From Mists I was hoping for a more Avatar: The Last Airbender, kung fu type feel to Monks. There’s even an entire spec referencing Drunken Boxing. Yet the animations don’t follow any sort of kung fu form work that I can see, the striking is wildly telegraphed or just technically unsound (the Jab is especially atrocious), there are almost no animations that are congruent with any kind of body mechanics, and some of the spells look like motion blur slapped onto an untrained person flailing (looking at you, Fists of Fury).
Also, some striking variety would be nice. We have one consistently used punch (Jab), one short CD punch-like thing (Fists of Fury), one consistently used kick (Blackout Kick), and one short CD kick (Rising Sun Kick). Where’re the knees and elbows? Hell, even something unorthodox like a headbutt or shoulder or body strike would be neat.
If this is supposed to be a martial arts based class, where are the martial arts? Is there someone I can email about this? How do we get a new choreographer or mo-cap guy in there?
They don’t suck, you just don’t like them. I, for one, love them. Taste is subjective.
I love to see my fat panda going around kicking and punching and I couldn’t care less if it looks realistic or not. I mean, I am a fat panda going around kicking and punching, should I really pay attention if the punch obeys body mechanics? Last night I killed a giant dragon with my bare hands.
I personally hate the fist of fury animation because it doesn’t sync with the damage and sound that the damage portion makes. It’s like wiff-wiff-wiff-whack-wiffy-wiff-wiff-whack… I dunno it just looks like you’re Blinkin’ from Men in Tights swinging at the pillar blindly. The rest of the animations are good. That one needs to be changed or at least glyphable to a slower more methodical sequence of punches/kicks/shoulder slams that line up with the damage.
I understand the question of realism vs fantasy, that’s fair. My issue’s more that I don’t think they’re realistic to the setting. The idea that a panda could kill a dragon with his bare (bear?) hands (paws?) is one thing; but that he could do it in a setting where combat prowess is prized and speed and economy of motion have been mentioned as important (probably most notable in The Shattering book, when Cairne was laying a beating on Garrosh) is another. There’s nothing suggesting that a pandaren cannot, in a universe with magic and chi, generate enough power to punch clear through a dragon. There’s plenty to show that poor body mechanics would see that same pandaren die in the attempt.
On the other hand, I can see the argument that realism is realism and that it works because they say it works. I still think it looks goofy, but I can buy into that point of view.
The animations are amazing. I love them all which is a reason monk is still my main.
The issue is not the animation. It is you being a whiny child
I am a whiny child because I expect a martial arts themed class not to look like an underpaid intern with an interest in kung fu movies put on a mo-cap suit and did the animations? What an odd criticism this is.
They definitely suck. Compare WoW Monk’s animations to literally any other current game that has monks in them. Go watch FF14. Hell, go watch Tifa on FF7.
Monk is the least played class, so Blizzard gives it the least amount of work put into it.
Lmfao I wouldn’t say least amount of work. Have you seen Hunters? Considering they were once the MOST popular class for a long time. Monks in WoW just pales in comparison to other monks in other games.
I don’t think anyone at Blizzard has ever thrown a proper punch in their life. They clearly didn’t do any kind of research to make the attacks look impactful in any way.
Monk animations are fabulous. I love them. I think some could use a pixel update (e.g. Blackout Kick is a purple smear) but the motions are perfect the way they are.
Monk aesthetic feels more like a leather-wearing melee wind wizard, than cold, decisive master of martial arts.
Every animation has some wooshy breeze effect that’s just ludicrous. This was a big turn off to the class for a while. It’s almost like in my head, I was comparing what I was seeing on screen with what I might see studying MMA films. The difference is jarring.
But letting that go… The animations and artwork are actually really good. Monk in the WoW universe isn’t a master hand-to-hand combatant. It’s a mystical middle ground of magic and combat. Of chi, vitality, and force.
My suggestion is take it for what it is, not what you want it to be. Or try something else. I think you’ll enjoy it much more that way…
For a few months, I transmogged my enhancement shaman to fist weapons and just pretended it was an Avatar-style monk instead. Use your imagination to have fun. Don’t rely on Blizzard Corporate to deliver it directly to your mouth for consumption…
I think the Monk attack system should consist of 3 attacks (Kick, Strike, and Chi), and 3 families (Tiger, Ox, Serpent). Using a Tiger, Ox, and Serpent of each attack type builds a combo. Attacks gain bonus effects of used at spot 2 or 3 in the combo.
An example would be Serpent Kick.
Deal moderate frontal conal damage, divided evenly among all targets.
In a combo, gain the Flying prefix. Range increased to 30 yards and dash to your target before kicking.
As a combo finisher, gain the Ultimate prefix. Effect now hits all enemies in a radius around you, and damage no longer divided.
It’s called modern mechanics not running on a 20 year old engine. When they talked about how the tech now can finally support DHs in-game it made me laugh…or cry, I forgot.