it only takes one of your turns to set up and during that turn you can just do your regular attack routine of two attacks plus 1 unarmed strike, it only costs 3 of your 17 ki points, all of whom are regained on a short rest, and for the resources you spend the spell deals an really good amount of damage, i mean 10d10 damage for only 3 ki points is very good compared to other options available to other monk subclasses, and that is somehow the best case cenario for your poor opponent. Most combats will according to the internet only last for about 3 rounds, but for bigger and harder fights you might be able to pull this off multiple times in a single combat encounter, making it especially useful in major boss fights (yeah most major boss fights with CR 17+ creatures will include legendary resistance but you still deal a lot of damage by doing so).
Like i get that other classes also have really strong 17th levels, it is when the thief archetype of the rouge learns the secret to getting an big advantage in the action economy early on in a combat, or the arcane trickster rouge learns how to completely steal a spell, when an wizard learns how to cast wish and reshape reality, when the clerics domain powers get ridiculous, when the shadow monk gets to spam attacks a little more and the four elements monk unlocks both 4th and 5th level spells for him or her to use, but i feel like even with that in mind this feature with how often it can be used and how powerful it is it just feels just a little too powerful, but then again by the time you reach 17th level and the story is nearing its end maybe that is fine i guess?
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Obviously it's the fantasy that inspired this ability. Let's see... At lvl 17: Ki:17 Proficiency:+6 Martial Arts Die: D10 Martial Arts Attack bonus(assuming no negative dex mod): +6 - +11 Spell Save DC (excluding negative wisdom): 14 - 19 Normal Flurry of blows combo Ki cost: 1 Normal Flurry of Blows dmg. 4d10+4×dex mod (22-42) magical bludgeoning damage Activation time: 1 turn Quivering palm KI cost:3 Quivering palm damage 10d10 (55) necrotic damage. Activation time: 2 turns
Let's say you have a monk with 20 dex: That way using only a normal rotation you get 84 damage, on average, for 2 KI points, which means 42dmg/ki If you use quivering palm and flurry of blows, you get 42 dmg from attacking and 55 damage fromm activating quivering palm. For a total of 97 dmg in 2 turns for 4 KI points. This means that you've dealt 24,25 points of damage for every KI point you've spent. This, of course, assumes that the enemy succeeds the con save every time. So, in respect of KI economy, spamming quivering palm isn't to good if your dexterity is high while your wisdom is not or the enemy is durable. Not to mention that at the end of the 2th turn, you still have a bonus action you could use, so you probably going to use step of the wind or patient defense anyway, so that even more KI spent.
However, if you feel like your enemy has a reliable chance to fail, or it's something you don't want to be around of for more time than needed, then the damage you can deal can become ridicolous. I did not have the opportunity to witness this ability in action, however I have a feeling that this could break the game for a group. First of all, you could use this as a legendary resistance checker. Use it on BBEG. Let the others spam their ability. If the creature uses it's last legendary resistance, release the vibrations. Meanwhile you can fight as normal. Meaning that you practically took the GM's monster as a hostage. Luckily, the earliest you can end any battle is the 2th round of combat, so at least everyone can try to play their character.
Well, either way I'm playing Way of the Four Elements monk, lvl9 right now and so far I feel like it's vastly inferior to, let's say, open hand. With open hand I would get things for half the price, basically. I spend 1 ki to make 2 extra attacks AND force max 2 enemies to make dex save against prone. With my favourite elemental ability (so far) water whip, I spend 2 KI to deal 3d10 dmg and force dex save against either pull or prone. Right now I only deal 4d6+12 dmg max with hitting stuff. So that 26 dmg for 1 KI against 5.5/ki with whip. However I can still take step of the wind or patient defense, but you see, the difference is quite high and that's with a lower dmg bonus.
Obviously it's the fantasy that inspired this ability.
Well, either way I'm playing Way of the Four Elements monk, lvl9 right now and so far I feel like it's vastly inferior to, let's say, open hand. With open hand I would get things for half the price, basically. I spend 1 ki to make 2 extra attacks AND force max 2 enemies to make dex save against prone. With my favourite elemental ability (so far) water whip, I spend 2 KI to deal 3d10 dmg and force dex save against either pull or prone. Right now I only deal 4d6+12 dmg max with hitting stuff. So that 26 dmg for 1 KI against 5.5/ki with whip. However I can still take step of the wind or patient defense, but you see, the difference is quite high and that's with a lower dmg bonus.
i think the main appeal of four elements is the utility and the ability to permanently alter the environment around you, or at least that is what i think is the most interesting aspect of the four elements monk. Being able to instakill people is pretty cool, but it is way cooler to have the ability of extreme ice sculpting with shape the flowing river and being able to create permanent panels of stone with wave of rolling earth, and it would be cooler if the subclass got more of those utility things
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
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it only takes one of your turns to set up and during that turn you can just do your regular attack routine of two attacks plus 1 unarmed strike, it only costs 3 of your 17 ki points, all of whom are regained on a short rest, and for the resources you spend the spell deals an really good amount of damage, i mean 10d10 damage for only 3 ki points is very good compared to other options available to other monk subclasses, and that is somehow the best case cenario for your poor opponent. Most combats will according to the internet only last for about 3 rounds, but for bigger and harder fights you might be able to pull this off multiple times in a single combat encounter, making it especially useful in major boss fights (yeah most major boss fights with CR 17+ creatures will include legendary resistance but you still deal a lot of damage by doing so).
Like i get that other classes also have really strong 17th levels, it is when the thief archetype of the rouge learns the secret to getting an big advantage in the action economy early on in a combat, or the arcane trickster rouge learns how to completely steal a spell, when an wizard learns how to cast wish and reshape reality, when the clerics domain powers get ridiculous, when the shadow monk gets to spam attacks a little more and the four elements monk unlocks both 4th and 5th level spells for him or her to use, but i feel like even with that in mind this feature with how often it can be used and how powerful it is it just feels just a little too powerful, but then again by the time you reach 17th level and the story is nearing its end maybe that is fine i guess?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Obviously it's the fantasy that inspired this ability.
Let's see...
At lvl 17:
Ki:17
Proficiency:+6
Martial Arts Die: D10
Martial Arts Attack bonus(assuming no negative dex mod): +6 - +11
Spell Save DC (excluding negative wisdom): 14 - 19
Normal Flurry of blows combo Ki cost: 1
Normal Flurry of Blows dmg. 4d10+4×dex mod (22-42) magical bludgeoning damage
Activation time: 1 turn
Quivering palm KI cost:3
Quivering palm damage 10d10 (55) necrotic damage.
Activation time: 2 turns
Let's say you have a monk with 20 dex:
That way using only a normal rotation you get 84 damage, on average, for 2 KI points, which means 42dmg/ki
If you use quivering palm and flurry of blows, you get 42 dmg from attacking and 55 damage fromm activating quivering palm. For a total of 97 dmg in 2 turns for 4 KI points.
This means that you've dealt 24,25 points of damage for every KI point you've spent. This, of course, assumes that the enemy succeeds the con save every time.
So, in respect of KI economy, spamming quivering palm isn't to good if your dexterity is high while your wisdom is not or the enemy is durable. Not to mention that at the end of the 2th turn, you still have a bonus action you could use, so you probably going to use step of the wind or patient defense anyway, so that even more KI spent.
However, if you feel like your enemy has a reliable chance to fail, or it's something you don't want to be around of for more time than needed, then the damage you can deal can become ridicolous.
I did not have the opportunity to witness this ability in action, however I have a feeling that this could break the game for a group.
First of all, you could use this as a legendary resistance checker.
Use it on BBEG. Let the others spam their ability. If the creature uses it's last legendary resistance, release the vibrations. Meanwhile you can fight as normal.
Meaning that you practically took the GM's monster as a hostage.
Luckily, the earliest you can end any battle is the 2th round of combat, so at least everyone can try to play their character.
Well, either way I'm playing Way of the Four Elements monk, lvl9 right now and so far I feel like it's vastly inferior to, let's say, open hand. With open hand I would get things for half the price, basically. I spend 1 ki to make 2 extra attacks AND force max 2 enemies to make dex save against prone. With my favourite elemental ability (so far) water whip, I spend 2 KI to deal 3d10 dmg and force dex save against either pull or prone. Right now I only deal 4d6+12 dmg max with hitting stuff. So that 26 dmg for 1 KI against
5.5/ki with whip. However I can still take step of the wind or patient defense, but you see, the difference is quite high and that's with a lower dmg bonus.
i think the main appeal of four elements is the utility and the ability to permanently alter the environment around you, or at least that is what i think is the most interesting aspect of the four elements monk. Being able to instakill people is pretty cool, but it is way cooler to have the ability of extreme ice sculpting with shape the flowing river and being able to create permanent panels of stone with wave of rolling earth, and it would be cooler if the subclass got more of those utility things
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes