Classic DPS - Monk & Mage

I promise this is not one of those, which class should I roll questions. I am simply curious whether Mage or Monk would be the best DPS in classic on Mischief. Mage, in my experience, has always been OP in this era. Monks lack of accessible gear (magic hands even) can affect their DPS and survivability greatly in classic. Mages on the other hand, can typically nuke down 3-4 mobs effortlessly given a full mana bar. Considering gear may be easier to come by on mischief, who do people feel will be the best DPS in an otherwise well rounded group (not solo) in classic?

Monk

Monk

Everyone will have a different opinion, but IMO mages are going to slightly outrank the monk until about level 40. IIRC, around that point, monk fist ratios are really strong, and their dps really ratchets up to the next level.
Until that point, the zero downtime of the mage pet (along with nukes) will be marginally better than the monk. Then again, the monk can pull much more efficiently. Tbh, you can't go wrong with either.

For what it's worth, my personal optimal group comp looks like this in classic: Mage x2, Ench x2, Monk x1, Cleric x1.

Magic hands are pretty easy to get by the time they're needed so that's not really an issue. That being said, Mage is pretty easy especially in a group so it definitely wins on dps vs. effort.

I played a mage in one of the TLP servers. I would say if you pick monk, you are probably going to be pulling. Mage is a more relaxed game style. Where you sic your pet and then nuke. It's up to you.

Mage is really strong early on, and then starts a long downward spiral lol. Monk, just keeps getting stronger. Not sure what level monks start to out DPS mage pets...would be interesting to test. I'd guess in the 30s or so. Given how much easier it will be to gear a character on this server though, long run, monk by a mile.

If you're just interested in the group game, mage is one of the laziest classes you can play. Even if you aren't pulling on a monk, you always have to keep positioning every fight. So...if you like watching netflix, and hitting your /assist pet attack hot key, mage is the king of 'carry me to max level' characters.

The other thing about monk is, they are never bad, in any setting. Raid, group, solo, there is never an expansion where monk sucks in any of those.

Also raiding as a mage kind of sucks until LDoN since MOTM transfer all pet aggro the caster making it very easy to get yourself killed.

Monks are stupid DPS and easy to gear up in classic. They embarrass a lot of other people just by hitting autoattack. If they pay attention to positioning, discs, and gearing, its even more pronounced.

In Classic Mage pets do more damage then Monks do period.

It's comically how delusional the "Monk fanclub" on the forums is.

Mage Pets do more damage than Monks in what scenarios? Or is your "period" meant to imply all 4 flavors of mage pet out dps monks alone across all levels in classic.

I bet the correct answer to this is "p99"

level 2 to 50. Then at 50 it remains better then a monk on everything that doesn't have MoTM. Only on MoTM mobs and only with Sky fist do monks do more DPS and only because pets don't get damage bonuses and Monk primary does. Even then the Mage+pet will still dunk on the Monk whenever he can land spells which is everything besides Naggy and the second half of plane of sky.

I don't know why the boards think monks are the "god" dps class. Monks are rarely the best of the best. The thing monks have going for them is they're never bad.

This can't be overstated. Monks are consistently good in all content in every expansion, and it is absolutely fair to say that monks benefit disproportionately from the way TLP doesn't reflect actual classic mechanics (monk damage tables skew high over the monk's entire life in classic). Sometimes they top the parses; sometimes they don't, but unlike mages who have real valleys along with their hills, monks are never bad.

More generally, monks are much more active. Playing a mage without a box can get pretty dull--great if you want to socialize or watch tv, but not the most engaging class. Mages are also somewhat interchangeable with other straight DPS classes; they do one thing, and they do it reasonably well, but it's a thing almost anyone can do. Monks, by contrast, are both more active on a regular basis (since you should plan to be pulling), and they can do something few people can do in classic--split camps, pull, and perhaps most importantly, somewhat reliably reset bad pulls without biting it.

Rogue, fam.

Rogue with a Gnoll Hide Lariat and a Dragoon Dirk can solo anything in the game after level 25.

This is the correct answer.

In any group content, ESPECIALLY leveling, mage is going to be far superior.

Monks will do better on raid content because MOTM and resists screw over mages really hard