D&D 5E Do monks do enough damage?

[Bardbarian]

To clarify, I am not asking if monk is the best at damage, but merely if they do enough to warrant a place in the party when not spamming stun for control. As they reach level 5 the monk attains a zenith in it's offensive power that is virtually unchanged until level 17 when they might gain 1 damage per attack and a possible offensive ability. so from level 5 through 17 they are virtually unchanged, gaining several defensive traits but stagnating damage. I don't really consider the 11th level jump to a D8 significant as a monk can already deal D8 at level 1 with the attack action, so it only affects 1-2 attacks from martial arts/flurry. As I approach level 11 now, I see other melee classes dealing much greater damage consistently, so I ask. Does the monk deal sufficient damage or are they a stun stick who's job is to give the rest of the party advantage at the cost of ki. Is there a third option?

This question has been bothering me for some time. I really enjoy playing the monk class for it's high flying antics but I feel that I may not be bringing my fair share to a table, particularly when engaged in difficult encounters. This may be affected by the complete lack of modifiers to unarmed damage. While the other players are getting +2 weapons, the only item that exists to my knowledge is a +1 from HotDQ.

I would like to read your thoughts on this. Am I stressing too much? Am I bad at the maths? Are there monk weapons out there I missed that can provide bonuses on all attacks?

 

[GainVanquish]

I'm lvl 4 monk playing HotDQ and am probably dealing the most damage. I went way of the elements and obtained Water whip

 

[Dasem]

For the record, are you aware what Water Whip isn't correct in the PHB and that is is NOT a bonus action? This was confirmed a long time ago by Jeremy Crawford.

 

[GainVanquish]

Yes it's an action now but gives the monk some extra much needed range attack

 

[mellored]

More ki is more damage. More flurry of blows. More advantage from stuns.
The increased die size is also multiplied by 2-4.
So the monks scale in multiple ways, giving a multiplier effect.

That said, you still pretty much want to spam stun.

 

[Dasem]

While a Monks damage may be lower than some other classes, remember that Stunning Strike enables them to get advantage very frequently. If it hits on the first strike, you have advantage on your next three attacks (if you Flurry). Theoretically, you should be critting more and hitting much more reliably then your competitors (aside from perhaps the Barbarian with Reckless Attack).

 

[RulesJD]

The three biggest ways for monk to improve damage:

1. Level dip War Cleric to get Divine Favor
2. Level dip Warlock to get Hex
3. Magic Initiate for Hex

The Monk benefits the most from anything that adds +damage per hit because they get so many hits (3 by default at level 5, 4 if Ki). Thus, Hex/Divine Favor are great for them because the damage realllllly adds up quick at little expense.

 

[mellored]

Some math...
monk just flurry, using short swords for low level.
vs fighter 2-handed and GWF (8.3 damage maul).

Assuming 8 rounds per short rest.



monk 5: 3 * (1d6+4) * 8 = 180
+flurry 5*(1d6+4) = 37.5
= 217.5

fighter 5: 2 * (8.3+4) * 8 = 196.8
+action surge 2* (8.3+4) = 24.6
= 221.4



monk 11: 3 * (1d8+5) * 8 = 228
+flurry 11 * (1d8+5) = 104.5
= 332.5

fighter 11: 3 * (8.3+5) * (8+1 action surge)
= 359.1



monk 20: 3 * (1d10+5) * 8 = 252
+flurry 20 * (1d10+5) = 210
= 462

fighter 20: 4 * (8.3+5) * (8+2 action surge)
= 532


*accuracy and crits not included.


Of course, you can't flurry 20 times in 8 rounds, but this still shows a baseline balance all the way up.

 

[Dasem]

Mello,

Does this math account for increased accuracy with Stunning Strike? If not, how much would this damage increase?

 

[mellored]

Mello,

Does this math account for increased accuracy with Stunning Strike? If not, how much would this damage increase?

No, that's just if you spend all your ki on flurry of blows (and somehow only made 8 regular attacks in that time).

Calculating stunning strike is more difficult. Since it depends both on the chance of stunning, and which attack stuns.