Way of Steel Monk (Patreon)

The Way of Steel monk endures the rigorous training of a monastic warrior, and possesses their martial arts skills — but believes the best offense flows from an ironclad, heavily-armored defense.

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Steel monks differ from the archetype in being very focused on heavy armor, and have most of their abilities rebuilt to allow for Strength as a primary attribute. Iron Discipline grants them proficiency with all armor (not shields, though) and smith's tools, and enables Deflect Missiles and Unarmored Movement to function with Strength. Armored Warrior enhances their Deflect Missiles to work against melee attacks; a Way of Steel Monk could potentially stand on the front line and make four attacks every round without ever making a Flurry of Blows. At 6th, Iron Fist gives them bonus damage against opponents with conditions — while you don't have any explicit condition-inflicting features aside from Stunning Strike, grappling is a natural fit for your build and works great with Armored Warrior. Awakened Steel also lets you treat magic armor as a magic weapon for your unarmed strikes, and grants you a huge boost in adding your Wisdom to AC. Ironclad Resilience at 11th lets you spend ki to gain a massive amount of temporary hit points — very useful for that turn when you're right in the middle of the fray and know you're going to eat all the hits. And Brutal Defense at 17th gives you an extra reaction every round just for Armored Warrior and opportunity attacks.

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Art: Boonweaver Giant, by Adam Paquette © Wizards of the Coast LLC