The Monk Temple

[Vensaval]

What grand company do you think I should join as a Pugilist/Monk? It seems Gridania's gear sets focus more on Crit with a set bonus whereas Limsa's focuses more on Accuracy. Which do you think is better? I like Limsa as a city a lot more, but if the gear is worthwhile, I want to make sure I join whichever GC will be most beneficial for me. What'd you guys do?

Odds are, you won't be wearing Grand Company gear very often unless you just feel like it (like I did during Phase 3).

In any case, I believe you should just join which ever Grand Company you like the theme of most. You seem to enjoy the ports and beaches of Limsa Lominsa more, so I'd say just go with that.

However, if you really do want to take gear into account, then I think Crit would benefit us more since we dish out attacks faster than other classes. Meaning that we'd have a higher rate/chance of landing crits.

[Niota]

Hey everyone! I'm enjoying the pug class and having a lot of fun with it. I'm wondering what your recommendations are for point allotment for this class?

Thank you in advance. ^_^

[kukurumei]

Dots are crap, but you will use them, because they are considered "Fine Play" and thus charges the Limit Break bar.

So Dots do not have a place in your rotation due how a mnk's major goal in their rotation is hit 3 grease. But for the sake of Team Play, Dot it whenever possible because omnislash will be much more worth it.

[Vensaval]

I'll use DoTs because I choose to use them for their additional damage. I don't get how people can say they're crap with very little explanation (other than Tonitrui). DoTs definitely have a lot of utility when facing tougher enemies due to the bonus damage they add to the rotation. Even Demolish and Fracture can be worth using on trash mobs due to their shorter duration.

They're not difficult to weave into the rotation. The timers on Greased Lightning and other buffs we have at our disposal are not that restrictive. It may be found difficult to efficiently weave them in at first, but getting used to that is a part of mastering the class.

Even if we bother to bring math into this, we can see that our Dots are still very much show their worth when fully utilized:

(Keep in mind that the below examples are simplified for the sake of clarity and enforcing a point. No factors such as buffs are taken into consideration other than the flank bonus from Snap Punch. Also, the Global Cooldown will be set at a lowered 2 seconds rather than the typical 2.5. The basic rotation -- Bootshine -> True Strike -> Snap Punch -- is all that will be used in the following examples.)

A comparison between 18 second rotations. One using Demolish and the other not. The time in this example begins after after the first Demolish or Snap Punch. Only the potency from these moves will factored in as they are the only ones necessary to count.

[18 seconds] Demolish > Snap Punch *3 = 240 + 540 = 780

[18 seconds] Snap Punch *4 = 720

Here, we see the difference between someone using just Snap Punch to finish rotations and someone including Demolish. The Demolish inclusion (40 potency Dot; damage ticks every 3 seconds) has a clear 60 potency advantage over sticking with just Snap Punch.


Next, are examples between total damage (based on potency) within 30 seconds. First, starting with Bootshine. Then, starting with Touch of Death (keep in mind that a 2 second GDC is factored in).

[30 seconds] Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch > repeat*4 = (130 + 150 + 180)*5 = 650 + 750 + 900 = 2300

[30 seconds] Touch of Death > Bootshine > True Strike > (Snap Punch > Bootshine > True Strike)*3 = 650 + 750 + 720 + 270 = 2390

Initializing with Touch of Death rather than a Bootshine causes you to lose out on a fifth True Strike in the 30 second timeframe. However, Touch of Death's overall potency makes up for it by the end with a 90 potency advantage.


[30 seconds] Bootshine > True Strike > Snap Punch > repeat*4 = (130 + 150 + 180)*5 = 650 + 750 + 900 = 2300

[30 seconds] Touch of Death > Bootshine > True Strike > Demolish > (Snap Punch > Bootshine > True Strike)*3 = 650 + 750 + 540 + 240 + 270 = 2450

Now, we have 150 potency advantage when utilizing both of our native DoTs, Touch of Death and Demolish. With this, I hope my point has been made clear. The advantages I've shown may appear small at first, but they add up over time and will make significant impacts in large battles.

I know our DoTs seem weak at first. Of course, they will be weak if they aren't utilized to their fullest. However, on tough enemies with large health totals and such, the inclusion of the DoTs in our rotations will make a rather large difference over time as long as they are kept up. You cannot, and should not, underestimate the tools at our disposal.

. . . Except for Arm of the Destroyer. I rarely ever find use for that thing.

[Das]

Just got my Monk job. Awwwww yeah

[BlueMage]

I haven't see any Pugilists/Monks in any of my Duty Finder dungeon runs. And frankly, I can't say I see many of you in FATEs either. What's with the unpopularity of MNK/PUG?

Tons of DRG/ARC/BLM/ACN.

[Almalexia]

Even if we bother to bring math into this

DoTs aren't affected by damage multipliers. The damage from ToD is the same at 50 as it is at 15.

We need to determine the point at which raw 270 potency is eclipsed by DMG, STR and DET modifying other MNK skills with lower potency. No sense using a skill that takes 30s to pay off if you can do the same damage instantly.

This is old and belongs in a museum.

[Romejin]

What is a good rotation with pugilist that includes use of multiple dots?

[Vensaval]

DoTs aren't affected by damage multipliers. The damage from ToD is the same at 50 as it is at 15.

We need to determine the point at which raw 270 potency is eclipsed by DMG, STR and DET modifying other MNK skills with lower potency. No sense using a skill that takes 30s to pay off if you can do the same damage instantly.

As far as I've been able to discover*, DoTs are affected by the active buffs you have at the time the DoT is executed. Meaning that activating the Twin Snakes buff before applying Demolish on an enemy will take the 10% damage bonus into account for each tick. So, instead of the usual 40 potency per tick, it'd be 44. Which adds up to a total of 264 rather than 240.

So, I believe that this undoubtedly keeps DoTs viable/necessary for maximum damage output on longer battles.

*If what I've presented is incorrect, then I don't mind being made aware. Provided you have proof to show, please correct me so that I may retain the knowledge for the future.

Just ran outside and tested for myself. By god, it's true!

DoTs are not only affected by +X% multipliers, but STR and crit as well. There is no reason to not have DoTs active as long as your target can soak most of it.

I want to point out "potency" is a part of a larger calculation. Bonus damage from Twin Snakes (+10%), for example, doesn't turn 40 potency into 44 potency; it adds 10% more damage to the formula after all other factors are considered. In other words, you are underestimating how much +X% damage affects your output.

I appreciate the correction. Just goes to show how much knowledge I don't have. Haha.

[Diamente]

I'm curious about 2 things I've not really seen asked or answered.

1. Are we supposed to weave our skills between the damage of our AAs (not necessarily the animation) or just do everything on CD?
2. As far as positioning does anyone know if the zones around a monster are perfectly 90 degrees or do they overlap something like 120 degrees? The reason I'm asking is because I'm curious if there is a sweet zone for us where both our flank positioning and behind positioning qualifications overlap.