Learning how to Monk

So before the patch I decided that I wanted to level my monk to 50 because I love the AF and to be able to wear the adorable crystal tower outfit. ADORABLE.

So now that I am level 50 I figure I should probably really work on not sucking. My marauder is only level 20 - should I level it higher for the other cross abilities?
My lcn is level 34.

Right now I am not using the lcn or warrior abilities in my rotation which is:
Touch of death - > bootshine -> true strike -> demolish -> dragon kick ->twin snakes ->snap punch
I only do it this way because its easier to just have to move once, and i figured i'd get advice from other monks on how to be better. Is it worth it to use the mar/lcn ws?

I also usually will use perfect balance to just snap punch the crap out of the mob.

thanks!

It works pretty differently now in a much better way. I'm not great at Monk, I leveled it as a 2nd Class and haven't put in as much time as I've wanted to but it truly is fun to play, even more-so now. If anyone else can correct me or add something to what I say that'l be great.

Basically your goal is to get all of you buffs up while keeping as many dots up as possible, when I say buffs I mean ofc Greased lightning but also Dragon kick, Twin snakes, Demolish, Touch of Death. (Fracture & Impulse Drive if you have them) But thats not all now, inbetween times you have these buffs/debuffs up we now are more inclined to add in True Strike (strongest single target attack I think now) bootshines and ofc snap punch.

Rotation should be a bit like this I believe:
Touch of Death-Bootshine-Twin Snakes-Fracture?-Demolish-Dragon Kick-True Strike-Snap Punch-Bootshine-Twin Snake-Demolish/Snap Punch/Impulse Drive basically whatever you think is best, I dont know exact timers I play by eye so basically just keep buffs/debuffs up while weaving in the other extra abilities.

Hope it helps.

in my experience, mercy stroke is a good damage CD, kinda like the bard's misery's end for me. i don't use it for the heal but an added dps. also, even if they nerfed BfB as a cross class skill, the added 10% on your damage is still added damage. as for rotation, i only use dragon kick/twin snakes/demolish/touch of death whenever its about to fall off during the current rotation, yeah i clip debuffs and buffs, not sure if its the right thing to do though but my idea behind clipping debuffs is let's say you let demolish fall off on your current rotation, then you won't have a damage from demolish until you get to use it again, and i think that's a lot more loss than when you cap it.

hope this helps

Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Snap Punch/Demolish

Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch/Demolish.

Only replace Snap Punch with Demolish if the target doesn't have the DoT up. If the DoT is up, do not clip it by refreshing it. You have to let it fully tick off to get the most DPS out of the skill.

Use Touch of Death (and Fracture) as necessary to keep them up.

When you spend 1-2 GCDs putting up Touch of Death and/or Fracture it is safer to stick to the default Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes combo to maintain the debuff on target and buff on yourself.

Use Howling Fist and Steel Peak between your GCD skills each time they come up, and if any burst phase exists in content you can consider saving them for that phase.

Use Blood for Blood and Internal Release whenever they are up.

Use Mantra whenever you expect a high damage phase and have key party members (such as tanks) or most of your party in your area of effect.

I usually like to start off with Dragon Kick>> Twin Snakes to get that damage buff active asap. I just try and keep all
of my DoT's ticking on the enemies and use Bootshine>>True Strike whenever you can for the extra damage. (I've been using
fracture lately and I find it fun / useful when I have enough TP).

P.S. in groups of monsters Rock Breaker is nice AoE damage.
P.P.S. If you start a fight with perfect balance you can use dragon kick to apply the blunt resistance debuff before you spam snap punch.

My thoughts:

Cross Class Skills

Lancer: You definitely want Blood for Blood from Lancer. It's 10% instead of 20% now but that's still 10%. You also must grab invigorate. It is absolutely, unequivocally necessary for endgame beatdowns. But, you'll learn it on the way to Blood for Blood so that's just fine. Impulse Drive will do nothing but sap your TP. The recent buffs made it even less desirable: Bootshine will always outdamage any non critical impulse drive and True Strike will always outdamage it.

Marauder: Fracture is a useful thing to supplement your DoT placements. Bloodbath is useful if you're in a situation where you need to heal yourself. Mercy Stroke is very situational, but useful when it's available. Any attack that's off the global cooldown is a-okay in my book.

Actually Fighting

During your three attack chain to keep Greased Lightning up, you'll usually have room to use two skills that are outside those three. It's generally recommended that these be used for applying/reapplying Fracture and Touch of Death whenever necessary.

When using skills that are off the Global Cooldown, use them in between attacks that do use the Global Cooldown. You'll often finish your animations just in time to use your next skill.

Make sure to keep track of what positioning each skill requires. You're wasting time and damage any time you attack the wrong side of the enemy. Monks are said to have a "dance of death" for a good reason: it's almost never a good idea to stand still!

I'm not sure if the debuff activates with Perfect Balance, I'm sure these dubuffs could only be applied if you'r in the actual form, hence also why it stronger to start with Bootshine now(No dubuff until the next combo round when your in the form) although this couldv changed with the patch also lol

The debuff does not activate with Perfect Balance. You can, however, build Greased Lightning stacks with it. For the first rotation, Bootshine is equal to a Dragon Kick to the side.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Donjo

The debuff does not activate with Perfect Balance. You can, however, build Greased Lightning stacks with it. For the first rotation, Bootshine is equal to a Dragon Kick to the side.

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Unless they changed it again, the Dragon Kick debuff was actually applied when used during PB - at least before 2.1.

That being said, when using PB for an opener it's a better idea to use Snapx3 or Demo > Snapx2 first to get to GL3 and then pick what you think is best for the remaining 2 slots before PB runs out.

Dragon Kick hasn't applied the debuff if you were not in the right stance.

My PB starter:

PB > Snap(GL1) > Snap(GL2) > Snap(GL3) > Twin S. > B4B > Demo [PB off] > IR > ToD > Fracture > DK (maybe BS) > True S. > Snap Punch > Howling Fist > DK > Twin S. > Demo [B4B off] [IR off]

I do this to get a 2nd demolish off with B4B boost. I've found if I use B4B before Demo and IR after, when Demo is about to fall off, I can recast with buffs still applied. I clip the last tick of damage on Demo, but having the buffs applied during the next demo makes up for that.

I notice you guys apply ToD first. Is it worth it to apply ToD at such a weak state (No GL/Buffs) rather than waiting 15-ish seconds (in my rotation) to apply it with GL3 and buffs? I could overwrite it once buffs are on, but 25 pot for 15 seconds (5 ticks) = 125 + 20 initial = 145 potency before I overwrite, costing the GCD to apply the skill, which could be used once I have GL3 on other skills?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SilentGrind

I notice you guys apply ToD first. Is it worth it to apply ToD at such a weak state (No GL/Buffs) rather than waiting 15-ish seconds (in my rotation) to apply it with GL3 and buffs? I could overwrite it once buffs are on, but 25 pot for 15 seconds (5 ticks) = 125 + 20 initial = 145 potency before I overwrite, costing the GCD to apply the skill, which could be used once I have GL3 on other skills?

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I do this, but I was thinking of going the other way around and buffing first then dots... but by the time im buffed the dots could already have been ticking so who knows lol.

thanks everyone! I will put fracture in my rotation with the dots and I'll level up my mrd to get mercy stroke.

I think i mostly have to practice moving my hand from using abilities to moving my character and not clumsily hitting "r" and auto running off into the distance. >_>

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SilentGrind

I notice you guys apply ToD first. Is it worth it to apply ToD at such a weak state (No GL/Buffs) rather than waiting 15-ish seconds (in my rotation) to apply it with GL3 and buffs? I could overwrite it once buffs are on, but 25 pot for 15 seconds (5 ticks) = 125 + 20 initial = 145 potency before I overwrite, costing the GCD to apply the skill, which could be used once I have GL3 on other skills?

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I always have my DoT's up no matter the buff. It's not a matter of which does better damage it's just flat out doing damage. So waiting any length of time to get your DoT's up is bad imo. Also, try and work it so your only wasting time putting up one DoT at a time ie start with ToD and end rotation with Fracture. And NoctisUmbra.....BAD MONK! BAD! Don't EVAR use Steel Peak as DPS and make a boss of any kind immune to stuns. People will get very angry with you and it will just help name us the FFXIV equivalent of Huntard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taroque

And NoctisUmbra.....BAD MONK! BAD! Don't EVAR use Steel Peak as DPS and make a boss of any kind immune to stuns. People will get very angry with you and it will just help name us the FFXIV equivalent of Huntard.

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Are you nuts? Most enemies don't require any timed stuns, in which case if you are holding off on Steel Peak then you are wasting DPS and are just plain bad.

However for targets where Stun immunity is important (ie. Chimera, Ifrit, Dreadknights in T5, etc.) then yes, do not use Steel Peak.

If people get upset with me for stunning targets where specific stun timing is not required, then that speaks for their incompetence and not mine. That being said, I've never had people get upset with me for using Steel Peak outside of the situations I mentioned so... lol.

The monk rotation has never been an actual rotation. It is a priority system more than anything else, with priorities going to keeping GLX3, TS, DK up, and always ensuring Demolish, ToD, and fracture are up. Some people don't take fracture because it's a TP dump in long fight situations but I still take it. When all of those things are up, you're going to be using Bootshine, True Strike, and Snap Punch.

I also don't ever apply ToD or Fracture until I have GLX3, would rather spend those GCDs on stacking GLX3 quicker.

Also using SPeak and Howling Fist on cooldown in between GCD burns, don't SPeak if a boss requires stuns.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taroque

People will get very angry with you and it will just help name us the FFXIV equivalent of Huntard.

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You're doing that yourself, buddy. Always always always change your rotation to fit the encounter you are in. There are more fights where Steel Peak is usable on cool down than not.