I don't remember monks being able to tank 20+ years ago.

[WokeCat]

I was one of the first high level monks on my server, and I remember having people message me shocked at how hard my monk would punch during Plane of Hate raids because no one really mained monks back then, and I was the first high level one they had seen and there was a lot of speculation for how much damage the class could do at higher levels.

But I never felt like my monk could tank in groups, and I don't think it's because my gear was bad or anything. This was the era of "AC is king" so I wore the Gator Scale leggings, Azure sleeves, Froglok crown etc. over planar gear and stuff. Like I for sure had an easier time solo'ing than my Rogue did, but when I was in a group, I was never able to effectively tank as my Monk.

I ultimately ended up quitting my Monk for my Rogue because it felt like in groups they were both relegated to just being melee DPS, and that my Rogue did better DPS, and that he could actually carry loot.

I also remember when they finally nerfed Monk tankiness, a lot of my Monk friends were happy because they simultaneously buffed their damage, which was essentially their main role anyways.

Because of all this, I really feel like Monks on P99 are tankier than they were 20+ years ago. When I first played on P99, I leveled an untwinked Gnome Cleric on Green, fairly early into the server's life, and there was a serious lack of tanks, so I ended up having a Monk named Bebquix who I met in Crushbone, almost exclusively tank for my groups all the way until level 50.

This monk was wearing cloth armor, and was not a twink, and yet I had no problem healing them all the way through Unrest, Mistmoore, Lower Guk, Sol B, Cazic Thule etc. and I don't think that would have gone similarly back in the day -- even if they were twinked, which they were not.

I'm not complaining, or asking for Monks to be nerfed. I look forward to twinking one in the near future and enjoying their uncanny ability to solo when equipped properly, but I don't think their tankiness is how Monks really were 20+ years ago and wonder if anyone else feels the same way?

Obviously I could be wrong about this. They nerfed Monks mitigation for a reason I'm sure, but I remember having to regularly feign death to stay alive in my groups because of how squishy I was.