It would be really, really great to have the option to use weapons in our attack animations as Monks. There are plenty of Eastern martial arts that include weapons, including swords, staves, and spears, and we even see a Monk using a staff in the Mists of Pandaria cinematic trailer.
Blizzard, let us live that class fantasy! Here are some ideas:
New glyph: Glyph of Tiger’s Jab. Replaces the Tiger Palm animation with the now-unused Jab animation, giving back one animation that used to use weapons.
New glyph: Glyph of Blackout Strike. Replaces the Windwalker Monk’s Blackout Kick animation with the Brewmaster’s Blackout Strike animation if the Windwalker is wielding a staff or polearm. Speaking of:
Let Windwalkers use staves and polearms again, with an upgrade. Pandaren, especially female pandaren, have excellent animations for using staves and polearms. Any chance those animation sets could be adapted for Monks in general when they wield those weapons? (I’m well aware the animations can’t just be copy-pasted over, but if nothing else I think looking at how female pandaren wield staves would be a great starting point.) We can sheath it to use Fists of Fury but keep it out for other attacks.
Anyone have other ideas?
I’m open to a lot of ways to accomplish this–I just want the option to use weapons in my attack animations. I think that would greatly increase the “cool factor” of the Monk class, especially for Windwalkers.
I think the unarmed animations are cool, too! That’s why my first two suggestions came in the form of glyphs. It would give players the option to use weapons or not as they prefer, like how Balance Druids can use a glyph if they prefer not to use the standard moonkin form.
As for staff/polearm animations, I think if they’d also let us transmog fist weapons over a staff as a Windwalker, that would let you continue to appear unarmed even if a staff is your best available weapon.
I’m very much in favor of player freedom in what your character looks like, so I wouldn’t want to take anything away.
I also believe that we should have some kind of usage of our weapons. Hell, put in a ability that even weaves in our weapons to our rotation. We all know Blizzard used Shaolin Monks from China as inspiration for the monk class. Well…Shaolin monks actually use weapons as well. All types of weapons. 2handed swords, tri-section staves, one handed swords, and so forth. I’ve said it a lot. If Blizzard is going to take something as a source of inspiration, they need to do it properly. I know they can’t fit everything in, but things like monks using weapons, like actually using them and not just stat sticks,needs to be a thing. Otherwise why have weapons at all? We already have unarmed combat without weapons lol.
I agree with you Janchi. It really does feel like all these re-rollers who actually want to play a rogue or a mage are trying to hijack our class.
Wanna use weapons and throw kicks roll a rogue.
Wanna cast chi spells and not kick roll a mage.
But leave the martial arts monk alone. These last few weeks have been nothing but the same 3 trolls trying to get everyone to change what makes a monk fundamentally different from every other melee and that is our kicks/punches.
Anyway in before they cry… it would be a glyph (so reroll you wont need a glyph). Or it is immersion breaking to see weapons on your back but never use them… welcome to mage since 2004 (playing a martial arts class who doesn’t do hand to hand combat is even more immersion breaking).
/end rant go ahead and link some none sense about how change is good for the class and how we should get rid of the only unique thing monks have left (since dh tooks our roll and theirs is better).
I’m not trying to “hijack” anything, holy crap. People have been asking for Monks to get to use their weapons in attack animations for years. I’m not asking for anything new. And one of my suggestions even involves giving the option to use an animation that Windwalkers already used to have along with one that Brewmasters already use.
In what way is this “hijacking the class” by asking for some more options in how my character looks?
And again, Shaolin monks use weapons in real life. Monks in WoW have used weapons, too, including in the MoP cinematic trailer. Having the option to fight with a weapon is in no way contrary to what Monks are in WoW, nor does it take anything away from you.
Why do you seem so threatened by it?
Again: I am asking for the option to use weapons, not to take away your ability to use fully unarmed animations if you prefer to do so. The only way that takes something away from you is if it would annoy you to see someone else playing Monk using weapon animations or something.
Wanna use weapons and throw kicks roll a rogue.
Wanna cast chi spells and not kick roll a mage.
What if I like how Monk plays and like its variety of roles, but also I think it would be fun to do cool kung fu staff moves sometimes?
You wanna be a monk with staff moves be a brewmaster. They don’t even kick or punch anymore. You can be exactly what you are asking for and the number one reason why I am so strongly anti-changing monks to this.
Because blizzard being a western game developer already doesn’t have proper animation for its monk design. (whirling dragon punch = spinning WWE clothsline instead of real dragon punch) (our leg sweep = actually jumping 360 hook kick not a low to the ground sweep).
And they will just do what was done to brewmaster. That spec literally has no martial arts left in it. It only uses staff and brew chugging animation now. There is no kicking or punching in brewmaster spec anymore. Even the staff animation is a golfers swing further demonstrating that blizzard has no clue on martial arts animation. If blizzards caves to this demand you and your two buddies keep asking for, then the last hand to hand spec we have, will be gone.
And yes I did call it, you came in crying about how “more options in how my character looks?” aka my “How change is good for the class and how we should get rid of the only unique thing monks have left.”
Again you want your weapons roll one of the other classes, you can do hadokens and duel wield with enh shaman, you can duel wield and kick with rogue, you can be a jedi with ret pally, you can go full chi blaster mode with a mage, you can go samurai with a warrior, you can go sith with a dk, and you can go dark martial arts with a dh, but LEAVE the only hand to hand spec (our mw and brew do not use martial arts anymore) ALONE.
The great thing for monks, and any melee class available is that fighting styles exist. As do different monk order.
I would love to see us get back staff-wielding. The only problem with it rn is the needlessly weapon requirement on a skill that uses our fist anyway. They also allowed us to use staffs again for a period of time in beta.
There’s a number of way to allow. Anyone complaining is obviously bitter.
This is quite literally the first topic I’ve ever made on the Monk subforum. I don’t know where you’ve come up with this narrative that I’m part of some group constantly posting the same thing. I titled the thread “Yes, I’m bring it up again” because I’m well aware many, many others have talked about this in the past.
When I ask for a couple glyphs to let a player optionally use animations that already exist and are used (or have been used) for Monk moves in the past, what exactly am I getting rid of? It sounds like you’ve defined the class by what it can’t do rather than by what it can. If Blizzard implemented all of my suggestions exactly (which I don’t expect, but let’s imagine they did), you could just… not use the glyphs. Would you be upset if you saw someone else using them or something?
Do you not know how glyphs work? Do you think the glyph that lets Druids use a shiny blue form instead of moonkin form has taken away moonkin form?
Also, how exactly is “hey, I think these options might be neat” crying?
This is a good idea. Monks train various weapons. Sure, pure martial arts is also big part of monk flavor, but this way players would have the option.
No need to impose your personal view of what monks should be on others. Specially if originally WoW monks had Jab that used weapon animations.
Edit: AND steal weapon… that’s pretty cool too.
AND even then when Jab, players enamored with “just punch and kicks” could equip hand wraps, and later mog into them. I was one of them! So giving players that option was intended. Class pruning took it away just cause it was easier to collapse Jab and Fist. I doubt it’s Blizz intention that monks only be punch and kick.
My biggest issue with races and my beloved Brewmaster are Blackout Strike.
Pandarians have a unique animation for it. Where they spin their weapon while doing a full 360 themselves, then stab the target. It is beautifully animated and a delight to spam every 2 seconds.
Everyone else…they just slap. Like…why?
Except night elf (maybe other elves too?) who jumps and does an uppercut while spinning. Its acceptable if you dont want to be a chonker, but still not even close to Panda animation.
This simply should be something that comes back as part of the unpruning in SL. Or simply at the very least rather than a passive that changes our animations depending on weapons like we had in MOP, a glyph to replace tiger palm with the old jab animation.
That’s because Pandaren has really nice animations. The animation you’re talking about is just their special 2h animation. Doing slam on warrior or scrounge strike and it’s range equivalent also produces the same animation for example. I personally would like more 2h animations on BM. REALLY I wouldn’t mind less of a emphasis on the brews. That’s just me doe.
Yea seems to be the case. You’ll notice during the deep dive and unpruning section there’s a thing that mentions weapons.
I’m asking for glyphs that let Windwalker Monks use animations that already exist in the game and, in one case, were already used by Windwalker Monks.
Again, to put this into perspective: there is a glyph that Balance Druids can use to have a starry astral form instead of the moonkin form. Are you arguing that glyph should be removed and Balance Druids who want to look like their character should just play Mage instead?
I don’t understand the resistance to new options that, to be very clear, you would not have to use. Would it upset you to see other people using them?
This 999,999,999,999,999 times!
It is absolutely ABSURD and pathetic how defensive people get over things like this. Things that do no affect them in any negative way and would only give a wider range of people more options to customize their game experience.
It saddens me to think how unloved these kids must be to be so full of angst and resentment that their mindset is this way.
The bigger ask would be for Windwalkers to be able to use staves again, ideally with some new staff-based martial arts attack animations. Staff-fighting is extremely cool and something we even see in the MoP cinematic trailer.
If you want to see some cool staff animations, check out the female pandaren staff/polearm animation set. I’d love to see something like that made available to Monks in general–it’d fit extremely well.