The Monk Temple

[Butcherboy]

Well it's not that. I just have problems sometimes weaving all that move while in PB. I don't know what's wrong sometimes. I'll do PB DM BFB SP IR SP PEAK and my PB would just end so I've been going with PB DM BFB SP IR SP DK TwS then my PB ends here, it's kinda frustrating since I'm managing to fail to do it.

[Jekyll]

PB > Demolish > Blood for Blood > Snap Punch > Internal Release > Snap Punch > Howling Fist > Dragon Kick > Steel Peak > Snap Punch (PB wears off at this point) > Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Touch of Death > Demolish > Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch > Dragon Kick... etc.

[NoctisUmbra]

PB > Demolish > Blood for Blood > Snap Punch > Internal Release > Snap Punch > Howling Fist > Dragon Kick > Steel Peak > Snap Punch (PB wears off at this point) > Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Touch of Death > Demolish > Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch > Dragon Kick... etc.

Was about to quote my old post and put this up again, but then I saw this... a single tear materialized and streamed down my cheek until it reached my proud smile.

Ok I've been playing mnk since ARR came out and it still bothers me why we include OGCD(HF AND S PEAK) in our PB. Why not HF and S Peak after PB. I do that rotation also I just don't know why that's considered optimal PB.

The simple reason is placing your buffs and off-GCD skills into cooldown at the earliest reasonable opportunity is what makes it optimal. Once you reach GL3 after the 2nd Snap Punch in the opener you've also applied BfB and IR by then. It stands to reason that instead of leaving slots between GCD skills empty until PB is down, you can slot in Steel Peak and Howling Fist.

Being that this is am opener, in basically any boss fight I encounter I am able to pull this off with ease as there aren't any high movement mechanics in play right at the start. If the particular time I use the opener requires me to move away from the target during an off-GCD period, I forego the use of an off-GCD skill there and go right to the next GCD skill first, because you should never delay your GCD to use an off-GCD skill/buff.

[Ricdeau]

Was about to quote my old post and put this up again, but then I saw this... a single tear materialized and streamed down my cheek until it reached my proud smile.



The simple reason is placing your buffs and off-GCD skills into cooldown at the earliest reasonable opportunity is what makes it optimal. Once you reach GL3 after the 2nd Snap Punch in the opener you've also applied BfB and IR by then. It stands to reason that instead of leaving slots between GCD skills empty until PB is down, you can slot in Steel Peak and Howling Fist.

Being that this is am opener, in basically any boss fight I encounter I am able to pull this off with ease as there aren't any high movement mechanics in play right at the start. If the particular time I use the opener requires me to move away from the target during an off-GCD period, I forego the use of an off-GCD skill there and go right to the next GCD skill first, because you should never delay your GCD to use an off-GCD skill/buff.

This is what I do as well. Usually only have to adjust on a bad pull, but many monks that I know can't pull off the opener. Once it's in muscle memory it should be pretty straight forward to pull off regardless of skill speed as well as dropping off GCD/buffs when necessary. I've been doing it from ~450 all the way down to 356, and I see no real impact on pulling it off pretty much every time on a clean pull.

[Jekyll]

Something I cannot find in this thread is an "opener" (for lack of a better term) for when either PB isn't up or your GL3 has dropped (i.e. during Leviathan dives or so). I'd imagine it would go like this: ToD > BfB> BS > IR > TwS > HF > Demo > SteelP > DK > TwS > SP > BS > TrueS > SP > etc.

[Kerikeron]

The simple reason is placing your buffs and off-GCD skills into cooldown at the earliest reasonable opportunity is what makes it optimal. Once you reach GL3 after the 2nd Snap Punch in the opener you've also applied BfB and IR by then. It stands to reason that instead of leaving slots between GCD skills empty until PB is down, you can slot in Steel Peak and Howling Fist.

Isn't the idea to output more global DPS to push HP bars faster? In which case your opening is not the highest possible damage output. Yes, you may get more off-GCD's in if it's a dummyisque fight and the end of it just happens to fall in that 6 second time frame where your off-GCD's recharged where someone else's wouldn't. But you've effectively lost 100+ potency by using all of that before having TS up.

Mind you, it's a great rotation for hiding Monk's ramp-up damage, but I feel like outside of dummy training, and maybe 2 or 3 fights, it's not the best startup.

Something I cannot find in this thread is an "opener" (for lack of a better term) for when either PB isn't up or your GL3 has dropped (i.e. during Leviathan dives or so). I'd imagine it would go like this: ToD > BfB> BS > IR > TwS > HF > Demo > SteelP > DK > TwS > SP > BS > TrueS > SP > etc.

I usually go to headside when he slams since tail takes longer to come up and use Bootshine > TS > Demo then Shoulder Tackle to tail and DK > TS > ToD > Demo. I've only done Levi EX like 3 times on monk though, so there's no doubt a better rotation for max damage. But in general I think the key lies with hitting head first on slams and then the tail.

[Jekyll]

I usually go to headside when he slams since tail takes longer to come up and use Bootshine > TS > Demo then Shoulder Tackle to tail and DK > TS > ToD > Demo. I've only done Levi EX like 3 times on monk though, so there's no doubt a better rotation for max damage. But in general I think the key lies with hitting head first on slams and then the tail.

Wasn't asking for Leviathan tips specifically. Was asking for an optimal "opener" with no perfect balance.

[ziddyt]

PB > Demolish > Blood for Blood > Snap Punch > Internal Release > Snap Punch > Howling Fist > Dragon Kick > Steel Peak > Snap Punch (PB wears off at this point) > Dragon Kick > Twin Snakes > Touch of Death > Demolish > Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch > Dragon Kick... etc.

Why would you use snap punch as your last PB attack?
Using Bootshine instead still allows you to keep GLIII by the time you get to Coeurl in your first rotation

[Almalexia]

The best times to engage head are when you have Shoulder Tackle off cooldown. You don't want to waste time running between the head and tail. Here's what I usually do:

a) At the start, before sahagin duo spawns. Position about halfway down the ship and move in as Levi lurches forward to engage quickly without getting squashed.
b) Before mage sahagin spawns. This applies only if you did not phase skip.
c) After first spumes are defeated. You'll want to save shoulder tackle to navigate spumes beforehand.
d) After first SP. There is a long period before sahagin duo spawns.
e) After second plumes are defeated. You'll want to save shoulder tackle to navigate spumes beforehand.
f) Depending on where second mage sahagin pops, you can engage head first immediately after defeating it.
g) After the last set of spinning dives. If Levi is low enough, use shoulder tackle to abort the sliding mechanic and engage the head to finish it off with LB1 and a couple flank attacks.

[Jekyll]

Why would you use snap punch as your last PB attack?
Using Bootshine instead still allows you to keep GLIII by the time you get to Coeurl in your first rotation

I'm using touch of death fully buffed before my coeurl stance taking 4 steps to get to GLIII again. Using Snap Punch gives me time for that.