Best Feats for Monk

[Zorahai]

I have a Goliath monk who I use in a public Adventurers League game and I just got to level 3.

We’re doing the Tomb of Annihilation on Meat-Grinder (Death saves are 15 but we get 15% more XP and gold)

I’m using the PHB and Volo’s

Stats:
Str: 10
Dex: 15
Con: 16
Int: 8
Wis: 15
Char: 8

Goliath Racial bonus was included: +2 Str and +1 Con

Proficiencies:
Acrobatics
Athletics
Perception
Stealth
Survival

Background: Outlander
Weapon: Spear

Now, I understand that my ASIs are very important and I plan on bumping both my Dex and Wis if I get to level 4. I am also debating on if getting a feat at level 8 would be useful or not.

The feats I’m looking at currently are Sentinel and Mobile.

So, if and when I get a chance to get a feat, which should I get?

[Zorahai]

Salutations and warm greetings!
Just wanting to add more information here as well, in case people need this to understand the full dynamic.
The other party members involved (including myself)
Kenku Berserker barbarian
Human devine soul sorceror
Halfling rogue (archetype unknown)
Deep gnome swashbuckler
Rock gnome Whispers Bard
Half orc fighter (protection) lvl2

Hope this helps everyone understand the party balance and roles.

This is from one of my fellow players in another thread where I asked about multi-classing before I re-allocated my stats

[polymphus]

I mean with that array you probably wanna forget feats and just start pumping ASIs.

Outside of that, Mobile is excellent, and Defensive Duellist is good if you're rocking a shortsword/dagger.

[Lombra]

You need all 5 ASIs to max out your DEX/WIS, which is generally better than any other feat on a monk, simply because both scores increase your chances of landing a stunning strike and increase your AC.

If you really want a feat then I'd pick it at level 8, bring DEX/WIS to 16 at level 4, then Lucky is never bad, and Mobile is useful. But a +2 to dex or wis would generally be better. Monks don't really get much out of feats except for some out of combat utility.

[The Shadowdove]

If any I'd say Mobile. I almost always take it and it has saved my rear a number of times.

Also, once you get a good bit more movement speed, you can literally run in and out of rooms harassing foes.

There are plenty of other decent options. But ASIs are very important for monks. Bump that Dex and wisdom, get mobile if you get the chance and regularly face melee combatants.

[MxKit]

Yeah, you might want to just concentrate on bumping up your ability scores. That said, you can get away with Dex 20 and Wis 18 if you really want a feat. And I agree with everyone recommending the Mobile feat, it is truly excellent on Monks, who do need the AC and for their stunning strikes and quivering palms to work... but they also work best when they are darting around the battlefield, able to get in and get out, and to get to the backline enemies that really don't want to be getting hit. Mobile will help you immensely with that.

Alternately, as Lombra suggests, you could get the Lucky feat, which is powerful for anyone. Basically you can give yourself advantage on any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, or give an enemy disadvantage on any attack roll, three times per short rest. This can be huge, and it's the only feat I'd say is equal to Mobile when it comes to best feats for Monks.

But I'd only take one or the other. Dex 18, Wis 18, Lucky, and Mobile is pushing it, especially if you are essentially playing in a meat grinder as you say. That said, you could wait until your final ASI to decide whether you want to finish pumping Dex or if you want to take the feat you didn't take yet, depending on how you feel about it then.

[Dalebert]

I posit that Mobile will do more to protect you than +1 AC. Yes, you will not max out dex and wis and would have to pick one to be only 18 but it might be justified.

[The_Jette]

Mobile might actually be a really good early investment, if you spend your time running around the battlefield. Move, attack, move more, attack again. As long as you attack (not necessarily hit) an enemy, they don't get an OA against you for continuing to move. But, if you don't move around as much, if you find yourself staying stationary, then you really won't benefit as much from it.

[Strangways]

Mobile.


That is all.

[staylost]

Your race doesn't really allow room for feats because it is holding your ability scores down. Basically, it puts you one ASI behind the curve - those two strength could have been two dex/con/wis.

If you were a wood elf or something else that helped your core ability scores, than the best feat that you might select would be Mobile as everyone keeps repeating. Mobile increases your ability to skirmish safely, just like dex/con/wis.

[ad_hoc]

Mobile is bad on a Monk.

It is superfluous. Yes, it fits in with what the Monk does but...the Monk already does it. You gain very little.

[The_Jette]

Mobile is bad on a Monk.

It is superfluous. Yes, it fits in with what the Monk does but...the Monk already does it. You gain very little.

It's not entirely superfluous. Yes, the Monk already has a way to increase his land speed. But, even more speed is never a bad thing. And, yes, the Monk can spend Ki points to disengage. But, not having to spend the Ki point is useful in resource management. But, most of all, not having to spend extra movement for difficult terrain is a huge blessing when trying to control a battlefield. Now, if your DM doesn't pay attention to difficult terrain, or you don't move around during combat, it's a waste of a feat. But, if you're not the kind to just plant your feet and punch, then it could be extremely useful.

[ad_hoc]

It's not entirely superfluous. Yes, the Monk already has a way to increase his land speed. But, even more speed is never a bad thing.

Speed increases are diminishing returns.

30 to 40 is significant.

50 to 60 is much less useful

90 to 100 is essentially useless



And, yes, the Monk can spend Ki points to disengage. But, not having to spend the Ki point is useful in resource management.

Mobile is not Disengage and it comes with a significant cost. They must attack a target they don't want to be attacking (as they are wanting to move and attack elsewhere). Also, it is only useful against that creature.

Often it's going to be better to just incur the OA from the mook the Monk is next to in order to maximize attacks against the real threat (and thus get in more Stunning Strikes). If they need to run past many creatures to get to the threat they want to neutralize then Mobile does not help as it is not a Disengage.

It is a rare case where the Monk will want to use the power from Mobile rather than provoking the OA or using Disengage.



But, most of all, not having to spend extra movement for difficult terrain is a huge blessing when trying to control a battlefield. Now, if your DM doesn't pay attention to difficult terrain, or you don't move around during combat, it's a waste of a feat. But, if you're not the kind to just plant your feet and punch, then it could be extremely useful.

Again, this is not free. The Monk must Dash. How often will a Monk who is Dashing not have enough movement to move through difficult terrain and go where they need to be? Not only that but if where they want to go is out of the difficult terrain then they can jump there as their jump distance is doubled when using their bonus action Dash.


Mobile is not what you think it is. Look it over again. It is a waste of a Feat for Monks.

[polymphus]

Mobile is not Disengage and it comes with a significant cost. They must attack a target they don't want to be attacking (as they are wanting to move and attack elsewhere). Also, it is only useful against that creature.

... it's for letting you hit and run. You jump in, strike, then use your mobility to jump back behind the tank wall. It lets you play more aggressively without exposing yourself to damage.

Using it to go fight somebody else was never the main point though if you did want to to that, importantly, it's an attack, not an attack action: you can hit somebody once, then run away and use the rest of your attacks on somebody else. It doesn't even need to hit. At lvl5, that's three targets per turn, guaranteed, who don't get OAs against you.

All the other options that allow this sort of play (regular Disengage, Cunning Action, Swashbuckler) consume the same or more resources.

EDIT: I still support pumping Dex over going for a feat, but Mobile is very good and I feel like the guy I quoted is missing the point of it.

[The_Jette]

Snip

This is all your opinion, based off your experiences, that it will be situationally useful. Your experience is that the situations are rare. My experiences are that the situations only come up as often as you try to make them come up. Personally, I think a 10' improvement in speed matters regardless of what your original speed was, and that the uses for the feat can come up more often than not. If you have to escape past multiple enemies, and can't, or don't want to, use your attacks for all of them, disengaging is still an option. If you have the attacks, then not having to spend the action or ki points makes it useful. And, I don't feel that the ability to ignore difficult terrain should be overlooked, whereas you feel it's not that great. This is a difference of opinion we won't be able to surpass, I'm afraid.


I still support pumping Dex over going for a feat, but Mobile is very good and I feel like the guy I quoted is missing the point of it.

I absolutely agree. I simply wanted to say that depending on how the guy plays his monk, Mobile might be worth the feat. Otherwise, Dex/Wis bumps are much better.

[ad_hoc]

... it's for letting you hit and run. You jump in, strike, then use your mobility to jump back behind the tank wall. It lets you play more aggressively without exposing yourself to damage.

Jump in and strike who? The mook?

If you're only fighting mooks then you don't really care. Monks aren't great at fighting mooks. What they want to do is Stunning Strike the important creatures. They need to get around the mooks to do that.

This strategy is essentially turning the Monk into a ranged attacker who can only target mooks. Just play a ranged character or a spellcaster who can cast AoE spells.

Further, if the combat is a bottleneck situation where the tankier characters can block the enemies, then the Monk can't get in to attack them anyway.

Also, why does everyone on this site think that being ranged allows the character to be safe from harm?

If the majority of fights are ones where the tanky characters can block off the enemies and the ranged characters are safe from harm then there is no real threat and it doesn't really matter what the characters do. They're going to win anyway.

It's not that there are 0 encounters where Mobile is useful, it's just that they are exceptionally rare. Most of the time Mobile is either worse than the Monk abilities or it is unnecessary as the combat is Easy and will be over quickly with minimal resources lost.

[Dalebert]

I played a monk with Mobile all the way to lvl 20 and it's been extremely useful. He almost never stands next to an enemy after attacking. He's a hit and run monk, and it's kept him healthy. If I had to bonus action disengage every combat round I'd not only blow through ki fast. I'd also get less hits in. In those rare cases when there is more than one enemy adjacent, I'm almost always better off just attacking all of them at least once than blowing a ki AND my bonus action to disengage. Up to 3 enemies I can hit them all and leave. Up to 4, I can flurry of blows, hit them all and leave. The alternative is hitting twice and then spending a ki and leaving. So it's a combination of avoiding harm, saving you ki, AND getting to attack more.

But more than 1 or 2 enemies is rare. Let's say there are 2 adjacent. Without mobile, I can hit one of them twice and spend a ki and leave. With mobile, I can hit one of them twice, hit the other one with my bonus action, and still leave without spending ki, and I've dealt just as much dmg to one and some bonus dmg to the other and saved a ki.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I had great success with Mobile as well. Not only does it save you ki, but it saves you bonus actions-- something the Monk has MASSIVE competition for.