Summary
Dungeons and Dragons' monk has long taken the title of worst class in the game, falling far behind its peers in terms of raw power. However, mostDungeons and Dragonsplayers agree that the upcoming revision of the monk does a lot to improve its image.
While the early history ofD&D 5esaw the ranger receive the majority of the fanbase’s ire, recent years have seen that criticism turn more towards the monk.D&D’s 2014 monk has a lot goingfor it, with fun hand-to-hand flavor and its signature Stunning Strike ability. On the other hand, it has a very small pool of resources and a lot of options to spend those resources, forcing the monk to focus only on a handful of reliable abilities. Moreover, despite being a frontline melee combatant, the monk only has a d8 hit die—meaning it’s likely to go down quickly.
Every Change Coming With D&D 2024’s New Monk
More Efficient Abilities
The biggest issue withD&D 5e’s monkis its lack of resources, with most of its traits drawing on the same overtaxed pool of Ki Points. 2024’s monk attacks this problem from multiple angles, most notably with the level 2 ability Uncanny Metabolism; now, once per long rest, the monk can regain all expended Ki Points (renamed to Focus Points) upon rolling initiative. This ability is improved at level 15, which will give the player 4 Focus Points for free if the player has less than 4 when initiative is rolled (so long as Uncanny Metabolism isn’t used).
D&D 2024also makes improvementshere by adding efficiency to monk abilities. Patient Defense now allows the monk to disengage as a bonus action for free, but a Focus Point can be spent to dodge and disengage on the same bonus action. Likewise, Step of the Wind lets the monk dash on their bonus action without cost, but using a Focus Point here will give players a doubled jump distance and a disengage on the same action. These abilities, along with Flurry of Blows, also get further boosted at level 10.
Changes to Stunning Strike, Martial Arts, and Deflect Attacks
While the 2024 monk still has the hit die ofD&D 5e’s original iteration, its Martial Arts die now starts at 1d6 and ends at 1d12—as opposed to a 1d4-1d10 progression. Moreover, the monk can now use Dexterity for grappling and shoving, giving the class fewer ability scores to worry about. Deflect Attacks, formerly Deflect Missiles, was also boosted—now able to deflect melee attacks as well as ranged ones (it will also work on all damage types by level 13).
Stunning Strike has beentweaked in theD&D 2024Player’s Handbook, as it can now only be used once per turn. This nerf is nice for DMs, but players also don’t have to worry; even those who succeed on the save against Stunning Strike now have their speed halved and have attacks against them made at advantage.
New Abilities, Reworked Subclasses
The monk has a few more new abilities to play with, including Superior Defense at level 17—which allows the monk to spend 3 Focus Points for temporary resistance to almost all damage. Level 10’s Self Restoration will give the monk a quasi-immunity to the Poisoned, Charmed, and Frightened conditions, as well as no Exhaustion penalty for going without food or water. The monk’s new capstone, Body and Mind, will boost the class' Wisdom and Dexterity scores by 4 (to a maximum of 25), similar to the barbarian’s Primal Champion feature.
D&D 2024has also changedthe monk’s subclasses, giving all of them some quality-of-life changes. Most pressingly, the Warrior of the Elements monk has seen an entire rework; rather than relying on diluted spellcasting, this subclass works elemental attacks, control, and AoE into the class' existing structure.
Dungeons and Dragons
Created by Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop game in which players craft their own worlds and band together to take on adventures through mysterious realms outlined in companion materials. One of the best role-playing games ever made, it has been adapted into a variety of video games and other media.
