I am a new player and I really enjoy the character building and my first character is a lvl3 ghost wise halfling long death monk. My party seems to be in need of a dps character and I was thinking that I should since I tend to be in the frontlines. I’ve read about the pros and cons of multiclassing the monk and am stuck. I was initially think of going to lvl 5 to get the extra attack and stunning strike. I would then go into a fighter, aiming for rune knight, and going to lvl 11, to get the additional extra attack and rune abilities. After that move, I’d take monk the rest of the way to lvl 9. If I don’t die by then haha. My thought was that I’d get more attacks (3-5, pending bonus actions) more opportunities to stunning strike as well as getting some additional damage. Thoughts?
plus mostly everything recharges with short rests.
The extra attack functions from different classes do not stack which seems to be one of you intentions.
Getting to level 5 is your best chance for a damage increase. After that you can go wherever but you would have to get to I think level 11 in fighter to get your 3rd attack.
Multiclassing for optimisation generally is only effective if you havea small dip in one class. Monks do not multiclass well at all as they are dependant on their ki and high level features. A lot of monk features allow other members of the party to do more damage. Stunning Strike means every has advantage on the attack but if you stop at level 5 you will be very limited how often you can try for it. The ability to use a ki to have 1 HP instead of zero means the healer can deal damage on his next turn instead of getting you conscious. Features like hour of reaping and stunning Strike reduce the damage your party takes so if necessary the fight can go on little longer.
There are a few conditions under which I'd always recommend against multiclassing. Here they are:
1. You're new to the game
2. You're playing a Monk
3. You're trying to increase your power in the long term, rather than either increasing your power in the short term, or increasing your flexibility
Your situation is all of them, lol. Don't bother. Your Martial Arts die will go up soonish and you'll be hitting stuff just fine. Just remember to Disengage if the opponent can still act when you're done with him. ;)
. Just remember to Disengage if the opponent can still act when you're done with him. ;)
Depending on the situation doge can be a better choice than disengage (while my goblin monk could diesengage as a bonus action without burning ki but I still found it useful to patient defence if there were several threats so I couldn't get away or I needed to stay where I was because otherwise the bad guy would run up to the wizard / healer and take him out). For other races I I would use patient defnce more often than disengage.
. Just remember to Disengage if the opponent can still act when you're done with him. ;)
Depending on the situation doge can be a better choice than disengage (while my goblin monk could diesengage as a bonus action without burning ki but I still found it useful to patient defence if there were several threats so I couldn't get away or I needed to stay where I was because otherwise the bad guy would run up to the wizard / healer and take him out). For other races I I would use patient defnce more often than disengage.
In theory, I agree, but the actual frequency of situations where you should Dodge is so much lower than it seems. Monk makes a pretty bad meat wall. I'm considering taking the dwarf feat that lets you spend hit dice when you Dodge, to see if that helps.
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I am a new player and I really enjoy the character building and my first character is a lvl3 ghost wise halfling long death monk. My party seems to be in need of a dps character and I was thinking that I should since I tend to be in the frontlines. I’ve read about the pros and cons of multiclassing the monk and am stuck. I was initially think of going to lvl 5 to get the extra attack and stunning strike. I would then go into a fighter, aiming for rune knight, and going to lvl 11, to get the additional extra attack and rune abilities. After that move, I’d take monk the rest of the way to lvl 9. If I don’t die by then haha. My thought was that I’d get more attacks (3-5, pending bonus actions) more opportunities to stunning strike as well as getting some additional damage. Thoughts?
plus mostly everything recharges with short rests.
The extra attack functions from different classes do not stack which seems to be one of you intentions.
Getting to level 5 is your best chance for a damage increase. After that you can go wherever but you would have to get to I think level 11 in fighter to get your 3rd attack.
Short answer don't.
Multiclassing for optimisation generally is only effective if you havea small dip in one class. Monks do not multiclass well at all as they are dependant on their ki and high level features. A lot of monk features allow other members of the party to do more damage. Stunning Strike means every has advantage on the attack but if you stop at level 5 you will be very limited how often you can try for it. The ability to use a ki to have 1 HP instead of zero means the healer can deal damage on his next turn instead of getting you conscious. Features like hour of reaping and stunning Strike reduce the damage your party takes so if necessary the fight can go on little longer.
Thanks for the input. I was on the fence.
There are a few conditions under which I'd always recommend against multiclassing. Here they are:
1. You're new to the game
2. You're playing a Monk
3. You're trying to increase your power in the long term, rather than either increasing your power in the short term, or increasing your flexibility
Your situation is all of them, lol. Don't bother. Your Martial Arts die will go up soonish and you'll be hitting stuff just fine. Just remember to Disengage if the opponent can still act when you're done with him. ;)
Depending on the situation doge can be a better choice than disengage (while my goblin monk could diesengage as a bonus action without burning ki but I still found it useful to patient defence if there were several threats so I couldn't get away or I needed to stay where I was because otherwise the bad guy would run up to the wizard / healer and take him out). For other races I I would use patient defnce more often than disengage.
In theory, I agree, but the actual frequency of situations where you should Dodge is so much lower than it seems. Monk makes a pretty bad meat wall. I'm considering taking the dwarf feat that lets you spend hit dice when you Dodge, to see if that helps.