Monk Needs a Complete Rework

[Silverneck]

I haven't read this entire thread yet but I'm with SpeckledBurd for his rework on the 1st page. I used to main monk and came back for Shadowbringers but monk just felt like so much work to do good dps. It also didn't help that so many of my skills were redundant , support , SUPER NICHE or SUPPORT RNG. Brotherhood is an awful ability as it is both RNG and requires a melee focused group in 8 which is literally counter to the meta (1% bonus for each class) and feels useless in 4 man content. I also REALLY disliked that TK, Six-sided star and Antaman as they were such amazingly cool looks skills but well never see cuz they've too niche.

I'm sure this will not be received well but, I think the devs made a big mistake when they basically gave SAM the MNK's role. That being the role of highest potential dps melee, imo (after playing both at 80) monk is far more involved and complex and imo should be the dps king via optimization. Since SAMs release MNKs have been in a weird limbo with the devs .They cant have too much power because it takes away from SAM , They cant have good support because it takes away from NIN and DRG. It just ended up with the highly skilled top end players using crazy, tight, ping reliant optimizations and beating SAM in dps ever so slightly then SAMs screaming for MNK nerfs. The devs just seem like they don't want to give monk any more tools because they dont want to deal with the drama. But in SHB today you see monks being beaten by ninjas too not just SAMs anymore and ninja was suppose to a debuffs style melee support that actually has good support. Nin has also received alot of QoL making them sore in popularity but for the life of me I dont understand why monk doesnt received the same level of treatment. I'd argue that mechanically before NIN and MNK were equally as clunky.

What im getting at is its hard to play monk not just from the myiad of mechanics & impossible to hit positionals perspective but from an evolution perspective too. If you've played since ARR you've use the same 6 buttons for the past 6 1/2 years with nothing really added to your kit and actually have had more unique skills removed than added. Its really demotivating to watch SAM come out in SB with a ton of beautiful flashy impactful skills, be told to wait your turn then get nothing in SHB while seeing SAM get more cool flashy impactful skills they use all the time. Hell most if not all of the skills added in SHB aren't even used regularly in 4 man content. It almost feels like they just want you to switch, you have all the gear already save the weapon, your life will be easier in terms of rotation and you get a cool fast pace job. I dont understand why monk is treated so poorly.

[reyre]

Sinp

I 100% agree, BH is the skill that killed MNK and SAM should not be the top Melee dps, it just baffling. I will say, however, that there are no impossible to hit positionals in current content thanks to True North and RoE.

I mean you can just take a look at the asthetics of the class and see how little care is put into it. Running animations? MNK doesnt have an unique one. LB animation? MNK doesnt have a unique one (its the same one that every melee had in 2.x). Snap, twin and true strike look bland AF.

That there are no visual indicators for basic BnB stuff like Leadenfist or Twinsnakes, is just bad desing periot, the icons get lost into the menagerie of buffs is terrible (this not only affects MNK ofcourse), that in order for any MNK to properly use some of its skillset said MNK needs a thrid party software is ridiculous and clearly they want MNK to use anatman in the opener otherwise they would have killed it like they did with the NIN rotation and the TK rotation(a rotation which i personaly hate becuase of my high ping but love because it uses the majority of the MNK skills). MNK is literally a pile of bad desing choices or oudated ones, party composition dependancy? why? A niche support skill for a mediocre buff that affects MNKs basic rotation, who thinks of stripping control from the players hands and says "Yep this is good". BH is the only skill in the game that actually affects the rotation based on RNG and party composition, why is this even a thing? Why is MNK being punished for using its skills? No other class does this and yes, NO OTHER CLASS DOES THIS, other classes punish you for using the skill wrong or nilly willy, MNK punsihes you for using the skill full stop (I.e TK, Six sided star).

The fact that MNK has only 2 oGCDs is absurd at best (and NO Forbiden chakra is not a oGCD is an RNG skill that shares 100% of it resource with a flashier but ultimately gutted version of Hollowfist)

[ItMe]

Running animations? MNK doesnt have an unique one.

This is legitimately a big shame and, as petty as it sounds, one of the big things that puts me off of MNK.

[VentVanitas]

I mean you can just take a look at the asthetics of the class and see how little care is put into it. Running animations? MNK doesnt have an unique one. LB animation? MNK doesnt have a unique one (its the same one that every melee had in 2.x). Snap, twin and true strike look bland AF.

It peeves me even more that our most damage dealing skill: Bootshine, is among the more generic looking skills in the game. Why Bootshine as our go to damage dealer? Why is it stronger than Elixir Field? It is literally a level 1 skill and has no visual effects on it at all because of it. Would it really kill them to have at least like, one throwaway trait similar MCH that permanently upgrades our GCD animations? Call it Greased Bootshine or something, I don't know.

Visual appeal is a HUGE factor when people are drawn to a class. DRG, SAM or MCH come to mind. Hell, you could argue that MCH has a playerbase at all because it is a cool looking job despite the amount of problems it faces. Meanwhile MNK keeps locking all of it behind terrible skills that sacrifice play feel or damage, which like you said, no other job in the game does this.

It feels like a huge slap in the face to the people who only ask for cool looking abilities.

Not constructive at all .... fail post

If you're not going to bother to contribute anything either than you're not any better. Fail post.

[Ramura_Sono]

It feels like a huge slap in the face to the people who only ask for cool looking abilities.

Monks ask for more Kicking attacks...Get them in situational attacks like SSS and TK which see little use. Gee, thanks I guess.

[Rika007]

It peeves me even more that our most damage dealing skill: Bootshine, is among the more generic looking skills in the game. Why Bootshine as our go to damage dealer? Why is it stronger than Elixir Field? It is literally a level 1 skill and has no visual effects on it at all because of it. Would it really kill them to have at least like, one throwaway trait similar MCH that permanently upgrades our GCD animations? Call it Greased Bootshine or something, I don't know.

Visual appeal is a HUGE factor when people are drawn to a class. DRG, SAM or MCH come to mind. Hell, you could argue that MCH has a playerbase at all because it is a cool looking job despite the amount of problems it faces. Meanwhile MNK keeps locking all of it behind terrible skills that sacrifice play feel or damage, which like you said, no other job in the game does this.

It feels like a huge slap in the face to the people who only ask for cool looking abilities.

You bring up a really good point and honestly even thinking about it, just looking at it's base rotation abilities, if IRC... is Monk the only job from 2.0 that has had no visual upgrades or new abilities at all to the base GCD rotation? Dragoon got Fang and Claw and Wheeling Thrust. Ninja got Armor Crush. Paladin got Royal Authority and Goring Blade. Bard received visual upgrades to all three of it's primary GCD abilities. Every caster and healer class has received new or visual upgrades to it's primary GCD spam ability (the healers multiple ones). Heck even Machinist has received an entire visual overhaul to it's entire GCD line-up. The only one I can think of that may also not have received one is Warrior, but at this point Fell Cleave happens so often it basically counts.

Meanwhile all Monk has got has been situational BS. Pretty crappy overall.