Best monk MC 1-3 dip?

[Spacehamster]

So as there is a best races thread I were wondering what your thoughts on what the best MC dip is for a pc that still mainly want to be a monk is? So mostly things that still lets you get to 1d10 martial arts die. Ranger 3, fighter 2-3, barbarian 3 and rogue 1-3 all comes to mind.

So what 1-3 levels outside of monk itself do you guys think serves the monk best? :)

[JumboWheat01]

If it's a Shadow Monk, the best dip is Warlock, just enough for the invocation to let you see in the dark and in magical darkness, which the Shadow Monk can create on its own. Though that does mean having CHA 13 along with the DEX 13 and WIS 13 that you need for being a monk. But if you're a Shadow Monk, it's bloody worth it.

A couple levels of cleric wouldn't be bad either, grabbing something like the Trickster Domain could be useful, or the War Domain for their ability to ramp up their chance to hit something.

Rogue isn't actually THAT great of class to dip into unless you intend to just use weapons that are naturally finessible. Sneak Attacks don't work with non-finesse weapons (like quarterstaves, for instance, despite how the monk can use their DEX with them,) and it doesn't work with unarmed attacks either.

Barbarian requires STR 13 to multiclass into and STR isn't the greatest of stats for a Monk unless you're working a Grapple Monk. Then a Barbarian muli-class might actually be a pretty smart idea, for the advantage to STR checks Rage gives you.

[Spacehamster]

If it's a Shadow Monk, the best dip is Warlock, just enough for the invocation to let you see in the dark and in magical darkness, which the Shadow Monk can create on its own. Though that does mean having CHA 13 along with the DEX 13 and WIS 13 that you need for being a monk. But if you're a Shadow Monk, it's bloody worth it.

A couple levels of cleric wouldn't be bad either, grabbing something like the Trickster Domain could be useful, or the War Domain for their ability to ramp up their chance to hit something.

Rogue isn't actually THAT great of class to dip into unless you intend to just use weapons that are naturally finessible. Sneak Attacks don't work with non-finesse weapons (like quarterstaves, for instance, despite how the monk can use their DEX with them,) and it doesn't work with unarmed attacks either.

Barbarian requires STR 13 to multiclass into and STR isn't the greatest of stats for a Monk unless you're working a Grapple Monk. Then a Barbarian muli-class might actually be a pretty smart idea, for the advantage to STR checks Rage gives you.

Thanks for the input, always been fond of shadow monk 17 + 3 assassin idea, use a short sword be a half Orc then you can teleport to ppl shank them with advantage due to surprise and pull off martial die times three due to half Orc racial + 4d6 sneak attack, just seems appealing.

Obviously half Orc is not a good race choice if you do not have good rolled stats to support it or a DM that lets you throw around the pluses to help players pick odd races for classes. :)

[Casualoblivion]

Rogue/Monk looks like it would end up more Rogue than Monk.

The Shadow Monk/Warlock is just made for a variant Half-Elf from the Sword Coast book. Half Elf can get +2 Cha, +1 Dex, +1 Wis while the variant can trade the two skills for Drow Ancestry and the Drow magic for an extra Darkness 1/day.

[Citan]

So as there is a best races thread I were wondering what your thoughts on what the best MC dip is for a pc that still mainly want to be a monk is? So mostly things that still lets you get to 1d10 martial arts die. Ranger 3, fighter 2-3, barbarian 3 and rogue 1-3 all comes to mind.

So what 1-3 levels outside of monk itself do you guys think serves the monk best? :)
Hi! :)

Well, I'd say it's honestly hard to give a general answer since so many classes bring different benefits, it also depends on the archetype you choose.

Taking the problem from the other end, we can safely bar the following classes (although even those can provide strong benefits, they are either too nich or too MAD to be recommended usually): Barbarian, Paladin, Sorcerer, Wizard, Bard.

Then comes the Warlock, exposed hereabove, and indeed one of the best dips for Shadows...

At the middle level, consider also Cleric or Druid. Each of them brings useful cantrips and spells, even with low WIS, as well as added benefits depending on the archetype. The main drawback is that you really need to get 3 levels because otherwise your spellcasting will be too situational to be really useful (2-3 slots per day). Which is harsh considering Monk 18th feature.

Then comes the higher tier: Fighter, Ranger, Rogue. Each of these are strong dips as soon as level 2 (Action Surge, Fighting Style+Hunter's Mark, Cunning Action) which is great for Monk who have a good chance to get up to 20 (you still get 18th feature which is great). And some of their archetypes are very strong as well:
Fighter Battlemaster brings extra chance to hit and soft control. Hunter Ranger gives you potential extra attack. Rogue brings you auto-disengage (Swashbuckler), item as bonus action (Thief) or crit on surprise attack (Assassin).

As strange as it could be though, my personal choice order when I have no particular build is...
1) Rogue 2(3 Swash): while Cunning Action seems overly redundant with Monk features, it does not consume precious Ki points. It also gives Expertise to Hide or Perception, small boost to damage and initiative and free disengage. For an Open Hand Monk I find this very useful. :)
If I can afford the Mobile feat though, I'll stop at Rogue 2. :)

2) Ranger 2(3 Hunter): the basic Ranger gives Fighting Style and Hunter's Mark. Especially good for Sun Soul Monk if you can take CQS. Spellless Ranger 2 also can be great if allowed for Manoeuvers. It's probably best to go up to Ranger 3 though. Otherwise, taking Magic Initiate feat for Hex and Fighter 1 for Fighting Style is better.

3) Life Cleric 1 / Moon Druid 2: beyond the Goodberries cheese that can be situationnally good, you get a handful of great cantrips as well as plenty of good spells to use, which you can change each day, with a decent spellcasting ability: Bless, Entangle, Healing Words, Fog Cloud, Thunderwave...
Note though that if you are set on dipping 3 levels, either Cleric 3 or Druid 3 could be better, depending on your character: Blindness (Cleric) could greatly help any Monk that mains his WIS for Stunning Strike and other abilities. MoonBeam (Druid) can be great with an Open Hand as well, or Flaming Sphere.

[RickAllison]

Thanks for the input, always been fond of shadow monk 17 + 3 assassin idea, use a short sword be a half Orc then you can teleport to ppl shank them with advantage due to surprise and pull off martial die times three due to half Orc racial + 4d6 sneak attack, just seems appealing.

Obviously half Orc is not a good race choice if you do not have good rolled stats to support it or a DM that lets you throw around the pluses to help players pick odd races for classes. :)

"Grod sneakily cut pitiful human's head off!"

[Spacehamster]

"Grod sneakily cut pitiful human's head off!"

Actually got the idea to make a pure Assassin rogue half orc with magic initiate feat from wizard spells, take booming blade and green flame blade as cantrips and find familiar as lvl 1 spell.
Call him Gronk Boomshanks, expertise in stealth, sneak up behind guard and pop booming blade, the resulting crit would if it not killed the guy from damage either make him soil his pants or get a heart attack lol. xD

[bid]

So as there is a best races thread I were wondering what your thoughts on what the best MC dip is for a pc that still mainly want to be a monk is? So mostly things that still lets you get to 1d10 martial arts die. Ranger 3, fighter 2-3, barbarian 3 and rogue 1-3 all comes to mind.

So what 1-3 levels outside of monk itself do you guys think serves the monk best? :)
Because monk cannot wear armor, it must keep Dex/Wis as high as possible or your AC will suffer. This means any Str/Int/Cha MC requirement is hard to meet.

You can dump to Wis13 if you use some AC13+Dex variant (warlock's armor of shadow, draconic sorcerer or straight mage armor). For instance, half elf warlock can 8 16 16 8 13 14 for armor of shadow and MC monk afterward, but it will never reach AC20.

If you want to reach Dex20/Wis20, you can only MC with a Dex/Wis class.
- tempest 1 : longbow + rebuke
- fighter 1 : longbow + mariner style
- hunter 2 : longbow + mariner style
- rogue 2 : CA + SA

Fighter has a lot going for it: mariner style gives you AC20 with Wis18, freeing a second feat. Action surge's 6d10+30 every SR is almost better than assassinate's 8d10+20 on surprise. And you still get empty body.

[unwise]

When working out MCing, ask yourself when do you plan to do it?

Any MCing before level 5 seems like a bad idea. It would delay out getting your school buffs (3) and ASI (4) or an extra attack + stunning strike (5). Delaying any of those seems pretty unacceptable to me. So assuming we are looking after level 5, I still don't see anything worthwhile. You are missing out on KI points to power up your abilities and not gaining much in return.

Fighter has too many features you cannot take full advantage of, barbarian needs Str to benefit properly, rogue is OK but has too much redundancy with your bonus action options.

Ranger seems passable for the level 3 feature giving you Collossus Slayer or something. Your high number of potential attacks makes good use of that and Hunter's Mark. That is basically all you get though and for that you give up: Magical attacks, evasion, anti-charm/fear, ASI/Feat, 3 KI Points, +5' movement, and a subclass feature like Shadow Step. I think the Monk5/Ranger3 will have the higher damage output, but you would want to be pretty DPR focused before you considered it worth it. If you care that much about DPR Monk might not be the right class to start with.

[NaitoCorvo]

to MC from monk you need to take in account different variables:

- your cap level as monk (what maximum level you want to reach as monk)
- your "Monastic Tradition" (if you crossed the cap of level 3)
- what do you want to add on your character with that MC.

for example:
if you play an Open Palm Monk your cap level will probably be 17th level because of the Quivering Palm.
up to this point you can slowly build your monk with small little things such as 3 levels of battlemaster for added combat flavor (with 1 Martial Adept Feat) or even Eldritch Knight for utility spells (Shape Water/Message/Mage hand ,and SHIELD) and the Weapon Bond that will trully help you with ranged attacks and daggers. you can also do 2 levels of fighter and 1 of rogue for expertise (which we all can agree is really helpful for monk's perception/stealth).

Playing a Shadow Monk as some people said gets cool at 6th level when you get to teleport wherever there are shadows. people who play this monk, drop it around here and multiclass little bits of few other classes to add to this monk, such as Rogue and Warlock (rogue sneak attacks and warlock watching in darkness).

no comments on 4 elements.

Long Death Monk gets the really cool toy at 11th level: the ability to NOT DIE even when something should have outright killed you at an auto-cost of 1 ki point. With this monk you can just go up to 12th level for the feat/ASI or to level 14th for the DIAMOND SOUL feature. from that point you can take some levels in fighter, all the levels in fighter, some levels in rogue, all the levels in rogue, and so it goes.

no comments in sun soul monk mostly because I have never played it.

It all goes on what are your plans on how far you are going as monk and what kind of flavour do you want to add to that monk. literally add the MC sprinkles to the Monk ice-cream

[SliceandDiceKid]

Didn't read most responses, but rogue cunning action and expertise are worth the dip WITHOUT even considering sneak attack.

If all you care about is combat, fighter battlemaster or no spells ranger is probably the best.

[Foxhound438]

Options I like:

Sun Monk x/Bear barbarian 3: rage is going super sayan, kamehameha for days

With that one joke one aside, here's the actual things I like for monks:

Monk x/war cleric 1-2: divine favor is a good dpr boost for monks since you get 3-4 attacks per round. Personally wouldn't go 3 there since you ultimately lose empty body if you do, and for very minor gain.

Monk x/battle master fighter 3: these three levels net you a ton of utility with maneuvers. Action surge and dueling fs are pretty good to have as well.

Monk x/ranger 2: hunter's mark is a good damage boost, as with divine favor. Again, it's hard to justify 3 levels here since empty body is so good. Hunter's prey features give a good damage boost, but it just doesn't match the resistance+invisibility.

Monk x/warlock 1-2: makes you more MAD but short rest dpr jumps is pretty good.

[BladeWing81]

Because monk cannot wear armor, it must keep Dex/Wis as high as possible or your AC will suffer. This means any Str/Int/Cha MC requirement is hard to meet.

You can dump to Wis13 if you use some AC13+Dex variant (warlock's armor of shadow, draconic sorcerer or straight mage armor). For instance, half elf warlock can 8 16 16 8 13 14 for armor of shadow and MC monk afterward, but it will never reach AC20.

If you want to reach Dex20/Wis20, you can only MC with a Dex/Wis class.
- tempest 1 : longbow + rebuke
- fighter 1 : longbow + mariner style
- hunter 2 : longbow + mariner style
- rogue 2 : CA + SA

Fighter has a lot going for it: mariner style gives you AC20 with Wis18, freeing a second feat. Action surge's 6d10+30 every SR is almost better than assassinate's 8d10+20 on surprise. And you still get empty body.

you could easily do 15,15,13,12,8,8 for the Monk/warlock build with the normal Human, even better because you can get more Cons you would end up with:
STR 9
Dex 16
Cons 14
Int 9
Wis 16
Char 13

[MrStabby]

So I have seen a few monks played but not so directly experienced in them myself, but in the finest traditions of the playground I will still voice an opinion.

So I am going to limit to my answer to PHB classes/features as well - for simplicity and assume that we are just looking at no more than 4 levels.

Barbarian - totem
Too much loss. You have an ability to use dex for damage, so str is a waste, you have an alternative AC so the armoured defence from barbarian is a waste. And the barbarian bonus to Str attacks is a bit of a waste. Reckless attack and damage resistance as well as extra HP are nice but they probably add more to other classes than to monks.

Barbarian - frenzy
Like the totem barbarian on with the extra ability to use your bonus action to make another attack - so even more redundancy.


Bard - Valor
So you get a bunch of profficiencies you wont use, need to boost what would otherwise be a dump stat but you do get some casting. Now the casting can give you some great spells but probably less use than just using your action to smack stuff. Jack of all trades is good, but much better when you can have spells like counterspell. Not bad for initiative though. The support bits are good, but no real synergy there (unless you are wanting max grapple or stealth). Song of rest and expertese.

Bard - Lore
Probably gets a little more use than valor simply because cutting words is versatile and gives you a useful reaction.

Druid - Moon druid
So this is a bit of a waste. Most powerful ability is wildshape and it doesnt scale so not much good for a dip. Utility forms are good, but monk is flexible enough to gain less from them. At least casting stat is wisdom.

Druid - land
Slightly better as if you are going for druid, its for the spells and this a) gives you more of them and b) gives you more slots through natural recovery. Coast would be my prefered region as mirror image might be useful and you don't get it elsewhere.

Paladin - All
So what do you get in under 5 levels? A channel divinity -optimistic it will do much without high Cha, which would really cut down the investment in other abilities (vow of enmity is an exception). Some spells - but not many slots. Divine favour is the best (but doesnt work on unarmed strikes - but unlike spells like hex it doesnt compete with your ample other bonus action options). Armour and weapon proficiencies are a waste. Fighting style is weak for a monk as you wont use armour or a shield and neither dueling nor great weapon fighting work with unarmed strikes.

Cleric
Ok, now we start to get interesting. This class uses your wisdom so doesnt drop any abilities for you. Channel divinity for turning undead scales with proficiency (sure you don't get to destroy them, but it is still a solid ability). The domain channels are solid - knowledge adds massive out of combat flexibility, but the main skills you want you will probably have, life scales poorly for a dip, light's channel doesnt scale well (but warding flare is superb for a cleric dip for a monk), Nature's charm animals and plants is probably very situational and more for RP, Tempest doesn't scale unless you have a scaling source of thunder damage. Trickery has Invoke Duplicity, which might be fun with a 4 elements monk - if you wouldn't be so short of Ki anyway (actually its OK just for the advantage). The war domain is a waste - armour proficiency, a source of bonus action attacks and a once per short rest bonus to hit. The great thing about cleric is they do have spells like bless, almost worth a level by itself. A single level of light domain can be really good.

Wizard.
Well you need a decent score in another dump stat. Not a good start. You can get some useful spells - cantrips for ranged attacks, shield, blur, mirror image and some good out of combat options and with arcane recovery you can get an almost ok amount of spells per day. There are some surprising synergies though. Abjuration adds little - the ward needs too much int and wizard levels, conjuration may be ok if you need some specific items now and again, Enchantment requires Int, Evocation affects too few spells even for the elemental monk, Illusion is as fun as ever and adds bredth to a character but little real synergy, The same for transmutation. The other two spell schools are more interesting. Necromancy isn't good per se, but Grim Harvest actually can work well with an elemental monk - casting spells and being in a position where they are more likely to take a few knocks. Divination on the other hand can actually be good - Portent is great if you can force failed saves for both stuns and at the end of the game quivering palm. Worth considering if you rolled for stats and want a 13 in Int.

Sorcerer - Draconic
I see this as a poorer version of the wizard. Another dump stat but so many wasted abilities. Another AC type calculation that doesn't help the monk so much and sorcery points needing sorc levels. Unlike other potential multiclasses there are no spell slots to stack here. Metamagic, the big sorc thing isn't quite wasted as it lets you do things like quickened cantrips to add some spike damage once or twice per combat but a cantrip isn't really any better than flurry of blows for most of the game. It does bring a few more HP than a wizard I suppose.

Sorcerer - wild
So usual archetype caveats about Dm choice etc.. From a cynical perspective a DM is probably more inclined to let you Wild Surge per spell if you have fewer per day. Is it worth it? Probably not.

Warlock
Well you can do the usual level 2 dip for invocations (devils sight)... Pick up a couple of spells on the way. Whilst hex does conflict with all your other potential bonus action attacks it can still be very useful in some fights. Taking a pact probably isn't worth it for combat prowess but there is a lot of out of combat potential from both the pact of the chain and pact of the tome (blade is useful, but if your other class is monk the ability to be unexpectedly well armed is not really a valuable addition). None of the patron abilities at low levels/low cha are good enough to really provide a lot of benefit.

Rogue
A solid dip - expertise and sneak attack for one level, cunning action for one more, and for three the archetype bonus. I would just stick with one or two. No conflicting stat requirements and most things seem to add. Cunning action suits monk style of play but is only an improvement on existing abilities for dash (rather than allowing something that couldn't be done before).

Ranger
I don't think this is that great. At first it looks good - need dex and wis which is a good start. The downside is that both monks and rangers make heavy use of their bonus action to be effective. Hunters mark, ensnaring strike etc. all conflict with martial arts and flurry of blows. Rangers companion doesn't scale well with monk level and hunters prey has some weaknesses (Colossus slayer is OK early game or where you can get an off-turn attack). Giant killer is a bit too situational. Horde breaker really loses out where you are not using ranged weapons to get options for the extra attack (yes a monk could use a thrown weapon as a monk weapon, but horde breaker requires that same weapon be used for the follow up attack). Yes you can make a character that does excel at some types of fight (big creatures or hordes) but it is a bit lacking in the others. Also - once again the fighting styles don't benefit the monk so much.

Fighter - Battlemaster
So this is what I consider the other good monk dip. Yes, usual thing about fighting styles being less important for a monk, yes second wind doesnt scale well but action surge is a powerhouse on any class. At level 3 you get 4 superiority dice per short rest which can be brutal and none of it needs any ability you didn't want high anayway. Disarming strike to take away a component pouch or arcane focus (grab it and see how good at that Str check the wizard is to get it back), pushing attack can drive some creatures a huge distance (push from pushing attack and push from flurry of blows to drive up to 60ft per turn at level 8). Sure there is some overlap between the battlemaster abilities and monk abilities so it isn't perfect.

Fighter Champion.
So the same good stuff on the fighter chassis but instead has improved critical. As so much of your damage comes from extra attacks and less from huge damage dice this is less spectacular. On the other hand you are sticking this ability on a monk so you have a more interesting set of activated abilities so the boredom factor is somewhat mitigated.

Eldritch knight.
Well I think this is a little lacklustre. Some small casting on a dip, and whilst shield is good it isn't that good (ok, there are other spells, just not many as well suited for a frontline fighter). Like the pact blade, weapon bond is a little wasted on a monk.


So my view is cleric (probably light) and fighter (battlemaster) are the best dips. Then Warlock for devil's sight cheese and rogue. Some of this may depend on your DM though - if you never fight devils, monsters with blindsight/tremmorsense or creatures that are not already at a disadvantage against you then Warlock may be better or if you are always going to fight big monsters there may be a place for a giantkiller ranger.

[RulesJD]

Just wanted to say there are some darn good MC combos here. IMHO the best MC dip depends on what level you plan to take your campaign to. These recommendations are for Shadow Monk because they are by far the most fun.

1. Warlock 2 (as discussed above)

2. Rogue 3 (Swashbucker for mini-Mobile + Alert feat + always on Sneak Attack with a damage scaling short short/dagger). Do NOT underestimate how useful nearly at-will teleport + expertise Stealth + at-will invisibility can be.

3. War Cleric (as discussed above for DF/useful concentration spells for your allies).

[Specter]

Want skills/resources? 3 rogue levels for Expertise, Cunning Action and Assassinate (if you're a Shadow Monk) or whatever other archetype you want.

Want to be a good damage dealer/controller? Fighter with Dueling, Action Surge and Battlemaster maneuvers.

The rest is niche and depends on specific builds.

[Gtdead]

The best way to increase your dpr is hex/hunter's mark and rogue's sneak attack.

Personally I'd go for 3 warlock, grab tome and get some fun cantrips like minor illusion, guidance, etc but Ranger +1 AC isn't bad as well.

Then he can decide whether he wants to be a more defensive character and go full monk, or start getting rogue levels (which is what I'd do).
Rogue offers good dpr that scales amazingly well with stunning strike (so you don't have to go assassin, you can force criticals whenever you feel like)
He also has expertise, which along with guidance and better than average wis/cha will make him an amazing social character.

[Citan]

Ranger
I don't think this is that great. At first it looks good - need dex and wis which is a good start. The downside is that both monks and rangers make heavy use of their bonus action to be effective. Hunters mark, ensnaring strike etc. all conflict with martial arts and flurry of blows. Rangers companion doesn't scale well with monk level and hunters prey has some weaknesses (Colossus slayer is OK early game or where you can get an off-turn attack). Giant killer is a bit too situational. Horde breaker really loses out where you are not using ranged weapons to get options for the extra attack (yes a monk could use a thrown weapon as a monk weapon, but horde breaker requires that same weapon be used for the follow up attack). Yes you can make a character that does excel at some types of fight (big creatures or hordes) but it is a bit lacking in the others. Also - once again the fighting styles don't benefit the monk so much.

I globally agree with all of your opinions and suggestions except on this one. :)
If you consider only PHB, yes it's not the strongest dip by far, mainly because too few spells to use.
Still, while your critic about Horde Breaker is valid, I find it a bit too strong. There should be quite a few occasions when you can enable it. It's best paired with Mobile though because of the added risk. Also, the two other options can be good too (although it also depends on how you rule it for Giant Slayer). As for Hunter's Mark, I'd say that, if you focus only on the action economy, it competes as hard as would Cunning Action. :) Otherwise, Fog Cloud and Longstrider can be decent alternatives.

Now, the real greatness of Ranger comes when you expand options, so DM-dependent.
If SCAG is allowed, then Ranger becomes one of the best dips for Sun Soul Monks, since these ones gets "Ranged Unarmed Strikes" as a basis. So it becomes much easier to enable Horde Breaker without risk.

And, if everything published by WoTC is allowed by the DM, then Spellless Horde Breaker Ranger becomes nearly as good or better as Battlemaster Fighter depending on the Monk builds (better if Sun Soul or Mobile, otherwise a bit lesser). :)

EDIT: My personal favorite stays Swashbuckler Rogue though, because every feature is directly beneficial for a very low opportunity cost (freeing the need for Mobile feat and ki points that would otherwise be used on mobility). And it incites to put a decent CHA, which I find adequate for many "Monk = Sage" characters :)

[MrStabby]

I globally agree with all of your opinions and suggestions except on this one. :)
If you consider only PHB, yes it's not the strongest dip by far, mainly because too few spells to use.

Yeah, I specifically constrained myself to that as I am most familiar with it. I am very happy to accept that other products change the balance



Still, while your critic about Horde Breaker is valid, I find it a bit too strong. There should be quite a few occasions when you can enable it. It's best paired with Mobile though because of the added risk. Also, the two other options can be good too (although it also depends on how you rule it for Giant Slayer). As for Hunter's Mark, I'd say that, if you focus only on the action economy, it competes as hard as would Cunning Action. :) Otherwise, Fog Cloud and Longstrider can be decent alternatives.



Your point about mobile is well made - I would normally be cautious about it as the feat is an extra cost but it is a solid enough a feat for a monk anyway. Unfortunatly you are probably an ASI behind due to multiclassing and Monk is a pretty MAD class so it isn't likely to be available till pretty high level.

[BladeWing81]

Hi! :)


Then comes the Warlock, exposed hereabove, and indeed one of the best dips for Shadows...

As strange as it could be though, my personal choice order when I have no particular build is...
1) Rogue 2(3 Swash): while Cunning Action seems overly redundant with Monk features, it does not consume precious Ki points. It also gives Expertise to Hide or Perception, small boost to damage and initiative and free disengage. For an Open Hand Monk I find this very useful. :)
If I can afford the Mobile feat though, I'll stop at Rogue 2. :)

2) Ranger 2(3 Hunter): the basic Ranger gives Fighting Style and Hunter's Mark. Especially good for Sun Soul Monk if you can take CQS. Spellless Ranger 2 also can be great if allowed for Manoeuvers. It's probably best to go up to Ranger 3 though. Otherwise, taking Magic Initiate feat for Hex and Fighter 1 for Fighting Style is better.


1) I agree that it's a solid build for either Shadow or Open palm, although the obvious choice goes to Assassin to land a first turn Kill, Swashbuckler get more sustained damage on the fact that it doesn't need an ally to get the sneak attack.

2)I agree that the ranger is also a solid choice after lvl 1 when you get hunters Mark/Fighting style, and even better when going lvl 3 for hunter subclass to get three hunter's mark spells slots and either extra damage or an extra attack but I'm not so sure about it being better for the sun soul Monk because hunters Mark needs a weapon attack and the radiant sun bolts are spell attacks. Ranger is better with either shadow or Open hand; for sun soul the best multiclass is warlock since Hex only needs an attack, it doesn't matter if it comes from a spell or a weapon also his spells are replenished on the short rest along side with the monks ki.