No amount of OP builds will make me play this Baldur’s Gate 3 class

Baldur’s Gate 3 has an abundance of character creation options, and I want to play them all eventually. While I’ve only ever finished a single Warlock playthrough, I intend to do more despite newer video games constantly calling me over with their siren song. 

I’m probably never going to do an Origin run (because why would I? The characters are already in my party, and from what I’ve seen online, they don’t change the story all that much), but custom Tavs, the Dark Urge, and the Light Urge are all exciting to me. 

With these countless opportunities for interesting Baldur’s Gate 3 protagonists, there’s one class I’m in no rush to play because it’s the most boring and doesn’t gel with the setting like other classes do: Sorry Monk fans.

Monks just hit things

One of the best things about Baldur’s Gate 3 is how exciting the main character is to play as. If my Tav/Dark Urge is going to be the protagonist, then they damn well better be the star of the show. 

This is easiest for spellcasters, as they get the flashiest abilities in the game. Having access to a full spell suite means you can do all kinds of impressive things, ranging from throwing fireballs, conjuring beasts from another dimension, and erecting magical barriers to batter foes as they approach. 

The warrior classes aren’t always as impressive as their magical counterparts, but many of them get cool abilities in their subclasses. The Fighter can throw out fancy moves with their Battle Master, while the Barbarian unleashes chaotic spells when they dabble in Wild Magic. 

This brings us to the class that I’ll never bring myself to play in Baldur’s Gate 3: the Monk.

The Monk is great at one thing: hitting people. If you ain’t hitting someone, then you’re doing it wrong. 

The Monk class is entirely focused on combat. Not only that, but it’s also the blandest form of combat. You’re going to spend most of the game punching enemies or using the limited Monk Weapons to whack foes over and over again, every single round. 

True, there are Monk subclasses that shake things up, but they come with their own issues. The Four Elements Monk just turns you into a bad spellcaster, and why would you be casting spells if you could hit people? Meanwhile, the Shadow Monk is just a worse Rogue, with abilities that can easily be emulated by potions, scrolls, or spells used by other party members. 

The issue is that the Monk abilities just aren’t that exciting. They’re useful in a numerical sense, and your character can become really powerful, but it’s a very boring playstyle, especially compared to pretty much every other class in the game. 

The other issue is that Monks aren’t great at talking. To play a decent Monk, you’ll need a high Dexterity score for your attacks, a high Constitution score to survive combat, and a high Wisdom for your Unarmoured Defense and Ki abilities. With this in mind, your Intelligence and Charisma are going to be lower on your list of priorities if you want to survive.

This means that it’s harder for you to get unique responses in combat. Baldur’s Gate 3 offers lots of opportunities to skip combat or resolve difficult situations in unique ways, all through conversational skill checks. But you’re the Monk, and you don’t talk; you hit! 

The Monk and the magic item problem

You could say the same things for the Barbarian, but they have two big advantages over the Monk. For one thing, the Barbarian gets some awesome unique dialogue options that let them cow their foes and cause chaos. 

The other is that the Barbarian has a wider range of weapons and armor to use. This brings us to another Monk problem: a lack of equipment. 

One of the coolest things about Baldur’s Gate 3 is that magic items have a tangible feeling of strength. This is especially true when compared to games like Final Fantasy 14, where gear mostly exists to look cool. In D&D, a new weapon that shoots lightning bolts or a staff that adds spells to your repertoire can feel like a real upgrade. You get that dopamine rush whenever you pilfer something awesome from an enemy and use it with your group. 

Meanwhile, the Monk has a low pool of weapons to use, while their reliance on Unarmored Defense means they only have a few armor options. As such, you won’t get that same feeling of escalation as often when playing as a Monk, as their best equipment is unique to them, is extremely rare, and the best ones are hidden behind difficult boss encounters in Act III.

This isn’t to say the Monk never gets cool items, but the class as a whole doesn’t benefit from gear as much as the others, so it’s something else that makes them less exciting to me than the options available. 

You got anime in my high fantasy

The other main issue with the Monk is that it doesn’t fit in with the Forgotten Realms setting. This is just as true in D&D, even dating back to the 3rd ed era when the Monk joined the roster, as the Monk has always felt out of place. 

Imagine if you would, the Fellowship of the Ring leaving Rivendell on their way to Mordor. Only, this time around, Gimli has been replaced with Bruce Lee in his iconic black and yellow gear. That’s how Monks feel to me in both D&D and Baldur’s Gate 4. 

(Saying that, the Fellowship probably would have been more successful with Bruce Lee, but that’s beside the point. Also, I love you Gimli!)

Monks are very much rooted in Eastern mythology and fantasy culture, which is very different from the European Medieval roots of D&D. As such, they’ve always felt off, especially in campaigns where they’re hanging out with wizards and elves. 

In that regard, Monks have also felt like anime characters. Give them a Potion of Flying and a Monk is pretty much a Dragon Ball Z character.

This isn’t to say that D&D has to stick to one kind of aesthetic. The game plunders ideas from every mythology and fantasy series on the planet. It’s why the Medusa can chill with a Mummy in Cthulhu’s pad, just waiting for adventurers to come and get eaten.

When it comes to main characters, the wise Monk who beats up people with their martial skills feels strange when coupled with knights in plate mail armor. It’s a reason why I’ll never play one and why I’ll respec a party member into Monk. I don’t want the devilish Rogue Astarion taking enemies down with a Kimura armbar. 

Monks are ridiculously powerful, but that doesn’t matter

By far, the biggest benefit of playing the Monk is that they’re considered the strongest class in the game, or rather, certain Monk builds are considered OP.

A Monk who uses the Open Hand subclass and takes the Tavern Brawler Feat can absolutely destroy anything in its path. Their Flurry of Blows will rip enemies to shred, while your debuffs can take down elite monsters with ease.

If I was planning on doing an Honour Mode and trying to earn the golden dice, then the OP Monk build would be something I’d consider. However, as I’m not a statistical masochist, I’m probably never going to attempt an Honour Mode run.

(Well, that’s a lie. I did try it once, but all it took was the Intellect Devourers with ranged attacks that killed me as soon as I left the tutorial area to convince me that it wasn’t for me.)

To me, Baldur’s Gate 3 is about being the main character. I want the social character with unique dialogue options that can change the story. I want flashy spells that change the battlefield. I want items that improve my playstyle and look impressive as hell when they’re equipped. 

And I’m not alone in this. There’s a reason why the Paladin and the Sorcerer are the most popular classes in the game: they’re all about cool-looking powers and the might of personality. People want that character in the front slot of the party. 

Meanwhile, the Monk is good at hitting things. And while Goku might be the star of one of the biggest anime franchises of all time, I wouldn’t want to play as him in the Forgotten Realms.