The Mercy Monk - D&D: Optimized #39
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- čas přidán 6. 08. 2024
- Does Mercy exist in this Dojo?
*Spoiler Warning*
Yes Sensei. Yes it does.
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Character Concept:(0:00)
Level 1:(11:26)
Levels 2-6:(16:11)
Levels 7-9:(34:38)
Levels 10-13:(54:30)
Levels 14-17:(1:01:42)
Final Thoughts:(1:08:48)
Math/Graph for this episode: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Master Nova Damage Comparison:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Thanks to LudicSavant for the amazing DPR calculator! forums.giantitp.com/showthrea...)
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Angevin 120 loop by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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Artist: incompetech.com/ - Zábava
Wait I am not the only one that loves Monks to death?
"The only thing I don't like about monks is how underpowered they are"
I feel you
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
I love the monk for all its utility! The pure monk is underpowered for damage at higher levels, but you would be hard pressed to say they are underpowered in tiers 1-2. I find that later tiers, the monk makes a good tank using high AC and a bonus action patient defense to give enemy disadvantage. With proficiency in all saves and at lv 18 resistance to basically all damage, the monk goes from dps in tiers 1-2 to solid tank in tiers 3-4. And a tank that can stun the BBEG!
Monks can be really dangerous, if they aren't the only frontliners in your party. Their job is to get in there and make the monsters life difficult. They are meant to debilitate the enemies not destroy them with damage. There are some tables where monks are the bane of the DM's existance.
@@fasterpet I agree as far as tiers 1 and 2 go
@@storyspren Love a good AD reference.
I knew your next build would be a mercy monk! I bet you know which build is next for me.
Ha ha, I've got a *strong* suspicion :)
I hope it involves clocks and sorcerers!
@@SilverKarlov Maaaaaybe
So did both of you make builds for each of the options on the vote just in case?
Oh yesss!! The hype is strong with this one!!
In past editions you could add your wis mod to your ki pool. That needs to be done.
If you could do it even just once a day like... Lemme see if I can put it in the rules style "When you finish a long rest you may add a number of additional ki point to your pool equal to your Wisdom Modifier." Something like that would be awesome also it'd make the 4 elements monk pretty cool, not sure if powerful but cool since you could use powers like water whip more often.
@Devin Cruz I love that idea. I think it would need to be written that the additional Ki does not replenish on a short rest. I assume that's how you meant it, and could be stated more succinctly. Just add one word: "...you may add a number of [Temporary] Ki points..." I'm not sure I like the sound of it, but that's what it is, and I think this appropriately addresses the pool's problems. Most monk "fixes" I've seen try to buff Ki in too many places. Those same people often understand that Stunning Strike is tricky to balance. Sooo, I don't understand why they still fall into the trap. Too much Ki, and SS becomes free, toxic--boring even. Too little, and you can end up feeling like a wet noodle. Perhaps worse, comparable to the rogue, who can do most of what your resource accomplishes for free. Not always. Luck will flourish and falter, but obviously that feeling of gloom and doom...The dark cloud overhead. Wondering if/when you'll get poured on. That has always stuck with the class. I differ. At the end of a turn, each missed stun is still an attack landed.
This long rest mechanic adds enough Ki that it cannot be abused, and not so little where you feel the illusion of choice. It also serves an equally important incentive of going for Wis over Dex. We overlook the fact that Wisdom is a high commodity in 5e. Few classes have reason to push for it, and monks certainly fill yet another role by gravitating toward it. Chances are you'll always have other martials on the team using Dex, creating considerable overlap. This optional ASI route is similar to the half caster deciding to further their casting stat. Which...doesn't usually happen, and that is just not a great design mold. Options for how you want to build your hybrids should be tough. That's when you're cooking with gas. This mechanic also can free you up to multiclass much more, and sooner than you normally would feel comfortable doing as a monk. Nobody. Nooobody multiclass dips into monk. Nobody feels good about multiclassing for long out of monk. The true CC power is that stunlock monks have on their players. The monk isn't locked in here with us. We're the ones locked in with The Monk. With this change, get that front loaded power. Get some of that weight squarely off the monk's shoulders. It's needed for growth potential. Reach that dynamic appeal. The class can't get the love it needs when it selfishly only fits into its own builds.
Colby: "I've never played a hexblade before"
Also Colby: (makes enough builds with hexblades for it to be a meme people point to in the comments)
I feel ya, character creation addiction is real!
Big diff between hexblade dips to make a build easier or stronger and actually *playing a hexblade* which entails going to 5 or higher with hexblade and pact of the blade generally
Related to the story explaining a character's multiclass, a friend of mine recently described the character classes as 'stat blocks' which really opened my eyes to creating more creative and diverse stories for my characters.
I actually love mercy monk a front line medic.
A tertiary healer that offloads the cleric’s responsibility and movement choices, so they holy man doesn’t need to engage in the grimness of battlefield triage.
Add in peace cleric, and the channel divinity heal goes bonkers with you massive speed.
I hadn't thought about multiclassing that way before, treating it as it's own class without justifying it for story purposes, I like that.
I do think alot of people get caught up in which class the character has rather than who the character is. This bard can be an assassin without taking Rogue: Assassin
Been waiting for this! Love my mercy monk. I have the eldritch claw tattoo, which gives +1/+1 on unarmed attacks, and 1/day can make unarmed attacks from 15ft away with an extra d6 force damage for one minute. So RAW, I can use hands of healing 1/turn with flurry of blows from 15ft away as it replaces an unarmed strike (which also is a better version of lesser restoration) and the extra d6 damage on the other three hits synergizes so well. Also such cool flavour to have these spectral claws hovering over a black leather-clad monk with a plague doctor mask.
In one round with eldritch claw at level 6, 18 dex, 16 wis, for one ki point, you can potentially deal 8d6+20 (more with crits) to targets 15ft away. Unreal.
Feel free to change the graphic for your intro if you want, but I forbid you from changing the audio.
Its May the 4th and you started the show with "Well, *Hello There*". ^^
As a native Kansan, I highly approve of your choice of apparel
Your videos are amazing: virtually, no cuts or interruptions. This result of your preparation and effort makes it really enjoyable to watch your work. Great job.
"I prefer using my body" is right next to "might as well go naked" on the merch line.
lol! This merch is becoming increasingly salacious >.>
@@DnDDeepDive is d&d finally becoming what my parents warned me it would be???
@@DesignatedHealer lol!
@@DnDDeepDive IMO Colby if you decide to go with merch, here's another option to benefit members who join: discount on the merch. Since I'm an NBA fan like you, I'd be hyped for a D&D: O jersey. Bonus if it can be customized to have our name on the back.
@@DesignatedHealer depends on what your parents said. It's unlikely to actually teach you how to summon demons from the underworld, but it can stray into "adult" material really easily lol
Found your channel a few months ago and have been slowly making my way through your videos, loving each and every one I watch. I notice you where a Royals shirt in several of them and as a lifelong Royals fan myself it’s amazing to see another fan out there. Love this build and can’t wait to try it in my next one-shot!
Loved the build. Big fan of the shirt as well. Really appreciate the write ups as well. You do so much work and it is appreciated.
Thank you!
No one votes for Mercy Monk collab.
DDO: "FINE! I'll finish it myself!"
Like a true monk Colby has put the damage meters to the side and made a cool useful balanced character that plays well with others. Enlightenment achieved.
I used this video as a guideline for the first ever monk I've played and had a blast! Didn't end up multiclassing into warlock but still had an amazing moment where I was able to use my nova to burst down a Boss to low health in one turn. Thanks for sharing this video, I hope you have a great rest of your day :)
Colby great stuff as always man! Appreciate your take, and excited to know you've got a campaign on the way! All the best buddy 👍
I personally enjoy your explanations lorewise for the progression of your character. it's not that I use them but finding out how others think about different aspects of their characters adds to the pool of inspiration I have for my own character creation.
LOVE the shirt!!! And loving your builds and looking at some previous stuffs!
I hit the like button solely for the Using my Body comment.
;)
Finally it’s here!!! So excited!!! Cannot wait to see what you did for the Mercy Monk!!!
May the 4th, and we get anything other than a Psyknight Jedi build :’)
But for real, we really do need more optimized Monk discussion. Happy Tuesday!
Ooh! star wars fan too? May the 4th be with you! The bad batch is out! :)
The way I tend to think of hex/hexblade’s curse on a monk is that it is a solid ranged attack that only uses a bonus action. You curse someone you can’t quite reach on your turn, and that might deal 12-16 damage, just on your next turn.
Fun vid!
Agreed. its a ranged option while buffing any ranged weapons you might use.
Plus it will add essentially equivalent damage to using a single bonus action attack as well.
I really enjoy your character roleplay reasons for your optimised builds!
Thanks!
Thanks for the videos I really enjoy them
I had wished for your collaboration with treantmonk to be about monks, but here we go. And it’s perfect timing too! I have recently helped a friend to create a PC tabaxi mercy monk and we came up with a backstory so interesting, that he also became a mysterious traveling NSC in another campaign I DM.
So this will probably make for a great guide to improve him mechanically.
Every time you I watch a monk build I get so excited! ( plugglin along...I will get caught up eventually) I love monks so much. Everyone groans when I say I want to be a monk... I am so glad I am not the only one. Thank you!
Outstanding content. Congrats!
I thought I was crazy in my opinion that multiclassing can be thought of as a custom character class that doesn't require justification. I'm glad I'm not alone!
yup. being stuck in the classes flavor is a very myopic and restricting POV.
Another option for the Warlock choice could be to take 3 levels of Genie with pact of the chain. You do lose a fair bit without the hexblades curse, but you get once per turn prof as damage, and more importantly for a character who revolves around short rests, a once per day almost guaranteed short rest through asking your familiar to carry your vessel while you hop inside!
What if you added another metric, "Enemy Damage Reduction", and you calculated the % of damage you stopped an enemy or group of enemies from performing. For example, a stun completely stops damage, and its chance of doing so is its chance of success (so you could do an easy monster save, medium monster save, and hard monster save), if it has +8 to save, and you have a 16 DC, you reduce enemy to 65% (the chance they succeed the save). Just another possible interesting metric that could help builds like mercy stand out (you could quantify how much poison would reduce as well).
I would say that if stunning strike is resisted then there should be a 'half' effect, such as losing their movement and maybe bonus action until the end of your next turn. Which would mean they would have to choose whether to use their action to attack or move.
Or instead maybe put them into disadvantage for their next turns action.
The build is really nice, thanks for the monk love.
FINALLY. I have been waiting for this one.
Instead of picking a rapier for your dedicated weapon, you could go for a longsword instead, for a whooping +1 increase in damage when two-handing it (since it counts as a monk weapon, you can use DEX with it anyway)
I actually thought of this as I was uploading the video this morning :). It may only be 1, but if you're proficient there's no reason we shouldn't do this instead of a rapier :).
Plus the hexblade would actually have a blade then.
I love the idea of a multi class being its own class. I had a similar idea.
Way of the dragon monk
Shadow monk 7
Moon druid 10
Paladin 3
Use brown bear stats, but for rp and flavor make the wild shape a small dragon that scales with level.
Hahaha. The long awaited mercy monk..long awaited by Colby. :)
Glad you're coming around on burst my friend. Yeah the needler was awesome in the gauntlet.
Great that you finally bought into the unique class explaination for multiclassing.
By the way if you take superior technique, that 1d6 turns into 1d8 if you have the battlemaster subclass.
Personally, the only way i'd tweak this build, is i'd replace warlock with gloomstalker/fey wanderer/gloomstalker/hunter 3 or rogue 1 to minimize the clogged bonus action/mad asi while still pumping dmg. Or if you still want the charisma ability score, swords/whispers bard 3 or paladin 2 or genie 1.all of the above are more efficient sources of dmg without compromising your bonus action in earlier rounds.
Yes! Love the Titan Quest - style idea of just giving the build its own unique class name! Nailed it!
Monks are such a cool class! My friend is doing a one shot in a prison setting soon, and this video came at the prefect time to get the ideas churning. No/hard to get weapons seems the like perfect place to shine as a martial artist.
I'd love to see what you could do with something like a twilight cleric, going full throttle with one of the strongest subclasses in the game.
I watched about 10 of your videos for now and must say that this is the one that i enjoyed the most. You can see the love for the class and when at the fork you have gone monk and took mobile feat it was done with heart. If I would have a chance to play this the only thing I would change is take dueling from level one skip in the end the 4th fighter level for the second in lock. Trading an ASI for double spells and 2 invocations. Personally would go with devil sight for when the enemies might have magical darkness and spear to have a ranged option.
I voted for the Mercy Monk and am excited to see it being built.
Me too (voted and excited)
Thank you for this build! I'm definitely going to use it as a baseline to compare with. Just started playing a new campaign where we're adventuring as a family in icewinddale. Playing the mother stand-in as a way of mercy monk.
I'm mostly using the help action and poking at things at the moment. But I cannot wait in higher levels to land a hands of harm+stunning strike, then bonus action hunters mark. The momma bear follow up is going to be glorious!
(I'm planning on dipping ranger for fae wanderer to be able to face with WIS and guidance from druidic warrior.)
I'm playing a Dhampir Mercy Monk in my Curse of Strahd game, and I'm having a blast with him so far!
Every time a multiclass dip is taken.
Return to monk.
this is one of the best monk subclass out there. very strong on well in a tabaxi scent paws of heal and harms
Even though I've never played a monk the flavor of this subclass with the creepy masks and dealing necrotic damage is right up my alley. Another edit is that I wish there was a feat to add ki points as a monk sort of like how metamagic adept works.
So a half feat? +1 to your choice of stat and 2 or 3 ki points? It seems reasonable. Better at lower levels so not to unbalanced
@@davidhamer7820 Yeah something like that. Metamagic adept gives you two metamagic options to work with and 3 points total so maybe a feat that increases your dex or wisdom wcore by 1 and gives you 3 ki points. I mean it would be pointless to give to a non monk character, while as mm adept can be used with any caster but still something is better than nothing
If this feat were created, it would give an extra feature to non monks do monk stuff. It makes no sense to generate such a niche feat without a broader benefit. So it would give things like step of the wind and patient defense (or a new feature), but it would create better effects for monks. I guess it would not give DEX or WIS bonus. It's probably a hard feat to balance, but maybe putting some work on it, it could work.
My DM uses TPK Games' Fifth Edition Feats, which includes some class-specific feats. One of them is just "If you have Ki points, your Ki pool increases by 3".
@@mbjargvide That's a good one
This may be big. When researching Battle Master maneuvers, I found this: "Feinting Attack You can expend one superiority die and use a bonus action on your turn to feint, choosing one creature within 5 feet of you as your target. You have advantage on your next attack roll against that creature this turn. If that attack hits, add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll." Doesn't this invalidate the ruling that bonus attacks must come after all other actions?
that isnt a rule
if you have a bonus action that requires you to use an action (two weapon fighting, shield master, polearm master) then you use action and bonus action in a strict order, but there is nothing saying you cant apply hex with your bonus action before you use your action to attack to benefit from hex
Heyyy, let’s go!!! Gotta represent KC! Loved the episode, btw!
After seeing your Bladesinger, I have been trying to build a Kensei Monk / Sorcerer to use a shadow blade as a Kensei weapon and it seems like a really fun concept
Do you know if there are any builds he has done with Kensei ?
@@thellord9360 I believe he has done one recently. One with that concept I asked for, but multiclassing with warlock
@@guilherme4494 thanks, do you know the name of the video?
@@thellord9360 "The Shadow Blade Monk", I believe
I appreciate the comments about how multiclass is a way of making your own class. That's how classes felt in earlier editions. Some classes you couldn't take until level 9 (Dwarven Wall comes to mind). Plus, in 4th Edition, you had Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies that you picked at 11th and 22nd level.
agreed. it also allows you to be more creative with the background/lore/story/rp/theme of your character.
my current char (campaign on hiatus due to some players moving) is Bugbear Mercy monk 6 / Spore Druid 2. it works very well in burst and support. (my group doesn't have a dedicated healer so I can help a bit that way too) he wears a mushroom as a sort of Japanese straw hat. and when I got mercy I extended it down to be a plain white mask as well. the theming is strong. it may not be super meta but I took poisoner so my poison spray cantrip is resisted less often and so I can boost my burst damage more.
My general playstyle is if possible prebuff with symbiote and apply poison to my sword (dragonslayer shortsword) attack and most likely kill or at least massively hurt and debuff one enemy. then turn two. cast a support spell and hide. (I have nature's mantel druid magic item) then from there I'll punch the remainder of the turns. if my symbiote drops I can potentially stealth, reapply and come back in. it's very satisfying. plus I feel like this mysterious cryptid guardian of deep places... while also being friendly fluffy bigfoot. it's amusing. (the bugbear reach to have easier time attacking without triggering Opportunity attacks and reach allies easier is wonderful)
( a part of me wanted to go fighter 2 as well. but I really want the lvl 17 revive for theming)
(I should also mention that the Poisoner feat was "free" my dm gave it as a reward from an npc. basically spent down time to learn it)
I likely would not play a 3 or 4 multiclassed character but so many great ideas here - thank you so much. like you, I love monks but I got tired of waiting for it to catch up to other characters. The fighter really shores up the class versus just making it OP. like you noted, lots of us just "tone it down" and even just a fighter / monk is a nice upgrade.
my dm allows 3 so i wouldn't be able to play 4 class multiclass as well. he said he only would allow 4 class multiclass for tier 4 and we almost never play into tier 4. haha
Great video. Never stop peppering the Eddie Izzard quotes!
I literally cannot say the word "maneuver" without going there. That and squirrels :)
I don't comment much on youtube videos but you said that it helps for the algorithm, so just wana say your videos are really good 😁
First, thanks as always for the build and videos! A monk fighter is a great combination. You actually inspired another idea. I know you're not a fan subclass from alternate campaign worlds, but the idea of a Echo Knight monk seems like it could have amazing RP potential with a bit of reflavoring. Imagine a monk in combat putting his hands together in some form of meditation to summon an ghostly, astral/ethereal version of himself that would venture forth and attack his enemies for him.
CONS
The build would do a bit less burst damage than going Battlemaster.
You loose the option to get advantage from Trip, assuming you can get it.
PROS
It would build on the monk's mobility, essentially allowing them to teleport almost anywhere the Echo can go.
It could also give them the ability to make their many attacks from a range, using the Echo.
Anyway, just an idea inspired by your video. Thanks again.
@1:06:00 Note that any monk weapon you use automatically benefits from your martial arts die as a base. That means a level 20 monk with a dagger does 1d10 dmg per hit.
Also, an easier option would be to go cleric for the divine favor (only +1d4 per attack vs 1d6 but you dont have to move it as a bonus action making it good for sustained dmg) and eventually spirit shroud if taking higher levels. While you don't get the hexblade curse dmg, you can now dump cha and have much better con and wis stats. if you go domain of peace cleric, you can also use an extra 1d4 on one of your attacks to hit, or you can go nature cleric and get shilleleagh on a club or quarter staff to attack with wis (making it your primary stat for attacks, saves, and heals). Also makes dueling a reasonable choice not just for the dps boost. Perhaps not topping the nova rounds but could actually be a pretty good sustained damage build with a nova if needed.
10 months too late, but divine favor is a paladin only spell =D
I really like this build, but I'd argue that grabbing a longbow & arrows would be a better way to survive level 1. It would also let you strike an enemy that was too far away to hit throughout your career.
Told my dm about my character idea for a Mercy Monk who uses a step ladder as their monk weapon. One side of the ladder heals, while the other kills.
No one has seen or heard from my DM since and I'm starting to get worried.
lol
What are you doing step ladder
Let's go Royals! Love your videos, Colby.
Love the video. I did something akin to this except i went champion warrior. I found the higher crit chance out weighed to superiority dice. I do however understand this is a burst build.
I love to see the Monk builds because I definitely share your affinity for the class. I have a level 11 Drow Way of Shadow Monk that I'm currently playing that I'm planning on going Battle Master soon so I'm glad to hear you support the build idea. I definitely see some major similarities between my build and yours which is great because I was considering requesting a Monk that uses blind fighting and darkness to support their allies.
Some thoughts:
You didn't mention that stunned enemies automatically fail their STR and DEX saving throws when you were discussing your BM maneuvers. I think this adds major value to Trip Attack and makes Disarming Attack an obvious choice.
For my build, I won't be taking any levels in Warlock (Mostly because of my 8 CHA but also because it doesn't fit my character thematically) so I'll be taking the blind fighting style to make best use of the Darkness spell (which I get from Drow and Way of Shadow)
Fey Touched is a great feat that gives you +1 WIS and also allows you to pick up Bane for when you're not concentrating on something else to make it harder to resist your stunning strike so you can get more value from your Ki.
I'm hoping that my build will be a strong support but probably won't deal as much damage as yours. My goal is to weave through combat neutralizing the greatest threats by stunning, disarming, and tripping before leaving enemies behind for my party to finish off.
Anyway, great build and keep the Monk love flowing.
Thanks! Great point on the auto fail Str save for trip - assuming your target is still alive after your burst, would be nice to auto succeed on a trip and continue to get advantage.
I thought you go lvl 6 monk for the poison feature that would give advantage to the sunning strike! I’m doing a build that goes 6 mercy monk levels then Lucan blood Hunter. Great vid as always!
Algorithming here :)
(I liked the lore bits you threw while multiclassing, though)
I won't get rid of them completely, I just wanted to do something different for this guy :)
Monks are fun. My L7 monk can put out 52 DPR using dedicated longsword +1, Eldrich Claw tatoo that adds a d6 force die per hit and gives a 15ft reach for all melee attacks. Insignia of claws adds +1 to unarmed attacks. Combined with winged boots and cloak of displacement makes him a beast. My DM doesn't like that he has disadvantage against my 18 AC almost all the time. Keep up the good work!
I WAS JUST thinking about the Mercy Monk. 🙏
would love to see an optimized monk build in your upcoming campaign 👀
Cool chairs 😎 and cool video, thanks 😅 but lengthy maybe in the small talk. Building my first monk right now and taking a bit of a tanky spin on the mercy monk.
Our party’s mercy monk has a blood fury tattoo.
Freaking massive nova damage.
Magic tattoos are glorious.
Mine has an eldritch claw and 2 insignia of claws. The party only recently learned I could heal them...we previously had a divine soul sorcerer who wasn't pulling his weight so there were just no heals...ill heal if I have to that +3 hit/dam is just juicy though.
@@maxwellt.wiseman8570 Would that stack, though? Since it's the same effect twice?
Ok. So I wanna put this out there. I am so excited to try this build! Ever since I first saw the mercy Monk I knew I wanted to build one! Thank you. Also, weapons are for the weak. All I need is my paws of blinding fury! Oh yeah, my character I'm using for this build is an awakened fox. Just imagine a furry woodland fox drop kicking some. It's amazing.
I believe im understanding this right. The dhampire bite is a natural weapon and can therefore make unarmed strikes so we can use it for our bonus action attack. It'll scale off CON because monk states "you can use DEX instead of STR" but thats fine. We spend a Ki point at level 6 to inflict wounds and now we have a Vampire bite that deals (1d6+CON) + (1d6+WIS Necrotic) + (Poisoned condition) and that attack has advantage if we're under half health and can heal us. We can do this 6 times per short rest which is nice. Personally is choose to do this every turn over flurry of blows since poison is very nice to dish out.
Could take the poisoner feat to over come resistance and use our bonus action to poison our staff or maybe soak the rags we wrap over our fists whenever we're out of Ki points.
Mercy monk gets to choose a mask. The raven mask gives me the idea that we were a monk who studied at a temple of the raven queen and after dying she raised us as a Dhampire.
The monk class is at the mercy of this build!!! Plus the Preamble is Nova!!!!
Sick content as always Colby! Thank you so much. I'd love to see you do a collaboration with Bilbron over at Bilbron and Dragons. I think the collab videos are the future for the optimization community. The treantmonk collab was so good and now I just want more with Chris and other great content creators.
Also if you ever think about playing something like this I would highly recommend a Mercy Monk 14/ Gloomstalker 3/ Battle Master 3 build instead. Ranger is a lot friendlier on the stats than Hexblade and Hunter's Mark + Dread Ambush + Action Surge is some awesome burst potential (especially if your sneaky ass can set up HM before combat).
@@maxcoto9061 It's nice - I had already done a Monk/Ranger build though, and really didn't want to give up the Hexblade's Curse Damage (plus I can get there with only a single level) so I opted for Warlock this time. Definitely worth considering though!
@@DnDDeepDive I forgot about the Monger! Makes sense to diversify the monk builds. Only needing one level is definitely nice too. I mean how can you argue with Warblock?!? Lol. The edits and bloopers in this one were fantastic.
@@maxcoto9061 ha ha - thanks :)
@@DnDDeepDive Oh one more thing I forgot to mention. I loved what you said in the character concept portion about thinking about dips and multiclassing in a way that does not recognize them as distinct classes within a character's life. I find that way of thinking incredibly liberating when making characters.
Your average Sorcadin isn't wandering around the world saying "well I have two levels of Paladin so I can smite, and my X levels of sorcerer let me do this". They're just a person. With a skill set. Their life doesn't have to be broken down into paladin time and then sorcerer time. It's all just their life.
Once you start looking at classes like big bags of tools and let go of them as being sovereign entities I think you end up opening yourself up to a different level of freedom when it comes to realizing character concepts.
My dm: I’m just not seeing your paladin hexblade sorcerer from a lore perspective
Me: oh no, I’m playing the demigod class
Hey Colby! love the monk episode. I was thinking a optimized side kick/follower would be a great video in the future.
On the list!
Burst Damage builds are my favourite. I love my elven accuracy, sharpshooter, action surging, gloomstalker. Plus I like the story of an archer assassinating someone in the dead of night on a roof top from 300ft away.
Same. To be specific i like rhe alpha striking burst builds
Interesting pick of starting Fighter, had to think about it for a moment since I was thinking of Heavy Armor for some reason but that Unarmed Fighting delivers. However I feel like getting Monk 6 earlier would do wonders for encounters. Physician's Touch lets you cure a bunch of conditions and, more importantly, Poison enemies with NO SAVING THROW so if your fighting a dragon it doesn't even get the option of using Legendary Resistance while having a reduced chance of wrecking your party.
As for the discussion on multiclassing and explaining it in game. I think the best approach is both. I already roleplay downtime leveling up as either further training or researchetc. Also I think something people forget about Warlocks is they are literally in a pact with a patron, have that patrons ask things of Warlocks and these 'requests' don't necessarily need to be easy.
On top of everything else you're an Eddie Izzard fan too? You just keep getting better & better!
~18:32
At lvl 2, if you make your first attack with a quarterstaff (or any other weapon), you Martial Arts bonus action attack will only be d6(+str or dex)
You need a d10 weapon (which will also have to be a monk weapon via TCoE Dedicated Weapon optional feature) to make using any weapon worthwhile in combination with Unarmed Fighting + Martial Arts, and even then it's effectively a wash (1d10+1d6 averages the same as 2d8) in most circumstances.
So exited to watch an online campagne where players knows how to play, so refreshing XD
Looking forward to the game!
I wasn't actually sold until level 15. Being able to do all of that in one round is pretty amazing. Monk just isn't the class I'd play to do massive damage but being able to contribute so many things to a fight in one turn is a really good reason to roll one.
I completely agree on not feeling the need to justify every level you take on a multiclass build. I've always thought of it the way you described which is that I'm building the version of my character that makes sense to me. Now, of course, if you're taking some warlock, it's probably a good idea to work with you DM on the patron. :) But, for pretty much any other class, if you've got the stats to take them, go for it. I think we can sometimes get a little too caught up in the flavor of classes personally. We think the flavor of a class is part of the story (and it can be). But, what if I want to make my own flavor for my character and the classes can just be their mechanics that I use and combine for the flavor of character I'm going for?
Agreed. I look at classes as stat blocks or a suite of skills/spells/ to train in/study.
The name of the class you are describing is (at least in my circle) jokingly called "the Main Character." I always multiclass Monks, and I definitely prefer the whole "the build is the class" approach.
I love the idea of playing out a planned multiclass character as it's own unique custom name.
My idea for a Light Cleric 2 / Circle of Wildfire Druid would be called Child of Fire Druid. What would you name your favorite multiclass build?
I love this, I don't have an idea but my character who is a Summer Eladrin Light Cleric and our party's Wildfire Druid are close like siblings and Children of Fire could also be a cool combo name
Undead warlock with pact of the blade + conquest paladin = Dread-Knight. Death and fear follow the Dread-Knight like a hound on a leash gripped tight in their iron fist.
While they're not the strongest character ever I really enjoy the support you can give your party ♡ I think that can be a really underrated aspect
A little more DPR can be achieved with this build if you action surge and then hold your attack until just after your turn ends. Then once your turn ends make your two attacks then you can trigger hands of harm again.
I always feel the nerfs to astral selfs combat ability was unwarranted, it was a nice bump and it was in line with fighters and barbarians.
You have several options as a Wood Elf Half Elf, only one of which is the 35-foot move. I assume that that is the choice you made, although I would have chosen two more skills of my choice and kept the move at 30 feet.
You should just start with Dueling at the beginning. At level1, you would be doing more damage. At level 2 with only 1d6+2+4+1d4+4=16 damage with a short sword, as opposed to 2d8+8=17 with your unarmed attacks. At level 3 you can use Dedicated Weapon to make rapier a monk weapon, which would give you a 1d8+2+4 attack, plus a 1d4+4 attack, which would average 10.5+5.5=17 without a ki point, as opposed to 2d8+8=17. That will improve from level 5 onward with 2d8+12+1d6 +4=28.5 without using a ki point, as opposed to 3d8+12=25.5. You are giving up some damage at level 2 for more damage at level 5 plus.
Just a Suggestion, when you do a Burst damage build like this one, provide the sustained DPR for after the burst.
Another interesting build. I could see myself play it some time. I would probably take Warlock two though.
Another lover of monks! You've earned my subscription! Do you have any ideas on how to fix the base monk class? I'd definitely love to hear you compare your ideas to Treatmonk's homebrew fixes as well!
Thanks and welcome! tbh i haven't spent much. time theorycrafting. about it. I tend to agree with a lot of Chris's suggestions though. For me a lot would be solved with a few more ki points. Two per level might be too many, but maybe level + prof. bonus might. be a good place to start...
@@DnDDeepDive I like the idea of getting ki points equal to your level + prof. bonus. I think there was a mention of stunning strike/Fob being free for a number of times equal to prof. bonus too. Stuff like that I think could be a good step forward for sure. Here is to hoping that we see a reprint of the Monk class or some juicy optional features with this upcoming 'evolution of D&D'!
I think I may have figured out a decent monk build for you if you want to play a skirmisher.
It’s a Minotaur with 17 levels of monk way of mercy multiclassed and 3 levels of ranger for swarmkeeper.
It focuses around the use of the minataurs horns to gain access to piercing damage with your unarmed strike feature, and an early boated unarmed die of 1d6.
You spend at least 5 levels in monk to gain your subclass features, a feat for piercer to gain 18 in dexterity and boost your damage a bit, and gaining extra attack.
After this you take your pick on when to gain your 3 levels of ranger for swarm keeper. Canny gives you expertise in a skill of your choice and a language. Favored foe gives you a way to further increase your damage a bit without taking up your important bonus action for flurry of blows. 1d4 isn’t a lot of damage but it’s uses scale up well and becomes reliable. Your fighting style should be chosen carefully as you won’t get a chance to change it without further investment into ranger, I’d go blind fighting. Prime evil awareness gives you an extra spell to cast for utility without taking up your spell slots.
Gathered swarm gives you quite a bit of versatility with your options and kind of feels a bit like the open hand monk styles. You get to choose between a chance at forced movement, and extra 1d6 piercing die(which synergizes with your horns/favored foe/and piercer feat), and moving yourself 5ft without provoking opportunity attacks (conserves your ki points)
Physicians touch allows for you to focus on dexterity and not so much on wisdom, and still effectively debuff a target. This may be much more reliable than stunning strike, and eventually you’ll be able to apply this without spending additional ki points during your flurry.
Your piercer feats effectiveness will scale up slightly as you level since your horns damage die will eventually rise to 1d8 at level 14 and again to 1d10 at level 20.
You also have an interesting combination available to you with your racial features, your swarm keeper features, and stunning strike. Xanathars gives rules on about how to adjudicate features that happen at the same time, basically saying that the player or dm can choose depending on if it’s a PC or NPC. On hit with the horns, you start by applying a stunning strike. If the creature fails and is stunned, they automatically fail dexterity and strength saving throws. So if a creature is stunned, they will auto fail the forced movement of your swarm keeper feature, and also automatically fail your racial ability hammering horns even though your strength is trash. This is potentially up to 25ft of forced movement, broken up in two instances. You can even push around corners if you break up your attack and use the swarmkeeper feature after the bonus action.
Note that although the swarmkeeper feature has no size limitations, hammering horns push is limited to creatures one size larger than you or smaller.
Ranger gives you access to fog cloud which goes well with your blind fighting style. It gives access to absorb elements which gives a limited increase to your survivability when subjected to elemental damage, and you can actually make use of the extra damage on your next melee attack. Hunters Mark can be a decent replacement for hex since your using natural weapons with the horns, and if your still concentrate on it from the last engagement you can use your bonus action to reapply it without spending another slot like hex.
I know you love monks, i have been thinking of a monk build that i would love your take on.
Its a half-orc of finding (ebberon) to get a hunter's mark on each of your punches, with possible fey touched from tasha's to get a 2nd free cast.
Could mean you didnt have to go in warlock for hex and get more ki points along the way. I also wanted the splash battlemaster fighter for manouvers like trip to get advantage, or the attacks as reaction manouvers. And possibly the sentinel feat to capitalise on getting more reaction attacks in too.
I like it - would miss out on Hexblade's Curse damage and Elven Accuracy, but would be worth considering.
Instead of Battle Master, consider Psi Warrior Fighter subclass. That gives you more initial bonus damage dice for your burst round, and they scale by proficiency rather than Fighter class level. (You also get cool Jedi abilities, which pairs well thematically.)
It'd funny hearing you talking about the multiclass story stuff. I dont even like telling my party what classes I am bx I feel like it ruins the rp bc I like to think of them as just their own special class and the multiclasses I take just make them into what they're really supposed to be.
Ditto. i just describe how i look like and say that i can cast spells (if the build can).
I totally agree with the multi class progression. I had a spore Druid/monk build but the goal was I was kenku named rot wing, my smell was my “wisdom armor” and my attacks where wisdom based. If I made it high enough, I’d have taken 1 lvl barbarian to take half damage with all those temp hp from spore. The point is his “class” was rotten one and wasn’t really a Druid. He was based off the carrion crows from dark souls 3’s painted world
I think even the "monk chi warrior" thing still falls under role-playing, its just like having a homebrew class that is completely legal. Still role-playing, just not by the straight lore of dnd I guess ? But I think the way you've done it in the past is pretty fun in terms of insight in opposition to that idea, and arguably simpler to implement for the DM in cases.
The way I'd fix Ki is to just add your wisdom mod to your point pool. This way you can get at least 3 more per short/ long rest, at early game. This doesn't matter too much at 10th level, even with max wisdom cause at that level you're gonna have a lot of options to choose from and you'll still go through them pretty fast.
I still feel like the big problem is that you can barely do anything besides stunning strike because it would be suboptimal to waste your action economy on anything else. Either WOTC create better contenders to compete with SS or rework SS entirely
@@yiklongtay6029 What if it was like sneak attack, one per turn, and the DC based on Dex? You wouldn't be able to burn through your Ki points to try and get that Stun off but it wouldn't cost you any resources.
Monks are arguably mad at the start, and you dialed it up to Eleven. Love the build, wish monks could hold their own against other classes.