Monk Class Guide: Best Builds and Subclasses

The Monk is one of the 12 available main classes in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3). Check out our guide for an overview of the Monk class, including its related subclasses, class features, best races to use, and best builds.

Monk Class Overview

Monk Basic Information

Class Overview
	Monk Channel your cosmic enlightenment by deftly dodging and efficiently disassembling your foes through stunning strikes and a whirlwind of martial art attacks.
Hit Die	d8
Primary Ability	Dexterity Wisdom (for Ki Features)
Saving Throw Proficiencies	Strength and Dexterity
Starting Class Features
・Simple Weapon Proficiency ・Shortsword Proficiency

The Monk is a martial class that specializes in unarmed, melee combat. In battle, Monks are agile fighters, employing their martial arts and the secrets of their Ki techniques to demolish any and all enemy combatants within arm's reach.

Monk Skills with Proficiency

Available Skills (Pick 2 of the 6)
Athletics (Strength)	Acrobatics (Dexterity)	History (Intelligence)
Religion (Intelligence)	Insight (Wisdom)	ー

All Monk Subclasses

All Monk Subclasses
Way of the Open Hand	You specialize in unarmed combat, using your hands and your control of Ki to heal or inflict grievous hurt. Subclass Starting Features: ・Grants Flurry of Blows:Topple Action ・Grants Flurry of Blows:Stagger Action ・Grants Flurry of Blows:Push Action
Way of the Shadow	You value the arts of stealth and subterfuge, bending the shadows to your will to strike without warning. Subclass Starting Features: ・Grants Shadow Arts:Hide Action ・Grants Shadow Arts:Pass Without Trace Action ・Grants Shadow Arts:Darkness ・Grants Shadow Arts:Darkvision ・Grants Shadow Arts:Silence ・Gain Minor Illusion Cantrip
Way of the Four Elements	You focus your Ki to bend the elements to your will. using them as an extension of your own body. Subclass Starting Features: ・Grants Harmony of Fire and Water Action ・Gain 3 Spell Slots

The Monk have access to three subclasses which greatly affects the way the Monk can play from level 3 onwards. Identifying the playstyle you want as well as your current party composition is vital to choosing the subclass you want for the Monk. Below, we explain the capabilities of each subclass.

Way of the Open Hand

The Way of the Open Hand completely makes the Monk a pure martial based class. The Monk gains access to several new martial skills that can inflict status effects such as Topple, Stagger, and Push. The Monk can also gain other defensive and self-healing options by channeling their Ki from this subclass path.

Way of the Open Hand Subclass Guide and Builds

Way of Shadow

The Monk becomes a stealth class by following the Way of Shadow subclass. You gain multiple ways to navigate the map and debilitate enemies. Stealth also allows you to close in to your targets to deal lethal strikes without the attention of enemies.

Way of Shadow Subclass Guide and Builds

Way of the Four Elements

The Way of the Four Elements completely changes the way the Monk plays and turns it from a martial class to a hybrid. You still retain several melee benefits such as secondary attacks and monk weapon proficiencies but you also gain access to several new Monk Spells that allow you to use long ranged elemental attacks at the cost of Ki Points!

Way of the Four Elements Subclass Guide and Builds

All Monk Features

Monk Features
Unarmored Defense	Martial Arts	Ki
Unarmored Movement	Monastic Traditions	Deflect Missiles
Slow Fall	Extra Attack	Stunning Strike
Ki-Empowered Strikes	Evasion	Stillness of Mind
Purity of Body
▼ Level Progression and Features Chart ▼

Unarmored Defense Grants Bonus Armor

By undergoing rigorous training, your Monk's body becomes as tough as any armor. At Level 1, Monks gain the Unarmored Defense passive, granting them a bonus to their Armor Class when not wearing armor and not using a shield. To calculate your AC with Unarmored Defense active, use the following equation:

Unarmored Defense AC Formula
Armor Class = WIS Modifier + DEX Modifier + 10

While the mileage of this skill varies depending on your Wisdom and Dexterity ability scores, the rule of thumb when evaluating is the higher your AC, the less likely it is you'll get hit.

What is Armor Class?

Martial Arts Gives Bonuses to Unarmed Strikes

Martial Arts is a Level 1 feature that gives extra bonuses to your Monk's actions when using either Unarmed Strikes or Monk Weapons. In this context, Monk weapons refer to your Short Sword and Simple Weapon Proficiencies.

While wielding Monk Weapons or striking unarmed, your Monk gains the following actions:

• You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for Attack and Damage rolls.
• You can roll a d4 instead of your weapon's damage roll when calculating your Attack Roll.
• You can use attack as a Bonus Action, allowing you to attack twice in a single turn.

Ki Grants Bonus Actions in Combat

At Monk Level 1, you gain access to Ki points. Much like the Sorcery Point system of the Sorcerer class, Ki points can be spent in combat to allow your Monk to perform bonus actions on top of what they currently perform during their turn.

To replenish your spent Ki points, Monks can take either a Short or Long Rest. This means that this system, unlike other point-mechanic systems in BG3, will be much more flexible as it can be used and recharged in-between your Resting Phases in-game.

Unarmored Movement Covers Longer Distances Per Turn

On top of Unarmored Defense, your Monk also gains access to Unarmored Movement once you reach Level 2. Unarmored Movement basically increases the range that your Monk can move per turn, with the bonus distance granted by the passive increasing as your Monk levels up.

Monastic Tradition Subclasses Modify Your Ki Actions

Once your Monk reaches Level 3, they will gain access to Monastic Traditions, otherwise known as Monk subclasses. In Baldur's Gate 3, you will have a choice between 3 Monastic Traditions: the Way of the Open Hand, the Way of the Shadow, and the Way of the Four Elements.

Deflect Missiles Rolls a d10 to Reduce Damage Taken

At Level 3, the Monk gains the Deflect Missile Reaction. Despite the name, Deflect Missile doesn't actually deflect projectiles aimed at your Monk. Instead, this feature allows you to roll a 1d10 to reduce the damage your Monk takes from the projectile (as shown in the equation below).

Deflect Missile Damage Reduction
Damage Reduced = 1d10 + DEX Modifier + Monk Lvl

If the damage you take is reduced to 0 (and if the missile is small enough to catch with a free hand), you Monk can actually catch the projectile. This allows you to throw it back or use it as ammunition to fire back at your foe. The caught projectile or weapon can be launched with Proficiency, meaning it takes no penalty bonuses and is treated as a Monk weapon.

Slow Fall Reduces Falling Damage

At Monk Level 5, you unlock the Slow Fall passive. Once active, this reduces the damage you take from falls. With the sheer amount of verticality present in BG3's level design, this passive will come in handy when you accidentally (or intentionally) leap off the many ledges in the game.

Extra Attack Boosts Your Damage Potential

Being a martial class, the Monk also gains the Extra Attack feature once they hit Level 5. This feature performs as advertised, allowing you Monk to perform a second Attack action so long as they attacked at least once during the turn.

Stunning Strike Disables Enemies for One Turn

Another feature the Monk gains at Level 5 is the Stunning Strike action. Once obtained, you can spend on Ki point to perform a Stunning Strike during combat against a single enemy. If your enemy fails their Constitution saving throw against the strike, they will be stunned for one turn.

Ki-Empowered Strikes Penetrate Physical Resistances

Another power spike you get as a Monk arrives once you hit Level 6. At this level, the Monk's unarmed attacks become Ki-Empowered Strikes, allowing this type of attack to penetrate the physical resistances of your enemies.

Evasion Allows You to Avoid Taking Damage

Once you reach Level 7, your Monk gains Evasion, allowing them to dodge attacks during combat. This passive also modifies any Dexterity saving throws you perform. If you succeed in a Dexterity saving throw that has your Monk take half the damage of the attack, you instead take no damage due to this passive.

Stillness of Mind Allows You to Negate a Mind Effect

Stillness of Mind is a feature you unlock at Level 7 which allows you to spend an action in order to negate one mind-influencing effect incurred by your Monk. This allows you to negate effects like Charmed or Frightened when your Monk receives them in combat.

Purity of Body Grants Disease and Poison Immunity

Finally, at Level 10, your Monk gains the Purity of Body passive. When active, this feature renders your Monk immune to any and all types of disease and poison effects in the game.

Monk Class Level Progression

Lvl	Features Unlocked	Ki Points	Proficiency Bonus
1	Martial Arts Unarmored Defense	ー	＋１
2	Ki Points Unarmored Movement	2	+１
3	Subclass (Monastic Tradition) ・Way of the Open Hand ・Way of the Shadow ・Way of the Four Elements Deflect Missiles	3	+2
4	Slow Fall Ability Score Improvement or a Feat of your choice.	4	+2
5	Extra Attack Stunning Strike	5	+3
6	Ki-Empowered Strikes Subclass (Monastic Tradition) Feature Unlock	6	+3
7	Evasion Stillness of Mind	7	+3
8	Ability Score Improvement or a Feat of your choice.	8	+3
9	Unarmored Movement Improvement	9	+4
10	Purity of Body	10	+4
11	Subclass (Monastic Tradition) Feature Unlock	11	+4
12	Ability Score Improvement or a Feat of your choice.	12	+4

Monk Builds

Best Ability Scores

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8	17 (+2)	14	8	15 (+1)	10

Dexterity and Wisdom are our two primary ability scores that we want to work with. The Monk converts every Strength scaling into Dexterity which is why we make sure that our Dexterity is at the highest possible value for maximum DPS. Wisdom on the otherhand, supports our Unarmored early game playstyle and a possible transition to a Four Element Subclass transition.

Constitution is our Mid Priority as the build focuses on dealing damage rather than tanking hits. However, we are a melee class so making sure that we have a decent amount of value in Constitution is always vital for our character's growth.

The Monk has three stats that is irrelevant to the class. Charisma, Intelligence, and as mentioned earlier, Strength are the three stats we do not need. None of these stats provide us any combat bonuses as none of our skills scale with the three said Ability Scores.

Ability Scores Guide: All Ability Effects and Modifiers

Best Subclasses for Monk

Way of the Four Elements for Ranged Burst

The Way of the Four Elements gives the monk access to spellcasting that scales with Wisdom. While these Monk Spells can consume a higher amount of Ki Points than normal, their effects can be effective and oftentimes, lethal to enemies. Way of the Four Elements is great if you wish to supplement a martial focused team with spellcasting!

Way of the Open Hand for more Melee DPS

The Way of the open Hand grants the monk more Melee capabilities. You gain access to martial skills that can inflict status effects and more melee combat skills in the long run.

Way of the Shadow is Unrecommended

While the Way of the Shadow gives you several skills that you can use for sneaking the battlefield, you lose out on greater benefits that the other two subclasses can offer.

Best Monk Equipment

・ Weapons: Quarterstaves are versatile weapons which provides us a higher dps than one handed weapons while also providing an unarmed attack bonus after an attack action.
・ Armor: Unarmored provides us with Armor Class value based on our Wisdom while also providing extra movement speed during battles.

Best Races to Use As a Monk

Half-Orc

The Half-Orc is great racial choice for the Monk for multitude of reasons.

・Relentless Endurance - Lets you survive a lethal attack once. This is valuable due to the Monk's naturally low Hitdie (HP). This is much better when coupled with the Way off the Open Hand which grants you options to make your character more durable later on.
・Savage Strikes - Triples the damage of Critical Hits. This is so much more valuable for the Monk due to its natural ability to use Versatile weapons and bare handed attacks simultaneously which provides you more attack chance which can land for critical hits.

Half-Orc Race Guide and Best Classes

Wood Elf

The Wood Elf is our secondary choice for the Monk.

・Fey Ancestry - The Monk can gain access to Stillness of Mind during the mid-game. If partnered by Fey Ancestry, the Monk gains near immunity against mind effefcts.
・Dark Vision - Dark Vision is always a great bonus to have not just for yourself but for your party as a whole.
・Elven Training - Grants the Monk a ranged option even if you don't specialize in the Way of the Four Elements subclass by gaining access to ranged martial skills from bows.
・Fleet of Foot - Additional 1.5M movement speed may seem small at a glance but the Monk also gains access to Unarmored movement which gives you an additional 4.5m total on top of your innate 9m movements. This allows you to easily approach ranged units and dispatch them quickly.

Wood Elf Subrace Guide and Best Classes

Baldur's Gate 3 Related Guides

Class Guide: All Classes and Subclasses

All Classes

All Class Guides
Barbarian	Bard	Cleric	Druid
Fighter	Monk	Paladin	Ranger
Rogue	Sorcerer	Warlock	Wizard