It's been the best way for me to learn, honestly. I came to this game with a lot of preconceived ideas about rpg classes from other games...and that will actively hurt you in this game, sometimes. Plus, there's a lot of little hidden stuff. Even with all the digging I've done, I still learn new things constantly.
There isn't a subclass in this game that can't beat Honour Mode. Some will have an easier time in combat, some will have an easier time during stealth...etc. There are too many possibilities, and I'm not nearly smart enough to say for sure that a subclass is bad...because I'm more than likely just not playing it properly. But yeh the way I ultimately see it is: the best build is the one you enjoy the most.
@@Reverendshot777dexterity 17, wisdom 16, ethel's hair on dexterity to raise to 18. Use lvl 4 feat for ability improvement to get wisdom to 18. Buy or steal cats grace cloth from the lady from society of brilliance. It raises your dexterity 2 points. You'll have to use ability improvement again when you get your second feat at lvl 8, but 18 wisdom is nothing to scoff at. Throw on bracers of defense to raise armor class 2 points when you aren't using armor or a shield, and between your armor class, whatever leftover poi is you dumped into constitution, and patient defense you'll have no problems making it to level 8
I didn’t come here for a laugh but man that “coincidentally, 1 ki point and a bonus action is the ingredients for a knuckle sandwich” got me. Great video and series dude, will be watching them all and can’t wait for the ones you’re yet to do
Bro, I am so appreciative of your in-depth videos being a newcomer to DND. I like the way you were unbiased with your Opinions I would like to see you add a small multi class section at the end of each deep dive into what the best multi class option would be if you believe that there are some hope you do well you’re very talented. Thank you.
I'm actually planning to make some Multiclass videos after I finish the Class Deepdive series. I'm excited to go over all of the possibilities! Also thank you very much for the kind words. It means alot.
Races with armor and shield proficiencies tend to help out monks a lot especially in the early game due to one thing that monks (specifically tavern brawler strength based monks) struggle with, low AC. The only buffs monks lose out on by wearing armor are movement buffs which are remedied using the early-game haste helm, crushers ring, and longstrider. The wisdom modifier buff to unarmored defense doesn't matter since medium/light armor is better for AC anyway unless you're maxing wisdom. This makes Laezel a VERY good Tavern Brawler monk especially for the entirety of act 1.
This was helpful, thank you sir. The two most confusing classes for me or monks and rangers. I don’t have a 5e background, so its been a learning process. After i finish my paladin play through, i think monk will be my next.
You may be better off without te 5e background. Your not caught up in the wide spread misconceptions about some of these classes and subclasses. Monk has an undeserved one this game only partly overcomes, and it's nice to see the fresh takes rather than the mired down ones. Funny thing is, monk is not changed that much overall. You upgrade damage slightly sooner and a little more ki, but that's really it. And some of that you could have technically done in 5e anyway.
Yeh, it's a shame. There'll always be a meta, eventually. Recently I've been actively trying to avoid them as much as possible. That's why I try to make recommendations about things based on how good they are AND how fun or useful in a utility sense. I've been a min-max kind of player for decades. Decided to try the other way.
@@PanicRolling I minmaxed when I was younger until in a game I realized that optimal was basically relative. There are just too many things to be optimal for and several of them oppose each other, while several others mean you're optimal for only a narrow set of things that don't translate to much else, so something less optimal can often end up working better. Then from there I slowly realized all the stuff I was missing and even things that were better in some cases that got ignored because they play by different rules. 5e monks are a good example.
I 100% agree. I do my best to only optimize for fun, now. Sometimes the old way creeps back up on me, but I don't sprint through games to finish them as quickly as possible anymore.
Just seen your subscription count. Wouldn't be surprised if it blew up this next days, i realy like the quality of edit and explanation. Hope you grow as big as you deserve
I will say slow fall has saved me. I was in the underdark in the forge area and was on that higher area where you fight those slime things but actually a bit over and was fighting the guy and those dog monster things. He blasted me off and I fell all the way down to the first lvl and survived because of it. Had like 8 hp lol.
It certainly does a great job filling the Ninja fantasy. The tools you end up with are pretty fun to use in and out of combat, as well. I'm appreciating non-combat utility a lot more in my various playthroughs that I'm working on than I did in the first one. So I'm getting a taste of some weird off the wall class choices. It's been very fun, haha!
This has been great. I just picked up a Monk and was clueless as to how to build them out. I choose Way of Shadow with a Quarterstaff though Unarmed sounds good too. The other two sound fun as well. I'm subscribed now w/All Notifications. I feel enlightened now. Thanks. Great series as well. I still have to check out the Cleric.
I'm putting together the Paladin video right now. It'll be releasing in the next few days. I'm focusing on all of the Charisma-based classes next, since they are very popular. So Sorcerer will also be soon.
My experience with Stillness of Mind is that its more a nuisance than an actuall help because it actually uses your action... and i 100% prefer a frightened action over basically losing a turn.
The shadow monk is my favorite by far, but I can’t help but feel like it and the element monk are just so far behind the open hand monk. It almost feel’s mandatory to run 3 levels of rogue to get the extra bonus action, when the open hand monk can get an extra bonus action for a couple turns.
Open Hand Monk + Thief Rogue is a hurricane of punches every turn. It really is one of those situations where you might have to trade damage for utility if it's what you want for your group. It's a tough decision, sometimes.
I did a rouge shadow monk with shadow heart and her gear with dual wield the spear of shar and a dagger it was unstoppable. So many ways to make characters in this game
Same that spear has amazing synergy. Aswell as the other dark justiciar gear that gives you buffs while obscured. And the spear itself that can deal damage aswell as creating a cloud of darkness at your target is just great, since it also prevents you from getting blinded.
My favourite character I played in DnD was a way of shadow monk that I multiclassed as a rogue, and I think that build is even stronger in BG3. You miss out on some of the upper level skills, but shadow stepping into a sneak attack is so worth it. There's a bunch of ppl repping thief in the comments, but I can't help but prefer assassin for the flavour, and for the first round smackdowns
Oh man, Assassin Rogue is amazing also. If it weren't for the outrageous possibilities of having an extra Bonus Action every turn, I'd bet most people would play Assassin instead of Thief.
Thank you for your guides. They're a great help. As a complete noob to d&d I jumped down the yt bg3 rabbit hole, but a lot of the content is best this, best that, s tier this. I checked out the wiki as well, but it's a great help to have someone else explain things in detail
2nd vid I've seen of yours, great content! I feel like Way of the Shadow got shafted on 9th level. They should've got something like the other's. Maybe give Shadow Strike on 9 and something else at 11. I do really like the class it just seems like something was forgotten.
I've come across a few subclasses so far that had levels that were just complete nothingburgers. When you only get up to 12th level, having one where you get nothing feels pretty bad.
The monk of the four elements is quite suitable for Karlach, because she was born in a city, and it is strange that her class is a barbarian. But a monk, as a master of martial arts, suits her better
Mixing the Origin characters with different Class options is awesome. Larian did a ton of work animating and recording voice lines for all of them, and I highly recommend trying out Gale as a Barbarian and Astarion as a Bard. Both very comical for different reasons.
@@PanicRolling Wait, I didn't know that, they get different voice lines when you play them as different classes? Goddamn, Larian did think of everything! I have to try that now!
Yeh, the Bard insults, the commentary while sneaking, Barbarian Rage roaring. All of them got lines recorded with every class in mind. Larian is something special.
New sub here, keep doing what you do, it's cool to get these in depth videos. I usually go for tank in most RPGs/DND but seeing videos like this gives me confidence to try other classes. BG3 is a little overwhelming in how much is available and sub classing, etc. So seeing what's available earlier rather than trial and error helps.
Yeh absolutely! There's a ridiculous amount of info involved in building a character in bg3. Especially if you don't have a DnD background, like I don't...😅
Thank you! I'm just glad you guys are enjoying the videos, and I really appreciate the support and encouragement. Also brave Tarnished, thy profile picture befits a crown.
its like monk was MADE to be multiclassed with rogue thief. Doesn't matter which monk subclass. I went open hand monk 9 and thief rogue 3 and woo boy it was gnarly. gotta love extra bonus actions for monks
To be fair...the Thief Rogue's additional Bonus Action makes them viable to multiclass with a very large variety of classes. My first Tav was a Barbarian 8/Thief 4. I messed around with a few other multiclass splits, but I landed on 8 and 4 for the third Feat. Sooo many attacks and throws per turn while Raging. Also excellent when you have a build that revolves around landing more hits to trigger other effects, and things like that. Bonus Action weapon attacks like Pommel Strike can be used to trigger them in some cases. There's tons of potential for that kind of overall utility.
Ascended Astarion as a Monk / lvl 3 Thief for 2 bonus actions is insanely powerful, especially if you dump DEX for STR (or have both with the 23 STR gloves later) and choose tavern brawler
Daaaang, you deserve way more subs! Gonna like and comment all your vids cuz this video is great!!! Was looking for some info on playing a monk. Haven't played dnd in years, first playthru was a bard (so fun!), but looking at playing a monk next!
Many thanks! You can't go wrong with a Monk, honestly. They're very strong and can be built in a pretty big variety of ways. Good luck on the second playthrough! Considering doing a Durge run for the second one?
@PanicRolling I've got my mind thinking about a dragonborn sorc for my durge. I want my monk to be zen, calm, and focused. But, you know, deadly. Like those guys from Crouching Tiger! With Durge, I reeeeeaally want to lean into all my dark urges 🔪 I'm just picturing a lizard cackling with lightning shooting from his hands a la Emperor Palpatine 😈
Just as a note. While Fangs of the Fire Snake defaults to it's ranged form. it's actually stronger to use it within melee range because then you do your melee damage +1d10 fire damage rather than the more limited damage from the ranged option. You have to physically move first to use it in BG3. it will also buff up your bonus action melee attack or your flurry of blows with the increased fire damage as well. You can use it in both fashions depending on how your positioned and your targetting if you are willing to micromanage your position just a little bit to do so.
@@PanicRolling i do too. being able to hit at range for certain enemies or really amp up the damage for others is very useful. And something I do with that particular 4e monk ability regularly. Just be careful not to set yourself on fire if you get into melee. (i've done this a couple times on accident not realizing certain things burned).
Thank you! I'm finishing up the Paladin video right now, and then I'll be working my way through the Warlock, Sorcerer, and Bard. I want to get the Charisma classes out of the way, since they are very popular classes amongst the playerbase. The Rogue will be directly after those, since you asked so nicely!
I built a level 8 monk 4 rogue went for too keep all my feats but really only need the levels to specialize in Thief to give my monk an extra bonus action. He moves and hits like a truck.
3 or 4 levels of Thief is amazing for that Bonus Action. Works great with quite a few other classes, as well. Sounds like you're handing out knuckle sandwiches left and right.
Me and my friends are new to the game and we've been thinking of doing another run as different fictional characters from other media, so I've been watching these deep dives to figure out what we can make, and man I can't believe they litterally have an Avatar subclass! Gonna be so funny when something like Aang, Kratos, Gandalf, and Taylor Swift pull up to cutscenes 😂
@@PanicRollingThanks so much for your guides they've been sooo helpful, especially with the little jokes in between that help with my irl ADD concentration saving throws 😅
There are a shocking amount of items that work well for the Monk. Larian did a really good job making sure they stay relevant throughout the entire game, even if you're Unarmed. I'd almost argue that being Unarmed makes you more dangerous, but that would depend entirely on how you build your Monk and how you play it. What are your favorite synergies for the Monk? I'm 100% sure I've not seen everything they have available, and I'm always down to learn new things!
In my current game I respeced Shadowheart as a Shadow Monk of Shar the second I got Withers. I would say at the start you will want to use a weapon at least until lvl 9, and it may always be better, unless you go Way of the Open Hand, then at lvl 6 you probably will ditch your weapon. I used a spear most of the time, until I got a very rare short sword with some better bonuses. Since the weapons scale up with unarmed strike, they will almost always be as good or better than unarmed, unless you get a lot of good unarmed gear, which I have not really found yet. I have a set of gauntlets that add 1d4 necro damage to unarmed but also 1d4 fire damage to weapon attacks. I am close to finishing act 2 and act 2 is a blast for the Shadow Monk, everywhere is in shadow, so you can teleport from where ever you are to where ever you want and get an attack with advantage. My literal last fight I got hit with a fear spell, Gale got disarmed and ran away, Karlach got disarmed and wasted an action the next turn to equip her sword, Shadowheart got disarmed and got 3 unarmed attacks that were almost as strong as she would have had anyway. I think both Shadowheart and Karlach are immune to being frightened, but oddly not the disarm effect, it seems. I think if you really want to use Shaping of the Ice, you might as well just carry a few crates on you, and just drop and move them where you want, then pick any other ability. It is nice that all 3 sub-classes offer something, I really thought Way of the Shadow looked the weakest, and I only picked it because I didn't really want to make Shadowheart a trickery Cleric again, when I restarted near the end of act 1 and thought what else would fit her love of Shar the goddess of darkness, and I wanted to play around with a Monk as well. But using it was a lot better than I thought...especially when I saw what act 2 offered. I do think early game she was not holding up near as well as a fighter or Barbarian, but a lot of that was I would often use my bonus action to teleport, or an unarmed attack and not have it to use patent defense, but if you resist the urge to take a 3rd attack, patient defense is pretty good when you have several enemies attacking.
There are definitely a few pieces of gear that dramatically increase your unarmed strikes damage. It feels excellent to find a piece like that in the world when you're playing a Monk. It's equivalent to finding a badass weapon as any other martial class. I think Way of Shadow works great for Shadowheart, also. Fits her story pretty well.
Ok I am going to be that guy that wears armor on "one" of my Monk builds. I will admit I found it by accident because I bought the Gith Monk hireling when I was doing an all Monk party. I did not have extra equipment around and even though a Monk does not need it since she was prof in med. armor I thought why not. I do not get where you 80-90% of class passives being lost. You only lose unarmored defense/unarmored movement and their improvements. Githyanki gives access to Medium Armor, Psionic Jump, and Misty Step. Both of which improve the mobility. There are so many Medium armors that have good effects like the Adamantine Armor. The build preformed so well I respec'd Laezel. My main Monk is Half wood elf for the extra movement and no armor. So, I am not saying with armor is better but, it is just as strong except for the movement loss. But those Gith always have to do thing their own way, right. lol! I 100% agree with Astraion making an amazing monk. Mine was Way or the Fist though, he gets even better when ascended.
A note on racial weapon proficiencies: You say that they are not worth considering but this is completely untrue. As long as the weapon is something that is not Heavy, and you have proficiency with it, it counts as a monk weapon and can be used for monk abilities - including martial arts, which allows you to use Dexterity for attack and damage rolls for any weapons with which you have proficiency. Thus a gith could use a longsword, an elf could use a rapier, or a dwarf could use a battleaxe. It won't even ruin the flavor that much, as you will still be using punches, kicks, and weapon attacks, which is its own level of crouching tiger sort of cool.
Yeh I didn't do a great job wording that part...you're 100% correct, though! Having access to some of the racial weapons as a Monk is actually really nice. When I said it wasn't worth considering those racial proficiencies, I meant just the armor and shield proficiencies.. But like a really smart guy, I also mentioned weapons a few seconds earlier...which isn't at all misleading.
Ngl Way of the Open Hand seemed the least appealing to me as did monks as a whole but after watching this I have to play one after I finish my great old one warlock
I must confess I am guilty of occasionally taking fall damage on purpose to trigger horns of the berserker. Most of the time I keep fall damage mitigated but with 8 levels in way of the open hand and 4 in thief rouge I managed to get up to 31-54 damage per punch and as many as 11 attacks in a turn. I have considered 2 levels in fighter putting monk down to 6 but I don’t like losing the alert feat. Mobile is a great feat for monks as well but I really wanted that 20 wisdom. Way of shadows monks should consider 2 levels in warlock just to get the devil’s sight ability to see in magical darkness so you can make your own teleport spots and mobile lets you teleport in, attack with advantage, then run without opportunity attacks. The robes of soul rejuvenation are amazing because you can purposefully provoke an attack of opportunity and when it misses you can spend your reaction to make an attack only to get that reaction back as soon as you end your turn.
I'm going to be making a video about Devil's Sight and the opportunities that it opens up to you. For a passive buff you can pick up that early, it's crazy strong.
Great video. Will see all the others you have and are looking forwart to the next. I will try shadow monk with astarion for sure. Does anyone know how does a barbarian monk multyclass work for Karlach?
I've not personally multiclassed Barb with Monk, but Barb/Rogue works really well. That's what my first Tav was for most of the playthrough. A lot of attacks and throws per turn. I need to mess around with the Monk and multiclassing. I might look into cool multiclass combos in future videos after I finish the Class Deepdive series.
@Panic Rolling monk is different in bg3 all weapons that a monk has proficiency in are monk weapons even weapons with proficiencies gained from other classes(fyi) Im using a longsword on my monk and works fine(but tavern brawler does not apply to attacks with it) (wait i saw you talk about this but already posted)
im using phalar aluve. I dont have anyone else cappable of wielding it and the extra damage for everyone makes up for losing a bit of damage from tavern brawler.@@PanicRolling
You're halfway in luck! I'm getting ready to do all of the Charisma-based classes next, starting with the Paladin. I'm excited about the Ranger too, though. The class has some awesome tools.
Hey, battle buddy. I want to play a way of the four elements monk now, cause you make it sound like unarmored awesomeness! Your game will suffer early on if you're not restoring ki, though. You'll burn it all in one fight, and all you'll be able to do is the normal unarmed strike with your regular attack. There is another important thing about the subclass. Those are not spells. (The wiki is wrong too). They are abilities. They act like spells. You might think, "so what?" The reason this is an important distinction is that there is multi classing in the game, and these are not spells for total spell caster level. Also, there is gear that has effects applicable to spells. If you think your elements monk is casting spells, that's just not so. The effects of the gear will not apply. They also can't be counterspelled or silenced, though, which makes them even more damn awesome than you made them sound. So all that said, your spellcasting modifier is Wisdom, and wisdom scales your Ki ability DC. This means all of your abilities as a four elements monk are going to be resisted or not based on your wisdom. This is true for the added damage of the fist monks as well as the shadow strike ability of the frickin' ninja, man. One other thing. Carry at least a 1d6 + something weapon (quarterstaff will do) until level 9. Your fists are only 1d6 until then. You're just throwing away stats and abilities from a weapon if you're not using a quarterstaff or better. This doesn't apply to tavern brawler, cause it's broken. Don't wear a weapon after you get the feat. Oh, and one other thing you made me think of when you mentioned beating faces and throwing things as a tavern brawler monk. It made me think of a multiclass option, and that is fighter(eldritch knight) level 3. And yeah, I'd build it with a Duergar dorf. Why, you might ask? There's a hammer in act 2, that the fighter will be proficient with, that when bound to an EK or Warlock, will add 1d6 lightning damage to a successful hit. So get 4 monk and tavern brawler feat, then dip fighter and start being dorf THOR at level.7. Warhammers are versatile, so they act as monk weapons. You can throw it, although this one doesn't have the thrown property, but who cares? You're a tavern brawler, and an EK, so it will returnand it will still hit for a crapton of damage. Then in Act 3, there's a weapon called the Dwarven Thrower. Yeah, bonus 1d8 damage from dorfs, and 2d8 for large or bigger opponents. OH YEAH! Plus it's a returning weapon. I'd go Duergar for enlarge and once per battle at will invisibilty, but maybe gold dorf would be better, cause when you get the Dwarven Thrower, you can drop the fighter levels and go back to pure monk goodness. But with Duergar, you can drop 2 levels of fighter and get all the monk godliness minus a feat with Duergar racials. Enjoyed the video, wish you the best of success building the channel.
Yeh the Four Elements "spells" felt more like ninjutsu from Naruto or something. Larian even did a great job making different animations for them, showing how they use the movement of their body to cast them. The Fireball comes out of your mouth, while you strike a bird pose. So that's pretty awesome. I've seen a ton of people using mods to play as Thor and Kratos in BG3, using throwing builds like this. Sounds super fun, and I might have to mess around with it some more. Maybe a whole party of throwers lol.
Half of video one words-don’t use armor and shield! But what happens when use them-i lost some speed and ac from wisdom… Big deal!!! Just full strength with brawler, use most heavy armor and shield-and you will be ultimate machine;) Ac ~25 unbuffed, shield/armor don’t do Anything to damage and hit, speed-with full strength you can jump up to 20m with 20 strength with 0 modifiers:) Just like that!
Yeh you're 100% correct. I was definitely too dramatic about the drawbacks to using armor and shields as a Monk. Same with Barbarians...you lose a few things, but you can be an absolute tank.
No, not really. But the Mage Hand can pick up and throw things off the ground. So you can drop a pile of spears and other throwable items near the Hand and let it provide ranged support. It can also be used to bait out Opportunity Attacks so your actual party members can move freely.
You've got tons of options honestly, just depending on what your goal is. There are daggers and 1-handers that increase your crit chance, there's clothing that buffs your Unarmed attacks...and honestly I recommend doing a fully Unarmed build at some point. It's very fun and strong.
