Shadow Blade Monk Assassin Build | Mathematically Correct

This build takes the shadow blade ring (a terrible item) and makes it into a great damage powerhouse! Thanks to @TheRobversion1 for the build!

If you have any comments or suggestions for something to be tested let me know!

0:00 Thanks Holiday Driver!
0:17 Consistency
0:42 Build
1:11 Feats & Features
1:35 Key Items
2:02 Key Spells
2:08 Pre-combat Strategy
2:25 1st Turn Strategy
2:38 2nd Turn Strategy
2:53 Hit Chance
3:16 Damage
4:15 Pre-combat Damage
4:25 1st Turn Damage
4:51 2nd Turn Damage
5:10 Damage Totals

[TheRobversion]

hey DAD! hehe. appreciate the shoutout and glad to see you finally got the build up. you have that ahead of me as i dont even have it up on reddit yet. haha. been busy lately as well. only thing i'd add here is iirc savage attacker works on strange conduit and maneuvers. oh and i'd say just to make it clear for readers: maneuvers and sneak attack copy the base dmg type of the weapon, which makes them psychic, which makes them quadrupled by the crit + vulnerability setup.

i know you arent far into the game yet so hopefully you're further along and get to really play the full build. when you do so feel free to get back to me to let me know how it went for you. good job on the vid and keep it coming!

[geschichteanimiert]

Non meta builds are really fun to explore

[sirfawkes]

Hey, it's really cool to have found you when you're channel is so small. I know If you keep up the vib and formats of your videos. I can't wait to see where you go, because I can tell you will go far. It must be so fun to put out all this content.

[TitoVespasianus]

It would be nice to see some display of the build in combat, just for entertainment.

[altaccount]

I had a similar build. 8 fighter / 4 rogue. Dual wield to shadow blades. I have the fog cloud cloak and eversight ring. Bonus actions disengage. Bonus action hide. Sneak attack. Off hand attack. Bonus attack. With netherese stone and illithid cull the weak I don’t even need to get enemy to 0 health just down to 24 hp or something and then they pop causing more psychic damage popping more enemies. 😂 All while in heavy armor.

[tetefather]

Just wanted to say really nice, non-meta creative build! It's not that gimmicky and it works and nobody knows about it. That's what makes it great. My only complaint is that sometimes losing concentration on the psychic weapon during the fight can be annoying sometimes ^^

[Malinzo]

More videos making bad items better would be really interesting!

[dallinadams]

I would suggest monk5
The best tactic for this build is using invisibility to continually enter and exit combat, chaining surprise rounds and crits. The invisibility cloak is super useful for this and shadow monk can go invisible relatively easily as well. Other useful items are line breaker boots to give you wrath, as well as the ring which adds 1d4 psychic damage. Definitely a super OP build and one of my favorite ways of going assassin. It's also not as reliant on resources. You just need to short rest in case your concentration breaks. Enemies with alert can still be a bit of a challenge though.

[DropoutJournal]

This is pretty fantastic. I imagine you could also forego Level 4 in Battlemaster for an additional level in Shadow Monk if you get a +2 to Dexterity from the Mirror of Loss, giving you access to Shadow Step which is really the highlight of the Shadow Monk subclass.

Assassin 3, Thief 3, College of Swords 3, Gloom Stalker 3, Battle Master 3, and Champion 3 are all very viable mix-and-match options to go with 6 levels in Shadow Monk. I wonder if you'll experiment with them a bit more - my conviction in Shadow Monk being the single best stealth class has been climbing the more that I play around with builds.

[jeremygardner]

Obligatory comment for the algorithm. Great content and format. Easy to understand and to the point. Thanks 🙏

[SAVAGENEDVED]

the weapon is Belm, not Blem, but obviously that's a minor mistake!

[Rain]

So... I made this build, and decided to try it out on mystic carrion... Just a heads up, uhhh, undead cannot be steeped in bliss from the resonance stone. Man that messed me up, thinking I did something wrong lol. Worked great on Sarevok though!

[Rain]

0:50 I noticed you set the dex to 17 and took ASI +2 dex but never mentioned auntie ethel's hair, im guess its just a given?

[tinius]

We know for sure that Savage attacker doesnt work on sneak attack damage, but according to the wiki it might work on some damage riders it could maybe work on the ring, not sure tho.

[apwchan]

Are you using the Ethel's hair to get to 20 in DEX?

[Thanosdidnothingwrong.]

Bow of the banshee also adds 1D4 to attack roll and damage to Frightened creatures

[EnjoyerofSpinach]

Ive actually been working on this exact build myself. I went with Durge for the invis cloak, the goal is to never get hit by surprising them and leaving combat with invisibility before surprising them again.

Can't lose concentration if you never get hit. In the 3rd act the plan is to get a good finesse weapon with Lacerate so I can force disadvantage on Stunning Strike saves, just in case I cant escape combat.

[jakeparkinson]

How would you make a magic only barbarian viable, as in literally eldritch blast from spell sniper and nothing else?
I've been trying to play solo as a barbarian that has his rage channeled into rizz as he tries to be a spell caster but ultimately fails beyond his "mild magic" rages and eldritch blast's.

I was thinking purely using hags boon, one asi, sharpshooter and warcaster.

levels 1-5 are terrible since your only damaging cantrip is sorrowful lash, I went drow for dancing lights to be able to use my action the next turn as a concentrated blast. What items would you use without heading to the creche or far enough that the gobbo camp stuff advances?

Spellsparkler is nice as saving the lady in the burning inn is easy enough: but a magic only barbarian has shitty dps solo and not even a "mild magic" rage can save you if you are magic only. I usually get the misty step necklace from Gut's room, then kite the 2 mino's to the selune outpost and slowly whittle them down from where you can poke.

The ring of jumping is another item I like, and then there is the circlet of blasting. I f-ed up by siding with minthara as I think that kills damon in act 2/last light, i.e no haste bow.

Does free cast work on spells from items?

I was thinking dex gloves, but that means missing out on the daredevil gloves. Feats are messy, I could take dual wielder instead of asi to use spell sparkler and phalar alue to effectively deal 1d10 force + 1 lightning + 1d4 thunder. Besides that, I am out of ideas.

[jakecain]

Really really want to try this. Curious on what gear besides weapons would augment this best for a stealth playthrough

[IsraTheBlack]

I love this build. But I think there is room for improvement. The Shadowmonk 5 can easily be swapped for any other class. Maybe warlock 5 and switch the wisdom points into charisma. Does pact of the blade work on the shadowblade? That would be sick. Otherwise you can also do 5 paladin for smites.