Warrior or Monk

[shams]

Hey all, curious as to what the communities thoughts are on monks and warriors as tanks. I have a level 14 monk but played a warrior on live and I really like being the tank. I'd heard awhile back (a year or so ago) that ac was a little bit off on p99 and monks could tank as well as warriors could.

Also, is there a lack of tanks on the server and if so, what class(es) in particular? I already know I like tanking, I just want to know what would be the most useful/effective type. My main is a druid so I can probably scrounge up some plat for some good starter gear pretty easily.

Thanks!

[Jimjam]

Both are solid, just load AC, grab some haste, some hp rings and some fast, hurty weapons and you'll be fine.

By the way, if AC is working properly monks SHOULD be tanking as well as warriors, this is why the AC system got overhauled luclin/pop era. Warriors get innate MR boost, better HP and a taunt button though.

[shams]

Cool, thank you for the insight.

Whereas warriors get more HP and MR, monks are better at avoidance, right?

[Phantasm]

Monks mitigate damage much better than warriors hence their usefulness as tanks.

Monks can tank most groupable mobs and even low end raids. Warrior can tank it all but really shine on raid encounters. I play a monk and the only things i fear are roots and raid mobs. Really up to you and your goals. If you want to tank be a warrior, if you want to be involved in pulling, dps, offtanking, positioning etc, play the monk.

Or roll both xD

[Danth]

Monks can do the tank job adequately if necessary. That being said, the job plays away from the class's strengths. It's fundamentally an offense-minded class and being the tank means a lot of potential offense gets wasted via the opponent's dodge/parry. Overall damage reduction is potentially superior to that of anyone else except a Warrior using a discipline, however it's tougher for a Monk to gear for durability than it is for a plate tank, and again doing so may play away from the class's strengths--up until high-end (north temple veeshan) gear which has all stats in abundance. Monks also have lower hit point pools than Warriors, so from the perspective of a Cleric they can be tougher to heal efficiently even in spite of taking somewhat less average damage per minute. With the lower health pool Monks are more vulnerable to the sort of burst damage that kills tanks (unslowed adds, spell damage, harm touch, etc).

Monks are (correctly) regarded as the strongest overall melee class during this game era, and they get better with very high-end gear, but I wouldn't advise picking the class with the intention to primarily tank. Few groups advertising "looking for tank" have Monks in mind. The class has legitimate problems with burst and snap hate management. If you want to be a tank as your primary role, pick a proper tank class.

Danth

[Jimjam]

Ah, yes, Phantasm! I forgot to mention the big difference for raiding; warriors get decent duration defensive disciplines that vastly reduce the damage coming in (either by boosting evasion or mitigation), with a quarter hour cool down time. They also get some decent duration dps disciplines that boost their damage when not on tank duty, with a half hour cool down time.

The other boost warriors get over monks is critical (and when low hp crippling) hits. Basically more damage (and the potential to stun for crips).

In non AE fights lasting 3 minutes or less warriors can actually spit out decent dps by combining crip hits with their offensive disc.

Both classes are desired in groups and raiding, but you'll have to work hard on your equipment if you want to be a top end raid tank warrior. If you're grouping you can get away with phoning in your equipment, really.

Edit: slightly ninja'd by Danth, he touched on a lot of these points better than me, but I'll keep the post as it is to try keep it coherent.

[Ravager]

Monks live. Warriors die. FD is king. Does it look like shit is going to hit the fan? FD let your group die then go find a stronger group.

[fadetree]

You got to be a little bit of a masochist to play a warrior. Good stuff end game, but getting there will make you want to rip your hair out.
Monks are fun, and a lot easier than wars. You're going to be expected to pull a lot, so if you're not into that beware.
When I see a 60 war, I am mildly impressed. When I see a 60 monk, not so much.

If you want to tank and NOT be frustrated for 59 levels, try a Knight. Great tanks, lots of fun, cheap gear.

[Daud]

Lotta super great information in the comparisons, very nice writeups, etc.

The real question is: Are you ok with being expected to pull the majority of the time? You need to have a real honest moment with yourself about this, this shit will get old fast if you're not into it. Anyone thinking about making a monk should consider this first imo.

[Baler]

Monk Monk Monk
Pull Pull Pull
(Iksar)

Ogre Warrior,. screw ogre warrior.

[shams]

Lots of great information in this thread. I think I'm going to roll a warrior and get ready for the grind. Honestly I think pulling constantly would get kind of old, though I love taking hits for the group. Hope to see you all in game! Warrior's name will be Antwerp :)

[maskedmelon]

Good choice and good reasoning ^^ if you a monk people will expect you to pull and it is a super high energy activity if you wanna do it right^^

[Ravager]

having leveled a warrior to 60 and raided with him, the truth is that warriors are extremely boring and require hundred of thousands pp worth of gear to hit their prime and even then they are only fun when you're tanking raid mobs (which is like .001% of your /played)
Do you still deny your Filbusian identity?

[Swish]

what guild were you raiding with skarlorn?

[rollin5k]

the fact is brad himself the demi god did not condone monks. they were added in due to peer pressure and drugs. they are basically cheating and game breaking. &$#$ monks

[Vexenu]

Roll a Monk if you want to spend all your time tending the monastery gardens, copying holy texts by hand and silently praying for hours on end.

Roll a Warrior if you want to train with a variety of weapons, pledge your sword to a local warlord and seek a glorious death in battle.

[shams]

You sold me, Vex. :)

[Topgunben]

Hey all, curious as to what the communities thoughts are on monks and warriors as tanks. I have a level 14 monk but played a warrior on live and I really like being the tank. I'd heard awhile back (a year or so ago) that ac was a little bit off on p99 and monks could tank as well as warriors could.

Also, is there a lack of tanks on the server and if so, what class(es) in particular? I already know I like tanking, I just want to know what would be the most useful/effective type. My main is a druid so I can probably scrounge up some plat for some good starter gear pretty easily.

Thanks!

option 1: Warrior = cant solo, very gear dependent, no real tools for survival or escape, lots of hair pulling from constantly dieing.

Option 2: Monk = can solo, mend, Feign Death, intimidate, tank & dps. You will be able to duo much better than a warrior and you will die 10x less than a warrior. monks are not nearly as gear dependent as warriors.

The warrior class is probably my favorite, but truth be told they suck. up to level 50, i think a monk can tank just as well, if not better than a warrior.

[Swish]

Monk more fun, warrior more respected imo.

If you don't like pulling, dont make a monk.... the amount of times I get monks who don't want to pull in my groups lol

[Jimjam]

@Swish for sure! It seems two types of people roll monks; those that want to be carried through content and those that want to work hard and use the full scope of the monk's abilities.


I've heard rolling a monk as your first melee basically ruins any subsequent melee alts you roll.

Stories circulate of monks rolling ranger alts thinking 'well, they've got spells... they wear chain... some of the weapons seem okay' only to be flabbergasted to discover how far their mana-less abilities, innate AC bonus/skill caps and improved damage tables/itemisation carried them.

So yea, if you are stuck on your warrior, but find it a drag, be sure to give monk a go.; apparently it is another level entirely.

[shams]

I played a warrior on live so I'm well versed in how tedious they can be haha. But a lot of the nostalgia that dragged me back to p99 again was remembering my time tanking and feeling kinda like a boss for absorbing so much damage. Plus, this time around, I have a druid in the 40s that I can bounce between and also use to make some plat so that I can gear my warrior decently.

I really love this discussion! I played a monk off and on too on live and liked it a lot, but there is something inside of me that likes dual wielding crazy weapons and wearing big heavy plate armor.

[maskedmelon]

Mmmmm, I am terrible at EQ, so naked monk feels about right compared to all the other average kunark geared twinkies ^^ They honestly don't feel too super amazing if naked, just average, the or maybe slightly above ^^

[bigjerry]

monk supertwink when recommended level was broken and that copper mallet from droga revamp + ice orb from somewhere else were proccing at level 1 was the golden age. CoM, fungi and weapon with like 20/30 ratio proccing 350dd at level 1 lool

Monk is the Tokyo drifting race car of eq. it's not that powerful without gear and really hard to make money on if you are maining one from lvl one. Original hero class.

[fadetree]

i actually fucking hate playing a monk. I find them to be one of the most boring classes in EQ because of how god damn overpowered and versatile they are. Other most boring class? NECRO. TOO OP!!!

i got a monk to 22 or something was just like UGH what is THIS. then i started playing a fully non-twinked rogue and felt like i was in heaven. rogue actually has style! monks have no style, too op

Try an untwinked Ranger, you'll love it.

[Aaramis]

Want to play a lizard wearing cloth or leather and wielding sticks?

Or any race of your choice wearing plate and wielding swords, axes, and maces?

That's what it comes down to for me, anyways.