My party got to see the Way of Mercy Monk in a recent 11th level one off adventure (one of the players tried it) and they were floored by the amount of healing it was dealing:
with a 16 wisdom (aka not even wisdom optimized), the monk was doing 1d8 + 3 per attack, or 4d8 + 12 if it used all its attacks. That is sliiightly better (by 1 heal) to a life cleric using a level 4 cure wounds.... aka 1 ki = 4th level spell. If the party takes a short rest with any ki left, its just free healing.
The monk also have the maneuverability to get to allies and heal them, and can split its healing much more freely than a cleric can with its spells. Lastly, the monk can remove a lot of very nasty conditions very easily with its heals.
On the counter, the life cleric has the big whammy in Heal and Cure Mass Wounds, and still has its channel divinity for 55 healing that it can divine amongst its allies.
So the fact that my party is even making the comparison is impressive considering how low an opinion they normally have of the monk. But what do you all think, is the Mercy Monk's healing at 11th level "nice" or does it now top the Life Cleric in terms of being a healer?
with a 16 wisdom (aka not even wisdom optimized), the monk was doing 1d8 + 3 per attack, or 4d8 + 12 if it used all its attacks. That is sliiightly better (by 1 heal) to a life cleric using a level 4 cure wounds.... aka 1 ki = 4th level spell. If the party takes a short rest with any ki left, its just free healing.
The monk also have the maneuverability to get to allies and heal them, and can split its healing much more freely than a cleric can with its spells. Lastly, the monk can remove a lot of very nasty conditions very easily with its heals.
On the counter, the life cleric has the big whammy in Heal and Cure Mass Wounds, and still has its channel divinity for 55 healing that it can divine amongst its allies.
So the fact that my party is even making the comparison is impressive considering how low an opinion they normally have of the monk. But what do you all think, is the Mercy Monk's healing at 11th level "nice" or does it now top the Life Cleric in terms of being a healer?