Attacking with a blur of swift punches and kicks, the Monk’s Flurry of Blows is a sight to behold!
Few can stand toe to toe against such an all-out assault. Most enemies can find themselves getting quickly overwhelmed by the Monk’s barrage of attacks.
It’s little wonder why this is such an iconic Monk feature!
In this article, we’re taking a closer look at the Monk’s Flurry of Blows feature in D&D 5e!
What Is Flurry of Blows?
Monks aren’t particularly known for dealing large amounts of damage with a single attack. Instead, they rely on their speed to make multiple attacks against their foes.
That’s where Flurry of Blows comes in.
Let’s look at what the 5e Player’s Handbook says first and then we’ll break it down from there.
Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.
Harnessing their ki, the Monk follows up their initial attack with two more rapid strikes. These attacks must be made with unarmed strikes.
Flurry of Blows is powered by your Monk’s ki. This means that you can use it as many times per short rest as you would like as long as you have the ki points to spend.
How Does Flurry of Blows Work in D&D 5e?
First things first, you need to take the Attack action to use Flurry of Blows.
If you use your action for something other than attacking (like taking the Dodge or Disengage actions), you won’t be able to activate this feature!
Related: Actions and Combat in D&D 5e
After your Attack action, spend one ki point to use Flurry of Blows for your bonus action.
So, your turn would look like this:
- Take the Attack action.
- Make an attack against an enemy. Roll damage if it hits.
- Spend 1 ki point to use Flurry of Blows as your bonus action.
- Make your first FoB attack. Roll damage if it hits.
- Make your second FoB attack. Roll damage if it hits.
Also, remember that Flurry of Blows attacks don’t all need to be against the same target.
In fact, you could have each attack be made against a different enemy if you’d prefer!
It’s especially handy if you’re taking on a large number of weaker enemies. Rather than overkilling one goblin, your friends will stare in awe as you drop three in a single turn!
Flurry of Blows and Extra Attack
When your Monk gains the Extra Attack feature at level 5, Flurry of Blows will still work the same. The only difference is that you’re getting yet another attack on your turn!
So now your turn would look like this:
- Take the Attack action
- Make your first attack. Roll damage if it hits.
- Make your second attack (from Extra Attack). Roll damage if it hits.
- Spend 1 ki point and use Flurry of Blows as your Bonus Action.
- Make your first FoB attack. Roll damage if it hits.
- Make your second FoB attack. Roll damage if it hits.
Pretty cool, huh?
Using Flurry of Blows Effectively
While nobody is going to dispute the lethality of Monks’ punches and kicks, they’re still typically not as strong as a weapon.
Fortunately, Monks have several weapons that they can use alongside their martial arts feature. I’d recommend checking out my guide to Monk Weapons in D&D 5e to learn more about that.
You can use your Monk Weapon with the attacks that you make using the Attack action. These will likely use a larger damage die than your unarmed attacks.
Using Flurry of Blows, you follow up with two unarmed attacks that are made using your martial arts die. This is based on your current level.
You can learn more about that in my full 5e Monk Class Guide here.
But there’s also an EPIC combo that you can pull off.
Flurry of Blows is especially powerful when combined with the Monk’s Stunning Strike feature.
With this, the Monk can stun an enemy with their first attack. From there, they follow up with their Flurry of Blows to make two more attacks with advantage against the stunned target!
Talk about a beatdown!
Is Flurry of Blows Good?
Being able to overwhelm enemies with attacks is what the Monk is all about.
The Monk’s Martial Arts feature already allows them to make an extra unarmed attack as a bonus action. For the cost of 1 ki point, Flurry of Blows is letting you double that.
Because of that, Flurry of Blows is an excellent feature that you’ll be getting a TON of use out of throughout your character’s adventuring career!
FAQs – Flurry of Blows in D&D 5e
Before we wrap up this guide to the Flurry of Blows feature, let’s take a look at some common questions.
As always, feel free to leave a comment if you still have questions. I’m always happy to help!
Does FoB Stack with Martial Arts?
No. Flurry of Blows does not stack with the Monk’s Martial Arts feature. This is because you get one bonus action on your turn per round.
Using Martial Arts, you’re using that bonus action to make one extra unarmed attack that round.
With Flurry of Blows (and one ki point), you’re instead using that bonus action to make TWO unarmed attacks that round.
Can You Use FoB Multiple Times?
No. Because Flurry of Blows uses your bonus action, you can only use it once per round.
Can FoB Be Used on a Reaction?
No. Flurry of Blows cannot be used on a reaction (like if you’re making an opportunity attack) since it requires a bonus action to use.
Do You Roll for Each Attack with FoB?
Yes. Each attack that you make with Flurry of Blows is rolled separately. That’s a lot more chances to land a critical hit!
Can Stunning Strike Be Used with FoB?
Yes. Stunning Strike can be used with Flurry of Blows. In fact, it’s the perfect time to use it if you really want to give the enemy a beatdown!
Can FoB Be Used with Sun Soul Monks’ Radiant Sun Bolt?
Strictly speaking, Flurry of Blows does not specifically work with the Sun Soul Monk’s Radiant Sun Bolt feature.
However, the Radiant Sun Bolt feature allows Sun Soul Monks to spend a ki point to throw two more Radiant Sun Bolts as a bonus action.
You can learn more about this in my full Way of the Sun Soul Monk guide here!
How Does Sneak Attack Work with FoB?
Multiclassing to take levels in both Monk and Rogue is a very popular option.
Sneak Attack can only be used once per turn. This means that it will only apply to one of your attacks on your turn.
However, Flurry of Blows can give you more opportunities for an attack to hit.
Check out my article that covers Sneak Attack in D&D 5e to learn more about how to get the most use out of it.
Conclusion – Flurry of Blows in D&D 5e
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved kung-fu movies. It always blew my mind to see the mix of speed, precision, and power in the actors’ technique.
Flurry of Blows does a wonderful job at capturing that same feeling. While Monks have no shortage of awesome techniques, there’s a reason it’s so iconic!
I hope you’ve found this article helpful.
If you still have questions about Flurry of Blows in D&D 5e, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll help you out!
Additionally, you might like to check out our full ranking of every Monk subclass in D&D 5e!
From there, they follow up with their Flurry of Blows to make two more attacks with advantage against the paralyzed target!
Not only that. Paralyzed condition converts each hit from within 5ft into critical hit. So, as a Level 6 Monk has Extra Attack, the successful Stunning Strike during the first attack will give three more auto-crits (and, assuming +3 Dex bonus, it is +6 to hit with advantage). So, if a Monk is armed with a shortsword, and hits with all four attacks… if I am correct, we look at 7d6+12 total from all four hits. Quite a solid blow, made even better by the fact that unarmed strikes ignore nonmagical resistance/immunity.
Hi VZ!
I actually made a small mistake that I just fixed. I accidentally typed “paralyzed” instead of “stunned” (not intending the paralyzed condition.)
If the target is paralyzed (from Hold Person spell, for example), that math would be absolutely true. It would definitely be terrifying to see!
Of course, getting advantage on all of the attacks against the stunned target is still incredibly good. Following up the Stunning Strike with an Extra Attack and Flurry of Blows that all land critical hits is certainly possible!
We had exactly that happen one time at my table.
The party’s Monk DESTROYED her enemy (the leader of the mercenary group that was attacking them) on the first turn of the first round. It was so epic that I had to give her a free Intimidation check (which she rolled very high on as well).
She forced the rest of the enemies to flee for their lives with two simple words:
“Who’s Next?”
Ah, yes, my bad, as I just associated Stunning Strike with paralysis – due to a Monk from my campaign. He does just the thing you’ve described and, if I am not mistaken, usually holds the first place in “how many enemies killed” sport. After that I simply cannot believe the idea of a Monk as a “weak class”.
But there are casters with Hold Person in the same group…
Oh yeah, having a Monk attack an enemy that’s fallen victim to a caster’s Hold Person spell is brutal. It turns them into a punching bag!
Monks get a lot of hate in 5e, but I think they’re absolutely fantastic!
My personal opinion is that no class is bad. There are classes more suited to certain situations than others, and there are players who just play bad with certain classes. Both these things have nothing to do with classes themselves.
I totally agree! It’s a mix of having the right “tool” for the job just as much as it is about how you use that “tool”!