Monk Needs a Complete Rework

[Kabooa]

I think the goal would be to make longer combos shorter. Like the hardest hitting combo would take 6 regular GCDs to activate it but if you do a couple of combos before hand it could only take 3 or 2 GCDs to pull off, making you do more damage over the whole combo. Maybe. But it's just an idea lol.

Legend of Legaia used a similar battle system for its game, where directional inputs lead to special attacks, and the special attack itself counted as an input for another. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJfQl0Qr3hg

High Low High = Somersault. The Somersault triggers on the last 'High' and that still counted as input for another skill.

High Low High Low Low= High Kick, Low Kick, Somersault, Low Kick, Some other skill I forgot the name of (IIRC, the special attacks had to be different to chain this way)

Legend of Legaia utilized a system similar to old fashioned TP where it's built and spent, where as 2.0+ TP functioned more like standard MMO "Energy" systems, as well as maximum number of inputs per turn.

Current FF14 has no TP system and no 'maximum input', other than building a limitation into Monk itself.

Building it into the Chakra system would serve as a suitable limiter. Basic weaponskills build Chakra + inputs for the special ability, special ability spends chakra. Weaponskills falling into a category with a gauge representing your last 3 inputs / skill type.



So every special attack could have a 3 input string, while varying chakra costs.

So you have things like Dots, Buffs, Debuffs being lower cost chakra with big finishers being higher chakra costs. The goal is to minimize your Input strings to get the right special finisher with the appropriate chakra to use it.

[SpeckledBurd]

Legend of Legaia used a similar battle system for its game, where directional inputs lead to special attacks, and the special attack itself counted as an input for another. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJfQl0Qr3hg

High Low High = Somersault. The Somersault triggers on the last 'High' and that still counted as input for another skill.

High Low High Low Low= High Kick, Low Kick, Somersault, Low Kick, Some other skill I forgot the name of (IIRC, the special attacks had to be different to chain this way)

Legend of Legaia utilized a system similar to old fashioned TP where it's built and spent, where as 2.0+ TP functioned more like standard MMO "Energy" systems, as well as maximum number of inputs per turn.

Current FF14 has no TP system and no 'maximum input', other than building a limitation into Monk itself.

Building it into the Chakra system would serve as a suitable limiter. Basic weaponskills build Chakra + inputs for the special ability, special ability spends chakra. Weaponskills falling into a category with a gauge representing your last 3 inputs / skill type.



So every special attack could have a 3 input string, while varying chakra costs.

So you have things like Dots, Buffs, Debuffs being lower cost chakra with big finishers being higher chakra costs. The goal is to minimize your Input strings to get the right special finisher with the appropriate chakra to use it.

I think this is similar to the Blitz concepts that I mentioned on the last page and someone proposed on the forum a while ago and in general I like it. I'd probably make it so you spend a certain amount of Chakra to enter the Blitz/Input Phase and then whatever action you trigger from that input is on a seperate cooldown (IE, Enter Blitz mode, input string, use Six Sided Star, it goes on cooldown for 90 seconds). There'd be one or two skills on a cooldown for both Single Target and AOE use (Six Sided Star/Suplex for single Target, Chi-Blast and Rising Phoenix) and then one that could get used for filler if you happen to cap on gauge without either of them.

[Kabooa]

I think this is similar to the Blitz concepts that I mentioned on the last page and someone proposed on the forum a while ago and in general I like it. I'd probably make it so you spend a certain amount of Chakra to enter the Blitz/Input Phase and then whatever action you trigger from that input is on a seperate cooldown (IE, Enter Blitz mode, input string, use Six Sided Star, it goes on cooldown for 90 seconds). There'd be one or two skills on a cooldown for both Single Target and AOE use (Six Sided Star/Suplex for single Target, Chi-Blast and Rising Phoenix) and then one that could get used for filler if you happen to cap on gauge without either of them.

Hrm. That seems like it'd be similar to Dance and Ninjutsu.

So it'd look like

[Ability - "Blitz"] Consumes Chakra.
Weaponskills morph into their Input equivalents.

[Weaponskill] Input 1
[Weaponskill] Input 2
[Weaponskill] Input 3

[Special Move - GCD or OGCD?]

Thinking further on what was said above, if 'Blitz' has an upfront Chakra cost to enter the toggle, then each weaponskill consumes Chakra, that allows the Special Attacks to be OGCDs.

In my mind, that means Monks would have two different phases when planning Chakra expenditure - Set ups and potency dumps. We can also have a central theme as the Monk levels now. Chakra expands from 5, to 7, to 14 (based on the story quests surrounding Chakra).

Blitz (Spend x) -> Input x 3 (consume 3) -> OGCD Special Ability (First 2 inputs gone, last input stays) -> repeat until 0 chakra. Prioritize any buffing abilities in short chakra bursts, then prioritize as many chakra dumps as possible during burst windows.

Obviously we'd have to change Chakra generation a bit but I've got nothing in mind for that at the moment.

[SpeckledBurd]

Hrm. That seems like it'd be similar to Dance and Ninjutsu.

Kind of but I was thinking of it more as a hybrid of Sen and Dance/Ninjutsu, so you'd execute Blitz and enter what amounts to the Perfect Balance state, and you'd still be executing the weaponskills would which would give a Raptor/Opo Opo/Coeurl Sigil on a hypothetical gauge (for simplicity and to allow buff/Demolish upkeep during the Blitz Phase), and then you'd follow it up with a Special Move with it's own internal cooldown. I'd honestly prefer it to be a GCD because I think that has a degree of impact on its own, and being on the GCD would theoretically allow it to have a higher potency for greater impact, but it being an oGCD would be fine as well as long as the pay off is satisfying.

Conceptually the idea ss a combination of something that Monk already does (actual free form combos) and Fighting Game super moves which due to the limitations of how MMOs are built makes it similar to NIN/DNC's gimmicks because they already do the button input. In a fighting game you build meter to execute a super move then perform a button input to perform it, here you'd build chakra and input a short GCD string to do the same.