Quick Links
Monks are typically dealers of death and destruction inDungeons & Dragons, but there is one monk subclass with the power to heal as well as harm. Followers of the Way of Mercy have learned how to use the mastery of their minds and body to instill healing energies in their friends and deadly magic in their foes.
The mere touch from a Way of Mercy monk can bring blissful health, but it could just as easily bring agonizing poison or necrosis. If you’re willing to master the powers of life and death (with a martial arts twist), read on to begin your journey on the Way of Mercy.
Way Of Mercy Monk Features
Followers of the Way of Mercy get a number of benefits starting at level three.Implements of Mercyprovides proficiency in Insight and Medicine as well as proficiency with the herbalism kit. You also get a mask, which is purely cosmetic.
Proficiency with herbalism kitsallows you tobrew your own healing potionsto add to your magically healing hands.
Hand of Healingprovides you with a means of healing at a mere touch. you may spend one ki point and your action to restore a number of hit points equal to your Martial Arts die roll plus your Wisdom modifier. You can also replace one unarmed strike in your Flurry of Blows with this feature without spending a ki point.
Hand of Harmperforms the opposite. Whenever you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend one ki point to deal necrotic damage equal to your Martial Arts due plus your Wisdom modifier. You can only do this once per turn.
Physician’s Touchat level six improves Hand of Healing to also end one disease of status condition, including blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, or stunned. Hand of Harm, meanwhile, can apply the poisoned condition to the creature struck until the end of your next turn.
Be sure topoison the enemyyou’re currently engaged withevery turnto impart disadvantage on all their attack rolls.
Flurry of Harmand Healing at level 11 lets you replace an unarmed strike in Flurry of Blows with one use of your Hand of Healing without spending a ki point. You can also use Hand of Harm in a strike against an opponent without spending a ki point, but you can still only perform Hand of Harm once per turn.
Thisdrastically reduces your ki expenditurefor both Hand of Healing and Hand of Harm, really letting this subclass perform well into the late game.
Finally,Hand of Ultimate Mercyat level 17 lets you resurrect a creature that’s died within the past 24 hours. By spending five ki points, you return that creature to life with hit points equal to 4d10 plus your Wisdom modifier. You also end any of the following conditions they were suffering from: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, poisoned, or stunned.
Best Species For A Way Of Mercy Monk
Followers of the Way of Mercy are similar to most other monks, so any species that works as a monk will do great here. Below area few species that make excellent monks.
Bugbear
Bugbears make great monks.Five extra feet of reachfor your melee attacks provides significant flexibility. High Dexterity means you’re more likely to go earlier in the turn order, makingSurprise Attackmore effective.Stealth proficiency,charm resistance, andDarkvisionare all great perks.
Duergar
The poison resistance isn’t too useful since monks eventually gain immunity, butadvantage against being charmed and stunnedis still good.Enlarge/Reduceis a great spell for a monk to know as it can increase your damage, andInvisibilityprovides interesting sneaking options.
Goblin
Fury of the Smallcan really help your damage output.Darkvision,charm resistance, andhiding as a bonus actionare also nice to have, although your bonus action will typically be used up spending ki points.
Goliath
Monks don’t get nearly as many hit points as their melee-focused combat requires.Stone’s Endurancehelps with that.Cold resistanceandAthleticsproficiency are also good perks.
Half-Orc
Monks make a lot of attacks, and that means they’re making critical hits more often than most classes.Savage Attacksmakes those crits deal more damage, whileRelentless Endurancekeeps a monk fighting when their hit points hit zero.Darkvisionis also nice too.
Half-Elf
Monks in general want a lot of stats to be effective. Half-elves getthree stat boosts,Darkvision, and evenmore skillsto add to your burgeoning repertoire.
Human
If it’s stats you want, humans got it. you’re able to alsogo variant human to get a featoff the jump.
Owlin
Monks struggle against flying things.Owlin can fly, making it easy to hit other flying things. Neither monks nor owlin like wearing armor, which also works in this species' favor.Darkvisionand stealth proficiency are nice to have.
Plasmoid
UsingAmorphousis hard to do while wearing armor or wielding weapons, but monks don’t like either of those, making them the perfect plasmoid class.Darkvision,resistance to acid and poison damage, andadvantage on grapple checksare also great pairings for any monk subclass.
Shifter
Shifters help with a monk’s poor HP pool by providinga bunch of temporary hitpointswhenever they shift.Extra armor,movement speed,askill proficiency,andDarkvisionare all good to have.
Tabaxi
Monks don’t use claws, butFeline Agilitymeans you never have to worry about being too far away to get into combat.Climbing speedhelps with those pesky flying critters a bit, andDarkvisionis always a boon.
Best Ability Scores For A Way Of Mercy Monk
Like other monks, followers of the Way of Mercy wantDexterity,Wisdom, andConstitutionto be effective. Dexterity empowers your strikes, Wisdom helps with your armor class and your healing features, and Constitution provides all-important hit points.
Strength,Intelligence, andCharisma can be entirely ignored. You’re going to want your core three attributes boosted as high as you may, and these just don’t provide much benefit.
If you’re using D&D’s point buy system,a good starting ability score spreadmight look something like this:
8(-1)
17(+3)
15(+2)
16(+3)
Best Starting Equipment For A Way Of Mercy Monk
A monk’s body is their weapon, which means you’re not likely to require much in terms of equipment. you’re able to choose either a shortsword or another simple weapon, but most of your abilities require unarmed strikes to use, sodon’t expect to use either weapon much.
Adungeoneer’s packis a little more useful than an explorer’s pack, and10 dartscan help you engage flying targets.
Since your armor class is based on both your Dexterity and Wisdom modifiers while you’re not wearing armor,you don’t get any armor to start, and you’re not likely to ever need it.
Best Feats For A Way Of Mercy Monk
Most monks, but especially Way of Mercy monks,want to maximize both their Dexterity and Wisdom before reaching level 20. This doesn’t leave much room for taking feats, so you’re not likely to need this section at all.
That said, if you somehow stumble across a free feat over the course of your campaign,here are a few good ones to consider.
Alert
Never get ambushed again. Alertprevents you from being surprised,can’t gain advantage against you if they attack while hidden, and youget an additional five to your initiative score. If you may combine this with the bugbear’s Surprise Attack, you’ve got a potent combo.
Athlete
Climbing speedequal to your movement speed can be very helpful if you don’t already fly or are a tabaxi.Getting up from pronewithout using half your movement can also be good too. Take theDexterity score increasehere.
Healer
If you want to lean even further into your role as a healer, the Healer feat gives youanother option to heal your friends. It’s generally not as good as your Hand of Healing ability, but more healing is certainly useful for longer dungeon dives.
Lucky
Nobody likes to fail their rolls.Lucky provides you with extra d20sto spend on your most important moments. You can also use Lucky d20s to prevent damage to your squishy monk.
Mobile
Mobility matters for melee classes. Anextra 10 feet of movementhelps get you into combat faster, whiledash actions that ignore difficult terrainkeep you free of crowd control effects.Avoiding attacks of opportunityis also nice.
Skill Expert
Complement your skillsby having more of them. you’re able to alsogain expertisein a skill you already have.
Tough
Monks are squishy. Tough makes things less squishy by giving themtwo extra hitpoints per level.
