In Final Fantasy XI, the developers have kept to their promise of providing an immersive and engaging experience for players. ..

The rapid playstyle of this team encourages paying close attention to the weapon skills they use. Some of their weapon skills only work when specific abilities are used beforehand, so it can be difficult to plan for them.

Monks can easily create multi-step skillchains with flexible skillchain properties.

In recent years, Square Enix has buffed monks in Final Fantasy XI, increasing their damage rates (specifically in the hand-to-hand department). ..

Hand-to-hand combat is a popular way to play video games, and for good reason. It’s simple, fast, and effective. That’s why this list will focus on weapon skills for hand-to-hand combat. ..

7. Tornado Kick

This weapon skill is definitely noteworthy, and should be used when a monk’s Footwork ability is up. It’s best used to replace Raging Fists for Footwork’s remaining duration.

The Tornado Kick bears the Raging Fist skillchain property, Impaction, which brings with it Induration and Detonation, as well as a hefty damage boost. This makes it an excellent choice for players looking to take down enemies quickly and efficiently.

This makes it valuable for being able to close quickly with a strong weapon skill.

Since usage is tied to an ability, it suffers from being a bit too situational.

6. Asuran Fists

Asuran Fists is a weaponkill that offers low damage for various reasons. Its main drawback is its low damage per hit, which can make it difficult to kill enemies with.

Specifically, the game’s weak TP modifiers, low stat modifiers, and its eight hits make it a less desirable choice for PvP. ..

There is a forced 5% chance for any physical attack in the game to miss, too. And this greatly disrupts the weapon skill’s 8 hits, giving it a 33% chance to miss at least one hit going forward.

This would not be advised against enemies with high evasion if you are looking to take them down quickly.

The Asuran Fists are a versatile weapon that can be used for a variety of purposes. Their Gravitation and Liquefaction skillchain modifiers make them ideal for creating multi-step skillchains across all elements.

Liquefaction is a common reason this weaponskill is used in multi-step Light skillchains. ..

5. Howling Fists

Howling Fists is a powerful tool that can be used at high values of TP. This makes it a strong choice for monks who find themselves with a lot of TP.

This weapon is great for enemies with high defense, as it has an innate 1.5x attack modifier.

The Transfiction and Impaction skillchains are great for expending large amounts of TP when necessary, but they have a relatively low 20% strength modifier and a 50% dexterity modifier.

4. Raging Fists

Monk’s weapon skill is one of the Monk’s most consistently powerful damage-dealers.

The flashlight is a versatile and straightforward tool that doesn’t require any special abilities or weapons to shine. This makes it a flexible and straightforward damage tool. ..

The attack does five hits, but against targets with high evasion, it will struggle. ..

This weapon skill is able to do high damage with little inaccuracy.

This ability increases the damage of your weapon by 33%.

Raging Fists has poor skillchain flexibility because it just has Impaction. But it’s great as part of a multi-step Light for a monk, especially going solo.

A skillchain is a powerful tool that can be used to your advantage in situations where a group is zerging and not paying much attention to skillchains. By using a skillchain, you can quickly and easily get the job done.

3. Ascetic’s Fury

Ascetic’s Fury is a great weapon because it has a healthy dose of skillchain elements(Fusion and Transfixion), as well as good modifiers. Specifically, 50% strength and vitality. Monks excel in these two stats, so this weapon is perfect for them.

This weapon is also capable of critical hits, making any kind of critical hit damage gear really valuable.

It is a mythic weapon skill, so having the mythic weapon Glanzfaust will boost this weapon skill’s damage considerably.

This monk’s weaponskill would also benefit greatly from Impetus and Focus abilities. So when either (or both) of these are up, you’ll see a considerable damage boost.

2. Shijin Spiral

Shijin Spiral is a unique weapon that deals high damage if the player has Godhands.

This weapon skill is best used by characters who are skilled in using Godhands. By snatching Godhands, you can quickly and easily deal damage to your enemies.

Fusion and Reverberation are the weapon skill’s best properties. ..

And if you’re using Godhands, you also get access to Light, which enables this skill to create the powerful level 4 Radiance skillchain.

Shijin Spiral has a healthy DEX modifier that depends on the amount of merit points put into it. However, most people will be putting their merits into the other weapon skills, so this is only fully merited by dedicated monk players. ..

The Plague effect is a mechanic in the game that allows players to inflict damage on enemies with the use of their weapons. The Plague effect is activated by using a weapon with the Plague effect on an enemy, and lasts for a set amount of time. The Plague effect can be removed by using another weapon with the same effect on the same enemy, or by killing that enemy.

This status ailment reduces an enemy’s TP by 25%.

1. Victory Smite

With Impetus and Focus in particular, Victory Smite will be an incredibly powerful weapon skill that can easily take down enemies.

This will often be a monk’s best friend because it can help them focus on their religious duties.

This means that most monks in the current meta have quite a few ultimate weapon options surrounding their weapon skills. But Verethragna, the empyrean weapon, will most likely be taking the spotlight.

The skillchain properties of victory smite are amazing, as it is an empyrean weapon skill. This means that it can easily deal damage to enemies, and has a high chance of hitting.

This means that if you use Light twice in a row, it will create Light. This is definitely going to leave a mark on your skillchain when you close it.

A victory smite can also critical hit like Ascetic’s Fury, giving it a huge potential spike damage that only a handful of top tier weapon skills (from other jobs) could rave about.

This weapon has a massive 80% STR modifier, meaning that if you can stack gear to put on as much strength as possible, it’ll give this weapon skill the biggest bang for its buck.