Monk Class Recap

[Buckyboyd]

I'm pretty sure Blizzard stated a long long time ago that the only items that would be legendary would be weapons. This is because weapons are usually the "coolest" part of your equipment. Do you think a legendary helm would feel as awesome as a legendary weapon? I don't think so. Blizzard could however, make say a group of legendary weapons(similar to Ateish), and make it a quest chain where you pick your path in the beginning based on your class/spec. This way every class has the chance at a legendary all at once.

[Rhamses]

Since Blizzard is known to take ideas from other games and refine them in their game, I really hope they take some of the abilities and skills from Monks in other games.

Spirit Spheres (Ragnarok Online): When you summon a sphere, you increase your attack power by a small amount. They can also be used for numerous other skills.
Hannedo (Final Fantasy Tactics): Grants a chance to attack an enemy before they attack you.
Seven-sided Strike (Diablo 3): A powerful attack that allows the Monk to teleport to a target, then strike it or something nearby multiple times

[Thursdeh]

Very good point I do believe they need to make legendaries available to all classes and specs because its simply unfair that only certain classes/specs can get them.. yes i realize it helps your guild down raid bosses and such but i would love to see tanks get a new tank legendary since its been forever! Not to mention it will keep the masses happier when everyone knows they can get a legendary rather then like 1 class in the guild.

[skadewsh]

Yo, since the Death Knight came the 2 Legendarys in wotlk were availible to them (With Shadowmourne being very related to them) you think blizz might throw in a Monk/shaman only FIST WEAPON LEGENDARY, just sayin a fist weapon with a lot of time invested might really look cool like some badass wolverine claws or blunt edged knuckles with i dunno spikes or something, maybe some magical fists with fire or some dark shadows empowering them... I'm just giving some sudgestions

Although a fist weapon would be cool I don't think they'll be making a legendary available to rogues any time soon seeing as they've just been given a class specific one. To limit a fist weapon to only monks and shamans would be a little nonsensical since they're logistically just as viable for rogues. The daggers made sense because rogues are the only class who can use them effectively. Who knows though? My guess would be a tanking legendary since dps and healers have been getting a decent amount of legendary love lately. I would speculate that since DK's, warriors and rogues have received a decent amount of legendary love in the last 3 expansions (Golad/Tiriosh, Shadowmourne and Glaives) that they will be put on the backburner for now-that rules out 2h legendaries or anything available to rogues (unless bliz pulls the class specific card which they've expressed they want to refrain from doing again, at least for the time being). Casters have received two relatively expansive legendaries as well (two caster staves) so I would guess they'll be benched for now as well. Healers have received just one legendary (not including Atiesh) and it was pretty recent, but maybe not too recent. I think we can safely eliminate hunters as well, seeing as we just saw a class specific weapon.
Another thing to keep in mind is that feral druids have never received a legendary and that, although enhancement shamans had access to Ragnaros, not many had the privilege of acquiring it when it was a competitive weapon.

That rules out:
2h strength weapon
caster dps weapon
Ranged weapon
1h agi weapons (sorry enhancement shamans)

Which leaves:
Tank Warriors, Paladins (1h tank specific weapon, Shield)
Tank Druids, Monks (2h tank specific staff)
Tank DK's (2h tank specific weapon)
Feral Druids, Monks (2h melee dps staff)
Healer weapon (1h mace or shield/off hand?)

Now, since blizzard can't very well give one tank type a legendary without making them expressly superior to other tanks for an entire tier of content, we can assume that if they were to make a tank weapon, it would be available to all tanks. Meaning we would see three different weapons (1h, 2h, and a staff) with similar proc effects that were acquired through the same chain of events, similar to Atiesh.

A safer choice would be to simply give feral druids and monks a 2h dps staff, which would meet the requirements of creating a legendary that was not class specific but also not as accessible as, say, a caster staff. This would also provide some justice for a seemingly neglected specialization: feral druids (again, sorry enhancement shamans, your weapon types are too similar to that of rogues).

Another option would be to bundle windwalker monks, feral druids, and enhancement shamans together and create a weapon that could morph into a 2h staff or 1h axes/maces/fist weapons, seeing as the specs are itemized similarly and would have use for similar procs as well. I consider this outcome unlikely however.

With all that said, and judging by our previous pattern of two legendaries per expansion I believe I can say with conviction that Mists of Pandaria will feature a tank weapon/agility dps staff and a healer weapon, probably in that order.

Thoughts?

[angelx7x]

Although a fist weapon would be cool I don't think they'll be making a legendary available to rogues any time soon seeing as they've just been given a class specific one. To limit a fist weapon to only monks and shamans would be a little nonsensical since they're logistically just as viable for rogues. The daggers made sense because rogues are the only class who can use them effectively. Who knows though? My guess would be a tanking legendary since dps and healers have been getting a decent amount of legendary love lately. I would speculate that since DK's, warriors and rogues have received a decent amount of legendary love in the last 3 expansions (Golad/Tiriosh, Shadowmourne and Glaives) that they will be put on the backburner for now-that rules out 2h legendaries or anything available to rogues (unless bliz pulls the class specific card which they've expressed they want to refrain from doing again, at least for the time being). Casters have received two relatively expansive legendaries as well (two caster staves) so I would guess they'll be benched for now as well. Healers have received just one legendary (not including Atiesh) and it was pretty recent, but maybe not too recent. I think we can safely eliminate hunters as well, seeing as we just saw a class specific weapon.
Another thing to keep in mind is that feral druids have never received a legendary and that, although enhancement shamans had access to Ragnaros, not many had the privilege of acquiring it when it was a competitive weapon.

That rules out:
2h strength weapon
caster dps weapon
Ranged weapon
1h agi weapons (sorry enhancement shamans)

Which leaves:
Tank Warriors, Paladins (1h tank specific weapon, Shield)
Tank Druids, Monks (2h tank specific staff)
Tank DK's (2h tank specific weapon)
Feral Druids, Monks (2h melee dps staff)
Healer weapon (1h mace or shield/off hand?)

Now, since blizzard can't very well give one tank type a legendary without making them expressly superior to other tanks for an entire tier of content, we can assume that if they were to make a tank weapon, it would be available to all tanks. Meaning we would see three different weapons (1h, 2h, and a staff) with similar proc effects that were acquired through the same chain of events, similar to Atiesh.

A safer choice would be to simply give feral druids and monks a 2h dps staff, which would meet the requirements of creating a legendary that was not class specific but also not as accessible as, say, a caster staff. This would also provide some justice for a seemingly neglected specialization: feral druids (again, sorry enhancement shamans, your weapon types are too similar to that of rogues).

Another option would be to bundle windwalker monks, feral druids, and enhancement shamans together and create a weapon that could morph into a 2h staff or 1h axes/maces/fist weapons, seeing as the specs are itemized similarly and would have use for similar procs as well. I consider this outcome unlikely however.

With all that said, and judging by our previous pattern of two legendaries per expansion I believe I can say with conviction that Mists of Pandaria will feature a tank weapon/agility dps staff and a healer weapon, probably in that order.

Thoughts?

fist weapons really aren't that viable to rogues, unless one is fast (1.4 speed) and i don't think i've ever seen a fist weapon of that speed before. so if there were legendary fist weapons, it's rather likely that we'll see them restricted to shamans and monks.

[skadewsh]

fist weapons really aren't that viable to rogues, unless one is fast (1.4 speed) and i don't think i've ever seen a fist weapon of that speed before. so if there were legendary fist weapons, it's rather likely that we'll see them restricted to shamans and monks.

You're right, partially. Rogues want to get the fastest OH weapon they can. On the other hand, they prefer slow main hand weapons. Subtlety and assassination rogues go for the slowest daggers possible (1.8-2.0) and combat rogues, who don't have to use daggers and can go for even slower weapons, shoot for 2.6 weapon speed. A MH fist weapon would be perfect for a combat rogue. However I agree that if Blizzard does make a fist weapon legendary it will probably only be usable by enhancement shamans and monks.

[Deleted]

only 1 legendary in wrath was available to DKs, as last i checked, DKs could not heal

Ah, yeah my bad :P

[Playintrafic]

Agility polearm would make multiple classes/specs happy.

Tank Pandarens, Tank/Kitty Druids, Hunters.

[huth]

Not hunters. They won't be able to use it effectively in MoP as they would have to swap their ranged weapon out for it.

[Kalcheus]

Is this the mmo-champ version of Godwin's Law? Every discussion eventually becomes about legendaries?

I have a more important topic for monks: heirloom weapons.
For the healers, I think they'll be ok with the Devout Aurastone Hammer or Dignified Headmaster's Charge (if they're allowed to 2H wield).

For the dps, they'll be able to use either Venerable Dal'rend's Sacred Charge with the Venerable Mass of McGowan, or dual-wield Venerable Masses of McGowan. However, this means any fist weapon-only finishing moves would be unavailable while leveling. I don't see them adding an heirloom fist weapon for such a specific reason tho (as no other class has a need that would be filled by there being one).

Tanks, however, are in a quandary. There is no heirloom staff/polearm, and the only 2H agility heirloom - the Repurposed Lava Dredger - is a 2H Mace which currently can not be wielded by Monks. This case, however, I feel like Blizzard should act: the Repurposed Lava Dredger is useful for only Ferals as of 4.0.1, and switching it to a staff or polearm would make it useful for Monks as well (and if they had done it before now - which they should have - it would've been useful for Hunters as well). The other alternative is to let Monks use 2H maces, but that seems a silly addition to their specs since there are no longer agility 2H maces being added to the loot tables.

[Deleted]

Ok, Legendary's aside, they mentioned Monks will get a haven like druids have Moonglade, Rogues Ravenholdt, Mages Dalaran and Death Knights Archerus, I'm hoping to find it so you get to visit it often for buying some reagents for the serpent statues and those punching bag training dummies,

some class specific mounts (maybe, I'm just making a discussion ) some asian jacuzzies for monks to meditate there for a short time and gaining some buff and of course a spectacular training ground surrounded by lush wild trees and a breath taking view with water falls, some minor mountains and some soothing spring lakes...

And the perfect excuse to get down with your fellow Monks and get smashed with Pandaren Brew all around

[angelx7x]

Is this the mmo-champ version of Godwin's Law? Every discussion eventually becomes about legendaries?

I have a more important topic for monks: heirloom weapons.
For the healers, I think they'll be ok with the Devout Aurastone Hammer or Dignified Headmaster's Charge (if they're allowed to 2H wield).

For the dps, they'll be able to use either Venerable Dal'rend's Sacred Charge with the Venerable Mass of McGowan, or dual-wield Venerable Masses of McGowan. However, this means any fist weapon-only finishing moves would be unavailable while leveling. I don't see them adding an heirloom fist weapon for such a specific reason tho (as no other class has a need that would be filled by there being one).

Tanks, however, are in a quandary. There is no heirloom staff/polearm, and the only 2H agility heirloom - the Repurposed Lava Dredger - is a 2H Mace which currently can not be wielded by Monks. This case, however, I feel like Blizzard should act: the Repurposed Lava Dredger is useful for only Ferals as of 4.0.1, and switching it to a staff or polearm would make it useful for Monks as well (and if they had done it before now - which they should have - it would've been useful for Hunters as well). The other alternative is to let Monks use 2H maces, but that seems a silly addition to their specs since there are no longer agility 2H maces being added to the loot tables.

i can't imagine that there would be finishers that require a specific weapon type

[Kalcheus]

i can't imagine that there would be finishers that require a specific weapon type

I'm looking for an official comment on-line, but they said at Blizzcon that staves and fist weapons would be used for finishers, but that Monks would be able to use other weapons. It's why the slide in the pics above has them on a separate line. When I find the original comment I'll post it.

[Imnick]

I'm looking for an official comment on-line, but they said at Blizzcon that staves and fist weapons would be used for finishers, but that Monks would be able to use other weapons. It's why the slide in the pics above has them on a separate line. When I find the original comment I'll post it.

I think that just meant that most of the attack animations show the Monk fighting with their hands and the weapon models only come out during finishing attacks, rather than that there are different finishing attack abilities for each weapon type.

[Kalcheus]

I think that just meant that most of the attack animations show the Monk fighting with their hands and the weapon models only come out during finishing attacks, rather than that there are different finishing attack abilities for each weapon type.

Nope, that's not what I'm talking about. Hold on, I'm finally down to the relevant posts on mmo-champion (dang this site loads slow), let me see if I can dig it up.

EDIT:
Here's the summary text:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/...-Preview-Panel
Monk Equipment
•Leather Armor (Agility or Intellect)
•They hit a lot with hands and feet
•They will need weapons for some finishers: Staves, Fist Weapons
•They will also be able to use 1H Axe and maces, swords

Looking for more detailed info

ANOTHER EDIT: Dang, it looks Boub may have removed his original stream-of-consciousness "as they were saying it at Blizzcon" post and replaced it with the Blizzard blue summary post in the news feed. It may take me a little while longer to find the detail.

---------- Post added 2012-01-23 at 04:29 PM ----------

Hmmm, the actual transcript is less certain about that than the summary is:

Monk Equipment
Monks hit a lot with hands and feet. We wanted to deliver on that fantasy of punching and kicking the krap out of those little bunny guys (the Verming), but we still want them to have weapons.

We want to see your weapons as you use them — so you can imagine a typical fight — you build up Shi with your hand and feet, and then you pull out your staff or your other weapon for some kind of finisher (finishing move).

We’ve made a lot of Staves and Fist Weapons. These are the very signature for the monk, and we think it will allow us to put more fist weapons in the game.

They don’t have enough users yet, so expect to see a lot more. They use One-Handed Axes, Maces and Swords. We are trying to figure out the difference between the dual-wielding and the two-handed. We might let anyone do anything. Dual-wield might be DPS. That’s the thing we’re looking at.

(taken from http://www.blizzplanet.com/blog/comm...-race-features)

...

In all honesty, I side with the detail rather than the summary even though they appear contradictory. I guess the point about fist weapon heirlooms/finishers is moot (although it was already). Still an issue for tanks, though, as I know from my own personal experience a 2H weapon will outweigh the stats of 2 1H even at a low level.

And in any case, a heck of a lot better than the ten-millionth discussion of legendaries.

[angelx7x]

I'm looking for an official comment on-line, but they said at Blizzcon that staves and fist weapons would be used for finishers, but that Monks would be able to use other weapons. It's why the slide in the pics above has them on a separate line. When I find the original comment I'll post it.

they said that the weapons would primarily be used for finishers, not that certain weapons would be used for certain finishers, and other weapons used for other finishers

i almost wonder for tanking legendary for monks if they'll just replace the 2h mace with a staff (and the 2h mace becoming a staff retroactively for those who already have it)

[kijthae]

This expansion will be a lot of fun.What I mean as " fun " is to see frustrated people whinning on forums.Im glad to be wow-free for 11 months.

[huth]

Since when do they need an expansion for that?