The Way of the Open Hand Monk subclass is technically the most vanilla of all the monk subclasses. A run-of-the-mill, straight-down-the-middle martial arts expert. Yet not boring. Perfect for those of you who have never played a Monk before in Dungeons and Dragons. It’s also the best Monk subclass that can be explored through story, roleplaying, and flavor. Easily molded into whatever you want them to be. A streetfighter. A kung fu master. A thief. A Barmaid from Dock Ward.

The Way of the Open Hand, in a nutshell, uses the power of Ki to punch, jump, and roundhouse their way out of most situations. Channeling the mystical energy to hit harder, run faster, and dodge with grace.

We look at the best way to build your Way of the Open Monk into the best character that works for you. To get the full picture of the Monk class, you can check our complete Monk guide here.

How to Use This Guide

Everything in this guide has an emoji, ranking how useful a given ability or feature is to playing this class effectively.

✅ — An absolutely crucial feature. Often forms the backbone of a class’ look and feel. Will provide some bonus that can’t be found through other means.

🆗 — A solid feature that does its job well. Not game-breaking, and certainly replaceable, but a strong choice that shores up some weakness.

⚠️ — A debatable choice. Could work for a specific build, but otherwise is either a wasted opportunity or is just weaker than other alternatives.

⛔ — Outright bad and detrimental. This weighs down the class and just takes up space on the character sheet. A weakness you will have to accommodate for.

These rankings are meant to help you create an optimized Open hand build. Remember, though, Weaker but flavorful builds can make for fulfilling characters.

All these emoji rankings are specifically for the Way of the Open Hand Monk build. For all other Monk Monastic Traditions, you can check them out in our Monk Subclass Guide.

How To Play A Open Hand Monk

One of the original Monk Subclasses from The Player’s Handbook. As the Way of the Open Hand Monk is as fightery as a fighter from Fightsville, we’re going to look at the best way to build and play your Open Hand Monk.

You’ll be up at the front with the fighting folk and barbarian badasses. You’re a flexible tank, that deals a ton of damage. Without armor. A spiritual MMA fighter.

Way of the Open Hand Subclass Features

Level One (Monk)

✅ Unarmoured Defense

Always pump your highest dice rolls into your Dexterity and Wisdom. No physical armor. Your Monk AC is based on 10 plus your Dex modifier and Wisdom modifier.

✅ Martial Arts

The Monk uses unarmed combat to defeat its enemies.

The main points of martial arts are:

Dexterity modifier instead of Strength for attack and damage rolls for your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
Unarmed attacks start with D4 damage and increase as you rise through the Monk levels.
When you use an Action to make an attack, use your bonus action to make a second attack.

Level Two (Monk)

✅ Ki

At level 2, you get your Ki. Mystical magical energy flows through your monk, giving them their special powers. You get the amount of Ki points equal to your level. At Level 2, you get 2 Ki points. At Level 10, you get 10 Ki points. You get the idea. Ki points are used are spent on monk skills and monk subclass skills, including some of the Way of the Open Hand skills.

The Ki rules are:

Once spent, you need a long or short rest to regain all your Ki points back.
Your Ki DC is 8 plus your proficiency bonus plus your Wisdom modifier.

🆗 Flurry of Blows

Spend one Ki point and get two more unarmed attacks as a bonus action. Perfect for your Rocky Balboa Monk! That’s up to three attacks at level 2! Boom!

✅ Patient Defense

Patient Defense just proves how Monks can be slippery in a fight. Spend a Ki to get the Dodge action as a bonus action.

🆗 Step of the Wind

Similar to a Rogue’s cunning action, Step of the Wind allows you to spend a Ki and use the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action

🆗 Unarmored Movement

Faster Monk, faster! Starting at +10ft at level 2, it goes up to +30ft at level 20. At Monk level 9, your Open Hand Monk can run along vertical surfaces and across liquids.

✅ Dedicated Weapon (Optional)

Great feature! After a short or long rest, you can use your Ki and touch a weapon. That weapon is your monk weapon till you choose another.

Monks tend not to use weapons but this is a nice little extra additional skill.

The Dedicated Weapon rules:

The weapon must be a simple or martial weapon
You must be proficient with it
It must lack the heavy and special properties

Get a Longbow. If any chance, you end up in a situation where your Monk needs to take out enemies from afar, this is perfect. Open Hand sniper.

🧘 Want to discover another subclass? Check our guide to the Kensei Monk

Level Three (Way of the Open Hand and Monk)

Level 3 is where the fun begins! Where the first Way of the Open Hand abilities land, and boy is it a delicious chicken nugget of punchy Monk power.

✅ Open Hand Technique

The Open Hand Technique works in conjunction with Flurry of Blows, allowing you to expand its effectiveness in combat.

Whenever you land a blow on an enemy with Flurry of Blows, you can do one of three things.

The target must make a Dexterity save. On a fail, it’s knocked prone
The target must make a Strength save. On a fail, you can push them up to 15 feet away from you or off a cliff.
The target can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.

A fantastic first additional skill to your Monk’s fighting capabilities.

⚠️ Deflect Missiles

This skill allows you to catch or deflect an arrow or other projectile with the possibility of throwing it back.

Use your reaction to reduce damage by rolling a 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier + your monk level. Nice. If you manage to reduce the damage to 0. You catch it and make a ranged attack back at the target. Costs a Ki point. Situational.

✅ Ki-Fueled Attack (Optional)

Similar to the Martial Arts bonus action attack at level 1 with a few differences. Spend a Ki point on your bonus action to make an attack.

The differences are:

Martial arts – If you use your action to make an attack, you can use your bonus action to make an extra unarmed attack.
Ki-Fueled Attack – Your first action doesn’t need to be an attack. You could use Wholeness of Body AND attack unarmed OR with your Monk Weapon.

So you could do something else as an action and then kick the Kobald in the teeth with a Ki-fuelled attack.

Level Four (Monk)

⚠️ Slow Fall

Monks don’t often fall cos of all the special Monk stuff. When they do, it’s really embarrassing. So they have to have a special skill that makes them. Fall. Slowly.

Reduce falling damage by an amount equal to five times your monk level. Very situational.

⚠️ Quickened Healing (Optional)

Unless you’re really in dire straits, spending a bunch of Ki to heal yourself seems a waste of time. Two Ki points are pretty heavy. You gain hit points to the number of your martial arts dice rolled plus your proficiency.

The Way of the Open Hand has an alternate healing method at level 6. Read on.

Level Five (Monk)

✅ Extra Attack

The Monk gets an extra attack at level 5, with your Bonus Action attack or Flurry of Blows on top. That’s 3 or 4 attacks at level 5!

✅ Stunning Strike

One of my favorites from the Monk’s arsenal. Stunning Strike. When you hit an enemy with a melee attack, you can spend a Ki to perform a stunning strike.

The target enemy must make a Con save or be stunned till the end of your next turn. Fantastic! I’ve been in situations where the Monk in our party stunned and punched enemies. While my Swashbuckler flanked and pummelled the crap out of them from the other side.

Or, if it’s a bit of a powerful one. Stun it, and run!

🆗 Focused Aim (Optional)

Missing a strike can cost you the fight. Focused aim allows you to use your Ki points to give you an edge. Use up to three Ki points to push that attack roll over the target’s AC. Each Ki spent is worth 2 points. A great ability that can turn the tide of battle.

Level Six (Way of the Open Hand and Monk)

🆗 Wholeness of Body

Healing. You can use an action to regain hit points equal to three times your Monk level. You need to take a long rest before you can use it again.

It’s ok. Unlike Quickened Healing, you don’t need to spend any Ki points, but it can only be used once before you need to take a long rest. It would be a big ✅ if you could use it at least a couple of times before a long rest. Or even once every short rest would be better. Still, it’s good to have a couple of healing options if your Cleric isn’t on hand or you’ve used your last healing potion.

✅ Ki-Empowered Strikes

Unarmed strikes are classed as magic weapons. Magic punch!

Level Seven (Monk)

✅ Evasion

I bloody love Evasion. It’s really helped my Swashbuckler get out of a ton of scrapes in his D&D world. Any sort of AOE aimed at you, like the fireball spell, you get the chance to try and jump out of the way. Make a Dexterity save. With a fail, you only take half damage, and if you pass, you take zero damage.

As a Monk, you should always have a high Dexterity. If you don’t, you’re playing a very interesting Monk PC…

🆗 Stillness of Mind

Stop any effect on you that is making you charmed or frightened. Great for magical combat.

Level Ten (Monk)

🆗 Purity of Body

Immunity to disease or poison. I have been poisoned many times in D&D.

Level Eleven (Way of the Open Hand)

🆗 Tranquility

At the end of a long rest, your Open Hand Monk can enter a deep meditation, delivering your mind with an aura of er… Tranquility. You gain the effect of the Sanctuary spell. This lasts till the start of your next long rest.

If you were ambushed, it’s good. It also gives you an edge at the beginning of combat. Not allowing the enemy the upper hand.

Level Thirteen (Monk)

⚠️ Tongue of the Sun and Moon

Touch a person, and you can understand their language and speak to them. Someone at the party probably can speak the language. The most useless of abilities.

Level Fourteen (Monk)

✅ Diamond Soul

You get proficiency on all saving throws. Plus, you can spend a Ki to reroll if you fail. Top ability!

Level Fifteen (Monk)

⛔ Timeless Body

Yawn. Just takes away roleplaying in a Tavern. You don’t need food or water and you can’t be aged magically.

Level Seventeen (Way of the Open Hand)

✅ Quivering Palm

The Quivering Palm ability allows your Way of the Hand Monk to set up lethal vibrations in someone’s body. If you make a successful unarmed attack on an enemy, you can spend 3 Ki points to start these subtle vibrations.

They last the number of days equal to your Monk level. They’re completely harmless unless you use an action to end them. You must be on the same plane as the target. So, when you end them, the subtly vibrating target must make a Constitution save. On a fail, they drop to zero hit points. If it succeeds, it’ll take a whopping 10D10 necrotic damage.

Only one target can be affected, and you can choose to end the vibrations harmlessly.

What I love about this Open Hand ability is that it can be used both in combat situations as a way of dealing with an enemy or it can be used as part of roleplaying situations. Creating interesting D&D sessions.

Level Eighteen (Monk)

🆗 Empty Body

You spend 4 Ki, and you get to become invisible for a minute, taking only force damage.

Spend eight Ki points granting you the Astral Projection spell. You can go and visit the other planes. Holiday?

Invisibility is always good.

Level Twenty (Monk)

✅ Perfect Self

If you start combat with no Ki points, when initiative is rolled, you get four Ki points. Perfect for your Quivering Palm ability or Quickened Healing if you need to bring your health up a bit. Wish it was more.

The Perfect Open Hand Monk Build

What I love about this Monk monastic tradition (subclass) is that it’s a perfect blank canvas to create a rich and interesting character. All based around unarmed combat.

Ability Scores

⚠️ Strength

It’s not super important for Monks as they’re Dex heavy. Although they do have Strength saves.

✅ Dexterity

Number one ability score for all monk builds, especially Way of the Open Hand.

🆗 Constitution

Important for every class. You do a lot of up-close combat, even when you’re sneaking.

⛔ Intelligence

Monks just need to be wise, not intelligent.

✅ Wisdom

A lot of monk modifiers rely on this ability score. Number two after Dexterity.

⛔ Charisma

Not essential at all. Keep it quiet

Racial Considerations

The difficulty with The Way of the Open Hand Monk is that racial considerations lean towards more of the roleplaying aspect. A Goblin with a grudge, a Dragonborn with a delusion, or a Satyr with a secret.

I’ve picked a handful of races I believe would make an optimized Open Hand Monk without picking the obvious ones.

✅ Air Genasi

It’s not the most obvious of choices, as you don’t get any wisdom bonus. With a +1 to Dex and +2 to Con, you can create an interesting, solid Open Hand Build! The ability to levitate gives you an unusual edge over your combat opponents. Think Aladdin meets Bruce Lee.

✅ Kenku

Land bird with a difference. Landing with a +2 for Dexterity and a +1 for Wisdom, the Kenku is the ideal Open Hand Monk candidate. You also get extra two extra skills from Acrobatics, Deception, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand. Your mimic ability helps in the disguise and manipulation of the enemy.

✅ Tabaxi

Catlike and agile, Tabaxi is a great choice for the Open Hand. With a +2 to Dexterity, it pulls the Monk bonuses right up. Your claws are classed as weapons, doing D4 plus your strength modifier. You also get the ability Feline Agility. This allows you to double your speed on one of your turns. You can’t do this again until you’ve moved 0 feet on one of your turns. And, on top of all that, you get Darkvision. Saucer of milk?

Also, check Aarakocra, Elf, Goblin, Halfing Ghostwise, and Human Variant as other considerations for your Open Hand build.

Open Hand Backgrounds

Backgrounds add flavor to your character. They help build an origin story of where you came from. There is no real good or bad background for the Way of the Open Hand Monk. It’s whatever you want it to be. So here are some ideas to get the juices flowing.

Criminal

Years of living on the streets have taken their toll. After begging and stealing for various gangs within Waterdeep, you finally broke away and became an expert at underground fighting for coins.

Feylost

As a young child, you disappeared one day while playing in the forest. Returning to your village as a young adult, you can’t remember what happened, except you now channel mystic energy through your body when you fight, and your eyes swirl with iridescent colors. You’ve aged 15 years, yet you’ve only been missing a month.

Sailor

Shipwrecked on a mysterious island deep within the Sea of Swords. The local tribe teaches you their unique way of fighting and how to channel their mysterious energy into combat. You return to Candlekeep a changed person.

Open Hand Monk Skills

As a Monk, you get to choose two skills—Acrobatics, Athletics, History, Insight, Religion, and Stealth. Combined with your background and race choices, you’ll end up with a fair few amount of skills. Depending on how you want to play the Monk is up to you. I’d highly recommend Acrobatics. As Monks tend to be bouncing all over the battlefield. But the rest is up to you.

Best Feats for Way of the Open Hand

As you rise through the levels, you get the chance to add ability score increases and feats to your growing Open Hand Monk character.

Ability score increases to get both your Dex and Wisdom to the maximum is a really good idea. Having a higher Dexterity as an open Hand Monk will really make you a force to be reckoned with in combat.

Feats give you little extras that allow your character to get extra bonuses, including ability score increases. Check out our article, best feats for all Monk subclasses (& the 2 Worst to Avoid).

We’ve chosen a selection of feats to enhance your Way of the Open Hand Monk.

✅ Alert

Want to be first in combat? Then take Alert as a feat. Alert adds +5 to the initiative, you can’t be surprised if you’re conscious, and creatures can’t get an advantage on you with attack rolls if you don’t see the enemy. As initiative is your Dex mod anyway, you’ll pretty much always go first in combat. Time to pull out that Quivering Palm.

My Gloom Stalker Ranger had the Alert feat, and he was almost always first in combat. His skill with the Heavy crossbow was known far and wide in Faren. I may have made that last bit up.

✅ Martial Adept

As a frontline fighting machine, you want to give your Open Hand Monk the best arsenal of combat tricks to pull out of the bag at any given moment. Martial Adept just does that.

This feat lets you gain two combat maneuvers from the list of maneuvers from the Fighter Battlemaster subclass. If a maneuver requires the target to make a saving throw, the DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice). You gain one superiority dice (Along with any other you may have). A single D6 powers your maneuver. Once expended, you gain this superiority dice after a short or long rest.

Notable maneuvers for your Open Hand Monk.

Disarming Attack – “Oops” Strike your target and make them drop their weapon
Distracting Strike – “Is your shoelace untied?” Distract an enemy and get extra damage and advantage.
Menacing Attack – “Boo!” A successful hit frightens the target also.
Trip attack – Knock the creature prone on a successful attack.

🆗 Tough

With the Tough feat, your hit point increases by an amount equal to twice your level. And whenever you gain a level, your maximum hit points get an additional 2 hp. Raising your hit points is definitely a yes.

🧘 Still not convinced? Check our guide to the Astral Self Monk

Weapons and Armor

There are Monk weapons available, but seriously, just use your fists. Except for a Longbow. Get one of those.

Armor? No.

Multiclassing

Open Hand Monks work better as single classes. However, no one would ever stop you from multiclassing. Notable multiclass options are Fighter Battlemaster and Rogue.

Magic Items

There are a ton of good magic items for Monks. You can check our Best Monk Magic Items guide here. I’ve selected a few that will work exceptionally well with your Open Hand build.

✅ Blood Fury Tattoo (Legendary, Requires attunement)

When you hit a creature, you can choose to do an extra 4D6 necrotic damage. Plus, you gain hit points back equal to the damage given.

Also, when an enemy that you can see damages you, you can expend a charge and use your reaction to attack back. With advantage. You get ten charges per day that you regain fully at dawn.

✅ Bracers of Defense (Rare, Requires attunement)

+2 to AC. Enough said, really.

✅ Gloves of Soul Catching (Legendary, Requires attunement)

One of the best magic items for a Way of the Open Hand Monk. While wearing, your constitution jumps to 20. With a successful unarmed attack, you gain an extra 2d10 force damage to your target and regain the number of hit points equal to the force damage dealt. Or, instead of hit points, you can choose to gain advantage on one attack roll, ability check or saving throw you make before the end of your next turn.

An Open (Hand) Book

What I love about the Open Hand Monk is that there are so many build possibilities. Races, backgrounds, and your imagination all add to the rich flavor of the build. Allowing you to create hundreds of Open Monk combinations, each one completely different. If you love creating a back story for your Monk, then this is one that isn’t led by too many constraints. Similar to the Drunken Master, the abilities just enhance the basic character. Your input is what makes the character. We’d love to hear your ideas for Way of the Open Hand builds in the comments section below.