MNK Feedback (long)

[PangTong]

personally i wish what they make elixir field use chakra stacks...

I agree that having an AoE ability that spends chakra would be nice, it feels like something MNK is lacking. However I don't know if changing Elixir Field would be the way to do this. Firstly because it would subtract an ability from MNK's already simplistic single-target rotation. And secondly I think people would react badly to the change, if Elixir Field suddenly had a cost when it used to be free. So ideally an AoE chakra-spender would be a new action. Tornado Kick could potentially fill this role since it's largely unused at the moment, most people would welcome a change which makes it more usable.

I've said it before but they need to switch monk damage to piercing. Slashing debuff helps 5 jobs, Piercing helps 4 (rdm I guess), blunt helps mnk and mele casters I guess. At least if mnk had piercing they would be part of the conversation. "Do we run nin/sam or drg/mnk?" Mnk should be the Sam of piercing comps. At the very least, do something to boost caster comps.

You know those debuffs don't stack, right? The only jobs the slashing debuff really helps are PLD and DRK, since all other slashing jobs have the debuff as part of their rotation. Adding the piercing debuff to MNK wouldn't really help anything. The only change is that groups could choose between taking either a MNK or a DRG to boost a BRD/MCH. This is admittedly an advantageous trait, but it's not really what I'm talking about. Again, I'm not particularly concerned with MNK's power, or its utility, or its position in groups, or how useful the raiding community thinks it is. Balance is ephemeral. I just want the job to be more fun to play.

MNK's core design probably hasn't been touched since ARR launch because it is so solid and doesn't need adjustments. etc

I have a hard time believing the Tornado Kick is worth using rotationally due to Riddle of Fire. Examining the play of top level monks, none of them use it in this way and continue to use it the way it has always been used, to dump stacks before a phase transition or right at the end of a fight. Were this true however, I still feel as though it wouldn't improve MNK gameplay much since you'd then be stuck building back up to GL3. That's kind of the reason they nerfed Tornado Kick before Heavensward released, it was a DPS gain to use it rotationally when they didn't want it to be.

As for Riddle of Fire, the fact that I occasionally miss an ability is not the reason why I don't like it, merely something annoying that occurs as a result of using it. Most of the time I never miss skills. The reason I don't like it is because it feels bad, and it goes against what I think the MNK job is (or should be) about: Fast, flowing combos.

For 68 levels, the feeling and importance of Greased Lightning is drilled into you, and then suddenly you are given an ability which effectively takes that away, but you still have to use it because it's a damage boost. It's like if you gave NIN a stance which greatly boosted their damage but prevented them from using Ninjutsus. It makes you more powerful, but goes against the "unique experience" of the job, something the devs seem to be interested in preserving. I suspect that Riddle of Fire was implemented the way it was not because of any careful consideration of MNKs rotation or their ability to weave oGCDs (which they could already do), but because they needed a damage buff to replace Blood for Blood and wanted to give it some kind of "extra" effect so it's not boring as hell like say, Raging Strikes. Well, they at least succeeded at that much. Riddle of Fire isn't boring, but only in the same way that stubbing your toe isn't boring.

And as for MNK's oGCDs, more buttons does not equate to better design. Having a bunch of oGCD attacks that you mash as soon as they become available might make the job "active", but it doesn't make it interesting or fun. In fact most jobs got changes which reflect this idea, downplaying the importance of simple oGCD attacks in favour of more abilities which interact with the job's core rotation and resources. I don't feel that MNK is going too slow, although it can feel a bit slow during RoF sometimes, but rather it's the disruption to the job's combo rhythm that is annoying.

Well here's the issue: MNK is performing very well and play style is objective. I like current MNK. I agree they have some issues with useless abilities but other than that the core mechanic (to do damage) is good with MNK. So regardless of what you say I don't see them changing it much for now.

Sadly I think you're right. While MNK definitely has room for improvements, it is unlikely they will happen during the middle of an expansion's patch cycle. As long as the job is "balanced", there is little incentive for the dev team to try and improve on its gameplay when there are so many other things they could be addressing. Unfortunately, I do not expect to see any real changes until 5.0, however long that is away. But I can at least make my thoughts known and potentially influence those future changes. Nothing can change if nothing is said.