Currently I have bracers of defense and 18 in dex and 16 in wisdom. that gives my AC 19 which is great for my level (Level 7). I just turned level 8 and was considering either increasing my dex again (Which will increase a bit of everything), or get the lucky feat to make it so I can turn boss hits into misses, and then make it hit another creature. The way of Drunken Master has an ability that you can use a ki point and reaction to make an attack that missed, hit another creature within 5ft of you. I am trying to make that ability work the best I can. Comment which one you think would be best or if there is another option that you think would be better, tell me.
You could take a feat like Magic Initiate to get the spell Bane, which would force your targets to subtract d4 from their attacks. Or Shield of Faith for +2 AC.
Since Redirect Attack can only be used once per round, and requires another target within 5ft of you, you might also consider getting access to spells like Enlarge/Reduce to increase your threat area.
You absolutely should take Dexterity to 20 at level 8, yes do that.
Beyond that... Drunken Masters don't actually use Wisdom for anything special, so the only use you're going to get out of it is for Stunning Blow. Personally, I think it's okay to leave Wisdom at 16 for most monks I make, because a lower Stunning Blow DC can be compensated for by just making the enemy save against it multiple times in one round.
At 12, you could take the Dual Wielder feat and hold two monk weapons for a +1 to your AC, but the benefit of that over +2 Wisdom is hard to see unless you're doing some sort of a Monk/Rogue build or something. Defensive Duelist could provide some defensive advantages as well, but again, over a +2 Wisdom ASI....? Ring of Protection, Cloak of Protection, Staff of Defense, etc... if you're wanting to continue pumping your AC beyond 18 and don't want to keep taking +2 Wisdom ASI's at 12 and 16 in favor of stuff like Sentinel or Tough or multiclassing or something, magic items like that are probably your best bet, rather than niche feats.
Thanks, as this character is in AL getting a cloak of displacement wouldn't be too difficult so I will probably try to get that. I will increase my Dexterity for now. Thanks for the insight on not getting the duel wielder feat, I was thinking about getting it at level 12 but now I see it would serve no purpose, as increasing wisdom would have the same effect but also increase my DC for stunning strikes. I think that is all I could do that would be easy for AL but if there is another thing, please comment it.
Drunken Technique to get yourself more than 30ft away from opponents so you don’t get hit. Dodge if you’re in trouble to become nearly unhittable (as an Action or using Ki). Tipsy Sway if you absolutely have to.
That’s it. Monks should be untouchable if played right. And max out your wisdom and Dex, because then Dodge will count for even more.
Drunken monks are a weird mash up of features... you WANT to be attacked, so that you can be missed, and at high level you WANT to be in the thick of melee... but then you have features that encourage you to disengage and run away, which doesn’t have obvious utility on a melee striker. Really, the Disengage seems to be more about getting way INTO enemy lines than getting out of them. And as a subclass with no wisdom-keyed abilities, it isn’t that straightforward to conclude that pumping wisdom to max AC is your best option over funner feats.
The closest thing I can think to do to optimize Drunken Master would be to be a lucky halfling divination Wizard/monk/cavalier, to be able to force enemies to target you and then force them to miss you. Could probably skip the Wizard, just spitballing here, but a taunt from Cavalier (or sentinel) would help you trigger that level 6 feature more reliably?
Dex is certainly the strongest stat. AC, hit chance, damage, saving throws against things like Fireball.
Lucky is a strong feat, but it is also luck based (no pun intended). If your sessions are like mine right now (2-3 fights per long rest) then you could really milk that. Just be careful that your DM is ready for it.
Drunken monks are a weird mash up of features... you WANT to be attacked, so that you can be missed, and at high level you WANT to be in the thick of melee... but then you have features that encourage you to disengage and run away, which doesn’t have obvious utility on a melee striker. Really, the Disengage seems to be more about getting way INTO enemy lines than getting out of them. And as a subclass with no wisdom-keyed abilities, it isn’t that straightforward to conclude that pumping wisdom to max AC is your best option over funner feats.
The closest thing I can think to do to optimize Drunken Master would be to be a lucky halfling divination Wizard/monk/cavalier, to be able to force enemies to target you and then force them to miss you. Could probably skip the Wizard, just spitballing here, but a taunt from Cavalier (or sentinel) would help you trigger that level 6 feature more reliably?
Thanks for the ideas, I am probably going to just go full monk so at level 17 I can take on an army with 7 attacks a round. I don't think I will take the sentinel feat because of how many things use reactions and I only have one per round. I agree that maxing out wisdom isn't needed at all because of the drunken monk subclass not giving things that make creatures make saving throws, I am considering taking a feat that wouldn't be precisely optimizing my character for battle, but just making it so the character seems even more hilarious than he already is.
Having played a Way of the Drunken Master to high level, it would be wrong of me not to tell you that it’s the lousiest monk subclass which’s design is very poorly executed.
I would recommend looking at the many fixes out there that bring the Drunken Master much closer to what it was meant to represent:
I don’t think that’s fair. It’s a very mobile striker, and not dependent on environment being appropriate like the Shadow monk is. The redirect misses ability can cause some very fun scenarios if you can group enemies appropriately. And the ability to scoot around a battlefield popping back and forth easily from prone can really provide some defensive benefits.
Basic monk kit is pretty feature rich and fun, even “bad” subclasses like Four Elements aren’t bad once you remember you’re still a monk.
I don’t think that’s fair. It’s a very mobile striker, and not dependent on environment being appropriate like the Shadow monk is. The redirect misses ability can cause some very fun scenarios if you can group enemies appropriately. And the ability to scoot around a battlefield popping back and forth easily from prone can really provide some defensive benefits.
Basic monk kit is pretty feature rich and fun, even “bad” subclasses like Four Elements aren’t bad once you remember you’re still a monk.
As a big fan of the monk , even I recognise the limitations of the exceptionally MAD monk base class despite my love for it. Playing at mid-high levels with a Way of the Drunken Master monk, it was clear that the WotDM offered little outside of what I could achieve after successfully lobbying my DM via The Rule of Cool (arguably more variable-dependant than the WoTShadow subclass in that sense). As the capability gap between the base monk class and other classes widens as levels increase, the boons or disappointments of the provisions granted by the monk subclass become increasingly apparent.
I found the best strategy as enemy resistance to things like the Stunned condition was to goad particularly fierce enemies into making Ranged or Opportunity Attacks against you while taking the Dodge action, in an attempt to redirect significantly more threatening and debilitating attacks than your own towards your intended enemy within 5ft of you.
As the previous link I posted was broken, here is the same subclass variant in another location, with an image of it below. I feel this example brings the subclass closer in line with it's intended play style, makes it's capabilities more competitive where the original subclass stagnates, more accurately depicts the original fighting style and ethos of drunken boxing, and better recognises flavour added by cinema legends such as Jackie Chan's Drunken Master classics:
@Mongolian That redesign borrows a lot from the Barbarian class, changing "Rage" to "Drunken Stupor." I'm curious how much you have used it for grappling purposes. About how often does the character succeed at grappling for more than 1 round?
Someone mentioned magic initiate for the shield of faith spell, another option would be a level of Cleric to get this spell twice per day. This will also give you extra benefits depending on your domain, I think the best options are Twilight and Peace it either of those fit in with your character.
If you're playing Eberron, try finding blast-disks loaded with spells like Haste, Blur or Shield of Faith. You can even get rechargeable ones, which are rare, but at level 7 you can have enough cash and connections to afford rare items. Just remember that it's heavily regulated military equipment, so make sure you either hide it or secure a deed from some town you saved that you're a good guy and friend of the nation and not a terrorist, so you running around with fantasy handgrenades is OK. Or join mafia and use their connection to bribe guards.
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Currently I have bracers of defense and 18 in dex and 16 in wisdom. that gives my AC 19 which is great for my level (Level 7). I just turned level 8 and was considering either increasing my dex again (Which will increase a bit of everything), or get the lucky feat to make it so I can turn boss hits into misses, and then make it hit another creature. The way of Drunken Master has an ability that you can use a ki point and reaction to make an attack that missed, hit another creature within 5ft of you. I am trying to make that ability work the best I can. Comment which one you think would be best or if there is another option that you think would be better, tell me.
You'll probably want to track down a Cloak of Displacement, if possible.
You could take a feat like Magic Initiate to get the spell Bane, which would force your targets to subtract d4 from their attacks. Or Shield of Faith for +2 AC.
Since Redirect Attack can only be used once per round, and requires another target within 5ft of you, you might also consider getting access to spells like Enlarge/Reduce to increase your threat area.
You absolutely should take Dexterity to 20 at level 8, yes do that.
Beyond that... Drunken Masters don't actually use Wisdom for anything special, so the only use you're going to get out of it is for Stunning Blow. Personally, I think it's okay to leave Wisdom at 16 for most monks I make, because a lower Stunning Blow DC can be compensated for by just making the enemy save against it multiple times in one round.
At 12, you could take the Dual Wielder feat and hold two monk weapons for a +1 to your AC, but the benefit of that over +2 Wisdom is hard to see unless you're doing some sort of a Monk/Rogue build or something. Defensive Duelist could provide some defensive advantages as well, but again, over a +2 Wisdom ASI....? Ring of Protection, Cloak of Protection, Staff of Defense, etc... if you're wanting to continue pumping your AC beyond 18 and don't want to keep taking +2 Wisdom ASI's at 12 and 16 in favor of stuff like Sentinel or Tough or multiclassing or something, magic items like that are probably your best bet, rather than niche feats.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Thanks, as this character is in AL getting a cloak of displacement wouldn't be too difficult so I will probably try to get that. I will increase my Dexterity for now. Thanks for the insight on not getting the duel wielder feat, I was thinking about getting it at level 12 but now I see it would serve no purpose, as increasing wisdom would have the same effect but also increase my DC for stunning strikes. I think that is all I could do that would be easy for AL but if there is another thing, please comment it.
The easiest way is to just play smarter.
Drunken Technique to get yourself more than 30ft away from opponents so you don’t get hit. Dodge if you’re in trouble to become nearly unhittable (as an Action or using Ki). Tipsy Sway if you absolutely have to.
That’s it. Monks should be untouchable if played right. And max out your wisdom and Dex, because then Dodge will count for even more.
Drunken monks are a weird mash up of features... you WANT to be attacked, so that you can be missed, and at high level you WANT to be in the thick of melee... but then you have features that encourage you to disengage and run away, which doesn’t have obvious utility on a melee striker. Really, the Disengage seems to be more about getting way INTO enemy lines than getting out of them. And as a subclass with no wisdom-keyed abilities, it isn’t that straightforward to conclude that pumping wisdom to max AC is your best option over funner feats.
The closest thing I can think to do to optimize Drunken Master would be to be a lucky halfling divination Wizard/monk/cavalier, to be able to force enemies to target you and then force them to miss you. Could probably skip the Wizard, just spitballing here, but a taunt from Cavalier (or sentinel) would help you trigger that level 6 feature more reliably?
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Dex is certainly the strongest stat. AC, hit chance, damage, saving throws against things like Fireball.
Lucky is a strong feat, but it is also luck based (no pun intended). If your sessions are like mine right now (2-3 fights per long rest) then you could really milk that. Just be careful that your DM is ready for it.
Thanks for the ideas, I am probably going to just go full monk so at level 17 I can take on an army with 7 attacks a round. I don't think I will take the sentinel feat because of how many things use reactions and I only have one per round. I agree that maxing out wisdom isn't needed at all because of the drunken monk subclass not giving things that make creatures make saving throws, I am considering taking a feat that wouldn't be precisely optimizing my character for battle, but just making it so the character seems even more hilarious than he already is.
By the time you're 12, 16, and 19, I'm sure there will be any number of new and exciting feat options from Tasha's :D
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
mmmm. Yeah this is a historic character so not sure if that will work but I hope so.
Having played a Way of the Drunken Master to high level, it would be wrong of me not to tell you that it’s the lousiest monk subclass which’s design is very poorly executed.
I would recommend looking at the many fixes out there that bring the Drunken Master much closer to what it was meant to represent:
https://sterlingvermin.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/complete-devout-handbook.pdf
I don’t think that’s fair. It’s a very mobile striker, and not dependent on environment being appropriate like the Shadow monk is. The redirect misses ability can cause some very fun scenarios if you can group enemies appropriately. And the ability to scoot around a battlefield popping back and forth easily from prone can really provide some defensive benefits.
Basic monk kit is pretty feature rich and fun, even “bad” subclasses like Four Elements aren’t bad once you remember you’re still a monk.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
As a big fan of the monk , even I recognise the limitations of the exceptionally MAD monk base class despite my love for it. Playing at mid-high levels with a Way of the Drunken Master monk, it was clear that the WotDM offered little outside of what I could achieve after successfully lobbying my DM via The Rule of Cool (arguably more variable-dependant than the WoTShadow subclass in that sense). As the capability gap between the base monk class and other classes widens as levels increase, the boons or disappointments of the provisions granted by the monk subclass become increasingly apparent.
I found the best strategy as enemy resistance to things like the Stunned condition was to goad particularly fierce enemies into making Ranged or Opportunity Attacks against you while taking the Dodge action, in an attempt to redirect significantly more threatening and debilitating attacks than your own towards your intended enemy within 5ft of you.
As the previous link I posted was broken, here is the same subclass variant in another location, with an image of it below. I feel this example brings the subclass closer in line with it's intended play style, makes it's capabilities more competitive where the original subclass stagnates, more accurately depicts the original fighting style and ethos of drunken boxing, and better recognises flavour added by cinema legends such as Jackie Chan's Drunken Master classics:
@Mongolian That redesign borrows a lot from the Barbarian class, changing "Rage" to "Drunken Stupor." I'm curious how much you have used it for grappling purposes. About how often does the character succeed at grappling for more than 1 round?
Someone mentioned magic initiate for the shield of faith spell, another option would be a level of Cleric to get this spell twice per day. This will also give you extra benefits depending on your domain, I think the best options are Twilight and Peace it either of those fit in with your character.
If you're playing Eberron, try finding blast-disks loaded with spells like Haste, Blur or Shield of Faith. You can even get rechargeable ones, which are rare, but at level 7 you can have enough cash and connections to afford rare items. Just remember that it's heavily regulated military equipment, so make sure you either hide it or secure a deed from some town you saved that you're a good guy and friend of the nation and not a terrorist, so you running around with fantasy handgrenades is OK. Or join mafia and use their connection to bribe guards.