Making the most of the monk of the four winds

[Prax4788]

So i issue a bit of a challenge
without any home brew or re wrights whats the funnest way to play the monk of the of the four elements

im not worried about power because the monk base package is really solid

and idea that was already presented was to take magic adept and get produce flame giving a basic fire attack that doesn't cost a resource

[Vogie]

I mean, it's an underpowered archetype. Starting off with some other aspect would certainly help - Such as a single Level in Druid for Gust and Produce Flame, then go up the Monk tree for the Four elements information.

If you want to just be a Wind Element Monk (Definitely-not-Airbender), talk with your DM about building your own collection of Air-based spell effects from among all the spell lists. The Way of the Four Elements monk basically follows the Paladin/Ranger spell progression list

Cantrips, cast with a single Ki point
1st level spells at levels 3-4, cast with up to 2 Ki points
2nd level spells at levels 5-8, cast with up to 3 Ki points
3rd level spells at levels 9-12, cast with up to 4 Ki points
4th level spells at levels 13-16, cast with up to 5 Ki points
5th level spells at levels 17-20, cast with up to 6 Ki points

It likely won't be incredibly broken, or require a homebrew/rewrite.

[CantigThimble]

I played one briefly. I played a Vhuman and used magic initiate: druid for flavor. I took produce flame, guidance and fog cloud. I flavored the guidance as minor elemental magic when possible, but it would also be entirely reasonable to take one of the elemental evil cantrips like shape water or move earth.

Their subclass abilities are a bit disappointing (and as a result 90% of the suggestions you get are going to be 'ask if you can use homebrew') but I found the monk chassis to be solid enough that I wasn't crippled in combat or anything. It's more that it's just annoying that your splashy elemental abilities often aren't as good as other uses for ki most of the time.

In the errata, water whip was nerfed to be an action rather than a bonus action, but it and fist of unbroken air are still the best options at level 3. The other option is taking fangs of the fire snake and saving it until you land a crit since it, like smite, can be activated after you see your attack roll for double the bonus dice.

[Talionis]

Being able to cast Stone Skin without any material requirements is very strong. I think it was errata'd to increase the level requirement to 17, which seems silly, since Four Winds is a little weak and hard to play well because it can burn through Ki so quickly.

[xroads]

How about multi-class with cleric of nature? Cleric for the first 8, then monk for the rest. That way the monk can choose any of the four elements whenever he strikes (Divine Strike) and has a whole repertoire of useful magics at his disposal.

Alternatively, be a human and choose mobility at first level. Then go straight monk. The monk won't be a power player, but will almost always be able to participate and affect combat.

[Vogie]

How about multi-class with cleric of nature? Cleric for the first 8, then monk for the rest. That way the monk can choose any of the four elements whenever he strikes (Divine Strike) and has a whole repertoire of useful magics at his disposal.


Actually, that's not a bad idea. With Monk needing the ki points, maybe just single level in tempest cleric rather than a single level of druid... however, you won't get Produce flame nor gust, but would still have Guidance, then choose Sacred flame or Toll the dead for a core damaging cantrip

[Specter]

To make the most out of Four Elements, you need to go for the things that other monks don't get.

• Fisk of Unbroken Air is a damage save, not an attack, meaning that's what you want when your enemy has too much AC (full plate/shield, or just monsters that have lots of natural armor) or is giving you disadvantage for your attacks (invisible foes, you being restrained, etc.).
• Clench of the North Wind follows a similar logic: sometimes, it's better to paralyze an opponent then to attack yourself. It shouldn't be hard to spot low-WIS enemies.
• Fangs of the Fire Snake is a way to attack enemies but still remain out of their reach. If you have a tank in your group, you can just stay a little to the side and hammer away. If your enemy wants to target you rather than him, he'll still have to move and eat an opportunity attack. There's also the option of nuking by spending 6 points of ki (FotFS + Flurry of Blows + bonus fire damage on every hit). It seems like garbage, but your ki will recharge on a short rest, whereas a Paladin's smite slots will only recharge on a long rest.
• Flames of the Phoenix (Fireball) covers one of Monk's main weaknesses: area damage. If you can catch 3 or more enemies in the area, this is a great choice.

Basically, Four Elements should add versatility to a Monk, not make them better at what they already do.

[Desteplo]

I played one for a few sessions I had a lot of fun

-Magic initiate: Gust, guidance, I chose absorb elements as my one a day

1lvl Druid is good but you get most of the flavor with cantrips

-with a one dip in druid you can get the other cantrips. Entangle as an earth spell (which is incredibly lacking in way of 4)
-produce flame is a good general ranged utility

[Citan]

To make the most out of Four Elements, you need to go for the things that other monks don't get.

• Fisk of Unbroken Air is a damage save, not an attack, meaning that's what you want when your enemy has too much AC (full plate/shield, or just monsters that have lots of natural armor) or is giving you disadvantage for your attacks (invisible foes, you being restrained, etc.).
• Clench of the North Wind follows a similar logic: sometimes, it's better to paralyze an opponent then to attack yourself. It shouldn't be hard to spot low-WIS enemies.
• Fangs of the Fire Snake is a way to attack enemies but still remain out of their reach. If you have a tank in your group, you can just stay a little to the side and hammer away. If your enemy wants to target you rather than him, he'll still have to move and eat an opportunity attack. There's also the option of nuking by spending 6 points of ki (FotFS + Flurry of Blows + bonus fire damage on every hit). It seems like garbage, but your ki will recharge on a short rest, whereas a Paladin's smite slots will only recharge on a long rest.
• Flames of the Phoenix (Fireball) covers one of Monk's main weaknesses: area damage. If you can catch 3 or more enemies in the area, this is a great choice.

Basically, Four Elements should add versatility to a Monk, not make them better at what they already do.
Alleluia! There is finally someone else in these forums that understand what 4e Monk is about. XD

@OP: this, mostly.
Basically, either you pick abilities because you like them then play around to make yourself useful in party, or you pick abilities that synergize the most with party composition, or you specialize in one special area.

Like... No AOE in party? Then Burning Hands > Shatter > Fireball is your priority.
You tend to face many enemies that hit dangerously hard in melee? Fangs of Fire Snake will help you much.
You have someone that likes to use/play with water or you tend to "meet" water areas often? The "Shape Water" like ability (don't remember name)
will be unsuspectingly useful.
You have many melee friends but nobody being good at shoving/grappling? then Water Whip or the opposite will be great choices.
Etc etc...

Or you could, of course, specialize in one area: shockingly impressive grappler (Fly + recommended one level dip in Rogue or Prodigy feat, also works well with Create Bonfire cantrip), alternative spy (same feat/dip + Gaseous Form)

The main idea of 4e Monk is "use ki more sparingly because your archetype abilities are here to cover situations in which Monk is usually weak (mostly)". You'll be frustrated at low levels, trouble should get away itself around level 6-8.
If you are afraid to feel limited in abilities that go beyond "weapon attacks/Stunning Strike) then either a dip in Druid/CLeric or Magic Initiate will be worthwhile. Otherwise just stay pure Monk and grit your teeth while going through level 1-4. :)

[Specter]

Alleluia! There is finally someone else in these forums that understand what 4e Monk is about. XD

@OP: this, mostly.
Basically, either you pick abilities because you like them then play around to make yourself useful in party, or you pick abilities that synergize the most with party composition, or you specialize in one special area.

Like... No AOE in party? Then Burning Hands > Shatter > Fireball is your priority.
You tend to face many enemies that hit dangerously hard in melee? Fangs of Fire Snake will help you much.
You have someone that likes to use/play with water or you tend to "meet" water areas often? The "Shape Water" like ability (don't remember name)
will be unsuspectingly useful.
You have many melee friends but nobody being good at shoving/grappling? then Water Whip or the opposite will be great choices.
Etc etc...

Or you could, of course, specialize in one area: shockingly impressive grappler (Fly + recommended one level dip in Rogue or Prodigy feat, also works well with Create Bonfire cantrip), alternative spy (same feat/dip + Gaseous Form)

The main idea of 4e Monk is "use ki more sparingly because your archetype abilities are here to cover situations in which Monk is usually weak (mostly)". You'll be frustrated at low levels, trouble should get away itself around level 6-8.
If you are afraid to feel limited in abilities that go beyond "weapon attacks/Stunning Strike) then either a dip in Druid/CLeric or Magic Initiate will be worthwhile. Otherwise just stay pure Monk and grit your teeth while going through level 1-4. :)

All good ideas.