Hey folks! I love a challenge, so when I saw people on multiple sites saying that the Gauntlet couldn't be cleared by a martial, I just *had* to give it a try with the class many regard as the weakest one. And of course, my first step was to make sure she wasn't a red shirt and give her a backstory and a name: Sharlia "Sharkmeat" Wheatreaper, the orphan who was rescued from a sahuagin raid long ago to train at the matchlock monastery. It occurred to me that I could have done something like, say, pick a swimming race or use Shape the Flowing River to abuse the first encounter, but I really wanted to present more generally applicable Monk tactics rather than "building to the test." Same deal for deciding to defend the sidekicks rather than just kite. But what do you think? Will Sharlia be sharkmeat, or cut the aberrant forces down like reaping wheat?
Personally, I don't think she'll last through the first map. I don't know how you'll deal with the number of enemies on that map plus the arena filling with water. (Doubly so if your gun can't shoot from within water, though you can run on it briefly) Still, I'm up for a good show. Godspeed to you.
I would LOVE to see more collabs with Ludic. I think his usual content of “not optimized but versatile while still effective” is very unique amongst the character-building content creators.
The first encounter is going to be the biggest threat as there are just so many enemies and they have no AoE attacks. If they can get through that then it’s just a matter of conserving their ki so they don’t run out before the end.
I thought lack of AoE was not possible too, but the last run by Bilbron proved me wrong. The big question is if the Spellcaster sidekick can cast Wall of Stone or not.
@@Ox9707 they got speed and range . They could outpace and kite . The whole idea of keeping the side kicks alive however, that’s going out the window at the first fight
I am incredibly hyped to see this one. You've been hyping this run a lot and while Bilbron had the rules in favor for him this one seems to be against the player (Ludic). I cannot wait to see an intelligent player pilot a gunk against the gauntlet.
Very excited to see this in action. It's hard for me to imagine how they will achieve all 3 goals, but then the HexStalker made it through and the gunk is supposed to be good as well
Clever shape water usage and good luck could make the first fight possible, but I think the final nail in the coffin would be the assassin showing up at the church. The gunk might have evasion, but the sidekicks don't, and the wolf will destroy them while the assassin takes advantage of ludic's low ac.
To be honest, I don't quite have faith in this build to handle the first encounter. That being said, I would assume this build would be accompanied by the spellcaster sidekick, whom we haven't really seen in action yet, and something tells me a well-placed hypnotic pattern could at the very least buy this build a couple more rounds to strut it's stuff and try to overcome the massive numbers disadvantage the first encounter of the gauntlet imposes. Even then, I just don't think there's enough AoE damage here. I'm not a betting man, but I would wager this build will make it close to beating the first encounter, but will eventually go the way of Barb and find itself alone, surrounded, and ripe for the picking.
I think protecting the sidekicks is going to be where the build fails, if it does. The sidekicks are just too difficult to save using tactical gameplay, unless they literally do nothing.
I wish the best , but your already playing a monk. There’s absolutely no way your getting through this with no casualties. If ludic actually pulls this off, I’m subscribing to everything he has
Very fascinating video, well done. As long as I've been in this hobby I've always played around with ideas of black powder and firearms in my fantasy campaigns, so I'm especially curious as to the outcome. Great production quality, too. Question, though: from 4:00 onward there are four female characters with firearms provided artistic reference for what you described. Where are those art pieces from? Thank you in advance if you see this. Again, excellent video.
Gunk was a big enough buff to the monk that they're no longer the worst class in the game. Indeed, with their guns they actually can dish out acceptable damage. Though the sidekicks essentially forcing the monk to abandon PWT is a major downside given how lackluster they are, so this is what I'll predict: With a little bit of support from the sidekick mage, they'll be able to slow down the enemies enough that a good few will be able to be picked off by the initial shots before the crew all get ganged up on and the water will flood the arena. Unless the trio are able to kite them off by going back the way they came in, in which case it would be an easy fight to clear. But with short rest sustain, it's likely they'll be able to make it the rest of the way, given that 4 hours means 3 short rests are available, and 4 major encounters (and 1 minor encounter) means that they'll be able to heal up between fights rather reliably. But every major fight runs the risk of wiping them out given the sheer volume of tough enemies available.
I’m planning to use a similar build in my next game but using a long bow since guns aren’t allowed. Weaker but at least I can play it Would you recommend mercy or shadow given I’m playing with actual people, but those heals could be super useful
This monk could maybe get past encounter 1 with stealth. I think the first martial attempt proves the first encounter is impossible without aoe options.
The mage was definitely the mvp for the first combat. So you’re not entirely wrong haha, ludic used their resources in a great way. Those fireballs covered the weaknesses nicely
Surprised to see Aberrant Dragonmark over Fighting Initiate: Archery Style. I don't think the 1x shield and extra con is worth it over a +2 to hit on all of your sharpshooter shots.
Aberrant Dragonmark will give me 3 shields rather than just 1 (if I get 2 short rests), and some temp HP or extra damage, on top of that Con bump. That said, Fighting Initiate's a good choice! Definitely one worth considering to save you some ki on Focused Aim. If considering a build for a full game, taking FS also gives you the flexibility to take Fighting Style: Unarmed at low levels, then swap it out for Archery later. An FS: Unarmed Mercy Monk at level 3 can burst for 3d8+1d4+Wis+Dex*3 damage (So... around 30) with no accuracy penalty.
So it seems that Gunk is considered stronger than crossbow expert sharpshooter fighter. Especially shadow. Why exactly is this? Is it because of ki-fueled attack?
basically it comes down to the wording for dedicated weapon. A musket is 1d12. The closest crossbow you could take is light and that is only 1d8 which on average is about 2 points less in damage. So looking at the run i dont think it is a huge factor and the crossbow might be viable if not as strong
Don't know why Gunk would be better than Crossbow Expert Fighter but I would think the answer to "Why?" probably is Focused Aim 🤔 Focus Aim allows you to use Ki-Fueled Attack with Range Weapons. Ki-Fueled Attacks would still work with Melee Weapon like Longsword thanks to Stunning Strike. But yes, Gunk works thanks to combination of Gunner feat, Focus Aim and Ki-Fueled Attack. Crossbow Expert Sharpshooter Fighter using Hand Crossbow has better baseline 18,38 dpr / + Shaprshooter 25,5 dpr with no resourse cost Compared to Shadow Step Gunk baseline 17,21 dpr / + Sharpshooter 20,59 dpr with no resource cost Focus Aim 1Ki Gunk is 20,22 dpr / + Sharpshooter 24,74 dpr which is just behind our Fighter. Shadow Gunk offers bit more. You will always have good Mobility from Unarmored Movement so enemies will most of the time not reach you. Shadow Step is best Disengage tool when you can use it. Just like Misty Step but not in Bright Light, giving you advantage on next attack and without resource cost. Being able to Cast Spells and Attack on same turn is good (Way of Shadow spells + Ki-Fueled Attack) Pass without Trace is probably the best spell in the game. When you Surprise enemies in combat any party member going first basically has Action Surge but Better. Access to Devil's Sight trough Edlritch Adept (if DM allows) or multi classing few levels Warlock is extremely strong. Darkness + Devil's Sight = Advantage on range attacks, Disadvantage on enemies attacks and some spells can't target you because they can't see you! You also have Deflect Missile against range attacks while being at range. The biggest downside probably is the limited Ki pool you have. at level 5 casting pass without trace you can use 3 ki in combat at most and you want to spend 1 ki on attack to use Ki-fueled Attack.
I think your DPR is going to be pretty low, and hands of harm are going to trick you into going into melee where your mobility and kiting is the major draw of this build. I think you'll be lucky to get out of the first arena unless the DM lets you do some pretty creative mobility.
The real question is how did she get to that level? I mean, I am sure I would have died in my (or any harsh) campaign on the way up to level 5 without DM assistance and custom magic items. I wonder what the level 4 and 5 gauntlet would like like for this character.
Many optimizers claim levels 1-5 are the strong levels for a monk. A ranged combatant shouldn’t have a ton of issues staying alive during those levels - especially with healing.
My take: Monks at level 1 have it rough. Unless you rolled high on stats, a level 1 Monk is essentially a Dex Fighter with fewer HP and no Second Wind. By level 5 you're a bit better off, as you'll have 3-4 attacks, a mini-smite, Stunning Strike, Deflect Missiles, some mobility, KFA, Focused Aim, Sharpshooter, and flexible range. Gotta make those 5 ki count, though, as you don't have a lot of wiggle room for mis-spent resources. Monks are quite squishy at lower levels (since their defensive features are regrettably backloaded), but playing at range helps. You can kite many of the melee monsters, and deflect missiles on ranged weapon attacks (not ranged spell attacks, though). Mobility will also make you better able to afford dropping prone on purpose (which will inflict Disadvantage on ranged attacks). Make sure to take advantage of cover like you're playing XCOM, too. If you're up against one of those pesky spellcasting threats early on, it may be worth it to try to all-in them with Stunning Strike, if you can't put meaningful cover between yourself and them. When you hit level 6, the Mercy Monk's defenses get a fair bit more well-rounded because of their ability to inflict Disadvantage without a save (on anything that isn't immune to poison) and cure several status effects (while still firing with KFA). Then Evasion and Stillness at 7, poison immunity at 10, Flurry of Healing at 11, Diamond Mind at 14, Empty Body at 18... like I said, their defenses are backloaded.
@@cmccbuilds8229 im still kinda confused, gunner feat gives you proficiency, and firearms still aren’t martial weapons (dedicated weapon specifies that the weapon must be simple or martial)
@@cmccbuilds8229I may be mistaken, if you go to the item description of the musket on dndbeyond it says ‘firearms ranged weapon’, wheras for any other martial weapon it’ll say ‘martial ranged/melee weapon’. Then again, dndbeyond isn’t perfect
@@cmccbuilds8229 this may be wrong, but on the dndbeyond page for musket it says ‘firearms ranged weapon’ whereas on the page for other martial weapons it says ‘martial ranged/melee weapon’. Also, there’s no reference to them being martial weapons in the DMG. Was there a sage advice ruling or something that says they are?
The real challenge of the gauntlet is whether you get an adversarial DM trying his best to kill the PC or you get a cooperative DM being lenient and even helpful toward the PC.
While this build is cool, I don't really see it going anywhere unless the DM is very, very cooperative. The monk has one of the biggest problems - no AoE damage. And this gauntlet is pretty much either AoE, or a boatload of control and decent single-target, neither of which the monk has. He has to HEAVILY rely on healing, which isn't really very good or viable.
