Dips on a Monk, is it worth it?

[Xeko]

Okay, so for my next character, I put all of the races I had never played before on a list, and all the classes I hadn't played before on a different (significantly shorter) list. Then I used a random number generator to get a result back from each list, and it looks like my next character is going to be an Orc Monk. I don't know a lot about the campaign yet, so I'm undecided on subclass, but it's between Ascendant Dragon and Mercy. I know Mercy is mechanically the stronger pick (by far) but Ascendant Dragon would have thematic ties to our previous campaign, and I have a feeling the next one would be set in the same world, so I could end up going either way.

My first thought when I decided on Orc Monk was that I'd want to take a level with another class to get proficiency in Martial Weapons, for the Monk's Dedicated Weapon feature. Specifically for Battleaxe. No particular reason aside from it being fitting on an Orc. For role play reasons, this one level dip would probably need to be the first level, and then multi-class into Monk at level 2 or 3. So, the question is, if I'm taking a one level dip, what dip works best? Or, is it worth it at all? A battleaxe isn't THAT much better than a quarterstaff or spear, right? Would it really be worth delaying all of my Monk features by a level?

Right now, I'm between Fighter and Cleric, as the dips I'm considering (though I'll take suggestions). Ranger would also give martial weapon proficiency, but it would a) call for a bigger dip before getting anything worthwhile, and b) be harder to fit thematically on an Orc. And any other class either doesn't give the martial proficiency I'm looking for, or would stretch my already MAD stat line a bit too much, in my opinion.

So...

If Fighter, what Fighting Style? (Unarmed stands out for early levels, but Martial Arts would make it useless eventually, if the campaign goes that long)

If Cleric, what Domain? (War fits thematically, Orc of Gruumsh or whatever, but the level 1 feature is kind of redundant on a Monk)

If neither (or other), why?

And do any of these answers change, if I'm Mercy or Dragon subclass?

Thanks everyone in advance for any advice. I've played a lot, but never a Monk.

[Thrudd]

Okay, so for my next character, I put all of the races I had never played before on a list, and all the classes I hadn't played before on a different (significantly shorter) list. Then I used a random number generator to get a result back from each list, and it looks like my next character is going to be an Orc Monk. I don't know a lot about the campaign yet, so I'm undecided on subclass, but it's between Ascendant Dragon and Mercy. I know Mercy is mechanically the stronger pick (by far) but Ascendant Dragon would have thematic ties to our previous campaign, and I have a feeling the next one would be set in the same world, so I could end up going either way.

My first thought when I decided on Orc Monk was that I'd want to take a level with another class to get proficiency in Martial Weapons, for the Monk's Dedicated Weapon feature. Specifically for Battleaxe. No particular reason aside from it being fitting on an Orc. For role play reasons, this one level dip would probably need to be the first level, and then multi-class into Monk at level 2 or 3. So, the question is, if I'm taking a one level dip, what dip works best? Or, is it worth it at all? A battleaxe isn't THAT much better than a quarterstaff or spear, right? Would it really be worth delaying all of my Monk features by a level?

Right now, I'm between Fighter and Cleric, as the dips I'm considering (though I'll take suggestions). Ranger would also give martial weapon proficiency, but it would a) call for a bigger dip before getting anything worthwhile, and b) be harder to fit thematically on an Orc. And any other class either doesn't give the martial proficiency I'm looking for, or would stretch my already MAD stat line a bit too much, in my opinion.

So...

If Fighter, what Fighting Style? (Unarmed stands out for early levels, but Martial Arts would make it useless eventually, if the campaign goes that long)

If Cleric, what Domain? (War fits thematically, Orc of Gruumsh or whatever, but the level 1 feature is kind of redundant on a Monk)

If neither (or other), why?

And do any of these answers change, if I'm Mercy or Dragon subclass?

Thanks everyone in advance for any advice. I've played a lot, but never a Monk.

I think fighter will give you the most bang. 2 levels of fighter would give you second wind and action surge, which will equal a lot of attacks in one round for you. You won't get up to 1d8 unarmed dmg until level 11, how likely do you think it will be to get that high, and how much higher? Also, if you're going high strength monk and take unarmed, you also get that 1d4 extra damage against grappled creatures.

Interception might pair well with mercy monk, since you'll often want to be adjacent to allies to give them healing, so will be in position to intercept damage coming at them as well -will work only if you have the axe or another weapon.

Cleric to consider might be Peace domain- although might not suit you concept too well - but if you go mercy, peace cleric can make sense, too. Mainly, I recommend it because of the Channel Divinity that will make great use of your high speed - get a full move action with no opportunity attacks and heal everyone you can pass within 5 ft of for 2d6+wis. You can also grant yourself temp hp every round and immunity to fear with heroism, which clerics don't normally get, and the emboldened bond mini-bless doesn't hurt either. Of course, peace cleric won't give you martial weapons - so maybe that's a non starter

Fighter's starting skills probably mesh better with your career as a monk, vs those of the cleric. If you dip cleric, I'd go monk for level 1 for the athletics and acrobatics (though I know you could possibly get them from background)

[RogueJK]

Twilight Cleric is going to be your best best for a Monk to dip 1 level for Martial Weapon proficiency.

Fighter gets you a Fighting Style (like Blind Fighting) and a tiny bit of BA healing.

Whereas Twilight Cleric gets you extended Darkvision that can be shared plus advantage on Initiative for either yourself or another party member, along with some cantrips (like Guidance, Thaumaturgy, and Sacred Flame), Faerie Fire and Slepp, and a few other 1st level spells per day (like Bless, Healing Word, Protection from Good/Evil, and ritual Detect Magic). I think that's overall a better package deal than Fighter's offerings.


Also potentially worth considering is Ranger, if you want to boost some of your skill capabilities. 1 level of Ranger (post-TCOE) not only gets you the martial weapons you're after, but also +1 skill proficiency, Expertise in a skill, and Favored Foe with daily uses that at least scale with proficiency instead of class level of ability modifier. Favored Foe's +2.5 average damage isn't a ton of extra damage, but with the Monk's many attacks you're able to land it pretty reliable each round, plus a Monk doesn't have other uses for their Concentration. Not as strong overall as Twilight Cleric, but the extra skill proficiency/expertise in particular could help round out a specific character concept, like an exceedingly sneaky Monk, or a grappler Monk, or even a persuasive negotiator Monk, etc.


As mentioned, War Cleric's ability to do a BA attack WISMOD times per day with your full Dedicated Weapon damage isn't that impressive, and its benefit declines even further as your Martial Arts die increases. At best, it's an opportunity for an additional +3 damage (1d10 vs. 1d4), usable 3-4 times per day. 9-12 extra damage per long rest is nothing to write home about. Twilight's long range Darkvision and Initiative Advantage is a much better pick.

Cleric to consider might be Peace domain

Peace Cleric doesn't get Martial weapon proficiency, which is the OP's entire reason for dipping into another class.

[solidork]

As mentioned, War Cleric's ability to do WISMOD BA attacks per day with your full weapon damage isn't that impressive, and its benefit declines even further as your Martial Arts die increases. At best, it's an opportunity for an additional +3 damage (1d10 vs. 1d4), usable 3-4 times per day. Nothing to write home about. Twilight's Darkvision and Initiative Advantage is a much better choice.

Narrow, but really at it's best its giving you extra longbow attacks because you can't be in melee for whatever reason. Divine Favor is also interesting on a monk. I agree with you though, the mechanical benefits of Twilight are more significant.

[RogueJK]

Divine Favor is also interesting on a monk.

Not really, since Divine Favor doesn't apply to unarmed strikes (which are not weapon attacks). So it'd mean extra damage to your actual weapon attacks only, like with your Dedicated Weapon. And you'll only ever have 2x 1st level spell slots per day, so it won't be that impactful overall. (I'd reserve the two daily slots for emergency Healing Words or Bless buffs, and mainly utilize your cantrips and ritual castings of Detect Magic.)

The edge case I could foresee for Divine Favor dovetails with your suggestion about the narrow usefulness for War Priest with a Longbow... If your Monk finds themselves in a big ranged fight where melee isn't an option, 3x Longbow shots per round with the +1d4 from Divine Favor on each attack could prove handy, for a few rounds at least.

But still not as broadly useful as Twilight Cleric's perks.

[nickl_2000]

Tempest Cleric would be interesting and fitting for an electric dragon.

Life Cleric is fitting for Mercy, although not that great mechanically

Long death and grave Cleric

War makes the most sense for an orc, but it really would suck on a Monk PC unless the DM lets you change out the level 1 ability. Something like this maybe?

Divine Rage: when you hit, you may use this ability to channel divine damage into you strikes. As a reaction to hitting with a melee weapon attack or unarmed strike, you may do an extra 1d6 damage on that strike. You may use this x times....

It probably would be about the same damage as War Priest in the long run and wouldn't suck for your PC.

[RogueJK]

While not directly applicable to the OP's situation, another dip to consider specifically if going Astral Self Monk is Druid 1. This gets you access to Shillelagh and Magic Stone, which combined with your Astral Arms, gives you WIS-SAD attacks at all times.

In combats when you've run out of Ki to activate Astral Arms (or for the first few Monk levels before Astral Arms comes online at all), you still have WIS-based Shillelagh melee to fall back on, supplemented by with your DEX-based BA unarmed strikes. And when you need a ranged option, Magic Stone grants you WIS-based ranged weapon attacks that can take advantage of Extra Attack. This WIS-SAD route lets you focus on maxing out WIS before ever worrying about DEX. Plus you have up to 2x Absorb Elements per day for elemental damage mitigation, along with emergency backup Healing Word or Goodberry healing.

Also doable with VHuman/CLineage and Magic Initiate Druid, without multiclassing.

[sambojin]

1-2 levels of Hexblade warlock might also be worth considering. You've got pretty heavy bonus action commitments already, but the 2 hexes per s/r might be useful to up your damage a bit later on.

It's more so the 13Cha that's hard to fit in to the build than anything else. It still gives you all the weapon proficiencies you need, a couple of cantrips (I wouldn't bother with EB with low charisma, maybe just go Mage Hand and Minor Illusion for utility), and a chance of invocations later if you do go for two levels of it. Having Shield and Hex is nice on a monk, and may be worth the dip just for that, even if their uses are limited.

Cleric or fighter is probably better for most purposes.


(I've always wanted to play as a firbolg monk just for a laugh, because my racials will be about as good as my ki-uses early on, so I won't feel the lack of adventure utility as badly while still doing reasonable combat punchy)

[strangebloke]

My general feeling is that taking more levels of a good class will almost always make your character stronger than taking levels in a bad class. Since monks are on the weaker side, they generally stand to benefit from levels of any other class, provided they can meet the MC requirements. Even a class that's arguably worse like rogue or barbarian might be front loaded enough to justify a dip.

Monks are particularly notable in this regard, since their main scaling mechanic (ki) can give full value whatever its used on. You can use it all on focused aim, flurry, stunning strike, whatever, and you're still being "efficient." It doesn't really matter if you never use stunning strike, you're still getting full value as long as you're using your ki on something. The only thing I would really recommend against is using armor, and that's just because armor is pretty trash anyway and monks lose a lot of good features (movement, martial arts) if armored.

So for less intuitive dips. You can just go wizard, dump WIS, boost INT, and use mage armor. Your SS DC will be bad, but meh. Your AC is competitive with a high-WIS monk through like level 12 at least and you can cast shield so who cares?

You can dip barbarian for rage, which is a really strong feature and really frontloaded, and then use Barbarian unarmored AC instead of your normal while punching people to death with strength-based MA attacks. (unarmed strikes still don't get rage damage )

But overall Cleric gives you more than most. Martial Weapon proficiency? Yes. Efficient concentration spells with no opportunity cost because you weren't a caster? Yes! Bless it up! Guidance?? yup. Some other over-tuned class feature? Yeah, if you pick the right subclass lol.

Missed that DF doesn't work with unarmed strikes. Lame.

[nickl_2000]

You can dip barbarian for rage, which is a really strong feature and really frontloaded, and then use Barbarian unarmored AC instead of your normal while punching people to death with strength-based MA attacks. (unarmed strikes still don't get rage damage )

Small and annoying point, RAW and RAI both have it so you don't get the choice of Monk or barbarian unarmored AC. Since they have the same name, the only one you get is the first instance. So, Barb level first, you just get Barb... Etc.

Personally in this case I think it's a stupid rule and can be tossed, but it is a rule.

[Angelalex242]

A single monk level is best for a Druid, perhaps.

[Jak]

My general feeling is that taking more levels of a good class will almost always make your character stronger than taking levels in a bad class. Since monks are on the weaker side, they generally stand to benefit from levels of any other class, provided they can meet the MC requirements. Even a class that's arguably worse like rogue or barbarian might be front loaded enough to justify a dip.

~snip~

You can dip barbarian for rage, which is a really strong feature and really frontloaded, and then use Barbarian unarmored AC instead of your normal while punching people to death with strength-based MA attacks. (unarmed strikes still don't get rage damage )
~snip~

Rage:
-When you make a melee weapon attack using strength, you gain a bonus to the damage roll...

Fortunately, unarmed strikes count as melee weapon attacks according to sage advice =)

I second this idea. It could go well with the half-orc feel. You could do a 1 level barbarian dip, have enough dex to get by, and make str, wis, and con your primary ability scores. Rage works well for monks many attacks.
If you're feeling it, you could work your way up to 3 levels of barbarian for the beast subclass, which in this case I would flavor as growing dragon claws during rage. With flurry, it would net you 5 attacks once you get extra attack. It's also thematic for an ascendant dragon monk.

This gives a lower AC than a monk normally wants (unless you roll high), but your HP is higher than most monks as well. Additionally, you get resistance to the most common damage types when you rage, so it could balance out, depending on the campaign.


If you are trying to keep it at 1 level, I would still go with barbarian.

[Reach Weapon]

If neither (or other), why?

Please note that I say this as someone who just recommended to someone else that they alternate Monk and Ranger levels through Tier 1, but an early dip is never worth it.

...unless it gives powerful synergies or resolves a fundamental clash between your play preferences and how the class operates.

Specifically for Battleaxe.

One of the great things about how badly Monks "suck" is that you can often get a DM to give you small things you want "because". Tell your DM you were thinking of asking to reskin a spear, but someone on the Innertubes said they should just give you Battleaxe as a Monk Weapon because it's just less work for everyone. Third prize is the Weapon Master half feat at 4th level.

And do any of these answers change, if I'm Mercy or Dragon subclass?

It also matters what version of Orc you're using, quirks of the table, and so on... Still and all, unless there's something really shiny you're chasing, straight Monk is probably best.

[Psyren]

Right now, I'm between Fighter and Cleric, as the dips I'm considering (though I'll take suggestions). Ranger would also give martial weapon proficiency, but it would a) call for a bigger dip before getting anything worthwhile, and b) be harder to fit thematically on an Orc.

Not sure I agree with either of these. I don't see anything about Orcs that make them not fit with Ranger. And 2 levels gets you Deft Explorer, Favored Foe and Hunter's Mark + Druidic Warrior->Shillelagh, both of which could be nice damage boosts on the right monk build.

[strangebloke]

Fortunately, unarmed strikes count as melee weapon attacks according to sage advice =)

I second this idea. It could go well with the half-orc feel. You could do a 1 level barbarian dip, have enough dex to get by, and make str, wis, and con your primary ability scores. Rage works well for monks many attacks.
If you're feeling it, you could work your way up to 3 levels of barbarian for the beast subclass, which in this case I would flavor as growing dragon claws during rage. With flurry, it would net you 5 attacks once you get extra attack. It's also thematic for an ascendant dragon monk.

This gives a lower AC than a monk normally wants (unless you roll high), but your HP is higher than most monks as well. Additionally, you get resistance to the most common damage types when you rage, so it could balance out, depending on the campaign.


If you are trying to keep it at 1 level, I would still go with barbarian.

Yeah, it works decently well especially if your DM is a little on the permissive side. IMO a one level dip is the way to go though. Reckless attack is a bad idea for this MC because of your low AC and HP relative to a barbarian, and your lack of payoff. Danger sense is sort of redundant. Going to level 3 for a subclass feature makes little sense because lol most barbarian level 3 subclass abilities sorta suck. Like what's the best one here, beast?

If you get the rage damage on flurry, with clineage/slasher or something that's potentially [(1d10+7)*2+(1d6+7)*2]*0.7=32.2 at level 6 or so, with like 15 AC and resistance to common damage types. It still really isn't what I'd consider good, particularly because of the lost BA on turn one. But its at least interesting.

[Xeko]

Okay, so I've read through what everyone has said so far, and this is a rough outline I threw together in response. This is definitely not set in stone, because as I write this, someone brought up a good point about Barbarian, but here is just one possible idea anyway.

>Orc, point buy 10 STR, 16 DEX, 13 CON, 12 INT, 16 WIS, 8 CHA, proficiency in Insight and Survival
>Fighter 1, taking Unarmed Fighting.
>Rush Mercy Monk 5 for Extra attack, using the ASI to boost wisdom on the way for Hand of Healing/Harm.
>Detour Fighter 2, for Action Surge.
>Monk 12. Level 11 is when the Martial Arts die makes Unarmed Fighting obsolete, and I pushed it the extra level for the ASI, capping WIS.
>Push to Fighter 4, to replace Unarmed Fighting with either Blind Fighting or Interceptor. Psi Warrior as subclass. INT modifier will never be good, but the number of psi dice scales with prof mod, not ability scores, and most other subclass features would compete for bonus action, so it's probably the best option. Plus Psionics and Ki are kinda similar thematically, right?
>From here, I got stuck. There's really nothing worthwhile in Monk at this point, aside from more Ki points and Diamond Soul. So I went Fighter rest of the way, capping Dex, and taking Crusher feat (+1 con) and then Tough Feat as the capstone, though I considered others, like Lucky.

Final stats; Psi Warrior Fighter 8/Way of Mercy Monk 12
10 STR, 20 DEX, 14 CON, 12 INT, 20 WIS, 8 CHA
192 HP, 20 AC, Ki-Save DC 19
Average damage 69 against enemy AC 15, with full resources, including action surge
Average damage 51 against enemy AC 15, with ki and psi (12 uses each), but not action surge
Average damage 27 against enemy AC 15, with no resources at all (only weapon attack x2, unarmed attack x1)
If we assume 3 combats per short rest, and 5 rounds per combat, overall average would be 47, give or take because of rounding.

I'm not sure what "baseline" damage looks like, so I don't know how that stacks up really, but this is the math I ended up with. This damage is achievable at level 14-15 though. After that it's all just boosts to HP and utility.

[Witty Username]

Generally, I am not a fan of class dips on monk, I personally find dipping on a monk is subpar in comparison to playing the class that is the dip choice, both in thematic and mechanical viewpoints. That being said a 3 level dip in Ranger can be very effective especially with the Tasha alternate features. That would work best leaning into ranged options like archery style with longbow, which doesn't sound like the goal but it could still be a potent option to have on hand and some things like druidic warrior have some fun stuff.
That and I would point out that Ranger 2 is often underrated, fighting style and spell casting doesn't like much on paper but it can be very effective in actual play.

The cleric options are sound, probably not War cleric simply because the abilities have a lot of overlap with monks bonus action stuff. In this case I would suggest fighter or ranger for the thematic reasons, since the other cleric sub classes I can think of don't fit well(maybe tempest or death?).

[diplomancer]

If you go Fighter, Duelling is a better idea than Unarmed Fighting; from levels 1 to 4 it's about the same, except when you Flurry (Unarmed Fighting is better in that case), but from level 5 on, Duelling leaves Unarmed Fighting far behind. There's some DPR comparison here:

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...ng-style/page4

If you go Cleric, Advantage on Initiative (and sleep at low levels) is hard to beat, though if your DM is generous with Magic items, an uncommon Weapon of Warning gives you the same benefit and more; on the other hand, War Cleric's Divine Favor spell works very well with Monks; as has already been mentioned, it DOES work with Unarmed Strikes. And, as has been mentioned, being able to make an extra Bow attack a few times per day can come in handy. At low levels, even if you just use it for your Battle Axe, 1d10+3 will be a lot better than 1d4+3; it's not "over the course of the adventuring day" that matters, as you will save it for that Boss fight, where it WILL matter.

[Xeko]

If you go Fighter, Duelling is a better idea than Unarmed Fighting; from levels 1 to 4 it's about the same, except when you Flurry (Unarmed Fighting is better in that case), but from level 5 on, Duelling leaves Unarmed Fighting far behind. There's some DPR comparison here:

The issue with Dueling is that it doesn't work with Versatile weapons, though I hadn't really considered the math for it before. Looking at it now, I guess it is still better, after extra attack. I suppose 1d8+5 is more consistent than 1d10+3, especially after extra attack. This is especially true for a Mercy Monk, who likely won't flurry as often as other monks, instead using Hand of Harm. It's more consistent damage, for the same resource cost. Until level 11 anyway, where Mercy can do both at once, but at that point martial arts die has made Unarmed fighting obsolete anyway.

[diplomancer]

The issue with Dueling is that it doesn't work with Versatile weapons, though I hadn't really considered the math for it before. Looking at it now, I guess it is still better, after extra attack. I suppose 1d8+5 is more consistent than 1d10+3, especially after extra attack. This is especially true for a Mercy Monk, who likely won't flurry as often as other monks, instead using Hand of Harm. It's more consistent damage, for the same resource cost. Until level 11 anyway, where Mercy can do both at once, but at that point martial arts die has made Unarmed fighting obsolete anyway.

Remember also that, unless your DM allows the extreme cheese of attacking with your weapon, dropping it,attacking with your unarmed strike, and picking up your weapon at the end of the round, Unarmed Fighting Style only gives you a d6, not a d8; so it's either 1d8+1d8 or 1d10+1d6, not 1d10+1d8. Even with that cheese, Duelling is ahead of Unarmed Fighting from Monk 5.

[Xeko]

Remember also that, unless your DM allows the extreme cheese of attacking with your weapon, dropping it,attacking with your unarmed strike, and picking up your weapon at the end of the round, Unarmed Fighting Style only gives you a d6, not a d8; so it's either 1d8+1d8 or 1d10+1d6, not 1d10+1d8. Even with that cheese, Duelling is ahead of Unarmed Fighting from Monk 5.

How do you mean? Versatile isnt the same as two handed. A two handed weapon, you cant have a hand free. No somatic spells, unless the weapon itself is a focus, and no martial arts. But with versatile you CAN have a free hand for spells and martial arts. The only real restriction would be no shield, if you're going to use the weapon's versatile feature. But you can remove your off hand from the weapon without losing control of the weapon, without needing to drop it. There's no need to drop the weapon each turn. Monks dont drop their quarterstaves, do they? I dont see how a versatile battleaxe would be any different. Do fighters need to drop their versatile longsword in order to grab a potion from their bag?

[JNAProductions]

How do you mean? Versatile isnt the same as two handed. A two handed weapon, you cant have a hand free. No somatic spells, unless the weapon itself is a focus, and no martial arts. But with versatile you CAN have a free hand for spells and martial arts. The only real restriction would be no shield, if you're going to use the weapon's versatile feature. But you can remove your off hand from the weapon without losing control of the weapon, without needing to drop it. There's no need to drop the weapon each turn. Monks dont drop their quarterstaves, do they? I dont see how a versatile battleaxe would be any different. Do fighters need to drop their versatile longsword in order to grab a potion from their bag?

Unarmed only does 1d8 if your hands are free. Not just one hand.

[strangebloke]

Unarmed style sucks. You can't use it with any weapon, so your normal attack goes from 1d10 (longsword) to 1d8, which almost completely offsets any gains on your MA attacks and flurry. You get a mild bump on levels 1-4 but its really not much even then and it only gets worse with time.

Archery, Blindfighting, and Interception are all much, much better options.

fun fact: GWF works with versatile weapons.

[Reach Weapon]

Okay, so I've read through what everyone has said so far, and this is a rough outline I threw together in response.

Your apparent underlying assumptions, numbers and math are not what I would have expected. I especially want to flag that you wrote off wanting more KI at a point lower than having enough to even just Flurry each prospective round, and that with the exception of the one die recovery, Psionic Energy dice are a Long Rest resource (although great catch on getting twice proficiency many of them).

If you had said that you noticed that Ixalan Orcs got extra crit damage, and so were Action Surging, taking Champion and looking for advantage to roll more of them, I'd agree that those are the types of synergies for which I might multiclass at low level.

As it stands, let me just say that one of the most important features of a build is that it seems fun and flavorful.

[Thrudd]

I'd say the only way unarmed fighting might be worth it is if-
1. you plan on going pure unarmed, no weapons, and
2. you can get a feat at level 1, start as monk and take the fighting style feat so you can change it at your level 12 ASI (or before).
then you wouldn't need to dip anything, or maybe just a couple levels for a nice feature like action surge.

For the axe monk, it does seem like dueling is most effective for damage after tier 1, and at tier 1 you can probably live with avg 1-2 less damage a turn.
I wouldn't want to lose that many ki points to a multi level dip- more ki points are worth it- more damage, stuns, mobility. Also, proficiency in all saves at level 14 is very nice, and speed improves. You really don't get to live that monk life unless you're flying back and forth across the battle field. So I'd say just go to fighter 4 for the ASI and fighting style switch (if you don't just go dueling from the beginning).

[sambojin]

I've been meaning to ask. What sort of Orc are you going to be? The bonus action move towards enemy type, the bonus action dash type, or the 1HP-leftover type?

Because the move'y orcs are plenty mobile, but it does impede their damage output when they do it. But this is pretty standard for monks anyway. It's probably best to just look at it as free-ki when you do it.

It does push it a bit towards racing to Monk 5 for extra attack, but a 1lvl Fighter or Cleric dip shouldn't hurt you too badly. I *know* fighter is probably stronger, but I *think* Cleric would be more fun, just for the smattering of magic/ cantrips and skills.

Ask your DM if you can just use a battle-axe as a Monk. Maybe it's your temple's or god's weapon or something? Because if you can, I'd probably suggest Arcana Cleric, just for the cantrips versatility. It's hard to get bored with enough cantrips to play with, even if it's not optimum from a DPR standpoint. You could nab Booming Blade and something else that way, and still have bless/ shield of faith/ a bit of healing too.

[bid]

If you had said that you noticed that Ixalan Orcs got extra crit damage, and so were Action Surging, taking Champion and looking for advantage to roll more of them, I'd agree that those are the types of synergies for which I might multiclass at low level.

Improved Critical is a trap. It is consistently overwhelmed by BM maneuvers.

If you are crit fishing for the fun of it, go for it.
If you are merely deluded about its DPR potential, steer clear.

[Reach Weapon]

Improved Critical is a trap. It is consistently overwhelmed by BM maneuvers.

1. You might note that I was talking more about what looking for synergies looks like than suggesting a build, but
2. Given Xeko's explanation and numbers, just adding crits on 19s yields 5 additional damage rolls per short rest (most of them d10s) when Extra Attack is gained and that improves with Monk levels, which is putatively what we're building.

[bid]

Given Xeko's explanation and numbers, just adding crits on 19s yields 5 additional damage rolls per short rest (most of them d10s) when Extra Attack is gained and that improves with Monk levels, which is putatively what we're building.

You'll be out of hp before you get 100 damage rolls.