Monk Unarmed Strike. How? When?

[RigaMortus2]

I don't have my book on me, but I am a little confused on Monk Unarmed Strike.

IIRC, it deals 1d8 damage and allows you to make melee attacks (not sure if that was the term per the wording, so bare with me) while unarmed.

However, all of the Monk powers are Implement.

So, do you (or CAN you) use Unarmed Strike with their At-Wills or any other powers? They seem to have their own attack and damages.

What is the purpose for Unarmed Strike? My only assumption is that it is ONLY used for OAs and Melee Basic Attacks...

And what about the weapons they can use? There are feats for Spears and Clubs and Quarterstaffs, feats that enhance your attacks. But again, all of the Monk powers you'd use with them deal their own damage and don't have Weapon keywords. So how would you use a Club with any of their At-Wills?

 

[IanB]

What is the purpose for Unarmed Strike? My only assumption is that it is ONLY used for OAs and Melee Basic Attacks...

Pretty much. As far as weapons go, you can use those as implements.

 

[Nightson]

Earlier in development the monk was split between weapon based powers and implement powers. Then they decided to go with full implement and the monk carries the baggage of having had two paths.

 

[mneme]

More or less, yeah. The purposes of the monk unarmed strike (or, otherwise, her choice of weapon):

1. Tradition and style. A monk can proficiently use a number of weapons in addition to her strike, but most monks will fight unarmed most of the time [as the unarmed strike is the equivalent of a superior weapon, and has a better damage die/proficiency than anything else she's proficient in and is one handed and offhand to boot], and that's as it should be.

2. Multiclass feats. A monk can multiclass into ranger and trade one of her encounter powers for Hunter's Pounce or Finishing Cut, and use her unarmed strike for this.

3. Basic attacks. A monk needs but a single feat, at most, to have a fearsome basic attack (not to mention a third move+attack option in the charge, which can trigger a flurry)

 

[Obryn]

Yeah, most monks won't want this anymore.

When they used weapons, it had a purpose.

-O

 

[RigaMortus2]

So just to clarify, the Unarmed Strike (+3 to hit, 1d8 damage) can apply when you make an At-Will Implement attack?

So if it is something like Dex vs Reflex, you'd add Dex +3 (unarmed strike) + d20 roll.

And the damage would be 1d8 (if it has [W]) or whatever the default damage of the power is?

 

[Mentat55]

No, the proficiency bonus of the unarmed attack (or any weapon) is NEVER applied to any implement attack. And since every monk power has a specified damage die, the d8 damage of the monk's unarmed attack is never taken into account in any monk power or PP power.

However, as mentioned above, it does come into play for powers from other classes (via multiclass and hybrid) and basic attacks, such as for charges, opportunity attacks, and attacks granted by, e.g., warlord powers.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

it is just sad that he cant use dex for base attacks as standard.

but a stonefist monk will have quite a good punch even without melee training...

 

[RigaMortus2]

it is just sad that he cant use dex for base attacks as standard.

but a stonefist monk will have quite a good punch even without melee training...

Yeah, but the stonefist monk has less controller-ness, so they deal more damage instead. I see it as a trade off. Plus, that is why they created Melee Training to begin with, to "fix" things like this (at the cost of a feat).

 

[mysticknight232]

If OA and MBA's are your thing, a Centered Breath Monk can always take the Melee Training: Dexerity Feat which uses your Dex for TH and Dmg when making a MBA. To me, this seems like a useful feat since you will be in the thick of things as a melee striker. My plan is to take this feat around lvl 4...after the pointed step feat for my Centered Breath Monk.

hmm, lvl 4 seems like such a long ways away...