Monk Preview

[chaotix42]

No, Focused Expertise has no pre-reqs. The playtest article merely mentions that the Centered Breath monk makes use of the feat. Swordmages will be taking it too!

 

[NMcCoy]

Erk, another name collision. Leaf on the Wind is both a Warlord Attack 1 and a Monk Utility 2. >_< And I thought Vexing Flanker was bad...

 

[Rechan]

These powers sure do want you to move your speed +2. Which means that most if not all encounters should take place in places wiht lots of open room.

 

[mach1.9pants]

For those that have Ari's APG have you noticed:

Leaf on the Wind Monk Utility 2 EQUALS Dancing Pegasus Step Martial Artist Utility 6 ?

And to Rechan: Ari has the Monk getting extra movement square depending on level. This is a different way to give the monk a better move speed (in the DnD tradition) but you don't get it all the time, making it quite tactical.

As with the APG I can see some Elf monks appearing in many campaigns and all over the battlefield...literally!

 

[Bodhiwolff]

I see no reason why we'd change the way we "spend" powers just for Full-Discipline powers.

So I'm fairly sure that if you don't use the Movement technique of a Full-Discipline Encounter power during the round you tap it, then you lose it, 'cause the power is now gone until replenished.

So they provide great options for the rounds where you use that technique, but that's it.

I can imagine certain situations where you need a special maneuver, so you tap the movement ability of a Full-Discipline Power, but don't want to use that attack for that situation. In that case, you'd just use a basic melee attack or a non Full-Discipline standard action. But either way, your Full-Discipline power is still spent, so you can't use the attack option in a future round.

 

[Shroomy]

Two paragon paths and a feat, my playtest artificer is jealous....

I'm liking what I'm reading here, there's a lot of interesting powers, even if I did have to read the description of the Full Discipline keyword twice. The main issue from my 1st read through concerned the monk's unarmed strike. I like that it is significantly better than the basic PHB unarmed strike and that it counts as an implement. I also like that you can apply the enchant magic item ritual to it, but that's also my main problem. To upgrade it, you need to use the ritual, with its attendant costs, so its kind of a disincentive to keep your monk a true unarmed fighter. There should be some sort of auto-upgrade mechanic; maybe you could then use the ritual to add neat effects, but only if there equivalent to your level or the bonus modifier you already have (I would also discount the ritual cost since you're not getting the full benefit).

 

[Mad Mac]

I was hoping the monk would be cool, but I'm a bit blown away, honestly. They definately have their own style vs other strikers, at least. If nothing else, you have to love powers that say things like "before the attack, jump 10 squares"

It looks like Monks are going to be super mobile and very good at handling small groups of enemies, but still pretty squishy* and without really high single target damage.

*Their class ability basically gives them the same AC as a rogue wearing leather, and they normal striker HP's. They're insanely evasive and good at moving enemies around and such, but they'll hit the floor fast if anyone manages to pin them down.

 

[Kez Darksun]

It's nice that monks use Dex for their attacks. This makes multiclassing with rogue fairly simple. Monk+Rogue=Ninja. I hope there will be a feat that lets you pick a weapon and have it count as a monk weapon (perhaps short sword to stand in for a wakizashi).

I have a friend in my group who will be excited to recreate his monk/cleric of Ilmater from 3.5 as a Monk/Radiant Fist. It fits has old character concept perfectly.

Wizards did a good job of differentiating the feel of the monk powers from those of other striker classes. I can't wait for the next Character Builder update so I can cook up a few monks.

In the Design and Development article, the devs say that while they wanted to focus on the Unarmed Monk as the base Monk, they understand that players also want to be able to use weapons with the Monk and are going to address that via other builds as well as feats/fighting styles.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

While knowing for a fact that there is going to be Psionics in PHB3, and more space for it with the exclusion of Ki, plus hopefully this means more classes for Psionics. One worry I have is how much the Ki flavours Psionics, I really want lots of Pseudoscience in my Psionics. I am hopeful that since it is more one included within Psionics and not built into it from the beginning will mean there is Pseudoscience.

Gah! Makes me want to see even more stuff!

 

[RefinedBean]

Man, I just love the idea of using Flurry of Blows to kill adjacent minions.

That being said, minion-loving DMs are going to hate Centered Breath monks. Dare you put more than one minion against the Monk? If he hits one, he kills two.