MNK vs SMN ?

[OmegaSinX]

Hello All,

50 WAR/PLD here and I'm looking for some advice on which class I should level next.

I wanted to level a Physical & Magic DPS Class so I narrowed my choices down to MNK and SMN. Now I'm having a tough time deciding between the two.


MNKs appeal to me because:
-They look fun to play.
-They look versatile.
-Their animations look sick along with their DPS.

Although thats great, I have heard that its a slow build up to DPS, and Fights with many disconnects can be frustrating to keep Grease Lightning up. I've also heard that this hurts them via pvp as it sucks trying to build Grease Lightning on a moving target. And lets not forget that this is the most position based class.

SMN appeal to because:
- Has most Dots/Debuffs on 1 class (Correct me if I'm wrong)
- The Most Mobile Magic DPS Class.
- That MP
- Best Magic Class to Solo with. (Could be wrong)
- Comes with Free Healer (SCH if you unlock it)

And for SMN, I've heard horror stories with regard to pet management. And since they are casters their abilities can be interupted. Anything else I should know about ?

Ultimately, If I like both classes, I will most likely level them both to 50 but I wanted to see what the community thinks. What should i consider before leveling one or the other ? What thing did you wish you knew about MNK/SMN. Which has a higher Skill Cap ? Which has higher DPS if used to max potential ?

[Dreadlockrasta]

If your latency is good go monk, if it's bad go smn.

[RegentP]

it depends on your crews need, For being 2nd on my 1st team coil alt, I get to go anytime, but we run 2 bard,drg, BLM, so i either fill in for one of the rangers. While must MNK push those numbers out. its makes a different while I don't have to stop damaging a target.

Truth be told, do you like standing there in 1 spot pushing the same five buttons over and over, or does that bore you and you like moving to tricky spots while a noob tank spins him out of your position.

[OmegaSinX]

or does that bore you and you like moving to tricky spots while a noob tank spins him out of your position.

lol yea thats something I notice in disadvantage of MNK. Its hard to capitalize on your DPS if Tank has to move to avoid AOE or Big Cone moves. Hard to predict what tank will do.

So SMN rotation is really only 5 buttons ? I would think it would be more with all their dots and debuffs

[Rochetm]

For me smn looks like more fun than it actually is. I find the job annoying to play.

[OmegaSinX]

For me smn looks like more fun than it actually is. I find the job annoying to play.

I notice your a 50 PUG also. What do you like about MNK and SMN. Which class do you play more and why.

[Rochetm]

I notice your a 50 PUG also. What do you like about MNK and SMN. Which class do you play more and why.

Mnk is my main and I play it more than any other job. Mnk is very fast with lots of movement and I really enjoy that but many don't. From what I have seen its the movement that causes most people to really bad at monk or quit playing it.

Smn sounds and looks really fun to me... but playing it at 50 for a few hours to get my relic was enough for me. Its a very powerful job but I just don't like it.

[OmegaSinX]

Thanks for the Feed back Rochetm. So far the score is MNK:2 SMN:0. Where are all my SMN advocates at ?

[OmegaNovaios]

SMN is my main and it's very complicated job to play, but it's very fun and rewarding if played optimally. If you like playing in a style where your rotation and play style WILL change every endgame encounter, and in some cases it will even change every phase (IE Turn 5) then you will enjoy SMN. SMN can also be very versatile with the options of pets, and in the future will have even more options to be versatile.

I've tanked everything up to Coil on SMN just for fun and sometimes I play more oriented toward a support role with mid-combat Resurrection, Crowd Control actions, and DMG Mitigation actions. SMN is almost a jack-of-all-trades if you want to play that way, but if you just want to push max DPS 100% of the time you might find the class annoying at some points of the game.

[OmegaNovaios]

continued

Such as Garuda EX, you can't AOE your DOTs 90% of the fight or you will kill spiny, if you want to DOT both Chirada and Suparna then you have to apply them to Suparna first otherwise by the time you DOT Chirada then Suparna disappears with Garuda and you have to wait. Half the time I just roll on BRD because I can hit high numbers w/o all the work.

But when it comes to 2-4 mobs SMN is king because you can literally apply 75%+ of your single target DPS as AOE.

Also, a lot of people complain about SMN not being able to burst DPS, and sometimes SMN is excluded from party for this reason. However if the burst is needed on an add that pops beside a boss then the SMN has one of the best (if not the very best) burst mechanic in the game. Which is to apply your DOTs just before an add pops, AOE your DOTs instantly as it pops and Fester.