Way of ShadowMonk Monastic Tradition — D&D 5e
Way of Shadow monks fight like they were never really there — ki fuels short-range teleports between patches of darkness, a handful of free spells cover stealth and misdirection, and the tradition only gets better at vanishing as it levels. This is the monk subclass built for ambush and disengagement rather than sustained slugging, punishing any fight you can drag into dim light or worse.
Level by level
Way of Shadow Features
Level 3 — Shadow Arts
You can spend 2 ki points to cast darkness, darkvision, pass without trace, or silence without expending a spell slot, and you also gain the minor illusion cantrip, giving a class with no spellcasting a genuine, repeatable utility spell list.
Level 3 — Shadow Step
While in dim light or darkness, you can teleport up to 60 feet to another spot of dim light or darkness as a bonus action and gain advantage on your next melee attack that turn, turning every shadowy room into a network of ambush points.
Level 6 — Shadow Duplicate
You can spend 2 ki points to create an illusory double of yourself that moves and can seem to attack, forcing enemies to waste attacks on a fake and giving you a free distraction whenever you need one more body in the fight than you actually have.
Level 11 — Shadow Escape
When you take damage, you can use your reaction and spend 1 ki point to become invisible and teleport to a nearby shadow, converting a hit that would’ve hurt into an exit from the fight entirely.
Level 17 — Living Shadow
While you’re in dim light or darkness, any creature attacking you has disadvantage on the attack roll unless it can somehow see through the gloom, making a fully committed Shadow monk borderline unhittable in the environments this subclass was built to fight in.
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