LeSpriter |
While punch for punch (excuse the pun) the Monk may seem superior in terms of raw damage output and potentially survivability (I haven't crunched the numbers myself), the niche of the Brawler is its sheer versatility that it gets from being able to juggle feats around.
If a Monk is attacked by flying foes, it has no class skills to help it out; a Brawler can use its class skill to get Death From Below, or Wingclipper etc.
A Monk in magical darkness has no class skills to help itself out; a Brawler can use its class skill to get the Blindfight feat tree
A powerful wizard attacks, you get Spellbreaker, Disruptive etc.
Know that an enemy is weak to cold/fire? Time for elemental fist and Marid/Efreeti Style!
Fighting a giant? Earth Child Style!
These are just situations I'm pulling off the top of my head - the list goes on. Now, of course, a Monk could choose to take these feats as part of its feats every odd level, but my point is that suddenly all of those feats that seem incredibly situational and so few people take them are suddenly available to create an immensely specialised character to neutralise or counter the challenge they face.
Playing a Brawler effectively does require very good knowledge of all of the combat feats available, but experienced players would be able to create incredibly powerful combinations to overcome most obstacles that a more well-rounded character would struggle with.
Just my two cents, feel free to disagree!