Subclass Monk Way of the Sun Soul
The Way of the Sun Soul is the Monk's ranged subclass. Instead of closing to melee, you hurl your own life energy as bolts of searing light: an at-will ranged attack that scales with your Martial Arts die at Level 3, a Bonus Action cone of fire that grows with the Ki you feed it at Level 6, and a long-range radiant burst at Level 11.
Its saving throw DCs are Wisdom-based — 8 + your Proficiency Bonus + your Wisdom modifier.
You gain two spells.
Radiant Sun Bolt — an Action, no Ki. A ranged attack out to 9 meters that uses Dexterity for its attack and damage rolls and deals your unarmed strike damage as Radiant, so it scales with your Martial Arts die.
Radiant Sun Bolt: Bonus Action — a Bonus Action costing 1 Ki Point, throwing two bolts. Both can go into the same creature or be split between two targets.
The Bonus Action version is the reason to be here: 1 Ki for two Martial Arts die hits at range, with nothing spent on closing the distance.
A Bonus Action that expels fire from your outstretched hands in the same 5-meter cone as Burning Hands. Everything caught in it makes a Dexterity saving throw for half damage, and the flames ignite flammable surfaces and set items burning.
How much Ki you pour in decides the damage, and the higher steps unlock at half your Monk level:
| KI POINTS | DAMAGE | AVAILABLE FROM |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3d6 Fire | Monk 6 |
| 3 | 4d6 Fire | Monk 6 |
| 4 | 5d6 Fire | Monk 8 |
| 5 | 6d6 Fire | Monk 10 |
| 6 | 7d6 Fire | Monk 12 |
It is a Bonus Action, so it stacks onto a turn where you already spent your Action on a Sun Bolt — but it competes with Flurry of Blows and the Bonus Action Sun Bolt for the same slot.
An Action that hurls an orb of light at a point up to 45 meters away, where it bursts in a 6-meter radius. Each creature caught in the sphere makes a Constitution saving throw for half damage. The burst itself costs no Ki, and each point you add raises the damage:
| KI POINTS | DAMAGE |
|---|---|
| None | 2d6 Radiant |
| 1 | 4d6 Radiant |
| 2 | 6d6 Radiant |
| 3 | 8d6 Radiant |
The Way of the Sun Soul is a Monk that fights at range without giving up the class's Ki economy — your damage comes from the same Martial Arts die everyone else punches with, thrown 9 meters instead.
Your combat loop:
- Radiant Sun Bolt as your Action — a free ranged attack at 9 meters
- Radiant Sun Bolt: Bonus Action — 1 Ki for two more bolts, split between targets or stacked on one
- Searing Arc Strike at Level 6 — when enemies bunch up in front of you, a Bonus Action cone; feed it more Ki as your Monk level opens the higher steps
- Searing Sunburst at Level 11 — an Action for a 6-meter burst at up to 45 meters, up to 8d6 with 3 Ki
- Stunning Strike and Flurry of Blows — still yours for the turns a fight ends up in melee
Ki is the whole budget: Sunburst's upcast, Searing Arc Strike's steps, the Bonus Action bolts, and Stunning Strike all draw from the same pool, and it only comes back on a Short Rest.