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The best Baldur’s Gate 3 monk build leans into their supreme fighting skills and magical elemental power - less liturgical chanting and more smacking enemies around like a speedbag. Monks are the unarmed martial arts specialists of Baldur’s Gate 3 and don’t even need equipment to deal damage, as they can protect themselves without armor. They're also capable of some superhuman feats that are straight out of a Wuxia film, like snatching arrows out of the air. If you want to be the baddest monk around, here’s the best build we’ve come up with in BG3.
Best Monk build in Baldur's Gate 3
The best monk builds in BG3 usually focus on the following elements:
- Stealth and evasion
- A Martial Arts and Unarmed Attacks master
- Able to manipulate elements for ranged spell attacks
In terms of weaknesses, the Monk's low charisma and intelligence might mean you need to rely on Baldur's Gate 3 party members like Astarion to talk your way out of a situation. Lack of a silver tongue aside, though, the Monk shows surprising strength in melee and spell combat, making it one of the best BG3 classes. This can be heightened given you choose the best race and subclass for them.
Here's a top BG3 Monk build to try out for yourself:
- Race: Wood Half Elf
- Highest attributes: Dexterity, Wisdom, Strength, Constitution
- Subclass: Way of the Four Elements
- Background: Soldier
- Class skills: Athletics, Acrobatics, Stealth, Insight, Intimidation
- Equipment: Simple weapons, shortswords, spears, pikes, unarmed attacks, light armor, shields
Wood Half Elves make excellent Monks in Baldur's Gate 3, combining the class's innate stealth proficiency with the Wood Elf's increased movement speed to allow for greater combat mobility. Paired with the Soldier background adding Athletics and Intimidation to the mix, your BG3 Monk will absolutely clean up on the battlefield.
You'll choose your subclass once you've reached Level Three, and although Way of the Open Palm sounds like a logical choice for anyone truly embracing unarmed attacks, I've found Way of the Four Elements is the perfect way to turn the Monk into an excellent magical and ranged attacker. Unarmed attacks are brilliant, but since you need to be up close and within melee range, it's not always the best in terms of applying pressure to enemies across a combat zone. Way of the Elements gives you the advantages of fire and ice to attack foes from a distance, making your Monk a lot more useful and helpful to their companions
Late game Monk builds: Once you reach Level Five, you can choose more Class Action. Gong of the Summit is an excellent AOE choice for the Monk, applying up to 24 damage to enemies in a concentrated area. Fist of Unbroken Air is another incredibly strong Class Action, costing 2 Ki points per use. You have seven Ki points to use up before you need to replenish them with a short or long rest, being the Monk's answer to Spell Slots, so be sure to make use of these powerful spells as you level up.
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