Bring back the Monks!

ZenonSeth

No, I didn't say 'healers'. I said Monks. Please read the post before voting! TL;DR: Melee, martial arts, non-healing monks

Ok, so I gotta say I really like the idea of monks. In my mind a Monk is more of a unarmed combat, and graceful combat than anything else.

This occured to me when I was thinking what Zotoh Zhaan would have been in Guild Wars. The answer is, she would have been a monk. For those that don't know who I'm talking about, she was a character on Farscape. She was a peaceful being, sort of priestess, but she was far from harmless. Her fighting skills often took others by surprise since no one expected her to be a good fighter from her looks.

In fact, Monks can probably be made without having any sort of focus on healing, only focus on unarmed combat and surpise. Weapons for them could include the more martial art blunt weapons, like staves (non-magical attacks),  nunchucks, and maybe small bladed weapons like daggers. Some ranged stuff maybe Shuriken-like weapons?

Their special abilities (the F1, F2) could be switching between different fighting styles (akin to Atunements of Elementalists). A fast and mobile style, or a slow and methodical one. A fast style could focus less on damage, and more on conditions and control, like confusion, cripple, knockdown, daze, stun launch. A heavy style would inflict more damage and deal things like vulnerability.

Even without the necessity of healers in GW2, the Monk can still be brought back as a medium, or light armored melee fighters..plus, I like the idea of a zen-like character who can throw you across the room without breaking a sweat.

I'm curious what other people think, and I'm debating proposing this to ANet. In fact, here's a poll!

Angzt

what? did someone say addon? yes? kk

Lord.Bachus

They will certainly return as martial artists in an expansions, and i know just the perfect area where one might find Monk martilal artists

clumsytoes44

Would be really cool to see.

Zylaxx

most of the Monk abilities are in the Guardian class.  They could add a monk like melee fist class though but only after adding in Dervishes or some form of a Magic/Melee class like a Death Knight from WoW or a Thane from DAoC.

eye_m

I would be glad to see monks returning in an expansion pack as a martial artist rather than healer. 

ZoeMcCloskey

I am all for it.  Less because of the unarmed combat aspect, more to do with the philosophical side of things. 

heartless

I have a feeling that we will see some sort of a monk/martial artist type class when ArenaNet releases the Cantha expansion.

L0C0Man

A monk would work nicely within GW2, I'd think, and I bet we'll see one in a cantha themed expansion... probably along with a new race, a shorter, stubbier variant of the koden (think bipedal polar bears) that probably uses black war paint around the eyes.. (ok, ok, just kidding).

A monk with healing can work, something like when the elemental goes water attunement. Also for damage dealing, in GW1 the heroes group I use has two monk/mesmers on it.... both as heavy damage dealing, with a paragon filling in as healer.

Creslin321

Yeah, Cantha expansion.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if we saw a martial artist character there.  And actually, since every class in GW2 can melee, range, and heal...I think it would be cool if they combined the ritualist with a martial artist.  He could use his sprit powers for ranged, and martial arts with weapons for melee...kind of like how mesmer and guardian work.

observer

If they did bring them back, we will see all the posts claiming "A-net copied WoW!!1".  Haha.

Masa1

Monks are not martial artists, they are normal people worshipping god and living in secluded area.

Ezhae

There is lore problem with monks. It can be of course fixed, but probably owuld need some pushing of the story forward past the imminent Dragon danger. 

First thing, monks were tied closely to religion. It worked fine when the only playable race were humans but how do you make Charr or Norn or Asura monks? Those races don't belive in The Six. Second issue is the fact The Six went silent somewhere between the GW1 and GW2 and no longer respond to prayers as they used to. Of course if we deal with dragons maybe they will return, but for now it would hard to fit them in. 

Similar issue is with Dervishes which were also tied to religion and really don't have place outside of human race. Norn have their spirits, Asura have th Eternal Alchemy, Charr have their warmachines, Sylvari have..well, messed up childhood :P 

 

Would love to see both of those classes have a comeback at some point, but it will require some proper story background to make it actually work without leaving a giant plothole in the middle. 

heartless

Originally posted by Masa1

Monks are not martial artists, they are normal people worshipping god and living in secluded area.

In most RPGs monks are martial artists.

rygard49

I've been craving a great monk class since I quit playing EQ... so like 13 years. Diablo III did not do it for me, nor did the play style of the original Guild Wars monk. WoW's monk looks... well I don't know they might be fun, but that would require that I play WoW again.

Anyway, yes please bring back monks.

grimm6th

I am pretty sure zotoh zhaan would have been a sylvari water elementalist or necromancer, not a monk.

Anyways, there isn't really enough in your basic outline that makes this seem distinct enough from the current classes.

 

Maybe if you put it like this:

• Class: monk
• Theme: light armor skirmisher
• Special mechanic:
  • F1 allows you to root and quicken yourself, while giving you toughness.  After 2 seconds damage dealt to you during this time is used to calculate a recharge for the skill, more damage increasing the recharge, and no damage making the recharge 30 seconds (maybe more)
  • F2 dramatically increases your movement speed and gives you stability for 2 seconds, but you cannot use skills for 4 seconds.  Recharge of 30 seconds
• Weapons:
  • Main hand:
    • dagger (throwing weapon)
    • sword (countering, stability, defensive)
    • hand-wrap (new weapon type, usable by engineer, necromancer, and ranger offhand) (defensive, mobility, melee)
  • Off hand:
    • hand wrap
    • focus (buff, debuff)
    • dagger
  • Two handed:
    • staff (melee combat)

Not that I would WANT this class, but if you are going to make a suggestion, make it detailed.

ZenonSeth

Originally posted by Ezhae

There is lore problem with monks. It can be of course fixed, but probably owuld need some pushing of the story forward past the imminent Dragon danger. 

First thing, monks were tied closely to religion. It worked fine when the only playable race were humans but how do you make Charr or Norn or Asura monks? Those races don't belive in The Six. Second issue is the fact The Six went silent somewhere between the GW1 and GW2 and no longer respond to prayers as they used to. Of course if we deal with dragons maybe they will return, but for now it would hard to fit them in. 

Similar issue is with Dervishes which were also tied to religion and really don't have place outside of human race. Norn have their spirits, Asura have th Eternal Alchemy, Charr have their warmachines, Sylvari have..well, messed up childhood :P 

 

Would love to see both of those classes have a comeback at some point, but it will require some proper story background to make it actually work without leaving a giant plothole in the middle. 

Well, the Charr also had healers in GW1, and they only worshiped the Titans, who were pretty much all about destruction and aren't really Gods, tbh.

I don't see any problem introducing Monks at all though. Healing skills can just be attributed as regular magic, but as I mentioned, it's possible to make them less Healers and more Fighters. If even Engneers can get some healing, Monks can surely get healing skills too, without the need for gods. Maybe you can attribute their diminished healing capabilities in terms of Lore due to the gods being gone (or not as active, whatever)

And I also don't think that Guardians' existence prevents Monks. Guardians do have some smiting-like abilities, but Monks are nothing like them, in spirit, or in style. That's one of the reasons I think a more martial-oriented, less healing Monks would make a more unique addition.

DBBswe

So you want a diablo 3 monk in the next expansion, personally id rather see a dervish in the next expansion but who knows what might pop up.

Fairly certain the next expansion will have something to do with the race that lives behind that big ol green wall, just a guess though.

 

edit. hand wrap? hahahaha thats a brainfart if i ever saw one, funny though :P

ZenonSeth

Originally posted by grimm6th

I am pretty sure zotoh zhaan would have been a sylvari water elementalist or necromancer, not a monk.

Anyways, there isn't really enough in your basic outline that makes this seem distinct enough from the current classes.

<snip>

Not that I would WANT this class, but if you are going to make a suggestion, make it detailed.

My original post is more of an idea than a detailed suggestion. Fleshing out ideas with others works best in my opinion.

Anyway, as for your more detailed suggestion:

• Armor I agree, Light seems reasonable, though it's risky to put a melee fighter in light armor.
• I don't like the idea of making F1 and F2 special skills like that. I know the warrior has a special skill, but to me they seem more like utility skills. I don't seem to use them that often anyway. I also don't see how movement + stability counters the negative of 4seconds without skill usage...
• Weapons - Hand Wrap seems like a good addition, I think. Throwable daggers, yeah. But I would get rid of sword.

Let's see, I like some of your ideas.. so I'm gonna try this:

• Monk
• Special Mechanics:
  • F1 Quick Combat Style
  • F2 Focused Combat Style
  • F3 Defensive Combat Style
• Weapons:
  • Hand Wrap (main + offhand)
    • F1: Skills would cause less damage, but slightly faster recharge
    1. Repeatable Quick Strike that causes more damage for every 3 hits.
    2. A rapid multi-strike that causes Confusion
    3. A quick headpunch that causes Daze. 
    4. A skill for quick rapid strikes of Damage. 
    5. A quick attack that applies Quickness to the Monk
    • F2: Skills focus on damage, slower recharge
    1. Repeatable Focused Strike that ignores % armor on every 3rd hit.
    2. A headkick skill that Knocks Down,
    3. Eye-Poke that causes Blindness,
    4. A Knee-strike that cripples enemy,
    5. AoE spinning kick that hits all nearby enemies
    • F3: Defensive skills  
    1. Repeatable strike that applies Aegis to monk every 3rd hit
    2. A jump-over-enemy skill that causes Confusion
    3. A chest-kick that Launches enemy back and you away from the enemy
    4. A blocking stance that stops next melee attack and knocksdown enemy if it blocks
    5. A jump that escapes any immobilization and causes Daze on nearby enemies
  • Focus (offhand)
    • F1: Self-buffs: 1.Swifness and 2. Fury
    • F2: Debuffs: 1. Vulnerability and 2. Weakness
    • F3: 1. Area based Healing and an 2. Area based Vigor
  • Dagger (main hand only)
    • F1: Fast but deadly strikes 
    1. Fast attack that chains to cause vulnerability on 3rd throw.
    2. A bounced off throw that causes Daze to first target and Confusion to 2nd target it hits.
    3. A surprise throw that causes daze
    • F2: Slow and Precise strikes
      1. Aimed Throw that causes bleeding
      2. A double throw that thows two daggers at once
      3. Hard Throw that cases 
    • F3: Defense-oriented skills
    1. Escape throw that gives you Swiftness if it hits
    2. Heavy throw that pushes back enemy
    3. Skill that Stuns enemy
  • Staff (two-hand)
    • F1: Fast striking
    1. Surprise hit, hits twice every 3rd attack
    2. Jump-strike that moves you to the side 
    3. Spin Staff, AoE, enemies hit from behind are Dazed
    4. Multi-strike, fast hits on 1 target
    5. Unexpected Strike, Confuses
    • F2: Heavy hitting staff attacks
      1. Heavy Stike that gives you Vigor every 3rd hit
      2. Precise Hit that causes Vulnerability
      3. End-on Strike that causes Weakness
      4. Staff-pole-vault, knocks down enemy
      5. Ground-Shaker, Daze nearby enemies, knocking down already Dazed enemies
    • F3: Defensive/Buff moves
    1. Staff Throw that pushes back enemy every 3rd throw
    2. Escaping Jump - Leap backwards, and Confuse enemies at your initial location
    3. Ready-Stance, dodges next attack and knocks down attacking enemy
    4. Leap of Faith - Jump towards enemy, Dazing enemies and giving Vigor to nearby allies
    5. Rejuvinating Sweep - Rejuvinate allies in front of you, and Weaken enemies

Huh, that took a bit longer than expected. I was going for a class that's more control and support oriented, depending on choice. anything but a tank really, since I can see Monks do quite a bit.

Kaneth

You know, the hand wraps idea could be turned into Fist Weapons. So then you would have weapon models like Katars, Claw Weapons, Cestus (which is more akin to your hand wrap idea). I do like the idea of the different fighting styles like elemental attunements.

Instead of giving them a wide variety of weapons, I'd keep their weapon selection smaller and focus more on the fighting stances. Giving them their ranged and utility attacks through the attunements. I'd say keep Fist Weapons for main and off, staff, and then maybe axes or maces.