Monks need a projectile!

[gumas]

at this point i dont care if they put "throw stone" as MNK range skill even if only do 1 damage lol

i mean that skill is a legit skill in FF tactic afterall

[Kalaam]

at this point i dont care if they put "throw stone" as MNK range skill even if only do 1 damage lol

i mean that skill is a legit skill in FF tactic afterall

And when in a special stance it becomes "throws a snowball".
The perfect callback.

[Morzy]

Hi,

Let's get one thing out of the way: Monk is a mess.
I understand your frustration. I have seen Monk change through expansions since
2.3. In my humble opinion, though, I don't think a ranged attack really makes sense for the job.

Dragoon: It's a dragon. It has a spear. Spears are sometimes thrown
Ninja: This class has knives. Nuff said.
Samurai: Ranged Samurai attacks are common.. You see it all the time in Japanese anime.
... But Monk? I suppose 'Chi Blast' makes sense, but we kind of got something like that with the
Chakra AOE attack, and I'm REALLY glad that we got another AOE ability to begin with.

But even if we had a 'spammable' 'Chi Blast'.. I think it would feel wrong lol
because most of our attacks would be hard hitting and something we could
spam would feel like it's simply a filler for the sake of a filler which I can't get behind.
I mean our weakest standalone attack must be Shoulder Tackle which isn't
weak at all because it aims to get us within reach of things to punch. The entire job
makes you feel like you're a deadly weapon when you get within reach of things.

Even though we lack a ranged attack.. I don't have an issue keeping up with DPS. If
you really feel like the job is incomplete, then... Maybe you'd be better suited for DRG or SAM.

[Morzy]

We used to have Howling Fist, which more or less did this (though it was more like a POWA DUNK than a DOUBLE REPPUKEN).

I do miss Howling Fist lol... But Rockbreaker is basically the kicking version of that so xD

[Nothv13]

Granted, most people I see don't even use their projectile they just stand there doing nothing not even using their channels etc.
But it's still a tool at everyones disposal except Monk, even just in terms of fun.

Because the projectiles for at least SAM and DRG break their combo

[Kolsykol]

Because the projectiles for at least SAM and DRG break their combo

I am obviously not referring to situations where it's disadvantageous.
There are phases in this game where you're away from the boss for a longer time but is still in range to use your projectile.

Hi,

Let's get one thing out of the way: Monk is a mess.
I understand your frustration. I have seen Monk change through expansions since
2.3. In my humble opinion, though, I don't think a ranged attack really makes sense for the job.

Dragoon: It's a dragon. It has a spear. Spears are sometimes thrown
Ninja: This class has knives. Nuff said.
Samurai: Ranged Samurai attacks are common.. You see it all the time in Japanese anime.
... But Monk? I suppose 'Chi Blast' makes sense, but we kind of got something like that with the
Chakra AOE attack, and I'm REALLY glad that we got another AOE ability to begin with.

But even if we had a 'spammable' 'Chi Blast'.. I think it would feel wrong lol
because most of our attacks would be hard hitting and something we could
spam would feel like it's simply a filler for the sake of a filler which I can't get behind.
I mean our weakest standalone attack must be Shoulder Tackle which isn't
weak at all because it aims to get us within reach of things to punch. The entire job
makes you feel like you're a deadly weapon when you get within reach of things.

Even though we lack a ranged attack.. I don't have an issue keeping up with DPS. If
you really feel like the job is incomplete, then... Maybe you'd be better suited for DRG or SAM.

I've played Monk since ARR, I am not new to Monk if I wanted to play something else then I would.
It's not about keeping up with dps either it's about your toolset and how it plays in practice.
Why can't you get behind something being there for the sake of being a filler when everyone else has it and it brings actual utility both in solo and group content?
That's what Anatman and what Chakras used to be and still are to some extent too, only without a lot of the utility projectiles bring and really underwhelming and boring.

Monks also aren't known for hitting hard, we're known for hitting fast.
Projectiles are also an iconic move in fighting games as well as Anime, I fail to see why it'd be out of play for Monk.

Edit: And yes Dragoons have Spears/ Halberds, but they don't carry a gigantic bag of them on their backs.
I dunno why you're trying to argue that as a point.

Monk already does have a projectile too in Enlightenment and technically Elixir Field just not in the way I am talking about so it's already there do you think it's out of place too?

I do miss Howling Fist lol... But Rockbreaker is basically the kicking version of that so xD

Rockbreaker isn't a kick?
It's also purely an AoE ability.

[Nothv13]

I am obviously not referring to situations where it's disadvantageous.
There are phases in this game where you're away from the boss for a longer time but is still in range to use your projectile.

Yes, and most of them don't last long enough to be worth breaking your combo, thus you don't use your ranged. For example, the DRG's ranged ability is so bad guides literally tell you to take it off the bar.

[ssunny2008]

There are phases in this game where you're away from the boss for a longer time but is still in range to use your projectile.

Could you give some examples?

I personally can´t remember any mechanic of recent fights where some of the following steps is not possible and enough to "sit out" the disengage without any DPS loss.

- SSS
- SSS + dash
- SSS + chakra (especially if SSS is bad timed)
- GCD move out, move in, GCD
- GCD (best bootshine, move out, Formshift, move in again with DK to buff your BS again and to unleash it faster
- Chakra spam only for 0,5s gaps

Monk has probably the most different ways to deal with disengages, meanwhile all other melees has backjumps / teleport or their range attacks.

It might be another thing, if you play really old content sync without some of the new tools, but even there i can´t remember mechanics which force you sooo long away from the boss, that you would lose tons of damage.

[Kolsykol]

Yes, and most of them don't last long enough to be worth breaking your combo, thus you don't use your ranged. For example, the DRG's ranged ability is so bad guides literally tell you to take it off the bar.

I think I've been pretty clear that I am talking about niche situations ( AND SOLO CONTENT ), it's the same with Tanks pulling bosses far away from you when you need to stand somewhere else for a phase revolving around stacks for example.
A lot of these situations are just out of your hands and avoidable but happen anyway because people don't normally communicate with mics and min-max.
Sure in a min-max groups and groups with more communication it's going to be even more limited, but if you're pugging in particular you can't always rely on the tank positioning the boss perfectly for max uptime.
For example in Delubrum Reginae recently I had a tank that dragged the Phantom boss around way too early and all of the melee were being dragged behind missing out on Trick Attack window uptime even tho the movement phase was far away.

You also need to remember that you're not always in the middle of a combo either, a lot of the time when you're moving away from the boss you've just finished a combo.
So what's the point then in not attacking?

Could you give some examples?

I personally can´t remember any mechanic of recent fights where some of the following steps is not possible and enough to "sit out" the disengage without any DPS loss.

- SSS
- SSS + dash
- SSS + chakra (especially if SSS is bad timed)
- GCD move out, move in, GCD
- GCD (best bootshine, move out, Formshift, move in again with DK to buff your BS again and to unleash it faster
- Chakra spam only for 0,5s gaps

Monk has probably the most different ways to deal with disengages, meanwhile all other melees has backjumps / teleport or their range attacks.

It might be another thing, if you play really old content sync without some of the new tools, but even there i can´t remember mechanics which force you sooo long away from the boss, that you would lose tons of damage.

I'll acknowledge that most of these cases where a projectile ends up being really beneficial are when the tank is pulling weird shenanigans but the difference is still that others have something for that.
Everything isn't perfect all the time, there's a lot of problems that are essentially player created because people don't play perfectly all the time.
My overall point is just that it's a utility tool that EVERY melee in the entire game tanks included has except Monk and that it'd also add some flavor and solo utility.
I am not saying that it's a super important thing that is going to make a really noticable difference in your damage, it's more about fun and a bit of extra rather than it being a super ultra necessary thing.

[wereotter]

The thing is, on the other melee jobs your ranged move is almost never used... so monk lacking one doesn't seem like a glaring flaw in its toolkit. I don't think monk needs one just because the other three jobs have it. Going between playing monk, ninja, and dragoon, I tend to forget that two of them even have a ranged skill and don't miss its absence when playing on the third.

That said, if they do want to give monk a ranged skill, bringing back howling fist to fill that role could work. Or they could also use something like razor gale from FFVI.