Greatshield kit for Duelist/Monk with Faith is my Armor
So far I have not managed to get Monk through Demon halls with the fourth challenge.
I am getting closer with a highly upgraded Greatshield which blocks 0-26 damage combined with a cloth of anti-magic.
On one hand the Greatshield feels like cheating on the challenge, on the other I could have gone "Champion" instead of Monk and any secondary weapon would be overkill.
But I want to be the monk with huge shield.
I used one SoU to get enchantments and got the one I did not want on the shield: blazing.
Should have stayed with the Camouflage jacket and the Blooming enchantment but is late to retract.
On arrival to Demon halls I have spent already 3 healings and wondering why are succubus hitting so hard?
Monk works even with a t5 weapon? I thought you needed t1 armor and weapons.
Why did you take the blazing enchant if you didn't want it? Scroll of enchantment let's you pick from 3 choices.
I tried to play Monk with the cloth armor and gloves, but I really disliked the play style and ended up just deleting the save and starting over as champion. Maybe adding a t5 weapon will let me enjoy it. I like the utility of the dragon kick, but I hated using a wand or hitting something 35 times before it died.
Thanks for the tips so far.
I messed up with the Monk and gave it a try with "Champion" just to confirm that the Greatshield is perfect replacement for armor.
Besides a Greatshield +13 (defense 0-30) I got a mail armor of entanglement that was cheap to upgrade to +5 (Troll + 1 SoU). Augmented for Evasion since defense is not great anyway, and Entanglement kicks soon enough at +5.
I spared the last SoU to enchant two weapons randomly: Lucky Glaive and Chilling Crossbow, cause the shield was doing great enough at +13. I was hoping for a shocking Glaive or Runic blade but well.
With the Champion's ability to have the +13 on any secondary weapon it was a relatively easy ride as expected.
GREATSHIELD IS MY ARMOR
With a few more attempts, I can confirm that the Greatshield is a good replacement for armor.
Just make sure to have a +10 Greatshield before entering the Demon Halls.
There are ways to find one and with a little luck it can be wielded before Tengu!