I just recently made my first ever build, a half elf way of the four elements monk. Because of the story the dm made, every member of our party was granted one wish. Mine was to double my max number of ki points. I’m currently at level five so I have ten ki points. When I chose way of the four elements, I picked water whip as my first elemental discipline, which takes 2 ki points to do 3d10 and you can get another 1d10 for every ki point you use after that, so I can potentially deal 11d10 in one turn at level five, which I’m really proud of for my first ever build
the best weapon you can give a monk is a 10 ft chain with something at the end it can strike at range or bind you can also wrap it around the monk for a +2 improvised armor bonus without any negatives
That’s fun build Richard! Mobile is always an awesome Feat to consider too. Let’s you bounce around encounters with more speed, the option to avoid opportunity attacks when you a let those talons fly.
I consider the mobile feat a must-have for monks. If you don’t care for a specific race (for roleplay, etc), Tabaxi make the best monks. And try to convince your DM to eventually give you a Dragonhide belt.
Yeah stuff like that deserves other things other races can do like lizardfolk hungry jaws, that should be a proficiency bonus per long rest gaing one on a short rest.
My personal favourite is a Half-Orc Open Hand monk, Relentless Endurance gives survivability, Orcish Fury and Savage Attacker boost damage output pretty nicely, and prone/stun when your crits hit that hard are absolutely brutal status effects.
I would probably just take the asi for wisdom over savage attacker. The damage out out isn’t that much better without it only adding an additional point to damage rolls on average, where as higher wisdom boosts ac and your saving throws
My human monk is actually the scout of my group (but whe send each time the rouge at the lead, who has a lower preception^^). He has AC 16. Didnt use weapon. Profience in stealth, sleight of hand, preception and acrobatic (all +5) and passive preception 15 plus passive insight of 13. He would be a sun soul monk with lvl 3 (didnt use weapon and drunk didnt fit the personality of the chara^^), and would i give him observant, he would have a passive preception to 20 and passive investigation from 15.
I feel that arracockra is the wrong choice for drunken master. Drunken master relies on being in the thick of the melee in order to redirect attacks, and arracockras are best while in the air? If you already have the flight, kensai monk might be better as you can have a range attack (bow). Drunken master suits a halfling more I think Personally, I like the ground speed of Tabaxi for monk. And I would use that with either monk of Mercy or Astral self, wish should befeaturing soon in Tasha's
I think you have a very valid point here, I agree that perhaps an Aarakocra would be more useful keeping at range. But I'll explain my thinking a bit more. Mechanically speaking the Aarakocra and the halfling have the same walking speed of 25 feet, so applying the monk's speed bonuses will get the same result for both races. The Aaracokra doesn't suffer any penalties while being on the ground. And gets no bonuses for being in the air. Making the flight a nice perk but not a necessity. (I do think that giving the race a bonus while in flight and a penalty while on the ground could make it much more interesting though.) So to me, comparing Flight vs Halfling nimbleness? Flight wins. Halfling luck is a really good feature, but I chose to Forego that one. I also fully agree that the Tabaxi is a fantastic race for monks and I dropped the ball by not mentioning it at the least.
Nice build. I had my build go Way of the long death. Unlimited FEAR? Yes please! Now have the party pick off the enemies who can't advance and have disadvantage with ranged weapons!
*Cool .* *My next Monk(Sun Soul)/Sorcerer(Divine Soul) was already going to be a Aarakocra .* *My current Monk(Shadow)/Cleric(Knowledge) is a Tabaxi .*
A monk who is thematically taught the art of war in a monastary mixed with knowledge from warriors who made their own experiences in battle into actual textbooks...how the hell am i only now hearing about this???
As a monk, any simple weapon that doesn't have the Heavy or Two-Handed property is considered a Monk Weapon which the monk can then use thier Dexterity for attacks and damage rolls instead of strength. but still the weapon might not be for everyone!
Javelins work too and fit in a quiver, you're not getting two dozen in a quiver though. Once you're martial arts die catches up it would be worth using darts also mainly on the space factor but javelins are versatile.
That's because most people can't get their heads around their mostly bonus action economy. They're starting with two attacks at level one due to martial arts, going to 3 at level two if you have the ki for a flurry. Granted unless you have a natural weapon it's only doing 1d4 for the bonuses. But in action and advantage economy more attacks wins out in the long run. Always better to have more than 1 of anything in case of an off day.
The only problem with going for Aarakokra is that it fundamentally ruins the Monk’s level 9 ability, improved unarmored Defence. Running around on walls is really fun, but you’ll never use this ability if you’re an Aarakokra.
Think arocokra is kinda cheap, you either are targeted super hard or are invulnerable. I have a Wood Elf Shadow monk with boots of elven kind and one point into rogue and mobile feat. Super fun to be a stupid fast and sneaky shadow.
I'd be tempted to take the mobility feat on a Kinsei monk for hit and run strikes. If you run Variant Human you can start with it for some great movement numbers. Max Dex asap and swing away.
My first 5e game and I am playing a monk with mobility. I have gotten a ton of mileage out of hit and run attacks. Being mobile allows me to frequently flank so my attacks are mostly at advantage. We just hit 3rd level and I have elected to go way of mercy. Our party has no dedicated healer, but almost everyone has supplemental healing.
You lost me at aaracorka. There is a reason they aren't allowed in Adventurers League and most homebrew games. Flight @ level 1 is super OP. Heck, non concentration flight is OP at most levels which is why sorcerers and such get it at level 14+. Any build that utilizes the birdfolk is cheesy, IMO.
Adventures League is kinda terrible. Most DMs who run it should probably just play Warhammer and envy the guy with the more expressive better painted set.
That would have been a clearer way of doing these but I've also seen that these optimized build videos are redundant and since there is no one perfect build I discontinued this type of video.
Here's a few I've been pondering Twilight domain + shadow monk Light domain w radiant sunsoul Forge Domain with School of Transmutation BugBears get reach + sneak attack Dragon borne get a breath weapon Lizardfolk, saytr, and others get natural weapons and movement and whatnot. Kalishtar and a few others get telepathic of sorts And lizards, Kenku, and Dwarfs can all pretty much craft stuff.
InB4, I left my mic in the shot the entire time!
Aarokocra, bugbear, and plasnoids are cool monks.
Shadar-Kai, way of Shadow monk. Double down on stealth, two types of teleportations, and mobility with the Mobile feat.
The second he started talking about races, I don't know why, but my immediate thought was "He's gonna say Aarakocra, isn't he?"
BugBear wing span
I just recently made my first ever build, a half elf way of the four elements monk. Because of the story the dm made, every member of our party was granted one wish. Mine was to double my max number of ki points. I’m currently at level five so I have ten ki points. When I chose way of the four elements, I picked water whip as my first elemental discipline, which takes 2 ki points to do 3d10 and you can get another 1d10 for every ki point you use after that, so I can potentially deal 11d10 in one turn at level five, which I’m really proud of for my first ever build
You're DM sounds very generous! I know ki point amounts are a common pain point with monks, but they let you work around that! Nice!
Tavern brawler so you can use grapple to allow for emergency lifts after punching.
Unarmored movement increases the fly speed as well. It increases any movement speed.
the best weapon you can give a monk is a 10 ft chain with something at the end it can strike at range or bind you can also wrap it around the monk for a +2 improvised armor bonus without any negatives
Where is this said weapon in the 5e books?
@@theholysaint7513 its a chain
@@duburakiba You say its a chain, but where is it in the books?
@@theholysaint7513 its not its an improvised weapon and armor
That’s fun build Richard! Mobile is always an awesome Feat to consider too. Let’s you bounce around encounters with more speed, the option to avoid opportunity attacks when you a let those talons fly.
I consider the mobile feat a must-have for monks. If you don’t care for a specific race (for roleplay, etc), Tabaxi make the best monks. And try to convince your DM to eventually give you a Dragonhide belt.
I can't believe a DM would allow flying innately from race
Yeah stuff like that deserves other things other races can do like lizardfolk hungry jaws, that should be a proficiency bonus per long rest gaing one on a short rest.
would of been nice to have a screenshot of dnd beyond or a character sheet. Even some text in the video that shows what your saying.
My personal favourite is a Half-Orc Open Hand monk, Relentless Endurance gives survivability, Orcish Fury and Savage Attacker boost damage output pretty nicely, and prone/stun when your crits hit that hard are absolutely brutal status effects.
I would probably just take the asi for wisdom over savage attacker. The damage out out isn’t that much better without it only adding an additional point to damage rolls on average, where as higher wisdom boosts ac and your saving throws
My human monk is actually the scout of my group (but whe send each time the rouge at the lead, who has a lower preception^^).
He has AC 16. Didnt use weapon. Profience in stealth, sleight of hand, preception and acrobatic (all +5) and passive preception 15 plus passive insight of 13.
He would be a sun soul monk with lvl 3 (didnt use weapon and drunk didnt fit the personality of the chara^^), and would i give him observant, he would have a passive preception to 20 and passive investigation from 15.
I feel that arracockra is the wrong choice for drunken master. Drunken master relies on being in the thick of the melee in order to redirect attacks, and arracockras are best while in the air? If you already have the flight, kensai monk might be better as you can have a range attack (bow).
Drunken master suits a halfling more I think
Personally, I like the ground speed of Tabaxi for monk. And I would use that with either monk of Mercy or Astral self, wish should befeaturing soon in Tasha's
I think you have a very valid point here, I agree that perhaps an Aarakocra would be more useful keeping at range. But I'll explain my thinking a bit more.
Mechanically speaking the Aarakocra and the halfling have the same walking speed of 25 feet, so applying the monk's speed bonuses will get the same result for both races.
The Aaracokra doesn't suffer any penalties while being on the ground. And gets no bonuses for being in the air. Making the flight a nice perk but not a necessity. (I do think that giving the race a bonus while in flight and a penalty while on the ground could make it much more interesting though.)
So to me, comparing Flight vs Halfling nimbleness? Flight wins. Halfling luck is a really good feature, but I chose to Forego that one.
I also fully agree that the Tabaxi is a fantastic race for monks and I dropped the ball by not mentioning it at the least.
Good stuff. Thank you for posting. I just started my first 5e Monk. Having fun so far!
Flyer Tuck with that nectar brewski.
Nice build.
I had my build go Way of the long death.
Unlimited FEAR? Yes please!
Now have the party pick off the enemies who can't advance and have disadvantage with ranged weapons!
How do you get unlimited fear?
Satyr and Warforged is good class for monks?
good points there- thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching!
Looking into it a fair bit, inluding Arakocra, the other top 5 races for a Monk would be: Wood Elves, Sadar-Kai, Shifters (Swiftstride) and Tabaxi.
*Cool .*
*My next Monk(Sun Soul)/Sorcerer(Divine Soul) was already going to be a Aarakocra .*
*My current Monk(Shadow)/Cleric(Knowledge) is a Tabaxi .*
Two of the best!
@@TheRPGDaily
Thank you .
Just joined a campaign who’s at level 4 already, and I’m rolling a Kensei Monk, and dipping into Fighter for Battlemaster.
Ooh Kensei and Battlemaster!? That's a combo I didn't know I needed!
A monk who is thematically taught the art of war in a monastary mixed with knowledge from warriors who made their own experiences in battle into actual textbooks...how the hell am i only now hearing about this???
Kensei bird monk? Fly 59 feet in air with long bow and kensei's shot so the bonus action is not wasted? Win.
My monk has the two feats Mobile charger. With magic item boots of speed. I literally never get her and deal lots of damage
Why use a spear if it isn’t finesse so you don’t have a lot of attack bonus and the extra damage equal to strength
As a monk, any simple weapon that doesn't have the Heavy or Two-Handed property is considered a Monk Weapon which the monk can then use thier Dexterity for attacks and damage rolls instead of strength. but still the weapon might not be for everyone!
@@TheRPGDaily I realised that only after posting the comment
Javelins work too and fit in a quiver, you're not getting two dozen in a quiver though. Once you're martial arts die catches up it would be worth using darts also mainly on the space factor but javelins are versatile.
Monks are underrated
That's because most people can't get their heads around their mostly bonus action economy.
They're starting with two attacks at level one due to martial arts, going to 3 at level two if you have the ki for a flurry. Granted unless you have a natural weapon it's only doing 1d4 for the bonuses.
But in action and advantage economy more attacks wins out in the long run.
Always better to have more than 1 of anything in case of an off day.
The only problem with going for Aarakokra is that it fundamentally ruins the Monk’s level 9 ability, improved unarmored Defence. Running around on walls is really fun, but you’ll never use this ability if you’re an Aarakokra.
Do you know why feat is empty in my DND Beyond??
I have no idea on that one. even when logged out it should let you read up on some of the feats.
Think arocokra is kinda cheap, you either are targeted super hard or are invulnerable. I have a Wood Elf Shadow monk with boots of elven kind and one point into rogue and mobile feat. Super fun to be a stupid fast and sneaky shadow.
I'd be tempted to take the mobility feat on a Kinsei monk for hit and run strikes. If you run Variant Human you can start with it for some great movement numbers. Max Dex asap and swing away.
My first 5e game and I am playing a monk with mobility. I have gotten a ton of mileage out of hit and run attacks. Being mobile allows me to frequently flank so my attacks are mostly at advantage.
We just hit 3rd level and I have elected to go way of mercy. Our party has no dedicated healer, but almost everyone has supplemental healing.
@@joeleek9976 Nice choice. You'll have a lot of fun with that setup.
Monks need a rework to help with powercreep. As for an aaracokra build, subsoil monk. Flying and a ranged ki attack? Perfect
I make a way of shadow orc.
Wait you get 4 skills ? I thought you only get to pick two
Yay! monks are cool
I literally just made this exact build before I watched this video shout out too you I’ll give a sub
GRUNKEN MASTER
You lost me at aaracorka. There is a reason they aren't allowed in Adventurers League and most homebrew games. Flight @ level 1 is super OP. Heck, non concentration flight is OP at most levels which is why sorcerers and such get it at level 14+. Any build that utilizes the birdfolk is cheesy, IMO.
Adventures League is kinda terrible.
Most DMs who run it should probably just play Warhammer and envy the guy with the more expressive better painted set.
Would be easier to follow your build if you edited the video to showcase the character sheet and zoom in on whatever you're talking about.
That would have been a clearer way of doing these but I've also seen that these optimized build videos are redundant and since there is no one perfect build I discontinued this type of video.
Boo monks, how about top 5 optimized multiclass builds? 😇
Here's a few I've been pondering
Twilight domain + shadow monk
Light domain w radiant sunsoul
Forge Domain with School of Transmutation
BugBears get reach + sneak attack
Dragon borne get a breath weapon
Lizardfolk, saytr, and others get natural weapons and movement and whatnot.
Kalishtar and a few others get telepathic of sorts
And lizards, Kenku, and Dwarfs can all pretty much craft stuff.
Show Some gameplay at least.
Unarmored movement increases the fly speed as well. It increases any movement speed.
Thank you for this info I will be using this.