Blow to Kensei.

[elyktsorb]

So one of the new optional features for Monks is

" Dedicated Weapon

You train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.

The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:

The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.
You must be proficient with it.
It must lack the heavy and special properties. "

So pretty much any Monk subclass can use any weapon they want, ranged or otherwise. So the whole aspect of being able to use non-traditional monk weapons as a selling point for Kensei is gone.

In fact let's go over how many parts of Kensai become pointless with this addition.

So Kensei Weapons are moot.

Magic Kensei Weapons are moot.

Sharpen the Blade becomes less useful because you'll be more likely to just have + Weapons.

With that in mind, would anyone still play Kensei?

[JNAProductions]

You already need proficiency in it-how are you getting that without Kensai? Some races let you, but not all.

Plus, even if you get proficiency from race or a Feat...

Agile Parry.
Magic Kensei Weapons (counting as a Monk Weapon does not make it magical)
Deft Strike
Sharpen The Blade (in my experience, +X weapons are not common-probably because I find them dull and so try to hand out other things instead)
Unerring Accuracy

So yeah, still has features. Still has use.

[JackPhoenix]

Well, longbow is still heavy weapon.... but yeah.

[DarknessEternal]

This is an even worse ability than Monks got in UA 64, so why didn't you make your thread then?

[Amechra]

I'm planning on playing a Kensei as soon as I can get into a game that uses Tasha's, because to me the selling point wasn't "I get to use a longsword!", and Ki-Fueled Strikes more than makes up for having that love get spread around.

(Stuff like Sharpen the Weapon works best on back-up weapons, anyway. You aren't supposed to use it before every fight - it's so that, regardless of what weapon you might be forced to use, you can guarantee that you have a +X weapon. It's one of those features that gets way stronger if you're at a table where magic items aren't as common, so you can't guarantee that you'll have a +X weapon of the type you prefer or that that back-up bow you carry around just in case you can't get to the enemy is magical at all.)

[elyktsorb]

This is an even worse ability than Monks got in UA 64, so why didn't you make your thread then?

Curious about it now, I don't pay attention to UA's all the time.

[Thunderous Mojo]

This thread highlights the psychological phenomena of your neighbor getting a raise, making you feel poorer.

This change actually helps the player of a Kensai monk, you no longer have to avoid at levels 1 and 2 the weapon you intend to master.

[x3n0n]

So one of the new optional features for Monks is

" Dedicated Weapon

You train yourself to use a variety of weapons as monk weapons, not just simple melee weapons and shortswords. Whenever you finish a short or long rest, you can touch one weapon, focus your ki on it, and then count that weapon as a monk weapon until you use this feature again.

The chosen weapon must meet these criteria:

The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon.
You must be proficient with it.
It must lack the heavy and special properties. "

So pretty much any Monk subclass can use any weapon they want, ranged or otherwise. So the whole aspect of being able to use non-traditional monk weapons as a selling point for Kensei is gone.

In fact let's go over how many parts of Kensai become pointless with this addition.

So Kensei Weapons are moot.

Magic Kensei Weapons are moot.

Sharpen the Blade becomes less useful because you'll be more likely to just have + Weapons.

With that in mind, would anyone still play Kensei?

In addition to what others have said (about proficiencies and the many features that remain relevant), I think the strongest part of Dedicated Weapon is the ability to turn a ranged weapon into a monk weapon (both for damage scaling and for Ki-Fueled Strike), and Dedicated Weapon only allows one weapon at a time, even if you have proficiency with all of the options. Unless you're a Kensei, you don't get to have *both* a good melee weapon and a ranged monk weapon.

Kensei also has the most reliable way to trigger Ki-Fueled Strike from afar: Deft Strike.