The Waterbender – Druid/Monk Multiclass Build Guide

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The Waterbender is a fun blend of the Sea Druid and the Elements Monk which gives you an incredible amount of diversity in how you want to approach combat. Of course you have most of the natural strength of a Monk for your close combat and the spellcasting of a Druid as needed, but these subclasses work so well together as both create forced movement which is great for repositioning enemies when you need to!

As Druid can change their spell choices with a long rest, don’t be afraid to liberally change around spells and experiment. The spell choices given in the guide are simply suggestions and do not have to be perfectly adhered to.

The Complete Druid Spell List

Druid Spell Tier List – The Best Druid Spells

Level	Class Features/Feats	Notes
1 – 1 Monk	Martial Arts Unarmored Defense	Martial Arts Die 1d6
2 – 2 Monk	Monk’s Focus Unarmored Movement Uncanny Metabolism	2 Focus Points
3 – 3 Monk (Elements)	Warrior of Elements Elemental Attunement Deflect Attacks	3 Focus Points
4 – 4 Monk	Feat: Grappler (DEX) Slow Fall	4 Focus Points
5 – 5 Monk	Extra Attack Stunning Strike	Martial Arts Die to 1d8 5 Focus Points
6 – 1 Druid 5 Monk	Druidic, Spellcasting, Primal Order (Warden)	+ Guidance + Starry Wisp + Detect Magic + Entangle + Goodberry + Healing Word
7 – 2 Druid 5 Monk	Wild Shape, Wild Companion	+ Absorb Elements
8 – 3 Druid (Sea) 5 Monk	Circle of the Sea, Wrath of the Sea, Circle of the Sea Spells	+ Ray of Frost (Sea) + Fog Cloud (Sea) + Thunderwave (Sea) + Gust of Wind (Sea) + Shatter (Sea) + Spike Growth
9 – 4 Druid 5 Monk	Feat: War Caster (WIS)	+ Shape Water + Pass Without Trace
10 – 5 Druid 5 Monk	Wild Resurgence	– Detect Magic + Conjure Animals + Lightning Bolt (Sea) + Revivify + Sleet Storm + Water Breathing (Sea)
11 – 6 Druid 5 Monk	Aquatic Affinity	+ Dispel Magic
12 – 7 Druid 5 Monk	Elemental Fury	+ Control Water (Sea) + Ice Storm (Sea) + Polymorph
13 – 8 Druid 5 Monk	Feat: Wisdom to 18	+ Conjure Woodland Beings
14 – 9 Druid 5 Monk	Disciplined Survivor	+ Conjure Elemental (Sea) + Hold Monster (Sea) + Transmute Rock + Wall of Stone
15 – 10 Druid 5 Monk	Stormborn	+ Thorn Whip + Greater Restoration
16 – 11 Druid 5 Monk	–	+ Heal
17 – 11 Druid 6 Monk	Elemental Burst Empowered Strikes	6 Focus Points +15 feet Unarmored Movement
18 – 11 Druid 7 Monk	Evasion	7 Focus Points
19 – 11 Druid 8 Monk	Epic Boon: Epic Boon of Combat Prowess	8 Focus Points
20 – 12 Druid 8 Monk	Epic Boon: Boon of Fate	–

Not every inherent interaction here is going to be mentioned in the guide, so check out the multiclassing guide to help answer any additional questions you may have!

The Ultimate Guide To Multiclassing in One D&D

This build comes online at level 8 when you have both the Sea Druid and the Elements Monk (until then, you’re just a normal Monk for the most part)! On your turn, you’ll spend a Focus Point to activate Elemental Attunement. Then you’ll have two main options.

Option A is you cast Spike Growth (probably with your enemy right in front of it), activate your Wrath of the Sea to push the enemy into the Spike Growth and then on future turns to push and pull them along the growth when you have the chance to.

Option B is you activate Elemental Attunement, activate Wrath of the Sea immediately to try and push an enemy who’s close by away, and then attack with reach and push/pull them as you like.

Both are pretty similar plans, but both are really effective plans. Once you level up more, you’ll have better spellcasting capabilities so your options expand even more as sometimes casting spells will be better than attacking.

While not mentioned in the guide itself, there is an alternative to this build where you instead level up Druid to 4 and then continue leveling up Monk for better martial capabilities, but I think this plan is much better as Monks don’t get much stronger past level 5 barring more Focus points.

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Species: Goliath (Hill Giant)

Attributes:

	POINT BUY
STRENGTH	8
DEXTERITY	15 (+2 background) = 17
CONSTITUTION	15 (+1 background) = 16
INTELLIGENCE	8
WISDOM	15
CHARISMA	8

Class: Monk

Class Features: Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts

Skill Proficiencies: Acrobatics and Insight

Background: Criminal

Starting Equipment: Spear, 5 Daggers, Artisan’s Tools, Explorer’s Pack, and 11 gp + 50 gp from background

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Species: Goliath

A great species for martial characters and you have the excellent benefit from Hill Giant ancestry to knock someone down so you can grapple them afterwards to keep them down.

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Attributes

	POINT BUY
STRENGTH	8
DEXTERITY	15 (+2 background) = 17
CONSTITUTION	15 (+1 background) = 16
INTELLIGENCE	8
WISDOM	15
CHARISMA	8

A great stat distribution for any Monk as you need high Dexterity for good damage and AC, high Constitution to stay alive, and a decent Wisdom score as Monks care about that.

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Proficiencies: Acrobatics and Insight

This is going to be the standard proficiencies for Monks, especially if you’re taking the Criminal background.

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Background: Criminal

The best background for Monks as it gives you good stat distributions, the best feat for Monks in Alert, and solid skill proficiencies with Sleight of Hand and Stealth.

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Starting Equipment – Spear, 5 Daggers, Artisan’s Tools, Explorer’s Pack, and 11 gp + 50 gp from background

Standard starting equipment for a Monk, not that you get much to begin with.

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Class – Monk

For Monk you get two abilities to work with immediately – Unarmored Defense and Martial Arts.

Unarmored Defense is simple, if you’re not wearing armor your AC is 10 + DEX + WIS which will give you a reasonable AC to work with, but not as high as a martial character would probably like.

Martial Arts is the classic feature of Monks that are really multiple abilities in one. First, you get to use Dexterity instead of Strength for unarmed attacks. Second, your unarmed strikes or monk weapon get to deal an inherent d6 of damage that will scale up as you gain levels. Finally, when you attack with a monk weapon or unarmed strike, you can use your bonus action to make an unarmed strike. Overall an excellent feature that lets Monks deal solid damage.

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Level 2

Class: 2 Monk

Class Features: Monk’s Focus, Unarmored Movement, Uncanny Metabolism

Level 2 for Monk brings not one, not two, but three new features!

Monk’s Focus is yet another standout ability of the monk which is extremely similar to the fifth edition, Ki, but with a few updated features. First off you get Flurry of Blows which means you can make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action if you spend a Focus point. Second, you get Patient Defense which lets you Dodge as a bonus action, but if you spend a Focus point, you can Dodge and Disengage as the same bonus action. Finally, you get Step of the Wind which means you can Dash as a bonus action, or if you spend a focus point, Dash and Disengage as the same bonus action. Overall, these abilities are very good, and although they are somewhat limited by your Focus points, they are pretty powerful.

Your next ability is Unarmored Movement which gives you an additional 10 feet of movement speed if you aren’t wearing armor or a shield. Definitely a great ability to help you weave in and out of combat.

Finally, you get Uncanny Metabolism which, once a day, lets you refresh your Focus points and gain some health when you enter a combat. This is a very strong ability and much needed for Monks to not feel like they are useless after the first fight or two.

Level 3

Class: 3 Monk (Elements)

Class Features: Elemental Attunement, Deflect Attacks

Level 3 brings your subclass, Warrior of Elements, with a new subclass feature as well as a new Monk feature.

You get Elemental Attunement as your subclass feature which, for one Focus point, you get an additional 10 foot range on your unarmed strikes, you can deal elemental damage of your choice instead of bludgeoning, and you have a chance to push or pull the target when you hit them which is an extremely strong ability for Monks and gives them a lot of utility in combat to assist their spellcasters by moving enemies around into their spells (when applicable of course).

On top of that, you get the Elementalism cantrip which is a nice flavor boost, but not particularly strong and that’s ok.

Your classic Monk feature, Deflect Attacks, is much more exciting by comparison. You can trade your reaction to reduce the damage dealt to you by an attack by 1d10 + DEX + your Monk level which will be really high impact in the earlier levels. Then if you reduce this damage to 0, you can spend a Focus point to redirect the attack which is both a great and super thematic ability. Definitely one of the Monks better features as well as a really good use of your reaction.

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Level 4

Class: 4 Monk

Feat: Grappler (DEX)

Class Features: Slow Fall

Level 4 brings your first feat, and for every Monk, you have to pick up Grappler. While this isn’t the perfect feat for this particular build as this strategy cares more about spacing and forced movement, Grappler is still an excellent feat in general as another means of controlling enemies and will combine extremely well with Spike Growth once you get access to it.

Monk also gets a class feature this level with Slow Fall. As the name implies, this ability helps you slow your fall if you have something nearby you can brace against. Realistically this isn’t the best ability, but it is a cool ability and can prevent tragedy in the lower levels.

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Level 5

Class: 5 Monk

Class Features: Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, Martial Arts Die to 1d8

Easily the most exciting feature for martial characters, level 5 brings your Extra Attack! Being able to get another full attack in is always welcome, even if it feels like Monk has plenty of attacks to go around.

Second, you gain access to the redesigned Stunning Strike! This iteration of Stunning Strike only gives you one attempt per turn to stun them until the beginning of your next turn, but now even if they pass their save, they lose a bunch of speed and your next attack is at advantage! This is still quite a strong ability and getting value out of it no matter what is really nice.

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Level 6

Class: 1 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Druidic, Spellcasting, Primal Order (Warden)

Spell Change Log: + Guidance + Starry Wisp + Detect Magic + Entangle + Goodberry + Healing Word

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word

Now that you have a better martial arts die and your extra attack, you can start taking Druid levels for nearly all of your level ups!

You get three features at level one with Druidic, Spellcasting, and Primal Order.

Druidic is a language known only among druids, and if you want to covertly talk or leave messages to other Druids, this is how you’d do it.

Primal Order gives you the choice between Magician which is exceedingly mediocre or Warden which gives you medium armor and martial weapon proficiency (though this build is not going to be using armor). Even with half of the proficiency unavailable to you, grabbing Warden for martial weapon proficiency is too tempting.

For your spells, even for this level, these are going to be extremely standard options for a level one Druid. You have good cantrips and versatile level one spells with varying effects from healing to CC. Simple and effective.

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Level 7

Class: 2 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Wild Shape, Wild Companion

Spell Change Log: + Absorb Elements

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic (R)
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word

For your base Druid abilities, you get access to your Wild Shape, and like every Druid except for Moon Druids, you can turn into anything max CR 1/4 that can’t swim or fly. You’re really only going to use this for utility as you should be a more dangerous threat in human form, but you can use it in combat in a real pinch.

The final ability that you get at this level is Wild Companion. You can use Wild Shape to cast Find Familiar, and while it’s not permanent like a Wizard’s would be, getting it for a bit is still pretty good!

For your spell choice, you get to pick up Absorb Elements. Even now, large chunks of elemental damage are going to become more common so having the means to mitigate some of that can be extremely useful.

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Level 8

Class: 3 Druid (Sea) 5 Monk

Class Features: Wrath of the Sea, Circle of the Sea Spells

Spell Change Log: + Ray of Frost (Sea) + Fog Cloud (Sea) + Thunderwave (Sea) + Gust of Wind (Sea) + Shatter (Sea) + Spike Growth

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth

Third level brings a lot for you as you get your subclass, two new abilities, and a slew of new spells!

With your subclass, you get FIVE new spells to work with of varying effectiveness.

Ray of Frost is a decent cantrip with a bit of CC tacked onto it which is nice (and can combo really well with other slow effects like the Sap weapon mastery).

Fog Cloud can be a really useful cover spell to stop line of sight so enemies can’t spell cast, to help you infiltrate, make a distraction, make an escape, etc. Solid spell all around.

Thunderwave is an alright damage spell that can also push enemies around which is solid at earlier levels (not at this point realistically, but you never know).

Gust of Wind is pretty bad admittedly, really just a utility spell.

Finally, Shatter is a very middling damage spell that you aren’t going to be using often.

For your ability, you get Wrath of the Sea. This is your alternative use of Wild Shape which gives you a small aura that surrounds you, that as a bonus action, lets you potentially deal a good amount of damage to enemies while pushing them away. This, when combined with your Elemental Attunement, makes you the ultimate forced movement machine! You can push enemies with your Wrath of the Sea then push them again with your Elemental Attunement, pull them in with Attunement and push them away, you name it! Between these two abilities, Grappler, and your Hill Giant Topple, you have so many options in how you want to approach combat and positioning!

For level three you get one of the strongest Druid spells in general, not just in the second level slot – Spike Growth. This spell is truly messed up for many reasons. First off, the range on this is absolutely massive with the AOE also being quite solid. Second, enemies take 2d4 damage for every 5 feet that it travels, and considering this is difficult terrain, that can add up. Lastly (as mentioned previously), this is 5 feet traveled, not moved. Between the Grappler feat, forced movement from Wrath of the Sea, and forced movement from Elemental Attunement can really make the damage add up.

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Level 9

Class: 4 Druid 5 Monk

Feat: War Caster (WIS)

Class Features: None

Spell Change Log: + Shape Water + Pass Without Trace

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth

Hitting four levels in Druid means a feat, a cantrip, and more spells.

For your first feat, I really like picking up War Caster. Buffing your Wisdom to 16 and getting advantage on concentration checks is really good. Unfortunately this build isn’t going to make use of being able to cast somatic components when you’re holding a weapon or a shield, but this feat still does enough regardless. If you disagree, something like Fey-Touched or Inspiring Leader can be excellent alternatives.

For your cantrip choice this level, I like Shape Water. This cantrip is surprisingly versatile so it’s nice to have!

Furthermore, you get a new spell to work with this level!

You get the best stealth spell in the game – Pass Without Trace. Pass Without Trace grants your squad a natural PLUS TEN on all stealth checks. That is absolutely egregious and can make even the most heavy-footed companions reasonably stealthy. An absolute essential for anyone who can pick it up.

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Level 10

Class: 5 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Wild Resurgence

Spell Change Log: – Detect Magic / + Conjure Animals + Lightning Bolt (Sea) + Revivify + Sleet Storm + Water Breathing (Sea)

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)

Now you get access to third level spells and Wild Resurgence!

Wild Resurgence lets you, on each of your turns, to convert a spell slot into a Wild Shape charge if you have none. Conversely, once per day, you can exchange a Wild Shape charge for a first level slot if you like. While you’ll likely never use a Wild Shape charge to rebuy a spell slot, getting an additional Wild Shape charge can be really useful to activate your emanation making this a more useful ability for you than normal Druids.

For your Circle spells, you get Lightning Bolt and Water Breathing.

Lightning Bolt is a really solid damage spell for the level, something that Druids don’t normally get. Worse than Fireball, but not by much (even if it’s less exciting at level 10).

Water Breathing does exactly as advertised. This isn’t something you’ll need often, but it will be invaluable when you do need it.

You get way too many excellent spells at this level, so we’re going to need to make room. To that end, I would recommend cutting Detect Magic. While an excellent spell, it is common enough that someone else should be able to pick up that slack for you anyway!

For your spell choices, you get the excellent Conjure Animals, Revivify, and Sleet Storm.

Conjure Animals is a very solid spell that moves around the battlefield absolutely demolishing anything that comes across it. This is nice as you don’t have to even get close to enemies to put the hurt on them!

Revivify is an absolute staple for every party to have and you can never have too many people who can cast it. You likely won’t cast this often, but it’s invaluable to always have it prepared.

Sleet Storm is an excellent AOE spell that makes a lot of difficult terrain, blinds enemies, can knock enemies prone, and can really stifle spellcasters. This is really brutal against pretty much any enemy that doesn’t have an excellent ranged attack option.

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Level 11

Class: 6 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Aquatic Affinity

Spell Change Log: + Dispel Magic

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)

This level brings a new Class Feature with Aquatic Affinity. Now your Aura extends out to 10 feet and you get a swimming speed. This isn’t much of an improvement, but it is something.

For your spell choice you can pick up Dispel Magic! Dispel Magic is no Counterspell, but it is the next best thing! Being able to stop an existing magical effect is a staple for every party and you really can’t have too many of them.

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Level 12

Class: 7 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Elemental Fury

Spell Change Log: + Control Water (Sea) + Ice Storm (Sea) + Polymorph

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph

This level brings Elemental Fury and fourth level spells!

Your Druid feature is Elemental Fury which lets you choose between adding your WIS modifier to cantrips or you get 1d8 elemental damage to a melee attack once per turn. Obviously you’re more interested in Elemental Fury with this build as you’re probably never using cantrips.

For your Circle spells, you get Control Water and Ice Storm. Unfortunately, similar to the spells you got at level 3, these are atrocious. You may at least get some value with the first and second level spells, but I would functionally never use these.

Polymorph is so egregiously good as it can take yourself or an ally who’s low on health, low on resources, or for whatever reason not able to fight and turn you back into a threat. While the Beasts don’t scale past level 8, Giant Ape and Tyrannosaurus Rex will remain viable for quite a long time regardless. Furthermore, this can function as CC as well to turn an enemy into something harmless like a Crab for a little bit in case you need that. Excellent spell all around.

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Level 13

Class: 8 Druid 5 Monk

Feat: Wisdom to 18

Class Features: None

Spell Change Log: + Conjure Woodland Beings

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph

You get another feat this level and I like buffing your Wisdom to 18. Not only does this make your spells and saves better, but also increases your AC because of Unarmored Defense making it a great choice. If you would prefer to max out your Dexterity for very similar rationale (better attacks v spells), then that’s perfectly fine.

For your spell choice, you can grab Conjure Woodland Beings. This is like a slightly juiced up Spirit Guardians in terms of damage, but with less range and no difficult terrain. Even still, this is an awesome concentration spell to have as you will still be getting close to enemies, and when you do, you can have your emanation shred them.

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Level 14

Class: 9 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Disciplined Survivor

Spell Change Log: + Conjure Elemental (Sea) + Hold Monster (Sea) + Transmute Rock + Wall of Stone

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone

Nine levels in Druid and you finally get fifth level spells and you get your final Circle spells as well!

Your circle spells this level are Conjure Elemental and Hold Monster.

Conjure Elemental changed from the 5e version, and is unfortunately, much worse. The Elemental is stuck in place, and with next to no reach, you are not going to get much value out of this.

Hold Monster is a high risk, high reward spell where, if the target passes, this spell does nothing. However, if the target fails, then you and your squad may be able to gank them in one round. I don’t like spending this high of a spell slot on a gamble, but if you believe you can get this to work, then this can be super potent.

For your spell choices, you’re going with a Transmute Rock and Wall of Stone.

Transmute Rock has an incredible amount of versatility as you can get get enemies stuck in a -4x speed terrain, trap them in stone, destroy buildings/hallways, and so much more. Extremely versatile with strong uses in and out of combat.

Similar to Transmute Rock, Wall of Stone is used to cut off movement by either making a big wall to bisect a battlefield or creating a dome to try and trap enemies inside. These stones can be broken, but that will cost them at least one action (usually more) making it a worthy tradeoff.

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Level 15

Class: 10 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: Stormborn

Spell Change Log: + Thorn Whip + Greater Restoration

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
Cantrip	Thorn Whip
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone

For level 10 you get another subclass ability, cantrip, and spell!

You get your penultimate subclass ability with Stormborn. While your Wrath of the Sea is active, you get a flying speed and resistance to cold, thunder, and lightning damage. Having Flying in combat is really powerful, especially as many enemies don’t have great ranged attack options, and the resistances don’t hurt either. Furthermore, with your Elemental Attunement, you can pull enemies towards you when you’re in the air, they drop, and take some damage and fall prone. Not a bad interaction to think about!

For your cantrip choice, you can pick up Thorn Whip. While decent, this is not a cantrip I’m generally super excited about for Druids. However, you can use this to drag an enemy towards you and then you can blast them with your aura. A pretty solid one, two punch!

Finally, for your spell choice you can pick up Greater Restoration. While this is an expensive spell to cast, this heals a variety of crippling conditions making it great to have in case of emergency.

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Level 16

Class: 11 Druid 5 Monk

Class Features: None

Spell Change Log: + Heal

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
Cantrip	Thorn Whip
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Heal

You finally get sixth level spells so you may as well pick the best one – Heal.

Heal doles out an incredible 70 health and heals some status conditions on top of it. Simple, effective, and still great at this level. There is consideration for Transport via Plants as well if you’re willing to part with another prepared spell, but this is something that can be prepared on a day you think you’re going to need it.

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Level 17

Class: 11 Druid 6 Monk

Class Features: Elemental Burst, Empowered Strikes

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
Cantrip	Thorn Whip
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Heal

To get two Epic Boons, you need to go back to Monk for the next 3 levels so we’re back to it!

This level brings your next subclass ability and your next base Monk class ability!

Elemental Burst gives you a blast damage ability with a solid AOE, but pretty terrible damage. Especially at this level, you aren’t going to be using this.

Empowered Strikes is a simple ability to let you ignore all damage resistances with your unarmed strikes which is definitely nice!

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Level 18

Class: 11 Druid 7 Monk

Class Features: Evasion

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
Cantrip	Thorn Whip
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Heal

7 levels in Monk brings Evasion! This is a classic and great ability, if you have a DEX saving throw and you pass it from an effect where you’d normally take half-damage, you take no damage, and if you fail, you take only half damage instead of full! This is a great ability you’re going to get a lot of mileage out of it.

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Level 19

Class: 11 Druid 8 Monk

Epic Boon: Epic Boon of Combat Prowess (DEX)

Class Features: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
Cantrip	Thorn Whip
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Heal

Level 19 always means one thing – getting your Epic Boon!

For martial characters, you’re going to be hard pressed to not take Epic Boon of Combat Prowess. Functionally getting another attack per turn is very much worth the Epic Boon slot, even if it’s just for an additional unarmed strike, especially when that unarmed strike can mean a grapple attempt or knocking the enemy prone with your Hill Giant lineage ability.

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Level 20

Class: 12 Druid 8 Monk

Epic Boon: Boon of Fate (DEX)

Class Feature: None

SPELL LEVEL	SPELL NAME
Cantrip	Guidance
Cantrip	Ray of Frost (Sea)
Cantrip	Shape Water
Cantrip	Starry Wisp
Cantrip	Thorn Whip
1st Level Spell	Absorb Elements
1st Level Spell	Detect Magic
1st Level Spell	Entangle
1st Level Spell	Goodberry
1st Level Spell	Healing Word
1st Level Spell	Fog Cloud (Sea)
1st Level Spell	Thunderwave (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Gust of Wind (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Pass Without Trace
2nd Level Spell	Shatter (Sea)
2nd Level Spell	Spike Growth
3rd Level Spell	Conjure Animals
3rd Level Spell	Dispel Magic
3rd Level Spell	Lightning Bolt (Sea)
3rd Level Spell	Revivify
3rd Level Spell	Sleet Storm
3rd Level Spell	Water Breathing (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Conjure Woodland Beings
4th Level Spell	Control Water (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Ice Storm (Sea)
4th Level Spell	Polymorph
5th Level Spell	Conjure Elemental (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Greater Restoration
5th Level Spell	Hold Monster (Sea)
5th Level Spell	Transmute Rock
5th Level Spell	Wall of Stone
6th Level Spell	Heal

You finally go back to Druid to grab another Epic Boon – Boon of Fate! Being able to potentially turn a failure into a success and vice versa, even if it’s once per short or long rest, can be the difference between surviving an encounter and not.