Sometimes, fantasy is all about the wonders of magic and exploring unknown lands. Other times, it’s about punching everything you see until it explodes. Baldur’s Gate 3 covers both of those in its Tavern Brawler Monk builds.
Tavern Brawler builds in Baldur’s Gate 3 get their name from the Tavern Brawler feat, but they create characters that are less likely to get into a fighter over drinks and more likely to rip the literal tavern out of the ground. Tavern Brawler doubles your Strength modifier on unarmed attack rolls and damage rolls, and if you’re thinking, “But unarmed attacks don’t do very much damage,” then welcome to your first time playing Monk.
Even without the Tavern Brawler feat, Monks are unarmed powerhouses that can dish out overwhelming amounts of damage in a single turn. By truly specializing in unarmed fighting, some multiclassed Monks can turn bosses into soup with their bare hands.
Building the best Tavern Brawler build in BG3
The majority of this Tavern Brawler build relies on Monk levels, but starting as a level one Rogue grants you two extra skill proficiencies. The most efficient way to grab those skills without sacrificing damage early on is to just respec into Rogue sometime after you’ve taken four levels in Monk to unlock the Tavern Brawler feat.
Regardless of your starting class, you need to pay special attention to your main attributes. This build is fairly stat intensive, so if you need a dump stat, make it Intelligence. Strength and Wisdom should be as high as possible to maximize your damage, so start those out at 17 and 16 points respectively. Next you should focus on Dexterity and Constitution to make sure you have a decent chance of being early in initiative and enough HP to take a few hits.
Best Tavern Brawler subclasses
The multi-class layout for the build takes nine levels as a Way of the Open Hand Monk and three levels as a Thief Rogue. At level one Way of the Open Hand adds topple, stagger, and push options to your unarmed Flurry of Blows attack, and at level two it adds Ki Resonation attacks which will literally let you explode your enemies with your fist. Later on you’ll also have Manifestations for necrotic, psychic, or radiant damage options.
The Thief subclass for Rogue gives you an additional bonus action, which can be great for using special Monk attacks or maneuvering around the battlefield. Your Rogue levels also give you the potential for a Sneak Attack, adding even more damage to your already ridiculous output.
Best Tavern Brawler feats
Every Baldur’s Gate 3 build gets buffed by taking the right feats, but this particular build couldn’t even begin to function without the right ones. Here are the main feats you’ll consider:
- Tavern Brawler
- Alert
- Ability Score increase
Obviously you’ll take the Tavern Brawler feat as early as possible. Without it, this build doesn’t even exist. Alert is something you want to consider for just about every character, since it makes them so much more useful at the start of combat. Despite that, I’d say it’s not worth taking in this build at all. Assuming you follow this build exactly, you’ll only get to pick two feats, and using the Ability Score increase to boost your Strength and/or Wisdom is going to carry you way further than any other feat in the game.
Best race for a Tavern Brawler build
This Tavern Brawler build is fairly flexible and can be applied to basically any character you want, but some races really shine. Githyanki characters get extra skill proficiencies and added mobility thanks to Githyanki Psionics, so they’re especially mobile brawlers. The real shout out here, though, goes to Duergar. They can cast Enlarge, which adds extra damage to the Tavern Brawler’s already outrageous output, and when things get hairy, they get to cast Invisibility in the midst of combat to get out of danger.
How to play a Tavern Brawler in BG3
The Tavern Brawler game plan in combat is pretty simple. You’re going to punch things. A lot. At level 12, you’ll have an action and 2 bonus actions, so dipping into your Ki Points for a double Flurry of Blows will let you have 5 unarmed attacks in a single turn. The Monk’s Deft Strikes trait will bump up your damage die on the attacks, and the Tavern Brawler feat combined with your high Strength will all but guarantee you hit and hit hard.
A ninth-level Monk has 10 Ki Points, so you do need to pay attention to your resource spending. That said, even without casting Flurry of Blows, you still have access to Tavern Brawler’s damage boost, Deft Strikes’ die increase, Manifestation damage, and possibly even Sneak Attack dice on a single attack. There’s nothing you can’t punch through, and when your adventuring day drags on too long, you can cast Wholeness of Body to regain Ki and get a third bonus action.
Increasing your damage in BG3
To increase your damage as a Tavern Brawler, you’ll want to increase your Strength. There are multiple good ways to boost your Strength throughout the game. After you beat Auntie Ethel, you can spare her life to earn an extra point in Strength. The Mirror of Loss in Act 3 can give you another two points, and there are a handful of other Strength-boosting items, like the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, hidden throughout the game.
There’s also another multi-class option that deserves an honorable mention. You can sacrifice two levels in Monk to take two levels in Fighter, giving your character the Action Surge ability. That adds yet another attack option on your turn, but it comes at the cost of two Ki Points, a feat, and the next die threshold for Deft Strikes. Still, anyone who’d rather be hitting more than hitting harder should give it some consideration.
The Tavern Brawler build is without a doubt one of the strongest options in Baldur’s Gate 3. At max Strength, you’ll be adding +14 to your unarmed strikes, and you can easily get half a dozen hits on a single enemy in a turn. Throw in some Manifestation damage and Sneak Attack dice, and not even the strongest bosses in the game will be able to stand up to your fists of fury.
Tavern Brawler full build
There’s plenty of room for customization in this build, but assuming you take the basic Rogue/Monk split, here’s what your final character should look like.
Rogue Level 3
- Thief subclass
- Sneak attack
- Cunning action
Monk Level 9
- Way of the Open Hand Subclass
- Ki points
- Flurry of Blows with topple, stagger, and push
- Ki Resonation
- Manifestation abilities
Feats
- Tavern Brawler at Monk level 4
- Increase Strength or Wisdom +2 at Monk level 8
Other Strength boosts
- Potion of Everlasting Vigour
- Auntie Ethel’s Hair
- Mirror of Loss interaction
- Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength
