Anyone had experience using monks in IA? I would like to hear about them. A monk seems good in theory since

1. Comes equipped with own weapon, which goes on to become highest dmg weapon. One less weapon to worry about means you can concentrate more on forging weapons for other characters.

2. Can be a late game tank, with natural ac and amulets/rings etc

But he can only do bludgeoning dmg, which, while being the least resisted type of dmg, is still not flexible.

Thoughts?

The monk's fist doesn't hit as a +4 weapon until level 25. That can be a problem but you could equip the monk with a +4 weapon or have your other party members take them on.

I did enjoy having a monk in vanilla SoA. The high magic resistance can be really helpful. IA has an item that boosts a monk's physical damage resistancess as well.

What does Sikret think about having the monk's fist upgrade to +5 eventually? How about at level 30?

Do you mean allowing monks to have their +4 fists a bit sooner?

We don't have any monster who is immune to +4 weapons. So, having +5 fists has no particular advantage.

Fair enough about the +5 option. Are demi-liches the only creatures immune to up to less than +5 or can they be hit by +4 as well?

And in my origional post, I didn't realize that TOB added the monk upgrade to +4 at level 25. I edit'd it back in. XD

Yes, they can be hit by +4 weapons.