Did WOTC ever give clarification on Drunken Master Monk..

[animewatcha]

Namely the ability that allows for 'up to 3 additional attacks' that must be different targets? Is this meant to be 5 attacks total ( base 2, flurry 3 ) or 7 ( base 2, flurry 5 )?

[Laolir]

"Intoxicated Frenzy

At 17th level, you gain the ability to make an overwhelming number of attacks against a group of enemies. When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can make up to three additional attacks with it (up to a total of five Flurry of Blows attacks), provided that each Flurry of Blows attack targets a different creature this turn."

Seem's like it was clarified. It's 7 attacks total.

[MaxWilson]

"Intoxicated Frenzy

At 17th level, you gain the ability to make an overwhelming number of attacks against a group of enemies. When you use your Flurry of Blows, you can make up to three additional attacks with it (up to a total of five Flurry of Blows attacks), provided that each Flurry of Blows attack targets a different creature this turn."

Seem's like it was clarified. It's 7 attacks total.

Bear in mind that turns your Flurry of Blows into basically an AoE for d10+5 on a hit, which means the Sun Soul monk is doing something similar since approximately level 6 with bonus action Burning Hands. The main use of Intoxicated Frenzy would be if, in addition to damage, you want to try to Stunning Strike everyone you hit.

I.e. 7 attacks in a round sounds like a lot, but it's really just two attacks + AoE.

[Desteplo]

It’s also for 1 ki as opposed to the 2 and 3 costs

So on top of what was said “stunning strike” it’s also way cheaper.

If I’m not mistakes you can also move between each attack? So Cartwheel across a line of 7 guys is possible. Flexible cone, area or line

[Man_Over_Game]

Bear in mind that turns your Flurry of Blows into basically an AoE for d10+5 on a hit, which means the Sun Soul monk is doing something similar since approximately level 6 with bonus action Burning Hands. The main use of Intoxicated Frenzy would be if, in addition to damage, you want to try to Stunning Strike everyone you hit.

I.e. 7 attacks in a round sounds like a lot, but it's really just two attacks + AoE.

On the contrary, it sounds like a generic AoE effect, but consider the fact that this also synergizes with the Drunken Master's disengage movement from his level 3 feature and movement, allowing him to move 65 feet and hit up to 7 times anywhere along your path.

This does make it more reliable than most other forms of AoE, but you are right in that its damage could be improved upon a little.

[MaxWilson]

On the contrary, it sounds like a generic AoE effect, but consider the fact that this also synergizes with the Drunken Master's disengage movement from his level 3 feature and movement, allowing him to move 65 feet and hit up to 7 times anywhere along your path.

This does make it more reliable than most other forms of AoE, but you are right in that its damage could be improved upon a little.

I suppose it depends on how you're running bonus actions--Crawford's latest interpretation of action economies suggests that (according to WotC corporate policy) actions must be taken in discrete steps, with movement between attacks of an Attack action as a specific special case, and that you therefore probably can't (according to WotC corporate policy) move when you take your Flurry of Blows "immediately after" your Attack Action.

Even if you ignore Crawford (as I tend to do) and just go with the most natural interpretation that a player would have after reading the books, my real point is just that it's a fairly small amount of damage, spread across multiple targets. When you read "7 attacks" you may intuitively think "wow, 70+ damage!" and I just want to make sure there aren't any Drunken Monk enthusiasts out there who might have a disappointing experience because of not knowing what they're getting into.

I'm not suggesting any change to the class, just pointing something out about its use cases.

[animewatcha]

I forgot to include this question in the OP. The 'different targets'. What's to stop you from switching back and forth between 2 ( maybe more ) different targets back and forth. Hit mob A then mob B then back to mob A then back to mob B, etc. for the apparently 7 attacks.