Bravely Default 2: Monk Guide

With so many interesting Jobs to choose from in Bravely Default 2, Monk could easily be one the most obvious choices for the challenges faced in early game, up to half-way through this old-school RPG. Masters of the fist, they can literally battle their way through hordes of enemies, just by using their bare fists. With no heavy weapon Investment needed, and with hard hitting skills that ignore armor, a Monk can penetrate anyone’s defense with ease. Below in this guide, we will be taking a further look into Monk’s traits and more.

Monk guide and overview

Just like the Vanguard, the Monk Asterisk is obtained very early into the game, before Chapter 1 even begins. The moment you get your hands to it and put Monk to use, you immediately notice how much of a damage dealer this Job can be, without even any weapons to boot. His Bare-Knuckle Brawler Passive is all he needs in order to start dishing out big numbers of damage, letting room to experiment with various armors and accessories.

Monk Abilities

1. Strong Strike: Perform a physical attack on a target that deals heavy damage, but has a slightly reduced chance of landing – 18% HP cost
2. Inner Alchemy: Restore 20% of the user’s HP and cure poison, blindness, and slow – 20 MP cost
3. Bare-Knuckle Brawler: Boosts user and equipment’s physical attack by 80% and aim by 30% when both hands are empty – Passive/ 1 Slot
4. Firebird: Perform a fire-imbued physical attack on a target. Target’s resistance to fire is reduced for two turns – 15% HP cost
5. Qigong Wave: Perform a physical attack that can penetrate a target’s Default defense – 20% HP cost
6. Mindfulness: Restore 15% of the user’s MP and cure silence, dread, and contagion – 1 BP cost
7. Flying Heel Drop: Perform a powerful physical attack on a target – 30% HP cost
8. Invigorate: Boost the user’s physical attack by 15% for three turns. Stats cannot be increased beyond 200% of their base value – 20 MP cost
9. Tortoise Kick: Perform a physical attack on a target and delay their next turn – 10% HP cost
10. Flames of War: Perform an extremely powerful fire-imbued physical attack on a target – 35% HP cost
11. Pressure Point: Perform a physical attack that can penetrate a target’s Default defense – 1 BP cost
12. Focal Blast: Perform an incredibly powerful physical attack on a target which will also reduce a random stat by 20% for four turns. Stats cannot be reduced below 65% of their base value – 99 MP cost
13. Natural Talent: Boosts physical attack and aim by 200% when no weapons, armor or accessories are equipped – Passive/ 2 Slots
14. Phoenix Flight: Reduce the user’s HP to one, and deal the amount of HP lost as damage to a target twice – 2 BP cost
15. Maximise HP: Doubles maximum HP during battle. This can enable HP to exceed 9999 – Passive/ 1 Slot

Monk Specialities

• Speciality I: Concentration – Causes critical chance to increase every time Invigorate, Inner Alchemy or Mindfulness is used. The effect lasts for the duration of the current battle.
• Speciality II: Single-Minded – Prevents berserk, confusion and charming. Using Martial Arts abilities or Default causes the next turn to come around more quickly.

Monk Weapon Affinity

• Swords: E
• Daggers: D
• Axes: D
• Spears: B
• Bows: E
• Staff: A
• Shields: E

Monk Overview

Right away, you notice that most of Monk’s abilities need HP instead of MP. While this may seem as a drawback at first, it really isn’t. Monks compensate for this loss of HP with extremely powerful attacks, that can even bypass enemy armor. With their second Speciality unlocked, their turn can come much quicker than before, which can be utilized by either healing themselves with a support type sub-job equipped, or use their own abilities to buff themselves and cause even more damage as time goes on.

Monk’s signature ability and trademark characteristic, is their bare-first combat. They have two different passive abilities that enhance their unarmed combat, which means you don’t even need any gear to make this Job able to deal a lot of damage. I personally am a person who likes seeing characters with awesome-looking gear, therefore I didn’t really mess around with this specific play style. That said, this unarmed method of fighting is very efficient, so don’t let the fact of not having any weapon equipped, take you away from trying it. The damage output is so high, that you would be missing a lot by not utilizing the Monk the way he is supposed to be used.

Outside of pure damage, Monks don’t really have much to offer in the team. That works well though, so I don’t think someone would ask something else from them. They even have a very nice passive ability, which lets you bypass the 9999 HP cap your characters have, that is mostly used for post-game where you will be able to actually reach and surpass that amount. Jobs that further enhance Monk’s damage are more than welcome to have them equipped alongside it, but don’t hesitate to experiment with some more support-like Jobs. The game even mentions it in the tutorial menu, that Monks can actually act as good healers, if someone wanted to. Their A affinity with Staffs supports this fact, so go for it if you want a more fast paced healer in your team.

Monks are simple beings, with their fists doing all the work needed for them. You want a fast, high damage Job, that is easy to pick up and play with you? A Monk is the ideal choice. Bards on the other hand, who we are going to take a look at in our next guide, are the best at doing 0 damage to the enemy but making your team the strongest possible. Ironically, great partners for Monks!

Bravely default 2 is exclusively available on the Nintendo Switch.