The Monk is a classic class in the Final Fantasy series, so it is no surprise that Square Enix would put it in Bravely Default. I will guide you through this class and help you become a master fist fighter.
This guide will cover everything about Monk including:
- Unlocking Monk: How to unlock the job.
- Equipment guide: What they use, and the optimal equips
- Ability List: What level they get them.
- Cross Job Tips: Which jobs fit well with Monk.
- Special Moves: Which are best suited for Monk.
- Combat Tips: Being most effective in battle.
Unlocking Monk
You unlock Monk in the Prologue of the game. You unlock it after the Barras and Holly fight, shortly after Agnes joins your party. Check my Prologue Guide for more details.
Equipment Guide
Monks are a minimalist class. They have an E aptitude, the lowest, for all armor. They also have an E aptitude for every weapon except Staves and Knuckles. These are S, the highest.
Monks can attack without any weapons, and get a value of 2 times your level, added to your Physical Attack if you do this.
A heads up, late in the job, they get an ability that raises their attack by a lot when you have nothing on. This means no weapons, armor, or accessories. When you get this ability, you don’t need equipment of any kind.
Armor
- It is best to equip gear that raises Strength.
- Stick with what gives you the most Defense, but don’t take away from a job that benefits from it, such as Knight or Valkyrie.
- Accessories that nullify status effects that prevent you from attacking are good, or ones that raise HP.
Weapons
- Knuckles are the best weapons to equips.
- Staves are viable if you use Knight’s Two-Handed ability or Ninja’s dual-wield ability. This is only better if you have higher attack staves than Knuckles.
Ability List
All jobs have a Specialty, an ability they get just for being the job. Monks specialty is Knuckle Lore.
- Knuckle Lore raises Knuckle aptitude to S. Also, when you don’t have any weapons equipped, you get a value equal to 2 times your level added to physical attack.
Level 1
- Strong Strike – Deals double the damage of a normal attack, but has a 50% chance to miss.
- This attack is great when it hits, but hurts when you miss. If you don’t mind the chance go for it, otherwise it is best to stick with normal attacks.
Level 2
- Invigorate – Raises Physical Attack by 25% for two turns, but has a 25% chance to fail.
- Worth it if you are using a special move and maybe Strong Strike, but it is honestly just a waste of a turn.
Level 3
- Inner Alchemy – Cures yourself of poison, blind, silence, dread, and confuse.
- I find it odd that it cures yourself of confuse, when you can’t select anything if you get confused. Any way, a decent ability if you are low on items and don’t have anyone to cure status ailments.
Level 4
- HP 10% Up – This is a support ability that raises maximum HP by 10%.
- Good to have for Monk, especially when you aren’t equipping gear. Otherwise, there are better support abilities.
Level 5
- Knuckle Lore – This allows you to use Knuckle Lore as a support ability when you change jobs. I don’t think it is worth a slot.
Level 6
- Hidden Dragon – Attack at the end of the turn, but deal 1.25 times the damage of a normal attack.
Level 7
- Qigong Wave – Attack does 1.25 times damage and ignores defense granted from Default stance.
Level 8
- Blind Immunity – Support ability that gives immunity to Blind.
Level 9
- Physical Attack 10% Up – Support ability that raises Physical Attack by 10%.
Level 10
- HP 20% Up – Support ability that raises maximum HP by 20%.
Level 11
- Pressure Point – Ignores the target’s physical defense and does double the damage of a normal attack. Costs an extra BP to use.
Level 12
- HP 30% Up – Support ability that raises maximum HP by 30%.
Level 13
- Phoenix Flight – Reduces HP to 1 and does damage to a single target based on how much HP was lost.
Level 14
- Natural Talent – Doubles Physical Attack when you don’t equip anything.
Cross Job Tips
- Knight is good for their Two-Handed ability. It raises attack if you equip only one sword, axe, spear, staff, or katana.
- Ninja is good for their Dual-Wield ability. It raises attack when equipping a weapon in each hand.
Special Moves
Special Moves are unique attacks for each weapon. They all have certain conditions to fulfill before using them. They also do different things and grant an effect that lasts for a few turns.
Set Parts add bonus effects. You can customize these however you like. You unlock them by building and upgrading various Parts shops in Norende.
To unlock Special Moves, you must build the Special Move Shop in Norende. Keep upgrading to unlock other weapons or higher level special moves.
Knuckle
- Level 1 – Inflict critical damage 3 times to use.
- Moonbeam: Attack one target. This raises Physical Attack for all allies.
- Level 2 – Inflict critical damage 6 times to use.
- Ascendant Palm: Attack one target. This raises Hit Count for all allies.
- Level 3 – Inflict critical damage 9 times to use.
- Thunderburst – Attack one target with Lightning damage. Raises Physical Attack for all allies.
Staff
- Level 1 – Heal 10 times.
- Rejuvenation: Heals all allies and raises healing for all allies.
- Level 2 – Heal 20 times.
- Lux: Buff allies. Raises Speed of all allies.
- Level 3 – Heal 30 times.
- Divine light: Attack one target and slaying undead. Raises Magic Attack for all allies.
Combat Tips
Monks are all about hitting hard. They have high HP so they can take a few hits.
- Attack lower armored people if possible, but their high attack can still hit armored foes hard.
- Aim for increasing crit to have your special move available quicker.
Check my Master Guide List for other Jobs and misc. help.
