feats for a monk

[Raezeman]

yo,

my group and me are starting a playtest of the 5th edition soon, and i'm going to play a monk, hoping that it is more balanced. So i was thinking, should i take a feat with this guy, or not, and if yes which one? I didn't really see anything really useful for the monk among the feats at first quick glance, or am i missing something obvious? So please advice on whether i should take the stat increase of a feat.

Also, i was thinking of going wood elf for this. +2 dex and +1 wis seemed to be more advantage than any other race (i don't like playing a human as a play one in real life). Other suggestions here also welcome.

[Daishain]

Alert, Athlete, Grappler, Lucky, Mobile, Resilient, Ritual Caster, Sentinel, and Skulker are all feats that may be of use to you depending on which direction you wish to take your monk

[MOLOKH]

Magic Initiate for Guidance, Resistance, Sacred flame or Spare the Dying from Cleric cantrips, and Bane, Bless, Command, Protection From Good/Evil or Shield of Faith from 1st level spells.

[Rummy]

Polearm Master for out of turn reaction attacks with the quarter staff.

[Strill]

Defensive Duelist is awesome. Once per round if you would get hit by an attack, you can retroactively get an AC bonus and block it instead

[Person_Man]

Strait Monk works fine in 5E, and does not have the crippling issues of Monks in 3.X/PF.

Wood Elf works well with the Monk, as does the variant Feat Human. But you should note that Darkvision is actually very important in this edition if your DM actually pays attention to the illumination rules (which some DMs do not do). So if this is going to be a low-mid level game, its worth considering Hill Dwarf (+2 Con, +1 Wis, +1 hit point per level, darkvision, advantage/resistance vs poison, 25 ft movement) if you're not going to be a Way of the Shadow Monk (which can use Darkvision as a Ki power) or get up to a high enough level that you gain Purity of Body (immune to poison/disease).

Get your Dex, Con, and Wisdom to 18 or 20, using racial and/or class granted Ability Score increases as needed to do so. Those are the three Ability Scores you'll be using over and over and over again, other modifiers are much rarer in this edition, and getting a baseline of success first is more useful then whatever benefits you might get from Feats. If you're using a Point Buy or just roll poorly and can't get those three scores high, then you might want to consider a Rogue or Cantrip using full caster instead, which would only requires two high ability scores.

Note that Monks have built in uses for their Bonus Action (Martial Arts) and Reaction (Deflect Missiles), plus a few Ki powers use them as well. So you may not wish to take any Feats that use the Bonus Action and Reaction.

[DireSickFish]

I would advise against taking a feat for your first ASI opportunity if you are going to be using point buy. If you've managed to get good stats from rolling and have a decent AC (17+) Then there are a lot of good feats out there. Wood elves make great monks as they get even more movement and bonuses to there key stats.

Daishain pointed out some good feats. I like Mobility and Alert.

[odigity]

I've been wondering the same thing, as I plan to play a Wood Elf Monk/Cleric.

I think Resilient is a good pick to get a +1 to Con and proficiency in Con savings throws (instead of +2 Con), which is the most common and important one. You'd then have proficiencies in Str, Dex, and Con. It's a shame you can't take it twice to cover Wis as well.

Also, Lucky just seems like the obvious best feat that everyone should take ASAP.

As for my particular build, I'm considering Sentinel so I can play the part of protector/rescuer of party members in trouble.

[Seeten]

Observant seems pretty good also, giving bonus to passive perception, investigation, read lips and +1 wisdom.

[odigity]

On the topic of feats, it's annoying to me that class levels don't stack for purposes of feats (or extra attacks). I was going to dip 3 levels of Monk until I realized that. Then I changed my plan to 5 levels of Monk so I can get the feat at level 4 and the Extra Attack and Stunning Fist at level 5, since it would be stupid to stop right before that. Then no more feats until 4th level of Cleric, which will be character level 9.

But it's even worse than that, because I don't want to go straight Monk 5 before switching. I want to start Monk 1, then go straight into Cleric 1 to get some healing abilities to help us survive, and because I want to achieve the full flavor of the character at the earliest time possible (at Monk 1 he's only half of what he's intended to be). Which means I won't see my first feat till level 6, minimum. (Unless I go variant human, but I'd rather take Wood Elf.)

Every time I see someone on the board suggesting dipping 2-3 levels of a class, I wonder if they remember the feat progression rules, or just don't value them (or ability increases).

[edge2054]

On the topic of feats, it's annoying to me that class levels don't stack for purposes of feats (or extra attacks). I was going to dip 3 levels of Monk until I realized that. Then I changed my plan to 5 levels of Monk so I can get the feat at level 4 and the Extra Attack and Stunning Fist at level 5, since it would be stupid to stop right before that. Then no more feats until 4th level of Cleric, which will be character level 9.


Personally I like it, as it discourages dipping and allows classes to be more frontloaded (Action Surge, Cunning Action, etc. etc.) without destroying game balance.

As far as feats go, I'd go Wood Elf and worry about raising stats instead. Mobility is probably the best of the bunch but even it is redundant. Not triggering attacks of opportunity when you can stun an enemy on hit, knock them prone, knock them back, or prevent them from taking a reaction all together isn't that good.

Mage Slayer is a good one but really won't see much use in most games until later levels.

[Easy_Lee]

Mage slayer, sentinel, and defensive duelist all make the monk better at things monks already excel at, so that's the angle I would probably take. Lucky is always a good choice. But getting wis and dex to 20 should probably be your first priority.

I hope your DM let's you do point buy with more than 15s or roll stats. Monk MAD is difficult starting with two +3's at best.

[mabriss lethe]

If you're going to be going with Way of the Open Hand or Way of Shadow, you can use magic initiate to grab thorn whip and entangle, +1 druid cantrip of choice. I wouldn't bother with thorn whip if you're going for Way of the Elements, as you can pick up Water whip, which out performs thorn whip at every level.

Shilleleigh (sic) seems nice for a monk, but it isn't, except at very low levels/corner cases. If your wisdom is higher than your dex, it can be nice enough. However, your innate damage dice from martial arts will outstrip the damage from the cantrip by mid levels.

[archaeo]

Just to add a little note to all this good advice, it's a fine idea to wait and make your feat selection in response to the campaign and party you're in. A campaign with a lot of spellcasting cultists will be perfect for Mage Slayer, while a party that lacks battlefield control options will enjoy having a Sentinel user. Meanwhile, if other characters are filling these roles already, the Monk (and basically every other class) remains flexible enough to find another niche.

5e is pretty good about letting your build stay loose as you gain power; there's a lot of built-in opportunities for retraining if you decide to take your character in a new direction, while the good balance means that you have to work hard to make decisions that really handicap you.

[MaxWilson]

I recommend Alert. It has the defensive benefits of Darkvision (with the bonus of working even better than Darkvision in magical darkness or Fog Clouds), a +5 initiative bonus and "no-surprise" feature, and is overall really great for someone who will be scouting ahead of the party.

Alert, Mobile, and Lucky are the greatest defensive feats IMHO. Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master and Polearm/Shield Mastery are very good offensive feats but none of them really apply to monks.

[TheAnarchitect]

I highly suggest, for a human, grabbing magic initiate "Druid" and grabbing shilleleigh, produce flame, and Goodberry as your 1 a day. Here's why:


In defense of shilleleigh: Yes, you want both wisdom and dex high eventually, but shilleleigh lets you max wisdom first. This means the Save DCs for your monk abilities will be better than they otherwise would, making your monk abilities more reliable. Once you get to the point that you are raising dex and your damage die is higher than d8, it still makes your staff magic. That means you don't have to argue with the fighter over who gets the magic weapon, because you're covered.

Produce flame gives you a light source that cannot ever be taken away from you, as well as a ranged option for attack.

Goodberry gives you your own source of 10 HP of healing. It also meets all your dietary needs.

Between these 3 spells, you have someone who can always make a fire, always feed themselves, heal themselves, make ranged attacks, and can turn any stick into a magic weapon. Combined with your innate monkness, This essentially frees you from the need for material possessions AT ALL. And what's more monk-like than that?

[Easy_Lee]

I highly suggest, for a human, grabbing magic initiate "Druid" and grabbing shilleleigh, produce flame, and Goodberry as your 1 a day. Here's why:


In defense of shilleleigh: Yes, you want both wisdom and dex high eventually, but shilleleigh lets you max wisdom first. This means the Save DCs for your monk abilities will be better than they otherwise would, making your monk abilities more reliable. Once you get to the point that you are raising dex and your damage die is higher than d8, it still makes your staff magic. That means you don't have to argue with the fighter over who gets the magic weapon, because you're covered.

Produce flame gives you a light source that cannot ever be taken away from you, as well as a ranged option for attack.

Goodberry gives you your own source of 10 HP of healing. It also meets all your dietary needs.

Between these 3 spells, you have someone who can always make a fire, always feed themselves, heal themselves, make ranged attacks, and can turn any stick into a magic weapon. Combined with your innate monkness, This essentially frees you from the need for material possessions AT ALL. And what's more monk-like than that?

Cool build, I like the flavor.