Monk Changes

[Klaus]

It's much better now. You can slide the target 1 square adjecent if you hit it, or in any direction if you didn't. It also deals Wis +2 damage (though this dosn't scale with tier).

http://www.wizards.com/dndinsider/compendium/power.aspx?id=7448

Well, It's auto-damage to another creature (or 2, or all) if you hit your main attack, so it's a good way to spread damage. You start at about 6 damage to 1, then 2, then up to 8 targets. That's better than Cleave.

And if you take the Pointed-Step feat and wield a spear, one of your targets can be 2 squares away! I can only imagine what other weapon-specific feats will show up in PH3!

Man, no I want to play a githzerai monk...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

average to hit 0.25 lower and 0-2 more damage sounds like a win. Also you usually have also attacks vs fort or will to chose from.

argumenting with averages is a big mistake in games where you usually can chose better options if odds are against you.

Also a monk as expert fighter vs heavily armored foes sounds exactly right.

I think it was pretty annoying to have both implement and weapon powers in melee.... implement and weapon powers of other classes are so fundamentally different that its easy to tell them apart... monks were not.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Is there something that discourages monks from teking shield and armor proficiencies?

+2 bonus is not that good if you compare to finally more balanced avenger

 

[Mentat55]

I am guessing that a feat in the vein of Improved Unarmored Defense might exist in the PHB3, and perhaps other feats that provide a benefit when wearing no or cloth armor.

But yes, given what we see now, a monk could obtain a better AC by investing in leather and hide armor proficiencies, along with shields. Note that just taking leather armor is insufficient -- you need to either take hide armor, or leather armor and light shield proficiency to come out ahead (and then by only +1 without more investment, like Hide Armor Specialization or Shield Specialization). So there is a 2 feat cost, plus a small ability cost for centered breath monks.

EDIT: Shield Proficiency does earn you bonuses to your Reflex, so that is an additional benefit. So for four feats, you could have hide armor and heavy shields, netting +3 AC and +2 Reflex. Nothing to scoff at. At two feats, leather + light shield nets you +1 AC and Reflex, also not bad. But I am guessing one heroic or paragon feat from the PHB3 will have a similar, if not better value.

 

[Klaus]

Is there something that discourages monks from teking shield and armor proficiencies?

+2 bonus is not that good if you compare to finally more balanced avenger

If you really need more AC, just take Staff Fighting (Wis 13 prereq) and treat the staff as a double, defensive weapon. If you do that, you might look into Two-Weapon Fighting/Defense for an extra +1.

Plus, the monk's Unarmored Defense only works with cloth armor, no armor and no shields.

 

[Worguron]

If you really need more AC, just take Staff Fighting (Wis 13 prereq) and treat the staff as a double, defensive weapon. If you do that, you might look into Two-Weapon Fighting/Defense for an extra +1.

Plus, the monk's Unarmored Defense only works with cloth armor, no armor and no shields.

Actually, the Avenger's Armor of Faith works that way now too. On average, with the Monk being a Dex based class, it looks like the Monk and Avenger will likely have comparable ACs now.

 

[Stalker0]

Is there something that discourages monks from teking shield and armor proficiencies?

+2 bonus is not that good if you compare to finally more balanced avenger

If the monk wants to spend all the feats to get hide, or leather and a shield, then more power to him!

 

[keterys]

One of the concerns with the monk before is that it was pretty darn squishy for someone expected to get right into the middle of enemies and hit multiple.

Also, that his close bursts often hit allies.

But, huuuuuuge thumbs up on the change to flurry. Sliding every round is exactly the kinda thing I want to do with a monk. I suspect the monk's damage won't compare to folks with superior weapons and all that jazz, but certainly looks solid enough I'd give it a whirl.

 

[Destil]

I'd rather have two-weapon fighting and defense as a monk than leather...

 

[Diirk]

Hmm, I just had a look and something that strikes me as odd; prior to epic levels you can use your flurry of blows on allies (it targets 1 creature at heroic, 1-2 creatures at paragon) if you really need to slide them around (eg agile opportunist, especially if they have damage resistance). However when you hit epic, it switches to enemies only.

Seems a little odd ! I can see why they didn't say 'each creature adjacent to you' as that doesn't give you a choice in the matter, but it really should work the same through all tiers.