MNK / Ninja or sam

[Stotan]

I was wonder I know it expansive but I want to become a ninja. But would like opinions. Now I don't know if you can but would it be better to have the ninja or the monk as the main job. or the other way around. Please post anything else I would need to know

[Redlimit]

Monk is a narrow path to walk down. It dosen't make a very good subjob, and for EXP purposes from 1 to 75, there are only two good subjobs for a Monk: Warrior and Theif.

If you want to be a Ninja though, what I would do is get Monk to at least 18 and do the subjob quest. Then I would switch to Warrior and use Monk as your subjob and go all the way to level 30 like this.

At 30 you can do the Ninja quest (with some help from others), and you will already have your 30 levels of Warrior to sub on it.

Sadly, with Monk its either take it to 75 or do another job. Also, the 75 levels you use on Monk don't translate into a very good subjob for anything but a pre-40 Warrior.

If you want to be a Ninja, then only take Monk far enough to get the subjob quest done.

[Effen]

You want to do damage, or do you want to tank?

[Stotan]

I would like to do more damage.. then be a tank for pt's

Also what is with the retired does that mean you stopped playing the game or does it mean that you moved on to another character

[Fox the Sly]

Are you saying you would like to do more damage as a Monk and tank for parties later with another job? (Sorry, it wasn't clear).

About the retirement thing, it could mean either. I think in Redilmit's case he stopped playing altogether (correct me if I'm wrong).

[Redlimit]

Correct. I stopped playing altogether.

Sadly, doing a lot of damage and tanking don't happen at the same time. It is either one or the other.

Warrior bends this rule a bit, but they won't do as much damage as a true damage class if they are trying to tank (because tanking at your fullest ability means using certain moves and equipment that will affect your damage adversely).

Monk "can" tank later on - but not as a main tank for a long EXP party. You simply take too much damage, even if you are quite good at keeping hate due to the damage you deal. Monk do not get any serious Defence gear, and even with high HP and VIT, you will take a lot more damage than dedicated tanks. This makes your mages work harder and use MP faster, meaning less EXP overall.

[Effen]

I beg to differ Redlimit. With full AF and defense gear and fish kabob, a monk's def bonus with defender on is the same as a PLD without using defender. And the monk will still deal more damage than the PLD. I'm not saying a Monk is a better tank than a PLD, but with proper equipment and food set up, they are not as weak as most people think at higher level. I have tanked with this set up from about 63-69, then we found a Ninja. But it is very possible.

As for the original question, if you want to get the most damage out of a monk, go with a war sub. If you want to tank, be a ninja/war. Sam sub is pretty much overrated and you won't be the "TP King" as some guides like to put it.

[Stotan]

Originally posted by Fox the Sly
Are you saying you would like to do more damage as a Monk and tank for parties later with another job? (Sorry, it wasn't clear).

I want to have my monk be a damage dealer NOT a tank for PT's

That is why I'm asking about ninja's and stuff I would like to know if it would make a good combo MNK/Ninja or Samurari (sp)

[Redlimit]

Using a WAR sub does not make you a tank.

Beleive it or not, the WAR sub gives MNK its greatest damage output.

A WAR sub offers Berserk, Double Attack, Attack Up, and War Cry - not to mention a solid spread of stats like STR, DEX, and VIT.

Double Attack alone would be enough of a reason to sub WAR with a MNK. Because of the way hand-to-hand attacks work, each hand is treated like a seperate attack. This means that each hit can trigger a Double Attack, and on top of that, Kick can also trigger for a final hit. Combine this with the fact that hand-to-hand attack delays get shorter as you level up, and this makes MNK capable of a continuous flurry of hard hitting attacks.

Just because you have Provoke from WAR sub does not mean you have to tank, and no one will expect you to.

Provoke is handy to have for emergency situations like when the main tank dies, or when you pull hate so a THF can Sneak Attack + Trick Attack onto the main tank, but beyond that you won't use it for much (unless you want an easy way to claim things while playing solo of course).

MNK/NIN has its uses, but not for EXP or leveling up. It will be used much later in the game for things like HNM hunting, Dynamis, and certain BC's.

MNK/SAM is just for fun. A MNK/WAR will still outdamage you. MNK/SAM would be ok for fighting things for missions or solo work (quests, etc), but thats it.

[Cali]

MNK/WAR: Berserk, Defender, Double Attack, Physical Attack up(I think), Physical Def up(I think..), Provoke.... and a balance boost of various Melee stat such as STR, DEX, VIT, AGI etc...

MNK/THF: Treasure Hunter, Gil hunter( the passive skill to boost gil dropped), Sneak Attack, Flee, Evasion up... more toward the DEX/AGI boost compare to WAR, less in STR/VIT tho...

MNK/NIN: Dual wield, ninjutsu, stealth... again, more toward DEX/AGI boost in stat

MNK/SAM: TP boost, Arcana circle, third eye(may b?)... A balanced boost in melee stat like WAR(I think)...

Above jobs are from what I can remember up to lv50...

So.. well, if you sub NIN to MNK, you will waste the dual wield, since knuckles are 2-handed. For ninjutsu, yes you get Utsusemi, but you can't tank with just Utsusemi, you will need provoke to have the hate over the mages and stuffs... but like redlimit said, in BC, dynamis and stuffs where mob comes in, you might be better if you have self-blink on to hold a monster or 2 for the team.
If you sub SAM to MNK, it's a good option.... at lv60+(I think), you get meditate to boost TP, but it's heavily nerfed when sub.. so compare to the common sub, not many would sub SAM for just the meditate... by the way, TP boost doesn't help much n_n;

Now the other way around:
NIN/MNK, mm.... not much a good choice, I don't think... NIN is E in H2H(if I am right...), and you would be better off using katana+sword/dagger/katana than to use an E ranked weapon. For the focus and dodge stuffs, they may be good when you solo, but when you are in party, you won't be tanking, so I wouldn't bother with subbing MNK to NIN... we don't have Rock Lee in FF, you see

For damage dealing, I would choose WAR til 60, then may be switch to THF for SaTa til 75... Sneak attack on its own isn't worth the time, it's a critical hit when subbed

MNK is rarely needed to tank, despite the fact that we have massive load of HP, our DEF doesn't make up to it.. at higher lvl though, I remember people telling me, counter tank is possible, but getting the expensive counter set will cost you...something exciting...

[Stotan]

I think I decided to go samurai. Ninja doesn't seem to work well with a MNK. According to you guys and the most current guide I have (spring 2004). However I did see some negitive stuff about samurai's that the programmers of the game lowered damage or the weapons powers down...

I would like to know if because of these changes would it still be a good choice. Also I was going to make Samurai my Main job and make Mnk my sub job now is that a better choice or should I keep my monk on main and move the samurai to sub ? (haven't done it yet only lvl 15)


thanks for all your help ~ Stotan

[Redlimit]

For a Samurai, a Warrior subjob is best. Just like with Monk/Warrior, this gives you the highest possible damage output.

[Stotan]

I think I decided to go samurai. Ninja doesn't seem to work well with a MNK. According to you guys and the most current guide I have (spring 2004). However I did see some negitive stuff about samurai's that the programmers of the game lowered damage or the weapons powers down...

I would like to know if because of these changes would it still be a good choice. Also I was going to make Samurai my Main job and make Mnk my sub job now is that a better choice or should I keep my monk on main and move the samurai to sub ? (haven't done it yet only lvl 15)


thanks for all your help ~ Stotan

[Effen]

Doesn't matter which route you go, Monk will not be your sub. Sam, you will need either war or thf sub. Monk, you will need war or thf sub. Ninja, you will need War sub. Don't base your judgement on that brady guide, it's a pos.

[shinjaku]

MNK/Ninja or Sam

Hmmm where to start!!!!
mnk/sam here its fun, works just fine for me.
You wont be like sam main "2 man capable sc master", 60tp is not alot. Sole sushi+1 hmm makes it better, 3rd eye (hmm still dont see what the improvements are, multi anticipate still eludes me). I dont know or sure, but maybe black belt with 12% haste will help bridge that gap
Have fun with it.