Monks are considered weak, they say. They can't compete with other classes, they
claim. Well, this time, I'll demonstrate that the
monk is an amazing class with decent damage at any level. And I'll showcase it using my character Karlach
because, well, she knows how to strike! This is Aiming4Gaming, and today we're aiming
for a build sharing! We'll begin as a Monk with 8 strength, 16
dexterity, 15 constitution, 15 wisdom, and 10 intelligence and charisma. Why? Let me explain. Our unarmored defense will work if we don't
wear any armor and shield, and these stats will boost our Armor Class by 5 right from
the start, which is decent. Until level 4, we'll use monk weapons, with
Correlon's Grace being our best pick. However, you'll obtain it in the first village
when you're likely already level 3, so it's your choice for only one level. We dumped strength for a reason – we'll
be using elixirs of Hill Giant Strength all the time! They set your strength to 21, and even at
level 1, your melee weapon attack plus flurry of blows will be up to 31 combined! Both our attack roll and damage roll will
rely on the strength modifier from 21 Strength, and that's huge! And we can use this bonus action twice per
short rest at level 1, as we have 2 ki points. Each monk level gives you an additional ki
point! Not to mention that the monk has strength
saving throws! We'll talk about potions later in this guide! That's the basics covered, so let's level
up a bit! At level 2, you'll also get speed improvement,
which works only if you don't wear armor and a shield, as well as some actions. At level 3, we should pick our subclass, which
is Way of the Open Hand. Here it becomes spicy, as we're getting flurry
of blows upgraded with awesome crowd control options – which can knock our target prone,
stagger it, or push it 5 meters away. All of them are great, as you will have an
advantage against knocked targets or move freely between your enemies after staggering
them. Level 4 grants us resistance to falling damage
at the cost of reaction and, most importantly, our first feat! Believe me: there's no other option but to
pick Tavern Brawler here! This will be our bread and butter – as our
strength modifier now will be added twice to all our unarmored attacks. At this point, you can forget about monk weapons
– our unarmored strikes hit harder! By the way, flurry of blows now deals up to
32 damage, which means almost 50 damage per turn! And if that's not enough – here's a thing:
we also get 1 extra ability point to spend on constitution, making it an even number! That's why we started with 15! Don't invest in strength, as our elixirs will
always set it to 21 anyway. Level 5 is also a huge spike for us, as we're
getting our extra attack (or 64 max damage per turn), and also an option to use stunning
strike action, which is amazing crowd control as well. Surprisingly, level 6 is also a huge spike,
because we can now move even farther, and our attacks can conditionally become magical
if our enemies have resistances to melee damage! And that's not all! We also get three passives that add necrotic,
psychic, or radiant damage to all our attacks! They must be toggled on, so don't forget to
check them out in the Passives tab! What's important is that this bonus applies
to unarmed attacks and to both strikes of the Flurry of Blows action, so at this point,
you can deal up to 44 damage per use! Last but not least, we get a Wholeness of
Body action, which not only restores half our ki points but also adds an extra bonus
action for three turns! All that once per long rest. With that and Haste spell combined, we can
now temporarily become a gatling gun with 2 melee attacks, 2 extra attacks, and 2 flurry
of blows per turn, which equals 176 damage per turn! Splendid! By the way, there's a rumor that pressing
the like button on this video increases the odds of successful rolls! Definitely try this! At this point, we've got the core abilities
from Monk, so it's just about time to make it even stronger! To do so, we'll multiclass into Rogue! 3 levels of Rogue, more precisely! There's nothing special in Rogue level 1 and
2, except maybe cunning actions which synergize well with our build. What's really important here is Rogue level
3, where we should pick a Thief subclass and get an extra bonus action from Fast Hands! So, now, at level 9, we can deal these two
flurry of blows twice per turn regularly and thrice per turn on demand under Wholeness
of Body! Now our burst damage will deal up to 220 damage! Alright, let's finish leveling! Time to switch to monk and get extra evasion
against spells which might even nullify the damage if you succeed in saving throws! And auto-cure from charmed and frightened
status effects! At level 11 in total and Monk level 8, you'll
get an additional feat. Here I suggest either improving your dexterity
for more armor and initiative or – and this is my preferred way – choosing Resilient:
Wisdom! With this, you'll even out your wisdom value
and get one of the best saving throws proficiency. As for the last level, there are three options. The first is to spend 1 more level into Rogue
for an additional Feat, which will probably be an ability improvement for Dexterity or
Wisdom. This is a balanced build. The second option is to reset your class and
start as Barbarian for its unarmored defense, which works with shields or even equip medium
armor, then spend the rest 11 levels as we did before. This is a more tanky build but less mobile. The third option and my favorite is to level
up Monk to 9 and get a passive that allows us to ignore difficult terrain while moving
and adds 6 meters to our jump length. And the icing on the cake will be ki resonance,
which literally replaces our regular punch and makes our enemies' bodies resonate with
ours. This is so amazing, as it adds an AoE potential
to our toolkit! With each strike, we'll add Resonate status
to enemies even if the strike kills them. This effect lasts for 10 turns and can be
used for ki resonation: blast action, which costs only 1 ki and nothing else! So, you can use it every turn as an addition
to your toolkit! This will trigger an AoE blast with 3d6 damage
and also trigger the same blast for all nearby resonating bodies! In other words, multiple AoE blasts in one
turn as long as enemies are close enough to trigger a chain reaction! Under the haste effect, we can land 4 unarmed
strikes, which means an additional 12d6 damage per target in a group or up to 72 damage in
addition to our already insane damage! And if you want to pass through the enemies
unharmed to apply such effect to more targets, use staggering Flurry of Blows, which disables
your target's opportunity attacks! Or pick Mobile feat as your second one. Which endgame build fits you the most, and
why? Let us know in the comments! Now let's talk about items. I'll try to avoid spoilers here and just list
the items I suggest! There are several core items in Act 1, which
will be best in slot for almost all game except act 3. Correlon's Grace is our monk weapon until
level 4 when we can start using our bare fists. Hunting shortbow adds a passive with advantage
against monstrosity type enemies, and there are plenty of them in the game! You can also use it as a ranged weapon if
you can't reach your target for some reason. For accessories, my picks are Ring of Protection,
Crusher's Ring, which will be replaced with Ring of Regeneration later on, and Moondrop
Pendant replaced with Khalid's Gift or Amulet of Greater Health. If you choose the latter – dump your constitution
and invest more into Wisdom and whatever you like. Clothing-wise I suggest picking Bloodguzzler
Garb until Act 2, then get The Graceful Cloth from Esther, which adds more Dexterity and
some other neat bonuses. Later on, you must switch to Vest of Soul
Rejuvenation, which is more tanky, synergizes with our saving throws and adds even more
damage possibility. My pick for headwear is Haste Helm, replaced
with Scabby Pugilist Circlet, followed by Horns of the Berserker or Mask of Soul Perception. Handwear is definitely Bracers of Defence,
unless you're planning to dump Dexterity and equip Gloves of Dexterity. But anyway, in the endgame, you must get Gloves
of Soul Catching, which are just amazing for Monks! Footwear is Featherlight Boots at the start,
then Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo, which will boost our damage as well! As for the cloak, pick Cloak of Protection
or Cloak of Displacement – both are good! This build relies heavily on elixirs of strength. Luckily, as long as you don't trigger the
questline with Auntie Ethel to the south of the Blighted village, you can buy 3 elixirs
per long rest from her and 1-2 elixirs per long rest from Derryth Bonecloak. By the way, if you want to know more about
the Auntie Ethel questline and how to get an extra ability point from it – I have
a quick guide just about that! The linkie will be in the description. Also, if you give Noblestalk to Derryth Bonecloak,
she'll be selling 2 Elixirs of Cloud Giant Strength per long rest later in the game. There are many other traders that will sell
it, but such elixirs are not guaranteed stock! Nevertheless, this elixir is way superior
to Giant one, as it sets your Strength to 27, which means even more damage! As for party composition, I recommend sticking
with a tank, a sorcerer with twinned Haste spell, and a bard or cleric for those neat
Hold Person and Bless spells. I hope with this guide you have achieved what
you were aiming for today! For more guides, simply visit my channel and
consider subscribing, it's that easy! Thank you all for watching, and see you next
time!
