From temples to street rats, here are the best ways to start playing a Monk.
But when it comes to Dungeons & Dragons, some subclasses produce better monks than others.
Special Abilities
Elemental Burst - spend 2 ki points to create an elemental explosion.
Good Against
Mob combatants.
The warrior of the elements subclass provides new monks with the ability to infuse their damage with elemental magic.
This subclass is great for both melee combat, as most monks are, and creating AoE against enemies.
Plus, you never know when you’re going to come across a monster with a specific elemental vulnerability.
Exploiting this by transforming the damage of your unarmed strikes can prove invaluable.
9Warrior Of Shadow
Warrior of Shadow
Melee Damage
Teleportation and stealth.
Can cast Darkness at third level.
The key difference between a rogue and a shadow monk though comes in the form of their teleportation abilities.
Incoming enemy elemental damage.
This turns their Ki into another version of themselves, astrally projecting to help them fight in battle.
Learn how to build a Warrior Of The Elements Monk in D&D!
you’re able to summon your astral self to stand as a distraction or help you fight.
Warrior of the Elements by Katerina Ladon.
These Monks are also experts at handy abilities related to herbalism skills.
High-damage enemies and AoE damage.
You gain other healing abilities as you level up, including the ability to cure players of conditions.
Warrior of the Elements by Katerina Ladon.
That doesn’t mean you’ll be sacrificing damage, though.
Draconic Disciple, a third-level draconic Ki ability, is just an introduction to your character’s power.
Flying or floating enemies.
Warrior of Shadow by Nathaniel Himawan.
Roll a six-sided die to determine how you were inspired to tie your Ki powers to draconic powers.
Sun Shield, a nice defensive spell, and a ranged attack with Radiant Sun Bolt.
One of the monk’s most prominent weaknesses is that it is almost exclusively a melee class.
Dragonborn Monk of the Astral Self via Wizards of the Coast
The way of the sun soul gets around this is by turning monks into ranged blasters.
Blast your enemies using your inner soul as this potent monk subclass.
Choose extra weapon proficiencies and deal extra damage.
Warrior of Mercy by Olivier Bernard.
Wholeness of Body, a safe alternative to healing in combat.
Crowds or defensive enemies.
Your Flurry of Blows attacks can apply effects and conditions to enemies like Addle, Push, or Topple.
A Martial Artist by Joshua Raphael
This ability lets you create imperceptible vibrations that can attack foes days after initial combat.
Mastery of Death, in which your Ki can also function as hit points.
Crowds and low-HP enemies.
Way of the Sun Soul Monk via Wizards of the Coast
Become one with your chosen weapon by following the Way of the Kensei.
1Way Of The Drunken Master
Way Of The Drunken Master
Fun roleplay flavor.
The ability to eliminate disadvantage.
Way of the Kensei Monk via Wizards of the Coast
Others increase your ability to fight multiple enemies at once.
Overall, this subclass works well, augmenting and improving your base monk abilities.
A cheap way to eliminate it ties together an already great subclass.
Warrior of the Open Hand by Katerina Ladon.
Ki-Fueled Strikes For Tasha’s Cauldron to Everything By Sam Keiser
Tiefling Drunken Master via Wizards of the Coast
