Baldur's Gate 3 Monk build guide

In Baldur's Gate 3, you are presented with a choice of 12 classes, setting the foundation for your immersive journey in Larian's latest title. Once you have determined the right class for your character, the subsequent challenge lies in selecting its race, skills, subclass, background, and more. We have put together the best Baldur's Gate 3 Monk build, if that's the class you've opted for.

While you possess control and autonomy over your choices and character development, it's essential to be mindful of potential challenges and drawbacks that could impact your gameplay.

One such intriguing class is the Monk. The Monk class stands as a versatile and potent option in Baldur's Gate 3. Proficient in unarmed combat, Monks can deal substantial damage without relying on traditional weaponry. Here, we present a comprehensive Monk build guide.

Monk Class basics

The monk class heavily relies on unarmed combat. Basically, they are trained in martial arts fighting skills and melee combat. They have a special way of doing things in the game called 'Actions Mechanics'. These Actions work like magic spells, but what makes them special is that they use something called Ki Points.

While they excel in fighting unarmed, it doesn't mean they are not trained to fight with weapons. In fact, they are also proficient in all simple weapons. They are also a good choice for players who want to play a character with a lot of special unarmed abilities.

Baldur's Gate 3 Monk build guide

Best Monk builds will require you to choose the best available subclass, background, race, feat, and more.

Best Monk subclass to choose

Before that, we need to know all available subclass options for Monk. The Monk class has a total of three subclasses you get to choose from level three onwards:

• Way of the Four Elements
• Way of the Open Hand
• Way of Shadow

Out of these three options, we strongly suggest the Way of the Open Hand, and the Way of Shadow as the second best choice.

Credit: Larian

If you choose the Way of the Open Hand for your Monk, it's like picking the best passive style. With the Open Hand Technique, when you hit an enemy, you can make them fall down, push them away, or stop them doing a front strike.

This helps you control the fighting area better and use your Monk's quickness and many hits to your advantage. Also, it is convenient to use in the early stage.

The "Way of Shadow" is the second-best option. It's a type of Monk that's great at sneaking around and causing damage. It becomes a better choice as your character becomes more experienced. This type of Monk is really good at being sneaky. Plus, they can learn to teleport using shadows.

Best Race for a Monk

One of the challenges Monks face is getting close to enemies for melee attacks. This is where the Wood Elf race can be really useful. As a Wood Elf, you can also use bows, like Longbows, to attack enemies from a distance when they're too far for you to punch.

Wood Elves are faster than other races, which is important for Monks since they rely a lot on moving quickly. This extra speed helps Monks move around the battlefield more effectively.

Best background

As you already know, the Monk class heavily relies on stealth features and no background is better than Urchin and Outlander. Urchin provides the best stealth mechanics and Outlander has proficiency in survival in the vast wilderness of Baldur's Gate 3.

Best Monk progression and skills

Dexterity and Wisdom should be your main focus while progressing. A Monk is considered good at fighting with a Dexterity of 17, and they are also pretty healthy with a Constitution of 12.

They're not super strong with a Strength of 14, and they're average in terms of intelligence and how well they talk to people. This character is good at noticing things and has a high Wisdom of 15. That being said here is a list to assist you:

• Dexterity: 17
• Wisdom: 15
• Constitution: 12
• Charisma: 10
• Strength: 14
• Intelligence: 10

The best Proficiencies for the Monk apart from the ability scores are its Acrobatics, Insight, Stealth, Alert, and more. Now, moving towards the progression for Monk class in Baldur's Gate 3.

• Level 1: Flurry of Blows, Ki
• Level 2: Unarmoured Movement, Step of the Wind: Dash
• Level 3: Subclass Choice
• Level 4: Slow Fall, Feat
• Level 5: Stunning Strike
• Level 6: Ki-Empowered Strikes
• Level 7: Stillness of Mind, Evasion
• Level 8: Feat (Increase Dex to 20)
• Level 9: Advanced Unarmored Movement
• Level 10: Purity of Body, Feat
• Level 11: Nothing requires
• Level 12: Mobile Feat

In the end, if you are looking for the best feats for your monk then you can target Mobile and Mage Slayer, which can work with any build.

That is all you need to know about the best Baldur's Gate 3 Monk build. For more on the game, check out our Baldur's Gate 3 race tier list and class tier list. We've also got tips on how to level up fast in the game!