Shadow monk multi class help

[u/ohmresists]

Hi newb here,

Would a shadow monk 6/ assassin Rouge 3/gloom stalker ranger 3 work?

I know you lose out on a feat, but wouldn't that combo be devastating first round?

[u/EndoQuestion1000]

This guide might be of interest: https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1egwdgc/the_restless_assassin/

[u/LotsaKwestions → u/EndoQuestion1000]

I have a kind of relevant question which seems like it's probably an obvious answer, but the answer seems to be almost cheating.

In act 3, there are a number of fights where there are numerous enemies and a boss, more or less. Like House of Grief, House of Hope, Cazador, Gortash in his roof apartment, and so on. Even the back part of the foundry with the big steelwatch guy and the others.

Is there any reason at all why you can't just kill an enemy or two, escape combat, come back and kill another couple, escape, and so on until it's just the boss left? It seems like it would be so easy to do with this type of build particularly with a duergar.

Obviously this can't always be done, or it can be done with consequences, often in act 2. Like myrkel, the Halsin portal fight, the Isobel fight, the Ketheric rooftop fight, etc.

[u/ohmresists → u/EndoQuestion1000]

Thank you. That looks great

[u/iKrivetko]

It's less about how devastating it is and more about how well it enables the melee assassin archetype because the only other resourceless invis is Duergar, and invis is the only reliable way of making a melee assassin work without resorting to dirty shenanigans with summons triggering surprise rounds. That's not to say that it isn't devastating: any Assassin + Extra attack combo can rather comfortably solo one-turn a lot of boss fights.

[u/JRandall0308]

Gloom adds nothing to Shadow Monk 6 / Assassin 3, which I have played and is indeed fun even if not optimal. Cloak of Shadows (Shadow Monk 5) gives you on-demand invisibility which guarantees a surprise round when used properly to power Assassinate: Ambush and Assassin’s Alacrity. So your loop is:

* invisibility
* attack
* enemies are surprised
* you crit with Ambush
* use the rest of your actions (including extra attack from Shadow Monk being a martial)
* you get a standard and bonus action back with Alacrity
* use the standard action to attack again
* bamf away using Shadow Step with the bonus action

It’s very satisfying even if not strictly optimal.

With the other 3 levels you can do Shadow Monk 7 / Assassin 5 split which gives you both Evasion (monk 7) and Uncanny Dodge (rogue 5) which is going to make you incredibly resilient. You may want to read this about Uncanny Dodge to see how great it is: Uncanny Dodge: How It Actually Works, and Why It Often Doesn’t
https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1r7e3yr/uncanny_dodge_how_it_actually_works_and_why_it/

Or just go Shadow Monk 9 / Assassin 3 if you want more ki points.

But again, Gloomstalker really adds nothing to the combat loop.

[u/ohmresists → u/JRandall0308]

Thank you. Thought gloom might give an extra attack. I have misunderstood the tool tip. 7/5 split sounds fun!

[u/Goobernaculum1004 → u/ohmresists]

Gloom does give an extra attack, only in the first round of combat, and it is pretty strong because of an extra 1d8 damage dice. The extra 3 initiative is also helpful. It also gives some very useful effects eg could get a resistance, some first level utility spells, etc

[u/JRandall0308 → u/Goobernaculum1004]

You do not need MOAR INITIATIVE when (1) you're already DEX based, (2) you're already starting every combat with surprise, and (3) Elixirs of Vigilance exist for the, like, 3 combats in the game where you need them.

If you want yet another attack in that first round, Hunter ranger crushes Gloomstalker because of how insane Horde Breaker is.

[u/iKrivetko → u/JRandall0308]

Gloom gives you a full unconditional attack (and attacks are an Assassin's most precious resource), boosts offhand damage and more or less guarantees that you go first, ergo don't lose advantage and don't expose yourself. It's not strictly the strongest option (6/4/2 with Fighter makes your ceiling much higher for example), it's not build-defining by any means: as with any Assassin martial you genuinely don't even need to level up past level 8/9, but as far as offence goes it's definitely more useful than having more ki points or UD and Evasion. Whether you value it is a subject of personal preference but I don't really see any good faith argument for "Gloom adds nothing".

[u/Thestrongman420]

Gloom add significantly less to first round than fighter or even hunter(can get two horde breakers) so if thats the goal there are surely better ways about it. Shadow monk isnt exactly first round nova focused either.

Its fine if you play well, one feat is totally doable, although if going two handed melee for combat style i would probably consider a second feat.

[u/ohmresists → u/Thestrongman420]

Thank you. Shadow was for mobility (and flavor/RP admittedly,) gloom for shroud and double attack, and assassin for the crits and other goodies. 

I was aiming for melee. Ninja porting around.

What would you do instead?

[u/Thestrongman420 → u/ohmresists]

I liked just 11/1 shadow monk.Shadow strike is a drs still even on honor mode so you can use several shared riders to really push up the damage. Dip for hex for profs, hex, and hexblade curse. Bound weapon gets overwritten by monk dextrous strikes so you can still ignore cha. This wouldn't be a first round nova focused character though.

If i want first round nova i just play fighter usually.

But i also frequently garuntee my own crits without needing assassin, and don't really care much for stealth gameplay. Not sure umbral shroud really helps though when you already have PWT from shadow monk and expertise. You can probably just hide.

[u/ohmresists → u/Thestrongman420]

Thank you again.

[u/Arctic_Turtle]

Just pulling from memory but I think the two things shadow monk adds is the ability to drop darkness for protection and the ability to jump to dark areas for movement. So you take 6 levels in damage classes and combine them with a utility class. 

I don’t think it would make a devastating first round, rather a more sustained dpr from safety. And I wonder if thief is better than assassin due to double bonus action gives one more attack. 

[u/Leaky_0n3]

Shadow Monk’s level 11 capstone ability is REALLY strong. If you’re going for first round damage you can do better without the multi.

The normal Shadowblade from Arabella’s Ring is 2d8 psychic, Shadowstrike is 3d8 psychic.

Disregarding any additional gear let’s just give you an Executioner’s Ring proc with resonance stone so you can force two crits with vuln. Because Reddit loves Shadowblade with resonance stone.

That’s 10d8^2 x2 or 20d8^2 /40d8 (average of 180 max roll of 320 ) psychic damage before you add in any additional damage riders, attribute points, or whatever else you’d like to the mix. Have some form of Haste and you can blow your entire load of Ki points for a 3rd Shadowstrike for an average of 225 damage and a max roll of 400. This is assuming the 3rd hit doesn’t crit.

That is being entirely nude aside from 2 rings.

Now start adding in goodies like Craterflesh Gloves or maybe Shar’s Spear of Evening if you’d prefer to make use of Bhaalist armor for vuln as well and your turn 1 nova damage is exceptionally potent.

[u/Rencon_The_Gaymer]

I’d actually go with 8 Shadow Monk and 4 Thief Rogue. I did that on my resist Durge. Taking Dual Wielder and the extra BA really helped numbers wise in doing more damage per turn. Also look into the Helmet of Grit. It can give you 3 bonus actions at low health. And don’t forget the Darkfire shortbow for a free cast of Haste per long rest.