September 12, 2023 • 22 mins
Monks are the pinnacles of discipline and martial technique that test the limits of humanoid capability. Warlocks are the servants of eldritch beings who’ve bestowed upon them unknowable cosmic powers in exchange for dark and mysterious pacts. When combined you get a sword wielding martial arts master whose intense training is empowered by the dark gods. Grab your hexblade and put on your gi as we go through everything you need to know. Support our Content: Monthly Dice Subscription: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/products/rpg-dice-subscription Amazing dice every month, no repeats. Andrar's Vault is Open - Over 100 Unique Magic Items: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/products/andrars-vault Check out the blog post here: https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/blogs/dnd/monk-warlock-multiclass-for-d-d-5e
Subscribe to SkullSplitter Dice Podcast on Soundwise
Subscribe to SkullSplitter Dice Podcast on Soundwise
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Monks are the pinnacles of discipline andmartial technique that test the limits of humanoid
capability. Warlocks are the servants ofEldridge beings who've bestowed upon them unknowable cosmic
powers and exchange for dark and mysteriouspacks. When combined, you get a
sword wielding martial arts master whose intensetraining is empowered by the dark gods.
(00:20):
Epic. Warlock has always been themulti classing darling, providing some of the
best value a single level in anythingcan provide. The Monk class gets passed
over often in that regard, butactually boasts a ton of powerful features in
the first couple levels. While theseclasses don't necessarily mesh well at really at
(00:46):
all in their later tiers, asdips, we can gain a ton of
power using Warlock to enhance a monkplay style, or using Monk to enhance
a Warlock play style. We're alsonot shifting too hard into different ability scores,
as both classes are mainly dexterity dependency, and while their core features clash
on wisdom and charisma, we canbuild in such a way that we can
ignore one or the other. Ultimately, though you play a Monk, Warlock
(01:07):
to play a martial DPS powerhouse formassive damage. We're looking to pile additional
damage through multiple attacks by using hexesand buffs. We're hoping to crush whatever
we run into quickly and then regainall the features from both our classes on
a short rest. The downsides arenot hard to spot here. Our features
don't really work well together other thanthe first couple level dips, so any
(01:29):
sort of fifty fifty split will endup as a sad collection of incoherent features.
Much like myself, we're also mixinga martial class and a spellcasting class,
so we're having to limit ourselves downto specifically the Marshal focused Warlock archetypes.
That means hex blade, which isnever a bad thing, but it
still means there isn't much variety.The Monks martial arts feature also scales with
(01:51):
Monk levels, so a dip intoWarlock means getting that improvement even later.
Finally, just like any other multiclass build, we're going to give up
entirely on Capstone features, late gamefeatures, and that level twenty feature,
And to add on top of that, you'll be getting your midgame features later,
even if it's only a dip whenit comes to when this multi class
really kicks in. Every build we'regoing to do here relies on combining the
(02:13):
first and second level martial arts andkey features of the Monk with one of
the warlock's first level archetype features.This means that in each of our builds
cases, we'll be kicking in withthree class levels. Now, let's talk
about the class features that we careabout. We've only got a few Monk
abilities and Warlock abilities that really synergizewith each other, and a few more
(02:34):
that will matter for every other build, or at least most of them.
Starting with our significant Monk features,we have unarmored defense. Monks get a
special defensive option that provides them withan alternate AC equal to ten plus their
Dexterity mod plus their Wisdom mod.So long as they're not wearing armor.
We're likely getting armor anyway from ourWarlock levels, so we can ignore this
on mainly Warlock builds, but formainly Monk builds, this will be our
(02:58):
best AC source at higher level whenour wisdom mod pushes up past what medium
armor grants. Next, we havemartial arts, and this is the core
defining Monk feature that improves our unarmedstrikes and allows us to make an unarmed
strike as a bonus action. Rememberthat this is different from Flurry of blows,
and it's basically the default free punchthat we can make without spending key
or any other resource. The monkunarmed strike damaged eye is a one D
(03:22):
four instead of just a kneasily one, and it improves with monk levels to
one D six, one D eight, and eventually one D ten, though
if we're only dipping into monk,we're going to have to make do with
just the D four. Next,we have key and these are your mystical
resources that you spend to fuel mostof the Monk's actions. Technically you gain
a number of key points as shownon the table, but it's basically equal
(03:44):
to your monk levels starting at secondlevel, and starting at second level we
get three abilities we can spend thoseMonk points on. Flurry of Blows is
the best one we'll be using mostoften, and it works exactly like our
martial arts extra unarmed strike, butif you spend a key point for Flurry
of blows, we make two extraunarmed strike attacks instead. Patient defense lets
us dodge as a bonus action.At the cost of one key point,
(04:06):
which is situational but still very useful. And finally, step of the wind
lets us dash, And finally stepof the wind lets us dash or disengage
as a bonus action for one keyand also doubles our jumping distance for the
turn. Next, we have unarmoredmovement. Very simply, Monks get extra
movement speed when you first gain thefuture with your second Monk level. It's
(04:26):
ten feet of extra speed, andit improves to fifteen feet at six level,
twenty feet at tenth level, twentyfive feet at fourteenth level, and
thirty feet at eighteenth level. Justthe ten extra feet is a huge boost
to speed, and you'll typically beable to maneuver yourself however you'd like in
combat. And then we have dedicatedweapon. In the Optional rules, monks
got this new second level feature thatlets them turn any weapon into a monk
(04:48):
weapon, so long as it doesn'thave the heavy or special weapon properties.
For us, most importantly, thismeans that whatever weapon we use for our
hex blade, we can also makeinto a monk weapon. And then we
have key fueled attack, also gainedfrom the Optional rules. Monks gain key
fueled attack at third level, whichlets them spend a key point not on
unarmed strikes, but on another attackwith a monk weapon. Usually we're going
(05:11):
to be better off with a flurryof blows instead, but there are some
situations where a bigger hit will bebetter than two little ones. And then
starting at third level, we getdeflect missile, which we can use as
a reaction to reduce the damage takenby one D ten plus your monk level
plus your dexterity modifier. You onlyhave one reaction, but it's incredibly handy
to essentially negate the odd arrow thatflies at you. And then at fourth
(05:33):
level we get quickened healing and youcan spend two key points to heal a
number of hit points equal to aroll of your martial arts to die plus
your proficiency bonus. It's not ahuge amount of healing for the cost,
but you regain key on a shortrest and that healing can come in handy.
And then at fifth level we gainfocused aim. You can increase your
attack role by plus two for everykey point you spend, up to a
(05:54):
max of plus six. This meansevery time you're pretty sure you were close
to getting the hit, you canbump it up after your role to push
it through, and then we haveextra attack just like most martial classes.
We get this at fifth level.This means we can make two attacks with
our primary weapon and make a bonusaction unarmed attack using martial arts or with
a key point. A flurry ofblows gives us a total of four attacks
(06:15):
too with our primary weapon and twounarmed strikes. Next, we have monastic
tradition. We don't really need tohit the third monk level if we're focusing
on warlock. If we're core monk, however, we're taking a pick,
and sadly nothing adds a ton tothe build, and it's more a matter
of picking something that doesn't actively clashwith it, the exception being the Way
of the Long Death, which shineswhen combined with the Undead Patron. And
(06:38):
then at seventh level we have evasionand this lets us take half damage from
failed deck saves and no damage frompast deck saves, a great feature if
we're going on the long monk route. And now for our Warlock features.
Starting with packed magic, Warlock spellcastingis unique with very limited spell slots that
recharge on a short rest, withCharisma as its spellcasting ability. We can
(06:59):
get a one of used out ofthe warlocks spells, particularly the spell hex
often called the best cantrip in thegame and the most effective spell at consistent
damage in the game. Warlocks gainaccess to the spell Eldridge Blast. The
Monk levels won't add to this inany way, but it's nice to have
this range damage option in your pocket. If you can't quite get within punching
range. Then we have Hexplade,which is one of the most common multi
(07:21):
class archetypes, and it's easy tosee why. With just the first level
archetype abilities, you get hex Blades, Curse, and Hex Warrior that together
give you a pile of abilities.First, you get medium armor shields and
martial weapon proficiencies. You also getto turn a weapon into your hex Blade,
which lets you use charisma for attackand damage rolls. Not something we're
(07:42):
caring about here, but still prettycool. We care more about the hex
Blades curses, though, which letsyou doom a target for a ton of
buffs against them, including extra damageto them equal to your proficiency bonus krits
on nineteen and twenty and gains ushit points when we kill the target of
our curse. The bit we reallycare about, though, is that proficiency
to damage bonus. Since it triggerson every single attack. We can stack
(08:05):
that bonus up by making a tonof attacks using flurry of blows. And
then we have the Undead. Atfirst level, this patron grants you the
form of Dread, which as abonus action, turns you into your Spooky
form, which gives you temporary hitpoints and inflicts a frightened chance on one
of your attacks each round. PexBlade still beats this in most cases,
but we have a specific build thatsynergizes with it. And then we have
(08:28):
packed boons gained. At third level, we get a special gift from our
patron that really solidifies our strategy.For any Marshall strategy, this is almost
always packed of the Blade. Andthen we have Eldridge invocations, which are
a great big list of magical abilitieswe can pick and choose from carde blanche
style. We get up to twoof these at second level and then slowly
get drip fed more options as weadvance in Warlock level. There's a lot
(08:50):
to go over, but for nowno A few of these invocations will be
key for certain builds when it comesto ability scores right off the bat,
both class is our dexterity based andit should be your highest score. After
that, it gets a little morecomplicated. Many of our Monk features care
about wisdom and many of our Warlockfeatures care about charisma, and if our
class level split was even, we'dbe forced to care about both ability scores.
(09:15):
But since we're just doing level dipsand the features we care about in
either case don't really rely on thosestats, we can have our cake and
eat it too most of the time. If you are a primary Monk with
a level dip in Warlock, wisdomshould be your second highest ability score and
we can use the minimum charisma requiredfor multi classing, which is thirteen.
If you are a primary Warlock witha level dip in Monk, charisma should
(09:37):
be your second highest ability score,and we just need the minimum wisdom required
for multi classing again thirteen. Then, as a martial class, we do
need to worry about staying alive onthe front line, so constitutions should be
our third highest stat Whatever you do, you'll need to make sure to meet
the minimum multi classing requirements for bothMonk and Warlock, which means at least
a thirteen dexterity, wisdom, andcharisma. Finally, in every version of
(10:00):
the build, we don't care aboutstrength or intelligence, and we can use
both as dump stats when it comesto multi classing equipment. Weapons for this
multi class used to be way moreproblematic, but thanks to the Monk's a
new Wish dedicated weapon feature, alot of the old restraints are gone.
We just need to select a weaponthat fits both the now much more lax
requirements for Monk weapons and also therequirements for a hex blade, which together
(10:22):
kind of looks something like this.Now, this all may sound like a
lot, but it actually leaves usa ton of options, even ranged weapons.
It's also important to note that theversatile ability isn't on this list,
and we can make our unarmed strikeseven while two handing a versatile weapon.
This means for raw damage output,our best options are the battle axe,
longsword, or warhammer. Each ofthese are functionally identical one weapons with the
(10:46):
versatile feature that lets us upgrade toone D ten, and the only difference
is dealing bludgeoning, piercing or slashingdamage. Now you may be asking how
we're using dexterity for those obvious strengthweapons, but thanks to dedicated weapon and
we can treat all of them asmonk weapons and swing them around using dexterity
to our heart's content. When itcomes to armor, we're basically stuck using
(11:07):
the unarmored defense feature. We aren'tallowed to use the martial arts feature while
wearing armor or using a shield,so ten BLUs, dexterity and wisdom modifiers
will have to suffice. Now whenit comes to what class you should start
off with, objectively, starting withthe monk gives you slightly more to work
with. You don't get an additionalskill, but you do pick up a
bonus tool or instrument proficiency. Butyou can honestly start with either one if
(11:28):
you really want to. You'll endup with all of the proficiencies we care
about in either case. So themain choice is between saving throws. Monk
grants proficiency and strength and dexterity saves, while warlocks grant wisdom and charisma saves.
Feel free to start with either,but I do think starting with a
monk level is slightly better. Andnow, to briefly discuss feats. As
with most martial cast class combinations,there's one feet you really should consider in
(11:52):
that's warcaster. Warcaster has three benefits, and all three are powerful boosts if
we plan on both casting spells andgetting into melee. It gives us advantage
on concentration checks made to maintain ourspells. It lets us cast spells even
when our hands are full of weaponsor shields, and it lets us cast
spells in place of normal attacks whenmaking attacks of opportunity. When it comes
(12:16):
to monk warlock spells, even justa single Warlock level gets us a couple
can trips and a recharging first levelspell slot with pac magic. So what
in the warlock spell list benefits usthe most? For a martial cast build,
I often recommend the melee can tripslike Booming Blade or Green fire Blade,
but sadly they don't work here.Both martial arts and Flurry of Blows
require us to take the attack actionto activate, and using the Meleecan trips
(12:39):
clashes with that since you actually usethe cast a spell action that just happens
to involve your sword. Instead,we want to focus on spells that we
can use to buff ourselves before hittingcombat, Spells that stack up more damage
or ranged options for when the targetstays out of melee range. Let's start
with the cantrips that we can makethe most out of. First, we
have the Ulti cantrip Eldritch Blast,which is no less useful even if we
(13:03):
aren't building for it. For purerange damage potential, it's hard to argue
against picking this one up. Thenwe have mind Slipper. This mind bending
cantrip forces an intelligence save that dealsone D six psychic damage with cantrip scaling
and reduces their next saving throw byone D four. It has a range
of sixty feet and I like itfor some extra damage and potentially combining it
with a more impactful effect on thenext turn when you close the distance.
(13:26):
And then we have sword Burst.Like a mini thunderwave, you force a
deck save in the area around you, inflicting one D six force damage with
cantrip scaling on a failure. Normallya bad pick for squishy casters, it's
a fair option if you find yourselfsurrounded in melee. Next, let's look
at some of the useful first levelspells, starting with Armor of Agathis.
This grants you five temporary hit pointsand inflicts five cold damage on anybody who
(13:50):
hits you. In melee while youhave any of those hit points remaining.
This one is particularly useful because itlasts for an hour and doesn't use concentration,
which means we can cast it longbefore beat starts and still gain the
benefits. It's important to note thatthis scales up by five points each for
every slot level above the first.Then we have Arms of Hidar. This
hits everyone within ten feet of youwith a strength, say for two D
(14:11):
six necrotic damage and a prevention ofreactions until their next turns. Extremely useful
if you find yourself surrounded and canact as a getaway as your targets shouldn't
be able to hit you with atax of opportunity as you flee. And
then we have Hellish Rebuke, whichpunishes a foe that's able to hit you
for two D six fire damage.It's not fantastic since it requires you getting
hit and or for it to work, but if you're at the front lines
(14:33):
anyway, it's some free retaliation,and who doesn't love some free retaliation.
And then we have hex, whichis the automatic include for most of our
builds, as that D six necroticdamage can stack up on every single punch
from our Flurry of Blows. Theonly thing holding it back is the action
economy. Since our Martial Arts,Slash, Flurry of Blows, Munk Abilities,
hex Blade Curse, and Hex alluse the bonus action. This means
(14:56):
we'll only get the full combo onbig bosses that are taking a lot rounds
to fell, but Hex can stillact as our extra Hex Blades Curse when
we have multiple fights between short rests. And now let's finally talk some multi
class builds. Monk and Warlock don'tmesh well late in the game, but
they're fairly early features can provide massivebuffs to either strategy. The following builds
(15:18):
all focus on one class dipping justa bit into the other. First,
we have Way of the Hex Master. If you're coming into this multi class
trying to maximize damage output, thisis probably the strongest option. Firstly,
we're making Monk our primary class anddipping just a single level into Warlock and
taking the hex Blade patron Our Monkarchetype doesn't really matter here, and you
(15:39):
can pick what you'd like, thoughI'd recommend the Way of the Open Hand
just for some extra effects on ourattacks. Way of the Ascendant Dragon for
elemental damage options is also a goodchoice or the way of the Shadow.
For extra utility and mobility. Forour warlock spells, we want to take
hex which we can stack up alongsidehex blades curse to pile on damage.
We have very limited spell slots here, but hex is almost always going to
(16:02):
be worth it. As stated inthe equipment section, we take a battle
axe, longsword or warhammer as ourprimary weapon and hex blade, and then
we convert it into a monk weaponusing our dedicated weapon feature. How does
all of this work well? Asa bonus action, we can target a
creature using our hex Blade's curse andhit them once with our hex blade,
and on the next turn we canhit them with the hex spell and stack
(16:22):
up the damage further. After that, we can start spending our bonus actions
on flurry of blows, stacking uptwo attacks and then defaulting to a single
bonus attack once we run out ofkey points using martial arts. Let's take
an example of the build at sixlevel that's one warlock level and five monk
levels. After stacking up hex Blade'sCurse and Hex we're free to do four
attacks per turn on our target.One normal attack, one from extra attack
(16:45):
and two bonus attacks from flurry ofblows. Each of these four attacks gets
all the damage buffs from our hexesand is a critical hit on a nineteen
or twenty. Our weapon attacks canstill be too handed thanks to versatile and
deal one D ten six plus proficiencyplus Dexterity modifier, and our armed strikes
deal two D six plus proficiency plusDexterity modifier. That means on average,
(17:08):
even without critical hits, if allfour attacks hit will be dealing a whopping
sixty damage. That's two D tenplus sixty six plus twelve plus sixteen.
Admittedly, this requires us to havetime to stack up the buffs, but
even with just hex or hex BladesCurse, it's an impressive beatdown that you'll
be able to dish out in prettymuch any combat you want, or at
(17:29):
least one where you're well rested,and then we have way of dread.
Similarly to the hex Master, we'reonly taking a single level of Warlock,
with the rest going towards Monk.This time, however, instead of hex
Blade, we want to take theUndead Patron. Our goal here is less
about DPS, and instead we're goingto focus on inflicting the frightened condition as
often as possible. For our monkarchetype, we want to take the Way
(17:49):
of the Long Death, specifically toget the six level feature Hour of Reaping.
Hour of Reaping lets us use ouraction to force a wisdom saving throw
on every creature within thirty feet,and creatures who fail are frightened of us
until the end of our next turn. When picking the Warlock spells, we
still want to pick hex as apowerful way to stack damage. Unlike the
(18:10):
prior build, we don't have away to pick up martial weapons, which
means we're stuck with the best simpleweapon with versatile such as the quarter staffer's
spear. So how does this onework? Well, we essentially have a
lighter version of the previous DPS setup, but now we can also easily
keep our enemies frightened of us formost of the combat. The Undead Patron
grants us a form of dread thatwe can activate as a bonus action.
(18:32):
This extra spooky mode gives us temporaryhit points, and once stirring each of
our turns, we can force afear save on a target we hit with
a melee attack. Hour of dreadlets us use our action to inflict a
big burst of fear, and wecan do both of our hour of dread
and activate our form of dread onthe same turn. Then on the next
turn we can use our bonus actionto hex a target and start absolutely going
(18:53):
to town, inflicting damage and fear. Our damage output is a little bit
lower, but using the same sixlevel example, that's five levels of Monk
and one level of Warlock, we'restill at four attacks generating an average of
forty six damage. Once we havehex and our flurry of blows up and
running. But here we can reasonablykeep our opponents frightened, meaning you're unlikely
to get swarmed, and whatever targetyou single out will have disadvantage on all
(19:15):
of their attacks against you. Youcan become a dreadful martial arts monster,
and then we have packed of theFist. This build trades off a bunch
of the Monk's inbuilt resilience for alittle bit of bonus damage and much more
utility. For this final build,we're swapping it up, taking only two
levels of Monk and they're remaining eighteenlevels in warlock. You may be tempted
to take a third level in Monkfor one of the Monk's subclasses, and
(19:38):
you can if you'd like, butI don't think you gain enough bang for
your buck there. If you doend up taking the third level and an
archetype, I'd recommend the Way ofMercy for the equivalent of a healing spell,
Way of the Ascendant Dragon so thatyou can change up the damage type
on your unarmed strikes if you like, or maybe the Way of the Drunken
Master to avoid opportunity attacks, andbecause Way of the Drunken Master is how
(19:59):
you have the most fun role playinganyway. For our Warlock levels, we're
once again taking Hex Blade and theHex spell, and since we're going all
the way with Warlock, we alsowant to take the Pact of the Blade.
With all these Warlock levels, wealso get a bounce of Eldridge invocations,
and we want to make sure thatwe pick up Armor of Shadows,
Improved Pack Weapon, and Thirsting Bladefor your remaining invocations, consider any of
(20:21):
the Pact of Blade or Hex optionssuch as Eldridge, Smite, Life Drinker,
Maddening Hex for bonus psychic damage,or Relentless Hex. So how does
this build work well? Essentially,in the same way, but with additional
spell slots and a bit less rawdamage. Firstly, we can ignore unarmored
defense and our wisdom score because wehave armor shadows free mage armor essentially and
can rely on that for our acNext, we want to do the same
(20:44):
combination of hex Blade's Curse and Hexwhenever possible, or perhaps just one for
smaller foes. This will end upwith a slightly lower average damage for our
full four attack flurry of fifty eightdamage that's two D ten, four D
six, two D four and twelveplus sixteen, but with the ability to
push it up even higher through spellcasting. For example, if we use
the third level spells Spirit Shroud insteadof Hex, that full flurry pushes up
(21:08):
to sixty two damage that's two Dten four D eight, two D four
twelve plus sixteen, and it comeswith the bonus benefits of stopping enemy healing
and reducing their movements. Or throughmaddening Hex, we can stack up extra
psychic damage equal to our charisma modifierfor an average of seventy damage. That's
two D ten forty six, twoD four twelve plus sixteen plus twelve.
(21:30):
Wow. This is honestly one ofthose multi class builds. I recommend to
a lot of people that are gettinginto multi classing for the first time at
my table, if only because Ifind like things like a warlock monk are
just interesting, like what's their story? How do you become a warlock monk?
Tell me more about this character.But from a mechanical side, it's
(21:53):
also a lot easier to plan everythingout from the start, especially when you're
just doing dips into another class.I think this can be good for anyone
that's multi classing for the first timeor doesn't want to commit to a whole
flow chart of ideas when plotting theirmulti class character. Thank you guys so
much for watching. I really appreciateit. Be sure to like and subscribe
(22:14):
because we put out new content likethis all the time. Go see what
we're up to over at skull splitterdicedot com. And if you're going to
be building a monk warlock multi classcharacter, I would absolutely love to hear
about them down in the comments.I love reading about your guys's characters.
I really really do. Thanks againfor watching. My name's Patrick Ferguson from
skull Splitterdice and until next time,farewell.
Monks are the pinnacles of discipline andmartial technique that test the limits of humanoid
capability. Warlocks are the servants ofEldridge beings who've bestowed upon them unknowable cosmic
powers and exchange for dark and mysteriouspacks. When combined, you get a
sword wielding martial arts master whose intensetraining is empowered by the dark gods.
(00:20):
Epic. Warlock has always been themulti classing darling, providing some of the
best value a single level in anythingcan provide. The Monk class gets passed
over often in that regard, butactually boasts a ton of powerful features in
the first couple levels. While theseclasses don't necessarily mesh well at really at
(00:46):
all in their later tiers, asdips, we can gain a ton of
power using Warlock to enhance a monkplay style, or using Monk to enhance
a Warlock play style. We're alsonot shifting too hard into different ability scores,
as both classes are mainly dexterity dependency, and while their core features clash
on wisdom and charisma, we canbuild in such a way that we can
ignore one or the other. Ultimately, though you play a Monk, Warlock
(01:07):
to play a martial DPS powerhouse formassive damage. We're looking to pile additional
damage through multiple attacks by using hexesand buffs. We're hoping to crush whatever
we run into quickly and then regainall the features from both our classes on
a short rest. The downsides arenot hard to spot here. Our features
don't really work well together other thanthe first couple level dips, so any
(01:29):
sort of fifty fifty split will endup as a sad collection of incoherent features.
Much like myself, we're also mixinga martial class and a spellcasting class,
so we're having to limit ourselves downto specifically the Marshal focused Warlock archetypes.
That means hex blade, which isnever a bad thing, but it
still means there isn't much variety.The Monks martial arts feature also scales with
(01:51):
Monk levels, so a dip intoWarlock means getting that improvement even later.
Finally, just like any other multiclass build, we're going to give up
entirely on Capstone features, late gamefeatures, and that level twenty feature,
And to add on top of that, you'll be getting your midgame features later,
even if it's only a dip whenit comes to when this multi class
really kicks in. Every build we'regoing to do here relies on combining the
(02:13):
first and second level martial arts andkey features of the Monk with one of
the warlock's first level archetype features.This means that in each of our builds
cases, we'll be kicking in withthree class levels. Now, let's talk
about the class features that we careabout. We've only got a few Monk
abilities and Warlock abilities that really synergizewith each other, and a few more
(02:34):
that will matter for every other build, or at least most of them.
Starting with our significant Monk features,we have unarmored defense. Monks get a
special defensive option that provides them withan alternate AC equal to ten plus their
Dexterity mod plus their Wisdom mod.So long as they're not wearing armor.
We're likely getting armor anyway from ourWarlock levels, so we can ignore this
on mainly Warlock builds, but formainly Monk builds, this will be our
(02:58):
best AC source at higher level whenour wisdom mod pushes up past what medium
armor grants. Next, we havemartial arts, and this is the core
defining Monk feature that improves our unarmedstrikes and allows us to make an unarmed
strike as a bonus action. Rememberthat this is different from Flurry of blows,
and it's basically the default free punchthat we can make without spending key
or any other resource. The monkunarmed strike damaged eye is a one D
(03:22):
four instead of just a kneasily one, and it improves with monk levels to
one D six, one D eight, and eventually one D ten, though
if we're only dipping into monk,we're going to have to make do with
just the D four. Next,we have key and these are your mystical
resources that you spend to fuel mostof the Monk's actions. Technically you gain
a number of key points as shownon the table, but it's basically equal
(03:44):
to your monk levels starting at secondlevel, and starting at second level we
get three abilities we can spend thoseMonk points on. Flurry of Blows is
the best one we'll be using mostoften, and it works exactly like our
martial arts extra unarmed strike, butif you spend a key point for Flurry
of blows, we make two extraunarmed strike attacks instead. Patient defense lets
us dodge as a bonus action.At the cost of one key point,
(04:06):
which is situational but still very useful. And finally, step of the wind
lets us dash, And finally stepof the wind lets us dash or disengage
as a bonus action for one keyand also doubles our jumping distance for the
turn. Next, we have unarmoredmovement. Very simply, Monks get extra
movement speed when you first gain thefuture with your second Monk level. It's
(04:26):
ten feet of extra speed, andit improves to fifteen feet at six level,
twenty feet at tenth level, twentyfive feet at fourteenth level, and
thirty feet at eighteenth level. Justthe ten extra feet is a huge boost
to speed, and you'll typically beable to maneuver yourself however you'd like in
combat. And then we have dedicatedweapon. In the Optional rules, monks
got this new second level feature thatlets them turn any weapon into a monk
(04:48):
weapon, so long as it doesn'thave the heavy or special weapon properties.
For us, most importantly, thismeans that whatever weapon we use for our
hex blade, we can also makeinto a monk weapon. And then we
have key fueled attack, also gainedfrom the Optional rules. Monks gain key
fueled attack at third level, whichlets them spend a key point not on
unarmed strikes, but on another attackwith a monk weapon. Usually we're going
(05:11):
to be better off with a flurryof blows instead, but there are some
situations where a bigger hit will bebetter than two little ones. And then
starting at third level, we getdeflect missile, which we can use as
a reaction to reduce the damage takenby one D ten plus your monk level
plus your dexterity modifier. You onlyhave one reaction, but it's incredibly handy
to essentially negate the odd arrow thatflies at you. And then at fourth
(05:33):
level we get quickened healing and youcan spend two key points to heal a
number of hit points equal to aroll of your martial arts to die plus
your proficiency bonus. It's not ahuge amount of healing for the cost,
but you regain key on a shortrest and that healing can come in handy.
And then at fifth level we gainfocused aim. You can increase your
attack role by plus two for everykey point you spend, up to a
(05:54):
max of plus six. This meansevery time you're pretty sure you were close
to getting the hit, you canbump it up after your role to push
it through, and then we haveextra attack just like most martial classes.
We get this at fifth level.This means we can make two attacks with
our primary weapon and make a bonusaction unarmed attack using martial arts or with
a key point. A flurry ofblows gives us a total of four attacks
(06:15):
too with our primary weapon and twounarmed strikes. Next, we have monastic
tradition. We don't really need tohit the third monk level if we're focusing
on warlock. If we're core monk, however, we're taking a pick,
and sadly nothing adds a ton tothe build, and it's more a matter
of picking something that doesn't actively clashwith it, the exception being the Way
of the Long Death, which shineswhen combined with the Undead Patron. And
(06:38):
then at seventh level we have evasionand this lets us take half damage from
failed deck saves and no damage frompast deck saves, a great feature if
we're going on the long monk route. And now for our Warlock features.
Starting with packed magic, Warlock spellcastingis unique with very limited spell slots that
recharge on a short rest, withCharisma as its spellcasting ability. We can
(06:59):
get a one of used out ofthe warlocks spells, particularly the spell hex
often called the best cantrip in thegame and the most effective spell at consistent
damage in the game. Warlocks gainaccess to the spell Eldridge Blast. The
Monk levels won't add to this inany way, but it's nice to have
this range damage option in your pocket. If you can't quite get within punching
range. Then we have Hexplade,which is one of the most common multi
(07:21):
class archetypes, and it's easy tosee why. With just the first level
archetype abilities, you get hex Blades, Curse, and Hex Warrior that together
give you a pile of abilities.First, you get medium armor shields and
martial weapon proficiencies. You also getto turn a weapon into your hex Blade,
which lets you use charisma for attackand damage rolls. Not something we're
(07:42):
caring about here, but still prettycool. We care more about the hex
Blades curses, though, which letsyou doom a target for a ton of
buffs against them, including extra damageto them equal to your proficiency bonus krits
on nineteen and twenty and gains ushit points when we kill the target of
our curse. The bit we reallycare about, though, is that proficiency
to damage bonus. Since it triggerson every single attack. We can stack
(08:05):
that bonus up by making a tonof attacks using flurry of blows. And
then we have the Undead. Atfirst level, this patron grants you the
form of Dread, which as abonus action, turns you into your Spooky
form, which gives you temporary hitpoints and inflicts a frightened chance on one
of your attacks each round. PexBlade still beats this in most cases,
but we have a specific build thatsynergizes with it. And then we have
(08:28):
packed boons gained. At third level, we get a special gift from our
patron that really solidifies our strategy.For any Marshall strategy, this is almost
always packed of the Blade. Andthen we have Eldridge invocations, which are
a great big list of magical abilitieswe can pick and choose from carde blanche
style. We get up to twoof these at second level and then slowly
get drip fed more options as weadvance in Warlock level. There's a lot
(08:50):
to go over, but for nowno A few of these invocations will be
key for certain builds when it comesto ability scores right off the bat,
both class is our dexterity based andit should be your highest score. After
that, it gets a little morecomplicated. Many of our Monk features care
about wisdom and many of our Warlockfeatures care about charisma, and if our
class level split was even, we'dbe forced to care about both ability scores.
(09:15):
But since we're just doing level dipsand the features we care about in
either case don't really rely on thosestats, we can have our cake and
eat it too most of the time. If you are a primary Monk with
a level dip in Warlock, wisdomshould be your second highest ability score and
we can use the minimum charisma requiredfor multi classing, which is thirteen.
If you are a primary Warlock witha level dip in Monk, charisma should
(09:37):
be your second highest ability score,and we just need the minimum wisdom required
for multi classing again thirteen. Then, as a martial class, we do
need to worry about staying alive onthe front line, so constitutions should be
our third highest stat Whatever you do, you'll need to make sure to meet
the minimum multi classing requirements for bothMonk and Warlock, which means at least
a thirteen dexterity, wisdom, andcharisma. Finally, in every version of
(10:00):
the build, we don't care aboutstrength or intelligence, and we can use
both as dump stats when it comesto multi classing equipment. Weapons for this
multi class used to be way moreproblematic, but thanks to the Monk's a
new Wish dedicated weapon feature, alot of the old restraints are gone.
We just need to select a weaponthat fits both the now much more lax
requirements for Monk weapons and also therequirements for a hex blade, which together
(10:22):
kind of looks something like this.Now, this all may sound like a
lot, but it actually leaves usa ton of options, even ranged weapons.
It's also important to note that theversatile ability isn't on this list,
and we can make our unarmed strikeseven while two handing a versatile weapon.
This means for raw damage output,our best options are the battle axe,
longsword, or warhammer. Each ofthese are functionally identical one weapons with the
(10:46):
versatile feature that lets us upgrade toone D ten, and the only difference
is dealing bludgeoning, piercing or slashingdamage. Now you may be asking how
we're using dexterity for those obvious strengthweapons, but thanks to dedicated weapon and
we can treat all of them asmonk weapons and swing them around using dexterity
to our heart's content. When itcomes to armor, we're basically stuck using
(11:07):
the unarmored defense feature. We aren'tallowed to use the martial arts feature while
wearing armor or using a shield,so ten BLUs, dexterity and wisdom modifiers
will have to suffice. Now whenit comes to what class you should start
off with, objectively, starting withthe monk gives you slightly more to work
with. You don't get an additionalskill, but you do pick up a
bonus tool or instrument proficiency. Butyou can honestly start with either one if
(11:28):
you really want to. You'll endup with all of the proficiencies we care
about in either case. So themain choice is between saving throws. Monk
grants proficiency and strength and dexterity saves, while warlocks grant wisdom and charisma saves.
Feel free to start with either,but I do think starting with a
monk level is slightly better. Andnow, to briefly discuss feats. As
with most martial cast class combinations,there's one feet you really should consider in
(11:52):
that's warcaster. Warcaster has three benefits, and all three are powerful boosts if
we plan on both casting spells andgetting into melee. It gives us advantage
on concentration checks made to maintain ourspells. It lets us cast spells even
when our hands are full of weaponsor shields, and it lets us cast
spells in place of normal attacks whenmaking attacks of opportunity. When it comes
(12:16):
to monk warlock spells, even justa single Warlock level gets us a couple
can trips and a recharging first levelspell slot with pac magic. So what
in the warlock spell list benefits usthe most? For a martial cast build,
I often recommend the melee can tripslike Booming Blade or Green fire Blade,
but sadly they don't work here.Both martial arts and Flurry of Blows
require us to take the attack actionto activate, and using the Meleecan trips
(12:39):
clashes with that since you actually usethe cast a spell action that just happens
to involve your sword. Instead,we want to focus on spells that we
can use to buff ourselves before hittingcombat, Spells that stack up more damage
or ranged options for when the targetstays out of melee range. Let's start
with the cantrips that we can makethe most out of. First, we
have the Ulti cantrip Eldritch Blast,which is no less useful even if we
(13:03):
aren't building for it. For purerange damage potential, it's hard to argue
against picking this one up. Thenwe have mind Slipper. This mind bending
cantrip forces an intelligence save that dealsone D six psychic damage with cantrip scaling
and reduces their next saving throw byone D four. It has a range
of sixty feet and I like itfor some extra damage and potentially combining it
with a more impactful effect on thenext turn when you close the distance.
(13:26):
And then we have sword Burst.Like a mini thunderwave, you force a
deck save in the area around you, inflicting one D six force damage with
cantrip scaling on a failure. Normallya bad pick for squishy casters, it's
a fair option if you find yourselfsurrounded in melee. Next, let's look
at some of the useful first levelspells, starting with Armor of Agathis.
This grants you five temporary hit pointsand inflicts five cold damage on anybody who
(13:50):
hits you. In melee while youhave any of those hit points remaining.
This one is particularly useful because itlasts for an hour and doesn't use concentration,
which means we can cast it longbefore beat starts and still gain the
benefits. It's important to note thatthis scales up by five points each for
every slot level above the first.Then we have Arms of Hidar. This
hits everyone within ten feet of youwith a strength, say for two D
(14:11):
six necrotic damage and a prevention ofreactions until their next turns. Extremely useful
if you find yourself surrounded and canact as a getaway as your targets shouldn't
be able to hit you with atax of opportunity as you flee. And
then we have Hellish Rebuke, whichpunishes a foe that's able to hit you
for two D six fire damage.It's not fantastic since it requires you getting
hit and or for it to work, but if you're at the front lines
(14:33):
anyway, it's some free retaliation,and who doesn't love some free retaliation.
And then we have hex, whichis the automatic include for most of our
builds, as that D six necroticdamage can stack up on every single punch
from our Flurry of Blows. Theonly thing holding it back is the action
economy. Since our Martial Arts,Slash, Flurry of Blows, Munk Abilities,
hex Blade Curse, and Hex alluse the bonus action. This means
(14:56):
we'll only get the full combo onbig bosses that are taking a lot rounds
to fell, but Hex can stillact as our extra Hex Blades Curse when
we have multiple fights between short rests. And now let's finally talk some multi
class builds. Monk and Warlock don'tmesh well late in the game, but
they're fairly early features can provide massivebuffs to either strategy. The following builds
(15:18):
all focus on one class dipping justa bit into the other. First,
we have Way of the Hex Master. If you're coming into this multi class
trying to maximize damage output, thisis probably the strongest option. Firstly,
we're making Monk our primary class anddipping just a single level into Warlock and
taking the hex Blade patron Our Monkarchetype doesn't really matter here, and you
(15:39):
can pick what you'd like, thoughI'd recommend the Way of the Open Hand
just for some extra effects on ourattacks. Way of the Ascendant Dragon for
elemental damage options is also a goodchoice or the way of the Shadow.
For extra utility and mobility. Forour warlock spells, we want to take
hex which we can stack up alongsidehex blades curse to pile on damage.
We have very limited spell slots here, but hex is almost always going to
(16:02):
be worth it. As stated inthe equipment section, we take a battle
axe, longsword or warhammer as ourprimary weapon and hex blade, and then
we convert it into a monk weaponusing our dedicated weapon feature. How does
all of this work well? Asa bonus action, we can target a
creature using our hex Blade's curse andhit them once with our hex blade,
and on the next turn we canhit them with the hex spell and stack
(16:22):
up the damage further. After that, we can start spending our bonus actions
on flurry of blows, stacking uptwo attacks and then defaulting to a single
bonus attack once we run out ofkey points using martial arts. Let's take
an example of the build at sixlevel that's one warlock level and five monk
levels. After stacking up hex Blade'sCurse and Hex we're free to do four
attacks per turn on our target.One normal attack, one from extra attack
(16:45):
and two bonus attacks from flurry ofblows. Each of these four attacks gets
all the damage buffs from our hexesand is a critical hit on a nineteen
or twenty. Our weapon attacks canstill be too handed thanks to versatile and
deal one D ten six plus proficiencyplus Dexterity modifier, and our armed strikes
deal two D six plus proficiency plusDexterity modifier. That means on average,
(17:08):
even without critical hits, if allfour attacks hit will be dealing a whopping
sixty damage. That's two D tenplus sixty six plus twelve plus sixteen.
Admittedly, this requires us to havetime to stack up the buffs, but
even with just hex or hex BladesCurse, it's an impressive beatdown that you'll
be able to dish out in prettymuch any combat you want, or at
(17:29):
least one where you're well rested,and then we have way of dread.
Similarly to the hex Master, we'reonly taking a single level of Warlock,
with the rest going towards Monk.This time, however, instead of hex
Blade, we want to take theUndead Patron. Our goal here is less
about DPS, and instead we're goingto focus on inflicting the frightened condition as
often as possible. For our monkarchetype, we want to take the Way
(17:49):
of the Long Death, specifically toget the six level feature Hour of Reaping.
Hour of Reaping lets us use ouraction to force a wisdom saving throw
on every creature within thirty feet,and creatures who fail are frightened of us
until the end of our next turn. When picking the Warlock spells, we
still want to pick hex as apowerful way to stack damage. Unlike the
(18:10):
prior build, we don't have away to pick up martial weapons, which
means we're stuck with the best simpleweapon with versatile such as the quarter staffer's
spear. So how does this onework? Well, we essentially have a
lighter version of the previous DPS setup, but now we can also easily
keep our enemies frightened of us formost of the combat. The Undead Patron
grants us a form of dread thatwe can activate as a bonus action.
(18:32):
This extra spooky mode gives us temporaryhit points, and once stirring each of
our turns, we can force afear save on a target we hit with
a melee attack. Hour of dreadlets us use our action to inflict a
big burst of fear, and wecan do both of our hour of dread
and activate our form of dread onthe same turn. Then on the next
turn we can use our bonus actionto hex a target and start absolutely going
(18:53):
to town, inflicting damage and fear. Our damage output is a little bit
lower, but using the same sixlevel example, that's five levels of Monk
and one level of Warlock, we'restill at four attacks generating an average of
forty six damage. Once we havehex and our flurry of blows up and
running. But here we can reasonablykeep our opponents frightened, meaning you're unlikely
to get swarmed, and whatever targetyou single out will have disadvantage on all
(19:15):
of their attacks against you. Youcan become a dreadful martial arts monster,
and then we have packed of theFist. This build trades off a bunch
of the Monk's inbuilt resilience for alittle bit of bonus damage and much more
utility. For this final build,we're swapping it up, taking only two
levels of Monk and they're remaining eighteenlevels in warlock. You may be tempted
to take a third level in Monkfor one of the Monk's subclasses, and
(19:38):
you can if you'd like, butI don't think you gain enough bang for
your buck there. If you doend up taking the third level and an
archetype, I'd recommend the Way ofMercy for the equivalent of a healing spell,
Way of the Ascendant Dragon so thatyou can change up the damage type
on your unarmed strikes if you like, or maybe the Way of the Drunken
Master to avoid opportunity attacks, andbecause Way of the Drunken Master is how
(19:59):
you have the most fun role playinganyway. For our Warlock levels, we're
once again taking Hex Blade and theHex spell, and since we're going all
the way with Warlock, we alsowant to take the Pact of the Blade.
With all these Warlock levels, wealso get a bounce of Eldridge invocations,
and we want to make sure thatwe pick up Armor of Shadows,
Improved Pack Weapon, and Thirsting Bladefor your remaining invocations, consider any of
(20:21):
the Pact of Blade or Hex optionssuch as Eldridge, Smite, Life Drinker,
Maddening Hex for bonus psychic damage,or Relentless Hex. So how does
this build work well? Essentially,in the same way, but with additional
spell slots and a bit less rawdamage. Firstly, we can ignore unarmored
defense and our wisdom score because wehave armor shadows free mage armor essentially and
can rely on that for our acNext, we want to do the same
(20:44):
combination of hex Blade's Curse and Hexwhenever possible, or perhaps just one for
smaller foes. This will end upwith a slightly lower average damage for our
full four attack flurry of fifty eightdamage that's two D ten, four D
six, two D four and twelveplus sixteen, but with the ability to
push it up even higher through spellcasting. For example, if we use
the third level spells Spirit Shroud insteadof Hex, that full flurry pushes up
(21:08):
to sixty two damage that's two Dten four D eight, two D four
twelve plus sixteen, and it comeswith the bonus benefits of stopping enemy healing
and reducing their movements. Or throughmaddening Hex, we can stack up extra
psychic damage equal to our charisma modifierfor an average of seventy damage. That's
two D ten forty six, twoD four twelve plus sixteen plus twelve.
(21:30):
Wow. This is honestly one ofthose multi class builds. I recommend to
a lot of people that are gettinginto multi classing for the first time at
my table, if only because Ifind like things like a warlock monk are
just interesting, like what's their story? How do you become a warlock monk?
Tell me more about this character.But from a mechanical side, it's
(21:53):
also a lot easier to plan everythingout from the start, especially when you're
just doing dips into another class.I think this can be good for anyone
that's multi classing for the first timeor doesn't want to commit to a whole
flow chart of ideas when plotting theirmulti class character. Thank you guys so
much for watching. I really appreciateit. Be sure to like and subscribe
(22:14):
because we put out new content likethis all the time. Go see what
we're up to over at skull splitterdicedot com. And if you're going to
be building a monk warlock multi classcharacter, I would absolutely love to hear
about them down in the comments.I love reading about your guys's characters.
I really really do. Thanks againfor watching. My name's Patrick Ferguson from
skull Splitterdice and until next time,farewell.
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com