I'm trying to figure out what my best options are magic items for my monk are. I'm still fairly low level (Lvl 5 Halfling/Open Hand) and I'm sort of forced into the role of tank for our party (myself, Tiefling Wizard, Half Orc Bard and Gnome Rogue) which I understand monk isn't ideal at but I'm the best we've got. As far as attuned items, I currently have a Periapt of Wound Closure and a Cloak of Protection, both of which have been extremely useful. It seems that my best bet for tanking with comparatively low HP would be not to be hit in the first place so AC boosting things seem like a good route to go. Any method for giving my opponents disadvantage seems like it would be effective as well. Any suggestions on some good things to be looking out for?
Bracers of Defense would be my top choice for any Monk let alone one trying to fill the role of main tank for a party.
As for giving disadvantage to your opponents to hit you luckily the Monk has that option by default at 2nd level. Monk Ki uses, as shown in that link you'll find Patient Defense which can let you take the Dodge as a bonus action for the cost of 1 Ki point. Dodge is extremely strong and useful for tanking as it not only imposes disadvantage to anyone trying to hit you but also gives you advantage on Dex saves. That combined with Evasion at 7th level means your wizard can feel free to let those fireballs fly and know you'll most likely be fine.
Amulet of Health Cloak of Protection Cloak of Displacement Bracers of Defense Ring of Evasion Ring of Protection Staff of Striking Staff of Thunder and Lightning Blood Spear Several of the new magic tattoos
I would prioritize a ring of protection to stack with that cloak.
Boring but very effective.
A Staff of Striking, or other powerful quarterstaff/spear option would be a good pickup as well. If you have the option presented a staff of striking (or other +3 weapon) is probably better than the ring, but otherwise I would favor the ring over a magic weapon. A Monk's damage is much less of a sticking point than its survivability when it comes to tanking.
Bracers of Defense are definitely on the list if I can find them, that was the highest single item AC boost that I could find that wasn't armor or a shield (which I can't use for obvious reasons). Cloak of Displacement is interesting, I'm curious if that might not do me more good that the Cloak of Protection I currently have. I'd lose out on the small bonus to saving throws but it seems like disadvantage is a lot more useful that +1 to AC in most cases. Yes, it will turn off sometimes but the rest of the time it is either granting disadvantage or negating advantage which seems like a very big bonus.
I wasn't really thinking about staves, I figured those were for magic users, but now that I look at some of those suggested they are awesome. I do have a modified Shortsword+1 right now but that isn't taking up one my attunement slots. These would but it seems like those would be worth it, although they don't help me stay alive in the short term (except by killing those trying to kill me faster, which is always a solid strategy).
I really like some of the magic tattoos from a damage dealing perspective but I didn't see many that would help keep me alive. The one that boosts AC does nothing for me and the one that gives resistance to certain types of damage is nice but probably too situational in this case. Ghost Step could be handy but it also only resists certain damage and it only works 3 times a day.
Would I need proficiency with a spear to use it? Wouldn't I also need to go to Ravenloft to get it?
By default Monks have proficiency with simple weapons which a spear happens to be. Also a spear isn't disqualified from being a Monk weapon which is important too.
As for getting the weapon itself that'll be be up to your DM, but that's the beauty of DnD is that you can do whatever you want. No reason to limit weapons to one plane or another if you don't want to, I'd tell your DM that you're interested in the Blood Spear and see what happens. Some DMs don't allow you to "pick" your magic items others (like myself) encourage their players to look around and give them a list of items they like so that the world might have those and its a win/win scenario.
Oh, I never noticed that. I think going to have to start looking for a magical spear then, that sounds a lot more flavorful and fun to fight with than a shortsword. Either that or a lower powered version of one of the staves mentioned earlier. My DM has been pretty open about giving us access to items we're interested in, though thus far that has been pretty much just uncommon ones so I would expect things to be a little harder to come by in the future. Which is fine, special items like that aren't as cool if you don't have to put some work and a good story into acquiring them.
The Eldritch Claw Tattoo is worth mentioning, as it is extremely beneficial to monks.
I like that one too, I was thinking about trying to get that for my third attunement slot but it doesn't make me harder to kill (excepting the "kill them first" defense). I'm a bit torn because I think I would be much more effective if I maximized my offense with things like this and played hit and run instead of attempting to tank via high AC but if I don't then the monsters are going after the bard and the rogue.
The Eldritch Claw Tattoo is worth mentioning, as it is extremely beneficial to monks.
I like that one too, I was thinking about trying to get that for my third attunement slot but it doesn't make me harder to kill (excepting the "kill them first" defense). I'm a bit torn because I think I would be much more effective if I maximized my offense with things like this and played hit and run instead of attempting to tank via high AC but if I don't then the monsters are going after the bard and the rogue.
If you kill the enemies before they can attack you or your allies, than you're going to be harder to kill (I see that you did mention the "best defense is a good offense" concept, but it's worth repeating). It really increases your damage, an extra 1d6+1 damage for each unarmed strike. While the tattoo's Eldritch Claw is active, your unarmed strikes are probably going to be better than your weapons.
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A few months ago my DM and decided to simulate a few thousand dice rolls in sets of two to see what the numerical value of advantage/disadvantage was. We came out with the difference averaging around 4 points. So in my mind the cloak of displacement gives you an improvement of -4 to the attackers roll versus a +1 to your AC and it’s a net improvement of 3.
Cloak of displacent and amulet of 19 con are best imo (unless you have a ton of con). The disadvantage from the cloak not only makes you harder to hit, but also negate most sneak attacks etc. which is key in many cases
Cloak of displacent and amulet of 19 con are best imo (unless you have a ton of con). The disadvantage from the cloak not only makes you harder to hit, but also negate most sneak attacks etc. which is key in many cases
A few months ago my DM and decided to simulate a few thousand dice rolls in sets of two to see what the numerical value of advantage/disadvantage was. We came out with the difference averaging around 4 points. So in my mind the cloak of displacement gives you an improvement of -4 to the attackers roll versus a +1 to your AC and it’s a net improvement of 3.
Ok, I was wondering if someone had done the math on this (I'm a math teacher) and I'm glad to see that someone has. I was sure the benefit would be better than +1 but I was curious where it would fall. I think causing disadvantage is actually going to be my go-to strategy because it seems more effective than just increasing my AC. I might just start a new thread about methods for causing disadvantage to see which ones I can best take advantage of (if you'll pardon the pun). I noticed that the Frightened condition causes disadvantage and keeps them from moving closer to me, which is perfect since I can swat their projectile attacks out of the air with Deflect Missiles. Maybe my focus should be on finding ways to scare the crap out of my opponents.
As for the Amulet, my Constitution is pretty good (14) so the benefit is only 10 extra hp at this point (if I'm understanding how that works, which I know will increase as I go up in level) so I'm hesitant to use the attunement slot on it. Do you think it would be worth it?
The Eldritch Claw Tattoo is worth mentioning, as it is extremely beneficial to monks.
I like that one too, I was thinking about trying to get that for my third attunement slot but it doesn't make me harder to kill (excepting the "kill them first" defense). I'm a bit torn because I think I would be much more effective if I maximized my offense with things like this and played hit and run instead of attempting to tank via high AC but if I don't then the monsters are going after the bard and the rogue.
If you kill the enemies before they can attack you or your allies, than you're going to be harder to kill (I see that you did mention the "best defense is a good offense" concept, but it's worth repeating). It really increases your damage, an extra 1d6+1 damage for each unarmed strike. While the tattoo's Eldritch Claw is active, your unarmed strikes are probably going to be better than your weapons.
Also worth mentioning that one of the benefits of the active tattoo is you gain a 15 foot reach; this makes it even easier to strike and withdraw as you don't need to disengage, and this is perfect for stacking with a Flurry of Blows which can then still trigger Way of the Open Palm features.
Way of the Open Palm is actually a Monk sub-class where going offensive is heavily encouraged, since the benefits you get on top of Flurry of Blows are really useful; knocking an enemy prone gives all of your allies advantage, pushing an enemy back can push them towards area hazards or just move them out of reach so you and/or allies can move away, and if you don't want to take the chance an enemy will save you can just deny them their reaction instead as another way to disengage when you want to.
It's hard to say if this makes Eldritch Claw Tattoo the best option, but it's a very solid one and it'd let you lean more into the core Way of the Open Palm feature. Otherwise Bracers of Defense or Ring of Protection are the classics; of the two I personally prefer the latter as a first item as +1 to all saves on top of +1 AC means you're covered against most threats.
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Regarding cloak of protection and cloak of cloak of displacement. While it deonds on the enemies attack modifier and your AC saying dusadvantege is trhwe equivalent ot +4 AC is reasonable but the cloak of protection offers no help if you can not move (e.g. grappled or restrained) nor will it if you have taken any damage that round so when you need it most it might be lacking. Also an intelligent enemy will go for the weakest point if you are wearing a cloak of displacement they could go for an attack with a save, so the cloak of protection helps you with both (Having said that for the key saves you have high Wis and Dex, with proficiency in Dex and at level 10 will be immune to poison a common effect of failing a con save at 14 you gget proficiency in all saves).
Another option is one of a few Ioun stones.
Unless your Wis is already 20 Insight stones will will increase your AC and improve your stunning strikes to help prevent you getting hit, it also improves your perception which can help avoid you being surprised.
An agilty stone can also increase your AC and your stealth to avoid being hit, the increase to your attacks is also a nice improvement to your offence.
An ioun stone of mastery does not improve your AC but does improve all your saves and attacks and any skill check you are proficient in, it is my favorite magic item for juast about anyone though it is legendary and as a DM I would reserve them for high level characters.
Oh believe me, I would love to get the Eldritch Claw tattoo and just go nuts beating the heck out of everyone I can reach. It fits with what I want my character to be doing, I'm just concerned that if I an running around beating up everybody there isn't anything stopping the enemies I'm not engaging just moving around me and going after the rest of the party. I took Mobile at level 4 so I'm less worried about having to Disengage but the extra reach of the tattoo is a definite benefit I forgot about.
I agree that there are definitely some loopholes with Cloak of Displacement which I'm going to have to be wary of, this is why I'd like to find multiple ways of causing Disadvantage so I'm not screwed if one fails. At the moment I have a Cloak of Protection and I do appreciate the extra save bonus, maybe I could get a Ring of Protection instead if I switch out the Cloak at some point in the future. Ioun Stones would be nice, though it says they are very rare so that might be hard to find for awhile.
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I'm trying to figure out what my best options are magic items for my monk are. I'm still fairly low level (Lvl 5 Halfling/Open Hand) and I'm sort of forced into the role of tank for our party (myself, Tiefling Wizard, Half Orc Bard and Gnome Rogue) which I understand monk isn't ideal at but I'm the best we've got. As far as attuned items, I currently have a Periapt of Wound Closure and a Cloak of Protection, both of which have been extremely useful. It seems that my best bet for tanking with comparatively low HP would be not to be hit in the first place so AC boosting things seem like a good route to go. Any method for giving my opponents disadvantage seems like it would be effective as well. Any suggestions on some good things to be looking out for?
Bracers of Defense would be my top choice for any Monk let alone one trying to fill the role of main tank for a party.
As for giving disadvantage to your opponents to hit you luckily the Monk has that option by default at 2nd level. Monk Ki uses, as shown in that link you'll find Patient Defense which can let you take the Dodge as a bonus action for the cost of 1 Ki point. Dodge is extremely strong and useful for tanking as it not only imposes disadvantage to anyone trying to hit you but also gives you advantage on Dex saves. That combined with Evasion at 7th level means your wizard can feel free to let those fireballs fly and know you'll most likely be fine.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
Amulet of Health
Cloak of Protection
Cloak of Displacement
Bracers of Defense
Ring of Evasion
Ring of Protection
Staff of Striking
Staff of Thunder and Lightning
Blood Spear
Several of the new magic tattoos
I would prioritize a ring of protection to stack with that cloak.
Boring but very effective.
A Staff of Striking, or other powerful quarterstaff/spear option would be a good pickup as well. If you have the option presented a staff of striking (or other +3 weapon) is probably better than the ring, but otherwise I would favor the ring over a magic weapon. A Monk's damage is much less of a sticking point than its survivability when it comes to tanking.
Bracers of Defense are definitely on the list if I can find them, that was the highest single item AC boost that I could find that wasn't armor or a shield (which I can't use for obvious reasons). Cloak of Displacement is interesting, I'm curious if that might not do me more good that the Cloak of Protection I currently have. I'd lose out on the small bonus to saving throws but it seems like disadvantage is a lot more useful that +1 to AC in most cases. Yes, it will turn off sometimes but the rest of the time it is either granting disadvantage or negating advantage which seems like a very big bonus.
I wasn't really thinking about staves, I figured those were for magic users, but now that I look at some of those suggested they are awesome. I do have a modified Shortsword+1 right now but that isn't taking up one my attunement slots. These would but it seems like those would be worth it, although they don't help me stay alive in the short term (except by killing those trying to kill me faster, which is always a solid strategy).
I really like some of the magic tattoos from a damage dealing perspective but I didn't see many that would help keep me alive. The one that boosts AC does nothing for me and the one that gives resistance to certain types of damage is nice but probably too situational in this case. Ghost Step could be handy but it also only resists certain damage and it only works 3 times a day.
The Blood Spear, if you can get it, provides temporary hit points whenever you kill an opponent with it.
Would I need proficiency with a spear to use it? Wouldn't I also need to go to Ravenloft to get it?
By default Monks have proficiency with simple weapons which a spear happens to be. Also a spear isn't disqualified from being a Monk weapon which is important too.
As for getting the weapon itself that'll be be up to your DM, but that's the beauty of DnD is that you can do whatever you want. No reason to limit weapons to one plane or another if you don't want to, I'd tell your DM that you're interested in the Blood Spear and see what happens. Some DMs don't allow you to "pick" your magic items others (like myself) encourage their players to look around and give them a list of items they like so that the world might have those and its a win/win scenario.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
Oh, I never noticed that. I think going to have to start looking for a magical spear then, that sounds a lot more flavorful and fun to fight with than a shortsword. Either that or a lower powered version of one of the staves mentioned earlier. My DM has been pretty open about giving us access to items we're interested in, though thus far that has been pretty much just uncommon ones so I would expect things to be a little harder to come by in the future. Which is fine, special items like that aren't as cool if you don't have to put some work and a good story into acquiring them.
The Eldritch Claw Tattoo is worth mentioning, as it is extremely beneficial to monks.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
I like that one too, I was thinking about trying to get that for my third attunement slot but it doesn't make me harder to kill (excepting the "kill them first" defense). I'm a bit torn because I think I would be much more effective if I maximized my offense with things like this and played hit and run instead of attempting to tank via high AC but if I don't then the monsters are going after the bard and the rogue.
If you kill the enemies before they can attack you or your allies, than you're going to be harder to kill (I see that you did mention the "best defense is a good offense" concept, but it's worth repeating). It really increases your damage, an extra 1d6+1 damage for each unarmed strike. While the tattoo's Eldritch Claw is active, your unarmed strikes are probably going to be better than your weapons.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
A few months ago my DM and decided to simulate a few thousand dice rolls in sets of two to see what the numerical value of advantage/disadvantage was. We came out with the difference averaging around 4 points. So in my mind the cloak of displacement gives you an improvement of -4 to the attackers roll versus a +1 to your AC and it’s a net improvement of 3.
Cloak of displacent and amulet of 19 con are best imo (unless you have a ton of con). The disadvantage from the cloak not only makes you harder to hit, but also negate most sneak attacks etc. which is key in many cases
+1
Very much +1 on the displacement cloak.
No matter how high your AC is a nat20 will always hit. With this you can get around a nat20 at least some of the time.
Ok, I was wondering if someone had done the math on this (I'm a math teacher) and I'm glad to see that someone has. I was sure the benefit would be better than +1 but I was curious where it would fall. I think causing disadvantage is actually going to be my go-to strategy because it seems more effective than just increasing my AC. I might just start a new thread about methods for causing disadvantage to see which ones I can best take advantage of (if you'll pardon the pun). I noticed that the Frightened condition causes disadvantage and keeps them from moving closer to me, which is perfect since I can swat their projectile attacks out of the air with Deflect Missiles. Maybe my focus should be on finding ways to scare the crap out of my opponents.
As for the Amulet, my Constitution is pretty good (14) so the benefit is only 10 extra hp at this point (if I'm understanding how that works, which I know will increase as I go up in level) so I'm hesitant to use the attunement slot on it. Do you think it would be worth it?
Also worth mentioning that one of the benefits of the active tattoo is you gain a 15 foot reach; this makes it even easier to strike and withdraw as you don't need to disengage, and this is perfect for stacking with a Flurry of Blows which can then still trigger Way of the Open Palm features.
Way of the Open Palm is actually a Monk sub-class where going offensive is heavily encouraged, since the benefits you get on top of Flurry of Blows are really useful; knocking an enemy prone gives all of your allies advantage, pushing an enemy back can push them towards area hazards or just move them out of reach so you and/or allies can move away, and if you don't want to take the chance an enemy will save you can just deny them their reaction instead as another way to disengage when you want to.
It's hard to say if this makes Eldritch Claw Tattoo the best option, but it's a very solid one and it'd let you lean more into the core Way of the Open Palm feature. Otherwise Bracers of Defense or Ring of Protection are the classics; of the two I personally prefer the latter as a first item as +1 to all saves on top of +1 AC means you're covered against most threats.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Regarding cloak of protection and cloak of cloak of displacement. While it deonds on the enemies attack modifier and your AC saying dusadvantege is trhwe equivalent ot +4 AC is reasonable but the cloak of protection offers no help if you can not move (e.g. grappled or restrained) nor will it if you have taken any damage that round so when you need it most it might be lacking. Also an intelligent enemy will go for the weakest point if you are wearing a cloak of displacement they could go for an attack with a save, so the cloak of protection helps you with both (Having said that for the key saves you have high Wis and Dex, with proficiency in Dex and at level 10 will be immune to poison a common effect of failing a con save at 14 you gget proficiency in all saves).
Another option is one of a few Ioun stones.
Unless your Wis is already 20 Insight stones will will increase your AC and improve your stunning strikes to help prevent you getting hit, it also improves your perception which can help avoid you being surprised.
An agilty stone can also increase your AC and your stealth to avoid being hit, the increase to your attacks is also a nice improvement to your offence.
An ioun stone of mastery does not improve your AC but does improve all your saves and attacks and any skill check you are proficient in, it is my favorite magic item for juast about anyone though it is legendary and as a DM I would reserve them for high level characters.
Oh believe me, I would love to get the Eldritch Claw tattoo and just go nuts beating the heck out of everyone I can reach. It fits with what I want my character to be doing, I'm just concerned that if I an running around beating up everybody there isn't anything stopping the enemies I'm not engaging just moving around me and going after the rest of the party. I took Mobile at level 4 so I'm less worried about having to Disengage but the extra reach of the tattoo is a definite benefit I forgot about.
I agree that there are definitely some loopholes with Cloak of Displacement which I'm going to have to be wary of, this is why I'd like to find multiple ways of causing Disadvantage so I'm not screwed if one fails. At the moment I have a Cloak of Protection and I do appreciate the extra save bonus, maybe I could get a Ring of Protection instead if I switch out the Cloak at some point in the future. Ioun Stones would be nice, though it says they are very rare so that might be hard to find for awhile.