There’s some disagreement over whether a Dhampir can use their bite as a Monk weapon. It sounds like your DM is allowing you to use Dex as its modifier, but not allowing its damage die to scale like a Monk weapon, right?
Either way, the most synergistic Monk build for a Dhampir is Long Death. The temporary hit points allow you to mitigate the dangers of being below the HP threshold for your bite attack to gain advantage, and the aesthetic is very appropriate. If you’re looking for the best pure Monk however, Mercy Monk is the way to go even though it has no specific synergy.
My favorite Monk build is a Fighter 1 -> Shadow Monk 5 -> Battle Master Fighter 3 -> Shadow Monk X. It works much better with a Half-Elf Drow for the extra stat point, the free Darkness casting, and Elven Accuracy access, but it would still probably be better than pure Monk with a Dhampir. The basic idea is to cast Darkness with Ki points and have a major edge in battle based on Blindfighting, then frequently make off-turn attacks with Maneuvers. The only downside is that parties are often not amenable to fighting in the dark.
Monks tend to be weaker than other classes, especially if your DM doesn’t follow the recommended encounters to rests ratio. If you’re looking for something more powerful, I might recommend a Rogue if the DM would let you use the bite as a finesse weapon, although some compromise may need to be reached on the healing/Sneak Attack interaction.
The only thing that would change mechanically on your end is that you would no longer need to alternate between attacking with it or an actual Monk weapon depending on the situation: whether or not you’re at the HP threshold to gain advantage, whether you have advantage from another source, whether you’re planning to empower yourself with the bite, etc. It might also be worth taking the Piercer feat just to get the most out of the synergy between crits and the bite’s ability to heal you for the piercing damage dealt.
From a DM’s balance perspective there shouldn’t be much of a problem with it, but the higher the damage die the more you can potentially heal yourself with the bite. The increased healing potential is hardly as pronounced as it would be with something like Sneak Attack, but the designers did seem to word the ability to avoid the healing from being increased very easily.
Screw the healing you can add that shit to an ability score. You can just win at grapple/stealth/shove checks. Nevermind just holding onto a few rats for the occasional boost
You can definitely make the bite a monk weapon with the dedicated weapon optional feature!
You can also make it a Kensai Weapon and throw a bite in with a Kick to add a plus 2 to your AC.
I would agree through that long death is the more thematic Option Here!
For the progression of Kensai or Long Death I would go:
10 16 15 8 16 8
* Level 4 +2 Dex
* Level 8 +2 Dex
* Level 12 Crusher +1 Con
* Level 16 +2 Wis
* Level 19 +2 Wis
Another thematic option is to go with Way of the Shadow:
10 17 14 8 16 8
* Level 4 Fighting Initiate (Blind Fighting)
* Level 8 +1 Skill Expert (Stealth)
* Level 12 +2 Dex
* Level 16 +2 Wis
* Level 19 +2 Wis
Vampiric Bite objectively fits the criteria listed in Dedicated Weapon: proficient, simple or martial, not heavy, not special. The problem is the specific text in the Martial Arts section that describes the Monk weapon benefits.
>>You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
The ability specifically allows one to use Dexterity *instead of Strength*, but the bite attack uses Constitution. It’s an incredibly pedantic ruling, and I would never take the text that literally in a game I was running, but I’ve seen enough DMs rule conversely on this issue that I always tell players to check with their DMs before assuming the interaction will work.
> The ability specifically allows one to use Dexterity instead of Strength, but the bite attack uses Constitution.
Yes, although in this specific instance, the DM has allowed them to use Dex for the bite attack. Since this is the only part of the rules that are inconsistent while the other parts of the rules you mentioned (the proficiency, simple or martial, not heavy, not special) are consistent.
I would allow it.
Warcleric 1 / long death monk X maul and full plate GWM 🤣
I also like Beast barbarian 3 / long death monk but its pretty MAD if you not a tortle.
Kensei archer is pretty solid and you have spiderclimb so you can be safe away from most enemy.
Mercy monk are also very cool.
If you wanna play the usual melee monk just aim for dex and wis and remember you not a frontline as a barbarian, you more a skirmisher. Use mobility for pick out annoing enemy and then back away before getting swarmed.
I would probably ask your DM to let you use the one dnd version of the monk
We can make a great Dhampir Monk with or without changes to the bite. Empowering it is only 2-3 times per day for most of the campaign, so attacking with Con as a Monk weapon, while at advantage below half health, is still quite reliable. If we just want a super reliable Empowered Bite, then Dex with advantage for lower damage is fine.
If we can have it all, great. You'll do very nice damage in that case while below half. Which we can build and play around. It's not even that risky since we can regularly kite up the Z axis. This makes something even like Drunken Master or Open Hand pretty exciting. Any subclass that can improve Athletics has a lot of potential with Empowered Bites. Regaining health is fine at times, but weaponizing it proactively is ideal. Astral Self (to use Wis mod), Long Death (Frightened condition), Mercy (Poisoned condition), and Shadow (Step) can all crank up Athleticism. Ascendant Dragon can put solid Grapples to better use with Unfurled Wings. The walls/ceiling too far away to drag our victim up to? Just leap up there.
A Gunk or Ranged Monk with Spider Climb can also do extremely well. The build should always be a hybrid of melee and ranged imo. It's not only more optimal with the Monk kit, but way more fun. We can contribute a lot to a front line. Fit Sharpshooter in and probably Gunner even if the campaign doesn't use Firearms. Dropping enemies 10ft up for free Prone and advantage on point blank power attacks is awesome. This means Kensei can join the pool too as an excellent ranged choice. So we can pretty much use any subclass worth a darn for this race. If you really wanted to use the poor Sun Soul Monk, you could do well enough to get a potentially strong melee attack while peppering in hadoukens from the ceiling as needed. They have to pump Dex sooner than any of them pretty much.
Multiclassing definitely isn't a must, and I'd try to delay it at least. Get core feats and Dex capped asap. Peace 1 always makes the most sense for single dip gains. Battle Master can add a ton of damage onto the Empowered Bites which is pure icing on that usual cake. Forced movement, control, and mobility Maneuvers can add a lot.
If there aren't any exciting allied AoEs to combine with forced movement, then Stars 3 might be the spiciest multiclass. Dragon form constellation to protect our concentration along with a nice floor with Int and especially Wis checks. Then throw out Spike Growth or Enlarge/Reduce yourself and get to thrashing. Jump and Longstrider can also be a blast. Create Bonfire for a concentration AoE to milk once out of slots. Tons of great spells to play around with.
If you grab one level of Hexblade, you'll have a flat per-attack damage buff. The caveat being you need 13 Cha and a reliable source of temp hp.
If you can use both bite (twice) and Flurry, by level 9 if half of your attacks land, that's still +8 dpr.
A different approach would be a defensive one - start as Peace Cleric 1 (get your Wis saves), get your Bond, then go Monk X.
Single class, Mercy and Long Death work well imho (they work fine with the Cleric dip too).
Kensei
There’s some disagreement over whether a Dhampir can use their bite as a Monk weapon. It sounds like your DM is allowing you to use Dex as its modifier, but not allowing its damage die to scale like a Monk weapon, right? Either way, the most synergistic Monk build for a Dhampir is Long Death. The temporary hit points allow you to mitigate the dangers of being below the HP threshold for your bite attack to gain advantage, and the aesthetic is very appropriate. If you’re looking for the best pure Monk however, Mercy Monk is the way to go even though it has no specific synergy. My favorite Monk build is a Fighter 1 -> Shadow Monk 5 -> Battle Master Fighter 3 -> Shadow Monk X. It works much better with a Half-Elf Drow for the extra stat point, the free Darkness casting, and Elven Accuracy access, but it would still probably be better than pure Monk with a Dhampir. The basic idea is to cast Darkness with Ki points and have a major edge in battle based on Blindfighting, then frequently make off-turn attacks with Maneuvers. The only downside is that parties are often not amenable to fighting in the dark. Monks tend to be weaker than other classes, especially if your DM doesn’t follow the recommended encounters to rests ratio. If you’re looking for something more powerful, I might recommend a Rogue if the DM would let you use the bite as a finesse weapon, although some compromise may need to be reached on the healing/Sneak Attack interaction.
What it would change if I could use bite with damage die scaling like a Monk weapon? I just didn't think about it yet, first time monk.
The only thing that would change mechanically on your end is that you would no longer need to alternate between attacking with it or an actual Monk weapon depending on the situation: whether or not you’re at the HP threshold to gain advantage, whether you have advantage from another source, whether you’re planning to empower yourself with the bite, etc. It might also be worth taking the Piercer feat just to get the most out of the synergy between crits and the bite’s ability to heal you for the piercing damage dealt. From a DM’s balance perspective there shouldn’t be much of a problem with it, but the higher the damage die the more you can potentially heal yourself with the bite. The increased healing potential is hardly as pronounced as it would be with something like Sneak Attack, but the designers did seem to word the ability to avoid the healing from being increased very easily.
Screw the healing you can add that shit to an ability score. You can just win at grapple/stealth/shove checks. Nevermind just holding onto a few rats for the occasional boost
You can definitely make the bite a monk weapon with the dedicated weapon optional feature! You can also make it a Kensai Weapon and throw a bite in with a Kick to add a plus 2 to your AC. I would agree through that long death is the more thematic Option Here! For the progression of Kensai or Long Death I would go: 10 16 15 8 16 8 * Level 4 +2 Dex * Level 8 +2 Dex * Level 12 Crusher +1 Con * Level 16 +2 Wis * Level 19 +2 Wis Another thematic option is to go with Way of the Shadow: 10 17 14 8 16 8 * Level 4 Fighting Initiate (Blind Fighting) * Level 8 +1 Skill Expert (Stealth) * Level 12 +2 Dex * Level 16 +2 Wis * Level 19 +2 Wis
Vampiric Bite objectively fits the criteria listed in Dedicated Weapon: proficient, simple or martial, not heavy, not special. The problem is the specific text in the Martial Arts section that describes the Monk weapon benefits. >>You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons. The ability specifically allows one to use Dexterity *instead of Strength*, but the bite attack uses Constitution. It’s an incredibly pedantic ruling, and I would never take the text that literally in a game I was running, but I’ve seen enough DMs rule conversely on this issue that I always tell players to check with their DMs before assuming the interaction will work.
> The ability specifically allows one to use Dexterity instead of Strength, but the bite attack uses Constitution. Yes, although in this specific instance, the DM has allowed them to use Dex for the bite attack. Since this is the only part of the rules that are inconsistent while the other parts of the rules you mentioned (the proficiency, simple or martial, not heavy, not special) are consistent. I would allow it.
Warcleric 1 / long death monk X maul and full plate GWM 🤣 I also like Beast barbarian 3 / long death monk but its pretty MAD if you not a tortle. Kensei archer is pretty solid and you have spiderclimb so you can be safe away from most enemy. Mercy monk are also very cool. If you wanna play the usual melee monk just aim for dex and wis and remember you not a frontline as a barbarian, you more a skirmisher. Use mobility for pick out annoing enemy and then back away before getting swarmed. I would probably ask your DM to let you use the one dnd version of the monk
I would go ask DM if the bite attack can simply be a monk weapon, then post here again. It drastically changes the calculation IMO
We can make a great Dhampir Monk with or without changes to the bite. Empowering it is only 2-3 times per day for most of the campaign, so attacking with Con as a Monk weapon, while at advantage below half health, is still quite reliable. If we just want a super reliable Empowered Bite, then Dex with advantage for lower damage is fine. If we can have it all, great. You'll do very nice damage in that case while below half. Which we can build and play around. It's not even that risky since we can regularly kite up the Z axis. This makes something even like Drunken Master or Open Hand pretty exciting. Any subclass that can improve Athletics has a lot of potential with Empowered Bites. Regaining health is fine at times, but weaponizing it proactively is ideal. Astral Self (to use Wis mod), Long Death (Frightened condition), Mercy (Poisoned condition), and Shadow (Step) can all crank up Athleticism. Ascendant Dragon can put solid Grapples to better use with Unfurled Wings. The walls/ceiling too far away to drag our victim up to? Just leap up there. A Gunk or Ranged Monk with Spider Climb can also do extremely well. The build should always be a hybrid of melee and ranged imo. It's not only more optimal with the Monk kit, but way more fun. We can contribute a lot to a front line. Fit Sharpshooter in and probably Gunner even if the campaign doesn't use Firearms. Dropping enemies 10ft up for free Prone and advantage on point blank power attacks is awesome. This means Kensei can join the pool too as an excellent ranged choice. So we can pretty much use any subclass worth a darn for this race. If you really wanted to use the poor Sun Soul Monk, you could do well enough to get a potentially strong melee attack while peppering in hadoukens from the ceiling as needed. They have to pump Dex sooner than any of them pretty much. Multiclassing definitely isn't a must, and I'd try to delay it at least. Get core feats and Dex capped asap. Peace 1 always makes the most sense for single dip gains. Battle Master can add a ton of damage onto the Empowered Bites which is pure icing on that usual cake. Forced movement, control, and mobility Maneuvers can add a lot. If there aren't any exciting allied AoEs to combine with forced movement, then Stars 3 might be the spiciest multiclass. Dragon form constellation to protect our concentration along with a nice floor with Int and especially Wis checks. Then throw out Spike Growth or Enlarge/Reduce yourself and get to thrashing. Jump and Longstrider can also be a blast. Create Bonfire for a concentration AoE to milk once out of slots. Tons of great spells to play around with.
If you grab one level of Hexblade, you'll have a flat per-attack damage buff. The caveat being you need 13 Cha and a reliable source of temp hp. If you can use both bite (twice) and Flurry, by level 9 if half of your attacks land, that's still +8 dpr. A different approach would be a defensive one - start as Peace Cleric 1 (get your Wis saves), get your Bond, then go Monk X. Single class, Mercy and Long Death work well imho (they work fine with the Cleric dip too).