Top 5 Monk Feats and How to Select Them 🥋 D&D 5e
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- Опубликовано: 15 июн 2024
- Monks can afford little versatility with feats, so choose wisely! They will likely be padding their Wisdom and Dexterity stats instead of taking feats. Having said that, I've summarized how Monks can choose interesting, useful feats that complement their skillsets. I also provided my top five feats for monks based on my own analysis and taste. What do you think are the top five feats for Monks?
We have articles to accompany our videos, so read along here: www.flutesloot.com/best-monk-...
⏰Time Stamps:
00:00 Intro
00:44 Considerations for Choosing Monk Feats
02:25 #5 Elven Accuracy
03:33 #4 Fey Touched
05:32 #3 Sentinel
06:32 #2 Mobile
07:48 #1 Crusher
09:55 Other/Niche Feats
12:32 Remember to read more at flutesloot.com
12:53 We want to hear from you
13:32 Trap feats in my article
13:54 Subscribe, and I'll cya later
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I personally think you are underrating the fighting initiate feat. Unarmed fighting does work with dex for a monk because of the martial arts skill (that is why monks can use dex on unarmed strikes to begin with) because the specific overrules the general rule (generally unarmed strikes use strength, martial arts specifies that a monk can use dex instead). By taking this feat you are effectively boosting your unarmed damage to that of an 11th level monk, and it works for your flurry of blows attacks which is an upgrade from using a quarterstaff/unarmed combo. When you hit level 11, like you said you can change it. Blind fighting is nice because you can see anything within 10' that isn't behind full cover, including invisible creatures. The 10' limit is not the best, but it does mean that barring really specific encounters you will not have disadvantage fighting against an invisible opponent (and they won't get advantage on you). Another option is taking the Superior Technique fighting style, because as sage advice has specified, an unarmed attack is a melee weapon attack, so any battle master maneuver that specifies melee weapon attack still works for monks. Here's a short list: commander's strike, evasive footwork, feinting attack, lunging attack (jump kick anyone), parry, rally, riposte, sweeping attack, ambush, bait and switch, commanding presence, grappling strike, tactical assessment. Brace is kind of a weird case because it specifies melee weapon, based on my understanding I'd allow it as a DM, but others might not.
Another great feat for anyone, monks included, is alert. +5 to initiative, can't be surprised, and attackers you can't see don't get advantage when attacking you. That's just butter for anyone, but for a skirmisher like the monk it's perfect.
Hi khultak, you might be right about the Unarmed Fighting style! I read it as a 'specific rule' about using Strength in the style's description, but maybe that was merely quoting the general rule of using Strength for unarmed attacks. After reviewing the Martial Arts description, I believe you're correct! This makes Unarmed Fighting style much better. I'm pinning your comment so others will see it prominently. I still think it's reasonable for others to interpret that Unarmed Fighting style uses Strength, but I can go either way on it.
Would you consider doing one of these for the Pugilist? There's not much info on them outside the pdf, possibly because they are homebrew. But I love learning about interactions I might have overlooked. For example, the eagle totem barbarian gets the ability to see things 1 mile away as if they were 100ft away, add observant and linguist and your barbarian is a spy lol.
Hi@@corrosivecabal, I typically stick to the official material, but I can take a look at the Pugilist. I see that there are quite a few different Pugilist designs online. Is there a particular author's work you like for the Pugilist?
@@FlutesLoot I didn't realize that I had left my comment as a reply to another commenter, oof!
I've been looking at the class as presented by Benjamin Huffman.
@@corrosivecabal haha no worries. I heard about this designer and he was spoken of very highly by Indestructo Boy. I'll check it out and maybe I'll write up or do a video about what I think of it! :)
MOTM Bugbear Monk.
Long limbed for 10ft range punches.
Proficiency in stealth for setting up the surprise round.
Surprise Attack feature for +2d6 damage on every hit against enemies who have not acted in combat yet.
Alert feat becomes essential for getting you to act first in combat for all that extra damage.
You may even want to multiclass to fighter 2 for action surge. Just think. A monk5/fighter2 being able to drop 6 attacks with extra attack, action surge, and flurry against a BBEG before the enemy has acted. Hitting all six attacks with unarmed strikes would be 18d6 + applicable str or dex modifiers
Sounds like a fun assassin concept for a Monk
That's a really cool synergy between Crusher and Sentinel. Like you said, for melee combatants it would be incredibly aggravating. Great fun.
For sure! I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that combination :P
@@FlutesLoot And so will my players MWAHAHAHAHA. But in all seriousness, great work. I look forward to binge watching the rest of your stuff.
@@jacktherascal haha sounds awesome and gruesome :P
If you find that you have feedback for our videos, please let us know. We've been able to correct some audio issues because of kind feedback from viewers. We're still finding our way. :)
The good part is that you chose. So for ranged fighters you can keep close and give them disadvantage, or force a switch to melee. Since by rules, they can't draw weapon and store bow at the same time (1 free item interaction) you get to push them. If they keep melee, they disadvantage or attack with improvised weapon bow-club.
Either way, they are not hitting the backline.
As someone who is learning 5e, I love the channel and the content you produce. Keep it up!
Thank you! :)
I recommend Ritual Caster. For any Monk subclass. Leomund's Tiny Hut or Phantom Steed comes in handy, but 1st level picks could be Find Familiar and Tensor's Floating Disk.
This was useful and well explained. (Even if it wasn't particularly applicable to my character.)
Thank you. :)
I took Elven Accuracy and Sharp shooter, I planned to take Mobile next but I did toy with the idea of leaning into the elf side of things by grabbing Wood Elf Magic for a more rounded character. I'm playing a Kensei Monk that specializes in the Long Bow and Long Sword. I'm trying to play "The Archer That Never Misses" so I can hit anything, every time. I also don't want to be useless in close quarters.
I also refused to play another fighter, for personal reasons.
Fantastic! I'm playing a "never miss" Elf Rogue at the moment, so I know how good that feels to play :P
Love the communication, I enjoy combining monk and rogue, but usually will go straight monk. My favorite combo is Paladin and sorcerer. Can be overpowered so play that combination politely for the sake of everyone having fun
Thank you! I tend not to multiclass due to looking forward to something in my main class and/or subclass.
I've yet to make a multiclassed Charisma character, but they are certainly potent.
Am playing a monk with the crusher feat. The ability to grant the rest of the party advantage on attacks vs your target when you crit feels like a really good support oriented feature.
The monk definitely isn’t dealing the high damage, but the support of occasional crusher crits or a stunning strike are nice.
I like that style as a Monk
I'm thinking of a monk with the Magic Initiate Druid feat, with the cantrip Primal Savagry. You do a claw or bite attack that does 1d10 acid damage. Druidcraft, and Cure Wounds to fill up the slots.
Interesting! I like it, though it may be difficult to justify using the cantrip instead of multiple attacks.
@@FlutesLoot That's easy. The cantrip does more damage. By the time the monk's unarmed strike does 1d6 magical blunt damage, Primal Savagry does 2d10 damage. Still a viable option.
@@timjackson9334You got a point. At higher levels, it's 3d10, 4d10. That's like 3 or 4 hits.
7:20 there's a quirk with stunning strike were you need to use it before moving. You can move after the first stunning strike attack and hit the second on the sorcerer but at that point you might just want to martial arts
You mention Kensei monks using patient defense for their bonus action with ranged attacks. I think it's far more common to use Kenseis Shot as their bonus action to pump up the damage a bit.
Yep, many options. Depends on how much returning fire they anticipate.
Good stuff
Thanks, Yung Asura!
I find some of your choices have complimentary buildups:
Fey Touched: I find this especially good for Shadow Monks. Their Shadow Step can easily be thwarted by a nearby arrowhead imbued with the Light cantrip, so this keeps your strategies in the game. A great compliment for the extra spell would be the Shadow Sorcerer with metamagic Twin Spell and Darkness. That way you can focus on a class without Darkvision, have Cantrips, Shadow Blade, and create your own arena to hop around in unscathed.
Sentinel: while this combo might be a bit more intensive, adding it to Drunken Master X/Scout 3 would offer a better option than Mobile. Mobile allows you to disengage from anyone you hit (so a max of 4) but Drunen Master boosts that up with a free Disengage when you use Flurry of Blow. And when a melee combatant ends their turn withing 5ft of you, Skirmisher allows you to move 1/2 speed away from that person. Meaning that at level 6, using your prior reaction, you can squirm up to 70-77ft without Dashing. This can only be stopped by... oh wait your Sentinel negates an enemy's Sentinel from stopping your movement.
Crusher: one issue with this is that while your enemy might be too far to hit you, you have no reach weapon to hit them either. Which makes the Astral Monk Bugbear with Eldritch Claw your best friend. Assuming you succeed every hit, an enemy within 5ft would get hit and repelled from your first and second attack thanks to long limbed, only to be in range of your Flurry of Blows thanks to your Astral Arms and Eldritch Maul. The later might not push them back further (though it has the reach), but at lvl 5, you've just hit them for 7d6 damage and potentially shoved them off a cliff without a Strength save.
I prefer the feats to be complementary, so I'm glad you perceive possibilities! :)
@@FlutesLoot same. I try to build characters around a theme and a party role, be it optimized or not. That way there will always be a clear room for role play opportunities and usefulness throughout the campaign.
Battle master maneuver feats for the kensai or really any monk disarm your opponents or maneuver your squishy allies out of combat if they find themselves in trouble. Some would argue that that's to much to do with your action economy but I say you may want to conserve your ki and this gives you a bunch of other things to do.
Ki is valuable! Having other resources can transform a Monk's options.
Picking up magic initiate for booming blade jump or earth tremor could also be good
I have to disagree with some of these picks. The monk is too squishy to take sentinel in most cases, especially because when you took sentinel, you did not up your AC on that level, and you did not up your hit points through constitution, so basically you are behind other monks who are already squishy.
So basically you trap yourself with the monster, and not the other way around. Sentinel is for tanks, but monks are not good tanks.
Mobile is an excellent feat for monks, because it solves their squishiness problem. With this you can move in, hit someone, and move out. But this is another reason sentinel is a bad feat for the monk, because you want to use your mobility to keep you safe, you can't use sentinel very often.
Elven Accuracy is good, but not great if you don't have a reliable way of getting advantage. If you hit on a 9 or higher, you hit 84 % of the time with regular advantage. Not a lot of room for improvement there. If you can get advantage all the time, sure, it is worth it, but if you have no special plan to get advantage a lot, you might want to rethink elven accuracy.
Crusher is a good feat, 5 feet pushes does more than you think, if you are able to think tactically about it.
-They break grapples (being pushed out of reach, the grapple ends)
-They makes your team more mobile, by pushing potential opportunity attackers out of reach.
-The work really well to push enemies into area spells, both the areas that are already on the battlefield, but the real pro gamer move, is to communicate with your wizard, and set up for the spell he is about to cast.
Fey touched is not so good on a monk. First, escaping a grapple. This only works once per day, and outside of grappling it doesn't do much for you that you can't do with step of the wind. You are probably better off trying to use crusher to push them out of reach, or just attack them until they are dead.
At the same time, Hunter's mark, and Hex are not good monk spells. It looks great on paper. You imagine that turn 1, you are going to hex, and then for the rest of the battle all your attacks deal 1d6 extra damage. That is not how it works. Turn 1 you hex, and do less attacks than you otherwise would. The paladin sees that the enemy you just attacked is wounded, and correctly figures out, that if we can take him out early, we gain a big boost in the action economy. The paladin walks up and smites the bastard. He doesn't die, but the ranger follows up with a sharpshooter attack and kills it. Now on turn 2, you have to reapply Hex to a different enemy.
Obviously it won't be that bad every round, or every combat. But don't expect hex to work more than half the time.
In addition, your concentration saves suck until level 14, so as soon as you take damage, you are likely to lose concentration. Speaking of losing concentration, that is why bless is also a poor choice, unless you already have mobile, and a party that is really good at protecting you. That leaves gift of alacrity, which is honestly quite good, but not worth a feat in most cases.
If you need a feat with a +1 wisdom, sure, not terrible. But not great either.
So here is the deal, Monks don't work well with most feats, largely because most good feats are tied to weapon types the monk doesn't use, or asks the monk to use their bonus action that they already need. Mobile and Crusher are the exceptions. Top 2 feats for monks doesn't make for a very good video title, but you don't give the false impression that sentinel is a good feat on monks.
I agree that Monks have low synergy with feats. I addressed some of your caveats in the video, but I appreciate your expounded thoughts. I would hope it's self-evident that I wouldn't recommend choosing feats like Sentinel unless you already had Crusher and/or Mobile (really the two best feats for Monks, as you said). Having said that, my summary of Sentinel wasn't meant to portray a Monk who is sitting around getting hit for no reason, but has options when enemies get in close or when a Monk needs to stop a particular enemy's movement. If I can stop the most dangerous enemy's movement, I'm willing to take the punishment while my party makes quick work of everything else.
I addressed the concerns with Hex and Hunter's Mark already. I'm not too concerned about concentration if I already have Mobile and can move around freely. I wouldn't use them in every battle.
I normally don't like suggesting Elven Accuracy for the reason you specified, little benefit when you run the numbers. If it didn't come with a stat boost, I'd have to choose something else. I know many players enjoy it, though.
Perhaps I should say so in these videos, but I approach them from a perspective of both optimization and fun. Not every feat is going to be a top pick, but I know there are players who want to pick feats that are passable but not obvious. Optimization often comes with assumptions that aren't reality in-game anyway.
Thanks for watching and for your support, peter!
@Flutes Loot I still think sentinel is a bad pick. Especially if you have mobile. Mobile encourages you to stay out of melee, sentinel encourages you to stay in melee. They simply work counter to each other.
I addition, the main point of sentinel, is to prevent the enemy from attacking the squishy party members. But you are one of those squishy party members. With low hit points (con is your 3rd stat, and your hit dice are d8, putting you even on hit points with the wizard in most cases). Your AC is decent if you sink all your ASIs into wisdom and dex, but since you are taking sentinel that is clearly not the case for your build. You can use patient defense to be tanky for a turn, but that cost both ki and your bonus action.
If the monk wants to stop an enemy from moving, they can go with stunning strike, not as consistent, but it doesn't put you in harms way, even if ti fails, at least not if you have mobile.
About addressing the hex and hunter's mark, you correctly say in the beginning of the video that things that cost bonus actions is not a good choice for the monk. Then you go on to recommending Hex and Hunter Mark, that costs a ton of bonus actions. You only address the initial casting of them in the video, but you don't address that it takes a bonus action to reapply effect to a new creature, and that most creatures don't survive very long once the party starts attacking them. Simple 101 DnD tactics is to focus down enemies one at a time, two monsters at half health deal twice as much damage to your party as 1 monster at full health. Because a competent party will focus down one target at a time, most enemies only lasts 1-2 rounds once the party starts focusing them. That means even if you pick the best target for the hex spell, you are still using half your bonus actions. Sure there might be the occasional boss battle where you can get a lot of mileage out of hex, but in my experience, they don't come too often.
You say you don't expect to make many concentration saves, but you are a melee attacker, people will hit you some times, with spells, ranged attacks or just walking up and hitting you, even with mobile you can't always get far enough away.
Bless is a great spell, and if you have a lot of people relying on attack rolls in your party it might be worth it. It only lasts a minute though, meaning most times you have to set it up in combat.
I think when you set out to make a top 5 list of feats for monk, there will be an assumption that all these feats are good on Monk. But in my opinion, the list should probably be something like Mobile, Dex boost, Crusher, Wisdom boost, Lucky. I recognize that probably doesn't make for a very interesting video, but maybe you could make it top 7, so we could hear your thoughts on how highly to value stat increase on a monk, and still talk about the other feats.
And of course keeping in the honorable mentions / niche feats, I like that you make it clear you don't find them optimal, but still fun options.
ohh, and I should probably say, while I don't agree with you on everything, I still enjoyed the video :) Nice work
Thanks@@peterrasmussen4428! I genuinely appreciate the feedback and the alternative points of view. I also appreciate you pointing out that you still liked the video :)
That's a good idea to make it clear that stat boosts are valuable, aside from merely talking about how stats are important to a class. I can see myself doing that in future videos.
For the sake of exploring the concept, there are some Monks who can use Hunter's Mark or Hex effectively because they focus on keeping away from enemies to make ranged attacks. Tasha's opened Monks up to this tactic even more with Dedicated Weapon, but Kensei Monks have been using Longbows for a while. I should've mentioned this. And it's still nice that the Fey Touched feat gives a stat boost. I gave preference to feats that gave some kind of utility to a Monk while boosting a stat.
Eldritch adept is cool, you can choose Devil Sight as a human. making a human 120 feet vision in darkness magical and non magical. So for the shadow monk who use darkness to cover and enemy, he can enter with a shadow step get advantage and give the monster disavantage on every hit without using patient defense
Given my monk has a current Dex of 19 and a Wis of 17, I'm pretty sure there's not a feat that would be as good when I hit 4th (3rd currently) as adding a stat point to each of those. At 8th it'll likely be a different story, but an AC increase of 2 to 19 and an addiional +1 to +5 on attack/damage (not to mention proficiency rolls) seems pretty hard to beat.
Monk stats are important! While I pointed out a few stand-out feats in this video, it's also clear that Monks have a lot to gain from investing in their stats.
@@FlutesLoot In the case of this character it just works out especially well for at least this time.
@@CrimFerret gotta even out those odds! :)
Mobile is insanely good for monks. Get in, throw your hits, get out without any Attacks Of Opportunity
What’s your race and stats ?
I`m missing a little cut-out or description of the feats mentioned, I have to pause the vid, look the feat/spell up and come back every time. I think adding litte descriptions in even briefly (we can pause and read it) will net you a lot more recuring viewers.
Newer videos do this :) I was too timid about copyright in earlier videos
If you think of playing Aggro the Defensive Duelist is pretty good feat too.
Not a bad idea if you're sparring often, as long as you use a finesse weapon and plan to forever. Probably oughta make sure stats are high first, though. Monks need those stats!
@@FlutesLoot I mean when you already have 20 in both dex and wisdom...defensive duelist is pretty much your go to if you are using finesse weapon. Rapiers can be monk weapon too. At higher level there are pretty op magical items that are finesse. It's a strong feat 10/10 would pick it.
I know this is old, and maybe people aren't as interested in UA feats, but Spear Mastery seems very underrated. A spear is still a monk weapon since its melee simple weapon. It's like having a better quarterstaff with d10 damage, adds +1 attack bonus, is throwable, and offers some extra bonus action options, which a monk isn't usually left wanting, but if you're out of ki or can't reach a target can be situationally useful. It's great early to mid-game, and your unarmed strikes probably won't ever catch up to the spears usability.
Also, a DM probably more likely to put in more and better magical spears than knuckle dusters or Katars.
I've forgotten about those old UAs! It would be nice to get more of those weapon feats in print.
Good video
Thanks very much
Something completely unusual I did with a monk in a one-off was sentinel (because close up combat+hard to hit+you can’t run) and… fighting initiative.
I was a shadow monk so I understand the confusion. I took the 10 ft blindsense and I would dash up to a big boss, drop darkness centered on myself and wait.
The only reason it didn’t work was because the boss monster had a feature that made it immune to effects that modulate speed.
I love that combination idea! It can severely limit enemy options while giving you the upper hand.
I was thinking the same but with silence against spellcasters like wizards.
Jump to them (just behinde them), put silnce and wait for their "move".
@@delta4135 many spellcasters wouldn't be prepared for that! They should be, but they aren't.
@@FlutesLoot
❔ *I have a question.*
If you have a gloves of soul catching and you use the arms from way of astral self to do unarmed strike, does the bonus damage and effects of the gloves still work?
In their description is stated: "After making a successful unarmed strike while wearing these gloves..."
Well, you wear them and you used unarmed strike, so I think it should work.
Sry that I ask it here and not on reddit but I want to know what is your opinion.
@@delta4135 haha that's a good question. I think there is certainly an argument to be made that the astral arms are not wearing the gloves, but I'd certainly let a player use the gloves with their astral arms.
I like "Alert". Monks are at their best when they are the first to act.
Very good point
i was thinking about a human monk so fighting initiate sounds great!
Great way to boost your early damage output potential while keeping the flexibility to swap it out later. :)
I like this idea, especially when one's playing a pure monk in any of the official adventures which seldom go over level 11. The mileage from unarmed fighting style is sweet.
Even Kensei can swap it out for other styles like Archery, Dueling or Superior Technique on the next ASI which is just a level away.
Blind Fighting (from initiate) and Alert are Lowkey funny together
Hunters mark and Hex are not good options if you can attak whit your bonus action, you end up doing less damage because you loose earlie damage, the chanel Pack Tacktics make a video about this if you whant to knot the details.
The crusher and the sentinel option seems realy good :D if you start whit a feat you can have the combo at lvl 4 and can function like your stun ability, i love it
PT made a great couple of videos. As Pack Tactics implied, the math doesn't work out long-term assuming you're making attacks each round, particularly when compared to using Crossbow Expert. If you have a turn where you can't do something else and can afford to switch your HM/Hex target, it's not so bad. It's also better if you have a single target that you'll be focusing on for many rounds. Having said that, it's not my cup of tea for Monks, but some enjoy using HM/Hex.
I definitely prefer to use Crusher and one or two other feats. :)
Pack Tactics also said that running up to the enemies to attack them is sub-optimal in melee. Given it's best to let them come to you, then burning a bonus action to cast hex and then using ranged attacks as they close (throwing darts, using a shortbow, etc) works well because you're not going to be in range to use your bonus action unarmed strike anyways. Assuming my current monk's stats (Level 2: 7 STR, 18 DEX, 14 CON, 12 INT, 18 WIS, 7 CHA), that means my darts have +6 to hit, 1d4+4 damage plus 1d6 Necrotic. Once they get to melee range, I switch to my quarterstaff and get 1d8+4 plus1d6 bonus for my first attack and then bonus action attack 1d4+4 plus 1d6 (+6 to hit to all).
@@RaderizDorret Great way to do it
I’m playing a variant human monk (level 8 multiclassed with fighter 3, warlock 2 , & bard 1 so far) and I took MOBILE, and ALERT. Looking at TOUGH to mitigate the Constitution reliance you refer to.
The Tough feat makes a useful replacement for a Constitution score, good point!
@@FlutesLoot You do mention the Strength or Dexterity option - 🖖
@@TimothyMReynolds oh good, that's a relief
Based purely on the numbers, sounds more like you're playing a fighter with multi-classing in monk, warlock, and bard. :P
How were you able to get a second feat if none of your individual classes reached level 4? Homebrew rule, I assume?
@@johnhodges2760 human variant
Defensive duelist should be top 5 feat and you have it as a trap feat because you have many reaction options but the reactions you gets as a monk almost never come up.
Reasons
• you get an useful reaction that can be use 99% of the time to fill your action economy
• one successful block is way better than what boost to con would of done hp wise and I’m putty sure you will block more than one time a day
• pass lv 10 hit and run tactics with mobile start to be bad choice in my experience since monster became highly mobile an maps tend to be more open because monsters tend to be of bigger size not only that if you are not there guess what the monster is going to attack the spell casters who are now open and it’s always better you take the hit than your spell caster concentrating on a spell
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Defensive Duelist! You made me pause to analyze my position on it.
To have a useful reaction while keeping enemies off your spellcaster, I'd say Sentinel is a better choice. If you're trying to lock a creature down, but you use your reaction to boost your AC and possibly still get hit, the monster can move away freely to attack someone else (like a concentrating spellcaster). I believe it's better to use a reaction to attack a creature and attempt a Stunning Strike. It's also notable that increasing your Dex or Con would give you a +1 to AC, which is comparable to the limited uses of Defensive Duelist for +2 before level five and +3 at level five.
I'm still inclined to think Defensive Duelist is a trap for Monks, and it's often an underwhelming feat for other classes. I previously thought highly of Defensive Duelist, but experience has shown me that it's not as great as I once thought. That's just me. Feats are expensive. I think it would be better if it improved your AC for a number of attacks equal to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded up) instead of only the one triggering attack, especially at higher levels when monsters might be attacking you 3+ times in a round.
If you're playing a style of game where the Monk acts like your tank and you're often fighting small groups of enemies, Defensive Duelist could be an ok choice.
Gift of the chromatic dragon: nice if you have maxed stats or good enough stats, add an elemental d4 damage to every attacks for one minute, so +4d4 dmg if you flurry during your turn.
Good point! This video predates Fizban's feats, but even now I tend to forget about them.
@@FlutesLoot you can also take two lvls of paladin (because lets be honest the capstone suck) and get yourself some smites or more interesting the spell that add a d4 radiant dmg to your attacks. Stack it with the dragon gift and boom
Does Hex and Hunter's Mark work with unarmed strike?
Hi Daniel,
Yes, unarmed strikes can be used as melee weapon attacks despite not being considered melee weapons. If this were not so, Stunning Strike could not be used with unarmed attacks. Jeremy Crawford has clarified this nuance: "You can make a melee weapon attack with an unarmed strike" www.sageadvice.eu/melee-weapon-stunning-strike-errata-explained/
Hex and Hunter's Mark add damage to weapon attacks. Unarmed attacks are weapon attacks for this purpose. :)
You can read more about the rules errata and clarifications here (good summary): merricb.com/2015/06/11/dd-players-handbook-errata-and-unarmed-strike/
I just made an Arakocra Monk.... my team lacks a dedicated healer so was thinking to grab Chef (running Drunken fist) does chef stack with Brewing?
also thinking to grab a combination of either Sentinel, Crusher, or Resilient(cuz Im one of the 2 front liners) any suggestions?
basically our team comp is Monk, Paladin/warlock, Sorc/warlock, Ranger, wizard (hoping to get a cleric, druid, or bard to join us....)
Hi Sion, I don't recommend shoehorning healing abilities into a character build for the sake of having a dedicated healer. Your party composition already has several, and Chef won't allow you to stabilize or revive an ally at zero hitpoints. If you want the ability to heal during combat, I recommend the Way of Mercy Monk subclass. Otherwise, don't worry about healing as a Monk. Your bonus action is too valuable as Monk to use it on Chef's temp hp.
Besides, your Ranger can use Goodberry. Your Paladin can use Lay on Hands. Between those two, you have some useful abilities for combat emergencies. Healing is usually best out of combat when you don't worry about action economy.
If Chef sounds like the most fun option, then go for it anyway.
I don't recommend Resilient for a Monk. If you're playing to higher levels, you'll make Resilient useless because Monks become proficient in every saving throw.
Sentinel and Crusher are great, but make sure you have high enough Dex and Wis, too. You can settle for lower stats if you really want feats, but feats are difficult to justify for Monks since they need Dex and Wis so badly.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have a follow-up question. :)
@@FlutesLoot Im level 5, and got a 20 in dex (good stat roll + race dex bonus), and 16 in wis.... only a 13 in con though :(
was considering Chef because its bonus healing on rest, and I just give them the snack in the morning before any combat anyway, or after in the case of night encounters, they eat it when they eat it :)
friend commented on how I should make my first feat the Bar Brawler one because of my char's back story though I dont think I can Flury attempt a grapple and if that doesn't work dodge out with the class feat, seems like an excessive amount of moves in 1 turn lol XD
@@themoabrigade Nice stats! I don't recommend Tavern Brawler, but Crusher would round out your Constitution and be extremely helpful for you and your team. Chef is fine for what you're suggesting. :)
@@FlutesLoot Sweet, so I'm thinking Chef first to make team upkeep easier, and add that bip to Con.. as ranger hunts, I cook, we get bonus hp and perhaps preserve some food for later! While brewing to purify water (it's a bit of a survival based game)
Then on the next ASI either Crusher or Sentinel depending on how the DM replies to my real high movement speed, others have extreme range with Eldritch Blast, but I got extreme speed, and if we go past..... Well I will have 13 str so that opens more to me, and we will likely have more feats by then, if not just take the other and put the bip into strength and be a flying grappler lol XD
All ready got a decent idea for a back story/meeting, he's Athlete who enjoys puglisum working as a chef in the more seedy tavern, who is tired of his citie's BS.... Team will meet him on his B-day where he appears to be sloshed, he instantly latches on to the new guys in town, and ditches them with his tab in order to do their current quest which will be part of why he is drinking, only for them to meet him in a ditch outside town where he has a hangover...... If the DM let's me pull that off at least lol
@@themoabrigade Sounds fun! Chef is more valuable/fun in survival games. Good luck!
Crazy Question: How would it benefit "Way of Shadow" Monks by giving them the "Shadow Touched" feat at 2nd level?
They could teleport through shadows while invisible.
I'm a person that's never really played Andy more than just a few times and I'm trying to create a really cool Dwarven Monk specifically a mountain dwarf whiskey two plus two in any places I want so dexterity wisdom this tattoo I want what would be a cool way to make my character strong in your opinion
Hi Shot Gun, can you clarify what suggestions you're seeking? I'm not sure I understand. It sounds like a Mountain Dwarf, Drunken Master Monk, and you're looking for feat suggestions. Is that right?
@@FlutesLoot yes that is correct
Sorry no that is not correct my made a mistake most of it is correct except I was going to use a mountain Dwarf Monk class with the way of the Open Hand and I was looking for feat suggestions yes
@@shotgun3248 got it. For Open Hand, take Crusher at level four, then use your other ASIs to get your Dexterity and Wisdom to 20. If you have ASIs leftover at high levels, consider feats like Alert, Lucky, Sentinel, or Tough. You can consider the Mobile feat if you're using your ki points too fast to use your special Flurry of Blows ability to take a foe's reaction away (Mobile will allow you to attack and move away).
I hope that helps!
@@FlutesLoot thank you so much this sounds like a really fun build
Astral self monk gives your purple arms reach and gives your crusher Sentinel combo the ability to stop their attack. Pretty lit.
I agree! It's a combination worth consideration.
It unfortunately changes the damage to force so it wouldn't work with crusher iirc
@@bruvaroni brutal. I missed that and now I'm sad.
@@snarkback You still get the flavor of Tasha being jealous enough that she's trying to copy your ability to throat punch people with your ghost with a spell.
@@RaderizDorret in dnd flavor will always remain king.
Early crusher or polearm. Later game, tough or lucky
Players often like Tough/Lucky at late levels.
I'm going for orc monk any suggestions ?
Hi John, just checking, are you a Half-orc of an Orc? Are you building your character with the flexible racial stat bonuses from Tasha's? I ask so I can determine if you're building your Monk based on attacking with Strength or Dexterity.
I recommend Crusher and Sentinel, for sure. If you're playing a Kensei Monk, you might use a longbow and use the Sharpshooter feat. What Monk subclass are you imagining?
I'm going for a mobile tank with throwing spear capabilities also I would like to use Crusher feat and the Mage killer feat and Sentinel as well
@@Jawntheorc Sounds like a fun character. Monks aren't the tankiest characters, but you can boost their Dex and Wisdom for AC if you're willing to take fewer feats.
Lmao every single feat you listed I’ve looked at and seriously considered, and then decided not to. Whoops!
At least they were on your radar! My recommendations are generalized, anyway. I think you chose the homebrew-improved Mage Slayer feat, which may have been better for your situation and your character goals. You didn't make a mistake, and I'm sure you know that :P
Whoops? Nah. Feats are fun, but I’d take +2 to Dex ahead of any of them, where it’s an option.
These ideas work best I think for Var Human monks’ free feats.
You missed how you can give disadvantage against your stunning strikes to enemies via hex
Stunning Strikes use saving throws. Hex only gives disadvantage on skill checks, so Hex won't help with Stunning Strikes.
@@FlutesLoot nevermind I guess
Does crusher stack with way of the open palm pushing them 20 feet instead of 15?
Yep!
Excellent thank you for confirming. I am pretty new to the game but very much like the idea of a Halfling punching an enemy hard enough that they are knocked 20 feet back lol
@@nicholaslandolt8912 happy to help!
@@FlutesLoot Follow up question! Can this also be stacked with pushing attack from the fighter battle master maneuvers list? It is my understanding that unarmed strikes count as weapon and melee weapon attacks even though your fists or whatever do not count specifically as weapons in the context of casting spells like magic weapon on them. Does that make sense or am I confused?
@@nicholaslandolt8912 Errata to the PHB has made it so unarmed strikes do not count as weapons for the sake of functioning with abilities that require a weapon (though unarmed strikes are considered melee weapon attacks for determining their classification). It's a strange bit of the rules to navigate, but it makes sense when you work it out.
The bottom line is that Pushing Attack from the Battlemaster can't be used with an unarmed strike when considering PHB errata/updates. This is because Pushing Attack says it can be used with a weapon attack. media.wizards.com/2021/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
If Pushing Attack said something like "make a melee weapon attack" then it would work because that language invokes a classification of attack that says "weapon" in it but doesn't use the classification of whether something is a weapon or not. (again, confusing)
Having said that, it's not going to break the game if your DM waves their hand and says it works.
I don't like sentinel because how hard it to rp. You slap kentaur/dragon butt and they can't move. why?
That is totally understandable (it's why Sentinel should have a size limitation). I find the Monk the easiest to visualize since I picture pressure points locking down a limb's movement.
This is why having feats compete with ability increases is ridiculous in my opinion. I always thought feats should be earned through creative RP.
Yeah, it's a tough one. I don't think it would work well for organized play to say players get feats at DM discretion, but it's problematic to compete for feats with ASIs. I go back and forth on how I'd design the system if it were to be done again, but I haven't landed on a system I love.
I think RPing a training montage to give characters a feat would be good if it made sense in the game and flowed well with the story.
One time in Cypher System DnD I awarded the PC a medieval surgery skill after they worked with an alchemist and an apothecary to remove a peasant’s facial tumors.
@@OpenBiolabsGuy I've done the same before, offering feats to players outside of the ASI system. It's a fun surprise for players.
Regarding Crusher, the damage type of unarmed strikes eventually becomes magical "force" damage at level 6. Does Crusher still affect these attacks since it's not "bludgeoning" anymore?
Hi Joel, Ki-Empowered Strikes only makes unarmed attacks count as magical. It doesn't change the damage type to force. Crusher will synergize with unarmed strikes since the damage type remains bludgeoning.
Just casting message :)
Lol thanks, Shard! I'm literally listening to your Sun Tzu video as I respond to your Message :P
@@FlutesLoot Thanks for subscribing! I'm just reading your article on wizard spells ;)
@@FlutesLoot You might enjoy my long death monk build... uses one of your 'trap' feats ;)
@@ShardTTRPG sounds like my kinda guy, haha. I'll add it to my 'watch later' list so I can check it out soon. I watched your Berserker video; you might like my article on my revision of the subclass to make it better. I'll have a video up for that article soon, too.
Hex beats Hunter’s Mark for a Fey Touched selection unless you’re sure your DM will treat your unarmed strikes as a “weapon attack”. But 1d6 extra damage 3+ times per round? Yes please.
The damage really adds up if you spare a bonus action occasionally!
Monk fist are always considered weapon attack, without that stunning strike will be shit.
Unarmed Fighting Style specifies that you have to make Strength attacks with the style
Hi Timothy, I hope I mentioned in the video that some people play Monks with a focus on Strength over Dexterity. I should've pointed out this distinction for Unarmed Fighting Style specifically, so thank you for pointing it out!
Um I'm quite certain that the specific rule of Martial arts that allows you to use Dex instead of Strength for unarmed attacks overrules the general rule of unarmed attacks using your strength bonus (which is the norm). Therefore you can totally use Unarmed Fighting style with dex as a character that has the martial arts ability.
@@khultak you might be right! I reviewed your other comment and pinned it because I believe your interpretation is reasonable.
Me, and astral self monk:...sentinel and crusher huh?
I would prioritize Mobile for the Astral Self Monk. After that, Crusher and Sentinel would be fine if your Wisdom is at 20. Wisdom is more important for Astral Self since it can use Wisdom for attacks while its arms are manifested. There's no wrong way to do it, but that's how I'd plan it.
@@FlutesLoot astral arms deal force damage and have a range of 10 ft
@professional sleeper Correct, but I'm assuming I won't always have the arms active due to their ki cost. If you're asking which feats I'd take for Astral Self, it's a very different character that doesn't synergize much with feats.
But with mage slayer they are always going to port to get away from you.
Hi James,
Not all spellcasters and monsters have teleportation. If they have something like Misty Step, they still used a spell slot and most of their turn getting away from you.
@@FlutesLoot monsters generally don't cast spells, they have abilities. Any spellcaster that doesn't want to be in melee should have misty step at the very least.
There's in reality one you want most, it's called MOBILE
*shocker*
NB: Unarmed Fighting Style is Strength-specific,
It may work that way, but I pinned a comment from khultak who pointed out that it depends on the order of operations applied to the rules, supposing that the Monk's Martial Arts feature may override the Unarmed Fighting Style. I don't have an opinion on it right now, but it's something to ask a DM before doing. I'd personally not bother with the Unarmed Fighting Style and I'd ask my DM if I could just increase the Martial Arts die at low levels since there's a common belief that Monk's are weak and that giving them better damage at low levels would help. That's a different topic though, and my DMs are pretty accomodating after I explain why I ask for things. :P
Ah poor monks. not alot of stuff they are good at really. i slightly disagree that they are good at single target control (stunning strike is a con save). i'd say about the only thing they are good at is having more movement for grapple dragging (this is the single-target control i'd agree they are good at but not as good as rune knights). overall mobility, spellcasters do this better with spells and of course any class can use mounts. they don't have any tanking mechanics nor are they casters so support, blasting, summoning or healing (outside of the mercy monk) are out. they arent skill monkeys either. they can be decent strikers with specific builds such as the gunk. so i'd say grapple drag tactic will influence my top 5 feat picks:
1. mobile- more move speed for grapple drag.
2. squat nimbleness- with most dwarf/small races now having 30 ft move from MOM this is again more move speed for grapple drag. good way to round out an odd dex/str too.
3. fighting initiate- increase your unarmed dmg (monks can replace str with dex) and adds dmg to the whole grappling tactic.
4. skill expert- gain expertise in athletics for grappling and round out an odd str/dex/wis.
5. artificer initiate/magic initiate/wood elf magic- great way to gain the longstrider spell and pick up a cantrip or 2. wood elf magic provides pass without trace as well.
Is forced movement (Crusher) not something you enjoy in your playstyle? I love that stuff.
I believe Squat Nimbleness is dead in the water because it was created to offset the little guys' lower speeds, as you said, but now they're speedy like everyone else. It's effectively removed from my games, but nobody ever asks me about taking it, haha.
@@FlutesLoot i do. forced movement/crusher is something i use alot in my builds especially on casters and gishes. thing is if i were to play a monk they wouldn't be casters (i don't think there's enough resources in 4E monk) and on a gish build with a monk, i'd more likely be dex based than str. none of the stuff monks have synergize with crusher really because they lack spells. no spike growth, booming blades, grasping arrows, wall of fire, cloud of daggers, etc so i would generally not build monk's to be forced movement based. and even if let's say i would multiclass with a druid to pick up spike growth, i'd be more inclined to grapple drag as my forced movement tha attacking + crusher, at least early on.
i think squat nimbleness value increases when you have DMs who don't like starting combat when enemies are within 30 ft. i tend to value it because my DMs typically start combat with enemies 40-50 ft away. i think it's their way of penalizing melee strikers/tanks. sometimes even 60 ft. this becomes of value for melee strikers/tanks if you want to avoid the "dash tax" on the 1st round of combat especially if they want to avoid using mounts because it's not 'in theme" for their character.
for example imagine a melee gloomstalker being 45 ft away of their mark. even with dread ambusher, that 1st turn nova wont reach the threat. unless he's a wood elf, or casted longstrider earlier or has a reach weapon, that will feel pretty deflating. squat nimbleness or mobile helps close that gap and make sure they get to their mark on the 1st turn.
as an aside, this is why i rarely play melee characters. you have to set aside resources (spells/feats) just to be able to attack enemies on the 1st turn. ranged/casters can do something from where they are standing or at the very most don't need to set aside resources for mobility boosts.
There are feats for monks?!
9/10 doctors agree these are Monk feats!
Take two times +2 dexterity, two times +2 wisdom and tough, that's the best u can do playing a Monk. End of video!
Stats are nice! I consider Tough to be a misleadingly bad feat, though.
@@FlutesLoot At level 19, with a monk If u already made your ac 20 and u have proficiency in all saves, a bunch of hitpoints for going melee seems good to me, and that's when tough is more valuable, BUT if u have a better suggestion I'd be glad to know if I'm wrong, hit me!
@@Bernardonogmo I became convinced about two years ago that Alert's boost to Initiative will often result in more hitpoints saved than Tough provides. Lucky and Mobile will also provide more options for survivability, and Lucky comes with out-of-combat options.
A lot of people disagree with me and think Tough is a good feat, but I'm not alone in my opinion.