Monk Weapon Chart

A Monk's unarmed damage uses a separate formula to determine damage than an armed Monk, and gets double the usual number of attacks per round. As a result, the decision whether to arm a Monk differs depending on his level and the defense of the Monster faced. This chart tells you at what Monster defense values various Weapons are superior to unarmed fighting for the Monk. It takes into account damage per hit and critical hit rate, but does not take into account Weapon accuracy. Strength is based on the approximate average strength for a Monk of a given level.

Note that the only weapon a Monk can use that adds to accuracy is the Masamune, and the accuracy increase is very large. The extra hits granted by its accuracy bonus are counted, but the per-hit accuracy is not taken into account by this chart. Nonetheless, at level 30 and above, a Monk generally deals the most damage while unarmed.

Defense Ratings at Which Weapons are Superior to Unarmed Attacks for the Monk
Level Strength Accuracy Hits Staff Nunchaku Power Staff Crosier Iron Nunchaku Masamune
1 5 5 1 0–12 0–22 0–255 0–29 0–32 0–255
2 6 8 1 0–14 0–24 0–255 0–31 0–34 0–255
3 6 11 1 4–14 0–24 0–255 0–31 0–34 0–255
4 7 14 1 14 1–24 0–255 0–31 0–34 0–255
5 8 17 1 - 7–22 5–27 3–27 0–31 0–255
6 8 20 1 - 13–22 11–27 9–27 6–31 0–255
7 9 23 1 - - 19–27 15–27 12–31 0–255
8 9 26 1 - - - - 20, 22–24, 26–27, 30–31 0–255
9 10 29 1 - - - - - 0–255
10 11 32 2 - - - - - 0–255
11 11 35 2 - - - - - 0–255
12 12 38 2 - - - - - 0–255
13 13 41 2 - - - - - 0–255
14 13 44 2 - - - - - 0–255
15 14 47 2 - - - - - 0–255
16 14 50 2 - - - - - 0–255
17 15 53 2 - - - - - 0–255
18 16 56 2 - - - - - 0–255
19 16 59 2 - - - - - 0–255
20 17 62 2 - - - - - 0–255
21 18 65 3 - - - - - 0–119
22 18 68 3 - - - - - 5–114
23 19 71 3 - - - - - 17–108
24 19 74 3 - - - - - 29–105
25 20 77 3 - - - - - 37–103
26 21 80 3 - - - - - 0–110
27 21 83 3 - - - - - 7–107
28 22 86 3 - - - - - 21–107
29 23 89 3 - - - - - 45–97, 99, 103
30 23 92 3 - - - - - -