So that’s why the boosted the martial arts die! So it wasn't straight up outclassed by bardically inspired fists. 😂

They also nerfed weapons.
You get mastery, but since they no longer follow your martial arts die, by 5th level you need to 2H wield a staff or spear just to keep up with the damage progression. Then you get force damage on unarmed strikes at level 6…

Unless your dm blesses you with a suitable magic simple weapon, or you really want the mastery effects, you are disincentivized from using weapons entirely. Which stinks if you want to theme your monk around a signature weapon a la TMNT.

Let’s break down mastery on simple weapons while we are at it.

• Flex: You can’t use a shield for un armored defense or movement anyway. This property is useless unless you need a free arm to carry the MacGuffin or a companion. I don’t think grappling technically requires a free hand either.
• Nick: Could be useful at low levels. You get an extra attack on top of your bonus action strikes. It’s only applies to d4 weapons and you don’t get the Dex bonus to damage. 2d4+Dex is marginally better than 1d8+Dex on average. If you can get the two weapon fighting style, then you can keep this relevant at later levels.
• Push: Only the great club has the 2H property so you can’t use your Dex to attack…
• Sap: Good against martial enemies.
• Slow: Good at range if you want to get away or catch up, but you are already faster than most and can stun or grapple. The club is a good situational combo with the new Step of the Wind👌 if you need to escape melee.
• Vex: Good at range. For melee, is it worth the damage reduction to get advantage on your next unarmed strike? The advantage only applies to you.

Speaking of grappling, using Dex instead of Strength for grapple really needs to be added to Martial Arts