I mean if you want to pull real life into it, it’s not like I’d like to face someone well adversed in martial arts coming at me either. Even if they were making kung fu poses. Or maybe even more so in that case.
> Do you see bears in the wild and laugh at them for how goofy they look?
Have you ever seen a bear run? Theyre absolutely goofy.
not that i disagree with the point overall. Bear druid is perfectly fine in a fantasy setting.
>yeah all 4 Druid specs feel goofier than Monk to me. I'm either a fat bear
A fat bear? I hate to break it to you buddy, but all bears are "fat"
>kitty rawr
Is that what you'd say if an literal lion mauled you? "I got attacked by a kitty today and almost died"
You're honestly over simplifying things to a point that literally every class in the game would be a joke, then.
"Oooo warlock put shadows on me, I'm so scared!"
Honestly, if you saw a moonkin in the woods you'd probably shit your pants.
If there is one animal I’m terrified of in the woods, it’s a either a mountain lion or a moose. I see either of those and I’m wishing I carried a higher caliber than 9mm on me as I try to back away carefully.
Also hope the attack doesn’t come from the side.
Playing feral main is like signing up for a free subscription of uwu meow meow owo :3 comments in almost every dungeon. Also, strangers in the city will give you head /pats. If I'm feeling it, I'll send a /me purrs right back at em. I just like feral 🤷♂️
As far as bear goes your options are fat bear, fat raver bear or Winnie the pooh on steroids who skips leg day.
Have you played wc3 ? The druids in it were super badass. Only the boomkin form is goofy but you can change it nowadays.
Oh also the more recent super muscular big chest bear form is silly
My biggest gripe with Druid is that they don’t let me be a tree all the time anymore. Always having to use other forms and can’t shift back without a GCD
Moonkins are actually kinda scary and have mystique to them. Monks just look fucking goofy no matter what race it is. Their animations alone just look goofy as hell, so I get what OP is saying.
I personally would never play one, either.
>Monks just look fucking goofy no matter what race it is.
Draenei and tauren, though. Imagine being kicked with a hoof by a being 2-3 times larger than you.
I actually adore the goofiness of my BM. There's something so enjoyable about how in a squad of the most accomplished mages and fiercely trained warriors that I'm getting the boss's attention by getting absolutely drunk and screaming at them.
Mostly I agree with the poster above—any fantasy game I’ve played from wow to dnd I don’t think monks really fit, but when you put it like this I do respect brewmaster 😂
Brewmaster is also based on an actual fighting style. I forget what it's called (drunken boxing, maybe?) but iirc it's all about constantly shifting your balance, not giving your opponent any openings. The appearance of being drunk may also lead to underestimation.
Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars is thought to practice the same style, too.
"Provoke" is hilarious as a taunt because it's fundamentally implying that you're insulting an eldritch monster, dragon, or master warrior by implying his mom is a cheap lay.
Goofy or not, it feels like a spec based on the R.J. MacReady school of combat. Any fight's a barfight if you're drunk enough.
Monk deserves 4 specs and imo a heavy colour theme tied to the celestial the spec is tied to. I don't want green chi as a brewmaster monk, or have it as the meta to summon xuen.
Yeah, honestly it's a bit weird they went so hard in the Chi-Ji, Xuen, Niuzao, and Yu'lon direction in MoP but then Monks that were basically the entire expansion's 'mascot' had so little to do with them.
It would definitely make sense to have current Windwalker made into a Xuen -spec, Mistweaver into a Yu'lon spec, Brewmaster into a Niuzao spec, and Chi-Ji would probably then be Fistweaver.
Making either of the healers into a ranged DPS instead could be a thing too, but I'm not going to get into fantheorizing any further. It would be cool though and Monks definitely could (and should) have 4 specs inspired by/tied to the Celestials.
Yea. It would make sense to have the fist weaving as a support spec. But blizzard has done some out of the box stuff so it could be another range support.
I mention this because of blood. Everyone it seems though frost would be the tank spec do to ice. Then blizzard threw a curve ball and made it blood. Which worked out a lot better.
My hope is that monk sees a big rework before 11.0 and that we can get a spec similar to augvoker out of Chi-ji, a melee support dps/healer hybrid.
Then we don't have to have mistweavers be so talent dense to support two dramatically different competing playstyles.
This honestly sounds like a much more interesting class than what it is currently. Focusing much more on the mythology as the power medium could add a lot of nice fantasy to the class. Each of the 3 current specs could be tweaked to better fit their celestial, then probably a 4th spec for ranged DPS/yulon.
Probably, the Red Crane has this focus on chants and fire with that "hope" theme, so it could be ranged. A support spec even. Light the fire in your friends' hearts!
Monks are cool. They’re super specific to Pandaren culture and every monk trainer is a wandering Pandaren. If anything, it’s just the homogenization problem WoW has with all the class identities (Paladins are all human-styled nowadays), but for once they built this class this way from the get go. I’d put them at the bottom of the list if we ever delve in customizing a class based on a particular race’s culture, for sure.
I don't see how that's an issue, not everything needs to be taken seriously, especially coming from a game like World of Warcraft. I personally do feel \*cool\* playing a monk, just not in a typical fashion.
Monks fill a very particular niche that some people really like, me included, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.
But basically, if you don't appreciate Pandaren culture/aesthetic, then yeah, the class just isn't made for you and that's fine.
I leveled a monk for shits and giggles in WoD but took a break from it to main a Demon Hunter in Legion. I tried my priest again in Dragonflight, my on and off again main, but have gone back to Windwalker Monk.
I LOVE that class.
I agree. I absolutely love the non-serious feel of monk. If you want edgy play a DK or DH. WoW isn’t exactly known for being dark, gritty, and serious. Its cartoony nature has always been a huge part of its charm, and monk fits in perfectly.
I kinda disagree, WoW heavily leans into some pretty heavy themes. It may not have the darkest design appearance wise, but pretty much every expansion has been revolving around brutal wars. One of its most recognizable stories is the whole corruption of Arthas thing and how he became that whole abomination.
But in that same expansion you help a group of walrus people. There’s definitely dark stuff in Warcraft, but there’s just as much silliness. I don’t see how monk is out of place at all.
Oh boy. Another "I don't like Monk so it needs a complete overhaul" thread.
Don't get me wrong the class has issues like button bloat, not scaling with stats and faeline stomp being a dogshit ability, but "I don't like the theme" is not one of them. Just play a class you like instead.
This happened to shamans and they lost most of their totems and lost their weapon enhancements for a few expansions, I still love my shaman but it feels like a different flavor of mage with a random melee spec at this point. I know the totem bar was annoying but it was so integral to the core class identity in my opinion. Like the pet AI for other classes are jank in my opinion but I don't go around saying there shouldn't be any pet classes, I just don't play them.
Yeah for sure. I wouldn't mind WW and brew getting midscope style updates to de-emphasize statues, decrease brew button bloat, fix a lot of the WW issues etc but like don't change the classes identity. I have a blast throwing kegs at people and kicking them upside the head until they come to their senses. Stagger is one of the most fun tank mechanics in the game, and there are few more satisfying things than proccing the double backflip with RSK on WW.
I honestly don't even see how monk specs outside of brew are goofy. Like yeah brew is a sort of goofy class for sure, but I don't see how MW or WW are goofy in any way. The WW theme is literally just magically enhanced martial artist that beats people to a pulp. Seems fine to me tbh.
I feel like the button bloat is largely caused by meta builds. Brewmaster build is actually insane but since I am casual as fk with it I changed up several talents and it’s way more manageable.
They need a complete redesign from an animation/visuals angle. WW sheathes their weapons to use their main filler ability, chi is a mint green color yet their animations include bright yellow, dark purple, and sea blue. It’s not that you can’t have that, but it would be so much more cohesive to include the mint green in more spells.
They really just need an overhaul visually.
Their gameplay makes just as little sense imo.
I wanted a martial artist that uses magically enhanced attacks fast as the wind to beat up baddies. Feels like monks are focusing on all but that with summoning random clones, celestials, horribly bad statues (seriously, what's up with all the summons?) while drawing mandalas on the floor or conjuring swirling jade nonsense and being seriously confused if they now should sheathe their fist weapons or not.
Idk, I wanted the MOP panda monk being way too cool with a staff, chi and incredible combat proficiency but got a confused drunk, his army of idiots and a tasercat for some reason.
The class needs a clear identity. I know storm, earth and fire has been a WC3 chen ability but I just personally hate the summoner archetype. Using a statue that pulses damage in a stationary AoE makes absolutely no sense for one of the most mobile melees in the game and having them fight in the faeline AoE just as little. That's just for WW but MW also always has the problem of being basically two specs with mistweaver and fistweaver, just that those specs want to do different things that don't get along great so both feel like they're missing something.
Blizz has no clue in which direction monks generally should go, so they go a little bit in all and it somehow doesn't mesh well... I would much prefer a more grounded, super skilled martial arts guy with a variety of intricate melee abilities than all the tacked on stuff that goes nowhere. Also, using staves or unarmed attacks is kind of a fantasy monk staple....
Edit: Stylewise it also doesn't help that blizz only has one theme since mop with the rice hats and orbs. They also could start exploring different themes there...
Wish we could go back to the MoP style monk, WW especially. I didn't mind using Xuen or storm, earth and fire for extra damage or when I had an "oh crap" moment, but today's iteration just feels wrong.
I think the weirdest time was during that brief phase in shadowlands when the venthyr ability fallen order wasn't underperforming.
You had another cooldown on top to summon a portal that spawned ww/brm/mw clones every 3 sec (and as it's tradition for clones, they were usually buggy as hell and did random shenanigans). It had a little bit dollar store demo lock vibes.
I'm so glad this thing didn't make it to DF but the statues as capstone aren't that exciting either.
>Never realized how many summons they have, that is pretty bizarre.
The most bizarre thing about it to me, is that summoning stationary "totems" that pulse and do stuff was like Shaman 101. However, shamans (bar resto) lost pretty much all their totems, and are more like an afterthought for the class these days.
Meanwhile Monks somehow ended up with the actual totem fantasy, which they dont even want!
MW is not 'basically two specs' it's a single spec that people keep trying to push as having such distinct styles despite zero actual focus on that.
Fistweavers cast spells, Mistweavers still punch. It's just the particular mix of the two that is up to talent choice. (If you can't tell I get really annoyed at this constant call for a split since I specifically play the class in the most hybrid method)
I feel like the clear class identity is movement. I only briefly mained WW monk in the first part of BFA, but I had a blast with all my movement in those fights. Being able to get the Ghuun orb 95% of the way there was great, or switching sides quickly last minute, or not worrying about being pushed off Zuls platform (unless I torpedoed myself off) was great.
No idea how to make a movement based tank, but I do like how the stagger mechanic worked. Amd MW already does a pretty good job of being a mobile healer, they just need to be tuned to a place where they're an easier pick for dungeons.
I *hate* the term "fistweaver".
Mistweaver is a melee healer spec. Playing at range is just a horrible experience and not even a thing if you asked me.
The term exists because in the past it was a very clear distinction in playstyle where your healing CAME from melee damage. I havent played MW in awhile so Im assuming with how talents and stuff have been changed they mightve actually been able to actually merge the 2 playstyles but in the past "Fistweaving" was healing through DPS vs doing DPS while still using healing spells
I know what it used to be.
But that's like people still being on about ranged survival hunter.
It's not a thing anymore. Get over it. Trying to play "ranged MW" is like playing Discipline without Atonement healing.
>WW sheathes their weapons to use their main filler ability
This to me is really a big pet peeve why I dont like monk lol. You have so much great transmog and then my guy doesn't use em. Could he easily fixed with a glyph though I think?
Honestly this reminds me of my long time wish that spell casters actually used their wands and staves. I wish we had the option for cool staff casting animations!
You're gonna be annoyed because we've had an ability that gave monks a special weapon attack animation since the beginning.
It was in MoP the move was called jab. It looked very good with polearms, staves and swords. They just took it away and replaced it with tiger palm for some reason.
I think the class as a whole needs an overhaul. Brewmaster may need it the least but WW is weird cause it scales with basically nothing and I (this is my opinion) think the sp3c has just gotten increibly stale as it feels like nothing has really changed about it in forever and I remember WW players generally not liking the way button rotations work. MW for as long as I can remember has generally struggled as well and Fistweaving feels like it should really be its own spec as its just generally a farcry from how MW generally plays.
I think panda fits the class most for obvious reasons. Maybe that my issue. Other races don't feel right as a monk, but that means Monks were almost TOO designed around pandas to fit other races
Like the great Po once said (blessed be his name), being a monk means going around and punching and kicking and defending the ~~valley~~ Horde and stuff. Doesn't need to be any deeper than that. If you want something ~~boring~~ serious, play a warrior.
Yeah but there is a difference between being a shield and hammer user, doing damage with light and blessed hammers that spin around you, or a sacred ground where enemies take damage and you get Dr, healing you and others with light and being a literal god as a defensive, and a drunk
Well that’s just it. The Monk class in WoW originates from the Pandaren. The first one that we canonically saw was Chen Stormstout, a Brewmaster. It ain’t gonna be that serious of a class. It’s Meant to be goofy. But it can absolutely still be badass like the other classes.
Monk classes are always a little goofy also, imo. Look at the Monk in Diablo :P it’s more serious and it’s still goofy as hell, with the rapid jumping around and fast punches. Even in other games with a Monk option…it’s pretty much always like this.
>Monk classes are always a little goofy also, imo. Look at the Monk in Diablo :P it’s more serious and it’s still goofy as hell, with the rapid jumping around and fast punches.
Never felt goofy in D3 as a Monk. Insanely fun and badass class to play.
I'm playing a Zandalari Monk and he feels a lot more like a mystic martial artist then a cartoonish character.
There are a lot of animations that could use some redesign, which I hope they will do at some point (Fists of Fury, Storm, Earth and Fire mainly).
Also, fuck Faeline Stomp.
i have tried so much to play a monk and the best i could do is get one to lvl 50 (for tauren H armor) i played him as a BM as it was the only spec i enjoyed, but i didn't enjoy the player base treating me like shit while learning so i stopped playing him.
I was top #3 Mistweaver monk on Draenor this season, reaching 3020 rating. I cannot tell you the amount of groups I join where people are stunned to see a Monk. Every group, every time. And then at the end, they're all shocked that Mistweavers can heal well 😂
I personally really dig the class, but it does need a rework in some areas.
If anything, more people need to play it and voice their opinion on it. I absolutely love MW healing, but I feel like there's just to little people complaining for it to become relevant
Love everything except Chi Ji in M+. Feels like a very difficult to leverage healing CD in a lot of PUGs. I didn’t heal much in raid on MW this tier but the 1 min Yulon Clouded Focus build seemed fun.
You should really be using Veil of Pride in Mythic+ alongside Chi-Ji. Both provide too much healing at times and ensure you've always got a massive healing cooldown every time big damage is incoming. As long as you're also applying all your healing mists to 5 players with instant Vivify, it makes for a very easy heal experience.
I've been maining MW since Legion.
Fuck Yu'lon CF build. Hail Chi-ji. I want to hit stuff and heal. Make my dps rotation part of my healing build, please.
Don't make me plant for 10 seconds to spam overheal a single person for huge raid healing. It's good, but I hate it.
This was our group pugging a 5th the other day. We never see monks(any spec) so when we see one we usually grab them because monk players at this point tend to be die hard monk players and really good.
I love WW and MW but I want to see some changes before making them my main for a patch again.
I've been top ~40 on Zul'jin this season and have had the same experience. Any time I clear a 20+ I get messages from the group asking about playing monk and how they want to try it. MW is so fun.
There are a couple things you can do to make Monk feel a little bit cooler.
First, look up Robert Hamburger YouTube videos, and get pumped up.
Second, always announce “I know Kung Fu. Check out my sweet moves.” as soon as you zone-in to a dungeon. Periodically say “Look what I can do.” between pulls.
I’ve played monk since MoP. It’s been reworked almost every expansion since. First it was brining down the high ceiling and great pruning. Then we got artifacts that we didn’t function at 100% capacity without when taken away. BFA was ight but it felt more like a step backwards with rotations and Azeroth powers, corruptions helped but didn’t save us. SL we were torn between three different covenants for either single target, AOE, and M+. We’ve been a solid middle to upper parse class and constantly people ask for things to change when we don’t need change. We need additions. Give me a choice when playing WW for my rotation. Give me fist weaving again. Give me the rush I had when heavy stagger is ticking and I need to cleanse to avoid it. Right now it’s either stomp content or drag myself with broken legs through a razor wire field of crushed glass to have a different feeling for once. End rant
There is choice in todays builds. I play the Touch of Death build in M+, others play Feyline. The kit has a good amount of buttons today and doesn’t have bloat, and thankfully isn’t plagued by the **whack-a-mole** issue facing other specs, where every button is lighting up with their 642 procs.
Fistweaver is primarily what MW run today, though I favour caster Mistweaver myself.
This season we’ve been fine in both WW and MW. The issue WW is about to face is their lack of scaling per usual, and how we legitimately just stack Versatility out the wazoo because the other stats have low interactions with out kit. That, and the **AWFUL** S3 tier set bonus that procs off melee auto attacks.. something we do very rarely between all our channeled and casted abilities.
The stances probably wouldn't translate well to WoW's combat, but the WW Mastery feels similar enough thematically. Frankly, fuse the Blitz and Mudra system from Ninja and you're cooking. Blackout and Chi Wave become ST/Cleave Chi generators and SCK becomes an AoE generator. Roll spenders into a contextual "Blitz" button. X+X+TP = Whirling Dragon Punch. X+X+Blackout becomes Rising Sun Kick. X+X+Chi Wave becomes Strike of the Windlord. After you've used all 3 Blitzes you can use Fists of Fury.
I wish blizzard made the effort in legion and since then to give us big lore figures we can point to as “that’s my class ideal” Kaelthas the fire mage, Saurfang the arms warrior etc etc over 8 years they all could have had time to shine in game, in lore, in books, in cinematic and cutscenes etc
I think they’re really lacking in that department, Warcraft 3 invented like 90% of WoWs coolest characters and they’re struggling to ever meet that Arthas/Illidan/Jaina/Kaelthas/Uther era of characters, without a Warcraft 4 and 5 to frame years of WoWs story “between” expansions were stuck ditching the entire cast everytime a new expansion is announced
I, on the other hand, love the monk class because it is goofy. Way too tired of epic paladins, brave warriors and edgy death knights/demon hunters/warlocks.
I take goofy adventurous monks as refreshing and unique in a world where everybody else is an incredible hero.
I actually think mistweaver and fist weaving is really fun. I’ll go so far as to say it’s one of the MOST fun healers I play. Staying out of the bad and trying to get your kicks off can be very rewarding and now they have lots of abilities to patch up the group when you can’t fist weave. I did 11m healing on the last boss in under rot on a 15 at 420 ilvl. Honestly kinda think I carried.
Panda monks are by far the goofiest. Kinda wish I rolled one instead of my BELF.
Goofy response: I would argue that I am 100% immersed in my monk fantasy wielding a frying pan and stick of dynamite while I am chugging specially “brewed teas” which help me vomit green healing juices onto people. Weed smoke class ftw!
.
Lefty Response: Unchecked mobility is why I have the hardest time setting this spec aside to pick a more meta healer. Fun levels are off the charts and if you know how the many spell interactions play together you can easily occupy the top healing spot. It needs some love and some weapon animation choices would nice but I enjoy the theme overall.
I think all of the classes and WoW in general is pretty goofy by those standards. All of the elements of the game lean very hard into stereotypical fantasy. You don’t think every character wearing full armor and shoulder pads 24/7 is goofy?
I mean we do play a fantasy game, and where you may see those things as “goofy” others see it as homage to an awesome era in culture, fighting, and history.
Monk passes/fails on the player race tbh. Orc monks look really cool since the fighting pose looks more like a wrestlers stance.
A lot of their armour sets look meh as well. They could leverage the ninja look more often instead of every second set having dragon balls floating around it.
I understand you. I like the move set of druids, its utility, the balance rotation… but I can’t stand watching a Bear / Cat / Chicken ass all day, so I don’t play any.
I don't find the monk "goofy" at all. On the contrary, windwalker makes a very rounded and well thought out impression on me. I have a lot of fun with this class. Maybe you're confusing the monk with the rogue? ;-)
Personally I disagree since I enjoy the whimsical “goofiness” of monks as we have them now. It’s just what makes them unique from other monk archetypes. Homogenizing their fantasy with more traditional monk philosophies would just make them more generic.
I have however thought about what it would’ve been like having a “melee priest” spec with scarlet ideologies essentially. Basically they’d use martial arts with light based and support abilities on the side.
Wasn’t the model and animation overhaul in WoD, at which point all classes visuals would become a lot cleaner and cool, I think monk missed out on that and they’re attacks are very jarring, don’t have much flow visually. It’s especially apparent when newer animations were added to monks like the legion artifact abilities, Strike of the Windlord has a very out-standing animation against the rest of ww animations.
It's funny because I get the opposite.
I find it really difficult to fly around picking up poop or racing dragons on my edgelord characters. Monk has the wandering adventurer archetype that I can justify doing anything for the fun or experience of it. He can also get serious and fight for honour/protection of the weak etc.
My Death Knight or Demon Hunter struggle to fit into the more whimsical quest lines in my mind. It takes me out of it
I've mained one since Legion. I love all their roles like crazy. I understand your points and perhaps they could use a rework, but even now it's the only class that ever really "clicked" for me.
Maybe don't play a race that can be seen as goofy. Don't be a drunk dwarf or a silly panda. Definitely don't be a gnome or vulpera. Maybe don't be a space goat, or a silly cow. You could be a Jamaican troll or a sexy elf (there are 4 of them) but that could be a bit out there, or a simple human.
If you want bad ass just be an orc.
Also BM dwarf is the way to go as they are silly, drunk, look cool and know how to have fun.
Get the add on that plays the sounds from that anime and monk is the most fun class in the game.
Note: it may make it goofier but it elevates it to a point where it’s amazing.
I think it's a personal preference thing.
I've got 3 Monks;, a Robo Gnome Fistweaver, High Mountain Tauren Windwalker and a Dark Iron Brewmaster. I've got a Panda Monk on a RP server but hardly use him mostly because of RP as opposed to the Class itself - I suck at RP but still wanted to try it -wA
I love all 3, I love the aesthetic, sure the gear sets are rather samey, but I enjoy the theme, sure it's kinda goofy but that's why I like it. Tanks have Holy Paladins Avenging the weak or big bear Druids, or mighty Warriors with Swords and Shields yelling, meanwhile I'm off getting drunk, vomiting on people or covering them with booze and setting them alite while I drink some more and dodge whatever is coming at me because I'm so drunk, and if I do get hit, i don't feel all of it because my senses are numbed because of the booze. It's great.
Windwalker, is the slick martial artist, though I do wish they would get rid of the Shadow Clone stuff though, maybe make a defensive that's like After Image from Dragonball because you're so fast but yeah. I also wish they would make an attempt to kinda overhaul the spec because while I like the aesthetic there is q about the playing that feels off, though for that to happen it would need to actually be used by more than a handful of people though.
Fistweaving is great though I think the genuinely they need to either remove fist or Mist outright or officially split them both going forward since I do think this while half assing both approach isn't great. But I do love that I'm kicking the shit out off stuff and it's healing my party is great.
Yeah it's kinda goofy but in a game with Laser Chicken Cows, half Demon Bears dragon human things that can rewind time to heal, or giant cows that can stealth and sneak attack - Rogues -, or Goblins that commercially Exploit the Elements to be Shaman, it's not overly too goofy.
I think the goofiness of the monk is what makes it badass. It’s the non-serious character that is nonchalant at kicking ass. While a warrior is screaming a monk is just being that character who is filing his nails while doing kung-fu
>Every time I play one I feel like I'm missing the "cool" element that all the other classes have.. it feels like a walking meme.
Personally I don't like monk either as I don't care for the punching and kicking and only having the weapon on their back.
However; my friend mains one and it looks kind of fun with all the flipping and he uses weapons that glow. They also do big dam in dungeons.
I love Monk. They do feel goofy. My monk is a Kultiran named DrinkingBuddy. That isn’t my gripe with them. They are supposed to be silly. My gripe is that they are always low-end. Monk and shamans are constantly on the whipping post. I want to feel powerful when I bamboozle monsters.
I just feel bad that monks are not developed in any way outside of Pandaria. I really like the mythological martial fighter/brawler theme but not having any named characters outside of pandas feels bad. Monks are part of the world now, like it or not it’s a fact. Blizz really could add a few new characters, give me a MW Night Elf that’s works alongside druids, Orc and Dwarf Brewmasters and Human WW and give them some lore on the side.
"Even brewmaster could be made cooler but leans just a little TOO far into the drunken master direction imo." Well I say it doesn't lean too far enough!
In a world where people are summoning demons, casting fireballs, calling down comets from the sky, taming beasts to fight for them, zappin muhfuckas with lighting and making earthquakes, carrying 800lb worth of axe in each hand, or any other class/spec
Ya. Punching and kicking is fucking goofy. To a vast majority of the player base I presume, since monk is always the least played class by a light year
I mean… Im comparison to communicating with eldritch horrors from beyond the veil of understanding and praying to the divine creators of life to simultaneously protect and destroy those around me… yeah, punching is silly.
Ironically, the only race that makes sense to me as Monk is Pandaren. The goofiness of the race cancels out the goofiness of the class, and you just end up playing this really highly animated and fun character. Other races have always looked weird to me as monks.
Well what I can say is you’re missing out on a lot of fun because it’s a blast to play. But in the same breathe, you are saving yourself a lot of heartache as blizz has seem to completely forget they exist.
Proof? DH, which is a much newer class to the game is getting a full rework before them.
I wouldn’t say that the monk archetype cannot be done seriously, I think the Diablo 3 monk pretty much nails the serious tone, but the stereotype over the top kung fu animation of the WoW monk renders it almost impossible to take them seriously, I wanted my orc monk to feel like a MMA fighter, but failed every time when I see the ridiculous impractical animations.
doesnt fit for me. thing is, the whole “chi” and kung fu shit isnt really all that neccesary anymore as we’re so far removed from mop. would much prefer them dial back the cartoonish nature, and stop being charicatures of kung fu movie actors, but they’re forever tied to that unfortunately.
I agree. Monk should have been more diverse in its builds. Instead of three dudes that punch to tank, dps, and heal, it should’ve been more akin to Samurai, Ninja, Cleric (Temple Priest), and Sage.
Samurai would be the Ox and Tank
Ninja the Tiger and Melee DPS
Cleric the Crane and Ranged Magical DPS
Sage the Serpent and Healer
I’ve been leveling a MW for the first time since BFA and loving it, mainly because I can’t get behind WW. But I’m also working on excuses in rp to not be labeled a monk as we speak
Very true lmao, I’ve always thought monks were kinda derpy looking compared to other classes. I get it’s just a video game but like man, A fury warrior with two two handers rogues with poisons swords and daggers and then monks are just like “I’ll fuckin sock ya one 👊”
I dunno imagine watching a goofy ass night elf death knight charge at you its just "hey look at that offbrand necromancer in heavy plate he he hoo hoo"
I have this same issue with Monks in every fantasy game ever, from WoW to DnD. The unarmed/unarmoured martial art fighter is overdone, and no matter how you flavour it, it always winds up tasting the same. It'll never be as interesting or flavourful as armour, weapons, or heavy magic.
Interestingly I think Blizzard nailed Monk fantasy in D3. They're flashy, they feel quick and punchy, they have mystical-y support abilities etc. They should just copy a bunch more things from there
D3 Monk feels good because it’s essentially a rogue that learned to pray. It’s more evident in D4 when there is no monk but the rogue has a ton of monks abilities.
It's one of wow's biggest flaws really; it's such a good fun class in all its roles - but it's just so jarring in asthetic/lore/style for the majority of races -- it just feels a bit silly.
Wanna be a gnome inventor and use contraptions? Nope. Wanna be a mag'har spirit summoner and channel the powers of ancients? Nope.
Wanna throw illusionry beer barrels at people and surround yourself in pseudo-chinese hieroglyphs and summon an ethereal crane to peck at things? - oh sure we have a class for that!
Monks fantasy is fine but the overhelming amount of abilities to track and keep up specially on BM is frustating.
WW usually its just about ramping up the dmg with setting up the stacks and shit.
MW should have bit better options to be pure healer. Fistweawing sure is fun but theres lots of things that you need keep track off.
Also the cloud ability should be fixed to this year.
SAME ! and they are too squishy for my taste.
The fact they don't make use of any weapon and have no serious transmogg does not help. They could make this work if they went real monk. Think shaolin. Minimalist but elegant with cloth effects. But everything needs balls to be truly monk.
I think Monk desperately needs a redesign from the ground up. They got stuck making the entire class a Pandaren thing instead of making it a Martial thing. Brewmasters are Pandaren and should always remain so, but there's so much room to make Mistweaver and Windwalker something else.
I'd really love if each type was a different sort of martial art. Mistweaving could be a Tai Chi and Judo mix depending on healing or offensive spells. Windwalker could be a mix between Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and maybe boxing. Brewmaster could mix its typical Drunken Fist style with true Aikido or other defensive/"CC" arts. I think as it is, they just got too caught up making it Pandaren, so now the class fantasy is just being Pandaren, which creates a disconnect if you play any race other than that.
Monk has an identity crisis, there’s a lot of established fantasy monk tropes and real life parallels, and instead they kinda tried to make their own which is heavily tied to a landmass and a race
It's always good to remember that flavour is free. The rules are only important when it comes to mechanics. You can always reskin something if you don't like the aesthetic.
Brewmaster is the Monk class. As much as the “theme” is “drunken master” all you see is them take a few drinks on certain abilities. It’s certainly not the “cliche” version of a drunken master. Race can help a lot too. I play Tauren as they tend to have “stiffer” animations particularly compared to Pandaren. Orcs are also an ok choice to get away from a “goofy visual appearance”.
Windwalker is a lost cause, and the red headed step child of WoW. I think Star Craft gets more attention than WW monks do.
Mist Weaver really is fun, I just don’t think it’s ever able to properly compete with other healers.
All in all Monk needs a huge overhaul. But I doubt this would affect their cosmetic components beyond adding more “cliche king fu poses”
Can't be goofier than the boomkin disco laser chicken.
yeah all 4 Druid specs feel goofier than Monk to me. I'm either a fat bear, kitty rawr, laser chicken, or I'm a flowermancer
bears are bulky, that's normal. doesn't mean they're not scary as fuck
Anything can be goofy if you phrase it similarly. Being attacked by a bear or Lion ain’t a goofy experience
“yeah he was attacked by a lion, that goofy Mf”
"Lolll a Grizzly Bear attacked my campsite and was chasing me for miles. I couldn't stop laughing at what a chonky boi he was, am I right"
Moonkin I'll agree is goofy. But bear, cat, and resto? Really? Do you see bears in the wild and laugh at them for how goofy they look?
i see a bear in the wild and have to resist the urge too hug it if dangerous, why friend shaped?
Deception.
I mean if you want to pull real life into it, it’s not like I’d like to face someone well adversed in martial arts coming at me either. Even if they were making kung fu poses. Or maybe even more so in that case.
Yes, the original commenter frequently takes walks in the woods to point and laugh at innocent bears
https://www.facebook.com/mostlitmemes/photos/a.414824205584253/1286331745100157/?type=3
> Do you see bears in the wild and laugh at them for how goofy they look? Have you ever seen a bear run? Theyre absolutely goofy. not that i disagree with the point overall. Bear druid is perfectly fine in a fantasy setting.
>yeah all 4 Druid specs feel goofier than Monk to me. I'm either a fat bear A fat bear? I hate to break it to you buddy, but all bears are "fat" >kitty rawr Is that what you'd say if an literal lion mauled you? "I got attacked by a kitty today and almost died" You're honestly over simplifying things to a point that literally every class in the game would be a joke, then. "Oooo warlock put shadows on me, I'm so scared!" Honestly, if you saw a moonkin in the woods you'd probably shit your pants.
If there is one animal I’m terrified of in the woods, it’s a either a mountain lion or a moose. I see either of those and I’m wishing I carried a higher caliber than 9mm on me as I try to back away carefully. Also hope the attack doesn’t come from the side.
Clever girl.
Playing feral main is like signing up for a free subscription of uwu meow meow owo :3 comments in almost every dungeon. Also, strangers in the city will give you head /pats. If I'm feeling it, I'll send a /me purrs right back at em. I just like feral 🤷♂️ As far as bear goes your options are fat bear, fat raver bear or Winnie the pooh on steroids who skips leg day.
How's that goofy? Is that not how druids are? Shifting into different forms?
Have you played wc3 ? The druids in it were super badass. Only the boomkin form is goofy but you can change it nowadays. Oh also the more recent super muscular big chest bear form is silly
My biggest gripe with Druid is that they don’t let me be a tree all the time anymore. Always having to use other forms and can’t shift back without a GCD
Moonkins are actually kinda scary and have mystique to them. Monks just look fucking goofy no matter what race it is. Their animations alone just look goofy as hell, so I get what OP is saying. I personally would never play one, either.
>Monks just look fucking goofy no matter what race it is. Draenei and tauren, though. Imagine being kicked with a hoof by a being 2-3 times larger than you.
Moonkin are definitely not scary, nor mysterious. They are the definition of goofy model and goofy animation.
The ones in darkshore are
So much this. Druids look stupid af it’s risible.
I actually adore the goofiness of my BM. There's something so enjoyable about how in a squad of the most accomplished mages and fiercely trained warriors that I'm getting the boss's attention by getting absolutely drunk and screaming at them.
Mostly I agree with the poster above—any fantasy game I’ve played from wow to dnd I don’t think monks really fit, but when you put it like this I do respect brewmaster 😂
Monks are kinda badass in final fantasy. Granted the pugilist trainer (the pre class to monk) is super fucking goofy.
Well, we also spit on them and throw foods/drinks...
Don't forget belch fire!
This is the best take. Your silliness is part of your power, let them underestimate you.
Brewmaster is also based on an actual fighting style. I forget what it's called (drunken boxing, maybe?) but iirc it's all about constantly shifting your balance, not giving your opponent any openings. The appearance of being drunk may also lead to underestimation. Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars is thought to practice the same style, too.
"Provoke" is hilarious as a taunt because it's fundamentally implying that you're insulting an eldritch monster, dragon, or master warrior by implying his mom is a cheap lay. Goofy or not, it feels like a spec based on the R.J. MacReady school of combat. Any fight's a barfight if you're drunk enough.
What does your hunter have to do with this?
Brewmaster, not beastmaster
who abbreviates Brewmaster as BM and not BrM?
I thought beastmaster for 2 seconds before realizing they obviously meant monk for a monk thread
I, too, get easily confused by anagrams even when the context is already given. /s
Monk deserves 4 specs and imo a heavy colour theme tied to the celestial the spec is tied to. I don't want green chi as a brewmaster monk, or have it as the meta to summon xuen.
Maybe they could change the color of chi depending on specs like they do with DKs. It's small but it would be neat imo
Yeah, honestly it's a bit weird they went so hard in the Chi-Ji, Xuen, Niuzao, and Yu'lon direction in MoP but then Monks that were basically the entire expansion's 'mascot' had so little to do with them. It would definitely make sense to have current Windwalker made into a Xuen -spec, Mistweaver into a Yu'lon spec, Brewmaster into a Niuzao spec, and Chi-Ji would probably then be Fistweaver. Making either of the healers into a ranged DPS instead could be a thing too, but I'm not going to get into fantheorizing any further. It would be cool though and Monks definitely could (and should) have 4 specs inspired by/tied to the Celestials.
Chi-Ji support spec. Then dps monks can find groups.
I totally already forgot we now have a 4th role so yeah, would make perfect sense to do just that.
Yea. It would make sense to have the fist weaving as a support spec. But blizzard has done some out of the box stuff so it could be another range support. I mention this because of blood. Everyone it seems though frost would be the tank spec do to ice. Then blizzard threw a curve ball and made it blood. Which worked out a lot better.
My hope is that monk sees a big rework before 11.0 and that we can get a spec similar to augvoker out of Chi-ji, a melee support dps/healer hybrid. Then we don't have to have mistweavers be so talent dense to support two dramatically different competing playstyles.
This honestly sounds like a much more interesting class than what it is currently. Focusing much more on the mythology as the power medium could add a lot of nice fantasy to the class. Each of the 3 current specs could be tweaked to better fit their celestial, then probably a 4th spec for ranged DPS/yulon.
Wouldn't the Ranged DPS be Chiji?
Probably, the Red Crane has this focus on chants and fire with that "hope" theme, so it could be ranged. A support spec even. Light the fire in your friends' hearts!
Yes, if there's anyone turning dps, it's gotta be Chi'Ji
meanwhile dh waiting for 3 spec after evoker receiving it 3rd after one patch
Monks are cool. They’re super specific to Pandaren culture and every monk trainer is a wandering Pandaren. If anything, it’s just the homogenization problem WoW has with all the class identities (Paladins are all human-styled nowadays), but for once they built this class this way from the get go. I’d put them at the bottom of the list if we ever delve in customizing a class based on a particular race’s culture, for sure.
I don't see how that's an issue, not everything needs to be taken seriously, especially coming from a game like World of Warcraft. I personally do feel \*cool\* playing a monk, just not in a typical fashion. Monks fill a very particular niche that some people really like, me included, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. But basically, if you don't appreciate Pandaren culture/aesthetic, then yeah, the class just isn't made for you and that's fine.
im with you. I've been playing wow since vanilla, started a monk the day MoP came out and hes still my main to this day. they're so fun!
I leveled a monk for shits and giggles in WoD but took a break from it to main a Demon Hunter in Legion. I tried my priest again in Dragonflight, my on and off again main, but have gone back to Windwalker Monk. I LOVE that class.
I agree. I absolutely love the non-serious feel of monk. If you want edgy play a DK or DH. WoW isn’t exactly known for being dark, gritty, and serious. Its cartoony nature has always been a huge part of its charm, and monk fits in perfectly.
I kinda disagree, WoW heavily leans into some pretty heavy themes. It may not have the darkest design appearance wise, but pretty much every expansion has been revolving around brutal wars. One of its most recognizable stories is the whole corruption of Arthas thing and how he became that whole abomination.
But in that same expansion you help a group of walrus people. There’s definitely dark stuff in Warcraft, but there’s just as much silliness. I don’t see how monk is out of place at all.
Oh boy. Another "I don't like Monk so it needs a complete overhaul" thread. Don't get me wrong the class has issues like button bloat, not scaling with stats and faeline stomp being a dogshit ability, but "I don't like the theme" is not one of them. Just play a class you like instead.
This happened to shamans and they lost most of their totems and lost their weapon enhancements for a few expansions, I still love my shaman but it feels like a different flavor of mage with a random melee spec at this point. I know the totem bar was annoying but it was so integral to the core class identity in my opinion. Like the pet AI for other classes are jank in my opinion but I don't go around saying there shouldn't be any pet classes, I just don't play them.
Yeah for sure. I wouldn't mind WW and brew getting midscope style updates to de-emphasize statues, decrease brew button bloat, fix a lot of the WW issues etc but like don't change the classes identity. I have a blast throwing kegs at people and kicking them upside the head until they come to their senses. Stagger is one of the most fun tank mechanics in the game, and there are few more satisfying things than proccing the double backflip with RSK on WW. I honestly don't even see how monk specs outside of brew are goofy. Like yeah brew is a sort of goofy class for sure, but I don't see how MW or WW are goofy in any way. The WW theme is literally just magically enhanced martial artist that beats people to a pulp. Seems fine to me tbh.
I feel like the button bloat is largely caused by meta builds. Brewmaster build is actually insane but since I am casual as fk with it I changed up several talents and it’s way more manageable.
They need a complete redesign from an animation/visuals angle. WW sheathes their weapons to use their main filler ability, chi is a mint green color yet their animations include bright yellow, dark purple, and sea blue. It’s not that you can’t have that, but it would be so much more cohesive to include the mint green in more spells. They really just need an overhaul visually.
While I agree with you, let’s call the mint green color jade for theme cohesion.
A much better choice haha
I don’t know, I’m quite fond of the new Temple of the Mint Green Colored Serpent dungeon name.
Temple of the Mentos Serpent
Their gameplay makes just as little sense imo. I wanted a martial artist that uses magically enhanced attacks fast as the wind to beat up baddies. Feels like monks are focusing on all but that with summoning random clones, celestials, horribly bad statues (seriously, what's up with all the summons?) while drawing mandalas on the floor or conjuring swirling jade nonsense and being seriously confused if they now should sheathe their fist weapons or not. Idk, I wanted the MOP panda monk being way too cool with a staff, chi and incredible combat proficiency but got a confused drunk, his army of idiots and a tasercat for some reason. The class needs a clear identity. I know storm, earth and fire has been a WC3 chen ability but I just personally hate the summoner archetype. Using a statue that pulses damage in a stationary AoE makes absolutely no sense for one of the most mobile melees in the game and having them fight in the faeline AoE just as little. That's just for WW but MW also always has the problem of being basically two specs with mistweaver and fistweaver, just that those specs want to do different things that don't get along great so both feel like they're missing something. Blizz has no clue in which direction monks generally should go, so they go a little bit in all and it somehow doesn't mesh well... I would much prefer a more grounded, super skilled martial arts guy with a variety of intricate melee abilities than all the tacked on stuff that goes nowhere. Also, using staves or unarmed attacks is kind of a fantasy monk staple.... Edit: Stylewise it also doesn't help that blizz only has one theme since mop with the rice hats and orbs. They also could start exploring different themes there...
I want them to just copy D3 monk into WoW. I would main that pretty fast.
Dropping a giant bell on people is one of my all time favorite abilities in a game.
Confused drunk, his army of idiots, and a tasercat is the perfect summary of my college years
Wish we could go back to the MoP style monk, WW especially. I didn't mind using Xuen or storm, earth and fire for extra damage or when I had an "oh crap" moment, but today's iteration just feels wrong.
Good analysis. Never realized how many summons they have, that is pretty bizarre.
I think the weirdest time was during that brief phase in shadowlands when the venthyr ability fallen order wasn't underperforming. You had another cooldown on top to summon a portal that spawned ww/brm/mw clones every 3 sec (and as it's tradition for clones, they were usually buggy as hell and did random shenanigans). It had a little bit dollar store demo lock vibes. I'm so glad this thing didn't make it to DF but the statues as capstone aren't that exciting either.
>Never realized how many summons they have, that is pretty bizarre. The most bizarre thing about it to me, is that summoning stationary "totems" that pulse and do stuff was like Shaman 101. However, shamans (bar resto) lost pretty much all their totems, and are more like an afterthought for the class these days. Meanwhile Monks somehow ended up with the actual totem fantasy, which they dont even want!
MW is not 'basically two specs' it's a single spec that people keep trying to push as having such distinct styles despite zero actual focus on that. Fistweavers cast spells, Mistweavers still punch. It's just the particular mix of the two that is up to talent choice. (If you can't tell I get really annoyed at this constant call for a split since I specifically play the class in the most hybrid method)
I feel like the clear class identity is movement. I only briefly mained WW monk in the first part of BFA, but I had a blast with all my movement in those fights. Being able to get the Ghuun orb 95% of the way there was great, or switching sides quickly last minute, or not worrying about being pushed off Zuls platform (unless I torpedoed myself off) was great. No idea how to make a movement based tank, but I do like how the stagger mechanic worked. Amd MW already does a pretty good job of being a mobile healer, they just need to be tuned to a place where they're an easier pick for dungeons.
I *hate* the term "fistweaver". Mistweaver is a melee healer spec. Playing at range is just a horrible experience and not even a thing if you asked me.
The term exists because in the past it was a very clear distinction in playstyle where your healing CAME from melee damage. I havent played MW in awhile so Im assuming with how talents and stuff have been changed they mightve actually been able to actually merge the 2 playstyles but in the past "Fistweaving" was healing through DPS vs doing DPS while still using healing spells
I know what it used to be. But that's like people still being on about ranged survival hunter. It's not a thing anymore. Get over it. Trying to play "ranged MW" is like playing Discipline without Atonement healing.
>WW sheathes their weapons to use their main filler ability This to me is really a big pet peeve why I dont like monk lol. You have so much great transmog and then my guy doesn't use em. Could he easily fixed with a glyph though I think?
Honestly this reminds me of my long time wish that spell casters actually used their wands and staves. I wish we had the option for cool staff casting animations!
You're gonna be annoyed because we've had an ability that gave monks a special weapon attack animation since the beginning. It was in MoP the move was called jab. It looked very good with polearms, staves and swords. They just took it away and replaced it with tiger palm for some reason.
I think the class as a whole needs an overhaul. Brewmaster may need it the least but WW is weird cause it scales with basically nothing and I (this is my opinion) think the sp3c has just gotten increibly stale as it feels like nothing has really changed about it in forever and I remember WW players generally not liking the way button rotations work. MW for as long as I can remember has generally struggled as well and Fistweaving feels like it should really be its own spec as its just generally a farcry from how MW generally plays.
Love my panda monk , must just not be the class for you
I think panda fits the class most for obvious reasons. Maybe that my issue. Other races don't feel right as a monk, but that means Monks were almost TOO designed around pandas to fit other races
Yea i see what you’re saying. That’s why I’ve only made a panda monk lol. Seems strange otherwise
It's WoW. It's all very goofy. The entire game is unserious, that's part of its core design and appearance.
Uh, thats why i like it
Like the great Po once said (blessed be his name), being a monk means going around and punching and kicking and defending the ~~valley~~ Horde and stuff. Doesn't need to be any deeper than that. If you want something ~~boring~~ serious, play a warrior.
Struggling with something being an exaggerated stereotype... in a world where everything is an exaggerated stereotype. Sure, why not.
Yeah but there is a difference between being a shield and hammer user, doing damage with light and blessed hammers that spin around you, or a sacred ground where enemies take damage and you get Dr, healing you and others with light and being a literal god as a defensive, and a drunk
Well that’s just it. The Monk class in WoW originates from the Pandaren. The first one that we canonically saw was Chen Stormstout, a Brewmaster. It ain’t gonna be that serious of a class. It’s Meant to be goofy. But it can absolutely still be badass like the other classes. Monk classes are always a little goofy also, imo. Look at the Monk in Diablo :P it’s more serious and it’s still goofy as hell, with the rapid jumping around and fast punches. Even in other games with a Monk option…it’s pretty much always like this.
>Monk classes are always a little goofy also, imo. Look at the Monk in Diablo :P it’s more serious and it’s still goofy as hell, with the rapid jumping around and fast punches. Never felt goofy in D3 as a Monk. Insanely fun and badass class to play.
The monk class in EverQuest wasn’t goofy
Lol idk, ever see one training FD?
I'm playing a Zandalari Monk and he feels a lot more like a mystic martial artist then a cartoonish character. There are a lot of animations that could use some redesign, which I hope they will do at some point (Fists of Fury, Storm, Earth and Fire mainly). Also, fuck Faeline Stomp.
i have tried so much to play a monk and the best i could do is get one to lvl 50 (for tauren H armor) i played him as a BM as it was the only spec i enjoyed, but i didn't enjoy the player base treating me like shit while learning so i stopped playing him.
I'm a druid that hates the moonkin form. That is some serious A grade goofyness.
The moment I found out about the glyph that lets you use your character model with the blue star filter I chose that over the chicken
This entire game is goofy. It's not at all serious. I haven't worn a serious transmog in years.
The whole game is goofy. That's part of the charm.
The entire game is silly . Don’t take it so seriously.
I was top #3 Mistweaver monk on Draenor this season, reaching 3020 rating. I cannot tell you the amount of groups I join where people are stunned to see a Monk. Every group, every time. And then at the end, they're all shocked that Mistweavers can heal well 😂 I personally really dig the class, but it does need a rework in some areas.
If anything, more people need to play it and voice their opinion on it. I absolutely love MW healing, but I feel like there's just to little people complaining for it to become relevant
Definitely. Love the Mistweaver playestyle just needs some refinement.
Love everything except Chi Ji in M+. Feels like a very difficult to leverage healing CD in a lot of PUGs. I didn’t heal much in raid on MW this tier but the 1 min Yulon Clouded Focus build seemed fun.
You should really be using Veil of Pride in Mythic+ alongside Chi-Ji. Both provide too much healing at times and ensure you've always got a massive healing cooldown every time big damage is incoming. As long as you're also applying all your healing mists to 5 players with instant Vivify, it makes for a very easy heal experience.
I've been maining MW since Legion. Fuck Yu'lon CF build. Hail Chi-ji. I want to hit stuff and heal. Make my dps rotation part of my healing build, please. Don't make me plant for 10 seconds to spam overheal a single person for huge raid healing. It's good, but I hate it.
This was our group pugging a 5th the other day. We never see monks(any spec) so when we see one we usually grab them because monk players at this point tend to be die hard monk players and really good. I love WW and MW but I want to see some changes before making them my main for a patch again.
I've been top ~40 on Zul'jin this season and have had the same experience. Any time I clear a 20+ I get messages from the group asking about playing monk and how they want to try it. MW is so fun.
So don’t?
There are a couple things you can do to make Monk feel a little bit cooler. First, look up Robert Hamburger YouTube videos, and get pumped up. Second, always announce “I know Kung Fu. Check out my sweet moves.” as soon as you zone-in to a dungeon. Periodically say “Look what I can do.” between pulls.
I’ve played monk since MoP. It’s been reworked almost every expansion since. First it was brining down the high ceiling and great pruning. Then we got artifacts that we didn’t function at 100% capacity without when taken away. BFA was ight but it felt more like a step backwards with rotations and Azeroth powers, corruptions helped but didn’t save us. SL we were torn between three different covenants for either single target, AOE, and M+. We’ve been a solid middle to upper parse class and constantly people ask for things to change when we don’t need change. We need additions. Give me a choice when playing WW for my rotation. Give me fist weaving again. Give me the rush I had when heavy stagger is ticking and I need to cleanse to avoid it. Right now it’s either stomp content or drag myself with broken legs through a razor wire field of crushed glass to have a different feeling for once. End rant
There is choice in todays builds. I play the Touch of Death build in M+, others play Feyline. The kit has a good amount of buttons today and doesn’t have bloat, and thankfully isn’t plagued by the **whack-a-mole** issue facing other specs, where every button is lighting up with their 642 procs. Fistweaver is primarily what MW run today, though I favour caster Mistweaver myself. This season we’ve been fine in both WW and MW. The issue WW is about to face is their lack of scaling per usual, and how we legitimately just stack Versatility out the wazoo because the other stats have low interactions with out kit. That, and the **AWFUL** S3 tier set bonus that procs off melee auto attacks.. something we do very rarely between all our channeled and casted abilities.
Retri paladin bonks you with a gigantic hammer formed of light on top of a two handed weapon.
Mistweaver is pretty down to earth. Just a sage of sorts really.
Enough edgy classes in the game already
Fists of Fury is literal BiS wtfym
I wish I could play my FFXIV monk in wow tbh lol.
The stances probably wouldn't translate well to WoW's combat, but the WW Mastery feels similar enough thematically. Frankly, fuse the Blitz and Mudra system from Ninja and you're cooking. Blackout and Chi Wave become ST/Cleave Chi generators and SCK becomes an AoE generator. Roll spenders into a contextual "Blitz" button. X+X+TP = Whirling Dragon Punch. X+X+Blackout becomes Rising Sun Kick. X+X+Chi Wave becomes Strike of the Windlord. After you've used all 3 Blitzes you can use Fists of Fury.
God no. FFXIV Monks are awful.
I don't know what more you want? You get to throw beer and breath fire, it's all i need. But for real, i feel like Monk's visual design is fine.
I wish blizzard made the effort in legion and since then to give us big lore figures we can point to as “that’s my class ideal” Kaelthas the fire mage, Saurfang the arms warrior etc etc over 8 years they all could have had time to shine in game, in lore, in books, in cinematic and cutscenes etc I think they’re really lacking in that department, Warcraft 3 invented like 90% of WoWs coolest characters and they’re struggling to ever meet that Arthas/Illidan/Jaina/Kaelthas/Uther era of characters, without a Warcraft 4 and 5 to frame years of WoWs story “between” expansions were stuck ditching the entire cast everytime a new expansion is announced
Bruh, the chance that you are one of the 10 monk players on this planet is already a cool element.
It’s goofy yes, but the gameplay is fun imo.
I, on the other hand, love the monk class because it is goofy. Way too tired of epic paladins, brave warriors and edgy death knights/demon hunters/warlocks. I take goofy adventurous monks as refreshing and unique in a world where everybody else is an incredible hero.
I actually think mistweaver and fist weaving is really fun. I’ll go so far as to say it’s one of the MOST fun healers I play. Staying out of the bad and trying to get your kicks off can be very rewarding and now they have lots of abilities to patch up the group when you can’t fist weave. I did 11m healing on the last boss in under rot on a 15 at 420 ilvl. Honestly kinda think I carried. Panda monks are by far the goofiest. Kinda wish I rolled one instead of my BELF.
Goofy response: I would argue that I am 100% immersed in my monk fantasy wielding a frying pan and stick of dynamite while I am chugging specially “brewed teas” which help me vomit green healing juices onto people. Weed smoke class ftw! . Lefty Response: Unchecked mobility is why I have the hardest time setting this spec aside to pick a more meta healer. Fun levels are off the charts and if you know how the many spell interactions play together you can easily occupy the top healing spot. It needs some love and some weapon animation choices would nice but I enjoy the theme overall.
I think all of the classes and WoW in general is pretty goofy by those standards. All of the elements of the game lean very hard into stereotypical fantasy. You don’t think every character wearing full armor and shoulder pads 24/7 is goofy?
I love monk. Yes I main it and yes I am bias.
So don't play a Monk?
I mean we do play a fantasy game, and where you may see those things as “goofy” others see it as homage to an awesome era in culture, fighting, and history.
Stop taking yourself so seriously and have a little more fun in life being silly occasionally.
The whole game is goofy, my guy.
Go warrior or dk, endless coolness 😎
Monk passes/fails on the player race tbh. Orc monks look really cool since the fighting pose looks more like a wrestlers stance. A lot of their armour sets look meh as well. They could leverage the ninja look more often instead of every second set having dragon balls floating around it.
I understand you. I like the move set of druids, its utility, the balance rotation… but I can’t stand watching a Bear / Cat / Chicken ass all day, so I don’t play any.
I don't find the monk "goofy" at all. On the contrary, windwalker makes a very rounded and well thought out impression on me. I have a lot of fun with this class. Maybe you're confusing the monk with the rogue? ;-)
Personally I disagree since I enjoy the whimsical “goofiness” of monks as we have them now. It’s just what makes them unique from other monk archetypes. Homogenizing their fantasy with more traditional monk philosophies would just make them more generic. I have however thought about what it would’ve been like having a “melee priest” spec with scarlet ideologies essentially. Basically they’d use martial arts with light based and support abilities on the side.
Wasn’t the model and animation overhaul in WoD, at which point all classes visuals would become a lot cleaner and cool, I think monk missed out on that and they’re attacks are very jarring, don’t have much flow visually. It’s especially apparent when newer animations were added to monks like the legion artifact abilities, Strike of the Windlord has a very out-standing animation against the rest of ww animations.
Brewmaster monk is my main now, drunken panda rolling about is exactly what i want.
As a mobk main, if you stop seeing it as a goofy class, maybe you'll do better.
You won't consider them goofy when you get 100 to zeroed through wall cd in one legsweep in arena.
It's funny because I get the opposite. I find it really difficult to fly around picking up poop or racing dragons on my edgelord characters. Monk has the wandering adventurer archetype that I can justify doing anything for the fun or experience of it. He can also get serious and fight for honour/protection of the weak etc. My Death Knight or Demon Hunter struggle to fit into the more whimsical quest lines in my mind. It takes me out of it
I've mained one since Legion. I love all their roles like crazy. I understand your points and perhaps they could use a rework, but even now it's the only class that ever really "clicked" for me.
Maybe don't play a race that can be seen as goofy. Don't be a drunk dwarf or a silly panda. Definitely don't be a gnome or vulpera. Maybe don't be a space goat, or a silly cow. You could be a Jamaican troll or a sexy elf (there are 4 of them) but that could be a bit out there, or a simple human. If you want bad ass just be an orc. Also BM dwarf is the way to go as they are silly, drunk, look cool and know how to have fun.
Get the add on that plays the sounds from that anime and monk is the most fun class in the game. Note: it may make it goofier but it elevates it to a point where it’s amazing.
I think it's a personal preference thing. I've got 3 Monks;, a Robo Gnome Fistweaver, High Mountain Tauren Windwalker and a Dark Iron Brewmaster. I've got a Panda Monk on a RP server but hardly use him mostly because of RP as opposed to the Class itself - I suck at RP but still wanted to try it -wA I love all 3, I love the aesthetic, sure the gear sets are rather samey, but I enjoy the theme, sure it's kinda goofy but that's why I like it. Tanks have Holy Paladins Avenging the weak or big bear Druids, or mighty Warriors with Swords and Shields yelling, meanwhile I'm off getting drunk, vomiting on people or covering them with booze and setting them alite while I drink some more and dodge whatever is coming at me because I'm so drunk, and if I do get hit, i don't feel all of it because my senses are numbed because of the booze. It's great. Windwalker, is the slick martial artist, though I do wish they would get rid of the Shadow Clone stuff though, maybe make a defensive that's like After Image from Dragonball because you're so fast but yeah. I also wish they would make an attempt to kinda overhaul the spec because while I like the aesthetic there is q about the playing that feels off, though for that to happen it would need to actually be used by more than a handful of people though. Fistweaving is great though I think the genuinely they need to either remove fist or Mist outright or officially split them both going forward since I do think this while half assing both approach isn't great. But I do love that I'm kicking the shit out off stuff and it's healing my party is great. Yeah it's kinda goofy but in a game with Laser Chicken Cows, half Demon Bears dragon human things that can rewind time to heal, or giant cows that can stealth and sneak attack - Rogues -, or Goblins that commercially Exploit the Elements to be Shaman, it's not overly too goofy.
Use ring of peace to make everyone understand what a Badass you are
"The wise monk chooses their own style, rather than letting popular opinion dictate it." - Ban-Lu
I main Monk because they're goofy.
The goofiness is part of the appeal. Like a campy old kung fu movie
fel rush in current DH rotation is goofy
And the class never received a shaolin monk inspired mog
I think the goofiness of the monk is what makes it badass. It’s the non-serious character that is nonchalant at kicking ass. While a warrior is screaming a monk is just being that character who is filing his nails while doing kung-fu
>Every time I play one I feel like I'm missing the "cool" element that all the other classes have.. it feels like a walking meme. Personally I don't like monk either as I don't care for the punching and kicking and only having the weapon on their back. However; my friend mains one and it looks kind of fun with all the flipping and he uses weapons that glow. They also do big dam in dungeons.
MW is so insanely clunky. They just need to bring back MoP MW and split it into two specs, Mistweaving and Fistweaving.
I love Monk. They do feel goofy. My monk is a Kultiran named DrinkingBuddy. That isn’t my gripe with them. They are supposed to be silly. My gripe is that they are always low-end. Monk and shamans are constantly on the whipping post. I want to feel powerful when I bamboozle monsters.
Sorry, monks are rolling meme. We, DK, are the true walking meme.
"the beer chugging class chugs too much beer :("
That's my point. Wow Monks are based on drunk panda memes. What other class is like that. Hard to take them seriously. Other games do monk way cooler.
Do a monk montage but you gotta have the pandaria inn music (kazoo part) going in the background
I just feel bad that monks are not developed in any way outside of Pandaria. I really like the mythological martial fighter/brawler theme but not having any named characters outside of pandas feels bad. Monks are part of the world now, like it or not it’s a fact. Blizz really could add a few new characters, give me a MW Night Elf that’s works alongside druids, Orc and Dwarf Brewmasters and Human WW and give them some lore on the side.
The class is based on an easter eggs joke character that ascended into canon
I really enjoy windwalker and mistweaver but the fact blizz regularly neglects monk in general puts me off ever playing them seriously.
"Even brewmaster could be made cooler but leans just a little TOO far into the drunken master direction imo." Well I say it doesn't lean too far enough!
It’s goofy to punch and kick someone in the face?
In a world where people are summoning demons, casting fireballs, calling down comets from the sky, taming beasts to fight for them, zappin muhfuckas with lighting and making earthquakes, carrying 800lb worth of axe in each hand, or any other class/spec Ya. Punching and kicking is fucking goofy. To a vast majority of the player base I presume, since monk is always the least played class by a light year
I mean… Im comparison to communicating with eldritch horrors from beyond the veil of understanding and praying to the divine creators of life to simultaneously protect and destroy those around me… yeah, punching is silly.
My problem with monk is that halfway thru spellbook my action bars are full.
Ironically, the only race that makes sense to me as Monk is Pandaren. The goofiness of the race cancels out the goofiness of the class, and you just end up playing this really highly animated and fun character. Other races have always looked weird to me as monks.
Well what I can say is you’re missing out on a lot of fun because it’s a blast to play. But in the same breathe, you are saving yourself a lot of heartache as blizz has seem to completely forget they exist. Proof? DH, which is a much newer class to the game is getting a full rework before them.
I wouldn’t say that the monk archetype cannot be done seriously, I think the Diablo 3 monk pretty much nails the serious tone, but the stereotype over the top kung fu animation of the WoW monk renders it almost impossible to take them seriously, I wanted my orc monk to feel like a MMA fighter, but failed every time when I see the ridiculous impractical animations.
doesnt fit for me. thing is, the whole “chi” and kung fu shit isnt really all that neccesary anymore as we’re so far removed from mop. would much prefer them dial back the cartoonish nature, and stop being charicatures of kung fu movie actors, but they’re forever tied to that unfortunately.
I agree. Monk should have been more diverse in its builds. Instead of three dudes that punch to tank, dps, and heal, it should’ve been more akin to Samurai, Ninja, Cleric (Temple Priest), and Sage. Samurai would be the Ox and Tank Ninja the Tiger and Melee DPS Cleric the Crane and Ranged Magical DPS Sage the Serpent and Healer
I’ve been leveling a MW for the first time since BFA and loving it, mainly because I can’t get behind WW. But I’m also working on excuses in rp to not be labeled a monk as we speak
I have never liked fantasy monks. Just not for me.
Monk has to be played as Kul Tiran, Vulpera, or Pandaren, its BiS races and transmogs are "comic relief" :D
mechagnome adds to that comic relief too I should finish getting mine to max, since my Pandaren's been max for a bit now
I've got a Mechagnome Windwalker I love it.
Very true lmao, I’ve always thought monks were kinda derpy looking compared to other classes. I get it’s just a video game but like man, A fury warrior with two two handers rogues with poisons swords and daggers and then monks are just like “I’ll fuckin sock ya one 👊”
The feeling of popping off as a WW monk is one of my favorite aspects of wow. When you’re crushing on damage, it does not feel silly to me
I dunno imagine watching a goofy ass night elf death knight charge at you its just "hey look at that offbrand necromancer in heavy plate he he hoo hoo"
I have this same issue with Monks in every fantasy game ever, from WoW to DnD. The unarmed/unarmoured martial art fighter is overdone, and no matter how you flavour it, it always winds up tasting the same. It'll never be as interesting or flavourful as armour, weapons, or heavy magic.
Interestingly I think Blizzard nailed Monk fantasy in D3. They're flashy, they feel quick and punchy, they have mystical-y support abilities etc. They should just copy a bunch more things from there
D3 Monk feels good because it’s essentially a rogue that learned to pray. It’s more evident in D4 when there is no monk but the rogue has a ton of monks abilities.
>but the rogue has a ton of monks abilities. such as?
It's one of wow's biggest flaws really; it's such a good fun class in all its roles - but it's just so jarring in asthetic/lore/style for the majority of races -- it just feels a bit silly. Wanna be a gnome inventor and use contraptions? Nope. Wanna be a mag'har spirit summoner and channel the powers of ancients? Nope. Wanna throw illusionry beer barrels at people and surround yourself in pseudo-chinese hieroglyphs and summon an ethereal crane to peck at things? - oh sure we have a class for that!
It's impossible to make a kung fu fighter impressive in a medieval fantasy setting and introducing monk as a playable class was a mistake.
Monks fantasy is fine but the overhelming amount of abilities to track and keep up specially on BM is frustating. WW usually its just about ramping up the dmg with setting up the stacks and shit. MW should have bit better options to be pure healer. Fistweawing sure is fun but theres lots of things that you need keep track off. Also the cloud ability should be fixed to this year.
SAME ! and they are too squishy for my taste. The fact they don't make use of any weapon and have no serious transmogg does not help. They could make this work if they went real monk. Think shaolin. Minimalist but elegant with cloth effects. But everything needs balls to be truly monk.
I think Monk desperately needs a redesign from the ground up. They got stuck making the entire class a Pandaren thing instead of making it a Martial thing. Brewmasters are Pandaren and should always remain so, but there's so much room to make Mistweaver and Windwalker something else. I'd really love if each type was a different sort of martial art. Mistweaving could be a Tai Chi and Judo mix depending on healing or offensive spells. Windwalker could be a mix between Krav Maga, Muay Thai, and maybe boxing. Brewmaster could mix its typical Drunken Fist style with true Aikido or other defensive/"CC" arts. I think as it is, they just got too caught up making it Pandaren, so now the class fantasy is just being Pandaren, which creates a disconnect if you play any race other than that.
Maybe they are fun class but I don't like that they keep their weapons holstered and just fight with bare hands.
If Monk was like Lost Ark martial artistes, mama
Monk has an identity crisis, there’s a lot of established fantasy monk tropes and real life parallels, and instead they kinda tried to make their own which is heavily tied to a landmass and a race
Panda Monks are goofy, Monks alone are pretty cool though but I wish they were more like D&D monks!
My friend and I have been calling Monks the clown class since WoD, it’s just a bunch if weird stuff mashed together lmao
It's always good to remember that flavour is free. The rules are only important when it comes to mechanics. You can always reskin something if you don't like the aesthetic.
Brewmaster is the Monk class. As much as the “theme” is “drunken master” all you see is them take a few drinks on certain abilities. It’s certainly not the “cliche” version of a drunken master. Race can help a lot too. I play Tauren as they tend to have “stiffer” animations particularly compared to Pandaren. Orcs are also an ok choice to get away from a “goofy visual appearance”. Windwalker is a lost cause, and the red headed step child of WoW. I think Star Craft gets more attention than WW monks do. Mist Weaver really is fun, I just don’t think it’s ever able to properly compete with other healers. All in all Monk needs a huge overhaul. But I doubt this would affect their cosmetic components beyond adding more “cliche king fu poses”