(sigh) You are single handedly responsible for Karlach being so used to respec'ing in my runs. I hope you're happy with yourself. Anywho, time to visit Withers again!
My friend, your content helps me enjoy this game so much more. I appreciate everything you make. Many runs consist of me running 4 builds I learned from you, and I’m always having so much fun!
@@Cephalopocalypse The build you made is awesome and just what I was looking for. I may change a few things as my brother and I are going to attempt honor mode with just us 2. I made another post with some thoughts I that I had that I'd love to get your feedback on.
Most of the things I see recommend ranged builds, especially at higher difficulties, but I have always wanted to try a monk, and this looks like a great way to go. Thanks for the work.
Definitely an awesome option! I wish the save dcs for elemental monk had been house ruled to be str- or dex-based like they did for stunning strike (which is wisdom-based in tabletop) - it would give it a really cool niche as a physical stats based spellcaster. Sadly they decided to leave those on wisdom
Always nice to see barbarian/monk combo builds. I first tried this on tabletop with the Way of the Long Death monk, which has one of the key features of gaining temp HP every time they kill an enemy, allowing you to stay in the thick of things. Also in situations where you just need to survive one round, patient defense gives all attackers disadvantage (which combined with rage makes you incredibly resilient).
Combine this with the Gloves of Belligerent Skies to add 2 charges of Reverberation every time you do Radiant (which you get with Manifestation of Soul), Thunder or Lightning damage, Boots of Stormy Skies to add 2 Reverb every time you apply a condition to a target, and at 5 charges of Reverb the target takes 1d4 Thunder damage and must save vs Prone and then the Condition is removed) along with the Ring of Absolute Force (if Branded) for the extra +1 Thunder damage, and the Ring of Spiteful Thunder which has a chance to Daze a target if you do Thunder Damage while it has Reverb. Or combine the Thunderpalm Strikers for the 1d4 Thunder Damage and the Boots of Stormy Skies instead. This would add a bunch of debuff and crowd control options to the build. Both would also pair well with the trident Nyrulna for your ranged needs, which benefits from Tavern Brawler as well as inflicts Thunder damage.
Perfect timing…I’m on my first honor mode run using Karlach as an open hand monk. Currently at the start of Act 2. Thanks for the knowledge…I’m now a channel member and encourage others to support outstanding content like this.
This is exactly my late game Karlach build. Monk is proooobably my favorite class in BG3 (And NOT in tabletop) Just a note: check your damage logs. Your soul coins should be doing 2die damage, not 1. Been enjoying your vids while I'm convalescing from a bout of Norovirus, glad youtube offered you up! Once you save Hope and get the gloves of soul catching, Karlach becomes neigh unstoppable. I also prefer the boots of uninhibited kushigo once you get them, as that extra damage from wisdom goes a long way. Callous Glow ring is also a good match, if not used elsewhere. Amulet of greater health rounds out my endgame gear, and really helps trivialize several of the endgame fights. So much damage on tap, with soo much mobility from leaping. . .
@@Cephalopocalypse I'm craving a extra hot vindiloo, so I suspect I'm over it, mostly. Been enjoying your vids, brotato as well as BG3. Have you tried Nimrods?
So pumped to utilize this build especially since I'm already using hill giant elixirs on another party member. Hope you had fun as a thrower Karlach cause im respeccing your ass again!
This is still, easily, my favourite build for Karlach. I just love how flexible it is, and that it doesn't rely on specific consumables, or gear. This way, I can just save any elixirs for the hard fights; otherwise, it works great right out of the box. I like to give her the Graceful Cloth (I recently discovered that on Karlach, it looks less awful dyed orange, of all things) in Act 1.5, and then I'll typically (at least if I don't use it for Minsc) switch her to the Bonespike garb in Act 3.
NIce job! A crazy idea for a video would be filling your entire camp of toons with items so that you can choose any teamate at any level and that character has magical or normal items that make it viable for tactician or higher play.
Been ignoring her in my runs which is a shame because I love her personality. This gave me a kick in the ass to change that. I know what I’m doing after work today. Thanks for the content sir. It’s highly appreciated.
Dude, I simp for her so hard. Literally feel my heart flutter a little bit when she's all cute. She kind of reminds me of my wife somehow. Also, The typical throw barb (5 Berserker, 4 fighter, 3 Thief) is a much simpler way to play her and does way more damage (far less tanky though).
This build has taken me all the way to Act III in Honor Mode as my main character! First time going this far. Tweaked slightly, this might be the best of his builds for a Karlach Origin playthrough, because with the points in rogue you can get dialogue proficiencies. (Not recommended in the build but would recommend if this is a party face.) Karlach is not typically known for her charisma, and this allows you to get those dialogue skills, at least in the mid-late game. In honor mode this has made my playthrough a lot smoother for the tough persuasion checks in Act II and Act III. I also like the flexibility because this build works just fine without elixers and stat boosting gear, so you don't have to start buying all this stuff when you are a Act I pauper. However, in the late game, when you have these boosts and more money for elixers, you can respec to add higher wisdom and then the the Kushigo boots make your tavern brawler even more insane. As stated elsewhere, this pairs amazingly well with the Radiant Brawler and Best Archer builds by Ceph.
Love this build! I did the other monk build and I found that if you couple the deathstalker mantle cloak from being dark urge with monk it’s basically an auto win and it’s in act 1. Super busted super fun.
Once you can get the dwarven thrower or nyrulna this build can freely swap between unarmed and throwing weapons while holding a shield, since un-equipping a weapon is free and the returning weapons get equipped after they are thrown. The returning pike is strictly inferior because two handed, but you can always start a fight with a shield and use throwing if it makes sense.
Wonderful ! I'm so glad patch 6 fixed that bug ! You can also benefit from throwing weapons since it adds the Tavern brawler bonus, thus making you strong at any range.
Yeah, exactly! I think you could also do something interesting with a tavern brawler unarmed berserker, though the bonus action attack/throw would conflict heavily with your flurry - something to think about though!
Returning Pike, Tavern Brawler, throwing ring, plus acid damage ring on a Berserker Barbarian. This combo solo carries act 1 and is broken throughout the entire game.
The other reason aside from AC that monks want wisdom is for the boots that adds wisdom bonus to unarmed attack bonus that you’re missing out on here by dumping wis.
Yeah. I had similar thoughts. Really if you're going open hand monk you want at least 20 wis from feats and mirror of loss. I personally go 2 levels of fighter for equipment prof and action surge. So something like 6/4/2. Rogue dip is essential. After that you just wreck everything in the game. Barbarian isn't a bad dip overall though. Just being tanky in this game and losing fps falls a little short in my opinion.
I used a lot a similar build with monk-barb and tavern brawler, even before last patch and it was already insane, it was imposible to die with a ton of damage especially with Astarion, I think I will try this version of yours to see how much more powerful it's now, combining monk with bear rage is so fun, you get the best of both the dmg from monks and the tankiness from the bear
@Cephalopocalypse Love this! I took a similar thought process when I went 1 Storm Sorc/2 Spore Druid/ 6 OH Monk/ 3 Thief Rogue. Shield and high unarmored AC Flight early Extra Necrotic rolls on hits Some useful rituals and spells Etc…
I took your invincible tank build and added 1 level of monk for the punchening. I use Phalar Aluve for the monk weapon usage and the piddly sneak attack damage, and amulet of health so I can dump points from Con, and flawed helldusk gloves for a bit more damage. I get your 4 attacks all dealing at least 20 damage, and 7 levels of barbarian so I can almost ignore all the weapon damage.
@@Cephalopocalypse Of course! I would like to become a channel member but for some reason I cannot find that option on your channel. You’ve mentioned it but I just don’t see the menu button for it.
currently replaying the game on tactician mode and wanted to play this type of build with my karlach, and it has been pretty damn strong once i reached level 5. I really wanted to get the achievement to kill the grymforge boss without using the hammer mechanic so i decided to try to just beat the shit out of him since i didnt wanna use some cheesy owlbear strat and my level 5 karlach (4monk/1barb) with a speed potion and an elixir of hill giant strength actually just beat the boss in a straight 1v1. I think i used bardic ispiration on her like twice but still it was basically a 1v1, this build has been really funny so far and i cant wait until i level 3 rogue for that extra bonus action.
Havent played in while, but i will try this. In regard to the boots. I would reccommend suggesting the boots of arcane dashing. Since with this build we are putting into wisdom, we will add the spell casting modifier to the damage sfter a dash. Thos 3-5 ekstra damage makes a huge difference. Tried similiar build with arvane synergy and warlock and eldritch knight. Its amazing if you can rely on strength pots. Good build, will add it.
I'm near the end game and tweaked my build to reflect this one. I'm close enough to the str gloves that i don't mind using elixers for one or two long rests, but i refused to use them for an entire campaign. Had a very squishy karlach up until level 11 but great initiative and damage. This should be a lot less stressful with her actually being and to take a few hits
Ok, when I was playing with Karlach in my party I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to make Barb/Monk work because it *seemed* like it should be fun, but I just couldn't figure it out, so I gave up and just made her a throwing barbarian. I'm SO glad you made this, it looks SO FUN. When I try Honour Mode I'm going to use your Shadowheart Honour build as my main character and I'll be bringing Karlach along using this build. I'll stick with throwing on Laezel since it's so ridiculously overpowered and Astarion will, of course, have to be the dual crossbow guy. I can't wait to try this!! But question, after you finished building the character her strength jumped up to 20. Was that from the potion of everlasting vigour?
Thanks very much - sounds like an awesome party! Yes, I totally forgot I had given karlach the strength potion in this save - I definitely should have mentioned that! The damage will be a little lower without it, though of course if you do end up grabbing it this character is one of the best possible ones to use it on, since it's double value
Do you have suggestions for amulets and rings? I was using the Disintegrating Nightwalkers and ring of free action so they had no issue to get around, and I assume you want the Sentient amulet for the amulet, but what about the last ring and amulet while in combat?
I’m thinking 4e monk may be better in this build. This lets you stop at 5, and then get another feat and HP from Barbarian. You don’t care at all from the lost Wisdom and you get 1d10 and then 1d4 on your attacks from fist.
Would taking the Barbarian to 4 possibly be better for the Alert feat then the level 6 in Monk??? Always going first and never being surprised seems huge. Granted it won't come on until level 9 at the earliest. (possibly 8) Thoughts? In D&D it takes half your movement regardless of how much you have to stand up from prone. So if your movement is 40 for example you need 20ft of movement to stand up. For those that want to dump strength so boos other stats. Especially with only one ASI for Tavern Brawler you can buy 3 elixirs of Strength from Auntie Ethel in the druids grove per long rest. Just don't go to the swamp until you have all the elixirs you want. Pretty easy to get more than 20. Another thought I just had is that once I got the Dexterity gloves I could respec. Dump dexterity and stop the reliance on elixir potions or boost Cha and or intelligence. I'm also thinking 6 levels of Barb. Then respec at level 7. Go 4M and 3B. Level 8 4M 4B (Alert Feat) Level 9 Monk to 5 then 10, 11 & 12 Rogue. I'm 100% not sure about these changes. But since I'm attempting a 2 person honor mode run I am trying to see if I can optimize the character any more. Or if I should just stick to what you did?
We need a good Way of the Four Elements "Avatar" monk build. I've been looking everywhere and no one can or won't seem to build one. Great build though! Gonna use this for Karlach, thanks!
@Cephalopocalypse nice build as others ; thanks a lot, but I wonder if the build on the first 5 levels is adapted in honor mode ? Mobs lvl 4 or 5 are very strong when dealing damage to team. Thanks if you can answer
Yes, this build will work just fine for honour mode at early levels - you are mostly stronger than a default monk at levels 1-3, though it's true you're slightly weaker at 4-5 since you delay tavern brawler and extra attack one level. To be honest I don't think that's a huge issue, though you could reorder to go monk 6 first then barb 3 then rogue 3 if you prefer!
Another really fun one! I'd love to see your take on an arcane trickster because it's one of my favorites thematically but so much worse than the other two rogue subclasses mechanically. Magical ambush is cool, but having to put 9 levels into a 1/3 caster to get it is really not
I've found running it as a transmuter wizards 3 level dip to be very good and fun (granted I also think arcane trickster and transmuter are independently unbelievably slept on, and that arcane trickster itself is probably independently the best rogue subclass so take that as you will).
I don't know if this is still the case, but not only does Infernal Fury always proc with unarmed attacks, it actually does 2d4 fire damage instead of 1d4 when punching.
I wonder how the Ki points hold up in prolonged fights? You put only 5 levels into monk , so at the end of the long fight with many medium health enemies, the character might run out of Ki and do just regular attacks? When playing a monk Ki is always an issue for me, especially on the few 1st levels.
I would argue for Vest of Soul Rejuvenation and Gloves of Soul Catching. These would add +2 AC and +2 Con, raising your AC by 3. And give an unarmed attack as an reaction, d10 force damage and the ability to heal once per turn for d10 and any save you pass heal for d4. With the periapt of wound closure you would heal for max. Add in both the helm of baldur and the ring of regeneration for even more constant hp, which would make you ever more tanky for when you dont want to spend time raging.
@Theonetruefinalboss Fair enough, I value sustainability for tanks over movement. But the glorious thing is it probably doesn't matter for the most part.
@@bentrieschmann Probably. Build will function mostly the same. In a way, it's kinda what I like most about BG3 as opposed to Larian's other masterpiece in Divinity: Original Sin 2. Gear isn't really super important in BG3, as opposed to DoS2 where if you don't stay up to date on gear, you're pretty screwed.
I’ve been agonizing over whether I should multiclass Monk with either Barbarian or Rogue, but this vid has vindicated my desire to mash them all together. I want to exploit tavern brawler to the fullest with both unarmed attacks & Frenzied Throw (& have an excuse to hoard heavy stuff to chuck at people), but at the same time going Monk without Fast Hands just seems senseless. Losing out on ASI & some defensive qualities (like Mindless Rage, or Danger Sense + Evasion) are what made me hesitant to triple-class like this, but the sheer damage at any range just seems too juicy to pass up. I also thought starting with Barb would be best for the Constitution saving throw proficiency, & so you wouldn’t be stuck with Monk’s limited armor/weapon proficiencies- as well as the awful outfit.
Hey, nice build! I wonder if you've tried to make something similar with a druid that hits things with weapons or, well... not paws, claws or other beastial parts. I'm currently trying to do something fun with my Tav, which has to stay partially druid mostly for RP reasons. My current layout is 4 spore druid / 6 battle master (duelling style). Not sure about last 2 levels, yet to get there. Starting with 8 str / 14 dex / 16 con / 8 int / 16 wis / 12 cha (for dialogs). It fully relies on Shillelagh and staffs for melee damage in spore form with high wisdom, hence it could work just fine even with 8 str, 8 int and 8 cha. Why duelling style fighter: yes it says it won't work with versitile weapons, but somehow it works with staff AND a shield (not without). Maybe it's a bug, but it shows up in logs as long as shield and staff are equipped. Spells: even on level 4 there are plenty of options to concentrate on while smacking things with a staff, Moonbeam and Spike Growth so far seem the most efficient. Since spell slots aren't the prime source of damage, it's fine to toss Ice Knife or something like that at range even if just for ice spot, but with 20 wisdom even Hold person would land pretty reliably. Aside from that, tried to add gloves to drop dexterity, but seems like there's not much else where to put those points anyway. Also played with the idea to switch to eldrich knight and put on the int crown, but it felt kinda meh. Currently I use +4 wisdom and alert feats. A bit curious if dropping a shield and taking great weapon master instead of alert would be better, but don't like how slow it would be with 2 initiative. Anyway, just thought to share, and maybe someone would have any ideas how to make it better (yeah yeah I know, just drop the druid part, but nope, not this playthrough).
Check out my lore-friendly Jaheira guide! That focuses on dual-wielding scimitars - also my spore druid guide ("so many broken combos") makes heavy use of shillelagh and a melee weapon, especially for the early game. Hope that helps!
you lose 2 feats with this strange build... is it really worth it? one problem i see right away is the low Ki points you have as a lvl 6 monk.. isnt that a problem ?
What about some of the benefits that spore can offer monk attacks such symbiotic entity. Combine this with manifestation of soul for radiant damage and force dmg from soul catching gloves
How would you combine this with throw zerker? Is the tank from bear too much loss vs the damage and knock down from thrown object it would essentially no weapon needed
Hi Ceph Thanks for another great build video! In over 1000 hours I have never played Monk mainly because I like switching around armor and weapons and they look so great in Bg3. But now I will try it. do you have any interest in posting written build summaries for Members? I would pay for that and i think it would be popular. Colby at D3 does that for BG3 and DnD. Thanks again!
The main benefit of the rogue levels comes online way too late in the game. Mixing more than two classes doesn't really make sense in this game due to only 12 levels unless one of those classes is just a level 1 dip.
I love the build but i have a few questions. About AC on this build (or more specifically on this build with elixirs): Since barb gets unarmored bonus from CON & monk gets it from WIS & everyone gets it from DEX, would this set up with 16DEX, 18CON, 14WIS have an AC of 19 at level 2?!?!?!? Or would one of the unarmoured bonuses override the other (& if so which would take priority) In regards to Rage damage, I thought the rage damage didn’t apply to unarmed attacks, was this a patch 6 fix?
Thanks! To answer those: unarmored defense doesn't stack, so you get your dex + the higher of your con and wis - that's what lets us dump wis on this build, since we'd want a high con anyways. Rage damage should apply the unarmed attacks, but was bugged for bear totem barbarians up until patch 6. Since that's now been fixed, the build finally works!
Yep I totally forgot I'd given karlach the strength potion in this save, my bad! The damage should be a little lower without that (though of course if you do get the potion, this character is by far the best to use it on)
What do you think about 3 barb/9 monk? Would that be playable as well? I'm leaning towards it for 2 reasons: ki resonation and more ki points. Anyway, I really don't want to multiclass with thief. If there's a better alternative than barb, please let me know. Thank you.
Yeah, the resonating strikes will more than make up for the loss of the extra bonus action. Also, you can get an extra feat for whatever you think you need. Like Initiative, or Stat boost, like Wis if you want to use the Boots of the Uninhibited Kashigo, which add Wis mod to unarmed damage.
This seems super cool, but doesn't it leave you somewhat low on rage charges? I believe you only get 3 per long rest, which is a bit disappointing. Still seems very powerful, definitely going to try it out.
You get three rage charges, which is pretty standard for barbarian multiclasses I think - you wouldn't get the 4th until barb 6. Like most barbarians, you also won't need to rage every combat (as in the example, if the initial stunning strike on the toughest enemy lands, you probably won't need to rage), so you can almost certainly make it through 4-5 encounters per long rest before you run low on resources. Whether you consider that a long enough adventuring day is up to you of course!
Am I missing something or is this build works only when raging which means long rest after couple of fights? Any way to make this build more conservative in rage usage? Are there items that give you more rages per day? Otherwise, realy cool!!
Like most barbarians, you'll rage for some fights but not for others - if you don't need the extra tankiness (which is often the case if your initial stunning strike lands on the key target), you can skip raging for that fight.
why bump wisdom for more AC when you can just use the barbarians unarmored defense which scales with CON? if you're using elixirs for STR you can easily get to 20 DEX and 20 CON giving you 20 base AC without any functional modifications to the build.
You actually can't bump wisdom for AC in this build - the two forms of unarmored defense don't stack. I suggested increasing wis here because it gives you more damage from your open hand monk feature, though you could definitely also boost other stats. With elixirs you only need 3 stats at all, so you'll end up with something like 8 16 17 8 15 8, boost con to 18 with TB, then use ethyl's hair to get 16 wis
@@Cephalopocalypse doesn't it choose the one with the better stat? And for open hand what exactly does wisdom influence? DC for stunning strikes and stagger/prone/push?
I don't like this build being so Long Rest dependant. 3 rage points and 7 ki points is too low... Also, I would recommend using the potions and powering up wisdom to equip the Kushigo boots.
Hopefully you can respond even though I’m late here. Can you confirm that shadow monk concentration “spells” work with rage. EDIT: You can not concentrate on shadow monk abilities and rage. 😔
if you rage while concentrating on a spell from one of the monk subclasses, it’ll break concentration. thats an oversight, but you can still cast a concentration spell after you’ve begun raging and it’ll work as it should
Is there a reason a lot of your newer builds only have half the items at the end? i feel like not mentioning jewelry or ranged weapon ect is a lot of content to skip over
For more builds I only mention the items that are particularly relevant to the build - different players will find different items throughout the game, so I'd rather give you general advice on items than specific requirements unless it's really key for some aspect of the play. This build is also extremely item-independant, so specific item requirements would take away from one of the main strengths of the build
***SPOILER*** Also if you decide to take the astral worm you can fly at no action cost. This plus the upgraded movement distance from monk and this damage output you can fly to one area beat tf out of them, fly to another area and repeat like you're one punch man😂😂
Tavern brawler breaking the game by giving you to much chance to hit... mmmm I think I'll take tavern brawler because (with karmic dice off) I was still able to roll 3 nat 1's in 4 rolls. So I think I'll abuse tavern brawler >:D
(sigh) You are single handedly responsible for Karlach being so used to respec'ing in my runs. I hope you're happy with yourself. Anywho, time to visit Withers again!
Thank you for making a build that is NOT gear or elixir dependent. More of these, please.
W
Yea this was what I needed a damage bruiser with low demands is nice.
seconded! Having to rely on elixirs sucks the fun out of the game for me.
@@cassieosaurus_9217Does for me too 😑
The fact his build isn't gear dependent is absolutely insane. Definitely gonna try it in a future playthrough.
My friend, your content helps me enjoy this game so much more. I appreciate everything you make. Many runs consist of me running 4 builds I learned from you, and I’m always having so much fun!
Thanks so much for the support! Really glad you're enjoying the builds - people having fun with them is exactly what I'm hoping for!
@@Cephalopocalypse The build you made is awesome and just what I was looking for. I may change a few things as my brother and I are going to attempt honor mode with just us 2. I made another post with some thoughts I that I had that I'd love to get your feedback on.
Really like the build showcase at the start of the video. Gets you a little excited about what's to come!
or hard at all
Most of the things I see recommend ranged builds, especially at higher difficulties, but I have always wanted to try a monk, and this looks like a great way to go. Thanks for the work.
Recap:
Barbarian/Monk/Thief
(No Ethels hair, no elixirs of str)
Lvl 1: Barbarian
Stats
Str 17
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 8
Wis 10
Cha 8
Skills
Perception
Lvl 2 (multiclass monk)
Lvl 3 (monk 2)
Lvl 4 (monk 3)
Subclass: Way of the open hand
Lvl 5 (monk 4)
Feat: tawern brawler + str
Lvl 6 (monk 5)
Lvl 7 (monk 6)
Lvl 8 (barb 2)
Lvl 9 (barb 3)
Subclass: Wildheart - Bearheart rage (for defence)
Lvl 10-12 (Multiclass - thief rouge for bonus action)
Items: (not very item dependant)
Armor - Bonespike garb
Boots - Bonespike boots/any misty step boots
Gloves - Flawed Helldusk gloves
Other: Statboosting items
I hear what you're saying about optimal Monk subclass choice, but I love the idea of Karlach manifesting flames too much to pass up Element Monk.
Definitely an awesome option! I wish the save dcs for elemental monk had been house ruled to be str- or dex-based like they did for stunning strike (which is wisdom-based in tabletop) - it would give it a really cool niche as a physical stats based spellcaster. Sadly they decided to leave those on wisdom
@@Cephalopocalypse Yeah, it does make her pretty elixir-dependant, but luckily they aren't too hard to collect.
Always nice to see barbarian/monk combo builds. I first tried this on tabletop with the Way of the Long Death monk, which has one of the key features of gaining temp HP every time they kill an enemy, allowing you to stay in the thick of things. Also in situations where you just need to survive one round, patient defense gives all attackers disadvantage (which combined with rage makes you incredibly resilient).
Combine this with the Gloves of Belligerent Skies to add 2 charges of Reverberation every time you do Radiant (which you get with Manifestation of Soul), Thunder or Lightning damage, Boots of Stormy Skies to add 2 Reverb every time you apply a condition to a target, and at 5 charges of Reverb the target takes 1d4 Thunder damage and must save vs Prone and then the Condition is removed) along with the Ring of Absolute Force (if Branded) for the extra +1 Thunder damage, and the Ring of Spiteful Thunder which has a chance to Daze a target if you do Thunder Damage while it has Reverb. Or combine the Thunderpalm Strikers for the 1d4 Thunder Damage and the Boots of Stormy Skies instead. This would add a bunch of debuff and crowd control options to the build. Both would also pair well with the trident Nyrulna for your ranged needs, which benefits from Tavern Brawler as well as inflicts Thunder damage.
Perfect timing…I’m on my first honor mode run using Karlach as an open hand monk. Currently at the start of Act 2. Thanks for the knowledge…I’m now a channel member and encourage others to support outstanding content like this.
Thanks so much! I really appreciate the support :D
Love watching your honour mode builds! A section for recommended/notable illithid powers for each build would be great!
Thanks very much! Really appreciate the support. I'll have a full guide to illithid powers coming soon!
This is exactly my late game Karlach build. Monk is proooobably my favorite class in BG3 (And NOT in tabletop) Just a note: check your damage logs. Your soul coins should be doing 2die damage, not 1. Been enjoying your vids while I'm convalescing from a bout of Norovirus, glad youtube offered you up!
Once you save Hope and get the gloves of soul catching, Karlach becomes neigh unstoppable. I also prefer the boots of uninhibited kushigo once you get them, as that extra damage from wisdom goes a long way. Callous Glow ring is also a good match, if not used elsewhere. Amulet of greater health rounds out my endgame gear, and really helps trivialize several of the endgame fights. So much damage on tap, with soo much mobility from leaping. . .
Thanks very much! I really appreciate the support - hope you recover quickly and well!
@@Cephalopocalypse I'm craving a extra hot vindiloo, so I suspect I'm over it, mostly. Been enjoying your vids, brotato as well as BG3. Have you tried Nimrods?
So pumped to utilize this build especially since I'm already using hill giant elixirs on another party member. Hope you had fun as a thrower Karlach cause im respeccing your ass again!
This is still, easily, my favourite build for Karlach. I just love how flexible it is, and that it doesn't rely on specific consumables, or gear. This way, I can just save any elixirs for the hard fights; otherwise, it works great right out of the box. I like to give her the Graceful Cloth (I recently discovered that on Karlach, it looks less awful dyed orange, of all things) in Act 1.5, and then I'll typically (at least if I don't use it for Minsc) switch her to the Bonespike garb in Act 3.
NIce job! A crazy idea for a video would be filling your entire camp of toons with items so that you can choose any teamate at any level and that character has magical or normal items that make it viable for tactician or higher play.
Been ignoring her in my runs which is a shame because I love her personality. This gave me a kick in the ass to change that. I know what I’m doing after work today. Thanks for the content sir. It’s highly appreciated.
How could you possibly ignore the best girl all this time???
Well, have fun now 😊❤️
He didn't say anything about ignoring Bae'zel 🤷
Dude, I simp for her so hard. Literally feel my heart flutter a little bit when she's all cute. She kind of reminds me of my wife somehow.
Also, The typical throw barb (5 Berserker, 4 fighter, 3 Thief) is a much simpler way to play her and does way more damage (far less tanky though).
This build has taken me all the way to Act III in Honor Mode as my main character! First time going this far. Tweaked slightly, this might be the best of his builds for a Karlach Origin playthrough, because with the points in rogue you can get dialogue proficiencies. (Not recommended in the build but would recommend if this is a party face.) Karlach is not typically known for her charisma, and this allows you to get those dialogue skills, at least in the mid-late game. In honor mode this has made my playthrough a lot smoother for the tough persuasion checks in Act II and Act III.
I also like the flexibility because this build works just fine without elixers and stat boosting gear, so you don't have to start buying all this stuff when you are a Act I pauper. However, in the late game, when you have these boosts and more money for elixers, you can respec to add higher wisdom and then the the Kushigo boots make your tavern brawler even more insane.
As stated elsewhere, this pairs amazingly well with the Radiant Brawler and Best Archer builds by Ceph.
Love this build! I did the other monk build and I found that if you couple the deathstalker mantle cloak from being dark urge with monk it’s basically an auto win and it’s in act 1. Super busted super fun.
Another great video. I've learned a ton from your in-depth guides. Keep it up.
Once you can get the dwarven thrower or nyrulna this build can freely swap between unarmed and throwing weapons while holding a shield, since un-equipping a weapon is free and the returning weapons get equipped after they are thrown. The returning pike is strictly inferior because two handed, but you can always start a fight with a shield and use throwing if it makes sense.
Love your videos! I'm taking on my first Honor Mode run and I am doing this as a Karlach Origin run. Thanks for the inspiration!
Wonderful ! I'm so glad patch 6 fixed that bug ! You can also benefit from throwing weapons since it adds the Tavern brawler bonus, thus making you strong at any range.
Yeah, exactly! I think you could also do something interesting with a tavern brawler unarmed berserker, though the bonus action attack/throw would conflict heavily with your flurry - something to think about though!
@@Cephalopocalypsegives you options for range or melee, as well as a way to not have a massive falloff once you burn through ki points
Returning Pike, Tavern Brawler, throwing ring, plus acid damage ring on a Berserker Barbarian.
This combo solo carries act 1 and is broken throughout the entire game.
The other reason aside from AC that monks want wisdom is for the boots that adds wisdom bonus to unarmed attack bonus that you’re missing out on here by dumping wis.
Yeah. I had similar thoughts. Really if you're going open hand monk you want at least 20 wis from feats and mirror of loss. I personally go 2 levels of fighter for equipment prof and action surge. So something like 6/4/2. Rogue dip is essential. After that you just wreck everything in the game. Barbarian isn't a bad dip overall though. Just being tanky in this game and losing fps falls a little short in my opinion.
I used a lot a similar build with monk-barb and tavern brawler, even before last patch and it was already insane, it was imposible to die with a ton of damage especially with Astarion, I think I will try this version of yours to see how much more powerful it's now, combining monk with bear rage is so fun, you get the best of both the dmg from monks and the tankiness from the bear
@Cephalopocalypse Love this! I took a similar thought process when I went 1 Storm Sorc/2 Spore Druid/ 6 OH Monk/ 3 Thief Rogue.
Shield and high unarmored AC
Flight early
Extra Necrotic rolls on hits
Some useful rituals and spells
Etc…
I took your invincible tank build and added 1 level of monk for the punchening. I use Phalar Aluve for the monk weapon usage and the piddly sneak attack damage, and amulet of health so I can dump points from Con, and flawed helldusk gloves for a bit more damage. I get your 4 attacks all dealing at least 20 damage, and 7 levels of barbarian so I can almost ignore all the weapon damage.
If you use elixirs just because add the reverberation gloves and boots for this setup the stuns and damage get a boost also
Thanks!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate the support - and the great comments :D
@@Cephalopocalypse Of course! I would like to become a channel member but for some reason I cannot find that option on your channel. You’ve mentioned it but I just don’t see the menu button for it.
currently replaying the game on tactician mode and wanted to play this type of build with my karlach, and it has been pretty damn strong once i reached level 5.
I really wanted to get the achievement to kill the grymforge boss without using the hammer mechanic so i decided to try to just beat the shit out of him since i didnt wanna use some cheesy owlbear strat and my level 5 karlach (4monk/1barb) with a speed potion and an elixir of hill giant strength actually just beat the boss in a straight 1v1. I think i used bardic ispiration on her like twice but still it was basically a 1v1, this build has been really funny so far and i cant wait until i level 3 rogue for that extra bonus action.
Havent played in while, but i will try this. In regard to the boots. I would reccommend suggesting the boots of arcane dashing. Since with this build we are putting into wisdom, we will add the spell casting modifier to the damage sfter a dash. Thos 3-5 ekstra damage makes a huge difference.
Tried similiar build with arvane synergy and warlock and eldritch knight. Its amazing if you can rely on strength pots.
Good build, will add it.
Damn i thought my laezel monk build was sick now im going to have to respec thanks. Lol thank god they let u respec as much as u wsnt
I know right? honestly that's one of my favorite things about the game, letting the players experiment is something ever rpg should do
Hot damn... think I'll be finally running a monk on my next play through! Amazing as always man!!
Awesome! Monk is really fun - Enjoy!
Nice, now im torn between this and the throw the moon
I'm near the end game and tweaked my build to reflect this one. I'm close enough to the str gloves that i don't mind using elixers for one or two long rests, but i refused to use them for an entire campaign. Had a very squishy karlach up until level 11 but great initiative and damage. This should be a lot less stressful with her actually being and to take a few hits
Ok, when I was playing with Karlach in my party I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to make Barb/Monk work because it *seemed* like it should be fun, but I just couldn't figure it out, so I gave up and just made her a throwing barbarian. I'm SO glad you made this, it looks SO FUN. When I try Honour Mode I'm going to use your Shadowheart Honour build as my main character and I'll be bringing Karlach along using this build. I'll stick with throwing on Laezel since it's so ridiculously overpowered and Astarion will, of course, have to be the dual crossbow guy. I can't wait to try this!! But question, after you finished building the character her strength jumped up to 20. Was that from the potion of everlasting vigour?
Thanks very much - sounds like an awesome party! Yes, I totally forgot I had given karlach the strength potion in this save - I definitely should have mentioned that! The damage will be a little lower without it, though of course if you do end up grabbing it this character is one of the best possible ones to use it on, since it's double value
Do you have suggestions for amulets and rings? I was using the Disintegrating Nightwalkers and ring of free action so they had no issue to get around, and I assume you want the Sentient amulet for the amulet, but what about the last ring and amulet while in combat?
I’m thinking 4e monk may be better in this build. This lets you stop at 5, and then get another feat and HP from Barbarian. You don’t care at all from the lost Wisdom and you get 1d10 and then 1d4 on your attacks from fist.
Would taking the Barbarian to 4 possibly be better for the Alert feat then the level 6 in Monk???
Always going first and never being surprised seems huge. Granted it won't come on until level 9 at the earliest. (possibly 8) Thoughts?
In D&D it takes half your movement regardless of how much you have to stand up from prone. So if your movement is 40 for example you need 20ft of movement to stand up.
For those that want to dump strength so boos other stats. Especially with only one ASI for Tavern Brawler you can buy 3 elixirs of Strength from Auntie Ethel in the druids grove per long rest. Just don't go to the swamp until you have all the elixirs you want. Pretty easy to get more than 20.
Another thought I just had is that once I got the Dexterity gloves I could respec. Dump dexterity and stop the reliance on elixir potions or boost Cha and or intelligence.
I'm also thinking 6 levels of Barb. Then respec at level 7. Go 4M and 3B. Level 8 4M 4B (Alert Feat) Level 9 Monk to 5 then 10, 11 & 12 Rogue. I'm 100% not sure about these changes. But since I'm attempting a 2 person honor mode run I am trying to see if I can optimize the character any more. Or if I should just stick to what you did?
We need a good Way of the Four Elements "Avatar" monk build. I've been looking everywhere and no one can or won't seem to build one. Great build though! Gonna use this for Karlach, thanks!
he has one on his channel
@Cephalopocalypse nice build as others ; thanks a lot, but I wonder if the build on the first 5 levels is adapted in honor mode ? Mobs lvl 4 or 5 are very strong when dealing damage to team. Thanks if you can answer
Yes, this build will work just fine for honour mode at early levels - you are mostly stronger than a default monk at levels 1-3, though it's true you're slightly weaker at 4-5 since you delay tavern brawler and extra attack one level. To be honest I don't think that's a huge issue, though you could reorder to go monk 6 first then barb 3 then rogue 3 if you prefer!
Another really fun one! I'd love to see your take on an arcane trickster because it's one of my favorites thematically but so much worse than the other two rogue subclasses mechanically. Magical ambush is cool, but having to put 9 levels into a 1/3 caster to get it is really not
I've found running it as a transmuter wizards 3 level dip to be very good and fun (granted I also think arcane trickster and transmuter are independently unbelievably slept on, and that arcane trickster itself is probably independently the best rogue subclass so take that as you will).
This was basically my first build I did when I started the game, didn’t ever realize I wasn’t getting the extra rage damage 😂
For the first few levels before tavern brawler you’d have to use a weapon huh? Maybe a quarter staff to stay on theme???
I don't know if this is still the case, but not only does Infernal Fury always proc with unarmed attacks, it actually does 2d4 fire damage instead of 1d4 when punching.
I wonder how the Ki points hold up in prolonged fights? You put only 5 levels into monk , so at the end of the long fight with many medium health enemies, the character might run out of Ki and do just regular attacks? When playing a monk Ki is always an issue for me, especially on the few 1st levels.
I would argue for Vest of Soul Rejuvenation and Gloves of Soul Catching. These would add +2 AC and +2 Con, raising your AC by 3. And give an unarmed attack as an reaction, d10 force damage and the ability to heal once per turn for d10 and any save you pass heal for d4. With the periapt of wound closure you would heal for max. Add in both the helm of baldur and the ring of regeneration for even more constant hp, which would make you ever more tanky for when you dont want to spend time raging.
Helm of Balduran would remove Monk movement speed bonuses because it's medium armor.
True, but that can be addressed with movement bonus gear. Plus the bonus the helm gives outweighs the loss of movement, in my opinion.
@@bentrieschmann I'd rather have the movement speed honestly. The rest of your suggestions seem fine though.
@Theonetruefinalboss Fair enough, I value sustainability for tanks over movement. But the glorious thing is it probably doesn't matter for the most part.
@@bentrieschmann Probably. Build will function mostly the same. In a way, it's kinda what I like most about BG3 as opposed to Larian's other masterpiece in Divinity: Original Sin 2. Gear isn't really super important in BG3, as opposed to DoS2 where if you don't stay up to date on gear, you're pretty screwed.
I know this is an older video but couldn't you make your main attack a Reckless Attack and add 2d6 extra as a sneak attack at Thief 3?
I’ve been agonizing over whether I should multiclass Monk with either Barbarian or Rogue, but this vid has vindicated my desire to mash them all together. I want to exploit tavern brawler to the fullest with both unarmed attacks & Frenzied Throw (& have an excuse to hoard heavy stuff to chuck at people), but at the same time going Monk without Fast Hands just seems senseless. Losing out on ASI & some defensive qualities (like Mindless Rage, or Danger Sense + Evasion) are what made me hesitant to triple-class like this, but the sheer damage at any range just seems too juicy to pass up.
I also thought starting with Barb would be best for the Constitution saving throw proficiency, & so you wouldn’t be stuck with Monk’s limited armor/weapon proficiencies- as well as the awful outfit.
Hey, nice build! I wonder if you've tried to make something similar with a druid that hits things with weapons or, well... not paws, claws or other beastial parts.
I'm currently trying to do something fun with my Tav, which has to stay partially druid mostly for RP reasons. My current layout is 4 spore druid / 6 battle master (duelling style). Not sure about last 2 levels, yet to get there. Starting with 8 str / 14 dex / 16 con / 8 int / 16 wis / 12 cha (for dialogs). It fully relies on Shillelagh and staffs for melee damage in spore form with high wisdom, hence it could work just fine even with 8 str, 8 int and 8 cha. Why duelling style fighter: yes it says it won't work with versitile weapons, but somehow it works with staff AND a shield (not without). Maybe it's a bug, but it shows up in logs as long as shield and staff are equipped.
Spells: even on level 4 there are plenty of options to concentrate on while smacking things with a staff, Moonbeam and Spike Growth so far seem the most efficient. Since spell slots aren't the prime source of damage, it's fine to toss Ice Knife or something like that at range even if just for ice spot, but with 20 wisdom even Hold person would land pretty reliably.
Aside from that, tried to add gloves to drop dexterity, but seems like there's not much else where to put those points anyway. Also played with the idea to switch to eldrich knight and put on the int crown, but it felt kinda meh. Currently I use +4 wisdom and alert feats. A bit curious if dropping a shield and taking great weapon master instead of alert would be better, but don't like how slow it would be with 2 initiative.
Anyway, just thought to share, and maybe someone would have any ideas how to make it better (yeah yeah I know, just drop the druid part, but nope, not this playthrough).
Check out my lore-friendly Jaheira guide! That focuses on dual-wielding scimitars - also my spore druid guide ("so many broken combos") makes heavy use of shillelagh and a melee weapon, especially for the early game. Hope that helps!
@@Cephalopocalypse will check it out, thanks! Seen plenty of your videos, but that one I probably missed.
U prefer this or Another build fora Karlach like Barbarian Tiger in another video? Thanks
Whichever you think looks more fun! Either is great
you lose 2 feats with this strange build... is it really worth it? one problem i see right away is the low Ki points you have as a lvl 6 monk.. isnt that a problem ?
And do you not suffer on bonus damage like radiate later on with dumped wisdom?
I think only 1 monk level difference from the build that dip into fighter to get action surge
What about some of the benefits that spore can offer monk attacks such symbiotic entity. Combine this with manifestation of soul for radiant damage and force dmg from soul catching gloves
How would you combine this with throw zerker? Is the tank from bear too much loss vs the damage and knock down from thrown object it would essentially no weapon needed
4:00,4:57, 5:48,8:26,9:38,12:20,13:00,14:00,16:00,19:38,5:12
Hi Ceph Thanks for another great build video! In over 1000 hours I have never played Monk mainly because I like switching around armor and weapons and they look so great in Bg3. But now I will try it. do you have any interest in posting written build summaries for Members? I would pay for that and i think it would be popular. Colby at D3 does that for BG3 and DnD. Thanks again!
I’ve been using fighter instead of Barb with monk for the action surge - would Barb be the better choice then?
What about Barbarian 1, Monk 5, Rogue 4, Fighter 2?
You may as well do 3 fighter at that point. The point of the barb split is wild heart
The main benefit of the rogue levels comes online way too late in the game. Mixing more than two classes doesn't really make sense in this game due to only 12 levels unless one of those classes is just a level 1 dip.
I love the build but i have a few questions.
About AC on this build (or more specifically on this build with elixirs):
Since barb gets unarmored bonus from CON & monk gets it from WIS & everyone gets it from DEX, would this set up with 16DEX, 18CON, 14WIS have an AC of 19 at level 2?!?!?!? Or would one of the unarmoured bonuses override the other (& if so which would take priority)
In regards to Rage damage, I thought the rage damage didn’t apply to unarmed attacks, was this a patch 6 fix?
Thanks! To answer those: unarmored defense doesn't stack, so you get your dex + the higher of your con and wis - that's what lets us dump wis on this build, since we'd want a high con anyways. Rage damage should apply the unarmed attacks, but was bugged for bear totem barbarians up until patch 6. Since that's now been fixed, the build finally works!
How did you go from 18 STR in level 12 to 20 STR when you started talking about gear? I think I missed something.
potentially from the potion of everlasting vigor (I believe that's what it's called) in act 2
@@erich_ makes sense. There was so much focus on "no additional buff required" in the video that I didn't even think about it.
Yep I totally forgot I'd given karlach the strength potion in this save, my bad! The damage should be a little lower without that (though of course if you do get the potion, this character is by far the best to use it on)
Can you play this build without playing as karlach?
Sure!
Can you tell where you take alll your potions because 14 speed potions ?
What do you think about 3 barb/9 monk? Would that be playable as well? I'm leaning towards it for 2 reasons: ki resonation and more ki points. Anyway, I really don't want to multiclass with thief. If there's a better alternative than barb, please let me know. Thank you.
Sure, that would be fine! Normally thief is the go-to, but the 3/9 split would be perfectly reasonable if you want to avoid it
Yeah, the resonating strikes will more than make up for the loss of the extra bonus action. Also, you can get an extra feat for whatever you think you need. Like Initiative, or Stat boost, like Wis if you want to use the Boots of the Uninhibited Kashigo, which add Wis mod to unarmed damage.
Looks like the kinda of character Im currently playing.
This seems super cool, but doesn't it leave you somewhat low on rage charges? I believe you only get 3 per long rest, which is a bit disappointing. Still seems very powerful, definitely going to try it out.
You get three rage charges, which is pretty standard for barbarian multiclasses I think - you wouldn't get the 4th until barb 6. Like most barbarians, you also won't need to rage every combat (as in the example, if the initial stunning strike on the toughest enemy lands, you probably won't need to rage), so you can almost certainly make it through 4-5 encounters per long rest before you run low on resources. Whether you consider that a long enough adventuring day is up to you of course!
Bar BEAR-ian.
Am I missing something or is this build works only when raging which means long rest after couple of fights? Any way to make this build more conservative in rage usage? Are there items that give you more rages per day? Otherwise, realy cool!!
I was wondering the same thing. It feels like she wouldn't have many rage chargers
Like most barbarians, you'll rage for some fights but not for others - if you don't need the extra tankiness (which is often the case if your initial stunning strike lands on the key target), you can skip raging for that fight.
Actually idk if this is still in the game BUT the fists for some reason do proc sneak attack in my game.
Interesting! I wonder if they broke that in patch 6 - I'll test and see if that's happening for me as well
at some point wouldn't you want to respec so that the first level is Rogue so you can have more skills?
You definitely can if you're looking to add some!
why bump wisdom for more AC when you can just use the barbarians unarmored defense which scales with CON? if you're using elixirs for STR you can easily get to 20 DEX and 20 CON giving you 20 base AC without any functional modifications to the build.
You actually can't bump wisdom for AC in this build - the two forms of unarmored defense don't stack. I suggested increasing wis here because it gives you more damage from your open hand monk feature, though you could definitely also boost other stats. With elixirs you only need 3 stats at all, so you'll end up with something like 8 16 17 8 15 8, boost con to 18 with TB, then use ethyl's hair to get 16 wis
@@Cephalopocalypse doesn't it choose the one with the better stat? And for open hand what exactly does wisdom influence? DC for stunning strikes and stagger/prone/push?
Question does Warding Bond also half the damage so you're only getting 1/4 the damage you'd normally be getting?
Yep!
no alert feat though?!!!! wish there was some way to get that in there
The easiest way is to use elixirs - like all monks this build is very feat-starved so getting two free feats is the best way to fit more in
I don't like this build being so Long Rest dependant. 3 rage points and 7 ki points is too low... Also, I would recommend using the potions and powering up wisdom to equip the Kushigo boots.
How is the mobility on this character?
Would you say this is a good build for your main character?
Sure!
Hopefully you can respond even though I’m late here. Can you confirm that shadow monk concentration “spells” work with rage.
EDIT: You can not concentrate on shadow monk abilities and rage. 😔
if you rage while concentrating on a spell from one of the monk subclasses, it’ll break concentration. thats an oversight, but you can still cast a concentration spell after you’ve begun raging and it’ll work as it should
liked the vid and left a comment for the algo, sir
Cheers, appreciate it!
Is there a reason a lot of your newer builds only have half the items at the end? i feel like not mentioning jewelry or ranged weapon ect is a lot of content to skip over
For more builds I only mention the items that are particularly relevant to the build - different players will find different items throughout the game, so I'd rather give you general advice on items than specific requirements unless it's really key for some aspect of the play. This build is also extremely item-independant, so specific item requirements would take away from one of the main strengths of the build
i will use this for a sett from League of Legends cosplay
Fantastic fun build, love it. The stun DC is based on your wisdom, though, not dexterit or strength.
Nope! That's true in tabletop, but was changed to the higher of str or dex in bg3
Thank you
***SPOILER***
Also if you decide to take the astral worm you can fly at no action cost. This plus the upgraded movement distance from monk and this damage output you can fly to one area beat tf out of them, fly to another area and repeat like you're one punch man😂😂
lvl 9 monk should be more devastating. And btw, why not using staff as monk weapon?
because tavern brawler
why is Jaheira hurt? Heal tree mommy immediately!
She's old. The elderly doesnt heal as quickly anymore
🔥🔥🔥
Why no one talking about she needs to use rage for extra DMG
Tavern brawler breaking the game by giving you to much chance to hit... mmmm I think I'll take tavern brawler because (with karmic dice off) I was still able to roll 3 nat 1's in 4 rolls. So I think I'll abuse tavern brawler >:D
*bare
BONK
eyo comment for engage,ent
Cheers!
Obligatory algorithm comment
Putting a build together is cool, but with no actual footage of what you are doing and how you use the build you lose all context of the build...