I'm playing a Variant Human (prodigy feat for story purposes) Astral monk at level 3, about to go into level 4 and take a feat. We rolled for stats so I already have 18 Dex and 16 Wis and a 17 AC. Are there any feats I should strongly consider? This is my first time playing a monk and I am going fully off my friend's boyfriend going "Wisdom and Dex, prioritize dex" when I asked how to play one.
If it helps we are a fully martial party. Myself as a monk, half-orc barbarian (berserker), tabaxi rogue (swashbuckler), and a second tabaxi rogue (arcane trickster)
If you went points I would be saying to dump the two points into Wisdom, that bringing it to 18 would raise your AC to 18.
However, when it comes to feats.
Resilient, Observant, Mobile, and Alert are all good feats to take.
If you have access to homebrew and your DM allows it there is also a Wisdom based feat called Battlewise created by BoneDealer which is advantageous when it comes to a Monk.
Normally you should prioritize dex, but Astral Self is in a unique place in that it can substitute the dexterity modifier of their unarmed attacks with wisdom when wielding the arms (3rd level feature.)...which honestly I don't see why someone isn't going to do so during almost every combat instance. Considering you can also substitute Strength based checks and saves with Wisdom as well, it's a unique instance where I think it might be perfectly viable for an Astral Self monk to prioritize Wisdom over Dexterity for once, since its benefits have so much coverage.
Dex is still important dont get me wrong, you probably want Wis and Dex like always but this could be one case where prioritizing dex, while usually the norm with most monk subclasses, might be secondary in this case.
All the feats Friday mentioned are good choices, though I think even among those Mobile stands out. I consider it a near must have for most Monks because its ability to get a free disengage by just merely attempting to attack a creature allows you to fully utilize the class' inherently really high movement speed to its fullest potential. (although with the Astral arms your unarmed attacks have a range of 10 ft, but still its a free disengage.)
Rest of these are just opinions but I *personally* think Defensive Duelist is extremely useful on a Monk, but opinions vary there. Just saying though no matter how good you are at dodging, you are probably going to get hit eventually and its an ace up your sleeve. Resilient is a great investment. This is unorthodox but I wouldn't sleep on a Magic Initiate feat that gets you the Absorb Elements spell too at one point, which might have really good synergy with this subclass' level 11 ability. The new Fighting Initiate feat might be pretty useful too, if you dont multiclass into fighter.
RAW on Orcish Fury doesnt allow unarmed attacks. Its only with Simple and Martial weapons, now from a Kensei point of view that would be a good choice.
RAW on Orcish Fury doesnt allow unarmed attacks. Its only with Simple and Martial weapons, now from a Kensei point of view that would be a good choice.
You can always retrain fighting initiate at 12 to something like Blind Fighting I believe
Apart from stat increases, any character will love the Lucky feat. Typically used to avoid death on key saves, perform awesome feats with skills and to win initiative.
Mobility is also king since it allows you to utilize a monks great speed much more easily (by getting free disengage so you can do a lot of stuff and move the same turn).
Prioritize with a monk based on the style of monk you want to play. otherwise you can run into situations where you aren't having much fun or things don't seem to work well.
If you rely most heavily on Stuns and abilities that rely on wisdom. Wisdom should be your priority with Dexterity following close behind.
If your relying primarily on many attacks landing and things that are more dex based then prioritize Dexterity.
Though the ideal is maxing them both out at 20 at some point if you can for a balance between the two. Certain archetypes of monk also lean more to one style or the other so that can help a bit too to really get the most out of your monks.
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I'm playing a Variant Human (prodigy feat for story purposes) Astral monk at level 3, about to go into level 4 and take a feat. We rolled for stats so I already have 18 Dex and 16 Wis and a 17 AC. Are there any feats I should strongly consider? This is my first time playing a monk and I am going fully off my friend's boyfriend going "Wisdom and Dex, prioritize dex" when I asked how to play one.
If it helps we are a fully martial party. Myself as a monk, half-orc barbarian (berserker), tabaxi rogue (swashbuckler), and a second tabaxi rogue (arcane trickster)
If you went points I would be saying to dump the two points into Wisdom, that bringing it to 18 would raise your AC to 18.
However, when it comes to feats.
Resilient, Observant, Mobile, and Alert are all good feats to take.
If you have access to homebrew and your DM allows it there is also a Wisdom based feat called Battlewise created by BoneDealer which is advantageous when it comes to a Monk.
Normally you should prioritize dex, but Astral Self is in a unique place in that it can substitute the dexterity modifier of their unarmed attacks with wisdom when wielding the arms (3rd level feature.)...which honestly I don't see why someone isn't going to do so during almost every combat instance. Considering you can also substitute Strength based checks and saves with Wisdom as well, it's a unique instance where I think it might be perfectly viable for an Astral Self monk to prioritize Wisdom over Dexterity for once, since its benefits have so much coverage.
Dex is still important dont get me wrong, you probably want Wis and Dex like always but this could be one case where prioritizing dex, while usually the norm with most monk subclasses, might be secondary in this case.
All the feats Friday mentioned are good choices, though I think even among those Mobile stands out. I consider it a near must have for most Monks because its ability to get a free disengage by just merely attempting to attack a creature allows you to fully utilize the class' inherently really high movement speed to its fullest potential. (although with the Astral arms your unarmed attacks have a range of 10 ft, but still its a free disengage.)
Rest of these are just opinions but I *personally* think Defensive Duelist is extremely useful on a Monk, but opinions vary there. Just saying though no matter how good you are at dodging, you are probably going to get hit eventually and its an ace up your sleeve. Resilient is a great investment. This is unorthodox but I wouldn't sleep on a Magic Initiate feat that gets you the Absorb Elements spell too at one point, which might have really good synergy with this subclass' level 11 ability. The new Fighting Initiate feat might be pretty useful too, if you dont multiclass into fighter.
Charger
Fighting Initiate: blind fighting
Orcish Fury(If DM counts astral arms as weapons)
Tough
Tavern Brawler
Those are my suggestions.
at lvl 4 I would take the feat Fighting Initiate : Unarmed Fighter so you can do d8 unarmed strikes that you would normally have at lvl 11
While it would be a benefit before, you are also looking at something that is going to carry past that level.
RAW on Orcish Fury doesnt allow unarmed attacks. Its only with Simple and Martial weapons, now from a Kensei point of view that would be a good choice.
You can always retrain fighting initiate at 12 to something like Blind Fighting I believe
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Apart from stat increases, any character will love the Lucky feat. Typically used to avoid death on key saves, perform awesome feats with skills and to win initiative.
Mobility is also king since it allows you to utilize a monks great speed much more easily (by getting free disengage so you can do a lot of stuff and move the same turn).
Prioritize with a monk based on the style of monk you want to play. otherwise you can run into situations where you aren't having much fun or things don't seem to work well.
If you rely most heavily on Stuns and abilities that rely on wisdom. Wisdom should be your priority with Dexterity following close behind.
If your relying primarily on many attacks landing and things that are more dex based then prioritize Dexterity.
Though the ideal is maxing them both out at 20 at some point if you can for a balance between the two. Certain archetypes of monk also lean more to one style or the other so that can help a bit too to really get the most out of your monks.