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The monk inDungeons & Dragonsexcels at combining martial prowess with spiritual discipline, making them a fast and versatile warrior. With the 2024 Player’s Handbook, building a monk has become more streamlined while also becoming a powerhouse that will become the go-to for players looking for a strong class.
Monks are experts in unarmed combat, using their focus to enhance their attacks and defenses. In this guide, we’ll cover how to effectively build a Monk using the updated 2024 rules, going over the differences with the 2014 rules, as well as understanding how each subclass differs.
Monk Highlights
The monk is a martial artist thatdoesn’t need to rely on equipment to get the job done.They candodge away from dangerand re-enter it,dealing multiple strikes to their foesas early as level one and gaining the highest armor class possible without really wearing anything.
While monks aren’t constrained by needing certain equipment,they still have a resource to manage: focus points.These points are used fornearly all special abilities of a monk, like redirecting attacks to your foes or stunning them with a simple unarmed strike.
Differences From The 2024 Player’s Handbook
The first difference you’ll notice with the 2024 monks is the change of nomenclature for a few key elements:ki points are now focus points, and subclasses are called“warrior of” instead of “way of the.”This in itself isn’t a huge change, but it helps players who want to roleplay a monk character in a flavor different than usual.
The main difference, however, is with unarmed strikes, since they nowdeal a D6 at level one and go up to a D12 at level 17instead of the D4 and D10 of the older edition. This alone is already a significant buff to the class, which can nowalso use its focus points more effectively.
Bonus Unarmed Strike
Performed alongside a regular attack.
You can do it even when not using your action to attack.
Step of the Wind and Patient Defense
You use one Focus Point to use it.
They now have basic uses without spending Points, and they get buffed alongside Flurry of Blows at level 10.
Deflect Attacks
Only works on ranged attacks.
Works on all attacks involving bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, and you can deflect all damage types at level 13.
Usable with all your attacks.
Only once per turn.
Starting at level 15, all monk features have been replaced with a buffed-up form, losing some fun abilities but gaining a lot in utility that keeps monks relevant at higher levels.
15
You don’t need food or water.
Perfect Focus
You regain 4 Focus Points if you roll initiative with Uncanny Metabolism already spent.
18
Empty Body
Become invisible or use the Astral Projection spell by spending Ki Points.
Superior Defense
Gain resistance to all damage except force by spending Focus Points.
20
Body and Mind
Your Dexterity and Wisdom increase by 4.
Monk Subclasses
The four monk subclasses present in the 2024 Player’s Handbook are ones that we’ve seen before, and some of them have had changes that make themalmost new subclasses altogether.They all still keep all the flavor they once had, butthe warrior of shadow and the warrior of the elements,in particular, are the ones that changed the most.
Warrior Of Mercy
Warrior of mercy isa support subclassthat is extremely easy to use, as long as you keep track of your focus points. you’re able to use these points todeal additional necrotic damageorto heal your allies, and the amount of damage/healing you do depends on your martial arts die.
As such, whilethe subclass itself hasn’t changed much, the buff to the martial arts die itself makes thisa great supportive subclass. The game designers seem to agree, since the flurry of healing has been slightly nerfed:you’re able to now only use it a total number of times equal to your Wisdom modifierinstead of as many times as you want as long as you have the points to spare.
Warrior Of Shadow
The changes tothe shadow arts for monksseem subtle at first, but they are all significant. The early levels are all about spending your focus points more reliably, andyou gain constant darkvisionwithout needing to spend any points on it. If you already have darkvision, it is improved.
At level three, you no longer have access to Pass Without Trace or Silence, butyou can still cast Darknessfor onlyone focus point.This Darkness is special, sinceyou can see normally within it, and you canchange its placementat the start of your turn.
The shadow step you earn at level six remains the same,letting you jump from shadow to shadowand gaining advantage on your next melee attack. It gets upgraded at level 11, letting you spend a focus point tonot need to start or end in shadows.
Level 17 sees a new and improved cloak of shadows,turning you invisible, partially incorporeal, and able to use your flurry of blows without spending focus points, all for a one-minute duration. It is certainlyan improvement over the old opportunist feature, which just allowed you to make an attack when an adjacent ally does so.
Warrior Of The Elements
Forget everything you knew aboutthe elemental style of monk from 2014, becausethe 2024 version is doing its own thing. Instead of gaining different versions of spells as if you were a caster, you instead haveyour own exclusive effects, and the only regular spell you know is the cantrip Elementalism.
At level three, you can spend a focus pointto imbue your unarmed strikes with elemental power, choosing a different damage type andgaining a 10 ft reach.You can’t do this with other monk weapons, so this subclassis best used bare-handed.
This attunement is later improved, but it’s not the only toy these elemental warriors have to play with. At level six,you can create your own mini fireballs(you can change the damage type), giving you a reliable ranged option, andat level 11, you simply fly.
Warrior Of The Open Hand
The open hand style of monks continues to bethe most basic of them all, and that isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, you just want to punch someone really hard, really fast, and that is what the open hand is about, all while alsopushing enemies around or knocking them prone.
Like many other changes to the monk class, the features that changed the most areat higher levels.At level 11, for example, open hand monks no longer gain the effect of the Sanctuary spell, instead being able touse step of the wind whenever they use a bonus action.
Level 17 has a seemingly less dramatic change, but it is significant nonetheless.Quivering palm no longer has a chance to reduce the target to zero hit points, insteaddealing 10D12 force damageon a failed save, half as much when successful. This is a slight nerf, butconsidering all the other buffs of the classand how many times you can stack this effect, it is still a very destructive feature.
Best Species Options
There isn’t really a bad optionwhen it comes to species for monks, so you should always pick what feels the most fun. Since species no longer dictate your starting Ability Scores, you may freely pick whatever you want, althoughsome options combine better with monksthan others.
The dragonborn species, for example, has a breath attack option that makes up forthe lack of area damagethat most monks have.The warrior of the elements subclass is the exception, however; a dragonborn monk of that specific subclass would have several overlapping features.
The goliath speciesis a more general choice, with abilities thatlet you deal additional damage or knock enemies prone.The only bad choice for this species is the cloud giant ancestry, since you have better uses for your bonus action than teleporting around.
If you want to play it safe, thenyou shouldpick the elf specieswith the wood heritage.You gain extra speed and the Longstrider and Pass without Trace spells, making youthe fastest and sneakiest monk around.
Best Stat Placements
As a monk,you’ll be focusing heavily on Dexterity and Wisdom, since they both dictate your unarmored defense.Constitution should be the third score you focus on, giving you the needed health to tackle your future adventures.
You can consider Strength as your dump stat, so if you want to raise anything else, it should beeither Intelligence or Charisma.If you expect plenty of social encounters, then you should make sureyou don’t have a negative score on Charisma, although monks aren’t usually the face of the party.
Best Starting Equipment
If you start your adventure at level one, then the starting equipment offered by the Handbook will serve you well. You gain a spear, five daggers, artisan’s tools, and an explorer’s pack;the daggers, in particular, are your source of ranged damage, since you use Dexterity to throw them, andthey deal a D6 in damagewhen wielded by a monk.
As for the tools,the cook’s utensils are the ones you could get the most use out of, since they depend on Wisdom and let you detect poisoned food. You could also take something like the leatherworker’s tools to make armor for your companions, but nothing you could make will have a use for yourself.
If you’re starting at higher levels, butyour DM isn’t giving you any items beyond the starting ones, considertaking the 50 gold instead, since the subclasses can make up for your lack of range with speed or literal ranged options. If you start lower than level five, thenbuying a quarterstaffwould slightly improve your damage.
Best Feats And Backgrounds
The best background by far for monks isthe Sailor background, since it givesthe tavern brawler origin feat.It allows you toreroll the damage die of any unarmed strikeyou deal if it lands on a one (and you’ll be dishing a lot of them per turn), as well aspushing enemies away once per turn.
As for general feats,grappler is the perfect offensive feat for monks, letting you grab and damage an enemy when you use an unarmed attack. If you wanta feat that raises Wisdomand you took the cook’s utensils, thenthe chef feat can end up being a great utility optionfor you and your party, letting you make food that gives temporary hit points.
Best Multiclass Options
Players often use the multiclass optionsto dip their toes in one classwhile focusing on another. We will assume thatyou’re going to focus on monk, so we have a few classes that can improve your monk withonly one or two levels spent on them.
Druid can be a great option to multiclass into, particularly if you want tofocus on Wisdom rather than Dexterityfor damage, thanks to the Shillelagh cantrip. Putting two levels into the class gives youtheir wild shape ability, which can mostly aid you in roleplay situations to pretend to be a cat.
Martial classes like fighter and paladingive the monk access to weapon masteries and fighting styles, whichare useful but not tremendously impactful.One ofthe better choices, however, is ranger, since with a single level,you get access to Hunter’s Mark, which scales wonderfully with the number of attacks being made by your average monk.
