I was thinking something that takes every class. Everyone knows builds that take every class are bad, but I'd like to see what Colby, the master multi-classer, could do with it
@@40Found there's not enough room to actually turn that into a build i think, if the game had 4 or 5 classes you could do something in 20 levels, but with the amount we have, it's just 1 or 2 levels each, and maybe one main class with a couple more levels.
Been looking forward to this! (Edit: You can get longsword proficiency with half-elf! Though it's probably not worth it since you get it anyways eventually)
I think you should have mentioned that the half-elf does allow you half elf weapon training which does allow you to get along sword without moving away from half elf
@@GunnarWahl I checked a bit and think I was the first. But about 4 others said it after me. So there's a few of us that caught that possibility. At low levels a 7.0 to 13% bump in dpr is nothing to scoff at. Assuming best case scenario and burning all resources really hides that fact.
Shadar-Kai feels like a much stronger Choice... They're still Elves so Elven Accuracy should apply, they gain any two proficiencies (picked each rest), the Teleport (and Resist all) is amazing, and Resistance Necrotic... All of this feels like a Bargain for 1 Ability Point.
@@DnDDeepDive Yes. Very evil. Giving you a sword that did up to 8x the damage was definitely part of an elaborate scheme to turn you into a thrall of the Shadowfell. 100% checks out.
You're now getting double view hours from me: once to ASMR me to sleep, and a second for when I'm awake enough to hear your ideas. Thanks for both, mate.
I really like this build, not a combination I would've thought to do given how MAD it is. I think instead of an Open Hand monk I would personally go with a Kensei Monk though, making the Longsword a Kensei weapon. You can still use the Bladesinger's extra attack cantrip to use Booming Blade (or Green Flame Blade) and make your other attack an unarmed strike to use your Agile Parry to gain +2 to your AC to make you even harder to hit, as all it requires is you make an unarmed attack while holding a kensei weapon (with the build in this video the max AC would be 33). Probably wouldn't use their Deft Strike feature much unless I crit and had ki points to spare, but spending 3 Ki Points at level 11 to use Sharpen the Blade and make my Kensei weapon a +3 weapon if I don't already have a magic weapon with a numbers bonus sounds like a nice bonus to hit and damage. Thoughts?
How convenient, I'm sitting here with a blank character sheet, a twinkle in my eye and spacing out on what to design when suddenly a wild Colby appears! Let's get cracking! Thinking about a straight up human for the MAD issue, because we all know that Michelle Yeoh is, in fact a bladesinger monk. You all saw Crouching Tiger, tell me I'm wrong! Now having watched the whole video, I think I'm partial to BS 14/Kensei 6
39:40 the speed debuff is especially handy if you combined it with the open hand push. If the enemy has a base 30 ft move speed you can attack, flurry of blows, move them 15 ft away and they lose 10 ft of movement so they only have 5 ft after getting back to you which you can move a cool 10 ft away after you knock them back
thank god you exist. I cant stand intentively listening to a lectures worth (a real long one at that) on dnd optimization where I have to take my own notes.
It has begun - I'm now at the point where I've started experimenting with the same kind of character, before the next video is even announced, as if by prophecy. Looking forward to this, for a professional opinion!
It's no Bladesinger 3.0 but this will do. I have always wanted to try a build like this but I never tried since it was so MAD. The AC potential is nuts if you can manage to get the stats for it.
This is one of the first concepts I ever made before I understood how important con was. It's the reason I started to appreciate wizard because it showed me the value of versatility (even if almost all their subclasses are practically identical)
For a Shadow Blade character…what about a Bladesinger with a two level dip into Twilight Cleric? With a Half elf and Elven Accuracy. That would put you into dim light every combat
Also a warlock or the Eldritch feat for the Devils sight for the awesome Dark vision that works in magical darkness. Tho admittedly not as needed with the Twilight Cleric dip
Would a belt that store’s kitchen points be op? Martial artists famously advance from white to black belt in the Japanese or Korean arts. Storing a few points would be godsend for monks. Requiring attunment seems reasonable. Part of the reason that monks seem underpowered is that so many magic items don’t work for monks. The barrier tattoo comes immediately to mind.
@@shishkabobby it basically gives you a bonus to the save DC of ki point features and you can use an action to regain one roll of your martial arts dice as ki, once per long rest
Fantastic as usual. Suggestion for a new build: Echo Knight Rogue. I can't shake the idea that there has to be a way to combine these to get good sustained damage, excellent mobility and lots of out of combat utility.
I humbly present the Hollow Knight. Echo Knight and Phantom Rogue. The fact that your echo can move on its own lets you take advantage of Steady Aim, which normally requires all your movement and a bonus action, while still allowing you to attack targets you can't reach. Consider taking a little Shadow Sorcerer or a feat to get Green Flameblade and/or Booming Blade (and a spell or two while we're at it). You'll obviously get some great theme synergy from these subclasses, and you'll do fantastic damage, especially with 2 targets, as well as having a huge amount of utility for in-and-out-of combat.
I also humbly present the Soul Warrior. Echo Knight + Soul Knife. Sneak into fortified strongholds, a Nobleman's High Party or even a King's Castle with no weapons. Because you are the weapon. Echo is a perfect way of giving you Sneak Attack Opportunities, while having the Double ways of teleportation. Your Echo scouts for you, can take hits for you, while you offer the utility of your Psychic talents. Be the Frontline AND the Backline. Soul knife Rogue (12) Echo Knight Fighter (8) is the best balance I found.
I had a friend in my campaign who was playing their wizard as more of a martial class, and we'd joked that "her character really just wanted to be a monk". Good to know she *technically can.*
Iam Going With 1 Level Of Monk, For Its Wisdom Bump To AC & 19 Level's Of Bladesinger... My AC Is: Mage Armor- 13 Dex- +4, Wisdom- +3 For A 20 AC, Then +5 With The Shield Spell & +4 When Iam Bladesinging...
Hey Colby, I wanted to thank you for the idea outline inspiration and wanted to offer you what I came up with. I too really like Bladesinger but as much as I love monk (I am actually a Shaolin Kung fu teacher irl) I personally love the bloodhunter class. I know you've only done the one video on bloodhunter, but Mutant really does pair fantastically with bladesinger. You're a bit less MAD than with monk and the mutagens to bump Int & Dex are fantastic. Check it out sometime when you're able. Also thought you'd like this... I dm and am both a little homebrew happy and super anti-feels bad when it come to abilities that don't stack... so I've got an Aarakocra Monk/Bloodhunter Lycan with some pretty sweet unarmed strike abilities since I allow the damage die bumps to stack, and it's not broken, even a little, he actually goes down the most in combat
You did it!!! For my take on monk/bladesinger, the Way of Shadow might be my favorite (which is also a fun flavor win with the Shadar-Kai). You can get some minor-to-good utility/control options before you actually get wizard spells, with Darkness and Silence being great tools in certain situations, Darkvision.. is an option, and Pass without trace being a very solid exploration spell. Of course, they require ki-points to use, but when you're still in those early levels, I think the extra utility might outweigh pure damage from a flurry of blows [at my table]. I also swapped the Elven Accuracy for Devil's Sight as a feat, which is honestly just leaning very hard into the Shadow Dancer theme. And, it would come after the bladesinging, but the 11th level Cloak of Shadows is just so cool. Free, nearly permanent, out of combat invisibility is not nothing, and wizard spells can help facilitate that feature even more, if you want to sacrifice a few of the damage or control spell slots to make it a little less free.
I began playing a blade singer monk in my game too. Gonna watch this video to see if you've managed to fix the problems I was having with this multiclass. Currently only made it to level 5 so just barely got monk 3/wizard 2 for both subclasses
My favorite way to use shadow blade, and my favorite use of the bladesinger's extra attack, is two weapon fighting. You cast Shadow blade, hold it in one hand, while holding a short sword, in the other hand. You attack once with the shadow blade, you cast booming blade with a short sword, and you can attack again with the shadow blade. Because 5E doesn't use main hand and off hand, any attack you make with either of the weapons you hold can be however you want.
This is funny timing - I was looking into building a Taoist Bladesinger. Probably straight classed and definitely not a bladesinger/monk in terms of mechanics, but sort of backstory and personality
I knew it was only a matter of time before the Bladesinger returned. The return of the king! So happy to see another build and great job as always Colby!
I know you did a grappler monk a while back, but I would love to see your thoughts on a grappling character who can also put down an AOE concentration spell that they can hold their enemy in.
Love D&D, martial arts, magic, and fighting ghosts? Also like clubbing kids like the seals we all know they are? Here’s the build for you! 🤣🤣🤣 Just teasing, that moment was too hilarious! ❤️
Enlightened Fist was a dope prestige class in 3.5. When 5.5 comes out I hope they revamp the Monk and make a 1/3 Caster subclass for them like an Enlightened Fist
Sanctuary is really good on your support characters. As a paladin, I cast it on our wizard/cleric, who then cast shield of faith on the conjunction wizard and kept healing us thereafter.
The thing all DM has consider is it a fair balance between Classes as I have found over the last year how they hate it that they cannot have a god like character. Artificer is one of them me being a DM and I would not allow 2 things the Aritificer gets at level 3 wearing heavy armour and casting spells no. Building Arcane Armour no.
I know that this build is a bladesinger,so this won’t happen for a while, but I think it would be cool since you’ve done lots of separate bladesknger builds and it would assert bladesinger dominance
It was recently sage'd that as long as you do the requirement during your turn, you can do the bonus action any time, even before, say, the attack action. Edit: Apparently I remembered incorrectly, and I have no clue where I got that from.
Monk/Bladesinger is exactly how I built a Jedi for a Star Wars campaign using Mage Hand Press's "Dark Matter" expansion for 5E (the build uses literally no options from "Dark Matter"). Variant Human with the Telekinetic feat, four levels of Kensei, then switch to Bladesinger the rest of the way. Between my Monk abilities and Wizard spells I had the second-highest combat AC in the party: at level 9 I have a casual walking-around AC of 18, then Agile Parry, Blade Song, and Haste (or Fizban's Platinum Shield) boosts it to 25, and Shield bumps it up to 30 for the round. This isn't counting magic items. On top of that, I have Deflect Missiles, Patient Defense, Song of Defense, Blade Ward, and Mirror Image for additional defensive options. I'm almost more of a tank than the Artificer/Paladin, and I'm an extremely mobile melee monster. At this point, I _could_ switch back to Monk to improve my mobility and combat abilities, but I think I'll stay Wizard to strengthen my "Force Powers" (and combat spells like Steel Wind Strike and Tasha's Otherworldly Guise).
Finally catching up on the videos. Glad you were able to play a concept you've been wanting to play around with, in a one-shot, and it be fun for you. Hopefully you'll be able to some day replicate this build in PF2e and it be just as much fun.
Hey, Colby. I have a serious question: if you were to "create" a Monk subclass using existing subclass features of all the Monks at the appropriate level, what would they have? Maybe have a few Monk traditions for different party roles. I'm interested to hear what you come up with. Monks are my favourite class as well, I'm currently playing a Shadow Monk, Twilight Cleric, warforged cursed with lycanthropy.
Two songs by The Beatles and a fantastic character build, this couldn't be any better. I'm So Tired is on my insomnia playlist I understand that struggle
My second long lasting character in 5th edition was a Bladesinger/Drunken Master, and playing her was an absolute blast. Few things are better than moving 75 feet up walls while ignoring opportunity attacks, tanking with dodge and forcing enemies to attack each other, or if you are finally hit firing off shield. Was the only member of the party to walk out of the tomb of horrors unscathed.
In a certain way, this is a build that I have struggled a lot with making it work, and honestly, my best advice to make it work is... Forget about Wis. Yes, you need a 13 in Wisdom to Multiclass so have at least that, but beyond that, ignore it completely unless you are in a campaign where your DM really loves Wisdom saving throws. My personal build focused on being a skirmisher that could bounce between Fighting Styles of Pure Offense or Support Control. I also recommend as always, almost mandatory for my Monk Builds: Fighting Initiate (Unarmed Fighting) or take at least one level in Fighter. From Level 1 (or 2) you have a D8 Damage Die on your Unarmed Strikes, so essentially getting a viable Extra Attack from Level 1 due to your free Bonus Unarmed Strike. "But wait, Won't ignoring our Wis make our AC really trash?" That's why our friendly Wizard has a Handy little Spell called MAGE HAND. Mage Hand sets our AC as 13 + Dex. Adding Bladesong to that adds our intelligence. It's like having a 16 in Wisdom already. For 8 Hours. By doing that, the build gets manageable and less MAD overall. Variant Human (Unarmed Fighting) Dex 15 (+1) Int 14 Con 14 Wis 12 (+1) Cha 8 Str 8 Our AC at Level 3 (Wizard (2) / Monk (1) ) is: 13 + 3 + 2 = 18 This can be incremented with Shield in a pinch. Managing to get Dex 18 and Int 18 (or the Band of Intellect) gives us: 13 + 4 + 4 = 21 AC in Bladesong, and a possible 26 with Shield.
Haven't gotten to watch the video yet, but I just wanted to say I've been super excited about this since the lvl20 one-shot. I saw the char sheet in the description of that video and my mind exploded leaving me with but a single thought: genius!
Also, at high levels, the bladesinger cantrips that you can do as part of the attack action now with Bladesinger 6, are gonna be so useful once they get into the higher tiers of campaign.
I really appreciate your take on the martial vs the spellcasting aspects of the bladesinger 36:37. This is because the "you have wizard spells, why do something else" never seemed right to me because it would be like telling somebody who brings a barbarian or rogue to the table: "Hey, why didn't you just make a wizard?".
Hyped! I've been making my way through how to optimize the Monk subclasses on my channel and I'm excited to see how you handle this. Thoughts to follow soon!
Great build! If you've got the time/inclination I think my sun soul monk build video might be worth a view. But I'll give you the short version: -Shadow Blade is really good if your table allows ki fuelled strike as an optional feature. Because shadow blade qualifies as a monk weapon it can be used as a bonus action. It outdoes baseline by a good margin after turn 1, especially if in dim light/darkness -Mirror image synergizes brilliantly with monk because you can Dodge on the same turn you use it. This probably puts attacks against your illusions at disadvantage also. Illusion AC is 10+Dex also which again, great for a Monk build. -Personally I'd have built this a bit differently, sacrificing Wisdom so I could focus on Dex and int, using mage armor for the AC calculation. I'd also go with a monk subclass which doesn't rely as much on Wisdom. Kensai probably the best option as they can gain a +2 AC without resource cost for a really tanky build. Might make a good build video at some point 🙂
Im play fighter battlemaster (no multiclass) with unarmed fightimg style in next campaign and I plan on taking magic initiate druid to give him shillalegh (dm agreed that i can cast it on my fists, of course i would use strength for attacks instead of wisdom). I will rp him and his battlemaster techniques as monk in his vestments under which there is a layer of chain mail armor. Looks can be decieving. A seemingly defenseless man of clergy can bring the fury from the nine circles of hell if provoked.
DISCLAIMER this build idea has nothing to with a Bladesinger Monk. Continue reading if you want a highly sustainable high damage build. lvl 17 character (can come online as early as lvl 6, just not as efficient) Starting stats (PB): 8 str, 13 dex, 12 con, 14 int, 10 wis, 15 cha. race, Tashas custom origin: +2 cha +1 cha half feat (I prefer Fey Touched for Misty step, and get Hex for one free casting) Modified Stats: 8,13,12,14,10,18 Level's 01-06 Draconic Bloodline Sorc (This bolsters your low HP, also choose any fire ancestry) for class feat: "Elemental Affinity: Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that deals damage of the type associated with your draconic ancestry, you can add your Charisma modifier to one damage roll of that spell." This will be labled as "Cha 1" At lvl 04: +2 Cha, making it 20. Levels 07-12 Celestial Warlock for class feat: "Radiant Soul: Starting at 6th level, your link to the Celestial allows you to serve as a conduit for radiant energy. You have resistance to radiant damage, and when you cast a spell that deals radiant or fire damage, you can add your Charisma modifier to one radiant or fire damage roll of that spell against one of its targets." This will be labled as "Cha 2" At lvl 10: get the feat "Elemental Adapt: Fire" Levels 13-17 Alchemist Artificer for class feat: "Alchemical Savant: 5th-level Alchemist feature You've developed masterful command of magical chemicals, enhancing the healing and damage you create through them. Whenever you cast a spell using your alchemist’s supplies as the spellcasting focus, you gain a bonus to one roll of the spell. That roll must restore hit points or be a damage roll that deals acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage, and the bonus equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1)." At lvl 16: +2 Int, making it 16 Total Level: 17 (Assuming 16 Int, 20 Cha) Total Spellslots (long rest): 1st:4, 2nd:3, 3rd:3, 4th:2 Total Spellslots (short rest) 2 Total Cantrips Known: 10 Total Spells Known: 19 Damage done with Firebolt cantrip = Action: 4d10+5(cha 1)+5(cha 2)+3(int)+1d6(hex) Bonus Action (quickened spell): 4d10+5(cha 1)+5(cha 2)+3(int)+1d6(hex) Minimum damage done: 8+5+5+3+1+8+5+5+3+1 = 44 Average damage done: 20+5+5+3+3.5+20+5+5+3+3.5 = 73 Max damage done: 40+5+5+3+6+40+5+5+3+6=118 Resources spent = Sorc points (potentially unliminted) and 0 spell slots (You used your free casting of Hex that came with Fey Touched, and since it lasts 1 hour, with concentration and a bonus action to reapply) If you factor in quickening higher level spells using your 4th level spell slots (fireball for example), and casting Fire Bolt, assuming 3 creatures, you get the following potential damage: Action (Fire Bolt): 4d10+5(cha 1)+5(cha 2)+3(int)+1d6(hex) Bonus Action (Scorching Ray upcast to 4th level = 5 rays): 10d6+5(Cha 1)+5(Cha 2)+2(Int)+5d6(Hex, Necrotic) Minimum damage: 8+5+5+3+1+(firebolt) / 12+5+5+3+5 (Scorching Ray) = 52 Average damage: 20+5+5+3+3.5 (firebolt) / 35+5+5+3+17.5 (Scorching Ray) = 102 Max damage: 40+5+5+3+6 (firebolt) / 60+5+5+3+36 = 168 Resources used, Sorc points and Spell Slots Required: You must cast spells THROUGH alchemist tools at lvl 17. Also, this doesnt take into account AC. I dont know how you do that, so ya.
If Have A 4th Level Mage (Bladesinger) & I Take 1 Level Of Monk, Can I Still Use The Monk's UNARMORED DEFENSE Ability When I Cast MAGE ARMOR ??? *(MAGE ARMOR Is A Spell Effect & Not Actual Armor)* ???
"Weak WIS": talk with your DM about swapping any WIS mention for INT. Especially since you will be a wizard as well. No need for WIS if you don't use it in any spells or abilities, and it will be a weak point for you.
You can get a less-MAD and very similar build not reliant on magic items to have decent survivability by going Fighter 1 with Two-Weapon Fighting, into Bladesinger 8 using a scimitar+shadowblade to kinda make up for getting extra attack late, then taking fighter to lvl 4 and choosing battlemaster for trip attack+other dope maneuvers (BONUS: ACTION SURGE, BABY!). Trip attack is less uses/sr than stunning strike or open hand tech, but much better save DC that targets a less common save prof., can happen after your first attack of the round, and still improves DPR with a die that is also doubled during crits. From here, you can either take X levels in rogue for evasion, potential assassin bonus, and those sweet, sweet sneak attacks that can potentially pop off twice per round OR, if your DM isn't too strict about Extra Attack, taking fighter to 11 for 3 attacks per action, one of which can still be buffed with Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade. There's trade-offs and stuff, but it's easier to max your INT or CON and still get Elven Accuracy. Spirit Shroud can still take the place of Shadow Blade to net extra DPR and stave of enemy heals, but the loss of Stunning Strike is a big ouchie. I've been playing a swashbuckling pirate lizardfolk that's going down this path (currently lvl 9) and he's a BLAST. With lizardfolk's natural AC I can save a first level slot from not having to cast Mage Armor, potentially getting an extra use of shield or absorb elements for those pesky AoE spells or dragon breaths that threaten to break my concentration. Also, my DM is one of those cultured, enlightened gentlemen that agrees that feats should never have been given racial restrictions, so Elven Accuracy is available for me to take. Nice bonus: since we're dual wielding with this build, if you take the Dual Wielder feat, you get a +1 to AC when you have your two weapons in hand and can wield two rapiers if you wanna use Spirit Shroud instead of Shadow Blade. You can still pretend you're a spellcasting monk, too!
I would instead go Kensai Monk for the unarmed strike attack holding a Kensai Weapon for a +2 to AC. The magic item id look at thats less likely is a Staff of Power. This would be the ultimate weapon for this build. Makes your weapon attacks and damage increase slightly, and the biggie, is the +2 to AC and to saving throws, which would help make up for the lower Con score. The extra damage and spells are also a good addition. With a standing AC of 24 with this setup, and a first round of Action: Haste Bonus Action: Bladesong Hasted Action: Unarmed Strike, you would be putting your AC to 32 with the capacity to hit 37 with Shield. No staff would still be 35. Next Turn Booming Blade, Unarmed Strike, Quarter Staff Attack, Bonus Action Dodge your opponents gonna have a hard time hitting that 32 or 30 AC with Disadvantage on attacks. Probably putting out less damage, but youre gonna be very hard to hit, and if you can afford to grab Warcaster or maybe Mobile getting that extra booming blade damage might be easier to help make up for it. Could also be a little counter productive, and go sentinel to keep them locked into fighting your high AC self and futilely attack you.
I would've gone with Kensei monk for better defense along with longword proficiency. I would've also used the point buy [Str 9, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 8] to have averaged stats and taking half-elf to get +2 Dex, +1 Con & +1 Int. Then later levels when you have extra attack from bladesinger, you can make a cantrip booming blade attack and then an unarmed strike and be a balanced damage dealer with godly AC. It's a safer play but ofcourse carries less damage. Still love the video tho 👍
I played a similar build to this in a lvl 13 small game. Shadar-Kai (MMoM) 3 Shadow Monk (for PWT, not Darkness), 7 Bladesinger, and 3 Samurai. DM lets monk call their fists melee weapons. Fighting Spirit > Elven Accuracy > Haste led to a lot of fun. The intended feel was more of a wire-fu old martial arts movie.
I very desperately want to play a great-sword user who uses Spirit Shroud AND the Slasher feat. I want to have enemy speed absolutely gutted as he cleaves his way across a battlefield. Unfortunately, you can't get both of those things without being like, super late-game. Getting a third level spell and the spell slots to use it every fight takes around 6-8 full caster levels, but those full casters don't really get to use great-swords. Bladesong doesn't work with two-handed weapons, and Eldritch Knight/Paladin don't get the spell until levels 13/9 respectively. Wizards can get the spell at 5. So most of your gameplay would be either a standard martial role, or a standard mage to 5 then multiclass for martial weapons and extra attack, so minimum level 10ish. Eldritch Knight could go to 11 for 3 attacks, but then might as well just stick with it, since you'll get the spell in 2 levels, while multiclassing means 5 levels. Regardless of how you arrive at the build, you're still stuck with a character concept that only does what it set out to do at Tier 3. Hexblade Warlock might work best, as you get the spell AND extra attack by 5, but the lack of spell slots means it's pretty much all you can do. It's probably the main viable option for the character concept. At which point, why not just use an Eldritch Blast Warlock who knocks back and slows people at range to control the battlefield instead? I just want a fighter whose massive sword hamstrings everyone.
I think it would be interesting to see you salvage the battlerager barbarian from SCAG. The primary problem with it is that in order to utilize its abilities, you need spiked armor which interferes with other barbarian things. It’s abilities also do not scale Despite these downsides, it does provide a fairly unique gimmick of static damage during grapples. This has the potential of being able to use other features. May someone bring this subclass to light
So many people tend to say: "too much multiclassing is bad, it's only an optional feature, it doesn't make sense, etc. etc." My humble request for you, however, would be to build a character that multiclasses as much as possible with some or all of those restrictions: - don't be too mad (2 dump stats) - don't just multiclass into everything, have it fulfill a purpose (interacting abilities, spell slot progression, action economy, etc.) - have at least 3-4 classes by level 6 and at least 5-6 by level 9, so that tables at typical levels can use this character as intended by it's style - don't skip your attempts of explaining the story of the character just because "it's focused on multiclassing anyways", give it some custom class vibes (I don't care whether tank, burst, sustained, healer, or whatever) Optional/alternatively: a build that uses pbtpd (😋) features only or for the most part.
I built a high elf monk open hand 17 / Divination wizard 3 with the lucky feat and savage attacker its pretty decent on paper can't help thinking it would be better if I took more levels in Divination... Maybe get more then two portent dice...? Essentially if you roll high on your morning switch dice then you, stunning strike. Or if your roll low, make the enemy fail a save from one of your monk battle maneuvers... That was the basic idea. do with it as you may. It works in theory never got to play it level 20 PC so lol never gonna happen.... :(
Okay, this is weird. You posted a Battlefield Commander and I am playing a similar build. You post this, and another player in the same game is playing this build. *odd* Anyway, slightly different concept. Character is my brother so its a Fey Hobgoblin and they are playing a frontliner build using the Ki point expenditure for Dodge as a Bonus Action and the Bladesinger's Extra Attack. He grabbed Word of Radiance for group Melee combat and then play with Green Flame Blade or Booming Blade for lesser enemy targets. The guy is super hard to hit
Can you make a striker build who's survivability is reliant (or heavily augmented) by enemies not being able to catch/target them? Not necessarily all about AC, but also things like magic resistance, sustainable teleports, and possibly even able to catch or redirect incoming attacks? (Pairs well with tank builds, and possibly the M.C. Hammer song "U Can't Touch This")
Another racial option could be any race with natural weapons, think a Minotaur gladiator (to double down on the classical theme and a labyrinthine champion), or shifter, centaur or lizardfolk etc. As a monk you can use those natural weapons with agility instead of strength. Grab that Eldritch claw tattoo as a magic item. Less kungfu, more primal finesse. Be the monster you always wanted to be. Those using 5e Midgard from Kobold press should look up the spell Elemental Horns or Furious Hooves, kinda Shadow Blade but for horns'n'hooves.
I'm 4-5min into this video and I have to know... Did you LOVE Shang-Chi? Cause I loved that movie, it truly paid tribute to the movies of martial arts greats, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Ip man, etc. I LOVED IT! Lolol
Shout out to using Spirit Shroud. I had traded out some other spell for that when I went from lvl 8 to 9 with my Hexblade but hadn't actually had an opportunity to use it yet so my DM wasn't accustomed to dealing with it. We were in a boss fight where the boss Shapechanged into some sort of souped up troll monster with the intent of using the Troll's regeneration to drag the fight out into a battle of attrition. The Wizard trapped him in a Wall of Force bubble with me and I proceeded to ruin the entire encounter for the DM by preventing regeneration Every. Single. Round. until his Shapechange got dropped. I had also precast Armor of Agathys, and had popped Mirror Image on round one....and the Bard was healing me and/or put Heroism on me once Agathys was gone. I was taking a lot of hits but was really making the boss pay the price for it. It was a great fight for us, not so much for the boss. Teamwork +1. I'm also pretty sure my DM is not going to forget about Spirit Shroud from now on. Edit: Wall of Force bubble not Forcecage
Ascendant dragon is a better monk archetype to take, and it better fits the theme of a magic martial character- One of your attacks is a cantrip, followed by a blast of elemental energy, followed by 1-2 unarmed strikes :). Even though your blast of energy is 2d4, it is still a 20ft cone or 30ft line when you get it at third level.
If you just rely on mage armour and bladesong for AC, and take a monk subclass that doesn't need wis like kensai or drunk master, you could just leave wis at 13. I've always wanted to do a bladesinger with a 1 lvl monk dip to be a proper Gandalg staff wielding wizard with polearm master etc while still having decent AC. Wouldn't really be able to rely on stunning strike with such a low Wisdom, but if you are MC'ing into wizard you get a lot better shut down options than stunning strike anyway, like hold person.
I wonder if Drunken Master might have paired well with this build considering the importance of booming blade. If we’re using Flurry of Blows all the time anyway, we get a free disengage which makes booming blade more likely to proc the secondary damage. Yes, prone or pushing might be a little better, but a strength save against our kind of subpar wisdom is way less reliable. I think I’d prefer the free disengage.
Save or Die... also monk of the long death my fav.favorite. I would go monk 7 before wiz... evasion is way way to strong. Does the blade song int AC actually work with unarmored def as you can only calculate AC with one bonus on every other instance. For third lvl spells taking into account how much you love shadowblade why not use both SB and SShroud. With glyph.
I realize it's not optimal in most combats in terms of damage but I think it's worth mentioning Ashardalon's Stride as a fun level 3 Wizard spell to pick up. It synergizes really nicely with the Monk's already bonkers move speed and extra movement options while dealing a nice bit of damage on top. Could be good for any fights with tons of minions. You don't have to hit with an attack and there's no save so with your massive move speed, you can deal 1d6 to probably every enemy in a fight every round and then also position yourself wherever you want because there are no opportunity attacks. I haven't run the numbers but I would probably cast this for any fight in which there are more enemies than I have attacks (counting potential flurry of blows).
Hm, I kinda like Int more than Wis here, but if you could cap, that would have been a base ac of 20, a song ac of 25(23 for this build) and a shield ac of 30. With Int instead you would add to the save and damage, right? But trade the monk saves and permanent ac...
Issue is "Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In Combat, it rolls its own Initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't Attack, but it can take other Actions as normal." RAW your familiar rolls initiative at the start of combat meaning it probably isn't going to be granting you advantage when using the help action as your DEX is a lot higher than even a owl meaning you will be going well before it most of the time. Secondly Bracers of defense should always be 1 of your magic items on a monk.
thank you Colby for taking us through the essential elements of your collaboration one-shot build! it was a fantastic game. i think your build is a great concept but I really think you were struggling to convince yourself that taking 14 levels of monk to get diamond soul was worth it - you were giving the game away when you kept saying "hey, I get another ki point!" wouldn't it increase your power considerably to go 15 wizard / 5 monk and get 8th lvl spells on top of your basic monk abilities?
Monks get a bad wrap when people pick them apart by the numbers. Which not giving you any shit for the video it's great, and you did point out the utility and viability they have outside of combat as well. You won't be slacking in combat, but won't be the star. But you'll be pretty damn good at all the parts of the game outside of that, except maybe charisma. Great utility character, good for traps, tough spots, and intel checks and wisdom things. Also you won't be deadweight in combat because of the checks your good at, not gonna be the one who fails wisdom saves and gets charmed. Gonna survive like a rogue during dex ect ect.
