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.

Related: Baldur's Gate 3: How To Respec Your Character

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 August 21, 2023: The Monk class has become one of the more versatile multiclass builds for Baldur's Gate 3. To reflect this, we mention the Fighter Start and Tavern Brawler Monk Builds that have become prominent. Additionally, players have been searching for the best Monk weapons for their build. To help them out, we've added a section on some of the best in the game currently.

Best Race For A Monk

Monks benefit from the abilities of several Races, but there are three standout contenders - Wood Elf, Half-Orc, and Lightfoot Halfling. 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 A Monk

The best Backgrounds for a Monk are those which 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.

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.

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.

Related: Baldur's Gate 3: How To Unlock Oathbreaker Subclass

Best Ability Scores And Proficiencies For Monk

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:

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 Stealth and Perception.

Related: Baldur's Gate 3: How To Read Minds

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. 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 to become 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).

Best Multiclasses For Monk

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.

Best Feats For A Monk

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.

Best Weapons For Monk

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.

Which Weapons Are Monk Weapons?

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.

• Corellon's Grace - Gain 1d4 on Saving Throws while not wearing armor
• The Blood of Lathander - Regain Hit Points when you would otherwise go down and get access to Sunbeam (level 6 spell)
• Nature's Snare - Ensnare targets who aren't Beasts or Plants on-hit
• Sussur Dagger or Sussure Sickle - Silence Enemy Spellcasters
• The Watcher's Guide - gain advantage on your next attack when you miss
• Vision of the Absolute - Chance to blind enemies on-hit, does extra damage to creatures with many eyes.

You'll notice that most of these weapons are Spears or Quarterstaffs for damage reasons. However, the Sussur weapons and The Blood of Lathander have abilities that are so useful that they can't be ignored - despite being an unideal weapon type.

Next: Baldur's Gate 3: Best Druid Build