My monk (way of the open hand) just hit level 11. He's feeling just a little one-trick-pony in fights. I'd like to give myself a little variety
I'm thinking of either taking Magic Initiate or 2 levels in either a Fighter or Cleric. I'm only considering those 2 for RP reasons.
I would really, really like to take 2 levels in a Tempest Cleric but I don't want to gimp myself since the DM throws really deadly fights at us. (I'd like to interject just how much I love my DM for both amazing RP AND insane fights).
Some searching on this forum and other places around the net seems to suggest that Monk is really best as a straight class. Any time I do find anything about monk/cleric they only seem to talk about Sun Soul+Cleric or Four Elements+Cleric.
So check me on this... For levels 12 & 13 take Cleric (Tempest). I can cast Bane to make it a wee bit easier to get stun. Or Shield of Faith for an AC boost. Plus I can offer some backup healing and utility (though by this point, is level 1 healing/utility really going to do anything?). At level 14 (Monk 12) take War Caster feat to make it easier to keep that Bane or Shield of Faith up.
The alternative thought is to just take Magic Initiate with either Bane or Shield of Faith (though now I'd have to choose so advice would be welcome) and ether take a couple of Fighter Levels or just just keep going straight Monk.
Everywhere I look it seems like a dip into Fighter is never a bad thing. But does that still hold true at this level? I admit I haven't looked into this options as much before I wrote this post. If I'm only ever using a staff or unarmed strikes would I really benefit from any of the fighting styles?
I don't think cleric is a good fit. You're not going to get much use out of any weapon/armor proficiencies you pick up and Wrath of the Storm isn't worth a second level.
You'd get much more mileage out of 1 level of Celestial Warlock in my opinion. If you can get 2 short rests in a day, you're able to use the 1st level slot 3 times, which is already the same as a 2nd level cleric. Hex will add 1d6 necrotic to each of your attacks and has a much longer duration than any 1st level cleric buff spell. As a bonus, you can give disadvantage to the enemy's Strength or Dexterity checks to make them easier to grapple. You also get 2d6 worth of free healing per day. Hexblade is another good option, since you'd get Shield and Hexblade's Curse will let you deal much more damage to 1 target once per day.
Other alternatives:
1 level in Divine Soul Sorcerer gets you cleric spells too, and Favored By The Gods lets you add 2d4 to a failed attack roll (meh) or saving throw (yay) once per short/long rest.
1 level of Fighter would let you pick up Dueling Fighting Style and add 2 damage to your one-handed monk weapon attacks (so up to 4 damage every turn.)
1 level of Rogue would give you 1d6 Sneak Attack, an extra skill proficiency, and Expertise (which is a great way to become amazing at grappling.)
Monks rely on too many ability scores (DEX, WIS, CON) to justify War Caster in my opinion. You're better off increasing your DEX and WIS and using Patient Defense as needed.
I don't have the stats for Warlock or Sorcerer (7 Cha).
However Dex and Wis are already at 20 so I can spare the ASI on Feats at this point. Though I suppose Con is a little low at 14. But would raising it at this point really make that much difference to the hit points?
Does a Staff or the Unarmed Strikes count for the Dueling Fighter Style or would I have to switch to a one handed weapon.
Does it make a difference in our opinion of tempest if I have the Staff of Thunder and Lightening? Maximize damage once per short rest.
I don't have the stats for Warlock or Sorcerer (7 Cha).
Though I suppose Con is a little low at 14. But would raising it at this point really make that much difference to the hit points?
Increasing Con always pays off as you gain the +1hp from a mod increase retroactively.
When your Constitution modifier increases by 1, your hit point maximum increases by 1 for each level you have attained. For example, if your 7th-level fighter has a Constitution score of 17, when he reaches 8th level, he increases his Constitution score from 17 to 18, thus increasing his Constitution modifier from +3 to +4. His hit point maximum then increases by 8.
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However Dex and Wis are already at 20 so I can spare the ASI on Feats at this point. Though I suppose Con is a little low at 14. But would raising it at this point really make that much difference to the hit points?
Sorry, I was assuming you used the standard array or point buy. You sure got lucky with your rolls if you have both DEX and WIS maxed out with only two ASIs.
Does a Staff or the Unarmed Strikes count for the Dueling Fighter Style or would I have to switch to a one handed weapon.
Unarmed strikes aren't weapons. A quarterstaff counts if you use it one-handed, and by now your Martial Arts damage die has caught up with the two-handed damage of a quarterstaff.
Does it make a difference in our opinion of tempest if I have the Staff of Thunder and Lightening? Maximize damage once per short rest.
That makes Destructive Wrath a lot more compelling, especially if your DM uses groups of monsters (instead of a single tough monster) frequently. Maximizing the damage is about the same as doing double damage.
Magic Initiate can be a great addition to a monk. Take one long range attack cantrip, one useful utility cantrip, and any useful first level spell. My way of the open hand monk went the wizard route. His intelligence wasn't the greatest, but it let him cast first level spells.
I think the Cleric dip will still provide value. From my limited experience, 5e is a game of small differences with whose impact varies based on context.
The difference between 18 dex and 20 dex is a +1 may mean a lot ofr your AC but not that much for an attack roll.
1d4 from a Guidance or Bless might be the thing your spellcaster ally needed to succeed on an Athletics check or Dex Save just to survive a scenario.
I've also thought about the Ritual Caster feat on a Monk. I thought it would add cool flavor and utility.
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I think the Cleric dip will still provide value. From my limited experience, 5e is a game of small differences with whose impact varies based on context.
The difference between 18 dex and 20 dex is a +1 may mean a lot ofr your AC but not that much for an attack roll.
1d4 from a Guidance or Bless might be the thing your spellcaster ally needed to succeed on an Athletics check or Dex Save just to survive a scenario.
I've also thought about the Ritual Caster feat on a Monk. I thought it would add cool flavor and utility.
The sub-optimal thing about 1 or 2 level casting dips for non casters is casting is an investment sort of thing, typically. You're talking early tier casting abilities at mid-tier play, so it seems a bit off at a glance. Like, "Hey bud, here's 8 HP back," when HP totals are gonna be what, 80-120 on average?
But Dom's get it right. Bless, Bane, and Shield of Faith are pretty much going to stay relevant. Plus, certain domains (eg. Tempest, Light), are front loaded with extra bonuses that scale pretty well off your Wisdom score, less your overall cleric level.
Way I see it, the two best options (purely from a crunchy numbers sort of perspective, mind) would be Tempest or Light, dependent on if you'd rather have better DPS or support capability.
So currently I am playing a monk(WotOH) 6/cleric(Life) 5. The levels of cleric come with some hefty cons and chief among them are the lack of Ki points. This is something I am willing to accept because I love a really versatile character and the concept is one that I have wanted to play for a long time. I only wish that the monk had a better healing subclass then what is offered in the UA. As is I am a very efficient combat medic.
In your case I suppose you can look at your last two monk levels and consider if they are worth trading for two cleric levels. Level 19 monk is a ASI and level 20 is Perfect Self. With your stats maybe the ASI would be worth passing up but Perfect Self is fairly awesome. I don't know that I could say Perfect Self would be worth trading out for a couple of 1st level cleric spells. I mean that is basically Quivering Palm every round. No, I don't think I would recommend it. Not unless you decided to take a deep dive and grab 9 levels of cleric. That much versatility might make for a ok swap but ultimately I think you're better with monk all the way.
I don't know that I could say Perfect Self would be worth trading out for a couple of 1st level cleric spells. I mean that is basically Quivering Palm every round. No, I don't think I would recommend it.
I don't know that I could say Perfect Self would be worth trading out for a couple of 1st level cleric spells. I mean that is basically Quivering Palm every round. No, I don't think I would recommend it.
Good point. Yeah, it would be once per fight if you burned through all your ki in your initial fight of the day AND had a fight before your next short rest but still I think the point is valid. It's a big trade for a couple of low level spells. A deeper dive into cleric might be an ok trade but 1-2 levels? Can't recommend it.
Does your group allow third party content? If so, have you considered taking Chakra? It would basically allow you to take both Shield of Faith and Bane as spells to cast for 2 Ki points, and you'd also get a cantrip, like Guidance or whatever fits your concept. I'm really low with my cleric, and I'm going to take Chakra with Healing Word and Blur; since I play a Tranquility Monk.
My Monk/Cleric isn’t the most optimal cleric for her level due to the cut to her spellcasting potential, but as a monk I feel she’s doing fine. Then again, I started earlier. For example, Spiritual Weapon has been a good alternative for my bonus action, but since you’re already high enough for your unarmed strike to be 1d8, three cleric levels to do the same with force damage (well, +Wis mod) probably doesn’t sound quite so enticing.
I will dip into a single Light Cleric once I reach Level 6. My character concept is a tranquility/pacifist monk, so the light special is really good. Also he will prepare mostly ritual spells, and it is perfect for his RP (he's a philosopher and wandering healer). Won't increase cleric after that tho; it's just my way of getting a lot of cantrips, rituals and the special.
I would go Druid instead. 2 levels gets you Circle of the Moon, which is worth considering in your case.
Take Frostbite, Primal Savagery for Cantrips. Consider Magic Stone in lieu of Frostbite, and Guidance instead of Primal Savagery if you won't RP potential.
Really, this comes down to how much you invested in Wis. High wis, Frostbite / Primal Savagery. Low wis, Frostbite / Guidance.
Haggle with your DM to make Primal Savagery an alternative to unarmed strikes. It's a melee spell attack, so it's not RAW but it might be worth haggling anyway. There's a sage advice column with Mike Mearls where using Shocking Grasp as a rogue might be able to proc sneak attack, but Mike Mearls is not Jeremy Crawford and your DM may veto that reference - but it's not a hard sell, I've been on both sides of this one and let it go, with just a few notes.
Guidance is just great, as long as you spam it on EVERYONE every chance you get out of combat.
Magic Stone is especially tricky. The spell requires you use a sling - you could easily haggle with your DM that you are enchanting a stone, and after it's enchanted, you're combining it with an attack action to fire it. Since you get 3 stones, you basically get 1d6 on your stones, which is like having a ranged version of your Monk weapons. Get yourself a sling, enchant your pebbles, and enjoy 1d4 + 1d6 + spell mod + dmg mod damage whenever you hit during your regular attack. Get to your nearest vendor and enchant that sling (or go hunting for one) and you might have some decent ranged damage.
Frostbite is excellent because disadvantage on the next attack is amazing, it can turn a potentially nasty hit into air, and you get some cold damage out of it.
Take Absorb Elements (for sure), Healing Word, and then one of your choice. Consider Longstrider, to make your speed even crazier, but to each their own.
You want Healing Word because it's an excellent bonus action and will allow you to get an ally up in time for their turn. You, as a monk, have great initiative, often faster than your cleric. It seems like a humble spell, but it will keep people off the floor and in the fight through incredible odds. Save all your spells for these moments, don't use your healing word until it's a crisis and somebody is on the floor - it's not really as useful when they are already standing.
Absorb Elements is a must, and save it. Attacks using Dragon's breath, large 7th or 8th level spells, you suddenly getting resistance to and will probably save you 30-40 HP in damage in a single turn, and crucially, it's a reaction. You get some extra fluff on your next attack too, though I wouldn't attack the creature that hit you and instead focus down a minion if possible, as Red Dragon's breathing fire often shirk the extra fire damage. FLAMING FISTS OF VENGEANCE!
Then take Circle of the Moon at 2, or Circle of the Land (you get to recover 1 spell on a single short rest, which is spiffy).
I would highly suggest Circle of the Moon.
I'm taking this from another post, but basically you can use your unarmed strikes while wild-shaped. Circle of the Moon allows you to use any CR < 1 creature (type beast). Go to Donjon, make a monster list of all the creatures between 0-1 CR and keep it handy.
This feature alone will turn your one-trick pony into almost a headache to control, because you will have access to so many strange combinations. During a fight, you can use Circle of the Moon to transform as a bonus action - consider this like a Fighter's Second Wind. Transform into something, do your normal round of attacks, and just consider it a free HP pool. Brown Bears get 34 HP - not bad for a bonus action. You lose your flurry of blows, but you're a freakin BEAR. Your fists may not be magical in bear form, and discuss this with your DM, but suddenly gaining 34 HP and bear-powers sure does fix a lot of problems. Giant Eagle? Not to mention the stealth benefits of turning into a mouse very suddenly and then using your action to hide.
Even better, you can still use Flurry of Blows from your Open Hand technique. Your effects stack.
Just remember you can't use the creatures native attacks as those are melee weapon attacks (claws). If you use those you don't get your normal benefits - but in the case of brown bears, that might not matter much. You can unarmed strike as a bear, it's just not with the claws - you are doing a monk thing instead. Your DM may request you turn into something like an Ape for this, but work it out. You might be able to convince your DM otherwise, given your level, especially if you practice in SPECIFIC forms, such as getting really familiar with say, an eagle form, to RP what might be a small mechanical gain.
Flavor your attacks as powerbombs, rolling attacks, front kicks, falling on your opponent - things bears wouldn't natively do. You aren't clawing - you're aren't a clawing bear. You're a headbutting bear.
At this level, you aren't asking for a lot, this is really just utility and a way to simplify your sheet. There's much worse min-maxing out there, DM's don't usually cry foul if you're going for tankiness - just when it comes to damage.
Oh, an important note. Unarmored Defense works while wild shaped, so look at the new statistics. Giant Eagle is a great example.
The AC of a Giant Eagle is 13 base. Because of Unarmored Defense, you can instead add Dex + Wis of that creature, to give that eagle 15 AC. Not too shabby. There's a lot of creatures that gain +1 or +2 AC this way, so be on the lookout for it. Even better - when you wild shape, your WIS mod takes over theirs. If you have worked up WIS, and it's 18, you get a +4, making that AC 16.
Certain creatures that'd normally have a 10 AC might suddenly get 14 AC, which can turn a swarm of rats into a much more annoying problem.
This alone'll keep your boring monk busy. Print the sheet and I recommend photocopying some pages - Giant Eagle, Bear, a Dinosaur, some mice or flying snakes. I'd also request that all your Wild-Shaped creatures have a red headband. Octopus Monk! Dinosaur Monk! Bear Monk! Eagle monk! Live it up. Yelling "Eagle Style!" before hand would be nice.
Notes on Unarmed Strikes while wild-shaped.
Yes, you can make unarmed strikes while Wild Shaped. From the errata for the PHB:
Melee Attacks (p. 195). The rule on unarmed strikes should read as follows: “Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.”
An unarmed strike can replace any attack with a weapon. From the Monster Manual, page 10:
The most common actions that a monster will take in combat are melee and ranged attacks. These can be spell attacks or weapon attacks, where the "weapon" might be a manufactured item or a natural weapon, such as a claw or tail spike.
So can definitely replace your Wild Shape attacks with unarmed strikes.
Haggle with your DM to make Primal Savagery an alternative to unarmed strikes.
Guidance is just great, as long as you spam it on EVERYONE every chance you get out of combat.
Magic Stone is especially tricky. The spell requires you use a sling - you could easily haggle with your DM that
I'm taking this from another post, but basically you can use your unarmed strikes while wild-shaped. Circle of the Moon allows you to use any CR < 1 creature (type beast). Go to Donjon, make a monster list of all the creatures between 0-1 CR and keep it handy. Just remember you can't use the creatures native attacks as those are melee weapon attacks (claws). If you use those you don't get your normal benefits - but in the case of brown bears, that might not matter much. You can unarmed strike as a bear, it's just not with the claws - you are doing a monk thing instead. Your DM may request you turn into something like an Ape for this, but work it out. You might be able to convince your DM otherwise, given your level, especially if you practice in SPECIFIC forms, such as getting really familiar with say, an eagle form, to RP what might be a small mechanical gain.
Oh, an important note. Unarmored Defense works while wild shaped, so look at the new statistics. Giant Eagle is a great example. The AC of a Giant Eagle is 13 base. Because of Unarmored Defense, you can instead add Dex + Wis of that creature, to give that eagle 15 AC.
There are a lot of points to look at in your post:
1) You have a lot of advantages that require "haggling" with the DM. Obviously you can never count on those, and if you try haggling too much, most DM's will just nix them all out of spite. One you can usually get away with; three or four, not so much.
2) Guidance is a concentration spell. You cannot spam it as if you cast it on a second player the first one loses the bonus.
3) ASSUMING the DM allows Unarmored Defense to work in Wild Shape (that's another haggle), the formula would be: 10 + the monk/druid's Wisdom + the creature's Dex. Per the rules:
Your game statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but you retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
So you keep your Wisdom, but adopt the creature's Dex. In this case it would be 10 + 5 (for the player's 20 Wisdom) + 3 (for the Great Eagle's 17 Dex) for a total of 18 AC -- *IF* the DM allows it.
My monk (way of the open hand) just hit level 11. He's feeling just a little one-trick-pony in fights. I'd like to give myself a little variety
I'm thinking of either taking Magic Initiate or 2 levels in either a Fighter or Cleric. I'm only considering those 2 for RP reasons.
I would really, really like to take 2 levels in a Tempest Cleric but I don't want to gimp myself since the DM throws really deadly fights at us. (I'd like to interject just how much I love my DM for both amazing RP AND insane fights).
Some searching on this forum and other places around the net seems to suggest that Monk is really best as a straight class. Any time I do find anything about monk/cleric they only seem to talk about Sun Soul+Cleric or Four Elements+Cleric.
So check me on this...
For levels 12 & 13 take Cleric (Tempest).
I can cast Bane to make it a wee bit easier to get stun. Or Shield of Faith for an AC boost. Plus I can offer some backup healing and utility (though by this point, is level 1 healing/utility really going to do anything?).
At level 14 (Monk 12) take War Caster feat to make it easier to keep that Bane or Shield of Faith up.
The alternative thought is to just take Magic Initiate with either Bane or Shield of Faith (though now I'd have to choose so advice would be welcome) and ether take a couple of Fighter Levels or just just keep going straight Monk.
Everywhere I look it seems like a dip into Fighter is never a bad thing. But does that still hold true at this level? I admit I haven't looked into this options as much before I wrote this post. If I'm only ever using a staff or unarmed strikes would I really benefit from any of the fighting styles?
I don't think cleric is a good fit. You're not going to get much use out of any weapon/armor proficiencies you pick up and Wrath of the Storm isn't worth a second level.
You'd get much more mileage out of 1 level of Celestial Warlock in my opinion. If you can get 2 short rests in a day, you're able to use the 1st level slot 3 times, which is already the same as a 2nd level cleric. Hex will add 1d6 necrotic to each of your attacks and has a much longer duration than any 1st level cleric buff spell. As a bonus, you can give disadvantage to the enemy's Strength or Dexterity checks to make them easier to grapple. You also get 2d6 worth of free healing per day. Hexblade is another good option, since you'd get Shield and Hexblade's Curse will let you deal much more damage to 1 target once per day.
Other alternatives:
1 level in Divine Soul Sorcerer gets you cleric spells too, and Favored By The Gods lets you add 2d4 to a failed attack roll (meh) or saving throw (yay) once per short/long rest.
1 level of Fighter would let you pick up Dueling Fighting Style and add 2 damage to your one-handed monk weapon attacks (so up to 4 damage every turn.)
1 level of Rogue would give you 1d6 Sneak Attack, an extra skill proficiency, and Expertise (which is a great way to become amazing at grappling.)
Monks rely on too many ability scores (DEX, WIS, CON) to justify War Caster in my opinion. You're better off increasing your DEX and WIS and using Patient Defense as needed.
I don't have the stats for Warlock or Sorcerer (7 Cha).
However Dex and Wis are already at 20 so I can spare the ASI on Feats at this point. Though I suppose Con is a little low at 14. But would raising it at this point really make that much difference to the hit points?
Does a Staff or the Unarmed Strikes count for the Dueling Fighter Style or would I have to switch to a one handed weapon.
Does it make a difference in our opinion of tempest if I have the Staff of Thunder and Lightening? Maximize damage once per short rest.
Thanks for the feedback.
Sorry, I was assuming you used the standard array or point buy. You sure got lucky with your rolls if you have both DEX and WIS maxed out with only two ASIs.
Unarmed strikes aren't weapons. A quarterstaff counts if you use it one-handed, and by now your Martial Arts damage die has caught up with the two-handed damage of a quarterstaff.
That makes Destructive Wrath a lot more compelling, especially if your DM uses groups of monsters (instead of a single tough monster) frequently. Maximizing the damage is about the same as doing double damage.
Magic Initiate can be a great addition to a monk. Take one long range attack cantrip, one useful utility cantrip, and any useful first level spell. My way of the open hand monk went the wizard route. His intelligence wasn't the greatest, but it let him cast first level spells.
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I think the Cleric dip will still provide value. From my limited experience, 5e is a game of small differences with whose impact varies based on context.
The difference between 18 dex and 20 dex is a +1 may mean a lot ofr your AC but not that much for an attack roll.
1d4 from a Guidance or Bless might be the thing your spellcaster ally needed to succeed on an Athletics check or Dex Save just to survive a scenario.
I've also thought about the Ritual Caster feat on a Monk. I thought it would add cool flavor and utility.
"Time is money. Nobody knows how much time they have, but you can always count how much time you spent. So spend it wisely."
So currently I am playing a monk(WotOH) 6/cleric(Life) 5. The levels of cleric come with some hefty cons and chief among them are the lack of Ki points. This is something I am willing to accept because I love a really versatile character and the concept is one that I have wanted to play for a long time. I only wish that the monk had a better healing subclass then what is offered in the UA. As is I am a very efficient combat medic.
In your case I suppose you can look at your last two monk levels and consider if they are worth trading for two cleric levels. Level 19 monk is a ASI and level 20 is Perfect Self. With your stats maybe the ASI would be worth passing up but Perfect Self is fairly awesome. I don't know that I could say Perfect Self would be worth trading out for a couple of 1st level cleric spells. I mean that is basically Quivering Palm every round. No, I don't think I would recommend it. Not unless you decided to take a deep dive and grab 9 levels of cleric. That much versatility might make for a ok swap but ultimately I think you're better with monk all the way.
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Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
Does your group allow third party content? If so, have you considered taking Chakra? It would basically allow you to take both Shield of Faith and Bane as spells to cast for 2 Ki points, and you'd also get a cantrip, like Guidance or whatever fits your concept. I'm really low with my cleric, and I'm going to take Chakra with Healing Word and Blur; since I play a Tranquility Monk.
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My Monk/Cleric isn’t the most optimal cleric for her level due to the cut to her spellcasting potential, but as a monk I feel she’s doing fine. Then again, I started earlier. For example, Spiritual Weapon has been a good alternative for my bonus action, but since you’re already high enough for your unarmed strike to be 1d8, three cleric levels to do the same with force damage (well, +Wis mod) probably doesn’t sound quite so enticing.
I will dip into a single Light Cleric once I reach Level 6. My character concept is a tranquility/pacifist monk, so the light special is really good. Also he will prepare mostly ritual spells, and it is perfect for his RP (he's a philosopher and wandering healer). Won't increase cleric after that tho; it's just my way of getting a lot of cantrips, rituals and the special.
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I would go Druid instead. 2 levels gets you Circle of the Moon, which is worth considering in your case.
Take Frostbite, Primal Savagery for Cantrips. Consider Magic Stone in lieu of Frostbite, and Guidance instead of Primal Savagery if you won't RP potential.
Really, this comes down to how much you invested in Wis. High wis, Frostbite / Primal Savagery. Low wis, Frostbite / Guidance.
Haggle with your DM to make Primal Savagery an alternative to unarmed strikes. It's a melee spell attack, so it's not RAW but it might be worth haggling anyway. There's a sage advice column with Mike Mearls where using Shocking Grasp as a rogue might be able to proc sneak attack, but Mike Mearls is not Jeremy Crawford and your DM may veto that reference - but it's not a hard sell, I've been on both sides of this one and let it go, with just a few notes.
Guidance is just great, as long as you spam it on EVERYONE every chance you get out of combat.
Magic Stone is especially tricky. The spell requires you use a sling - you could easily haggle with your DM that you are enchanting a stone, and after it's enchanted, you're combining it with an attack action to fire it. Since you get 3 stones, you basically get 1d6 on your stones, which is like having a ranged version of your Monk weapons. Get yourself a sling, enchant your pebbles, and enjoy 1d4 + 1d6 + spell mod + dmg mod damage whenever you hit during your regular attack. Get to your nearest vendor and enchant that sling (or go hunting for one) and you might have some decent ranged damage.
Frostbite is excellent because disadvantage on the next attack is amazing, it can turn a potentially nasty hit into air, and you get some cold damage out of it.
Take Absorb Elements (for sure), Healing Word, and then one of your choice. Consider Longstrider, to make your speed even crazier, but to each their own.
You want Healing Word because it's an excellent bonus action and will allow you to get an ally up in time for their turn. You, as a monk, have great initiative, often faster than your cleric. It seems like a humble spell, but it will keep people off the floor and in the fight through incredible odds. Save all your spells for these moments, don't use your healing word until it's a crisis and somebody is on the floor - it's not really as useful when they are already standing.
Absorb Elements is a must, and save it. Attacks using Dragon's breath, large 7th or 8th level spells, you suddenly getting resistance to and will probably save you 30-40 HP in damage in a single turn, and crucially, it's a reaction. You get some extra fluff on your next attack too, though I wouldn't attack the creature that hit you and instead focus down a minion if possible, as Red Dragon's breathing fire often shirk the extra fire damage. FLAMING FISTS OF VENGEANCE!
Then take Circle of the Moon at 2, or Circle of the Land (you get to recover 1 spell on a single short rest, which is spiffy).
I would highly suggest Circle of the Moon.
I'm taking this from another post, but basically you can use your unarmed strikes while wild-shaped. Circle of the Moon allows you to use any CR < 1 creature (type beast). Go to Donjon, make a monster list of all the creatures between 0-1 CR and keep it handy.
This feature alone will turn your one-trick pony into almost a headache to control, because you will have access to so many strange combinations. During a fight, you can use Circle of the Moon to transform as a bonus action - consider this like a Fighter's Second Wind. Transform into something, do your normal round of attacks, and just consider it a free HP pool. Brown Bears get 34 HP - not bad for a bonus action. You lose your flurry of blows, but you're a freakin BEAR. Your fists may not be magical in bear form, and discuss this with your DM, but suddenly gaining 34 HP and bear-powers sure does fix a lot of problems. Giant Eagle? Not to mention the stealth benefits of turning into a mouse very suddenly and then using your action to hide.
Even better, you can still use Flurry of Blows from your Open Hand technique. Your effects stack.
Just remember you can't use the creatures native attacks as those are melee weapon attacks (claws). If you use those you don't get your normal benefits - but in the case of brown bears, that might not matter much. You can unarmed strike as a bear, it's just not with the claws - you are doing a monk thing instead. Your DM may request you turn into something like an Ape for this, but work it out. You might be able to convince your DM otherwise, given your level, especially if you practice in SPECIFIC forms, such as getting really familiar with say, an eagle form, to RP what might be a small mechanical gain.
Flavor your attacks as powerbombs, rolling attacks, front kicks, falling on your opponent - things bears wouldn't natively do. You aren't clawing - you're aren't a clawing bear. You're a headbutting bear.
At this level, you aren't asking for a lot, this is really just utility and a way to simplify your sheet. There's much worse min-maxing out there, DM's don't usually cry foul if you're going for tankiness - just when it comes to damage.
Oh, an important note. Unarmored Defense works while wild shaped, so look at the new statistics. Giant Eagle is a great example.
The AC of a Giant Eagle is 13 base. Because of Unarmored Defense, you can instead add Dex + Wis of that creature, to give that eagle 15 AC. Not too shabby. There's a lot of creatures that gain +1 or +2 AC this way, so be on the lookout for it. Even better - when you wild shape, your WIS mod takes over theirs. If you have worked up WIS, and it's 18, you get a +4, making that AC 16.
Certain creatures that'd normally have a 10 AC might suddenly get 14 AC, which can turn a swarm of rats into a much more annoying problem.
This alone'll keep your boring monk busy. Print the sheet and I recommend photocopying some pages - Giant Eagle, Bear, a Dinosaur, some mice or flying snakes. I'd also request that all your Wild-Shaped creatures have a red headband. Octopus Monk! Dinosaur Monk! Bear Monk! Eagle monk! Live it up. Yelling "Eagle Style!" before hand would be nice.
Notes on Unarmed Strikes while wild-shaped.
An unarmed strike can replace any attack with a weapon. From the Monster Manual, page 10:
So can definitely replace your Wild Shape attacks with unarmed strikes.
There are a lot of points to look at in your post:
1) You have a lot of advantages that require "haggling" with the DM. Obviously you can never count on those, and if you try haggling too much, most DM's will just nix them all out of spite. One you can usually get away with; three or four, not so much.
2) Guidance is a concentration spell. You cannot spam it as if you cast it on a second player the first one loses the bonus.
3) ASSUMING the DM allows Unarmored Defense to work in Wild Shape (that's another haggle), the formula would be: 10 + the monk/druid's Wisdom + the creature's Dex. Per the rules:
So you keep your Wisdom, but adopt the creature's Dex. In this case it would be 10 + 5 (for the player's 20 Wisdom) + 3 (for the Great Eagle's 17 Dex) for a total of 18 AC -- *IF* the DM allows it.
Circle of Spores Druid =)
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I personally like two levels of tempest cleric
reaction dmg when I get hit? Good as wis is high
get ritual spells and shield of faith, bane are great spells for monk stunning strike and survival
word of radiance plus divinity 12 dmg to everything around me if they fail con save? Is a nice buff
but also sacred flame as a range option for otherwise melee only monk is amazing. Something barbarians often struggle