Baldur's Gate 3 has a plethora of choices available to you in character creation and level-up. While this makes it a joy to play, it can also be overwhelming for players who aren't familiar with the D&D system. Once you've settled on the suitable class for you, you'll still need to decide on a Race, Subclass, Ability Scores, Proficiencies, and Feats.
Astarion is a High Elf Rogue that you can meet on your journey through Baldur's Gate 3. Here's the best build for him.
While you can of course choose options that don't "fit" together to tell an exciting story, you'll want to make sure your character is at least competent to prevent disaster. If Monk is your class of choice, keep reading to learn about the best Races, Backgrounds, Stat Arrays, Subclasses, and Feats you can choose - as well as how much wiggle room you have to customize these details without sacrificing power.
Updated by Abigail Angell on October 20th, 2023: A doubled word has been deleted from the items table, all links have been made more relevant to the reader, and information in this guide has been checked for accuracy following recent patches.
Best Race For Monks
Monks benefit from the abilities of several Races, but there are three standout contenders - Wood Elf, Half-Orc, and LightfootHalfling. Which is right for you will depend on which aspect of the game you'd like to focus on - melee fighting, mobility, or out-of-combat utility.
Wood Elf
Wood Elves are the standard racial pick for Monks. All elves get additional weapons proficiencies (long bow, short bow, short sword, and long sword), which is very useful for the Monk. Their usual starting proficiencies are a bit sparse, especially their ranged options.
Additionally, Wood Elves get more base movement speed than any other Race in the game. Considering that a significant part of playing a monk is their mobility, this speed is a welcome addition. For maximum speed, pair this race with the Mobile feature.
Half-Orc
A Half-Orc is a classic race for any melee build due to its extra damage and staying power. As a Half-Orc, you'll fall to 1 HP instead of 0 the first time you would go down in a fight. This allows you to get another attack in or heal before dropping unconscious, which Baldur's Gate makes very punishing by requiring you to spend your whole next turn standing up and retrieving your weapon.
If this weren't already enough of a benefit for a class that stands in the line of fire, then Savage Attacks certainly is. Savage Attacks allow Half-Orcs to triple their damage on a critical hit with melee attacks instead of doubling it. While this ability is only useful for critical hits, keep in mind that monks do several attacks each turn. This increases the statistical likelihood that they will score that natural twenty.
Lightfoot Halfling
While the Halfling is slower than some of the other races in the game, they have other incredibly useful advantages. For one, having a free reroll for any natural 1 with Lucky. Given how often you'll be rolling dice, this is sure to save you some embarrassing failures.
Additionally, the Lightfoot subrace gets to roll with advantage on Stealth checks. This is fantastic in Baldur's Gate 3, which rewards sneaking heavily - doubly so because the dexterous Monk can take full advantage.
Best Background For Monks
The best Backgrounds for a Monk are those that give complimentary proficiencies - Wisdom and Dexterity are likely to be your best stats, so you should aim for skills related to those. A few examples of great Monk backgrounds include Urchin, Outlander, and Folk Hero.
Urchin
Urchin is going to be the best background if you want to utilize the stealth mechanics in the game. It gives proficiency in Stealth and Sleight of Hand, both of which scale off of Dexterity. This frees up your chosen proficiencies for your class to go to something like Religion or Insight. Additionally, this background gives you inspiration whenever you deal with the underbelly of society, which will come up often if you decide to help the Tiefling Children in Act One.
Outlander
Outlander gives proficiency in Survival, which will scale off of Wisdom. This means you'll be able to make good use of it, especially since Survival is often used to notice things in the game's vast wilderness. The thing that generally makes it inferior to the Urchin background, however, is the second proficiency - Athletics. Athletics is a Strength skill best left to those who wield heavy weaponry - not light-footed Monks. While being able to throw things better and jump is nice, it's simply not as useful to have a plus two to something when you could have a plus four. The exception to this rule is if you are playing a strength-based Monk build, such as the Tavern Brawler Monk.
Folk Hero
The final Background on this list might surprise you - Folk Hero isn't usually associated with Monks. However, it gives proficiency in Animal Handling and Survival which both scale off of Wisdom. Additionally, these are things that the Monk doesn't normally have easy access to. Keep in mind that if you go this route, you'll need to prioritize Dexterity Proficiencies when choosing your class Proficiencies.
If you want to become an Oathbreaker Paladin in Baldur's Gate 3, this guide can help you out.
Best Ability Scores & Proficiencies For Monks
When building a Monk, your priorities will be on Dexterity and Wisdom.Dexterity will govern how often you hit with your unarmed strikes, and Wisdom is important to raise your chances of affecting enemies with abilities like Stunning Strike. Additionally, both of these ability scores determine your Armor Class, as Monks have a version of Unarmored Defense like the Barbarian. Your secondary priority for Ability Scores will be Constitution, which governs your Hit Points and some saving throws. A good array might look like this:
Strength
10
Dexterity
16
Constitution
12
Intelligence
10
Wisdom
16
Charisma
10
Proficiencies for the Monk are more flexible, but the best ones allow you to replace the party's Rogue because of your high Dexterity and Wisdom. Perception, Insight, Stealth, Sleight of Hand, and Acrobatics are all very helpful. The two you choose for your class will depend on what your background gives you, but every Monk should aim to be proficient in at least Stealth and Perception.
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Best Monk Subclass
The best Monk Subclass will depend on your party composition however, most agree that the Way of the Open Hand is strongest at early levels, and the Way of Shadow is strongest at later levels.
Way Of The Open Hand
Way of the Open Hand Monks is beginner-friendly. To begin with, you'll gain several more options to affect enemy movement (similar to the Battle Master Fighter). As you level, you'll gain a self-heal and a way to deal extra Psychic, Necrotic, or Radiant damage as a Passive Ability. This keeps your character flexible, and effective in most situations - it is very beginner-friendly. However, it's also a very simple build, resulting in some players getting bored.
Way Of Shadow
Way of Shadow starts as a solid and balanced subclass for the Monk. However, it becomes unquestionably the best option from level 5 onwards. Coincidentally, this is also around the time your characters will descend into the Underdark - putting the Shadow Monk in their element.
At level 5, Way of Shadow Monks get Cloak of Shadows, which allows your character tobecome invisible when in shadow. Starting at level 6, Shadow Monks can teleport from shadow to shadow, gaining advantage on attacks as they do so. They can also spend Ki to cast Silence, Darkness, or Darkvision (although you'll usually want to use Ki on making Stunning Strike instead).
If this isn't your first playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 (or if you've been paying attention to Halsin) then you'll know that Act Two of the campaign takes place in the Shadowlands. While initially, this seems like great news for a Shadow Monk, you'll quickly find that being away from a light source is a death sentence here. As a result, Shadow Monks can struggle to use their best features in Act Two unless you successfully free Dolly the Pixie, which makes your party immune to the shadow curse without needing to be illuminated.
Best Multiclasses For Monks
Multiclassing is a mechanic most players won't encounter in their first playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 unless they are a veteran D&D player. However, it can do a lot to improve replayability as you make multiple characters. Monks naturally have Dexterity and Wisdom as primary abilities, meaning they will tend to combine well with other classes based on those abilities. Fighter and Ranger are particularly tantalizing combinations.
The Fighter/Monk Multiclass
This multiclass has become incredibly popular in the community for one reason - Monks in Baldur's Gate 3 (unlike in D&D) do not lose access to their class features when wearing armor. Taking your starting level in fighter gives you heavy armor proficiency and weapon proficiencies while costing very little in terms of progression. Alternatively, you can take two levels in Fighter for Second Wind and Action Surge, although the single-level dip is more popular. After doing the desired fighter dip at the beginning, simply level the rest of the way as a Monk.
The Ranger/Monk Multiclass
Multiclassing into Ranger not only gives Monks access to better weapon proficiencies (if done at level one) but potentially a companion to take aggro with the Beast Master subclass. You can also get proficiency with Thieves Tools by choosing Bounty Hunter as your Favored Enemy. For best results, take your first two levels in Ranger, the next five in Monk, and then one more in Ranger. Finally, level the rest of the way as a Monk. You'll be sacrificing your extra attack in the mid-game for Proficiencies, but the Monk's Flurry of Blows can help offset this.
The Rogue/Monk Multiclass
Because both the Rogue and the Monk are dexterity-based, this multiclass works very well. Some people favor the Shadow Monk/Assasin Rogue build for their amazing stealth and first-round burst. However, the Way of the Open Hand/Thief combination is incredibly fun as a boxer build. This build can routinely attack between four times a turn, and can even reach nine attacks in a single turn using class resources.
Best Feats For Monks
Monks are very self-sufficient, meaning that they don't require a feat to make them good. Often, an Ability Score Improvement will give you more bang for your buck. However, some players might find this boring.
If you'd like to take Feats on your Monk, look into Mobile, and Mage Slayer. Lucky and Tough are also very versatile feats that pair well with any build. The Tavern Brawler Monk, which is a specific build path for the monk revolving around this feat, is also an option for players who want to explore the improvised weapons and throwing mechanics of Baldur's Gate 3.
Mobile
This is a standard Monk feature because it gives you extra movement to close in on enemies, and allows you to move without provoking opportunity attacks or being hindered by difficult terrain. Considering how frequently difficult terrain appears in Baldur's Gate 3, this Feat can circumvent a lot of challenges.
Mage Slayer
Mage Slayer is very useful for any player who doesn't want to be debuffed and thrown about by enemy spell casters. Being in melee with an enemy when they cast a spell allows you to immediately attack them as a reaction. In addition, you have advantage on Saving Throws against these spells, and any enemy you hit has disadvantage to maintain Concentration.
Lucky
Lucky is a no-brainer Feat for just about any character - it allows you to gain advantage on an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw three times per long rest. Alternatively, you can make an enemy roll with disadvantage to attack you.
Tough
Tough is a great Feat for anyone likely to be up close and personal with enemies. Additionally, this Feat doesn't become less powerful if taken later on in your playthrough. When you take Tough, your character gains 2 additional Hit Points for every level they have. This works both Retroactively and continues stacking as you level.
Tavern Brawler
To play a Tavern Brawler Monk, you'll need to build yourself a Strength-based character. As a result, much of the other advice in this guide becomes moot. To make the Tavern Brawler build work well, you'll need to choose Githyanki to get Medium Armor Proficiency. This is because you'll be dumping the stats for your Unarmored Defense in favor of Strength. Then, pick Way of the Open Hand as your subclass for additional crowd control options. This is a fun alternative to the Shadow Monk, although it has completely different strengths and playstyle.
Best Weapons For Monks
Monks are a supposedly Martial, class because they do not focus on spells. However, their weapon proficiencies are much more sparse than other Martial Classes like Fighters and Barbarians. At level one, your character will be proficient in Simple Weapons, and Shortswords. You will start with a Quarterstaff as a tutorial weapon - arguably the most iconic weapon for Monks.
You may have noticed that your abilities sometimes state you need to be wielding a Monk Weapon to use them. However, it is not immediately clear what weapons are monk weapons. The answer to this question is quite simple - a Monk Weapon is any that does not have the Two-Handed or Heavy property, and that you are proficient with. Weapons that you gain proficiency with from your race or a Multiclass qualify as long as they follow the requirements.
Which Weapons Should Monks Use?
As you level, a Spear or Quarterstaff will be your bread-and-butter melee weapon. The +1 and +2 variations of these weapons are relatively common, and their versatile property lets you get access to the 1d8 damage dice without sacrificing your Monk features. You won't be using ranged combat very much, as you aren't at your most effective unless you can also use your fists. However, in instances where you can't close into melee right away, it is a good idea to have a Light Crossbow equipped in the ranged weapon slot. Alternatively, Monks can fight effectively without any weapons at all - relying on unarmed fighting. However, this blocks you off from the cool side features of weapons such as free spells and advantage against certain enemy types.
Notable Magic Weapons For Monks
Speaking of cool magical weapons, there are a few you'll want to keep your eyes out for. These weapons all buff your defensive stats, drastically increase your hit chance, or allow your monk to excel at disabling enemies.
Lathander's Blessing: Once per Long Rest, when your hit points are reduced to 0, you regain 2 to 12 hit points. Allies within 9 meters also regain 1 to 6 hit points.
Lathander's Light: Sheds holy light in a 6-meter radius. In combat, fiends and undead standing in the light are Blinded, unless they succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw.
Cast Sunbeam once per Long Rest
Found in a hidden area of the Rosymorn Monastery beyond the Mountain Pass.
Fly Trap: Chance to Ensnare target if it is not a plant or a beast.
Found in a trapped, locked chest in the underground passage of the Druid Grove.
The Pale Oak
Faithwarden's Stride: Druidic vines cannot Ensnare you and do not count as Difficult Terrain.
Faithwarden's Vines: Vines sprout from the ground, slowing creatures within and possibly Entangling them (requires a Strength Saving Throw to avoid becoming Entangled)
Received upon completing the quest Investigate Kagha if you both persuaded and spared her.
Absolute Night: Chance to Blind target. Deals an additional 2d6 Piercing damage to certain creatures that sport multiple sets of eyes. DEX Save (DC 8) to negate Blind, duration 2 rounds.
Crafted by combining the shaft of a broken spear and the head of a broken spear. The head is found lodged in the Owlbear in Act One. The shaft is located on the body of Edowin.
You'll notice that most of these weapons are Spears or Quarterstaffs for damage reasons. However, the Sussur weapons gained from the Masterwork Weapon quest and The Blood of Lathander have abilities that are so useful that they can't be ignored - despite being an unideal weapon type.
Multiclassing in Baldur's Gate 3 opens up a wide variety of options. This guide breaks down the synergy between Open Hand Monk and Thief Rogue.
Best Gear For Monks
Monks usually don't need armor, due to their Unarmored Defense feature. However, they are still going to use equipment, probably in every slot. This can be tricky - which items should they wear? Here, I've collected some of the best ones for Monks.
Name
Type
Features
Location
Helldusk Helmet
Helmet
Infernal Sight: You can see in magical and ordinary darkness up to a range of 12m / 40ft. You cannot be Blinded.
Magical Durability: The wielder has a +2 bonus to Saving Throws against spells.
Attackers can't land Critical Hits on the wearer.
Immolating Gaze: Sear and Frightens a target with nothing but your glower. You deal an additional 2d8 Fire damage against Burning creatures.
The House of Hope in a vault across from the entrance to the Boudoir.
Scabby Pugilist's Circlet
Helmet
Martial Bravery: Your weapon and unarmed strikes deal an additional 2 damage while surrounded by 2 or more foes
Sold by Mattis in Rivington
Garb of the Land & Sky
Clothing
Kushigo Counter: While Patient Defense is active; the wearer can use their Reaction to make an unarmed strike against any attacker that misses
Entharl Danthelon in Danthelon's Dancing Axe in Wyrm's Crossing.
Bonespike Garb
Clothing
Slabjaw Determination: You gain 15 temporary hit points whenever you Rage.
Exoskeletal Endurance: Reduce all incoming damage by 2. When the wearer is struck by a melee attack, the attacker takes 3 Piercing Damage
Purchased from Exxvikyap at Rivington General in Rivington
Vest of Soul Rejuvenation
Clothing
Defier's Rejuvenation: Whenever the wearer succeeds on a Saving Throw against a Spell, they regain 1d4 Hit Points.
Greater Kushigo Counter: The wearer can use a reaction to make an unarmed strike against any attacker that misses.
Armour Class +2
Can be obtained from Rolan in Act Three
Cloak of Protection
Cloak
+1 AC
+1 Saving Throws
Purchasable from Quartermaster Talli at the Last Light Inn
Seraphic Pugilist's Gloves
Gloves
Angelclocker Knuckles: Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1~4 Radiant damage.
You can cast Guiding Bolt once per Long Rest.
Found inside a locked chest of the Open Hand Temple
The Sparkle Hands
Gloves
Conductive Strikes: On a hit with an unarmed attack, the wearer gains 2 Lightning Charges.
Effective Transmitter: While imbued with Lightning Charges, attacks against metal constructs and foes wearing metal armor gain advantage
Found in a chest near the Druid Sanctuary of the Sunlit Wetlands
Gauntlets of The Tyrant
Gloves
Enervating Suffusion: Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 Force damage.
High Spellcasting: You gain a +1 bonus to Spell Save DC.
Command (Level 3): Cast the Command spell on three creatures once per Long Rest
Looted from Enver Gortash in Wyrm's Crossing
Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength
Gloves
Strength Saving Throws: +1
Set the wearer's Strength to 23. The enchantment has no effect if their Strength score is higher without it
On a pedestal in the Archive of the House of Hope
Gloves of the Growling Underdog
Gloves
Underdog's Bravery: The wearer gains Advantage on melee attack rolls while surrounded by 2 or more foes.
Strength Saving Throws +1
In the treasure hoard of the Goblin Camp (behind Dror Ragzlin)
Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo
Boots
Experienced And Deadly: The wearer deals additional damage equal to their Wisdom Modifier with unarmed strikes.
Dropped by Prelate Lir'i'c
Bonespike Boots
Boots
Evasive Instinct: You have a +1 bonus to Armor Class and Saving Throws as long as you are not wearing armor or holding a shield.
Refined Vaulting: Jump distance is increased by 1.5m / 5ft.
Brutal Leap: Leap at a target as a bonus action, possibly knocking it prone.
Looted from a chest in a secluded passageway of Rivington
Helldusk Boots
Boots
Steadfast: You cannot be forcibly moved by a foe's spells or actions, and you ignore the effects of Difficult Terrain.
Infernal Evasion: When you fail a Saving Throw, you may use your reaction to succeed instead.
Hellcrawler: Teleport to an area and deal 2d8 Fire damage where you land. The impact blast spreads in a 3m / 10ft zone
Inside a Gilded Chest on the top floor of Wyrm's Rock Fortress in Wyrm's Crossing.
