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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9215903" data-attributes="member: 7035894">So, been testing this version of the monk out some more. I love it.The first thing you notice is that you are no longer as concerned with using up your ki/di points. Uncanny metabolism is just such a relief to have on hand, and the fact that it is just a part of rolling initiative is perfect. So that by itself makes the monk much, much more fun.I initially didn't think switching flurry of blows to being a straight bonus action was that big a deal. I was totally wrong. This small change really changes your tactical options because you can dodge as an action and still get two attacks off. This makes it a lot more feasible to take advantage of your high movement and rush behind the front lines, since not only will you have a much higher effective AC, you are also almost immune to critical hits, so you are not likely to get stuck back there due to one lucky roll from the DM.You can't spam flurry of blows, which is a definite nerf, and kind of sucked when I tried to lock down a spellcaster who made their save. Doing a bit of damage anyway was fine but felt like a weird result; it would have made more sense to daze them or something. But I think the nerf was necessary, and since you now have more ways to spend your points, it doesn't hurt as much as I thought. In some ways, it feels like a relief not to feel like you have to keep spamming one ability until it sticks.Deflect attack is freaking great. The one drawback is that my monk is a variant human who took the sentinel feat at level 1, and that means I have to decide whether to save my reaction for offence or use it for defence. So basically, I get a lot less use out of Sentinel. But choices are fun. As far as pure utility goes, deflect attack is very strong, and you can basically count on it to cancel one hit against you/turn. On rounds when my monk is tanking, which is definitely a thing you can do now, she felt very secure between dodge and deflect attack.Patient defence: Getting disengage as a bonus action is nice. I have not yet wanted to spend the point to take the dodge action as well, partly because having deflect attack makes you worry a lot less about getting hit.Step of the wind: I did have occasion to spend the point to disengage and dash to get to a troublesome spellcaster, and that felt really good, even if they did resist my stunning strike attempt (see above). Being able to dash as a flat bonus action is by far the best part of this ability; you are SO FAST.My monk has eldritch claw tattoos so empowered strikes hasn't mattered.Overall, my monk is only level 9 so I haven't tried out the higher level stuff, but I have played it enough to confidently say that this feels like the monk I've wanted. WotC really hit a home run.Oh, one last thing - I've been a bit dismissive of the improved martial arts die, since it's only one extra HP damage on average. Which is true, but it feels like more? I dunno - I just find that it makes a bigger difference than I thought in terms of how satisfying it is to roll damage.</blockquote>

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