That's fair. Thats also the same reason why theres more monks. They're easier to play. Bards do as much as the effort put into them. Monks more or less are the same across the board.
Besides min/max though, theres the options that a bard has that monks simply dont. As you said, maybe some camps dont suit a bard at some level. Good news is, bards at any level can have a plethora of places to hunt at, whereas monks will probably tend to specific zones and are limited by that.
Going back to OP, if he's worried about soloing / xp at all, theres no question that a bard is better for xp gain. Monks can solo all the way to 51 without a fungi (I just had some crescent gear / black panther and a peacebringer), but it will by far take longer than a bard in cloth gear. I solo'd my monk (also my vox/naggy alt) almost all the way to 51, but it was definitely more annoying than doing so on bard.
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