Monk 5e: DnD 5th Edition Class Guide – RPGBOT (2024)

Introduction

The Monk is DnD’s iconic martial-artist, popular among those who prefer to punch things rather than stabbing them or setting them on fire (though stabbing things and setting them on fire is still a possibility for the Monk). Monks are excellent Defenders and Strikers, and typically fill a role in a party as a Fighter-equivalent or Rogue-equivalent depending on your subclass and proficiencies. Certain subclasses also introduce healing and Support capabilities, allowing monks to thrive in new roles depending on your build.

The Monk can be difficult to play compared to the Fighter or the Rogue. They are the most MAD (multiple ability dependent) class in DnD 5e, needing three high ability scores to function effectively with very little room to ignore any of them, and the Monk isn’t as durable as the Fighter nor as lethal as the Rogue. Monks also lean heavily into using Bonus Actions right from level 1, which can be briefly confusing for new players who are still acclimating to the game’s mechanics. Subclasses can introduce additional complexity to the class, but that complexity also brings a lot of diversity and a lot of fun options.

Despite those challenges, the Monk can be incredibly satisfying to play. I’ve had all kinds of fun slapping enemies prone, launching them through air, stunning them before unleashing a flurry of blows, and otherwise making my presence felt on the battlefield.

After reading this handbook, I encourage you to read our other supporting articles:

• Monk Races Breakdown
• Monk Subclasses Breakdown.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Monk Class Features
  • Optional Class Features
• Ability Scores
• Monk Races
• Monk Skills
• Monk Backgrounds
• Monk Feats
• Monk Weapons
  • Weapon for Dedicated Weapon
• Monk Armor
• Multiclassing
• Monk Magic Items
  • Common Magic Items
  • Uncommon Magic Items
  • Rare Magic Items
  • Very Rare Magic Items
  • Legendary Magic Items
• Example Monk Build – Human Monk (Open Hand)
  • Abilities
  • Race
  • Skills and Tools
  • Background
  • Feats
  • Levels

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Monk Class Features

Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.

Hit Points: d8 hit points is hard for afront-line martial class like the Monk, so be sure to boost your AC and hitpoints wherever possible.

Saves: Strength saves aren’t terriblycommon, but Dexterity saves are great for resisting damaging AOE effects.Eventually Monks pick up Diamond Soul, giving them proficiency in all saves,including death saves.

Proficiencies: No armor, no shields, andnot a lot of weapons. You’re expected to use “monk weapons”, which are definedunder the Martial Arts entry. Essentially you’ll be using a 1d6 weapon withversatile until level 10 (which means either a quarterstaff or a spear), thenyou’ll use your bare hands from then on unless you’ve found a magic weapon.Monks get the typical 2 skills, and the Monk skill list includes a lot ofmediocre options which depend on Abilities which Monks don’t generally needand therefore can’t afford to invest in.

Unarmored Defense: 20 Dexterity and 20Wisdom is an eventual goal for every Monk. With both, you have 20 AC, whichmatches the AC of a character in full plate with a shield.

Martial Arts: Martial Arts is why you play aMonk. It removes the need for Strength, and gives you all the benefits oftwo-weapon fighting without the need for weapons, feats, or combat styles.

Ki: Some basic, but extremely potent usesfor your Ki pool which every Monk will rely upon.

• Flurry of Blows: At low levels this isn’ta great option because you won’t have a lot of Ki, but as you grow in levelit will become less costly. Keep in mind that Martial Arts already grantsyou a single extra attack as a Bonus Action, so you’re only getting oneattack for your Ki point. This is the floor of effectiveness on using a kipoint. If a thing you could do with Ki is worse than Flurry of Blows, youshould never do that thing.
• Patient Defense: When your health is lowthis is a great fallback option.
• Step of the Wind: Similar to CunningAction, but with a Ki cost.

Unarmored Movement: Some extra speed isnice for a class so strictly bound to melee, and the ability to run acrosswater and up vertical surfaces really adds to the mystical feel of theMonk.

Monastic Tradition: Monk subclasses are briefly summarizedbelow. See myMonk Subclasses Breakdownfor help selecting your subclass.

• Way of Mercy: Empower your ki to harm and afflict your foes and to heal yourself andyour allies.
• Way of Shadow: Employ stealth and magical abilities to evade, surprise, and ambush yourfoes.
• Way of the Astral Self: Use your Ki to conjure a magical set of arms and fight using your ki morethan your actual body. (This is the one that’s a Jojo reference.)
• Way of the Drunken Master: A tricky, durable monk who moves about a lot in combat and who canendure, redirect, and avoid damage.
• Way of the Four Elements: Turn your Ki into powerful elemental spells and abilities to assail yourfoes.
• Way of the Long Death: Exceptionally hard to kill, the Way of Long Death allows you to preserveyour own life by taking others’.
• Way of the Open Hand: The master of martial arts, Way of the Open Hand is simplest and mosticonic monk.
• Way of the Kensei: Master fighting with a weapon.
• Way of the Sun Soul: Blast your foes with radiant damage fueled by your Ki.

Deflect Missiles: Situational, as itdepends on the attack using a weapon attack, and most ranged effects aretypically spells unless they’re coming from a humanoid. However, when it comesup it’s a cool defensive option, and the math is really solid. Even ahigh-level character does little more than the damage die plus their abilitymodifier in damage, so the 1d10+dex+level will be very reliable.

Slow Fall: Situational, but it’ll saveyour life when it comes up.

Extra Attack: Three attacks with MartialArts, or four with Flurry of Blows.

Stunning Strike: There’s no limit on howmany times you can do this (except running out of Ki), so against particularlytough opponents it’s perfectly acceptable to spend Ki on each of your attacksuntil you succeed, or to just stun-lock a single foe for the duration of afight.

Understanding and using Stunning Strike effectively is absolutely crucial toplaying the Monk effectively. The Stunned condition robs the creature of turn,prevents them from making opportunity attacks or casting reaction spells likeShield or Counterspell, grants Advantage on attacks to hit them (including anyother attacks that you make that turn), causes them to automatically failStr/Dex saves (ex: Disintegrate), and Stunning Strike lasts until theend of your next turn, so you could spend your whole next turnattacking them with Advantage, not to mention whatever your party can do witha full round to pile on the damage.

Ki-Empowered Strikes: Especially importantin games with no magic items. Many enemies have resistance to non-magicalweapon attacks.

Evasion: Combined with high Dexterity andthe Monk’s Reflex saves, you should be able to reliably negate AOE effects.

Stillness of Mind: Situational, but a lotof enemies have Charm and/or Fear effects.

Purity of Body: Disease and Poison can bothbe debilitating, and become more common as you gain levels.

Tongue of the Sun and Moon: This would bemore helpful if Monks were any good at talking to things.

Diamond Soul: Dramatically improves yoursurvivability. Notably this also applies to Death Saving Throws. Even thoughthey’re not tied to an ability score, they’re still a saving throw, andaccording to Jeremy Crawford,“If all saves are affected by a thing, death saves are affected.”

Timeless Body: Almost never mattersin-game.

Empty Body: Invisibility is fantastic.Astral Projection is situational, but by this level a safe means to explorethe outer planes is very welcome.

Perfect Self: Dramatically improves theMonk’s sustainability throughout the day.

Optional Class Features

Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Optional Class Features offer ways to add additional features or replace existing ones. These rules are optional, and you should not assume that your DM will allow these features without consulting them first.

Assessments and suggestions for specific Optional Class Features are presented here, but for more information on handling Optional Class Features in general, see my Practical Guide to Optional Class Features.

Dedicated Weapon (Addition): On its own,this does little to expand the Monk’s weapon options since you need to findproficiency elsewhere. You can get more proficiencies from a feat or bymulticlassing, but more likely you’re going to get it from your race. Mostraces won’t get you anything more interesting than a longsword by default, butwith the Customizing Your Origin optional rule you can turn a racial weaponproficiency into whatever weapon proficiency you want (there’s somesimple/martial nuance, but realistically you’re going to get a martialweapon). If you just want damage, a longsword is your best bet, but considergetting whips for reach or shortbows so that you can do something useful atrange (Dedicated Weapon allows weapons with the two-handed trait, unlikeMartial Arts).

I recommend allowing Dedicated Weapon on all monks using a subclass which Irate green or lower. It’s not a huge buff,but access to whips can be very impactful and raising the monk’s weapon damagefrom 1d8 (quarterstaff or spear) to 1d10 means that they’ll be slightly morelethal by skipping straight to their maximum damage die size for their weaponattacks.

Ki-Fueled Attack (Addition): A fantasticbuff for subclasses which have Ki-eating abilities which they’ll use duringcombat, such as the Way of Four Elements spellcasting. This allows you tostill attack in the same turn as you use those abilities, thereby boostingyour damage output. Many monks will gain little or no benefit from this, butseveral weaker subclasses benefit significantly.

I recommend allowing Ki-Fueled Attack on all monks using a subclass which Irate orange or lower. These subclassestypically benefit a great deal from this feature, and this buff may be enoughto make those subclasses much more viable.

Quickened Healing (Addition): The onlycase where I expect monks to use this is to spend remaining Ki before taking aShort Rest. Doing so can improve the Monk’s durability, allowing them tocompensate for their relatively small hit die compared to the Fighter byhealing themselves beyond what their hit dice could provide. This may beenough to justify less stress over your Constitution, but you need to getthrough combat alive to have a chance to use this.

I recommend allowing Quickened Healing on all monks using a subclass which Irate green or lower. It’s not a huge buff,and in most games the Monk’s hit dice will be sufficient, so I don’t expectthis to be used frequently.

Focused Aim (Addition): Inefficient, butsometimes you’re desperate to just make on attack connect. Monks don’t have abig single on-hit effect like Sneak Attack, and this comes online late enoughthat it’s hard to justify multiclassing to use this. Keep this in your backpocket until you’re desperate.

I recommend allowing Focused Aim on all monks. It’s an extremely inefficientuse of Ki compared to nearly anything else that the Monk could do, so having aplayer spend their Ki to make one attack hit successfully means that they’regiving up a precious resource that they could spend elsewhere doing somethingmore impactful.

Ability Scores

The Monk is the most MAD class in the game. While Dexterity is their primary ability score, they also need both Constitution and Wisdom to function. Fortunately, you have very little use for Strength, Intelligence, or Charisma, so it’s easy to dump three scores and focus on the three that we care about.

Since we need three high ability scores, races which offer three Ability Score Increases are especially appealing. This includes the default Human (technically they get 6), Custom Origin Half-Elf (+2/+1/+1), the Custom Origin Triton (three +1’s), and any race after Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything because those races offer the choice of +2/+1 or three +1 increases.

Way of the Astral Self has a higher reliance on Wisdom due to Astral Arms, so if you’re building an Astral Self monk, reverse Dexterity and Wisdom in the recommendations below.

Str: Monks get good Strength saves, whichreduces the need for Strength, but a little bit of Strength will help stretchthe effectiveness of that proficiency. Athletics is also a nice option if youwant to Shove enemies prone, but several monk subclasses already offer optionsto knock foes prone without resorting to Athletics.

Dex: Dexterity rules the Monk. Almost allmonks rely on Dexterity for attacks, so it sets your attacks, damage, and AC,and having good Dexterity will help avoid AOE damage which can quickly cutinto your d8 hit points. Evasion helps, but it’s more effective if you succeed onthe save.

Con: With only d8 hit dice, Constitution isvery important for the Monk.

Int: Generally dump, unless you really needto use knowledge skills.

Wis: Wisdom fuels Monk’s AC and many oftheir special abilities. It notably sets the save DC for class features whichallow targets to make saving throws, so it’s especially important forsubclasses which rely heavily on offensive special abilities.

Cha: Dump. Take a vow of silence ifnecessary.

Monk Races

Monks are heavily MAD, so ability scores are absolutely crucial. Additionalskills are great if you’re replacing a rogue, and additional sources ofdurability can do a lot to help keep you alive, especially at low levels.

For help selecting a race, see ourMonk Races Breakdown.

For a simple monk feel, start with variant human and take a feat likeDefensive Duelist or Tough. If you want to be highly skilled, consider raceslike the Kenku or the Tabaxi. For a durable monk, consider the Dwarf or theGoliath.

Monk Skills

• Acrobatics (Dex): Situational.
• Athletics (Str): Monks don’t need a lotof Strength, so they rarely have good enough Strength to back up Athletics.However, if you have a little bit you can make excellent use of both Grappleand Shove.
• History (Int): Situationally usefuldepending on the style of your campaign.
• Insight (Wis): The closest thing you getto a Face skill.
• Religion (Int): One of the best knowledgeskills, but Monks don’t need Intelligence so you probably won’t be good withit.
• Stealth (Dex): With such a high dependenceon Dexterity, Stealth is an obvious option.

Monk Backgrounds

This section does not address every published background, as doing so would result in an ever-growing list of options which don’t cater to the class. Instead, this section will cover the options which I think work especially well for the class, or which might be tempting but poor choices. Racial feats are discussed in the Races section, above.

Monks have high enough Dexterity that with the right skills they can functionas Scouts, and with high Wisdom they’re also good at Insight and Perception.With no Intelligence or Charisma, stay far away from Face skills and Knowledgeskills, and Languages are basically worthless so look for tools like Thieves’Tools.

If you’re having trouble deciding, here are some suggestions:

• Criminal^PHB: Stealth and Thieves’ tools are great for a sneaky Monk.
• Faction Agent^SCAG: A good way to pick up both Insight and Perception, but the rest isuseless.
• Far Traveler^SCAG: A good way to pick up both Insight and Perception, but the rest isuseless.
• Hermit^PHB: Medicine will help capitalize on your Wisdom, and the Herbalism Kitallows you to make healing potions.
• Urban Bounty Hunter^SCAG: For a Roguish Monk, Criminal and Urchin are both better choices.
• Urchin^PHB: Your best bet for a Rogue-like Monk.

Monk Feats

Thissectiondoesnotaddresseverypublishedfeat,asdoingsowouldresultinanever-growinglistofoptionswhichdon’tcatertotheclass.Instead,thissectionwillcoverfeatswhichIthinkworkespeciallywellfortheclassorwhichmightbetemptingbutpoorchoices.

• Chef^TCoE: Monks are already over-reliant on their Bonus Action. The additionaldurability is excellent, but the treats won’t fit into your action economy.Consider Inspiring Leader instead.
• Crusher^TCoE: The ability to push an enemy 5 feet away from you if you hit them with abludgeoning attack makes it easy to perform hit-and-run tactics withoutspending Ki, without using Shove, without the Mobile feat, and without afeature from your subclass which allows you to do so. The Advantage mechanicwill be an infrequent benefit, but it will feel really nice when you do getit. Since you can get a Constitution increase, Crusher’s cost is reduced,allowing you to more easily fit it into your build without playing a racethat grants you a feat at first level.
• Defensive Duelist^PHB: Works with a dagger or short sword (or a rapier if you’re using Dedicated Weapon), and provides a helpful and consistent boost to the Monk’s problematically low AC. It only works against one attack per turn, and only in melee, but since the Monk is almost entirely locked into melee, that’s still be a meaningful boost to your durability, especially once your Proficiency Bonus scales a bit.
• Durable^PHB: This can go a long way to improve your survivability.
• Elemental Adept^PHB: None of the Monastic traditions focus on dealing elemental damage. FourElements is the closest, but you need to be able to use all of the elementsto find enough useful ability choices from those available so lockingyourself into one is a terrible mistake.
• Fey Touched^TCoE: Access to Fey Step and Hex are tempting, but may be difficult choiceswithout the ability to cast the spells more than once per day. Hex, combinedwith the Monk’s numerous attacks, can be a powerful damage boost andhampering the target’s ability checks can make it easy to Shove them proneeven if your Strength is relatively poor. You can get a Wisdom increase fromFey Touched, too, which makes this less costly than many feats.

  For more advice on Fey Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Fighting Initiate^TCoE: There is little here that will be more impactful than increasing yourability scores. Fighting Style (Unarmed Fighting) is tempting, but few monksare actually good enough at grappling to justify it. Blind Fighting can beeffective, especially for Way of Shadow monks since they don’t gain theability to see in darkness. RAW Dueling doesn’t work with unarmed strikes,unfortunately, but it might still be effective for the Kensai if you’reusing weapon attacks enough.
• Gunner^TCoE: Thanks to the Dedicated Weapon Optional Class Feature, using a firearmisn’t out of the question, and the Kensei can use firearms in the same waythat they would use a longbow. At very high levels the damage gap betweenthe Monk’s Martial Arts die and the Musket is miniscule, but until thatpoint the Musket’s d12 damage die is a nice damage boost, and since you gainthe ability to use firearms unimpeded by adjacent enemies, you can use yourmusket in melee in place of a quartertstaff or spear. On top of all ofthose benefits, you also get a Dexterity increase so the cost of the feat iseasy to fit into your build
• Grappler^PHB: Just a terrible feat in general. You don’t need it to grapplesuccessfully. If you do want to grapple successfully, take Fighting Initiate(Unarmed Fighting).
• Lucky^PHB: Good on anyone.
• Mage Slayer^PHB: Too situational.
• Magic Initiate^PHB: Monks need to be using the Attack action so that they can use MartialArts and/or Flurry of Blows, so there are very few options here that areworth the feat. Perhaps your best bet is to go for Warlock so that you canget Hex, which combines nicely with the Monk’s numerous attacks and providesup to an hour of boosted damage provided that you can maintainConcentration. But at that point, Fey Touched is a much better choice forthe Monk.

  For more advice on Magic Initiate, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Martial Adept^PHB: Not useful enough with only one superiority die.
• Mobile^PHB: A fine feat, but redundant with core Monk abilities. You already get aton of increased movement speed. If you need to avoid opportunity attacks,spend a Ki point to disengange. If you’re worried about difficult terrain,taking Dash with your already enhanced movement speed should give you somuch movement that any difficult terrain shouldn’t be a problem except inthe most exceptional cases.
• Mounted Combat^PHB: It’s hard to play a mounted character without a special mount ability ofsome kind.
• Observant^PHB: You have enough Wisdom to back up Perception.
• Piercer^TCoE: I frequently advocate monks using spears because it prevents you frombecoming locked into bludgeoning damage. However, the attacks made withMartial Arts are bludgeoning damage by default (you may be able to dosomething different if you have natural weapons), so it’s hard to go all-inon piercing damage.
• Polearm Master^PHB: Quarterstaffs and spears (spear was added in the 2018 errata) are theonly polearms a Monk can use, and half of the feat’s effect is redundantwith Martial Arts because they both use your bonus action.
• Resilient^PHB: Monks get Diamond Soul, so this will be redundant.
• Ritual Caster^PHB: Rituals are a fantastic addition to any party, but monks need too manyAbility Score Increases to take a feat which doesn’t directly complementtheir build.
• Sentinel^PHB: Great for keeping enemies from escaping you. Shadow Monks might find thisespecially useful for killing enemies inside the area of Silence.
• Skilled^PHB: If you want additional skills, try to get them from your racial traits.The Monk needs too many Ability Score Increases to give one up forproficiencies which you could get elsewhere.
• Skill Expert^TCoE: The +1 ability increase reduces the cost to fit this into your build, andthe expertise and the additional proficiency can reduce the skill gapbetween the Monk and the Rogue, allowing you to more effectively serve asyour party’s Scout.
• Skulker^PHB: Sniping is for Rogues.
• Spell Sniper^PHB: Sun Soul Monks might briefly consider this, but this is a terriblechoice. Sun Soul Monks get exactly one ray effect, and punchingthings is the better choice most of the time. Leave this for Warlocks.

  For more advice on Spell Sniper, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Tavern Brawler^PHB: Conflicts with Martial Arts, and you won’t have the Strength to makeAthletics work.
• Tough^PHB: Monks really need help with hit points, so this is very tempting.
• Weapon Master^PHB: You get all of the weapon proficiencies that you absolutely need tofunction, but there is some room for this if you’re using the DedicatedWeapon Optional Class Feature. Four weapons will get you the shortbow, thewhip, and two other options like the longsword, and with Dedicated Weaponyou can pick a weapon and make it a monk weapon. Use the shortbow if youwant to be useful at range. Use the Whip if you want reach and don’t mindusing your Martial Arts die. Use the Longsword if you just need more damage(remember that you can use it two-handed to get 1d10 damage with Versatile).This can also get you a +1 to Dexterity, making it a tempting 1st-level featoption for the Custom Lineage and the Variant Human. Of course, you couldalso play a race that has weapon proficiencies already and replace themusing the Customizing Your Origin rules.

Monk Weapons

Monk weapons deal their base damage or your Martial Arts damage, whichever isgreater, which makes weapons a very good choice for Monks. The bestbase damage you can get from a Monk weapon is 1d8 (with Versatile), which willmatch your Martial Arts damage until level 17. Monks use Dexterity with anyMonk weapon, so the biggest differences between weapons are damage type andpossibly a range increment. Martial Arts doesn’t specify that it only appliesto melee attacks or weapons, so you can use Dexterity with things likeJavelins to apply your Martial Arts damage to thrown weapons.

• Dart: Javelins are strictly better.
• Javelin: Similar to the spear. NoVersatile so the damage isn’t as good, but much better range.
• Handaxe: The Monk’s best source ofslashing damage, and it can be thrown. However, since it won’t do as muchdamage as a spear, stick to your spear or quarterstaff unless your foe isspecifically weaker to slashing damage than piercing or bludgeoning damage.For flavor, call it a kama.
• Quarterstaff: Versatile allows thequarterstaff to match the Monk’s unarmed damage until 17th-level, but sinceit’s the same damage type as unarmed strikes, and can’t be thrown, it’s notas good as the spear. Still, 2nd-place is pretty good. For flavor, call it abo staff or a three-sectioned staff.
• Short Sword: Short swords are a trap. SeeJavelin or Spear.
• Spear: The Monk’s gold standard. You canget 1d8 damage with Versatile, which is the absolute best a Monk can getuntil their unarmed strikes hit 1d10 at 17th-level. Plus, it deals piercingdamage and you can throw it!
• Unarmed: You’re going to use UnarmedStrikes no matter what since Martial Arts’ and Flurry of Blows’ extraattacks both require you to use unarmed strikes. Since weapon damage willexceed your unarmed damage until level 17, you only want to useyour unarmed strikes for these bonus attacks.

Weapon for Dedicated Weapon

Provided that you’re using the Dedicated Weapon Optional Class Feature, youweapon options are expanded considerably beyond the typical set of monkweapons. However, the limitation on weapon traits means that in a practicalsense there is a limited number of truly optimal weapons. You’ll need to findweapon proficiencies somewhere, but between racial traits, feats, andmulticlassing, you have plenty of options. Unfortunately you can only have oneDedicated Weapon at a time, but if you can get the proficiencies you canchange weapons daily to get whatever suits your needs at the time.

Your first and most obvious choice is a weapon that can exceed the damage ofa spear. Since you can’t use weapons with the Two-Handed trait, your best betis a Versatile (1d10) weapon like the Battle Axe, the Longsword, or theWarhammer. I typically prefer a slashing weapon because your unarmed strikesare probably locked into bludgeoning damage. Going straight to 1d10 damage atlevel 2 means that you’re getting as much damage as the Monk’s best MartialArts damage die, which feels pretty good at level 2.

Next, you should address the issue of ranged combat. The Monk’s best ranged options are normally crossbows and darts, and those aren’t fantastic options. I recommend getting a shortbow. If nothing else, you can use Extra Attack without worrying about the Loading property or how to draw darts fast enough. If you use the Focused Aim Optional Class Feature, you can trigger Ki-Fueled Attack and make an attack with your shortbow as a Bonus Action. It’s not perfect, but that goes a long way to improve the Monk’s capabilities in ranged combat. Most monks won’t match the Kensei’s capabilities with a bow, but that’s to be expected since the Kensei is supposed to be the best monk at using weapons.

If you have additional proficiencies (most sources of weapon proficiencieswill provided three or more), you’ve got some flexibility. I recommend theWhip because it gives you easy access to Reach. The damage die is small, butyour Martial Arts die raises it to be in line with similar weapons, so thetrade is less harsh. The ability to make hit-and-run attacks while remainingout of enemies reach is a great tactical option for the Monk, especially ifyou have a durable ally to discourage enemies from chasing you.

If you can fit a feat into your build, Gunner makes firearms a possibility. Making a musket your dedicated weapon gives you a good ranged option that you can use within melee reach and also gives you a +1 Dexterity increase, so it’s easy to fit into your build despite the Monk’s MAD issues.

Monk Armor

Monks need armor even less than Wizards, instead relying on Unarmored Defense. This means that your AC will be at most 16 at level 1, and will increase slowly as you gain levels and reach a maximum of 20 once you max out your Dexterity and Wisdom.

Multiclassing

This section briefly details some obvious and enticing multiclass options, but doesn’t fully explore the broad range of multiclassing combinations. For more on multiclassing, see our Practical Guide to Multiclassing.

• Barbarian: Barbarians also get UnarmoredDefense, but since both set your AC instead of providing a bonus,they don’t work together. Generally you can choose to use whichever providesa higher AC. For some Monks, using Constitution for AC could be a great wayto cut down MAD, but generally you want Wisdom for other Monk abilities so aBarbarian dip is a hard choice. The Kensei and the Drunken Master don’t needWisdom for much, so if you don’t mind Stunning Strike being unreliable youcan take a dip into barbarian and then ignore Wisdom.
• Fighter: Fighting Style (UnarmedFighting) is tempting if you want to include grappling in your tactics,though many monks may find that difficult because the class isDexterity-based. Fighting Style (Dueling) doesn’t apply to unarmed strikessince you’re not using a weapon.
• Rogue: Shadow Monks get quite a bit from aRogue dip. A single level, especially if it’s your first level, allows theShadow Monk to very easily play the party’s Rogue-equivalent.

Monk Magic Items

Common Magic Items

• Staff of Adornment/Birdcalls/Flowers^XGtE: Works as a quarterstaff, and it can overcome damage resistances tonon-magical attacks. The actual magic stuff is amusing, but probably notimportant. You could use a Moon-Touched Sword instead, but two-handing astaff deals more damage.

Uncommon Magic Items

• Boots of Elvenkind^DMG: Helpful on any stealthy character, though not effective as a Cloak ofElvenkind. Combine with a Cloak of Elvenkind for maximum effect.
• Broom of Flying^DMG: Easily overlooked, but one of the best ways to get flight for anycharacter. It doesn’t require attunement, and has a fly speed of 50 feet,though many medium characters will exceed the 200 pound limit to reduce thespeed to 30 feet, but even then 30 feet fly speed with no duration cap andrequiring no action after speaking the command word is absolutelyincredible. The only drawback is that you’re using the item’s speed ratherthan giving yourself a fly speed, so things that improve your speed won’tmake the broom move faster, and you can’t Dash with the broom. Even so, Ihonestly can’t justify why this is only Uncommon considering howexceptionally good it is.
• Cloak of Elvenkind^DMG: Essential on any stealthy character. Creatures attempting to detect yousuffer Disadvantage, and you gain Advantage on Stealth checks to avoid beingseen, so you get two layers of protection against creatures detectingyou.
• Cloak of Protection^DMG: Good on any character, but it requires Attunement and it’s not veryinteresting.
• Dragonhide Belt^FtoD: A bonus to your class features’ DC so things like Stunning Strike are more effective. It also includes an option to regain some Ki points once per day, which is immensely helpful since the Monk can burn through them so quickly. Higher-rarity versions have a bigger DC bonus, but the Ki recharge doesn’t change, so the Uncommon version is the most efficient.
• Eldritch Claw Tattoo^TCoE: While monks already get to treat their unarmed strikes as magic weapons,they have few options to add additional effects to their unarmed strikeswhich other martial characters can get from magic weapons. The +1 to attacksand damage is a significant boost to damage output, and the Eldritch Maulproperty allows you to temporarily engage enemies while remaining outside ofmelee reach.
• Eyes of the Eagle^DMG: Perception is the most frequently rolled skill in the game, and you arelikely the person in the party who is best at it (provided that you gotproficiency from your race or your background). Advantage provides a greatdeal of insurance and protection against ambushes and other surprises.
• Gloves of Thievery^DMG: Easily replaced by the Enhance Ability spell, but still helpful forstealthy characters.
• Goggles of Night^DMG: Crucial for races which don’t get Darkvision, especially if your partycan’t cast the Darkvision spell for you.
• Lantern of Revealing^DMG: An excellent counter to invisible enemies for a class without a built-inway to handle them.
• Stone of Good Luck^DMG: Excellent on literally any character, but if you just want better defensea Cloak of Protection may be more effective. Stone of Good Luck shines ifyou’re heavily reliant on skills and ability checks.
• Weapon, +1^DMG: A +1 spear or a +1 quarterstaff will yield significantly improved damageoutput for most monks. Sure, it won’t apply to your Bonus Action attacks,but it’s still helpful.
• Wraps of Unarmed Prowess, +1^BoMT: The item we’ve needed since 2014, and it only took 9 years to get it! In early levels a +1 weapon is likely still a better choice, but as you advance and can afford Flurry of Blows more often and as the damage die gap shrinks, +X wraps will gradually become a better choice.
• Winged Boots^DMG: Monks can easily exceed the Broom of Flying’s 50-foot speed, so matchingyour land speed can make you an exceptionally fast flying. That trade inspeed may be enough to make the Winged Boots more appealing than the Broomof Flying.

Rare Magic Items

• Amulet of Health^DMG: Setting your Constitution to 19 means that you don’t need to put AbilityScore Increases into it unless you’re really certain that you want 20Constitution. Less ASI’s into Constitution means that you can focus onincreasing your Dexterity and your Wisdom to 20, which is a massive benefitfor a class as MAD as the Monk.
• Armor of Resistance^DMG: Excellent, but unpredictable in most games since you can’t perfectlypredict what sort of damage you’ll face. Fire is a safe choice.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Hill)^DMG: Maybe useful if you want to grapple, but otherwise Strength does verylittle for the Monk.
• Bracers of Defense^DMG: As much AC as a shield, though given the choice you might prefer a Cloakor Ring of Protection.
• Cloak of Displacement^DMG: Among the best defensive items in the game. Taking damage from any source(spells, etc.) suppresses the effect temporarily, so make a point to killanything that can damage you without an attack roll.
• Delver’s Claws^GotG: The claws qualify as a monk weapon, you get Blindsight, and you can use your absurdly fast monk speed to burrow.
• Dragonhide Belt^FtoD: +2 to your DC’s and regain some Ki once per day.
• Periapt of Proof Against Poison^DMG: Poison damage is very common across the full level range, so immunity toit is a significant improvement in your durability.
• Ring of Evasion^DMG: A great way to mitigate damage from AOE spells and things like breathweapons which can often be problems from front-line martial characters,especially if you’re not build around Dexterity.
• Ring of Protection^DMG: Cloak of Protection is lower rarity and has the same effect.
• Ring of Resistance^DMG: A fine item in a vacuum, but a Ring of Spell Storing full of AbsorbElements will be much more effective.
• Ring of Spell Storing^DMG: Fill it with Absorb Elements and Shield, and recharge it wheneverpossible and this is a spectacular defensive asset.
• Shadowfell Brand Tattoo^DMG: A Cloak of Elvenkind will technically be better at keeping you hiddenbecause it also imposes Disadvantage on Perception checks to notice you, butthis is still great. Shadowy Defense provides an effect similar to theRogue’s Uncanny Dodge, allowing you mitigate a big pile of damage (a spell,a critical hit, etc.) once per day.
• Staff of the Rooted Hills^GotG: The DC to resist the Restrained effect won’t be reliable, but it works without you doing anything except attacking, and sometimes you’ll get lucky.
• Weapon, +2^DMG: Mathematically spectacular, but by this point you might do better with Wraps of Unarmed Prowess.
• Wraps of Unarmed Prowess, +2^BoMT: Mathematically spectacular.
• Wings of Flying^DMG: Broom of Flying is much better, lower rarity, and doesn’t requireattunement.

Very Rare Magic Items

• Absorbing Tattoo^TCoE: Good, but too high rarity to devote to a single damage type. Get a Ringof Spell Storing and fill it with Absorb Elements.
• Animated Shield^DMG: This appears to work without affecting your class features, but Braces ofDefense are one rarity lower, work persistently, and provide the samebenefit.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Frost, Stone, Fire)^DMG: As nice as it is to suddenly be good at grappling,the Monk is Dexterity-based so they don’t get much benefit from this.
• Dragonhide Belt^FtoD: +3 to your DC’s and regain some Ki once per day.
• Manual of Bodily Health^DMG: Permanent Constitution bonus and raises your cap by 2. Unless you’reusing a magic item that fixes your Constitution as a specific score, this isexcellent.
• Manual of Quickness of Action^DMG: It’s difficult to find an item more broadly effective for the Monk.
• Mistral Mantle^GotG: Cold resistance and you can knock an enemy prone just my moving near them. The save DC isn’t especially high, but considering this doesn’t eat into your action economy, it’s still very good. In encounters with numerous enemies, consider using Step of the Wind to quickly run past them all and trigger the effect without risking Opportunity Attacks.
• Staff of Thunder and Lightning^DMG: Effectively a +2 quarterstaff with some active abilities. LightningStrike and Thunderclap provide area damage options which the Monk typicallycan’t replicate (though Way of the Four Elements and Way of the Sun Soul areexceptions), so this is a great go-to option on nearly any monk. It’s morecomplicated than a +3 quarterstaff, but if you can make good use of theactive abilities it’s worth the loss of a +1 bonus to attack and damage.
• Tome of Understanding^DMG: Permanent Wisdom bonus and raises your cap by 2. Manual of Quickness ofAction is more important for the majority of monks, but this is a veryclose second.
• Weapon, +3^DMG: By the time you’re high enough level to find one of these, you should probably be fighting unarmed full time unless you’re a kensei or you found a really cool magic weapon that no one else can use.
• Wraps of Unarmed Prowess, +3^BoMT: Mathematically spectacular.
• Wyrmreaver Gauntlets^GotG: +1d6 force damage on all of your 3 to 4 attacks each turn, and once per day you can punch at range for a minute. Not quite as crucial as an Eldritch Claw Tattoo, but if you can get both you’re doing very well.

Legendary Magic Items

• Blood Fury Tattoo^TCoE: The first ability provides a great damage boost which also heals you, andsince it’s “extra damage” the damage is multiplied on a critical hit. Thesecond ability provides a way to counterattack using your Reaction, and withAdvantage on that attack it’s an easy and reliable boost to your damageoutput.
• Cloak of Invisibility^DMG: Invisibility is extremely powerful in 5e. Note that this is just theinvisible condition, not the spell spell Invisibility, so you can stillattack or whatever while invisible. Unless you’re playing a Defender andactively trying to draw attacks away from your allies, this is absolutelyamazing.
• Ioun Stone (Mastery)^DMG: Proficiency Bonuses apply to a lot of things and a +1 bonus goes a longway. Attacks, saves (remember that you’re proficient with all of them),skills, etc. all benefit.
• Ring of Invisibility^DMG: Cloak of Invisibility and Ring of Invisibility are very similar, butthere is some important nuance to understand. Ring of Invisibility can makeyou indefinitely invisible, allowing you to do anything except attack andcast spells without breaking your invisibility. Use a breath weapon,activate items (as long as doing so doesn’t make you cast a spell), stealthings, use the Help action, pick locks, disarm traps, take long rests, etc.can all be done while totally invisible without limit. However, the secondyou roll initiative the Cloak of Invisibility becomes more powerful becauseits invisibility isn’t broken by you attacking or casting spells.
• Ring of Spell Turning^DMG: Given the choice, I would much rather have a Mantle of Spell Resistancesimply because the Ring of Spell Turning doesn’t provide any protectionagainst area effect spells. Otherwise, this is a really fun item, and if itprovided Advantage on saves against area of effect spells it would shootstraight up to blue.
• Ring of Three Wishes^DMG: Use this to do one of the things that risks permanently removing theability to cast Wish, such as granting 10 creatures permanent resistance toonce damage type. If you lose the ability to cast Wish, pass this off toanother ally who will never be able to cast Wish by any other means. Repeatuntil the last charge is used.

  For more help with Wish, see myPractical Guide to Wish.

• Scarab of Protection^DMG: An upgrade from the Mantle of Spell Resistance, the Scarab of Protectionadds a limited benefit against necromancy and undead creatures, and doesn’ttake up your cloak slot, leaving you free to take items like a Cloak ofProtection or Cloak of Invisibility instead.

Example Monk Build – Human Monk (Open Hand)

Tatu Searis the Human Way of the Open Hand Monk

The bald-headed human wears little clothing, and carries even less. Noarmor weighs them down, no blade hangs at their hip. Garbed inloose-fitting, comfortable yet functional clothes, they carry a simplequarterstaff, its haft smooth from years of constant use. Despite theirunassuming, undecorated appearance and lack of obvious weaponry, you can’thelp but notice the grace with which they move, the fluidity with which theysweep that staff through the air, and the coiled muscles beneath the simplegarb.

— Boxed text provided by dScryb^{(affiliate link)}

Thisisa“StapleBuild”.Thisbuildissimple,andreliesonoptionsfromtheSRDandtheBasicRuleswhereverpossible.Ifyouneedafunctionalbuildwithnothingfancyorcomplicated,thisisagreatplacetostart.

The Open Hand Monk is a solid striker with a nice mix of melee capabilities and doesn’t add much additional complexity or resource taxes on top of the base class.

For a more optimized build, see our Way of the Open Hand Monk Handbook.

Abilities

We will assume the point buy abilities suggested above or races that get 3 ability score increases. Humans get a +1 to every ability score increase, which is the closest we can get within the Basic Rules and the SRD.

Race

Human is by far the simplest race. The base human is a tempting option forclasses which rely on multiple abilities, and no class is more reliant onmultiple ability scores than the Monk. So: This will be the only staple buildwhere we employ the human.

Skills and Tools

We’ll take Insight and Stealth. Insight will help us be useful in socialsituations, and Stealth helps us to serve as a scout. If you get a redundantproficiency from your background, get Perception to capitalize on your Wisdom.You might also consider getting Athletics proficiency so that you can bebetter at grappling.

Background

None of the backgrounds included in the Basic Rules work especially well forthe Monk, unfortunately. Criminal is probably our best option. Deception isn’ta great skill for a Monk, but Stealth and Thieves’ Tools lets us stand in fora Rogue very nicely. Acolyte is passable, but with poor Charisma I don’t knowwhat we would do with two languages.

Feats

Monks are one of the few martial classes where feats aren’t a universallygood idea. The Monk needs three high ability scores, so other than VariantHuman there isn’t usually a good time to take a feat. Once you have maxed outyour Dexterity and Wisdom, it may be more beneficial to take Tough than aConstitution increase, but if you stick to increasing your ability scoresyou’ll do just fine.

Levels