The best Baldur’s Gate 3 monk class build is a Way of the Open Hand monk that starts at Dexterity 17 / Wisdom 16, takes Tavern Brawler at level 4, and drinks an Elixir of Hill Giant Strength before every fight — that combination gives the highest single-target damage of any monk variant while still reaching 20+ AC without wearing a single piece of armour. If you play Honour Mode or run solo, Way of Shadow trades roughly a fifth of that damage for Shadow Step, free Darkness, and near-permanent invisibility from level 11. Four Elements is the pick only if your party is short on ranged damage and area control.
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Quick comparison: the three monk subclasses
| Pick | Best for | Core mechanic | Gear / upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Way of the Open Hand | Best overall damage | Flurry of Blows riders (Addle, Topple, Push); Wholeness of Body at level 6 | One strength elixir per long rest |
| Way of Shadow | Best survivability, solo and Honour Mode | Shadow Arts (Darkness, Pass Without Trace, Silence); Shadow Step at 6; Cloak of Shadows at 11 | Almost none |
| Way of the Four Elements | Ranged damage and crowd control | Ki-fuelled elemental disciplines with push, pull and AoE options | Heavy ki consumption |
All three share the same chassis: Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts, ki points equal to your monk level, Extra Attack at 5, and Stunning Strike. Only the subclass features differ, so the ability-score plan below works for any of them.
Ability scores: the point-buy maths behind the array
Character creation gives you 27 points to spend on a 1:1 scale up to 13, with 14 and 15 costing extra. The cost table below is the one the game uses, and it is the reason you should never buy a 15 unless you actually need it.
| Score | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point cost | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
The recommended spread is Strength 10 (2 points), Dexterity 15 (9), Constitution 14 (7), Intelligence 8 (0), Wisdom 15 (9), Charisma 8 (0) — exactly 27 points. Add racial bonuses and you start at Dexterity 17 and Wisdom 16, which is the highest combined total a monk can reach before level 4.
Wood Elf is the cleanest race here: +2 Dexterity and +1 Wisdom, plus 35 feet of movement and Stealth proficiency, all of which a monk actually uses. Lightfoot Halfling (+2 Dexterity, Lucky) is the second pick if you hate natural 1s. Githyanki look tempting because of their armour proficiencies, but that is a trap — wearing armour or a shield switches off both Unarmored Defense and Unarmored Movement, so you would be trading the monk’s two best defensive features for an AC you can already beat with clothing.
Wisdom is not a dump stat. It adds to AC through Unarmored Defense (10 + Dexterity modifier + Wisdom modifier) and it sets your Stunning Strike save DC, which is 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier. At level 5 with Wisdom 16 that is a DC 14 Constitution save, and it climbs from there.
Level-by-level plan
| Level | What you gain | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts (1d4) | Run unarmoured from the first fight; use the bonus-action unarmed strike every turn |
| 2 | Ki points, Flurry of Blows, Patient Defence, Step of the Wind, Unarmored Movement | Flurry on anything that survives one round; Patient Defence when you are the front line |
| 3 | Subclass, Deflect Missiles | Pick your subclass now — it changes your ki spending for the rest of the run |
| 4 | Feat or ability score increase | Tavern Brawler (see below), or +2 Dexterity if you refuse consumables |
| 5 | Extra Attack, Stunning Strike, Martial Arts die becomes 1d6 | This is the power spike: four attacks per turn with Flurry of Blows |
| 6 | Ki-Empowered Strikes, subclass feature | Your unarmed strikes now count as magical against resistant enemies |
| 7 | Evasion, Stillness of Mind | Evasion is a large survivability jump against AoE spells |
| 8 | Ability score increase | +2 Wisdom for AC and Stunning Strike DC |
| 9 | Unarmored Movement improvement | Vertical surfaces and liquids become walkable — huge for positioning |
| 10 | Purity of Body | Poison immunity; less relevant, but free |
| 11 | Subclass capstone, Martial Arts die becomes 1d8 | Tranquility, Cloak of Shadows, or the elemental upgrade |
| 12 | Ability score increase | +2 Wisdom to hit 20, or a defensive feat if you already capped |
Feats: Tavern Brawler vs +2 Dexterity
Per the in-game feat description, Tavern Brawler adds your Strength modifier to unarmed attack and damage rolls on top of the Dexterity-based numbers, and grants +1 Strength or Constitution. Combined with an Elixir of Hill Giant Strength — which sets your Strength to 21, a +5 modifier, for the whole day — that is a flat +5 to hit and +5 damage per unarmed strike.
Here is the level 5 comparison, assuming Dexterity 18 and a 1d6 martial arts die:
- +2 Dexterity route: 1d6 + 5 averages 8.5 per hit. Four attacks per turn (two from Extra Attack, two from Flurry of Blows) average about 34 damage.
- Tavern Brawler + elixir route: 1d6 + 4 + 5 averages 12.5 per hit. The same four attacks average about 50 damage.
That is roughly a 45% increase in sustained melee output from one feat and one consumable, before counting the Open Hand riders. The trade-offs are real: the damage assumes your attacks land, and elixirs are consumable, so you need a steady supply. If you would rather not manage that, take +2 Dexterity at level 4 and +2 Wisdom at level 8 — you lose the top of the damage curve but never run dry.
Gear that matters, by act
| Item | Act | Effect | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Graceful Cloth | 1 | +2 Dexterity, up to a maximum of 20 | Clothing, so it never disables Unarmored Defense; effectively +1 AC and +1 to hit and damage |
| Bracers of Defence | 1 | +2 AC while not wearing armour or a shield | The single biggest AC item a monk can equip |
| Cloak of Protection | 1–2 | +1 AC and +1 to saving throws | Stacks with everything above |
| Elixir of Hill Giant Strength | 1+ | Sets Strength to 21 until your next long rest | The enabler for the Tavern Brawler plan; buy them in bulk |
| Gloves of Soul Catching | 3 | Unarmed strikes deal additional force damage and heal the wearer | Best-in-slot monk gloves and a free sustain layer |
| Amulet of Greater Health | 3 | Sets Constitution to 23 | Roughly +6 hit points per level on a class with a d8 hit die |
Item names and effects follow the in-game tooltips in the current patch; vendor stock and drop locations have shifted between patches, so treat the act column as a rough window rather than a fixed spawn point.
For the AC calculation, a monk at Dexterity 19 (15 + 2 racial + 2 from The Graceful Cloth) and Wisdom 16 has a base Unarmored Defense of 17. Bracers of Defence take that to 19, a Cloak of Protection to 20, and +2 Wisdom at level 8 to 21 — competitive with a dedicated tank in plate, while keeping full movement and ki.
Weapons are optional. A quarterstaff or a pair of shortswords counts as a monk weapon, so you keep your Dexterity-based attacks and the bonus-action unarmed strike. Many players run pure unarmed anyway, because Flurry of Blows and the Open Hand riders only trigger on unarmed strikes.
Best overall: Way of the Open Hand
Open Hand wins on raw output. Flurry of Blows can add
