Actually theres a cheese build where you focus on strength/grapple magic items/feats.. grab hold of your enemy, run up a wall (which is granted at lv9) then let go. The enemy will RAW take fall damage. If you have movement, just walk back down. If not, just use feather fall on yourself.
As many others pointed out, your subclass of the long death isnt really a damaging build. Way of the open fist is probably the most damage-oriented.
Drunken fist is great for mobility and evasion (using flurry of blows gives you a FREE disengage)
Shadow is great for stealthing and stealth attacks.
Also IMO standard array gives you the worst stat allocation forcing you to take dump stats which makes you neglect key stats.
Grabbing a staff gives you a d8.
Also try to work on getting your AC up. Either through dex & wis increases or ring of protection.
Getting final blows will also give you more temp HP to also stand in the front.
It seems to me that the Mobile feat would be more useful for this character than the Charger feat. If the OP is having trouble using hit-and-run tactics b/c it burns through Ki too quickly, Mobile solves that. Also, as a Tabaxi Monk, you can utilize your climb ability to set up improvised ambushes, drop vials of acid/holy water or reinforced nets on your enemies, etc. Use the terrain to your advantage. Unless your DM is making you fight in a plain or around columns of fire-type environments most of the time, there should be walls or trees you can use. Cats are ambush predators. Try to think like one and plan tactics accordingly.
If you are referring to Eldritch Blast, it isn't very helpful for you. It's great for a Warlock b/c they can boost it with their Invocations. It might seem like reasonable damage, but you're more helpful to the party using feats like Sentinel or Mobile to affect the battlefield.
Your charisma is poor so warlock spells Aren’t ideal. Your enemies will have a very low dc to resist your effects. I would really stay away from magic.
It's good to boost all the damage I do on a single creature.
And I thought of also adding Poison spray & Toll of the dead to it.
Yeah.......... respectfully, that would be a horrible decision. The hex damage only gives a d6 for SPELL attacks for an hour. As a monk you should be doing 3 to 5 MELEE attacks a turn so with magic initiate you'd only be able to cast it once (as opposed to up to 2x every short rest as a legit warlock) and it'll only last an hour (as opposed to 24 hours at max rank).. and again, since you'd not be casting any spells, you wouldn't even get the minor benefit any way.
And the 2 spells? Both require decent saving throws - con & wis... and using your CHA (cus youd need to take warlock initiate to get hex), which is at -1.. currently will force your enemy to roll a 9 saving throw WITHOUT their save modifiers.
Again, respectfully look into some monk builds & guides. You're more than welcome to build your character however you want. That's the beauty and even the point of this game. There are plenty of people who make highly UN-optimized build decisions for RP reasons but you're deliberately asking to help optimize your character, yet may make the class lag behind immensely.
Sorry if I'm being disrespectful and blunt but making an optimized character - ESPECIALLY a monk - can be confusing. Please look into advice and guides
It's good to boost all the damage I do on a single creature.
And I thought of also adding Poison spray & Toll of the dead to it.
Yeah.......... respectfully, that would be a horrible decision. The hex damage only gives a d6 for SPELL attacks for an hour. As a monk you should be doing 3 to 5 MELEE attacks a turn so with magic initiate you'd only be able to cast it once (as opposed to up to 2x every short rest as a legit warlock) and it'll only last an hour (as opposed to 24 hours at max rank).. and again, since you'd not be casting any spells, you wouldn't even get the minor benefit any way.
And the 2 spells? Both require decent saving throws - con & wis... and using your CHA (cus youd need to take warlock initiate to get hex), which is at -1.. currently will force your enemy to roll a 9 saving throw WITHOUT their save modifiers.
Again, respectfully look into some monk builds & guides. You're more than welcome to build your character however you want. That's the beauty and even the point of this game. There are plenty of people who make highly UN-optimized build decisions for RP reasons but you're deliberately asking to help optimize your character, yet may make the class lag behind immensely.
Sorry if I'm being disrespectful and blunt but making an optimized character - ESPECIALLY a monk - can be confusing. Please look into advice and guides
While I agree that him going into Initiate just for Hex isn't the best idea for his build, I don't think you fully understand how the spell works. Hex does not require a saving throw, it is automatically applied, and the extra damage is not only from spell attacks; it's from all attacks. It can also be redirected to a new creature via a bonus action on a subsequent turn if the targeted creature dies, so it does give some versatility. Perhaps if his party has someone who Grapples a lot it would be decent to assist with that, but otherwise there's better things to focus on.
I also don't know where you're getting "Monks should be making 4 to 5 melee attacks per turn" from. They can only do 4 total; 2 from Attack Action with Extra Attack, and 2 from Bonus Action Flurry of Blows.
Well my tactic is casting hex on my main target from a safe distance, before going stealth.
Next round I go Bruce Lee on my quarry since distance is not an issue. Incase the target had more friends on his side, I use Hour of reaping then go ham till it dies, then I switch my Hex to the new quarry, and rinse and repeat.
I'll take the mobile feat eventually but somehow I feel like this approach will do fine.
I'm just saying what I feel works for, like I said I am new to this, so please bare with me
Hex actually isn't a bad spell. It does up your damage vs one target so each blow that connects feels more meaningful. You don't even need to get into melee for it to be effective, which is important b/c it is a concentration spell. If you don't have CON save proficiency, that does weaken it a bit if you plan to go toe-to-toe with your adversary.
It reminds me of Hunter's Mark for Rangers, actually. It's almost the same spell, but with an additional ability check penalty rider.
Thanks for bringing this up. You taught me something, Wraithzillaa. :)
Not sure what you mean by you'll cast it and then go stealth. Hex has Verbal, Somatic and Material components and only a casting range of 90 feet. When you cast it, the person you're casting it on is going to notice you, and even if you slip behind something and take the hide action they're going to know where you were when you hid; I can't see a lot of battle maps where you'll really be able to utilize this tactic. Though yes, so long as you get in cover, your movement distance will likely allow you to close the distance before taking any attacks. Which brings me to my next point...
I was also going to bring up concentration; you only have a +2 to Constitution and aren't proficient in Con saves. Unless you're planning to take the Resilient(Constitution) or War Caster feats - which you won't be able to do for quite some time if you're taking Magic Initiate(Warlock) at level 8 - then you're barely going to have more than a 50% chance to maintain concentration on even the weakest of attacks against you, and if you lose it there goes the thing you devoted your Feat towards until your next long rest. Hour of Reaping can potentially make other things afraid of you, so long as they fail their saves, but they can still attack you - just with disadvantage. If you take a single hit, odds are decent your Hex is over.
Additionally, basically any and all combat oriented Warlock cantrips are absolutely useless for your character. As previously mentioned, both Attack and Save spells will be based on your Charisma, meaning your chance to hit with either will be slim to none. If you do go this route, I would recommend taking utility cantrips like Mage Hand, Minor Illusion or Prestidigitation over any attacks or save cantrips; the damage won't hold a candle to what you can dish out with your Monk attacks, and your odds of hitting are super low.
Long story short, while Hex would up your damage against one creature at a time, a single hit has a good chance of making you lose concentration on the spell. Even if you do keep it going, every time an enemy goes down you're going to need to spend your bonus action switching targets, which could and should be spent dealing 1 or 2 more attacks (Flurry of Blows) with much higher damage potential than the extra 1d6 of Hex.
All said, you do you; but you're asking for advice, and I wouldn't advise it.
I would agree with the others against Hex. The Mobile feat is far more useful in general for Monks allowing you to run in - hit (or miss) - and run out without provoking opportunity attacks (so you can spend your bonus action doing something other than Step of the Wind). It increases your speed too. It's really handy because Monks are a bit too squishy to be staying in melee all the time. Guerrilla tactics are a Monk's best friend and the Mobile feat makes that easy.
Right, Jaysburn. Hex would be a somewhat better relative choice if Wraithzillaa's sub-class were Kensei Monk - more ranged attack options to use with that 1d6 damage boost. If you want to hit things with your paws/hands like in Kung Fu Panda, it's value decreases. Wait, I said that already. So yes, all that.
I'm very late to this particular thread, but what about using similar rules to how rams work in SpellJammer? You could give a d4 or d6 for every 10' you fall with the caveat that you take half of the total damage yourself. I've been thinking about a soulknife using their psychic teleportation to drop from above a target to get an extra deadly sneak attack.
If your DM allows the Optional rules, I'd consider dipping into a class that grants you martial weapons at level 1. 🙂
I dipped into revised ranger with my shadow monk and he was freakin' brutal. A witch hunter concept for heavy first turns.
Advantage on first round and bonus to initiative. Longsword/battleaxe/warhammer as monk weapon from the optional rule. 2x1d10 + modifier and if I used KI points, I could replace my BA unarmed attack with a third longsword attack.
It wasn't a mega optimized build overall, but combined with my speed and show step, I could get really strong opening turns and solid turns thereafter. Definitely not weak.
(Edit: we generally allow revised ranger, because we think other rangers are incredibly unsatisfying)
Actually theres a cheese build where you focus on strength/grapple magic items/feats.. grab hold of your enemy, run up a wall (which is granted at lv9) then let go. The enemy will RAW take fall damage. If you have movement, just walk back down. If not, just use feather fall on yourself.
As many others pointed out, your subclass of the long death isnt really a damaging build. Way of the open fist is probably the most damage-oriented.
Drunken fist is great for mobility and evasion (using flurry of blows gives you a FREE disengage)
Shadow is great for stealthing and stealth attacks.
Also IMO standard array gives you the worst stat allocation forcing you to take dump stats which makes you neglect key stats.
Grabbing a staff gives you a d8.
Also try to work on getting your AC up. Either through dex & wis increases or ring of protection.
Getting final blows will also give you more temp HP to also stand in the front.
So there is a way to use movement for damage just not in the way I Imagined
It seems to me that the Mobile feat would be more useful for this character than the Charger feat. If the OP is having trouble using hit-and-run tactics b/c it burns through Ki too quickly, Mobile solves that. Also, as a Tabaxi Monk, you can utilize your climb ability to set up improvised ambushes, drop vials of acid/holy water or reinforced nets on your enemies, etc. Use the terrain to your advantage. Unless your DM is making you fight in a plain or around columns of fire-type environments most of the time, there should be walls or trees you can use. Cats are ambush predators. Try to think like one and plan tactics accordingly.
I hope this helps.
I will go with that advice. I still feel that taking magic initiate for the warlock’s is a better approach for the time being.
If you are referring to Eldritch Blast, it isn't very helpful for you. It's great for a Warlock b/c they can boost it with their Invocations. It might seem like reasonable damage, but you're more helpful to the party using feats like Sentinel or Mobile to affect the battlefield.
No I meant the Hex.
It's good to boost all the damage I do on a single creature.
And I thought of also adding Poison spray & Toll of the dead to it.
Your charisma is poor so warlock spells Aren’t ideal. Your enemies will have a very low dc to resist your effects. I would really stay away from magic.
Yeah.......... respectfully, that would be a horrible decision. The hex damage only gives a d6 for SPELL attacks for an hour. As a monk you should be doing 3 to 5 MELEE attacks a turn so with magic initiate you'd only be able to cast it once (as opposed to up to 2x every short rest as a legit warlock) and it'll only last an hour (as opposed to 24 hours at max rank).. and again, since you'd not be casting any spells, you wouldn't even get the minor benefit any way.
And the 2 spells? Both require decent saving throws - con & wis... and using your CHA (cus youd need to take warlock initiate to get hex), which is at -1.. currently will force your enemy to roll a 9 saving throw WITHOUT their save modifiers.
Again, respectfully look into some monk builds & guides. You're more than welcome to build your character however you want. That's the beauty and even the point of this game. There are plenty of people who make highly UN-optimized build decisions for RP reasons but you're deliberately asking to help optimize your character, yet may make the class lag behind immensely.
Sorry if I'm being disrespectful and blunt but making an optimized character - ESPECIALLY a monk - can be confusing. Please look into advice and guides
While I agree that him going into Initiate just for Hex isn't the best idea for his build, I don't think you fully understand how the spell works. Hex does not require a saving throw, it is automatically applied, and the extra damage is not only from spell attacks; it's from all attacks. It can also be redirected to a new creature via a bonus action on a subsequent turn if the targeted creature dies, so it does give some versatility. Perhaps if his party has someone who Grapples a lot it would be decent to assist with that, but otherwise there's better things to focus on.
I also don't know where you're getting "Monks should be making 4 to 5 melee attacks per turn" from. They can only do 4 total; 2 from Attack Action with Extra Attack, and 2 from Bonus Action Flurry of Blows.
Well my tactic is casting hex on my main target from a safe distance, before going stealth.
Next round I go Bruce Lee on my quarry since distance is not an issue. Incase the target had more friends on his side, I use Hour of reaping then go ham till it dies, then I switch my Hex to the new quarry, and rinse and repeat.
I'll take the mobile feat eventually but somehow I feel like this approach will do fine.
I'm just saying what I feel works for, like I said I am new to this, so please bare with me
Hex actually isn't a bad spell. It does up your damage vs one target so each blow that connects feels more meaningful. You don't even need to get into melee for it to be effective, which is important b/c it is a concentration spell. If you don't have CON save proficiency, that does weaken it a bit if you plan to go toe-to-toe with your adversary.
It reminds me of Hunter's Mark for Rangers, actually. It's almost the same spell, but with an additional ability check penalty rider.
Thanks for bringing this up. You taught me something, Wraithzillaa. :)
Wow... umm your most welcome. Glad to be of some service.
Not sure what you mean by you'll cast it and then go stealth. Hex has Verbal, Somatic and Material components and only a casting range of 90 feet. When you cast it, the person you're casting it on is going to notice you, and even if you slip behind something and take the hide action they're going to know where you were when you hid; I can't see a lot of battle maps where you'll really be able to utilize this tactic. Though yes, so long as you get in cover, your movement distance will likely allow you to close the distance before taking any attacks. Which brings me to my next point...
I was also going to bring up concentration; you only have a +2 to Constitution and aren't proficient in Con saves. Unless you're planning to take the Resilient(Constitution) or War Caster feats - which you won't be able to do for quite some time if you're taking Magic Initiate(Warlock) at level 8 - then you're barely going to have more than a 50% chance to maintain concentration on even the weakest of attacks against you, and if you lose it there goes the thing you devoted your Feat towards until your next long rest.
Hour of Reaping can potentially make other things afraid of you, so long as they fail their saves, but they can still attack you - just with disadvantage. If you take a single hit, odds are decent your Hex is over.
Additionally, basically any and all combat oriented Warlock cantrips are absolutely useless for your character. As previously mentioned, both Attack and Save spells will be based on your Charisma, meaning your chance to hit with either will be slim to none. If you do go this route, I would recommend taking utility cantrips like Mage Hand, Minor Illusion or Prestidigitation over any attacks or save cantrips; the damage won't hold a candle to what you can dish out with your Monk attacks, and your odds of hitting are super low.
Long story short, while Hex would up your damage against one creature at a time, a single hit has a good chance of making you lose concentration on the spell.
Even if you do keep it going, every time an enemy goes down you're going to need to spend your bonus action switching targets, which could and should be spent dealing 1 or 2 more attacks (Flurry of Blows) with much higher damage potential than the extra 1d6 of Hex.
All said, you do you; but you're asking for advice, and I wouldn't advise it.
I would agree with the others against Hex. The Mobile feat is far more useful in general for Monks allowing you to run in - hit (or miss) - and run out without provoking opportunity attacks (so you can spend your bonus action doing something other than Step of the Wind). It increases your speed too. It's really handy because Monks are a bit too squishy to be staying in melee all the time. Guerrilla tactics are a Monk's best friend and the Mobile feat makes that easy.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
thank you guys I will follow the advice and go with mobile, for the hit and run tactic.
I'm sold.
Good thing I asked before I took Warlock initiate.
Right, Jaysburn. Hex would be a somewhat better relative choice if Wraithzillaa's sub-class were Kensei Monk - more ranged attack options to use with that 1d6 damage boost. If you want to hit things with your paws/hands like in Kung Fu Panda, it's value decreases. Wait, I said that already. So yes, all that.
A reminder is never a bad thing, Sir Blues. It is always welcome.
I'm very late to this particular thread, but what about using similar rules to how rams work in SpellJammer? You could give a d4 or d6 for every 10' you fall with the caveat that you take half of the total damage yourself. I've been thinking about a soulknife using their psychic teleportation to drop from above a target to get an extra deadly sneak attack.
If your DM allows the Optional rules, I'd consider dipping into a class that grants you martial weapons at level 1. 🙂
I dipped into revised ranger with my shadow monk and he was freakin' brutal. A witch hunter concept for heavy first turns.
Advantage on first round and bonus to initiative. Longsword/battleaxe/warhammer as monk weapon from the optional rule. 2x1d10 + modifier and if I used KI points, I could replace my BA unarmed attack with a third longsword attack.
It wasn't a mega optimized build overall, but combined with my speed and show step, I could get really strong opening turns and solid turns thereafter. Definitely not weak.
(Edit: we generally allow revised ranger, because we think other rangers are incredibly unsatisfying)
Finland GMT/UTC +2