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Targeted Farming
Most people are familiar with this concept. Find an item or a mob and stalk all instances of it in a particular place. Popular examples, and ones that have worked for me, include:
-Beehive Chips around Windurst and Bastok
-Silk Thread in Sarutabaruta
-Ram Horns and Skins in Konschtat Highlands
-Boyahda Moss and Tree Clippings in Pashhow Marshlands and the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah
-Slime Oil in Korroloka Tunnel
-Gigas in Delkfutt's Tower (back when the gil drops meant good money, no longer viable)
The pros of this method are that you have a very easy barometer to mark your progress by, e.g., just 5 more Moss to complete this stack. It makes it easy to plan how much you need to get done to reach a goal. On the flip side, it can get quite frustrating when you're trying to get that last drop. Also, due to the anti-gil-seller rules, you have to zone every hour or two or your drop rate goes straight to hell.
Kill Everything
This is my preferred method of generalized farming. I slaughter anything that moves. In general, I will target mobs with drops that are actually worth something, but any mob can be a source of income. For example, while doing some Harvesting in Giddeus (which netted me several hundred thousand gil for virtually no effort), I killed Yagudo. I could have killed bees, but the Clothcraft ingredients I was harvesting were taking up too much room and I wanted to retain them.
NM Camping
There are two ways to camp an NM: the desperate way and the smart way.
The desperate way involves gambling your fortune and happiness on not only getting the claim on a heavily camped NM (e.g. Hoo Mjuu the Torrent, Valkurm Emperor, Mee Deggi the Punisher) but also getting the somewhat rare drop. Patient people have made a lot of money for themselves by camping daily, unlucky people have nearly lost their minds. I don't recommend NM camping of the desperate sort.
The smart way to camp an NM is to camp everything around it, too. I'll use Giddeus as an example. Bring some Sickles and Harvest, set a timer for the respawn of the placeholder, and kill the local mobs for gil-drops, armor drops, Beastcoins, Beehive Chips, and what have you. Even if the NM spawns and you get the claim and the drop, you'll still have made money while you were waiting. I have a personal favorite that can potentially net me several million for a few hours of camping, but guarantees at least a few hundred thousand. Is 400k as satisfying as 3 million? No, but it's a lot better than spending six hours only to watch the NM you've been stalking get claimed by someone else and, in the end, you have nothing to show for it by frustration.
Crafting
Not for the faint of heart, crafting requires capital, dedication, research, and cleverness. With a relatively inexpensive craft like Cooking or Alchemy, you can build up capital and learn the ins and outs of using the market to graduate onto a more expensive, but more profitable, craft, such as Smithing, Clothcraft, or Goldsmithing. I'm not a crafting expert, so I won't delve into this too far.
Synthesis Farming
Suppose you have Alchemy skill but not sufficient skill to create a sustainable income from it? Farm smart by killing Bees and transmuting the Beehive Chips yourself for greater profit and utility. I am a bit of a novice Clothcrafter and I farm Manticore Hair to process into Kaginawa for ease of sale and increased profits. Getting cloth armor drops worth relatively little on the AH or at vendor, I can desynth into materials and either sell those or craft them into something more profitable. Taking Kyahan from Yagudo and making them into a Kenpogi +1 is very satisfying.
BCNM and ENM
Don't let Seals collect dust the way that I do, use them. If you solo on EP+ mobs, you'll have a lot of these. They are a gold mine. ENMs are even better, since you can do them without needing to collect X number of Seals first. Make friends and mutually benefit, target battles that will net greater profits than the same-old-same-old. Everyone does Steamed Sprouts or the Worm's Turn, you can make a fortune from doing the BCNMs for RSE2. Again, it's a matter of being prudent about it.
Gardening and Other Methods
Back when I had more playtime, I spent a lot of time using my mules to garden and screw with the AH. It wasn't always the most reliable method, but it did make me several million and bought my Scorpion Harness, among other things. Remarkably, these almost require more dedication than other pursuits, especially gardening, as you need to check in at certain times. I made money as a newbie by selling scrolls from the magic shop on the AH, take advantage of others' stupidity. Buy low, sell high, pocket the profit and smile.
Why Monk farms so well:
We have an advantage over other jobs. High HP and VIT, Counterattack, Chakra, and buffs without negative side effects make Monk one of the most adept solo'ing, and thus farming, jobs in the game. There is no reason not to go out and exercise the fists a little, get some Guard skillups, and hone your timing on job abilities and their uses. Here's a breakdown of the three major support jobs one would use while out farming:
/Thief: Certainly the most obvious choice. Evasion Bonus, Gilfinder, and Treasure Hunter are integral to hunting things that are significantly lower in level. The downfall of this is that it doesn't offer terribly much in the way of survivability when fighting mobs closer to one's level. About the highest I'm willing to farm at level 75 with Thief sub is a level 60 mob, but certainly no NMs of that level. Mug and Steal are nice, Flee provides a good emergency move as well as a rapid means of getting to where you need to be. All in all, the most utilitarian sub one can have. Best used when farming for common items, Treasure Hunter I has a minimal impact on rare items and NM drops.
/Warrior: Before level 30 or when in need of Provoke, this is a good sub to pack. Don't fall into the trap that farming necessarily requires Treasure Hunter, if you're choosing to camp an NM like Leaping Lizzy, you're better off being able to make the claim than gambling to get the drop.
/Ninja: My personal favorite, with even Utsusemi: Ichi, you can fight things significantly more difficult than you would normally be able to face with other subs. With Evasion gear and Utsusemi: Ni, you have the ability to perform such feats as solo'ing Serket and other less HNMs. Some would argue that the lack of Treasure Hunter means you'll be wasting your time. My collection of Rare/Ex items and my record on Siren's Hair drops would like to say otherwise.
What to Wear
Focus primarily on sustainability. Evasion, Counter, VIT, and AGI are your best friends when fighting low level mobs. Middle level mobs would certainly benefit from some extra STR and Attack to increase the kill speed. Good options in the middle levels include things like Aikido Gi, Earth/Gaia Doublet, Royal Knight's Aketon, Avenger's Earrings, Dodge Earrings, and Combat Caster's Slacks. Garden Bangles are a nice addition later on for both the Regen effect and the HP and VIT. If you're fighting particularly tough mobs, don't be shy about using some food to increase your stats. Navarin is a good choice for a minor melee boost and some added Evasion, basic tank food like Fish Mithkabobs will work well, too.
Use Your Time Wisely
Let's be honst, Monks are not going to be instantly invited to parties through their careers. There have been times I've gotten an invite just as I logged on and times I've spent hours sitting in my Mog House while mostly AFK reading. If you have time to log in and do nothing, spend that time farming or crafting or playing the AH. It's very easy to put "HP: Jeuno
I welcome other additions to this list, as well as refinements on what I've mentioned. These are just general ideas that, basically, boil down to spending 5 minutes thinking instead of 5 hours doing. Remember, too, you don't have to make money alone. Get a static group and farm Phomiuna Aqueducts for Balloon Cloth and Shakudo Ingots, for example. There's no reason for any player not to have a relatively ready amount of gil at hand. No one expects every player to have a Peacock Charm, but it doesn't hurt to better oneself. Finally, don't be afraid to invest in your future earning potential. I sold my ninjutsu and teleport scrolls knowing full well I'd need them later. Why sell them? Because I could make the money back at a higher level with greater ease than I could as a level 30.
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