Experience from Monk

First of all, i think it's a very very funny class with great fast killing potential in groups. I still need 3 levels to get to 50 and get all skils but so far this class seems to get more damage as the fight goes on by stacking greased lightning + twin snakes. But i have a few questions for end-game dps:
1) is it worth using dots apart from demolish?
2) How can a monk use flank skills safely from 180 cones? Is it better to sacrifice flank damage and go safe by using only back skills? I used to die a lot from that.
3) Any advice on rotation - cross class skills?
4) Regarding dps stats, strength is priority but for secondary crit.strike or skill speed? Crit strike is somehow fixed with internal release which makes monk a beast and it has very low cd but mby it needs a tiny boost? Skill speed seems more important since i want to alternate skills and combos fast to maximize dps quickly.

Any other advice??? :D

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Originally Posted by TallonOverworld

1) is it worth using dots apart from demolish?

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Touch of Death is worth using once your GL3 is up.
Fracture (cross class) is debatable, I use it on the shorter fights where I know I won't run out of TP. It's not bad per se, but it is expensive and only a marginal raise in DPS.

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2) How can a monk use flank skills safely from 180 cones? Is it better to sacrifice flank damage and go safe by using only back skills? I used to die a lot from that.

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Always watch the target circle, flank ends where the thick line ends.
http://i.imgur.com/RdUvloW.png
You can stand at ~190/200 degrees and still be on its flank while avoiding those pesky 180 degree conals. ;)

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3) Any advice on rotation - cross class skills?

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I'd say play around with what is comfortable and easy to remember for you.
Other then that, you can get a whole lot of advise from the monk temple thread.

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4) Regarding dps stats,

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It's been a while and things may have changed, but last I read (pre 2.1) was:
- Weapon Damage
- Strength
- Determination
- Crit
- Skill speed
(Feel free to correct me)

For cross class skill, Invigorate is a must, Blood for Blood is still useful damage boost, Mercy Stroke useful for that last burst damage, Bloodbath is pretty useful too to get some HP back, the last cross class skill I am really not sure what is good, most go for Fracture I guess.

Fracture is quite good as a disengage ability at the very least.

You can also start with Touch of Death to have DoT dmg going while you're buildin up to GL3 and then re-apply when it's about to fall off if you want.

For the stats i'm building my monk around Deter>crit>SS.
As long as i can do every spells i need to during my Perfect balance,i don't think i need more SS.
Ofc,on a long fight without interruptions,it would be better but there is no fight like this .

For the rotation i think you already know them ,just don't forget to reset your twin snakes and dragon kick when they're about to fall off.It's really important,missing one or two won't be too much but missing a lot will reduce your dps.

And ofc,it's worth to use your DOT(touch of death)and having fractuce is good aswell.Sometimes it's really usefull when you know the boss is going to go away for a while so you can put your dots on him before.But if you can just hit him without too much interruption,touch of death and demolish are enough.

1.ToD, yes. Fracture is debatable.Fracture doesnt aid in keeping your GL stacks up, and costs tp every 18s, id stay away from it

2. This is contradictory because you cant have a 180 degree Cone. That being said, there are none and in most cases a melee dps' safest spot is flank. Youre probably just too close to enemy's front. you have a lot of flank room

3. Rotate between "Dragon Kick-Twin Snakes- Snap Punch" and "Bootshine- True Strike- Snap punch/Demolish" Basics. Cross Class skills: Blood for Blood, Invigorate, Mercy Stroke are essential. Bloodbath, Keen Flurry n Foresight are reasonable

4. You are more useful during long boss battles, meaning youll need to sustain TP. Youll want your skill speed at a certain number so you are able to get in 5 hits during Perfect Balance, but faster skill speed = faster TP burn. Between these two, i'd say Crit Rate. But over both of these, probably Determination as it helps boost over all damage.

Also, since your lancer is lvl 15 I believe, you dont have Invigorate. So you definitely want to stay away from too much Skill Speed and Fracture.

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Originally Posted by T1M0N

Sometimes it's really usefull when you know the boss is going to go away for a while so you can put your dots on him before.

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Why do people still think that this is a thing? That's not how it works. Just because a DoT might still be applying damage while you are physically incapable of using further attacks on an enemy does not magically make them do more damage than if you were to use the same GCD (that you used to apply the DoT with) for any other attack instead.

Whether you have to disconnect from an enemy for *any* duration of time (as a generic rule) has absolutely no effect on the damage done by any particular ability in relation to how those abilities perform for a given interval. The only parameter that has any meaningful data for comparing the damage of one ability to another is within the interval of effective potency by GCD. That is to say, the only meaningful statistic is the total potency that will result from the action of utilizing a singular GCD in order to utilize/apply the ability.

If you have a DoT ability that does 200 potency over the course of its duration, and a direct damage ability that also does 200 potency, then there is absolutely no difference between spending a single GCD to use either ability. It does not matter how any further GCDs from that single window are utilized. You spent one GCD to use an ability, and that single GCD returns an expected total potency. You could use either ability then go sit on your hands for 30 seconds, and the returned value from that GCD wouldn't have changed at all.

Now since DoTs do generally have a higher total potency if they run their full course uninterrupted, you would generally put the application of a DoT ability ahead of others in a priority rotation. However, because of the previously described rule, the only factor that can alter the effective potency of the GCD utilized to apply a DoT is causing the full course of the DoT to be interrupted. This can happen by reapplying a DoT before the original has finished, from forced boss transitions, or from the mob dying before the DoT has finished (negligible at that point). Either or both of the first two means that you have effectively devalued the output of the GCD used to originally apply the DoT; thus, making it less effective than if you had just hit a direct damage ability instead.

Since the most common situation that you'll be forced to spend time away from a boss is primal phase transitions, and they go invulnerable when transitioning (even though DoTs are still ticking for 0 damage), trying to put a DoT on just because you have to disconnect is actually about the worst thing you could do.

TL;DR

Stay in school and learn math.

1. ToD is a good skill so don't leave it there hanging xD
2. As i've noticed quite a few times I don't need to stand on the very side of him. Sometimes I notice that you can stand on the South West of the enemy. Try attacking after the enemy has attacked that works as well as the moves have CD for their attack as well.
3. Rotation:
1st Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch
2nd Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Demolish
3rd Perfect Balance > Snap Punch > True Strike > True Strike > Demolish (I can only do 4 attacks). If I don't have PB this time I go Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch
4th Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Snap Punch > ToD
5th Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch (I Know you lose your Demolish around this time)
6th Bootshine True Strike > Snap Punch (I wanted to pour the max DPS i can at this time)
7th Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Demolish > ToD
then Repeat
As for cross class skill FcT is not that worth for long fights

Continuation:
That is what I'm using right now. I have to experiment a bit later today :)
For opening you can try this as well Demo > BfB > Snap > IR > Snap > Steel > DK > Howl > Snap > DK > Twin > ToD > Demo > Boot* > True > Snap > DK > Twin > Snap > then follow the rotation i put up :) (credits to NoctisUmbra)

As for the advice uhm.. DON'T TWERK!!! :D

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Originally Posted by TallonOverworld

1) is it worth using dots apart from demolish?

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Yes. Get GL3 up and then apply ToD. I'd even wait till you use BFB/IR before using it. What I do is build up GL3 and then go back to boot > truestrike > activate BFB/IR > demolish > dragon kick > twin > ToD

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Originally Posted by TallonOverworld

2) How can a monk use flank skills safely from 180 cones? Is it better to sacrifice flank damage and go safe by using only back skills? I used to die a lot from that.

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Look at the picture above. You have plenty of room and shouldn't be near the cone.

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Originally Posted by TallonOverworld

3) Any advice on rotation - cross class skills?

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Prior to GL3 and assuming perfect balance is down:

Bootshine to open. Some use dragon kick...but it will only have the same potency if you are on the flank. The start of the fight is generally pretty hectic so I just play it safe and BS.

Pre-GL3 and no perfect balance

BS > twin > snap GL1 > dragon > true > demolish GL2 > BS > true > snap GL3 > dragon > BFB + IR + true > demolish > dragon > ToD > twin > snap > howling fist + steel peak > IR wears off around here

From here it's simply:

BS > true > demo >
dragon > twin > snap

I personally like to line up my IR and BFB timers

Pre-GL3 and perfect balance

perfect balance > twin > snap GL1 > snap GL2 > dragon > demo GL3 > BS if you have time

Then it's just:

dragon > twin > snap
BFB + IR boot > true > demolish > apply ToD and repeat from dragon

You must get invigorate. BFB is a huge DPS increase. I don't have mercy stroke but I see the MNK I do turn 5 with on my BLM has it. It contributes about .5% to his DPS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TallonOverworld

4) Regarding dps stats, strength is priority but for secondary crit.strike or skill speed? Crit strike is somehow fixed with internal release which makes monk a beast and it has very low cd but mby it needs a tiny boost? Skill speed seems more important since i want to alternate skills and combos fast to maximize dps quickly.

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weapon damage > str > det = crit until you are at softcap for crit then det is better than crit > SS

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Originally Posted by TallonOverworld

Any other advice??? :D

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Make a macro for ToD.

Code:

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/macroicon "Touch of Death"
/ac "Touch of Death" <t>
/wait 25
/echo ****TOD READY IN 5 S****<se.14><se.14><se.14>

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