Is the Monk Fixed?

 I watched through the two-part analysis video made by D4 and Treantmonk's Temple (part one is on D4's channel and part two is on Treantmonk's) and perhaps because they gave their reactions after a bit of analysis, the mood was positively celebratory regarding the Monk.

Playtest 8 has brought a whole slew of changes that are, in total, a pretty huge buff to the Monk, which is a class that is generally considered pretty underpowered in the current game.

So, let's talk about the reasons that Monks suffered and see how this new update has addressed these concerns. For the record, I'm very positive on the changes that have come forth, and I think at worst there could be one or two tweaks here or there to really get the class running on all cylinders, but it's also possible that we're simply at a stage where the class is in good shape.

Survivability:

I think there tends to be a big focus on Ki/Discipline Points in the discussion of the Monk, but in all honesty, I think that the Monk's "running on empty" capabilities are still pretty good - especially with the introduction of "Wraps of Unarmed Prowess" with the Book of Many Things (which will probably get reprinted in the DMG) giving Monks the unarmed equivalent of a +X weapon. You basically have three attacks per round at level 5 and higher, with the equivalent of the two-weapon fighting style.

Where I think Monks have really seemed underpowered is in their defensive capabilities. Unarmored Defense can get you good AC but only if you roll very well or get to high levels. And, as a note, while the Monk capstone instantly nets you 4 additional AC, we have to consider the vast majority of Monks who are not level 20. And in that case, you're probably going to have to get to pretty high level just to get up to an AC of 18 - which is rough for an obligate melee class.

That hasn't changed. However, two things have made survival easier.

The first is that a lot of your mobility options are now free. Patient Defense now allows you to disengage as a bonus action with DP cost. Combined with your faster movement speed, this will better enable hit-and-run tactics, sacrificing the extra damage from your bonus action attacks (whether your free one or your Flurry of Blows).

I think the bigger deal is that Deflect Missiles has become Deflect Attacks. I was in a long-running campaign in which my best friend was playing a Tabaxi Monk. And I think in like two and a half years playing that, getting up to level 12 (with XP leveling) he used Deflect Missiles maybe one time. Granted, he's argued that the reason for this is simply that our DM didn't like using humanoid monsters that would shoot arrows or crossbow bolts at us, and preferred weird creatures that didn't have ranged weapon attacks, and that a normal Monk will get more use out of it.

But regardless, being able to use this on melee attacks will, I think, be a game-changer. While ranged attacks might be more or less frequent depending on the table, there's basically no game of D&D that doesn't involve a lot of monsters hitting things with claws, tentacles, fangs, swords, or pseudopods.

The downside here is that it takes a reaction, so you're going to prefer monsters that hit with one big attack rather than a bunch of small ones. But the total damage reduction is pretty big: 1d10 + your Dexterity + your Monk level. At level 3, when you get this, this will probably be about 1d10+6, or an average of 11.5, which is probably going to fully negate most attacks you take by level-appropriate monsters.

If we look at this at level 20, and assume we've maxed out our Dexterity to the special cap of 26, we're talking about 1d10+20+8, so 33.5 on average - which is maybe not fully mitigating the Tarrasque's attacks, but is still a hefty chunk of damage prevented.

Now, granted, we have some action economy concerns. For example, if we're fighting on a cliff, we might prefer to take the hit so that if the monster knocks us off said cliff we still have our reaction for Feather Fall. Also, we're going to be unable to take opportunity attacks if we use this. But this is still going to add up to a ton of mitigated damage (and in that way sort of extra health) over the career of our Monk.

Also notable here is that at level 13, we can deflect attacks that are pure magic damage. And in this case, we can even use it on attacks that deal Force damage. A lot of high-level monsters like Archdevils and Demon Lords have had their weapon damage changed to Force, reflecting the removal of the idea of "magical versus nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing" damage. But this is actually a big nerf to Barbarians' survival, as they're going to be taking full damage from these boss monsters. The Monk, however, probably having reached 13th level by the time they're fighting these sorts of things, is going to have their full defensive capability still usable.

So, does this change make up for a lower AC (until max level - level 20 Monk's going to be insane) and the lower HP?

Well, hit dice do add up, but a d8 is only ultimately one less HP per level, or two less at 1st level. I will say that it's harder for a Monk to invest in Con because of their dependence on both Dexterity and Wisdom, so you might be a little further behind, but I think Deflect Attacks, if used consistently, could maybe make up for it (on top of movement abilities letting you more safely get away from monsters).

Discipline Points:

So, another big concern with the Monk has been the way that they seem built to spend far more Ki Points than they actually have. The new version in playtest 8 has done a few things to reduce costs here.

Ok, so if we're looking at Step of the Wind, the 2014 version lets you Dash or Disengage if you spend a ki as a bonus action. Looking at the new version, in a certain way, you can now essentially do either of these for free, because Patient Defense's free mode is to Disengage. It's not quite Cunning Action, but it's close.

The doubled-up versions of each feature when spending a DP are great, but it's the free versions here that are both very welcome. Monks already have a high movement speed, and now any time they aren't engaged in melee, they'll naturally just Dash. I'm now thinking of my friend's Tabaxi Monk, who could, for a round, and for free, with Feline Agility, run 300 feet in a round.

I will say that we'll need to see how the existing subclasses are going to interact with DP. As it stands, I don't think we have any fewer things to spend DP on, but in a lot of cases, the things we get are better. This is especially true at level 10, when our Flurry of Blows becomes three attacks and our Patient Defense and Step of the Wind get empowered (in the latter case, we become the ultimate squishy-rescuer, as we can grab a friend even if they're grappled and run them far away from any monsters).

While the newly free functionality of Patient Defense and Step of the Wind are going to be a big deal, we've also got two new ways to get DP back.

At level 2, we can get all of our DP back at the roll of initiative, but only once per long rest. I can imagine this being one of those features that you'll often not use in a day, saving it for a tough fight, but it's there.

Then, later, at level 15, we will always start every fight with at least 4 DP. 4 isn't a huge amount, to be sure, as we can probably use multiple points on our first turn, but it gives you something if you're running on fumes.

I still think we're going to be motivated to spend a lot of DP, which means we'll probably be running low frequently - but Uncanny Metabolism should help us feel a little more liberal with our use (especially as we might use it for the heal anyway).

Perhaps the better thing here is that we'll be getting more bang for our DP buck. Stunning Strike will do something to the target now regardless of whether they succeed or fail on their save, and Flurry of Blows gets a great upgrade at level 10. In a roundabout way, this could help us conserve DP - if one Flurry of Blows is enough to finish off a foe, we won't be spending another DP on our subsequent turn.

Damage:

I actually think that Monk damage was pretty decent before, simply due to the fact that you can hit so many times. But we've gotten a bit of a boost to that. With Flurry of Blows hitting three times once you hit level 10, you're basically making five attacks per turn, and even if those are only hitting for 1d8+5 (though thanks to the Wraps of Unarmed Mastery, they could be a bit higher) you're talking about a potential 5d8+25, or 47.5 damage. If we compare that to a level 10 Fighter using a Maul and Great Weapon Master, they're doing 2d6+15 twice, or 44 damage with a lower chance to hit. (Though granted, it might be more fair to compare this with a level 11 Fighter, who would be getting three such attacks).

While I think the change to the Martial Arts die is not an enormous thing, one thing to consider is that if we can get our hands on Weapon Mastery with a feat, we could pick up two daggers, which by tier 4 would be hitting as hard as Greataxes, and we could get another attack in there thanks to the Nick property. If we also get our hands on the Two Weapon Fighting Style, when we did a flurry of blows we'd be making six attacks that could all be doing 1d10+5 (granted, with two feats we might be slowing our Dexterity progress).

    So, yeah, I think the Monk is looking pretty good. I'd like to see this in action, of course. I think it's possible that despite these improvements there might be an impression of falling short, in part because of existing perceptions but also just because the Monk goes about being a martial class in a different way. Players, remember to use that Deflect Attacks liberally, and DMs, be generous with your +1 Wraps of Unarmed Mastery!