101 Monk Builds

[Mellored]

Ninja Star Guardian 33

Or, an attempt to make shooting star stance worth the extra feat/lower damage/lower range/less options vs archery stance, by taking a shield and champions range reprisal.

Spoiler:

1: Monastic Weaponry
2: Shooting Star Stance
4: Stunning Fist
6: Champion Dedication (paladin, wasted feat)
8: Champion Reaction
10: Champion Range Reprisal
12: Pinning Fire
14:
16: Champion's Quick Block
18:
20:

Can anyone think of any other reason to use shooting star over archery?
Maybe a flurry ranger would like it as the only reload 0 agile weapon.

[Ssalarn]

Build 34: Yuffie Kisaragi from Final Fantasy 7:

Human Monk / Rogue / Talisman Dabbler who can dart in and steal, fights with shuriken, and uses talismans as "materia". Also a pretty good skill monkey.

1 Ki Rush, Natural Ambition (Monastic Weaponry)
2 Shooting Stars Stance
3
4 Rogue Dedication
5 Clever Improviser
6 Sneak Attacker
7
8 Advanced Trickery (Mug)
9 Incredible Improvisation
10 Talisman Dabbler Dedication
11
12 Advanced Trickery (Far Throw)
13 Haughty Obstinacy
14 Talismanic Sage
15
16 Deeper Dabbler
17 Stubborn Persistence
18 Ki Blast
19
20 Deadly Strikes

There's probably a version of this I could have done without taking talisman dabbler and rogue, but I really wanted her to have Mug and I thought the talismans as materia was a cute twist to pull off the concept. I gave her ki blast pretty much solely because it can act like some of her limit breaks. I still think this is a pretty fun build that focuses on the elements I intended to focus on, and I'd probably round it out with primarily Thievery and Stealth skill feats like Experienced Smuggler, Swift Sneak, Pickpocket, and Subtle Theft, with a few Acrobatics and Athletics skill feats like Cat Fall, Kip Up, and Powerful Leap.

Mellored wrote:

Can anyone think of any other reason to use shooting star over archery?

Accuracy would be the biggest thing, since shuriken are agile and you probably want to be making at least 3 attacks a round either way, whenever you can. Monastic Archery is also trickier because you can't make melee attacks while you're in the stance, so there's a few situations where you'll be in a tougher spot than if you were using shuriken. There's also a small number of situations where you'll actually get more range out of the shuriken; for example, a shuriken at a -2 to hit has 10 feet more range than the shortbow gets while still applying your monk abilities, and the shuriken is +2 more accurate than the longbow within the shuriken's first range increment. Shuriken also add your full Strength bonus instead of half, which can close some of the damage gap between the weapons. I expect that the styles are much closer to each other in total performance value, build depending, than it seems at first glance.

[rainzax]

Mellored wrote:

Can anyone think of any other reason to use shooting star over archery?

Besides "I want to throw shuriken"?

Hands.

[Vlorax]

35.

Emergency Monk Medical Services:

1. Ki Rush, Battle Medicine
2. Medic Dedication, Risky Surgery
4. Guarded Movement, Forensic Acumen
6. Doctor's Visitation, Continual Recovery
8. Treat Condition, Godless Healing
10. Holistic Care, Advanced First Aid
12. Dodging Roll, Ward Medic
14. Disrupt Ki, Robust Recovery
16. Resuscitate, Legendary Medic
18. Swift River
20. Enduring Quickness

[Mellored]

Ssalarn wrote:

Accuracy would be the biggest thing, since shuriken are agile and you probably want to be making at least 3 attacks a round either way, whenever you can. Monastic Archery is also trickier because you can't make melee attacks while you're in the stance, so there's a few situations where you'll be in a tougher spot than if you were using shuriken. There's also a small number of situations where you'll actually get more range out of the shuriken; for example, a shuriken at a -2 to hit has 10 feet more range than the shortbow gets while still applying your monk abilities, and the shuriken is +2 more accurate than the longbow within the shuriken's first range increment....

You can do unarmed with a bow.

Quote:

You can hold a weapon with a 1+ entry in one hand, but the process of shooting it requires using a second to retrieve, nock, and loose an arrow. This means you can do things with your free hand while holding the bow without changing your grip, but the other hand must be free when you shoot. To properly wield a 1+ weapon, you must hold it in one hand and also have a hand free.

But the biggest thing is that Shuriken is 2 feats, vs 1 for archer.

So really, you should compare bow + stunning strike vs Shuriken.
Or at level 4, bow + wholeness of body vs shuriken.

Also missing out on triangle shot, not idea why you can't use that with a Shuriken.

Anyways, back on topic.

[Ssalarn]

Mellored wrote:

You can do unarmed with a bow.

Not if you're in Monastic Archer Stance.

"You enter a specialized stance for a unique martial art centered around the use of a bow. While in this stance, the only Strikes you can make are those using longbows, shortbows, or bows with the monk trait.[...]"

rainzax wrote:

Mellored wrote:

Can anyone think of any other reason to use shooting star over archery?

Besides "I want to throw shuriken"?

Hands.

Hands will be particularly relevant for situations where you need to climb or for mixing and matching a bo staff with shuriken. Using a bo staff doesn't break stance with Shooting Stars like it would with Monastic Archer, and you can release the bo staff with one hand as a free action when you have room to throw stars and not worry about taking the action to regrip it... at all, actually, since after that you can just use your unarmes strikes. That's actually probably a really effective way of having a lot of area control with pretty minimal investment of both resources and action economy.

[Mellored]

rainzax wrote:

Besides "I want to throw shuriken"?

Yes.

Any reason not to home brew it as a level 1 feat including training, and allow triangle shot?
(I guess arrow snatching already works for thrown weapons.)

Quote:

Hands.

So... Grapple + Shuriken. That is something you can't do with a bow.

Spoiler:

1: Shooting Stars Stance (homebrew)
2: Stunning Fist
4: Stand Still
6: Crushing Grab
8: Pinning Fire
10: Prevailing Position
12: Stance Savant
14: Sleeper Hold
16: Master of Many Styles
18: Triangle Shot
20: Impossible Technique.

[Mellored]

Ssalarn wrote:

Mellored wrote:

You can do unarmed with a bow.

Not if you're in Monastic Archer Stance.

"You enter a specialized stance for a unique martial art centered around the use of a bow. While in this stance, the only Strikes you can make are those using longbows, shortbows, or bows with the monk trait.[...]"

Missed that, thanks.

[Vlorax]

36

Quiet Wolf, Undead Hunter
Duskwalker Human

1. Wolf Stance. Ki Strike
2. Assassin Dedication
4. Stand Still
5. Ghost Hunter
6. Wolf Drag
8. Sneak Attacker
9. Spirit Strikes
10. Expert Backstabber
12. Assassinate
14. Disrupt Ki
16. Quivering Palm
18. Meditative Focus
20. Ki Form

[Vlorax]

The Rock

1. Mountain Stance
2. Stunning Fist
4. Stand Still
6. Mountain Stronghold
8. One Inch Punch
10. Prevailing Position
12. Disrupt Ki
14. Mountain Quake
16. Flinging Blow
18. Shattering Strike
20. Diamond Fists

[Ssalarn]

Build 38: Territory Master:

This character is focused on being able to control a relatively wide area while focusing its actions on preventing or slowing enemy movement and conserving its own actions to attack or debuff.

Orc Monk

1 Iron Fists, Monastic Weaponry
2 Shooting Stars Stance
3
4 Stand Still
5 Orc Ferocity
6 Flurry of Maneuvers
7
8 Tangled Forest Stance
9 Death's Drums
10 Winding Flow
11
12 Stance Savant
13 Incredible Ferocity
14 Tangled Forest Rake
15
16 Master of Many Styles (retrain to Medusa's Wrath at 20)
17 Rampaging Ferocity
18 Swift River
19
20 Fuse Stance

This build typically carries a bo staff in hand and shurikens on a bandoleer. In combat he'll typically open with the bo staff, tripping and striking, then release his grip with one hand as a free action and transition into Shooting Stars Stance to fight from range, using his orc-enhanced fists for any subsequent melee work. He's always got some options at varying ranges as appropriate. It's particularly nice because of the bo staff synergies with Tangled Forest Stance. This guy wants to stand still and let his enemies break around him like a crashing wave, but he can still easily position himself to greatest effect.

[Vlorax]

The Staff Shove Build

1. Monastic Weapons
2. Staff Acrobat
4. Bullying Staff (Can probably take Titan Wrestler and swap this for Stand Still or Stunning Fist)
6. Staff Sweep
8. Levering Strike
10. Whirlwind Stance
12. Improved Knockback
14. Pivot Strike
16. Flinging Blow
18. Disrupt Ki
20. Diamond Fists (I think this works with monastic weps?)

1d8 with bo staff, Shove and Trip with Reach and without needing a free hand. Shove/Trip multiple enemies and once you get Improved Knockback you can add some damage to shoves.

[Vlorax]

Jackie Chan's Drunken Master

1. Stumbling Stance
2. Stunning Fist
4. Weapon Improviser Dedication
6. Stumbling Stance
8. Improvised Pummel
10. Makeshift Strike
12. Dodging Roll
14. Shattering Strike (Weapon Improviser)
16. Shattering Strike (Monk)
18. Swift River
20. Impossible Technique

Never unarmed and very hard to keep in one spot.

[Vlorax]

Shadow Dances with Wolves

1. Ki Strike, Wolf Stance
2. Assassin Dedication
4. Expert Backstabber
6. Sneak Attacker
8. Shadow Dancer Dedication
10. Shadow Magic (Dance of Darkness)
12. Meditative Focus
14. Shadow Illusion
16. Assassinate
18. Ki Body
20. Meditative Wellspring

Just thought of this one, pretty nice little stealth assassin. Wolf Stance gets buffed damage from Expert Backstabber + Sneak attack early on.

[Vlorax]

1. Monastic Weps
2. Shooting Stars Stance
4. Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication
6. Dual Thrower
8. Flensing Slice
10. Assassin Dedication
12. Expert Backstabber
14. Sneak Attack
16. Assassinate
18. Diamond Fists
20. Deadly Strikes

Probably not the greatest thing but makes Shuriken's pretty fun.

1d4p agile, forceful, deadly d10

Can Double Slice -> Flurry or if human pick up Ki Strike for some more damage, add Haste and it's a storm of Shurikens.

Note - There's an alternative version of this build involving a mad dragon barbarian.

1. Monastic Weps
2. Shooting Stars Stance
4. Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication
6. Dual Thrower
8. Flensing Slice
10. Barbarian Dedication ( Dragon)
12. Basic Fury - Raging Thrower
14. Instinct Ability
16. Dragon's Rage Breath
18. Diamond Fists
20. Deadly Strikes

These ones I think end up stronger

1d4 forceful, deadly d10 + 2 rage + Strength and doesn't require flat footed for its damage.

Edit- If I were to play this I'd probably be Human, add ki strike and swap Dragons breath for ki form and deadly strikes for meditative wellspring

[WWHsmackdown]

Super Scary Snek build

1. Take venomtail kobold (with upgraded straight line poison dragon breath) bc theme

2. Take monk and take cobra stance at lvl 4 (eventually taking its upgrade)

3. Take aberrant sorcerer multiclass dedication and eventually get the tentacular limbs focus spell. Pick one additional feat from this archetype

4. Take poisoner archetype to ad even more poison damage to your strikes with with poison weapon and improved poison weapon. Add any more feats from this archetype if you wanna dive deeper into the theme

Boom, now you've got a reptile boi flurrying from range with envenomed strikes from noodly snake limbs

[Ssalarn]

Build 45: Cobra from Fairy Tail:

Bit of a twist on the Natsu build for a poison focused dragonslayer.

Half-Elf Monk / Dragon Disciple

1 Elf Atavism (Whisper Elf), Ki Strike
2 Dragon Disciple Dedication (Green)
3
4 Scales of the Dragon
5 Ancestral Suspicion
6 Cobra Stance
7
8 Draconic Scent
9 Elf Step
10 Breath of the Dragon
11
12 Wings of the Dragon
13 Multitalented (Rogue)
14 Cobra Envenom
15
16 Uncanny Dodge
17 Avenge Ally
18 Disciple's Breath
19
20 Meditative Focus

Cobra's thing is kind of always anticipating his enemy's attacks and reading through people's deceptions thanks to his incredibly enhanced senses, so I reflected that with Whisper Elf, Ancestral Suspicion, and Uncanny Dodge. A lot of the rest of the core of his build is just poison options in place of the fire options I went with for Natsu. Avenge Ally seemed particularly entertaining given the character's story arc.

[Vlorax]

Almost half way, not too shabby. Here's one I've had for awhile, slightly altered now that APG is out.

Ancient elf (wizard dedication)
1. Monastic weapons
2. Ki strike
4. Basic wizard spellcasting
6. One inch punch
8. Basic arcana - familiar
10. Bespell weapon

After that it depends on if you want more spells or more martial monk abilities.

Idea is to true strike into ki strike to make most use of bespell wep, also works great with one inch punch.

Something like this can also be done with sorcs just requires moving some stats around

[lordcirth]

Build 46: Raging Dragon Monk
~ 18 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Cha, 14 Con
Max Intimidation, then Crafting

1. Skilled Human -> Whatever
General Training -> Shield Block
Dragon Stance
2. Barbarian Dedication (Dragon Instinct)
Quick Repair
3. Toughness
4. Basic Fury -> Raging Intimidation
Cat Fall
5. General Training -> Incredible Initiative
6. Instinct Ability (Draconic Rage)
7. Diehard
8. Dragon Roar
Battle Cry
9. Haughty Obstinacy
10. Advanced Fury -> Swipe
Kip Up

12. Advanced Fury -> Cleave

14. Advanced Fury -> AoO

16. Shattering Strike

18. Diamond Fists (dragon tail Strikes gain forceful)

20. Enduring Quickness

Stride or Demoralize, flurry at 0,-5 with dragon tail strikes + rage damage, and raise a shield.

[dpb123]

Build 48: Dancing Asp

This build came from me thinking, “How would I even build a Cobra Stance monk?” and this is what I came up with. “Dancing Asp” is a gender-of-your-choice fatale who can fascinate onlookers with a sinuous dance or scare the bejesus out of ‘em with an intimidating glare. During combat, Dancing Asp is always looking to use their acrobatics, superior speed, or even Abundant Step to get flanking in order to trigger sneak attack damage (via MCD Rogue). At later levels the “coiled serpent strikes” theme is further reinforced by MCDing into Aberrant-bloodline Sorcerer (via human’s Multitalented feat) and then taking Tentacular Limbs for its 10 feet of reach with unarmed strikes, and that reach increases to 15 feet with Cobra Envenom! While not the most hard-hitting of monks, I think Dancing Asp has an interesting set of skills and abilities that could make them fun to play/RP.

build:

Human or Half-elf Ancestry + Entertainer background

Starting ability score: STR 12, DEX 18, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 14

Key Skills and Skill Increases: Acrobatics and Intimidation

* = Rogue archetype feat
** = Sorcerer archetype feat

1 Fascinating Performance (Bkg), General Training: Acrobatic Performance (Anc), Ki Rush (Monk)
2 Intimidating Glare; Rogue Dedication; Quick Squeeze*
3
4 Sneak Attacker*
5
6 Cobra Stance
7
8 Abundant Step
9 Multitalented – Sorcerer Archetype (Aberrant bloodline)
10 Intimidating Prowess; Basic Trickery: Tumble Behind*
11
12 Cobra Envenom (now we can add persistent poison damage when we hit)
13
14 Basic Bloodline Spell: Tentacular Limbs**
15
16 Advanced Trickery: Gang Up*
17
18 Disrupt Ki (adding negative damage to our persistent damage arsenal)
19
20 Swift River

[Mellored]

Vlorax wrote:

Can Double Slice -> Flurry or if human pick up Ki Strike for some more damage, add Haste and it's a storm of Shurikens.

Half-elf get's haste.

But here's another alternative.

Half-elf.

1. Monastic Weapons, Natural Ambition (Ki Rush)
2. Shooting Stars Stance
4. Dual-Weapon Warrior Dedication
5: Elven Instinct
6. Dual Thrower
8. Flensing Slice
9. Muiltitalented (Champion)
10. Champion Reaction (paladin)
12. Champion Range Reprisal
13: Pinch Time (haste)
14. Dual Onslaught
16. Stance Savant
17: Heroic Presence
18. Diamond Fist (Does this increase Shurukins?)
20. Enduring Quickness

[shroudb]

Build 49: Boom goes the trap

i had a variation of that build posted way back by using Ranger primary and Monk archetype, but APG allows you to go full monk and even gain some perks doing so.
It initially started as a mental exercise to see if i can make the snare feat line of the ranger useful and it relies mostly on setting traps and then flinging opponents on them via Whirling throw.

Now, monk base gives us excellent mobility to actually go after the targets we want to incapacitate/reposition, an awesome stance to grab with reach and agile and basically double chance to grab, or ability to grab two targets at a time all in a single action.

Build:

Spoiler:

Human Monk:

we go human with adopted because kobolds have terrible stats for us

(core) Feats:

Ancestry feats:
1: Adopted ancestry (kobold)
1: Snare setter
5: Snare genius

Class feats:
1: Ki Rush
2: snarecrafter dedication
4: Flurry of maneuvers
6: whirling throw
8: Clinging shadows initiate
(10: snarecrafter: powerful snares) Not core since we can pick level appropriate snares each level, but it helps if we want a specific effect.
(12: snarecrafter: plentiful snares) Not core, but extra 8 snares is nice. brings up to 21 from 13 at level 15.
14: snarecrafter: lightning snares

Skill feats:
the usual Maneuver ones for Athletics based character.

at level 15 this gives you up to 21 snares that you can setup as a single action, which either use their own or your class DC whichever is higher, you can grapple up to two creatures with reach and either hold them at bay or fling them to a snare (doing damage and repositioning them as you see fit simultaneously).

Snares in general, if you can bypass the akwardness to set them up, do deal significant damage, enough to justify (imo) spending one round to setup 1 in the earlier levels if you can guarantee that you can trigger it the next round by throwing the enemy on it. As an example, at level 8 (when you would have 10 of them and need 3 actions to setup one of them) a simple striking snare is 9d6 with a basic DC of 26 (basically expert spellcasting dc with maximum stats for it's level)

[dpb123]

Build 50: Blade and Shadow

Temple sword wielding monk who learns to shape shadows into weapons to harm and hinder his foes.

build:

Human or Half-elf if you want Stand Still. If not, any ancestry will do as long as it doesn’t take a penalty to Strength, and then take Ki Strike at level 4. If you want to go all-in for a goth theme, Dhampir or Duskwalker are perfectly thematic. If you go Dhampir definitely check out the Fangs feat and the Bloodletting Fangs follow-up feat.

Max Strength and Max Athletics because you’ll be tripping with your temple sword and grabbing (with reach!) with your Shadow Grasp strikes.

1 Monastic Weaponry (Monk); Ki Strike (Natural Ambition)
2 Brawling Focus
3
4 Stand Still
5
6 Abundant Step
7
8 Clinging Shadows Initiate
9
10 Prevailing Position
11
12 Disrupt Ki
13
14 Shadow’s Web
15
16 Meditative Focus
17
18 Quivering Palm
19
20 [Open]

[Ssalarn]

Build... 51? Shirtless Punch Viking:

For when you want to be a shirtless viking shieldbearer and also break people's face with your fist.

Human Monk / Bastion / Viking

1 Monastic Weaponry, Viking Shieldbearer
2 Bastion Dedication
3
4 Disarming Block
5 Haughty Obstinacy
6 Nimble Shield Hand
7
8 Viking Dedication
9 Hardy Traveler
10 Destructive Block
11
12 Second Shield
13 Bounce Back
14 Shield Salvation
15
16 Hurling Charge
17 Heroic Presence
18 Diamond Fists
19
20 Deadly Strikes

So, this build is all about being a highly durable mobile shield expert. You've got plenty of ways to deploy your shield so you'll have good AC even unarmored, and you'll combine that with the monk's mobility and strong saves. You can wield a kama or temple sword in your non-shield-hand if you want, or just punch people while keeping some shuriken on hand for a ranged option. Hurling Charge lets you open up with a shuriken attack on an enemy as you get in close, then leaves you with an action remaining to flurry away with unarmed strikes or the monk weapon of your choice; you could also drop Hurling Charge if you're not planning on using anything other than fists and shuriken, and grab Shooting Stars Stance instead to apply the benefits of Diamond Fists and Deadly Strikes to your shuriken as well. Viking Dedication and Hardy Traveler ensure that you can stand up to Beowulf and sing your own epic poem about the time you swam across the Atlantic Arcadian Ocean and then ran across half the continent to make it to the giant-punching contest on time.

[Vlorax]

52

Saiyan
Human Gladiator
str 18
dex 16
con 12
int 8
wis 14
cha 8

1.Gorilla Stance, Ki Strike
2. Stunning Fist
4. Stand Still
6. Ki Blast
8. Abundant Step
10. Wind Jump
12. Meditative Focus
14. Overwhelming Breath
16. Flinging Blow
18. Ki Form
20. Meditative Wellspring

Mostly this is a decent setup of a Saiyan from DBZ. Wind Jump should be swapped out for something once you have access to flight from other sources.

To make Trunks sub out Gorilla Stance for Monastic Weapons and a Temple Sword. This way you can recreate the Wind Jump->Flurry->Ki Blast combo.

[Ssalarn]

Build 53: The Bird is the Word:

It's a Crane Style Skyborn Tengu!

1 Crane Stance, Tengu Lore
2 Ki Rush
3
4 Flying Kick
5 One-Toed Hop
6 Crane Flutter
7
8 Wall Run (Retrain for Align Ki at 17th)
9 Soaring Flight
10 Winding Flow
11
12 Disrupt Ki
13 Long-Nosed Form
14 Timeless Body
15
16 Quivering Palm
17 Great Tengu Form
18 Ki Form
19
20 Meditative Focus

Honestly, I'm just embracing going full anime here. You've got a couple different transformations so you can do your "You haven't even seen my real power yet" moments, you have a few different ways to fly, never get hurt while falling, and you have a couple really good "bad touch" monk tricks. You're also ridiculously mobile and should be able to be wherever you want to be on the battlefield, whenever you want to be there. You can focus on raising Dex and Wis at every opportunity, so your attack rolls and DCs should all be appropriately high; you'll have very good defenses thanks to Crane Style and Timeless Body; and Disrupt Ki, Quivering Palm, and Ki Form should more than compensate for any damage lost by going with high Dex Crane Style as your primary offense.

[Mellored]

Any way to combine cobra stance with prisoner?

All the stuff seems to require weapons.

[Vlorax]

Mellored wrote:

Any way to combine cobra stance with prisoner?

All the stuff seems to require weapons.

Doesn't look like it, the 1d4 stances seem so incredibly niche considering their low damage and then they lock you into your attack.

[Ssalarn]

Vlorax wrote:

Mellored wrote:

Any way to combine cobra stance with prisoner?

All the stuff seems to require weapons.

Doesn't look like it, the 1d4 stances seem so incredibly niche considering their low damage and then they lock you into your attack.

They are a bit stronger than they appear in a few ways, the most notable being that they overcome all physical resistances. Rain of Embers, Cobra Stance, and Clinging Shadows all deal full damage to swarms, and RoE and CS also go straight through golem resistances (Cobra is a little screwed there though). They also typically have more traits than the higher damaging attacks, like Cobra having agile, deadly d10, and finesse or Clinging Shadows having agile, grapple, and reach (!!) Clinging Shadows also doesn't lock you into only making shadow grasp Strikes, which is pretty nice.

The actual issue with trying to combine Poisoner with Cobra Stance is that injury poisons can only be applied to weapons and neither unarmed attacks nor handwraps of mighty blows are actually weapons.

[Vlorax]

Ancient Elf Demon Slayer

Using flaw to swap int for cha
str 14++ 18
dex 18++++ 22
con 10++++ 18
int 8+ 10
wis 10++ 14
cha 16+++ 20

1. Monastic Archer Stance, Sorc Dedication
2. Ki Strike
4. Basic Sorc Spellcasting
6. Basic Blood Potency - Dangerous Sorc/Familiar?
8. Eldritch Archer Dedication
10. Advanced Blood Potency - Bespell Wep
12. Expert Sorc Spellcasting
14. Bloodline Breadth
16. Meditative Focus
18. Ki Form
20. Master Sorc Spellcasting

This is similar to the Ranged Devil build but leans into the spellcasting more.

At lvl 4 you can True Strike -> Ki Strike for decent damage.

Dangerous Sorc obviously helps with damage, but a Familiar can net you another Focus Point so I'm not sure which would be best. Familiar offers more RP potential as well.
Eldritch Archer to get access to Eldritch Shot.
Bespell Wep - This makes Ki Strike kinda funny, since Ki Strike is a "non-cantrip" Spell it activates the extra damage. Also At level 10 when you get this you can Fireball or Lightning bolt then Ki Strike for an extra 3d6 on both ki strike attacks.

From there on it's mostly just grabbing more spell feats for more Eldritch Shots/utility.

at 20 with Ki Form->Ki Strike and a longbow you end up with

4d8 +8 +3d6(ki Strike) +1d6(bespell) +1d6(ki form) + Property Runes at (+1/-4)

[rainzax]

Martialmasters wrote:

Vlorax wrote:

Martialmasters wrote:

Go lizardfolk

Go fighter

Get monk dedication for fob

Your a better monk now.

nah you're just a fighter cosplaying a monk.

Why post just to troll

Objectively you will have about equal ooc utility and better in combat performance.

So it's less trolling, more annoyance.

Troll:

1: Troll Stance
2: Bounty Hunter Dedication
4: Guarded Movement
6: Keep Pace
8: Wall Run

Goes "online" at 6. This monk finds out about you, makes you his/her prey, then tracks you down relentlessly and single-mindedly, from which, there is no escape, not even through Reactive opponents, nor up walls, nor other fits of Athletics. Trolling you to defeat.

Enjoy.

[Martialmasters]

monks are indeed fun

[Ssalarn]

Build 55: The Luchador:

Human monk/vigilante/dandy

1 Ki Strike, Natural Ambition (Ki Rush)
2 Crushing Grab
3
4 Vigilante Dedication
5 Clever Improviser
6 Social Purview (Dandy)
7 Fabricated Connections
8 Flurry of Maneuvers
9 Incredible Improvisation
10 Mixed Maneuver
11 Subjective Truth
12 Startling Appearance
13 Bounce Back
14 Sleeper Hold
15 Party Crasher
16 Stunning Appearance
17 Heroic Presence
18 Form Lock
19
20 Impossible Technique

Everything you need for face/heel flips and over-the-top wrestling!

[WWHsmackdown]

Ssalarn wrote:

Vlorax wrote:

Mellored wrote:

Any way to combine cobra stance with prisoner?

All the stuff seems to require weapons.

Doesn't look like it, the 1d4 stances seem so incredibly niche considering their low damage and then they lock you into your attack.

They are a bit stronger than they appear in a few ways, the most notable being that they overcome all physical resistances. Rain of Embers, Cobra Stance, and Clinging Shadows all deal full damage to swarms, and RoE and CS also go straight through golem resistances (Cobra is a little screwed there though). They also typically have more traits than the higher damaging attacks, like Cobra having agile, deadly d10, and finesse or Clinging Shadows having agile, grapple, and reach (!!) Clinging Shadows also doesn't lock you into only making shadow grasp Strikes, which is pretty nice.

The actual issue with trying to combine Poisoner with Cobra Stance is that injury poisons can only be applied to weapons and neither unarmed attacks nor handwraps of mighty blows are actually weapons.

I thought the different monk stances and monk fists were considered melee weapons

[Nocte ex Mortis]

Unfortunately not. Unarmed isn’t considered a weapon, per se.

[Mellored]

It also means you can't use Shadow with fighters lunge.

[Mellored]

Giant Tangle 56

1: Monsastic weapons (bo staff)
2: Stunning Strike
4: Barbarian Dedication
6: Barbarian Instinct (Giant)
8: Tangle Stance
10: Basic Fury (?)
12: Advanced Fury (Giant's Stature)
14: Stance Savant
16: Oppertunity Attack/Stand Still
18: Iron Stance
20: Fuse Stance

= 15' reach zone of denial

[Ssalarn]

Please don't derail threads with off-topic negativity. And please don't appropriate language of victimization when you're not a victim; it's a disgusting and despicable thing to do and makes it harder for real victims of harassment to speak out and be heard about their struggles.

[Ssalarn]

Build 57: White-Haired Witch:

Classic archetype with the martial arts amped to 11.

Human Monk / Witch

1 Dragon Spit, Ki Rush
2 Witch Dedication
3
4 Basic Witchcraft (Living Hair)
5 Haughty Obstinacy
6 Abundant Step
7
8 Advanced Witchcraft (Eldritch Nails)
9 Dragon Prince
10 Advanced Witchcraft (Basic Lesson - Lesson of Vengeance)
11
12 Advanced Witchcraft (Greater Lesson - Lesson of Shadow)
13 Bounce Back
14 Meditative Focus
15
16 Enlightened Presence
17 Heroic Presence
18 Meditative Wellspring
19
20 Advanced Witchcraft (Major Lesson - Lesson of Death)

Heroic Presence may seem a bit weird, but I'm looking at the mechanic of having a way to whip your "minions" into a zealous fury. The rest of the build is pretty straightforward, giving you a few different ranged and AoE options, some hexes to deliver through your eldritch nails, etc.

[Mellored]

Shutdown 58

1: Monastic Archer Stance
2: Stunning Strike
4: Archer Dedication (for the crit)
6:
8: Pinning Fire
10: Winding Flow

With a good bit of luck, you can crit->immobilize (-1 action) + pinning->immobilize (-1 action) + stun 1 (-1 action).
Just -2 actions, and you can back away. Maybe just -1 since your speed is higher.

Probably toss in half-elf + champion reaction, or at least dodging roll to use the reaction.

[Ssalarn]

Build 59: The Azer:

Inspired by the fiery elemental dwarves from D&D, and with clan dagger feats just because I thought it was cool.

Elemental heart dwarf monk

1 Clan's Edge, Ki Strike
2 Elemental Fist
3
4 Stand Still
5 Protective Sheath
6 Align Ki
7
8 Wild Winds Initiate
9 Energy Blessed
10 Winding Flow
11
12 Meditative Focus
13 Clan Protector
14 Stance Savant
15
16 Diamond Soul
17 Mountain's Stoutness
18 Ki Form
19
20 Enduring Quickness

The fun trick here is getting to squeeze in two clan dagger Strikes and two unarmed strikes while also executing a boosted parry action, giving you some kind of hilarious action economy. And when that's not the right move, you can still keep that action economy edge high with Winding Flow. By 20th you're basically just laughing at other characters' poor action economy as you shoot around the field like a surprisingly tanky living fireball.

Your ability to generate elemental damage will help compensate for your clan dagger attacks being relatively low damage. Ki Strike + Elemental Fist + Wild Winds Initiate lets you throw balls of fire from your fists for a ranged option. And the fire theme is mostly for flavor; you can always use Elemental Fist to generate different types of energy damage.