After my present issues with my original party in HoF mode, I decided to start over with some overhauling, namely replacing my Shield Dwarf Fighter with a Monk. Okay, so my research has shown for starters that keeping a monk single-class is crucial to maximizing benefits. Now, I'm thinking of going with a Human or Half-Orc Monk with min-maxed stats, points going into Dexterity and Wisdom above all else but with decent Strength for melee damage. Constitution should not be ignored, of course. Charisma, in either case, would be dumped. Intelligence, possibly, especially for a Half-Orc.

Equipment is what I'm a little concerned about. I know Monks don't use armor or shields. I also know they're mostly meant to attack in melee with their fists, but can also wield weapons like quarterstaves and slings. What magic items should I go with. I don't know if the belt you can buy for them in Targos is any good (namely in HoF mode). I was thinking of given a monk the ioun stone you get in the Underdark, the best Bracers of Armor I can get, and the best Ring of Protection as well. But what else, particularly to give them the best AC and/or damage potential?

Any sound advice would be appreciated. :)

In Heart of Fury mode, there are really only two options when it comes to AC:

1. Get your AC up really high. A moderately high AC won't do you much good here; it needs to be extremely high.

or

2. Ignore AC entirely. If you want protection, get it through means other than AC (damage reduction, spells like Mirror Image, etc.)

The thing is that, because enemies get large attack bonuses in Heart of Fury, you need a high AC to get to the point where a roll of 2 is a miss, and if you can't get to that point, AC is useless.

Also, "non-powergaming" doesn't really make sense when you are asking for a build, and you are planning on playing a mode that expects you to do what is commonly referred to as "powergaming".

Please reconsider your question. The above two sentences are mutually exclusive.

By non-powergaming, I was hoping to go with a build that didn't require having X or Y levels in certain classes just to get a high enough AC. It really defeats the purpose of being a certain class. Please explain.

I recommend continuing the HoF challenge with your original party. It is a far greater achievement than replaying with an optimized party. If you post your party and what problems you're facing I'm sure we can help you overcome them.


Be aware that monk is a class with low damage output, slowing down combat with hordes of high HP monsters even more. With fists they don't do more damage than with weapons, so you just have the attack power of a bard without singing and spellcasting and ask yourself what this character can do your summons can't.
Maxing strength will yield the most fun at those circumstances, I'd go for half-orc with stats 20-18-16-1-18-1 so you can hurt the hard monsters with damage resistance somewhat.
Don't worry about equipment beforehand in a game with random drops, just take what you find and isn't more important to other party members.

Min/maxing is power gaming. Your question is asking for suggestions for non-power gaming. As I said, they are mutually exclusive.

My original party is all level 22. They are an Aasimar Paladin of Ilmater 14/Painbearer of Ilmater 8, a Shield Dwarf Fighter 22, a Half-Orc Barbarian 20/Fighter 2, a Human Morninglord of Lathander 22, a Human Rogue 19/Bard 5, and a Human Wizard 22. However, none of my characters seem to be able to make a dent in any of the enemies in the Eight Chambers. To anybody who suggests it, NO, I WON'T KILL THE MONKS TO GET PAST IT. IF I COULD PASS THE CHAMBERS IN THE NORMAL GAME, THERE IS A WAY TO DO IT IN HEART OF FURY MODE.

As far as monk unarmed strike damage is concerned, yeah, I heard it monks weren't as good concerning raw damage, though I heard they make up for it in bypassing damage reduction, at least that's how I know it works from my 3.5 Edition Player's Handbook (I do play 3.5 pen & paper D&D on occasion). I just wasn't sure how closely this game followed the rules concerning the 3.0 edition Monk class.

Okay, I'll give that a try. I had already beat all the battle squares when I was in the Ice Temple in both the original run and HoF, so that is behind me. I also got Raging Winds from Beodwaen before I decided to kill him for the vile monster he was. My rogue uses that and some other useful bardic instruments that I've collected so far. The main issue is that not being able to take my whole team and all their gear makes it uber-tough. =/

Good luck ! It's difficult but certainly doable. If you need some inspiration someone posted a video about how he faced those battles (different class, more levels and modded game but can still yield useful information).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diaM4a6TYps