Do you love to run up walls? Catch arrows and fling them back? Stun your enemies into submission? You might just be a monk. If you have some extra coin and time to shop, you'll find a variety of magic items that can make you better at what you do best: get to the frontlines and take down enemies with style.

Below are some of our favorite magic items (listed alphabetically) that pair well with burgeoning masters of Ki. And don’t forget, if one of these items catches your eye and you don’t own the book for it, you can always purchase just that item in the D&D Beyond marketplace. Or if you have a friend with a Master-tier subscription, they can share their books with you so that you can outfit your monk with your favorite items.

1. Arcane propulsion arm
2. Barrier tattoo
3. Blood fury tattoo
4. Bracers of defense
5. Cloak of displacement
6. Eldritch claw tattoo
7. Gloves of soul catching
8. Staff of striking
9. Tome of understanding
10. Winged boots

Talk to your Dungeon Master about magic items

Depending on the campaign, your access to magic items might be limited. Your DM will determine which magic items are and are not available in the campaign. Let them know which magic items you are interested in but be open-minded if they are uncomfortable permitting some or any of the magic items you request.

Top 10 magic items for monks

1. Arcane propulsion arm

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement by a creature missing a hand or an arm)

The arcane propulsion arm from Eberron: Rising from the Last War is an effective weapon for player characters who are missing a hand or arm. It is removable only by you, meaning that you'll always have a magic weapon on your person that can hit for 1d8 force damage and be used for ranged attacks. The arcane propulsion arm has the thrown property, a normal range of 20 feet, and a long range of 60 feet.

Although the monk's Martial Arts damage die scales beyond 1d8, don't overlook the fact that an arcane propulsion arm deals force damage. As of the writing of this article, there are only two published monsters that have resistance to force damage and only three that have immunity. Barring homebrew monsters, you are nearly guaranteed to deal full damage on your attacks.

2. Barrier tattoo

Wondrous item, varies (requires attunement)

I'm a big fan of the magical tattoos introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, which is why you’ll see three of them on this list. In addition to allowing you to further personalize your character, the barrier tattoo offers a range of Armor Class improvements depending on its rarity.

An uncommon barrier tattoo makes your AC 12 + your Dexterity modifier, a rare one gets you to 15 + your Dexterity modifier (+2 maximum) AC, and some very rare ink will get you 18 AC. The value of this magic item depends on your monk's AC with Unarmored Defense. Chances are, an uncommon barrier tattoo won't be useful to you but a rare or very rare one will. 

3. Blood fury tattoo

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

The blood fury tattoo is the first legendary item for monks on our list — and it packs a punch. The tattoo comes with 10 charges that are regained daily at dawn. Each time you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can use a charge to deal an additional 4d6 necrotic damage. You then heal off of the necrotic damage that you dealt.

But that’s not it! This is a legendary magic item, after all. When a creature you can see damages you, you can expend a charge from the tattoo and use your reaction to make a melee attack against the creature with advantage. Nothing like punishing your enemies with a Stunning Strike for targeting you!

4. Bracers of defense

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

Bracers of defense are a classic monk item in D&D fifth edition and for good reason. The monk's Unarmored Defense and Martial Arts class features don't allow you to don armor or use a shield. This limits your ability to improve your AC outside of Ability Score Improvements. Bracers of defense are one way to get around these restrictions. They offer +2 AC.

5. Cloak of displacement

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

Monks don't get a huge pool of hit points to help them survive hard-hitting enemies. Although you can spend Ki points to Disengage or Dodge as a bonus action, chances are you want to conserve Ki for Stunning Strike. That's where a cloak of displacement comes in.

Donning this rare cloak triggers a magical illusion that gives the appearance that you are standing next to where you actually are. This illusion imposes disadvantage on creatures that try to attack you. If you are hit by a creature while wearing the cloak, the illusion disappears until your next turn. Similarly, the cloak doesn't function if you are incapacitated, restrained, or otherwise can’t move. But if you’re a monk that can’t move, you’ve got bigger problems than just your cloak not working.

6. Eldritch claw tattoo

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

The third and final tattoo on our list is an effective option for monks at the uncommon rarity. With an eldritch claw tattoo, your unarmed strikes are considered magical for the purpose of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical attacks, and you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes.

You also get a cool ranged attack option. Once per day, you can empower the tattoo for one minute, granting your unarmed strikes and melee weapon attacks a range of 15 feet and an extra 1d6 of force damage.

7. Gloves of soul catching

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

Coming to us from the arcane adventure anthology Candlekeep Mysteries, the gloves of soul catching will make your monk a force to be reckoned with. While you wear the gloves, your Constitution score is 20. (For a rare magic item that buffs your Constitution score, try an amulet of health.)

Further, when you make an unarmed strike while wearing the gloves, you deal an additional 2d10 force damage to your target and regain hit points equal to the force damage dealt. Alternatively, instead of regaining hit points, you can choose to gain advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw you make before the end of your next turn. Don't mind me, I'm just punching myself for advantage!

8. Staff of striking

Staff, very rare (requires attunement)

The staff of striking is a classic monk weapon at the very rare rarity. It grants a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. The staff also has 10 charges. When you hit with a melee weapon attack while using the staff, you can expend up to three of the charges, dealing an additional 1d6 force damage for each charge used. The staff replenishes 1d6+4 charges at dawn.

9. Tome of understanding

Wondrous item, very rare

While any character can benefit from a tome of understanding, few classes are as dependent on multiple ability scores as monks. This tome helps ensure the DC of your monk features like Stunning Strike and your AC are good even at high levels. A tome of understanding contains “intuition and insight exercises” (sudoku, it’s a book of sudoku) and requires 48 hours of study over a period of six days or less. If you manage that, your Wisdom score and its maximum increase by 2.

10. Winged boots

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

Break free from the shackles of gravity and meet your flying enemies face to face with a pair of winged boots. You get up to four hours of flight at a time with the boots, though you recover two hours of flying capability every 12 hours you go without using them. What makes these boots ideal for monks is that they provide a flying speed equal to your walking speed. As your movement speed scales with Unarmored Movement, so does your flying speed.

It’s time to make your monk

Whether you’re making your first monk or your 50th, D&D Beyond’s free character builder tool makes the process simple and fun. If you need help learning how to use the tool, check out this article on making your first character.

Andrew Strother (@RollPersuasion) is a marketing consultant and tabletop content creator. He’s the host of the podcast Roll for Persuasion, where he interviews creators and entertainers about the nerdy things they love, as well as being the co-creator and a co-star on Second Star to the Right: A Neverland Adventure; a D&D actual-play game set in the magical world of Neverland.