Do Monks benefit from basic weapon properties?

[mysticknight232]

Does a monk wielding a basic weapon gain the basic weapon benefits from that weapon? For example, a monk wielding a spear, which i believe is a versatile weapon, would they gain +1 dmg to their attacks if wielding their spear in both hands? Same goes for other properties, like brutal and reach for example.

Also, ignore the fact that monks can't wield certain weapons, i'm just trying to understand if they gain the same weapon benefits as traditional melee/weapon classes would.

Thanks and happy hunting!

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

Answer: No

 

[mneme]

Slightly more accurate answer: Not properties that affect attacks (except for basic attacks, of course) directly.

So Defensive, Double Weapon, and Offhand all work (ignoring arguments about whether a Monk can wield two-handed weapons as implements one-handed; RAW, yes, but it's dumb (otoh, it brings its own drawback, so whatevs)); Brutal, Reach, High Crit? No.

 

[Mr. Teapot]

Look in the rules updates and clarifications in the back of PHB3. They explain it there.

 

[Mort_Q]

So Defensive, Double Weapon, and Offhand all work (ignoring arguments about whether a Monk can wield two-handed weapons as implements one-handed; RAW, yes, but it's dumb (otoh, it brings its own drawback, so whatevs)); Brutal, Reach, High Crit? No.

You can't flurry unless you have a hand free, no?

Not sure why I'm confusing Unarmed Strike with Flurry.

Nothing to see here... move along.

 

[jgsugden]

The answer is 'generally no', but a monk making an opportunity attack will benefit from the properties, as does anything that merely requires the weapon to be wielded to be in effect.

 

[Kel]

Does a monk wielding a basic weapon gain the basic weapon benefits from that weapon? For example, a monk wielding a spear, which i believe is a versatile weapon, would they gain +1 dmg to their attacks if wielding their spear in both hands? Same goes for other properties, like brutal and reach for example.

The answer is yes, they do, but only in the rare instances when they are making "weapon" attacks. Given the way monks work, this will be very rare, and will usually only happen when the monk is making melee basic attacks (such as OA's) with a weapon.

You see, virtually all monk attack powers are implement attacks, NOT weapon attacks, so the vast majority of the time, the monk will not be using a weapon when it attacks. "But," you say, "the rules allow a monk to use a weapon as an implement!" That is true, but when the monk does so, he IGNORES the weapon's properties (such as reach, versatility, brutal, etc.), and treats it SOLELY as an "implement." Basically, the monk gets the implement benefit simply because he's holding the weapon in his hands (or even just in a sheath on his body), the same as if the implement were prayer beads or magic fist wraps. He's not actually USING the weapon in his attacks (at least, not as a weapon per se), and thus not gaining the benefit of weapon properties.

This is explained in the first paragraph on page 64 of the PHB3.

 

[Kel]

As an aside, IMHO, the way they purportedly tried to make "weapon wielding monks" a "viable option" is completely lame. Basically, other than for melee basic attacks, a weapon is completely useless to a monk (except, of course, when used as an implement, in which case the "weapon" may as well be a magic stick). There is no such thing as a weapon wielding monk in 4E, the way there was in 3E.

What's particularly frustrating is that the original preview version of the 4E monk did things differently. Under that version, most of the monk's powers were WEAPON powers, not implement powers, and the monk could either use one of the weapons in which it was proficient, or its unarmed strikes (which were treated as weapons, and could be enchanted like weapons). I liked that system because it provided the capability of making a true weapon-wielding monk.