The way of the four elements monk is one of my favourite builds conceptually, the idea of a martial artist who wields the powers of the elements to supplement their physical prowess. Unfortunately, the Monk of the Four Elements is extremely weak mechanically, with high Ki costs for mediocre spell effects for their level, combined with the opportunity costs of using your action on them instead of on punching (and thus not triggering the martial arts bonus action attack, since that requires you take the attack action) There are plenty of options for homebrew to make the class more powerful, but that's not what I'm looking to do. Instead I aim to create a character that fills the conceptual role of the Elements monk using the abilities offered by other classes, to create a build that feels like an elemental martial artist but is stronger than the monk option.
The way I see it, these are the things the Elemental Monk tries to deliver:
Elemental variety: Be able to attack using fire or cold.
AOE damage: Give the character some ability to damage multiple enemies at close range, more efficiently than attacking them one by one
Ranged damage: Give the character some ability to damage an enemy out of reach of melee attacks.
Mobility/Oppertunity evasion: Give the character some ability to move more quickly than their default speed, to move vertically, and to move without provoking opportunity attacks.
On top of that, we also need some things to seem like a monk:
-Extra attack
-A way to attack using an ability other than strength
-A way to boost AC beyond 10+Dex
Elemental weapon is a great option that not only enhances our weapon attacks but fits the build conceptually. It lasts an hour so we can apply it before a fight and it gives our weapon +1 to hit and +1d4 damage of an element we choose.(scaling up to +3 to hit and 3d4 damage) However, it's extremely limited, the only classes that have access to it are Forge Clerics, Hexblade Warlocks, Paladins, and Bards (via magical secrets) For this build, I'll be using a hexblade warlock, which will be easier to refluff into a monk type than a paladin or bard would be, and gains access to both extra attack and Elemental Weapon at level 5. We'll only be going up to 5 levels in Warlock, since the hexblade's level 6 feature doesn't make sense on a monk. After that we take 9 levels in sorcerer (fire dragon) for the AC, ranged and AOE options, and quickened greenflame blade. Finally we take two levels in Fighter for Action Surge and a fighting style (dueling or two-weapon fighting, depending on your preference). If we still have levels after that we can put them into sorcerer for more spells.
Build progression: start as sorcerer, then take 5 levels in Warlock, then 5 more in Sorcerer, then 2 in Fighter, then the rest in Sorcerer.
How we pretend to be an elemental monk:
We can use Twined Spell to cast Elemental Weapon on both of our shortswords, enchanting one with fire and the other with cold. We can make a total of three attacks per round, each dealing 1d6+2d4+5 damage. Alternatively we can just cast elemental weapon without twinning it and use quickened greenflame blade to make bonus action attacks.
Our unarmored AC is 13+dex, we're also proficient in medium armor.
If we get surrounded by enemies, we can blast them with Fireball (using careful metamagic to avoid the blast) or Cone of Cold
If enemies get our of our reach, we can hit them with Scorching Ray or Eldritch Blast.
Comments and suggestions are appreciated.
The way I see it, these are the things the Elemental Monk tries to deliver:
Elemental variety: Be able to attack using fire or cold.
AOE damage: Give the character some ability to damage multiple enemies at close range, more efficiently than attacking them one by one
Ranged damage: Give the character some ability to damage an enemy out of reach of melee attacks.
Mobility/Oppertunity evasion: Give the character some ability to move more quickly than their default speed, to move vertically, and to move without provoking opportunity attacks.
On top of that, we also need some things to seem like a monk:
-Extra attack
-A way to attack using an ability other than strength
-A way to boost AC beyond 10+Dex
Elemental weapon is a great option that not only enhances our weapon attacks but fits the build conceptually. It lasts an hour so we can apply it before a fight and it gives our weapon +1 to hit and +1d4 damage of an element we choose.(scaling up to +3 to hit and 3d4 damage) However, it's extremely limited, the only classes that have access to it are Forge Clerics, Hexblade Warlocks, Paladins, and Bards (via magical secrets) For this build, I'll be using a hexblade warlock, which will be easier to refluff into a monk type than a paladin or bard would be, and gains access to both extra attack and Elemental Weapon at level 5. We'll only be going up to 5 levels in Warlock, since the hexblade's level 6 feature doesn't make sense on a monk. After that we take 9 levels in sorcerer (fire dragon) for the AC, ranged and AOE options, and quickened greenflame blade. Finally we take two levels in Fighter for Action Surge and a fighting style (dueling or two-weapon fighting, depending on your preference). If we still have levels after that we can put them into sorcerer for more spells.
Build progression: start as sorcerer, then take 5 levels in Warlock, then 5 more in Sorcerer, then 2 in Fighter, then the rest in Sorcerer.
How we pretend to be an elemental monk:
We can use Twined Spell to cast Elemental Weapon on both of our shortswords, enchanting one with fire and the other with cold. We can make a total of three attacks per round, each dealing 1d6+2d4+5 damage. Alternatively we can just cast elemental weapon without twinning it and use quickened greenflame blade to make bonus action attacks.
Our unarmored AC is 13+dex, we're also proficient in medium armor.
If we get surrounded by enemies, we can blast them with Fireball (using careful metamagic to avoid the blast) or Cone of Cold
If enemies get our of our reach, we can hit them with Scorching Ray or Eldritch Blast.
Comments and suggestions are appreciated.
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