What do I do with the monk?

[Technetium]

I can't seem to win at all with this guy. Is there a "trick" I'm not getting?

[Technetium]

In the time since posting and getting the thread approved, I've made some progress, although I have still not been able to complete the Monk's starting dungeon quest. The closest I have gotten is level 9 and the boss down to 186/500. I play with the Tower Shield & regular shield equipped at the start to maximize the damage reduction, Human race so that I can get some extra damage dealt, the smuggler's den so that I can get some bonus level 1 monsters near me for a quicker jump to level 2, and the powerup swap that favors attack powerups. I also have the 25 Gold loan from the bank for buying useful items in the shops. When playing, I try to go after higher level Meat Men because the Monk seems to do exceptionally well against them. If I get LEMMISEE (which isn't every attempt at that dungeon) I can use that to regain health to try and level before challenging the boss. I use BURNDAYRAZ lots against the magic-using enemies and the blob enemies that are physical resistant. Sometimes I use GETINDARE to finish monsters off.

And, it's just all not enough. The problem is that most of the monsters in that dungeon, including the boss, are magic using (either warlocks or dragon spawn) and thus negate the damage reduction ability of the Monk. This seems kind of poorly designed as a dungeon meant to show off the Monk, especially since it is labeled as "Easy". I think it would be better if one of the two magic-using types was replaced with orcs or gorgons, with the boss being either one of those or a meat man.

[Fran]

In an earlier version of the game, the monk used to have 50% Magic Resistance as well so the Magic Monsters were no Issue at that time.
Try playing the monk with an Orc instead of human if you have unlocked him.

Try regenfighting the enemies, which means exchanging blows and then healing by exploring until the enemy is dead. You can calculate if you regen faster but I don't know the formula right now.
It's something like [enemy damage / 2*your LVL] versus [your damage / enemy LVL] to see how many tiles you need to recover from one blow, so if the left number is less than the right number, you will eventually win.
If you have unlocked the paladin, the HALPMEH glyph has a strong synergy with the monk as through his resist the healing is essentially doubled in value which is even stronger when you combine it with regen fighting.
What deities are you playing with?

[gjaustin]

[Technetium]

I don't have access to the Orc or HALPMEH yet.

I also don't have any deities yet. Either I haven't gotten to that part of the game yet, they haven't put them in the beta yet, or it's staring me right in the face somewhere on the screen I'm not seeing.

[gjaustin]

[The Avatar]

Like the skull altar that summons golems that you have to kill.

If you have seen them, TOUCH THE ALTAR! If you do it will initiate that Gods "trial", and if you complete it the god will spawn in later runs. If you have seen mysterious sparkles on the map, you've unlocked at least one god.

Also, try the regen fighting tip some more. While I may be a SERIOUS veteran, you should be able to kill things 1 less than double your level with this trick. Especially meat men. The boss you can kill between level 6-10.

[Technetium]

I finally beat that dungeon... It was very close. In fact, before delivering the final hit I had to go reveal the very last tile for regeneration, and I had only 20 HP left after delivering the final blow. I didn't even get LEMMISEE, but I had BURNDAYRAZ and there seemed to be an abnormally high number of mana potions. I probably only got off about 4 physical hits, the rest was with the fireballs.

[Ara]

I think the hardest part is ahead. I remember the 3rd quest (Ick Swamp with a monk, no prep) after the monk nerf. That was nightmarish. You're either poisoned or mana burned right from the start (both if unlucky) with a touch of corrosion because the map is filled with plants you have to kill to progress.

There's vampires & warlocks for magic damage, nagas that weaken (and the boss is a naga with 380 health and 50% resist).

The good part is that there's meat men, wraith & gorgons to power level, and after completing that quest, vicious dungeons won't feel that hard.

Have Fun.

[The Avatar]

The new Ick Swamp is MUCH worse. The bring preps to Slime Pits is easier. Although now that Binlor can crush resists it's easier (although the minimal wall amounts only allow about 20% reduction, so Chaos Avatar is probably a better bet.)