Monk: Guide to Playing the Job

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Job Overview
With their bodies that double as deadly weapons, monks attack enemies with explosive strength. As one of the six standard jobs, Monk can be chosen by players at the very start of the game. Monk is designed as a Hand-to-Hand weapon specialist, and is capable of wreaking havok with fast and furious punches. Preserving Final Fantasy tradition, Monk retains many classic abilities including Martial Arts, Chakra, Max HP Boost, and Counter. Complete with a full set of powerful weapon skills, Monks are a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Strengths

 * Attacks are extremely fast and consistent, and only get faster as level increases.
 * Monk ranks amongst the most powerful damage dealers in the game.
 * Highest HP and VIT in the game.
 * Ability to wear powerful Eastern style armor.
 * Access to the most powerful Hand-to-Hand weapon skills.
 * Master of the Fusion skillchain.
 * Chi Blast is a powerful weapon in Endgame activities.
 * Focus provides Monk a natural accuracy advantage over other damage dealers.

Weaknesses

 * Must compete with many other melee players for party slots, leading to slow invites.
 * Equipment selection is very expensive at mid-levels.
 * Sometimes capable of doing too much damage effortlessly, causing enmity control problems.
 * Completely unable to participate in the Distortion skillchain until level 60.
 * Very gear dependent job class.
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Race Selection
That said, the race that will provide the most damage output possible as a Monk is Elvaan. Elvaan are the race with the highest STR and MND in the game - STR being the most important stat for damage, and MND being the most important stat for Chi Blast. Galka are also very effective at being Monks, as their bodies are entirely suited for melee and not magic, making them very fitting Monks. Mithra have the highest DEX rating in the game, and thus are the most accurate - which is very important in the lower and mid-levels when accuracy gear is hard to come by, but less important in the higher levels. Tarutaru can be singled out as the race that will be the most challenging to play, as it has the lowest STR stat in the game. Hume, as with any job, are not weak in any areas nor strong in any areas, and make decent Monks in that sense.

Support Job Options
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Warrior
Warrior is by far the most popular and useful support job for Monk in almost every situation. All of the Warrior's abilities are powerful and aid Monks immensely in the damage department. Having Warrior equipped as a subjob enables a Monk to realize his/her maximum damage potential. MNK/WAR is simply a damage dealing machine.

A common misconception made by newer players of the game is to assume that subbing Warrior is only useful if you wish to tank. This is not the case. Warrior is by far the most powerful damage-oriented subjob in the game, and is without a doubt the "best" subjob for a Monk player who wishes to do more damage in almost all situations from level 1 all the way to level 75.

Useful abilities include Berserk, which is the single most powerful damage over time enhancing ability in the game. Double Attack is a no-brainer, as it enables a Monk to attack up to four times in one round!


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Thief
This subjob should be avoided at all costs prior to level 30. The ability Sneak Attack directs a boost in power to weapon skills. However, due to Sneak Attack's weak nature when Thief is equipped as a subjob, this ability is almost a complete waste if not used with a weapon skill. Furthermore, since most Monk weapon skills are multi-hit, only a select few will receive a noticeable boost from a Thief's abilities at all. After level 60, the addition of Trick Attack makes this subjob a more appealing choice due to its ability to allow a Monk to transfer his/her enmity to another player, thus not worrying about placing too much stress on the healer. Another benefit of Thief as a subjob outside of a party situation is access to the Treasure Hunter ability, which will greatly aid a player's efforts in making money.


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Samurai
This subjob should be avoided at all costs prior to level 60. One might think that the Store TP trait will allow a Monk to gain TP faster, but unfortunately the trait's effects are not noticeable at all and does not add anything close to a good amount of extra TP. At Level 60, the ability Meditate is obtained, this allows the Monk to WS more often. This is a fun choice for Ballista, although in a pure damage race it still loses to the Warrior subjob.


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Ninja
Though typically not used in an EXP party, the Ninja subjob is used for one reason only: Utsusemi. Utsusemi allows a Monk to solo many things for fun and also allows a Monk to tank many prime NMs. It is also used in Dynamis to reduce a player's death rate.


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White Mage
This subjob has a lot of utility outside of a party situation. Spells like Sneak and Invisible allow a player to save money when going on dungeon raids for coffers or other adventures, and it is also a very good choice for soloing since it allows a player to remove otherwise nasty status effects. The White Mage support job is also the primary choice for all Monks to enhance the Chi Blast ability against enemies that simply cannot be dealt significant damage through punching.
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