Starting with a monk?

[Nitrius]

To those who are playing as an monk:
-What do you think about the class?

-Is the monk one of the dmg dealers in the game?

because i always like to do a lot of dmg :P

-What is his/her main role in groups?

-Is the monk class friendly with starters?


And if you have any links to some nice mon guides, i don't mind getting them :P

Thanks in advance.

[Aeolus]

Its amazing, specialy taru mnks!!

One of the best Dmg dealers

Damage dealing

Very starter friendly.

Check out the mnk forum on this site for advice.

[Dryhus]

MNK is a very strong damage dealer and is extremely easy to play. It relies very little on skill and a great deal on gear.

That being said, if you're just starting the game and are a MNK, you will find it to be easy to play and do damage on par with other DDs. However, if it is not your first job or you have access to a great deal of gil, then you will find it to be easy to play and do damage that absolutely blows other DDs out of the water.

Every damage dealing class will say they deal "ub3r" damage, but MNKs are the only class that's really true about, in my opinion.

In every PT I've been in, I've done 35%-45% of the party's damage, with the other 55%-65% being divided among the other 3-4 DDs, meaning that each other DD averaged between 10% and 20% of the party's damage. Simply put, it's par for the course for a well-geared MNK to double the next highest DD.

[DakAttack]

If you want to play a Monk, you can take it to level 10 to try it out. If you decide it's something you'd like to stick with, switch jobs to Warrior, and take that to 18, complete your sub job quest, then continue with Monk to 30, or 37. Those are two good times to decide if you really want to stick with a job or not.

Monks have access to gear that's very expensive, so it usually isn't the biggest choice for beginners. They also have a little trouble dealing damage to enemies that can negate damage, rather than simply mitigate it, such as crabs.

[Icemage]

Monks do big damage for certain, at all levels.

Drawbacks? Well... relatively weak skillchain potential until you learn Howling Fist at level 60, unless your party happens to have one of the few jobs that can competently open Fusion skillchains to link into Combo or Raging Fists.

Mid-game monks (57+ or somewhere along those lines) can combine in multiples (usually 3, occasionally 4) to form monk-burn parties against skeleton and magic pot-type enemies.

Even against non-ideal enemies however, monks still deal respectable damage. Sure, they do weak damage when a crab puts up Shell Guard, but so does every other melee.

---

End-game monks at level 75 get access to some really cool toys, such as Black Belt. Even so, there aren't a lot of end-game activities where monks are specifically preferred over other melees, aside from farming for Ro'Maeve water in sky, or taking out adds in King Ranperre's Tomb at Vrtra fights. Again, very respectable damage and survivability, but not so special that you couldn't live without one aside from these two cases where they really shine.


Icemage

[Suichi]

Monk are very deadly in Ballista( Player vs Player, essentially), I might add :p

[capitalistnihilist]

Monks do big damage for certain, at all levels.

Drawbacks? Well... relatively weak skillchain potential until you learn Howling Fist at level 60, unless your party happens to have one of the few jobs that can competently open Fusion skillchains to link into Combo or Raging Fists.

Mid-game monks (57+ or somewhere along those lines) can combine in multiples (usually 3, occasionally 4) to form monk-burn parties against skeleton and magic pot-type enemies.

Even against non-ideal enemies however, monks still deal respectable damage. Sure, they do weak damage when a crab puts up Shell Guard, but so does every other melee.

---

End-game monks at level 75 get access to some really cool toys, such as Black Belt. Even so, there aren't a lot of end-game activities where monks are specifically preferred over other melees, aside from farming for Ro'Maeve water in sky, or taking out adds in King Ranperre's Tomb at Vrtra fights. Again, very respectable damage and survivability, but not so special that you couldn't live without one aside from these two cases where they really shine.


Icemage


Don't forget Chi Blasting gods in sky. ^^

Honestly, in meripo situations and for that matter in EXP up to 75 you can be the #1 DD in any pt if you gear yourself properly as a MNK. Just last night I parsed equal to a 75NIN with pimp gear and beat a pimped out 75RNG on my 74MNK in my last pt to 75. My gear is gimp as shit too (no shura yet or destroyers >.<).

Give a MNK Shura body, Taliban Turban, Byakkos, Destroyers and a Black Belt and there aren't many DDs out there than can compare outside of a Riddill WAR.

I was lucky enough to have Cross Counters at lvl 50 on MNK. O M G! I parsed parties where I was dealing 50-60% of total damage. I had parties where I wasn't allowed to zerk cause the PALADIN tank couldn't keep hate off me at all if I did so. MNK is sooooo powerful but the #1 thing that hurts us is the need to sub NIN in endgame meripo. If MNK could sub WAR and survive I'm fairly certain there wouldn't be a job that could come close to our damage.

Sure, as someone posted earlier, it doesn't require much skill, yadayada. In the end you can break most jobs in FFXI down to a routine of hitting macros or selecting spells from lists. However, with MNK you do need the skill to gear yourself properly according to the situation and eat the proper food. Your damage can suffer greatly just by eating meat when you shoulda used sushi or visa-versa.

[Dryhus]

It doesn't matter that I don't have any 75 jobs, have no merits, haven't played against Gods, "yadayada". I know it doesn't take any skill to hit alt+a and use your SC when you're supposed to. "Skill to gear yourself properly" isn't a skill; it's a necessity for performance on any job. RDM requires skill to play properly, MNK does not.

[capitalistnihilist]

It doesn't matter that I don't have any 75 jobs, have no merits, haven't played against Gods, "yadayada". I know it doesn't take any skill to hit alt+a and use your SC when you're supposed to. "Skill to gear yourself properly" isn't a skill; it's a necessity for performance on any job. RDM requires skill to play properly, MNK does not.


/sigh

Not even at endgame and already a mage-snob. RDM requires skill to play properly in some situations sure. But in EXP? BAH! Most pts could give a shit less if all you did was Dispel/Refresh/Haste. One could probably program a bot to do that well.

[Dryhus]

How you got that I'm a snob out of that post is beyond me. I'm hardly a snob. I'm a realist. I leveled RDM to 62 and got bored of it. My MNK is 52 and I'm having so much fun with it that I'm pretty sure it's going to be my main. Make no mistake, I'm not high on mage jobs.

On RDM, I'm constantly mashing macros and doing swapping gear. I've usually got a list of stuff I have to do in my head because there isn't enough time to cast it all most of the time. On MNK, I'm making myself a sandwich and putting out half the entire party's damage.

I think NIN takes at least as much skill as RDM. That's pretty snobby, right?
I think BRD, while not exactly a job that requires skill, is quite busy.

Maybe I'll level to 75. Then I'll have a valid opinion on the easiest job in the damn game. Trying to speak down to me because a number next to my character's name in a game is lower than yours? Already an endgame-snob.

I wish people would accept what the job does and does not require and stop taking a well-known fact that MNK is an easy job to play as an attack and understand they have nothing to defend themselves against.

[capitalistnihilist]

If you really are an AFK melee that is too bad. AFK melee are the most annoying ppl to pt with. Its really fun spamming <Monk> TP = 300% while your skillchain partner is playing PSP or something lol.

Ok, w/e maybe you aren't a stuck up mage, I may have had that wrong.

Just wait til you get that MNKy up to lvl 75 and you are endless chaining in TP burn- it gets MUCH busier then trust me. More fun too if you ask me ^^.

[Dryhus]

No, no, I never go afk for 10 minutes and leave my SC partner hanging...nothing of that ilk. If we both just SCed at the end of the last fight, then on the next mob I'll engage and go grab a drink. I'm usually at 100% long before my SC partner, as well, so I'm not holding up the SC. If I feel that my absence will be at all visible to the rest of the PT, then I don't go, simple as that.

Let me put it this way. My wife hates FFXI, and she hates the fact that I love it. All the same, she respects that it's what I enjoy doing in my free time. If I need to go away for more than a couple minutes, I ask my wife to cover for me. I tell her that if she she sees a monster with a red name, to to press Alt+T (Windower macro for /target <bt>) then Alt+A, then the up arrow to walk over to it. If the TP meter is at full and she sees a line of blue text containing "100%" to type the word "go" and press Enter. When she sees a line of yellow text containing the word "Sturmwind" (for example), she is to press Alt+7.

That's 90% of Monkage right there.

[Van'derfel]

I was thinking as to start as MNK WAR or THF. Would monk be the best? If not, what would be the best?

[Murphie]

MNK is my starting job of choice. It has low start up costs, high surviveability, and not a lot of gear to worry about. It's a safe bet.

[Van'derfel]

Okay, and when i do the SJ thing, what should my sub be?

[Murphie]

WAR. Although you need to level up your sub as a main job before it's of any use as a SUB. But WAR and MNK both go together very well, so those are both good choices.

Really, this thread already has a ton of great info, and the search function (upper right hand corner of this page) should enable you to find a lot of the answers you're looking for.

[Van'derfel]

I read somewhere(i think it was ^ there) but it said that WAR wasnt a good sj for monk. I think it said whm was better i cant remember. damn my stupidity.

[Murphie]

You've got it backwards. WAR is an ideal sub for MNK, and can be used all the way to 75. WHM is a situational sub for MNK during endgame and while soloing.

[Carlo 210]

You've got it backwards. WAR is an ideal sub for MNK, and can be used all the way to 75. WHM is a situational sub for MNK during endgame and while soloing.
Sounds lke DRG. :P

[Mog]

Sounds lke DRG. :P

This makes no sense at all.

Dragoons are not being mentioned in this thread, and whm IS a situational sub for monk. (high hp, ability to heal your self)

[Tirrock]

I think he was commenting on how the subs for DRG and MNK are similar. DRG has a bit more versitility on subjobs and isn't forced to sub NIN in high level parties, but other than that...most melee jobs are all forced to sub WAR at one point or another.

I'd sub WAR on WAR if I could. +10% double attack rate, and another 3 minutes of berserk? Sign me up!

[Esoa]

Monk may be a good starting job to get a feel for the game, but I don't think it's a good first job to take to 75. It's way too expensive too early. At lvl 40 you have sniper rings x2, O. Kote, Brown Belt, Jujitsu Gi...that's about 8-10 million right there. For a first time lvl 40 that is a nearly insurmountable amount of gil to acquire, unless you don't actually like leveling and prefer to take 3+ months to farm. Then once you've gotten to 40ish and given up you are left with a job that is useless to sub. You'd have been better off with almost any other job.

There are other jobs that are very expensive as well but there are plenty that you can take at least to the 60's with far less gil. Most (or all) of the mage classes for example.

[Dryhus]

Monk may be a good starting job to get a feel for the game, but I don't think it's a good first job to take to 75. It's way too expensive too early. At lvl 40 you have sniper rings x2, O. Kote, Brown Belt, Jujitsu Gi...that's about 8-10 million right there. For a first time lvl 40 that is a nearly insurmountable amount of gil to acquire, unless you don't actually like leveling and prefer to take 3+ months to farm. Then once you've gotten to 40ish and given up you are left with a job that is useless to sub. You'd have been better off with almost any other job.

There are other jobs that are very expensive as well but there are plenty that you can take at least to the 60's with far less gil. Most (or all) of the mage classes for example.

Agreed. At the very least, it's a good first job to take to 30. At that point, you can unlock a number of other jobs that, while not necessarily as easy to play, are somewhat inexpensive and relatively in-demand.

[Skeepz]

Elvaan mnks do insane Dmg @.@

[Vasilis]

Sub whm is best for Gods and HNMs where you ned the extra MND for chi blast. Other than that, it isn't that good. MP is not high enough to effectively solo at all, and as stated by Carlo 210 drg can solo due to there Wyvern haveing Healing breath. Monk has Chakra every 3min, the Wyvern can do Healing breath effectively every time you hit 50% life, no mater of the time delay. They have no time delay for Healing breath. Only thing that effects it is TP though. Kinda strange if you ask me. Again I say Imo, mnk can't solo effectively even with whm subbed.

[Tevabond]

I took monk to 18 and even then some prices were quite hihg.


Purple belt 60k
Republic knuckles 40k
Power Gi 40k

Its not cheap.
i just leveled it first to sub on warrior till 30.
then im switching to paladin...
Its a great Job to learn the ins and outs of FFXI but a first 75 no way.

[Hearshot]

I took monk to 18 and even then some prices were quite hihg.


Purple belt 60k
Republic knuckles 40k
Power Gi 40k

Its not cheap.
i just leveled it first to sub on warrior till 30.
then im switching to paladin...
Its a great Job to learn the ins and outs of FFXI but a first 75 no way.

But keep in mind these items are good from 15-40, practically. The Cesti can be swapped out for Boreal Cesti at lvl30, a free NM Drop. So you're spending the money up front and early but it pays off.

Look at other jobs, they often upgrade every 3 lvls or so.

[Elisen]

Granted alot of MNK equipment gets expensive, but like Hearshot said, the equipment you do buy will last for quite a while, particularly the expensive items. The expensive items can last you anywhere from 15-30+ levels depending on what they are.

Also while the "uber gear" is nice and you should eventually get all of it, most people don't expect you to have it as soon as you are withing level range of using it. There are plenty of alternatives you can use until you can get the equip you want. Although I don't suggest leveling too far without stopping to farm for a while to keep you equipment atleast up to date.

[Sylvane]

While I can agree that monk isn't the best job to level up to 75 first, there are a few reasons why it's a good first job

1 Fairly easy to use, so anyone, even an MMORPG beginner, like I was, could learn how th game works.

2 Fairly quick to level to 18 safely for subjob, then mnk is a viable sub on war.

3 While the gear is expensive, most CAN be crafted with fairly low level clothcraft. I had little problem leveling my cloth to 40 with almost no cash spent, just by farming while I leveled. If something dropped that I needed in an exp party, I just asked, usually it was something that no one really wanted anyway. plus the down time in the dunes is good for crafting, jsut don't get too into it and forget that you're there to kill things.

4 I haven't spent more than 600k on a single item (Spartan Cesti) since I started leveling monk, granted I didn't always have the best gear, but I had no problems with damage. Using meats and sushis when applicable I had great DoT. Most parties I was relegated to just attacking and using my ws about halfwy through the battle, even doing that it seemed I pulled too much hate.

All in all I would say level mnk at least to 18, if you don't like it, get your subjob quest done and try something else, because by then you pretty much know if it's something you'll enjoy.

[Bricklayer]

3 While the gear is expensive, most CAN be crafted with fairly low level clothcraft. I had little problem leveling my cloth to 40 with almost no cash spent, just by farming while I leveled. If something dropped that I needed in an exp party, I just asked, usually it was something that no one really wanted anyway. plus the down time in the dunes is good for crafting, jsut don't get too into it and forget that you're there to kill things.

From the guide in the clothcrafting section, it seems this is most easily done from Windy. Is that correct? If so, then it would be smart to make your starting city Windurst, or run over there from your respective other starting city early on in the game.

[Sylvane]

From the guide in the clothcrafting section, it seems this is most easily done from Windy. Is that correct? If so, then it would be smart to make your starting city Windurst, or run over there from your respective other starting city early on in the game.


Personally, I started in bastok, because as a hume I got the ring from making my character there. I believe taru and mithra are windurst, Galka and HUme are bastok and Elvaan is san d'oria, not sure if there's a second for sandy. If you fall into the category and start in windy, then yes, it would be pretty easy to farm/harvest all the needed materials. there are a few reasons you might want to travel at level 1 and a few reasons not to. pros would be that you get more CP leveling with signet in a foreign country, you get to advnture some more, and the guild would be right there. cons are that you would miss out on missions that you could do in your home country, the time and tribulations it takes to travel, and that from windy you'd most likely have to travel back again to level in the dunes... all in all, it's really up to you, since the items don't cost that much, you could just farm from your home country and buy them. I just made a good go of leveling while I was crafting and vice versa.

[Celeal]

From the guide in the clothcrafting section, it seems this is most easily done from Windy. Is that correct? If so, then it would be smart to make your starting city Windurst, or run over there from your respective other starting city early on in the game.

I have not done any clothcrafting... but I just want to added that there is a clothcrafting guild in Sebina (Dunes) as well. You may not be able to take guild examine in Sebina, but you can buy material from the guild NPC.

[Elisen]

I wouldn't pick a city based on what guilds are there since its easy enough to travel between citys. Plus there is a clothcraft guild in Selbina and one in Al Zahbi. Unless you plan on buying everything you craft from the guild, really the only reason you HAVE to go to the guild is to join and take the tests. Although it is nice to go to get synth support. But if you plan on taking cloth to 100 you will eventually need to lvl your subcrafts too and those won't all be in windy.

[Karinya]

Purple belt and power gi are both quest rewards, IIRC. Although you might have some trouble doing the purple belt quest at 18, power gi quest is trivial with a chocobo license and a scroll of instant warp. Republic knuckles are an HQ; you could do almost as well with bastokan knuckles.

Almost all equipment that's expensive at low levels is unnecessary, or can be obtained in a less expensive way, or both.

You could take monk to 18, do the subjob quest, and then level WAR/MNK to 37 and do the purple belt quest as a WAR before resuming your MNK leveling, if you want to make sure you have it right away (and don't have any friends that would help you find and kill the NMs).