IiPunch - Monk Guide

Do you (or anyone else with an updated spreadsheet) mind sharing your sheet?

I'm using the one you can find on google, dont think anyone will update mnk soon.

That one might be pretty outdated if it doesn't include up-to-date WS data, higher level mob targets, GEO buffs, etc. Plus, the recent Footwork changes are somewhat more beneficial to lower delay.

I can't find my updated MNK spreadsheet that I was playing with a few days ago, but in realistic situations for current kinds of targets I was getting surprisingly good results on Fleshcarvers, which is what led me to this discussion in the first place. I'll try to reconstruct it and share if possible, but it really surprised me.

Fleshcarvers' large amount of Attack seems to help on higher level targets (where surely you're not attack capped these days), and there's a ton of DEX too (not to mention Crit Rate being pretty great on a low delay weapon in a build with any other crit stuff). I was getting significantly higher TP phase numbers, and while WS was lower damage it wasn't a massive difference - and there are more frequent WS, which easily made up the gap.

Also obviously depends on gear, but I'm talking about a fairly high end current set like:
ItemSet 324550

Of course, this is all a little irrelevant anyway because who the heck uses MNK on anything of consequence in mid-2015? But I found it interesting at least.

Thats exactly the set i use - back piece, only time i ever mnk is very rare delve shark/tojil.

Also, just throwing this out there...
Chastisers: DMG:+119 Dly:+60
Ohrmazd (max): DMG:+157 Dly:+130

Everyone pretty much agrees Chastisers easily beat Ohrmazd (AFAIK, Chastisers still beat anything but Glanz with consistent AM3). Moral of the story: don't assume low delay and lower damage is bad. Multi-attack is more beneficial with more frequent attack rounds, more WS is good, large chunks of attributes are strong, stats like Attack matter on high level content, etc.

What I get for rough order of current weapon hierarchy on stuff that matters:
Glanz (assuming ability to use AM3 consistently) > Chastisers > Fleshcarvers (max augs) > Ohrmazd (max augs) > Emeici+1 leading a pack of various 119 H2Hs (Calved Claws, Tinhaspa B, Fists of Fury +1, Spharai, etc.)

I know this is lacking the Escha weapons, I intend to redo a spreadsheet some time this week and get more detail, and include them as I can. Quick thoughts:
- Nibiru seems generally more beneficial to PUP than MNK via path D
- I'm not currently aware of reported R15 augments on Hammerfists (another low delay/dmg H2H, as seems to be a bit of a trend for post-Escha weapons)
- Eshus might be good, but that 228 skill is annoying. Seems they aren't augmentable as a T3 drop - much like Chastisers in that regard EDIT: see next post


Unfortunately, same for me...

Though in case melee makes a comeback or gets some use on specific targets, I want my MNK to be ready!

OK, so I've put some serious work into an actual up to date spreadsheet, with all relevant gear through August update, added Martial Arts as a gear stat, and added some targets more in line with more current content (estimated stats for Unity NMs, Sinister Reign, additional high end CP mobs, etc.)

I'll post it in the next couple days so others can play with it for themselves, but want to tweak it a bit more first. In particular, I want to go back and update WS mods as much as possible (though Smite is pretty much the same as it was), and I'm not reflecting set bonuses for the new abjuration gear yet.

There are a few issues:
* I don't know enough about what the Footwork changes are to make an extremely accurately model for it, but making HUGE assumptions that the effect is approximately a 40% increase in KA proc for the 20% of the time the JA is active (assuming use for 1min of every 5min), I did a rough approximation by just adding +8% KA rate across the board (40% times 20%).

* I don't have JP and gifts accounted for, other than Focus JP, so those would have to be added manually (for instance, add 5 to the new MA column in the gear sets in the "custom" field if you have the 100JP gift)

Quick summary of results:
This was surprising even to me, who saw more potential in Fleshcarvers than others on here:
* On content that "matters" (SR, Escha NMs, high level UNM, etc.), perfectly (or close to perfectly) augmented Fleshcarvers are the best H2H in the game, period. Beating Glanz with AM3, beating Chastisers, and beating "perfect" Ohrmazd (Dmg+29, Acc/Atk+15, DA+4). The large amount of DEX (+27) is really helpful, attack matters on this high level stuff (helps Chastisers too), and Crit rate is also very good.

[edit: removed "far and away" the best; with high end buffs like GEO + BRD, AND Focus up, Glanz/Chastisers are right around the same total DPS as Fleshcarvers. Fleshcarvers do pull away over time though when Focus is down, even if you're /WAR and pop Aggressor then, and even if you're using sushi and a pretty high Acc TP set. If you don't have heavy buffs - e.g. you don't have a GEO, even if you DO still have BRD+COR - Fleshcarvers win pretty easily.]

* Nibiru A also did better than I expected on high end content, in some cases beating Mythic, Chastisers, and everything else but Fleshcarvers.

* Jury is still out on Hammerfists (augmentable Escha - Ru'Aun H2H), if they have especially good augments they might be in the top pack but I haven't seen any reports of their possible augments. If they got something like DMG+15/Acc+15/STR+15 (this is quite similar to augment paths on some of the 1h weapons), that would put them in the conversation at the top of the heap on high end stuff.

* Glanzfaust and Chastisers still win on "easy" stuff, which would include things like Delve 1 up to, say, lower end UNM and CP mobs. Ohrmazd and Fleshcarvers are a bit behind, and are fairly close.

* Acc definitely matters big time these days on the high end content, and you'll want a heavy acc set even when Focus is up, and even with stuff like GEO buffs and 2x Madrigals. When Focus is down, even more true. (this also helps Emeici+1 on hard content, the Acc on them proves quite useful)

As for non-weapons:
* The Escha Ru-Aun abjuration armors are useful, many of the augmented NQ armors are great even if you can't get the +1 versions (as will be the case for most people).

* R15 Adhemar gear (NQ or HQ) is best-in-slot in many slots (plus the same pieces are generally great for melee on all of the rest of the jobs on the set). Rao set has some very nice pieces too, particularly for WS, and seems like a pretty good bang for the buck. Ryuo has some good stuff too.

* There are still some high end non-abjuration pieces, like Samnuha Tights, Dampening Tam, Rawhide body... But even those are at best sidegrade territory (or very narrow wins) over the Sky abjuration gear.

* Taeon (even with excellent augments) and other pre-Escha gear are fading with these new options, but some pieces still hold up as decent current choices. I'm still TPing in two Taeon pieces myself (TA/Acc&Atk/Crit DMG hands and feet), but I'll be looking to phase them out.

I have a pair of flesh with decent augm, gonna give it a try but that far ahead doesnt sound legit.

Argue with math all you like. I'm happy to share my work, just need a little more time to make the sheet more presentable.

The harder the content, the better they should perform. You'll go from:
- Low end (Delve 1 or something): Glanz, Chastisers, Ohrmazd win fairly significantly
- Harder (say, high level gates CP mobs or maybe "Difficult" level high tiers): they all get pretty close
- Hardest (SR, Escha NMs, high UNMs): Fleshcarvers, Nibiru A start to pull away

All of the other results on lower end stuff also makes sense with generally accepted previous assumptions too, so I have no reason to doubt the validity of the spreadsheet results.

If you're trying to plug stuff into a spreadsheet using Tojil (always an exceptionally weird spreadsheet target due to unusually high defense and low evasion) or a Raaz, you're obviously going to get results that don't really work when you're talking about a high level Escha NM or Sinister Reign fight.

For a totally unscientific comparison, I did happen to be out fighting Strix last night (fairly evasive lv125 UNM), and parsed ~6 fights, half with perfect Fleshcarvers and half with DMG+26/Acc+18 Ohrmazd (I had already removed the leaf augment for automaton tanking on PUP). Fleshcarvers won pretty handily. I'll admit this wasn't an ideal fight though, I was using trusts and Strix is a BRD who uses stuff like spamming Elegy that my trusts didn't always remove right away (I prob should have been /DNC instead of /WAR or had a human healer/debuffer to keep things more consistent).

I've updated hammerfists augmentation paths on bgwiki.

Path A: DMG+15, STR+20, Attack+20
Path B: DMG+15, STR+20, Accuracy+15
Path C: DMG+15, Attack+20, Enmity-5
Path D: DMG+17, HP+80, VIT+15

Path B is probably the best, yeah?

If I have good gear for 119 up until t2 delve, will I be good for the remainder of the game?

My grinding days are over, but I just want to come on for the last month or two, finish up story missions, help friends/ls w/ what they need help with etc.

I have no desire to grind out new gear/job points. Just want to jump on play with friends and go out as a casual. Did my time of hard core XI and doesn't seem like there's a point in doing that again when the game will probably fade out by halfway through next year.

Yes, you should be fine with REM + Delve2 gear. There were some incremental increases (Taeon, AF3 119, now 119 abjuration gear) which might add 20-40% dps depending on content but that's not going to make or break you just playing casually for a month or two.

I'd recommend doing Taeon at least. There's no drop rates to worry about, can get the base pieces in an afternoon, and if you still have some of your Salvage cheat gil left, you can easily augment it now with acceptable stats. Triple Attack +2 on each piece is easy, then get either ACC/ATK or ACC in the snow slot, and STR or STR/DEX or Crit Damage in dusk.

Fair enough; will look into that, thanks.

and I may go for abjuration just for the novelty. I was sad when I had to reduce the shura togi+1 to mannequin status (lol funny story on that one. Some guy I barely knew gave me a cursed togi-1 when he was quitting, back in 2008ish)

Alright, I'm officially back.

I'm completely ignorant to current MNK stuff.

Have R/E/M been replaced (and if so, by enough of a margin that it's worth shooting for)

What sets are good; and what sets are good enough and easy to obtain?

and aside from main gear, have any accessories been replaced (like wind buffet+1, for example)

I believe Glanzfaust is still the best, there might be a better H2H though (denouements?). Gear wise, Taeon is probably your best bet but it requires a hefty gilsink to get the right augments, although nowhere near what it was before.

Alternatively, if you have friends you can pick up Skormoth Mask, Rawhide Vest from Escha - Zi'Tah. You can also try and pick up the abjuration for Adhemar Wristbands (Peirithoos t1 Escha - Ru'Aun NM), along with Ishvara Earring (2% WS DMG earring) from the same NM.

If you've got SoA done, you can also do Sinister Reign for Dampening Tam with QA/Acc augment, along with either Ta'lab Trousers, or Samnuha Tights (the tights are better.)

Really though, Taeon is going to be the easiest to get by far as a starting point, the entirety of the set is still relevant. Iirc accessory wise you're still fine as well, with the exception of a very few minor sidegrades (Ishvara Earring, Petrov Ring?) as far as a basic set goes. Obviously there are more things to look out for when you go for a more high tier set.

I personally don't think much of Monk R/E/M, but if I was to shoot for one, it would be Relic.

Gearwise, check out the Ryuo set and the Rao set's - they are 119 variation's of previous abjuration armor.

For a weapon I use Emeici +1, the NM is easily taken down with 3ppl, tank + any job + Nuker (I found smn good) and SC+MB, gear doesn't have to be anything special.

Problem is though, Monk as a job is not in a very good state right now. I'm not entirely sure why, other's might be able to answer that better but Monk is my first love, and was always the first job I came back to but I deal more damage on my NIN (from behind) which I've found has made for some useful 3-man Escha teams with a PLD Tank, Nin DD + Geo. Some of that might be to do with how my ACC on NIN is much higher, Innin's 30% crit rate is just amazing, and maybe Utsu: San?

Monk has the potential, and their is a lot of Triple Attack gear out there now - check Taeon armor out also and Augment with ACC+20-25, Triple attack+2, Crit Damage+3% (or STR&DEX+6-7).

Finally, go get those Job Point's - For your Union join either Sylvie (Indi Fury/Frailty) or Apururu (better then most whm's) - I'm testing Sylvie out atm but all it mean's is that I am going to have to find a WHM for 3-man UNM/Escha stuff because Apururu is often better then most WHM's, some of that is due to the advantage of having a computer behind the helm. You have Cursna being cast before your you see that you have been doomed in the log etc.

I was wondering if anybody mathed out Sokushitsu Sune-ate (Kick attacks base damage +85) vs Shukuyu Sune-Ate (Attack +100 on Kick attacks)

Well, that's supposing the description is correct, as far as we know there could be a translation error and Shukuyu are "just" base damage +100.
In case the description is correct, what would win?

I guess Sokushitsu when you're attackcapped and Shukuyu otherwise?

Glanzfaust are still very good but it depends on your accuracy needs and gear availability. In situations where you need every point of accuracy, Denouements will be the best.

As far as monk as a job, it's ok. You have access to lots of accuracy gear and can run constant acc buffs, that's sweet. But MNK lacks the melee damage of dancer and blue mage, and the utility of samurai, blue mage, and even dancer. I updated my job dps spreadsheets after the September update. Monk does fairly good damage, but dancer absolutely destroys it (and possibly every other job) at raw melee damage, assuming ideal gear for both. Monk is somewhere around dragoon-level for damage now, maybe? At this point who cares, anyway. The game is winding down, play what you like :)

Monk is hurting for a combination of reasons:

1. despite having access to the same gear as jobs like BLU, THF, and DNC, Victory Smite doesn't compare to the power that is a stacked Rudra's Storm (even post nerf) nor Chant du Cygne.

2. H2H weapons are disadvantaged much the same way that two handers are, in that you are only getting bonuses for one weapon slot (as if grips compared to an extra 20 accuracy plus potentially other desirable stats dual wielders are seeing and as if H2H had something comparable to either an offhand weapon or a grip). with very hard accuracy checks being the current method of "balancing" content, Monk is at a disadvantage to dual wielders (which is a universal issue affecting all non-dual wielding jobs).

3. Monk doesn't have the versatility of BLU, DNC, or even THF to make it desirable. at its core, Monk is a very straightforward job; punch things in the face and hope it dies before you do. there's simply no reason to bring a Monk when you can take one of those instead, as they will deal more damage and BLU and DNC are considerably more adaptable if ***hits the fan.

4. thanks to changes in enmity generation, Monk's niche as a DD tank is officially dead, eliminating the extra damage that was gained from Counters.

5. an overall shift in DD focusing more on Magic Bursts than the melee free for all that has dominated FFXI since at least ToAU.

Monk can perform adaquately given the time and effort and as the end is in sight, play what you love; I would just not expect to be at the top of the pile.

Been there; done that. Just trying to go out with some enjoyment. I'll be mnk exclusive until I'm done at this point. Don't need to be the best dps, top dmg etc.


That said, what pieces of the af3 are useful/worth upgrading? and what situations would I use them?

I'd just have to farm scales and 1 ch 7; otherwise I have enough pages leftover from when I quit to 109 and 119 the whole set

Af3 legs are a decent tp piece. Considering the way you want to play and what you want to do from now on, it might be faster/cheaper to get them than perfect samnuha or perfect taeon.

Body still has an utility with impetus up.
Unsure how the footwork boost on feet changed, if it changed, now that footwork works differently.

Hmm looks like we have 2 choices for abjuration gear.

Which pieces are good?

I'm assuming hq is out of the question. With populations the size they are, I doubt I'll ever see one for sale (any crafted would probably be for themselves or a friend of theirs)

I'm looking at BG wiki and a lot of the D path augments are blank, so that makes deciding between rao and ryuo on certain pieces difficult

Edit: Oh damn, mnk is on 3 sets...

Rao+1 isn't too bad to make so you'll most likely find some if you have the gil for it can prolly make people transfer if you overpay.

Other 2 might be harder if you don't have a friend with the proper craft leveled

I don't play MNK much but PUP is similar in gear. Looking at Ryuo +1, head/body/hands are absolutely amazing for high-accuracy sets, and body/hands/feet for weaponskill (path A both). Rao +1, head and legs have massive amounts of STR for WS sets. Not sure about Adhemar +1, legs for accuracy with path A maybe?

Adhemar head/body/hands look decent/good for TP?
Ryuo is good for high acc sets
Rao is good for WS

If it hasn't been noticed, the Rao set doesn't have any HP on it, although plenty of regen lol. I do wan't head/body/legs for WS, and Rao feet are a good option fot TP however - its not like we get much HP in the foot slot anyway.

Either that or the 'no HP' in the Rao set is meant to be made up with the HP+ on the HammerFists. The Cursed gear at 119 seems to have kept its 1 'negative' stat.

Anybody tested Shukuyu to see if that +100 is "+100 kick base damage" (and it's a matter of bad translation on the gear) or if it really is "+100 attack when KA procs"?

I have them, how to test them though?

No clue.
I don't know how to test it on the Spreadsheet either. I mean it's easy to test +damage, but +att specifically for KA procs is something that would require major changes in the formulae.

One simple way to test it, maybe, would be to go against a target where your attack is capped.
Unequip weapon or equip one with a very high delay (relic knuckles! +1dmg, +999delay!).
Now check the damage log when Kick attacks proc. Maybe equip some legs increasing the rate of KA like 119 Relic legs or 119 Empy legs.

I can think of three scenarios:
1) Shukuyu gives +100 att on KA for real
2) Shukuyu gives +100 dmg
3) Shukuyu gives +100 att plus a hidden +X damage.

If it's 1) then Sokushitsu should produce bigger damage in the log.
If it's 2) then Shukuyu should produce bigger damage than Sokushitsu in the log.
If it's 3)... it's gonna be hard to check lol.

Make sure to avoid using Footwork because Shukuyu enhances Footwork somehow but we don't know HOW.
I think it's a +15% proc rate while footwork is active, has to be worn before activation of the JA. But it's just my guess.
So given how we don't know how it works, we should avoid using Footwork so that it doesn't mess with the test.

Aside from the outcome, what would be better for damage?
Would it be best to have +100 att during footworks, or +85 damage?

I have no way to test it specifically for KAs, but I did a similar test.
Picked the same weapon in the spreadsheet and made 2 copies.
In the first I added +100 att, in the second I added +85 dmg.
Tested it against a target with uncapped att (far from cap) and the +85 DMG wins by a large amounts.
Put myself at an even greater att disadvantage by subtracting 500att in another slot, and the result is always the same.
I think this should apply even to KAs, the logic is the same in theory.


So from this we can conclude that *IF* Shukuyu really add only +100 att and it's not a description translation error, then Sokushitsu wins.
IF instead Shukuyu are +100dmg, or +100att and +Xdmg, then they're gonna win and likely be better even than perf Taeon.
(Not sure which abj gear is better than perf Taeon for MNK...)

In such a scenario Shukuyu could still be nice to boost up "Footwork", supposing you only need to equip it when you activate the JA to receive the boost.
By the same lines... 119 Empy feet boost footwork as well, but we don't know what it does. We know what it did before, but now Footwork has been changed and I don't think I've ever seen anybody testing how Empy feet influence Footwork now.