What would be the ideal 1st level and stat distribution for a Monk/Warlock in 5e?

[CyberThread]

Making a 10th level character and debating on how I want to divy up my stats and which level should be taken first. I will be doing a 7 monk /3 warlock . I figure the evasion + stillness of mind is worth more then trying to go 4th warlock and get the feat + spell actions. This will be a stealth focused build with way of the shadow and the warlocks various invocations that aid that . (Devils sight + whatever, and use eldritch blast for all my ranged attacsk when I can't get my hands on something or I need to snipe and shadow.


Still up in the air if am going to going shadow book or get myself an imp for my chain pact.
I think am working with a 27 point build. What are your suggestions?

[JNAProductions]

Suggestion number 1: Don't do this build. It's really, really MAD and would probably be better straight Warlock or straight Monk. (Probably Monk.)

Suggestion 2:


Strength
8
0


Dexterity
14
7


Constitution
12
4


Intelligence
8
0


Wisdom
14
7


Charisma
14
7


And then bump Strength or Intelligence by 2, whichever works better for you.

[Drackolus]

You could beg your DM to let you blade pact your fists. Seems like a shame to be MAD and not try to take advantage of it. 'Course, then you're looking at 12 levels of warlock for lifedrinker, and if you're not going that warlock heavy then tome or chains will still be better. Flurry of blows lets an 8 monk/12 bladelock do 4 attacks for 1d6+dex+cha. Seems more thematic to me too - I imagine glowy fists, or even demon knuckles or something of the sort. Hell, demon knuckles sounds cool enough to carry the whole character concept to me. Still probably very suboptimal, so I don't think it's too much to ask.

Yeah, way too lategame a build to really be viable, but just a thought.

If you go tomelock, that does get you access to a cha-based shillelagh, and when you use martial arts your main attack can also use a monk weapon for your unarmed die or the weapon's die, which includes staves and clubs. You'd be able to do your d8+cha shillelagh as your main attack, though flurry of blows and martial arts would still have to use your unarmed d6+dex.

Maybe even mix the ideas, go bladelock with a staff/club and take magic initiate: Druid for shillelagh. Cha for hit and D8+wis+cha for damage, while still keeping your flurry of blows (4 with D6+dex, but your dex should be at least 16, right?). Shadow Step is probably a better use of your BA, and that somewhat lifts dex off of your necessary skill list, though even with evasion, dex saves and AC are still important. Maybe even some polearm master cheese, though at that point, why are you bothering with Monk?

EDIT: or maybe flower fists with Archfey. Or tentacles coming out of the tips of your fingers, with which you perform spear hand strikes. Rigid black tentacles to the throat.

EDIT2: oh, sorry, forgot the actually address the original post. Yeah, Half-Elf seems like the obvious choice, with +2 cha, +1 dex, +1 wis. Would probably be better than variant human, since you get all that spell resistance and an extra skill prof over human with what is essentially a full ASI either way. I'd just go 15 in dex & wis, 14 in cha and 10 in con and let your +2 even it out, leaving you with 8/10/16/8/16/16. Unless you're later getting a stat increase feat, that's probably your best bet. When MAD, go mad. Also, go Monk at 1st level, since really all you're deciding is which saves you get, and dex is undeniably better than cha.

[CyberThread]

Suggestion number 1: Don't do this build. It's really, really MAD and would probably be better straight Warlock or straight Monk. (Probably Monk.)

Suggestion 2:


Strength
8
0


Dexterity
14
7


Constitution
12
4


Intelligence
8
0


Wisdom
14
7


Charisma
14
7


And then bump Strength or Intelligence by 2, whichever works better for you.


As long as I don't pick spells that need CHA , can I dump if take warlock as level 1?

[JNAProductions]

No. Two reasons:

1) You need a minimum of 13 Charisma to multiclass out of Warlock.

2) You need Charisma to Eldritch Blast properly.

[CyberThread]

No. Two reasons:

1) You need a minimum of 13 Charisma to multiclass out of Warlock.

2) You need Charisma to Eldritch Blast properly.


Reread the rules, you are right about needing 13 wisdom. Maybe this build would be to difficult to do at a low rating.



2) I will think on. EB will not be my main source of things, why am going monk instead of pure warlock.

[CyberThread]

Do you think going into rogue assassin would be better?

[Drackolus]

Do you think going into rogue assassin would be better?

As in assassin monk? 3 levels of assassin would give you that sweet assassinate, and you can easily get your sneak attack while using your unarmed weapon die by just holding a shortsword - the damage would be the same as if you used your fist, and you only get to sneak attack once anyway. Using your shadow abilities to help get that suprise round would be pretty neat too. You'd also have the benefit of relying almost purely on dex and secondarily on wis and then con, so much easier to stat. You'd even eventually be able to pull off 4 attacks at 1d10 that are automatically criticals, with one still getting your 2d6, so that's definitely all good. You have a little bit of conflict with, ironically, having way too many things you can do with your bonus action and only one bonus action per turn to go around.

[PoeticDwarf]

Human
15 dex (+1)
13 wis, cha and con (all +1)
Str and int or 11 (+1) and 8 (+1) or 10 (+1) and 9 (+1)

[Citan]

Making a 10th level character and debating on how I want to divy up my stats and which level should be taken first. I will be doing a 7 monk /3 warlock . I figure the evasion + stillness of mind is worth more then trying to go 4th warlock and get the feat + spell actions. This will be a stealth focused build with way of the shadow and the warlocks various invocations that aid that . (Devils sight + whatever, and use eldritch blast for all my ranged attacsk when I can't get my hands on something or I need to snipe and shadow.


Still up in the air if am going to going shadow book or get myself an imp for my chain pact.
I think am working with a 27 point build. What are your suggestions?
Hi!

Interesting challenge. Considering your objective, I'd suggest that for ranged attacks you forego Eldricht Blast and instead use a classic thrown dagger or bow/crossbow. Sure, you'll have to swap weapons, but this is imo better in several ways:
- don't depend on CHA so you can dump it to multiclass requirement if needed and pump DEX/CON and WIS (for defense) instead.
- Eldricht Blast requires verbal components so you'll give away your Hidden status as soon as you cast it. Whereas bow can be used silently.
- you can take instead cantrips that could be more useful for your build (so Magic is only here for utility).

As for the pact, you didn't tell anything about your choice AFAIK...
- Blade seems good to me only if you absolutely want to use a dagger as a thrown weapon, otherwise very little benefit to you.
- Tome could be nice for additional cantrips but real value comes from Invocation that lets you cast rituals. Problem is, with only 3 lvls Warlocks you have only 2 Invocations availables, and you may want already 2 other.
- Chain would therefore be the most logical choice, giving you a scout and aid in fight, and potential magic resistance.

In this case I'd go STR 9 / DEX 15 / CON 14 / INT 8 / WIS 13 / CHA 13 before racials, take a Race with +2 DEX and bonus to WIS such as Half-Elf.
For armor, forego Unarmored Defense, instead get the Invocation for free Mage Armor in addition to your Devil Sight. It gives you AC=13+DEX so you can safely pump up DEX and CON/WIS as a priority.

For spells, take Hex, Mirror Image and another such as Invisibility.
For cantrips, Mage Hand and another (Eldricht Blast if you still want in case of).

Your main problem with this build is that saving throws DC for your Monk abilities won't be very high since it's based on WIS. But you'll have decent AC and attack. If you plan on going up to 16 WIS anyways, then Mage Armor invocation will be useless later though.

Another way to go is to pump WIS as a priority, take Pact of Tome to get Shillelagh for your main attacks and get good chance on your Stunning Strikes. But your AC and Flurry of Blows will be feeble, so not sure it's a good tradeoff.

My 2 cents. :)

[PoeticDwarf]

Half-elf isn't a race with +2 dex...

[CyberThread]

Half-elf isn't a race with +2 dex...



Think they meant the wood elf...

other possiblities are

DROW

mountain dwarf

stout halfling

[Citan]

Half-elf isn't a race with +2 dex...

Errr you're right, I meant Wood Elf indeed, my bad. :)

[Naanomi]

I like this build with rogue in it, set
Cha to 13; 2-3 levels of warlock (mostly for devil's sight and possibly invisible pet); shadow monk enough to teleport, and assassin the rest of the way (maybe a few shuffles to get stat increases if needed). Less fun but not entirely pointless if GM says no sneak attack with monk fist

Wood elf
Str 8, dex 16, con 12, int 10, wis 16, Cha 13