Monk (Tactics)

A warrior, devoted to physical training, whose unarmed attacks are deadly. May use Martial Arts.

Description

Monk is a job from Final Fantasy Tactics. They are front-line fighters who deal heavy physical damage. It costs 5200 JP to master in the PlayStation version and 5300 JP in Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions.

To unlock this job, a unit must have Knight at level 3. Leveling Monk to level 3 unlocks Geomancer, and leveling it to level 4 along with Knight and Dragoon unlocks Samurai. The level requirements to unlocking new jobs are lower in the PlayStation version.

Stats[]

Prerequisite	Weapons	Helmet	Armor	Equip Shields?
WotL(War of the Lions): Lv. 3 Knight PlayStation: Lv. 2 Knight	Nothing	Nothing	Clothes	No

Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
3	4	9	20%	High	Average	High	Low

Abilities[]

Innate abilities[]

Barehanded is a support ability learned by Monks for 200 JP. It increases the effectiveness of all barehanded physical attacks by 1.5 except for Throw and Jump.

Martial Arts[]

Monk job command. Turns bare fists into lethal weapons.

Description

Name	Range	Effect	Speed	JP Needed
Cyclone (Spin Fist)	1	2	Now	150
Cyclone (Spin Fist)	Turn in a circle, attacking with backhand blows. Damage: 0.5 x Physical Attack x (Physical Attack)
Pummel (Repeating Fist)	1	1	Now	300
Pummel (Repeating Fist)	Strike many times in quick succession. Damage: 3.0 x Physical Attack x (Random: 1 to 9) Quote: "Fight for justice... fists of fury! Repeated Fist!"
Aurablast (Wave Fist)	3	3	Now	300
Aurablast (Wave Fist)	Employ one's martial spirit to strike a distant foe. Damage: 0.5 x Physical Attack x (Physical Attack + 2) Quote: "Burning anger rising... Burst! Wave Fist!"
Shockwave (Earth Slash)	8	4	Now	600
Shockwave (Earth Slash)	Release spiritual energy mighty enough to rend the earth. Element: Earth. Damage: 0.5 x Physical Attack x (Physical Attack) Quote: "Earth's anger running through my arms! Earth Slash!"
Doom Fist (Secret Fist)	1	1	Now	300
Doom Fist (Secret Fist)	Invite slow, certain death with blows to pressure points. Effect: Doom. Success Rate: 50 + Magic Attack Quote: "Cast down to hell with your fingers! Secret Fist!"
Purification (Stigma Magic)	1	2	Now	200
Purification (Stigma Magic)	Release positive energy to remove status ailments. Removes: Stone, Blind, Confuse, Silence, Berserk, Toad, Poison, Sleep, Immobilize, Disable. Success Rate: 120 + Physical Attack
Chakra	1	2	Now	350
Chakra	Draw out the energy within the body's chakra points to restore HP and MP. Restore HP: 5 x Physical Attack Restore MP: 5 x Physical Attack / 2
Revive	1	1	Now	500
Revive	Calls back dead units with a loud cry. Removes: KO. Restore HP: Restores 20% of Max HP Success Rate: 70 + Physical Attack

Reaction abilities[]

Name	Description	Trigger	JP Needed
Critical: Recover HP (HP Restore)	Recover HP when critically wounded.	Critical	500
Counter	Counterattack with a physical strike.	Physical Attack	300
First Strike (Hamedo)	Attack preemptively before being attacked.	Physical Attack	1200/1300

Support abilities[]

Brawler raises unarmed attack strength. It also increases effectiveness of Martial Arts abilities, success rate of Steal, and strength of Squire's Rush and Stone. It does not boost attack strength if a weapon is equipped, but still benefits Fundaments, Steal, and Martial Arts.

Name	Description	JP Needed
Brawler (Martial Arts)	Deliver more powerful unarmed attacks, even if not a monk.	200

Movement abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Lifefont (Move-HP Up)	Recover HP upon moving.	300

Gameplay[]

The Monk is a versatile and potent melee fighter capable of dealing high unarmed damage, and is one of the best jobs for high-Bravery characters. They boast high HP and physical attack (rivaling Knights while getting even more HP early when using Equip Heavy Armor), and have access to a variety of Martial Arts to further improve their capabilities. The Monk's Chakra ability can heal others, as well as replenish MP. Lifefont also makes for a good regeneration strategy.

Monks can become very powerful without much effort. Via Ramza's Brave-raising skills, they can deal damage upwards of 999, with Bravery at 90. Their damage can be further enabled with abilities from other jobs, such as the Ninja's Dual Wield.

Despite their melee-oriented gameplay, Monks have access to Shockwave, a versatile ranged attack with a straight 8-tile line that can hit multiple enemies (or an ally equipped with earth-absorbing Gaia Gear in the late game) without needing line of sight (it ignores barricades so long as the height difference shows the enemy is in range). The player can easily position a Mime to mimic this for any enemies 8 tiles directly in front of them.

Monks are handicapped by their limited equipment, since they cannot wear hats (although female Monks can wear hair adornments) and can only equip basic clothing. Despite their natural high HP, in the mid-game other jobs will have access to headgear and armor that increase their HP, speed, and strength by larger amounts.

Many of the Monk's abilities benefit other classes, such as their reaction abilities. Critical: Recover HP is useful on frail units (with Protect or Shell to survive) for a quick emergency healing, while Counter and First Strike (if the player commits 1300 JP to preemptively counterattack and cancel human attacks within usually 1 tile) are invaluable on physical-oriented jobs, such as Knight, Dragoon, Ninja, Samurai, and the Monk themselves. Brawler gives the unit more powerful unarmed attacks (helps Ninjas attack twice before Ninja Blades become available in shops), and is also one of the few abilities that can boost the Thief's steal rate. Their Martial Arts can also be used by those jobs, and Chakra can be used for level grinding.

Behind the scenes[]

On the PlayStation version, the line for Pummel, "Fight for justice...fists of fury! Repeated Fist!", refers to Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury where Chen Zhen fights to defend the honor of the Chinese in the face of foreign aggression, and to bring to justice those responsible for his master's death.

Grogh Heights eleven Monks from FFT — Battle against eleven Monks.

When coming up north from Lesalia Imperial Castle, the player may run into a random battle against 11 monks in Grogh Heights, which puts the AT listing at max units. This may happen in the original PlayStation version, as well as in the War of the Lions remaster, but is a rare occasion that occurs only when heading north, arriving from below the battlefield. This is a tough battle to take on. It is best to have a party of above LV30 with good gear, and use magicks and swords skills. The player should focus on the enemies using Revive and Chakra first, and avoid being surrounded.

Other appearances[]

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT[]

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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]

Ability Cards

Legend Cards

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]

This gallery is incomplete and requires Chakra and Shockwave/Earth Render added. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by uploading images.

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War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius[]

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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]

Monk appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Earth-elemental cards.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]

Knights of the Crystals[]

Monk appears as a card in the Ivalice Special Arena has a limited-time special arena with eighteen floors.

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

[view · edit · purge]A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decided to dedicate his life to serving all other living beings, or to be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions and in philosophy.