Been too long since I posted around here. Anyways they suck. Discuss.
http://planetnintendo.com/ff1/charac...ht/bbfight.gif + http://planetnintendo.com/ff1/monsters/imp.gif = http://planetnintendo.com/ff1/charac...ght/bbdead.gif
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Been too long since I posted around here. Anyways they suck. Discuss.
http://planetnintendo.com/ff1/charac...ht/bbfight.gif + http://planetnintendo.com/ff1/monsters/imp.gif = http://planetnintendo.com/ff1/charac...ght/bbdead.gif
I don't think that they suck so much as they're boring. You have to level them up to get them powerful as they don't use much equipment, and I find that the amount of leveling needed for them to get through any area is tedious.
Also, when your leveling them up, there's really nothing to do but attack. The whole game. At least when the Fighter goes Knight he gets low level White Magic.
What are you talking about? You say that the BB suck but then you go and say that the BM are good characters. WTF? They have great attack power, Hp and magic defense. Unlike the Bm who is completley useless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
I just thought you'd like to know, Unne, that a large number of people nominated you Most Likely to Be a Black Belt in Fool's Gold's equivalent of the Ciddies. :)
Who said anything about black mages?Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
I know he didnt mention them in his post, but at his website he goes and says how the BM is his favorite character and that the Bm is usefull. Thats what I was talking about.
Very true.
>>> Im agree with Unne..
Why? Whats wrong with the BB?
I don't think Black Belts suck. They're a very powerful class and great to have.
Now Black Mages...those guys suck.
Monks are just awesome. None of you can't see thier true coolness. I mean you don't need to buy them much equipment so you save money for all your money sucking Warriors and Mages. Not to mention thier monks with all sorts of cool martial arts type moves.
>>> The black belt does not have all sorts of cool martial art moves..Quote:
Originally Posted by Bahamut2000X
also the BB defense is crap..
So? So does the Wm and Bm. Their defense may not be as bad as the BB but at least the BB gets high Hp to make up for it. Plus the BB has THE HIGHEST magic defense and he is very powerful and cheap. Now is that your only reason why you think he sucks? Because of his defense?Quote:
Originally Posted by black orb
>>> Black mage have fast and powerful offensive magic. White mage have healing and defensive magic..
They are more useful and helpful than BB..
All five other classes get something out of the class change. The Black Belt gets nada. There is no difference at all between the Black Belt and the Master, aside from the sprites.
The Bm isnt really that fast. Usually when I play by time he casts his spell majority of the enemies are killed by the Fighter, Red Mage or BB. Another thing about the Bm is his terrible attack power. Once he uses up all of his Mp he is USELESS! At least the Wm has A LITTLE attack power and the Rm has a lot of attack power that he can use. The BB is alway usefull. In every fight he can attack enemies for a lot of dmg, and he wont stop until he is dead. You cant say the same for the BM. Once he is out of magic he is screwed.Quote:
Originally Posted by black orb
I said it before and I will say it again. THE BB/MASTER DOES GET A CHANGE. Before class change the BB gets +4 magic defense every lvl. The master gets +1. Not a good change but it is something.. :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by DocFrance
>>> I was talking about the "Fast" spell/magic..
>>> No need to use all the magic in every battle you fight..Quote:
You cant say the same for the BM. Once he is out of magic he is screwed.
unless you are playing with a 4 BM party.
Then whats the point of even taking him? If your never gonna use him until a boss fight or certain fights? Just to watch him die? Suck up heal spells/potions? Why not take a Rm who can save his Mp by attacking enemies? Doesnt really make sense to me. At least with the BB you can use his full potential in every fight. Unlike the Bm.
I think it's implied them being martial arts masters. Sure maybe they couldn't show it in FFI. But I'm sure if they made FFI 3-D they'ld be doing all sorts of neato matrix like effects. Besides, what kind of a martial artist doens't have cool matrix type looking technigues?Quote:
The black belt does not have all sorts of cool martial art moves
>>> Because BB is ony useful at high levels, while BB is doing crappy damage with some nunchuks, BM is blasting monsters with level 2 black magic..Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
At places like Cave of Marsh and Ice Cave, a BB is practically worthless..
WTF? Well maybe if you didnt have the nunchuks he would do better. Im sure you knew that though... But he doenst only do high dmg at high lvls. Around lvl 15 he is just about the same as the Knight, and around lvl 29 (the lvl I useally beat the game at) he does more dmg then the Knight with the Xcaliber. Hell even at lower lvls he can do more dmg. lvl 2 magic? What lvl 2 spell does he have that is usefull? ICE? Thats about it and he only gets like 3-4 casts when you first enter the Marsh cave (unless you overlevel). Even if the BB was worthless at the marsh cave, that doesnt matter since its only 10 minutes of the game. The rest of the game he does a lot better.Quote:
Originally Posted by black orb
I should try one sometime.
A BB? Yeah you should try one. They are very good characters. Try a Fighter/Thief/Black Belt/Red Mage party. You will see how well you do without a Wm/Bm and how well you do WITH a BB.
Wait, so your name is Black Mage FF1, yet you don't like BMs?
I dunno... that's a lot of magic you're sacrificing just for one more guy who can only hit one target. Remember, that with a Red Mage, you're not getting a Black Mage, White Mage, and Fighter all rolled into one - you're getting a third of a Black Mage, a third of a White Mage, and a third of a Fighter - all rolled into only one character.Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
Yeah but its worth it. Why would you want to take two very weak characters like the Wm and Bm? To heal with the Wm? To kill large amount of enemies with the Bm? Both of that can be done with the Red Mage plus he has attack. Majority of the time the Wm will be using her heal magic on either herself or the Bm. The Bm will be using his magic to help against enemies but like I said earlier. Once the boss fight comes around his magic will be basically useless. Even if he had all of his magic when he reached the Bosses. It takes crap dmg on them. Yes he can cast FAST on the Fighter or any other fighting character, but what does he do after? Cast spells for 30-60 dmg? The Red Mage can cast Fast on the Fighter and himself, then he can attack and help out a lot. Trust me. Do a FT/?/Wm/Bm party, then do my favorite party FT/Th/BB/Rm. You will see how much the Rm can actually do.
Yes, a Red Mage can fight, use White Magic, and use Black Magic modestly well. However, his weakness is that he can only do one of those three things in one turn. Furthermore, if you thought a Black Mage was useless after his MP runs dry, try the Red Mage. He'll be your only decent healer, and you'll have to balance using his White and Black magicks. CUR2, FIR2, and LIT2 all share the same level, correct? Your healer won't be as efficient if you had opted for a BM and a WM, and you'll be sucking up Heal Potions (and thus money) faster than a wino with a bottle of cough syrup. Yes, the BM usually doesn't do a whole lot of damage with his magic. However, he can attack multiple targets very easily, and can inflict a decent amount of damage to each; something the BB can never do. A F/?/WM/BM party will have a much easier time fighting 9 Red Sahagins than a F/?/BB/RM party.
Unless the ? in the last party is a Black mage. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by DocFrance
Really though, I've found the F/BM/TH/RM party to work nicely. The fighter will soak up the damage, the Black Mage will cast offensive spells, the Thief will fight/run, and the Red Mage will attack while being a healer on the side.
Dont bash the BM, I could never lvl as fast as I do now without my BM with fir2 and ice2 in the pravoka fingertip. And yes, it is useful in the rest of the game too.
I dont see any real reason to take a BB over a fighter, the fighter is useful in the beginning and stays useful. The BB is just about worthless in the beginning (but.. uhm.. cheap to equip) and doesn't really exceed the fighter in anything else than damage (however, to see a real difference you have to be overlvled).
The WM can be good, but with a bit of tough luck it will use most of it turns to heal itself. In most cases I'd prefer a RM.
Never used a thief (oh, it can run? how convenient, well my fighter gets away in most cases anyway)
Right now I'm playing with F, RM, BB, BM. And at lvl14 is doing the same damage as the fighter, however this will probably change as soon as I get my hands on a coral sword or something.
But, sure, I could use a BB sometimes, you've only got 6 characters to choose from, and it's funnier to greatly vary the party than to replay with essentially the same party.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocFrance
Yes a Red Mage can only do one of those in a single turn but that is all he needs. Useally when I use a FT/TH/BB/RM party the only time I ever need to heal is when I am walking through dungeons. I hardly need to heal in battle. But even if he needed to, it doesnt matter. You can use up one turn to heal with Cur2. Then he can go back to attacking. Yes CUR2, FIR2 AND LIT2 are all in the same lvl but out of those 3 spells LIT2 is basically crap. You will hardly need it (unless you lvl up in the ocean, which you shouldnt do). The only time you will need LIT2 is when you enter Krakens area and by that time you will/should have the zeus gauntlet and LIT3. But hell if you are so worried about being able to heal and cast spells at the same time then why not take 2 red mages? 2 Red Mages will do better then a Bm/Wm. Yes a BB cant kill a group of enemies in one turn (unless he useses items that cast spells). But that doesnt really matter because after the FT/TH/BB/Rm are done attacking there arent many enemies left standing. Hell during boss fights is the BM FIR2 gonna help out? Or is the BB attack? And heal potions do not cost that much. 60G isnt a lot of money. You can buy just 5-10 and be fine in just about any dungeon in the begining, and at the end you can buy however many you need since money isnt an issue any more. I will admit though that the Wm is MORE usefull then the Bm. AT least the Wm can attack alittle and cast Life/Life2. To Linus J. I never said to take a BB over a fighter. I am saying that the BB is usefull. What I did say though is to take a Rm instead of a Bm.
Well, it deoends on the boss. But I always use the strongest spells against the bosses. As for you example, FIR2 helps out quite a bit in fighting Lich.Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
If I want a character who can only punch stuff, I'd unequip a Fighter. At least Fighters get to wear armor. And later get some white magic. And aren't dressed in powder-blue sweat-pants.
I never said anything about the fighter. My problem is with the Bm and how useless they are.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
I'm still confused at why your name is "Black mage FF1" yet you think the BM in FF1 is the worst character.
What does the BM have to do with the suckiness of the BB? We have another thread for discussing why the BM doesn't suck at all. This thread is about BBs, and why they're oh so very terrible.
Black Mages are usefull because in regular battles their level 2 and 3 spells can clean out the opponents rather quickly. And in boss battles they are useful because of spells like fast. And I rarely have my black mages die in one hit in any battle, so they are able to cast a couple of spels before I have to worry about their low life or being dead.
lvl 2 magic does not clean out enemies quickly. ICE1 isnt that good. Besides the Rm can get it too, same goes for FIRE2 and Fast. Bm do die pretty fast. Lets say you run into a giant and his first attack is on a Bm it could be a crit hit. The Bm is dead. If it were a Rm he would most likley live due to his higher hp and defense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Mimic
To Dr. Unne. What is wrong with BB? Their attack? Magic defense? High Hp? Or is it because they have low defense? So what? So do the Bm/Wm (not as low but still pretty close). At least the BB has high hp and magic defense to make up for it.
LMAO at Dark_Paladin_Cecil's post!
BBs are good for one thing: fighting. However for most of the game, a Fighter has stronger physical attacks than a BB. BB has lower defense than a Fighter. BB never gets magic, and a Fighter does. BB doesn't have significantly more HP than a Fighter. A BB is a weaker, sucky version of a Fighter. If you like BBs, you should like Fighters more, because Fighters are better in every way. If you want to purposefully cripple your party for a challenge, then maybe BBs are OK I guess. If you want to hide the BB in the back row so they don't die every 5 battles, then sure, they can be OK, but only because the big strong Fighters are there to keep them alive.
BB is boring. Finding weapons and armor = fun. Running around punching stuff = not fun. Final Fantasy is a fantasy game, and in fantasy games I enjoy fantasy. A guy who punches stuff is not fantasy. I can punch stuff myself. I can't wield a sword or throw fireballs at things.
And he's ugly. You must admit that he's ugly.
Two good things about the BB: Cheap, and lots of room to carry items. I don't care if they're cheap, because money is never a problem when I play. The ability to carry items turns them into a half-rate red mage at best, and certainly isn't reason enough to justify taking them over a better character, and you only get spell-casting items very late in the game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
Well I never said that a BB is better than a Fighter. I know that the Fighter owns the BB in just about every catagory (just like the Rm owns the Bm). But Still the BB have strong attack power. Throughout most of the game he will be the second strongest fighter. At the end of the game when I beat it at lvl 26-28 he is just as strong as the Knight with the Xcaliber. Yes the Knight does have more Hp than the BB but its not that high in difference (like around 50-100) Compared to everyone else who is like 200 hp below the fighter. A BB is better then the Knight in some areas. Like his magic defense. The BB has higher magic defense. The BB starts out with 10 and gets +4 every lvl, while the Fighter gets 15 + 3 every lvl.
You can still find stuff for him. He can equip armor and he can use items as magic. Thats always fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
Not really. I think he looks pretty cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
Well in the begining of the game (depending on your party) money can be a problem. Unless you over lvl or something and fight for hours at a time. It can be trouble to buy stuff right away. Like lvl 4 magic for example. Or a silver sword, or copper bracelets. Having a BB lets you save money so you can acually go and buy that stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
Sorry, I was referrring to their Ice/Fire/Bolt 2 and 3 spells, not the spells at level 2 and 3 in the black mages inventory.Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
And yeah, if an enemy gets a critical hit on a black mage, they can be goners, but a red mage won't fare so well either.
The discussed characters at lvl 14
Fighter
hp 367
str. 33
agl. 18
int. 7
vit. 20
luck 13
damage 39
hit % 64
absorb 48
evade % 25
BB
hp 241
str. 11
agl. 12
int. 12
vit. 33
luck 14
damage 28
hit % 44
absorb 14
evade % 60
Fighter with what I believe to be the best equip I can have for the moment (earth cave) and BB unequiped. Using the same argument as Black Mage FF1, the BB sucks. What does the BB do better? Evade and magic defense. And dont come running around nagging about high lvl, the change isn't that big if you hold a reasonable lvl.
Comparison between a BM and RM
BM
Magic:
7 lvl1
5 lvl2
4 lvl3
4 lvl4
2 lvl5
hp 181
str. 10
agl. 18
int. 33
vit. 9
luck 18
damage 16
hit % 33
absorb 17
evade % 63
RM
lvl1-3 magic the same amount as BM
3 lvl4 and 0 lvl5
hp 255
str 18
agl. 16
int. 18
vit. 13
luck 13
damage 32
hit % 48
absorb 20 (if changing the equip a bit 17)
evade % 54 (if changing the equip to the same as above 61)
The absorb were almost the same, the difference in hp is only 70, but the BM had a higher evade. The RM is superior in physical attacks, however, the BM gets more mp and higher lvl magic quicker (and get lvl 7-8). White magic is overated (potions works too you know) and the physical damage is already pretty weak.
In my own experience, the BB started of as sucky, same with BM. The RM was a good character, but really secondary to the fighter. At lvl7 the BM started being my second favourite character of the party, after fighter, the BB got past RM at lvl 14. The fact that RM does nothing great, just alot of stuff decent, really wears it down.
But when it comes around, it's different for different people and parties.
Sorry for only comparing low lvls by the way, it's the only save I've got for the moment.
>>> My bad, I was thinking about Level 3 magic (fire2 and lit2), well those two magic are more useful than a BB..Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linus J
Why are you comparing the BB to the Fighter? Nobody said that the BB is better than the Fighter. I am saying that just because the BB isnt as good as the Fighter DOES NOT mean he sucks. After all the thief is FAR from being as good as a fighter yet people think he is good (I do to BTW). The BB is better than the thief. In hp and power that is. As for the Bm and Rm, 70 hp is a lot, and it doenst matter how much higher the Bm evade is. It wont do anything against crit hits.
To black orb....... What about in boss fights? Like Kary and Tiamat, who both have are strong against all elemental spells. Fire2/3 wont to jack to them. The BB attack will though. Making him a usefull character. I am rushing this post BTW. I will add more later.
>>> Kary`s weakness is Sleep2 and Tiamat weakness is Bane, both black magic.Quote:
To black orb....... What about in boss fights? Like Kary and Tiamat, who both have are strong against all elemental spells. Fire2/3 wont to jack to them. The BB attack will though. Making him a usefull character. I am rushing this post BTW. I will add more later.
Well for one thing I said they dont have elemental weakneses. By elemental I mean Fire/Ice/Bolt. Sleep2? Whats the point of that? Why not cast FAST on the Fighter or BB or Rm? At least when you do that you can be assured that it will work. Sleep2 you cannot. You can spend the whole battle just sitting casting it and it not working. As for bane. Yeah it does work but so what? The BB can cast it too with the Bane sword. Also getting bane to work on the first encounter is easy to do but not the second one. It has like a low chance of working. BTW did you know that you can cast Fear on Kary and make her run away? It is funny to do, but kinda hard to get it to work.Quote:
Originally Posted by black orb
at lv 50 the bm has almost 500 hp. even a warmech critical hit has never killed him with i hit.
bm has the fire2/fire 3 and equivelent spells. he wipes out hordes with that, and at the end flare and haste (is it nuke and fast in usa?) which makes my red knight do like 1600 a hit or sumthin and flare crushs dark knight armies of 8 etc very quickly.
bb is just a very shoddy version of the fighter. i wouldnt have got through ff 1 so well without the beloved bm.
Basicly you're saying that the BM sucks because the RM is (according to you) better. I'm using the same argument to say that the BB suck.Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
BBs/Monks can fight well, but their lack of defense kills 'em. Warrior is better.
Well considering Warmech has hit my knight with the best armor possible for 280 dmg. I think if he got a crit hit on the BW he will kill him. Also the BW doesnt always have 500 hp at lvl 50. I once had him with 350 hp at lvl 50. Yes you would have done just as good without the Bm if you had a Rm in your party instead.Quote:
Originally Posted by aeris2001x2
Yes Bm does suck compared to a Rm. The BB however does not suck compared to the Fighter. In defense terms yes he does. But in magic defense and evasion he is better. Plus his attack power is almost as good as the Fighter. Better than the Thief/Ninja and RedMage/RW. The Bm is not even close to being as good as a Rm. Yes he gets more magic but that doesnt matter. Magic was never an issue for me with a FT/TH/BB/RM. But during my party right now, my Bm is crappy. I am using a FT/RM/WM/BM. I just went through the marsh cave at lvl 7 and my black mage ended up wasting all of the cure spells. I am now at lvl 9 and he has the lowest hp. He has 116 while my Rm has 156 and my Wm has 141. He is the only character that has died so far, and he has been the least helpful. Like he always has been. The Bm is worthless, a FT/?/Wm/Rm parties will do a lot better than a FT/?/Wm/Bm party.
Wow, BMFF1 uses the same tactic as me... Runnin' up in the place and :love: :love: up. HOLLA!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
I think Unne's point is that BB is an unbalanced character. Fighter is strong, hits hard, has great vitality and defense and gets all the best weapons and armor. Thief can run well. Ww gets all the good white magic, Bw gets all the good black magic. Rm can fight and use magic decently. BB can fight well, but not as well as Fighter and gets lousy equipment, making BB sorta questionable. That question being "why take a BB when you can take a fighter?"
They aren't unbalanced, they're just sucky. All they do is physical attacks, and you'd expect them to be the best at that. They aren't the best at it, so they're worthless.
Right, so basically you're agreeing with me.
There is no reason to take a BB instead of a Fighter (Just like there is no real reason to take a Bm instead of a Rm). UNLESS you are like me and you do not like to use 2 or more of the same character. See I find it very boring to use 2 of the same character. That explains my reason for taking a FT/TH/BB/RM. That why I dont have the weak wm and bm or 2 of the same character and I have the 3 stongest characters.Quote:
Originally Posted by DJzen
Well from lvl 35 and up they are the best fighters. Also they are the second best attackers throughout majority of the game. Have you even used a BB fully Dr. unne? Or just for and hour and then gave up? Because around lvl 15 they get very powerful (Depending on what weapon you have on the fighter they might even be as strong as them)and from lvl 6-15 they are the second strongest. At lvl 25-29 they match the Knights str with the Xcaliber.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Unne
Dude, don't question Unne's knowledge on FF1. That's like questioning Ken Burns's knowledge of the civil war.
If you need to level up a BB to level 35 to make him good, and you can usually beat the game at level 30 easily, then the BB is a waste of time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Mage FF1
I never said you need him at lvl 35 in order for him to be good. I said that he is the strongest character at lvl 35 and up. He becomes a good character around lvl 6. At lvl 15-up he becomes a great character.Quote:
Originally Posted by DocFrance
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJzen
Umm whatever dude. For one thing I can question whoever I want. Second thing, Dr. Unne is not the only one who knows a lot about FF1. There are other players like myself who know just as much or more. Have you ever been to the gamefaqs.com message board? Those people there know so much on FF1 its not even funny. They are the ones who figured out about magic defense and other very in depth stuff. Im not saying Unne is not knowledgeable. I am saying that it is possible that people can know more/just as much as he does.
Check out this FAQ to find out what I mean....
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/f..._char_list.txt
You guys are Psychos Black Mage and wizards rule the could kill a black belt six times before he hit the ground. Whoever likes Black belts have Attention Dephosit Hyperactive dissorder. Black Wizards Rule
I rest my case
:( Bad luck for us. At least we know how to spell, and when to use capital letters.Quote:
Originally Posted by Caster Black Wizard
LOL :lol:
Wow, this thread is rather old. :rolleyes2
Hmmmmmm... I dunno, I think it's possible that a BB might actually take out a BM..... But a Master taking out a BW? Probably not. Flare is like being hit with a Mack truck full of pain and kittens. If the pain doesn't get ya, the kittens will....
I didn't think the Black Belt was all that bad. I'm not obsessive over my games, so I don't know things exactly, but I remember being satisfied with his and my Fighter's power, and being super pissed at Thief for being a pansy. I don't know what level I was at when my Master grew stronger than my Knight (maybe he didn't?), but I don't think it was high. Even if he was a little weaker than a Fighter, it's really boring to get two of the same classes.
But the Black Mage does suck. During the extended dungeon excursions and whatnot, he needs to save his magic, so he hits for insignificant damage. I think it's better to have a guy who can kill things all the time, with his FISTS no less, than a guy who can obliterate a few things, but is then useless. Even the Red Mage can kill things with some ability when he runs out of ass-kickin' magic. And the White Mage is useful only if you can't kill things fast enough, and with a Fighter, Black Belt, and Red Mage in the party, when is that a problem? Potions are sufficient, anyhow.
sorry but BB suck
It doesnt matter how much M.defense or damage you can deal out if A Boss decides to smack your BB around and your RM ran out of magic casting offensive/defensive spells. having all the OK magic and half the spell points makes the RM sucky so matching your BB with your RM is just realy realy sad.
You have the Red Mage so you don't need to use magic except on the bosses, because he can kill things just fine without it. And you only need to put the essentials like Life, Cure, Haste, and the elemental spells on the Red Mage; the rest is just, well, novelty.
Sure, Black Belts get smacked up more often, but, uh...they're fun.
I like BB and I always have him in my party.
I took my BB's armor off and he had better defense. Does that mean he's best with nothing at all?
BB is better without armour unless the armour is at a higher defense rating than the number of the BB's level. At level 50, BB would have a 50 defense, but if you gave him armour with a 10 defense rating, then BB would go down to 10...or something.
Cool, thank you.
It's a bug that they removed in later revisions of the game. Anyway, I'm starting to want to start a BB/BB/RM/RM game. Or maybe a BB/BB/BB/RM game. I wonder how far I'd make it without dying once...
Not exactly, the glitch is that you can stack the armor's defense WITH the BB/Monk's natural defense. That was fixed, so if you don't use the glitch or play later games, it goes as it was meant to, that is, either set at the armor's defense stat, OR at the BB/Monk's current level (only when armor is bare).
Anyway, I picked up a lot looking around the net about stats in general, and about the BB/Monk too. Aside from the fact that armorless is better than anything else (explaining why the class has such poor armor selection), seems there really IS one, ONE, upgrade when the BB/Monk class is updated. Natural built-in magic resistance at +3 per level is the generally quoted formula. Also, it would seem that level ups don't have a set stat increase and can vary, sometimes pretty wildly. The BB/Monk in particular seems to have a pretty significant gap for max and min power stat. Now, my personal annoyance at probability in things like this aside, I think that's likely why so many could get "defective" monks. The class just has poor chances of getting a really high power, even though the POTENTIAL is there. So, sometimes a BB/Monk is a good class to take (and that magic defense thing really is what evens it out making the class worthwhile in those cases), sometimes it's not, all depending on luck, and that sucks. I tend to go for the sure thing over the gamble in my gaming, so that means I will generally not take that sort of character when I play, but ya know, sometimes I will just for the fun of it.
I don't know why all the hate for BB, so he doesn't need any weapons, I think that's kind of cool. After level 10, BB is a great class, he was always keeping up with my fighter/knight; the only reason the fighter/knight would pull ahead was with the new weapon he got, but BB would catch up. After Xcalibur, BB catches up to the Knight in attack power (probably around level 30 or so), and surpasses him.
As for a 1v1 with BW, BB would own him; at higher levels, BB starts doing 1000+ damage consistently, sometimes even doing 2000+, also, he's the only character in the game that can kill Chaos in 2 rounds, he might even be able to kill WarMech in one round. But I guess that's what makes him useless.
Oh, yah, i also wanted to mention that if you equip BB with the Opal bracelet, Ribbon, and ProRing he has an Absorb of 43, plus you get the added bonus of having Ribbon's increased magic defense and ProRing's resistance towards instant-death attacks. And the equip bug for BB is this: everytime he levels up, the game automatically sets his damage = 2*level and his absorb = level, however if you have armor/weapons equipped on the character, and you go to the appropriate equip screen, and the check his stats, you'll see that the damage/absorb will go back to what the weapons/armor are naturally giving him. For example, if you have Opal brace, Ribbon, and ProRing equipped, his absorb should be 43, but if you level up to say level 31, his absorb goes down to 31, you should then go to the Armor equip screen, then check his stats again, and his absorb is now 43 again. This also works well when you get to levels above 43, cause you can have the ribbon/proring equipped to give you their special properties, but still have the high absorb that would be equal to his current level. Wow, i hope that makes sense.
Black Belt requires much time invested and can save you money by not having to equip much of anything. He is-- by far --one of the best choices for a team. Not exactly exciting, unless you find doing 8 hits a turn exciting and doing more damage than a knight.