Is the Monk overpowered?

[Zaran]

Has anyone compared the power of the monk class to that of other strikers? It seems that the monk has both high damage powers and powers that cause conditions. I've always enjoyed the monk and want to know if the class is as overpowered as it seems at first look.

 

[Mentat55]

I don't think anyone has described the monk as overpowered up to this point. Compared to rangers and rogues, the monk does not seem to generate nearly as much single target damage, and despite its ability to deal damage to multiple foes, the monk does not match the sorcerer in this arena.

I think the monk stands out as being an implement power user that goes into melee and has very high mobility. I would not call either of these features overpowered.

 

[Herschel]

Yeah, most people complain about teh monk being UNDERpowered. I think it's an interesting idea, but plays much differently than other strikers.

 

[Zaran]

I looked at multiclassing into a monk with my fighter. Doing that would make my 8th level fighter do 8 pts of extra damage for free once an encounter. 10 pts if it's to another foe. One would be hard pressed to do that with any other single feat.

 

[keterys]

The rogue multiclass works similarly (7 at Heroic, 10.5 at Paragon, 17.5 at Epic), the ranger gives +3.5/7/10.5 for 2 rounds, and the barbarian multiclass gives +2 for the entire combat.

And I would definitely not call monks overpowered.

 

[MrMyth]

I looked at multiclassing into a monk with my fighter. Doing that would make my 8th level fighter do 8 pts of extra damage for free once an encounter. 10 pts if it's to another foe. One would be hard pressed to do that with any other single feat.

It's actually pretty close to the other multiclassing striker feats. Since it is stat-based rather than simply bonus damage dice, it is potentially higher for those with higher base stats. But 1-3 points of extra damage once per encounter isn't a gamebreaker.

I think you would be hard pressed to demonstrate the monk is overpowered. Being tied to implements somewhat limits damage, and it is hard to match the accuracy of the rogue or the multiple attacks of the ranger. I think the monk is perfectly respectable and can be built to be very effective - but isn't going to break the game any time soon.

 

[Obryn]

I looked at multiclassing into a monk with my fighter. Doing that would make my 8th level fighter do 8 pts of extra damage for free once an encounter. 10 pts if it's to another foe. One would be hard pressed to do that with any other single feat.

Multiclass feats tend to be better than other feats, partly because of the opportunity cost of taking one.

Frankly, I think Battle Awareness and the Avenger multiclass feats are beefier than the monk one....

-O

 

[chitzk0i]

Monks with their meager hit points get hated hard by auras and swarms. It's frustrating with swarms, where a monk may deal the most damage against them, but can't take the heat from the swarm attack.

 

[Rechan]

The monk in our group can use all his encounter/daily powers and things aren't dead yet. And he's right beside the barbarian in terms of hanging onto consciousness by a thread.

 

[Infiniti2000]

The barbarian is hanging on? I can't damage him enough. He gets temporary hit points and DR constantly. I also have a monk in my group (a goliath barbarian and a human monk). Either one shines at different points, but I don't really think it's fair to say they're overpowered. They're just good at that particular thing. The main concern I would have with people new to the monk is the movement stuff. Their powers do not grant an additional move action (so not two move actions plus a minor plus a standard in one round). Granted, we started this way before PH3 was published...