Baldur's Gate 3 Best Beginner Monk Builds
Sep. 20, 2023Baldur’s Gate 3 Best Beginner Monk Builds
In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Monk Build Guide, I’m going to be showing you the 3 Best BeginnerMonkBuilds that you can use to put together an effective Monk early on in the game. I wanted to give some early-gameBuildsfor those of you who are near the beginning of the game. This is going to go to Level 6.
We’ll be doing proper Advanced Build Guides later on but for now, each one of these Builds is going to show a differentSubclassof the Monk. These aren’tMulticlassedbecause you’re better off reaching 5 levels for thisClassto also getExtra Attack. There aren’t a lot of reasons to go with 3 levels of Monk combined with something else.
So the firstBG3Build we’re going to take a look at is 6 levels ofWay of the Four ElementsMonk. The reason why it’s good to take this is to gain access to three more MonkSpellsthat you wouldn’t have access to if you only took 6 levels. What I really like about it is that you get everything else you’d gain with a Monk such as an Extra Attack,Stunning Strike,Deflect Missiles, andPatient Defenseto give enemies aDisadvantageon their attacks.
There are a lot of melee stuff you can still do as the Monk but you can also throw out an AOE Spell every now and then if you need one. If you get surrounded, and in this case, enemies become grouped together, you can execute an AOE attack most Martial Classes don’t have. That’s the downside of playing a Martial Class in Baldur’s Gate 3 because they typically don’t have a lot of AOE options.
Now since you can still spend your Ki onFlurry of Blows, Patient Defense, orStep of the Wind, you continue to have options. You’re not limited to casting a Spell every time and instead, you can perform meleeActionsinCombat. So it really gives you several different things with the Way of the Four Elements Monk, making this Build fantastic.
So next let’s take a look at 6 levels ofWay of ShadowMonk. A good reason to go with 6 levels instead of 5 plus something else here is that you gainShadow Stepat Level 6. This is going to allow you to teleport as aBonus Actionfrom a lightly obscured place to another lightly obscured place and then your next melee attack for 1 turn is going to gain anAdvantage. Shadow Step is arguably one of the best Class Features in the game because it’s basically a free teleport for every turn as long as you’re not situated in the most well-lit place.
You can stay away from enemies and they’ll never really be able to catch you because of your swift movement speed and teleportation ability. And since it’s a Bonus Action, you could theoretically attack with Stunning Strike and then teleport away.
Another thing that I really love about BG3 Way of Shadow Monks is their ability toHideas a Bonus Action likeRoguesorGloom Stalker Rangerscan. So you can make an attack to kill an enemy and then move away and Hide so you can’t be attacked when it’s not your turn. This is a great way to prevent from taking damage.
Next isCloak of Shadows, which is another good Subclass Feature you gain at Level 5. This allows you to becomeInvisiblefor 10 turns as long as you’re lightly obscured and it has no rest requirement, which means that you can go Invisible almost anywhere you want. Cloak of Shadows is very strong other than the fact that you have to be lightly obscured when using it. Alternatively, you can always move into a lightly obscured area and then cast this if you need to, especially when you’re sneaking around like in theShadow Cursed Lands.
The Way of Shadow pairs very well with the Rogue in order to getSneak AttackDamage because you can use Shadow Step to position yourself next to an enemy to gain an Advantage on your attack. But at this point in the game, you don’t want to sacrifice your Extra Attack for Sneak Attack Damage and besides, you won’t gain Shadow Step at Level 6 so you really can’t multiclass well until you reach Level 7. From there, you could start taking levels of Rogue for the Sneak Attack.
Lastly, we come to Baldur’s Gate 3Way of the Open HandMonk Build, which again has 6 levels. You’ll also want Extra Attack and Stunning Strike at Level 5. Remember that this Subclass gainsManifestation of Mind,Manifestation of Body, andManifestation of Soulat Level 6, allowing them to add different damage types to their unarmed attacks.
Additionally, they gainWholeness of Body, which can heal them, give them an extra Bonus Action for 3 turns, and give them 1 Ki point per turn. Half of their Ki is even replenished, making it really strong in combat because you’ll be able to use Flurry of Blows or unarmed attack 2x for every turn on top of your regular attack.
For the Way of the Open Hand Monks, you want to use the modified Flurry of Blows as a result of this Feature’s modifications to stagger an enemy because there is noSaving Throw. And so, they won’t be able to takeReactions. You’ll then hit them a couple of times and then run away since they can’t triggerAttacks of Opportunity.
Flurry of Blows: Pushdoes have a Saving Throw and so does theTopple Action. Push targets theStrengthof the character while Topple targetsDexterity. The Saving Throws of these is equal to 10 + Strength or Dexterity Modifier. This I believe has changed a little bit from the way it’s handled in D&D 5th Edition tabletop where it would use yourProficiencyWisdom Modifier+ 8. The higher you crank your Dexterity or Strength depending on what type of Monk you are is going to make it even more likely to pull off these attacks, which is great because then, you don’t have to worry about Wisdom if you’re playing a Way of the Open Hand Monk.
For this Subclass, I would see multiclassing with aThiefin order to gain an extra Bonus Action. It means when you’re using Wholeness of Body, you have 3 Bonus Actions for 3 turns and if you attack, then you gain your Extra Attack so you could theoretically get 5 attacks there. Keep in mind that you can use Stunning Strike too as your first attack and free attack, which you gain from Extra Attack. So you can stun, kill, and push a lot of things, making this a strong pairing.
And it doesn’t even factor in the potential Sneak Attack Damage you deal. Just remember that you won’t start multiclassing until you hit Level 7.
So that wraps up our 3 early-game Monk Builds. I hope you can see why I didn’t multiclass them because there are a lot of good Features to gain at Level 5. And then each Subclass gets something special at Level 6. So for most Monk Builds, you’re either going to take 3 levels and go 9 levels with something else or you’re going to reach Level 6 Monk first followed by Level 6 from another Subclass. The benefits you gain are really strong.
Again, if you have more tips or questions, please leave them in the comments below. I will try and answer them.
Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content.
Auberon
Writer at Fextralife. I really like vanilla ice cream.
