Any interesting monk builds?


Advice


Monk has always been my favorite class since Neverwinter nights.

I really like the direction they took the Monk's in this edition.

What are some nice monk builds you have made? I'll share mine. Note though. These are builds not role play. I come up with that after. I've never had a build I couldn't make a compelling backstory for.

I don't really like monk combat maneuvers focus as I greatly prefer combat grab or furious grab of fighter/monk. One doesn't play well with monk and the other monk cannot get. I already have a barbarian with monk dedication. But onto the builds I actually like.

Dragon style monk. Dedication fighter. Shield. Any fighter feats I take are for shield feats. You end up with an understated build with lot of reaction use and competent damage. It's pretty flexible as well. I followed through with dragon styles intimidation and took more intimidation feats.

Monostaic weaponry monk with Tangled Forest stance to use with a Bo staff and stand still feats. This is wide open and simple. Takes few feats to get rolling.

I haven't been that interested in ki powers Monk's as I never liked ki powers in other editions anyways. But path of perfection has some interesting stuff. Just never been into that flavor.

I don't have much use for spellcaster multiclass but I'm sure being able to self buff would be potent.

Really wish Monk's could get some form of furious grab.

Anyways first post here. Figured I'd lead with this. Overall liking 2e systems a lot.


I like Monk/ Aberrant Sorcerer a lot, the focus spell power matches well with monk and telekinetic projectile is a decent ranged option.

Scarab Sages

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I'm hoping to try out a Mountain Style Dwarf Monk that gets a Barbarian multiclass and goes for the Spirit Dedication. Raging Monk sounds fun.


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Monks have quite a few feats for grappling and maneuvers. Really nice to see grappling getting some love.


Zioalca wrote:
Monks have quite a few feats for grappling and maneuvers. Really nice to see grappling getting some love.

I'm not thrilled with combat maneuvers. They normally do no damage. Are often harder to land than a strike making them even less reliable . Add to your multi attack penalty.

The only time I like them is when I can get them as a sort of part of an attack roll.

Combat grab.

Furious grab.

Are good examples for just grapple.

I think aldori dueling sword dedication have something like this for disarm.

If I have to sacrafice my attack map for no damage and a worse chance of the effect? No ty.

Sadly monk grapple doesnt pair well with either.


Losing 1d6+4 damage can be worth giving your allies +2 to hit can be worth while. Then the enemy needs to spend an action to escape, or you get +2 on your next turn as well.

And since your a monk, you can run fast enough to catch the low Fort wizard in the back, with a decent chance of completely locking him down before she get's a spell off.

It's not like taking a expert in athletics and a feat prevents you from punching a high Fort brute. You don't need to grab everything all the time, but it adds some extra options.


Mellored wrote:

Losing 1d6+4 damage can be worth giving your allies +2 to hit can be worth while. Then the enemy needs to spend an action to escape, or you get +2 on your next turn as well.

And since your a monk, you can run fast enough to catch the low Fort wizard in the back, with a decent chance of completely locking him down before she get's a spell off.

It's not like taking a expert in athletics and a feat prevents you from punching a high Fort brute. You don't need to grab everything all the time, but it adds some extra options.

It's just that if I want to grapple I'd be better off rolling barbarian. I think monk can provide other benefits. Worst case though bo staff is good for tripping.


Martialmasters wrote:
It's just that if I want to grapple I'd be better off rolling barbarian. I think monk can provide other benefits. Worst case though bo staff is good for tripping.

If you want a dedicated grappler, then yes. Giant Barb/Fighter with Combat Grab. Yes.

But that doesn't mean a monk can't take the feat and grapple now and then. With their extra speed, they can chose their targets pretty easily.


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Here's my speed build: Caladrel, long range messenger (CG female woodland elf sailor monk 6)

You can find other interesting characters and builds in my Crazy Character Emporium Thread. This is the only monk at the moment, but I've got some other pugilists in there.


Martialmasters wrote:
Mellored wrote:

Losing 1d6+4 damage can be worth giving your allies +2 to hit can be worth while. Then the enemy needs to spend an action to escape, or you get +2 on your next turn as well.

And since your a monk, you can run fast enough to catch the low Fort wizard in the back, with a decent chance of completely locking him down before she get's a spell off.

It's not like taking a expert in athletics and a feat prevents you from punching a high Fort brute. You don't need to grab everything all the time, but it adds some extra options.

It's just that if I want to grapple I'd be better off rolling barbarian. I think monk can provide other benefits. Worst case though bo staff is good for tripping.

If you want pure DPR then yes, maneuvers aren't what you want. Monks get quite a few more feats for performing maneuvers than any other class though. For instance, Crushing Grab lets you deal damage as part of the grapple. There is also Flurry of Maneuvers which lets you trade out hits for maneuvers as part of your flurry. As Martialmasters said, losing out on a little bit of damage can definitely be worth setting up an opponent to be pummeled by your allies or saving them from being targeted through things like Whirling Throw or Wolf Drag. You even have Sleeper Hold to completely disable an enemy.

I've been playing a grappling Monk in 5e and wish I had options like this so it is nice to see this style of combat getting so much love in the core rules.


Thanks for this thread as I am considering a monk build for this version of the game. There are some good ideas here.

Grand Archive

I have an idea I've been working on but I am not sure it will work like I want. This build starts off as a Champion of Irori and at 2nd level taking Monk dedication.

My hangup are two fold. Does Deific Weapon play nice with Powerful Fists? Second, how do gauntlets work with all this? I'm envisioning a dwarf in full plate grappling and punching his foes maybe even wielding a pair of bucklers.


I've been looking at a temple sword tank monk

Temple sword nets you solid damage regardless of stance, which is good because you are not taking a stance until lv. 8. Then pick up maneuver feats to help lockdown foes. Crushing Grab and Flurry of Maneuvers at least, maybe grab Mixed Maneuver at 10 to grab and trip in the same round against particularly slippery enemies. At 8 grab Ironblood Stance* for resistance and parry.

As a tank with good AC and resistance enemies don't want to attack you, but you keep eating their actions by grabbing and/or tripping them so they are still going to attack you. Probably want to pick up stand still too for when they do get away.

*If they errata Ironblood stance to prevent weapon use, tangled forest stance also helps the build by keeping enemies locked down.


Paradozen wrote:

I've been looking at a temple sword tank monk

Temple sword nets you solid damage regardless of stance, which is good because you are not taking a stance until lv. 8. Then pick up maneuver feats to help lockdown foes. Crushing Grab and Flurry of Maneuvers at least, maybe grab Mixed Maneuver at 10 to grab and trip in the same round against particularly slippery enemies. At 8 grab Ironblood Stance* for resistance and parry.

As a tank with good AC and resistance enemies don't want to attack you, but you keep eating their actions by grabbing and/or tripping them so they are still going to attack you. Probably want to pick up stand still too for when they do get away.

*If they errata Ironblood stance to prevent weapon use, tangled forest stance also helps the build by keeping enemies locked down.

For Tangled Forest I really like bo staff to add reach to your reaction and area of effect.

Wolf stance Wolf drag is fairly rediculous potentially. An attack that if it hits knocks an opponent prone. No need to roll. And if you flank you get the trip trait with the base style.

All 3 options are good. And all 3 have the same damage die size but have a different damage type.


Monk DPS
I'm new to Pathfinder 2e and playing a dexterity monk, but would also like to hit a little harder.
For a more damage-oriented Dex Monk, would you go with Wolf Drag or Heaven's Thunder?


I recently saw a post mentioning that monks could work well using shields because they still have decent damage output with Flurry of Blows. Has anyone had any experience with this type of build and how did it go? I’m thinking of switching out my low level Bo wielding monk as she enters mid-levels.


steelhead wrote:
I recently saw a post mentioning that monks could work well using shields because they still have decent damage output with Flurry of Blows. Has anyone had any experience with this type of build and how did it go? I’m thinking of switching out my low level Bo wielding monk as she enters mid-levels.

Monk with a shield works well. Flurry is great action economy. Your damage stays static from 1st to 20th because you're using Flurry at level 1 and Flurry at level 10 and Flurry at level 15 and Flurry at level 20 with no real improvements to it.

One poster Unicore recommends trying a One Inch Punch flurry combination to maximize damage and maybe keep up, but the shield wouldn't work good with that combination.

If you don't mind kind of middling to low damage with more defense, shield is a nice combination with a monk. Flurry is great action economy even if your damage stays static with your only damage booster being Ki Strike or Ki Form if you take those other than the One Inch Punch locked in 2 to 3 action ability to boost damage.

Grand Lodge

I have a dragonstance monk with a heavy shield. It has worked well up til now (level 7). Hasn’t used shield block much, since I’m not trained in crafting, so repairs is a problem.
But the +2 AC and now dex 18 at level 5 is worth it.

Sovereign Court

V_H_F wrote:

Monk DPS

I'm new to Pathfinder 2e and playing a dexterity monk, but would also like to hit a little harder.
For a more damage-oriented Dex Monk, would you go with Wolf Drag or Heaven's Thunder?

I've been playing a wolf monk for 10 levels now and I have mixed feelings about it. Two actions to wolf drag is really pricey. And you never seem to crit when you hope to. On the other hand, it can make enemies prone pretty much regardless of normal constraints. Sometimes just nipping at an enemy's heels and slowing them down is valuable. So I wouldn't really recommend taking it for damage, but it's fine for utility.


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Ascalaphus wrote:
V_H_F wrote:
... Two actions to wolf drag is really pricey...

It's the same number of actions as Knockdown or Strike + Trip. It does not require an Athletics check. And it does not have the size restriction that Trip does.


A thread for gathering a lot of monk builds

V_H_F wrote:

Monk DPS

I'm new to Pathfinder 2e and playing a dexterity monk, but would also like to hit a little harder.
For a more damage-oriented Dex Monk, would you go with Wolf Drag or Heaven's Thunder?

you should combine wolf drag with stand still which lets you whack the enemy as reaction when they try to get up and possibly keep them down with it

Sovereign Court

Pixel Popper wrote:
Ascalaphus wrote:
... Two actions to wolf drag is really pricey...
It's the same number of actions as Knockdown or Strike + Trip. It does not require an Athletics check. And it does not have the size restriction that Trip does.

Yeah that's why didn't train out of it. Sometimes it's really useful. Sometimes you just want to drag a dragon out of the air. But if you're looking at that Fatal D12... you just can't count on that happening when you need it to.

And two actions being pricey is because you also need to turn on the stance. So it's not something you can usually do at the start of a fight, because you have to go into stance, move to the enemy, and then you can't wolf drag anymore. Later in the fight, move + wolf drag eats up your entire turn, while you could also do move + flurry + raise shield. So it really is pretty pricey.


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Just to add for the maneuver monk that Whirling throw is one of the best enemy reposition moves in the game, and it still does decent damage.

Being able to toss someone pretty much wherever you want in the battlefield, and without any MAP is really powerful imo.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
shroudb wrote:

Just to add for the maneuver monk that Whirling throw is one of the best enemy reposition moves in the game, and it still does decent damage.

Being able to toss someone pretty much wherever you want in the battlefield, and without any MAP is really powerful imo.

I love playing barbarians with Friendly Toss (at 8th) and Whirlwind Throw (at 10th, via Wrestler archetype) together.

I believe there may also have been an archetype somewhere that let you rip up and toss small trees, boulders, and the like. I don't recall what it was called though.

Just rag doll absolutely everyone and everything through the sky, kind of like Brock Sampson. XD


If I wanted to build a corny superhero (think of Robin) who fights with martial arts and without armor (or at most with light armor,) is Monk the best class?

Bonus question: I am picturing this character as kind of nerdy, are there any viable options for a high-Int monk?


RumpinRufus wrote:

If I wanted to build a corny superhero (think of Robin) who fights with martial arts and without armor (or at most with light armor,) is Monk the best class?

Bonus question: I am picturing this character as kind of nerdy, are there any viable options for a high-Int monk?

Without armor, yes. It's a strain to make other martials function w/o armor (except maybe Animal Barbarian which seems to conflict with your vision).

With light armor, no; most likely a Rogue (who also could pull of a nerd's panoply of skills & interests w/o much if any Int budget).

Monk abilities lack synergy with Int, though you'd gain the same generic Int benefits. IMO Monks have some cushion to spend on Int, but it depends on the campaign's toughness as to what constitutes a "viable option".

Note that Int isn't a prerequisite of nerdiness (or corniness), it all depends what one is a nerd about. Given how many real-world martial arts nerds there are, there's ample room to play a Monk nerd, albeit one who actually can do martial arts (perhaps to the surprise of others if played goofy or with low Cha). Maybe take Additional Lore to emphasize the PC's nerdy interests. And just keep talking about those interests (though not necessarily in real life!, just summarize that your PC does).

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