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Monks were already one of the most flavorful classes ofBaldur’s Gate 3, but with the addition of the Way of the Drunken Master, Monks can now make use of an item mostly relegated to camp supplies: alcohol. However, these Monks are masters of pretending to be drunk, slithering past enemy lines to deal critical blows.
Transform every encounter into a dance party with the Way of the Drunken Master, intoxicating enemies and being everywhere at once. If you want to know how to master such a Monk, then look no further, as we delve into what makes them so mobile and unpredictable.
Drunken Master Monk Overview
A Drunken Master Monk is all about movement, positioning, and clearing objectives. Their core abilityis Drunken Technique, an advanced form of Flurry of Blows that, beyond being an unarmed hit on a bonus action, lets the Monkmove around as if it had disengaged.
That alone makes such a monkgreat at fulfilling objectives, be it freeing Dame Ayling in Act Two or getting into the Nether Brain in Act Three. These Monks can alsoget their enemies drunk, which makes themroll Dexterity saving throws with disadvantage; ideal for setting up a friendly Fireball.
Best Starting Stats And Species For A Drunken Master Monk Character
Species
Since your speciesdoesn’t dictate your stats, feel free to choose whatever feels right. One recommendation isbeing a Githyanki, since Monks can get a lot out of the spells the species gives them access to,like Enhance Leap and Misty Step.
Background
Try to choose a background thatfits your roleplaying style, since that is how you’ll getmost Inspiredduring your playthrough. Beyond that,the Urchin backgroundgives access to the Sleight of Hand skill, something you could get a lot of use thanks toyour high Dexterity.
Stats And Skills
For stats, we will make a few changes to how the gameoffers the default options. You want tofocus on Dexterity and Wisdombefore anything else, so put theplus two bonus on Dexterityand theplus one on Wisdom, then set the scores as follows:
8
16
14
10
Don’t worry aboutthe low Strength score, since you won’t be using it at all. With this setup, you cantake some featslater on if you want to, or you can focus onraising Dexterity and Wisdomas much as possible for bothdamage and armor class.
From the skills available to Monks,Stealth is an important focus, although Religion and Insight area good use of your Wisdom. It depends mostly on what you picked as a background, and howyou can round things up with these skills.
Tips To Best Play A Drunken Master Monk
Drunken Technique is different from Flurry of Blows: you usually want tostart your combo with it, not save it for the end. This is due tothe movement options it offers: you can hit the tank in front of you with Drunken Technique, and then use the disengaged movement to get to your actual target, likelya spellcaster behind enemy lines.
At level nine, you might be tempted touse Sobering Realization as soon as possible, but that would make youlose the Life of the Party buff.That attack is what you would normally savefor a final attack, unless you are planning on getting your enemy drunkright after Sobering Realization.
Finally,always keep some alcohol in your Monk’s inventory, but don’t go overboard;you don’t actually need to be drunkto use the subclass’ features (in fact, you are immune to being drunk). Instead,drinking alcohol gives back some Ki Points, making Drunken Masters the Monks that can adventure for the longest time.
Best Equipment For A Drunken Master Monk
Best Weapons
Early on,dual-wielding staveswill yield the most damage for your character, butyour bare fistswill soon outclass such weapons. This means that, for the best offensive options,you’ll be looking at accessories more than weapons.
It is advised, however, to always keepsome ranged options handy, like a shortbow.
One of the better ones in the game, the Hunting Shortbow, is sold by Dammon as early as Act One, so be sureto pick that upbefore moving on from the early game.
Best Armor And Accessories
There are many excellent gloves that canimprove your unarmed damagein the game, but the best one is by farthe Gloves of Soul Catching, rewarded by saving Hope in Act Three. This does mean that you need to doone of the hardest boss fights in the game, so you might consider settling forthe Flawed Helldusk Gloves, made by Dammon in Act Two.
Every Level Up Choice For A Drunken Master Monk
Unlike other subclasses like the Way of the Four Elements,you don’t choose many thingsas you level up in your Drunken Master journey. We do recommendtaking the Ability Improvement optionwhenever possible, although we will cover some featsif you are happy with your stats.
Feat
4
Ritual Caster, as a great way to gain Speak with Animals.
Lucky, letting you force enemies to reroll their attacks, or gain advantage in key social situations.
12
Mage Slayer, ideal for dealing with the final enemies of the game.
