monk-class
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Should you be playing a monk?
World of Warcraft has a character class for every type of player... though you may have to hunt around to find the class that's a perfect fit for you. These days, I've found my perfect fit to be the monk. (Though who's to say that I won't change my mind again in the future.) So if you're in the market for a new character -- whether you're a new player or an old hand -- let's talk about why a monk should be at the top of your to-play list. Just what is a monk? Monks are masters of weaponless combat who have learned to harness their chi hurt their enemies or heal their friends. While they fight bare-handed, they can (and should!) equip weapons: they can use fist weapons, one-handed axes, one-handed maces, one-handed swords, polearms, and staves and can dual-wield one-handed weaponry. They use cloth and leather armor and, though monks originated in Pandaria (and you'll need the Mists of Pandaria expansion to play one), the class is open to pandaren, dwarf, human, blood elf, tauren, undead, draenei, gnome, night elf, orc, and troll. They're a true hybrid class who can tank (brewmaster monks), heal (mistweaver monks), and DPS (windwalker monks). For resources, monks have health, energy (for brewmasters and windwalkers), mana (for mistwalkers), and chi. Chi is unique resource to monks: you have four possible points of it and start combat with zero. Some of your attacks will generate chi while others will use it, meaning monks take careful resource balancing.
Roleplaying a non-pandaren monk
As we embark on the closing weeks of Cataclysm, roleplayers have a lot to look forward to. Not only do we have an entirely new race to roleplay, we've also got an entirely new class -- something we haven't seen since death knights were introduced. The monk class is not restricted to the pandaren race, which brings up this question, submitted via email: As a gnome RP'er and a bit of a lore junkie I was wondering about a few things. First off how exactly would one go around RP'ing a non-Panderan monk? I ask this since Mists comes out soon and I haven't seen an All the World's a Stage on it and based on some of the Realm Forum posts on my realm I am not the only one wondering this. Thank you, Coggling Arcanegrin Well, Coggling, I'm certainly happy enough to answer your question. It's a good one, too. Roleplayers take in several different factors when creating characters, and the monk class is one that takes a bit more attention to detail than most. So let's go over the basics of the basics and see what roleplaying a monk is all about when you aren't a pandaren.
A Monk's Refuge: Exploring the Peak of Serenity in Mists of Pandaria
Interested in trying out the new monk class, but can't tell your Tiger Strikes from your Tiger Palms? Written by Chase Hasbrouck of World of Monkcraft, WoW Insider's new monk coverage will get you kicking in no time! After reading the wonderful travelogues posted by SinisterWyvern and Disargeria, I knew it was time for me to go check out the Peak of Serenity. While the spell to teleport there has been present in the beta for some time, that Peak of Serenity was completely devoid of life. It was definitely serene -- but somewhat boring. Now, though, there are loads of nifty things there for new and experienced monks to do. There and back again Reaching the Peak of Serenity is quite simple. Once your monk reaches level 20, you receive the spell Zen Pilgrimage, which works just like a druid's Teleport: Moonglade or a death knight's Death Gate, instantly teleporting you to the Shrine of the Ox on the Peak of Serenity. Unlike those spells, however, once you arrive, it becomes Zen Pilgrimage: Return, which will whisk you back to your original location.
3 windwalker monk abilities that channel classic fighting games
One of the key themes being presented with the new monk class is arcade brawlers, and the new windwalker specialization delivers this in spades. I spent my youth getting rocked by Sagat in Street Fighter II on the SNES, and I've enjoyed the genre ever since. From my time on the beta with windwalkers, here are three abilities that immediately evoke my childhood. Sorry, brewmasters and mistweavers; these abilities are only for those of us who can kick back and knuckle up. Flying Serpent Kick Josh Myers touched on this in his earlier article on monk abilities, but remember Liu Kang's signature flying kick from Mortal Kombat? It's here, and it's every bit as awesome now as it was then. Hit Flying Serpent Kick, and your windwalker takes off at what appears to be epic mount speed, which lasts for several seconds (about 100 yards of travel). Click again and he lands, damaging and slowing anything in the area. This doesn't hit overly hard, but combined with Roll, it's amazing maneuverability around the battlefield. I used to call feral druids the fastest spec on the battlefield, but not anymore. Forget Heroic Leap; this is now my favorite ability in the game.
5 monk abilities that should have you excited for Mists of Pandaria
When I was younger, Easter was a time of good food and great gaming. While my parents and relatives discussed boring adult stuff in my aunt's living room, my brothers and I would flee with our cousin to their basement, where we'd play Mortal Kombat II on SNES all night. I was always Liu Kang, my younger brother was normally Reptile, and I'd always win the first few matches by backing him into a corner and repeatedly bicycle kicking him until he died. Or blocked. Once he became a preteen, it was usually the latter, and I haven't beaten him in a fighting game since. The long-distance flying Martial Arts kick has been a staple in video games ever since video games became a Thing, and I'm particularly pleased to announce that Blizzard has done it due justice in Mists of Pandaria with Flying Serpent Kick. It won't allow you to abuse dated wall mechanics or give you a false sense of pride, but it's one of a number of awesome monk abilities that fit in well with the monk archetype in gaming in general while staying true to WoW's form. Hopefully, these five monk abilities will have you excited for WoW's next expansion. 1. Expel Harm Normally, heals aren't something that I typically call exciting or cool, unless they're the total awesomeness that is Healing Rain. This is especially true given the relative homogenization of healer classes in Cataclysm and the existence of the healing holy trinity. Expel Harm isn't your normal heal. Instead, what Expel Harm does is heal you (or, if glyphed, your target) for a small amount, and then it does 100% of the healing done to the closest enemy target as damage.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: First impressions of monk leveling
The first monk I leveled to 15 in the Mists of Pandaria beta was a tauren, and I'm still having nightmares about it. I thought it would be a grand idea, allowing me to focus entirely on the monk experience and not allowing myself to get distracted by the shininess of the new pandaren starting zone. Going with something I've already done tons of times in the past seemed to make sense, and the fact that tauren are still my favorite race in WoW was just icing on the cake. For this same reason, I eschewed heirlooms; I wanted to give myself a holistic monk leveling experience. I had the best intentions, but the actual experience was pretty bad. Most of this can be chalked up to the beta test being a beta test; I'm fairly certain the monk isn't a fully developed class yet. One of the biggest issues was ability progression. You start off with your basic chi-building attack, Jab, at level 1. After that, you get the awesome and always-useful Roll ability at level 2. I have no complaints about Roll, even though the animation hadn't been implemented on tauren models yet.
Of monks, mains, and the ability to change
I've changed my main exactly once in all of my years playing World of Warcraft. It wasn't out of need or necessity for a guild -- in fact, I was guildless at the point I decided to switch. And I wasn't really planning on switching so much as I really wanted to play a rogue. I wasn't tied down to a guild, and I figured I could simply have fun with the experience. Over the course of leveling that rogue, I met a group of friends in a raiding guild, and once I hit level 70, they encouraged me to apply. Going from a healing class to a pure melee DPS class wasn't as much of a stretch as you'd think. In fact, I think I almost fared better than most because as a former healer, I keenly understood the importance of staying alive. More importantly, I understood that as a pure melee DPS player who was not a tank or a healer, my priority on most heal lists was fairly low. So it was up to me to keep myself alive and happily stab things. I don't think, however, that I could ever make that switch again -- although honestly, I've thought about it.
All the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria previews you can shake an empty fist at
In the wee hours of this morning, the press NDA for World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria expansion came tumbling down, and our sister site WoW Insider has a bounty of coverage to share. The much anticipated -- and much debated -- expansion is slated for release this year and will include a new continent, the Monk hero class, the Pandaren race, pet battles, a level cap increase, and a massive overhaul of the game's talent system. World of Warcraft players are undoubtedly fixated on the expansion, as January's 4.3 patch was announced to be the last major update to the game before MoP arrives. You can check out all of the juicy info squeezed from the press beta groves after the jump, including hands-on impressions and insights you won't find anywhere else!
Ghostcrawler introduces you to the Pandaren monk
Mists of Pandaria is bringing us the new monk class as well as the new Pandaren race, finally making its way to World of Warcraft after years of speculation and wondering. Blizzard Insider, Blizzard's own internal look at the wheelings, dealings, and development processes of the company, pulled Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street aside and asked him a bunch of questions about the Pandaren, monks, and the newest expansion. Ghostcrawler discusses the motivations behind the Pandaren and how they differ from the other races of Azeroth, how the monk class came about and was decided upon, and what monk players outside the Pandaren race will have in store for them when they travel the world. One of the more interesting pieces of information is how player character monks who choose to start as a race other than Pandaren will still have a heavy Pandaria-inspired kit and experience, since it is the Pandaren that bring the monk class to both the Horde and the Alliance. Of course, we have extra confirmation that DPS and tank monks will be sporting agility leather gear, and the healer archetype will don intellect-based leather gear. I don't believe that I am alone in this observation, but Blizzard has been out and about like crazy talking about the Pandaren and the monk class nonstop. Personally, I'm loving it. The more, the better. Over the years, Blizzard has gone from a very secretive company to pulling back many of the curtains for players and fans alike, with peeks into the development process and getting out ahead of the speculation machine. It's learned a lot from The Burning Crusade and Wrath days. Hit the jump for the full interview with Greg Street.
Blizzard discusses Mists of Pandaria details
The big day-one BlizzCon announcement is that Mists of Pandaria is going to be the next World of Warcraft expansion, and we've got some new details on what players can expect from the new content. For starters, Blizzard is once again reworking the talent system, as the studio feels that the current system hasn't aged well and has been plagued with cookie-cutter builds. Instead, each class will have a single talent tree, and every 15 levels players will choose one of three available talents. Talent builds can be changed as easily as glyphs, meaning it's possible to customize your talents mid-instance in order to tune for a specific fight. Outdoor raid bosses are making a return, and Blizzard is aiming to allow players to choose their own paths through the content rather than forcing them onto a set path. For more details, head on past the cut!
Conquer Online is ready for kung-fu fighting
It's been a very long time since we looked into Conquer Online, but the game is approaching its next major update, dubbed "Returning Light." This update features the addition of a new playable class, the Monk, which makes up the sixth entry into the game's mix of classes. While these ascetic disciples of elemental harmony have long remained isolated from the rest of the world, the events of the upcoming patch will force Monks into combat once again, much to the benefit of players. Monks are capable of bestowing a number of beneficial effects upon party members, healing and supporting others through their elemental skills. But the class is also capable of moving into the fray via powerful martial arts, allowing players to split their time between the class functions or pick one as a specialty. The official preview for the Monk is already available, so Conquer Online players should look forward to the currently scheduled release of December 16th for the patch.
