Monk or Dragoon?

Hey guys,

Strangely enough I couldn't find a post already on the forums regarding this, so I thought I'd ask.

A few things first. I'm not really interested in who does more damage or, who is more sought out for end game raids/dungeons/primals. What I really want to know is which do you consider more fun and why?

As it stands, I have my DRG at 35 and my PGL at 24. The PGL is not as much fun so far but, I do realise I have the bare minimum toolkit at the moment and things will definitely amp up and change as I unlock more skills.

I have really enjoyed DRG so far. Pretty straight forward but, I can see rotations becoming a tad bit more difficult as I learn more. That said, difficulty of play does interest me because it keeps me focussed and I generally find I don't really have time to get bored. Easy class/jobs are not my thing.

Does anyone have both? Can you tell me which you enjoy more and why?

I'd appreciate any feedback!

This is a decent video comparing the two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfr508Dy6w8

It goes over the differences pretty thoroughly, and the rotation diagrams give you a good idea what you're going to be doing at 50. It doesn't go over what is more fun, but that's really because fun is more subjective.

General consensus is that MNK is the hardest dps to play optimally, but DRG can get pretty complicated too. I haven't played a DRG high, but I can say you'll have a better idea of how a MNK will feel at 30 (you get new form attacks at 26 and 30). However, you won't see the full picture until 50 when you get DK and perfect balance.

I have both at 50 and from a fun perspective i find MNK a bit more entertaining. DRG has the visual appeal though.
All in all i find them both to be challenging and extremely fun to play.

I don't have either DRG or MNK at 50, but the core group that I play with runs both in 8 mans.

MNK has higher personal DPS, but requires more time to build up and loses a lot of DPS anytime he is forced to lose his stacks of Grease Lightning. You probably played enough PUG to know that the MNK is all about rotating their stance skills to eventually build up enough Grease Lightning, and then maintaining it while keep stance changing.

On the other hand, DRG has a bit better burst and less start time for his DPS (or at least it feels that way to me). The biggest plus for a DRG is his ability to increase piercing damage done to a target. This means if your group likes to have more than one BRD, then the DRG would be significantly increasing the damage of the group. Since you have a level 34 DRG, I don't need to tell you about the playstyle.

Overall, play what you want. Both are good in 8 mans.

Monk is more fun in a good group. Dragoon is more fun in a pug or solo. My personal experience

I have not leveled up my PGL yet but I'm really enjoying Dragoon class now that I'm at 50. It gets a little repetitive leveling a DRG as there are three main combos (and only one that you'll unlock until you hit 50), but the fun part is balancing all of your buffs and jumps in between once you unlock Chaos Thrust at 50. There is a really good thread on the basics of Dragoon in this DPS sub section of the forums.

First off, thanks very much for taking to time to reply to my thread everyone, I appreciate it. It seems like both have quite different playstyle's and both can really excel and be a lot of fun to play. As for a decision I think its best that I just go hard and level both up. The FATE grind probably won't be too much fun but, in the end I'm sure I won't regret it :cool:

Thanks again!

Monk is more fun because it has faster global cooldowns thanks to greased lightning. It is a game and hitting buttons is fun. Monk lets you hit more buttons and have more actions per minute.

I have both and Drg is extremely simple and boring. Mnk scales better and more entertaining to play.

Depends, do you want to be fun or useful?

DRG is better than MNK, however, DRG isn't as fun.

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Originally Posted by Garnatian

Depends, do you want to be fun or useful?

DRG is better than MNK, however, DRG isn't as fun.

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yea drg is better than mnk if u like inferior dps on bosses and primals. thats why i play mnk because i can use my noggin and actually combo and out dps brds/drgs all day long. Infact usually only great blms come close to my dps.

DRG is better than MNK? First off that is not what he asked, he asked which is more fun.
I have a 50 MNK and currently lvling my DRG which is at 38, it all depends on what you want,
they both need to move a lot but the MNK has a bit of a ramp up time.
Me personally? MNK is a beast that slumbers and awaits to awaken and it's a hell of a lot of fun to play. To reply to the ignoramus here, the class is only as good as the player, I've played with both great DRGs and crappy ones and I've been told by others how good of a MNK I am and I've seen my share of crappy MNKs. Before you go on an endless babble of reasons why DRGs are "better" I'll have you know, You have not played with me.

i have both at 50, they are different in the design, DRG have an insane burst, but have a constant dps quit decent out of the burst.
the mnk is more complex at play, but the dps can be more important if you can maintain GL+TS

Have to agree with the other posters here. My MNK more or less consistently outdamages my DRG, even with the occasional mess up in GL keep up. Now when it comes to bursting down adds real quick, i think the DRG is better.

I have by no means played both at endgame, but here are my two cents. Dragoon is a bit slower and more bursty and will melt trash and adds like they are nothing. Monk on the other hand because of its ramp up wont be as helpful on trash and adds however a good monk will come out on top on boss fights followed by a good dragoon. what most people dont understand is that they are inherently different. and it really comes down to preference. I personally chose dragoon simply because my FC has quite a few monks and I really only play melee and we also have plenty of tanks.

TLDR they are different Dragoon= BURST Monk= SUSTAINED both are a lot of fun, but that is subjective.

I have both DRG and MNK at 50. I won't lie, I found MNK was extremely boring to level. Mostly because they're pretty weak until you're 50 and well geared. DRG's are flashier and feel like they're dealing more damage while leveling since they can still pull off their main combo without worrying about positioning. I won't get into too much detail of end game dps classes, but I'll just say if you've got the time to invest in leveling/gearing a MNK and doing coil, go for it. If you're not really in a rush, go DRG. Not so much that one is better than the other, but because Monks just aren't as fun dealing sub-par dps on primal fights because you're undergeared, while a DRG can still be fun without the best gear.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...38/731/0fc.gif

My main is dragoon, but I'm levelling pugilist next for the cross skill, might as well try to turn the class into job monk along the way

Thanks again for all the replies guys!

I leveled up my MNK to 31 last night, gotta say the FATE grind almost killed me :/ The job really picked up at 30 and am looking forward to unlocking more abilities. On a side note I really enjoyed the story so far with DRG but, not so much PGL/MNK.

What I have picked up from everyone is that the play styles are quite different with DRG being less gear dependent and having spike damage while MNK is more fast paced and gear dependent with sustained damage. While I understand that for end game, damage is important, it wasn't my main objective, it was all about what I enjoy more.

QUOTE=Theref;1426780]http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...38/731/0fc.gif

My main is dragoon, but I'm levelling pugilist next for the cross skill, might as well try to turn the class into job monk along the way[/QUOTE]

This may be the way to go.

Monks are complicated and hard to play, Once you figure them out, It's the best melee DPS for melting down high HP bosses.

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Originally Posted by Zaythe

I'd appreciate any feedback!

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Both jobs are difficult to play and keep a high DPS. They both do some pretty sweet stuff.

I like DRGs because they have a much higher burst, and look saweet. MNK looks pretty darn fun though.

If you do play a Monk, please don't be one of those 92 DPS "I wonder why we can't get past heart phase" Monks on Titan. Thanks.

90 dps monk ? lol

Two.

Two 90 DPS Monks in a row and they had like Ifrit and Garuda weapons.

Monk seems like it is the hardest to master, but both have very good dps output when played correctly. If you like seeing bigger numbers and flashy attacks I would say go for Drg. Monks hit for smaller numbers, but with increase frequency. Both have positional requirements for attacks. As said by others, Drg also brings the piercing debuff that increases not only their damage, but the damage of bards as well. I believe monks can also cause a debuff that will increase the output/emnity of Plds.

In the end you can level both and decide for yourself. Both are used in endgame depending on group makeups and whatnot.

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Originally Posted by EasymodeX

Two.

Two 90 DPS Monks in a row and they had like Ifrit and Garuda weapons.

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Wow, thats really uncool, perhaps they have no idea about the positional requirements. I just hit 34 and I feel that MNK is really picking up at least, in dungeons. It feels really smooth and fluid and quite a few times I have stolen hate off of the tank in Brayflox's. Haha, was good, I really made him work for it! The only problem I have is that I cannot seem to use True Strike in my rotation as to Twin Snakes will fall off. I have heard that with more skill speed, this will be possible. Is that correct and should I leave True Strike out of my rotation for now?

I will keep plugging away on both and see where it leads me. So far both are pretty damn fun

Basically True Strike only works if:

(1) You are using a pure MNK rotation (no Fracture, no ID), or
(2) You have a ton of skill speed (more than you should by a good margin)

In other words, Monks can essentially drop True Strike for most situations.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EasymodeX

Basically True Strike only works if:

(1) You are using a pure MNK rotation (no Fracture, no ID), or
(2) You have a ton of skill speed (more than you should by a good margin)

In other words, Monks can essentially drop True Strike for most situations.

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Ah awesome, ty for the reply. Atm I am not using Fr or ID (impulse drive?). I was actually curious about ID. Is this a move to spam while 'bursting' on a MNK? I think I will swap out Mercy Stroke for Fr tho, I just forget to replace it in dungeons cause it is a nice heal soloing while waiting for them to pop. I would like to weave some AoE rotations in too for something different but, low level dungeons just seem to focus on one enemy at a time while the others are cc'd.

All in all its fast, smooth and lots of fun. Really looking forward to more abilities as always.

ID is useful when the boss has less than 18 seconds to live so DoTs are no good or if you need some burst.