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ZAHUA, M HUMAN MONK
Why He's Included and How to Use Him
He may not be evil in the classical sense, but a drug-addicted Monk who can overlook a lot of morally ambiguous choices is certainly welcome in an evil party.
His role is basically to hit hard from the side, making frequent use of Torment's Reach. It mimics Carnage in that it can also afflict multiple enemies with on-hit effects, but in a cone instead of a circular radius from the point of origin. I therefore emphasize him dual-wielding Battle Axes that have two such effects, instead of fighting bare-handed.
The Dichotomous Soul power also allows him to summon powerful meat shields when he has built up enough Wounds for it.
Location
He can be recruited at the fish barrel at #17 in Stalwart Village after killing Warleader Darzir.
Personal Quest
Stats
Skills
Athletics: This skill is important for any character on harder settings, even squishy spellcasters. It helps any character go longer between resting, which is especially crucial during the Hard or Path of the Damned settings. It also provides bonus Health and Endurance.
Survival: Zahua is a combat-oriented character, so developing this skill for the resting bonuses makes sense.
Stealth: The Stealth skill may be helpful in some situations, and Monks are naturals at it.
Abilities
1st Level - Torment's Reach: His default first-level ability, and I can't do anything about it. But my build for him centers around it. It deals Crushing damage and reduces might in a cone. However, it also mimics the Barbarian's Carnage ability with the difference being that the Monk has to acquire a couple of wounds to do it. That in turn means that any on-hit powers from weapons will also take effect in the cone's area of effect. By default I have Zahua's AI mode set to Aggressive so that he uses this whenever he acquires a couple of Wounds.
3rd Level - Turning Wheel: Adds 5% Burning damage per Wound. This might seem like a strange choice given my previous comments on Torment's Reach. The concept is as follows ... Torment's Reach is great against numerous mook enemies, not so much against singularly powerful boss enemies with high Defenses. Therefore, I keep my Aggressive AI against mook mobs, but turn it off to increase aggregate damage against singularly powerful boss enemies.
5th Level - Stunning Blow: Allows Zahua to try and stun his target twice per Encounter. The Aggressive AI will have him use this whenever he can.
7th Level - Rooting Pain: A Passive ability that emits 10-15 Crushing damage and high Interrupt in a small radius around Zahua whenever he acquires a Wound.
9th Level - Clarity of Agony: Allows Zahua to cut in half any negative status effects that may hit him. He can initiate it even if he has already been hit with such an effect, so he doesn't have to pre-buff in anticipation. He can call on it after the fact. It's useful since if multiple party members, including Durance, get incapicitated in any way, Zahua will be the one character that can stay in the fight and keeping hitting enemies with Torment's Reach and such. He is also programmed to use it as part of the Aggressive AI.
11th Level - Iron Wheel: It passively increases his Damage Reduction by +1 for each Wound he has. This can be really useful, especially in fights where I have him turn off his Aggressive AI.
13th Level - The Dichotomous Soul: This ability basically allows a Monk, once he has acquired enough Wounds, to summon two pretty powerful clones of himself. One will be made of fire, while the other will be made of ice. This is one of his key abilities during fights against tough bosses (e.g. Dragons).
15th Level - Resonant Touch: This ability allows a Monk, with each successful strike that inflicts at least 10 damage, to build up 'resonance' on any surviving targets that he has struck. He can, at a time of his choosing, choose to unleash the resonance. The more resonance that has been built up, the more Raw Damage his surviving targets take. Can be great for boss fights, especially Dragons.
Talents
2nd Level - Lesser Wounds: Reduces by 2 the amount of damage needed to acquire a Wound. A no-brainer for any Monk.
4th Level - Two Weapon Style: Increases attack speed whenever dual-wielding two weapons, which is integral to the build I have in mind for Zahua.
6th Level - Wilder Hunter: Monks are glass cannons in concept, so these feats are a natural. By the time Zahua joins the party, I am going to be regularly facing off against Crag Ogres and Trolls and other such nasties during White March Part 1 and other parts of the game.
8th Level - Sanctifier: Continuing to hone his damage against various enemies. Vessels such as undead and constructs are a pretty frequent occurrence by the time he gets to his 8th level, which makes this choice perfectly sensible.
10th Level - Beast Slayer: Beasts such as wild animals are a pretty common foe, thus making this a sensible choice. It will also help in certain fights, such as those against Dragons.
12th Level - Ghost Hunter: Spirits are somewhat frequent too, especially by the time he picks up this talent.
14th Level - Weapon Focus (Knight): At this point, he's about to obtain both of his Battle Axes. This talent will increase his Accuracy with those Battle Axes, as well as his Greenstone Staff since it is a Soulbound weapon.
16th Level - Primal Bane: Zahua now rounds out this line of talents. This one allows him to inflict extra damage against Oozes and Vithracks and such.
Inventory
Wei Toki: Purchased from Larha at #3 in Galawain's Maw. Besides the usual critical hit benefits that come with Battle Axes, Zahua will also be able to knock multiple enemies Prone in conjunction with his Torment's Reach ability. I also add the Superb Quality, Kith Slaying Enchantment, Freezing Lash and Durgan Iron enchantments to it over the course of the game. The latter enchantment is more to reflect the weapon's backstory as a weapon tied to the seas.
Edge of Reason: Looted from the Guardian of Od Nua at #21 in 13th level of Endless Paths. It's key feature, and one especially relevant to Monks who need to take damage to empower themselves, is the ability to recoup Endurance on each hit. Alongside Wei Toki, it becomes part of a tremendous dual-wielding combination for a Monk. One axe will knock enemies Prone, while the other recoups the Monk's Endurance. And both inflict more damage on critical hits. I added the Legendary Quality, Burning Lash, Beast Slaying and Durgan Iron enchantments to it over the course of the game.
Greenstone Staff: Looted from a skeleton at #4 in Longwatch Falls. Serves as a secondary weapon for Zahua. Its on-hit powers are far too infrequent for me to get it for that reason. The key perk, once it's fully upgraded, is the ability to use Iron Skin twice per Rest. That can be a nifty benefit for a Monk who spends a lot of time in close quarter combat and yet has low Deflection. It also gives him the option of attacking from behind the tanks where I'm relying on crowd control from a bottle-neck, and where he's unlikely to be able to attack with his axes.
Goradh's Chorus: A reward for theGarodh's Chorus task. I chose the brave dialogue options during the visions of Garodh so that it has the Retaliation property in addition to the +3 bonus to Might. Zahua activates his Dichotomous Soul power fairly often. The fire and ice clones of Zahua will themselves enjoy the Retaliation feature of the helm, which means that any enemies that hit them will take damage. It's like inflicting Retaliation damage on your enemies with no harm to the party members themselves.
Lilith's Shawl: On a table at #20 on the third floor of the Lighthouse Ruin. The obvious point is the +3 bonus to Perception which will increase the Accuracy of his attacks. The Stealth aura is sugar on top.
Ryona's Breastplate: Looted from a corpse at #3 in Whitestone Hollow. The +3 bonus to Intellect and Triggered Immunity will be key benefits. In particular, Triggered Immunity can be especially beneficial for a Monk who's constantly throwing himself into the thick of it with low Deflection. In a way, the armor is even better on a Monk than on a Paladin. The reason is the Monk's power from the armor is not limited to once per Encounter once Endurance drops below 50%. Each Hit or Critical Hit on the Monk has a 10% chance of triggering a hefty +20 Accuracy boost for the Monk for 15 seconds. That in turn makes Critical Hits with his Battle Axes that much more likely.
Mourning Gloves: A reward for the The Mourning Circle companion adventure. Bonuses to Attack Speed and Endurance on kill are the key benefits. Minor increases to Defenses, Concentration and Interrupt are sugar on top. Arguably the best gloves in the game, but especially so for a dual-wielding character that places a premium on Attack Speed and Endurance recovery.
Binding Rope: A reward for the Bound and Buried companion adventure. The Constitution bonus is one of the key points, and indeed a Monk's powers depend in no small degree on sustaining damage in order to acquire Wounds. The more the better. The other key point is that any enemy that strikes the wearer in combat is subject to getting Stuck for at least 3 seconds. Stuck inflicts a -20 penalty on Deflection, which means that Zahua can in turn retaliate with an attack of his own that has the increased probability of inflicting a Critical Hit.
Ring of Thorns: Looted from the Dank Spore at #9 in the eleventh level of Endless Paths. The boost to Attack Speed through the Dexterity bonus is the key benefit, everything else is sugar on top.
Ring of Overseering: Obtained from the chest at #16 in the first level of the Temple of Eothas, as an item from the Eothas Temple - Upper Floor West section of the Random Drop List. The point is to increase the area of effect of abilities such as Torment's Reach and Rooting Pain.
Shod-In-Faith: Purchased from Dunstan at #16 in Crucible Keep. Monks rely on taking damage to be able to use many of their powers, so it makes sense to give him an item that will activate Consecrated Ground whenever he's struck with a Critical Hit. It's like getting the frills and with less spills so to speak.
