Monk are OP in Kunark and Velious. I've seen parses (with P99 data) that show a monk is pretty much the best tank outside of a defensive warrior, and they'll only get better with Velious gear. Monks are also the best pullers, soloers, and top-3 melee DPS.
There is a reason both Thott and Furor went on massive rants about monks back in classic, and they will be valid again on this server. If you want to be the best overall melee, you will be a monk.
With that said, I still love my bard and hoping once I've got him where I want him that I can bring up my baby paladin. I have a lot of things I missed on Live with both of those that I want to see. **Dreams now about
SSS,
Primal Spear,
PHF,
ND, and
FD.