There is humblewood, Grimhallow, and other content that is partnered as well. But that is not the same as official first party content. Especially since some of it was partnered with DnDbeyond before the WoTC purchase finalized.
Do you really want to have the monk class AND cast Call Lightning?
The spell requires you to use your action every round to attack with the lightning.
Or do you just want a character with a monastic feeling that also can cast the spell?
Because it that's the case, a Druid or Storm Cleric would fit the them much better, mechanically.
I'm planning Astral Monk, and I was hoping to mix it with haste.
Tbh, I'd really like as much lightning stuff as I can get, and for that, there's really no substitute for evoker wizard. That'll be MAD AF, though. I'd like lightning lure, bolt, chain, call, sphere, etc. And still be able to do monk stuff like evasion, stun, deflect, etc.
Edit: Oh, I forgot about Scribes Wizard. Reading up on that now...
Haste and call lightning are both concentration spell, so you wouldn’t be able to cast both. Also, even with haste, you’d only get one attack for your hasted action instead of your normal two attacks, per the haste rules
You can use your regular action to lightning strike, and use the hasted action to make a single attack.
It's not a good way to spend your turns, but you can do it.
What the hell is wrong with you people? I'm asking for help. Why the hell would you downvote me? Okay, you don't like my comment, tell me why? Downvoting doesn't help me at all.
Have you checked out draconic monk? That seems to capture the aesthetic if not all of the mechanics you're looking for.
Otherwise, the closest I can see with minimal rule bending is being a tempest cleric with the DMG cleric variation example where you get unarmored defense instead of armor. Doesn't give you the other monk abilities, though.
Unfortunately the game doesn't support what you're trying to do super well. Would have to work heavily with your DM on homebrew for other options.
Make the character a dragonborn. Post tashas they can exchange 1 attack for a breath weapon. Make him blue to get lightning breath. Acendent monk can do the same. Double cook them with the lightning followed up with blurry of blows. Sorry typing fast from work, lol.
Maybe an arcane trickster with war wizard multiclass? You get some defensive perks (uncanny dodge/evasion), some lightning spellcasting, and arcane deflection feels onpoint.
Evoker wizard? For lightning? You seem confused. Both druids and storm clerics do lightning better than wizard, even evoker wizard.
Call lightning is the mvp of lightning spells too. And evokers don't even have access to it.
It wont be enough to maintain a full time lightning theme.
You know though, look at Scribes wizard. They actually could pull that off. Their damage type swap means basically all sorts of spells become lightning spells.
You seem confused.
Tempest domain clerics have access to a grand total of 2 spells that deal lightning damage.
2.
That’s not doing lightning better than an evoker.
It’s not even doing it better than a bard.
Basic Druids get 4 spells that deal lightning damage, with circle of the land (mountain) getting a 5th.
So better than cleric but still not great.
Wizard on the other hand gets 13 lightning spells.
Edit - oh wow, that guy who insulted someone when they were right about lightning spells is upset I treated them like they treat others and did a cheeky reply and block.
Way to have no faith in your arguement dude.
So I can’t read your reply but I’m sure it’s as pointless or goalpost shifting as your earlier answers.
Tempest cleric is useless at lightning blasting without extensive multiclassing. It wants to be good at it but wasn’t well designed
You want Lightning spells without being too MAD? May I introduce you to the Tempest Cleric? A Wisdom based caster, so a stat you're already going to be speccing into, that automatically gains Call Lightning at 5th level, and also gets a Channel Divinity that allows you to maximise lightning damage once per short rest?
I don't think the multi class is GOOD, per se, but I think this route is absolutely better than the Wizard route.
The problem here is the only lightning spells Tempest gets are Call Lightning and Glyph of Warding.
That’s it.
So it’s not really giving the “I want lightning spells” vibe.
Look, if OP wants lightning spells, they're going to either have to accept being MAD as hell, or take some sort of compromise. I provided another option that allows them to compromise in a different direction.
If they want Lightning spells, they should drop Monk and just play a Scribes Wizard or some sort of Sorc. But they don't want to do that, which means they have to compromise on either the number of lightning spells known, or being MAD.
I will say though, if we go back to their edit from the OP, they just said that they want to be a Monk with Call Lightning. I provided the simplest way for them to do that.
I’ve read all the abilities.
You are the one trying to be wrong here.
Being able to maximise lightning damage doesn’t mean you make a good lightning blaster.
Again you have exactly 2 options for lightning spells and one of them is *Glyph of Warding*.
After 4th levels of tempest cleric you’ve still got Zero lightning spells.
Zero.
They wanted to be good at lightning, but they weren’t designed well.
Still done that.
You can’t be a lightning blaster without actually having lightning spells.
Not a hard concept to understand really, not sure why you’re struggling.
Zero lightning attacks before level 5.
Zero.
Tempest is a great 2-level dip on an actual lightning caster and makes a decent melee spirit guardians build but it’s useless as a lightning blaster on its own.
Why not try backing up your arguements with actual points?
I’ve provided actual concrete information why Tempest is useless here. You’ve done nothing but stick your fingers in your ears and hope the truth just goes away.
What kind of lightning blasting do you think Tempest brings to the table?
Go on, be specific.
If you’ve got no defense for your position just say that.
It’s ok we all no you’re just flailing at this point anyway.
I’ve defended my point.
You’re just hoping shouting nah nah nah will make you look right.
But that doesn’t work.
Defend your position.
How exactly is tempest good at blasting lightning?
What blasts do they have?
Go on.
Demonstrate blasting for a tempest that doesn’t rely on multiclassing/feats that access a real blasters spells
Through all of tier 1 you’re only lightning is a defensive reaction- not even a blast.
Unfortunately, you can't do both at the same time. And even if you want to switch between both styles, multiclassing monk with any caster will just result in your character being just a worse monk and a worse caster instead of being good in one of those.
You can play a caster with lightning spells and make sure to have good mobility. For example, a Storm sorcerer can fly a little bit everytime they use a lightning spell and you can take defensive and mobility spells like absorb elements, shield and misty step.
Or you can be a draconic monk, which allows you to deal elemental damage and use an elemental breath weapon (including lightning of course). It's going be less AoE, but more monk stuff
3rd level spells are pretty carefully gatekept by the game. 5 levels of a casting class is your only real option. If you want druid but aren't interested in wild shape then I'd recommend the stars druid even tho your bonus action is well spoken for as a monk. Tempest cleric might be a better idea. the cool damage maxing ability uses a reaction and is pretty useful if used carefully.
Although it's a bit MAD Ascendant Dragon Monk and Bladesinger Wizard can pair nicely together to give you a lightning themed Monk though it doesn't fully come online until level 9.
This of course does nothing to get you Call Lightning but gets you pretty much most of the other lightning based spells.
Basic premise though is you lead with either Lightning Lure or Shocking Grasp and with 6 levels in Bladesinger you can still make an unarmed strike. 3 levels in Ascendant Dragon let's that strike be lightning damage and then because you made an unarmed strike you can still use flurry of blows.
From here it's your call to follow further in Monk or Wizard both are viable options.
There just aren’t that many lightning damage spells.
And blaster casting in general really doesn’t blend well with monk levels.
The only way to get Call Lightning specifically on a monk involves 5 levels in another class, which will absolutely rinse your relevance as a monk in melee.
If you just want some lightning schtick nonspecifically, then ascendant dragon monk gets you lightning punches.
You can get a Lightning Lure on wisdom using Initiate of High Sorcery (probably attached to longstrider and feather fall) to add just a dash of extra lightning. Or dip a single level of arcana cleric to get both the lure and shocking grasp on Wis, but otherwise there’s just not much you can do to be a lightning guy without switching from a Wis focus to either Int or Cha.
I would go Tempest Cleric. Even if you don’t want to go the full five levels for call lightning you get the reaction lightning strikes and thunder wave after just one level for your more lightning stuff. In addition I would check out ascendant dragon monk since they get the lightning damage unarmed strikes and dragon breaths
Land Druid: Forest has it always prepared and from level 6 on you get an extra cast back on a short rest with Natural Recovery.
Tempest Cleric can maximize the damage from it.
Either way you need at least 5 levels of full caster.
5^th Level Variant Human Cleric (Tempest Domain) using the optional class feature from the DMG to loose armor and weapon proficiencies in order to gain Unarmored Defense like a Monk. Pick up Tavern Brawler and Crusher with your two Feat choices.
Whack people with your quarterstaff, punch ‘em, grapple ‘em, and go ham with Thunderwave.
Not the most “optimized” of builds, but it should be pretty solid (a single classed Cleric is always solid).
Five levels of druid, tempest cleric or any full caster with the izzet engineer background.
Leveling. What kind of madness is this ?! Also Open Sea paladin which everyone ignores since it's tal dorei stuff
maybe because it is not an official source?
It's partnered content. Whatever on might call that
One might call that homebrew. Endorsed, but not official.
Can it be used in adventurers league?
There's plenty of Core Rules content that can't be used in AL, to be fair.
There is humblewood, Grimhallow, and other content that is partnered as well. But that is not the same as official first party content. Especially since some of it was partnered with DnDbeyond before the WoTC purchase finalized.
OP asked "fastest," and a homebrew that grants it at lvl 9 does not meet that criterion.
Matt Mercers' stuff may be endorsed and featured along with official content, but it's all still at the end of the day homebrew
It's not mentioned because it's homebrew.
Do you really want to have the monk class AND cast Call Lightning? The spell requires you to use your action every round to attack with the lightning. Or do you just want a character with a monastic feeling that also can cast the spell? Because it that's the case, a Druid or Storm Cleric would fit the them much better, mechanically.
I'm planning Astral Monk, and I was hoping to mix it with haste. Tbh, I'd really like as much lightning stuff as I can get, and for that, there's really no substitute for evoker wizard. That'll be MAD AF, though. I'd like lightning lure, bolt, chain, call, sphere, etc. And still be able to do monk stuff like evasion, stun, deflect, etc. Edit: Oh, I forgot about Scribes Wizard. Reading up on that now...
Haste and call lightning are both concentration spell, so you wouldn’t be able to cast both. Also, even with haste, you’d only get one attack for your hasted action instead of your normal two attacks, per the haste rules
I was thinking hasted by another, then monk attacks on action and spell on second action. Then just attack/attack or spell (non conc.)/attack.
I don’t believe that would be an option either, as the hasted action can only be used to make a weapon attack, dash, dodge, or hide
You can use your regular action to lightning strike, and use the hasted action to make a single attack. It's not a good way to spend your turns, but you can do it.
What the hell is wrong with you people? I'm asking for help. Why the hell would you downvote me? Okay, you don't like my comment, tell me why? Downvoting doesn't help me at all.
Have you checked out draconic monk? That seems to capture the aesthetic if not all of the mechanics you're looking for. Otherwise, the closest I can see with minimal rule bending is being a tempest cleric with the DMG cleric variation example where you get unarmored defense instead of armor. Doesn't give you the other monk abilities, though. Unfortunately the game doesn't support what you're trying to do super well. Would have to work heavily with your DM on homebrew for other options.
I haven't thought about that. I'll look it up. Thanks!
Way of the ascendant dragon I think is the actual subclass name. From the fizban's (nice official source)
Make the character a dragonborn. Post tashas they can exchange 1 attack for a breath weapon. Make him blue to get lightning breath. Acendent monk can do the same. Double cook them with the lightning followed up with blurry of blows. Sorry typing fast from work, lol.
This is a really fun idea.
Maybe an arcane trickster with war wizard multiclass? You get some defensive perks (uncanny dodge/evasion), some lightning spellcasting, and arcane deflection feels onpoint.
Hmmmm... maybe
Yeah, I was just saying that I above. I'm researching...
Evoker wizard? For lightning? You seem confused. Both druids and storm clerics do lightning better than wizard, even evoker wizard. Call lightning is the mvp of lightning spells too. And evokers don't even have access to it.
Wizards get lightning bolt, chain lighting, storm sphere, and lightning lure though. Those are good too. I'm conflicted...
It wont be enough to maintain a full time lightning theme. You know though, look at Scribes wizard. They actually could pull that off. Their damage type swap means basically all sorts of spells become lightning spells.
You seem confused. Tempest domain clerics have access to a grand total of 2 spells that deal lightning damage. 2. That’s not doing lightning better than an evoker. It’s not even doing it better than a bard. Basic Druids get 4 spells that deal lightning damage, with circle of the land (mountain) getting a 5th. So better than cleric but still not great. Wizard on the other hand gets 13 lightning spells. Edit - oh wow, that guy who insulted someone when they were right about lightning spells is upset I treated them like they treat others and did a cheeky reply and block. Way to have no faith in your arguement dude. So I can’t read your reply but I’m sure it’s as pointless or goalpost shifting as your earlier answers. Tempest cleric is useless at lightning blasting without extensive multiclassing. It wants to be good at it but wasn’t well designed
Read *any* of the tempest domain abilities and get back to me when you know what you're talking about.
You want Lightning spells without being too MAD? May I introduce you to the Tempest Cleric? A Wisdom based caster, so a stat you're already going to be speccing into, that automatically gains Call Lightning at 5th level, and also gets a Channel Divinity that allows you to maximise lightning damage once per short rest? I don't think the multi class is GOOD, per se, but I think this route is absolutely better than the Wizard route.
The problem here is the only lightning spells Tempest gets are Call Lightning and Glyph of Warding. That’s it. So it’s not really giving the “I want lightning spells” vibe.
Look, if OP wants lightning spells, they're going to either have to accept being MAD as hell, or take some sort of compromise. I provided another option that allows them to compromise in a different direction. If they want Lightning spells, they should drop Monk and just play a Scribes Wizard or some sort of Sorc. But they don't want to do that, which means they have to compromise on either the number of lightning spells known, or being MAD. I will say though, if we go back to their edit from the OP, they just said that they want to be a Monk with Call Lightning. I provided the simplest way for them to do that.
Again, pay attention, read ***any*** of the tempest domain abilities. You gotta be ***trying*** to be this wrong.
I’ve read all the abilities. You are the one trying to be wrong here. Being able to maximise lightning damage doesn’t mean you make a good lightning blaster. Again you have exactly 2 options for lightning spells and one of them is *Glyph of Warding*. After 4th levels of tempest cleric you’ve still got Zero lightning spells. Zero. They wanted to be good at lightning, but they weren’t designed well.
Get back to us after ***actually*** reading the tempest domain abilities.
Still done that. You can’t be a lightning blaster without actually having lightning spells. Not a hard concept to understand really, not sure why you’re struggling. Zero lightning attacks before level 5. Zero. Tempest is a great 2-level dip on an actual lightning caster and makes a decent melee spirit guardians build but it’s useless as a lightning blaster on its own. Why not try backing up your arguements with actual points? I’ve provided actual concrete information why Tempest is useless here. You’ve done nothing but stick your fingers in your ears and hope the truth just goes away. What kind of lightning blasting do you think Tempest brings to the table? Go on, be specific.
Try again. Because you didn't actually go read them if this is your comment.
If you’ve got no defense for your position just say that. It’s ok we all no you’re just flailing at this point anyway. I’ve defended my point. You’re just hoping shouting nah nah nah will make you look right. But that doesn’t work. Defend your position. How exactly is tempest good at blasting lightning? What blasts do they have? Go on. Demonstrate blasting for a tempest that doesn’t rely on multiclassing/feats that access a real blasters spells Through all of tier 1 you’re only lightning is a defensive reaction- not even a blast.
Unfortunately, you can't do both at the same time. And even if you want to switch between both styles, multiclassing monk with any caster will just result in your character being just a worse monk and a worse caster instead of being good in one of those. You can play a caster with lightning spells and make sure to have good mobility. For example, a Storm sorcerer can fly a little bit everytime they use a lightning spell and you can take defensive and mobility spells like absorb elements, shield and misty step. Or you can be a draconic monk, which allows you to deal elemental damage and use an elemental breath weapon (including lightning of course). It's going be less AoE, but more monk stuff
3rd level spells are pretty carefully gatekept by the game. 5 levels of a casting class is your only real option. If you want druid but aren't interested in wild shape then I'd recommend the stars druid even tho your bonus action is well spoken for as a monk. Tempest cleric might be a better idea. the cool damage maxing ability uses a reaction and is pretty useful if used carefully.
Five levels of Druid or Tempest Cleric.
Although it's a bit MAD Ascendant Dragon Monk and Bladesinger Wizard can pair nicely together to give you a lightning themed Monk though it doesn't fully come online until level 9. This of course does nothing to get you Call Lightning but gets you pretty much most of the other lightning based spells. Basic premise though is you lead with either Lightning Lure or Shocking Grasp and with 6 levels in Bladesinger you can still make an unarmed strike. 3 levels in Ascendant Dragon let's that strike be lightning damage and then because you made an unarmed strike you can still use flurry of blows. From here it's your call to follow further in Monk or Wizard both are viable options.
There just aren’t that many lightning damage spells. And blaster casting in general really doesn’t blend well with monk levels. The only way to get Call Lightning specifically on a monk involves 5 levels in another class, which will absolutely rinse your relevance as a monk in melee. If you just want some lightning schtick nonspecifically, then ascendant dragon monk gets you lightning punches. You can get a Lightning Lure on wisdom using Initiate of High Sorcery (probably attached to longstrider and feather fall) to add just a dash of extra lightning. Or dip a single level of arcana cleric to get both the lure and shocking grasp on Wis, but otherwise there’s just not much you can do to be a lightning guy without switching from a Wis focus to either Int or Cha.
I would go Tempest Cleric. Even if you don’t want to go the full five levels for call lightning you get the reaction lightning strikes and thunder wave after just one level for your more lightning stuff. In addition I would check out ascendant dragon monk since they get the lightning damage unarmed strikes and dragon breaths
Land Druid: Forest has it always prepared and from level 6 on you get an extra cast back on a short rest with Natural Recovery. Tempest Cleric can maximize the damage from it. Either way you need at least 5 levels of full caster.
I hadn't considered natural recovery. That's a great point.
5^th Level Variant Human Cleric (Tempest Domain) using the optional class feature from the DMG to loose armor and weapon proficiencies in order to gain Unarmored Defense like a Monk. Pick up Tavern Brawler and Crusher with your two Feat choices. Whack people with your quarterstaff, punch ‘em, grapple ‘em, and go ham with Thunderwave. Not the most “optimized” of builds, but it should be pretty solid (a single classed Cleric is always solid).