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 Lily's Monk Guide

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Lily Rain
Trainee of Light
Lily Rain


Posts : 76
Join date : 2014-04-27
Age : 31
Location : Calgary, Canada

Lily's Monk Guide Empty
PostSubject: Lily's Monk Guide   Lily's Monk Guide EmptySat Mar 28, 2015 9:24 pm

UNLEASHING YOUR INNER MONK


A Monk Guide by Lily Raine

Status: [WIP] I will be updating from time to time.

About the Author: My IGN is Lily Raine, and I am the designated Monk for Golden Lotus (Raid Group 1). I have had extensive experience with Monk, within dungeons, trials, ex trials, and coil up to T12. I am making this guide specifically to help out the new budding monks in Lotus, as well as to provide information for current monks and my playstyle. Please note that the information below will be based upon MY experience with monk, and it may differ with other monks playstyles. I hope that everyone can learn something from this guide.



So you want to learn how to play Monk do you? Good choice. Before we send you off to kick/punch/heart explode some nasty monsters, let's review the basics.


What are Monks?

Monks are the job advancement of Pugilists. Instead of using conventional weaponry such as swords and spears to defeat their enemies, they let their fists and feet do the talking instead. Monks are melee physical DPS, specializing in sustained damage against single targets. Monks bring significant utility to a party or a raid group, with Dragon Kick and Mantra. In addition, their self utility, including various stances, and choice of cross class skills make Monk a self sustaining, competitive top DPS.


Recommended Stats

As a Monk, Strength is your primary stat. Since you are a melee DPS, points should be allocated into the STR stat. If you are looking for maximum efficiency, the race that benefits the Monk most are Roegadyns, but this is completely optional.

In terms of gear, this is the standard priority system in considering upgrading your gear:

Weapon Damage > STR > DET > CRIT > SS

These are the stat weights for Monk (last updated December 2014):

WD: 9.338
STR: 1.000
DET: 0.336
CRT: 0.214
SS: 0.206

When upgrading gear, consider the priority system and the stat weights. For example, according to the current stat weights for Monk, 3 det is equivalent to 1 STR, 5 crit is equivalent to 1 STR, etc. Please also note that there are diminishing returns for crit, so having more crit will eventually decrease their stat weight value. The same can also be said for Skill Speed, as having far too much will drain your TP fast.


Relic Recommended Stats

Depending on your situation, there are several paths you are able to pursue in deciding what to put on your relic.

FULL DPS
31 DET
44 CRIT

This is the ideal modification that should be made on your relic. This build greatly enhances our DPS, and is the recommended path to take if you wish to do top DPS. The downside to this build is that DET and CRIT 4 Materias are expensive. In addition, your accuracy may suffer in later coils if you are unprepared. Consider taking this path if you have the money or are willing to take the time to spiritbond gear.

PRACTIAL DPS
23 DET
30 CRIT
22 ACC

This is the cheap route. The materia is relatively cheap to acquire, and still provides a significant DPS boost as well as another useful stat to replace the loss in DET and CRIT. Consider this route if you cannot afford DET and CRIT 4's, as well as if you need accuracy to hit Second and Final Coil bosses.


SKILL SPEED DPS
23 DET
30 CRIT
22 SS

A variant of the cheap route, replacing accuracy with Skill Speed instead. While Monks technically do not need Skill Speed to maximize their dps, this does increase DPS marginally, as compared to the accuracy route. Materia for this route is cheap, however you may suffer TP Drain in long fights. Consider this route if you want to maximize DPS if going the cheap route.

Please note that the only build out of these three that are Best in Slot for Monks is the FULL DPS build. The build should surpass the i135 Dreadwyrm Claws, which are second BiS.


Skill Overview

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Bootshine:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 150.
Opo-opo Form Bonus: Critical damage if dealt from behind target.
Additional Effect: Changes form to raptor for 10s.

Bootshine is a guaranteed critical hit during Opo-Opo form, procing when hitting a target from behind. While not exactly the highest potency skill in your arsenal, it is the most reliant source of damage, and is used in PB burst rotations. If you have a bootshine queued up in your rotation without opo opo form (ie: Opening rotation without PB), it is perfectly fine to hit the first one in any position, but you should always ensure that Opo Opo Form Bootshines hits behind your target for the crit. Proc this when your Dragon Kick does not need to be refreshed, or you do not need to silence something for whatever reason.

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True Strike:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 150.
190 when delivered from behind target.
Can only be used when in raptor form.
Additional Effect: Changes from to coeurl for 10s.

True Strike is your highest potency single target skill. Proc this skill when you don't need to refresh Twin Snakes, and make sure you hit this from behind. If you are feeling lucky, you can use this for your PB Burst Rotation, and hope you can crit all your attacks.

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Featherfoot:

Increases Evasion by 15% for 10s.
(Increases to 25% with Trait)

Featherfoot is a cross classable skill, that has its uses in Solo, Dungeon, and Trial content. Pop it if you find you are tanking a monster. Featherfoot loses its usefulness in Coil, as most if not all monsters will be able to hit you. Keep in mind that Featherfoot is an RNG based skill, so do not expect continous dodging of attacks. This skill helps with the procing of Haymaker.

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Snap Punch:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 140.
180 when delivers from a target's flank.
Can only be used when in coeurl form.
Additional Effect: Changes form to opo-opo for 10s
Additional Effect: Grants Greased Lightning for 12s.
Greased Lightning Bonus: Increases damage dealt by 9% and attack speed by 5%.

Snap punch is a side positional skill that grants you a stack of Greased Lightning, and your second highest potency skill. This is one of the most ideal skills to ramp up stacks quickly during your PB rotation. You can also PB burst with this in some situations. Queue this up if you do not need to refresh Demolish.

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Second Wind:

Instantly restores own HP.
Cure potency: 450.
Cure potency varies with current attack power.
(Increases to 650 potency with Trait)

This skill is a huge life saver. Pop it during those moments where you are taking, or are going to take damage regardless and help out healers. The amount you heal is quite significant, and is affected by current crit rate.

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Haymaker:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 170.
Can only be used immediately after evading an attack.
Additional Effect: Slow +20% for 12s.

This skill provides a decent amount of potency with an added slow effect that you can weave between skills. The only problem is that this is an RNG based skill, only being able to activate it if you dodge an attack. Forget about this during Coil, you will not find much use for it there, though regular dungeons, trials and solo play are where you will find use for this skill.

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Internal Release:

Increases critical hit rate by 20% for 15s.
(Increases to 30% with trait)

Bread and Butter of potential dps. This is the skill that gives you the chance to see some huge dps spikes in your rotation. Be sure that this is popped before you use DoTs such as Demolish or Touch of Death, as they are affected based on the output during the hit. This skill can be weaved in between your skills, and is one of the first Self-Buffs that you pop during your opening rotations. One thing to avoid with this skill is activating it before an Opo Opo Form Bootshine, as that is a loss of potential crit. Pop this whenever its off cooldown.

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Touch of Death:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 20.
Additional Effect: Damage over time with potency of 25 for 30s.

While it might not look as much, Touch of Death DoT Damage does add to your overall DPS. Refresh this at 1 second or right after it falls off. Avoid using this skill if you are close to running completely out of TP.

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Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.
140 when delivered from a target's flank.
Can only be used when in raptor form.
Additional Effect: Increases damage by 5% for 15s.
Additional Effect: Changes from to coeurl for 10s.
(Increases damage by 10% with trait)

This flank skill is one of the main contributors to your DPS. Be sure that this is up at ALL times, refreshing every two rotations. not recommended to PB burst with this, although you can choose to use it at the beginning of the burst for extra damage.

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Fists of Earth:

Reduces damage taken by 10%.
Cannot be used with Fists of Fire or Fists of Wind and shares cooldown with both.

A lot of people underestimate this skill. While 10% doesn't sound like much, it has saved my buttcheeks more times than I can count. Pop this Stance if you are tanking or are about to get hit by a high damaging ability, and you'll cut off a decent chunk of incoming damage.

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Arm of the Destroyer:


Delivers an attack with a potency of 50 to all nearby targets.
Opo-opo Form Bonus: Silence for 1s.
Additional Effect: Changes form to raptor for 10s.

This is your silence. Gonna be honest, this skill is pretty underwhelming. Not only do you have to be in a certain form for the Silence to activate, but the potency of this is such a waste. It's not even fit for Aoeing. It is not completely useless though, as Arm of the Destroyer can be used for tasks such as pushing away bombs (Brayflox HM, Keeper of the Lake), and you can always activate Perfect Balance to ensure the silence.

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Demolish:

Delivers damage over time with a potency of 40 for 18s.
Can only be used when in coeurl form.
Additional Effect: Changes form to opo-opo for 10s.
Additional Effect: Grants Greased Lightning for 12s.
Greased Lightning Bonus: Increases damage dealt by 9% and attack speed by 5%.

This skill applies a DoT and gives you a stack of greased lightning. This is used in your PB opener, and should be applied in all beginning rotations. Refresh this at 3 seconds or under, it is perfectly fine to let it fall off but immediately refresh it if it does.

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Fists of Wind:

Increases movement speed.
Cannot be used with Fists of Earth or Fists of Fire and shares cooldown with both.

While it may not seem entirely useful, it can help you get to specific locations faster during a fight (for example, Divebombs in T9), and can also help you kite certain adds.

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Steel Peak:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 150.
Additional Effect: Stun for 4s.
(Trait reduces recast time)

This is one of your stuns. Try to weave it between your skills whenever it is off cooldown. This skill should only be saved if you absolutely need it for a fight.

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Mantra:

Increases HP recovery via curing magic by 5% for self and nearby party members for 15s.
(Increases HP Recovery to 20% with trait)

Extremely good utility. Be sure to pop this right after or during high bursts of incoming damage to help out your healers.

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Howling Fist:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 170 to all enemies in a straight line before you.

Powerful Line Aoe, weave this between your attacks whenever it is off Cd. Try to take advantage of the line aoe and position yourself so that you catch more than one enemy in a mob.

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Pefect Balance:

Allows execution of weaponskills which require a certain form without being that form.

This is the skill that lets you go from zero to ten in a short span of time. You can use this for your Openings, for Burst Rotations, for reapplying full stacks should you lose them and for ensuring that you hit certain skills without being in the correct form.

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Rockbreaker:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 130 to all enemies in a cone before you.
Can only be used when in coeurl form.
Additional Effect: Changes form to opo-opo for 10s.
Additional Effect: Grants Greased Lightning for 12s.
Greased Lightning Bonus: Increases damage dealt by 9% and attack speed by 5%.

This is a primary AoE skill. Its attack is in a cone in front of you, so make sure you position accordingly. You can combine this with Perfect Balance if you want pure aoe for a short amount of time. This skill is a massive tp burn however, so be careful with it's usage.

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Shoulder Tackle:

Rushes to target and delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Must be more than 10 yalms from target to execute.
Additional Effect: Stun for 2s.
Cannot be executed while bound.

Gets you up close and personal with your target. Use this to advance on a faraway target to keep your stacks up, or in some cases, to dash away to safety. Remember that this skill is also a stun, so keep that in mind in case you need to stun something or vice versa. Try to get used to the max and min range for this skill, as you can tackle somewhat far and near to your intended target.

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Fists of Fire:

Increases damage dealt by 5%.
Cannot be used with Fists of Earth or Fists of Wind and shares cooldown with both.
Effect ends upon reuse.

This is your primary stance. This should be up for the majority of the fight, unless you need to switch to another stance to absorb damage (Fists of Earth). Make sure this is turned on before the start of a fight/dungeon/raid.

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One-Ilm-Punch:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 120.
Can only be used when in raptor form.
Additional Effect: Removes one beneficial status from target.
Additional Effect: Changes form to coeurl for 10s.

Almost entirely useless. The skill removes self buffs from a very small selection of bosses and monsters (like Zangioh's electrify), but most of the time, you will encounter bosses that have self buffs that cannot be dispelled.

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Dragon Kick:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.
150 when delivered from a target's flank.
Opo-opo Form Bonus: Reduces target's blunt resistance and Intelligence by 10% for 15s.
Additional Effect: Changes form to raptor for 10s.

This is your bread and butter single target attack. Increases your damage output, and reduces enemy magic attack potency and defense. This is the main skill people will love you for and want you for in their parties. Make sure to keep this debuff up at all times.

Cross Class and You

As a Monk, we have access to Cross Class Skills from the Lancer and Marauder Trees. Both of these trees provide vital skills that hep increase our dps and self utility. However, not all of the skills are quite as useful, so keep that in mind when choosing what you cross class.

Below are my 5 recommended Cross Class skills for Monk:

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Blood for Blood:

Increases damage dealt by 10% and damage suffered by 25% for 20s.

Increases our damage output and can be weaved in between attacks. Be careful when you pop this if you expect a hard hitting mechanic coming up next, turn off the buff or hold off popping the buff until after the damaging mechanic.

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Invigorate:

Instantly restores 400 TP.

Extremely valuable to melee DPS, make sure you pop this at around 500-590 TP, and whenever you can if necessary after that.

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Mercy Stroke:

Delivers an attack with a potency of 200.
Can only be executed when target's HP is below 20%. If delivered as the killing blow, up to 20% of your maximum HP will be restored.

Free DPS on low health targets with a surprisingly short cooldown. Use it whenever its up.

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Bloodbath:

Converts 25% of the damage dealt by next successful offensive ability into HP.
Buff duration: 15 sec.

A skill that synergizes well with Monk. Pop it whenever you need to recover a chunk of your hp, and combined with your lightning fast attacks and DoTs you'll see your health rapidly increase.

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Keen Flurry:

Increases parry rate by 40%. Duration 20s.

Basic defensive skill that can help mitigate damage from PHYSICAL attacks. If you find you are tanking an enemy, pop this and make sure you face towards them. useful for physical mechanics such as Phoenix-Egis in T12.
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