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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
Turn in a circle, attacking with backhand blows.
Damage: 0.5 x Physical Attack x (Physical Attack)
Pummel
(Repeating Fist)
1 1 Now 300
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

Overview[]

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.

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

FFT HP Restore

Critical: Recover HP.

Many of the Monk's abilities benefit other classes, such as their reaction abilities. Critical: Recover HP is useful on frail units 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 swords are in stores), 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.

Shockwave is versatile with its straight 8-tile line that can hit multiple enemies (or an ally with earth-absorbing Gaia Gear 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.

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[]

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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[]

KotC Monk

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

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

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.

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