Hello everyone,

As you all know, Dedicated Weapon is a monk feature that makes one of the key features of the Kensei almost useless.

I was wondering what they are going to do with the Kensei monk, and if I could change him, how would I imagine him?

Thinking about it, I imagined it as a monk with armor, with proficiency on all weapons and the ability to use heavy weapons as monk weapons.

I also thought of offering the kensei the ability to choice one of three fighting styles (Archer, Thrown Weapon Fighting and Two-Weapon Fighting).

How would you see it?

Yes, Dedicated Weapon take something away from the Kensei. But, the Kensei can choose any martial without heavy or special property and can also take longbow. Dedicated Weapon you have to have proficiency from somewhere and lack heavy or special property. So similar but more restrictive and who knows if updated after 2024 will give weapon proficiencies at all. Edit: sure you can multiclass to get proficiency but you can’t consider an optional rule when evaluating it since not every table allows it. Same with DW, if a table doesn’t allow optional rules then it’s a no go. 

The other advantage Kensei has over Dedicated Weapon is at 6th level their Kensei weapons are considered magical for overcoming resistances. Other monks even with DW do not get this. 

That said, I would like to see them remove the heavy property restrictions from Kensei to give them options DW does not. 

The Kensei monk is honestly a pretty strong Archer character for Tiers 1 & 2 in a way that another monk with DW couldnt easily replicate. As previously mentioned, they can use a Longbow and thanks to Ki-Fueled Attack they can potentially make another attack as a bonus action. That means the Kensei monk can be making 2-3 ranged attacks per turn while everyone else only gets 1 or 2; however this requires that the monk be spending ki points, so it is a resource-limited extra attack. That being said, between Focused Aim to try and make a missed attack hit and Deft Strike to make a hit deal more damage, by levels 5+ you should be able to be spending ki pretty consistently as part of the Attack action.

Focused Aim pairs pretty well with Sharpshooter too. Take the -5 penalty to hit and if you miss, you can spend ki points to try and turn it into a hit-which also triggers your ability to make a bonus action longbow attack. Even if you dont miss, you can still apply Deft Strike to a hit with your sharpshooter shot to deal 1d8+Dex+10+Martial Arts Die damage (which is also magical by the time you reach the level you get Deft Strike). 

Any other monk with just dedicated weapon could do most of this, but they would have to use a weaker ranged weapon option and they would not have access to Deft Strike to allow them to consistently use their Attack action to trigger Ki-Fueled Attack. Furthermore, even if they find a way to consistently use their ranged weapon attacks, their attacks wont be magical unless you have a generous DM or Artificer friend.  

True, the kensei monk can choose his weapon, while a monk of an other subclass has to find a way to have weapon proficiency.

However, it still remains a loss of the kensei subclass. We can say that before he was the only monk who could use the whip, the long sword, the warhammer, etc...

Now you just need to be of the right race, or take a level from another class or take a feat.

I find that its specialty has been stolen and with it the image that distinguished it from other subclasses. 

Although what makes it special is the ability to use different weapons for each situation and being able to upgrade them as if they were magical weapons.

Although it should be clarified that normally a character does not use so many different kinds of weapons, only one for ranged fighting and one for close combat.

Quote from ThriKreenWarrior >>

Yes, Dedicated Weapon take something away from the Kensei. But, the Kensei can choose any martial without heavy or special property and can also take longbow. Dedicated Weapon you have to have proficiency from somewhere and lack heavy or special property. So similar but more restrictive and who knows if updated after 2024 will give weapon proficiencies at all. Edit: sure you can multiclass to get proficiency but you can’t consider an optional rule when evaluating it since not every table allows it. Same with DW, if a table doesn’t allow optional rules then it’s a no go. 

The other advantage Kensei has over Dedicated Weapon is at 6th level their Kensei weapons are considered magical for overcoming resistances. Other monks even with DW do not get this. 

That said, I would like to see them remove the heavy property restrictions from Kensei to give them options DW does not. 

 
also to give us Glaives and other polearms since some of the most common tools of a shaolin monk was the shaolin spade... a bloody polearm

You are kinda following the same logic other people use when they say: "Unarmed Fighting style completely overshadows EVERYTHING monks have and now monks are pointless because a fighting style is better than the whole class."

A single bullet/subfeature of a bigger ability being sort of replicated in another optional feature is not going to make a class/subclass worthless.

The one single thing Dedicated Weapon has over Kensei Weapons (speaking about the lvl 3 feature) is that you can change the DW every long rest assuming you have the proficiencies to do that, otherwise, Kensei Weapons are vastly superior:

• DW can only be used on a single weapon, not a type of weapon, this means that if you lose the weapon you are dedicated to, you can't use another weapon of the same type. For example: if you dedicate to a longsword and, on the same day, it gets lost/stolen/destroyed, you cannot use another longsword until the next day. Kensei doesn't have this problem since you choose types of weapons.
• You already mentioned it, but I'll say it again, making any mundane weapon count as magical to overcome resistances and inmunities is unique to the Kensei.
• You can still use the DW even as a Kensei monk, so it can be considered a win (kinda) for the Kensei monk (so, for example, an elf kensei monk can use the DW for a longsword, and pick the whip and longbow as Kensei weapons).

Quote from Aanx >>

I was wondering what they are going to do with the Kensei monk, and if I could change him, how would I imagine him?

There's really no chance at all WOTC will update Kenseis post-nerf but pre-5.5.

Quote from NinSlayer >>

You are kinda following the same logic other people use when they say: "Unarmed Fighting style completely overshadows EVERYTHING monks have and now monks are pointless because a fighting style is better than the whole class."

A single bullet/subfeature of a bigger ability being sort of replicated in another optional feature is not going to make a class/subclass worthless.

The one single thing Dedicated Weapon has over Kensei Weapons (speaking about the lvl 3 feature) is that you can change the DW every long rest assuming you have the proficiencies to do that, otherwise, Kensei Weapons are vastly superior:

• DW can only be used on a single weapon, not a type of weapon, this means that if you lose the weapon you are dedicated to, you can't use another weapon of the same type. For example: if you dedicate to a longsword and, on the same day, it gets lost/stolen/destroyed, you cannot use another longsword until the next day. Kensei doesn't have this problem since you choose types of weapons.
• You already mentioned it, but I'll say it again, making any mundane weapon count as magical to overcome resistances and inmunities is unique to the Kensei.
• You can still use the DW even as a Kensei monk, so it can be considered a win (kinda) for the Kensei monk (so, for example, an elf kensei monk can use the DW for a longsword, and pick the whip and longbow as Kensei weapons).

Yes, you are right, I think Unarmed Fighting style of the fighter is unfair to the monk. A fighter would definitely become a stronger boxer than a monk after 11th level. But that's not what bothers me, it's more the concept of the uniqueness of the class being compromised as the only class that fights with bare hands. Although it is not the only aspect that sets the monk apart, there still remain many skills that allow him to be useful in a group.

Unfortunately, what I perceive is that they are obscuring the uniqueness of the monk. Maybe it's because of a market strategy. Maybe in the next edition it won't even be there. Or it will simply become a subclass of the fighter or cleric. Mine are just guesses that I hope will not become reality.

Back to the main theme, dedicated weapon has flaws, such as lost, stolen and destroyed. But I don't think these are things that happen frequently in a game.... Oh at least if you are not hated by the master. Such a power might be useful for a master to create a prepared scene, but beyond that I don't see much in it.

Yes, the kensei weapon feature is much more practical than dedicated weapon. But that doesn't take away the fact that kensei weapon has lost some of its uniqueness.

What I mean is not that the kensei subclass has become weaker, but simply less unique in itself.

Kensei weapons was one of the weakest features of the subclass anyways. The range on a longbow could be nice in theory, but its still just 1 point of damage more than normal monk options, as is the longsword. 

I don't think it changes much at all. I kind of wish they just printed an optional rule to remove the limitations on two handed weapons for Kensei. Let me have my glaive wielding warrior monk without having to reskin a spear or play a fighter. 

It’s the heavy property that is what needs to be removed. Kensei weapons (different than monk weapons) can be any simple or martial weapon without the heavy or special property. That’s why they specify the exception for longbow because it’s heavy. So get rid of the heavy property for all the weapons and you can have your Glaive. 

Edit: I agree it should be removed for Kensei. It would help them keep some uniqueness from other monk subclasses 

I am a bit conflicted about the heavy weapons. Heavy weapons are characterized by their weight and therefore a great need for brute force to handle them. I would be more for a monk with (light) armor or some extraordinary sword skills.

One thing that has never been clear to me is the name Kensei, which in Japonese would mean sword master. Few have been called Kensei in Japonese culture. One of these was Miyamoto Musashi, known especially for his two-sword style. The kensei they propose in dnd 5e is more of an archer than a sword master. I guess there was a translation problem when choosing the name. It would have made more sense to have called it "Way of the Weapons Master"

Quote from Aanx >>

I am a bit conflicted about the heavy weapons. Heavy weapons are characterized by their weight and therefore a great need for brute force to handle them. I would be more for a monk with (light) armor or some extraordinary sword skills.

One thing that has never been clear to me is the name Kensei, which in Japonese would mean sword master. Few have been called Kensei in Japonese culture. One of these was Miyamoto Musashi, known especially for his two-sword style. The kensei they propose in dnd 5e is more of an archer than a sword master. I guess there was a translation problem when choosing the name. It would have made more sense to have called it "Way of the Weapons Master"

 Not so much a translation problem as much as monks being based more off of kung fu movies than actual Eastern cultures.

That, and they didn't want to get too exotic in the subclass features, so its still a character that wants to make unarmed strikes even as a weapon master. 

I'd love if they would update the class someday. Let you use Sharpen the Blade earlier, and replace unarmed strikes with a PAM like attack with your weapon that uses a smaller dice, maybe tied to martial arts di. 

Although the heavy weapon and the name still doesn't convince me. I would see it more like this:

Path of the Kensei

When you choose this tradition at 3rd level, your special martial arts training leads you to master the all the weapons. This path also includes instruction in the deft strokes of calligraphy or painting. You gain the following benefits:

• Kensei Fighting Style. You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one among Archer, Thrown Weapon Fighting and Two-Weapon Fighting. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

• Kensei Weapon. Your special martial arts training give you proficiency with any martial weapons. These weapons are monk weapons for you, and you are no longer limited on using weapons that lack the heavy, two hands and special properties.

• Way of the Brush. You gain proficiency with your choice of calligrapher's supplies or painter's supplies.

One with the Blade

At 6th level, you extend your ki into your kensei weapons, granting you the following benefits.

• Agile Parry. If you make an unarmed strike as part of the Attack action on your turn and are holding a kensei weapon, you can use it to defend yourself if it is a melee weapon. You gain a +2 bonuses to AC until the start of your next turn, while the weapon is in your hand, and you aren’t incapacitated.

• Deft Strike. When you hit a target with a kensei weapon, you can spend 1 ki point to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target equal to your Martial Arts die. You can use this feature only once on each of your turns.

• Flurry of Weapon Attacks. When you use your Flurry of Blow feature, you can use your kensei weapon as if it were an unarmed strike.

Sharpen the Blade

At 11th level, you gain the ability to augment your weapons further with your ki. As a bonus action, you can expend up to 3 ki points to grant one kensei weapon you touch a bonus to attack and damage rolls when you attack with it. The bonus equals the number of ki points you spent. Additionally, any attack roll you make with this weapon is a critical hit on a roll of 18-20 on the d20. This bonus lasts for 1 minute or until you use this feature again. This feature has no effect on a magic weapon that already has a bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Unerring Accuracy

At 17th level, your mastery of weapons grants you extraordinary accuracy. If you miss with an attack roll using a kensei weapon on your turn, you can reroll it. You can use this feature only once on each of your turns.

Quote from Aanx>>

• Kensei Fighting Style. You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one among Archer, Thrown Weapon Fighting and Two-Weapon Fighting. You can't take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again.

What's the twf style supposed to do for a monk?  Martial Arts already gives them twf as part of its suite of benefits for monk weapons.

• Kensei Weapon. Your special martial arts training give you proficiency with any martial weapons. These weapons are monk weapons for you, and you are no longer limited on using weapons that lack the heavy, two hands and special properties.

You will cause a massive rules explosion if you let nets be monk weapons.

Does feel like a really weak batch of level 3 abilities. I'd still let them have Agile Parry at 3. 

The monk does not receive twf as martial arts, the attack you say is only valid as a unarmed attack.

• Kensei Weapon. Your special martial arts training give you proficiency with any martial weapons. These weapons are monk weapons for you, and you are no longer limited on using weapons that lack the heavy, two hands and special properties.

You will cause a massive rules explosion if you let nets be monk weapons.

Thanks to "dedicated weapon" the net is already possible to use, maybe you mean the lance.

Lance