I just stumbled on this wallpaper while searching up some cool WoW monk wallpapers. Not gonna lie, I really wish armors for monks, not just for Pandarens, but for all classes, were how they appear in this image:
https://images8.alphacoders.com/977/977745.jpg
Note: I don’t know who the artist was who drew this, but they nailed it spot-on with how fantasy monk armor and clothing should look. Huge credits to them, whoever they are.
Anyways, I feel like monks and just the Pandaren race overall, don’t get enough love nor attention. Maybe it’s just me because I love playing as a Pandaren monk. Maybe it’s because I rarely see Pandaren characters, aside from myself, in my Mythic+ parties. Maybe others feel this way as well, and if you do, wouldn’t you want more attention-to-detail given to Pandarens and the monk class armors?
The monk armors
I look at the monk Order Hall armor, and it’s ugly. I look at some of the other monk class transmogs, and some sort-of fit the theme of what “fantasy monk” armor should look like, but they don’t work so well in execution. Most monk transmogs are strangely designed, and I really wished something like what’s in the image came out of Blizzard’s art department when MoP released.
If you look at the armor/clothing in the image, notice how they’re wearing rope belts with thick tassels? We have a few of those in-game, but after MoP, no new monk-themed belts of this kind were made.
Notice how the monks also have detail on their armor, and I’m talking about detail. The whole culture behind Pandarens and their clothing and armor is all about the detail, and with the current transmogs, I don’t see anything reminiscent of that. I know the armor in WoW is low-poly when it comes to graphics, but considering the transmog sets we have for Battle for Azeroth, and what will eventually be further improved with the release of Shadowlands, I’m very sure new monk-style transmogs of this detail is very possible.
Also notice how the pauldrons on the middle and right monk are not thick; they’re thin, which makes sense for a monk because they’re always moving around. The pauldrons released with MoP for monks are so thick, I can’t imagine how they move in all that armor. For warriors, thick armor is amazing armor, but for monks, it needs to be light-weight since monks are always mobile while fighting.
The female Pandaren hairstyles
I also want to bring attention to how the female Pandaren hairstyles look. I can’t say much about hairstyles for male Pandarens in this image, since all the Pandarens in the picture are female, nor am I good at describing hairstyles. But just look at the image first, and then look in-game. You would immediately be disappointed by what hairstyles we have for female Pandaren right now.
In-game, most female Pandaren hairstyles seem okay when used with certain faces, but they are otherwise somewhat lackluster. There are very few long hairstyles for female Pandarens, with most of them being short haircuts.
In the image, these Pandaren women have hairstyles similar to Aysa’s, and Aysa’s hairstyle is actually the most accurate to how the hairstyles in this image look. That’s the kind of hairstyle female Pandarens should have.
Why can’t our Pandaren women have hairstyles like these, Blizzard? These are actually good, and make them look so badass.
Anyways, that’s enough out of me. There are plenty more images of WoW monk art online that can be used to establish what I’m trying to say. The reason I used this image, of all images possibly available, is because what makes this image cool is that the armors and Pandaren appearances are based off of the three monk specializations: Mistweaver (left), Brewmaster (middle), and Windwalker (right). It would be cool to have specialization-based armors, not just for monks, but for all classes, and this image could be a good reference to that, for monks at least.
And in my opinion, the way the Pandaren monks are portrayed in this image is so well-done, and they look so cool. This is how fantasy monks should be in-game.