Monks =/= Warriors  

I went out with one of my guildies today to help him with the Zen Daijun mission in Factions, and was absolutely shocked to see that he was weilding a sword and shield as a Monk/Ritualist. It's wrong on so many levels it's not even funny.

First of all, Monks and Ritualists are ranged characters, meant to sit back and heal or otherwise support the party. Even if you're a smiter, you're still out of the middle of the brawl. Unless you're a Warrior/Monk or using a 55 build, you probably shouldn't be in the middle of a battle.

Second of all, swords and shields may be cool, but Monks aren't equipped to handle them at all. Unless you're a Warrior/Monk, you don't have sword mastery, which you logically need to be able to weild a sword well enough to do decent damage. And again, unless you're a Warrior/Monk or a Paragon/Monk, I bet you're not going to be able to use that shield to the fullest. Stick with something that requires an attribute you actually have, preferably something that the majority of your skills rely on so you're not spreading your attribute points too thin.

Lastly, Monks weilding Warrior weapons look idiotic. Not to mention that anyone who sees you as one will immediately see you for the n00b you are. How do you expect to do your job if your weapon set doesn't enhance the skills you're using?

I really hate to think of how many times he had to die to get to level 13 with that build...