Quote Originally Posted by ZoriaRPG View Post
Emphasis, mine.

You should play them to very high levels. They stop needing equipment, and you put them into bare hands for attacking, where they do more damage than any other class.
Yes, they can do heavy physical damage but beyond that there's not much they can do. I have completed the first game with a Monk (upgraded to Master) at around level 80 and still didn't find him especially useful. Some would argue that it's the thief that is useless but I disagree. After upgrading to Ninja,he becomes stronger and also gains access to some basic magic spells--something the Monk/Master can never do.