We have twilight cleric and lore bard with hexblade dip. We are at level 6 and I am changing my monk homebrew subclass due to balance.
Now open hand has more control options, and can push enemies towards the cleric's spirit guardians aura and such and prevent them reactions. Same with the bard if he has any spells like this.
Mercy monk can do more damage and healing, hopefully giving the cleric more control and utility actions while I heal. The cleric herself said she wants to be more tanky and combat wise than healing, even though she has some healing options.
Given the two you've mentioned it seems like your party doesn't really have fixed roles as a more traditional one might, e.g- with a Barbarian on tanking/front-line, instead you've got three characters who can hold their own but also have other options. Nothing wrong with that, in fact it should be a lot of fun as you can switch about, back each other up etc. as required.
With that in mind I'd actually submit Kensei for consideration; while Mercy is in many ways easier to play, Kensei's access to the longbow, as well as Deft Strike to easily trigger Ki-fuelled Attack, means you can make a Monk that can fight effectively both up close and at range; since both your bard and cleric could do the same, this could give the three of you a lot of flexibility in who fights up close in each encounter depending upon the situation. If your DM is good at throwing you varied combats and environments then that kind of flexibility (along with your speed, other Ki powers etc.) can be a lot of fun.
If control is what you want, it might be worth looking at the Tasha's Cauldron Crusher feat; you can add this to any Monk with a quarterstaff (or warhammer, for a Kensei or Dedicated Weapon dwarf) and it adds a bit of control with a free 5 foot push, plus it's a half-feat (still get +1 to Strength or Constitution) and has a stun-lite on critical hit which Monks have a decent chance at when using Flurry of Blows. If you can build a Monk with decent Strength you could also just use the Shove action, which Astral Self is good at since it can use Wisdom instead when its Astral Arms are active.
If open hand and mercy are what you've narrowed it down to already, both are solid sub-classes; mercy is perhaps the easier to use, and it can do pretty solid damage, though it's pretty much melee or nothing. The healing is good, but with a bard and cleric you're already pretty well covered; when it comes to healing don't focus too much on the quantity of healing, your priorities are bringing people back into the fight (which healing word on the bard and/or cleric is ideal for being a bonus action and ranged) and even if the cleric wants to be tanky, it's hard to beat the value of prayer of healing for out of combat healing when you can't take short rests (which your bard will boost just by being there). It never hurts to having more healing, but I'd caution against fixating on it, you should be pretty well covered already.
In general I prefer not to make hard recommendations; hopefully something I've said helps you, but you'll know better than me what you want from your character, and what fits them narratively (which is IMO the most important consideration). I like to just spew options into a big text wall and leave you to it. 😉
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
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We have twilight cleric and lore bard with hexblade dip. We are at level 6 and I am changing my monk homebrew subclass due to balance.
Now open hand has more control options, and can push enemies towards the cleric's spirit guardians aura and such and prevent them reactions. Same with the bard if he has any spells like this.
Mercy monk can do more damage and healing, hopefully giving the cleric more control and utility actions while I heal. The cleric herself said she wants to be more tanky and combat wise than healing, even though she has some healing options.
Are there any others in your party?
Given the two you've mentioned it seems like your party doesn't really have fixed roles as a more traditional one might, e.g- with a Barbarian on tanking/front-line, instead you've got three characters who can hold their own but also have other options. Nothing wrong with that, in fact it should be a lot of fun as you can switch about, back each other up etc. as required.
With that in mind I'd actually submit Kensei for consideration; while Mercy is in many ways easier to play, Kensei's access to the longbow, as well as Deft Strike to easily trigger Ki-fuelled Attack, means you can make a Monk that can fight effectively both up close and at range; since both your bard and cleric could do the same, this could give the three of you a lot of flexibility in who fights up close in each encounter depending upon the situation. If your DM is good at throwing you varied combats and environments then that kind of flexibility (along with your speed, other Ki powers etc.) can be a lot of fun.
If control is what you want, it might be worth looking at the Tasha's Cauldron Crusher feat; you can add this to any Monk with a quarterstaff (or warhammer, for a Kensei or Dedicated Weapon dwarf) and it adds a bit of control with a free 5 foot push, plus it's a half-feat (still get +1 to Strength or Constitution) and has a stun-lite on critical hit which Monks have a decent chance at when using Flurry of Blows. If you can build a Monk with decent Strength you could also just use the Shove action, which Astral Self is good at since it can use Wisdom instead when its Astral Arms are active.
If open hand and mercy are what you've narrowed it down to already, both are solid sub-classes; mercy is perhaps the easier to use, and it can do pretty solid damage, though it's pretty much melee or nothing. The healing is good, but with a bard and cleric you're already pretty well covered; when it comes to healing don't focus too much on the quantity of healing, your priorities are bringing people back into the fight (which healing word on the bard and/or cleric is ideal for being a bonus action and ranged) and even if the cleric wants to be tanky, it's hard to beat the value of prayer of healing for out of combat healing when you can't take short rests (which your bard will boost just by being there). It never hurts to having more healing, but I'd caution against fixating on it, you should be pretty well covered already.
In general I prefer not to make hard recommendations; hopefully something I've said helps you, but you'll know better than me what you want from your character, and what fits them narratively (which is IMO the most important consideration). I like to just spew options into a big text wall and leave you to it. 😉
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.