Monk Needs a Complete Rework

[3ureka]

Damn. Yeah, now that you mention it, it's starting to come back to me. We definitely got the short end of the stick for the job story (among other things).

Reminds me. When 4.0 dropped, I changed my search info to: "The only expansion monks got in SB was a gaping bumhole"; I've since updated it, but maybe I need to go change it back haha

[Shurrikhan]

I don't necessarily hate it. But like with Raiden Thrust for DRG, the question still remains: "Why tho?"

As least Raiden Thrust is a sexy kind of doubled positional reward.

Leaden Fist is just... "Welp, that was a 1/4th of my damage to have been dealt over the last 6 GCDs from which my tank just needlessly spun away my auto-crit. Good thing I'll be immune to positioning again for my next 4..."

It hold so much more damage per GCD than any other skill save Demolish, so much greater a percentage of overall damage than any other skill, and so much more positional-based damage than all other skills combined, that it feels painfully awkward.

[kujoestars]

Personally, I like the abilities themselves so far, but I agree with the sentiment that most do not flow well together, or even match up with the Job Quest thematically (so disappointed we don't learn any shadow chakra abilities that we see in members of the shadow sect; would kill to at least be able to use Shadow Punch like H'raha).

I disagree on the notion of monk being a 3-button class because I'm pretty sure you're supposed to rotate different actions for combo based on situation and what buffs are up, but it certainly gets repetitive enough I frequently spam Meditation to use Forbidden Chakra even when it's not optimal just to shake things up. That and the fact I like running literal circles around enemies and having it as a mechanic is what keeps me content maining as a Monk.

I guess first of all, I'd like to have Chakra actually tied in more smoothly. Maybe instead of making us spam Meditation just for one (1) moderate damage move, maybe it could be tied in to our Greased Lightning stacks instead? That way, it's not a semi-useless gauge indicating we have better dps and skillspeed. I am presently thinking perhaps for every max stack we gain (and every subsequent combo after that maintains it), we open up a chakra until it maxea out and THEN we can smack Forbidden Chakra or Enlightenment. I think this would really help make the Chakra-based moves fit into rotations more naturally, in addition to making the Lightning Gauge more useful.

The other thing I would like to see is maybe actually including shadow-based moves. What was the point of that entire story if we can't use the Shadow Sect techniques alongside Light Sect ones?

[3ureka]

snip

I think it’s definitely a missed opportunity to not delve into the Shadow Sect or why we only have 5 stacks of chakra instead of 7/14 as mentioned in the story (there’s even a title ffs). At this point, I’d be willing to let that go for a more cohesive vision of monk. Get more skills off of the “super-niche” boat.

[kujoestars]

I think it’s definitely a missed opportunity to not delve into the Shadow Sect or why we only have 5 stacks of chakra instead of 7/14 as mentioned in the story (there’s even a title ffs). At this point, I’d be willing to let that go for a more cohesive vision of monk. Get more skills off of the “super-niche” boat.

Same here, hence why I have a wall of text for my first suggestion, lol. If we can just have chakra more tied in with our mechanics, I'd be happy enough. Again, perhaps making it so we gain a Chakra level each time we hit a Greased Lighting Combo (maybe even after we max out our stacks so we have a bigger reason to maintain them?) would probably help smooth a lot of things down.

[OrderZero]

I hope a dev looks at this post.

[3ureka]

Same here, hence why I have a wall of text for my first suggestion, lol. If we can just have chakra more tied in with our mechanics, I'd be happy enough. Again, perhaps making it so we gain a Chakra level each time we hit a Greased Lighting Combo (maybe even after we max out our stacks so we have a bigger reason to maintain them?) would probably help smooth a lot of things down.

Haha. Well, walls of text are pretty common 'round munk threads. :P

But in all seriousness, I agree. I don't know about all the exact specifications, but what I am sure of is that the generation / expenditure of chakra (among other things) needs a second look.

It's been a few months since I came back to XIV and even shorter since I started looking through the forums again. Idk if there have been any organized proposals from the community for future suggestions on monk. I'm not sure if that'll do much, but at least it's a good faith effort as opposed to just saying "SE has given up on monk" (or something along those lines).

[Mikey_R]

Idk if there have been any organized proposals from the community for future suggestions on monk.

Considering different people have different visions for what they want monk to be, ranging from simple changes, to Ninja like changes to complete overhauls, I doubt there will be a version everyone agrees on. Even I have my own ideas which are different to everyone else's which, while it doesn't change the fundamental gameplay, tries to make use of everything in Monk's kit, and brings back things that the job lost (I haven't posted it anywhere).

However, it is the things that are wrong with Monk as it currently stands that most people will agree need changing. Anatman is terrible to use, double RNG on Chakra stacks, fist stances etc. However, it will be whether SE listen to what is wrong and focus on changing it to make it better, or whether they stick another band aid over the top to the point where it just feels bad to play and unrewarding. This is my biggest worry.

[IruruCece]

I basically expect nothing from SE regarding monk.

There have been plenty of threads and efforts to reach out to the developers from players in Japan, their monk thread is hundreds of pages long. If the developers are going to outright ignore the feedback and requests from those players for years on end, what chance does the rest of the community have? It's disillusioning, and it's worse when you consider other threads that have cropped up over the past six months where people have called for the job to get nerfed into the ground, without even thinking about the mechanical issues that have brought the job up to this point.

Yeah, it's a defeatist stance to take, but I'm not the one who is responsible for balancing the game and ignoring long standing grievances for years on end.

[Crushnight]

Ik I only play mnk casually in very low end content but I had a few ideas for mnk and wondered how people would feel about them.

-Fists of fire becomes natural trait at 35

-Fists of wind traits at respective levels one when you get it now the other naturally adding GL4 permanently at 78 no stance needed

-Fists of Earth changed to no positionals for 15s with 5% dmg taken reduced

-Riddle of Earth changed to being targetable on party member or self should they get hit proccs Earth's Reply

-Earth's Reply changed to increase attack speed and damage by 5% while giving no positionals for 15s, cannot be stacked with riddle of fire.

-Riddle of fire added effect cannot be stacked with Earth's Reply

-Tornado kick changed to deplete all GL stacks while adding a buff which grants a GL stack every 3s for 9s

-Meditation changed to provide your next 5 weaponskills grant a chakra and are crits

-Antaman changed to prevent the dropping or raising of GL stacks for 20s, no longer remain in place restriction.

-Six Sided Star changed to base gcd recast does not break combo, knocks you back 8 yalms and provides buff where next shoulder tackle is crit + dhit 10s duration.


I very much like to hear from more seasoned mnks I very much don't push it to its limits but these are the skills I find troublesome to say the least either for lack of engagement with them ala fist stances or find eh like meditation/six sided star.