The Shadow Blade Monk: D&D Build #151

have you ever wondered if you could  build a monk that wore armor and was   still really effective what would you  do without your unarmed strikes I've   got a really good idea so if you want  to know what it is stay tuned welcome to [Music] D4 hey everybody so here at D4 uh D and D  Deep dive 4 DS each week we take a deep dive into   character builds for our favorite role playing  games usually Dungeons and Dragons but as most   of you know we do other games too I like to Theory  craft about builds crunch numbers about them not   so that I can tell you the right way or the  best way to play a certain character but to   explore one potential way to build something  with the hopes of creating a character that's   both really powerful but also really fun to  play so if you enjoy creating characters for   your favorite role playing games almost as much  as you enjoy playing the actual game itself or   if you're just looking for tips or ideas on  how to build something that you're thinking   about playing then welcome home this is where you  belong and I am so glad that you're here so thanks   for watching my name's Colby I put out character  build videos every Tuesday and additional bonus   content once in a while too so if you like  what you see I hope that you'll like the video   subscribe and even click on the notifications  Bell so that you never miss an episode just in   case you missed the announcement I've recently  revamped my membership offerings so if you're   interested in getting like a written stepbystep  guide to help you recreate these characters that   I build in game or joining the community in our  D4 Discord server or even hanging out with me   and my friend and other channel members once a  month in a live RPG fueled Q&A chat or if you   just want to support the channel financially then  just click on the little join button down there   somewhere and learn more it's not expensive and  it earns you my undying gratitude okay let's be   honest you have that anyways just for watching  thank you but but maybe just like a little bit   more undying gratitude if such a thing can be  Quantified anyways here is my preamble to today's   video back in I think it was 2020 Wizards of the  Coast put out what I think is their best Post 5e   Release book to date tsh's cauldron of everything  it felt to me like that book was the same thing   as like an old school expansion to a video game  it added so much great content from new spells   to new Feats to new racial options to new sub  classes and even some additional features and   abilities for every single class I can't imagine  playing the game without it personally monks   underpowered as I think they are got quite a few  little optional class features given to them in   that book and the one that intrigued me most was  the key fueled attack feature this tells us that   when we spend a key Point as part of our action  then we can use a bonus action to make an unarmed   strike or interestingly a monk weapon attack  I remember first reading this and being like I   mean I can already use a bonus action to make an  unarmed strike if I take the attack action and I   mean wouldn't I rather spend a bonus action and a  key point for Flurry of Blows rather than a bonus   action weapon attack since in almost every case  two attacks are better than one even if my Flurry   of Blows unarmed strikes are only doing like  a D4 or a D6 of damage this feature felt super   Niche like maybe it was good if you were a four  elements monk wait why are you a four elements   monk hey they can be half decent if you build them  right watch this anyways yeah if you were using   key points to cast a spell for example then with  this you could at least get a weapon attack with   your bonus action right but I've always wanted  to try and do a build where making a third weapon   attack on our turn was just better than two on  armed strikes it's not easy to do as a monk heavy   weapons can't be monk weapons so it wouldn't work  to like take great weapon master and use a great   Axe here for example and so aside from that I mean  what weapon could we possibly use as a monk that   would do so much damage that it would be better  than two unarmed strikes well I can think of two   potential options first up we could do a ranged  weapon and use Sharpshooter right that would be   cool it would be pretty powerful it would be  pretty unique on the one hand for a monk but   I've done a ton of builds that basically do this  by just using a hand crossbow and getting the   crossbow expert feet right maybe it's not that  unique after all as for the second weapon that   we might be able to use here I'm sure most of my  longtime viewers know where my brain is going here   but for the rest of you I want it to be a surprise  wait I've already spoiled it with the title of   the video haven't I I always do that I think  I'm being so sneaky as I'm writing the script   curse you needing to have interesting titles and  thumbnails in order for my videos to get lots of   views okay fine yes you've seen the title of the  video we're talking about my favorite spell in   the game illogical though it may be Shadow Blade  I won't wax too poetic about it here because I've   done so many times in the past most notably uh  here with the Shadow Blade build I guess but the   wonderful thing about the spell is that it gives  you a weapon that does way more damage potentially   than really any other weapon in the game including  almost at least every Magic Weapon 2 d8 for shadow   blade or later 3d8 or even 4 d8 per hit that's  just a lot of damage per hit and so finding ways   to actually make more attacks with that weapon  is potentially pretty powerful I've only done   one build before where I was making three or more  attacks per turn with the Shadow Blade it was the   blad singer Nova build where we were actually  throwing the Shadow Blade but that was a burst   damage build and not something you could do round  after round so my question is sort of is there a   way to get three attacks per round with this  weapon sustainably I think monks might be the   only ones who could without relying on an ally  to cast haste on you or something so let's talk   about how how it works in D and D build number  151 the shadowblade monk the well I can't really   call it the shadow monk that would be misleading  the shadow Samurai I really like but that's also   misleading because Samurai is a fighter subclass  let's just go with the shadowblade monk huge   thanks to my good friend Randall Hampton for  the Fantastic artwork that he created for this   character concept he does this every week if you'd  be interested in following him on social media to   see if you could commission him to create some  art for your character or even your entire party   potentially I will as always put links in the  video description on how to do so thanks Randall   and also first I want to talk to you guys about  world Anvil some more because not only are they   a sponsor for the video this week they are also a  company that I happen to already use and am a huge   fan of for those of you who don't know about world  Anvil they're basically the greatest software   out there for GMS to build their home brew world  and for players to interact seamlessly with that   world for you world builders you game Masters  World Anvil supports over 45 systems including   Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder as well as  many many more it will even facilitate letting   you create your own system to work with their  software they make it incredibly easy to create   Wiki style presentations of your world and your  writing so that you can keep track of everything   you build they also have a really fantastic  interactive map Builder that you can customize   to your heart's content and even Chronicles that  combine timelines with those Maps so that you can   plot and keep track of what happened where and  when in your world whether before your campaign   started or while it's going presenting information  to your players in a digestible userfriendly way   has never been easier and yes speaking of you  players World Anvil is for you guys too it   not only will make it easier than ever to access  everything your GM wants you to know about their   world and the campaign but you can even build your  character right from within World Anvil site with   their built-in character sheet regardless of the  setting that your game is taking place in since   I can pretty much guarantee that their software is  compatible with whatever ttrpg system you're using   not only can you keep track of your hit points  your spell slots your inventory but it even has   a fantastic system for like backstory creation  journal and note entries it's better than any   other software that I've seen for this world  Anvil truly does it all I mean they even have   amazing tools for people who want to write a novel  from the world that they've built and even ways   to help you publish and monetize your book that  you've created so please do yourself a favor and   go check them out you will not regret it sign up  for a free account if nothing else to see what you   might be missing when you do I would appreciate it  if you would use this URL here so that they know I   sent you I'll put a link in the video description  as well of course and if you decide on purchasing   a yearly subscription regardless of the level  at which you purchase if you use the code D4   at checkout you will save a humongous 40% for 40  yeah that's incredibly generous there is no way   that's a good Roi for World Anvil here if someone  from the company is watching let me know in the   comments if this is actually a good return on  investment for you guys it is it's so incredibly   generous anyway huge thanks to World Anvil you  guys are awesome and let's jump into the build   at level one for our starting class yes we are  going to start off with monk here we obviously   need at least three levels in a different class to  get the blade spell but I think the character just   works better and feels stronger both conceptually  and mechanically actually if we spend some time in   monk first so when we first meet our champion they  are a humble monk yes but I see this character   as more of like a samurai in training I know  there's a fighter class for Samurai already   call them something different if you want to a  ronin a bushie or another word that has nothing   to do with this world's Japanese culture but has  some conceptual similarities but this hero is I   think either working hard to earn the right to  Dawn their family or Clans armor yes armor like   I kind of teased at the beginning and use their  fabled and Powerful magical blade or they might   even like have had the privilege of using both of  those at one point but now have done something to   disgrace themselves and so they've had those  things stripped away from them until they can   redeem themselves reclaim their honor and make  use of the revered armaments once again for now   we're starting over almost reduced to a childlike  State Unworthy of using anything but our bodies   and perhaps a simple staff to defend ourselves we  have to master those things first before we can be   trusted with and or capable of mastering the more  advanced tools as for our race I want to go half   elf for a couple of reasons that you can probably  guess first of all this character as most monks   is going to be super mad multiple ability score  dependent and especially since we're going going   to be multiclassing into a spellcaster capable  of getting Shadow Blade right wood elves give   the best ability score bonuses of any race in the  game second maybe only to Mountain dwarves we get   one plus two to an ability score of our choice  and two plus ones and we need every single one   of those increases but also yes of course I want  Elven accuracy later we'll get to it as for the   half elf subrace that we get to choose yes half  elves get a subrace ever since the sword Coast   adventurers guide book I'm just going to say  pick favorite but I'd probably go with either   D for some useful once per day spellcasting or  wood elf for an extra 5T of move Speed Most monks   don't actually need more move speed but actually  we might need it more than most monks eventually   at least and I'll get to that in a bit as for our  starting ability scores I assume we're going Point   by as always and say let's get a 15 dexterity  and take a plus two there a 15 Constitution   plus nothing 13 wisdom plus one and then a 12  Charisma plus one yes it's going to be really   gross to have a 15 Constitution and we're not  going to be correcting it for quite some time so   if your campaign is going to end before like level  13 I would go 14 Constitution there and maybe bump   your charisma to 14 instead what can I say monk  Gish is mad as for our starting equipment as most   monks we don't need a lot here but I'd probably  grab a Quarter Staff as that's going to be the   hardest hitting weapon available to us right now  doing a d8 of damage if we use it with two hands   and yeah quarter staffs are versatile but yeah no  armor needs because monks get unarmored defense   at level one which tells us that our AC is equal  to 10 plus our dexterity modifier and our wisdom   modifier so at this level that's only going to be  a 15 AC while unarmored and that's not great but   it isn't horrible it will get better eventually  don't worry also at monk one we get the martial   arts ability this tells us a number of things so  long as we're unarmored and not using a shield   we can use dexterity instead of strength for our  plus to hit and damage with unarmed strikes and   monk weapons which are simple weapons that aren't  two-handed or heavy and short swords we can use   our martial arts die for damage on both of the  unarmed strikes and monk weapons it's a D4 for   now but it scales with monk levels and when we  take the attack action with an unarmed strike or   a monk weapon we can make an unarmed strike with  our bonus action so for now that means we Bonk   with our Quarter Staff and then unarmed strike  on our turn and it makes a pretty solid level one   character at level two we get unarmored movement  and this gives us 10 more feet of move speed again   when we're unarmored or unshielded we are yes  perfecting our body as best we can here and then   monks also get key points which are used to fuel  most all of our cool monk abilities we get one key   Point per monk level they reset on a short rest  and for now we can spend them to either disengage   or Dash as a bonus action thanks to step of the  wind take the Dodge action as a bonus action   thanks to Patient defense or or make two unarmed  strikes instead of one as a bonus action thanks   to Flurry of Blows making three attacks on our  turn a couple of times per short rest now again   pretty decent level two character we also get the  dedicated weapon feature at this level the first   of the gifts given us from Tasha's cauldron of  everything but it is going to be a bit redundant   for us as I'll get into next level so at level  three we get first up deflect missiles this is   always cool and fun it lets us use our react when  we're hit by a ranged weapon attack to reduce the   damage by a d10 plus our dexterity modifier plus  our monk level reducing most ranged weapon attacks   to zero and if we reduce it to zero we can spend  a key point to throw it back treating it as a monk   weapon but then we get importantly our monastic  tradition our Monk subass and can you guess what   we're doing yes you probably can we are going Ki  this is absolutely perfect for a character like us   who really wants to focus on building around being  the master of one weapon in particular right at   least eventually KES get some really neat features  at this level path of the Ki is basically three   features in one kind of thing first we get to  pick one melee and one ranged weapon that lack the   heavy and special properties though the Longbow  also works and this would probably be the way to   like make a ranged monk that can take Sharpshooter  and get bonus action attacks with Sharpshooter and   stuff like that it could work really well and yes  it is on my to-do list to make a ranged monk now   we get proficiency with the weapon if we didn't  have it already and the weapons that we choose are   considered monk weapons for us I would suggest  going with the long sword here mostly because   I consider this character training to master the  blade but feel free to go battle axe or Warhammer   or something instead if you want now while we are  holding this weapon the agile Perry ability tells   us that if we make an unarmed strike as part of  our attack action so not as a bonus action then we   get a plus two bonus to our Armor class but keep  in mind you know we don't have extra attack yet so   that means we're not even using our weapon to make  an attack cuz it's got to be part of the attack   action we're making an unarmed strike with our  action probably another one or two with our bonus   action and then yeah since we made an unarmed  strike with our action the weapon's going to give   us a plus two bump to our Armor class and you know  what that might be worth it worth considering at   least especially yeah once we do get extra attack  because then only one of our two attacks we make   with our action has to be an unarmed strike right  so we're giving up a little bit of damage for an   extra plus two to our Armor class we also get  kensei's shot here which gives us an extra D4   of damage on our ranged kensei weapon attack if we  use our bonus action for it not awesome but we're   probably not going to be making an unarmed strike  with our bonus action if we're focused on using   ranged weapons so at least we're getting a little  mileage out of our bonus action this way if we   need to be in range range finally at level three  yes we get that feature from Tasha that I started   this episode off talking about key fueled attack  to recap this tells us that if we spend a key   Point as part of our action doesn't have to be an  attack then we can make a weapon attack with our   monk weapon or an unarmed strike as a bonus action  right now as a Ki monk I don't think we have a way   to spend a key Point as part of our action Flurry  of Blows patient defense and step of the wind   are our only key Point Spenders and those are all  bonus actions things but we will make great use of   this eventually don't worry at level four we get  slowfall this lets us use our reaction to reduce   falling damage by five times our monk level which  means we could fall 50 to 60 ft on average right   now without taking any damage at all monks and  cats always land on our feet so cool and then yes   we get another little feature from Tasha's that  I often forget to mention quickened healing this   lets us spend two key points and our action ouch  to heal ourselves for for a roll of our martial   arts die plus our proficiency bonus yeah you can  see why I often forget to mention it I mean that's   like 4 and 1 half hit points of healing on average  it's hard to imagine a time where this would be   worth it in combat especially but hey if you do  this in combat now you could make a weapon attack   with your bonus action instead of an unarmed  strike so that's something most importantly at   this level of course is the ability score increase  or feat that we get and yes as you've no doubt   predicted because I already told you weren't you  listening uh yeah elen accuracy my favorite feat I   am a sucker for elves and accuracy with this feet  which we can't take unless we are an elf or a half   elf no no custom lineage doesn't count I already  tried that and Jeremy Crawford said no big jerk [Music] face anyways Elvin accuracy gives a plus  one to for us our dexterity making that a lovely   eight and then tells us that when we make an  attack with our dexterity or intelligence or   Charisma or wisdom and we have advantage on the  attack roll then we now get to roll three d20s   instead of two and that does really nice things  for our damage especially at higher enemy armor   classes when we have Advantage Hooray at level  five we get stunning strike which is a great   feature when it works when you make a melee weapon  attack yes unarmed strikes count you can spend a   key point to try and on your enemy they make a  constitution save against our wisdom-based DC   if they succeed which they probably will nothing  happens and we've wasted a key point but if they   fail Glory Hallelujah they are stunned until  the end the end of our next turn meaning they   basically can't do anything and attacks against  them have Advantage Etc it's awesome when it works   I'm not planning on using it but here's another  thing now that would let us potentially make a   weapon attack with our bonus action if we tried to  stunning strike them as part of our action right   whether the stun landed or not again right now  we'd get more damage out of using that key point   and bonus action for Flurry of Blows but if you're  trying to stun and otherwise save your key sure   take that d10 long sword attack instead of the  well actually D6 unarmed strike right now because   don't forget at this level our martial arts  diet does go up to D6 here we also get our final   optional class feature from Tasha's at this level  focused aim which is actually a pretty decent one   if we have the key to burn it says that if we miss  with an attack roll we can spend one to three key   points to add plus two to hit for each key Point  spent potentially turning the Miss into a hit yeah   it's expensive but I mean if some monster is up  next and you know that they only have a few hit   points and you're pretty confident that you just  barely missed it can be a GameChanger it's not   super sustainable but it would trigger key fueled  attack and if you're getting a short rest after   every combat encounter you might be able to use  it at this level you depending on depending on   the encounter you might be able to use it once or  twice and still Flurry of Blows on most of your   turns it's not a bad option to have in your back  pocket in case of emergencies most importantly at   this level is the simple extra attack feature  that we get of course giving us two attacks on   our turn instead of one and yeah I just might  be making regular use at this level of AR K's   agile Perry now like I said a D6 unarmed strike  instead of a d10 weapon attack trading two damage   for plus two to AC G not that I'm going to make  that assumption when I do the first damage report   of course survivability be damned but at level six  we get key empowered strikes and this just tells   us that our unarmed strikes are now considered  magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance   to non-magical weapon attacks which some monsters  will yeah start to have around this level we also   as a Ki get one with the blade which is kind of  two features in one magic can say weapons tells   us basically the same thing as key empowered  strikes but but for our Ki weapons if we aren't   already using a magic weapon anyways but then we  get the pretty nice deaft strike ability too this   tells us that once per turn when you hit with a  kensei weapon you can spend a key point to deal   extra damage equal to our martial arts die once  per turn I mean okay fine that's not amazing you'd   be better off spending key to turn a near hit  into an actual hit if you're looking for a way   to spend key points on your action to get a bonus  action weapon attack but hey if you keep hitting   and again you've got a little key to spend it's  a little damage bump but yeah we don't even have   our Shadow Blade yet so we're still better off  spending our still rather small key Point Pool to   Flurry of Blows on our turn most of the time and  that is what I'm going to assume we're doing when   we do our first damage report because at level  six that's what it's time for tactics are fairly   straightforward for our character at this level we  simply run up to our Target and make two versatile   long sword attacks for a d10 each then two unarmed  strikes with Flurry of Blows spending a key point   and our bonus action each of those four attacks  adds four damage from our dexterity modifier and   that's about it now we've got options here of  course we could spend key to turn a Miss into   a hit we could spend key to add a D6 to one of our  attacks once per turn we could even make one long   sword attack and three unarmed strikes to raise  our Armor class by two and yeah honestly that's   probably what I'm doing with this character in  game if most combat Encounters in 5e last between   four to six turns I'll just assume that we are  spending a key Point each round to Flurry of Blows   and nothing else and hope that you're getting  a short rest after each combat encounter you   do something a little different if and when the  situation calls for it if you have Advantage then   you're going to get Elvin accuracy super Advantage  but we're not currently doing anything to give   ourselves Advantage inherently so I'm not going to  assume that we have it at the moment here's hoping   that you've got an ally like knocking enemies  prone or casting fairy fire or something anyways   if everything hits we would be doing a total of  2D 10 plus 2d6 + 16 on our turn and so against an   enemy with a 10 armor class we would on average  here do 32 damage per round and against a 15   Armor class it would be 23 DPR and I mean that's  fine really it's just kind of bottom half of tier   three compared to other sustained DPR builds that  I've done to date check the video description to   see links to the spreadsheets so you can see  those comparisons and graphs and spreadsheets   so yeah here we're just kind of a little bit  below average when compared to other builds   that I've made with the express intent of doing  good sustained damage right that's an important   distinction to make here I think we've got some  decent utility some decent damage a ton of fun   flavor and some okay survivability especially if  we sacrifice a teeny bit of damage for it overall   it feels like a pretty versatile pretty decent  budding blade Master but it's about to get so much   better because yes at level 7 it's time to start  working towards our Shadow Blade I think at this   point in our character story like they're hearing  the whisperings of this Legendary Blade that is   part of their Clan or family's Heritage and power  something that I've been training to be worthy of   and after all this practice with the blade I'm  starting to feel a connection to that mythical   mystical blade finally whatever your reasons yes  we are taking warlock levels now why warlock for   a number of reasons first of all there are only  only three classes that get access to Shadow   Blade wizard Sorcerer And warlock I guess more  if you count lards or eldrich Knights or Arcane   tricksters but the spell comes too late for all  of those in my opinion now there are Arguments   for Wizard and sorcerer here instead of warlock no  question but I like the Warlock best here because   like monks they get their resources their spell  slots back on a short rest right that felt like   some really great Synergy for a character who's  very interested in taking short rests as often   as possible already what's more conception like  I'm building this character around this weapon   right and I mean what other potential class or  subass in this game has as close a bond with   their weapon as a hexblade warlock because yeah  warlocks get their Patron their subclass right   at warlock 1 and of course we're going hex blade  but not actually for the reason that we usually go   hex blade we don't care about attacking with our  Charisma on this character what we do care about   are well the flavor of having a bond with with  and drawing power from your weapon which I love   here but also the nice defensive benefits that the  subass gets because hex blades get the hex Warrior   ability first up which gives us proficiency with  all Marshall weapons and medium armor and shields   are we going to use those things not yet we  haven't earned them yet but we've got access now   when we need it hex Warrior also lets us use our  Charisma modifier for attacks like I've said but   there's some potential weirdness here it probably  doesn't work with Shadow Blade it tells us that   you Channel your will through a specific weapon  and I don't know Shadow Blade only lasts for a   minute so if you cast the spell later is it that  same Shadow Blade that you had summoned earlier is   this the same weapon you could obviously make the  argument I'm sure most EMS would probably allow   it but rules as written feels a little dicey and  we didn't build this character with that intent   anyway our Charisma sucks the other main defensive  perk that we get from hex blade though besides   the medium armor and shield thing is The Shield  spell hex blades are the only warlocks that get   shield and it is just such a powerful spell that I  wanted to prioritize it as a reminder Shield lets   us use our reaction and a spell slot to increase  our armor class by five until our next turn when   we are hit with an attack potentially causing that  attack to miss and for a still armorless monk with   a mediocre wisdom score that's a welcome Boon as  for the other spells that I'd grab at this level   I'd probably be sure to get armor of agius for  some additional defensive benefits and offensive   returning damage when you're hit potentially and  sure hex it's not a no-brainer spell especially   with our limited number of spell slots but if  you're making four attacks against a Target that   extra D6 of damage that it adds to every single  attack can really add up if you're going to be   hitting the same Target for more than a round or  two I'd probably use it for the next couple of   levels for our concentration until we finally get  our Shadow Blade at least I almost forgot we also   get hex blades curse here which is a feature  people like to talk about and build around I   certainly have before with things like the nuclear  wizard right the will Wheaten build but hex blade   curse just like let us once per short rest curse a  target with our bonus action so that every time we   do damage to them we add our proficiency bonus  and damage and we crit on a 19 or a 20 we even   regain some hit points when the target dies so  this ability is nice but kind of like hex it   can be a little tricky to use properly general  rule of thumb if you think the target is going   to survive for more than one round go ahead and  curse them put it on the biggest priority Target   right it's especially good if you're running low  on key points and aren't going going to be using   Flurry of Blows for like five or six rounds right  an extra three damage per hit from this soon four   really adds up if you're going to hit them three  or four times and doubling your crit chance and   also healing when they die those are all pretty  nice perks so yeah it's a good ability at level   eight we would be a warlock 2 and that means  we get eldrich invocations there are a few good   ones to consider here for this level at least go  ahead and take armor of Shadows it lets us cast   Mage Armor at will without spending a spell slot  Mage Armor's 13 Armor class plus our dexterity   modifier is one AC higher than our wisdom plus  our dexterity that we get from unarmored defense   right but I would replace that invocation next  level with something else fish Vigor is not a bad   choice here for an atwi spell slot free casting of  false life or a D4 plus4 of temporary hit points   less squishiness is good but the most important  invocation for us to take here is eldrich mind   this gives us advantage on our concentration  checks and as a monk who doesn't have Constitution   saving throw proficiency and will always be  concentrating on a spell from here on out and   who only has a 15 Constitution at the moment this  is a really big deal and very welcome but at level   9 warlock 3 everything changes for our character  this is the point in our character's path that   they have finally proven themselves worthy perhaps  once again worthy of dawning their Clan or fam's   armor and bonding with that all-important Clan  blade I would definitely talk about this moment   with your DM and like plan something momentous  and important to happen for your character right   so okay let's pause for a moment here armor on a  monk ever since my good friend Chris Triant monk   put out a series of videos exploring the pros and  cons to putting armor on a monk I've had people   in the comment section of my videos asking me to  do an armored monk I'm always hesitant because I   love the idea of the quintessential Kung Fu  Master my body is the only weapon and I need   kind of character but for this build I think it  works really nicely conceptually especially but   I mean don't we give up a ton of stuff if we  armor ourselves as a monk well we give up two   things really one our unarmored movement so yeah  at this level we've got an extra 15 ft of movement   if we're unarmored and unshielded meaning if we  went wood elf half elf we'd have 50 ft of move   speed that's awesome giving some of that up might  hurt the other thing that we would need to give up   would be our martial arts features as a reminder  that means using dexterity instead of strength for   monk weapon attacks that aren't finesse weapons at  least right because we can use dexterity for those   regardless of whether we had the martial arts  feature or not but also we'd be giving up using   our martial arts die for our unarmed strike damage  and getting to make an unarmed strike as a bonus   action those things are all great but if we're not  planning on making unarmed strikes anymore and we   already have a finesse weapon then we don't really  care about any of those martial arts abilities so   I say Dawn that Clan armor because it's time to  summon our Shadow Blade because yes we also get   second level warlock spells here and that means  we finally get our Shadow Blade let's break the   spell down it's a bonus action to cast lasts  for a minute and requires concentration casting   it causes a sword of Gloom to solidify in your  hand now this is important it counts as a simple   weapon with which we are proficient if you recall  monk weapons are short swords and simple weapons   that lack the heavy and two-handed properties  so there's no reason that the Shadow Blade as   a simple weapon shouldn't qualify as a monk weapon  naturally you should discuss it with your DM to be   sure as always but assuming that they're following  the rules here as long as we spend a key Point as   part of our action we should be able to make a  third attack every round with the Shadow Blade   as a bonus action thanks to key fueled attack  right it does 2 d8 psychic damage on a hit has the   Finesse importantly light and Throne properties  and when you attack with it while standing in dim   light or Darkness you have advantage on the attack  perfect next question can the Shadow Blade be a Ki   weapon I don't know why not we're told that a Ki  weapon can be any simple or Marshal weapon that   lacks the heavy and special properties nothing in  there about a summoned weapon being disqualified   the Shadow Blade is a simple weapon that doesn't  have the heavy or special properties Chev next   question should you use a shield now with your  medium armor I think probably plus two to our   Armor class from using a shield is nice and there  are plenty of magical Shields out there that can   bump it even higher or give other benefits the  Shadow Blade is a one-handed weapon the only   thing that would give me pause is that with  full hands right a weapon and a shield we'd   be prevented from casting spells that had sematic  or verbal components unless we took the warcaster   feed which I hate now we only have two spell  slots right and one of them is getting used for   Shadow Blade that last one I'm probably saving  for the shield spell when I need it most but at   my table we can drop a weapon as part of the  reaction ction required to cast Shield which   has a sematic component if that doesn't fly at  your table I mean honestly I'm still probably   using a shield do you want a permanent plus two  or better with a Magic Shield to your armor class   or a once per short rest plus five via the shield  spell and yeah there are potentially other things   that we want to be casting with that spell slot  anyways Misty step is probably the other second   level spell I'd prioritize here but Mirror Image  can be a nice defensive buff as well that doesn't   require concentration regardless when you you  drop your Shadow Blade you can summon it back   into your hand with a bonus action talk to your  DM figure out what works at your table probably   equip a shield next question what should we take  for our packed Boon that we also get at warlock 3   it's a good question I think I'm going packed to  the chain Talisman gives you some potentially fun   utility and protection or defensive benefits  toome can give you some additional spells if   you think you need them but pack of the blade  surprisingly maybe doesn't really work for us with   packed of the blade we either magically create  a packed weapon into our hand from nothing but   we've summoned the Shadow Blade when we cast the  spell right so it's like you don't resummon that   summoned weapon I guess your DM might allow like  both of those things to happen at the same time   you cast the spell and like summon a weapon with  packed blade if so cool otherwise we can make an   existing weapon our packed weapon but it requires  a ritual that lasts an hour and Shadow Blade only   hangs around for a minute the only reasons we'd  want packed of the blade anyway would be for the   potentially cool invocations that come with it  eldrich Smite improved packed weapon Etc we don't   need thirsting blade because we already have  extra attack and unlike in balers Gate 3 those   don't stack take a drink so pack of the chain is  nice in that it lets you get the find familiar   spell but gives us extra warlocke options for our  familiar it can be an imp a quasit a pseudo dragon   or a Sprite and all of those but the pseudo dragon  can turn invisible and just like any familiar they   can take the help action giving someone hopefully  you if you need it advantage on your first attack   at least and taking the help action doesn't break  invisibility like attacking would meaning that   your imp or quasit or I'd probably use a Sprite  as a Wood Elf could go invisible buzz in pull   your enemy pants down blow raspberries in their  ear tickle their bum and then fly away all day   long without risking taking an opportunity  attack at least since you can only take an   opportunity attack against an enemy that you can  see so at level 9 it's time for our next damage report things are vastly different for our  character now compared to last check we're   wearing medium armor possibly using a shield and  on round one we're summoning our Shadow Blade with   our bonus action and then making some attacks and  from there on we're simply making two attacks with   our action spending a key point or two during that  action to either DEA strike doing an extra D6 of   damage or key fueled attack to turn a Miss into  a hit I guess technically you could also spend   Kei with stunning strike if the situation called  for it but I personally not rely on that too much   with this build doing so then triggers key fueled  attack so that we could then yes make an attack   with our Shadow Blade as a bonus action as well  for ease of calculation I'm just going to assume   that we're using Deft strike every time the truth  is you're better off spending key to turn a Miss   into a hit then you are using de strike to get  an extra D6 of damage once per turn but trying   to do the math on how often you missed and by  how much so that I know how many key points I   have to spend is beyond my current mathematical  capabilities it's a lot easier to just add a D6   of damage to one attack per turn also I am  going to assume yes that we have advantage   on our attacks I mean the familiar could give  us advantage on at least one and fighting in   diml or Darkness gives us advantage on all of  our attacks otherwise I know you're not always   going to be fighting in dim light or Darkness but  the first time that I used shadowblade in a build   for my blad singer 2.0 surely I'm out of cards by  now I think I don't know I assumed Advantage when   I was crunching numbers there in the name  of exploring the limits of what's possible   under best case scenario conditions so making  a different assumption now kind of screws up my   model you can lower expectations for your damage  numbers when you're fighting in bright light but   honestly thanks to focused aim and our familiar  we might not be too far off from the damaged   numbers that I'm about to share with you even when  we're fighting in bright light anyways at this   level assum all of the above against a character  with a 10 Armor class we would on average now do   47 damage per round and against a 16 AC it would  be 45 DPR barely less and that's a fantastic 50%   increase at low enemy AC's and over 100% increase  at middling and higher AC's compared to last check   right very very nice compared to other sustained  DPR builds that I've done to date at this level   were more like bottom half of tier 2 now big  jump not to mention the huge increases we've   had to our survivability and our utility as well  we are now experiencing Prime Shadow Blade monom   at level 10 we would be a warlock 4 and that means  we get another ability score increase or feat and   I would absolutely be bumping my dexterity here  to cap it at 20 and then at level 11 we'd be at   warlock 5 and I wanted to get at least one more  warlock level primarily so that we could get our   spell slots to third level because yes now that  we have third level spell slots we can upcast   Shadow Blade so that it does 3d8 damage per hit a  worthy investment I think and then yeah of course   we get third level warlock spells now too so that  means counter spell fear hypnotic pattern sure but   keep in mind our Charisma modifier is pretty crap  it's only a plus one so instead maybe grab stuff   that just works like fly perhaps most important  here I would say make sure to grab Spirit shroud   it's always this debate for me on whether to use  Spirit shroud or Shadow Blade both take a bonus   action to cast and require concentration spirit  Spirit shroud adds a d8 of damage to all of your   attacks among other things if we were going with  Flurry of Blows then yes it's a good route to go   three attacks with Shadow Blade and Deft strike  is slightly higher than Spirit shroud and Flurry   of Blows not taking into account a magic weapon  you might have instead of you know using Shadow   Blade of course but in that case it's about the  same depending on the weapon but if we were doing   that we wouldn't be able to use medium armor and  a shield and our survivability goes way down if   you want to see a shadow monk build that goes that  route of with Spirit shroud check out the master   of Shadows we also do get a third invocation at  warlock 5 and I'm just going to say pyf pick your   favorite I think one with shadows feels really  nice letting you go invisible when you're in   dimlight and darkness which we kind of want to be  anyway so some kind of nice Synergy there though   you do become visible with this invocation if you  even move let alone taking an action or reaction   still situationally useful devil sight isn't  terrible it lets you see in magical Darkness   we we already have regular dark vision but yeah  you could do the darkness devil sight thing I'm   not really building around that for this build  here but it's a thing at level 12 though yeah I   would love to get up to fifth level spells to  make my Shadow Blade hit for 4 d8 among other   things but as I've often talked about on this  channel there's one major drawback or weakness   to using Shadow Blade magic weapons exist I mean  sure if you upcast it high enough the damage on   Shadow Blade will continue to scale which is great  helps it compete with magic weapons a little bit   but there's no way to increase the hit chance of  the thing and that's kind of a really big deal not   to mention that sure increasing the damage by a d8  every two spell levels is nice but I mean flame T   long swords exist in D and D right so it kind of  stinks not being able to make Shadow blades scale   better if you want to commit to using it but K say  monks actually have one of the only abilities in   the game that would give the Shadow Blade some  nice scaling making them arguably the subass   that can make the best use of this spell compared  to all other subclasses in D and D 5e plus there   are a lot of fun goodies in monk that interest  me and we could always use more key points so   let's go back to monk here surprisingly since  monks sort of famously don't typically scale   all that well I think it's actually the best  path for both our damage and our utility and   even surv ability so at monk 7 we get evasion  which is pretty awesome letting us now take no   damage if we succeed on a dexterity saving throw  where we normally take half damage on a success   and then only half damage if we fail LOL Fireballs  we also get Stillness of mind which could be nice   or mostly useless depending on how it's ruled at  your table it lets you use your action to end a   Charmed or fear effect on yourself so here's  hoping you have access to your actions when   you're Charmed or feared at level 13 we would be  a monk8 and and that means we get another ability   score increase or feet and I think I'm taking  resilient Constitution here I might have even   done this before capping my dexterity if I found  myself losing concentration a lot since we got   the eldrich Mind invocation I'm hoping that will  be enough to keep us safe most of the time but   now I feel super solid about our concentration  checks this feat bumps our constitution by one   to get to a nice even 16 finally and yes gives  us proficiency and Constitution saves as well   meaning that we would now have a plus 8 to our  concentration Checks Plus advantage that should   let us hold on to Shadow Blade almost unfailingly  at level 13 it is time for our next damage report   since last check we have increased the damage from  Shadow Blade to 3d8 per hit capped our dexterity   at 20 and further increased our survivability and  utility a bit also I think that now that we have   eight key points per short rest I'm going to  go ahead head and assume that we've got some   key to spend on focused aim when we need it most  combat encounters at most tables again only last   you know three four to up to six rounds round one  we're using our bonus action to cast Shadow Blade   so that means like two to five rounds most  likely left in the encounter we could spend   one on DEA strike every turn and still be left  with one on average for most of the other rounds   and we'd probably never run out of key during  the fight since yeah I mean we're not going to   miss a lot of the time and we won't even need  focused aim right so I'm just going to assume   that we're spending one key point on focused aim  per round to give us an additional plus two to hit   it's imperfect math I know but I like doing that  better than ignoring focused aim completely and so   at this level against an enemy with a 10 Armor  class we would now on average do 65 damage per   round and against an enemy with a 17 Armor class  65 damage per round yeah it's like half a point   of damage difference but I'm rounding so it's the  same number and I mean that's perhaps one of if   not the greatest thing about this build actually  the damage is decent I mean it's still kind of   bottom half of tier 2 at this level compared to  other sustained damage builds but it is super   duper accurate this build almost never misses at  least assuming that we're fighting in dim light   or Darkness or otherwise have Advantage so I hope  you've got a Twilight cleric in your party to give   you some dim light when you're fighting outside or  somebody using fairy fire or knocking your enemy   is prone because yeah when you've got Advantage  you're like a heat seeking missile all right at   level 14 we would be a monk n and this means  we get an unarmored movement Improvement now   we could move across liquids and up vertical  surfaces on our turn and that's super fun and   awesome and probably doesn't work for us I mean  the ability itself when you get the printed text   for this specific ability in the book it doesn't  say that it doesn't work if we're wearing armor   but it's listed earlier as an improvement to  unarmored movement and that doesn't work if   we're armored right and I mean it makes sense  that this wouldn't work if we're armored you're   not moving as fast you're heavier it's kind of a  bummer especially since that feature is the only   thing we get at this level other than another key  point at level 15 we would be a monk 10 and that   means we get purity of body this makes us immune  to all disease and poison not bad at level 16 we'd   be a monk 11 and as a Kate that means we get  sharpen the blade and this is the main reason   I wanted to get back to monk so now as a bonus  action unfortunately I wish we could just do it   without resource expenditure other than key but as  a bonus action we can spend up to three key points   to Grant one Ki weapon and yes as a reminder no  reason our Shadow Blade can't be a Ki weapon a   plus two hit and damage per key Point spent and  yeah this might be the only way rules is written   to make a Shadow Blade a plus three weapon and I  love it yeah it takes a bonus action that sucks it   means we wouldn't be firing on all cylinders until  round three it means that for shorter fights it's   probably not worth doing unless we can somehow get  Shadow blad summoned before the fight starts right   like you can tell combat's about to break out  or maybe you're about to surprise the enemy yeah   another thing that I really love about balers Gate  3 drink the way that you can usually anticipate a   fight breaking out go into turnbas mode buff up  first so that you're not wasting time during the   fight to get up to speed it's just so efficient M  efficiency anyways when we need it that plus three   to hit and damage will be fantastic and it kind of  actually makes me happy that usually this ability   actually is going to be worthless for level 11  plus characters because we're told that it has   no effect on Magic weapons that already have a  bonus to attack and damage rolles and at level   11 if we're not using a Shadow Blade I sure hope  we've got a magic weapon that has a plus to hit   and damage and yeah this is usually my biggest  complaint about Shadow Blade that it can't get   bonuses to hit and Dam damage now it's like a  good thing that it doesn't have those bonuses   innately it is a perfect marriage here we have a  plus three Shadow Blade woohoo we also do get a   bump to our martial arts die from a 1d6 to a 1d8  which for us will just mean like a small bump for   de strike but finally at level 17 we would be a  monk 12 that means we get another ability score   increase or feet and I mean you could bump your  wisdom here for better monk skills among other   things or even I thought about taking medium armor  Master to essentially bump your armor class by one   and then not have disadvantage on stealth checks  in medium armor but probably the best thing we can   do for our damage would be to take the fighter  initiate feat which gives us a fighting style I   mean you could do this by taking a single fighter  level instead of Monk 12 I guess but might as well   go monk we can get a key point for it and yeah  we could take the dueling fighting style getting   an extra two damage to each Shadow Blade attack  it's not huge but six damage per round will some   sometimes be the difference between an enemy who  survives one more round and one who doesn't for   our final damage report then since last check  we've added a couple of damage per hit from   that fighting style a little bump from our martial  arts die increase but most importantly we've given   our Shadow Blade the potential to be a plus three  weapon thanks to sharpen the blade and so against   an enemy with a 10 AC here we would on average  do 81 damage per round and against an enemy with   an 18 Armor class it would be 81 damage per round  and yeah no difference at all mathematically here   81.4 damage on average for both a 10 up to an 18  AC and it's hard to know where to say this build   kind of ranks compared to other sustained damage  builds that I've done to date here at this level   at low armor classes 81 82 is like mid tier 3  at high armor classes it's like mid-tier 1 I   mean allowing for a a plus three from sharpen the  blade and a plus two from focused aim which let's   be honest could be higher than a plus two right we  could spend three key points to get it all the way   up to a plus six and we do have 12 key points per  short rest now but even if it's just a plus two   we're sitting on a plus 16 to hit with a 3d8 + 3  weapon we get to make three attacks per turn with   ideally with Elven accuracy's triple Advantage we  are never missing with this character so let's get   into some final thoughts here the tier score for  this build if you take the damage that they do   at all of the armor classes we calculate for at  each of the four damage reports and just average   it into one big number we end up with a 51 and  that puts them kind of in the bottom half of   tier 2 right between the sniper and the thorn lock  and that's not bad but that number doesn't really   tell the whole story here I mean that number never  really tells the whole story for any build but it   feels like especially the case for this build the  reality is that I probably give too much weight to   very low and very high enemy armor classes when  I'm doing these tier scores it would be nice to   have a simple effective way to give enemy armor  classes that we're more likely to be fighting   against like more weight in the calculations right  and that would change depending on the damage   report I know you've got great ideas on how to do  that feel free to keep sharing them not doing this   is more a matter of me not wanting to go back  and adjusting all of the numbers and then being   annoyed that all of those old videos say one thing  but what's reflected in the actual spreadsheets   would be different the end of the day it's a model  it gives us ballparks right but yeah I mean this   build never breaks that century mark we never  we're never averaging 100 DPR even in the late   game that's kind of too bad but against very high  enemy ACS it's beating out almost every build I've   ever done with few exceptions at level 17 there  are five points of difference between the damage   you do against a 10 Armor class and the Damage you  do against a 25 armor class five points that is   the flattest line I've ever seen on a graph for  any of my builds yeah just go look at the graph   down in the video description it's so beautiful  but yeah it makes me want to like rename this   build to like the Precision blade or something  that really great accuracy a along with a super   cool kind of like Shadow Samurai but as a monk  not a fighter feel to it I have really fallen in   love with this character way more than I thought  I would when I set out to put armor on a monk I   guess I shouldn't be surprised it's my favorite  class coupled with my favorite spell but I mean   really solid damage incredibly consistent damage  with most of the cool fun utility and flavor of   the monk coupled with some solid survivability  especially once we get to hex blade and all using   my favorite lightsaber wannabe spell in the game  I think this character has like risen to the top   of my tolay list I might have to see if I can find  a Ki mod for bg3 so I can play it there at least   take a drink but anyway I certainly hope you get  to play it sometime soon too but that is the build   for the week I love you guys I hope you know this  thank you so much for all that you do for me for   this channel I hope you have a really fantastic  week and a great day and if you have neither of   those things then then I hope you'll hang in there  better days are sure to come I hope that you will   do good and be kind and stay safe and that I  see you again very soon but until then take care [Music] bye step into the silence take it  in your own two hands and Scatter it like   diamonds all across this land yeah yeah yeah yeah  yeah blaze it in the morning wear it like an iron skin the only things wor living  for are innocence and madic amen David Gray fans out there what's your  favorite song uh of his other than something   off of that album uh Babylon was it Babylon what  was the name of that album the one the babylon's   off of um his popular one his most popular one  anyway uh yeah I i' I've seen him in concert I   love that album but I've never actually listened  to much of his stuff otherwise except for um shine   but yeah let me know give me some uh give me  some recommendations my name is is Colby and   today I have zero bothers to give this is like  my favorite shirt right now poo Bear's the best okay have you ever have you ever wanted to  build a monk that took advantage of armor   no don't say that say um there's like a light  coming through here it's shining on my hand   oh on my elbow no son how did the morning  come so soon we're done for 1970s Hobbit   animated show um call back anybody right  um what was I what was I doing before I   got distracted why is the beginning always so  difficult that sun I got to fix that don't I   where is that coming from right there sun is  just in the exact wrong spot penetrating the   defenses the hair is bugging me today stop  it stop it whatever getting a haircut this   week Focus here not on Shepherd I know you  like Shepherd I like her too we also as a   monk one get a special ding from our laptop the  sun is back no stop it my tape my tape is not working yes we are going for Pure Saved by the Bell so annoying whatever maybe I could  call this build the Shadow Blade Master   the Shadow Blade Master the  monk blade master um not key   fueled attack focused aim okay no  I'm getting these terms mix mixed up focus a not ke you on ATT

Channel: d4: D&D Deep Dive

Views: 53,259

Keywords: D&D, dungeons & dragons, dnd, monk, armor, kensei, shadow blade, hexblade, warlock, damage, dpr, bonus action, attack, strong, good, min max, optimize, how to, guide, character, build, creation

Id: NLV1VcMooLA

Length: 56min 46sec (3406 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 05 2023