[Redlimit]

At the time of writing this - I am nearing level 75 on my second foray
into MNK. I originally had a level 75 MNK with AF2 and tons of gear on
the Ragnarok server (name: Vargas), but I stopped playing for about a
year and deleted the character. Now I have remade (name: Varg) and I
am nearing 75 once again. I figure if I can level it to 75 twice then
I may have some knowledge that can help others looking to take on this
damage dealing job.

I'm not suggesting that this guide is 100% the correct way to do
everything - but just think of this as a guideline to get you started.
In my experience, all of this has worked great for me (twice!).
MNK is a damage dealing job - perhaps even the most powerful one. MNK
put out a steady stream of constant damage over time, which is perfect
for EXP parties. You also get much more powerful weapon skills than
many other jobs. Using different equipment and setups, you can do many
different things with a MNK. A high level MNK is an excellent soloer
and farmer as well.


--- Stat Boosting Basics ---

MNK are fairly straightforward in the stat department. You want things
that will increase your damage. This means STR, Attack, Accuracy, etc.
The order of importance I rate them at is:
STR/Attack, Accuracy, Haste, VIT, DEX
STR/Attack is a MNK's bread and butter. STR increases your total
damage overall, and Attack raises your damage range. Both are very
important, but STR gets a bit more importance due to how H2H damage is
calculated (especially when dealing with Weapon Skills).
Accuracy is obviously very important as all of the STR in the world
won't help you if you never hit anything. MNK do get access to a
decent selecton of ACC gear, and food can help out with this as well.
Haste is next up, and it is important because it will help keep your
damage coming quickly, and basically the more attacks you do the more
chances you have to hit.
VIT is kind of secondary, but it directly relates to the Chakra
ability in how much HP it raises. A lot of MNK weapon skills use VIT
as a damage modifier so it can help in that regard.
DEX is last on the list. It enhances ACC marginally, and also affects
critical hit rate, but in the long run a MNK gets more benefits from
any of the other stats above. DEX is by no means useless, but don't go
out of your way to raise it.


--- Equipment Basics ---

First and foremost, with H2H weapons you should be focusing on ones
that have high damage. These often have a much slower delay, but keep
in mind that for a large portion of the game H2H hits will be
signifigantly less than other weapons and you will need the higher
damage to keep the pace (especially on enemies with high DEF). High
damage and other stat bonuses (usually STR, Attack, or ACC) take
priority over a low delay. Once you get to level 70+ this changes a
bit as you now hit very hard even bare-handed, so there are a lot more
options as far as DMG versus delay. As far as EXP parties are
concerned, stick with the high damage.
As a MNK you should always focus on equipment that gives stat boosts.
Don't even look at an items DEF - it dosen't really matter to you. You
are interested in anything that gives STR, Attack, Accuracy, or Haste.
This may mean that in some cases you will be using the same pieces of
equipment for a long time, but thats OK - as long as it is giving
better bonuses than anything else available you are fine. MNK get an
excellent Artifact Equipment set in the level 50-60 range, so make
good use of it.

A lot of good MNK gear can be quested or obtained cheaply, although
there are a few items which you will pay dearly for if you want them.
If MNK is your first job to get to a high level then don't worry about
having all of the godly items - there are always inexpensive
alternatives to each. No one is going to yell at you for not having a
Scorpion Harness at 57, or not equipping Cross-Counters when you hit
50. These items are an extravagance - yes, they are powerful but these
are aimed at players who have lots of gil or have other jobs at 75 who
can afford them.
Food comes into play here as well. MNK obviously benefit from Attack,
STR, and ACC food. If you are looking for more damage then try out
foods like Meat Jerky, Meat Mithkabobs, and Coeurl Subs. If ACC is
what you are looking for, try some foods out of the Sushi line. You
likely won't start to need sushi until level 60+, but you will have to
see what you have trouble hitting and what you don't. Basically if you
are happy with your accuracy, you are better off not eating the sushi
as it will lower your damage. You will have to experiment as you level
up to see what works best for each situation. Luckily, its easy enough
to carry a stack of Attack food and a stack of ACC food at all times.


--- MNK Ability Breakdown ---

Boost (L5)
Boost gives you a temporary enhancement to your Attack. It can stack
with its self over a three minute period, but for most of your career
the only time you will use Boost is right before a weapon skill.
Attack plays a much bigger role in an the damage of a weapon skill
than it does in a regular hit. Once you get Chi Blast at 41 then you
can start stacking Boost a few times because it directly affects how
much damage Chi Blast does. The usual method of damaging a lot of HNM
is for MNK to boost for the full Boost duration (3 minutes) then use
Chi Blast.

Counter(L10)
This is a passive ability that allows you to stop a physical attack
against you and you get in a free hit. You can raise your chances to
counter with several equips, but it isn't a priority until much later
on. This is a great boon to soloing and emergency back-up tanking.

Dodge (L15)
Useful when solo or in an emergency, dodge directly raises your
evasion for two minutes. This is pretty self explanitory. MNK actually
have a fairly high evasion stat, so this can be fairly powerful if you
keep it capped.

Focus (L25)
This is one of the best things available to a MNK. For two minutes you
get a direct increase in accuracy. Use this as often as possible, and
learn how to stack or stagger it with other abilties (like Berserk,
for example). Use Focus for one fight, Berserk for the next, Focus for
the next...you can keep doing that pretty much forever and always have
a boost to your damage output in an EXP party.

Chakra (L35)
Another excellent MNK ability. This heals your HP and can cure some
status effects. It heals VITx2 HP, so you can macro in equipment to
help out with how much HP is healed. Pieces of AF and AF2 also help to
raise how much HP is regained. Chakra can heal Poison, Blind, and
Silence to start off with, and with Temple Cyclas and Melee Gloves you
can heal a few more (like Virus for example).

Chi Blast (L41)
Perhaps MNK's most unique ability, Chi Blast is a single ranged attack
that is not affected by an enemies DEF or resitances. Its damage is
based off of your MND stat and how many times you have used Boost
directly before using it. This is a powerful tool versus HNM, and it
can be useful in an EXP party as well if you Boost a few times while
the puller is getting an enemy and Chi Blasting whatever comes back.
Don't go overboard though - you don't want too much hate. Three for
four Boosts is usually enough for good damage with little hate.

Counterstance (45)
This ability raies your chance to counter, but drastically lowers your
DEF. This is a hit-or-miss ability, but when used against Too Weak or
Easy Prey enemies you will absolutely crush them. Use it against VT or
IT enemies at your own risk - it can pay off, but when you get hit you
will get hit HARD. Stack up on Counter+ gear if you want to try it. It
"does" work, but only really at 70+.

[Redlimit]

--- Level Range Strategies ---

1 - 15
MNK have an easy time soloing. In fact, being in a party at this point
only really slows you down. Use high damage H2H weapons, and practice
using Boost before every weapon skill. Grab what stat boosting gear
you can (there are a few good ones).

15 - 30
Now you will start to party for EXP. Stick with the high damage H2H
and buy some food. Get to know the basics of how a party works (
camping, pulling, etc), but most importantly for you is to learn about
skillchains and what ones a MNK can do. This will be your main
function in an EXP party, so find a skillchain chart and understand
how it works. Also learn how to stop powerful spells and attacks by
using Shoulder Tackle. Bomb Toss from Goblins is the main offender
here, but learning how to do this now will save your life many, many
times in the future.

30 - 41
By now you should have a good idea of how to make the best of your
abilities - when they should be stacked, when they should be staggered
(this also means ones you have from your subjob). Try to focus on
maximum efficiency. The more consistent you make your damage, the more
EXP the party will earn. This often means having at least one damage
boost active at all times (usually staggering Focus and Berserk).

41 - 60
This is the level range where you get access to a lot of good
equipment. As such you will have to find a good balance between your
accuracy and your other stat boosts. Remember, if you aren't
constistently hitting an enemy then all of your damage boosts are not
doing anything. Finding a good balance between the two is more
important. You will also start learning how to pull hate when setting
up a skillchain that involves a Theif who is closing behind the tank.
Basically you are temporarily stealing hate so the full effect of
Sneak Attack and Trick Attack can happen - with effective results.

60 - 71
Once you reach 65 you get Dragon Kick, and with it the ability to take
part in level 3 skillchains. Learn how weaponskills work with each
other to make level 2 and level 3 skillchains. This will be a major
factor in just about every battle you do from this point on, from EXP
to HNM. You also get access to a lot of equipment that is useful for
some things but not others - learn how to macro in pieces that you
need and make a few sets for different situaitons (full damage,
tanking, weapon skill, etc). Of course, at 70 you will be confronted
with the Maat battle if MNK is your first job to reach that level. The
strategy for that is later in this guide.

71 - 75
Welcome to the endgame. MNK become an absolute powerhouse - able to
deliver consistently high damage through melee, do ranged spike damage
when the situation arises, and even provide some enhanced
functionality with different subjobs. At 71 you will quest for the
Asuran Fists weaponskill - be sure to get it as soon as you can once
you reach the H2H skill cap at level 71. Keep in mind that it is not
always the best weaponskill for every situation though. At 75, the
game dynamics change a bit. Aside from NMs and HNMs, most things you
fight will not be IT anymore. This means party setups and equipment
choices that previously wouldn't have worked can now work out just
fine - you will see this a lot in Merit Point parties. As a MNK it is
up to you what to merit, but you probably get the biggest gains
overall from H2H Skill Up and Critical Hit Rate Up for obvious
reasons.


--- Misc. Info ---

Maat Battle
-----------

The MNK Maat battle is pretty straightforward - it is over very
quickly one way or the other. Basically, picture two MNKs using
Hundred Fists on each other for about 30 seconds. Thats about how long
the actual fight takes to decide a winner. What is important here is
your preparation.
A high damage H2H weapon is the first priority. Your delay will not
mean much in this battle as you will have Hundred Fists on for 99% of
it. Get as much damage going as you can since you will be attacking
non-stop anyway.
Make the most of the one and only free hit you get - Chi Blast. Grab
as much MND gear as you can and equip it when you are in the
battlefield. Maat will not attack you until you use something on him
or damage him in some way, so get in close enough for Chi Blast to
hit. Get a Blink Band and use it. Also, your choices of food can give
you an advantage as well. Attack food, HP food, accuracy food - they
can all be great benefits to this fight. You should also use an HP
Regen drink - preferably a Perskios Au Lait. You may not have a lot of
time to regen any HP during this fight, but every last bit you can
regain counts.
Boost yourself 10 to 11 times. Here is an important part: do not use
Chi Blast right away at this point. Activate Hundred Fists, Dodge, and
Focus, draw your weapon and THEN fire Chi Blast. The reason you do
this is because Maat starts off with some TP built up. The Chi Blast
can take him high enough to use a weaponskill. This normally isn't a
problem, but it is if he chooses Shoulder Tackle - because you will
loose about 10 seconds of your Hundred Fists, and this can make or
break the battle. Once you fire off the Chi Blast, take all of your
MND gear off and switch in your regular fighting setup (having a macro
which changes from MND to damage equipment helps).
So now you are beating away on him. Use Raging Fists every time you
have 100 TP, and use Chakra as needed. It is possible to win this
battle without using any healing medicine or Icarus Wings, but don't
be afraid to bring them as well, if Maat decides to be particularly
nasty you may need them. Maat will of course use Hundred Fists
himself, but don't let him scare you. You are doing just as much
damage to him as he is doing to you. If he decides to use two or three
huge weaponskills, not much can save you - but take heart. You do not
lose EXP for dying in this battle, you only need to go and get another
Monk Testimony item to try again.

Subjobs
-------

WAR - This is the sub you will use for most of your MNK career. It
offers the best range of stats, abilities, and traits to compliment
MNK in the job it does best: doing damage. Double Attack is probably
the biggest benefit here as it can kick in a lot when you attack twice
all of the time. Berserk, Warcry, and even Provoke all have their
uses. This is definately the highest damage output subjob, and the one
you will be using for most EXP parties.

THF - Once you get past level 60, MNK can sub THF mainly for the extra
damage on weaponskills, but also for more hate control in a party.
Although the WAR sub is more robust, if your party lacks anyone else
to fill in this role, MNK/THF can get the job done. It is also helpful
when farming for items due to Treasure Hunter.

WHM - This is the main subjob for when you are using Chi Blast to
damage an NM or HNM. The extra MND boost makes it worth using. You
also get a lot of utility spells to help keep yourself and others
alive like Stoneskin, Cure III, Raise, Sneak, and Invisible. This also
makes a good soloing/exploring subjob, especially if you skill up a
Staff high enough to learn the Spirit Taker weaponskill. MNK have a
high ranking in Staff and can do a lot of damage with them. Having the
ability to recharge your MP with a weaponskill makes this even better
for longer battles or solo work.

NIN - Mainly used for survivability with Utsusemi. Useful for things
like Dynamis or BCNM. You wouldn't use this for normal running around
though, and definately not for EXP.
Most other subjobs have some function when used, but you get the
greatest benefits from the four above.

Soloing
-------

Monks are excellent farmers. With a high damage output, lots of HP,
and a powerful self heal - you can farm for long periods of time
without having to stop. You can sub THF easily as well. Find a good
area where you can defeat a lot of enemies in a row before having to
rest and work out a circuit you can do.

As far as normal soloing (like questing, exploring, etc), you can
stand up to a lot of punishment while dishing out your own. If you
want some extra longevity, try subbing WHM and using a Staff (once you
have 215 skill and Spirit Taker that is). Having a healer or soothing
healer type Fellowship NPC is probably your best bet. You can use an
attacker if you want, but you already do more than enough damage -
what you need is the added debuffs and extra curing.


Overall, MNK is a powerful job if you are dedicated enough to stick
with it. For a long time around the release of the North American
version people avoided MNK and didn't really see the potential it had
in the endgame, but nowadays MNK are respected and sought after for
both EXP and HNM. Have fun with it and do your best!

[DerekKnight]

Thank you for this post! ^^ Continues to get me pumped about the job =)

[Bajan2]

Should mention at 75 the God Armor set becomes available, which is much easier to obtain and far less expensive (if costly at all) than shura set~

Genbu's Kabuto (+50hp +15 vit +50 water resistance) is money in a chakra macro, or if you need to do minor tanking.

Byakko's Haidate: In my opinion the most useful leg armor for monks in the game, shura might be just as good but haste bonus and +15 dex on leg armor is 'god like' (pun, i'm funny!) Lightning resistance +50 never hurt either.

Suzaku's Sun-Ate: You're going to be HNM'ing hopefully, and +15 mnd helps those chi blasts do some mighty fine damage. Fire resistance for those pesky flame mobs +50 here too.

The only one we dont need are Seiryu's kote, more ranged fighting based. +15 agi with rng accuracy bonus.

anywho just an excerpt to a cool guide, bravo on hitting 75 soon

[DerekKnight]

Originally posted by Bajan2
Should mention at 75 the God Armor set becomes available, which is much easier to obtain and far less expensive (if costly at all) than shura set~

Genbu's Kabuto (+50hp +15 vit +50 water resistance) is money in a chakra macro, or if you need to do minor tanking.

Byakko's Haidate: In my opinion the most useful leg armor for monks in the game, shura might be just as good but haste bonus and +15 dex on leg armor is 'god like' (pun, i'm funny!) Lightning resistance +50 never hurt either.

Suzaku's Sun-Ate: You're going to be HNM'ing hopefully, and +15 mnd helps those chi blasts do some mighty fine damage. Fire resistance for those pesky flame mobs +50 here too.

The only one we dont need are Seiryu's kote, more ranged fighting based. +15 agi with rng accuracy bonus.

anywho just an excerpt to a cool guide, bravo on hitting 75 soon

Hey, cool info! ^^

I'm currently just saving up for the lvl 40 stuff (easy to do with a 61 WAR to farm with). Hopefully after I get all the gear, I can get back to xping and having some fun. =)

How did you acquire these items (if you have them)? Your LS go by lotting or just assign who is worthy of the drops at any certain time or something. This is something that always baffled me. These being Rare/EX and all.

[Zeth]

I was relieved more than anything, to be past 60 and to finally have full AF. I have started noticing a difference invite-wise now. I'm glad to hear about the bright future ahead.

Nice guide!

[Redlimit]

For LS's or groups that hunt the Celestial Gods a lot, its not uncommon to end up with a lot of pieces of gear from them. Each piece has a job or two that are very good for them (RNG for pants, etc) so it may take a few before you may end up with some. I prefer the Shura Set myself, but there are some good pieces of Celestial Gear as well.

The two Shura pieces of the most intrerest are the Head/Legs. Aspi and Byakko drop the Abjurations for these, and these pieces really only help MNK so it shouldn't be too hard to get lots on these Abjurations.

I feel that the Head and Leg equipment for MNK for all levels is the weakest of the bunch.

Shura Kabuto - STR+5, Accuracy+5

Shura Haidate - STR+5 Accuracy+7

I would have killed to have those around level 60ish.

[Sharma]

Finally a high level mnk that agrees AF > Ochi Kote.

Ineedbigkuku and Dekker on my server also agree on this, its a pity how many high mnks there are on Bismarck that are all "Blah blah stfu OCHI KOTE ROCKS YOU" and it really is a complete pisstake to be frank. :p

I am so glad I sold off the kote when I got my AF and bought spartans with the resulting cash, best investment ive ever made to do I think.

[DerekKnight]

Originally posted by Redlimit
For LS's or groups that hunt the Celestial Gods a lot, its not uncommon to end up with a lot of pieces of gear from them. Each piece has a job or two that are very good for them (RNG for pants, etc) so it may take a few before you may end up with some. I prefer the Shura Set myself, but there are some good pieces of Celestial Gear as well.

The two Shura pieces of the most intrerest are the Head/Legs. Aspi and Byakko drop the Abjurations for these, and these pieces really only help MNK so it shouldn't be too hard to get lots on these Abjurations.

I feel that the Head and Leg equipment for MNK for all levels is the weakest of the bunch.

Shura Kabuto - STR+5, Accuracy+5

Shura Haidate - STR+5 Accuracy+7

I would have killed to have those around level 60ish.

Thanks for the info. ^^

[Brennon]

Great post. I need to start leveling again

[Weap]

I use my kote for looks^^

Dragon kick is also great when you get it at 65... nice damage and the ability to make Level 3 light skillchains.... oh the joy of bone mobs... :angel: :angel:

[bside]

Originally posted by Sharma
Finally a high level mnk that agrees AF > Ochi Kote.

Ineedbigkuku and Dekker on my server also agree on this, its a pity how many high mnks there are on Bismarck that are all "Blah blah stfu OCHI KOTE ROCKS YOU" and it really is a complete pisstake to be frank. :p

i must say that comparing those two things without taking other equipments into acct is nonsense, while STR and ATK r two separate things and each serve different purposes.

yes, i do use AF glove myself, but that's mainly because i focus more on STR than on ATK, NOT because i think 4 STR is better than 20 ATK.

not to mention it might even be better way to use Ochiudo during normal attacks, and switch to AF when u go for SC.

[Ghostraven]

excellent post, this should be stickied.

[Redlimit]

Its not that Kote are "no good" past 54 - they are still a very solid equip and a good choice.

Its just that once you start getting so much Attack (275+ range), you will get more damage out of the damage equation by having +4 STR than +20 Attack. This will usually happen between levels 60-65.

[Zeth]

The debate about AF Gloves and Kotes will never end anyway, it's all down to personal preference.