Monk Special Training Guide

Introduction:

Monks unlock access to four different trainers once they have performed enough Iron Palm attacks (roughly 100 attacks). Each of these trainers will teach you three different attack skills of varying difficulty. These skills do not cost EXP to train and only increase in effectiveness through using them. These skills can also be chained into combos that speed up subsequent attacks and provide unique bonuses.

To unlock these attack skills you will need to visit the trainers who are on different spots on four continents and then complete several challenges.

General Overview of Skills:

• From each trainer you can learn three skills
• They are 2 round, 4 round, and 6 round skills
• Aka: Light, Medium, and Heavy
• From a base damage perspective (very rough estimate on a *good* hit):
• Light: 100 hitpoints of damage
• Medium: 200 hitpoints of damage
• Heavy: 300 hitpoints of damage
• Each skill will also provide a "special" bonus
• Furnachia: (Chance to) Apply +Dam Debuff to the target
• Very rare proc, but the target will take more damage from other attacks from your party.
• Does not actually depend on the "armour" of the target despite the description.
• Lucetium: +Avoid
• Laenor: (Chance to) Interrupt the target, disrupting spells and skills
• I've heard different rumors about this skill, and it's really difficult to get hard data about.
• Still figuring this one out...
• Rothikgen: Area effect damage
• Only does damage to monsters with the same "name"
• Does not remove mirror images

Training Skills:

Quick Disclaimer:

• You can only train one special skill path/trainer at a time. Once you start a path you need to finish it by getting all three attacks trained to 76+ before starting a new path/trainer.
• I recommend starting with either the Lucetium (+Defense) or Laenor (Lowers enemy defense) trainers since they are the most applicable to normal gameplay.
• Note: In one case I only had to train an attack to 75% vs. 76%. So if you stop seeing a skill level up when it is at 75% then you are probably done.

How to Train the Special Monk Skills:

1. Each trainer will give you a task that requires special syntax and sometimes specific Monk skills to complete
2. Once you complete that task, they will give you a new attack skill which will start trained at 50%
3. The skill's percentage will increase with use
• Initially it takes only a few hits to increase it by 1%.
• Once you hit 76% trained in a skill it will advance significantly slower though. I also don't think it will start advancing again until you have completed the third "heavy" skill training.
4. Once you advance the skill to 76% trained, visit the trainer again. They will give you a new task, and once you complete that, a new skill. 
5. There are three attack skills in total you can learn from a trainer which basically boil down to "light, medium, and heavy".
• The base time it takes to execute these attacks is 2 rounds, 4 rounds, and 6 rounds.
6. Important: When you max out your third attack skill at 76%, make sure you see the trainer to finish up their training and allow you to visit other trainers.
7. Once you have finished up training with a trainer, you'll need to start using Iron Palm again until you unlock another trainer.

Tips on Advancing Quicker:

• The quickest way to advance this is to find something to hit that won't hit you back, or to go to areas with bunches of easy to kill monsters that you can just murder. For example the Beastlands.
• For the more advanced attacks that take six rounds, it's helpful to find mobs that don't move around as much, such as in the dark castle, butterfly/bunny valleys, etc.
• You can also maximize the number of special attacks you can use in a fight by setting your parry to 51 (to slow down your auto-attacks) and your martial arts skill to 1 (which again slows down your normal attacks)

Miscellaneous Notes:

• If you reincarnate out and then back into Monks after training a skill to 100%, you will start with the skill trained to 75% instead of 50%.
• I've heard if you get a skill trained to 100% you will get a bonus to your martial arts skill, which is very helpful for newer players since that skill is super expensive.

Training from 75 to 100%:

• After you "finish" a trainer, using your special skills have a chance to improve them. Occasionally you will get a +1% after the skill successfully is used.
• I sometimes also get the following message which also gives me a 1% improvement. Note: I don't actually see any critical hit happen when this message shows up:
• You spring back up almost instantly!
• You get insight from your critical hit and remember it for later

Special Skill Combos:

You can chain these Monk skills together in a single fight to create special combos that can provide bonuses and/or generate new types of attacks.

Important Notes:

• For the combo to trigger, all the attacks must be successful. So if one of your attacks has a failure mode then the combo will fail and you will need to start again.
• Combos do not seem to trigger if at any point in the chain you leave combat.
• So if there are two monsters in the room, if you are fighting both, then you can do the first two attacks to the first, and the third attack to the second and still combo
• But if the second monster isn't fighting you then the above won't work because you dropped out of combat between the first monster and attacking the second.
• If your attack fails (you are interrupted, it hits a failure mode, etc), you can try it again.
• Your previous combo progress is kept as long as you don't use a different skill or exit combat.
• A HUGE quality of life improvement for me was I created triggers in my Batmud client to highlight text when an attack hits a failure mode. That way I can quickly see if the skill was successful or not when trying to set up combos.

Initial Speed-up Combo:

• Combo (any attack): Iron Palm + light
• Rounds (Time): Variable + 1
• Notes:
• If you start with your standard Iron palm attack, it will change the speed of your light attack from 2 rounds to 1 round which is really nice for initiating a fight.

Speed-up Combo:

• Combo (any attack): light + medium + heavy
• Rounds (Time): 2 + 2 + 2
• Notes:
• If you do the light/medium/heavy attack in a chain, it will reduce the time to use the medium and heavy attacks to two rounds, which is a huge time savings
• This whole combo takes the same time as one "normal" heavy attack, so it's a good one to keep in your attack rotation.
• This combo can also benefit by starting with Iron Palm to reduce the time of the first light attack to 1 round.

Breath of the Water Serpent:

• Combo: Dragon Tail Sweep + Geyser Force Kick
• Rounds (Time): 6 + 4
• Notes:
• This special attack is added on after the Geyser Force Kick hits
• Basically it does bonus damage.
• This is a great combo to start fights with since it does a ton of damage and the time-intensive part is done at the start.
• I haven't noticed any poisoning or other negative effects of this skill. Despite the text, I've heard it doesn't actually do acid damage.
• I need to test (with a player) if it applies a small "damage over time" effect or not
• Success Message (Worst to Best): Combo Move: Breath of the Water Serpent!
• You harness chi to throw acidic fumes from your foot as you flip back!
• {{ Target }} coughs a bit.
• {{ Target }} hacks and gags

Fury of One Hundred Fingers:

• Combo: Hydra Fang Strike + Wave Crest Strike + Falling Boulder Strike + Falcon Talon Strike
• Rounds (Time): 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
• Notes:
• This special attack is added on after the Falcon Talon Strike hits
• Basically it does bonus damage.
• Not sure if there are any additional stuns or effects of using this combo.
• Success Message (Worst to Best): Combo Move: Fury of One Hundred Fingers!
• Your iron palm strikes with a gale-force blast of wind!
• {{ Target }} is barely able to keep from being blown backwards.
• {{ Target }} is blown backwards and slams down with a *thud*

Ring of One Thousand Feet:

• Combo: Earthquake Kick + Elder Cobra Kick + Winged Horse Kick
• Rounds (Time): 4 + 4 + 4
• Notes:
• This is an area effect attack that will only trigger if there are multiple monsters you are fighting
• I've only tested it when fighting monsters with the same name.
• I suspect like with the Rothikgen special attacks this wouldn't work if the monsters have different names.
• I do know that if you are fighting a single monster this combo will not occur.
• Not only does this attack do extra damage to all the monsters you are fighting, but it also has a chance to HARD stun them. If the stun occurs, they will stop auto-attacking for a round or two.
• The monsters do not seem to do anything until the following message appears:
• {{ Target1} gets back up.
• This is a great combo, but the situations to use it are rare.
• Success Message: Combo Move: Ring of One Thousand Feet!
• You send a shockwave of ki energy blasting through your enemies!
• {{ Target }} is hit by the shockwave!
• Only the bonus attack hit the target
• {{ Target }} is hit by the shockwave and knocked down.
• The target is HARD stunned as well

Talons of the Iron Bird:

• Combo: Falcon Talon Strike + Falcon Talon Strike + Avalanche Slam
• Rounds (Time): 2 + 2 + 6
• Notes:
• This special attack is added on after the Avalanche Slam hits
• Basically it does bonus damage.
• This skill also has a chance to stun your target. The stun doesn't last very long but is a nice bonus.
• The fact that it starts off with Falcon Talon Strike is nice, since that gives you an avoid bonus throughout the entire time you are setting up the combo. But you probably can do more damage overall if you just progress through the Lucetium avoid special attack speed-up combos instead (aka Light -> Medium -> Heavy) instead of going for this combo. 
• Success Message (Worst to Best): Combo Move: Talons of the Iron Bird!
• {{ Target }} hits the ground in a shower of sizzling sparks!
• {{ Target }} hits the ground in a shower of sizzling sparks, stunning it!

Furnachia:

Focus: [Debuff] Attacks that can apply a debuff to make targets more vulnerable to damage

Location: The trainer is in central Furnachia by the volcano and the Demon shrine.

• I found a Navigator tree to Ndoki which was "close enough" to make the trip reasonable
• This is NOT the monk trainer by the ferry. Instead the trainer is in a tunnel in the mountain.

Required Skills: Meditation

Granted Skills:

General Note For Skills:

• Occasionally after one of the Furnachia skills is successful you will get the following message:
• The thrashing knocks some of {{ his/her }} defenses loose, leaving {{ him/her }} temporarily vulnerable!
• My assumption is that these attacks don't themselves bypass armour, but when this special message occurs (which is rare) regular attacks do more damage.
• Note, the above message doesn't seem to depend of if the creature has any armour or not.
• Aka it was happening to bunnies...

Falling Boulder Strike: (2 round skill)

• Description: Does a small amount of damage and has a chance to apply a +Dam debuff to the target
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You ball up a fist and attempt to drive your elbow down hard onto {{ Target }}, but only score a glancing blow.
• This is a miss and does not do any damage
• You ball up a fist and drive your elbow down on {{ Target's }} shoulder, scoring a solid hit!
• You ball up a fist and drive your elbow down at {{Target's }} shoulder, but only bruise the muscle
• You ball up a fist and _drive_ your elbow down onto {{ Target's }} shoulder, and you feel something pop!

Earthquake Kick: (4 round skill)

• Description: Does a medium amount of damage and has a chance to apply a +Dam debuff to the target
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You make several quick kicks at {{ Target }} in rapid succession, but don't get any solid hits.
• This is a miss and does not do any damage
• Your first kick knocks {{ Target }} backwards, preventing you from hitting with the others.
• You thrust your foot against {{ Target's }} torso, getting two hits in!

Avalanche Slam: (6 round skill)

• Description: Does a high amount of damage and has a chance to apply a +Dam debuff to the target
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You grab at {{ Target's }} outstretched limbs, but miss.
• This is a miss and does not do any damage
• You grab and hurl {{ Target }} onto the ground, but it manages to land on its butt.
• You grab and hurl {{ Target }} to the ground, but he twists to land on his side

Tasks:

Task 1: Falling Boulder Strike

• For your first task, you need to go into the northwest room and split a giant boulder in half.
• To start the task, "ask dwarf about training"
• You can attack the boulder, but it will not have any noticeable effect.
• Instead, use meditation in the boulder room.
• Make sure you let the meditation run for the full length and don't stop it early.
• This will give you insight in how to break the boulder
• Type "strike boulder" and the boulder will break.
• Now you can go back to the trainer and "ask dwarf about training" and they will teach you about falling boulder strike.

Task 2: Earthquake Kick

• Next you will need to put a crack in the wall to your northeast using only your feet.
• Go into the room and for the this task you'll need to use the command "kick wall" (aka this is not the skill)
• The goal is to kick the wall 10 times in a row where each time you kick it the following message is generated:
• Some dust falls from the wall as it rocks backwards a bit
• I found this works ok with around a two second delay between each command.
• This is somewhat easy with the mud client since I just keep using the previous command and hitting enter every two seconds.
• When you succeed you'll get a "There is a *SNAP* as a new crack runs through the wall's surface!
• Go back to the trainer and "ask dwarf about training" and they will teach you earthquake kick.

Task 3: Avalanche slam

• For the final task you will need to break an obsidian table that is in the same room as your trainer.
• Don't use skills to attack the table, since the trainer will get mad and turn aggressive ... which will not turn out well for you.
• To complete this task you need to "take table" and then "drop table"
• This was super difficult for my catfolk monk since I initially wasn't strong enough to pick up the table.
• I had to turn on my Ki power of Strength, use Mind over Body for Strength, and then drop all (and I do mean all) of my carried equipment and armour to be able to pick up the table.
• Not sure if the table weight changes for different characters. Aka this might be real hard for a brownie monk to complete....
• Finally, go back to the trainer and "ask dwarf about training" and they will teach you avalanche slam.

Laenor:

Focus: [Interrupting] Successful attacks have a chance to interrupt the target, resetting any progress they had in spell/skills they were casting/using.

Location: The trainer is close to a main road in northern Laenor. One of the easiest trainers to get to.

Required Skills: Acupuncture

Granted Skills:

General Note For Skills:

• Occasionally after one of the Laenor skills is successful you will get one of the following messages:
• {{ Target }} shakes her head, unable to focus.
• {{ Target }} shakes his head back and forth, clearly disoriented.
• {{ Target }} blinks distractedly, looking somewhat blind!
• I've been told this interrupts the target. Not sure what the difference between the messages implies.
• The difference is NOT if it interrupted a skill or a spell since I've had both occur on a target that only did skills.

Wave Crest Strike: (2 round skill)

• Description: Does a small amount of damage and has a chance to interrupt the target
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You try to swat at {{ Target }}, but can't make flesh contact
• This is a miss.
• You manage to swat {{ Target }} on the neck, but miss the veins you were aiming for.
• You go for the neck, but end up giving {{ Target }} a harsh slap across the jaw
• You open your hand and _swat_ {{ Target }} in the neck, hitting one of the arteries and disrupting his blood flow!

Geyser Force Kick: (4 round skill)

• Description: Does a medium amount of damage and has a chance to interrupt the target
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You attempt to flip off of {{ Target's }} chest, but slip and fall down.
• This is a miss.
• You jump up and kick {{ Target }} in the ribcage, but don't get enough contact to backflip.
• You try to backflip off {{ Target's }} chest, but he moves and have to settle for a dropkick to the stomach.

Tsunami Push: (6 round skill)

• Description: Does a high amount of damage and has a chance to interrupt the target
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You reach for {{ Target }}, but she deflects your hands.
• This is a miss.
• You shove both palms against {{ Target's }} shoulders, but barely manage to move her at all
• You shove {{ Target }} hard by both shoulders, forcing her to take a few steps back.

Tasks:

Task 1: Wave Crest Strike

• The Kobold is feeling achy so you need to help remove its pain
• Use acupuncture at kobold
• This will fail and the kobold will complain. This is expected.
• Now go back north and a bucket should have appeared. Pick it up and fill it with water.
• I couldn't fill it with water from the pond for some reason but I was able to go outside and fill it up from the nearby sea.
• Go back to the Kobold and "dump bucket on kobold"
• Seems mean, but it helps loosen them up.
• 'use acupuncture at kobold' again.
• This time it should work.
• Finally, 'ask kobold about training'.
• They will teach you wave crest strike.

Task 2: Geyser Force Kick

• The goal for this task is you need to stomp your foot hard on a red footprint in the room to the south of the trainer.
• The following two commands need to be done chained together with no delay. So you need to include a ';' between them and enter them in your client at the same time:
• 'run up wall;stomp footprint'
• This will complete the quest. Go back to the trainer and 'ask kobold about training'
• They will grant you the skill geyser force kick

Task 3: Tsunami Push

• The goal of this task is to push a statue off its pedestal in the pond room.
• If you go back north there will now be a statue sitting in the room.
• "strike statue"
• This will knock the statue's head off
• "run up statue"
• This will put you in a good position to move the statue
• "push statue"
• This will knock the statue over
• Return to the kobold and "ask kobold about training"
• They will grant you the skill "Tsunami Push"

Lucetium:

Focus: [Defensive] Successful attacks increase your ability to avoid hits.

Location: The trainer is in the southern tip of Lucetium far away from anything else.

• You might be able to take a navigator tree to teleport to Mirror Mines which is the closest area to the trainer. It's still a hike though.
• I found using the skill light feet helped since there are a lot of water crossing to get to the trainer.

Required Skills: Punch, Controlled Motion

Granted Skills:

Falcon Talon Strike: (2 round skill)

• Description: Does a small amount of damage and will increase your avoid statistic
• Notes:
• Basic success (trained to 50%)
• It increased my defense factor (as shown using parry) by 10
• In my score it increased my ability to avoid hits from "mediocre" to "above average"
• As the success message (as seen below) increased, so did the bonus it granted my defense factor. The skill % also seems to play a role as well.
• The defense bonuses are overwritten each time you use the skill, so if you have a great success and then fail the next attack you will lose your bonus.
• That being said, the bonus only lasts a couple of rounds anyways, so you'll lose it regardless if you don't keep using these special attacks.
• When looking at my battle summary logs, this increase had a noticeable impact on how often I got hit. I'm a fan of this skill!
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You attempt to vault over {{ Target }}, but are pushed back.
• This is a miss. No avoid bonus is granted by this
• You push off of {{ Target's }} shoulders and vault over her head, but can't push hard enough to get into a flip.
• You push off of {{ Target's }} shoulders hard enough to flip over her head, but can't get a decent claw in
• You push off {{ Target's }} shoulders and flip, clawing him in the back with curved fingers!

Elder Cobra Kick: (4 round skill)

• Description: Does a medium amount of damage and will increase your avoid statistic
• Notes:
• Seems to increase your avoid stats by the same amount as the light version of this.
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• Your forward flip was too early, leaving you flat on your back!
• This is a miss. No avoid bonus is granted by this
• Your forward flip comes too late, and you end up merely slamming your back against {{ Target }}
• Your forward flip is a little too late, but you manage to club {{ Target }} over the shoulder with the heel of your foot

Lions Teeth Throw: (6 round skill)

• Description: Does a high amount of damage and will increase your avoid statistic
• Notes:
• Seems to increase your avoid stats by the same amount as the light version of this.
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You hurl your twisting body feet-first through the air at {{ Target }}, but fall short and land on your side
• This is a miss. No avoid bonus is granted by this
• You hurl yourself through the air, feet first and twisting your body. You fall short, and end up merely kicking him in the face with one foot

Tasks:

Task 1: Falcon talon strike

• For this task you will need to punch pots out of the air. The challenge is since they are in the air you will need to start your punch in the main room, jump, and then have the punch land when you are in the air. Not an easy feat, so expect to do this a couple of times before being successful.
• Each time you do this, you will need to "ask catfolk about training"
• To start type: "now"
• In that room, type "use punch at pot"
• Wait a second and then type "jump"
• If your controlled motion was successful, the punch will land and break the pot before you fall
• You will always fall outside the training area, so you will need to climb back up to talk to the trainer again.
• You will also take a small amount of damage (around 10 hitpoints)
• Quick command to speed things up: "climb;ask catfolk about training;say now;use punch at pot;jump"
• Once you have sucessfuly broken the pot, go back and "ask catfolk about training" one last time and they will teach you Falcon talon strike

Task 2: Elder cobra kick 

• This task will require you to carry a very heavy pot of water through the air and deposit it to the north.
• Side note, if I hadn't read spoilers about this task I would have never been able to figure out the syntax for it.
• To start things out, "ask catfolk about training" and then say now.
• They will then give you a heavy urn filled with water.
• To do this task, "wield urn" which will take up both your arm slots
• Next, go north.
• You will find yourself in mid-air. While doing this, quickly type "flip".
• This will allow you to catch a bar with your feet and make it to the next room
• Now drop the urn, and return back to the trainer. "ask catfolk about training" to complete this task.
• They will then teach you "Elder cobra kick".

Task 3: Lions teeth throw

• For this task you'll need to pull a rope to the northwest twice without any of the poles touching you and without using your hands.
• Go Northwest. You'll need to do the next couple of commands quickly so you don't get hit with a pole. Also you will need to wait a few seconds between each command so you can't chain them together into a single command.
• Pull rope with feet
• duck
• jump
• spin
• Pull rope with feet
• If you fail, don't worry. The room automatically resets so you can try again immediately afterwards.
• Now go back to the trainer and "ask catfolk about training" to complete this task.
• They will teach you lions teeth throw.

Rothikgen:

Focus: [Offensive] Successful attacks have a chance to hit multiple targets of the same name

Location: The trainer is to the east of Shadowkeep.

• Coming from the Ferry, before you get to Shadowkeep take an eastern road at the crossroads for 50 squares (aka travel east 50). The trainer will be just south of you off the road.

Required Skills: None

Granted Skills:

General Note For Skills:

• These attacks have a chance to hit multiple targets that have the exact same name.
• These attacks will not remove buffs like mirror image
• The multiple hit aspect of this attack only procs occasionally, but the proc rate increases as you train it higher.
• Basically a very situational skill. Probably my least favorite of the 4 monk special skills.

Hydra Fang Strike: (2 round skill)

• Description: Has a chance to hit multiple targets that have the same name
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You start jabbing your knife-hands rapidly, but {{ Target }} backs off and you can't even get started.
• This is a failure
• Note: The rest of the successful attacks start with the following line, and then individual descriptions for each of the targets you hit:
• You form your knife-hands and jab rapidly at {{ Target }}.
• You get some hits to the belly, getting some penetration
• You jab a few ribcages, getting solid impact but not getting your fingers between the ribs like you'd hoped

Winged Horse Kick: (4 round skill)

• Description: Has a chance to hit multiple targets that have the same name
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You leap up and make a swinging kick, but {{ Target }} blocks it and knocks you to the ground.
• This is a failure
• Note: The rest of the successful attacks start with the following line, and then individual descriptions for each of the targets you hit:
• You jump up and do a spinning kick at {{ Target }}.
• Your jump is ill-timed, and your kick loses too much force. The impact is less than satisfying
• Your kick is true, but not forceful enough to knock anyone around.
• You kick it stumbling backwards!

Dragon Tail Sweep: (6 round skill)

• Description: Has a chance to hit multiple targets that have the same name
• Special Note:
• With this attack, I'd sometimes get a bonus damage message (even against a single target)
• With a bit of a hop you twist and spin your other leg backwards, hitting {{ Target }} a second time!
• Battle Messages (Worst to Best):
• You drop and sweep your leg low, but {{ Target }} braces and blocks it
• This is a failure
• Note: The rest of the successful attacks start with the following line, and then individual descriptions for each of the targets you hit:
• You drop down and sweep your leg low along the ground.
• {{ Target }} takes your weak sweep on the ankle and barely flinches.
• {{ Target }} is hit in the shin and forced to stagger, but remains standing.

Tasks:

Task 1: Hydra fang strike

• Ask the gnoll about training. For this task you will need to break five glass orbs in five seconds.
• Go to the room west of the trainer to do this task
• 'pull lever' to start the challenge. There is no penalty for failing except you needing to start again.
• The command to beat this challenge is 'strike orb in cage X' where X is the cage number
• The order is always the same: 3, 1, 5, 2, 4
• I had to create a command to do this. When I tried to put everything in one command it didn't work so I chained them and there was enough delay that I was successful
• command z strike orb 3;command zz strike orb 1;command zzz strike orb 5; command zzzz strike orb 2;command zzzzz strike orb 4;
• z;zz;zzz;zzzz;zzzzz
• pull lever;
• Go back to the gnoll and ask them about training again.

Task 2: Winged Horse Kick

• Ask the gnoll about training. For this task you will need to ring two bells in different cages at the same time.
• Go to the room east of the trainer and there will be two metal cages.
• Use the following commands to make the bells ring:
• jump; kick top of right cage; kick front of right cage; kick right side of left cage
• Note: What I did was different from other hints I read, so it's possible that this order might be different for you. You can try kicks to various parts of the cages and see what happens. You need to jump before kicking the top of them.
• Go back to the gnoll and ask them about training again.

Task 3: Dragon Tail Sweep

• Ask the gnoll about training. For this task you will need to break three cages at the same time.
• Go north into the room with three cages.
• Type "stand on disc"
• This will let you spin around real fast
• Type "push cage" several times
• You'll speed up when you "push cage" and slow down over time.
• The key is to be spinning at the "right" speed. Not too fast and not too slow.
• Basically go really fast until it says you are going too fast, and then try the next part a couple of times as you slow down.
• Type "kick pedestal"
• If you are spinning the right speed you will knock down all three cages and break them.
• Go back to the gnoll and ask them about training again.