Friday, March 30, 2012

Making sense of the Monk

Still no beta invite, but that's not stopping me from taking a look at the Monk talent tree over on Wowhead. Actually, the talents themselves are not really what I'm concerned with, because ultimately those are adding onto the core framework that is the main ability list.

At its heart, I think that the Monk resource concept is sound - a few abilities that cost Energy and generate Chi, and then a host of Chi-spenders. It's actually quite similar to the Paladin model, if you think of Jab being similar to Crusader Strike and Chi being similar to Holy Power.

I should point out now that we're very early in the Beta, and while I hope Blizzard has given it a lot of though, I imagine that the real rotation for each spec is still very much under development. I should also point out that the WoWhead talent calculator may be flawed in certain ways, or that there are placeholder values that can be confusing. For instance, some abilities are listed as having a cost of "1 Energy," which I typically interpret to mean "1 Chi," but could also technically be an Energy-spender that just has 1 as the placeholder value for what will ultimately be anywhere from 10 to 60.

The core abilities, as it appears, are Jab (your Energy spender/Chi generator,) Tiger Palm (basic Chi-spender with a bonus against targets that are above 50% health) and Blackout Kick (useable only under 35%, presumably replacing Tiger Palm in your rotation.)

As it stands, the Windwalker (melee dps) has the most coherent playstyle, partially because it mainly add cooldowns to the universal abilities. You do get Fists of Fury, Rising Sun Kick, and Exploding Jade Blossom as possible replacements (perhaps at specific health levels) for Tiger Palm and Blackout Kick.

I'm not going to comment much on Windwalkers because, for the most part, they seem to make sense, and while they can use some pruning and some focus and perhaps a little more complexity (though I could be underestimating their current complexity) I think they're the spec that makes the most sense at the moment.

Brewmasters (tank spec, and the one you can probably bet I'll be going with) are, sadly, all over the place. Dizzying Haze is ground-targeted AoE slow that costs Energy, but at the moment it does not generate Chi. However, you need to stack the DH debuff on your enemies to power Breath of Fire, which is presumably meant to be your main Chi-spender. One big problem is that DH doesn't do any damage. Another is that it's taking up your Energy that you'd probably rather spend on Jab to build Chi, which you need for basically every other ability. Also, having to target DH three times in a row to build charges seems pretty wonky. Seems like it would be a lot better to just toss the keg at your target and have it hit (and preferably damage, for, you know, threat) all the targets around that target.

If Blizzard wants to make good on its concept of tanks spending resources on defensive abilities, then you've got to save the Chi Spender ability spots in your rotation for things like Guard, and let Energy be spent on either Jab or some kind of AoE attack that also generates Chi. Simple redesign for Drunken Haze (sorry, I know it's Dizzying Haze, but did we really have to change that name?): Make it a short-range (or even melee-range) AoE attack that deals damage, spreads the DH debuff (plus Weakened Blows, which should be there, right?) and gives you some Chi for your troubles, which you then spend on Guard or other defensive abilities. It wouldn't solve all the problems, but it would certainly take Brewmasters in a slightly more coherent direction.

Mistweavers (the healing spec) are a little hard for me to analyze, not really playing a healer, but it does look like no other healer I've seen before (well, almost...) Essentially, it takes the Discipline concept of Atonement (today's Smite Healing,) which I believe works ok, but is not really the most powerful kind of healing, and runs with it. While I believe that you can theoretically heal as a Monk the old-fashioned way, the spec is built around allowing you to melee the bad guys. Your guess is as good as mine whether this is going to work out. For one, if you're wearing a bunch of spell gear, are your attacks going to land hard enough to heal anyone for a sufficient amount?

In all honesty, it's clear that Monks are a total mess right now. However, don't take this as a bad thing! For all the complaints people levy against Blizzard, balance is kind of their whole deal, and I've been more and more pleased with each expansion I've gone through when it comes to class design and balance (ok, I might like to have my old Blood dps spec back, but I know it died for the greater good.)

Here's what to expect: No class is going to change in the beta more than the Monk. Just as DKs went through immense changes throughout the Wrath development cycle (and indeed, beyond,) Monks are in for some doozies. While Jab seems pretty core to the class (and I doubt they could take Roll away without dealing with pitchforks and torches at this point,) nothing else is sacred. We're going to wind up with a tank, melee, and healer spec, and they're going to wear leather, and fight using video-game Kung Fu. That's all we know for certain.

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