Monk/Pup??

[Daryn2889]

Ok so I decided to going back to leveling monk again, after wasting a TON of time on doing other things and really getting nowhere. I am level 30 with it, and didn't plan to ever take it any further because I had wanted to be a Puppetmaster. Well I don't really want to level Pup any further for now, but I might take it up later, so I've decided to take Monk to level 50 before branching out. So I subbed monk/war at first and then realized after buying all my armor (which was NOT cheap by the way) for monk at 30, that I would have to immediatly switch back to WAR when I get to 32 so I can level up WAR some more because it's only level 15.

So I switched to Puppetmaster sub and I noticed that the only stat that changed was strength, and even a few other rose. But even with strength down a little, it went down only by 3 points and I have a lot of armor that raises Strength anyway. I guess that would be a good thing because I don't want to pull too much hate on me, because we monks seriously don't know our own strength sometimes. But why I really wanted to do monk/pup is because of the automaton. I put the Damage Gauge attachment, which makes the puppet prioritize curing, so that it can heal a bit when I get hurt and keep my HP up if the WHMs are having a hard time. The mage puppet frame can also cast enfeebles.

So what is there to lose really? The fact that I can't provoke or use Beserk anymore? Well Idk if Beserk is such a total loss because well Monks are powerful enough as it is, and monks really aren't built to tank although the have high amounts of HP. Any thoughts about my job combo?

[Awilo]

I guess the only advantage of the combo is to use the automaton... since puppetmaster has rank C in hand to hand which is pretty worthless for a monk and lower melee stats than monk overall.

[Dryhus]

MNK/PUP has a CHR advantage over MNK/WAR from 1-75. /psyched

[Gwynn]

Losing Berserk would be rather devastating... I'd just tough it out and level Warrior, personally.

[Tirrock]

WAR is the ultimate damage subjob for monk. Puppet master gives you effectively what a SMN sub would, only without the MP costs. No damage related JAs, no job traits relating to what MNK do either...

[nanatsu]

Berserk does far more than you're giving it credit for. It's a very powerful ja for any melee besides war because, well, they already have it.

[Tirrock]

My MNK/DRG friend would bonk my head good for forgetting to mention DRG sub as a on par with /WAR. Sometimes it's better, sometimes worse, depends completely on the player and the situation. (She might see that I forgot to mention it at first too...)

It's being discussed here:
http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/mon...bbing.drg.html

You'd still need /WAR from 50 to 70 anyway though.

[Vasilis]

Berserk is a given for MNK. you want to do as much damage, in the fastest time possible. Which means /WAR is what you want. If you rip hate from a tank. He is a sorry tank, and needs to work harder to keep hate. If you go to your limit and he keeps hate, then he is a bad @$$ tank. Don't ever hold back, unless you are in a party with a NIN and no THF. Hopefully, that won't happen to you. MNK should never be put in a situation like that. If it does, you will be tank. Guaranted!! As you get lvl 70 you get warcry, which will help as well. Maybe it is 74, but I think it is 70. Also depends on the damage and hate you take on what food to eat as well. I only carry Sole sushi, and Coerul subs. Sole is for the STR+ and ACC+, sub is for ATT+ (massive ATT+ at higher lvles) You need to remember that all foods, cap at some ATT number. So research what you think you may need, and buy accordingly. But i have noticed on Phoenix server, Coerul subs cost less than Meat mithkabobs. which is a + for 55+ MNK's. If you need anymore info hit this forum back, and I will answer what I can.

[Dryhus]

MNK's job is to do the most damage at the end of the day. We're not burst damage. Just wanted to clarify that.

Also, if you pull hate, it doesn't mean the tank is bad. It just means he's not gifted. MNK deals more insane damage than most people in FFXI realize. It is really hard to hold hate off us for the whole XP session. If you want to go all out, that's fine; be prepared to take some blame when you have oodles of downtime because the mages are {Out of MP!}. Not saying you should hold back, but throw on some Crow/Raven gear (1 piece is good, 2 is more than enough). You can sacrifice minor stats (STR +1, DEX +1 versus Evasion +4, Enmity -7) for big enmity reductions. Realistically, this is more efficient for the party because you can do more damage than you would with the tiny STR or DEX bonuses because you have more freedom to deal damage without concern for being an MP sponge.

And Warcry is owned by Boost. Badly.

[Dryhus]

A comment made on my post immediately above this one:

He has no clue what MNK's need at higher lvl's due to his in experience in the job, and lower lvl.

I'd love to discuss this if someone wants to put a name to their comment. Thank you.