This gives you a chance to stun all the most dangerous monsters before they act. Combining the feat’s +5 bonus to initiative with the monk’s Dexterity means you almost always go first. The Alert feat pairs well with a monk’s Stunning Strike. If you want a more durable monk, choose Resilient (Constitution) instead. Well-played monks can survive on fewer hit points. The Tough feat ranks as the second most popular monk feat, but it makes a weak choice. Monks hardly need hit points when they only run into combat on their turns. This enable monks to attack, and then dart from reach. You gain even more speed and foes you attack in combat can’t make opportunity attacks against you. The Mobile feat combines with monk so well that according to D&D Beyond, 23% of monks select it. (See How to Build a Sharpshooter Who Wins D&D (If the Rest of Your Group Doesn’t Mind).) Monk feats However, if you want an Asian-flavored archer that deals game-breaking amounts of damage, opt for a Samurai. The Path of the Kensi enables a monk to use more damaging weapons and to become a master archer. The tipsy flavor may not resonate with some players though. The Drunken Master tradition lets monks disengage after a flurry of blows, adding some mobility and defense. If you prefer lots of attacks and battlefield control, the Way of the Open Hand lets every hit from a flurry of blows bring a chance of knocking foes back 15 feet or knocking prone, which brings advantage to the rest of your flurry. If the optimal strategy of spamming Stunning Strike seems tiresome, other traditions bring more variety. Plus, they can spend 2 ki to cast Pass Without Trace, a spell good enough to merit 2 fewer stun attempts. In dim light, this ability lets shadow monks teleport up to 60 feet. Shadow monks can use Shadow Step, their strongest ability, without spending ki. That makes the Way of the Shadow a strong choice for monastic tradition. The power of Stunning Strike typically makes spending ki on anything else a poor choice. Without special permission, the Adventurers League forbids aarakocra characters. They gain +2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, and a 50-foot fly speed, which seems too strong when paired with a monk’s hit-and- stun tactics. If your campaign allows aarakocra characters, consider one. A variant human can start boosted by a feat. The Mobile and Alert feats combine so well with the monk class that human monks make another sound choice. With ability score increases to Dexterity and Wisdom, plus a 35-foot walking speed, wood elves make especially good monks. When you spend ki to stun, you want the high save. By the time you near 10th level, you usually hit anyway. Dexterity helps your attack bonus and damage, but Wisdom stuns. Monk ability scoresįor the best monk, make Wisdom and Dexterity your highest attributes. After a monk’s allies finish mauling stunned foes, turn two rarely needs so many stun attempts. Monks regain ki after just a short rest, so they usually bring enough to make three or even four stun attempts on their first turn. Few monsters can repeat saves against stuns from a monk with a high Wisdom. That theory mixes a sliver of truth with lots of wishful thinking. Some folks suppose that monsters typically enjoy good Constitution saves, and that limits the power of Stunning Strike. Their foes wind up with cartoon stars and birds swirling around their heads. The Stunning Strike feature rates as so powerful that an optimal monk rarely squanders ki on anything else. (I like tea.) A good monk focuses on Wisdom for a more potent Stunning Strike. Before the monsters’ turns, his speed lets him run for a cup of tea. My monk pushed Constitution ahead of Wisdom, a poor choice because he hardly needs the hit points. I’m sure my monk’s stunning fist has irked a few DMs, but I play an unwise monk. I love playing a monk with boots of speed and the Mobility feat, who zooms about like the Flash and punches everything. He aimed to make the game more fun, and Dungeons & Dragons rarely proves fun when every encounter turns into a beat down of helpless monsters.Īt least a monk’s player always relishes such encounters. The DM’s sudden switch to secret rolls certainly came from a noble goal. I chose the word for a provocative headline. The title of this post uses the word “cheat,” but we know DMs can’t really cheat. I’m sure that meaningless switch had nothing to do with prior encounters where the monk ran around the battlefield and stunned all the strongest monsters before they acted. I’ve seen a dungeon master go from openly rolling saves against a monk’s Stunning Strike to rolling in secret.
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