Two Months In: Will You Reconsider GL IV?

[Ayirez]

After reading all the posts in this thread and thinking about Monk all day and night as it is my beloved identity, I realized I needed an additional revision for things I hadn't considered before. Hopefully this can combine the best of all worlds and address issues you all thought of that I didn't.

Core Monk Mechanics

• Greased Lightning: Add an additional stack for a total of four. Reduction to damage increase per stack (5%). The end result would be 20% damage increase and a 20% Attack Speed increase.
• Chakra: Gauge increased from five to seven. (We did unlock 7 of them after all.) Chance for chakra gain also given to a Direct Hit, and upon a Direct Critical Hit there is a 100% chance to gain a chakra.
• Fists of Fire: Changes to a constant 5% increase of Critical Hit Rate.
• Fists of Wind: Changes to a constant 2% increase to both Direct Hit and Skill Speed.
• Fists of Earth: Changes to a constant 5% increase of Determination and Damage Reduction, also allowing for Deep Meditation's effect to raise to a 60% chance.

The Riddles

• Riddle of Fire: Changes to Fists of Fire and gives a 20% damage buff for 20s. 90s cooldown.
• Riddle of Wind: Changes to Fists of Wind and adds 20 potency to every GCD and AA for 20s. 90s cooldown.
• Riddle of Earth: Changes to Fists of Earth and allows for all critical hits and direct hits to have a 100% chance to give chakra for 20s. 90s cooldown.

Ability Reworks

• Purification: Costs three chakra and grants a stack or refreshes Greased Lightning. No cooldown. 1.25s animation.
• The Forbidden Chakra: Costs five chakra. potency reduced to 220. 5s cooldown.
• Tornado Kick: Costs seven chakra. potency reduced to 280. 15s cooldown.
• Perfect Balance: Cooldown reduced from 180s to 120s.
• Tackle Mastery: Removed.
• Steel Peak: Potency reduced to 50, cooldown reduced from 40s to 30s.
• Peak Mastery: Grants Steel Peak additional effects based upon which Fist stance the player is in. Fists of Fire grants a 30s damage increase (5% ?), Fists of Wind grants a one minute DoT, Fists of Earth grants three chakra.
• Brotherhood: Damage buff reduced to 3% and applies to mages and healers. Chakra gain effects now also apply to mages and healers.
• Internal Release: Reduced from 30% to 20%.
• One Ilm Punch - Potency reduced to 80. Cost reduced to 110TP. Stun removed. Delivers damage in a narrow line before the player.
• Arm of the Destroyer - Potency increased to 60. Cost reduced to 100TP. Silence removed.

This is, as far as I'm concerned, the best case scenario for Monk that gives its identity back and allow for a three fist form + riddle system to work optimally. While at first it may appear a large debuff due to the Greased Lightning damage decrease, due to the new capabilities and methods to gain chakra it would allow for TFC and Tornado Kick to be used more often which potentially would make up for it. One reason to lower GL's damage buff even further is to make losing GL stacks less punishing to lagging or new (or bad) Players.

With Purification changed in that way Monks could start a battle at 2/4 stacks of GL and use Perfect Balance to get the other two quickly. Optionally they could just use PB to get all 4 stacks and use Tornado Kick in their opener. If a Monk did drop stacks due to mechanics or death they could change to Fists of Wind for the speed buff and get it back faster that way. It's also not like once you use PB at the beginning of the fight it stops existing, PB can be used every three minutes currently and is currently the only way to regain stacks yet most Monk's aren't complaining. Reducing it to two minutes allows you an even easier time to regain stacks, so adding a fourth stack of GL won't cause Monk as a class to break and become useless (not that it would have anyway).

Peak Mastery would allow Steel Peak to be used during each riddle, which is what SE wanted from the riddle system with shoulder tackle yet didn't deliver it in any meaningful way at all. Brotherhood is a quality of life issue that they may even address eventually during 4.X, and One Ilm Punch becoming an AoE would finally give Monk's a true AoE combo.

In my humble opinion, this would make Monk probably need a nerf in potency values and such, but it would make FAR more sense than what we have, and more importantly it would be VASTLY more fun to play. Balancing it is SE's job in any case, the system is what matters in this conversation and I believe that this system gives Monk back its identity from ARR and expands on it. Well, let's hope SE reads the forums and takes inspiration from the community, because whether or not they create such a massive overhaul like this or simply take bits and pieces from what we've all said, at least then Monk would have some improvements rather than being mutated into a slower and less focused class.