Well, going for the classic Darkness + Devil's Sight build, but just now found out that you can't do it with monk in a straight way, like Oathbreaker/Warlock's. Really frustrated about it anyways, I wish I could be a full monk. And even more that my build now will just come "online" at level 5 instead of 3.
Anyways, the real point of the Thread -> What you guys think I should dip into? (Class/SubClass) -I wanna dip as less as possible. -We'll play Point Buy, so... Limited amount of attributes. The answer could be thematic or mechanic wise.
Thanks for your time!
Ps: I am well aware about this build consequence/interaction with the rest of the group.
If you want to stay 100% monk and not multiclass you could pick up the Eldritch Adept Feat from Tasha's. It lets you learn an invocation as if you were a Warlock, but you can't take any invocations that have any prerequisites without actually being a Warlock. Luckily the Devil's Sight invocation has no prerequisites so you could 100% opt for that one if you choose that route.
EDIT: Whoops missed that the feat requires spellcasting or Pact Magic feature to pick. Yeah you'll need to Multiclass to pick it up. Cleric is probably the best option TBH since it's wisdom based, and gives good subclass features at 1st level. Trickery Cleric is what I would choose personally.
You don't really need to dip into other classes. Monks are great on their own and don't really benefit from dips all that much.
If you really want to multiclass I definitely wouldn't multi class before level 7. Level five is a huge power spike and one more gets you shadow step - one of the most fun abilities in the game.
A better option than cleric would be ranger. You could go ranger 2 for a fighting style and hunters mark or 3 for a subclass. Gloomstalker pairs really really well with a shadow Monk. You're effectively invisible while in darkness in most cases. That is basically darkness/devil sight without the<spell>Darkness</spell>. Just fight at night. You can give any party members darkvision from the shadow Monk spell to make sure that if there is darkness someone isn't ruining it with a torch.
NVCoach is right. Blindfighting picked up via the Fighting Initiate feat will allow you to fight in the darkness you cast without that pesky dip. Check with your DM on how they want to work this though, as the 10 foot limitation on blindfighting means you will not "see" many enemies and will have to locate them by sound so that you can approach them and get within blindfighting range. RAW this is not a problem. If the enemy is not making a stealth check then you don't need to make any sort of check to locate them by sound. But your DM may rule that you need to make a perception check or the like so hammering out the details before getting surprised in the middle of combat by how your DM wants to handle it is smart.
If you want to stick with Devil's Sight then I think Cleric is definitely the way to go. If it's allowed I really like Death Cleric for this. Reaper is a big boost to cantrip attacks which will be wisdom based and make for a nice ranged alternative when distance is key. Nature Cleric for Shillelagh is also interesting. Pick up polearm master and you have a monk that can focus heavily on wisdom and have good damage while focusing ki points on non-flurry things. Knowledge is a bit odd but could make for a really nice skillmonkey build, especially if skill expert is thrown into the mix. Arcana for a boat-load of cantrips and detect magic as a ritual is pretty nice too.
Sometimes, to make the story good, you have to take the dip for the sake of the narrative. We're telling stories to each other here and that's the truth of it. Of course if you can massage that into the story while holding to the rules it's better.
This might sound a bit odd, but you could always ask the gamemaster if you could simply change the dynamics of a race. For instance, pick Elf with all of the elf abilities, dark vision, sword, bow, meditation, then turn around and ask to make him look human. If you can come up with story to support the decision that might give you room to forward your narrative with the DM's backing while otherwise remaining within the rules. You might consider looking through some of the other races like tieflings to see if they match up.
That said, the only darksight I know of is with Warlock. IF that is the critical element of the build, then take the leap. I had to take a dip into Sorceror Aberrant Mind for my creation and I'm only doing it for 1 level.
Not an efficient build, but went with a 2 lvl wizard bladesinger/ 5 lvl way of shadow monk build in a one shot. In this case though I leaned heavily into intelligence and dex.
Story wise it was a wizard who longed to be a spy and found an experimental shortsword that gave my character his monk like abilities (think something like ‘the suit’)
mechanically when bladesinging active, it gave:
- AC bonus eq to intelligence modifier
- concentration saving throw bonus for spells (darkness) eq to intelligence modifier
- advantage on acrobatics
- walking speed +10 ft
plus got 3x lvl 1 wizard spell slots (shield)
also went with eldritch adept for the devil sight
it worked surprisingly well in combat and I’m looking to try it out again sometime.
You don't really need to dip into other classes. Monks are great on their own and don't really benefit from dips all that much.
If you really want to multiclass I definitely wouldn't multi class before level 7. Level five is a huge power spike and one more gets you shadow step - one of the most fun abilities in the game.
A better option than cleric would be ranger. You could go ranger 2 for a fighting style and hunters mark or 3 for a subclass. Gloomstalker pairs really really well with a shadow Monk. You're effectively invisible while in darkness in most cases. That is basically darkness/devil sight without the<spell>Darkness</spell>. Just fight at night. You can give any party members darkvision from the shadow Monk spell to make sure that if there is darkness someone isn't ruining it with a torch.
But again, save it for level 7.
Yeah, this is fun. I threw in scout rogue and drow for my PC.
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Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
I missed the ranger recommendation. I think Gloomstalker/Shadow Monk is one of the better monk MC's but it isn't great for the express purpose of unlocking devil's sight + darkness early. Lehrer's build isn't going to pick up Eldritch Adept: Devil's Sight until level 10-11. If you want to play with the combo for as much of your career as possible then a 1 level dip in cleric is the way to go. Other spellcasters can work here, but clerics providing a domain at level 1 and wisdom synergy means it gives a lot for a small package. The ranger MC demands much more of the build as every level out of monk is a big cost.
If you are doing the cleric thing, you should use darkness domain, for the darkvision and the theme elements.
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Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
If you want to stay 100% monk and not multiclass you could pick up the Eldritch Adept Feat from Tasha's. It lets you learn an invocation as if you were a Warlock, but you can't take any invocations that have any prerequisites without actually being a Warlock. Luckily the Devil's Sight invocation has no prerequisites so you could 100% opt for that one if you choose that route.
EDIT: Whoops missed that the feat requires spellcasting or Pact Magic feature to pick. Yeah you'll need to Multiclass to pick it up. Cleric is probably the best option TBH since it's wisdom based, and gives good subclass features at 1st level. Trickery Cleric is what I would choose personally.
By RAW, you are correct monk cannot take this feat by themselves. But as a GM, I would allow it, and just for devil's sight.thr monk has to many problems as is.
This might sound a bit odd, but you could always ask the gamemaster if you could simply change the dynamics of a race. For instance, pick Elf with all of the elf abilities, dark vision, sword, bow, meditation, then turn around and ask to make him look human. If you can come up with story to support the decision that might give you room to forward your narrative with the DM's backing while otherwise remaining within the rules. You might consider looking through some of the other races like tieflings to see if they match up.
That said, the only darksight I know of is with Warlock. IF that is the critical element of the build, then take the leap. I had to take a dip into Sorceror Aberrant Mind for my creation and I'm only doing it for 1 level.
For the story, not the points.
Don't forget that the darkness spell is magical darkness. Therefore dark vision given by a race is still blind.
Well, going for the classic Darkness + Devil's Sight build, but just now found out that you can't do it with monk in a straight way, like Oathbreaker/Warlock's.
Really frustrated about it anyways, I wish I could be a full monk. And even more that my build now will just come "online" at level 5 instead of 3.
Anyways, the real point of the Thread -> What you guys think I should dip into? (Class/SubClass)
-I wanna dip as less as possible.
-We'll play Point Buy, so... Limited amount of attributes.
The answer could be thematic or mechanic wise.
Thanks for your time!
Ps: I am well aware about this build consequence/interaction with the rest of the group.
If you want to stay 100% monk and not multiclass you could pick up the Eldritch Adept Feat from Tasha's. It lets you learn an invocation as if you were a Warlock, but you can't take any invocations that have any prerequisites without actually being a Warlock. Luckily the Devil's Sight invocation has no prerequisites so you could 100% opt for that one if you choose that route.
EDIT: Whoops missed that the feat requires spellcasting or Pact Magic feature to pick. Yeah you'll need to Multiclass to pick it up. Cleric is probably the best option TBH since it's wisdom based, and gives good subclass features at 1st level. Trickery Cleric is what I would choose personally.
Check out my latest homebrew: Mystic Knight (Fighter) v1.31
Yeah, unfortunately...
Trickery Domain indeed sounds pretty sweet, the twilight too. Both feels like fitting the theme...
Oh, and to be sure: The spells casted by the Monk using Ki still require concentration right?
Shadow Monk spells still require concentration.
You don't really need to dip into other classes. Monks are great on their own and don't really benefit from dips all that much.
If you really want to multiclass I definitely wouldn't multi class before level 7. Level five is a huge power spike and one more gets you shadow step - one of the most fun abilities in the game.
A better option than cleric would be ranger. You could go ranger 2 for a fighting style and hunters mark or 3 for a subclass. Gloomstalker pairs really really well with a shadow Monk. You're effectively invisible while in darkness in most cases. That is basically darkness/devil sight without the<spell>Darkness</spell>. Just fight at night. You can give any party members darkvision from the shadow Monk spell to make sure that if there is darkness someone isn't ruining it with a torch.
But again, save it for level 7.
Blindfighting Fighting Style will potentially duplicate what you are looking for, at least in combat.
NVCoach is right. Blindfighting picked up via the Fighting Initiate feat will allow you to fight in the darkness you cast without that pesky dip. Check with your DM on how they want to work this though, as the 10 foot limitation on blindfighting means you will not "see" many enemies and will have to locate them by sound so that you can approach them and get within blindfighting range. RAW this is not a problem. If the enemy is not making a stealth check then you don't need to make any sort of check to locate them by sound. But your DM may rule that you need to make a perception check or the like so hammering out the details before getting surprised in the middle of combat by how your DM wants to handle it is smart.
If you want to stick with Devil's Sight then I think Cleric is definitely the way to go. If it's allowed I really like Death Cleric for this. Reaper is a big boost to cantrip attacks which will be wisdom based and make for a nice ranged alternative when distance is key. Nature Cleric for Shillelagh is also interesting. Pick up polearm master and you have a monk that can focus heavily on wisdom and have good damage while focusing ki points on non-flurry things. Knowledge is a bit odd but could make for a really nice skillmonkey build, especially if skill expert is thrown into the mix. Arcana for a boat-load of cantrips and detect magic as a ritual is pretty nice too.
Sometimes, to make the story good, you have to take the dip for the sake of the narrative. We're telling stories to each other here and that's the truth of it. Of course if you can massage that into the story while holding to the rules it's better.
This might sound a bit odd, but you could always ask the gamemaster if you could simply change the dynamics of a race. For instance, pick Elf with all of the elf abilities, dark vision, sword, bow, meditation, then turn around and ask to make him look human. If you can come up with story to support the decision that might give you room to forward your narrative with the DM's backing while otherwise remaining within the rules. You might consider looking through some of the other races like tieflings to see if they match up.
That said, the only darksight I know of is with Warlock. IF that is the critical element of the build, then take the leap. I had to take a dip into Sorceror Aberrant Mind for my creation and I'm only doing it for 1 level.
For the story, not the points.
Not an efficient build, but went with a 2 lvl wizard bladesinger/ 5 lvl way of shadow monk build in a one shot. In this case though I leaned heavily into intelligence and dex.
Story wise it was a wizard who longed to be a spy and found an experimental shortsword that gave my character his monk like abilities (think something like ‘the suit’)
mechanically when bladesinging active, it gave:
- AC bonus eq to intelligence modifier
- concentration saving throw bonus for spells (darkness) eq to intelligence modifier
- advantage on acrobatics
- walking speed +10 ft
plus got 3x lvl 1 wizard spell slots (shield)
also went with eldritch adept for the devil sight
it worked surprisingly well in combat and I’m looking to try it out again sometime.
Yeah, this is fun. I threw in scout rogue and drow for my PC.
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
I missed the ranger recommendation. I think Gloomstalker/Shadow Monk is one of the better monk MC's but it isn't great for the express purpose of unlocking devil's sight + darkness early. Lehrer's build isn't going to pick up Eldritch Adept: Devil's Sight until level 10-11. If you want to play with the combo for as much of your career as possible then a 1 level dip in cleric is the way to go. Other spellcasters can work here, but clerics providing a domain at level 1 and wisdom synergy means it gives a lot for a small package. The ranger MC demands much more of the build as every level out of monk is a big cost.
If you are doing the cleric thing, you should use darkness domain, for the darkvision and the theme elements.
Pronouns: he/him/his.
My posting scheduled is irregular: sometimes I can post twice a week, sometimes twice a day. I may also respond to quick questions, but ignore harder responses in favor of time.
My location is where my character for my home game is (we're doing the wild beyond the witchlight).
"The Doomvault... Probably full of unicorns and rainbows." -An imaginary quote
By RAW, you are correct monk cannot take this feat by themselves. But as a GM, I would allow it, and just for devil's sight.thr monk has to many problems as is.
Don't forget that the darkness spell is magical darkness. Therefore dark vision given by a race is still blind.
Shadow step is fun as hell to use in a game, if only to annoy my DM by asking where shadows are all the friggin time lol
Personally I'd go with twilight cleric. You can get devil's sight via eldritch adept and create your own dim light for teleports.