Monk Positionals 6.0

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

But if by "speed" you actually mean "sense of urgency induced by cognitive load"

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Both, honestly. Positionals were the cognitive part, the oGCD were the more pure kind of speed.
It's funny, near the end of ShB I thought "damn MNK feels good but it's missing SOMETHING to make it just right", now it's the exact same feeling except arranged differently.

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Originally Posted by meowmaou

Both, honestly. Positionals were the cognitive part, the oGCD were the more pure kind of speed.
It's funny, near the end of ShB I thought "damn MNK feels good but it's missing SOMETHING to make it just right", now it's the exact same feeling except arranged differently.

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That was my sentiment at the end of Shadowbringers after the "rework" the job got then. The job felt strictly okay, but also really hollow/empty once it lacked that sense of urgency of having to maintain greased lightning along with everything else, but I had been hopeful at the time that the addition of new mechanics in Shadowbringers would fill that void. But the fact that the blitzes are so clunky to use just makes me feel like the job still isn't right. It always feels like they get so close to doing something fun with the job, then stumble at the finish line and never quite get there.

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Originally Posted by wereotter

That was my sentiment at the end of Shadowbringers after the "rework" the job got then. The job felt strictly okay, but also really hollow/empty once it lacked that sense of urgency of having to maintain greased lightning along with everything else, but I had been hopeful at the time that the addition of new mechanics in Shadowbringers would fill that void. But the fact that the blitzes are so clunky to use just makes me feel like the job still isn't right. It always feels like they get so close to doing something fun with the job, then stumble at the finish line and never quite get there.

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I would be surprised if, on the team that balances and adjusts jobs, they actually had somebody who played MNK often and was passionate about it. It all feels like weird outsider decisions.

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Originally Posted by meowmaou

I would be surprised if, on the team that balances and adjusts jobs, they actually had somebody who played MNK often and was passionate about it. It all feels like weird outsider decisions.

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I've actually thought this myself many times with some of the changes they've made over the years.

I can't imagine no one there plays it, but it does seem like the people getting the final say don't really understand the job, or what the job needs.

As a Monk main since early Shadowbringers, and having played it quite a bit throughout Stormblood, I don't like positionals and I'm glad they're mostly gone. They've been on auto-pilot for me for a long time and I never find them "fun," I only feel irritated by them when a boss suddenly turns to use a mechanic, a tank turns the boss randomly, or there's an exceptionally long mechanic that denies access to flank/rear and I don't have access to TN due to another mechanic etc. I understand that some people find them challenging (or simply like them), but for me, they're just an occasional annoyance beyond my control.

Also, some of the posts in this thread are really toxic toward other players; it's okay to like something, but it's not okay to attack other people for not liking the same thing.

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Originally Posted by Miralyth

I don't like positionals and I'm glad they're mostly gone. They've been on auto-pilot for me for a long time and I never find them "fun," I only feel irritated by them when a boss suddenly turns to use a mechanic, a tank turns the boss randomly, or there's an exceptionally long mechanic that denies access to flank/rear and I don't have access to TN due to another mechanic etc. I understand that some people find them challenging (or simply like them), but for me, they're just an occasional annoyance beyond my control.

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Tbf, I suspect even those who enjoy them on the whole are still annoyed by losses outside of their control. Some manner or other of leniency mechanisms, such as via an unintrusive trait, have been suggested since ARR for that very reason.

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

Tbf, I suspect even those who enjoy them on the whole are still annoyed by losses outside of their control. Some manner or other of leniency mechanisms, such as via an unintrusive trait, have been suggested since ARR for that very reason.

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I'm not entirely sure what you have in mind with leniency mechanisms. I think the current solution to leniency is TN, but I'm sure we all know how frustrating that can be during a busy oGCD window (not that we have as many of those anymore), or when charges simply run out due to a mechanic being extremely long or back-to-back with another anti-melee mechanic. If you mean a softer punish for potency/crit/etc. loss, I'm not sure this would satisfy a lot of people; I can't speak for others, but I know that it's the loss of any damage at all that annoys me with positionals.

Aside from the annoying bit of positionals, I simply don't enjoy the mechanic. I don't hate it, but if I had to choose, I think I'd rather go without altogether. It's that additional layer of being annoyed by a forced miss that elevates positionals to strongly disliked for me, as opposed to just being something I'm not really interested in.

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Originally Posted by meowmaou

I would be surprised if, on the team that balances and adjusts jobs, they actually had somebody who played MNK often and was passionate about it. It all feels like weird outsider decisions.

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My guess is just that you're coming at the game with a completely different idea of ideal play. FFXIV classes are being "streamlined" across the board in an attempt to lower the skill floor and make everything more accessible. Between wanting to reduce difficulty and having to introduce new things each XPac, the dev team just ends up not aligning with the more...passionate players.

Been Maining MNK since it was first a thing back in 1.10-1.21

They keep changing it, we keep adapting. Honestly, this current build ain't bad. I don't miss positionals one bit

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Originally Posted by Miralyth

I'm not entirely sure what you have in mind with leniency mechanisms.

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A simple spitball:

Fluid Strikes (Trait) - Every third flank or rear attack you land from the correct position generates a charge of Fluid Strikes, which are consumed to cause your next would-be missed flank or rear attack to deal damage as if it hit from the correct position. You can hold up to three charges of Fluid Strikes.

Simple. Intuitive. Not invasive. Actually deals with random boss spins and tank shenanigans.