Monk of the Way of Shadow
Tier BMonk · Way of Shadow · Elf · levels [3,21)
Invisibility + Shadow Step = the best skill-monk. Stunning Strike is still the boss-killer.
Why this tier
Darkness + Invisibility + Shadow Step (60 ft teleport 60ft) = best rogue-monk hybrid.
Estimated single-target DPR
65/100 — Loremaster estimate, not measured in play
Feat progression
- L4Mobile — +30 ft speed, no opportunity attacks on Dash
- L8Sentinel — Speed 0 on reaction attack
- L12Lucky — 3 luck points
Loremaster’s notes
The Shadow Monk is the "I sneak in, I teleport, I stun, I leave" skirmisher. Shadow Arts (level 3) lets you cast Darkvision, Darkness, Pass Without Trace, Minor Illusion, or Silent Image as a ki point. Pass Without Trace is the pick: 1 ki, +10 Stealth to the whole party, no concentration, 1 hour. Shadow Step (level 6) lets you teleport 60 feet from one dim light / darkness area to another. This is a 1-action feature that costs no resource. Combined with your Darkness spell, you can dark-teleport every turn. Opportunist (level 11) lets you make an unarmed strike on a creature when someone else hits it. This is the "I am a rogue but I can stun" build. Race: Wood Elf for the extra 5 ft movement and Mask of the Wild (hide in natural dim light).
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