Monk (character class)
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The Monk is a character class in a number of table-top roleplaying and computer games. In those games which follow the Dungeons & Dragons traditions, monks are characters with martial arts skills and have very powerful strategies.
Many computer role-playing games, including EverQuest, Ragnarok Online and the Final Fantasy series (see below), include warrior classes similar to the Dungeons & Dragons Monk. The Monk class has also found its way into NetHack, which borrows elements for the class from Dungeons & Dragons.
Conversely, in Guild Wars released in 2005, the Monk is similar to the Cleric class of other popular games, using spiritual powers to heal and purge disease.
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[edit] Dungeons and Dragons
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The Monk is a character class in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game which is typically portrayed as a master of martial arts. It is loosely based on the stereotype of Shaolin Buddhist warrior monks. The Dungeons & Dragons monk specializes in unarmed combat, with no use of armor and only special "monk weapons," such as kama or nunchaku. The monk class, as with other classes of the Dungeons & Dragons game, utilizes a spiritual element, "Ki", that augments their fighting through the use of special abilities gained with experience. These powers and abilities are not traditional magic spells as would be gained from other similar character classes such as clerics and rangers (which also rely heavily on the Wisdom attribute). Attacks by an unarmed monk are soon treated the same as a strike from a weapon with magical enhancements.
Monks gain increased speed, attacks per round, high saving throws against special attacks, and immunities unique to the class as experience grows. Monks become increasingly difficult to hit because of their Dexterity and armor class bonuses. Monks can gain high spell resistances, making them dangerous to mages, but, in some circumstances, can be overwhelmed when attacked by many enemies at once.
[edit] In EverQuest
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In the game Everquest, the Monk class can be chosen only by the human, lizardman (Iksar), or drakkin races. Monks have hand to hand combat skills, and can fight with or without weapons, using fists or staves, and able to use only leather armor and lighter.
Monks gain the ability to feign death. This gives the Monk the ability to drop to the ground and cause enemies to forget about his presence, or in MMORPG terms, lose aggro. This technique is useful for pulling, or bringing monsters to a party of player characters to be killed. The Monk class also has the capability to bind wounds, which gives a small boost to his or her hit points.
[edit] Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
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Sigil Games' Vanguard: Saga of Heroes was created by the same executive producer as Everquest, and so Vanguard Monks share many of the qualities as the Everquest Monk. In addition, Vanguard adds a healer class called the Disciple, which is similar to a Monk who also can use unique healing techniques.
[edit] Final Fantasy
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- See also: Final Fantasy character classes#Monk
In Square Enix's Final Fantasy series of computer role-playing games, the Monk (Japanese: モンク) is a character class (or "job"). It is frequently also referred as the Black Belt. In Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy III an upgraded, more powerful form of the class appears, named Karate Master or Karateka (からてか). In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Bangaas have the ability to become a monk.
[edit] Ragnarok Online
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In Gravity Corp's MMORPG, Ragnarok Online, Acolytes can choose their second job as a Monk. The monk is a physical/melee class with the ability to "heal" and "buff". It is most noted for an ability called "Asura Strike"(sometimes called Guillotine Fist, or Extremity Fist); an attack some consider the most powerful ability in the game, which may result in damage exceeding possible character health. With the right weapon and appropriately built stats, Asura Strike can do over 75,000 in one hit.
Five types- called "builds"- of the Monk character class are the Combo Monk, Spirit Monk, Dasher Monk, Asura Monk, and Diamond Monk. Each class requires certain stats combined with specific skills in order to reach their effectiveness.
- Combo Monk - Usually the fastest attacker of the five types. The Combo Monk utilizes the "Raging Trifecta Blow," "Raging Quadruple Blow," and "Raging Thrust" abilities to string together multiple attacks. A fast leveling build, although it lacks somewhat in Player versus Player situations due to lack of burst damage skills and accuracy.
- Spirit Monk - Uses Spirit Spheres to power its skills. The Spirit Monk is often feared by higher defense builds, as the skill "Occult Impaction" does more damage to more resistant targets. Versatile, and also capable of killing most players with "Asura Strike," though not generally nearing the damage of a monk dedicated to the skill.
- Dasher Monk- Makes use of the skill "Snap"(sometimes called Dash Like a Bullet) to get around the battlefield quickly. Considered a hybrid between combo and spirit, but is often difficult to play, owing to the widely spread skill tree required to receive the "Snap" skill.
- Asura Monk - Capable of causing damage of 75,000 or more in a single attack. The Asura Monk must carry Blue Potions or other SP regenerating items as Asura Strike drains the caster of all SP, and prevents regeneration for five minutes after use. Pure Asura Monks can deal up to 100,000 damage, which is very useful for boss battles. However, with low dex, it takes pure Asura Monks a very long time before they can successfully perform an Asura Strike.
- Diamond Monk - Taken from the Japanese name for the "Mental Strength" skill, the Diamond Monk is built to withstand massive amounts of both physical and magical damage. It is used almost exclusively to take damage while other players attack. The hardest type of monk to create, owing to its lack of offensive capabilities.
[edit] Fire Emblem
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In the Fire Emblem games, the Monks are usually exclusively male Light Magic users able to defend themselves through Light-related spells while Priests are the male-counterpart to Clerics being only able to use staves. When they're promoted to Bishop class through the Guiding Ring or Earth Seal items, they add staves, or Light magic in the case of Priests, to their arsenal.
Monks, and their promoted forms Bishops excel in Speed, Magic and Resistance while occasionally having high luck and skill. They often have the highest Resistance caps in their respective game and have high Luck and Skill in order to gain high critical rates, which makes up for their low Magic in relation to other magic users. Also, they almost always have poor growths in defense and HP which makes them vulnerable to magic-resistant melee units such as Pegasus/Falco(n) Knights, a characteristic shared by all magic-users in the franchise.
[edit] Heroes of Might and Magic
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In Heroes of Might and Magic IV, the monk is both a class for heroes and a basic unit:
- The basic unit is a magical ranged fighter.
- The hero class is reached by learning both Life Magic and Order Magic, and has the special ability to take less damage from Chaos attacks.
[edit] Guild Wars
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In Guild Wars, monks are spellcasters, without engaging in physical combat. There are three general type of monks: Healing, Protecting, and Smiting.
- Healing monks are used primarily to restore lost hitpoints to oneself or allies.
- Protection monks are similar to healing monks, but they specialize in preventing damage opposed to restoring it.
- Smiting monks are offensive based, and can deal Holy damage to their foes. Undead-type creatures take extra damage.
