Practical Guide to Skills and Spells
A Brief Guide To Monk’s Skills and Spells
Updated 10/20/06
Contributed by Riel and Neraka
Primary Attribute – Knowledge
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Monk Class
Strengths
- Advanced physical attack skills – Martial arts, bash (a BIG plus), and kick
- Herbalism and throwing (high explosive -- one of the best damage dealers in the game, herbal blind – instant blind, fatigue etc)
- Multiply magic – good form of damage (multiplied octarine wands can be used twice per round), instant silence in the form of a wand, cheap high level abjure etc.
- Some cleric spells like cure blind and cure light, which enables you to go Druid
Weaknesses
- Very little damage spells – that is ok because you have high explosive from herbalism, multiplied wands and if you go druid you’ll also get some elemental spells from druid
- No magic lock/unlock – I always carry around some magic unlock scrolls (can be found in NR library for cheap).
[ # ] [ Proficiency Name ] [ Type ] [ Cmplx ] [ Lrnd ]
1 acrobatics DEF 50% 0%
2 bash COM 35% 0%
3 blind fighting COM 40% 0%
4 dodge DEF 30% 0%
5 enhanced damage COM 45% 0%
6 exotic WEA 50% 0%
7 flail WEA 1% 1%
8 hand to hand COM 1% 50%
9 hide TEK 30% 0%
10 herbalism TEK 1% 25%
11 kick COM 10% 0%
12 lore MYS 30% 0%
13 mace WEA 1% 10%
14 meditation MYS 40% 0%
15 magical items MYS 5% 25%
16 martial arts TEK 65% 0%
17 nunchaku WEA 14% 0%
18 polearm WEA 25% 0%
19 staff WEA 6% 0%
20 throwing COM 15% 0%
21 whip WEA 1% 40%
22 yo-yo WEA 13% 0%
Acrobatics
Max
Although acrobatics can only be used when not mounted, all of the defensive skills should be maxed because when you use combat defense auto it checks against all the defensive skills. Having ‘acrobatics’ maxed, will give you a better chance at evading attacks.
Bash
Max
This skill absolutely needs to be practiced. Not only is it the best damage-dealing skill which drains stamina (as opposed to spell points for damage-dealing spells), bash also has a chance of backfiring your opponent’s spells and is handy for opening locked doors which aren’t bash-proof. A few downsides of bash are that each successful bash drains 250 stamina (unsuccessful drains 125 stamina) and it is severely hindered by web filter.
Blind Fighting
Max
This is one of the strengths of this class and should be maxed. Blind fighting gives you added accuracy when fighting while blind. Blindness reduces accuracy severely and any added accuracy is most needed.
Dodge
Max
This is the single most useful defensive skill. It can be used in any type of fighting whether mounted or not mounted and whether the opponent is armed or unarmed. Dodge is also the skill which is checked alongside Agility for dodging stalactites.
Enhanced Damage
Max
This is also a skill that needs to be practiced. Unlike bash, this is an automatic skill. The amount of weapon damage you deal depends on your strength, the % the weapon you’re wearing is at, the % you ‘enhanced damage’ is at, and the opponent’s AR.
Exotic
Do not practice
There are few weapons of this type. Practicing this would be more for show than use. Once archon, wand would be a more effective exotic-damage weapon.
Flail
Personal choice
There are few weapons of this type. Practicing this would be more for show than use. However, you should choose to practice either flail or mace for bash-type damage.
Hand to hand
Max
This is sometimes useful especially coupled with monk’s martial arts. To be disarmed by a player or a mob especially while blind would be disastrous if you don’t have hand to hand practiced. However, weapon damage is almost always better than hand to hand.
Hide
Some practices (20-40%)
This is a skill especially useful if you wish to avoid casual observers from knowing who you are when they enter your room. When you are hidden, if there is a large enough level difference, you will not appear in the room description at all. If there isn’t a large level difference, you will either appear as a hidden life form or a faint red outline.
Herbalism
Max
This is one of the skills, which defines the Monk class. Herbalism gives you the ability to mix up to 18 different mixtures with different affects ranging from ‘awaken’ to ‘magic bomb.’ This is one major skill that does not need to be mastered. With the highest level mortar (the cracked mortar) you can mix everything with just 75% herbalism.
Kick
Personal choice
Kick is the damage-dealing skill which does significantly less damage than bash, but costs only 20 stamina per use and goes through web filter. It is enhanced by martial arts in that a monk sometimes kicks above the leg and hits the torso or head and so deals more damage. It is also good for leveling since you get it at a much lower level than bash.
Lore
Personal choice
Lore is a skill which enables you to identify an object up to a certain level above you just by looking at it. At level 180, 100% lore will be able to identify anything the spell ‘identify’ can identify. I personally practiced lore to 100% and did not practice the spell identify at all. One advantage of lore is that you can sneakily identify items on the ground without picking it up.
Mace
Personal Choice
There are few weapons of this type. Practicing this would be more for show than use. However, you should choose to practice either flail or mace for bash-type damage.
Meditation
Max
This is the automatic skill, which helps you regain spell points faster than if you did not have this skill. Although some claim that at higher levels anyone can regain sp at the full 250sp per tick while sleeping, the difference can be seen when not sleeping on a cot especially in combat and or when plagued.
Magical Items
Max (100%)
This skill is especially important for monks otherwise it only needs to be at 60% or so. This is the skill which determines whether or not a magical item (staff, orb or wand) will work when used. In combination with multiply magic, it is an extremely useful skill.
Martial Arts
Personal Choice
Although this is another skill which defines the monk class, it is very disappointing in affects. Although it does give increased damage and accuracy to hand to hand and kick, the increase is not as large as could be liked. I did max it and would do it again if I had to redo my monk class. If however, you are tight on practices, it is ok to not practice this skill.
Nunchaku
Do not practice
There are very, very few weapons of this type. Again practicing this would be more for show than use.
Polearm
Do not practice
There are very few weapons of this type. Again practicing this would be more for show than use.
Staff
Do not practice
There are very few weapons of this type. Again practicing this would be more for show than use.
Throwing
Max
Throwing enables you to throw mixes, and bombs (especially flash bombs). If you do not practice throwing it would mean that half of your herbalism skill would be wasted. There is a 3-second waiting period between throws.
Whip
Do not practice
This is an extremely low damage slash-type weapon. Axe and sword both do a lot more damage. Again practicing this would be more for show than use.
Yo-yo
Do not practice
This is an extremely low damage bash-type weapon and very rare. Practicing this would be more for show than use.
[ # ] [ Spell Name ] [ School ] [ SP ] [ Cmplx ] [ Lrnd ]
1 armor CON 49 0% 15%
2 animate dead NEC 238 78% 0%
3 abjure ABJ 231 75% 0%
4 bless INV 60 5% 10%
5 blindness ILL 133 35% 0%
6 blink SUM 292 35% 0%
7 calm ALT 117 28% 0%
8 cause light NEC 68 8% 0%
9 cause serious NEC 97 20% 0%
10 change sex ALT 170 50% 0%
11 cure blindness ALT 146 40% 0%
12 cure disease ABJ 109 25% 0%
13 cure light ALT 90 17% 0%
14 cure poison ABJ 97 20% 0%
15 cure serious ALT 97 20% 0%
16 curse ENC 146 40% 0%
17 counterspell ABJ 180 54% 0%
18 combat blink SUM 190 58% 0%
19 detect alignment DIV 60 5% 1%
20 detect invisibility DIV 85 15% 0%
21 detect magic DIV 49 0% 20%
22 detect illusion DIV 192 59% 0%
23 dispel magic ABJ 170 50% 0%
24 erase ALT 170 50% 0%
25 faerie fire ENC 60 5% 1%
26 hands of wind ELE 197 61% 0%
27 identify DIV 49 0% 5%
28 light ILL 49 0% 10%
29 multiply magic ENC 277 94% 0%
30 plague NEC 194 45% 0%
31 poison ALT 147 30% 0%
32 protection from evil ABJ 68 8% 0%
33 protection from good ABJ 68 8% 0%
34 recharge item ENC 197 61% 0%
35 remove curse ABJ 293 65% 0%
36 resurrect ALT 590 92% 0%
37 spark ALT 49 0% 25%
38 sense life DIV 109 25% 0%
39 silence ABJ 245 80% 0%
40 sanctuary ABJ 206 65% 0%
41 slow NEC 243 80% 0%
42 scribe FUN 50 0% 40%
43 spell shield ABJ 219 70% 0%
44 tremor ELE 109 25% 0%
45 wizard eye DIV 170 50% 0%
*Spells highlighted in red are of utmost priority to practice.
Armor
Low or no practices
This spell adds up to 3 AR to the receiver of the spell. Although not as powerful as shield or stone skin, every last bit of AR helps. However, because armor does not require any SCC it works quite well at 15% at level 60 of each class.
Animate Dead
Do not practice
Animate dead brings back to life one corpse. The charmed corpse is at the level of the mob that died. Although the results of the spell might be useful, the cost of an astral renders it impractical. It would be cheaper to multiply a magical item/scroll with animate dead.
Abjure
Do not practice
It sends someone back to their original plane of existence. Faeries would go to the faerie plane. All other races would go back to Alyria. Because of the astral cost, it is cheaper to multiply an abjure scroll. To abjure another player, you need to be in player-killing room.
Bless
Low or no practices
Items that have been blessed will resist wear and resist being fragged. Weapons and valuable equipment should be blessed whenever you are going into combat. When casted on a player it gives the player up to 4saving at Hero. Though, this is a frequently used spell, the low SCC requirement also means it can be cast well at level 60. However if you want to use it before level 60 you should practice it to at least 25%.
Blindness
Personal Choice
The ‘blindness’ spell will also be referred to as ‘wizard blind.’ Since 95% of monks are druids somewhere in their class path, by the time you’re 240 you will have ‘druid blind’ (smoke evocation) as well. ‘Druid blind’ is the better spell because it takes two cure blinds to cure it and because it lasts longer even though it lands a little less often than ‘wizard blind.’ However, ‘wizard blind’ does not initiate combat like ‘druid blind’ does and is light-based so it is useful when you want to blind before combat and when you want to blind faeries. You could get by with just ‘druid blind’ but I suggest practicing ‘wizard blind’ as well.
Blink
Some practices
If blink is cast with a direction modifier, the caster will be transported 48 rooms in that direction. If blink is cast with no modifier, the caster will be randomly transported to a room in the area/town.
Calm
Max
This is a targetable spell, which can be cast to stop a fight you are or are not in. Be careful not to violate the rules when stopping a fight you are not in. You should practice some form of this spell. If you are also going bard, ‘bard calm’ is more useful because it is reagentless. It is up to you if you want to practice this spell if you also are also going bard.
Cause Light
Do not practice
This is the weakest version of harm. Like harm it is reagentless but unlike harm it can not be cast while silenced.
Cause Serious
Do not practice
This is the second weakest version of harm. Like harm it is reagentless but unlike harm it can not be cast while silenced.
Change Sex
Do not practice
It changes the sex of the player to either the opposite sex or to neuter. Because of its high complexity, you would need to max ‘change sex’ for it to work properly. It would be easier just to use a scroll.
Cure Blindness
Max
This spell removes the blindness effect from a target. Sometimes it needs to be cast more than once for it to work depending on the spell and the level difference between caster and receiver. This is one spell that needs to be memorized in order to cure your own blind because when you’re blind you can not see your spellbook.
Cure Disease
Do not practice
It cures the ‘plague’ affect. If you go druid, you will get salt invocation which does the same thing only better. Salt invocation can be cast in combat. If you not go Druid just use your herbal cure disease.
Cure Light
Max
This is the weakest form of heal. However, it is a 2-second spell and can be cast when silenced. This is why you should practice it and try to master it.
Cure Poison
Do not practice
It cures the ‘poison’ affect. If you go druid, you will get salt evocation which does the same thing only better. Salt evocation can be cast in combat. If you don’t go Druid, just use your herbal cure poison.
Cure Serious
Do not practice
This is the second weakest form of heal. Unlike cure light, this can not be cast while silenced. You will get better versions of heal when you go cleric.
Curse
Max
This is an affect spell which can lower the opponent’s AR by up to 14 and savings versus spell by up to 10. It is perhaps the most important affect spell there is.
Counterspell
Max
It is a two-second spell which if cast so that it ends before the opponent finishes their spell, it will turn his spell back on him. Because of its high complexity, it needs to be maxed to be used effectively. However, this is not a top priority spell.
Combat Blink
Personal choice
Combat blink is a defensive affect spell that acts like another defensive skill which can help you evade weapon attacks. The difference between combat blink and dust invocation is that combat blink gives 5AR and sucks sp every tick while dust invocation does not give AR and does not suck spell points every tick.
Detect Alignment
Little or no practices
This spell is self-explanatory. After you determine what alignment a mob is you can cast protection from good or protection from evil. The scc requirement is low so you do not need to practice it very high if at all.
Detect Invisibility
Do not practice
You get the same spell as a druid. The druid invocation does not need to be memorized so is much better.
Detect Magic
Little or no practices
This spell shows you which items are magical as well as what your savings are when you type affect after you cast the spell. Its SCC requirement is low so you do not need to practice it very high if at all.
Detect Illusion
Low practice (20%-30%)
This detection spell allows you to see shifted players as dark green. It also allows you to see doors concealed with illusive magic.
Dispel Magic
Max
This attack spell attempts to remove one or more magical affects from your opponent. It can also be used defensively to remove harmful magical affects like web or fatigue.
Erase
Some or no practices
This spell erases spells from spell books. It is possible to use erase scrolls and not practice the spell at all but I do not advise it because not only will that be expensive but also it is a hassle wearing every scroll before using it. A friend could also help you erase your spellbooks.
Faerie Fire
Some practices (50-60%)
This is an affect spell which can lower the opponent’s AR by up to 6. Although a combat spell, it is low complexity and the fact that you would not want to master it means it doesn’t need to be maxed.
Hands of Wind
Max
Practice it unless you’re going bard. This is an outdoor-only spell that causes your enemy’s form to break up. This is especially useful in outdoor PK-combat, instead of fighting a formation, you only have to fight one at a time.
Identify
Little or no practices
This is the standard spell which tells you the stats of an object are. Compared to lore, which is also available to monk, identify takes longer to use, and needs a spellbook or be memorized. I recommend practicing lore rather than identify. See entry on LORE.
Light
Little or no practices
This is a rarely useful spell which allows you to create a ball of light which you can hold and it serves as a light. You can also drop the ball of light in a room, which lights it up.
Multiply Magic
Max
This is one of the defining proficiencies of monk. You can use this spell to raise the level of a wand, orb, scroll, staff, pill or potion up to your current level. You may need to cast it more than once to get it to that level. The uses of this spell are endless.
Plague
Max
It lowers the target’s regeneration. It also lowers sanity and vitality.
Poison
Max
It lowers the target’s regeneration. It also deals damage to the target every tick while poison is still in effect. Also, it lowers strength and agility. Poison can also be applied to weapons that don’t have any attributes E.g. Sharp
Protection from Evil
Personal choice
This spell reduces the physical damage received by 5% from evil opponents. This only works for neutral and good players.
Protection from Good
Personal choice
This spell reduces the physical damage received by 5% from good opponents. This only works for neutral and evil players.
Recharge Item
Do not practice
Though in theory a useful spell (it recharges magical items), in practice it fails too often and when it fails it destroys the item. Proficiency in magical items is factored in the effectiveness of spell.
Remove Curse
Max
It removes the ‘curse’ affect. Although it can be cast outside of combat, its high complexity makes it necessary to max.
Resurrect
Max
It brings a player back to life. This low priority spell is very high complexity, so it needs to be maxed in order to be used with any effectiveness.
Spark
Do not practice
This is a two-second low-damage spell which does slightly more damage than magic dart but can only be cast once a round. You will get much better damage spells as a druid. Spark can be cast while silenced.
Sense Life
Low practices (25%-35%)
This spell allows you to detect hidden creatures and players. Although most players use items to get this affect, you should still practice this spell to a usable level (one successful cast out of three) in case you are ever without your ‘sense life’ item or if it sparks.
Silence
Personal choice
This spell prevents someone from speaking, casting spells and performing certain bard songs. Notable exceptions include all psionic spells, ‘cure light,’ ‘harm,’ and bard slow (hinder). This is the most affective astral-costing attack spell.
Sanctuary
Do not practice
This defensive affect spell lowers physical damage taken by the caster by 20%. Although this is the most important defensive affect spell, most people use an item with the affect and there is a druid invocation version of this spell which more useful.
Slow
Do not practice
This spell has various affects including reducing attacks and defenses each by 1, lengthening the casting time of certain spells, reducing regeneration by 25% and reducing damage taken from continuous damage inflicting spells by 50%. However, considering the astral cost, it would be more effective to just use the spell ‘silence.’
Scribe
Do not practice
You use this spell to scribe spells from scrolls into spellbooks. This spell does not need to be memorized. The 40% Scribe you are given is plenty.
Spell Shield
Max
This is another important spell. Only monk and paladin have the spell. This spell blocks all spells less than 50% complexity without breaking, reduces the affect of one spell 50%-75% complexity before breaking and breaks at the impact of one attack spell above 75% complexity.
Tremor
Max
This is the only area attack available to monks. However, if you also have bard somewhere in your class path you will get thunderclap and flamewind eventually. Compared to flamewind, tremor takes less sp, does less damage but can not be shield blocked. Area attacks like tremor are good for initiating combat with hidden opponents or in dark rooms in which you can not see the opponent(s). Compared to thunderclap (also not able to be shield blocked) tremor has a much better damage/sp ratio. Tremor cannot be hindered by web filter.
Wizard Eye
Do not practice
This spell enables you to have a wider-range of vision in the wilds. It can be useful when traveling at night or in unfamiliar territory. The reagent cost makes the spell expensive to cast.