may help you survive in the early game.

In a normal game most monks will make do with a couple prayers, a precrowning, and a crowning. The piety cost reduction when praying isn't much and usually amounts to a third divine intervention at the start.

Cup

Requires 10% less experience points to advance in level, receives one free skill advance every two levels, learns spells more effectively (20% better than others), +2 to initial Learning.

Monks become stronger, faster, and harder to hit as they increase in level so the impact of being born under the Cup is obvious.

The Cup star sign is essentially a counter weight that initially helps you level up quickly and then balances out the experience loss suffered from ever increasing speed.

Initial learning scores modified by +2 can help you reach 15 initial learning for an extra skill increase on level which synergizes nicely with the extra skill increase granted every other level by the Cup. Learning increases the chance to successfully read books and increases spell effectivity.

Cup born monks also learn spells more effectively, that is, it determines how many castings of a spell are gained upon reading a book. While you may not be able to glean as much knowledge from reading books compared to a wizard, any extra casting for spells like teleport are useful.

Raven (my personal preference)

Harder to trick by deceptions, messengers will reach you faster, you are faster (+10 to speed), companions are more powerful, +2 to initial Perception.

Starting the game with and additional 10 speed (1 more than all speed talents) makes you automatically faster than a majority of monsters in the game. This is especially useful at the beginning as you're able to outmaneuver or retreat from potential threats. Despite gaining less experience as speed goes up this is usually not a problem regardless of race.

Raven born monks are naturally resistant to doppelganger confusion. When resisted, the message, "the doppelganger suddenly looks like you! You see through the ruse!" will appear. A narrow effect but it may save your life.

Upon completion of Blup's quest you will receive the rune covered trident at level 16 as opposed to level 36. The rune covered trident is relatively easy to obtain and is more or less a guaranteed weapon with undead and demon slaying properties. Unless specifically attempting to fight unarmed for the duration of the game I highly recommend adopting a polearm as soon as possible. Ravens attempting the Tower of Eternal Flames will delight in the fact that they can obtain this weapon prior to fighting the Ancient Chaos Wyrm and by then may have polearms trained to mastery.

Companions from scrolls of familiar summoning are generated at a higher level upon reading. Neat but makes little to no difference on the game.

Perception bonus is a cherry on top. May help you reach certain line of sight break points, avoid a trap, or hear something you normally wouldn't.

Other viable star signs:

Book
Dragon
Sword
Tree

Race

Orcs, Trolls, Dwarves, and Drakelings all lend themselves to making great monks. Their starting toughness is usually enough to offset the monks poor starting equipment.

Humans, Ratlings, Gnomes, and Hurthlings level up faster compared to other races and are moderately tough.

High, Gray, and Dark elves that survive the tumultuous early game can become great monks backed up by powerful spells.

Mist elves, lol.


Special considerations:

Orcs start with Backstabbing which is usually acquired after turning in the golden gladius or via a wish.

Trolls start with Food Preservation, Gemology, and Bridge Building. Once level 13 Trolls can kick down walls to generate gems thanks to Gemology and quickly boost their Learning score with gems of knowledge. Bridge Building can be used in a pinch to cross the red lake in the Tomb of the High Kings provided you have the necessary materials.

Dwarves start with Detect Traps and don't have to go through the trouble to learn it from Yergius. Besides possibly saving your life it will keep a lot of your gear intact. Dwarves also start with Metallurgy and Smithing. Similar to Trolls, Dwarves can kick down walls as need to generate ore.

Drakelings start with Food Preservation, Swimming, and Music. Drakelings are the only race to start with Music. Otherwise it has to be wished for. If you're lucky enough to find a musical instrument early enough you have a great chance to appease the Cat Lord. Drakelings can spit acid to damage enemies at range and to reduce their satiation. Drakelings are cold blooded and will gain enormous amounts of speed in the Tower of Eternal Flame to the point of taking damage every turn. Conversely, Drakelings have their speed greatly reduced in the Ice Queen Domain and should not enter without a means of warming up.

With exception to Mist elves who also start with Necromancy, no elf provides a skill that monks don't already start with. They do however have extremely long life spans and are much better for taking on greater undead vaults.

Gnomes start with Food Preservation, Gemology, and Ventriloquism. Just like trolls, gnomes have Gemology and can generate gems on demand once level 13. Ventriloquism can be used to confuse monsters for a turn or two when used successfully.

Ratlings start with Appraising and Detect Item Status and Swimming. Having both Appraising and Detect Item Status is somewhat redundant as you can discern the quality and status of items with either skill. Regardless it is a convenience to have these skills.

Talents

I recommend taking the following talents as a monk:

Healthy
Quick, Very Quick, Greased Lightning
Good Shot, Keen Shot, Quick Shot
Long Stride
Stealthy

Healthy: For most PCs this should be the initial talent chosen. Trolls and Candle born monks may wish to take this later or not at all.

Quick Line: The faster you are the better. Experience loss from excessive speed can be mitigated by overeating and being burdened. Be aware you will lose your unarmed and DV bonus if burdened or worse.

Good Shot Line: Positive to hit and damage modifiers will help you at range early in the game. Quick Shot stacks with energy cost reductions gained from training with ranged weapons and in conjunction with your player speed will allow you to make multiple attacks.

Long Stride: Slight energy cost reduction for movement but stacks with class powers and seven league boots. I usually take this at level 12.

Stealthy: Stealth checks are easier to pass and provides an extra stealth check if you have the Stealth skill. Numerous stealth checks are nice as monsters generated in static patterns (such as in a vault, tension room, or an orb temple) may not be disturbed at all upon entering their line of sight. Depending on the state of the game Orcs might want to take this early to help with backstabbing enemies prior to reaching 100 Stealth.
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If you're concerned with survival or want to compensate for poor equipment consider the following talents:

Hardy
Quick
Tough Skin, Iron Skin, Steel Skin, Mithril Skin*
Immune to Pain
Careful, Defensive Fighter, Dodger

These talents impart DV and PV bonuses. Immune to Pain reduces any damage taken by the PC by 1.

*Dwarves only.
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Utility Talents:

Porter, Master Packager, Beast of Burden

These talents will increase your carrying capacity and by proxy raise the threshold for being burdened.

The Early Game

This PC is a Raven born Orcish Monk who went straight to the Small Cave and descended through the Unremarkable Dungeon.

While this is not a foolproof strategy, characters that do survive this route tend to be well equipped to begin the early/midgame.

This video starts immediately after receiving a precrowning in the Druid Dungeon and ends after completing the Pyramid.

Despite an amazing precrowning gift, Wyrmlance, Raven born monks can usually retrieve the Rune Covered Trident before attempting the Tower of Eternal Flame and should attempt to do so.

Ideally, during/after a dive through the UD but before killing Keethrax (if you can manage it) you want to get precrowned as it's usually the first opportunity to generate a (hopefully useful) artifact.

Kill Keethrax and choose knowledge as your reward from Guth'Alak to receive the Herbalism Skill.

Clear the Puppy Cave for supplies and save the corpse for an alignment boost (in this case N= to N+) prior to robbing the Casino.

If possible, give Blup a blessed potion of carrot juice in Terinyo to receive the Swimming skill. This will reduce damage taken in the Water Dragon Cave if you can't secure a source of water breathing and allow you to speak with Shyssiryxius in a few turns via teleporting without quickly dying.

Otherwise, continue to the Caverns of Chaos and proceed to Dwarf Town to collect Thrundarr's first quest and the Portal Quest.

From Dwarf Town, return to the surface and head east to the Dwarven Graveyard. Kill Nonnak, Griff, and collect the elemental gauntlets.

Return to Dwarf Town to collect your reward. Particularly the wand of fireball. Head to the surface again and continue to the Pyramid.

Collect the climbing set and pick axe (if necessary) on the first floor of the Pyramid.

Prior to entering Rehetep's chamber, drink any useful potions you may have. Invisibility and boost speed if possible. Advance directly to Rehetep and blast him with fireballs. Collect the ancient mummy wrapping and ankh and return to Dwarf Town.

Dwarf Town and preparing for the Tower of Eternal Flames

This video covers Thrundarr's quests, a trip to Dark Forge, collecting the wand of teleport in the VDDL, visiting the Dwarven Mystic, the Water Dragon Cave, and the Tomb of the High Kings.

Animated Forest: 00:14:55s

Once you hit level 13 you can kick down walls and this quest is more or less a non-issue and the least dangerous way to complete it. The trees can hit really hard so be sure you have a decent health pool before crossing.

Ogre Cave: 00:22:28s

Extremely straight forward quest. Kill all the things. In addition to regular Ogres you'll encounter Ogre Magi and at least one Ogre Lord.

The Arena: 00:31:30s

Another simple quest. Kill em all. Be sure to have potions of exchange available if you're trying to appease the Cat Lord. If you're going for an Ultra you may want to save the Golden Gladius. Otherwise, turn in it to Bart for Backstabbing (unless Orcish) and Tactics.

Dwarf Town Demon: 00:35:25s

Squishy characters may wish to postpone this quest as their is a decent chance the Demon will kill you. After receiving the quest hunt down the Demon quickly as it will spawn least and lesser demons that will only make your job harder.

Assassins Guild: 00:46:35s

Zap a wand of Item Detection and kick your way to the wand. If you can't see it there is a chance that a monster as spawned in the room and picked it up. Wands and Scrolls of Monster Detection are fairly common so you shouldn't have a problem finding the wand but it is easy to forget that this can happen.

Dwarven Mystic: 01:04:50s

The Dwarven Mystic occupies a 2x2 room that you need to teleport into AND out of. Keep booze on hand as it may take a couple attempts to get in and to ensure you can get out. I believe a Wand of Destruction can be used as well but you risk aggravating Dwarf Town.

Dark Forge: 01:10:35s

Test yourself on the lone Steel Golem in the NDC before going down the stairs. If you're prepared, clean out Dark Forge for all it's worth. Great experience here for characters in the early to mid teens and lots of loot.

Water Dragon Cave: 02:02:05s

This area is extremely dangerous. The safest way in and out, regardless of +water breathing, is to teleport. Both varieties of Dragon Turtles and Water Elementals are likely to kill you depending on when you visit.

You are not required to go here to complete the game.

Tomb of the High Kings: 02:59:00s

The Tower of Eternal Flames / Pools

For posterity: at ~19 minutes in, I call the rune covered trident the trident of the Red Rooster. My bad, lol.

In this video I demonstrate killing the ACW in melee as a monk. This is a pretty straightforward task albeit a dangerous one.

I make some atrocious errors in the process but by the time you're attempting this you should have a number of outs via guaranteed sources. Take your time. Think. Run if you have to.

Fragile monks or monks who have not been blessed by RNGesus should take as many precautions as possible. The Tower of Eternal Flames is usually the biggest hurdle in the game and the last place you want to die during a good run.

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Pools: Saving Khelevaster is not required for normal endings. If you are in a position to win the game without saving him, win the game. Sipping from pools to generate a wish usually means losing a lot of useful intrinsic abilities.

Specifically teleport control. TPC is usually obtained fairly early in the game via blink dog. Unless you have preserved a corpse for future use or generated a ring of teleport control be ready to hunt for another source of TPC.

If you become doomed while drinking from pools, stop drinking and immediately seek out an aligned altar to remove the doomed intrinsic.

[Harry Richard]

I recently got my second win with a Gnomish monk. Excellent class. (first win was a hurthling wiz)

I used to play my monks without taking advantage of the unarmed bonuses, because I liked hoarding lots of stuff, but finally I decided to try playing one normally. And then I won.

Those damage bonuses negate the reliance on the RNG for finding sweet weapons. It was a very very long time before I found a weapon/shield combination that could outdo my bare hands, in both damage and DV. Some random weapon with the penetrating suffix eventually came in handy for high PV enemies.

I ended up using the rune-covered trident as my ranged weapon of choice. I killed a room full of greater molochs with the thrown trident... And maybe a bit of hit and run with a penetrating weapon, out of impatience.

The bonuses to energy/movement were really handy for hit-and-run tactics too.

[Yurii]

Candle sign + Healthy talent + max Healing skill + Gnome for max Ventriloquism - the easiest start ever!

[dreamer 782]

http://adomguides.blogspot.com/2008/05/guide-to-being-monk-by-molach.html

[grobblewobble]

The PV talent line is incredibly good for monks, because of their bad starting items. They are simply the best talents, after Healthy. If you want to become better at playing monks, picking PV talents should be advice number one. They're that good.

The best races are drakelings and dwarves, followed by hurthlings and gnomes. Drakelings because acid spit can be a life safer against stuff you do not want to touch, food pres is awesome and music and swimming (to not be blocked by a river in UD) are also nice to have.
Dwarves because of mithril skin, it is great. Their high age can be a life saver, getting detect traps without the hassle is nice and it is very easy for them to get (pre)crowned with gold.
Orcs are worse than dwarves in every way, except for a small bonus to strength. Mithril skin alone is better than that.

Also please don't forget to explain the tradeoff between Barehanded, twohanded and shield. See the excellent guide by Molach, for example.

[skipdog172]

Great guide!!