Monk megathread

[Pyitoechito]

General monk thread.

Discussion, complaints, suggestions, discussion about complaints, complaints about suggestions, discussion about complaints about suggestions, ideas, current patch, past patch, reminiscing, disassociating. Everything monk or monk-adjacent fits here (except Greased Lightning, oops).

[Pyitoechito]

I can start discussion off with a very terrible sales pitch.

So, I know it's happened to every monk. You're doing your basic rotation of only the 6 single-target GCDs in a vacuum and you think to yourself: "This is nice and all, but if I ever end up not using Dragon Kick and Twin Snakes in the same combo, I'll never be able to naturally return to the starting point of all three stack-generating GCDs in a single combo. I just wish this basic-rotation-specifically-in-a-vacuum-with-no-other-abilities-aside-from-opening-with-Form-Shift would cover every possible permutation of GCDs so it can always return to the starting point of all three stack-generating GCDs no matter where I end up!!"

Well, have no fear, because I definitely heard all of you and not just me muttering incoherently to myself alone at night!

The current 1-1-2 of fury stacks (1 Opo, 1 Raptor, 2 Coeurl) does mimic pre-DT monk basic rotation, but it doesn't naturally include every possible combination of stack-generating and stack-spending GCDs when starting from an initial (Form Shift) Dragon Kick → Twin Snakes → Demolisher. Those specific permutations being any time Dragon Kick is not paired with Twin Snakes (and vice versa):

• Dragon Kick → Rising Raptor → Demolisher
• Dragon Kick → Rising Raptor → Pouncing Coeurl
• Leaping Opo → Twin Snakes → Demolisher
• Leaping Opo → Twin Snakes → Pouncing Coeurl

It also only takes a mere 18 GCDs to do the full loop back to all-generating GCDs, or 36s at a GCD of 2.00s.

There is a solution to your woes, and it's not the 7.0 1-2-3 stacks! Not even 1-2-3 covers all permutations! In a vacuum, 1-2-3 misses two permutations: Leaping Opo → Twin Snakes/Rising Raptor → Demolisher. Even if the full loop of 1-2-3 is twice the length of the current 1-1-2, it's no good!

Therefore, I give you... 1-2-4 (with a linked spreadsheet)!

That's 90 GCDs per full loop, or 180s if your GCD is the baseline 2.00s! Five times the value of the current 1-1-2! How could anyone get bored in a vacuum when your basic rotation lasts up to three minutes?! So much value!

Every permutation is included! No matter what combination of generator and spender GCDs you put into a combo, you'll always have a path back to the baseline all-generator GCD combo. Did your Perfect Balance misalign your Dragon Kick and Twin Snakes? No problem! With 1-2-4, you're still in the basic rotation somewhere!

1-2-4, the perfect number of stacks with absolutely no flaws whatsoever! Nothing anyone could possibly complain about!

Oh gods someone send help my ADHD hyperfixation kicked in last weekend and I spent seven straight hours writing Google Sheets formulas and now I don't know where I am! There's a tin of old shoe polish and a dirty cloth in my hands and there's bottles of some name-brand spray degreaser all over the floor. I'M NOT EVEN A MONK MAIN!!!

Wait, there's a note here. It reads: "If you want, you can make a copy of the spreadsheet and put other values into the blue cells to see how the rotation changes with different stack values. Fun fact: 1-1-3 is the smallest loop with at least one unique stack value!" ... What does that MEAN?!

[ShadowNyx3]

Switched to Monk in 7.2 after Picto's Hammer was gutted. Had a blast progging Cruiserweight Savage on it, my first time progging on melee.

10/10 job.

[Mecia]

I want pre 5.4 MNK back but would concede to 5.4 MNK.

Nothing else to add.

[Reginald_Cain]

I want pre 5.4 MNK back but would concede to 5.4 MNK.

Nothing else to add.

I'd prefer pre 5.0 monk. End of stormblood monk with the tornado kick rotation using old shoulder tackle to regen greased lightning stacks was mad fun. Shadowbringers monk was straight awful imo. six sided star was an underwhelming capstone, anatman was just an awful bandaid fix for monks problem with downtime. That being said I like the changes monk got in endwalker and dawntrail. Specifically the blitzes and the new riddle attacks.

[Azurarok]

sure miss when maintaining the main combo and timers was the core of the class and not pushed aside to be merely filler for raid buffs

[Mecia]

I'd prefer pre 5.0 monk. End of stormblood monk with the tornado kick rotation using old shoulder tackle to regen greased lightning stacks was mad fun. Shadowbringers monk was straight awful imo. six sided star was an underwhelming capstone, anatman was just an awful bandaid fix for monks problem with downtime. That being said I like the changes monk got in endwalker and dawntrail. Specifically the blitzes and the new riddle attacks.

Really wish i had played MNK in SB as i would probably agree on TK rotation.

[Jeeqbit]

I preferred Monk before the changes that happened to it in Shadowbringers.

However, the current version is fun too, although I noticed it was made harder to get wrong in Dawntrail (potency for messing up is unchanged). A pointless change when so few people play Monk that the ones playing it probably become good at it anyways.