Monk help

[Harrysonford]

Hello!
I typically play full casters, but I thought I would try out a monk. I liked the flexibility and control options. I’ll be starting at lv 6 or 7 and moving up probably past 10 eventually.

My question is: Can the monk still act as a viable battlefield controller without going way of the open hand? I really liked the open hand technique feature, but this subclass seemed the least appealing for the flavor I was trying to go for. My favorite is probably the way of the long death, which is what I hope to play.

If I go this route, can I still act as a good control character?

[dmteeter]

With a monks mobility sure you could still control the battlefield. I'm away from my books and not real familiar with the way of the long death so idk specific skills.

I do know that monks stunning strike is one of the better control abilities.

[Mr.Spastic]

Stunning Strike makes all monks good at battlefield control.

Way of the Elements can be good but only if you go for the non-spell abilities. I had one who would use the Shape the River Ability to create a bunch of ice spikes and cover and then he would Water Whip people into them.

[MilkmanDanimal]

Way of the Shadow monks get Darkness and Silence, both of which are extremely useful from a control perspective, plus the obvious Stunning Strike. I know they're supposed to be Official Ninjas and all, but being able to burn ki points on those abilities make them pretty darn useful to control the battlefield.

[ImproperJustice]

Way of four elements running around with Gust of Wind is slightly humorous.
Combine with Water Whip and a later wall spell and you have some limited control options, pushing and pulling people all over.
It’s a very Ki hungry subclass though.

As others have said, all Monks have stunning strike.

Drunken Masters are distracting by weaving in and out of groups and seem to draw aggro.

My experience with Sun Soul and Kensei is that they prefer to Kite until they find a good opportunity to Stun some poor unsuspecting foe, or nova blast an odd group.
A Kensei archer can be pretty impressive with it’s range and mobility, but probably not what you are looking for in control.

[Mr.Spastic]

Drunken Masters are distracting by weaving in and out of groups and seem to draw aggro.

The problem I had with the drunken mast is that they are only useful in group combat which tends to drop out in higher levels.

The actual spell options for the Elements monk suck balls(I'm thinking of making homebrew). But they get a few fun things, like water whip and fist of unbroken air.

[sophontteks]

Drunken masters are fast. The kit is simple, but taking that free disengage with +10 movement makes for some crazy potential for a class thats already fast and can walk on walls/water.

Its control because you can pretty much engage any enemy you want and move about the battlefield as you please.

[Man_Over_Game]

For controlling, your best option is to probably grab an early Magic Initiate (Druid), grabbing Shillelagh, Magic Stone, and your choice of level 1 spell (Jump, maybe?).

Since Wisdom controls your saving throws, applies to your AC, and now can apply to your main attacks, you can effectively be a powerful monk that can afford to swap out their Dexterity for their Wisdom.

You'd be trading power in your Unarmed Strikes for powerful saving throw values and ranged attacks. Since your saving throws will have exceptionally high DC's, you could go with the 4 Elements as a casting/controlling option, or the Long Death as a tanking option.

With a +4 Wisdom modifier, that's a 15 DC to stun at level 5, repeatable 5 times as a rider for your attacks per short rest, still able to bonus action attack.

Almost all control options as a monk will utilize a saving throw, which utilizes Wisdom. The only time where controlling isn't synonymous with Wisdom for the Monk is when it's reliant on your unarmed strikes (such as with the Drunken Master and Open Palm monks, which require both Dex and Wis fairly equally).

[Citan]

Hello!
I typically play full casters, but I thought I would try out a monk. I liked the flexibility and control options. I’ll be starting at lv 6 or 7 and moving up probably past 10 eventually.

My question is: Can the monk still act as a viable battlefield controller without going way of the open hand? I really liked the open hand technique feature, but this subclass seemed the least appealing for the flavor I was trying to go for. My favorite is probably the way of the long death, which is what I hope to play.

If I go this route, can I still act as a good control character?
Hi!

Well; it really depends on how you want to play and how high you expect to reach.

Long Death's 6th level "Fear as an action" is very, sorry, *very* powerful, but it also means you won't do anything else "to contribute offensively" in that turn, unless you multiclass into a caster that has spells that can be sustained on bonus action or into specific classes which can help in other ways (Thief Rogue to use objects, Bard to give out emergency BI maybe).

There is also the problem of potential friendly fire: "every creature within 30 feet that can see you" is a pretty big deal overall. Of course, as long as you make it your signature tactic the group can find workarounds.
Especially the ranged allies which may simply hide/duck behind a cover or set up a Fog Cloud / Darkness and the like. For melee friends though, problem is real.

4e Monk is the best controller overall, but uses up much Ki in doing so especially at low level. If you are uncomfortable with existential crisis about when to use scarce resources, favor Long Death over this one.
If you are fine with that and expect to reach at least level 7-8, it's a pretty decent choice.
If you expect to get level 11 and over, it's the best by far. Pick up one AOE and one push or pull ability at start and slowly swap them for other things as you level up.

Whatever of the two you choose, I'd strongly suggest picking Shillelagh and Thorns Whip through Magic Initiate feat or one level of Druid or Nature Cleric, then focus on +2 WIS very early, then Sentinel or another +2 WIS.
Both archetypes rely strongly on WIS after all. :)

Another way to go, if your DM would admit it (what follows is certainly houserule), would be going Shadow, with Prodigy feat for Expertise in Athletics, and spend time shoving prone or teleporting enemies all around with you. :)