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As I approach my four hour mark LFG (including trying to form a party, the mage jobs just haven't been there) I figured, what the hell, why not throw together my thoughts about the MNK class as a whole and why you should pick one up as a quality DD.
What a MNK can do for you:
1: Monks are top-tier damage dealers from 1-75. Sometimes it doesn't seem that way due to the way the game reads damage:
DRK hits the X for 120 damage.
MNK hits the X for 65 damage.
MNK hits the X for 55 damage.
Same damage, but a casual glance makes it look as if the DRK is totally outclassing the MNK, when they're both keeping pace. Of course, if the MNK misses one of their two hits, the damage isn't the same - but we get 2 opportunites to hit every round instead of just one, and half damage is much better than a whiff.
2: Monks are the fastest-attacking melee DD class. Leaving THF out of the equasion (I consider them hate-managment and not pure DD) MNKs have the lowest delay weapons at the mid-40s and beyond. To compare:
MNK base H2H delay at 46 is 340 seconds. The knuckles I wear add 91 to that, so you get a delay of 431, or about 7.18 seconds if the 60 delay = 1 RL second figure I've been given is true. Compare that to the average:
Great Sword: 480 = 8 seconds
Great Axe: 504 = 8.4
Scythe: 470 = 7.83
Polearm: 480 = 8(there are some sub-400 polearms, but the damage is much poorer, so I doubt this is a fair comparison)
Great Katana: 450 = 7.5
Dual-wielded Axes: 276x2 = 552 = 9.2(with Dual Wield 2 at 50 this drops to 414, but MNKs also get lower-delay weapons at that level.)
Keep in mind that this is only BASE delay. A good MNK at these levels will likely have a Brown Belt and a pair of Fuma Kyahan. Together these add 11% Haste to their stats, giving the MNK a new delay total of 383, or 6.83 seconds. This translates to one or two extra attack rounds in the course of an average IT mob fight. More attack rounds = more potential damage = better XP/hr. And this doesn't factor in what happens post-50 when Double Attack and Kick Attacks start firing.
3: MNKs are a good first voker. While arguably not as good as WAR/NIN, we have the HP and the VIT to take a hit or two off the bat to set up SATA. And quite a bit of the damage we take we can just Chakra back.
4: We close Fusion amazingly well with Raging Fists. Now, I know what you're going to say... "Wah wah wah MNKs can't do Distortion until late 50's omg what is a boy to do" but in my experience Distortion isn't all it's cracked up to be. In more than one party, we've had the capability to do both Distortion and Fusion and we've gone with Fusion simply because I was adding more damage through RF and the Fusion add than Distortion ever did. And the MBs for Fire II as opposed to Blizzard II were just about the same.
5: We have one of the best 'save your ass' 2hrs in the game. Need something dead fast? Have your MNK pop Hundred Fists and get behind the PLD for Cover. I've saved countless deaths and wipes with HF.
6: You're going to want us post-65. Dragon Kick closes Light and makes XPing a breeze, especially on Bones. But to get that level, and that skill, you're gonna have to help us get there.
And, of course, there are critics...
"But all you do is punch!"
True enough. But any MNK who puts on auto-attack and gets a sandwich is not a GOOD Monk. A good MNK keeps their eye on all of their ability timers, keeps a good Boost stack ready for an inital Chi Blast, knows when to use Dodge/Focus/Berserk and when to save it for a critical WS, and so on. It's not a busy job in the same way RDM or BRD is, far from it. But it's also not automatic.
"But our THF wants to SATAVB and you can't open Distortion!"
No, no we can't, not at this level. But a good MNK knows the skillchain chart, and will offer Backhand Blow -> SATAVB. This creates Scission (not amazing, I know, but it's something) and offers a decent MBing opportunity. I imagine this might be preferred on Toramas, but I'm not up there yet.
"I saw Gimped MNK X, he had awful gear! Why should I take him?"
You shouldn't. Gear is about on par with skill for the makings of an excellent Monk. I currently have over 3 million gil's worth on mine - and that's before Cross-Counters/TM Hooks +2, Scorpion Harness or Pallas's Bracelets. MNKs that don't have quality gear should put their flags down and FARM. I did it, you can too. That level 40 'ouch' gear basically gets you set until AF and the level 60 stuff.
"Just suck it up and play another job, nobody wants j00 lolpwnzordbbq DRKZ ROOLZ MNKZ DROOLZ"
That wasn't a criticism. And stop using so many z's.
"SHUT UP FAG"
Um... no. Give a quality MNK a chance and you'll come back to them, I promise you.
...like mine. Won't you help?
*This has been a paid advertisement for MNKs for Parties, brought to you by a grant from the Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! Foundation, the letter O, and Viewers Like You.*
What a MNK can do for you:
1: Monks are top-tier damage dealers from 1-75. Sometimes it doesn't seem that way due to the way the game reads damage:
DRK hits the X for 120 damage.
MNK hits the X for 65 damage.
MNK hits the X for 55 damage.
Same damage, but a casual glance makes it look as if the DRK is totally outclassing the MNK, when they're both keeping pace. Of course, if the MNK misses one of their two hits, the damage isn't the same - but we get 2 opportunites to hit every round instead of just one, and half damage is much better than a whiff.
2: Monks are the fastest-attacking melee DD class. Leaving THF out of the equasion (I consider them hate-managment and not pure DD) MNKs have the lowest delay weapons at the mid-40s and beyond. To compare:
MNK base H2H delay at 46 is 340 seconds. The knuckles I wear add 91 to that, so you get a delay of 431, or about 7.18 seconds if the 60 delay = 1 RL second figure I've been given is true. Compare that to the average:
Great Sword: 480 = 8 seconds
Great Axe: 504 = 8.4
Scythe: 470 = 7.83
Polearm: 480 = 8(there are some sub-400 polearms, but the damage is much poorer, so I doubt this is a fair comparison)
Great Katana: 450 = 7.5
Dual-wielded Axes: 276x2 = 552 = 9.2(with Dual Wield 2 at 50 this drops to 414, but MNKs also get lower-delay weapons at that level.)
Keep in mind that this is only BASE delay. A good MNK at these levels will likely have a Brown Belt and a pair of Fuma Kyahan. Together these add 11% Haste to their stats, giving the MNK a new delay total of 383, or 6.83 seconds. This translates to one or two extra attack rounds in the course of an average IT mob fight. More attack rounds = more potential damage = better XP/hr. And this doesn't factor in what happens post-50 when Double Attack and Kick Attacks start firing.
3: MNKs are a good first voker. While arguably not as good as WAR/NIN, we have the HP and the VIT to take a hit or two off the bat to set up SATA. And quite a bit of the damage we take we can just Chakra back.
4: We close Fusion amazingly well with Raging Fists. Now, I know what you're going to say... "Wah wah wah MNKs can't do Distortion until late 50's omg what is a boy to do" but in my experience Distortion isn't all it's cracked up to be. In more than one party, we've had the capability to do both Distortion and Fusion and we've gone with Fusion simply because I was adding more damage through RF and the Fusion add than Distortion ever did. And the MBs for Fire II as opposed to Blizzard II were just about the same.
5: We have one of the best 'save your ass' 2hrs in the game. Need something dead fast? Have your MNK pop Hundred Fists and get behind the PLD for Cover. I've saved countless deaths and wipes with HF.
6: You're going to want us post-65. Dragon Kick closes Light and makes XPing a breeze, especially on Bones. But to get that level, and that skill, you're gonna have to help us get there.
And, of course, there are critics...
"But all you do is punch!"
True enough. But any MNK who puts on auto-attack and gets a sandwich is not a GOOD Monk. A good MNK keeps their eye on all of their ability timers, keeps a good Boost stack ready for an inital Chi Blast, knows when to use Dodge/Focus/Berserk and when to save it for a critical WS, and so on. It's not a busy job in the same way RDM or BRD is, far from it. But it's also not automatic.
"But our THF wants to SATAVB and you can't open Distortion!"
No, no we can't, not at this level. But a good MNK knows the skillchain chart, and will offer Backhand Blow -> SATAVB. This creates Scission (not amazing, I know, but it's something) and offers a decent MBing opportunity. I imagine this might be preferred on Toramas, but I'm not up there yet.
"I saw Gimped MNK X, he had awful gear! Why should I take him?"
You shouldn't. Gear is about on par with skill for the makings of an excellent Monk. I currently have over 3 million gil's worth on mine - and that's before Cross-Counters/TM Hooks +2, Scorpion Harness or Pallas's Bracelets. MNKs that don't have quality gear should put their flags down and FARM. I did it, you can too. That level 40 'ouch' gear basically gets you set until AF and the level 60 stuff.
"Just suck it up and play another job, nobody wants j00 lolpwnzordbbq DRKZ ROOLZ MNKZ DROOLZ"
That wasn't a criticism. And stop using so many z's.
"SHUT UP FAG"
Um... no. Give a quality MNK a chance and you'll come back to them, I promise you.
...like mine. Won't you help?
*This has been a paid advertisement for MNKs for Parties, brought to you by a grant from the Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! Foundation, the letter O, and Viewers Like You.*
