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Class Showcase: Monk



Monks were one of the few classes that did not have their name changed when the game was localized for the US. They're the main healing class in this game. Essentially, they're the Medic class from the first two games.

The healing mechanics in Etrian Odyssey III underwent some huge changes compared to the first two games. In the first game, healing skills restored a specific amount of HP, and that could not be adjusted aside from one passive only the Medic had. The 2nd game gave more classes healing skills, while still keeping the base healing concept, though it made it so that the TEC stat had a slight effect on them. With the introduction of subclassing in EO3, handling healing in that manner was no longer an option. If healing skills still operated on the concept of providing a base amount of healing, any class could become a healer and render the Monk pointless. So instead, EO3 made it so that healing skills were multipliers that were heavily influenced by the TEC stat, and the games kept that way of handling healing skills since. And because TEC has a really heavy influence on healing skills, the whole tiered healing skills concept (The first two games had multiple versions of healing skills, with stronger ones healing more, but were slower to go off) the first two games made use of isn't really in this game.

In the first Etrian Odyssey game, Medics weren't just healers. They were also incredibly strong front line fighters that could stun lock everything in the game, including every single boss while dealing hefty amounts of damage. Their combat capabilities were heavily nerfed in the 2nd game, and their offenses never reached the levels they did in EO1 ever again. The reason I'm explaining this is because for some reason, the devs insist on saddling the healing class with combat skills. The Monk is no different, as their offenses center around punching things in the face. Unfortunately, like the Medics in EO2, they really aren't good at that job. Their offenses fall short compared to the other dedicated attacking classes in this game. Though the intention may have been for the Monk to use them whenever they weren't healing. Which was fairly plausible, as Monks do get a lot of free turns in practice. Unfortunately, subclassing exists, which lets them use those free turns for something more useful. As such, there is very little reason to increase the Monk's mediocre offenses, when you could increase their support capabilities instead.

Anyways, Monks are pretty strong in the early game, whether you're using a Punch Monk or a support Monk. Punch Monks actually deal a decent amount of damage to enemies in the 1st Stratum, but their damage will fall off very quickly since a Monk's fists aren't as powerful as most weapons you have access to at those points. Though oddly enough, once you reach the post-game, fists actually start dealing respectable damage again due to the mechanics of how fists work. (More on that later.) Support Monks are invaluable in the early game, as that is easily the roughest part of any EO game that isn't the post-game. After that, they're still pretty great at keeping your party alive. A support Monk is a valuable class to have on your team. Punch Monks, not so much, but there are ways to make them work.

Equipment:
Weapons: Clubs, Knives, and Books.
Armor: Light Armor and Clothes.

While everyone can use fists by simply not having any weapon equipped, the game does impose a damage penalty for attempting to do so, making that not really an option for other classes. Monks are a little special in that they have a passive that eliminates said damage penalty on fists. It should also be noted that while most weapons have a base accuracy of 98, fists have a base accuracy of 95 instead, making them slightly more inaccurate than weapons.

Stats



Monks have the 2nd highest TEC stat in the game, making them fantastic healers and heavily lessens the damage taken from elemental attacks. They also have the 2nd largest TP pool out of all the classes, so they don't have to worry about running out of it, especially since their skills don't cost that much TP. Their VIT stat is only 1 point lower than the Buccaneer's at level 99, so they are capable of front lining if needed. Though their HP stat is on the low side. However, to make up for the fact that they have the 2nd highest TEC stat in the game, Monks have the 2nd worst LUC stat in the game, only being beaten out by the Yggdroid. This actually renders them severely susceptible to being hit with ailments and binds which means that they can be locked down very easily, putting your entire team in a hard position, or outright causing a game over because they couldn't heal the team. Not only that, their low LUC causes them to be locked down by ailments and binds longer than usual compared to other classes. Their STR and AGI are okay, but while Buccaneers can get away with having an okay STR stat (which is lower than the Monk's, for the record), this actually kind of makes a Punch Monk ineffective for most of the game. More on that in a bit.

Form Qi
Skill Type: Class Skill
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

This Class Skill passively increases the amount of non-fixed healing the Monk can do. Leveling up the skill increases the healing bonus.



Notes:

An incredibly useful class skill. This increases the Monk's healing capabilities by a ton, making it easier to heal up any damage your party takes. But the real reason this skill is so good is because it works on the Prince/ss' Protect Order skill. It already heals for a ton considering the Monk's high TEC stat, but this This is the main reason why a Prince/Monk is inferior to a Monk/Prince. Also at the start of the game, you should invest 2 skill points into this instead of spending it all on Healing, as that just needlessly increases the TP cost. However, this is not a skill to max out ASAP. There are a lot of other important skills the Monk wants first before they focus on this.

Now obviously if you are making use of a Punch Monk, this skill is completely useless since it does nothing for the Monk's damage output at all.

Fist Mastery
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

This mastery skill increases the attack power of fists. Higher levels increase how powerful the user's fists are.

Drastically increases the attack power of fists once learned. The fist power formula changes from (Level + STR) / 2 to (Level + STR) * Fist Mastery Skill Power. Both of these formulas are substituted for the user's Weapon ATK in the damage formula.



Notes:

While this skill doesn't affect the final damage output directly, it still increases the attack power of the Monk's fists, so it's the only Mastery skill aside from the Zodiac's elemental masteries that actually has an effect on skills. As such, it is one of the few mastery skills in the game I genuinely recommend maxing out if you are using a Monk as a damage dealer. In fact, it should be maxed out after maxing out Breakfire Fist, the best damage skill in the Fist skill branch.

Now as for why I consider Punch Monks to be ineffective in general, the way fists scale is why. At the start of the game and throughout the 1st Stratum, their fists will be either on par, or slightly behind the other classes' weapons, so they do make for effective damage dealers then. However, as the game goes on, fists fall off pretty hard and their attack power just doesn't compared to most weapons you can get if you're diligent enough to update the shops' stocks constantly. Not only that, you can't forge fists, so there's a lot of little bonuses Monks will miss out on compared to the other classes. Though once post-game comes by, the formula actually makes it so that fists start being on equal standing with weapons again, due to how they scale. In fact, if you can get a Monk's STR stat up to 99 while they're at level 99 and have Fist Mastery maxed out, their Weapon ATK will be equal to 219. This is actually the 2nd strongest “weapon” in the game, heavily outclassing almost every ultimate weapon the other classes have access to. For comparison, the strongest weapon is obtained by beating the final post-game boss, which clocks in at 225 Weapon ATK. The problem is that Monks have a mediocre STR stat, so fists aren't as good as they could be for a majority of the game. In fact, if you really want to use one, I highly recommend using a Gladiator, Zodiac, or a Yggdroid for that purpose instead.

However, this skill does have an interesting glitch. For some reason, if a character has at least one level in this skill, equips a weapon, but leaves the first equipment slot empty, the character can use fist skills with a weapon equipped, and the fist skills will take on the properties of that weapon. (If I had to say why, I'd think the way the Shogun's Second Sword skill is coded is the culprit here.) And this unarmed glitch makes said skills use the weapon's attack power, letting Monks stay on even footing with the other classes. However, this doesn't really work in the post-game, as you want to be making use of every single one of a character's equipment slots by that point. Still, it's something to keep in mind if you're intent on using a Punch Monk.

Ascetic Reward
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

Once per battle, if a Monk dies, everyone else in the party will restore some HP. Leveling up this skill increases the amount of HP restored.



Notes:

Ideally you don't want your Monk dying, but I guess this can kind of help lessen the sting if that happens? I mean it's not a terrible passive, but there are probably better ways to spend your skill points.

Blood Return
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

Every time an ally dies in battle, the Monk recovers some TP. Leveling up this skill increases the amount of TP restored.



Notes:

On the other hand, I can safely say this is a trash passive. It barely does anything for a Monk since their TP pool is already so large. Though if you want the next skill, you're gonna have to invest in this one a bit.

Ascetic Deeds
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: Ascetic Reward – Level 3, Blood Return – Level 3

Every time the Monk uses a skill, the recover some HP. Leveling up this skill increases the amount of HP restored.



Notes:

Well it increases the Monk's survivability, I suppose. Not a bad passive, but probably not a priority for a Monk. In fact, if your Monk spams AOE healing skills a lot, this skill can be kind of redundant. Though if you're using a Yggdroid who has skilled the Overheat passive, this is a nice skill for them to have.

Waking Chakra
Skill Type: Passive
Maximum Level: 10
Stats Used: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

Increases the Monk's recovery rate from ailments and binds. Increasing the skill level increases the recovery rate.



Notes:

This is not really that good of a passive. For one thing, ailments and binds cannot wear off on the turn they are applied, so that means that the Monk will still have the disable on the next turn they take. Meaning that if they're incapacitated or have an important body part bound, they can't do a thing and will be forced to waste a turn doing nothing anyway. And even at level 10, the disables aren't guaranteed to wear off in 2 turns. Honestly it's best to just pop a Theriaca A or B on the Monk as soon as possible if they get disabled rather than waiting for the disables to go away.

Healing
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: TEC
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: N/A

Heals one party member. Increasing the skill level increases the amount healed.



Notes:

The basic healing skill. And probably the closest thing to a “healing mastery” skill this class has, since you need this to unlock all the Monk's healing skills. Whether you max this skill out or not is up to you, since it does heal more than the skills that heal more than one party member. Though if you plan on making heavy use of the next skill, this is a bit redundant with that.

Full Heal
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: Healing – Level 5

Fully heals one party member. Increasing the skill level only decreases the TP cost.



Well believe it or not, this is a somewhat situational skill. Mainly because depending on your party setup, this can be entirely redundant. You could probably ignore this skill entirely, depending on the circumstances. Most of the Monk's other healing skills can fully heal the party in most cases, especially if the party is either full of low HP classes, or isn't taking much damage in the first place. Granted if you're using a Prince/Monk, who lacks Form Qi, this skill may be more desirable. With that said, if you're using a Gladiator with Berserker Vow, this skill can be useful in getting them out of the danger zone immediately. However, you really don't need this skill early on since most other healing skills will suffice at that point. But whatever you do, don't max out this skill unless you really don't have a better place to spend your skill points. The TP cost may seem intimidating, but it will become less of an issue as the game goes on and the Monk's TP pool gets bigger.

Line Heal
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: TEC
Target Type: Row
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: Healing – Level 4

Heals one row. Increasing the skill level increases the amount healed.



Notes:

This is not that good of a healing skill, and is completely redundant if the Monk knows Protect Order. There are very little situations where a Monk would rather heal a row instead of only one person or the entire party. This is just a stepping stone to the next skill, don't invest in this more than you need to.

Party Heal
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: TEC
Target Type: AOE
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: Line Heal – Level 5

Heals one the entire party. Increasing the skill level increases the amount healed.



Notes:

You'd think an AOE healing skill would be a must have skill, right? Maybe in the other Etrian Odyssey games, but not this one. At low levels, it doesn't heal for that much, especially if the Monk's TEC stat isn't that high yet, though a point should be invested in it early on in case of emergencies. It doesn't really do much until both it and Form Qi are maxed out. It's not even that desirable if the Monk knows Protect Order, as that skill is a very good form of proactive healing. Most players only bust out Party Heal in the case of emergencies. Even if your Monk doesn't have access to that skill, there are other skills they'll generally want to take first before investing in this one. Maxing out this skill is a luxury, not a requirement. Yes, I actually said this about an AOE healing skill in an Etrian game. EO3's balance is a bit weird. With that said, once you get into the post-game, you definitely want this maxed out, as those emergencies will be happening a lot more often.

Refresh/Unbind
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Varies
Action Speed: -3
Prerequisites: Healing – Level 2

Dispels all ailments/binds on the specified targets. The range increases at certain skill levels, while the TP cost decreases until those skill levels are reached.



Notes:

These skills are must haves. Both ailments and binds can spell a party wipe for your team if they happen at the wrong time. Though ailments are far more deadly than binds. I mean if everyone is fully bound, you can at least have them all pop Theriaca As on themselves. A party that gets fully confused has no such privilege. At any rate, you may want at least one point in both skills for the early game. But before you reach the end of the 2nd Stratum, you'll want to get both Refresh and Unbind up to at least level 4, though level 7 is better. Mainly because both skills are really helpful in dealing with the 2nd boss, which is quite the hurdle for many players. With that said, don't bother maxing out these skills. Level 7 is a good place to leave them, since the only part of the skill that scales past that point is the TP cost, and that becomes less of an issue as the game goes on.

Resurrect
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: Head
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -6
Prerequisites: Refresh – Level 2, Unbind – Level 2

Revives one dead party member. Leveling up this skill increases the amount of HP the dead party member is revived with.



Notes:

This is either a skill you put one point in, or max out. There is no middle ground here. You definitely want at least one point in it for the utility of reviving party members, but maxing out the skill is up to you. I'll say this though, 250 HP isn't a lot once late game comes around, and there is little difference between coming back with 1 HP and 250 HP, especially as the game goes on. However, there is a huge difference in power between only restoring 250 HP and a full heal, especially when it comes to the tankier classes. And leaving this skill at level 9 and below does run the risk of having the revived party member die again on the same turn. With that said, leveling up this skill past 1 really isn't a good use of skill points early on. Maxing out this skill is a luxury, not a requirement. If there are other skills you want more, you're probably better off getting those first before maxing out Resurrect.

Kikouken (Qigong Fist, Animation)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Fist
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR, LUC
Target Type: Single
Action Speed: -3
Prerequisites: Fist Mastery – Level 1

A single target Strike attack that has a chance to inflict Paralysis. Higher levels increase the damage dealt, infliction rate, and accuracy.



A very basic damage skill, but probably not one I would max out. Paralysis isn't that great of an ailment to make use of in this game, and the Monk's low LUC makes it hard to inflict Paralysis in the first place.

Breakfire Fist (Animation)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Fist
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR
Target Type: Random
Action Speed: -3
Prerequisites: Fist Mastery – Level 3, Waking Chakra – Level 3

The Monk lashes out their fists at random enemies, dealing Fire/Strike damage to them. Higher levels increase the damage dealt, number of hits, and accuracy.



Notes:

This is pretty much the Monk's best damage skill. Unfortunately, it's also a really inconsistent one. While it is the 4th strongest damage skill in the game out of all skills that do not require any special setup (Falling behind Nine Smashes, 5-Ring Sword, and Pincushion), that is only if all 5 attacks hit one enemy. The damage isn't as impressive when you roll only 2 hits. Still, it's their best option if you're using a Punch Monk, so just be aware of the possibility of not getting that much damage out of this.

Counter/Retaliate
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Fist
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR
Target Type: Counter
Action Speed: +7
Prerequisites: Fist Mastery – Level 8

When used, the Monk prepares to counter certain attacks that come their way. When the Monk gets hit with a Physical/Elemental attack, they will deal Strike damage to the enemy that attacked them.



Notes:

These skills are of very questionable use. For one thing, in order for these to activate the counters, the Monk has to be both targeted and survive the attack they get hit with. The former is unlikely to happen, as most enemies like to target the characters with the highest amount of HP, and Monks don't really have that great of an HP pool in the first place. I mean they could theoretically deal more damage than Breakfire Fist, since there is no limit on how many times the counters can activate, but that's only gonna happen if the enemies in question have random target skills. And if a majority of those hits happen to go after your Monk, you're probably looking at a dead Monk that will deal no damage in the end. Though if your Monk survives such an onslaught, fun times can be had. If you really want to make use of these skills, you're gonna want a Ninja who knows the Otori skill in the party, to help ensure that the Monk gets targeted. Though honestly, the amount of enemies that can use elemental skills isn't that much, so Counter is more useful than Retaliate in that regard.

Darkness Fist (Animation)
Skill Type: Active
Maximum Level: 10
Equipment Needed: Fist
Body Part: Arm
Stats Used: STR, LUC
Target Type: AOE
Action Speed: -9
Prerequisites: Fist Mastery – Level 10, Breakfire Fist – Level 3

Sacrifices 25% of the Monk's current HP to deal Strike damage to all enemies, and has a chance to Curse them. Higher levels increase the damage dealt, infliction rate, and accuracy.



Notes:

This skill is terrible. It has a very low damage output, makes the Monk more likely to be killed in battle, and tries to inflict the worst ailment in the game on top of being used by the class that is absolutely terrible at inflicting ailments. The only redeeming factor is that it's the only AOE damage skill that the Monk has. Unfortunately, it's the only skill in the game that can inflict Curse. So if you want to get those Curse damage conditionals, you're gonna need to make use of this skill.

Fire Walk
Skill Type: Active, Field Skill
Maximum Level: 5
Equipment Needed: N/A
Body Part: N/A
Stats Used: N/A
Target Type: N/A
Action Speed: N/A
Prerequisites: N/A

When used, the amount of damage the party receives from damage tiles is reduced for a certain number of steps. Increasing the skill level increases the damage reduction, and the duration.



Notes:

Not really that useful. It's a field skill, and it doesn't even completely prevent your party from taking damage from damage tiles. And there are only 4 floors in the entire game that have damage tiles in them, and in one of those floors, the damage tiles only appear in one corner of it. So this skill will see very limited use. Probably one of the worst field skills in the game.

Subclasses:

Prince/ss:

Possibly the most well known class/subclass combo in the game, whether it's a Monk/Prince or a Prince/Monk. Though the former is objectively better than the latter. The sheer amount of support this class combination provides through buffing and healing makes it a very popular subclass for a Monk. This is pretty much the only good use of using subclassing to mash two classes roles together instead of having the subclass only enhance the main class, as both Monks and Prince/sses don't really do that much in battle on their own. One of the most popular reasons to give them this subclass is because of the Prince/ss' Protect Order skill, which Form Qi actually works on. Making it an insanely good form of proactive healing.

However, the main downside to this combination is that not only is it skill point hungry, a Monk/Princess is going to be incredibly busy in battles. They will pretty much have no free turns to do anything, which can be really tough to work around depending on your setups and how you play. And at times it will seem like that they have too many problems to take care of in one turn, yet they can only solve one at a time.

Gladiator:

If you're really want to use a Punch Monk, the class/subclass combination would be better the other way around. Mainly because Gladiator's have a higher natural STR stat, and they also have Endless Battle, which actually boosts their damage output. Anyways, like with all physical classes, Berserker Vow and Charge are the skills to go for here. However, something to consider is that a Zodiac subclass can increase the damage output of Breakfire Fist more than a Gladiator subclass can, but only in certain conditions. So the Gladiator subclass gives a more consistent damage output, while a Zodiac subclass can grant more damage, but isn't always reliable in doing that. More on that in a bit.

Hoplite:

Well the Parry skills can increase their survivability. And they could take a few Hoplite skills to help out the team a bit. But a main class Hoplite can do the job a lot better since they're a lot more tanky.

Spears are considered ranged weapons, so if you're using the unarmed glitch, you could make use of that to turn their fist skills into ranged attacks and increase their damage output a bit.

Buccaneer:

What Buccaneers have to offer are Limit Boost and Eagle Eye. Limit Boost helps Monks build up the Limit Gauge faster, while Eagle Eye is a nice debuffing skill.

Another thing a Buccaneer subclass can offer a Monk is the use of Guns, which can be used for the unarmed glitch to increase the range of their fist skills from melee to ranged.

Ninja:

Monks aren't that great at inflicting status ailments due to their low LUC stat, but Bunshin does let you use two Monks. It's not a great option for a Punch Monk, as a Gladiator or a Zodiac subclass will actually increase their damage output more, but for a support Monk, it's a fairly decent skill. You can make use of two healers, so if one of them gets disabled for whatever reason, you still have the 2nd Monk helping out the party. Of course this does create issues with other classes that want the 6th party member slot more.

Zodiac:

Again, if you are making a Punch Monk, this class and subclass combination would be better the other way around. Mainly because while Zodiacs do have a lower STR stat, their class skill actually boosts Breakfire Fist's damage. Though you're going to have to farm up a lot of Power Books if you want to make those usable. At any rate, a Zodiac subclass increases the Monk's damage output quite a bit. Etheric Charge does affect Breakfire Fist, so it does provide more of an increase than Charge. This subclass can even increase Breakfire Fist's damage more than a Gladiator subclass can, but only if Singularity activates, which means the enemies in question are gonna need to be weak to Fire or Strike attacks. Otherwise, a Gladiator subclass will increase the Monk's damage output more.

Wildling:

If you're stuck on what subclass to give them, Wildling is a good option because Primal Drums is a really good debuffing skill. They don't have much to offer aside from that. The Monk's stat spread isn't really ideal for any of the animals.

Arbalist:

Yeah uhhh, these two classes really don't mix all that well. There is very little the Arbalist can offer a Monk, no matter which role you put them in. I guess you can take this to give them a ranged weapon to make use of if you're putting your Monk on the back row. Extend can increase their survivability, I suppose.

Though like with the other ranged weapons, you can make use of the unarmed glitch to turn their fist skills into ranged attacks if you wish.

Farmer:

If you're that desperate to have a field support, have another class do it. Though Play Possum can be somewhat decent at getting enemies to target party members that aren't your Monk. Monks don't really have TP problems, so Brave Heart isn't that great of a passive for them.

Shogun:

Endure can be a nice passive for them to have, and they do have a nice assortment of offensive oriented support skills. Though a Prince/ss subclass is much better if you want to do something like that.

Monks are pretty much the most powerful support class in the game that can make life so much easier for your party, and having them subclass a Prince/ss can increase their supporting capabilities even further. Offensive oriented Monks aren't as effective, though there are worse options you can put in your party.