Monk (Final Fantasy V)

Masters of hand-to-hand combat who intuitively counterattack.
Description

The Monk is a job in Final Fantasy V obtained after the Wind Crystal shatters. It is the strongest of the light armor-wearing jobs, possessing the highest Stamina modifier, and is tied with the Gladiator for highest Strength, making mastery of Monk important for using Freelancer and Mime late game.

Monks are among the cheapest jobs to buy for, as they do not have a need to equip weapons or many armor pieces. The downside is that Monks lack in Defense, but make up for this with high HP.

Mastering the Monk job on all characters in the mobile and Steam versions earns the player the achievement "Don't Think, Feel!", the name being a a reference to martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.

Profile[edit | edit source]

The Monk class gives party members more unique clothes than other jobs with a Far Eastern flair. Bartz wears a headband, a green vest and pink trousers. Lenna wears a red dress similar to a Chinese qipao and wears her hair in the odango fashion, similar to Ursula's in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Faris wears a white gi with red outlines, while Galuf goes shirtless while wearing a red belt and black trousers. Krile wears a red dress similar to Lenna's, but also with white pants and a bow in her hair.

The Monk, the White Mage and the Oracle are the only jobs that cannot equip knives, as there is no "Equip Knives" ability. The only knife they can use is the Man-Eater if they first equip the "Equip Ribbons" ability gained from the Dancer.

Abilities[edit | edit source]

The monk's job command launches a flying kick at all enemies for minor damage. In the mobile version, it deals full damage to and from back row. This is the only job command in the game that cannot be learned by leveling up the job, and thus can only be used as a Monk, or as another job mimicking it. If the Monk is attacked physically, Counter will cause the monk to attack the attacking enemy back. Barehanded is the monk's trademark ability, allowing a unit to have high attack power while not having anything equipped.

Focus removes any random spellcasting and special abilities of weapons. Any weapons that deal damage based on Magic, such as rods and the Blood Sword, do not get damage boosts from using Focus. Spellblade effects as well as critical hits (this also includes MP-based criticals) still work as normal. Barehanded gives the equipper base Freelancer Strength + 26. Chakra has a base spell power of 30. Counter has a 50% chance of activating, and will never activate special commands, such as the abilities of the Thief Knife or Chicken Knife, and the Twin Lance will only hit once rather than twice.

Upon mastering the job, the Freelancer and Mime will gain the Monk's base Strength and Stamina (as they are the maximum Strength and Stamina stat possible), as well as having innate Counter without having to equip it. They will also gain the Monk's base Agility unless they already have a higher bonus from another mastered job.

Level-up abilities[edit | edit source]

The Monk's job command, Kick, cannot be used by other jobs, but its innate support abilities, Barehanded and Counter, can be equipped on the character's other jobs after leveling up as a Monk.

Level 1 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	Focus
Advance Name	Focus
Anthology Name	Store
AP Required	15
Type	Command
Innate	N
Description	Focus energies for a hit with twice the attack power.
Information	For its first turn, the monk will stand there, gathering power. When it has gathered enough, it will attack the enemy, with twice as much power as usual.

Level 2 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	Barehanded
Advance Name	Barehanded
Anthology Name	Barefist
AP Required	30
Type	Support
Innate	Y
Description	Gain the same attack power as monks when unarmed.
Information	Allows for any job to fight with the same attack power as a monk, after removing all equipped weapons.

Level 3 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	Chakra
Advance Name	Chakra
Anthology Name	Chkra
AP Required	45
Type	Command
Innate	N
Description	Healing energies recover HP and cleanse the body of poison and darkness.
Information	Heals the users HP and cannot target any other character. Also, it heals Poison and Darkness.

Level 4 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	Counter
Advance Name	Counter
Anthology Name	Counter
AP Required	60
Type	Support
Innate	Y
Description	Automatically counter when hit.
Information	Allows other jobs to counterattack whenever hit with a physical attack.

Level 5 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	HP +10%
Advance Name	HP +10%
Anthology Name	HP 10%
AP Required	100
Type	Support
Innate	N
Description	Increase maximum HP by 10%.
Information	Increases the character's Max HP by 10%.

Level 6 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	HP +20%
Advance Name	HP +20%
Anthology Name	HP 20%
AP Required	150
Type	Support
Innate	N
Description	Increase maximum HP by 20%.
Information	Increases the character's Max HP by 20%.

Level 7 Ability
Mobile/PC Name	HP +30%
Advance Name	HP +30%
Anthology Name	HP 30%
AP Required	300
Type	Support
Innate	N
Description	Increase maximum HP by 30%.
Information	Increases the character's Max HP by 30%.