What do devs see us as being?

[Ramius613]

Back when eq2 first came out, I remember one of the features being touted was that EVERY fighter class will be capable of tanking.  I started playing the game shortly after launch, and after finding how boring templars are to play, I switched to a monk.  This was the first MMO i had ever played, so leveling up was a learning experience all around.  Then LU 13 hit, and the ability for brawlers to tank anything got hosed completely, due to avoidance being our main defensive stat.  When KoS came out we got some help in the dps department with the unarmed double attack, and the crit chance was big, even though it got nerfed.  However, once a brawler has hit lvl 70, and gotten some decent weapons (>57 DR), the STR line goes away as having any viability.  With the release of EoF, they "fixed" our tanking ability some, allowing us to tank zones if you were decently equipped, but still no love on the raid tanking, nor the raid DPS fronts. Now I have a few questions to the devs as to the direction of our classes (Bruisers & Monks) What is the planned direction of our class?  Are we going to be tanks with the ability to do some DPS and vice versa?  Either way I would be good with an option of doing both. Is anything going to be done about leveling the playing field due to the HUGE disadvantage  that we have vs. plate tanks?  By this, I mean is something going to be done to our avoidance that makes it as good as mitigation? Finally, is there anything planned to make us viable to bring along on a raid (group FD, our big heal, and minimal group haste, while useful, there are better options out there).  I would like to see us with a large group buff of some kind, something along the lines of a avoid&haste(monks) or mit&dps (bruisers). In conclusion, I hope that we get some help to make us more valuable on end game raid content.  As it stands now, while I am on every raid I log on for, I belong to a more casual guild, and we need more people than what classes we have available to play.  Ideally, what I would like to see, is if we choose to be focused in DPS, we see a significant increase in our damage output to be on par, or just below that of scouts, while showing up much higher than the other fighter classes.  Conversely, if we choose to focus on tanking, we should be able to hold/manage aggro, and take a hit <i>almost</i> as good as our fighter brethren, as an offset to the lesser tanking skills be able to put out more DPS.  As we stand now, for the most part, we can't accomplish either to a noticable degree.  I realize some monks can get very good dps #s, and some can tank a raid mob here and there, but I am referring more to the norm, and not the exceptions. Finally, I would just like to say that I love playing my monk, the solo ability we have is one of the best.  Unfortunately, soloing can only get you so far in this game, and in order to get to end game content you need to be able to raid.  Nothing upsets me more than seeing the following come across the chat channels: "Looking for dps to help raid X zone, pst" "Monks/Bruisers need not send tell" I play my monk well, and when I see stuff like that, it makes me think that the past 2 1/2+ years of time & effort I have put in to playing my character have all been for naught.  I also didn't go more into changes that I would like to see, because we have LOTS of other threads, across different boards that have addressed that issue. Disgusted and desparate for a change <img src="/smilies/c30b4198e0907b23b8246bdd52aa1c3c.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Xanthar]

<p>I so agree that it seems we are being phased out of upper level content. If I were raid leader for my guild I would have a hard time justifying why I should bring a Monk to the raid. I worked very hard over a period of months to gain the last 150 to 200 DPS that I needed to get to the 1400 DPS that our raid leader asks me to bring to raid. When I finally got that last bit to get there, I breathed a big sigh of relief. The main component of achieving this was the guild giving me the right combination of Fabled weapons so that I could activate Baton Flurry, Eagle Spin, AND Crane Sweep. I was anticipating the removal of the weapon restriction for the AA lines because I thought I could take Pressure Point. Well, not only did they NOT remove that weapon restriction, but they put the ones I had on the same timer so I couldn't use but one of the other 3 I had. Now I can use Baton Flurry, Eagle Spin, OR Crane Sweep. "AND" is very different than "OR."</p><p>For an upper level Monk this change squeezes the last bit of DPS like squeezing blood from a turnip. There's no way to rebuild to make this up. I can go down the STR line and waste AA points in 3 abilities I that I have to unequip my Fabled weapons to use, and lower my auto attack DPS significantly, or I can choose one of the other three fairly useless abilities at the bottom of STA, WIS, or INT.</p>

[Nerill]

A nice, well thought out and factual post. Unfortunately, you will never get any meaningful response from any dev. We have a 20+ page long thread on the "In Testing Feedback" as well as several long running threads on this board and the Devs refuse to give us any answer what-so-ever. Oh, and you may get a troll or 2 like "Aonach" and "Wildfury77" who think that the Monk class is just about balanced despite literally hundreds of Monk / Bruiser posts to the contrary. The vast majority of our community has been <b>begging</b> for <b>reasonable changes.</b> - increase in DPS by 30 - 35% to bring us just under the lower tier scouts .... parsing somewhere along the lines of 1500 - 1800 DPS - the ability to tank Epic encounters .... <b>not</b> as well as our plate wearing brothers and sisters but <i>better than it is now </i> - better ability to <i>hold</i> agro - some kind of <u>utility</u> that will make a raid leader say " Hey, we could use a Monk / Bruiser " Again, your post is awesome and well thought out and you have my full support. Just don't expect anything from any Dev. <img src="/smilies/c30b4198e0907b23b8246bdd52aa1c3c.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[DarkerElf1]

This is what I was afraid of.. I have a lvl 29 monk and I was told that after 40 the only thing it would be good for is group support. I find this very disturbing.. I guess I should stop playing my monk and start playing my pally. I hope they fix this so that we can once agian stand proud to be monks and to say I can tank with the best of the group or atleast say I can DPS with the best. No since of lvling any farther untill they give us some real ballence. Shame because I love my Iksar monk.

[Aonach]

Don't lsiten to them, you will be a fine tank and a fine DPSer. Sure the dedicated tanks and DPSers will always be better but play it properly and there is very little you can't do as a monk in this game. Don't lsiten to the "nay sayers" the monk is an awesome class to play.

[Gasheron]

<p>I highly suggest you continue to play your monk. We aren't as weak as the perception of us says. We can do fine in heroic content. Not saying that we don't have problems, but we are fun to play and can be very rewarding.</p><p>Just don't expect to be accepted into raids at the top end of the game, and you'll probably have a harder time finding groups the higher in level you get due to the percepion of a Monk.</p>

[Aonach]

<p>Of course you will get accepted into raids in the end game. The major issue at the very end game is trying to get into a hardcore raiding guild. these guilds will generally have one monk and one bruiser on their books and no more than that. It's one of the issues that you will find with brawlers, guilds will be happy to have 3 wizards and 3 warlocks but only one monk and one bruiser. </p><p>You have no need to worry about that for a long time yet because you have laods of levels, instances and lower level raids to have fun with and get gear from before you even need to considor getting in a end game guild. If you play your class well it will surprise you how many people will put up with the slight shortfalls of the monk class.</p>

[Kaoru]

Monks are a blast to play and are a very easy class to fall in love with, especially at the lower levels. I wouldn't worry too much about your role in groups pre lvl 60 or so and hopefully before then the needed tweaks to the class are made. The main problem facing us tho is the total ignorance of the community regarding our class. Heh I remember getting an invite (more then once) at lower levels cause people thought I was a healer <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Kaoru Monk Blackburrow