The Chimera, the Monk and the Guard

[yoshikwalla]

If I could wholeheartedly agree any harder I would burst into flames.

[Kyri]

What she said

[Momita]

In Skirmish if u wanna get a super speed run... get all jobs every job win on a mob.. really fun that content.. but just easy

[Altena]

I will be brutally honest, I didn't read all of the OP (I will probably go back for a few giggles as the pictures looked amusing), nor did I venture passed the first couple of pages however:

Monk is a viable but not optimal job for Cutter's. I see it as more of a community issue, rather then a design flaw. Every job can successfully partake in clearing any current content with the right play style and skill level, but that is just it. The reason pick up groups aren't open to using melee in dungeons (leading up to boss fights, and some boss fights themselves) is it requires a degree of play style and skill that is often not present in a pick up group. This is not necessarily the skill of a single player but the compatibility of the players. In a pickup group, people are going to go with the most "optimal" or most sure way of defeating content, for this reason.

I believe that this is not a design flaw, as each job has it's strong and weak points, which makes each job different and interesting. Even comparing 2 similar jobs (MNK and DRG), they both have a moderately different play style, enough to create strong and weak points (i.e.. "Viable" and "Optimal"). A fight such as Miser as an example, MNK destroys DRG in a zerg fight against a mob that is weak to an element due to elemental fists, however the fight is perfectly viable on DRG.

It is differences like these that makes each class different, unique, and interesting to play, viable and optimal, and generally speaking a pick up group is going to go for the optimal setup to ensure victory.

The reverse situation can be said about Miser also - the general setup in that fight is MNK stacking, however BLM stacking is still a viable option.

I believe in order to get the most out of this game, a player should be encouraged to have some degree of diversity to enjoy end-game content. As a linkshell leader, it is sometimes quite difficult to slot people in on their optimal job in order to increase the chance of party success. I strongly encourage people with a limited job selection to play a couple of other jobs and find out what else they like. Sure everyone has a "favourite" job they enjoy playing the most, however sometimes in order to ensure party success - these people have to play jobs that aren't their favourite.

I personally enjoy trying different setups when content gets old and the strategy becomes clockwork. Keeps people fresh and less stale. MNK stacking on Chimera is not only viable, but fun. Same with DRG stacking on Princess. Another fun strategy is switching the conventional 2x BLM's on Garuda with MNK's. Not only viable, but also a very effective option. This also opens up one of the BRD slots if they wish to play another job as that 2nd song isn't a necessity.

However in saying this....

I see it as a little bit greedy to expect others to play jobs that aren't their favourite, just so you can play your favourite job *all* the time.

tldr version; Every class is viable in any current content, and any circumstance, just not necessarily optimal, and does not ensure party success. Pick up groups will always attempt to get this "optimal" setup.

[Lavieh]

Idk why this old post is still alive! But I guess I will add to it anyway, since 1.0 is dying I think we should get some facts straight:

In equally geared situations :

DRG > MNK if no plausible elemental weakness is in sight. ALWAYS true on single target/ AoE w/e. DRG = DPS powerhouse in this game. Even on a fight like Ifrit where he is supposedly weak to wind damage DRG will still topple MNK in the long haul. Of course if Elemental weakness plays a huge role like in the Miser fight than MNK would take the cake easily.


Regardless of that statement, while this game should be based on playing your main role however you want to accomplish things you should have to be diverse and sacrifice little things to become greater. I think that MNK could traverse through CC pretty well especially since the MNK burn on Chimmy is pretty effective and DPS on Princess is always good (Though DRG is an obvious better option here) but I don't think you could always get that needed 25 minute Speed run with a MNK only running through. Well anyway I hope things change in 2.0 I like the need to be a little flexible though, playing only within your comfort zone makes you a weak player.

[indira]

dosent matter in 2.0 we have a content finder people will play with what ever they want.

[Rex]

Greetings.

I lost count of the refusals I received, haha. And I also discovered that Melee is not an Island...!
In 2 rare occasions, however, the “shouter” was kind enough to invite me.

Wait, what?


On topic though...In the third live letter Yoshi-P mentioned that Monk was changing. By the way it sounded (in my opinion) It's pretty drastic and probably the one job that's getting the biggest change.

[Rex]

dosent matter in 2.0 we have a content finder people will play with what ever they want.

Content finder isn't going to stop people from thinking that some jobs are useless on some things.

[Totorixiii]

This is why I created my own linkshell so I can experiments with my ls members. My linkshell has good fun people in it that are willing to try new things and while still having fun in-game.

*Just my opinion, but as an MMO there's a reason why there are more than just one job to level, and to include the fact that veteran's usually stick with only one strategy, which, in my humble opinion find it really stale quickly. It's only great to use the same old' strategy that works effectively if it's within a static party, or to help each other get an item (exampe: totem or garuda weapon...).

In the end, MMO is a game of diversity and that includes variety of jobs and how any party leader who assemble a party for CC or AV wants it the way he/she prefer.

So yes, its a requirement to have an 2nd main job such as BLM, BARD, WAR for certain speed runs or quest.

That is the reason after leveling my first job to 50 (MNK) I got my BLM to to 50 within 5 days and rarely used MNK and I am okay with that because I enjoy getting invites and such. Which leads to a strong YES! You have to have a 2nd job that fit in with the community if you want to succeed in moving further into end game and get items =)

[Onizuka]

So yes, its a requirement to have an 2nd main job such as BLM, BARD, WAR for certain speed runs or quest.

That is the reason after leveling my first job to 50 (MNK) I got my BLM to to 50 within 5 days and rarely used MNK and I am okay with that because I enjoy getting invites and such. Which leads to a strong YES! You have to have a 2nd job that fit in with the community if you want to succeed in moving further into end game and get items =)

Luckily this common place was already wiped out a long time ago by hardcore adventurers, and like I showed in this post I had no problems in doing 20 minutes Speed Runs with Monk (and I'm a casual adventurer).

Those 2 phrases couldn't be any wrong and I think it's just this mentality that should change: there was no such “requirement” in Eorzea. Every Job could clear all the endgame contents, like I did as a Monk. I cleared them all expect for Relic, but only because I stopped doing Hamlet Defenses. I'm 100% sure, like other adventurers already said they did here, that with a very skilled party the TA17 could be done with a Monk, too.


By the way, this Topic is quite old and it's a matter already discussed. The Speed Runs won't be mandatory anymore in A Realm Reborn, and as long as the adventurers open their minds (yeah, that's the hardest thing), the issue described in the first post won't exist anymore, also considering that according to Yoshida the dungeons will offer a lot more variety.