[Top 5] D&D Best Monk Builds That Are Excellent

Updated:

26 Feb 2022

Here are five really good and interesting builds you can do for your Monk.

5. The Grappler

This is not something new already, but the origin story of a baby orc raised by monks is one of the best legendary background stories available for Dungeons and Dragons.

The Grappler has been tried several times in game tables ever since the first 5e book was published. But it is always sub-par because the damage dice for unarmed combat through the feat Tavern Brawler was just plain weak: a d4.

That all changed when Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything was released. The new book published a new Fighter Fighting Style: Unarmed Fighting.

So, let’s get to the build!

The Materials

Before we start building, let’s gather the materials needed:

Half-Orc race
Barbarian class
Fighter class
Monk class
Tavern Brawler feat
Grappler feat

The Build

Before we begin building, let’s remember first that the Monk class uses Dexterity as its primary ability for both offense and defense. It also uses Wisdom as its secondary ability for both its defense and ki abilities.

Next, let’s also remember that both Fighter and Barbarian uses Strength and Constitution as its primary abilities for both offense and defense, especially if you decide to use the Barbarian’s version of Unarmored Defense.

So, from here, we will have to make a decision: Strength or Dexterity?

Part One

The reason we are choosing Half-Orc as our race is because we are going for the Strength ability score.

The Half-Orc has a really big bonus to Strength (+2) and a good bonus to Constitution (+1). It also has the trait Relentless Endurance which prevents you from dying once per day. This will be a very good synergy to the Barbarian’s Rage ability which cuts all common damage types (slashing, piercing, bludgeoning) against you by half.

The Half-Orc also has the Savage Attacks trait which gives you an extra weapon dice when you score a critical hit. That’s also why we need to get three levels of Fighter in order to get the Champion subclass which has the Improved Critical feature which allows you to score a critical hit on a roll of 19 and 20.

Also, as a fun addition, the Half-Orc has the Menacing trait which lets you add the Intimidate skill for free. This can be used as a Bonus Action to taunt another enemy target after you mutilate an enemy. Imagine, blood splatters on your face and you face another target slowly and calmly and you beckon them to approach you. If you’re the enemy, either you accept the challenge or flee in terror.

Part Two

To create The Grappler effectively, the build requires you to use three classes: Monk, Fighter, and Barbarian.

So, what class should you start with?

You, the player, have two choices: either start with Barbarian and have Dexterity and Constitution as your secondary abilities, or start with Monk and have Dexterity and Wisdom.

But there’s a better choice: start with Fighter and ignore the Unarmored Defense and go for medium or heavy armors for better survivability.

From here, this guide will not specifically tell you what to do on what classes to take as you level up, but will tell you why these classes and its subclasses are crucial.

For Fighter, you need three levels. Aside from its game-breaking Action Surge feature, you need two other important features to complete The Grappler build.

First, is the Fighting Style: Unarmed Fighting which can be found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. This is what The Grappler has been waiting for for years because before this, the only “good” option available was the feat Tavern Brawler. Unarmed Fighting allows the Fighter to have a damage dice of d8 if he chooses not to hold any shields or weapons in his hands. It also damages your grappled target for 1d4 FOR FREE once at the start of your turns.

Second, as explained above, is the Improved Critical of the Champion subclass so that it will synergize really well with your Half-Orc’s Savage Attacks trait.

For Barbarian, you only need a level. You can decide to reach level 3 to have a subclass, but there’s nothing that can add to the identity of a Grappler. So, the reason why you only need one level is simply for its Rage feature which will “synergize” with your Half-Orc ancestry as anger takes the better of you during combat.

For Monk, you need three levels. Aside from its Ki feature and its Flurry of Blows, what you are really after is the Way of the Open Hand’s Open Hand Technique, specifically the first option where you can knock the target of your Flurry of Blows prone. This will synergize really well with your grappling since prone creatures give your melee attacks Advantage.

For feats, you REALLY need these two: Tavern Brawler and Grappler. So, you will have to skip your Level 4 and 8’s ASI’s.

Although the 2nd and 3rd “benefits” of the Tavern Brawler feat will be useless most of the time, what you really need here is the 1st benefit which gives you a +1 to Strength, adding to your primary ability; and then, the 4th benefit, which is the most important feature for your Grappler character, always allows you to attempt a grapple attack as a Bonus Action each time you hit with an unarmed strike.

Then, the Grappler feat takes your grappling skills to the next level since it will always give you Advantage against your grappled target and also allows you to Restrain yourself and your target as an Action.

Now, imagine this scenario: You use your Monk’s Open Hand Technique to knock your target prone and then, immediately, you follow it up with your Tavern Brawler’s Bonus Action attempt to grapple. And since you have automatic Advantage against a prone creature, your grapple attempt will likely succeed. And this is the torturous part, since grappled targets lose all their movespeed and you need at least 15 movespeed to stand up, your target will have zero chance to stand up as long as you maintain the grapple.

If you can pull this successfully, your grappled target will suffer so much from you, especially since you can upgrade your Grapple into a Restrain and your Unarmed Fighting Style will always deal a free 1d4 damage once per round. Your other melee-oriented allies will also benefit from the Advantage given by the prone condition. And, finally, especially if your target is a medium-sized solo boss, this build will give your DM a massive headache.

The Verdict

The Grappler is a very dangerous character to play against, especially with its Prone-Grapple-Restrain-Free 1d4 damage per round combo. This is the fantasy equivalent of a UFC fighter.

The challenge here is to be careful with your ability scores since you will be tempted to go the Dexterity route and go full Kung-Fu Monk. But that is not the optimized road. Just focus on maximizing your Strength score and ignore the Barbarian and Monk’s Unarmored Defense features since wearing armor will never impede your grappling fighting style.

4. The Ninja

Elves are the definition of grace and perfection and the Wood Elves are the masters of stealth and hunt.

The Ninja is a mix of both the shadow monk and the rogue. And it is not that far-fetched if there’s a Wood Elf tribe out there who practices Ninjutsu and calls their ninja haven “Hidden Leaf Village.”

Let’s get to the build!