Dungeons & Dragons' latest sourcebook, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, comes with an assortment of player options, from spells to new subclasses for Monks and Rangers. All of these new customization options are themed around dragons, and the Monk's new subclass is the Way of the Ascendant Dragon. The Ascendant Dragon gives Monks several draconic-themed abilities and ways to spend their ki. However, there's little cohesion between different abilities granted, focusing more on the general theme instead of mechanical synergy.
The subclass gets a breath weapon attack they can use a few times a day before having to burn ki points to recharge it. They also gain limited flight when using the Monk's Step of the Wind ability and an aura that mimic's a dragon's Frightful Presence. Their class capstone enhances all of these abilities, which makes it difficult to find a good build that makes use of all of them together. Let's break down the strongest build for a full Ascendant Dragon Monk, focusing mostly on effective combat options.
Way of the Ascendant Dragon Build Summary
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Ability Scores (in order of importance) |
Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Charisma, Strength |
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Race |
Metallic Dragonborn |
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Feats |
Sentinel, Mage Slayer |
Prioritize the Ascendant Dragon Monk's Wisdom and Dexterity
Both the breath weapon attack and the Frightful Presence aura granted to the subclass cause enemies to make saving throws (Dexterity and Wisdom, respectively). The DC for these saving throws is the Monk's ki save DC, equal to 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom. This means Wisdom is by and far the class's most important ability score.
Wisdom also improves the Monk's AC through the Unarmored Defense feature. The other half of that Unarmored Defense bonus is the Monk's Dexterity, which also determines their hit and damage bonuses. After Wisdom and Dexterity, the Monk should prioritize Constitution, and can assign Charisma and Intelligence in any order while leaving Strength last.
The Best Racial Choice for the Ascendant Dragon Monk
Due to the changes to racial ability score increases introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, players can be a little more flexible when choosing their character's lineage. This means it's difficult for players to go wrong, but a good choice in this case is the Metallic Dragonborn subrace printed alongside the Way of the Ascendant Dragon in Fizban's Treasury.
Metallic Dragonborns get a +2 and +1 to two different ability scores, which in this case should be Wisdom and Dexterity. They also get two different kinds of breath weapon, allowing the Ascendant Dragon to pump out area-of-effect attacks without exhausting ki points. Their last racial ability is a resistance to one type of elemental damage. Players can pick any type from fire, cold, acid or lightning, but fire is by and far the most useful.
The Best Feats For Ascendant Dragon Monks
There's not as much customization available for martial classes like Monk in comparison to spellcasters, but they do have to decide whether to take feats or ability score increases at certain levels. Once they get their Wisdom up to 20 and their Dexterity to 16 or 18, Monk can take a few feats to round out their build. The most important one is Sentinel, since it synergizes exceptionally well with the Monk's 10-foot Frightful Presence aura. Most frightened enemies would just run out of the aura, but Sentinel means any attacks of opportunity will stop them flat in their tracks.
Frightened enemies will have a hard time hitting the Monk's higher AC, but spellcasters will still be a threat. To compensate, it's also important for the Ascendant Dragon Monk to take the Mage Slayer feat. This gives them advantage on all saving throws against those creatures and increases the likelihood of disrupting concentration that's being held on powerful spells.
Those two feats are the ones strictly necessary for this build, but players who don't need as many ability score increases can also opt to take Magic Initiate, Lucky or Gift of the Metallic Dragon. Magic Initiate lets them take the Cleric spell Bane, further lowering enemies attack rolls and saving throws. Gift of the Metallic Dragon gives the Cure Wounds spell once per day, as well as a pale imitation of the Shield spell to make the Monk even harder to hit. Finally, Lucky is a powerful choice for any character, letting them redo almost any roll a few times per day.