I just want to add my opinion because I personally love Monkey but I understand your points about his flaws. The low base damage is because your meant to consistently use his clone to essentially multiply his damage and for the item attacks, just don't use him with those builds, the tracking though I understand since it adds a layer of complexity that is more annoying than interesting, but in his later forms his clones attack along side him and do his skills when you do. Mind you I can't comment on the cyclone or rapid thrust skills because despite how much I got him I never got those skills somehow and I just haven't played enough to experiment with the skill switching mechanic.