Blitz monk should not be the way forward for the job

I've mained monk ever since 3.0. I'm sure there are some older monks too who can attest to how it was in ARR. The job has gone through a lot of different identities and changes throughout its life and I think the current iteration of monk is probably my least favorite. I know this is an unpopular opinion because I've heard so many people talking about it's high damage and "flexibility". Despite the praise I've heard, and spending nearly two months with the job now I'm still not convinced. I'd argue that new monk is much more restrictive than it was previously.

We have done the "build then spend" job design to death. That is literally how every job in the game is built. Every job is a nuker. I think monk was much more fun when it broke that mold and did something different. I like the built in low GCD. Rather than having monk build up in order to use the one or two skills that actually deal any significant damage, it should focus in on the fantasy of attacking lighter but faster. Give it more consistent damage across the whole fight rather than waiting every 60s before it's allowed to do any real damage.

Blitz right now is too clunky. The basic rotation may seem easy to me, but for someone learning the job brand new it must be a nightmare to learn on top of trying to figure out how they're suppose to use then during perfect balance. I don't know why we don't just have one blitz that's single target and one that is for aoe. I would rather see Riddle of Fire gone and replaced with maybe a reworked riddle of wind that further increases all attack speed.

I know I'm the minority here but I really don't like the direction monk is going. Honestly I thought ShB was fine. It wasn't perfect, but I think we're causing more problems for the job by trying to reinvent the wheel every single expansion.

Your opinion isn´t unpopular, there are enough players out there who dislike the changes. We lost everything on MNK to get some reused high damage buttons at the end of each PB, that´s it. It´s no fun, not complex or difficulty to execute. Variety is not a thing unless you fck´d up and need a comeback into your rotation. It´s just PB, 3 buttons, finisher, followed by a lot of boring time out of the burstwindows. RoW is there to be there.

Such changes have been unneccesary. Blitz might´ve been a good addition on top what we had with positionals and oGCD´s, but now? The pickrate didn´t even increase. MNK is still one of the least played classes, because a lot of vets dropped it. I´m pretty sure the pickrate would even be lower, if MNK wouldn´t be so ridiculous strong imo for no reason.

The new monk isnt for everybody, I think is the best version since ARR, they did a good job with the new design, is not perfect, but is in a good direction. I like that the devs take risk like this to rethink a job, and not to be stuck in an old "gonna go fast" job only...

I think this is the best base we've had since TK-rotation Stormblood. It just needs more atop that base.

I'd love, for instance, to see Blitz have more than just 1 (1 or both Nadi up, with no need to resync to raid buffs) or 2 (no Nadi, at a SkS tier that allows for either choice in the present rotational context) viable choices in a given moment and perhaps more than just 3 viable choices on the whole, for RoW to offer more than just 5-6 free auto-attacks (potent though they may be), and for us to have more to do between Blitzes.

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Originally Posted by ssunny2008

Your opinion isn´t unpopular, there are enough players out there who dislike the changes. We lost everything on MNK to get some reused high damage buttons at the end of each PB, that´s it. It´s no fun, not complex or difficulty to execute. Variety is not a thing unless you fck´d up and need a comeback into your rotation. It´s just PB, 3 buttons, finisher, followed by a lot of boring time out of the burstwindows. RoW is there to be there.

Such changes have been unneccesary. Blitz might´ve been a good addition on top what we had with positionals and oGCD´s, but now? The pickrate didn´t even increase. MNK is still one of the least played classes, because a lot of vets dropped it. I´m pretty sure the pickrate would even be lower, if MNK wouldn´t be so ridiculous strong imo for no reason.

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Monk isn't one of the least played DPS.

In the Savage raid Monk is well above Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja, Machinist, and Dancer.

Vets like you may have dropped Monk but it was then picked up by new Monk players that embraced the changes.

The new Monk isn't going anywhere.

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Originally Posted by Xiaoki

Monk isn't one of the least played DPS.

In the Savage raid Monk is well above Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja, Machinist, and Dancer.

Vets like you may have dropped Monk but it was then picked up by new Monk players that embraced the changes.

The new Monk isn't going anywhere.

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Only based on week 1 clears before the overall numbers have stabilized. In Normal mode, the dungeons, and the extremes, Monk is only beating Ninja in plays. Hell, in P1S, Monk is the second least played job, once again only beating Ninja. Once more people clear in the next couple of weeks Monk's clear numbers are pretty much certain to fall down there.

That said, I actually do like the current Monk quite a bit more than any iteration of the job other than Heavensward from a pure gameplay perspective, even if I think there's quite a few things that could be improved about it.

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Originally Posted by Xiaoki

Monk isn't one of the least played DPS.

In the Savage raid Monk is well above Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja, Machinist, and Dancer.

Vets like you may have dropped Monk but it was then picked up by new Monk players that embraced the changes.

The new Monk isn't going anywhere.

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MNK's being played in savage because its too good not to bring, like Reaper. High end players aren't playing it because they like MNK, they're playing the job because you're losing out by not having one in your party.

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Originally Posted by Jotaku

The new monk isnt for everybody, I think is the best version since ARR, they did a good job with the new design, is not perfect, but is in a good direction. I like that the devs take risk like this to rethink a job, and not to be stuck in an old "gonna go fast" job only...

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It's literally stuck in a "gotta go fast" state because the devs just gave Monk GL as a trait.

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Originally Posted by SpeckledBurd

Only based on week 1 clears before the overall numbers have stabilized. In Normal mode, the dungeons, and the extremes, Monk is only beating Ninja in plays. Hell, in P1S, Monk is the second least played job, once again only beating Ninja. Once more people clear in the next couple of weeks Monk's clear numbers are pretty much certain to fall down there.

That said, I actually do like the current Monk quite a bit more than any iteration of the job other than Heavensward from a pure gameplay perspective, even if I think there's quite a few things that could be improved about it.

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No one is submitting new parses to the Extreme raids, Normal Pandemonium, or the Expert dungeons. There's no need to. They were on farm the first day.

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Originally Posted by Jotaku

The new monk isnt for everybody.

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Old MNK wasn´t for everybody too and yet ppl cried the hell out until we got the boring state we´ve now. "Too increase its playerbase" is kind of laughable when this actually didn´t happen and may become worse in the future. The core reason why MNK is picked in raids is because it´s too strong, not because so many ppl seem to enjoy it.

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Originally Posted by Jotaku

but is in a good direction. I like that the devs take risk like this to rethink a job, and not to be stuck in an old "gonna go fast" job only...

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The direction is bad. We lost so many stuff to get 3 burstbuttons we press every 40 (60) seconds.

SE didn´t rethink anything anyway. They just took a lot of stuff away. MNK has still the same core rotation and skills, even the speed is the same. All what they´ve done is to get ride of any oGCD´s but chakra and 4 positionals. PB is still the same, just cutted. Freeform at its end is just another QoL, but we still sit on TK/BS spam most of the time or rotate 123. The only time we gonna make use of the freeform is after the RP-PB to play braindead-mode.
Yeah, some ppl didn´t like positonals, got it. You guys had the chance to stuck on any other melee, hell RPR would be for you now, braindead and slow af. But no... MNK needed to be cutted for dumb reasons, to cater lazy players. Every 2nd boss has a full circle on top, just congratz... you can stay on your spot all day long and search for the right button. Netflix-time i guess.

God bless we still have Anatman for the major-increase of 1-3DPS in transition-phases.

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Originally Posted by Xiaoki

No one is submitting new parses to the Extreme raids, Normal Pandemonium, or the Expert dungeons. There's no need to. They were on farm the first day.

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It doesn´t matter if something is on farm or not. We talk about the pick-rate, the overall popularity. It was a welcome argument from ppl who´ve been against all the positionals or MNK overall, "Monk has the least playerbase, that´s why it needs changes."
So we´ve only ff.logs imo and it clearly shows that MNK isn´t more popular than before, no matter which content we look at. The new savage raids might be somehow different, but the reason is obvious. Any week 1 or even week 2 static would be dumb to no to bring MNK or RPR or both with them. And i´m convinced that another reason why MNK is close to others is, that NIN got fckd up and half the playerbase stucks on RPR / SMN because they´re easy and shiny. Without being broken... MNK would lose hard.

The changes didn´t help in any way to get more ppl into MNK. Even if we say "1 vet left, 1 newbie came", then the changes are still worse than good. To fck up a whole class-playerbase and lots of vets, to cater ppl who might play MNK here and there or because it´s overtuned imo, is a joke. MNK has been unique but now it´s just easy peasy homogenized for some dumb reasons.

EDIT: Btw last day Extremes... https://www.fflogs.com/zone/statisti...s=DPS&sample=1 , or dungeons https://www.fflogs.com/zone/statisti...s=DPS&sample=1 ppl still log any shit out there.

There definitely was a time where monk didn't have a burst phase, and rather it just offered steady, consistent damage across the whole of a fight. It was different from the rest and actually made the job a lot simpler to play. It was more about knowing how to optimize your rotation and adjusting to make sure you consistently hit your positionals.

Now... monk feels like a clone of older versions of ninja. I don't hate that we have a couple big attacks and party utility. But for me, I'd prefer going back to steady damage, and high speed with hitting that consistency relying on player attentiveness than getting your things right in the burst window. The latter is basically every other job in the game.

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Originally Posted by wereotter

It was different from the rest and actually made the job a lot simpler to play.

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I agree with everything else, but not with this one so far.

A lot of points ppl brought up in the past has been like "MNK is too punishing". No matter if it was the downtime or death-penalty with GL or to miss some positionals caused by mechanics or bad tanks. You had to line up your burstphase aswell too and the cd´s weren´t so perfect aligned through all classes as they are now. (I´m convinced that all those ppl who claimed "positionals are easy but suck", didn´t perform well with them so...)

Imo the current MNK has less to do, everything aligns perfectly if you just hold it on cooldown, the core rotation is the same and positionals got cutted hard. Nadi´s can´t be failed due to celestial. PR can´t be missed, no matter how you smash on your keyboard. To use the same Nadi twice isn´t that big of a deal too. Yes you delay PR, but if it has that big effect depends on the fights length. Missing a buffed bootshine positional has been probably worse and they´ve been way more common than those 3 burstskills within 2 minutes.

Might be opinion-based and ofc the no GL-MNK wasn´t that hard to play, but i guess the stuff we had before has been more difficult to play than Blitzmonk with less stuff to care about.

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Originally Posted by ssunny2008

I agree with everything else, but not with this one so far.

A lot of points ppl brought up in the past has been like "MNK is too punishing". No matter if it was the downtime or death-penalty with GL or to miss some positionals caused by mechanics or bad tanks. You had to line up your burstphase aswell too and the cd´s weren´t so perfect aligned through all classes as they are now. (I´m convinced that all those ppl who claimed "positionals are easy but suck", didn´t perform well with them so...)

Imo the current MNK has less to do, everything aligns perfectly if you just hold it on cooldown, the core rotation is the same and positionals got cutted hard. Nadi´s can´t be failed due to celestial. PR can´t be missed, no matter how you smash on your keyboard. To use the same Nadi twice isn´t that big of a deal too. Yes you delay PR, but if it has that big effect depends on the fights length. Missing a buffed bootshine positional has been probably worse and they´ve been way more common than those 3 burstskills within 2 minutes.

Might be opinion-based and ofc the no GL-MNK wasn´t that hard to play, but i guess the stuff we had before has been more difficult to play than Blitzmonk with less stuff to care about.

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I'm thinking really far back, like Heavensward monk, which didn't really have a burst phase. You'd maybe use Fracture and refresh Bootshine if Battle Litany or Trick Attack was up, and that was it. Otherwise monk just had a steady baseline damage that was entirely dependent on you being able to maximize up time and properly execute positionals. Sure you'd lose some, like if you couldn't move to the flank because Scrapline was charging up in A9, but you'd just take the penalty from missing the position because it was more important to keep your GCD rolling.

I'm not saying that the current iteration is bad or hard, I just preferred having steady damage to having burst then lull then burst and repeat.

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Originally Posted by wereotter

I'm thinking really far back, like Heavensward monk, which didn't really have a burst phase. You'd maybe use Fracture and refresh Bootshine if Battle Litany or Trick Attack was up, and that was it. Otherwise monk just had a steady baseline damage that was entirely dependent on you being able to maximize up time and properly execute positionals. Sure you'd lose some, like if you couldn't move to the flank because Scrapline was charging up in A9, but you'd just take the penalty from missing the position because it was more important to keep your GCD rolling.

I'm not saying that the current iteration is bad or hard, I just preferred having steady damage to having burst then lull then burst and repeat.

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You still built around Internal Release and Blood for Blood back then, ideally getting ToD and Demolish into both.

Heck, perhaps the only reason it didn't feel like it had a burst phase was just that PB was on a whopping 3-minute cooldown, leaving you far fewer tools with which to exploit your damage (you just had the rotational string leading up to your CDs in which to rearrange ToD, Fracture, and Demolish) such that those bonuses felt more... passive.

Given that the difference seems less one between burst and sustain and just having additional means of control and not having them...

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

You still built around Internal Release and Blood for Blood back then, ideally getting ToD and Demolish into both.

Heck, perhaps the only reason it didn't feel like it had a burst phase was just that PB was on a whopping 3-minute cooldown, leaving you far fewer tools with which to exploit your damage (you just had the rotational string leading up to your CDs in which to rearrange ToD, Fracture, and Demolish) such that those bonuses felt more... passive.

Given that the difference seems less one between burst and sustain and just having additional means of control and not having them...

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Funny.... after so long typing this out, I'd actually forgotten about inner release and blood for blood, but I suppose that did create a bit of a burst window, though even then that kind of burst was nothing so extreme as the brotherhood, riddle of fire, and two blitzes plus all the forbidden charkras level of burst monk is now.

I like the direction MNK is going in but I can't say I like how it was implemented.

As a retired monk main the changes took me a bit to understand, and I finally understand them. But I kindof hate them. Things I like are the GL being a trait oddly enough. I like just going in and only getting faster without worry of getting hit with slowmo shoes. But the new mech we got I kindof no I flat out hate. Maybe I just suck but I hate the new mech we got. It never feel goods and just feels like adding busy work to a class that didn't need busy work. Why we gotta be low tier ninjas? I wish we go back to just being a fast high damage hitting class with no sega gimps. Matter of fact why can't monk just be a martial artist class that has a flat good and beffy rotation without the mini games? Take out the mini games and add a bit more to the basic rotation and it'll be almost perfect I think. I just hate the mini game added.

I like the current monk. I wanted to main it back in the early days of ShB, but GL was such an unfain and frustrating mechanic. After they "traited" GL, I enjoyed monk, but it felt really simple. This current version is a bit more involved than late ShB, though still a bit simple. The one thing I'm still not a big fan of is the DoT on Demolish. Though it's easier to manage now, thanks to the freedom we get during PB windows, it still promotes a fairly rigid "best" gcd.

An idea I had on that front was moving the DoT to Six-Sided Star, and changing SSS to a normal GCD (130 Potency + DoT). DoT duration could be adjusted, if needed, but in the end doesn't really matter since SSS can be injected into the rotation without interrupting it. As for Demolish, stick a new buff on it with an 18s duration (maybe Crit chance bonus?), and we stay with the 18 GCD core rotation.

Also, Anatman is still useless. What would people think of changing it into something like Sam's meditation, where every server tick while Anatman-ing, you open a Beast Chakra? That way, it's useful pre-pull to get an extra blitz in (which has the effect of aligning PR in the opener and at 2 min burst windows), and also during downtime.

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Originally Posted by waterboytkd

I like the current monk. I wanted to main it back in the early days of ShB, but GL was such an unfain and frustrating mechanic. After they "traited" GL, I enjoyed monk, but it felt really simple. This current version is a bit more involved than late ShB, though still a bit simple. The one thing I'm still not a big fan of is the DoT on Demolish. Though it's easier to manage now, thanks to the freedom we get during PB windows, it still promotes a fairly rigid "best" gcd.

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I think you'll find this sadly true of every job with any DoTs, until such time as XIV adds some manner of duration roll-over mechanic.

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An idea I had on that front was moving the DoT to Six-Sided Star, and changing SSS to a normal GCD (130 Potency + DoT).

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I'm not sure why people are so opposed to having finishers/pre-disengage tools... It's like people hating TK in its 4.3x heyday on principle rather than because they play at high ping. SSS only needs to be tuned faintly higher to see far more usage and it's already a decent tool.

Note also that the moment you move the DoT to SSS, your Twin Snakes simply becomes the new bottleneck, and Perfect Balance sees that much less situational usefulness (think triple-Demo for your Lunar Nadi at the start of Hydaelyn's adds/jolly ranchers phase).

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Also, Anatman is still useless. What would people think of changing it into something like Sam's meditation

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Slap Chakra generation and a Form Shift onto it, so that it doesn't lock out other uses of the GCD during downtime, and it basically would be that already. And I don't think you'd want to make it a server-tick channel you want to fish for, which tying further power to it would likely cause. Extra power sounds great until you're balanced down for gaining it and its usage is pure clunk (see ShB Anatman openers).

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

I think you'll find this sadly true of every job with any DoTs, until such time as XIV adds some manner of duration roll-over mechanic.

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Well, Sam has some flexibility in its GCD windows because of Hakagure. And GNB just sticks theirs in their buff window, since it's not part of a rotation. But I get what you mean. A duration roll-over mechanic would be really great!

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I'm not sure why people are so opposed to having finishers/pre-disengage tools... It's like people hating TK in its 4.3x heyday on principle rather than because they play at high ping. SSS only needs to be tuned faintly higher to see far more usage and it's already a decent tool.

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I think a big part is, if you're trying to greed GCDs, Thunderclap is going to be much better for dodging an orange circle. If you're about to head into downtime, it's fine, but that's so niche. The idea of a Finisher, too, is incredibly niche. Niche abilities can be fine, but I feel like SSS is just a bit too niche. Things like the ranged attacks on melees feel a bit better, as you're forced out enough in fights to make pretty good use of them (now that they don't break combos). I guess without a ranged attack, SSS can kinda fill that hole (if you're only out for 1 GCD). EDIT: but in the same vein, Meditate, and potentially even Form Shift are also filling that role. IDK, it seems like a lot of tools all trying to "fill downtime".

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Slap Chakra generation and a Form Shift onto it, so that it doesn't lock out other uses of the GCD during downtime, and it basically would be that already. And I don't think you'd want to make it a server-tick channel you want to fish for, which tying further power to it would likely cause. Extra power sounds great until you're balanced down for gaining it and its usage is pure clunk (see ShB Anatman openers).

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Yeah, I got mixed feelings now about Anatman. I saw one of your other posts where you point out that changing Anatman to open Nadi is bad because Monk is currently balanced around PR not being in burst windows, and that that's a good thing because it makes the class more resistant to de-syncing.

I think it could maybe do a little more (maybe suspend+grant Leaden Fist), but totally agree that whatever it does, it can't be optimal to fish for server ticks. The GL stack fishing was bad gameplay in my mind, and was one of the things that turned me off to monk until GL was turned into a trait.

Anatman is a tool that was originally made to preserve GL, and now it's been hamfistedly been turned into preserving the twin snakes buff, and all it has going on for it is a neat pose I guess. It still falls into the trap of "button designed to preserve a buff" and leaves the door open again for SE to keep inserting stupid skills "to preserve a buff", when frankly that is the absolute last thing the job needs on its bars and is the same trap the job fell into with GL. Rather than buttons to preserve a buff players will naturally refresh in combat (and can quickly re-apply themselves through their normal rotation or during PB), I'd much rather see a return of some OGCDs we regularly weave in and also wish to time within our burst phases. Maybe this can be reliant on Chakra, maybe they're just normal cooldowns, maybe they unlock during specific stances, any of those would be better than the current set up for me. I'm certain better players could fart and come up with something better than even that garbage I typed out.

The Blitz system, as it has been implemented, effectively cuts off the return of OGCDs unless they make new ones whole cloth. That is likely not going to happen mid-expansion. Ultimately, I feel the cost of just throwing in some new fancy animations for a system that still doesn't feel complete or even good to use was far too high, but the job is stuck with it as is for at least two years. I have no faith that SE can make it better without ripping it all apart. Again.

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Originally Posted by SpeckledBurd

That said, I actually do like the current Monk quite a bit more than any iteration of the job other than Heavensward from a pure gameplay perspective, even if I think there's quite a few things that could be improved about it.

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Yeah I kinda dig it too. I think it plays like a slower TK Monk, and it definitely has flaws (why, oh god WHY is Chakra overcapping so hard for SE to fix?) and it definitely needs a little something in between Blitz windows, but otherwise it's quite fun. Lot of weird little optimization moments.

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Originally Posted by Shurrikhan

Slap Chakra generation and a Form Shift onto it, so that it doesn't lock out other uses of the GCD during downtime, and it basically would be that already. And I don't think you'd want to make it a server-tick channel you want to fish for, which tying further power to it would likely cause. Extra power sounds great until you're balanced down for gaining it and its usage is pure clunk (see ShB Anatman openers).

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Yeah, unless they plan to actually rework the entire system (again), or completely change how Anatman functions, I don't wanna see it be a DPS boosting ability. Maybe give it a HoT or some damage reduction or something to spice it up a bit, I dunno. As it stands it's incredibly boring.

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Originally Posted by Powercow

Yeah, unless they plan to actually rework the entire system (again), or completely change how Anatman functions, I don't wanna see it be a DPS boosting ability. Maybe give it a HoT or some damage reduction or something to spice it up a bit, I dunno. As it stands it's incredibly boring.

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Personally I kind of like the idea that anatman gives monk a tool to operate as the counterpart to dancer and improvise. If the monk activates anatman, the monk is holding its form, and maybe slowly generating chakra stacks, but all party members in range also take reduced damage. That way monk has the instant speed, mid combat healing increase while dancer has that for shields, and monk has the must stand still damage reduction while dancer has that for increased healing.

Only issues I have with current MNK through lv89 are Anatman and SSS, which have just carried over from ShB since they remain unchanged. Other than that my problem is Rising Phoenix is so satisfying to use that it has made Elixer Field chopped liver. I would have much rather this skill be overwritten to become Phantom Rush instead of Tornado Kick; or gave the lunar nadi something else entirely.

Oh, and I strongly dislike losing blitz due to no target. Makes me very angry.

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Originally Posted by Gemina

Oh, and I strongly dislike losing blitz due to no target. Makes me very angry.

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You don't anymore. That was already changed. None of the AoEs have to hit to give Nadi or Beast Chakra.

Okay, so I just tried figuring out how Monk works in Endwalker.

Thanks, Squeenix, I hate it. Way I see it, you did Monk dirty, just like you did Dragoon dirty in Stormblood. Stormblood DRG was such a wretched rotten frustration sammich on stale bread that I gave up on my main job for an entire expansion, placing myself weeks behind everyone else while I had to rotate to an actually FUN job! New Monk is convoluted garbage. I ain't playin' that crap. At least the pre-EW Monk positionals were UNDERSTANDABLE, even if they were rather active.

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Originally Posted by MidnightWonko

Okay, so I just tried figuring out how Monk works in Endwalker.

Thanks, Squeenix, I hate it. Way I see it, you did Monk dirty, just like you did Dragoon dirty in Stormblood. Stormblood DRG was such a wretched rotten frustration sammich on stale bread that I gave up on my main job for an entire expansion, placing myself weeks behind everyone else while I had to rotate to an actually FUN job! New Monk is convoluted garbage. I ain't playin' that crap. At least the pre-EW Monk positionals were UNDERSTANDABLE, even if they were rather active.

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What's so convoluted about "one form only" vs. "one of each form"?

IDK, I don't main monk at all and really just leveling it for mount achievement. Having said that I do wish they would have kept Grease Lightning and Positional themes alive in the "redesign". I personally think it feels like a knockoff Ninja than a brand-new Monk.

-Grease Lightning should have just been a trait that gets you to 1.5 GCD which would give people a job that plays faster than other melee.
-They should have redesigned hit box for this expansion to combine Front & Rear due to battle designs (Zodiark, Anima, Endsinger, etc...) along with a player left and player right hit box.
-After that they could have better copied FFVI Blitz where the input would be based on position rather than WS (L, F/R, R) (L, L, F/R) (F/R, L, R).

Actual directional inputs for Blitz just like Sabin would've been hilarious, but I highly doubt they would ever dare do such a thing with how they like to babyproof everything. On the contrary however I feel like using MNK's forms as the "inputs" for Blitz was too obvious of a choice not to do, even if I do have problems with how it is currently implemented (keyword being Blitz, not Nadi).

In any case, playing a lot of PvP MNK since 6.1 dropped has made me wish Meteodrive was a real skill. It's the closest thing we'll ever get to a real suplex.

No Monk is not a copy of Ninja now. Trick attack window is very rigid, with some extra stuff thrown in during even minute cooldowns. Monk blitz window has more variance, with the even window being a different beast than the odd window and having more variance in the burst window than many DPS classes currently in the game right now.

I can commend the rework for being an extension of one of MNK's original core design concepts, which is the form combo system. OG monks enjoy the flexibility of forms with multiple options for combo follow-ups at once? (to an extent) New PB expands on that flexibility letting you do any three GCDs without combo requirements for solar windows (yes there is an optimal order but sometimes that can change in the chaos of battle and it's the concept that matters). I think new PB is a smart extension to a historically GCD focused job. I'm surprised people are pointing criticisms at the blitz system with it's skill expression rather than what actually needs some improvement, that being elements outside of that:

I think that ROE is an unexciting mit that is left over from 5.4 when it was a second true north. It's both uninteresting but also overpowered, giving you 3 charged of 6 seconds of high mit. You have it for every almost raidwide and whatnot since it's so generous and as a result it becomes busy work that is used too frequently. Sam and RPR's mit is used less often but has more interesting effects with more flavor. Literally just copy ROE from PVP, I don't see why it couldn't work in PVE. Monk already has mantra so healing is a part of the job theme already. It would be fun to be awarded a heal for popping it on large unavoidable damage.

Also ROW being reworked into something part of the rotation could be cool. Maybe something you earn stacks and as a reward you get either higher movement speed or higher auto attack like the current version but it's not just a CD.

And chakra overflow like c'mon.

Anatman should increase chakra gauge toon and it's honestly golden. I don't think it really matters if that overlaps with gaining chakras one by one during downtime, they would both have their uses. It's just annoying trying to fill up your chakra meter and then your disciplined fist runs out before you can press anatman.

I kinda wish they went all in on the '' combo master '' idea.
More combos and more decision making to the combos.

And no, MNK is not like NIN at all lol.
MNK is very flexible with Optimal Drift which is how MNK feels like it was designed to play like.