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.
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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 is the first +Accuracy Job Ability.
 * A Monk's Blunt type of damage is strong versus undead, and makes them amazing DD in end game battles.
 * Chi Blast, when enhanced by alot of +MND gear and many Boosts before use, can cause amazing damage versus any monster. This attack is also a basis of many HNM strategies.

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.
 * Many people also consider enemies such as Crabs and Beetles to be resistant to Blunt damage, which is not the case, resulting in many misunderstandings of the job's effectiveness against these enemies.
 * A Chi Blast enhanced with alot of +MND and Boosts in an EXP party can cause some hate control issues, due to the sheer damage it can produce.
 * Has very low defense, and little access to armor that provides defense.

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.