Kwai, my Aarakocra Monk, would disagree with anyone who considers him underpowered!
Your choice of subclass is going to depend on what kind of role playing you want in your fighting. Open Hand is all in on the physical attacks, especially using Flurry of Blows. Sun Soul will give you some magic/elemental options. Both are fun!
Being an Aarakocra and a monk will make you one of the fastest moving creatures in D&D. Use that to your advantage to get around battlefields to assist anyone in need.
Other players will do a lot more damage in one hit then you will, but you get to hit many more times. One is not better than the other, it's just good to remember when it can feel like a damage disparity. Also with your ki points and extra abilities you have more options then a pure damage dealer. Stunning Strike is probably one of the most powerful features in the game...have fun with it. :D
As for feats...Charger can be fun if you want to lean into being a ping pong around the battlefield. Durable and Tough are always good for a front line fighter. Because of your exceptional movement you have a better chance to get in the face of enemy spellcasters, so Mage Slayer could be useful. And Sentinel is great for locking down enemies who might want to get away from you.
Not underpowered. A friend of mine who has played monks has said they can be a good start class because of their relative simplicity, but they have a wide toolkit to handle a lot of situations.
i have seen shadow monks who were better rouges than rouges. I have seen element monks that could tank/control mobs while the rest of the party dealt with a bigger threat.
I’d go with Sun Soul for a reliable range attack. May only be 30 feet but i think it’s great.
My Aarakocra Drunken Master disagrees about being under-powered too! Well, he probably agrees because he doesn't care, and just wants to fly, drink wine, and cheer people up alongside his little Kobold Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer friend (signature).
The thing about monks being "weak" as a class is less about the Monk class, and more about how easy it is to over-optimize other classes. Monks are MAD, and there's no way to make it less MAD either (like a Hexadin). That makes it more difficult getting Dex/Con/Wis all sufficiently high enough (not talking about min/maxing) for the Monk to perform as expected. With a fixed stat/point-buy method of assigning ability scores, it's very easy to fall short of those thresholds.
Does that mean a point-buy Monk can't be amazing? Paul fervently disagrees. I made him in a point-buy campaign with 3 others, and it's probably the most fun I've had with a Monk in a loooong time. Drunken Master is amazing for an Aarakocra (also just in general) for one main reason: Drunken Technique. Free Disengage whenever you use Flurry of Blows. You're probably going to do that pretty regularly. You can fly (fast). Do strafing runs!
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
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Starting from level 1. Should I take Open Hand or Sun Soul? Are there any feats that are worth it? How should I generally approach combat.
I've seen some players say that monks are underpowered so I'm a little worried.
If you have any suggestions I'm all ears :)
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InsiderKwai, my Aarakocra Monk, would disagree with anyone who considers him underpowered!
Your choice of subclass is going to depend on what kind of role playing you want in your fighting. Open Hand is all in on the physical attacks, especially using Flurry of Blows. Sun Soul will give you some magic/elemental options. Both are fun!
Being an Aarakocra and a monk will make you one of the fastest moving creatures in D&D. Use that to your advantage to get around battlefields to assist anyone in need.
Other players will do a lot more damage in one hit then you will, but you get to hit many more times. One is not better than the other, it's just good to remember when it can feel like a damage disparity. Also with your ki points and extra abilities you have more options then a pure damage dealer. Stunning Strike is probably one of the most powerful features in the game...have fun with it. :D
As for feats...Charger can be fun if you want to lean into being a ping pong around the battlefield. Durable and Tough are always good for a front line fighter. Because of your exceptional movement you have a better chance to get in the face of enemy spellcasters, so Mage Slayer could be useful. And Sentinel is great for locking down enemies who might want to get away from you.
Find me on Twitter: @OboeLauren
Not underpowered. A friend of mine who has played monks has said they can be a good start class because of their relative simplicity, but they have a wide toolkit to handle a lot of situations.
i have seen shadow monks who were better rouges than rouges. I have seen element monks that could tank/control mobs while the rest of the party dealt with a bigger threat.
I’d go with Sun Soul for a reliable range attack. May only be 30 feet but i think it’s great.
Thanks for the advice guys!! :D
My Aarakocra Drunken Master disagrees about being under-powered too! Well, he probably agrees because he doesn't care, and just wants to fly, drink wine, and cheer people up alongside his little Kobold Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer friend (signature).
The thing about monks being "weak" as a class is less about the Monk class, and more about how easy it is to over-optimize other classes. Monks are MAD, and there's no way to make it less MAD either (like a Hexadin). That makes it more difficult getting Dex/Con/Wis all sufficiently high enough (not talking about min/maxing) for the Monk to perform as expected. With a fixed stat/point-buy method of assigning ability scores, it's very easy to fall short of those thresholds.
Does that mean a point-buy Monk can't be amazing? Paul fervently disagrees. I made him in a point-buy campaign with 3 others, and it's probably the most fun I've had with a Monk in a loooong time. Drunken Master is amazing for an Aarakocra (also just in general) for one main reason: Drunken Technique. Free Disengage whenever you use Flurry of Blows. You're probably going to do that pretty regularly. You can fly (fast). Do strafing runs!
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.