The Open Spores Druid + Monk: d4 #119

foreign [Music]   well hello there how's it going welcome to D4 DND  deep dive this is the show where each week we take   a deep dive into one sometimes two specific  character builds for Dungeons and Dragons we   crunch numbers about them we theorycraft about  them not so that I can tell you the right way or   the best way to play a particular character but  just to explore one potential way to build and   play a character in d d in the hopes of creating  something that is both really fun to play but also   powerful so if you enjoy creating characters for  d d almost as much as you enjoy playing the actual   game itself or if you're just looking for tips or  ideas on building and playing a certain character   that you have in mind then welcome home this is  where you belong and I am so glad you're here my   name is Colby and no you do not need to adjust  your speaker settings this is my actual voice   today if you thought it was hard to stay awake for  50 something minutes listening to my normal voice   just wait until you have to endure 50-something  minutes of my I'm getting over a cold voice you'll   never make it I'll just see you after your nap  I'll still be here don't worry DND ASMR indeed   right so really quick if you would be interested  in having a cheat sheet a step-by-step guide   to help you recreate this character and all the  other characters that I do for this channel for   that matter or if you're just looking for a way to  support me and the channel and help me create more   and better content I would really appreciate it  if you would consider joining as a member there   should be a little button down there that says  join for two dollars a month you get access to   the library of write-ups that I create for each of  these builds so that you don't have to go back and   re-watch the video or take notes whether you are  a channel member or not just watching and liking   and subscribing and commenting those are all  also great ways to support the channel so thanks   right so I think that DND 5e has a bit of a  problem when it comes to game design and it's   this it's not particularly good at scaling or  at the very least it's not very consistent at it   right I mean think for just a moment about all  of the abilities and features in the game that   are like at level three you get this ability that  lets you do an extra D6 of damage when you use it   and then five or seven levels later invested into  that character class that D6 goes up to a d8 so   if you invest several levels of your character's  career into this class you can get one more damage   on average when you use this ability meanwhile  enemies in the game are seeing their own hit   points increase by the tens and dozens over the  same period of time right that feels so strange   to me and then there are the classes themselves  that scale really poorly and especially martial   classes you know the non-spellcaster weapon users  spell casters generally fare pretty well from a   scaling perspective because every so often you're  getting new and more powerful spells and often   able to upcast existing ones to Greater effect  and or for more damage but martial characters I   mean barbarians invest several levels to get one  more damage diet when they crit which is usually   less than 10 of the time that's such a paltry  increase oh and don't forget their rage damage   goes from two all the way up to three after you  invest nine levels into the class which for many   of us means that we'll never actually see that  increase before the campaign ends right now sure   there are exceptions to this Fighters get a really  strong feature at level 11 a third attack that's   really something to shoot for right it just does  so much to increase our power and damage potential   and you know Rogues at least get an extra D6 of  damage to their sneak attack every other level   so there's some built-in scaling which is pretty  consistent and that's nice though as I feel like   we've done a pretty decent job of demonstrating  uh most recently with the quickened blade a couple   weeks ago even getting sneak attack twice in  a round with a lot of investment of energy and   resources doesn't really keep you scaling quite as  well as you might hope now of all the classes that   demonstrate poor scaling I think the monk might  be the Biggest Loser despite what I said last   week about barbarians now I love monks most of you  know this and I'm not really quite sure where this   love originated it might be because the very first  time I was introduced to DND back when I was nine   years old my big brother who introduced the game  to me made me a monk character to play his little   Homebrew dungeon that he'd created I had nunchucks  I knew Kung Fu or at least the version of kung   fu that my nine-year-old white boy brain had an  understanding of but ever since then my favorite   fantasy the Indian D has been to play this  character that uses no weapons no armor nay who   needs no weapons or armor because their body and  their mind are all that they need they are agile   impossible to hit strike like the wind hitting  Chi points on their enemy's body to stun them   etc etc and of all the monk classes none of  them I don't think embody that Kung Fu fantasy   quite like the way of the Open Hand they are the  quintessential master of technique and tranquility   and most alluringly of all their features is their  level 17 feature quivering Palm right it's one of   the only save or die abilities in the game and  it just represents everything that I want in a   monk character you hit an enemy with an unarmed  strike and set up imperceptible vibrations in   their body that you can end and then cause them  instant death if that's not the wooshy finger   hold in DND then I don't know what is skadoosh so  maybe you could argue that this pretty powerful   ability is an example of how monks do scale  well right no because to get there it requires   17 levels invested into a class and subclass that  as much as I love them just don't really give you   much past level five I mean after you get extra  attack at monk level 5 between that and level 17   so 12 levels the only increase that you get to  your damage is that your Martial Arts die which   you're typically only using once maybe twice per  round for unarmed strikes goes from a D6 to a d8   that's it now calm down I can hear you screaming  from here it's not all about the numbers you Chad   and I get it you're right there is a lot more to  DND and even d d combat than just more damage and   monks and open hand monks do get plenty of  cool fun utility flavor and even defensive   options along the way to level 17. I guess what  I'm wanting more than anything is to keep the   cool fun utility flavor and defensive options but  just give me a little better scaling on the damage   while you're at it let's see that martial arts die  increase more and more quickly let's see a third   attack on Flurry of Blows right because at the end  of the day without things like that it's so hard   not to multi-class out of Monk and lots of other  classes that suffer from similar challenges as bad   as I want to use that wooshy finger hold on the  Tai lungs of the world I know that because most   classes and subclasses tend to have so many of  their best features pretty front loaded meaning I   can pick them up with one to five levels invested  in another class it tends to make multi-classing   so much more appealing in the vast majority  of cases especially for martial characters   it's already super unlikely that I'm going to even  play a campaign that goes all the way to character   level 17. Wizards of the Coast could you at least  please make the decision on whether or not to   multi-class a little tougher more consistently  across all classes give me better reasons to   stick with my chosen class all the way to level 17  I'm begging you so yeah that brings us to today's   build I want to do an open hand monk it is as I've  said like my greatest fantasy for a d d character   but I just can't stomach taking open hand past  level five maybe six and that makes me sad but   here's the good news there is a multi-class option  that pairs ever so sweetly with open hand that it   almost makes me forget my pain of not getting  to the wooshy finger hold it brings incredible   Synergy tons of fun really strong additional  sustained damage which is what we're building   for today and even makes us potentially a pretty  fantastic support character to boot so are you   ready to cleanse away the awful taste in your  mouth that my Preamble gave you because I am so   let's dive into episode 119 monks and mushrooms  the Monk and the Briar Patch the Open Hand cheese   grater Kung fungal how about the way of the  open spores or even better the open spores drunk   actually starting with monk even though as I've  mentioned we are going to be multi-classing before   long I do yes really Envision this character as  a monk at their core at their nucleus because   beneath the clothes we find a monk and beneath  the monk we find his nucleus as for our race   more than almost any other character class I think  most monks anyway really need two ability scores   to perform at their very best for that reason I'm  going to recommend that we go Mountain dwarf here   with our race as they are the only racial option  that gives you a plus two to two yes two ability   scores I kind of feel like that outweighs anything  that any other racial option could bring us for   this particular character but feel free to go a  different route if you have strong feelings about   it of course but as for us yes when we first meet  our champion they are a dwarf who is living deep   in their underground Mountain Home and yes they  are part of a Monkish Monastery there as with   most Monkish monasteries they are very interested  in expanding their view of themselves to include   the natural world but unlike most monasteries the  natural world for our particular monk isn't so   much forests and birds and squirrels as it is  lichen and mushrooms bats and slugs and other   cave-dwelling creatures that make up our Monk's  natural habitat now one of the reasons that I   actually wanted to go Mountain dwarf here as  well is surprisingly because Mountain dwarves   get proficiency with both medium and light armor  hang on a minute you might be saying I thought we   were going monk so why do we care about armor  proficiency that's a great question and it's   not because we plan on using our like some of you  might be thinking no instead it is for this reason   in Tasha's cauldron of everything we were given a  new rule about swapping out racial proficiencies   in an effort to allow us to customize our origin  a little bit better as per that rule we can among   other things swap out an armor proficiency that we  get from our race to a simple or martial weapon or   tool this means for us that we can swap out our  light or medium armor proficiency for longsword   proficiency which we very much want and I love  that we get to do that here and I mean right since   we have no plans to wear armor on this character  feel free to swap out the other armor proficiency   with say thieves tools if you want to be really  good at picking locks or disarming traps or you   know another tool or even another weapon if you  really wanted to as for our ability scores I'm   assuming that we are going to go with the point  by Method as always and would recommend that we   start with a 15 dexterity and take one of our  plus twos there a 15 wisdom and take our other   plus two there and then a 14 Constitution maybe  a 15 depending on what you want to do at the very   end of this character build put a pin in it for  our equipment I mean the blessing and the curse   of monks is that they don't really need a lot of  equipment so I probably just go the gold buyer out   and pick up two things a Quarter Staff for use now  and a long sword that we'll use later again we're   not going to need armor so just grab any other  necessities you may have maybe some darts or   something to have a ranged option and feel free to  pocket the rest of your money or better yet donate   it to charity and no charity in this case does  not include your Rogue companion as a monk one   then we get a couple of features unarmored defense  this tells us that our Armor class is equal to 10   plus our wisdom and dexterity modifiers if we're  not wearing armor or using a shield that's kinda   nice if we have high scores in both of those  abilities and we do fortunately so yeah we are   going naked I mean okay you could go naked but put  some clothes on and we also get martial arts this   tells us that so long as we're not wearing armor  or using a shield and we're only using unarmed   strikes or monk weapons to make attacks among  weapons being short swords and simple weapons   without the two-handed or heavy property we can  then use dexterity instead of strength for our   plus to hit and damage with those weapons and our  unarmed strikes also we can roll our martial arts   die for damage with our unarmed strikes that's a  D4 for now but it scales with monk levels and when   we take the attack action we can make an unarmed  strike as a bonus action so yes for now we'll be   using that Quarter Staff for our attacks but keep  in mind that you can use two hands to make the   Quarter Staff attacks it's a versatile weapon  and as such can be used with two hands for a   d8 of damage instead of a D6 and yeah there's no  prohibition for monks on using two hands to make   a weapon attack only that the attack can't be  made with a weapon that has the two-handed or   heavy property and the Quarter Staff doesn't have  either of those nor does the long sword for that   matter which we'll get into in a second at level  two we get key hooray for key that resource that   monks get that's needed for almost everything cool  that they do and of which there never seems to be   quite enough we get one key Point per monk level  and they reset on a short rest right now we can   use our key to do three things patient defense  and step of the wind let us spend a key point to   take the Dodge or Dash actions as a bonus action  respectively and then Flurry of Blows which we'll   be focusing on which lets us spend a key point to  take two unarmed strikes as a bonus action when we   take the attack action instead of the usual one  so yeah three attacks per turn now so long as we   have the key to spend that's a pretty nice little  benefit no question I just wish we had more key   sincerely every ever we also get the unarmored  movement feature here which tells us that when   again we're wearing no armor or Shield we get  an extra 10 feet of move speed more move speed   is always good we'll now have 35 feet of it which  makes us feel less bad for being a dwarf and yeah   I really love this feature on my monk characters  but also thanks again to Tasha's cauldron of   everything we get the dedicated weapon feature at  Monk 2. and this is really nice in that it tells   us that after a rest we can focus our key touch  a non-monk weapon so long as it still does not   have the heavy or two-handed property and then  from that point on we can use that weapon as a   monk weapon and thus we see the wisdom in grabbing  longsword proficiency by swapping out our Dwarven   armor proficiency because yes like I said like  the Quarter Staff the long sword has neither   the two-handed nor heavy properties but does have  the versatile property which pretty much makes it   the highest damaging weapon that monks can use  so going forward we'll get to use a d10 for our   attack action attacks and I'll welcome every Small  Bump I can get and something else to be said here   there tend to be a lot more magical long swords in  the game than like quarter staffs so that in and   of itself is a really great reason I think to make  sure we have and can use long swords on our Monks   at level three we get deflect missiles which tells  us that when we're hit by a ranged weapon attack   we can use our reaction to reduce the damage that  it does To Us by a d10 plus our Dex modifier plus   our monk level which should reduce most weapon  attacks to zero at this level anyway and that's   super cool feels super Kung Fu right we could also  spend a key point to even better redirect that   missile and make a weapon attack with it using our  martial arts die index modifier but then of course   Monks at level 3 do get their monastic tradition  their Monk subclass and as I've said we're   going open hand which is my favorite subclass  conceptually at least but I'll so like I've said   while they get a pretty decent feature right at  the beginning at level three the abilities that   they pick up at level 6 and 11 like other monk  subclasses are pretty lackluster in my opinion   making it difficult to just stick with monk  throughout our character career when you couple   it with the fact that there's not a lot of other  scaling that we get out of the main monk class I   really have high hopes for the way Wizards of the  Coast remakes monks and probably this subclass I'm   guessing in the upcoming 1D and D Unearthed Arcana  play test I mean actually that might be out by the   time this video comes out in a couple of weeks  so here's hoping Wizards of the Coast please make   monks better please oh please oh please anyway as  an open hand monk we get the Open Hand technique   ability which tells us that whenever we hit a  creature with one of the unarmed strikes granted   Us by a Flurry of Blows we can do one of three  things one force them to make a dexterity saving   throw or they're not prone right that's not bad  if an enemy is prone melee attacks against them   are made with Advantage the big problem here of  course is that this only happens with our Flurry   of Blows attacks and we've been told by Jeremy  Crawford very specifically that Flurry of Blows   doesn't happen until after all of our attacks with  the attack action are done and that makes me sad I   really wish open hand technique simply worked on  any attack that used a monk weapon or an unarmed   strike maybe that would be too powerful you could  always make it so that it only works once per turn   or something anyway as is at best we could knock  them prone with our first attack from Flurry of   Blows and then we'd have advantage on our second  Flurry of Blows unarmed strike but after that I'm   assuming that the enemy is just gonna stand up  on their turn right unless we had them grappled   of course and yes before you ask I do have a way  of the Open Hand monk Grappler on my to-do list   but anyway knocking them prone like this would  potentially be better for for our melee allies   than it would be for us and that's not a bad thing  also we're not given any limit to how many times   we can use our open hand technique on our turn  so sure on the first Flurry of Blows attack go   ahead try to knock them prone and enjoy advantage  on that second Flurry of Blows attack we should   really be doing this every time alternatively  though with open hand we could prevent them from   taking reactions until our next turn that's really  nice if we wanted to play like a hit and run   character who didn't want to worry about giving an  enemy an opportunity attack against us so that we   could just jump in make our attacks and get away  to safety or to shut an enemy spellcaster down   from being able to use counterspell but the Open  Hand technique that I'm most interested in here   and that I'll kind of be building this character  around is this option that tells us you can force   an enemy to make a strength saving throw or be  pushed 15 feet away from you now 15 feet is kind   of a lot most abilities that let you move an enemy  only let you move them five or ten feet at most so   when I see that 15 feet of course I immediately  think Hmm what is there in DND 5e that would let   me take the best advantage of being able to move  an enemy 15 whole feet with a single push so yeah   at level four we're taking Druid levels and I'm  sure many of you can guess why it turns out that   our characters desire to become more at one with  their natural world has developed into an even   greater impulse to study and learn specifically  about the mold and mushrooms that grow with such   abundance in their cavernous home they seek to  nurture and incorporate The Wonder of their world   into their practice and power but whatever  your reasons yeah we're taking Druid levels   now so as a druid one we first learned druidic  which is The Druids language that they have to   leave messages for others who can interpret the  signs that they give with twigs and leaves and   piles of dirt and then we get spells and there's  really no spell that I plan on using in combat   to increase our sustained damage per round so go  ahead and take all of your favorite Druid spells   guidance for some nice utility Thorn whip when you  need to bring an enemy closer to you in tangle is   pretty nice control fairy fire for Advantage and  of course goodberry for both utility and very   efficient healing healing words really great of  course for some nice combat support anyway pick   your favorites have fun with it at level five  we get wild shape and wild shape is fantastic   again as I often say most Druids who aren't Moon  Druids anyway use wild shape primarily for utility   or they expend a use of their wild shape to do  something else either that your subclass allows   which will fall into that category more on that  in a moment or also if even to summon a familiar   but if we wanted to use it as it was originally  written we could use it twice per short rest to   transform into a beast of one quarter challenge  rating or lower that did not have a flying or   swimming speed and we can stay in that form for  a number of hours equal to half our Druid level   while transformed we can't cast spells among other  things though we could concentrate on a spell we   cast beforehand I'm not going to assume that we're  using it in combat but it will provide some nice   utility once in a while when you really need it  but yes as for us Druids at Druid 2 get their   druidic Circle their Druid subclass and in case  you hadn't guessed yet we are yes going with the   circle of spores and because it's been so long  since I've done a spores Druid let's read what   Wizards of the Coast has to say about them Druids  of the circle of spores find beauty in Decay they   see within mold and other fungi the ability to  transform lifeless material into abundant albeit   somewhat Strange Life these Druids believe that  life and death are parts of a grand cycle with   one leading to the other and then back again  death isn't the end of life but instead a change   of state that sees life shift into a new form  right so as a circle of spores Druid we get two   features one good one and one less good one until  later as for the last good one it's Halo of spores   this tells us that when a creature moves within 10  feet of us or ends their turn within 10 feet of us   we can use our reaction to cause the invisible  necrotic spores that surround us to leash out   and Deal One D4 necrotic damage unless they make  their constitution saving throw boo against our   wisdom-based DC no half damage on a successful  save or anything so yeah I mean it's really low   damage against the worst enemy saving throw that  we could be targeting in DND 5e generally and it   costs Sr reaction now admittedly we don't have  a super reliable use of our reaction but even   giving up the chance to use deflect missile or  take an opportunity attack just to try and do   1d4 of damage that has a fairly High likelihood of  failing feels pretty bad it's not going to stop me   from using it when I crunch numbers but still now  admittedly the damage does scale but kind of like   I talked about in the Preamble not in a way that  makes me think it's a really strong ability but   that's okay because we do get symbiotic entity  here as well and this ability is pretty awesome   it tells us that as an action we can use a use of  our wild shape to awaken the spores that surround   us and this gives us four temporary hit points per  Druid level and then for the next 10 minutes lets   us double yes double our halo of spores damage and  better yet deal an extra 1d6 of necrotic damage   with each and every melee weapon attack we and yes  in case you didn't know unarmed strikes do count   as melee weapon attacks though that might confuse  some of you but it's true look it up in the sage   advice compendium if you need to I will quote an  unarmed strike is a special type of melee weapon   attack so yes an extra D6 on all of our attacks  for 10 minutes without needing to concentrate   on a hex or Hunter's Mark spell is pretty nice  damage especially for monks who do get to make   more attacks than most characters that said there  are two drawbacks here first it takes our action   to use symbiotic entity and I hate that stars  Druids can transform with just a bonus action   why can't we I really wish Wizards of the Coast  would be a little more consistent in things like   this anyway having to spend an action to do this  really cramps our style because it means that   we're going to have a couple of things we need to  do with our action before we start punching stuff   with this build and that's going to make life a  little rough if it were me I would do everything   in my power to try and convince my DM to let me  use symbiotic entity with a bonus action make   cookies give foot rubs use that stars Druid  argument whatever you got to do I hope you're   successful but the other drawback here is that  the extra damage from symbiotic entity only lasts   so long as we still have at least one of those  temporary hit points that were granted us when   we use the Ability which essentially means that  in order to get the most out of spores Druid we   kind of have to take lots and lots of levels in  spores Druid since symbiotic entity again gives   us four temporary hit points per Druid level  there's really no spores Druid dips once you   start it's hard to stop and you know that wouldn't  be too big of an issue if not for the fact that   because of the way key points work we only get  one key Point per month level the same thing can   to be said for monks that once you start it's  hard to stop it definitely puts us in a little   bit of a conundrum here making this build one of  those it's sustainable damage but maybe for only   like one combat encounter per short rest kind  of builds now some of you may play at a table   like mine where we rarely even have more than one  combat per short rest and if that's the case this   build will work really really well for the rest  you might really need to be partitioning your   table for more short rests than you typically get  or learn to do things other than just punch stuff   every single combat encounter but guess what if  the latter is the case I've got great news for you   we're taking lots of Druid levels which means you  will have a lot of useful and potent things to be   doing during combat other than just punching stuff  if you want congratulations at level 6 we would be   a druid 3 and that means we get second level Druid  spells and this is is the level where everything   really kind of comes together for this build so  yes heat metal hold person lesser restoration pass   Without a Trace these are all great second level  Druid spells you should absolutely consider taking   them but the two I really want to focus on here  is first of all you guessed it Spike growth but   also Moonbeam Spike growth super fun you cast  it as an action and that's where the potential   problem comes in here too much action bloat right  but then you cause the ground in a 20-foot radius   so 40 feet total end to end to be covered in  thorns and spikes this area then becomes difficult   to rain so half move speed and when a creature  moves into or within the area they take two D4   damage for every five feet they travel they don't  get a saving throw to avoid this damage if they   move through it they just take the damage so yes  this is how we're taking advantage of that massive   15 feet of pushing that we get to do as an open  hand monk hit them with a Flurry of Blows attack   and just watch them their way through 15 feet  of a Briar Patch now some of you are going to   want to argue that they don't take this damage  if they're not willingly moving or using their   own movement and I mean obviously you can rule  however you want to at your table but the spell   says nothing here about the movement needing to  be willing Jeremy Crawford himself has said that   A push is an effective way to force a creature  to enter an area of effect unless it requires   willing movement and again the spell says nothing  about willing movement that's good enough for me   the other spell I think we need to make sure we  grab here is Moonbeam Moonbeam is really nice in   that it does a d10 of damage per spell level that  we cast it at and then does damage to a creature   both when they enter the area of effect of the  spell like say if they were pushed into it using   our open hand technique and when they start their  turn there I wouldn't plan on using Moonbeam at   this level or even for several levels to come most  of the time anyway but it does have some potential   advantages over Spike growth one it can be moved  on our turn if need be two it's potentially less   disruptive for our allies it's only a 10 foot  square area and as great as Spike growth is it   takes up a massive area on the battlefield right  and while trapping enemies inside it and forcing   them to slog through it is great especially if  you have a ton of melee companions it can make   things really awkward potentially as those melee  allies would also have to Wade through the spikes   themselves to sometimes get within melee range  of an enemy depending on the size of the room   depending on how many enemies you're fighting Etc  but also finally unlike Spike growth the damage   for Moonbeam scales why doesn't Spike growth scale  seems odd to me can the Thorns not get thicker and   sharper cloud of daggers damage scales I don't  know anyway for all of those reasons I want to   have Moonbeam in my pocket to pull out when the  situation calls for so that we can make the best   use of our inherent pushing ability as an open  hand monk all right at level six it's time for   our first damage report so let's go over what I  Envision combat looking like for us here first   off like I've said we have some action bloat we  need our action both to cast Spike growth and to   get symbiotic entity going on ourselves frankly  that sucks I'm hoping that you've either been   able to convince your DM to let you use symbiotic  entity as a bonus action or that you are somewhat   reliably able to do something like transform  yourself right before combat breaks out but you   can tell that it's about to and I mean let's be  honest most of the time maybe I'm just speaking   personally here we kind of know when a fight is  coming right if the villain is monologuing use   symbiotic entity it lasts for 10 minutes that's a  pretty long monologue now if you're unable to get   one of those two things happening reliably then  you'll want to seriously consider pick picking   up the metamagic Adept feed so you can grab quick  and spell from the sorcerer's metamagic list right   and cast Spike growth at least once per day as a  bonus action so you don't need to take two whole   rounds to set up your Wombo Combo because that  would be really crippling I don't mind one round   of setup especially since casting Spike growth  as part of that setup is not a bad use of our   action it's going to let you snare in slow and  potentially damage very often multiple enemies   on the battlefield so there's some sound tactical  stuff going on there but two rounds of setup this   too much anyway once you've finished your setup  it's pretty straightforward you run up to an enemy   ideally a melee enemy that's right on the edge  of your patch of Spike growth and make an attack   against them with your long sword then burn a key  point and make two unarmed strikes against them   using Flurry of Blows on the first like I've said  try to knock them prone so you can make the second   with Advantage then with that second Flurry of  Blows attack you push them 15 feet deep into the   Briar Patch you get to add a D6 to each attack  thanks to symbiotic entity plus three for our   dexterity modifier and don't forget if there is a  second enemy nearby that you could also push into   Spike growth go ahead and push the first Target  with your first unarmed strike then move over   and try to push that second one right upon moving  15 feet the enemy is going to take 6d4 damage and   then on their turn assuming that they're melee  they're going to take 64 more damage as they try   to Wade out of the Briar Patch in order to do  something useful of course if you knocked them   prone before you pushed them on their turn they'd  have to use half their move speed to stand up and   then most likely depending on the enemy not quite  be able to even get out of the spike growth field   since it's difficult terrain and that is just  freaking glorious if they decide to stay put or   they can't get out of that prior patch that's  an even bigger win for us generally than them   taking a little bit more damage most of the time  right I'm gonna assume just for ease of number   that they're moving through 15 feet of Spike  growth on their turn and also yes that we are   using our reaction to do 2d4 damage to one enemy  per round with payload of spores since I always   crunch numbers based on best case scenario but if  everything works according to plan the enemy would   be taking 1d10 plus 3d6 plus 14 D4 plus 9 damage  in a round and thus against an enemy with a plus   10 to their AC and a plus zero to their strength  and Constitution saving throws we would on average   do 49 damage per round and against an enemy with a  15 and a plus 5 to their saves it would be 33 DPR   and wait 49 and 33 with a monk Druid that doesn't  even have extra attack yet I was not expecting   that that's like middle of tier one compared to  other sustained damage builds that I've done to   date check the link in the video description  to see those spreadsheets and comparisons   but yeah whoa Nelly let's hold our horses here  right we only have three key points at the moment   that doesn't really even meet my own you can do  this much damage for an entire combat encounter   criteria to qualify something as being a sustained  damage build outside of those very short combats   that happen once in a while not yet anyway so yeah  it's really a little bit more like a burst damage   build at the moment that can burst three times  per short rest I'm gonna keep him in the sustained   damage comparison chart anyway because we will be  getting more key points and I don't really have a   hybrid chart yet though I might have to make one  someday now not only that but yeah that extra D6   of damage that we get from symbiotic entity only  lasts until our temporary hit points run out and   it requires some setup so yeah this is really good  damage make no mistake but it comes with plenty of   asterisks or caveats so that definitely tempers  our numbers somewhat but I am excited by those   numbers that's really solid let's see where we  can take it from here at level seven yes now that   we have Spike growth and our symbiotic entity  secured I think we need to go back to monk for   a bit first off just to get more key points so  that we can keep using Flurry of Blows as often   as possible but also because we do at monk 4 now  get an ability score increase for feet and I think   we've got to go plus one to Dex and plus one to  wisdom here I think going any other route would   be a mistake getting both our dexterity and our  wisdom up to an 18 like this would do would give   us a plus two to our Armor class and remember  not getting hit is especially important for us   since we need to hold on to those temporary hit  points as long as possible it's going to mean an   increase to our hit and damage of course but also  decrease the likelihood that our enemy makes their   save against our push into Spike growth not to  mention our amazing Halo of spores damage so yeah   having our two most important ability scores at  18 by level seven feels awesome we also at monk   4 get one of my favorite monk abilities slow fall  it just speaks to all the flavor and fun of this   class even if it's not particularly amazing  mechanically it lets you use your reaction   to reduce any fall damage that you take by five  times your monk level and since we take one D6   for every 10 feet that we fall that means we can  fall between 50 and 60 feet on average and take   zero damage when we do so and I just love that  image of floating gently to the ground because   we are just that live and dexterous or able to  channel mystical energy at level 8 we'd be among   five this is a big level for us first off our  martial arts diet does get its first increase   it goes from a D4 to a D6 it's not amazing but  will take every little bit of damage we can get   for our unarmed strikes and then yes of course we  get extra attack super important for us giving us   two attacks with our long sword now when we take  the attack action and then yeah we also get that   oft lauded off to hated monk feature stunning  strike here this lets us when we hit an enemy   with a melee weapon attack and again this can mean  an unarmed strike we can spend a key point to try   and stun them until the end of our next turn  they get to make a constitution saving throw   to avoid it which is why a lot of people like to  say that it's not a very good ability but if they   fail stunned is a brutal condition to inflict on  an enemy no question when you stun them attack   rolls against them are made with advantage  that's awesome they're incapacitated so they   can't take any actions or reactions they can't  move they speak falteringly and interestingly   for us especially they automatically fail both  their dexterity and yes strength saving throws   so yes of course if we can stun the enemy it would  do great things for our damage giving us advantage   on our attacks and making them auto fail our push  in despite growth the problem with it of course   is that that pesky Constitution saving throw  that they get meaning it wouldn't work all that   reliably on at least the toughest enemies that  we'd be fighting against typically still we do   have an 18 wisdom so it's not like it would just  auto fail or anything when I crunch numbers going   forward I'm not going to assume that our Target  is stunned if for no other reason then because we   just don't have a lot of key points to spare but  definitely pull out stunning strike judiciously   once in a while and reap the benefits for doing so  for you and your entire party but at level nine I   think I'm probably going back to Druid there  are a couple of good reasons not to first off   more monk levels means more key points if your  combat encounters tend to run long and or you   don't get very many short rests at your table for  every combat encounter you have go ahead and take   more monk levels until you feel comfortable but  second off at monk 6 we get key empowered strikes   which makes our unarmed strikes magical for the  purpose of overcoming resistance now I'm gonna   hope and assume that at this point we've been  able to get like an Insignia of claws or an   Eldritch claw tattoo or something that would  help us overcome that particular problem but if   you question the likelihood of that happening at  your table anytime soon go ahead and grab monk 6   at least also open hand monks do get wholeness of  body which lets you use your action once per day   to heal yourself for three times your month level  it's not amazing but 18 hit points is some decent   healing and you know you also get another five  feet of move speed among six so sure plenty of   reasons to go that route if need be I'm assuming  that we're happy with monk 5 and going back to   Druid for yes more temporary hit points from our  symbiotic entity but also we would be a druid 4   here which would give us another ability score  increase or feat and yeah I want to use that to   bump my dexterity capping it at 20 which makes  me very happy and don't forget also that we get   wild shape Improvement here which means that we  can now if we need to Wild shape into a creature   with a challenge rating of one half or lower  and it can have a swim speed now so yeah that'll   probably come in handy once in a while at level  9 it's time for our next damage report and since   we last checked we've added a second long sword  attack we've bumped our dexterity modifier twice   actually not to mention our wisdom modifier once  we've raised our martial arts die to a D6 and even   gained a little utility and survivability while  we were at it we are performing at Peak way of the   open spores drunk now and so against an enemy with  a 10 Armor class and a plus zero to their strength   and Constitution saving throws we would on average  do 77 damage per round here and against an enemy   with a 16 and a plus 6 it would be 54 DPR okay  little open Spore is drunk I mean that's actually   keeping us closer to the top of the charts  compared to other Tier 1 sustained DPR builds   at this level and we actually have fewer asterisks  now five key points should get us through at least   one entire combat encounter the vast majority  of the time especially if we're needing a round   of setup right and we've got more temporary hit  points to help us hold on to our bonus damage to   boot I'm feeling pretty good about where we're at  let's see how hard we can Plateau at level 10 we   would be a druid 5 and that means we get third  level Druid spells kind of like I'd want to do   for pretty much the rest of this build I think I  really just focus on grabbing all the best support   and utility spells here are a Vitality is a super  efficient heal though I'd primarily only use it   outside of combat to heal 70 hit points on average  over a minute really strong dispel magic of course   and then of course there's the oft maligned on  this channel conjure animals spell if you really   just want to feel like a cheater a tree out monk  actually did a fantastic breakdown on the problems   with conjure animals recently and how to make a  better Summoner you should check it out if you   haven't anyway there's nothing I would plan on  using in combat here to increase our damage so   yeah pick your favorites at level 11 we'd be  a druid 6 and we get fungal infestation I'll   admit I don't love this ability mechanics wise  at least flavor-wise it's fantastic it tells us   that wisdom modifier times per day when a small or  medium Beast or humanoid it's very specific rules   there dies within 10 feet of us it's a pretty  small range we can use our reaction to cause it   to stand up immediately with one hit point it then  uses the zombie stat block for an hour after which   point it dies again assuming that it managed to  survive for an hour in the first place this zombie   now takes their turn immediately after hours and  obeys our mental commands but all it can do is   make a single attack on its turn it's super fun  and flavorful and believe me there is nothing I   would love more than to bring back my own dead  Ally to life and just have them make zombie   attacks for a while while I puppet them I'm not  going to assume that we have a zombie companion   with us in combat since there are just so many  restrictions on using it I have no idea if you're   going to have had someone die within 10 feet of  you let alone whether or not they're a small or   medium Beast or humanoid but I hope you have a ton  of fun with it when you can don't forget our halo   of spores damage goes up to a 1d6 here which for  us is 2d6 if we're using it while symbiotic entity   is active at level 12 we would be a druid 7 and we  get fourth level spells again pick your favorites   I would encourage you to consider blight for some  decent single Target burst damage the ever useful   polymorph wall of fire can work great especially  with a build like this that's pushing enemies or   again if you want to be a cheater conjure Woodland  beings at level 13 we'd be a druid 8 and we get   another ability score increase or feat and yeah  I'm gonna say let's bump our wisdom and cap that   too I love having two capability scores this  means we would now have a 20 Armor class with   no armor or a shield and that's to say nothing  of any magic items you might have like a cloak   or a ring of protection or bracers of Defense  maybe more importantly four hour damage numbers   anyway this makes it more difficult for enemies  to succeed on their saves against our pushes and   Halo of spores and even stunning strikes etc etc  also we do get another wild shape Improvement   here we can now wild shape into a beast that's  challenge rating one or less and it can have a   flying speed so that will be very handy once in  once but at level 13 for our next damage report   our halo of spores damage has increased as well  as our likelihood of succeeding on pushing and   damaging our enemies with Halo of spores but also  interestingly now that we have fourth level spell   slots it actually would make sense even damage  wise to start to use Moonbeam here instead of   Spike growth even though Moonbeam gives enemies  a chance to save against the damage unlike Spike   growth and it's a constitution saving throw no  less because like I've said they still take half   damage even if they make their save on Moonbeam  and because it's scaled so well doing 4D 10   damage now both when we push them into it and when  they start their turn there the numbers just make   sense to switch to Moonbeam that said of course  there are plenty of reasons to still use Spike   growth if you want you might not have a fourth  level spell slot you might want a big huge area   of effect that can potentially damage and snare  lots of bad guys I'm going to assume that we're   using Moonbeam here as it makes the numbers look  slightly better but just know your options and   to use them but against an enemy with a 10 Armor  class here and a plus zero to their strength and   Constitution saving throws we would on average do  92 DPR almost hit that century mark and against a   17 Armor class and a plus seven to saves its 58  DPR and yeah that's a little increase but it's a   fairly severe Plateau since we last checked but  don't forget all the Fantastic utility defense   and support features that we've picked up along  the way we are a seriously well-rounded character   here that's pumping out some pretty significant  damage right now we're pretty comfortably like   in the middle of tier two compared to other  sustained DPR builds that I've done at this   level and that's better than most a pretty  happy place to be at level 14 we'd be a druid   9 and we get fifth level spells again pick  your favorites again focusing on utility and   support though awaken might let you get a tree  companion that fights at your side depending on   how your DM rules it at your table you could get  gesh for some really nice communication utility   greater restoration is always handy mask your  wounds could let you bring up multiple downed   allies I said allies not enemies can you believe  it tree stride is a lot of fun for teleporting all   over the battlefield have fun with it at level  15 we would be a druid 10 and we get spreading   spores as a spores Druid and while this feature  isn't like great we will get a nice little damage   bump out of it potentially here's how it works now  while we have symbiotic entity active we can use a   bonus action to like cast our halo of spores so  that it works not in a 10 foot radius around us   but in a 10 foot Cube within 30 feet of us the one  advantage to doing this is that a creature would   now take damage not with our reaction when they're  close to us but whenever they move into that Cube   or start their turn there so yes the language here  is similar to the Moonbeam spell and others like   it meaning that we can cause them to take damage  both when we push them into to it and when they   start their turn there effectively letting us  double up on the Halo of spores damage they do   still get to make a constitution save against it  and still don't take half damage if they succeed   were also prohibited from using our reaction to  deal Halo spores damage now but I mean since we're   pushing enemies into an area of effect anyway I'm  gonna assume that we're using this going forward   and yeah the Halo of sports damage does continue  to scale it's up to a 1d8 now which isn't a huge   increase but 2d8 if symbiotic entity is active  and 4d8 if they're taking it twice per turn so   that's not half bad I really wish it would do half  damage on a successful save especially since it's   a constitution saving throw that would make it a  pretty strong ability I think but at least it's a   lot better than it was when we started ah look  scaling kind of so long as we build for it at   level 16 we would be a druid 11 and that means six  level spells again pick your favorites but I think   you ought to consider one of these three heal for  a flat 70 hit points of healing all in one go one   of the best and most efficient in combat heal  spells in the game Hero's Feast is a wonderful   buff giving advantage on wisdom saves for your  entire party as well as immunity to fear and a big   bump to our maximum hit points for 24 hours and  finally transport via plants is just some really   fantastic world-hopping power if you need that  utility but pick your favorite and finally for   us at level 17 we'd be a druid 12 and that means a  final ability score increase her feet I think I'd   probably go resilient Constitution at this point  if you hadn't already which you very well may have   and maybe should have as it lets us increase  our constitution by one so like I said at the   beginning that might be worth considering going  con 15 instead of 14 so that we could get it to a   16 here and then yes we would have Proficiency in  our constitution saving throws which is fantastic   for not only those saves but also for our  concentration checks among other things and   with us constantly concentrating on a spell and  that being such a big part of our damage yeah   arguably something we should have done very early  on but for our final damage report I'm going to go   ahead and assume that we are up casting Moonbeam  at the sixth level now for six D6 of damage twice   in a round if we push them into it and plus you  know the area of Moonbeam pairs nicely with the   area of effect of our spreading spores they're  they're both you know just a 10 by 10. and yeah   that's spreading sports like I've said has scaled  to a nice 4d8 over an entire round if we can push   the enemy into it as well and thus against enemies  with a 10 Armor class and a plus zero to those   strength and con saves we would on average do 124  DPR and against an 18 AC and a plus 8 to saves its   72 damage per round and yeah that kind of keeps us  like in the middle of tier two compared to other   sustained DPR builds that I've done to date at  this level and just think of what a strong support   character we've become to boot so let's go over  final thoughts the tier score for this character   if you take the damage reports that we calculate  on for every armor class and plus to save at each   of the four damage reports and just average that  all into one big number we end up with a 51 and   that puts them near the bottom of tier 2 right  below the blade singer monk actually and ahead   of one of my all-time favorites for weirdness the  thornlok you know in the end I think my favorite   thing about this character is the Synergy that  we get between these two subclasses what a monk   wants is a nice way to add damage to every single  attack since they get four of them pretty reliably   in their early career right and what an open  hand monk really wants is a way to take the   best Advantage possible of their ability to push  a target a whopping 15 feet and sports Druids   bring both of those things in a way that no other  subclass really can I think and it just feels like   such a great fit that it fills me with lots of  warm fuzzies now sure as we've discussed there are   plenty of caveats to go along with this build set  up time damage being dependent upon your temporary   hit points being up lack of key points those are  like the key ones pun intended but let's be honest   few of my builds come strictly caveat free right  because as we all know the best laid plans of   monks and men gang aft egg lay once you get them  out of the lab and onto the battlefield but here   is a truth that you can take to the bank having  the core of an open hand monk with lots of attacks   extra move speed the ability to stun and slow  fall and catch Arrows with your bare hands coupled   with all of the fun of pushing your enemies into  punishing spell effects combined further with the   really nice survivability that this character has  with all of those temporary hit points that we're   getting plus a decent Armor class and all of the  really great support and utility that you innately   get with lots Druid levels these things are going  to combine into a character that is both really   fun and really powerful even when your best laid  plans do go awry so that is the build for the week   and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed  making it more importantly I hope you know how   much I love you because I do you guys are awesome  thank you so much for all that you do for me for   the channel I hope you'll check out the other  content on the channel if you're not currently   in the habit of doing so but above all I hope  that you be good and kind and that you stay safe   and that you're happy and that I see you again  really soon but until then take care bye [Music]   I have a feeling it's going to be a long  hour and a half of recording here I hope   my voice can make it through but fortunately my  lovely wife made me some yummy honey lemon tea oh that is hot I think I just  burned off all my taste buds why are you creeping up on me Mike   quit it seriously man just think of all  the really cool things I could do with   this cold voice all those Barry White songs  I could be singing Let's Get It On [Music]   or Johnny Cash songs uh keep a close watch on this  heart of mine because you're mine I Walk the Line [Laughter] maybe I could even be like the guy  that does the previews for movies in   a world where dragons and elves reign  supreme there was a drunk [Laughter]   there was an open spores drunk who knew that  things could be different all right here we go   here we go well don't say that don't say that but  well don't even say that but of course feel free   to go again whoa oh you scared me I have a dungeon  and Dragons of Mercy come and help me I need help hahaha that was my neighbor and she's visiting  my wife that scared the crap out of me all right   get my heart rate back down here I don't  even remember what I was talking about

Channel: d4: D&D Deep Dive

Views: 83,685

Keywords: D&D Optimized, dnd, dungeons & dragons, monk, open hand, druid, spores, multiclass, multi-class, damage, dpr, tips, tricks, guide, how to, 5e, character build, character creation

Id: GYDTx5NtJMY

Length: 56min 38sec (3398 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 29 2022