Sacred Fists

[Carnelian]

I'm planning on making a Sacred Fist character taking 10 levels in the prestige class, but I'm concerned how they play with only the basic Ki Strike ability. I don't mind things being tough, but do most high level monsters have high damage reduction that I won't be able to damage with my +1 Ki fists?

I'm just wanting a general idea, will things be a constant struggle to damage and so I'll have to rely on spells alot more? This will give me an idea if I need to work towards being more a caster or melee Sacred Fist.

For those that don't know how Sacred Fists work...
1. They get -8 to hit with any weapon, so equiping a +3 weapon isn't an option.
2. They do get a flaming fist ability, but this is only twice a day for a limited time.
3. I will only be getting the Basic Ki strike ability recieved at monk level 4 which I think give's me the eqivalent of +1 magic weapons. I'll miss out on the other Ki strikes recieved at Monk lvl 10 & 16. So I will not have +2 nor +3 equivalent weapons.

[Rob]

Damage reduction is complicated in NWN2. The short answer is yes, there will be monsters with damage reduction against bare fists.

http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Damage_reduction

[Gold]

There are a number of other challenges that monks in general face in Dasaria...

1. Monks use gauntlets for attack bonus and elemental damage and do not get enhancement bonuses to unarmed combat damage or access to buff spells to enhance their unarmed combat (greater magic fang, greater magic weapon, weapon of impact, etc)

2. Monks are "AC challenged" in Dasaria. Unless you go for a Dexterity build you cannot hope to get close to the AC provided by full mithral plate and a shield, let alone when these are combined with magic vestment on armor & shield, shield of faith, and barkskin

3. Monk fast movement seems no better than barbarian fast movement and does not work if you wear armor

4. Monk robes in Dasaria (at least the varieties I have found) are not very good compared with the armor you can find. A +3 wisdom robe would be a great addition for monks.

All that said I am fond of the monk class so I made up a rogue 1 + ranger 1 + shadow dancer 2 + monk 16 build for a character who is a "scout". Good for roleplay, tracking, traps, opening locks, and some combat. Until this character reaches high monk levels they will be wearing armor and using non-monk weapons.

[Alterity]

Sacred fist is powerful. I've seen two builds with it, most others are derived from it. Basically there are the Druid SFs, and the Cleric SFs (You want wisdom, so SS and FS don't work well).

Cleric SFs can be quite deadly, as they can have massive amounts of strength, do very high damage, and use Divine Power to bring their AB to max. They also get Magic Vestment to bring up their AC a bit, along with spells to help their saves a lot. However, they tend to be glass cannons, they can do a massive amount of damage quickly (Hasted is 6 attacks per round) and get quite a few nice spells to help. You can also use a domain to get evasion, which helps quite a bit (Really really high Reflex with evasion is great).

Druid SFs are the opposite, surprisingly since they use two of three classes the same. Druid SFs are lower damage, but much harder to kill. While they gain many of the same buffs, they have more powerful defensive buffs, while having weaker offensive buffs. They do get cats grace and tortoise shell, which will add quite a few points into defense, and they have easier access to stoneskin/greater stoneskin then clerics. However, their damage is mediocre, unless they use Sacred Flames. With Sacred Flames and Owl's insight, you're looking at really high damage, and Owl's Insight works great with Monk bonus AC from Wisdom.

In general: Cleric SFs have about 30-35 AC, attack with an AB of 30+ and hit for about at 15+ damage at least, usually higher. Druid SFs have closer to 45+ AC, attack with 20ish AB, and hit for around 15 damage unless they use sacred flames which brings it to really high damage.

Now what'd work really well is a pair of players, one a cleric SF, one a druid SF. They'd add several points of defense to both groups, while having formidable offensive power

[Kamen]

As usual, Alterity makes some very accurate and valid points. Sacred Fist builds can still be very potent in Das. If you have a fun concept, roll with it. There's always going to be certain content that some character types will have trouble with. I have a druid SF build myself, but it is for a blind character that uses a staff as a walking stick, and the -8 AB is a self-imposed penalty for realism. She has a very high AC though, and some decent casting ability. She can't solo anything in the game, but is a useful addition to any party, and rather fun to play.

[hannahcoldkiller]

I have a cleric Sacred Fist and have him up to 13 now. I was trying to start a faction earlier with Sacred Fists (for Etoth). It would be cool to still make it happen. I have a 6 monk/1 cleric/6 sacred fist. Having 6 monk makes it a lot stronger for melee I think because it continues the damage, run speed, and AC bonus of the monk but not flurry of blows. 5 monks gives you -1 penalty from FoB rather than 2 if you just did 1 monk. Plus you get knockdown which has been a total blessing in these parts. I have practiced spellcaster for disspells but i'm a little worried about it later on.

[Mensha Khaine]

Dispell really effects this class, you go from being a Super Saiyan to peewee herman in an instant. Keep in mind Super Saiyan effect doesn't last long and there is a long period until you can rest, can be rather painful. When looking at the stats for an AC of 35 1v1 you shouldn't get hit very often, but this is Das 1v1 doesn't exist and you will get hit often, even at medium (10+) level area's and you're rather fragile. While you have alot of attacks, half of them will not land very often.

SF and Monks are an odd ball class for me, a melee class that can't go toe to toe like a fighter, rogue tactics tend to work better but you lack hips and their uber damage.

[Alterity]

Druids have some nice undispellable buffs, Elephant Hide and Oaken Resilience. Sadly you can't get Oaken Resilience, as you won't hit 11 druid unless you go something like 11 druid, 1 monk, 8 Sacred Fist, but Elephant Hide can be very useful, as it is +7 AC that cannot be dispelled. The cleric spell Magic Vestment also can't be dispelled.

Keep in mind, as a druid if you use wild shape, you will get a -8 penalty.

I have a low level spirit shaman sacred fist, that isn't all that good. He went sacred fist to get more use out of the needed wisdom, and ignored Charisma in favour of buffs and summoning, however he is still quite weak at low levels as he doesn't have enough spells to buff with, and is literally 2 levels behind other casters, so that although he can cast some good summons, they are too weak for the areas he fights in.

[Carnelian]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I'm going to go for it

[Mensha Khaine]

cool let us know how you found it