Does A Monk Actually Benefit From Taking Mobile?

ad_hoc · Feb 18, 2019

Allistar1801 said:
Yeah, you do get monk abilities to avoid stuff like this, but ki is a pretty valuable resource at low tier play and you dont want to use it for just anything. Just as well it consumes your bonus action meaning less attacks and less damage/you're in the same spot except now you're down a ki point. If it comes down to it i can eat an AoO, but I'd rather not do that very often.

You're discounting the cost of a feat here which is huge.

I mean, sure, having another way to avoid OAs that doesn't cost Ki is an advantage. But is it worth a feat? It's a specific circumstance where you have to run past 1 enemy. When you need to run past 3 or 4 to get to your target then Mobile is no good. If you don't need to run past any, then again it doesn't benefit you.

About the flurry thing correct me if Im wrong, but doesnt flurry just give you two attacks? If its the case that you cant re-target wouldn't the extra attack feature be the same way?

The general rule is that if you can attack more than once during an action you can move between attacks. Flurry is an exception as it states you gain 2 attacks immediately after the attack action. Without the word 'immediately' you would be correct.

Fanaelialae · Feb 18, 2019

Early on, I think Mobile is a great feat for a monk. At lower levels, you're not that much faster than average, and having the option to attack to move without an OA, rather than having to spend a Ki and a bonus action, is nice to have. That said, it's not as good as boosting your Wisdom, but it sounds like you feel your stats are a little too good as is, so I think Mobile is a good alternative. As your level increases, its utility will decrease somewhat, since your speed increases and you'll tend to have more than enough Ki to disengage. Still, it's a nice option if you want to both move and flurry. Spending 1 of 4 attacks is better than losing both flurry attacks. Of course, that typically applies if you are only engaged with one creature, so try to avoid getting swarmed if you want the most mileage from the feat.

Fanaelialae · Feb 18, 2019

ad_hoc said:
The general rule is that if you can attack more than once during an action you can move between attacks. Flurry is an exception as it states you gain 2 attacks immediately after the attack action. Without the word 'immediately' you would be correct.

Perhaps I'm being lenient in my interpretation, but I don't read it that way. Although I do see where you're coming from.

To me it says that you need to make the attacks as part of the action that triggered it.

For example, let's say you are playing a Fighter/Monk. You can't take your attack action, action surge to disarm a trap, and then take your flurry.

But you could move, attack, move, attack, move, attack, move, attack, and move. It certainly doesn't hurt anything as far as I can tell, and it has a nice thematic flavor. Like the warrior who rushes through the line of opponents faster than the eye can see, only to have them dramatically collapse afterwards. A classic trope of martial arts movies.

Allistar1801 · Feb 18, 2019

Fanaelialae said:
Early on, I think Mobile is a great feat for a monk. At lower levels, you're not that much faster than average, and having the option to attack to move without an OA, rather than having to spend a Ki and a bonus action, is nice to have. That said, it's not as good as boosting your Wisdom, but it sounds like you feel your stats are a little too good as is, so I think Mobile is a good alternative. As your level increases, its utility will decrease somewhat, since your speed increases and you'll tend to have more than enough Ki to disengage. Still, it's a nice option if you want to both move and flurry. Spending 1 of 4 attacks is better than losing both flurry attacks. Of course, that typically applies if you are only engaged with one creature, so try to avoid getting swarmed if you want the most mileage from the feat.

I agree that it gets less good when I have more ki to play around with, but for the early to mid sections when it's still scarce it seems fine.

Also yeah, our paladin has good stats and all, but is still at the mercy of 1 swing and relatively low damage. I didnt want to absolutely dominate all of the combat encounters because that would rob him of his thing and by virtue of them being a paladin with notably bad wisdom they wouldn't really be able to participate in the investigation portions of the mystery. Felt like a good compromise for him, and a nice challenge for me since I've played quite a few monks in my time.

Allistar1801 · Feb 18, 2019

I know its childish, but I just like big numbers on silly stats. Like, who wouldn't want 100 ft of flying speed.

Me: "You see that dragon"
Bard: "Yeah"
Me: "I'm gonna race it"
Bard: "Yeah"
Me: "Write a song about that"
Bard: "Yeah"

Tyrfingr · Feb 18, 2019

ad_hoc said:
You're discounting the cost of a feat here which is huge.

I mean, sure, having another way to avoid OAs that doesn't cost Ki is an advantage. But is it worth a feat? It's a specific circumstance where you have to run past 1 enemy. When you need to run past 3 or 4 to get to your target then Mobile is no good. If you don't need to run past any, then again it doesn't benefit you.

The general rule is that if you can attack more than once during an action you can move between attacks. Flurry is an exception as it states you gain 2 attacks immediately after the attack action. Without the word 'immediately' you would be correct.

Actually, it says "Flurry of Blows
Immediately...you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action."

Also, per the PHB, "If you take an action that includes more than one weapon attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those attacks."

So, you've immediately spent 1 ki to take a bonus action to attack twice and you should be able to move between them as unarmed strikes count as weapon attacks.

FrogReaver · Feb 18, 2019

Tyrfingr said:
Actually, it says "Flurry of Blows
Immediately...you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action."

Also, per the PHB, "If you take an action that includes more than one weapon attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those attacks."

So, you've immediately spent 1 ki to take a bonus action to attack twice and you should be able to move between them as unarmed strikes count as weapon attacks.

The timing of immediately precludes moving between flurry of blows attacks. JC stated this was the case in sage advice video.

Thematically it makes sense too. You are doing a punching combo on a single opponent. That said it doesn’t hurt anything to allow movement between flurry of blows attacks. That’s just not the rule presented in the PHB regarding the situation.

the Jester · Feb 18, 2019

Mobile is amazing for a monk. You become the most insanely... mobile... character, able to weave in and out of combat, getting behind enemy lines, set up allies for sneak attack or other abilities that require positional tactics, etc. The first monk in my 5e game took it early on and makes use of it almost every round of combat. To me, that frequency of use alone says that it's a damn good feat for a monk.

Tyrfingr · Feb 18, 2019

FrogReaver said:
The timing of immediately precludes moving between flurry of blows attacks. JC stated this was the case in sage advice video.

Thematically it makes sense too. You are doing a punching combo on a single opponent. That said it doesn’t hurt anything to allow movement between flurry of blows attacks. That’s just not the rule presented in the PHB regarding the situation.

Okay, thanks for the correction. Can you help a guy out and tell me what episode to look for? Id like the hear him explain that one.

Yunru · Feb 18, 2019

Mobile is amazing for Monks.
You see, Monks, especially low level Monks, have this big problem: they don't move in combat. Instead, they move half their speed to an opponent, attack, and then move back to the spot where they're (hopefully) less likely to be attacked. At the cost of receiving an OA.

With Mobile, not only is their area of operation increased by 5 feet (which can be the difference between being mauled by a bear and staring at a bear 10 feet away), but you no longer risk getting attacked while retreating.

Even at higher levels, a Monk can't have too much movement. They play like lightning; they're there, they strike, then they're gone.

Does A Monk Actually Benefit From Taking Mobile?

ad_hoc

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Fanaelialae

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Fanaelialae

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Allistar1801

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Allistar1801

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Tyrfingr

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FrogReaver

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the Jester

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Tyrfingr

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Yunru

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