Core MONK Ability ANIMATIONS NEED UPDATING! ++Gameplay Redesign

Classes Monk
1

Ever since playing EverQuest for PS2, called EverQuest Online Adventures and the expansion called EQOA: Frontiers, I have wanted to have another chance at playing a Monk as they were designed in that game. The game was the brainchild of the 2 main EQPC devs, I believe the main dev played a Human Monk named Ararat (if that’s correct , i can’t believe i remember … ), and there was a reason why he chose to play that class.

Disregard most of what i’m about to say about the duration of some of the monk abilities, but the rest was 100% amazing – you could surely make similar spells, though, IE by changing the UTTERLY BORING Fists of Fury animation to something more LIVELY, like EQOA had.

In that game, Monk had all manner of martial arts moves, crazy punches, upper cuts, kicks, and every melee ability they had shared the same effect, which was simple but brilliant to behold, and those animations NEVER became tiresome or boring. Basically, they just used the same bright yellow/white-ish light that TRAILED the movements of the hands if the ability was any kind of punch, and trail the feet for kicks.

This is the part that you can take, leave, or modify for implementation in modern WoW: as you leveled up, you not only got new ranks of the same core abilities that used a singular attack/animation (such as a single kick, or a single uppercut, and were quick, as you would expect), but they also threw in some complex martial arts combos that were fully played out by using an individual ability, some of which took 3-6 seconds to complete the animation & full damage to land (the damage was broken up to be synced with each of the combo’s individual attacks that were strung together seamlessly to comprise the ability in full.

In wow, you probably wouldn’t want any single melee ability (in button presses, not as in ability sub-animations) to go on longer than 4 seconds at absolute most, like Fists of Fury, but this actually gives me another idea:

What if Monk was designed around POTENTIALLY FANCIFUL, BEAUTIFUL, AND DYNAMIC MARTIAL ARTS COMBOS that were designed mechanically using a tree-type diagram, in which you had X amount of initiatory abilities, which each had a small array/group of abilities which could only be triggered either DURING the initiating ability’s animation (queue it up) or IMMIDIATELY SUBSEQUENT/THEREAFTER.

The biggest hitting abilities would obviously be whichever final ability you choose to go with at the end of your stringed combo, assuming that you make it there without breaking your combo via allowing too much downtime while transitioning from the 1st to 2nd ability or 2nd to 3rd, for example.

Obviously, there would be more depth to these choices than mere damage. Each initiatory ability should have it’s OWN INTERACTIONS and/or PROS & CONS of using any particular one over another, and same goes for the intermediate choice, as well as the finishing move you choose to go with. I’m literally developing this idea in my mind as I type this, and I can’t believe how amazing this could be.

  1. Description

    1. Combo-Initiating abilities determine the auras/buffs available for subsequent abilities that remain within the self-contained combo type [if you switch prematurely, you lose out on that string of increasing buffs for subsequent abilities within a combo, up to say, 3-4 abils per combo; could be as simple as 10% crit * number of abils within a combo] , as well as giving a buff which increases the damage done by the opposing combo type, encouraging combo-type diversity. with it’s owned self-contained, temporary, and unique set of interactions/stat buffs/auras.

  1. Combo-Initiating Punch Ability [IE: Tiger Punch]

    1. No buffs on combo-initiating abilities, except maybe haste.

    1. Open-ended priority-driven gameplay, determined by the amount & type of subsequent buffs that result from stringing together a higher number of abilities within a combo type [punch/kick], and how they most effectively apply to available abilities.

  1. Follow-Up Punch [Ex: Whirling Dragon Punch]

    1. Increasingly empowered, as 2nd strung ability in combo.

    1. Look nice line break

  1. Combo-Finishing Punch [Ex: Fists of Fury]

    1. Increasingly empowered, as 3rd strung ability in combo.

    1. Look nice line break

  1. Combo-Initiating Kick Ability [IE: Blackout Kick]

    1. No buffs on combo-initiating abilities, except maybe haste.

    1. Open-ended priority-driven gameplay, determined by the amount & type of subsequent buffs that result from stringing together a higher number of abilities within a combo type [punch/kick], and how they most effectively apply to available abilities.

  1. Follow-Up Kick [Ex: Spinning Crane Kick]

    1. Increasingly empowered, as 2nd strung ability in combo.

    1. Look nice line break

  1. Combo-Finishing Kick [Ex: Rising Sun Kick]

    1. Increasingly empowered, as 3rd strung ability in combo.

    1. Look nice line break

5 Likes
2

Monks don’t need anything updated. We need the class to feel unique and not a warrior in leather.

Every spec is unique in its own way, but they’re all either extremely dull to play, broken, or completely worthless.

Animations being reworked wouldn’t make anyone constantly want to play this class more than they already do

But I would like to do some fancy disco moves as I kick someone.

2 Likes
3

Animations were a big part of why I never gave the class a serious go until shadowlands. FoF, SCK, keg smash, etc. It all seemed very goofy and cartoony to me.

It’s a shame too, as I think I’ve enjoyed WW the most out of any melee since 2005 when I started playing. It feels unique and interesting (personally doesn’t feel like a warrior at all to me). Animations and the way a class looks visually are HUGE draws for players. It took me the better part of a decade to get over how the class looked.

Take Havoc back in legion. The class was brain dead simple, and not very deep at all but it looked so flashy and cool. I’m convinced that it was the lions share of reason as to why players took to it over monk.

2 Likes
4

I’d agree with FoF and SCK, but keg smash is dang near iconic since for a while it was essentially the closest thing to the brewmaster ability from Warcraft 3.

1 Like
5

It definitely grew on me over time, but for awhile it just seemed out of place thematically in relation to other classes. Brews in general did, not just KS

Paladins channeling the holy light into their shields to protect the weak, hulking brutish warriors who’s training and revelry for battle allow them to ignore all pain and relish fighting on the front lines, druids invoking the power of life itself to become gargantuan avatars of nature etc.

Then mop came along and we had brewmasters chugging beer, whos main ability essentially just makes mobs sticky, and burps fire for some reason. It was initially off putting by comparison lol.

I’m absolutely no longer of that opinion these days, but I’m sure I wasn’t the only one a little off put by their theme. Despite its precedence in wc3.

3 Likes
6

I want a glyph to use my weapon as part of some of my attacks. Not all but certainly some.

3 Likes
7

This all the way, would love to actually use the weapon at least in some fashion like we used to.

8

Omg I third this!

Reallllyy want a glyph today allow us to auto attack with weapon too. Though I think blizzard needs to have everyone do more with their weapons!

Also please give us update animations m - esp for RSK and Blackout Kick!

9

I think racial animations are more of a factor with monks than the actual class animation. Humans look so apathetic. The talent tree is the biggest offender for Monkdom.

10

Ive never understood this crazy argument that monk abilities feel/look bad or goofy. No they do not. They look/feel the best.

Warrior attacks look lame.
DH attacks are lack luster and well uninspired.
Rogues attacks might as well be non existant.
DKs attacks are clunky

Monk is the only one out of those with attacks that feel meaty.

11

I feel the same way for DH.

I can not stand their aninations. They are just so…ugh.

12

Then the monk class wouldn’t be a massive flop. The visuals and theme turn a lot of people off from maining it.

13

That’s… absolutely not true.

A big part of the reason I don’t play my monk more is the completely outdated visuals.

Statues, spell effects, and summons are jarringly outdated, and are frankly painful to look at.

Edit: I even disregard the stale punching/kicking animations with my comment, because I know they’re a lot more work to redo, but monk visuals as a whole are absolutely outdated.

14

This is just objectively untrue. Animations from 2012 say hello.

How does giving monks modern animations make them a warrior in leather lmao

Just bad take after bad take.

3 Likes
15

Couldnt agree more. I was so looking forward to monk tank themed after an ox, but their main ability was smashing a keg on people. It felt so weak in that your weapon breaking on someone means it lost its potential damage because it couldnt sustain the full force of tour own attack. It somehow generated chi. And these giant barrels just come out of nowhere. I know to some this may seem like nitpicking, but its really off putting for me to play. Now with invoking the celestials baseline, that really takes away monk fantasy for me. Cant wait to see what monk talent trees will look like in Dragonflight. Main thing im looking for is reduced channel time for fists of fury. It feels like an eternity

1 Like
16

Maybe its just me, but I immediately understood the brm themes and functionality. It was very easy for me to understand that the core gameplay loop of Brm was get drunk to stagger, blackout from your roundhouse to shuffle around making yourself harder to hit, throw beer to get others a little drunk and take a hair of the dog for hangovers. Everything about it seemed like Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master. You couldnt do a kung fu expansion without it.

That said, I am very hesitant about the class in Dragonflight. The specs have never been part of one cohesive playstyle. They always had unique identity. How do you have an entire monk tree separated from the spec tree? The specs are the monk. What more do you take from BrM to make general monk without robbing brm of its identity?

17

If I were to guess, the general tree will just be abilities and powerups related to the abilities on the monk tab; So things like Vivify, Tiger Palm, Fortifying Brew, etc will come from the general tree with talents to improve them and then likely choice talents from the current 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th rows.