Blitz monk should not be the way forward for the job

[SquigglesMajor]

I've mained monk ever since 3.0. I'm sure there are some older monks too who can attest to how it was in ARR. The job has gone through a lot of different identities and changes throughout its life and I think the current iteration of monk is probably my least favorite. I know this is an unpopular opinion because I've heard so many people talking about it's high damage and "flexibility". Despite the praise I've heard, and spending nearly two months with the job now I'm still not convinced. I'd argue that new monk is much more restrictive than it was previously.

We have done the "build then spend" job design to death. That is literally how every job in the game is built. Every job is a nuker. I think monk was much more fun when it broke that mold and did something different. I like the built in low GCD. Rather than having monk build up in order to use the one or two skills that actually deal any significant damage, it should focus in on the fantasy of attacking lighter but faster. Give it more consistent damage across the whole fight rather than waiting every 60s before it's allowed to do any real damage.

Blitz right now is too clunky. The basic rotation may seem easy to me, but for someone learning the job brand new it must be a nightmare to learn on top of trying to figure out how they're suppose to use then during perfect balance. I don't know why we don't just have one blitz that's single target and one that is for aoe. I would rather see Riddle of Fire gone and replaced with maybe a reworked riddle of wind that further increases all attack speed.

I know I'm the minority here but I really don't like the direction monk is going. Honestly I thought ShB was fine. It wasn't perfect, but I think we're causing more problems for the job by trying to reinvent the wheel every single expansion.

[ssunny2008]

Your opinion isn´t unpopular, there are enough players out there who dislike the changes. We lost everything on MNK to get some reused high damage buttons at the end of each PB, that´s it. It´s no fun, not complex or difficulty to execute. Variety is not a thing unless you fck´d up and need a comeback into your rotation. It´s just PB, 3 buttons, finisher, followed by a lot of boring time out of the burstwindows. RoW is there to be there.

Such changes have been unneccesary. Blitz might´ve been a good addition on top what we had with positionals and oGCD´s, but now? The pickrate didn´t even increase. MNK is still one of the least played classes, because a lot of vets dropped it. I´m pretty sure the pickrate would even be lower, if MNK wouldn´t be so ridiculous strong imo for no reason.

[Jotaku]

The new monk isnt for everybody, I think is the best version since ARR, they did a good job with the new design, is not perfect, but is in a good direction. I like that the devs take risk like this to rethink a job, and not to be stuck in an old "gonna go fast" job only...

[Shurrikhan]

I think this is the best base we've had since TK-rotation Stormblood. It just needs more atop that base.

I'd love, for instance, to see Blitz have more than just 1 (1 or both Nadi up, with no need to resync to raid buffs) or 2 (no Nadi, at a SkS tier that allows for either choice in the present rotational context) viable choices in a given moment and perhaps more than just 3 viable choices on the whole, for RoW to offer more than just 5-6 free auto-attacks (potent though they may be), and for us to have more to do between Blitzes.

[Xiaoki]

Your opinion isn´t unpopular, there are enough players out there who dislike the changes. We lost everything on MNK to get some reused high damage buttons at the end of each PB, that´s it. It´s no fun, not complex or difficulty to execute. Variety is not a thing unless you fck´d up and need a comeback into your rotation. It´s just PB, 3 buttons, finisher, followed by a lot of boring time out of the burstwindows. RoW is there to be there.

Such changes have been unneccesary. Blitz might´ve been a good addition on top what we had with positionals and oGCD´s, but now? The pickrate didn´t even increase. MNK is still one of the least played classes, because a lot of vets dropped it. I´m pretty sure the pickrate would even be lower, if MNK wouldn´t be so ridiculous strong imo for no reason.

Monk isn't one of the least played DPS.

In the Savage raid Monk is well above Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja, Machinist, and Dancer.

Vets like you may have dropped Monk but it was then picked up by new Monk players that embraced the changes.

The new Monk isn't going anywhere.

[SpeckledBurd]

Monk isn't one of the least played DPS.

In the Savage raid Monk is well above Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja, Machinist, and Dancer.

Vets like you may have dropped Monk but it was then picked up by new Monk players that embraced the changes.

The new Monk isn't going anywhere.

Only based on week 1 clears before the overall numbers have stabilized. In Normal mode, the dungeons, and the extremes, Monk is only beating Ninja in plays. Hell, in P1S, Monk is the second least played job, once again only beating Ninja. Once more people clear in the next couple of weeks Monk's clear numbers are pretty much certain to fall down there.

That said, I actually do like the current Monk quite a bit more than any iteration of the job other than Heavensward from a pure gameplay perspective, even if I think there's quite a few things that could be improved about it.

[VentVanitas]

Monk isn't one of the least played DPS.

In the Savage raid Monk is well above Black Mage, Dragoon, Ninja, Machinist, and Dancer.

Vets like you may have dropped Monk but it was then picked up by new Monk players that embraced the changes.

The new Monk isn't going anywhere.

MNK's being played in savage because its too good not to bring, like Reaper. High end players aren't playing it because they like MNK, they're playing the job because you're losing out by not having one in your party.

[IruruCece]

The new monk isnt for everybody, I think is the best version since ARR, they did a good job with the new design, is not perfect, but is in a good direction. I like that the devs take risk like this to rethink a job, and not to be stuck in an old "gonna go fast" job only...

It's literally stuck in a "gotta go fast" state because the devs just gave Monk GL as a trait.

[Xiaoki]

Only based on week 1 clears before the overall numbers have stabilized. In Normal mode, the dungeons, and the extremes, Monk is only beating Ninja in plays. Hell, in P1S, Monk is the second least played job, once again only beating Ninja. Once more people clear in the next couple of weeks Monk's clear numbers are pretty much certain to fall down there.

That said, I actually do like the current Monk quite a bit more than any iteration of the job other than Heavensward from a pure gameplay perspective, even if I think there's quite a few things that could be improved about it.

No one is submitting new parses to the Extreme raids, Normal Pandemonium, or the Expert dungeons. There's no need to. They were on farm the first day.

[ssunny2008]

The new monk isnt for everybody.

Old MNK wasn´t for everybody too and yet ppl cried the hell out until we got the boring state we´ve now. "Too increase its playerbase" is kind of laughable when this actually didn´t happen and may become worse in the future. The core reason why MNK is picked in raids is because it´s too strong, not because so many ppl seem to enjoy it.

but is in a good direction. I like that the devs take risk like this to rethink a job, and not to be stuck in an old "gonna go fast" job only...

The direction is bad. We lost so many stuff to get 3 burstbuttons we press every 40 (60) seconds.

SE didn´t rethink anything anyway. They just took a lot of stuff away. MNK has still the same core rotation and skills, even the speed is the same. All what they´ve done is to get ride of any oGCD´s but chakra and 4 positionals. PB is still the same, just cutted. Freeform at its end is just another QoL, but we still sit on TK/BS spam most of the time or rotate 123. The only time we gonna make use of the freeform is after the RP-PB to play braindead-mode.
Yeah, some ppl didn´t like positonals, got it. You guys had the chance to stuck on any other melee, hell RPR would be for you now, braindead and slow af. But no... MNK needed to be cutted for dumb reasons, to cater lazy players. Every 2nd boss has a full circle on top, just congratz... you can stay on your spot all day long and search for the right button. Netflix-time i guess.

God bless we still have Anatman for the major-increase of 1-3DPS in transition-phases.

No one is submitting new parses to the Extreme raids, Normal Pandemonium, or the Expert dungeons. There's no need to. They were on farm the first day.

It doesn´t matter if something is on farm or not. We talk about the pick-rate, the overall popularity. It was a welcome argument from ppl who´ve been against all the positionals or MNK overall, "Monk has the least playerbase, that´s why it needs changes."
So we´ve only ff.logs imo and it clearly shows that MNK isn´t more popular than before, no matter which content we look at. The new savage raids might be somehow different, but the reason is obvious. Any week 1 or even week 2 static would be dumb to no to bring MNK or RPR or both with them. And i´m convinced that another reason why MNK is close to others is, that NIN got fckd up and half the playerbase stucks on RPR / SMN because they´re easy and shiny. Without being broken... MNK would lose hard.

The changes didn´t help in any way to get more ppl into MNK. Even if we say "1 vet left, 1 newbie came", then the changes are still worse than good. To fck up a whole class-playerbase and lots of vets, to cater ppl who might play MNK here and there or because it´s overtuned imo, is a joke. MNK has been unique but now it´s just easy peasy homogenized for some dumb reasons.

EDIT: Btw last day Extremes... https://www.fflogs.com/zone/statisti...s=DPS&sample=1 , or dungeons https://www.fflogs.com/zone/statisti...s=DPS&sample=1 ppl still log any shit out there.