PvP Job Series: Monk

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the Monk job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Judging the statcard, Monks are an excellent primary job pick for any team. Let’s focus more on why that is the case below starting with their skillset.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Monk.

Abilities

Monk’s Martial Arts pack quite a wallop with its mixture of support and damage abilities. While Monks can only be barehanded, they do have innate Brawler (50% more damage from physical attacks while barehanded and some bonuses on other abilities), so it frees up their support slot for anything you may need on them, such as Attack Boost for more damage. While we won’t focus on every ability they have, we will highlight the ones that are quite popular in PvP:

Aurablast (action) – Deals ranged physical damage. This is likely to be your spammable while not within a 1 tile range of your target. I will mention Pummel here strictly because its high-end damage varies off of randomness whereas Aurablast is more consistent.

Shockwave (action) – A 8-ranged line physical attack that gives Monks further ranged coverage. This ability is also a spammable when there are multiple targets in the targeted line.

Chakra (action) – Restores HP and MP to nearby units. Chakra scales up with Physical Attack which you would be typically stacking into, so this ability is a nice instant area burst heal. I will also note that this is one of the few ways to heal undead units.

First Strike (reaction) – Bravery% chance to cancel an incoming attack, Throw, Arts of War, or Aim based on your weapon’s range and counter-attack instead. This reaction does deserve a mention especially when equipped with ranged weapons as this enables the possibility of countering from afar, but this will vary on the skillsets your opponent is using.

Brawler (support, innate to Monk) – This ability not only increases your physical attacks while barehanded by 50% (excludes Jump and Throw), it also increases the effectiveness of your Martial Arts abilities and most Steal abilities, though it is not as significant for most chance-based abilities.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 135% | MP: 80% | Speed: 110% | PA: 129% | MA: 80% | C-EV: 20 | Move: 3 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Clothing

Monks have naturally good bulk because of their HP. This, coupled with their PA makes them great offensive characters while being fairly tanky, especially with males getting a PA bonus. Their barehanded basic attacks scale up with PA and Bravery. Monks do have some drawbacks in not being able to equip weapons and headgear. They can equip clothing, but you may be more reliant on their accessories for damage or status coverage. Martial Arts is very flexible and is a great choice as a secondary for physically-focused builds.

Conclusion

Overall, Monks are a solid choice as a main job in PvP. They have a great skillset with ranged utility, strong melee damage, and some support abilities as well. Their stats enable them to be great frontline offenders while sustaining damage. They do have some limitations with their job restriction on gear options, but they contend well even with that in mind.