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In Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, most monks stay well away from civilization, living cloistered lives dedicated to personal contemplation and rigorous training. Not so the way of the shadow. Monks following this path are trained assassins, deadly in their craft, and capable of slipping past even the most dogged defense to eliminate their assigned target.
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Following the path of shadows is dangerous and shouldn’t be taken lightly by newcomers to D&D. However, if you insist on learning these forbidden ways, read on to discover the best path to creating a way of shadow monk.
Way Of Shadow Monk Features
A monk trained in the way of shadow begins no different from any other monk with extensive training in martial arts. Once a monk adopts the way of shadow at level three, you can use two ki points to cast theDarkness,Darkvision,Pass Without Trace, orSilencespells. You also learn theMinor Illusioncantrip.
At sixth level, you gain theShadow Stepability. This lets you teleport between areas of dim light or darkness up to 60 feet, additionally providing advantage on your first melee attack made until end of turn.
Cloak of Shadowsat level 11 allows you to become invisible while in dim light or darkness. You remain invisible until you make an attack, cast a spell, or step into bright light.
And finally, at level 17, you learn theOpportunistfeature. This allows you to strike a creature with a melee attack using your reaction so long as they’ve been hit by another creature already this turn.
Best Species For A Way Of Shadow Monk
you may be effective as almost any specieswhen following the way of shadows. But there area few speciesthatare just a little bit more effectiveas a monk.
Here aresome suggested speciesto play as a way of shadow monk.
Astral Elf
Advantage against being charmed is always a plus, andperception proficiencyhelps with a much-needed skill.Sacred Flamemakes for a decent ranged attack option, whileStarlight Stepprovides a teleport that doesn’t require a shadow to work.
Bugbear
Anextra five feet of reachis always great for melee characters, andSurprise Attackis an excellent damage bonus for an already sneaky subclass.Powerful Buildis also nice for monks to have as it lets you shove opponents prone a little bit easier.
Fairy
Flyingenemies are usually a problem for Monks, so being able to fly is a big benefit.Faerie FireandEnlarge/Reduceare two useful spells, although Druidcraft is more of a fun party trick.
Giff
You’ll need to use a simple weapon as your monk weapon to get any benefit out ofAstral Spark, but nobody complains over extra damage.Hippo Buildcan beuseful when making push attacks.Firearmscan’t be Monk weapons, but it’s funny to imagine a martial artist suddenly taking out a blunderbuss to blow some monster away, plus it’sa useful ranged optionfor a class that typically doesn’t get those.
Goblin
Monks can already disengage as a bonus action, soNimble Escapeis only providing you with ahide action. As always,Fury of the Smallis excellent and makes for some truly potent Flurry of Blows attacks.
Half-Elf
Monks needthree attribute stats, which the standard Half-Elf provides.Two skill proficienciesare also nice to have for a class that doesn’t typically get a lot of skills.
Owlin
Anotherflyingclass, Owlins are generally better than Arakokra as those talons are strength-based and can’t be considered monk weapons.Stealth proficiencyandDarkvisionare also nice to have.
Plasmoid
Monks don’t need any equipment to be effective, so a Plasmoid monk can easily go all gooey to get through locked doors. You also haveadvantage on grapple checks, which is perfect for a monk.
Tabaxi
Feline Agilitygets a monk into combat range pretty much immediately, which is a huge bonus for any melee character. Cat’s Claws are less effective for monks, butperceptionandstealth proficiencieshelp to make up for it.
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Best Ability Scores For A Way Of Shadow Monk
Monks need a lot of attribute score bonuses to be effective.Dexterityhelps boost your armor class and empowers your attacks.Wisdomalso boosts your armor class and empowers your ki-based abilities. And finally,Constitutionis necessary for any front-line fighter to ensure a large pool of hitpoints.
Strengthcan be situationally useful for certain combat actions, but it’s not nearly as important as Dexterity.CharismaandIntelligenceare both entirely unnecessary and can be safely ignored.
If you’re using the points-buy system in D&D,a good starting attribute spreadfor a way of shadow monk might look something like this:
12(+1)
16(+3)
14(+2)
8(-1)
Best Starting Equipment For A Way Of Shadow Monk
Monks don’t really start with muchin terms of equipment. You can choose either a simple weapon or ashortsword, adungeoneer’s packor anexplorer’s pack, and you always start with10 darts.
It’s entirelypersonal preferencewhether you decideto use a shortsword or simple weaponas your starting weapon. A dungeoneer’s pack might have slightly more useful items than an explorer’s pack, but again, it’s basically up to personal preference.
