“Your martial training has helped you develop a particular style of fighting. As a result, you learn one Fighting Style option of your choice from the fighter class. If you already have a style, the one you choose must be different.
Whenever you reach a level that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can replace this feat's fighting style with another one from the fighter class that you don't have.”
And from the list of Fighter's fighting styles, the monks picks “unarmed fighting”
Unarmed Fighting:
“Your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. If you strike with two free hands, the d6 becomes a d8. When you successfully start a grapple, you can deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to the grappled creature. Until the grapple ends, you can also deal this damage to the creature whenever you hit it with a melee attack.”
The prerequisite for taking the feat is proficiency in martial weapons. Are unarmed attacks considered martial weapons, and are monks proficient in them?
Or does advancing one's knowledge in hand to hand combat capabilities through a feat ~actually~ have a prerequisite of being proficient in an actual weapon?
My understanding is: if the monk meets the prequisites for the feat,and the monk is completely unarmed, the monk could do 2d8 with standard attack and bonus unarmed action
Or, if a ki point is consumed during the bonus action, 3d8 with the aid of flurry of blows. This is bludgeoning damage, naturally unless you have minotaurs horns or cat claws, which would make it slashing.
So, with the use all their actions for the turn, the monk is as effective as one one action from the warlock (once the warlock is lv5) , their signature eldritch blast, which only takes one action (and is a cantrip) assuming the eldritch blast caster isn't able to, or for some reason didn't take agonizing blast (which warlock doesnt, honestly?)
The pros:
you can take this feat at lv4, one lv before the warlock recieves his innate upgrade to eldritch blast. (which doesnt consume a feat, so they're free to take an ASI or some ther useful feat.
This doesnt outweigh the cons though:
When other classes start getting +1/+2/+3 weapons, the monk is left behind, because equipping a weapon would downgrade their d8s to d6s as stated in the unarmed fighting style from the fighter class
Actually the feat has a prerequisite of "Proficiency with a martial weapon", not proficiency with martial weapons.
A shortsword is a martial weapon, and a monk is proficient with a shortsword, so a monk can take the Fighting Initiate feat.
You are only getting 1d8 from using two hands for each unarmed attack, not 2d8 or 3d8.
If you are using horns, or anything other than hands, then your damage will be 1d6 not 1d8, since with those other appendages you are not attacking with two hands.
Note that you would probably also be a STR based monk, in order to get the STR bonus to damage; so you won't be able to concentrate so much on just boosting your DEX.
Actually the feat has a prerequisite of "Proficiency with a martial weapon", not proficiency with martial weapons.
A shortsword is a martial weapon, and a monk is proficient with a shortsword, so a monk can take the Fighting Initiate feat.
You are only getting 1d8 from using two hands for each unarmed attack, not 2d8 or 3d8.
If you are using horns, or anything other than hands, then your damage will be 1d6 not 1d8, since with those other appendages you are not attacking with two hands.
Note that you would probably also be a STR based monk, in order to get the STR bonus to damage; so you won't be able to concentrate so much on just boosting your DEX.
Ragenarok said the 2d8 and 3d8 were from multiple attacks. Multiple attacks, multiple dice.
And actually, you do 1d8 "If you aren’t wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll," not only when you attack with 2 hands. So horns or other appendages that make unarmed strikes do 1d8.
Also, monk martial Arts says "You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes." Unarmed strikes (used with fighting style) are unarmed strikes, so you can use DEX.
Im thinking my only chance to be a living weapon monk is home brew modify the monk. Thinking tattoos that mimic the properties of items in inventory (that are therefore not equipped) but would allow an unarmed combatant to benefit from +1/+2/+3 bonuses on their stowed weapons but also interestingly allow unarmed striked to do slashing or peircing damage on any race.
Aside from this being a lot of work to make unarmed strikes almost but not quite as viable as weapons theres an appeal to it. With i think wizards recogn9ze, the fact its still included, apbiet far weaker
Sort of. The pros at least. The cons are misguided. Aside from a level 11+ fighter, the monk will be making at least 1 attack more than other martial classes per turn. This more than makes up for a +1 or +2 weapon, and is at least even with a +3 weapon. And that isn't even counting stunning strike or subclass features (that usually let you spend ki for damage).
For comparison a level 5 monk with unarmed fighting feat vs a fighter with an ASI and +1 longsword (no ki or action surge): monk 3d8+9 (22.5) per turn, fighter 2d8+10 (19) per turn. The fighter needs an extra ASI and a +2 weapon to keep up with that 1 free attack monks get.
Im thinking my only chance to be a living weapon monk is home brew modify the monk. Thinking tattoos that mimic the properties of items in inventory (that are therefore not equipped) but would allow an unarmed combatant to benefit from +1/+2/+3 bonuses on their stowed weapons but also interestingly allow unarmed striked to do slashing or peircing damage on any race.
Aside from this being a lot of work to make unarmed strikes almost but not quite as viable as weapons theres an appeal to it. With i think wizards recogn9ze, the fact its still included, apbiet far weaker
There is already insignia of claws to +1 unarmed strikes, and as I already showed, martial arts are in no way inferior to weapons (not even magic ones).
I have only now found this dilemma and wanted to give my input.
I think starting out with a monk and having Fighting Initiate as a feat is a fine choice to begin with. Yes, some races are always situationally better, and not all D&D is combat. But considering you can increase all of your attacks into a 1d8 instead of 1d4, it's a very good buff on the long run for your damage averages. Especially since you can switch it out to Dueling or Blind Fighting later.
But if you do it before you get Martial Arts die d8 from your class, it'll be a bummer to drop down to d6 for a moment before it goes back up to d8 again through class progression, and then it'll feel even worse, making no progress. Because monks get their ability modifier on their attacks, the die size wont matter as much as one would hope.
Sorry for pinging this old thread but because of martial arts for monk u get bonus action attack you would be dealing more damage especially since you aren't duel wielding you get to add damage modifier to second attack. Though yes the same damage could be achieved with a human variant with the duel wielder and two-weapon fighter at level one compared to other builds its pretty decent.
I've read and reread the rules, and from what I can make out, it seems like you should be able to use 1d8+dex as your unarmed strike damage if you have this feat, including for Flurry of Blows. Here's the relevant text for Martial Arts:
"While you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, *you can use DEX instead of STR for the attack and damage rolls*, you *can* roll your Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage, and when you use the Attack action on your turn, *you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action*."
And just for fun, here's the relevant text for the Unarmed Fighting style:
"Your *unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your strength modifier* on a hit. If you aren’t wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll, the *d6 becomes a d8*."
Key points: (no, not ki points)
Dex instead of Str while unarmed, which you will be
You can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, which in this case would be 1d8 because of the fighting style
"You can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action". With the feat, an unarmed strike can be 1d8.
Now, I know what you're thinking: it says you use your martial arts damage die on the unarmed strike! But read it again. It doesn't.
The use of the word "can" where it says you "can roll Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage" implies you don't have to. When it says "You can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action", it doesn't say anything about using your martial arts die at all. That means it could be 1d8.
So hypothetically, if you went Variant Human, picked Fighting Initiate as your feat, and picked Unarmed Fighting for your fighting style, flurry of blows and hit 3 times, you could deal 3d8+(Dex*3) at level one.
Your Martial Arts die don't get up to d8s until level 11, and they don't get to d10s until level 17, so if I was the DM looking at this, I'd think it over, because RAW it seems allowed, but in practice, you're getting most of a feature you shouldn't get until level 11, and wouldn't surpass until level 17.
On the other hand, your other features that rely on martial arts die are still on track. The average damage increase from 1d4 unarmed strike to 1d8 is only 2 extra, and by level 11, it becomes a borderline useless feat that could have been Sentinel or Mobile or Lucky or something that will be strong from level 1 to 20. I'd probably let a player do this. Feeling strong in the early game is fun.
Reminder Monks get a 1d8 at level 1 with a Quarterstaff, so the 1d8 boost only really applies on the bonus action attack. At level 2 that's a average of +2 damage or +4 if you use flurry of blows and hit both times.
Do note that at level 12 you can switch out the Fighting Style, for something maybe like Dueling to buff your main attacks or Blindsense which is very thematic for a monk to have.
Edit: Fixed the tooltip. Also note that a increase to DEX would increase damage by 1 for both main hand attacks & bonus action attacks, and is therefore technically better than using this feat past level 5 (or before then if you don't use flurry of blows) (assuming your not at max DEX and are using a Quarterstaff two-handed). Also I mention Dueling as monks are the only way to get a one-handed d10 weapon.
Another Edit: I stand corrected thanks quindraco below me.
Artificers have a one-handed 1d10 weapon, but only with special GM permission. Wild Magic barbarians have a 1 in 8 chance of a one-handed 2d6 or 1d10 weapon, depending on what they brought to the party.
I thought the premise of this question had to do with the FIGHTING STYLE - Unarmed Fighting in conjunction with Flurry of Blows bonus attacks; which depending on your subclass may also have secondary effects.
Taking a 1 Lv. Fighter Dip. Everyone keeps saying its balanced because you're kind of wasting a feat.
Monk 1. Fighter 1. Monk 2. (total 3)
At 3rd level (w/ Kobold Race + Pack Tactics)
Assuming 16 Dex (So +5 to Hit at Adv.) You deal 3d8+9 dmg. 3 times per short rest. Otherwise 2d8+6.
You don't even have to go past 5 in Monk if the 6th level subclass feature isn't that great.
Go Spore Druid and stack 1d6 Necrotic on EVERY hit while you have Temp Hp. (2x per short rest)
But lets go back to just Monk with 1Lv. fighter dip and the significance behind this question.
So assuming you started 16 or 17 dex + 4th Lv. ASI putting a point into Dex or 2. By 6th level. [5 monk, 1 Fighter]. (with Adv. from pack tacktics) You deal 4d8+16 (+7 to hit) 5x per short rest. OR 3d8+12 (+7 to hit) at all other times/base damage.
Is this OP? No. At early levels its decently strong but will fall off. Is it an option? Yes. Being able to do 3d8 at level 5 is decently good, but again not gamebreaking. The thing is once you hit level 11 you do a d8 of damage normally. So once you hit level 12 with fighting initiate you can get a different fighting style. If you're really set on using your unarmed strikes, then your best option will be superior technique, which there is a better feat for, or the situational blind fighting. Not really the best feat option for the long haul.
So if a monk uses an action to do an unarmed strike (1d8+dex) and then bonus action to do another unarmed strike (1d8+dex), each attack would do an average of 2 more points of damage. So a total of 4 extra damage a round. In a two round fight that would be 8 extra damage.
If there was a 2nd fight a little later that due to a Darkness spell ends up lasting 5 rounds, and your monk manages to hit 7 out of 10 times over that fight he will have done an extra 14 points of damage.
That's 22 extra points of damage done within the 1st hour of the game at level 1.
Beginning at level 2 you can do 3 unarmed strikes a turn (even if only for a limited amount due to spending ki) which is 6 extra damage per round.
This does give an advantage for low level play but will be overshadowed at higher levels.
(Are you sure you can't switch out Feats, thought there was something in Tasha's about that. Maybe it was a homebrew thing?)
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Reminder in a average fight a level 1 monk already does 1d8+DEX without any feat required. (Source) (Monks don't have anything they need their offhand for, no spell focus, no shield, can make unarmed attack without hands, etc)
Thus the +2 damage bonus only really applies to your offhand unarmed strikes or if your disarmed of all your weapons (which is not normally a average fight).
On the other hand increasing DEX provides a +1 damage boost to all attacks, making it on par with unarmed fighting style (unarmed does 1 more damage if you flurry of blows), and the DEX increase will surpass unarmed fighting style at level 5 (+1 damage on 3/4 attacks is better than +1 (cause 1d6 dice now) on 1/2). Oh and DEX also gives you other stuff like AC which is pretty important.
Although Unarmed Fighting Style does provide a neat bonus if you can't up your DEX (either rolled real good DEX or it's before level 4 and you have a free feat) or find yourself constantly without a quarterstaff (or other d8 monk weapon considering TCoE/Kensai).
Once your level 12 or whatever you could either replace it with dueling (since one handed quarterstaff now does the same damage as two handed), or something fun like Blindsight or Superior Technique.
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if I edit a message, most of the time it's because of grammar. The rest of the time I'll put "Edit:" at the bottom.
A level 2 monk level 1 fighter is already swinging for 1d10 on their weapon swings (they'll be using a battleaxe, longsword, or warhammer), but not all monk subclasses are compatible with that. The fighting style benefits will primarily apply to bonus action attacks, unless you're a monk subclass that really needs unarmed strikes to shine, like Mercy.
the feat dose let you change the fighting style when you reach a lvl for a asi or feat so you can change it once you hit 12 and grab something like blind fighting or another that fits your character.
Increasing DEX gives a greater damage boost than unarmed fighting style to monks in most situations as well as boosting AC and other stuff, so there's not really a reason to pick it in the first place.
The only time DEX is worse for damage is before level 5 and you flurry of blows, which doesn't matter a lot (you only have at most 4 ki and it's a difference of 1 damage), or if you have already maxed DEX (considering how many stats monks rely on you will probably have 1d8 fists by then, or you could pick a better feat/fighting style choice).
Granted none of the fighting style choices are really worth a feat, except maybe blind fighting which provides some fun roleplaying options and fits the monk theme.
The only use of unarmed fighting style for monks is if you want to reflavor a quarterstaff as fists if you like the idea of a monk who forgoes the usage of weapons to rely on solely themselves or something like that. Or you're a very niche grappling build who is willing to spend a feat for +1d4 damage for some reason.
If my character has one level of Monk AND has the Unarmed Fighting style, can he use Dexterity instead of Strength on his unarmed strikes from his fighting style? If he's a Variant Human, can he basically start off at level one doing 1d6/1d8+Dexterity damage on his unarmed attacks?
Possibly a contentious answer, but I'm going to say "no", because a level 1 variant human can't take that feat - they don't meet the prerequisite.
If my character has one level of Monk AND has the Unarmed Fighting style, can he use Dexterity instead of Strength on his unarmed strikes from his fighting style? If he's a Variant Human, can he basically start off at level one doing 1d6/1d8+Dexterity damage on his unarmed attacks?
Possibly a contentious answer, but I'm going to say "no", because a level 1 variant human can't take that feat - they don't meet the prerequisite.
The only prerequisite for the "Fighting Initiate" feat is proficiency with a martial weapon.
Monks start at level 1 with proficiency with shortswords, which is a martial weapon.
If my character has one level of Monk AND has the Unarmed Fighting style, can he use Dexterity instead of Strength on his unarmed strikes from his fighting style? If he's a Variant Human, can he basically start off at level one doing 1d6/1d8+Dexterity damage on his unarmed attacks?
Possibly a contentious answer, but I'm going to say "no", because a level 1 variant human can't take that feat - they don't meet the prerequisite.
The only prerequisite for the "Fighting Initiate" feat is proficiency with a martial weapon.
Monks start at level 1 with proficiency with shortswords, which is a martial weapon.
True, but you do character creation in order, and race is chosen before class. At the point you take Variant Human and choose the feat, the character has no proficiencies.
From the Basic Rules, Chapter 1: Step-By-Step Characters.
Once you have a character in mind, follow these steps in order, …
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So, I have a question.
If a monk took the Fighting initiate feat
Fighter initiate:
“Your martial training has helped you develop a particular style of fighting. As a result, you learn one Fighting Style option of your choice from the fighter class. If you already have a style, the one you choose must be different.
Whenever you reach a level that grants the Ability Score Improvement feature, you can replace this feat's fighting style with another one from the fighter class that you don't have.”
And from the list of Fighter's fighting styles, the monks picks “unarmed fighting”
Unarmed Fighting:
“Your unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier. If you strike with two free hands, the d6 becomes a d8. When you successfully start a grapple, you can deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage to the grappled creature. Until the grapple ends, you can also deal this damage to the creature whenever you hit it with a melee attack.”
The prerequisite for taking the feat is proficiency in martial weapons. Are unarmed attacks considered martial weapons, and are monks proficient in them?
Or does advancing one's knowledge in hand to hand combat capabilities through a feat ~actually~ have a prerequisite of being proficient in an actual weapon?
My understanding is: if the monk meets the prequisites for the feat,and the monk is completely unarmed, the monk could do 2d8 with standard attack and bonus unarmed action
Or, if a ki point is consumed during the bonus action, 3d8 with the aid of flurry of blows. This is bludgeoning damage, naturally unless you have minotaurs horns or cat claws, which would make it slashing.
So, with the use all their actions for the turn, the monk is as effective as one one action from the warlock (once the warlock is lv5) , their signature eldritch blast, which only takes one action (and is a cantrip) assuming the eldritch blast caster isn't able to, or for some reason didn't take agonizing blast (which warlock doesnt, honestly?)
The pros:
you can take this feat at lv4, one lv before the warlock recieves his innate upgrade to eldritch blast. (which doesnt consume a feat, so they're free to take an ASI or some ther useful feat.
This doesnt outweigh the cons though:
When other classes start getting +1/+2/+3 weapons, the monk is left behind, because equipping a weapon would downgrade their d8s to d6s as stated in the unarmed fighting style from the fighter class
Unarmed attacks are not martial weapons.
Actually the feat has a prerequisite of "Proficiency with a martial weapon", not proficiency with martial weapons.
A shortsword is a martial weapon, and a monk is proficient with a shortsword, so a monk can take the Fighting Initiate feat.
You are only getting 1d8 from using two hands for each unarmed attack, not 2d8 or 3d8.
If you are using horns, or anything other than hands, then your damage will be 1d6 not 1d8, since with those other appendages you are not attacking with two hands.
Note that you would probably also be a STR based monk, in order to get the STR bonus to damage; so you won't be able to concentrate so much on just boosting your DEX.
Ragenarok said the 2d8 and 3d8 were from multiple attacks. Multiple attacks, multiple dice.
And actually, you do 1d8 "If you aren’t wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll," not only when you attack with 2 hands. So horns or other appendages that make unarmed strikes do 1d8.
Also, monk martial Arts says "You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes." Unarmed strikes (used with fighting style) are unarmed strikes, so you can use DEX.
So is my overall pros and cons analysis correct?
Im thinking my only chance to be a living weapon monk is home brew modify the monk. Thinking tattoos that mimic the properties of items in inventory (that are therefore not equipped) but would allow an unarmed combatant to benefit from +1/+2/+3 bonuses on their stowed weapons but also interestingly allow unarmed striked to do slashing or peircing damage on any race.
Aside from this being a lot of work to make unarmed strikes almost but not quite as viable as weapons theres an appeal to it. With i think wizards recogn9ze, the fact its still included, apbiet far weaker
Sort of. The pros at least. The cons are misguided. Aside from a level 11+ fighter, the monk will be making at least 1 attack more than other martial classes per turn. This more than makes up for a +1 or +2 weapon, and is at least even with a +3 weapon. And that isn't even counting stunning strike or subclass features (that usually let you spend ki for damage).
For comparison a level 5 monk with unarmed fighting feat vs a fighter with an ASI and +1 longsword (no ki or action surge): monk 3d8+9 (22.5) per turn, fighter 2d8+10 (19) per turn. The fighter needs an extra ASI and a +2 weapon to keep up with that 1 free attack monks get.
There is already insignia of claws to +1 unarmed strikes, and as I already showed, martial arts are in no way inferior to weapons (not even magic ones).
I have only now found this dilemma and wanted to give my input.
I think starting out with a monk and having Fighting Initiate as a feat is a fine choice to begin with. Yes, some races are always situationally better, and not all D&D is combat. But considering you can increase all of your attacks into a 1d8 instead of 1d4, it's a very good buff on the long run for your damage averages. Especially since you can switch it out to Dueling or Blind Fighting later.
But if you do it before you get Martial Arts die d8 from your class, it'll be a bummer to drop down to d6 for a moment before it goes back up to d8 again through class progression, and then it'll feel even worse, making no progress. Because monks get their ability modifier on their attacks, the die size wont matter as much as one would hope.
Sorry for pinging this old thread but because of martial arts for monk u get bonus action attack you would be dealing more damage especially since you aren't duel wielding you get to add damage modifier to second attack. Though yes the same damage could be achieved with a human variant with the duel wielder and two-weapon fighter at level one compared to other builds its pretty decent.
I've read and reread the rules, and from what I can make out, it seems like you should be able to use 1d8+dex as your unarmed strike damage if you have this feat, including for Flurry of Blows. Here's the relevant text for Martial Arts:
"While you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, *you can use DEX instead of STR for the attack and damage rolls*, you *can* roll your Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage, and when you use the Attack action on your turn, *you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action*."
And just for fun, here's the relevant text for the Unarmed Fighting style:
"Your *unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your strength modifier* on a hit. If you aren’t wielding any weapons or a shield when you make the attack roll, the *d6 becomes a d8*."
Key points: (no, not ki points)
Dex instead of Str while unarmed, which you will be
You can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, which in this case would be 1d8 because of the fighting style
"You can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action". With the feat, an unarmed strike can be 1d8.
Now, I know what you're thinking: it says you use your martial arts damage die on the unarmed strike! But read it again. It doesn't.
The use of the word "can" where it says you "can roll Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage" implies you don't have to. When it says "You can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action", it doesn't say anything about using your martial arts die at all. That means it could be 1d8.
So hypothetically, if you went Variant Human, picked Fighting Initiate as your feat, and picked Unarmed Fighting for your fighting style, flurry of blows and hit 3 times, you could deal 3d8+(Dex*3) at level one.
Your Martial Arts die don't get up to d8s until level 11, and they don't get to d10s until level 17, so if I was the DM looking at this, I'd think it over, because RAW it seems allowed, but in practice, you're getting most of a feature you shouldn't get until level 11, and wouldn't surpass until level 17.
On the other hand, your other features that rely on martial arts die are still on track. The average damage increase from 1d4 unarmed strike to 1d8 is only 2 extra, and by level 11, it becomes a borderline useless feat that could have been Sentinel or Mobile or Lucky or something that will be strong from level 1 to 20. I'd probably let a player do this. Feeling strong in the early game is fun.
Reminder Monks get a 1d8 at level 1 with a Quarterstaff, so the 1d8 boost only really applies on the bonus action attack. At level 2 that's a average of +2 damage or +4 if you use flurry of blows and hit both times.
Do note that at level 12 you can switch out the Fighting Style, for something maybe like Dueling to buff your main attacks or Blindsense which is very thematic for a monk to have.
Edit: Fixed the tooltip. Also note that a increase to DEX would increase damage by 1 for both main hand attacks & bonus action attacks, and is therefore technically better than using this feat past level 5 (or before then if you don't use flurry of blows) (assuming your not at max DEX and are using a Quarterstaff two-handed). Also I mention Dueling as monks are the only way to get a one-handed d10 weapon.
Another Edit: I stand corrected thanks quindraco below me.
if I edit a message, most of the time it's because of grammar. The rest of the time I'll put "Edit:" at the bottom.
Artificers have a one-handed 1d10 weapon, but only with special GM permission. Wild Magic barbarians have a 1 in 8 chance of a one-handed 2d6 or 1d10 weapon, depending on what they brought to the party.
I thought the premise of this question had to do with the FIGHTING STYLE - Unarmed Fighting in conjunction with Flurry of Blows bonus attacks; which depending on your subclass may also have secondary effects.
Taking a 1 Lv. Fighter Dip. Everyone keeps saying its balanced because you're kind of wasting a feat.
Monk 1. Fighter 1. Monk 2. (total 3)
At 3rd level (w/ Kobold Race + Pack Tactics)
Assuming 16 Dex (So +5 to Hit at Adv.) You deal 3d8+9 dmg. 3 times per short rest. Otherwise 2d8+6.
You don't even have to go past 5 in Monk if the 6th level subclass feature isn't that great.
Go Spore Druid and stack 1d6 Necrotic on EVERY hit while you have Temp Hp. (2x per short rest)
But lets go back to just Monk with 1Lv. fighter dip and the significance behind this question.
So assuming you started 16 or 17 dex + 4th Lv. ASI putting a point into Dex or 2. By 6th level. [5 monk, 1 Fighter]. (with Adv. from pack tacktics) You deal 4d8+16 (+7 to hit) 5x per short rest. OR 3d8+12 (+7 to hit) at all other times/base damage.
Is this OP? No. At early levels its decently strong but will fall off. Is it an option? Yes. Being able to do 3d8 at level 5 is decently good, but again not gamebreaking. The thing is once you hit level 11 you do a d8 of damage normally. So once you hit level 12 with fighting initiate you can get a different fighting style. If you're really set on using your unarmed strikes, then your best option will be superior technique, which there is a better feat for, or the situational blind fighting. Not really the best feat option for the long haul.
So if a monk uses an action to do an unarmed strike (1d8+dex) and then bonus action to do another unarmed strike (1d8+dex), each attack would do an average of 2 more points of damage. So a total of 4 extra damage a round. In a two round fight that would be 8 extra damage.
If there was a 2nd fight a little later that due to a Darkness spell ends up lasting 5 rounds, and your monk manages to hit 7 out of 10 times over that fight he will have done an extra 14 points of damage.
That's 22 extra points of damage done within the 1st hour of the game at level 1.
Beginning at level 2 you can do 3 unarmed strikes a turn (even if only for a limited amount due to spending ki) which is 6 extra damage per round.
This does give an advantage for low level play but will be overshadowed at higher levels.
(Are you sure you can't switch out Feats, thought there was something in Tasha's about that. Maybe it was a homebrew thing?)
Reminder in a average fight a level 1 monk already does 1d8+DEX without any feat required. (Source) (Monks don't have anything they need their offhand for, no spell focus, no shield, can make unarmed attack without hands, etc)
Thus the +2 damage bonus only really applies to your offhand unarmed strikes or if your disarmed of all your weapons (which is not normally a average fight).
On the other hand increasing DEX provides a +1 damage boost to all attacks, making it on par with unarmed fighting style (unarmed does 1 more damage if you flurry of blows), and the DEX increase will surpass unarmed fighting style at level 5 (+1 damage on 3/4 attacks is better than +1 (cause 1d6 dice now) on 1/2). Oh and DEX also gives you other stuff like AC which is pretty important.
Although Unarmed Fighting Style does provide a neat bonus if you can't up your DEX (either rolled real good DEX or it's before level 4 and you have a free feat) or find yourself constantly without a quarterstaff (or other d8 monk weapon considering TCoE/Kensai).
Once your level 12 or whatever you could either replace it with dueling (since one handed quarterstaff now does the same damage as two handed), or something fun like Blindsight or Superior Technique.
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A level 2 monk level 1 fighter is already swinging for 1d10 on their weapon swings (they'll be using a battleaxe, longsword, or warhammer), but not all monk subclasses are compatible with that. The fighting style benefits will primarily apply to bonus action attacks, unless you're a monk subclass that really needs unarmed strikes to shine, like Mercy.
the feat dose let you change the fighting style when you reach a lvl for a asi or feat so you can change it once you hit 12 and grab something like blind fighting or another that fits your character.
Increasing DEX gives a greater damage boost than unarmed fighting style to monks in most situations as well as boosting AC and other stuff, so there's not really a reason to pick it in the first place.
The only time DEX is worse for damage is before level 5 and you flurry of blows, which doesn't matter a lot (you only have at most 4 ki and it's a difference of 1 damage), or if you have already maxed DEX (considering how many stats monks rely on you will probably have 1d8 fists by then, or you could pick a better feat/fighting style choice).
Granted none of the fighting style choices are really worth a feat, except maybe blind fighting which provides some fun roleplaying options and fits the monk theme.
The only use of unarmed fighting style for monks is if you want to reflavor a quarterstaff as fists if you like the idea of a monk who forgoes the usage of weapons to rely on solely themselves or something like that. Or you're a very niche grappling build who is willing to spend a feat for +1d4 damage for some reason.
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Possibly a contentious answer, but I'm going to say "no", because a level 1 variant human can't take that feat - they don't meet the prerequisite.
The only prerequisite for the "Fighting Initiate" feat is proficiency with a martial weapon.
Monks start at level 1 with proficiency with shortswords, which is a martial weapon.
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True, but you do character creation in order, and race is chosen before class. At the point you take Variant Human and choose the feat, the character has no proficiencies.
From the Basic Rules, Chapter 1: Step-By-Step Characters.