Hi guys, I'm joining a campaign where I know someone is planning to play a monk. What is a good class/subclass to support the monk to either buff them or apply the right debuffs to their foes? I was thinking either: Anyone who can cast web, or an Alchemist with their experimental elixirs. Thanks!
I'd say Monks benefit from most of your classic support options:
Faerie Fire on an enemy makes a Flurry of Blows land like a tonne of bricks (with an even higher chance to crit, ideal if they take the Crusher feat). Anything that can blind, paralyse, prone or restrained will help with landing attacks or moving away and so-on.
I'm not sure if there's an ideal option as just about anything will work.
Armorer like sfPanzer suggests is great if you'd like to be on the frontline yourself, and an Armorer + Monk combo ought to work really well together.
I guess the important questions are where you'd like to support them from, whether you want to be a double act (or do you want to support the whole party as well), and how you'd like to play yourself?
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There are plenty ways to go if you want to provide some support. Artificer will give you some spells and if you go artillerist you can use protector cannon and keep it with 10 feet of the monk to replenish temp HP each round. You could also go Rune Knight and use Stone or Cloud rune for control or redirecting an attack. Or Battlemaster to trip opponents or use interception fighting style to ward off some damage from the monk while you fight side by side.
And if multiclassing is an option and you want to stay out of melee yourself, a 3 level dip in Mastermind Rogue would get you a 30’ range Help action as a bonus action. So you could give them advantage on an attack, then stand back and attack with ranged for sneak attack damage while concentrating on a spell, if your other class is a spell caster. Depends on what play style you want to go for.
Monks are skirmishers they attack in melee but don't want to stay there. As Panzer said in that way they are like melee rogues. Unlike Rogues they need ot use not only a bonus action to disengage but also a limited resource (ki) so one of their biggest issues is op attacks. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian or an Armorer (using thunder Gauntlets) can significanty reduce the threat of op attacks.
Spells like Faerie fire help everyone making attack rolls I am not sure if it helps the monk more than most (it really helps the rogue as advantage guarantees sneak attack).
Once a monk gets stunning strike they really want it to work but Con saves are often resisted. An Allay who can cast Bestow curse on the boss giving it disadvantage on con saves really helps a monk. For less investment or against a group of enemies Bane is an alternative. The only issue here is are there better uses of concentration, though at end game levels you can can bestow curse at 5th level and not require concentration.
I play and Open Hand Monk, in a party with a Cleric, Fighter and Barbarian (currently being subbed in by Warlock/Paladin) My experience is that the best support I can get from the others are buff/debuff things, as a few others have mentioned. Haste is a big help, giving extra AC, extra attack, extra movement (though with 50' any extra is of questionable benefit lol) Bless and Bane are handy, Bless giving me an edge on saves and attacks while Bane makes me harder yet to hit and gives me a better shot at landing Stunning Strike, or using my FoB abilities to knock them down, or away,
As a Monk, I find myself USUALLY trying to get in and out to avoid damage. When things are hairy, however, and I am trying to help mitigate, staying in is sometimes more effective, giving more options for our foes to swipe at. Shield of Faith is nice there, again, making me harder to hit. At 13, I have 21 AC standing, 23 with Haste and if Hasted and Shield of Faith, I am at 25, so doing my 3 strikes Hasted then using Patient Defense, I can often have an enemy waste an attack trying to hit me. No hit means a wasted attack by the enemy and not much beats having them spend a round dealing 0 damage!
I'd keep an eye on him/her, and make sure they know there are "flat spots" while leveling, where you feel a little ineffective, usually due to the DC being kind of low for the level, or damage dice feeling a bit behind. Remind them as a Monk we are not expected to be a huge damage machine (hello Rogues) nor are we a tank type, and our control options, while certainly handy and effective if we can land them, are a bit limited compared to casters with a myriad of options. All told, I absolutely LOVE my Monk and wouldn't change a thing. I found levels 7-9 felt a bit flat, with the Fighter and Barbarian really dealing some heavy damage, while I was limping along with the d8 on attacks and a d6 on my FoB. Using the ASI's at 8 and 12 to boost my Wisdom (and thus my DC and AC) I found satisfying, managing to have my stuns, trips and knockbacks actually work more often.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
If they are an open hand or astral self monk, then any casters who can place down dangerous terrain for the monk to push them into. Druids, Sorcerers, Wizards, or Warlocks all have solid options. Other spells of note would be things like Hold Person (Paralyzed means all the monk's attacks auto crit for more damage), Grease (Danger area that knocks people prone means they get advantage to hit a bunch of things), and other similar spells to just make the monk more likely to land all their attacks.
Spells like Faerie fire help everyone making attack rolls I am not sure if it helps the monk more than most (it really helps the rogue as advantage guarantees sneak attack).
The benefit to Monks is from quantity of attacks; since we can put out four attacks in a round from 5th level that's four attacks with twice the normal chance to score critical hits which can add up nicely, especially with feats like Crusher that have a further bonus on a critical hit. Sure, a Barbarian or Fighter that crits will likely do more damage from a single attack, but in the same amount of time they may not get any.
Alternatively it just lets us get more out of our basic attacks when using the bonus action for something else (Dash, Disengage or Dodge). There are spells that can be better overall like bless but they're less commonly available and in some ways less versatile.
But really it was just an example of how Monks benefit from the same spells that everyone else does; we don't usually need anything specific.
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.
A light domain cleric, with its access to fairie fire, and being a cleric, would likely support your monk quite well.
A cleric with half plate armour and shield has 19AC, can put up a concentration spell (like fairie fire), summon a spiritual weapon, then just dodge until such time as they need to cast healing word to get another player back up. Of course they can just summon spirit guardians instead and basically solo the confrontation, so watch out for that.
Diviner wizard for Portent. College of elequence bard for bane spell + unsettling words. Any cleric for bane spell. All of these will dramatically increase the effectiveness of stunning strike by reducing enemy saving throws.
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Hi guys, I'm joining a campaign where I know someone is planning to play a monk. What is a good class/subclass to support the monk to either buff them or apply the right debuffs to their foes? I was thinking either: Anyone who can cast web, or an Alchemist with their experimental elixirs. Thanks!
I'd say Monks benefit from most of your classic support options:
Faerie Fire on an enemy makes a Flurry of Blows land like a tonne of bricks (with an even higher chance to crit, ideal if they take the Crusher feat). Anything that can blind, paralyse, prone or restrained will help with landing attacks or moving away and so-on.
I'm not sure if there's an ideal option as just about anything will work.
Armorer like sfPanzer suggests is great if you'd like to be on the frontline yourself, and an Armorer + Monk combo ought to work really well together.
I guess the important questions are where you'd like to support them from, whether you want to be a double act (or do you want to support the whole party as well), and how you'd like to play yourself?
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.
There are plenty ways to go if you want to provide some support. Artificer will give you some spells and if you go artillerist you can use protector cannon and keep it with 10 feet of the monk to replenish temp HP each round. You could also go Rune Knight and use Stone or Cloud rune for control or redirecting an attack. Or Battlemaster to trip opponents or use interception fighting style to ward off some damage from the monk while you fight side by side.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
And if multiclassing is an option and you want to stay out of melee yourself, a 3 level dip in Mastermind Rogue would get you a 30’ range Help action as a bonus action. So you could give them advantage on an attack, then stand back and attack with ranged for sneak attack damage while concentrating on a spell, if your other class is a spell caster. Depends on what play style you want to go for.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Monks are skirmishers they attack in melee but don't want to stay there. As Panzer said in that way they are like melee rogues. Unlike Rogues they need ot use not only a bonus action to disengage but also a limited resource (ki) so one of their biggest issues is op attacks. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian or an Armorer (using thunder Gauntlets) can significanty reduce the threat of op attacks.
Spells like Faerie fire help everyone making attack rolls I am not sure if it helps the monk more than most (it really helps the rogue as advantage guarantees sneak attack).
Once a monk gets stunning strike they really want it to work but Con saves are often resisted. An Allay who can cast Bestow curse on the boss giving it disadvantage on con saves really helps a monk. For less investment or against a group of enemies Bane is an alternative. The only issue here is are there better uses of concentration, though at end game levels you can can bestow curse at 5th level and not require concentration.
Clerics kind of get pidgeon holed into supporting, but they really are a good match for buffing a monk:
I play and Open Hand Monk, in a party with a Cleric, Fighter and Barbarian (currently being subbed in by Warlock/Paladin) My experience is that the best support I can get from the others are buff/debuff things, as a few others have mentioned. Haste is a big help, giving extra AC, extra attack, extra movement (though with 50' any extra is of questionable benefit lol) Bless and Bane are handy, Bless giving me an edge on saves and attacks while Bane makes me harder yet to hit and gives me a better shot at landing Stunning Strike, or using my FoB abilities to knock them down, or away,
As a Monk, I find myself USUALLY trying to get in and out to avoid damage. When things are hairy, however, and I am trying to help mitigate, staying in is sometimes more effective, giving more options for our foes to swipe at. Shield of Faith is nice there, again, making me harder to hit. At 13, I have 21 AC standing, 23 with Haste and if Hasted and Shield of Faith, I am at 25, so doing my 3 strikes Hasted then using Patient Defense, I can often have an enemy waste an attack trying to hit me. No hit means a wasted attack by the enemy and not much beats having them spend a round dealing 0 damage!
I'd keep an eye on him/her, and make sure they know there are "flat spots" while leveling, where you feel a little ineffective, usually due to the DC being kind of low for the level, or damage dice feeling a bit behind. Remind them as a Monk we are not expected to be a huge damage machine (hello Rogues) nor are we a tank type, and our control options, while certainly handy and effective if we can land them, are a bit limited compared to casters with a myriad of options. All told, I absolutely LOVE my Monk and wouldn't change a thing. I found levels 7-9 felt a bit flat, with the Fighter and Barbarian really dealing some heavy damage, while I was limping along with the d8 on attacks and a d6 on my FoB. Using the ASI's at 8 and 12 to boost my Wisdom (and thus my DC and AC) I found satisfying, managing to have my stuns, trips and knockbacks actually work more often.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
If they are an open hand or astral self monk, then any casters who can place down dangerous terrain for the monk to push them into. Druids, Sorcerers, Wizards, or Warlocks all have solid options. Other spells of note would be things like Hold Person (Paralyzed means all the monk's attacks auto crit for more damage), Grease (Danger area that knocks people prone means they get advantage to hit a bunch of things), and other similar spells to just make the monk more likely to land all their attacks.
The benefit to Monks is from quantity of attacks; since we can put out four attacks in a round from 5th level that's four attacks with twice the normal chance to score critical hits which can add up nicely, especially with feats like Crusher that have a further bonus on a critical hit. Sure, a Barbarian or Fighter that crits will likely do more damage from a single attack, but in the same amount of time they may not get any.
Alternatively it just lets us get more out of our basic attacks when using the bonus action for something else (Dash, Disengage or Dodge). There are spells that can be better overall like bless but they're less commonly available and in some ways less versatile.
But really it was just an example of how Monks benefit from the same spells that everyone else does; we don't usually need anything specific.
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.
A light domain cleric, with its access to fairie fire, and being a cleric, would likely support your monk quite well.
A cleric with half plate armour and shield has 19AC, can put up a concentration spell (like fairie fire), summon a spiritual weapon, then just dodge until such time as they need to cast healing word to get another player back up. Of course they can just summon spirit guardians instead and basically solo the confrontation, so watch out for that.
Diviner wizard for Portent. College of elequence bard for bane spell + unsettling words. Any cleric for bane spell. All of these will dramatically increase the effectiveness of stunning strike by reducing enemy saving throws.