Fighting Styles for a multiclassed monk

[Iguanodon]

Fighting styles are great, but they are severely limited by equipment. What fighting style would be appropriate for a multiclassed monk? I'm totally at a loss here.

Assume the monk wants to use their monk class features, and so will only wield monk weapons and won't wear armor or carry a shield. Bonus points if the fighting style is on the ranger and paladin lists, too.

[eldamir]

Fighting styles are great, but they are severely limited by equipment. What fighting style would be appropriate for a multiclassed monk? I'm totally at a loss here.

Assume the monk wants to use their monk class features, and so will only wield monk weapons and won't wear armor or carry a shield. Bonus points if the fighting style is on the ranger and paladin lists, too.

dueling fighting style with a shortsword, off hand for flurry of blows.

or PoleArm Master + Sentinel with a qstaff.

[mgshamster]

Dueling.

Unsure if it works with unarmed (ask your DM), but if you're using monk weapons with one hand, it's solid. And it works with paladin and ranger.

[Arkhios]

dueling fighting style with a shortsword, off hand for flurry of blows.

or PoleArm Master + Sentinel with a qstaff.

This would be great, if either of them was a Fighting Style (which they aren't).
Besides, Polearm Master is partially conflicting with Flurry of Blows, because using the class feature requires a Bonus Action.

[eldamir]

This would be great, if either of them was a Fighting Style (which they aren't).
Besides, Polearm Master is partially conflicting with Flurry of Blows, because using the class feature requires a Bonus Action.
True on the fighting style part.. although, Great Weapon Fighting would work if you could convince your DM that you strike 2-handed, then take one hand off the qstaff for a flurry in lieu of the first part of PAM that lets you do a reverse strike with the butt of the staff.
Also, I was thinking of the second half of PAM to grant AoO and since a qstaff can be wielded one-handed, the off-hand would still be free for a Flurry when used in that manner.

[Iguanodon]

Alright, Dueling doesn't suck, so that's a solid option. Is there any way I could benefit from Archery? Does it work with thrown weapons, maybe?

For the record, I'm not thinking of actually playing a build like this, but if I did, it would probably be an Open Hand monk.

EDIT: Dueling totally works with unarmed strikes, since Martial Arts attacks don't require a free hand AFAIK.
EDIT 2: I misunderstood the question, sorry. Ignore that.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Dueling is the only viable choice, it just won't work with your unarmed strikes, but that's okay.

If you wanted to waste Great Weapon Fighting by rerolling your 1's and 2's with your 1d8 quarterstaff, you can do that. :smallwink:

[Klorox]

Alright, Dueling doesn't suck, so that's a solid option. Is there any way I could benefit from Archery? Does it work with thrown weapons, maybe?

For the record, I'm not thinking of actually playing a build like this, but if I did, it would probably be an Open Hand monk.

EDIT: Dueling totally works with unarmed strikes, since Martial Arts attacks don't require a free hand AFAIK.

Thrown weapons are not missile weapons.

Dueling does not work with unarmed strikes, fists are not weapons.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

EDIT: Dueling totally works with unarmed strikes, since Martial Arts attacks don't require a free hand AFAIK.

Alas, no. The errata of the PHB deleted unarmed strikes as a weapon, Dueling requires a melee weapon so unarmed strikes is out.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Is there any way I could benefit from Archery? Does it work with thrown weapons, maybe?


Archery only requires that you use a ranged weapon. So it could work with darts, they are a ranged weapon and a thrown weapon. It of course could work with any ranged weapon that your monk would like to use. Simple ranged weapons that a monk has proficiency with are: light crossbow, shortbow, darts, and sling.

But why waste a fighting style on something the monk should not be doing? Ranged attacking is not how you are going to lay down any stunning strikes.

[Iguanodon]

If you wanted to waste Great Weapon Fighting by rerolling your 1's and 2's with your 1d8 quarterstaff, you can do that. :smallwink:

That's not really that bad, and more fun than just a flat +2. Granted, I'd probably use a spear instead since spears are also throwable, just in case.

Archery does work with missile weapons (i.e. darts), which aren't monk weapons. Do these need to be "wielded" in order to be thrown, or is it reasonable to just pull them out and throw them in one action?

[eldamir]

If you wanted to waste Great Weapon Fighting by rerolling your 1's and 2's with your 1d8 quarterstaff, you can do that. :smallwink:
It's an appropriate fighting style, just not the most optimal. :smallwink:
Crack them over the head with a stick, then poke them in the eye a couple of times.. might be fun to play
18mnk/2pal with a qstaff would be a 1D10 on the staff, plus 2X1d10 on the flurry .. would be a bit MAD and short on ASIs for the 2 feats plus dex/wis..


If UA is allowed, Mariner might actually be the best Fighting Style .. +1 AC when not wearing heavy armor or using a shield.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

That's not really that bad, and more fun than just a flat +2.


"Just a flat +2" is a big boost. I guess if re-rolling an 8-sided die 25% of the time is more fun than doing more damage with your character, then have it.

[Arkhios]

Archery would work too, since monks are proficient with all simple weapons (there are four ranged simple weapons: Dart, Light Crossbow, Shortbow, and Sling). Now, they won't do much for the Martial Arts feature, but it's a nice bonus to attack rolls, if you wanted to be versatile. (or if you think yourself as a Zen Archer rather than a melee monk).

From Unearthed Arcana, Mariner Fighting Style would give you +1 to AC as long as you don't wear heavy armor (being Unarmored qualifies).
I recall there was one Monastic Order in Oerth (Greyhawk) that could quite possibly have seafaring monks, for which such a Fighting Style would be perfect, because it also gives climbing and swimming speed equal to your land speed.

Edit1: Oops, got shadowmonk'd ._.
Edit2: Two-Weapon Fighting style would work too, although it conficts with Flurry of Blows. (Two Shortswords or Daggers, for example) However, you could take Dual Wielder at a later point (or at first level if variant human) and potentially benefit from +1 to AC whenever wielding two weapons (doesn't require you to attack with them). Even if you used Flurry of Blows (unarmed strikes can be performed with any unarmed appendage, not just fists.), it burns out your Ki pool, and once they're gone, having two weapons adds some consistent damage even then. Scrap that, I totally forgot that Martial Arts had an innate ability to do the same, and really makes the Fighting Style obsolete (not the feat though!)

[Zman]

Dueling woks, just use a one handed Monk weapon, just won't help your Martial Arts Attacks or Flurry.

Also, the UA Mariner? Fighting style would give you +1 AC while Unarmored.

[Sirithhyando]

Is there any way I could benefit from Archery? Does it work with thrown weapons, maybe?


I dont have my book in front of me so i'm just throwing an idea here.
A monk can grab an arrow that's sent towards him. With a ki point he can throw it back, maybe the archery style would work there?

[Specter]

Seems your dilemma is choosing between +2dmg to your regular attacks (with Dueling) or +1AC with climbing and swimming speed (Mariner). If your DM allows it, I think you should take the second.

[Joe the Rat]

What's out:
Protection - no shield allowed.
Defense - no armor.

That leaves:
Archery: +2 to hit with ranged attacks. Leaving "thrown yes/no" aside for now, this is a versatility choice. You can be an effective archer/skirmisher as well as a melee/skirmisher
Dueling: +2 damage to a one handed weapon. You've got lots of one-handed weapon options... which will get up to 1d10 damage if you monk long enough. Works with rapiers as well*
Great Weapon: reroll 1's and 2's on that two-handed staff/spear attack... and don't bother letting go, since you can martial arts or flurry with your feet. It's also good with the glaive or greatsword if you go Strong*
Mariner: Defense, plus be a spider monk-ey. Qualifies so long as you don't put on heavy armor.
Two-Weapon: for those times you want to hit with two pointy things. Early benefit (off-hand d6 vs. MA d4 or ki spent on flurry 2x d4), plus dual-wielding feat gets you a +1AC and twin spear shenanigans. Or whips*.

Dueling and Mariner are the most obvious options for a blended style. Great Weapon expects much staff or spear use, two weapon pretty much putters out at Monk6. Archery is diversity in tactics.

* - Non-monk weapons disable marital arts (dex to attack with non-two-handed simple melee weapons, better damage die, and off-hand unarmed strike). It does not limit flurry of blows, monk extra attack, stunning strike, or any other features. Heck, the entirety of Open Hand works, since you have to flurry for the hit riders. This does require you to look at weapon loads as 'alternate styles' - save the greataxe for meaty targets, use something lighter in large crowds. You might negotiate a "holding but not wielding" stance for when you want to use your full martial arts feature - use your free object interaction to switch your weapon to a "not ready" position (no attacks until your next turn) so you can use martial-arts to windmill kick the hell out of something.

[gfishfunk]

The dueling bonus is probably the best (and almost only) thing you could do when wielding a monk weapon in one hand.

You can do great weapon fighting, using a versatile weapon (spear or quarterstaff). This would limit your ability to catch incoming projectiles, I think. The reroll on the damage is not so bad at high levels, when your martial arts damage is higher than the base damage on the weapon.

No other fighting styles qualifies per RAW. I'm not sure about the maritime fighting style or other unearthed arcana, if there are any additional.

Monk does not multiclass well. Maybe Cleric, maybe Warlock for a shadow build.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Monk does not multiclass well. Maybe Cleric, maybe Warlock for a shadow build.

Not true. Monk multiclasses very well with fighter, ranger, rogue, cleric, and druid.

[Belac93]

Dueling or Archery.

Dueling makes you a better melee combatant, but Archery lets you run away and shoot if you are in a lot of danger.

[smcmike]

I think archery. Dueling is probably more effective, but applying a bonus to arrows that you THROW back at enemy archers... That's just fun.

[Jamesps]

Dueling is pretty lousy at early levels as it requires you to use a one handed weapon instead of a quarter staff. Eventually all your weapons do the same damage as two-handing a quarter staff, so at later levels it will add it's full +2, but up until level 9 you only really get the equivalent of +1 to damage for each attack.

Two-handed with a quarter staff is such a small boost to damage you'll hardly notice it most of the time. On average it increases your roll from 4.5 to 5.25, or .75 damage. You're better off with dueling, even at early levels.

You can get kind of janky with darts and use archery. Since you loose your weapon each time you attack, you'll be unarmed by the end of the attack sequence which will allow you to use your full unarmed damage for any flurry of blows you use.

The only ability that isn't janky as all get out is mariner style. At low and mid levels it gives you a climb speed (eventually you'll be able to run up walls, so this will become obsolete), the swim speed is useful throughout your career, and the +1 AC is a constant effect that requires no cheese or weird techniques or specific levels to be optimal.

[gfishfunk]

Not true. Monk multiclasses very well with fighter, ranger, rogue, cleric, and druid.

Agree to disagree.