Monk Class Tweak Thoughts
Posted: Wed May 20, 2020 1:15 am
Wanted to think out loud for a while on tweaks for monk class that I've been thinking about for a while. I'm not saying these are changes that are necessary, but just thoughts I've had since playing a monk on BG on some tweaks. Hope you enjoy the read, and I look forward to some discussion on people's thoughts. Disclaimer: In no way do I feel monks are underpowered or "need" any of these changes to be viable or "good" class - just wanted to make that clear.
First, before I get into specific feats, here are what I see as Monks major "areas of improvement". Note, I see these as mechanical shortcomings to be addressed, not weaknesses - every class does and should have weaknesses, but the below items I feel are more mechanical issues that detract from the Monk's RP and ethos:
- Heal Kit Spammers - I just don't think the image of a monk as self-sufficient was meant to include the fact that they just have to spam heal kits constantly
- Lack of reason to go "mid-monk". People tend to have to go pure monk or stop at early levels (greater flurry) but there's little reward for going 15, or 20 levels of monk
- Lack of Options/Goodies in epic levels
- Feats that are basically glorified effects of potions/wands
OK, onto specifics:
1. Wholeness of Body - What. Is. This. Feat? LOL The name and description implies (correctly so) that the monk has mastered their bodies and achieved such a fine control over their physical training that they can literally regenerate their health. An image comes to mind of kung fu movies where the hero/villain has been beaten to a pulp, looks moments away from death, and yet.....BAM, somehow they spring back to life out of nowhere seeming to conjure new life/energy/etc out of thin air to continue the fight or even win! Well, not this feat in it's current state. It should currently be called "Drink a Potion". This feat does little more than save the monk one single sip of a Cure X Wounds potion. What would I recommend? Well, if it were up to me I'd allow it to fully refill the monks health pool AND be on a fairly long cooldown, perhaps 5 minutes. The goal here is to give that kung fu movie "bounce back to life" effect. Also, with a decent cooldown, I don't think it would be OP.
2. Lack of progression of Monk Speed into epic levels - Not much to say here, I just don't get why it doesn't progress past level 18. Seems like a key part of the monk playstyle, I think the progression should continue all the way to level 30 just like unarmed damage, ac bonus, SR, etc does.
3. Lack of Monk Order Prestige Classes - Granted, this one isn't an easy fix for the developers like many other of these suggestions, but I think it's sad that there aren't more RP-friendly options beyond Monk of the Long Death to choose from (which is very niche from an RP perspective). In my dream world, there would be 5 to 10 orders to choose from. One focusing on defense, one on damage, one on stealth, one on speed, etc.
4. Strength/Dex Options for Wisdom centric Feats - Back before we had "Intuitive Attack", it made sense for feats like Stunning Fist, Quivering Palm, Fiery Fist, etc to be wisdom based because you had to SACRIFICE dex or strength (your damage and/or hit bonus stats) for wisdom. However, with Intuitive attack, you can just go pure Wisdom and have both high attack AND uber feats. My suggestion would be to give these feats a damage/bonus/duration boost of 1/2 strength mod + 1/2 dex mod + 1/2 wis mod - in place of the current wisdom-only modifier settings. Perhaps in cases such as fiery fist where this doesn't make as much sense RP-wise, give a sonic option that is strength and dex based (ie you fists are faster than sound) that would make sense RP-wise?
5. Empty Body - This feat is right now a glorifed version of the effect of a wand/item. For 18 levels in monk, I think there should be a bigger reward for getting your 18th level in monk. My suggestion would be instead of a couple uses of Displacement, a permanent 30% concealment perhaps would do the trick? Someting along those lines.
6. Perfect Self - Congratulations, you made it to level 20! Here's damage reduction that mimics a low level spell. Sigh. Personally I think that this feat should include 10/- damage reduction for all sources. RP reason? I always thought the DR in this feat was meant to mimic the fact that the Monk "master" could simply wade through lesser blows, deflecting them as one would a fly or a falling leaf. As in minor stuff is so inconsequential to the trained Master that it barely registers.
7. Ki Step - I get why this feat was "fixed" however, the fact that even a small hill blocks it is problematic. I feel that requirement should be removed so that it works outdoors in hilly terrain and the maximum distance be increased also for outdoor reasons.
Okay, those are my humble thoughts - enjoy reading your responses!
First, before I get into specific feats, here are what I see as Monks major "areas of improvement". Note, I see these as mechanical shortcomings to be addressed, not weaknesses - every class does and should have weaknesses, but the below items I feel are more mechanical issues that detract from the Monk's RP and ethos:
- Heal Kit Spammers - I just don't think the image of a monk as self-sufficient was meant to include the fact that they just have to spam heal kits constantly
- Lack of reason to go "mid-monk". People tend to have to go pure monk or stop at early levels (greater flurry) but there's little reward for going 15, or 20 levels of monk
- Lack of Options/Goodies in epic levels
- Feats that are basically glorified effects of potions/wands
OK, onto specifics:
1. Wholeness of Body - What. Is. This. Feat? LOL The name and description implies (correctly so) that the monk has mastered their bodies and achieved such a fine control over their physical training that they can literally regenerate their health. An image comes to mind of kung fu movies where the hero/villain has been beaten to a pulp, looks moments away from death, and yet.....BAM, somehow they spring back to life out of nowhere seeming to conjure new life/energy/etc out of thin air to continue the fight or even win! Well, not this feat in it's current state. It should currently be called "Drink a Potion". This feat does little more than save the monk one single sip of a Cure X Wounds potion. What would I recommend? Well, if it were up to me I'd allow it to fully refill the monks health pool AND be on a fairly long cooldown, perhaps 5 minutes. The goal here is to give that kung fu movie "bounce back to life" effect. Also, with a decent cooldown, I don't think it would be OP.
2. Lack of progression of Monk Speed into epic levels - Not much to say here, I just don't get why it doesn't progress past level 18. Seems like a key part of the monk playstyle, I think the progression should continue all the way to level 30 just like unarmed damage, ac bonus, SR, etc does.
3. Lack of Monk Order Prestige Classes - Granted, this one isn't an easy fix for the developers like many other of these suggestions, but I think it's sad that there aren't more RP-friendly options beyond Monk of the Long Death to choose from (which is very niche from an RP perspective). In my dream world, there would be 5 to 10 orders to choose from. One focusing on defense, one on damage, one on stealth, one on speed, etc.
4. Strength/Dex Options for Wisdom centric Feats - Back before we had "Intuitive Attack", it made sense for feats like Stunning Fist, Quivering Palm, Fiery Fist, etc to be wisdom based because you had to SACRIFICE dex or strength (your damage and/or hit bonus stats) for wisdom. However, with Intuitive attack, you can just go pure Wisdom and have both high attack AND uber feats. My suggestion would be to give these feats a damage/bonus/duration boost of 1/2 strength mod + 1/2 dex mod + 1/2 wis mod - in place of the current wisdom-only modifier settings. Perhaps in cases such as fiery fist where this doesn't make as much sense RP-wise, give a sonic option that is strength and dex based (ie you fists are faster than sound) that would make sense RP-wise?
5. Empty Body - This feat is right now a glorifed version of the effect of a wand/item. For 18 levels in monk, I think there should be a bigger reward for getting your 18th level in monk. My suggestion would be instead of a couple uses of Displacement, a permanent 30% concealment perhaps would do the trick? Someting along those lines.
6. Perfect Self - Congratulations, you made it to level 20! Here's damage reduction that mimics a low level spell. Sigh. Personally I think that this feat should include 10/- damage reduction for all sources. RP reason? I always thought the DR in this feat was meant to mimic the fact that the Monk "master" could simply wade through lesser blows, deflecting them as one would a fly or a falling leaf. As in minor stuff is so inconsequential to the trained Master that it barely registers.
7. Ki Step - I get why this feat was "fixed" however, the fact that even a small hill blocks it is problematic. I feel that requirement should be removed so that it works outdoors in hilly terrain and the maximum distance be increased also for outdoor reasons.
Okay, those are my humble thoughts - enjoy reading your responses!
