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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Helldritch" data-source="post: 8048547" data-attributes="member: 6855114">I just watched the whole video. I don't fully agree yet, some good points are made.1) On AC. Monk could have a better AC and it would not hurt. Still, the ability to enhance their AC through a bonus action by using dodge means that they can be very difficult to hit and contrary to other classes, they can still attack. But yes, they could get a better AC but there are so many ways to increase AC with magic that the monk could be nigh impossible to hit if its AC is enhanced. So I am not sure if it would be the way to go...2) Ki as a resource. This one I completely agree. Ki isn't in sufficient number to make it so prevalent. Having Ki spending on Flurry is an abheration that should be removed. If Ki would be used only for special abilities, it would be more interesting and useful. Adding wisdom bonus to Ki is what I am currently doing and it works very well.3) Monk as a damage dealer.A bit of the above (2, Ki as a resource) answered this. Martial art damage should rise to 2d6 or 1d12 and way sooner than it reaches 1d10. The monk should reach maximum die at about level 11. I personally allow monks to use their weapon's damage die on the first of their flurry attack. The second attack uses their martial art die. In the current state, as RAW, the monk does not do enough damage to be a front liner. Their number of extra attack, is limited to one. They should do as much extra attacks as the fighter. But not if they are allowed free flurry. Even with all of the above, the monk would be a bit subpar damage wise. On that I agree, but the monk's role is not entirely to do damage.4) Monk as a mobile opponent.This one I disagree completely. A horsed character will move faster yes. But bring a horse in a cave or dungeon. Have you ever seen a horse using stairs? No this debunkal in the video was pure BS. The man, clearly wanted to find ways to debunk the monk and he was so bend on doing it that on this he uses fallacious arguments to make the monk look bad as a mobile opponent. Ho and he completely forgot to say that a monk can run alongside a wall by 9th level. Go see if your horse can run on a wall. This enables monk to avoid a lot of minions and to get directly to the boss or spellcaster.5) Debunkal of special abilities.Again, this is a yes and a no. Some of the monk's special abilities comes a bit too late for my tastes too. And, when they get them, the other classes have been using similar abilities for quite a few levels.Missile deflection: This one is a good one. It should be usable more. The damage prevention  should extend to all incomissiles up to the total damage prevented. This would make the ability way more better.Stunning Strike: Completely disagree. The stunning strike is great. Monsters are rarely proficient with CN save and even if their CN is good, by the time you encounter a monster with +5 CN you can be at a DC save of 15 or more. At first level you are probably already at 12 and 13 or 14 at 5th. Most monsters will be stunned 50% of the time. This means that you need about 2 ki points to shut down a monster and give advantage to your team mates (More on that later).Stillness of mind: I agree with him. Using your action to end this is ridicule. It should have been either reaction or a bonus action. Using your action on this is subpar to what other classes can do.Purity of body: Again he is right. Immunity to disease is meh. But the Poison part is really good.Tongue of the Sun and Moon: Again he is right. Other classes can reach the same result way sooner. An ASI would have been better or an Extra attack.Diamond soul: I think he is not entirely wrong. Being proficient with all save isn't such a big deal. It's nice but not essential. Where I diverge, is the part he silenced. The ability to reroll for a Ki point is way better than the proficiency.Timeless body: He is right. This is meh as most campaign will not see old age set in. It should have been paired with an ASI.Empty Body: He is wrong. This one is incredibly strong. It is not magical so it can not be dispelled. Yes other classes can become invisible way earlier but they can be dispelled. In addition, the resistance to all damage is nothing to sniff at.Perfect Self: He is right. The ability should grant way more than a miser 4 ki point. Going for 10 should have been better.The analysis was a good but biased one. He wanted to prove the monk was bad at each type of role. And if you look at the monk this way, he is absolutely right. The monk isn't the best damage dealer. It does not have the highest AC. It's mobility can be achieved by mounted characters "when" they can mount. It is not even the best controler, a mage and cleric can be way better in that role. But you should not look the monk at each role separately but as a character that can do all these simultenaously. This is where the strength of the monks really shine. This brings me to 6) Monk as a controllerIn his assessment, our friend tells us that the monk isn't the best controller. Again he is right. The save DC of stunning strike will probably stay at a 50% of failure throughout the monk's carreer. Mass control is almost non existant as the limited Ki prevents such an over usage. Pretty depressing isn't it? But, strangely, this is also the strength of the monk.Here is why.The monk can force a creature/opponent to redo the save with every single strike. With a 50% chance of failure, the opponent will fail. And when that fails, the monk start to shine. On his next action, the monk will grab the target and restrain it, since the target is stuned it will fail its save automatically. This way his allies will have advantage to strike the opponent. And this is why BBEG and casters in general should be affraid of the monk. The is question is not if the monk will get to them. HE WILL! With a bonus action, the monk can dodge, he is fast enough to close the distance in a single round (generally) and he can avoid rows of minions by walking/running on the walls. Who cares if the monk falls at the end of his movement? The monk will not take damage anyways. Once the monk has grabbed the target (BBEG), the monk can bring the target to his melee allies in no time. All the while, his friends will be attacking the target with advantage freely ignoring minions. By 8th level, if the monk did not take mobility he can run 90 feet without using a bonus action. If he does, this goes up to 135 feet. This is usually a lot more than the usual encounter distance in any game. If the monk is lucky and the target is within 45 feet, the monk can get to the target, attack twice, if the target is stunned, he can use the dodge action as a bonus action. Or he can attack two more times to stun the target if it had somehow made two saves in a row. Then on the second round, grapple the target and run back to his friends where they will happily attack the target with advantage.The monk can ignore, minions. The monk will mess with opponents' positionning. He can effectively shut down Solo BBEG for a few rounds making such encounters way easier. The monk isn't the best tank, damage dealer or controler, but he is great being a mix of all of these. Sometimes it is not about raw damage, high AC or the amount of control that you bring. It is what the blend of your abilities brings that matter. Numbers are not everything.Edit: Added a few missing words here and there. I really should use Words before hand for such long posts and not my phone...</blockquote>

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