I actually think the extra skills for the barbarian buff the class exactly where it needs it: in role play. The barbarian is always amazing in battle, but giving the class extra skills gives you more incentive to do things other than "I hit this thing" outside of combat. It encourages more creative solutions especially to inexperienced players
I have never seen complicated mechanics explained through the medium of hot wings and I love it! Lol. Now I want to make a monk and call it the “Way of the Hot Ones” that calls their stunning strike the last dab.
Don't let your dreams be dreams! Flavour is unstoppable!
3 года назад+2
@internetsideshow RAW, there's no difference whatsoever in AC between a padded, winter mountain climbing set and being naked, so anyone with unarmoured defense can definitely fight in lingerie.
Monk: "Honey barbecue fist!" Kobold: "Wait, what did you just-" *explodes into chicken wings* Monk, taking a bite: "Now that's what I call... a sticky situation."
About the Thrown Weapon Fighting style. There is quite often a much overlooked rule in D&D, especially when it comes to thrown weapons and even duel wielding. That being the "Object Interaction" rule. Where in a creature can interact with a single object (opening a door, pulling a lever, flipping a switch or even drawing and readying a single weapon). The first interaction is free, a second interaction (which includes drawing a second weapon) takes your action. This is why the Dual Wielder Feat and in turn, the Thrown Weapon Fighting style state that you can now draw more then one. Ex: Without the Thrown Weapon Fighting style, a Fighter, regardless of how many Extra Attacks they have, could only draw and throw a single (or two with the Duel Wielder Feat) thrown weapon. They then have to either forgo the rest of there Extra Attacks, or charge in and attack with there melee weapon if they still have one readied. With the Thrown Weapon Fighting style however, the Fighter can now be a master knife thrower, or axe thrower, javelin/spear thrower or just all round master thrower. Hm, now if only they'd bring back some iteration of the Throw Anything Feat.
This might also be a way to get around the problem of soulknife rogues not being able to sneak attack on opportunity attacks. You'll generally want to have both hands free so you can attack twice with psychic blades, which means your opportunity attack has to be with a bare fist, which is ineligible for sneak attack. If you take a feat to gain the thrown weapon fighting style, you can draw a dagger (which has the thrown property) as part of the opportunity attack, then make a melee attack with it. You don't get the +2 damage, but that's negligible compared to sneak attack. Of course, a lot of DM's might rule that you can do this anyway, or even let you summon a psychic blade for your opportunity attack. But if your DM doesn't, it might be worth a feat.
@@toddhadley9002 Yeah, could help with that, and also as an opening/surprise sneak attack before combat starts as you whip out and stab someone with a dagger, or fling it at them in the same opening attack action.
About drawing the thrown weapon as part of your attack: you can already do that with your free object interaction, but you only get one free object interaction per turn, so the fighting style allows you to draw the weapon, throw it, and use your free object interaction to draw your melee weapon/shield/arcane focus or whatever you want to be holding.
You can draw and throw as part of the attack not attack action, so you can draw and throw up to the amount of attacks you have instead of having to take dual wielder to draw and throw two weapons when your fighter has the option of throwing up to 10 daggers in a turn in theory (Samurai, level 20, two weapon fighting, with action surge, and advantage from another source)
Yup, drawing your weapon uses your free object interaction. From the PHb [under Use an Object] "You normally interact with an object while doing something else, such as when you draw a sword as part of an attack." So you can only draw and throw one weapon per turn [otherwise it becomes the Use an Object action.]. Pretty much meant that only a rogue could do the thrown weapon thing [successfully]. The Dual Wielder feat allowed two daggers to be pulled but fighters get up to 4 attacks so thrown weapons was a terrible build unless you found the Bracer of Flying Daggers magic item. But now you have a fighting style to do it.
With throw weapon expert you can throw weapons with extra attacks and bonus actions. In RAW technically you could only draw one weapon per turn as an interaction. So with weapons already drawn you can only throw three weapons. With thrown weapon master you can throw as many times as you have attacks and still utilize an interaction. Unless you are at an advanced table that is really strict with rules it doesn't matter.
Protection makes you use your reaction BEFORE the enemy even rolls for attack, so there will be many times you will feel as your FS's lame, as if you used your reaction and the enemy just hits anyway or wouldn't hit anyway. Interception, in the other hand, you only need to use it AFTER the damage is rolled, so it is very useful and constantly dish out important amounts of damage. Both of them doesnt add up anything to Sentinel, but Interception is a way better use of your reaction.
Yeah I was surprised that anyone would take Protection over Interception. Still, interception's scaling is VERY POOR, 1d10+PB is nice at 1st level but negligible at 20th (average damage mitigated: 7.5 at 1st level, 11.5 at 20th)
A second roll to see if an attack hits can certainly be useful, if the defended character has the AC to make it work. Defending a wizard or sorcerer without Mage Armor or other AC buffing effects won't do much at higher levels either. But the damage reduction can still save them completely if they got a low damage roll against them
@@marcos2492 can be very helpful if you are protecting a weaker mage that is trying to avoid make concentration checks. As an aside the paladin in my group who has this has definitely saved the party from TPKs several times, I’m not even sure he realises it lol.
Dedicated weapon is honestly one of the best little additions for flavor: Whips, Slings... A lot of 'monk feeling' weapons that didn't get access to martial arts dice now get a lot more bang for their buck and in the case of the whip shift it from being a 'meh' to a 'wait. I can use Stunning strike at 10ft without suffering a massive power drop?' which is pretty damn cool
I hate it so much. It was so unnecessary. It’s just a kensei monk but worse. And the fact that these 2 were talking about not being able to use a long bow as a monk so like zen archer is not possible. Yea that trigged me cause Kensei’s can do exactly that. Not only do they automatically get proficiency in the weapons they choose (thus becoming monk weapons), but they also have the thing that despite the long bow being heavy and they can’t use heavy weapons they can still make the long bow one cause it’s an exception. Makes me mad no one has said anything in this comment thread either.
@@davidstratton696... the whole point was to give a kensei type option to any subclass of monk, ofc its a downgraded kensei. Though I do agree it's a clunky and awkward feature, but the idea of it was good
Interception was printed because protector was bad. It’s slightly better in my opinion, since theres no chance to waste it. But what Monty had to say about the defensive fights competing for reactions is true.
Interception is particularly good at low level. It doesn’t scale very well. But hey you can now just switch it out with martial versatility at level 6!
I just wish they gave monks an ability that didn't require ki points. You get so few and yet most of your features(main and subclass) require ki to perform. I know they return on a short rest but when you can blow through them in like 2 turns, it doesn't feel great... It just feels weird knowing the class that is able to perform such wonders of physical ability, needs a resource pool to do them.
You mean something like Unarmored Defense, Unarmored movement, Evasion, Martial Arts, slow fall, Stillness of mind, Unarmored Movement Improvement, Purity of Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon, and Diamond Soul? Pretty sure none of those take Ki points.
@@Drakkimor unarmored defense kinda just isn’t that great especially with how the monk is worded it’s not even an option it’s a necessity. Tongue of Sun and Moon and Diamond Soul just won’t see the light of day at most tables. Slow fall is a cool additional thing I’ll give u that but most of the things they get without ki kinda suck or you’ll rarely see reached in game
I think access to blind fighting on my shadow monk would add some combat versatility when combined with the ability to spend ki to cast Darkness. Add in ki fueled attacks and you are also getting off a bonus action attack on the same round that you drop the radius of magical darkness.
Dedicated weapon is fun as a half elf that grabs elf weapon training and you still have +2 dex, +1 wis +1 con, fey ancestry, dark vision and all the other stuff that half elves get
or if your DM doesnt wanna use the new racial point picking from Tasha's (i have no idea why they wouldnt, but covering bases), choosing a wood elf for your monk gives you basically all of above aside from the con AND a slightly faster movement speed
About Thrown Weapon Fighting Style and ranged weapons, Darts are THE option there. So, smth like a Thrown Weapon Battlemaster, who throws (mainly) darts with the Sharpshooter feat to support his companions while maybe holding a one.handed weapon to fight in close combat by himself. Best thing, that character could focus on Strength or Dexterity.
Darts are totally amazing. Use battle master push to keep enemies away from you, and use the thrown maneuver for extra damage, be a Halfling to reroll ones, and the sharpshooter feat with surge attack when you get advantage on an opponent. Totally OP. And the best part, being a Halfling. Alternatively, you could be a champion to get both sharpshooter and ranged styles (boring though).
I've been playing a really weird monk/fighter multiclass involving Kensei and sharpshooter, and when you have sharpshooter damage on the line, lemme tell ya, that +2-to-+6 bonus comes in reeeeaaaaal handy. And yes, dumping ki into pre-rest healing is the best way to use that feature.
Here's the John Wick moment: Longsword (stunning strike), Pepperbox (sharpshooter, violent for +1 damage die), flurry of blows. Next turn, Action Surge for 4 of those pepperbox shots, Violent-Shotting as you go, and finishing with the trick shot that knocks an enemy prone if they fail a STR save, which a stunned enemy does automatically. Flurry of blows to end the turn...oh, and use Deft Strike if you crit on either of those turns for an extra 2d6. Put Elven Accuracy on there for extra chances at crits-and-grits!
Nice to see Barbarians won out on this, overall. They're a great class to play but the added features really helped some missing spots people may have not noticed. The monk additions were hit and miss for sure.
Concerning the Barbarian skills, the DMG states that Intimidation “can” use your strength mod instead of charisma at your DMs choosing. My DM said yes, and my Barb uses it to crazy amount in our current campaign
He’s our resident interrogator. And has a penchant for cutting ears off of slain enemies. So interrogation involves him forcing scared sh*tless enemies to answer his questions into a severed ear, after which he will “hear” it out of a matching ear.
I realized that this is relatively long and I ended up tangenting a bit. Tl;DR at bottom. I love the "Skills with Different Abilities" rules. If the Barb is going to use his Strength to intimidate people, like just standing there looking threatening or something more active like taking a guard's helmet and crushing it into a little metal ball, then I would certainly have them make a STR(Intimidation) check. I usually would rule that anything that has to deal with navigating a social situation or conversation is mostly charisma, but it depends on exactly what my players are intending to do. Basically, I tell them if you want a STR(Intimidation) check, you have to make a case for how you are applying your strength rather than your charisma. Whether that's just using your Physique or Cutting the Interrogation Table in half since you aren't getting answers, you've gotta use your strength. Your party's barb sounds hilarious and like they're having a good time. I would probably also let them do their STR(Intimidation) checks. I can't explicitly think of how they are using their Strength rather than Charisma, aside from just being a Barbarian, but its fun enough that I think it would be cool. Generally, I shy away from banning things at the table, unless it's causing the game to be less fun for the players. After all, it is a game. As far as I'm concerned, if my players aren't enjoying the game, then I'm not doing my job right. This doesn't mean everything is bright and cheery all the time. Things will happen to the party that the party doesn't want, but TTRPGs are about creating an interactive story with your friends. That doesn't necessarily mean the heroes always win. TL;DR I usually allow variant checks if my player can justify how they are using one ability score more than the default on for the task. It's just how I run my games. Don't let me tell you how to run your games. Do what is fun for you and your group.
@@nickcampbell3812 the way we agreed to it, him talking into the mangled ear isn’t the intimidating bit. It’s the fact that he ripped the ear off of a living creature and it was still dripping blood at the time that was intimidating.
@@nickcampbell3812 Wizard. INT(Intimidation). Cast, say, a Firebolt and just hold it in your hands. Perhaps toss it back and forth between your hands. Higher INT makes the Firebolt look more impressive and powerful, and so, more intimidating. Could add to it by explaining in excruciating detail just how much fire can hurt.
A really interesting use of the superior technique fighting style is instead of using it with other fighter subclasses, actually use it with Battle Master and take the feat that gives you maneuvers as well. Im currently playing a human battle master fighter. At level 3, where normally other battle masters have 3 maneuvers and 4 dice, I had 6 maneuvers and 6 dice. And at level 10 those d6s are gonna bump up to d10s along with your other superiority dice.
That was my first thought, much like how the eldritch and metamagic adept feats are neat for other builds but must-have for sorcerer and warlock builds
Something fun/dumb you can do with the monk dedicated weapon is that if your DM allows guns in the campaign (if they do is most likely in some limited or rare fashion, to allow one of the player to play a gunslinger) you can take the "gunner" feat from Tasha, which gives proficiency with firearms, let's you ignore the loading property for them and let's you fire against adjacent targets without disadvantage. You could absolutely go with musket for 1d12, as it's not a heavy weapon and fulfill all of you gun-kata/John Wick fantasy's.
Also, where the Superior Technique fighting style comes into play best is if you are *already* a Battle Master. Especially if you also take Martial Adept. Another maneuver really improves your options as a Battle Master, and another die just adds more fuel. Combined, a Human Fighter Battle Master at 3rd can have 6 maneuvers and 6 superiority dice at 3rd level, which is as many dice as a normal 15th level Battle Master. That's pretty good.
The battlemaster can make a fine grappler but I still think that the Rune Knight is the best grappler in the game. They have advantage on all strength checks (athletics checks for grappling), get a free increase in size allowing them to grapple massive monsters without polymorph or spells cast on them, and the frost rune even gives a flat +2 to checks which you can just pop on when you enter a dungeon and it will last 10 minutes through possibly multiple encounters. You can still take the good fighting styles/feats because you're a fighter but with all of the good runes and passive that a rune knight has.
@@zoddlander Yeah you're right... I just checked. I actually think it would make sense to allow it for thrown weapons and D&D Beyond seems to do that with darts.
Where are we reading that martial arts damage only applies to melee? i see that stunning strike is melee only but don't see that for martial arts in the PHB
I think Interception has a key advantage over Protection in that you know you are using it when it matters. Especially when dealing with multiple monsters or multi-attack. If you impose Disadvantage on the first attack, that's fine and good *if* it would hit, but if both rolls are bad it feels like a bit of a waste. Especially if a later roll hits. Whereas stopping damage means that you can save that reaction for *if* it is relevant.
The commanding presence and tactical assessment maneuvers are great for doubling down on the add 1d6 to skill checks trick from the Reborn race in Van Ricten's guide to Ravenloft. With the feat that grants 2 maneuvers and a superiority die my fathomless warlock skeletal pirate captain has a lot of ways to add multiple dice to their d20 skill rolls.
Didn't understand the barbarian moving 60ft at the start of combat, but tbh, our parties barbarian is the reason we've survived so many fights. That ability to get up and lay down some barbarian damage before the enemy has time to gtfo is vital
Small correction: The barbarian feature that give you advantage on initiative rolls is called Feral Instinct. Danger Sense gives you advantage on DEX saves against effects you can see, as long as you aren't blind, deafened or incapacitated.
I agree that Unarmed Fighting is good for a brawler type character, but the Grappler feat is terrible. Pushing your grapple target prone will give you advantage against them without having to spend a feat, and it also gives other melee combatants advantage (and the target disadvantage) as well. Additionally, they can't stand while grappled because their speed is 0 (which makes sense if you think about it; in real life you can easily grab someone's legs after pushing them to the ground) so they are stuck prone until they can break the grapple.
The most interesting idea I've got with the Thrown Weapon Fighting feature is that if you mix it with Tavern Brawler you can throw objects you find super effectively. Maybe if you buy a bunch of Acid Vials or figure something out with your DM you could make a really interesting build around splashing people with potions and Alchemist Fire.
You guys are so nerdy that you made a chicken wing analogy for four minutes, and it made sense! This is the kind of content I want from my D&D channels!!!
I'd err more on the side of just a quicker die progression, since at level 1 they're perfectly fine having access to an always on bonus action attack for 1d4+Dex to follow up a 1d8+Dex Quarterstaff or Spear Attack action. That's on par or better than most other ways of getting bonus damage or bonus attacks at level 1. I say, have the Martial Arts die increase every subclass feature level, thus ending at a d12. Of course, other tweaks can be done and are more needed than the die progression.
@@keeganmbg6999 I understand the low end of the damage would be higher than the low end of other classes, but they don't get enough free attacks for that trade off to be fair. That point, need to give them a third attack at lvl 15 or something.
@@sage_justice1383 well it comes down to higher averages, not just higher low end. Their averages end up at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0. This average on just five makes up the damage while also giving them higher minimums and it still works on their weapons too. I think this comfortably puts them within the boundaries of rangers and while they aren’t as tough or high damaging as Paladins, Fighters, or Barbarians they still have control aspects and high mobility which they should be mobile skirmishes IMHO.
Yes, Darts are pretty much the only way to get the most out of throwing. Even daggers work a bit as a one-off throw to get some sneak attack damage in. Still, it is a pity that Javelins and throwing axes have received very little love. Would love to see a good strength-based throwing feature.
Sometimes I actually wanted to mention is that if you get the fear that allows you to grab the unarmed fighting style and play a monk, you can do a ton more damage at earlier levels then it seems you should.
@@aydensauvageau9393 Yes, but if you start as a variant human, you can have it starting at level 1. So you should be comparing it to a d4. And monks have Flurry of Blows, so you're not only dealing that extra damage once per turn.
@@BernardoSutter so 1d8 vs 1d4 = 2 damage per hit, which is quite noticeable early game, but falls off extremely quickly. Think you'd be better off taking custom lineage and getting a half dex feat. Which would give you +1 dex mod. 1 to hit, damage, ac and initiative.
I saw the fighting style and immediately thought of some house rules to make it more fair for monks. The fighting style and feat to give greater unarmed damage only give 1d4 to the damage, but if you gain more than one of these extra options, your damage die gets bumped up 1. So a variant human monk who took the "get a fighting style" feat as well as Tavern Brawler is hitting for 1d8. Their martial arts die progression would still get bumped as normal, so 5th would be doing 1d10, 11th 1d12, then capping at 2d6. I just thought it lousy that a fighter could take that style and stay better than/on par with a monk's martial arts dice until lvl 17.
I like features like instinctive pounce and steady aim. They mechanically do very different things, but the impact is that the classes that use those features find themselves to be more reliable on the first turn of combat. This allows for the players to feel impactful. playing a barbarian or rogue can leave a lot to be desired if the barbarian can’t quite reach the enemy for melee attacks, or if a rogue rolled high on initiative leaving allies out of position for sneak attack. These feature boosts also help balance encounters if there’s less variance in party efficacy.
The only thing stopping me from making a Thrown Weapon Fighter is...what do I do when I run out of weapons? Also I feel like the Superior Technique Fighting Style and the Martial Adept Feat are best served with an actual Battle Master, since you're just getting more maneuvers and more dice, which upgrade along with the ones you get from the subclass.
I made a battle master with the feat add fighting style to get 2 extra dice and 3 more maneuvers. And I took most all the new maneuvers as well. Now I'm a smooth talking, keenly insightful, trip attacking machine. I use the skill boosters to out perform the Rogue at times and usually get a short rest between dialogue and fights. Best of both worlds on my fighter.
In a particular shared campaign I'm in I've made a Giff Battle Master who uses the Unarmed Fighting Style. What really makes it go is that the Giff (special player race from Mirt's Undermountain Survival Guide) get a charge ability where if you run 20 feet in a straight line at a Large or smaller target, you can force them to make a Strength saving throw (no action or bonus action required), and if they fail, they're knocked prone and take 2d6 bludgeoning damage. I combine that with the Grappling Strike maneuver from Tasha's into this opening salvo: run at someone, (hopefully) knock them prone, then take my attacks at advantage, then assuming one of them hits, use my bonus action for Grappling Strike to grapple them while prone, meaning they can't get up until they break the grapple. So long as my Athletics checks hold out, from then on I'm doing 1d4 at the start of the turn, then two advantaged attacks that each do a d8+Strength, and I can add other maneuvers for additional damage. I also took Crusher, so I can do a little bit of battlefield positioning, and if any of my advantaged attacks crits, *everyone* gets advantage even if the creature breaks the grapple and stands up. Mechanically it's pretty strong, but I think I like it even more flavor-wise: picture a 7'9", 615 pound hippopota-man in gleaming plate armor running at an enemy at full speed, bellying them to knock them to the ground, then sitting on them and punching them in the face. It's pretty amazing.
Thrown weapon master is actually pretty good. One of the guys I play with is a cavalier fighter with a pegasus mount, thrown weapon master, and harpoons attached to ropes. He swoops down, hits the enemy with the harpoons, flies up, and drops them from a hundred feet up.
One solid use case for Ki-Fueled Attack is that it makes Stunning Strike better. If you use Stunning Strike for your Attack action, your bonus attack is now with a monk weapon, which in early game will have the higher damage dice and may have a higher hit rate if it's a magical weapon. So it's a nice buff even for monks like Drunken Master who aren't forced to spend their Ki points on subclass features.
The Kensai was powered up by the monk additions. He can now make Kensai attacks as a bonus action instead of martial arts if he spends a ki during his attack action.
the monk bonus action attack when you spend a ki point lets you attack with a monk weapon instead just a fist so using the better monk weapon feature with this can add some nice extra damage, which is best used after you spend a ki point for stunning strike.
Here's the thing about drawing a thrown weapon. yes you technically can do this, BUT it uses your free action as a part of movement, I.E. the one draw or sheath a weapon per turn. What this feat does it let's you draw multiple thrown weapons a turn without using that free action. There is the benefit of the feat, at least in that part.
It's probably been stated a few time, but for the throwers fighting style is , RAW you can only draw one weapon per round ( without dual weilder feat) . So this allows you to throw multiple weapons each round RAW
Funny enough, despite kinda brushing pass the Tasha's Battle Maneuvers I think its another piece of the "Thrown Weapon Master" build. Tasha's included Quick Toss, which lets you draw and throw a weapon as a bonus action and add the die to the damage dealt. Get the Throwing Weapon fighting style, go Battle Master, make sure Quick Toss is one of the initial picks (Probably some things like Disarming Attack, Precision Attack, Trip Attack early on as well), grab the feat that gives you more Superiority Dice, go to town. If you really want to go all in, grab a few levels of Artificer, get the Returning Weapon infusion, and now you just need one throwing weapon. It will be magical, return to your hand immediately after every throw, and have a +1 bonus to attacks and damage. Basically become Thor.
Having played a BM for the last 2 years i'll have to say that the "Commanding presence" maneuver is one of the best additions in TCOE. Im now able to even be the party's face when necessary. It freed up my avenues of social interractions and now every aspect of the game is at maximum enjoyability.
The hand-to-hand fighting style can help you make your John Wick styled character with some playing around. Also being able to utilize Battle Master maneuvers with it makes this a proper Samurai when you use it as a feat to gain that fighting style. I wasn't excited about the Monk options either, no meditation to regain ki or give yourself the elf feature of 4 hours being like 8. The battle master maneuvers were very lack luster...I'm sure there's a way to make them work, but good thing you have that martial versatility now. Which you may have been using...btw anyone reading this WATCH the Reflavoring and Retraining video it's one of my favorite ones here...but I've found not all DM's are as gracious so its good to have it in the books.
It would allow you to throw as many weapons as you have attacks, so hasted, action surging fighter could throw 8+ daggers. Where are as techincally you could only throw as many currently in your hands + 1 drawn with free action. I give you, the Gambit feat.
I'm currently playing a Battle Master with Interception, along with Crusher. He's a kobold minion (essentially) from a level 1 one-off, so honestly the damage reduction from Interception was huge. It's been fun in our campaign too: up there in melee, beside the Swashbuckler, who's giving me advantage "in exchange for" defending them (or riposte-ing if the enemy attacks+misses me). It's a fun little symbiosis. Interception feels better to use than Protection because of the wording of Protection. As for feats, Sentinel is better, strictly speaking, but I wanted 20 STR at level 4 from Crusher, whose other benefits are very enticing with a kobold attacking at advantage with a nearby Rogue (besides, Sentinel is a tad op imo, and was used in our ToA game, which totally saved our asses btw lol). All in all, pretty niche but lots of fun. I usually gravitate towards a Cleric/Druid, so I just had to take damage reduction instead of healing lol. Besides, our group has plenty of DPR already (I rolled a 19 for STR at level 1 haha). Hey kudos to you if you read all that... yeesh lol
If given the option, focussed aim for 1 ki point is always better than flurry of blows since flurry of blows gives you 1 extra potential hit while focussed aim turns one miss into a guaranteed hit. It only comes up in 1/10 attacks but in those cases, don't hesitate to use it.
With the quickened healing I think that monks can spend some ki to dodge as a bonus action which means that you could be a dwarf monk with dwarven fortitude, use quickened healing, bonus action dodge for dwarven fortitude (Possibly idk lol) and get big healing
@10:47 I think Monty forgot the Psi Knife can throw their daggers and make make use of this fighting style if get it it somehow. (From multiclassing into Fighter or taking the Fighting style feat.) I did this with my Psi Knife (2 lvl dip so far in fighter) character and had a +4 to damage with the bracers of archery stacking with it as well as sharpshooter for +14 damage on daggers that I could use the Psi die to add to the "to hit".
The thrown weapon style is the only way to make “shorty” race fighters comparable to fighters of larger races because the feat sharpshooter works with it when using darts (they are the only official ranged thrown weapon). Five attacks at level 5 in your surge round, all at -5 to hit +10 to damage (including your off-hand, but which does not get your dex mod to damage). If you have advantage on attacks, the output is op. Before, shorties could not compare to larger races as fighters. They had shortbows instead of longbows (range decrease, damage decrease), no great weapon feat, and short swords instead of rapiers or long sword etc. I ran a gnome with the sharp shooter feat and the thrown weapon style. The burst damage was ridiculous. Granted afterward, you are out of darts, unless your dm is amazing like mine was and gave me a magic item granting unlimited darts. It felt great to be an op shorty fighter.
I'm still hopeful that at some point we'll get Treantmonk's version of Brutal Critical for barbarians. It increases the crit range to 19 and 20 on top of everything else. It makes so much sense to me. Edit: typo
@@samdugan7591 oh no no no I never tried it out and seen it i am just saying that was their idea but I do agree that Brutal Critical needs a buff some how
@@mohammadmurie Oh okay. I understand. Sorry to be plugging another person's channel but I do like Treantmonk's idea. The increased crit chance would help the Barbarian out a lot. The most common multiclass for a Barbarian is 3 levels for champion fighter. This would save on the multiclass. It really made sense to me.
@@samdugan7591 yeah you're fine its all cool and yeah I like the idea but also speaking of champion fighter champion should have really been a barbarian subclass instead
Some notes about a thrown weapon fighter: 1. RAW; you can only draw 1 weapon as part of the attack action, not 2 or more, so you'd only get to throw 1 dagger. 2. Darts are technically a ranged weapon and are a thrown weapon. Just reflavour them as throwing knives and you can absolutely use the archery fighting style and sharpshooter feat as a thrown weapon specialist. My build adds 2 levels of Artificer for a returning weapon infusion. Now you only need 1 dart, which is magical, that you can throw 60ft away.
Kelly and Monty, you guys are awesome! This video is a great start to your 4-part series and I can't wait for the others. 😄 "I'm trying to wrap up the episode." Classic! 🤣
Actually something interesting about monk weapons is it needs to be specifically a simple melee weapon. The ability to channel your ki into a weapon allows you to turn any simple ranged weapon into a monk weapon which allows for bow monk builds. Paired with the way of mercy allows for a interesting healing archer build as well as boosting the short bow from d6 up to a d10. Not great but as a monk fan it’s quite enjoyable to build a ranged monk finally.
you can use the monk weapon on a magical dagger or staff. Getting a fire daggers that deals d6 additional damage or just a normal +1 magical dagger is a boost.
You can only draw/interact with ONE weapon/item as part of your free action per turn. Normally you can only draw ONE weapon or round. If you look at the dual-wielding feat, it ALLOWS you to draw two weapons, when you normally can't.
10:53 Sounds like Kelly might be misinterpreting the Thrown Weapon fighting style? Because it already lets you attack twice if you have Extra Attack. It allows drawing a weapon per attack, not attack action, which gets rid of the difficulties from using thrown weapons with Extra Attack in RAW.
Personal thing about the Thrown Weapon fighting style, i love the potential build for it at level 3. V. Human or Custom Lineage for Fighting Initiate: Thrown Weapon Fighting, 1 level Fighter for Archery (the Dart weapon is the only one in the game aside from the Net treated as both a Thrown and Ranged weapon, so it benefits from both fighting styles), and then 2 levels of Artificer for Returning Weapon with this build, you essentially have a single +3 Dart in pocket that you can keep throwing and it always comes to your hand, and then other Darts are essentially +2s Edit, just cuz i think i might wanna clarify before people respond: when i talk about the darts, i mean that they are listed under the "Simple Ranged Weapons" category, but that they also have the "thrown (20/60)" tag, meaning they're viable for both features to work, along with sharpshooter
I have a noble knight fighter character. That went to a Knight's Academy at a very young age. Whereas a Variant Human took the Feat: Martial Adept, and Fighting Style: Superior Technique together in the Fighter class. You get 3d6 and three maneuvers to pick from that's really good! It will make the Champion Fighter even better of a choice to pick with its second fighting style level 10. To take Superior Technique again (4d6 and 4 maneuvers) or any other. Combine this with improved/superior Critical. You can also take Battle Master. Which you get 3 more dies added to your current battle master pool and they also make your 3d6's level up to 3d8's, 10's, and 12's with your battle master's Improved Combat Superiority on top of it. There are a lot of maneuvers. So get what you need and have fun with the extra. It would be fun with EK Cast spell, BA: weapon attack, use reaction: to SD maneuver. Arcane Archer maybe not so much as DM I let the player take the numbers shots increase 2+proficency modifier. Whereas you can only have two uses of this ability, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a short or long rest. As a player would ask the DM for this or use an HB feat of mine called: Arcane Quiver = As an Arcane Archer, you come prepared early with an emergency reserve of shots. The arcane archer can prepare selected arcane shot types and draw upon them when needed. The arcane archer can select more than one of the same arcane shot types. The number of shots that can be prep equals INT modifier +1. Once reserves are depleted the arcane archer must wait after a long rest to renew the Arcane Quiver reserves.
26:22 Hey DDudes! Nice Vid. Here is a combo that works nicely with Sharp shooter + focused aim + key fueled attacks. Focused aim grants you the access to ki fueled attacks for free. This in combo with sharp shooter means "Do you want to spend from 1 to 3 ki points to get from a +2 to a +.6 to hit with your +10dmg attack turning a miss into a hit and make another +10dmg attack with your bonus action?" Given the damage you can reach with sharp shooter the answer to this question in my case is almost always "Yes, I'd like to spend 1 to 3 ki points for that". I use this combo with my way ofthe shadow monk - gloomstalker ranger, so far with good results.
i like the monk stuff for four elements, now i can water whip and knock and enemy prone, then use a longsword to do significant damage before they can get back up
As far as Fighting Style: Thrown goes, it actually synergizes pretty well with the Rogue Soulknife subclass. Basically, at lv3 the Soulknife gets a 1d6 action and 1d4 bonus action dagger attack, both of which can be thrown 60 ft. Rogues can already deal massive damage with sneak attack, but adding Thrown Fighting Style to the Soulknife gives it consistent damage as well, raising the minimum of both attacks from 1+DEX to 3+DEX (a ~40-50% increase in base damage for early levels). Soulknife daggers already can be formed as part of their attack, so that part of the Fighting Style is lost on the subclass, but I still think it has potential for a build, especially given that it comes online at lv3 (w/ variant) or lv4 without multiclassing
Am i weird? when i saw Unarmed Fighting my first thoughts were to combine it with Tavern Brawler & Skill Expert, like: 1) Pick Unarmed Fighting Style. 2) Pick Tavern Brawler for the Extra Damage and Bonus Action Grapple on attacks. 3) Pick Skill Expert, gain Expertise on Athletic Checks so you gain the following benefits: -Your attempts to grapple an enemy and rolls to keep them grappled now benefit from expertise making them an easier success. - Once you gain your Extra Attack you can Shove Prone enemies (also an Athletics Check so also gain Expertise) and then grapple them. -When an enemy is knock prone you can still move around unlike the Pin from the Grappler feat & now EVERYONE has advantage hitting them. -Being grappled reduces their speed to 0, you need half your speed to stand up from being prone, Knocked Prone+Grapple= Even if they break free they can't get up on that same turn, meaning you CAN grapple them on your next turn and keep them on the floor. -Their attacks against you have Disadvantage while they are Knocked Prone.
Shadow monk elves and dwarves can now take a feat to pick up truesight fighting style, cast darkness on their turn using their action, and then make a longsword or battle axe attack with advantage using their bonus action!
I'm planning on playing a Soulknife Rogue/ Psi Warrior Fighter and my fighting style is gonna be Interception. one of the reasons I didn't want Protection was the shield thing but more importantly I think that disadvantage has the chance to "fail to activate" in important times, you are unable to choose after the attack roll to hit to deploy Protection as you have to pick before the attack is rolled. I would say that an attack that has been stopped by Protection is better than the damage reduction of Interception, however, Interception will 100% do something every turn that someone is hit by an attack within 5ft of my character whereas Protection has a chance to not do anything (for example the original attack would have missed or both rolls hit anyway). But that is just my risk benefit analysis for this character to be honest.
The monk features are like if they gave you an extra side of bleu cheese, but it's a different brand and if you guess what brand it is, you get a free dessert.
I'm curently playing a Kensei monk with longbow+sharpshooter and focused aim is a game changer. attack action with sharpsooter+focused aim (spending a Ki point during your attack action) wich procs Ki fulled attack, thats 3 longbow shots at lvl 5 and in the off chance you hit without focused aim on your sharpshooter attack you can go deft strike on your attack action and still get your bonus action longbow attack at lvl 6. it is now a verry strong archer class with great mobility, pretty cool. getting the archery fighing style is a must though.
Focused aim is also very good because not all enemies follow the typical HP/AC scaling. If you have an enemy with meh HP but a very high AC, then every hit counts and 1 or somtimes even 2 ki point(s) is not a bad price to pay to land a hit when you were close.
Superior technique+martial adept could be okay for a critfishing build; if you're a half orc champion, those plus orcish fury could get you 5d10+2d6+2d6 on a crit, and all those dice recharge on a short rest
Javelin throwing, sharpshooter, hero's arm.. using a Great spear as a thrown weapon... with a shield and polearm mastery... and an ever full Quran! With sentinel and Samuri. Very nice thought.
I feel like Monty allows his strong bias toward Polearm Master and Sentinel to really short-change his analysis. I'd argue that interception is BETTER than Protection if you're talking about the reaction action economy because with Protection you're rolling the dice, you may use it when an enemy would have missed anyway and even if you use it they may still hit. Interception allows you wait and see if the enemy is going to hit before burning your reaction and it automatically happens, there's no risk.
![BabyChiefDoit - Too Slow (feat. STAR BANDZ) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zayaxws7RPg/mqdefault.jpg)
I actually think the extra skills for the barbarian buff the class exactly where it needs it: in role play. The barbarian is always amazing in battle, but giving the class extra skills gives you more incentive to do things other than "I hit this thing" outside of combat. It encourages more creative solutions especially to inexperienced players
This exact this
Facts I was thinkning the same thing
So is that “roll” play or “role” play? Maybe both? ;)
@@8justintracy8 Na, that's just typing on a stupid phone
The barbarian is like ordering chicken wings and they get there faster than expected, and then they murder a wizard.
"I'm trying to wrap up the episode."
More of this please. Just being silly.
Thought the same thing, it's so precious to see them just messing around
The whole wings analogy put this big goofy smile on my face.
So funny to see Kelly be the serious one. lol
"I'm trying to wrap up the episode"
In Monty's mind: "But I just wanted to add some veggies to metaforical plate of episode for our viewers!"
Can’t wait for the rest of this series! I honestly missed the barbarian free movement which is just fantastic
I have never seen complicated mechanics explained through the medium of hot wings and I love it! Lol. Now I want to make a monk and call it the “Way of the Hot Ones” that calls their stunning strike the last dab.
Those "Hooters" uniforms definitely count as unarmored defense
Lol
Don't let your dreams be dreams! Flavour is unstoppable!
@internetsideshow RAW, there's no difference whatsoever in AC between a padded, winter mountain climbing set and being naked, so anyone with unarmoured defense can definitely fight in lingerie.
Monk: "Honey barbecue fist!"
Kobold: "Wait, what did you just-" *explodes into chicken wings*
Monk, taking a bite: "Now that's what I call... a sticky situation."
About the Thrown Weapon Fighting style. There is quite often a much overlooked rule in D&D, especially when it comes to thrown weapons and even duel wielding. That being the "Object Interaction" rule. Where in a creature can interact with a single object (opening a door, pulling a lever, flipping a switch or even drawing and readying a single weapon). The first interaction is free, a second interaction (which includes drawing a second weapon) takes your action. This is why the Dual Wielder Feat and in turn, the Thrown Weapon Fighting style state that you can now draw more then one.
Ex: Without the Thrown Weapon Fighting style, a Fighter, regardless of how many Extra Attacks they have, could only draw and throw a single (or two with the Duel Wielder Feat) thrown weapon. They then have to either forgo the rest of there Extra Attacks, or charge in and attack with there melee weapon if they still have one readied. With the Thrown Weapon Fighting style however, the Fighter can now be a master knife thrower, or axe thrower, javelin/spear thrower or just all round master thrower.
Hm, now if only they'd bring back some iteration of the Throw Anything Feat.
Goliath thrown weapon master with a gnome thrown weapon master friend, Goliath throws gnome, gnome throws knives
@@torunsmok5890 Aye! Fling Ally feat. Loved the art of that feat in the book for it
Thank you very much for explaining that. I was also confused, but that makes more sense why its useful.
This might also be a way to get around the problem of soulknife rogues not being able to sneak attack on opportunity attacks. You'll generally want to have both hands free so you can attack twice with psychic blades, which means your opportunity attack has to be with a bare fist, which is ineligible for sneak attack.
If you take a feat to gain the thrown weapon fighting style, you can draw a dagger (which has the thrown property) as part of the opportunity attack, then make a melee attack with it. You don't get the +2 damage, but that's negligible compared to sneak attack.
Of course, a lot of DM's might rule that you can do this anyway, or even let you summon a psychic blade for your opportunity attack. But if your DM doesn't, it might be worth a feat.
@@toddhadley9002 Yeah, could help with that, and also as an opening/surprise sneak attack before combat starts as you whip out and stab someone with a dagger, or fling it at them in the same opening attack action.
About drawing the thrown weapon as part of your attack: you can already do that with your free object interaction, but you only get one free object interaction per turn, so the fighting style allows you to draw the weapon, throw it, and use your free object interaction to draw your melee weapon/shield/arcane focus or whatever you want to be holding.
Wouldn't it also innately let you throw as many as you have attacks?
Or draw your second throwing weapon to use for your extra attack
You can draw and throw as part of the attack not attack action, so you can draw and throw up to the amount of attacks you have instead of having to take dual wielder to draw and throw two weapons when your fighter has the option of throwing up to 10 daggers in a turn in theory (Samurai, level 20, two weapon fighting, with action surge, and advantage from another source)
Yup, drawing your weapon uses your free object interaction. From the PHb [under Use an Object] "You normally interact with an object while doing something else, such as when you draw a sword as part of an attack." So you can only draw and throw one weapon per turn [otherwise it becomes the Use an Object action.]. Pretty much meant that only a rogue could do the thrown weapon thing [successfully]. The Dual Wielder feat allowed two daggers to be pulled but fighters get up to 4 attacks so thrown weapons was a terrible build unless you found the Bracer of Flying Daggers magic item. But now you have a fighting style to do it.
With throw weapon expert you can throw weapons with extra attacks and bonus actions.
In RAW technically you could only draw one weapon per turn as an interaction. So with weapons already drawn you can only throw three weapons.
With thrown weapon master you can throw as many times as you have attacks and still utilize an interaction.
Unless you are at an advanced table that is really strict with rules it doesn't matter.
Protection makes you use your reaction BEFORE the enemy even rolls for attack, so there will be many times you will feel as your FS's lame, as if you used your reaction and the enemy just hits anyway or wouldn't hit anyway.
Interception, in the other hand, you only need to use it AFTER the damage is rolled, so it is very useful and constantly dish out important amounts of damage.
Both of them doesnt add up anything to Sentinel, but Interception is a way better use of your reaction.
I'm currently playing an artificer armourer and I am giving disadvantage on attacks anyway so I agree interception is way better.
Yeah I was surprised that anyone would take Protection over Interception.
Still, interception's scaling is VERY POOR, 1d10+PB is nice at 1st level but negligible at 20th (average damage mitigated: 7.5 at 1st level, 11.5 at 20th)
@@marcos2492 Good example of a fighting style to switch out using martial versatility. Probably around level 6 is the time to do it.
A second roll to see if an attack hits can certainly be useful, if the defended character has the AC to make it work. Defending a wizard or sorcerer without Mage Armor or other AC buffing effects won't do much at higher levels either. But the damage reduction can still save them completely if they got a low damage roll against them
@@marcos2492 can be very helpful if you are protecting a weaker mage that is trying to avoid make concentration checks. As an aside the paladin in my group who has this has definitely saved the party from TPKs several times, I’m not even sure he realises it lol.
The look of utter joy on Monty’s face as he contemplated interrupting the outro for that last food joke. 😂
Dedicated weapon is honestly one of the best little additions for flavor: Whips, Slings... A lot of 'monk feeling' weapons that didn't get access to martial arts dice now get a lot more bang for their buck and in the case of the whip shift it from being a 'meh' to a 'wait. I can use Stunning strike at 10ft without suffering a massive power drop?' which is pretty damn cool
I think the monk healing is really only useful to spend the rest of your ki before a short rest and save on some hit die
@@tonyriemenschneider8745 Saving on hit dice can matter in some parties, especially ones that lack a dedicated healer.
I hate it so much. It was so unnecessary. It’s just a kensei monk but worse. And the fact that these 2 were talking about not being able to use a long bow as a monk so like zen archer is not possible. Yea that trigged me cause Kensei’s can do exactly that. Not only do they automatically get proficiency in the weapons they choose (thus becoming monk weapons), but they also have the thing that despite the long bow being heavy and they can’t use heavy weapons they can still make the long bow one cause it’s an exception. Makes me mad no one has said anything in this comment thread either.
@@davidstratton696... the whole point was to give a kensei type option to any subclass of monk, ofc its a downgraded kensei. Though I do agree it's a clunky and awkward feature, but the idea of it was good
Am I the only one who misses the sword sound effect after “let’s get rolling”??
I think the timer on the release was not set guys but still as Midnight surprises go - I like it and really 👍🏿 it.
It's technically still thursday haha so I can't complain.
As a west coaster, I dig this release time... yall easterlings can just stay up late haha
Did you just neg them hahahahaha
The timer for the "New" Tasha's content is only a year late though. :P
Interception was printed because protector was bad. It’s slightly better in my opinion, since theres no chance to waste it. But what Monty had to say about the defensive fights competing for reactions is true.
Interception is particularly good at low level. It doesn’t scale very well. But hey you can now just switch it out with martial versatility at level 6!
It would be fascinating if somehow they could be stacked for an ultimate protector build.
@@logancuster8035 maybe good on a Cavalier and then switch it out when you get Warding Maneuver at level 7
I was wandering about this.
I was gonna take it with a Redemption Paladin that has the shield master feat, tho I'm not sure if it is worth it anymore.
I just wish they gave monks an ability that didn't require ki points. You get so few and yet most of your features(main and subclass) require ki to perform. I know they return on a short rest but when you can blow through them in like 2 turns, it doesn't feel great... It just feels weird knowing the class that is able to perform such wonders of physical ability, needs a resource pool to do them.
It is similar to the Warlock's limited spell slots. It makes you find ways to succeed in combat without using your abilities. That isn't fun....
@@scotthalfhill7501 But the Warlock has Eldritch Blast, which they can modify with invocations, to fall back on. The Monk has nothing to fall back on.
@@logancuster8035 yep. Warlock is a good class and monk is not. It's poorly designed.
You mean something like Unarmored Defense, Unarmored movement, Evasion, Martial Arts, slow fall, Stillness of mind, Unarmored Movement Improvement, Purity of Body, Tongue of the Sun and Moon, and Diamond Soul? Pretty sure none of those take Ki points.
@@Drakkimor unarmored defense kinda just isn’t that great especially with how the monk is worded it’s not even an option it’s a necessity. Tongue of Sun and Moon and Diamond Soul just won’t see the light of day at most tables. Slow fall is a cool additional thing I’ll give u that but most of the things they get without ki kinda suck or you’ll rarely see reached in game
I think access to blind fighting on my shadow monk would add some combat versatility when combined with the ability to spend ki to cast Darkness. Add in ki fueled attacks and you are also getting off a bonus action attack on the same round that you drop the radius of magical darkness.
Oh, it’s even better when you stun them in the darkness and all the enemy can hear is goblin laughter
@@MelandBLT I like the cut of your jib! But how the hell did you know my shadow monk is a goblin?! Spooky
Nah, I think you're better taking the Eldritch Adept feat instead to take the Devil's Sight eldritch invocation
@@brandonskoubo5176 I’ve played a goblin shadow monk with the failed merchant background in a one-shot. RP’d him like a Ferengi from Star Trek DS9
@@marcos2492 You need the Spellcasting or Pact Magic class feature to take Eldritch Adept.
Dedicated weapon is fun as a half elf that grabs elf weapon training and you still have +2 dex, +1 wis +1 con, fey ancestry, dark vision and all the other stuff that half elves get
or if your DM doesnt wanna use the new racial point picking from Tasha's (i have no idea why they wouldnt, but covering bases), choosing a wood elf for your monk gives you basically all of above aside from the con AND a slightly faster movement speed
About Thrown Weapon Fighting Style and ranged weapons, Darts are THE option there.
So, smth like a Thrown Weapon Battlemaster, who throws (mainly) darts with the Sharpshooter feat to support his companions while maybe holding a one.handed weapon to fight in close combat by himself. Best thing, that character could focus on Strength or Dexterity.
Darts are totally amazing. Use battle master push to keep enemies away from you, and use the thrown maneuver for extra damage, be a Halfling to reroll ones, and the sharpshooter feat with surge attack when you get advantage on an opponent. Totally OP. And the best part, being a Halfling. Alternatively, you could be a champion to get both sharpshooter and ranged styles (boring though).
I've been playing a really weird monk/fighter multiclass involving Kensei and sharpshooter, and when you have sharpshooter damage on the line, lemme tell ya, that +2-to-+6 bonus comes in reeeeaaaaal handy. And yes, dumping ki into pre-rest healing is the best way to use that feature.
Bro this is real. Don't forget the Ki fueled strikes applies to longbow attacks
I'm actually running Mercer's Gunslinger as the fighter half...and taking my pepperbox and a longsword as my kensei weapons. Samurai. Gunman.
@@EndyHawk that's some mad flavor there
@@EndyHawk That's really awesome.
Here's the John Wick moment: Longsword (stunning strike), Pepperbox (sharpshooter, violent for +1 damage die), flurry of blows. Next turn, Action Surge for 4 of those pepperbox shots, Violent-Shotting as you go, and finishing with the trick shot that knocks an enemy prone if they fail a STR save, which a stunned enemy does automatically. Flurry of blows to end the turn...oh, and use Deft Strike if you crit on either of those turns for an extra 2d6. Put Elven Accuracy on there for extra chances at crits-and-grits!
Nice to see Barbarians won out on this, overall. They're a great class to play but the added features really helped some missing spots people may have not noticed. The monk additions were hit and miss for sure.
Concerning the Barbarian skills, the DMG states that Intimidation “can” use your strength mod instead of charisma at your DMs choosing. My DM said yes, and my Barb uses it to crazy amount in our current campaign
He’s our resident interrogator. And has a penchant for cutting ears off of slain enemies. So interrogation involves him forcing scared sh*tless enemies to answer his questions into a severed ear, after which he will “hear” it out of a matching ear.
I realized that this is relatively long and I ended up tangenting a bit. Tl;DR at bottom.
I love the "Skills with Different Abilities" rules. If the Barb is going to use his Strength to intimidate people, like just standing there looking threatening or something more active like taking a guard's helmet and crushing it into a little metal ball, then I would certainly have them make a STR(Intimidation) check. I usually would rule that anything that has to deal with navigating a social situation or conversation is mostly charisma, but it depends on exactly what my players are intending to do.
Basically, I tell them if you want a STR(Intimidation) check, you have to make a case for how you are applying your strength rather than your charisma. Whether that's just using your Physique or Cutting the Interrogation Table in half since you aren't getting answers, you've gotta use your strength.
Your party's barb sounds hilarious and like they're having a good time. I would probably also let them do their STR(Intimidation) checks. I can't explicitly think of how they are using their Strength rather than Charisma, aside from just being a Barbarian, but its fun enough that I think it would be cool.
Generally, I shy away from banning things at the table, unless it's causing the game to be less fun for the players. After all, it is a game. As far as I'm concerned, if my players aren't enjoying the game, then I'm not doing my job right. This doesn't mean everything is bright and cheery all the time. Things will happen to the party that the party doesn't want, but TTRPGs are about creating an interactive story with your friends. That doesn't necessarily mean the heroes always win.
TL;DR I usually allow variant checks if my player can justify how they are using one ability score more than the default on for the task. It's just how I run my games. Don't let me tell you how to run your games. Do what is fun for you and your group.
@@nickcampbell3812 the way we agreed to it, him talking into the mangled ear isn’t the intimidating bit. It’s the fact that he ripped the ear off of a living creature and it was still dripping blood at the time that was intimidating.
@@oneleghendo5239 Nice. Your party sound like a fun group. I'm glad to read about your Barbarian's antics. You have brought a smile to my face.
@@nickcampbell3812
Wizard. INT(Intimidation). Cast, say, a Firebolt and just hold it in your hands. Perhaps toss it back and forth between your hands. Higher INT makes the Firebolt look more impressive and powerful, and so, more intimidating. Could add to it by explaining in excruciating detail just how much fire can hurt.
A really interesting use of the superior technique fighting style is instead of using it with other fighter subclasses, actually use it with Battle Master and take the feat that gives you maneuvers as well. Im currently playing a human battle master fighter. At level 3, where normally other battle masters have 3 maneuvers and 4 dice, I had 6 maneuvers and 6 dice. And at level 10 those d6s are gonna bump up to d10s along with your other superiority dice.
I wouldn't call it really interesting. More like the titular most mundane use.
Can vouch, Martial Adept + Superior Technique + Battle Master is super fun. You have a maneuver for basically every situation.
That was my first thought, much like how the eldritch and metamagic adept feats are neat for other builds but must-have for sorcerer and warlock builds
That's legit what I did too lul
Doesn't taking battle master make all superiority die D8s when you take the subclass at level 3?
The last chapter needs to be renamed from “conclusions” to “food analogies” 😂
Something fun/dumb you can do with the monk dedicated weapon is that if your DM allows guns in the campaign (if they do is most likely in some limited or rare fashion, to allow one of the player to play a gunslinger) you can take the "gunner" feat from Tasha, which gives proficiency with firearms, let's you ignore the loading property for them and let's you fire against adjacent targets without disadvantage.
You could absolutely go with musket for 1d12, as it's not a heavy weapon and fulfill all of you gun-kata/John Wick fantasy's.
Also, where the Superior Technique fighting style comes into play best is if you are *already* a Battle Master. Especially if you also take Martial Adept. Another maneuver really improves your options as a Battle Master, and another die just adds more fuel. Combined, a Human Fighter Battle Master at 3rd can have 6 maneuvers and 6 superiority dice at 3rd level, which is as many dice as a normal 15th level Battle Master. That's pretty good.
I thinks darts are the only throwing weapon that works as a ranged weapon attack on any case.
yup, they're under the Simple Ranged Weapon category but also have the Thrown weapon tag, so they benefit from both Archery and Thrown Weapon Fighting
And sharpshooter
The battlemaster can make a fine grappler but I still think that the Rune Knight is the best grappler in the game. They have advantage on all strength checks (athletics checks for grappling), get a free increase in size allowing them to grapple massive monsters without polymorph or spells cast on them, and the frost rune even gives a flat +2 to checks which you can just pop on when you enter a dungeon and it will last 10 minutes through possibly multiple encounters. You can still take the good fighting styles/feats because you're a fighter but with all of the good runes and passive that a rune knight has.
Monk weapons also use your martial arts damage die, so you can potentially do a lot more damage with a hand crossbow, or other weaker ranged weapons
Nobody expects the 1d10 blowgun @^@
@NullLex00 Chopsticks!
martial arts damage die only apply to melee
@@zoddlander Yeah you're right... I just checked. I actually think it would make sense to allow it for thrown weapons and D&D Beyond seems to do that with darts.
Where are we reading that martial arts damage only applies to melee? i see that stunning strike is melee only but don't see that for martial arts in the PHB
I think Interception has a key advantage over Protection in that you know you are using it when it matters. Especially when dealing with multiple monsters or multi-attack.
If you impose Disadvantage on the first attack, that's fine and good *if* it would hit, but if both rolls are bad it feels like a bit of a waste. Especially if a later roll hits. Whereas stopping damage means that you can save that reaction for *if* it is relevant.
The commanding presence and tactical assessment maneuvers are great for doubling down on the add 1d6 to skill checks trick from the Reborn race in Van Ricten's guide to Ravenloft. With the feat that grants 2 maneuvers and a superiority die my fathomless warlock skeletal pirate captain has a lot of ways to add multiple dice to their d20 skill rolls.
Rogue's Steady Aim feature grants them basically guaranteed Sneak Attacks at the cost of movement.
Sniper has target sighted
@@torunsmok5890 Melee can use it too
@@KnicKnac they can, but since it uses up movement you get the most bang out of it when playing a ranged style.
Didn't understand the barbarian moving 60ft at the start of combat, but tbh, our parties barbarian is the reason we've survived so many fights. That ability to get up and lay down some barbarian damage before the enemy has time to gtfo is vital
Small correction: The barbarian feature that give you advantage on initiative rolls is called Feral Instinct.
Danger Sense gives you advantage on DEX saves against effects you can see, as long as you aren't blind, deafened or incapacitated.
11:03
Darts work with thrown weapon fighting style, sharpshooter, and archery fighting style.
I agree that Unarmed Fighting is good for a brawler type character, but the Grappler feat is terrible. Pushing your grapple target prone will give you advantage against them without having to spend a feat, and it also gives other melee combatants advantage (and the target disadvantage) as well. Additionally, they can't stand while grappled because their speed is 0 (which makes sense if you think about it; in real life you can easily grab someone's legs after pushing them to the ground) so they are stuck prone until they can break the grapple.
The most interesting idea I've got with the Thrown Weapon Fighting feature is that if you mix it with Tavern Brawler you can throw objects you find super effectively. Maybe if you buy a bunch of Acid Vials or figure something out with your DM you could make a really interesting build around splashing people with potions and Alchemist Fire.
You guys are so nerdy that you made a chicken wing analogy for four minutes, and it made sense! This is the kind of content I want from my D&D channels!!!
Still say the Monks need/deserve an errata that ups their Martial Arts die by one. Stating should be a d6 and go up from there as they level up.
I'd err more on the side of just a quicker die progression, since at level 1 they're perfectly fine having access to an always on bonus action attack for 1d4+Dex to follow up a 1d8+Dex Quarterstaff or Spear Attack action. That's on par or better than most other ways of getting bonus damage or bonus attacks at level 1. I say, have the Martial Arts die increase every subclass feature level, thus ending at a d12. Of course, other tweaks can be done and are more needed than the die progression.
Tbh I am very much under the opinion it should stay 1d4, then go 2d4, 3d4, 4d4.
@@keeganmbg6999 I understand the low end of the damage would be higher than the low end of other classes, but they don't get enough free attacks for that trade off to be fair. That point, need to give them a third attack at lvl 15 or something.
@@sage_justice1383 well it comes down to higher averages, not just higher low end. Their averages end up at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0. This average on just five makes up the damage while also giving them higher minimums and it still works on their weapons too. I think this comfortably puts them within the boundaries of rangers and while they aren’t as tough or high damaging as Paladins, Fighters, or Barbarians they still have control aspects and high mobility which they should be mobile skirmishes IMHO.
Darts can use archery, sharpshooter and thrown weapon fighting since they are a ranged weapon and has the thrown property.
Yes, Darts are pretty much the only way to get the most out of throwing. Even daggers work a bit as a one-off throw to get some sneak attack damage in. Still, it is a pity that Javelins and throwing axes have received very little love. Would love to see a good strength-based throwing feature.
Sometimes I actually wanted to mention is that if you get the fear that allows you to grab the unarmed fighting style and play a monk, you can do a ton more damage at earlier levels then it seems you should.
And ones your martial arts die catches up you can change the fighting style to something else like blind fighting
The damage is super low, even if you get it at level 4, 1d10 vs 1d6 is only +2 damage, not even as good as capping out a skill
@@aydensauvageau9393 Yes, but if you start as a variant human, you can have it starting at level 1. So you should be comparing it to a d4. And monks have Flurry of Blows, so you're not only dealing that extra damage once per turn.
@@BernardoSutter so 1d8 vs 1d4 = 2 damage per hit, which is quite noticeable early game, but falls off extremely quickly. Think you'd be better off taking custom lineage and getting a half dex feat. Which would give you +1 dex mod. 1 to hit, damage, ac and initiative.
I saw the fighting style and immediately thought of some house rules to make it more fair for monks. The fighting style and feat to give greater unarmed damage only give 1d4 to the damage, but if you gain more than one of these extra options, your damage die gets bumped up 1. So a variant human monk who took the "get a fighting style" feat as well as Tavern Brawler is hitting for 1d8. Their martial arts die progression would still get bumped as normal, so 5th would be doing 1d10, 11th 1d12, then capping at 2d6. I just thought it lousy that a fighter could take that style and stay better than/on par with a monk's martial arts dice until lvl 17.
I like features like instinctive pounce and steady aim. They mechanically do very different things, but the impact is that the classes that use those features find themselves to be more reliable on the first turn of combat.
This allows for the players to feel impactful. playing a barbarian or rogue can leave a lot to be desired if the barbarian can’t quite reach the enemy for melee attacks, or if a rogue rolled high on initiative leaving allies out of position for sneak attack.
These feature boosts also help balance encounters if there’s less variance in party efficacy.
7:09 - the face that Monty makes😂😂
The only thing stopping me from making a Thrown Weapon Fighter is...what do I do when I run out of weapons? Also I feel like the Superior Technique Fighting Style and the Martial Adept Feat are best served with an actual Battle Master, since you're just getting more maneuvers and more dice, which upgrade along with the ones you get from the subclass.
I made a battle master with the feat add fighting style to get 2 extra dice and 3 more maneuvers.
And I took most all the new maneuvers as well. Now I'm a smooth talking, keenly insightful, trip attacking machine. I use the skill boosters to out perform the Rogue at times and usually get a short rest between dialogue and fights. Best of both worlds on my fighter.
In a particular shared campaign I'm in I've made a Giff Battle Master who uses the Unarmed Fighting Style. What really makes it go is that the Giff (special player race from Mirt's Undermountain Survival Guide) get a charge ability where if you run 20 feet in a straight line at a Large or smaller target, you can force them to make a Strength saving throw (no action or bonus action required), and if they fail, they're knocked prone and take 2d6 bludgeoning damage. I combine that with the Grappling Strike maneuver from Tasha's into this opening salvo: run at someone, (hopefully) knock them prone, then take my attacks at advantage, then assuming one of them hits, use my bonus action for Grappling Strike to grapple them while prone, meaning they can't get up until they break the grapple. So long as my Athletics checks hold out, from then on I'm doing 1d4 at the start of the turn, then two advantaged attacks that each do a d8+Strength, and I can add other maneuvers for additional damage. I also took Crusher, so I can do a little bit of battlefield positioning, and if any of my advantaged attacks crits, *everyone* gets advantage even if the creature breaks the grapple and stands up.
Mechanically it's pretty strong, but I think I like it even more flavor-wise: picture a 7'9", 615 pound hippopota-man in gleaming plate armor running at an enemy at full speed, bellying them to knock them to the ground, then sitting on them and punching them in the face. It's pretty amazing.
I had a Swarmkeeper Ranger who took the Blind Fighting style, I flavored it as the swarm acting as his eyes by feeling around him and it was awesome
Thrown weapon master is actually pretty good. One of the guys I play with is a cavalier fighter with a pegasus mount, thrown weapon master, and harpoons attached to ropes. He swoops down, hits the enemy with the harpoons, flies up, and drops them from a hundred feet up.
What a fantastic metaphor section at the end. I love it!
One solid use case for Ki-Fueled Attack is that it makes Stunning Strike better. If you use Stunning Strike for your Attack action, your bonus attack is now with a monk weapon, which in early game will have the higher damage dice and may have a higher hit rate if it's a magical weapon. So it's a nice buff even for monks like Drunken Master who aren't forced to spend their Ki points on subclass features.
The Kensai was powered up by the monk additions. He can now make Kensai attacks as a bonus action instead of martial arts if he spends a ki during his attack action.
the monk bonus action attack when you spend a ki point lets you attack with a monk weapon instead just a fist so using the better monk weapon feature with this can add some nice extra damage, which is best used after you spend a ki point for stunning strike.
Here's the thing about drawing a thrown weapon. yes you technically can do this, BUT it uses your free action as a part of movement, I.E. the one draw or sheath a weapon per turn.
What this feat does it let's you draw multiple thrown weapons a turn without using that free action. There is the benefit of the feat, at least in that part.
It's probably been stated a few time, but for the throwers fighting style is , RAW you can only draw one weapon per round ( without dual weilder feat) . So this allows you to throw multiple weapons each round RAW
Funny enough, despite kinda brushing pass the Tasha's Battle Maneuvers I think its another piece of the "Thrown Weapon Master" build. Tasha's included Quick Toss, which lets you draw and throw a weapon as a bonus action and add the die to the damage dealt. Get the Throwing Weapon fighting style, go Battle Master, make sure Quick Toss is one of the initial picks (Probably some things like Disarming Attack, Precision Attack, Trip Attack early on as well), grab the feat that gives you more Superiority Dice, go to town.
If you really want to go all in, grab a few levels of Artificer, get the Returning Weapon infusion, and now you just need one throwing weapon. It will be magical, return to your hand immediately after every throw, and have a +1 bonus to attacks and damage. Basically become Thor.
Having played a BM for the last 2 years i'll have to say that the "Commanding presence" maneuver is one of the best additions in TCOE. Im now able to even be the party's face when necessary. It freed up my avenues of social interractions and now every aspect of the game is at maximum enjoyability.
The hand-to-hand fighting style can help you make your John Wick styled character with some playing around. Also being able to utilize Battle Master maneuvers with it makes this a proper Samurai when you use it as a feat to gain that fighting style. I wasn't excited about the Monk options either, no meditation to regain ki or give yourself the elf feature of 4 hours being like 8. The battle master maneuvers were very lack luster...I'm sure there's a way to make them work, but good thing you have that martial versatility now. Which you may have been using...btw anyone reading this WATCH the Reflavoring and Retraining video it's one of my favorite ones here...but I've found not all DM's are as gracious so its good to have it in the books.
It would allow you to throw as many weapons as you have attacks, so hasted, action surging fighter could throw 8+ daggers. Where are as techincally you could only throw as many currently in your hands + 1 drawn with free action.
I give you, the Gambit feat.
How much wood would a woodchuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Bro monks can now be the Blow Gun master! Instead of doing 1 dmg you do a d4 an up to a d10.
Think about that you do 1d10 with a blow gun.
The chicken wing analogy had me laughing the entire time HAHAHHA it’s accurate and it’s silly; i LOVE IT
I'm currently playing a Battle Master with Interception, along with Crusher. He's a kobold minion (essentially) from a level 1 one-off, so honestly the damage reduction from Interception was huge. It's been fun in our campaign too: up there in melee, beside the Swashbuckler, who's giving me advantage "in exchange for" defending them (or riposte-ing if the enemy attacks+misses me). It's a fun little symbiosis.
Interception feels better to use than Protection because of the wording of Protection.
As for feats, Sentinel is better, strictly speaking, but I wanted 20 STR at level 4 from Crusher, whose other benefits are very enticing with a kobold attacking at advantage with a nearby Rogue (besides, Sentinel is a tad op imo, and was used in our ToA game, which totally saved our asses btw lol).
All in all, pretty niche but lots of fun. I usually gravitate towards a Cleric/Druid, so I just had to take damage reduction instead of healing lol. Besides, our group has plenty of DPR already (I rolled a 19 for STR at level 1 haha). Hey kudos to you if you read all that... yeesh lol
If given the option, focussed aim for 1 ki point is always better than flurry of blows since flurry of blows gives you 1 extra potential hit while focussed aim turns one miss into a guaranteed hit. It only comes up in 1/10 attacks but in those cases, don't hesitate to use it.
With the quickened healing I think that monks can spend some ki to dodge as a bonus action which means that you could be a dwarf monk with dwarven fortitude, use quickened healing, bonus action dodge for dwarven fortitude (Possibly idk lol) and get big healing
The chicken wings metaphor was gold! more of that please.
@10:47 I think Monty forgot the Psi Knife can throw their daggers and make make use of this fighting style if get it it somehow. (From multiclassing into Fighter or taking the Fighting style feat.) I did this with my Psi Knife (2 lvl dip so far in fighter) character and had a +4 to damage with the bracers of archery stacking with it as well as sharpshooter for +14 damage on daggers that I could use the Psi die to add to the "to hit".
The thrown weapon style is the only way to make “shorty” race fighters comparable to fighters of larger races because the feat sharpshooter works with it when using darts (they are the only official ranged thrown weapon). Five attacks at level 5 in your surge round, all at -5 to hit +10 to damage (including your off-hand, but which does not get your dex mod to damage). If you have advantage on attacks, the output is op. Before, shorties could not compare to larger races as fighters. They had shortbows instead of longbows (range decrease, damage decrease), no great weapon feat, and short swords instead of rapiers or long sword etc. I ran a gnome with the sharp shooter feat and the thrown weapon style. The burst damage was ridiculous. Granted afterward, you are out of darts, unless your dm is amazing like mine was and gave me a magic item granting unlimited darts. It felt great to be an op shorty fighter.
I'm still hopeful that at some point we'll get Treantmonk's version of Brutal Critical for barbarians. It increases the crit range to 19 and 20 on top of everything else. It makes so much sense to me.
Edit: typo
A friend of mine once told me their idea on how to fix is that per amount of brutal critical they have they can change 1 attack into a critical hit
@@mohammadmurie I'm not sure that giving an auto crit is the way to go. But if it works for your games, I'm all for it. 👍
@@samdugan7591 oh no no no I never tried it out and seen it i am just saying that was their idea but I do agree that Brutal Critical needs a buff some how
@@mohammadmurie Oh okay. I understand. Sorry to be plugging another person's channel but I do like Treantmonk's idea. The increased crit chance would help the Barbarian out a lot. The most common multiclass for a Barbarian is 3 levels for champion fighter. This would save on the multiclass. It really made sense to me.
@@samdugan7591 yeah you're fine its all cool and yeah I like the idea but also speaking of champion fighter champion should have really been a barbarian subclass instead
Some notes about a thrown weapon fighter:
1. RAW; you can only draw 1 weapon as part of the attack action, not 2 or more, so you'd only get to throw 1 dagger.
2. Darts are technically a ranged weapon and are a thrown weapon. Just reflavour them as throwing knives and you can absolutely use the archery fighting style and sharpshooter feat as a thrown weapon specialist.
My build adds 2 levels of Artificer for a returning weapon infusion. Now you only need 1 dart, which is magical, that you can throw 60ft away.
Kelly and Monty, you guys are awesome! This video is a great start to your 4-part series and I can't wait for the others. 😄
"I'm trying to wrap up the episode." Classic! 🤣
Thank you for making these videos, Dudes :D Good stuff!
Actually something interesting about monk weapons is it needs to be specifically a simple melee weapon. The ability to channel your ki into a weapon allows you to turn any simple ranged weapon into a monk weapon which allows for bow monk builds. Paired with the way of mercy allows for a interesting healing archer build as well as boosting the short bow from d6 up to a d10. Not great but as a monk fan it’s quite enjoyable to build a ranged monk finally.
I love how this devolved into comparing hot wings and sauces to DnD class features towards the end, not something I expected :D
you can use the monk weapon on a magical dagger or staff. Getting a fire daggers that deals d6 additional damage or just a normal +1 magical dagger is a boost.
The real adventure has been watching Kelly's hair evolve.
Lol
You can only draw/interact with ONE weapon/item as part of your free action per turn. Normally you can only draw ONE weapon or round. If you look at the dual-wielding feat, it ALLOWS you to draw two weapons, when you normally can't.
10:53 Sounds like Kelly might be misinterpreting the Thrown Weapon fighting style? Because it already lets you attack twice if you have Extra Attack. It allows drawing a weapon per attack, not attack action, which gets rid of the difficulties from using thrown weapons with Extra Attack in RAW.
The 2 skills are actually pretty good for barbarian because barbarian often do not have much to do outside of combat
Personal thing about the Thrown Weapon fighting style, i love the potential build for it at level 3. V. Human or Custom Lineage for Fighting Initiate: Thrown Weapon Fighting, 1 level Fighter for Archery (the Dart weapon is the only one in the game aside from the Net treated as both a Thrown and Ranged weapon, so it benefits from both fighting styles), and then 2 levels of Artificer for Returning Weapon
with this build, you essentially have a single +3 Dart in pocket that you can keep throwing and it always comes to your hand, and then other Darts are essentially +2s
Edit, just cuz i think i might wanna clarify before people respond: when i talk about the darts, i mean that they are listed under the "Simple Ranged Weapons" category, but that they also have the "thrown (20/60)" tag, meaning they're viable for both features to work, along with sharpshooter
I have a noble knight fighter character. That went to a Knight's Academy at a very young age. Whereas a Variant Human took the Feat: Martial Adept, and Fighting Style: Superior Technique together in the Fighter class. You get 3d6 and three maneuvers to pick from that's really good! It will make the Champion Fighter even better of a choice to pick with its second fighting style level 10. To take Superior Technique again (4d6 and 4 maneuvers) or any other. Combine this with improved/superior Critical. You can also take Battle Master. Which you get 3 more dies added to your current battle master pool and they also make your 3d6's level up to 3d8's, 10's, and 12's with your battle master's Improved Combat Superiority on top of it. There are a lot of maneuvers. So get what you need and have fun with the extra. It would be fun with EK Cast spell, BA: weapon attack, use reaction: to SD maneuver. Arcane Archer maybe not so much as DM I let the player take the numbers shots increase 2+proficency modifier. Whereas you can only have two uses of this ability, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a short or long rest. As a player would ask the DM for this or use an HB feat of mine called: Arcane Quiver = As an Arcane Archer, you come prepared early with an emergency reserve of shots. The arcane archer can prepare selected arcane shot types and draw upon them when needed. The arcane archer can select more than one of the same arcane shot types.
The number of shots that can be prep equals INT modifier +1. Once reserves are depleted the arcane archer must wait after a long rest to renew the Arcane Quiver reserves.
26:22
Hey DDudes! Nice Vid. Here is a combo that works nicely with Sharp shooter + focused aim + key fueled attacks.
Focused aim grants you the access to ki fueled attacks for free. This in combo with sharp shooter means "Do you want to spend from 1 to 3 ki points to get from a +2 to a +.6 to hit with your +10dmg attack turning a miss into a hit and make another +10dmg attack with your bonus action?" Given the damage you can reach with sharp shooter the answer to this question in my case is almost always "Yes, I'd like to spend 1 to 3 ki points for that".
I use this combo with my way ofthe shadow monk - gloomstalker ranger, so far with good results.
My favorite part of this video is the appetizing conclusions. 😆
i like the monk stuff for four elements, now i can water whip and knock and enemy prone, then use a longsword to do significant damage before they can get back up
As far as Fighting Style: Thrown goes, it actually synergizes pretty well with the Rogue Soulknife subclass. Basically, at lv3 the Soulknife gets a 1d6 action and 1d4 bonus action dagger attack, both of which can be thrown 60 ft. Rogues can already deal massive damage with sneak attack, but adding Thrown Fighting Style to the Soulknife gives it consistent damage as well, raising the minimum of both attacks from 1+DEX to 3+DEX (a ~40-50% increase in base damage for early levels).
Soulknife daggers already can be formed as part of their attack, so that part of the Fighting Style is lost on the subclass, but I still think it has potential for a build, especially given that it comes online at lv3 (w/ variant) or lv4 without multiclassing
Ki fueled strike is also great on a Kensei Longbow archer, who can now make 3 shots per turn most turns from level 5 onwards
Looking forward to the rest of this series. Great food analogy of hot wings and veggies.
Am i weird? when i saw Unarmed Fighting my first thoughts were to combine it with Tavern Brawler & Skill Expert, like:
1) Pick Unarmed Fighting Style.
2) Pick Tavern Brawler for the Extra Damage and Bonus Action Grapple on attacks.
3) Pick Skill Expert, gain Expertise on Athletic Checks so you gain the following benefits:
-Your attempts to grapple an enemy and rolls to keep them grappled now benefit from expertise making them an easier success.
- Once you gain your Extra Attack you can Shove Prone enemies (also an Athletics Check so also gain Expertise) and then grapple them.
-When an enemy is knock prone you can still move around unlike the Pin from the Grappler feat & now EVERYONE has advantage hitting them.
-Being grappled reduces their speed to 0, you need half your speed to stand up from being prone, Knocked Prone+Grapple= Even if they break free they can't get up on that same turn, meaning you CAN grapple them on your next turn and keep them on the floor.
-Their attacks against you have Disadvantage while they are Knocked Prone.
Shadow monk elves and dwarves can now take a feat to pick up truesight fighting style, cast darkness on their turn using their action, and then make a longsword or battle axe attack with advantage using their bonus action!
I’m currently playing an unarmed Rune Knight with Tavern Brawler and it’s a great time honestly. I love it so much.
Thanks for the early release! Will this become the standard going forward? I hope so!
More wing analogies! That was glorious!
Do also love the idea of a deurgar rune knight wrestler who can basically go king Kong versus kiaju by turning huge once a day.
I'm planning on playing a Soulknife Rogue/ Psi Warrior Fighter and my fighting style is gonna be Interception. one of the reasons I didn't want Protection was the shield thing but more importantly I think that disadvantage has the chance to "fail to activate" in important times, you are unable to choose after the attack roll to hit to deploy Protection as you have to pick before the attack is rolled.
I would say that an attack that has been stopped by Protection is better than the damage reduction of Interception, however, Interception will 100% do something every turn that someone is hit by an attack within 5ft of my character whereas Protection has a chance to not do anything (for example the original attack would have missed or both rolls hit anyway). But that is just my risk benefit analysis for this character to be honest.
Tasha Barbarian: "LEROY JENKINS!" **runs through entire Dungeon**
I'm a big fan of the brawler-barbarian, and that fighting style feat is looking mighty interesting...
The monk features are like if they gave you an extra side of bleu cheese, but it's a different brand and if you guess what brand it is, you get a free dessert.
I'm a new player and went for Fighter Battlemaster, I think Bait & Switch looks really interesting but I might overestimate the practical use
The clutch use of having a free maneuver was displayed perfectly in exandria unlimited by Liam obrians character
Don't forget, intimidation can be used with strength too, making it the most useful Face skill for barbarians.
I'm curently playing a Kensei monk with longbow+sharpshooter and focused aim is a game changer. attack action with sharpsooter+focused aim (spending a Ki point during your attack action) wich procs Ki fulled attack, thats 3 longbow shots at lvl 5 and in the off chance you hit without focused aim on your sharpshooter attack you can go deft strike on your attack action and still get your bonus action longbow attack at lvl 6. it is now a verry strong archer class with great mobility, pretty cool. getting the archery fighing style is a must though.
Focused aim is also very good because not all enemies follow the typical HP/AC scaling. If you have an enemy with meh HP but a very high AC, then every hit counts and 1 or somtimes even 2 ki point(s) is not a bad price to pay to land a hit when you were close.
Superior technique+martial adept could be okay for a critfishing build; if you're a half orc champion, those plus orcish fury could get you 5d10+2d6+2d6 on a crit, and all those dice recharge on a short rest
Javelin throwing, sharpshooter, hero's arm.. using a Great spear as a thrown weapon... with a shield and polearm mastery... and an ever full Quran! With sentinel and Samuri. Very nice thought.
I feel like Monty allows his strong bias toward Polearm Master and Sentinel to really short-change his analysis.
I'd argue that interception is BETTER than Protection if you're talking about the reaction action economy because with Protection you're rolling the dice, you may use it when an enemy would have missed anyway and even if you use it they may still hit. Interception allows you wait and see if the enemy is going to hit before burning your reaction and it automatically happens, there's no risk.