Originally Posted by Gilthanes
Monk
Note that I am basing all of this on the PSX version, as I have no yet played the PSP version. So if some of the names sound different, thats why. (I'm not sure whats been changed exactly)
In general Monks equip no weapons or head wear, only Light armor, and accessories (obviously Equip_Item support abilities can alter this)
Requirements: Knight lv2
Ratings with Stars, 1 star being mostly useless, 5 stars being very awesome
Action Abilities:
Spin Fist (**)- Deals regular physical damage to up to 4 targets around you. The height-range limitation on this skill really lowers its overall use, seeing as how a single height difference blocks the attack, and there really is not as many fully-flat areas in the game as you'd think. For early parts in the games, where battlefields are more flat, this has its uses. But as you get later into the game, the dmg and range limitations on this ability make it far less likely to see action
Repeating Fist (*)- This ability is funny to see some randomly big numbers, but this raging combo of fists does mediocre damage. Think Mace/Axe, random spikey damage. The max dmg range of this ability does not out weigh the equally good chance of only hitting for 1/4 of your regular damage. But the graphic sure is neat, no doubt there
Earth Slash (****) - Hits targets in a line up to 6 spaces away for pretty decent Earth Damage. As with most of the other monks damaging special attacks, its awesome in the early parts of the game, but by chapter 4 this ability will seem weak to some of your other abilities available. Note that since its earth-based damage, this will do amazingly good damage against panthers which are very weak to earth damage. Early on in the game this ability will lay waste to panthers.
Secret Fist (*) - if it lands, applies "Death Sentence" to target... yeah. Only thing I can say on a positive note about this ability is death sentence relies on the enemies speed. The more turns they get in relation to yours, the faster 'death sentence' will go off. So for a neat trick if you see an enemy time mage hasting all his buddies, throwing death sentence on them will make them regret being able to act twice as fast, as they will find themselves dying long before they normally would.
Stigma Magic (*****) - Now we're getting to the real glory of Punch Art - the non-damaging abilities. Stigma Magic is one of the earliest and easiest abilities you can get that removes pretty much the majority of negative status effects that the game can throw at you. Early on when you have to deal with poison-inducing panthers and blindness inducing goblins, this ability will wipe out everything at once. This ability is much like Heal in the squire set, except it hits everyone around the caster, and removes more types of ailments.
Chakra (*****) - The main reason you'll ever open up the Punch Art ability list. This bad boy restores health and magic to everyone around you, and in the beginning of the game the amount restored is ridiculously high compared to their maximum values. When you first can obtain this, before you even get to Dorter for the first time, you'll find this ability restoring 35-50 HP and 20-30 MP to everyone around the caster, which is basically a potion and an ether, combined, thrown at everyone in the immediate area. Words cannot describe how dangerous this ability is early on when combined with a summoner next to the monk, who is able to continuously toss out high damage/high mp spells and instantly get refilled on his MP.
Revive (*****) - another classic of the punch art tree, this will usually not work as well as the Raise spell, or the full-proof Phoenix Down, but it is instant, and requires no costly reagent to use. I've never quite figured out what the % chance to land on this ability is based on, but it typically ranges from 50-80%, I've rarely seen it outside that range. Either way, its a free, quick, easy Revive early on in the game.
Reaction Abilities:
Restore HP (**) - this ability has its uses, and its not overly bad. I've never liked the whole "Almost dead, here have this" reaction abilities (such as Restore MP, Critical quick, meatbone slash, etc). The "near death" state that this reaction ability requires to activate is too low to make me ever equip it. Thrown on a very high hp class this ability has some uses, but ultimately your basic evasion type reactions are better, or counter if you are putting it on a high dmg class.
Counter (****) - tired of those panthers, goblins, and chocobos countering you for high amounts of dmg, every time you hit them? Get back at them by equipping this, and whenever they hit you, you'll swing back at them for regular melee dmg. The main reason this ability doesn't get 5 stars is 2 things, a) When you counter, you're face to face with them, which means if they are using a shield, or mantle, or just a high evasion class, you're likely going to miss the attack, and b) Hamedo does the same thing, but prevents you from being attacked in the first place...
Hamedo (*****) - This is like blade grasp and counter put together, except it only works on direct non-special attacks, where as blade grasp will block almost anything. What this reaction ability does is if the enemy walks up to you and tries to swing their weapon at you, you will knock it to the side and then swing back at them. This means that, assuming your Brave is high enough, the enemy CAN NEVER PHYSICALLY ATTACK YOU (at least at close range, with a weapon). This ability is amazing until high levels when enemies use more than regular attacks at you, and start equipping high evasion shields and mantles which makes counter attacks mostly useless.
Support abilities:
Martial Arts (**) - this works ok if you train a character to a high class that the game doesnt yet offer weapons for. What I mean is if you open up Samurai early in the game before they sell Katanas at the shops, you can equip this (or any Equip_Weapon skill) and still do reasonable damage, at the cost of Gained JP Up
Movement Abilities:
Move HP-UP (**) - Early on when battles are long, and it takes 3-4 enemies to gang up and kill someone, this ability can prolong your death. However in the long run this is very much outdone by Move +2/3, Fly, Teleport etc
Random Notes about Monks:
Monks do not use weapons, their fists are the weapons. Because of this their dmg is based not on an equipped item, but by a formula using their Brave and PA. For a high damage monk, you want to use Cheer up / Praise to raise his Brave level to over 90 permanently, then equip him with items that focus on PA such as Judo Outfits, Power Sleeves, Bracers, etc.
Another thing of note is that Monks only equip an accessory and body armor, they cannot under normal means equip a head piece. HOWEVER, female monks can still equip Ribbons which nullify status effects at the cost of Low Hp, but since monks cannot equip other head pieces anyways, theres no sacrifice to equipping a Ribbon. So when possible, equip your female monk with a barrete/ribbon to give slightly higher hp and status immunity
Monk only attacks with 1 Hand, however if you equip him with Two Swords ability from Ninjas, he will punch twice in a row (or in other words, attack with both fists). Monks damage is already high, this will effectively double his damage to outrageous numbers, a properly equipped monk with Two Swords will at lv 99 easily do 300+ per fist, putting him on the same level as some of the games hardest hitters like Orlandu or Ramza two-handing a knight sword. Likewise, if you are training one of your special characters as a monk, but do not want to lose their sword spell attacks, then you can use Equip Sword from Knight to give them a rune blade so that as a monk they can continue to do their Night Swords / Lightning Stabs.
Good Secondary Skillsets for a monk:
The main thing for a secondary skillset for your monk is to know what his strengths and weaknesses are. What Punch Art gives him: Heals, rezzes, status cures, and a various number of attacks, and given his low MA magic is not a good subjob. So Item command is useless with Chakra, Draw out and Magic skills that use MA is useless. What Punch Art does not give the monk are any sorts of debuffs or things he can use to weaken the enemy. That leaves a handful of useful subjob abilities:
Steal - this gives your monk something to do when you are not needing to smash someones face in. Steal Heart
and XP are always good to have as well
Dance/Sing - If stalling a battle, this gives your monk some buffing/debuffing capabilities if you are trying to weaken an enemy but not completely kill it, such as in the Deep Dungeon while treasure hunting.
Basic Skill - yes, this skillset works ok with a monk. Having access to Accumulate is always a bonus, and a monk is dangerous to begin with. Having him accumulate 2-3 times before the enemy even gets to him= nasty
Battle Skill - Same concept as Steal and Dancing, let you monk play with the enemy without actually damaging him. NOTE: If you are using Two Swords to attack twice, if you use a Break attack you will swing twice. What this means is Speed Break will (attempt) to reduce enemies Speed by 3, then another 3. Same for power, and mind. If you use an equipment break, it will give you double chance to break that item, very useful.
I cannot in good conscience advise giving a magic subjob to Monk, as their MA is pitiful. If anything, Time Magic / Yin Yang magic would be "OK" in that the effects dont rely much on MA but more on Faith than anything. If anything I'd say Time Magic is one of the only magic subjobs I'd ever give to a monk. The only reason it CAN work is that the Monk will always have Chakra to instantly restore their MP if they need it, which makes them somewhat usable with Time/Oracle magic in the Deep Dungeon to shut enemies down for the hunt.
Recommended Gear Setup for Chapter 4+
Bare Hands
Ribbon (If Female)
Power Sleeve / Rubber Costume (depends if you prefer high PA vs higher HP, I like my monks hitting for 800-1000 per attack)
Bracer (Or germinas Boots if you need a slightly higher movement for a specific battle)
If Female you have alot more options, such as Setiemson giving your monk Auto Haste, or Salty Rage for permanent Prot/Shell, or Chantage for infinite reraise. Setiemson gets pretty bad rap considering most females at end game would use an excalibur giving auto haste, but monks do not have that option.
My Preferred Skills set:
Punch Art
Battle Skill / Steal
Blade Grasp
Two Swords
Move +2 or +3, or Fly depending on battle
Overall usefullness: 9.5
The main drawback to a Monk is its heavy reliance on direct physical attacks. Up against a knight/dragoon/samurai/ninja with proper equipment will negate majority of the monks attacks from the front or side. With proper movement abilities, a monk can get around this to deal damage, or quickly fall back to his allies to heal/revive them if needed. No matter the situation the monk will provide plenty of damage, and the main thing that pushes Monks to the background are special classes in chapter 4 which deal 400+ dmg to multiple target. However given the right gear, Brave, and skills at high levels, your Monk can become a powerhouse who hits for 400+ per fist (x2 for Two Swords) per turn, and very few special classes can reach that amount of dmg, even Orlandu + Excalibur and Holy Explosion. Theres nothing quite like 1-shotting 600+ HP targets with your bare hands.
