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Being the newest class to be introduced
to World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Monks are without a doubt
the hot new item in the game. Everyone and their brother seems to
want to delve into the world of their inner Kung Fu and roll a Monk.
However, while most players seem to ultimately love their high level
Monks, at lower levels the Monk class in Mists of Pandaria could be
said to be little less than exciting.

I'll be the first to say when I finally
got to create my own Monk I was, like many other players, as happy as
a kid in a candy store. I begin to level at a rather fast pace with
high hopes, however, while I enjoyed the new setting (I chose to roll
a Pandaren Monk), I could not help but feel like something was
missing along the way.

Leveling Abilities? What Leveling
Abilities?

The first glaring hole players will
likely notice during the early levels of Monk leveling is the lack of
abilities. At first all seems pretty standard as far as new
characters go in World of Warcraft. As per usual with any new toon,
Monks start out with one basic ability at level one; Jab. Jab builds
Chi and can easily lay out any enemies you meet at this point.

Then at level 3 your Monk will gain the
Tiger Palm ability. Tiger palm allows you to use the Chi you gain
from Jab and also gives you a little variety in the mix. Things
continue to look up at level 5 as you , one of the most epic
abilities in game, Roll.

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After Roll (which is a pretty hard act
to follow), comes Blackout Kick. After this the Monk abilities that
you end up using in your normal damage rotation pretty much dry up.
Kaput. Done.

Even after you choose your talent spec
at level 10, there is a distinct lack of major game changing
abilities for the Monk. Basically, you will be stuck using the same
basic abilities over and over again until you hit at least level 20.
This of course can easily make many players very sad pandas pretty
quickly.

alt="Panda Crying" />

However, there is a shining light at
the end of the tunnel. The Monk class redeems itself entirely at
higher levels, the question is, will most players make it that far?

Moving On Up

Around level 20 things significantly
improve for the Monk, no matter which spec you have chosen things
just get more exciting. More abilities become available to add to
your rotation and as you progress further up the leveling tree.
Overall the whole Monk experience gets more exciting, and we can look
forward to cool new abilities like Touch of Death and Spinning Crane
Kick.

alt="Spinning Crane Kick" />

The problem here is that most players
aren't willing to stick with the class, or the game, long enough to
see the awesomeness that the Monk class has in store for them. While
I am willing to work past the initial slowness of the first few
levels, many players are not. In fact according to Blizzard reports,
most new players give up on a character or the game in general well
before level 10.

The Monk has a ton of potential,
however, the lack of abilities available at lower-levels can be a big
turn off for players who are looking for a class with a little more
excitement. None of us expect ability after ability to be thrown at
us as we level up, that would just end up being downright confusing.
However, I do think in order to appeal to more players, especially
those new to the game, the Monk could stand to have a few more
abilities thrown into the mix during lower levels.

While my leveling experience wasn't
totally bad, and I plan on continuing to level and play my Monk, I
still can't decide how I feel about my early leveling experience.
Have you leveled a Monk? What are your thoughts on the early leveling
experience? Should there be more abilities available at lower levels?
Share your thoughts and opinions with us in the comment section
below!


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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