Level Up (A5E) Adepts Can't Catch a Break

[VenerableBede]

Page 446, two-weapon fighting, "If you have the Extra Attack feature, you can use your bonus action to make two attacks with the weapon in your off-hand." This feature is available at 5th level for all classes with Extra Attack.
Page 113, Unlikely Wield ability: "When you engage in two weapon fighting, you make two weapon attacks as a bonus action." This is an 11th level ability.

Unless I am missing some subtle nuance here, Adepts can, at 11th level, spend a precious class ability on a feature available to the Adept for free at level 5, when it gets Extra Attack.

(I did bring this up in the Bugs and Errors form, and I don't bring this up here as a knock on A5e—overall I think this edition had a very strong launch and any issues people have found are all, to my knowledge, very minor. I just find it funny that both the Monk and the Adept continue the tradition of giving this archetype late-level abilities that everyone else gets in tier 1 or 2.)

 

[niklinna]

Did you submit a bug report on the google form, too? I suspect this is an oversight, though. Since you have a third weapon, it probably was supposed to say something like, "When you engage in two weapon fighting, you make two weapon attacks with the third weapon as a bonus action."

 

[VenerableBede]

I did submit a bug report.
I think your interpretation makes sense and I would not be surprised if that was what was intended.

 

[niklinna]

I did submit a bug report.
I think your interpretation makes sense and I would not be surprised if that was what was intended.

Good, then I don't have to file a bug report of my own.

 

[WinnableBadger]

But can you engage in two weapon fighting without using your BA?

 

[VenerableBede]

As far as I know, no. The Adept ability states “when you engage in two-weapon fighting,” which means you used your bonus action to attack with an off-hand weapon.

 

[VanguardHero]

The buff to Two Weapon Fighting also seems to have put Flurry of Blows in a really awkward spot. Seems to only be relevant levels 1-4, then only useful if you're wielding a two handed Adept weapon? Which is nice when it applies, I know Glaive Adept certainly has my attention, but 1 Exertion for 1 attack extra when Adept has so many toys to spend it on seems underwhelming for an iconic ability. I feel like making it one attack as a Non-Action, or adds an additional Extra Attack so it stacks with the Martial Arts attack as a bonus action to achieve the same as now, but can be used if you use a non-attack Bonus Action would make it feel more useful. Curious if anything like that was playtested.

 

[VenerableBede]

The buff to Two Weapon Fighting also seems to have put Flurry of Blows in a really awkward spot. Seems to only be relevant levels 1-4, then only useful if you're wielding a two handed Adept weapon? Which is nice when it applies, I know Glaive Adept certainly has my attention, but 1 Exertion for 1 attack extra when Adept has so many toys to spend it on seems underwhelming for an iconic ability. I feel like making it one attack as a Non-Action, or adds an additional Extra Attack so it stacks with the Martial Arts attack as a bonus action to achieve the same as now, but can be used if you use a non-attack Bonus Action would make it feel more useful. Curious if anything like that was playtested.

This is a good point. That said, since Adepts don't get the fighting style "two-weapon fighting" they won't add their relevant modifier to damage when two-weapon fighting, so Adepts do have some advantage to using their Bonus Action unarmed strike/Flurry of Blows over any other class using two-weapon fighting, except for the Fighter.
Of course, a single level dip in fighter for the said fighting style makes Flurry of Blows obsolete for most of your remaining 19 levels of Adept, but you would also get certain Adept abilities a level later and you would be missing out on your capstone, so pick your poison. Or, if your DM allows O5e feats, just pick up two-weapon fighting style through a feat and forget that Flurry of Blows exists (unless you are disarmed). (Or get Unarmed Fighting and make all of your unarmed strikes deal d8 damage, something regular monks don't even dream of until tier 3.)

 

[Stalker0]

Of course, a single level dip in fighter for the said fighting style makes Flurry of Blows obsolete for most of your remaining 19 levels of Adept, but you would also get certain Adept abilities a level later and you would be missing out on your capstone, so pick your poison.

And in this case, its not like you don't have a million other abilities that use KI that you could just spam more of. So I don't think obsoleting the ability here is a real problem, its not a situation where you choose an adept ability and then it became worthless, this is just a freebie you don't need to use anymore, which I think is fine.

 

[VenerableBede]

So I don't think obsoleting the ability here is a real problem, its not a situation where you choose an adept ability and then it became worthless, this is just a freebie you don't need to use anymore, which I think is fine.

I agree. Adepts already chew through Exertion anyway—the freebie just makes the cost a little more palatable.