Best BG3 Drunken Master Monk Build – Drunkard Attacker!

Welcome to the best BG3 Drunken Master Monk Build. Monks have access to four subclasses, Drunken Master, Way of the Open Hand, Way of the Shadow and Way of the Four Elements. This BG3 Monk Build uses the Drunken Master subclass which gives you special bonuses that synergise with the Drunk Condition. It was last updated in October 2025, and works for both PC and Console (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S).

Please visit our Best BG3 Builds overview page for more builds or our Best BG3 Monk Build. If you are interested in more Monk subclass builds, check our BG3 Monk Builds category page.

Table of Contents:

1. Drunken Master Build Overview
   1. BG3 Monk Class Summary
   2. Drunken Master Subclass Summary
2. Drunken Master Build Character Creation
   1. Best Race
   2. Skills & Background
   3. Ability Scores
3. Drunken Master Build Levelling Progression
   1. Early-Game (2-4)
   2. Mid-Game (5-8)
   3. Late-Game (9-12)
4. Drunken Master Equipment
   1. Early-Game
   2. BG3 Best Drunken Master Equipment (Late-Game)
5. Drunken Master Build Extras
   1. Tips & Tricks
   2. Best Potions
   3. Best Illithid Powers (Optional)

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Here are the main Strengths and Weaknesses of the Drunken Master Monk in Baldur’s Gate 3:

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Monk Class Overview BG3

We will start with a quick overview of the Monk class and Way of the Drunken Master subclass, which we’ll be using for this BG3 Build. If you’re already familiar with how they work, please skip this section.

Monk Class Summary

The Monk has quite a lot of unique features, so we’ll only list the starting features here. The rest will be explained in the Levelling Up section.

• Ki Points – A special Monk resource that is spent to activate Monk Actions. You start the game with 2 Ki Points, and will earn more as you level up. All spent Ki Points are replenished when your party rests (both short and long rests).
• Martial Arts – A special set of passives that create the Monk’s unique combat style:
  • Dextrous Attacks – If your Dexterity is higher than your Strength, your unarmed attacks will scale with Dexterity.
  • Deft Strikes – Attacks with Monk Weapons and Unarmed Attacks deal 1d4 Bludgeoning Damage, unless their existing damage is higher.
  • Bonus Unarmed Strike – After attacking with a Monk Weapon or while unarmed, you can make another unarmed attack as a Bonus Action.
• Unarmoured Defence– If you are not wearing any armour, you add your Wisdom Modifier to your Armour Class.
•  Flurry of Blows – Punch twice in quick succession. Costs a Ki Point and a Bonus Action.

Drunken Master Subclass

The Drunken Master is a Monk subclass that gives you extra bonuses that synergise with the Drunk condition. As you’d expect, you can make your character Drunk by consuming any alcoholic beverage.

Some of the most important effects of the Drunken Master subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 are:

•  Cheeky Tipple (Level 3) – Immunity to the negative effects of being Drunk
•  Intoxicating Strike (Level 4) – Hit a creature with a melee attack and make them Drunk.
•  Life of the Party (Level 4) – Whenever Intoxicating Strike hits, you gain a buff to your Armour Class and Attack Rolls.
•  Redirect Attack (Level 6) – When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can spend 1 Ki Point to redirect the attack to a new target, if possible.
•  Sobering Realisation (Level 8) – Hit a Drunk target to sober them up, dealing bonus Psychic Damage. You lose Life of the Party.
•  Drunkard’s Luck (Level 11) – You can spend 2 Ki Points to negate Disadvantage on an Attack Roll, Ability Check or Saving Throw.

This is not an exhaustive list of the Drunken Master’s features, and not all of it will be available from the beginning. We’ll explain the full subclass progression in the guide below.

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Monk Build Character Creation – Drunken Master BG3 – PS5/PC

In this section, we will guide you through the best options in Character Creation for the Baldur’s Gate 3 Drunken Master Monk Build. While you can deviate somewhat from this if you want, following these steps will result in the most powerful starting point for your Monk.

Race & Subraces

Baldur’s Gate 3 Races offer you plenty of choices. While the races in the table below are the best choices for this build, you can select any race you want, and it will still work fine.

Top 5 races for our BG3 Drunken Master Monk Build:

Background & Skills

This Monk Build will feature high investment into the Dexterity and Wisdom Skills. As a result, we’ll focus on DEX and WIS Skills.

Therefore, we recommend choosing Urchin as your background, granting the following Skill Proficiencies:

•  Sleight of Hand (DEX) – Increases your chance to pick locks and pick pockets.
•  Stealth (DEX) – Makes it harder for NPCs to spot you when you are sneaking.

In addition, you will receive two Monk Skill choices. We recommend:

•  Acrobatics (DEX) – You are more resistant to enemy attempts to push you around, and you take less falling damage.
•  Insight (WIS) – Successful Insight rolls can reveal extra information and open up hidden dialogue options.

If you’re a Human, you’ll get an extra unrestricted Skill choice. You can assign this to whatever you like, but it is best to use it on any Dexterity or Wisdom Skill that you don’t already have.

Ability Points

The Monk has no armour proficiencies, so it’s crucial to have high Dexterity to push up your Armour Class. This will also boost your attack accuracy. The Monk is unique in the sense that Wisdom also boosts your Armour Class (provided you don’t equip any armour). So even if you get Armour Proficiency from your chosen race, I still recommend doing an unarmoured setup.

Your Wisdom will also be used to roll some Ki abilities. Your Constitution is important for increasing your Max HP and resisting some status debuffs.

For the best results on our BG3 Monk Build, aim for an ability distribution that looks something like this:

• Strength – 10
• Dexterity – 16
• Constitution – 14
• Intelligence – 8
• Wisdom – 16
• Charisma – 10

While having odd ability scores doesn’t provide any immediate benefit (every second point increases your Ability Modifier, which is what buffs your dice rolls), we’re going with 17 DEX because it’ll be increased to 18 at level 4 once we get our first feat.

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BG3 Drunken Master Monk Build Levelling Guide

In Baldur’s Gate 3, your character progresses from level 1 to level 12. In the first few levels, you get to choose your subclass and get a feel for the build, but not all of your class & subclass features will be unlocked until high level, along with some racial features, which may also remain locked until level 5, depending on your chosen race.

BG3 Monk Build Levelling Guide – Levels 2-4

We’ll start with Levels 2 through 4.

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Level 2

At Level 2, you’ll unlock the following features:

• Additional  Ki Point. – You’ll gain one additional Ki Point at every level up.
•  Unarmoured Movement: 3m movement increase while not wearing armour or shield.
•  Patient Defence: Attack Rolls against you have Disadvantage, and you have Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws.
•  Step of the Wind: Dash: Double your movement speed. Jump no longer requires a bonus action.
•  Step of the Wind: Disengage: Retreat to safety by Disengaging. Jump no longer requires a bonus action.

You don’t need to make any choices at this level.

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Level 3 – Pick your Monk Subclass

At level 3, you get to choose your Monk subclass. As you know, we are going with the Drunken Master Monk.

Once selected, the Drunken Master will give you the following features at Level 2:

•  Cheeky Tipple – You are immune to the negative effects of being Drunk. Once per Long Rest, drinking alcohol restores half of your max Ki Points.
•  Drunken Performance – You gain Proficiency in the Performance Skill.
•  Drunken Technique – Use a Bonus Action and a Ki Point to punch twice in quick succession, then gain 3 metres of extra Movement Speed on your current turn and the effects of Disengage.

You also unlock one Monk feature that is independent of your subclass:

•  Deflect Missiles – Use your Reaction to reduce the damage of an incoming ranged weapon attack by (1d10 + Dexterity Modifier). If the damage is reduced to zero, you can spend a Ki Point to throw the missile back at its sender.

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Level 4

At Level 4, your Drunken Master Monk unlocks a couple of new features:

•  Slow Fall: Reduces your fall damage by half
•  Intoxicating Strike – Hit a creature with your bare fists, possibly getting them Drunk. Costs 1 Ki Point.
• New Feat – You must choose a Feat to improve your character. I recommend choosing Ability Improvement and putting both points into Dexterity, improving it to 18.

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BG3 Drunken Master Build Mid-Game Levelling (5-8)

We’ll now cover the mid-game levelling through levels 5-8.

Level 5

At Level 5, your Drunken Master Monk will unlock the following features:

•  Extra Attack: Can make an additional free attack after making an unarmed or weapon attack.
•  Stunning Strike (Melee): Possibly Stuns the target. No damage.
•  Stunning Strike (Unarmed): Possibly Stuns the Target and deals damage.

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Level 6

At level 6, you unlock a few new features:

•  Improved Unarmoured Movement: Your movement speed increases by 4.5m while you are not wearing armour or using a shield.
•  Ki-Empowered Strikes: Your unarmed attacks count as magical for the purpose of overcoming enemies’ Resistance and Immunity to non-magical damage.
•  Leap to your Feet – When you are Prone, standing up only costs 1.5 metres of your Movement.
•  Redirect Attack – When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can spend 1 Ki Point as a Reaction to redirect the attack to a new target, if possible.

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Level 7

At level 7, you unlock a couple of new passive features:

•  Evasion: Your agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain spells. When a spell or effect would deal half damage on a successful Dexterity Saving Throw, it deals no damage if you succeed, and only half damage if you fail.
•  Stillness of Mind: If you are Charmed or Frightened, you automatically cast Stillness of Mind to remove the condition.

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Level 8

There’s not much to mention for Level 8. You get the usual HP increase and +1 Ki Point, but besides this there is only one choice to make for the level:

• New Feat – You must select another Feat to improve your character. Once again, I advise choosing Ability Improvement and putting the points into Dexterity. This will bring your Dexterity score to 20 and your Dexterity Modifier to +5, increasing the accuracy and damage of your attacks to the best possible baseline.

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BG3 Drunken Master Monk Build – Late Game Levelling (9-12)

We will now walk through the late-game levelling process, at levels 9-12.

Level 9

At level 9, your Drunken Master Monk unlocks a few new features:

•  Advanced Unarmoured Movement: Difficult Terrain doesn’t slow you down, and you can Jump an additional 6m while you are not wearing armour or using a shield.
•  Sobering Realisation (Level 8) – Hit a Drunk target to sober them up, dealing bonus Psychic Damage. You lose Life of the Party.

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Level 10

At level 10, your Drunken Master Monk unlocks the following:

•  Improved Unarmoured Movement: Your movement speed increases by 6m while you are not wearing armour or using a shield.
•  Purity of Body: You are Immune to Poison damage and can’t be Poisoned or affected by disease thanks to the purifying Ki flowing through your meridians.

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Level 11

Your Drunken Master Monk unlocks just one feature at Level 11:

•  Drunkard’s Luck (Level 11) – You can spend 2 Ki Points to negate Disadvantage on an Attack Roll, Ability Check or Saving Throw.

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Level 12 – Maxed out BG3 Drunken Monk Build

Now you have reached the maximum possible level with your BG3 Drunken Master Monk Build. You unlock the following:

• New Feat – Choose one more Feat to improve your Drunken Master Monk Build. Choose Tavern Brawler. Not only is it the perfect thematic theme for this build, it is also a very powerful Feat that can make your unarmed damage crazy high. It works by doubling your Strength Modifier on your unarmed attacks. Our Ability Distribution above doesn’t put any points in Strength, so for this to work, you need to obtain a special item called the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, which we’ll explain in the late-game equipment section below.

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Best Equipment for the Drunken Master Build in Baldur’s Gate 3

Below is the best equipment for this Drunken Master Build in BG3. We have included both an early-game and a late-game equipment section, so you don’t need to wait until the latter stages of the game before using the build.

Early-game equipment includes gear you can find in Act I and the first half of Act II. Late-game equipment includes items that you can find after that.

Early-Game Setup

This setup is primarily focused on giving you very good mobility and improved defences. This is what the Monk needs more than anything at this stage, because it can be a bit squishy at the beginning of the game, and it is pretty weak at range. The faster you can close up into melee and start hitting your enemies, the better.

The Punch-Drunk Bastard is obtained around halfway through Act II, so it only just makes it into this section. Before you get there, you can use any decent Quarterstaff you find, or just stick to unarmed attacks which are easily viable on any Monk subclass.

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Late-Game Setup

The Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength are the most pivotal item for this build. They allow us to make the late-game switch from a Dexterity to Strength build, without needing to respec and remove points from Dexterity (doing this would reduce our Armour Class and make Dexterity-based Skills weaker).

Once you have the Gauntlets, you should unequip any melee weapon you have and utilize the Tavern Brawler Feat to gain a flat +12 damage bonus on all your unarmed attacks. This is increased to +15 if you have the Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo, and +17 if you have the Scabby Pugilist Circlet and are surrounded by 2 or more foes.

These three items are by far the most important for the build to work, so prioritise getting those. The Drunken Cloth and Amulet of the Drunkard give you some features that help you to stay alive (only active when you’re Drunk), and the other items are also all focused on either survivability or mobility.

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Drunken Master Monk Build Extra Info

Here is some additional information that will help you get the most out of this Baldur’s Gate 3 Way of the Drunken Master Monk Build.

Drunken Master Monk Tips & Tricks

The Drunken Master is a decent damage dealer and can be a real nuisance for enemies thanks to its subclass actions and features.

Drunken Technique replaces the Monk’s standard Flurry of Blows. This Action allows you to unleash a flurry of attacks and then automatically Disengage, allowing you to use a hit-and-run playstyle without risking opportunity attacks.

When you reach Level 6, you can redirect hostile melee attacks to another nearby enemy, forcing your opponents to damage each other. This feature requires clever positioning and planning if you want to reliably use it, for example baiting a melee enemy to a ranged enemy. You can use other party members to cast buffs on your Monk that make them harder to hit or impose attack debuffs on the attacking enemy.

The Drunken Master is a competent and slippery damage dealer, especially when you unlock Tavern Brawler and the Hill Giant Strength Gauntlets. But it is not among the most durable classes in the game, so you should exercise a little bit of caution before jumping into a melee scrap.

Strongest Potions for the Drunken Master Monk Build in BG3

The Potion of Speed is arguably the most powerful potion in Baldur’s Gate 3. It doubles your Movement Speed and gives you an extra Action each turn.

One drawback of this potion is that when it expires, your character will be Lethargic for one turn, unable to move or take any Actions. So you should be careful not to have your character stranded in a dangerous position when the potion runs out!

You can craft the Potion of Speed in the alchemy menu by combining Ashes of Hyena Ear with any Salt. Create ashes, salts and other alchemy concentrates by combining three of the same ingredients together – for example, combining three Hyena Ears will create Ashes of Hyena Ear.

Hyena Ears can normally be looted from either Hyenas or Gnolls – you can find a lot of them around the Risen Road in Act I, for a good supply of them, which should last you a while.

You can combine this with the Elixir of Bloodlust. Elixirs and Potions can be stacked with each other, but you can only have one Elixir active at a time. Potions tend to expire after a few turns, whereas Elixirs last until your next Long Rest, unless you drink a different Elixir in the meantime.

The Elixir of Bloodlust grants your character another Action when you kill an enemy. This effect can only trigger once per turn. Combined with the Potion of Speed, this gives you two additional attacks if you defeat an enemy on your turn.

It can be crafted by combining Ashes of Worg Fang with any Salt. Worg Fangs are looted from Worgs, the beasts usually kept by Goblins.

This is an OP alchemy combo that you can use to turbocharge the Drunken Master’s damage output in tough fights!

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Drunken Master Build Illithid Powers (optional)

Illithid Powers are unlocked later in BG3 when you learn more about Mind Flayers and Tadpoles. By eating Jars of Mind Flayer Parasites you gain one point. This is another optional skill tree that you can get access to if you want.  Here are some of the best Illithid Powers for the BG3 Monk Build with the Way of the Drunken Master subclass:

• Mind Blast: A conal blast of Psychic Damage that can also stun several targets at once. If you are outnumbered by several advancing enemies, then Mind Blast can help to swing things back in your favour.
• Cull the Weak: When you reduce a creature’s hit points below a certain threshold, this power instantly kills it and deals 1-4 Psychic Damage to nearby enemies. This is particularly effective when engaging groups of weaker foes, enabling you to thin their numbers rapidly.
• Fly: This can be used to reach hard to get to places or change positions in combat.
• Mind Sanctuary: This creates an area that allows all within to use Actions and Bonus Actions interchangeably. This typically means you can deal more damage, since you can use your Bonus Action as a normal Action. However, enemies who are inside the area will also enjoy its benefits. Be careful with your placement so that your party gets buffed by the Mind Sanctuary and not the enemies!
• Psionic Backlash: This is a top-tier Reaction from the Illithid Powers skill tree in BG3. It allows you to deal Psychic Damage when a nearby enemy casts a spell. This is especially useful if the target is casting a Concentration Spell. The damage from Psionic Backlash can immediately break their Concentration, ending the spell’s effects.

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Other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds

• Druid Build – Circle of the Moon
• Bard Build – College of Lore
• Ranger Build – Hunter
• Monk Build – Way of Shadow
• Monk Build – Way of the Open Hand
• Necromancer Build – Necromancy
• Fighter Build – Battle Master
• Barbarian Build – Berserker
• Cleric Build – Light Domain
• Rogue Build – Thief
• Sorcerer Build – Wild Magic
• Wizard Build – Evocation School
• Paladin – Oath of Ancients
• More Baldur’s Gate Guides & Builds

If you want to check out the map of Baldur’s Gate 3, please visit the Baldur’s Gate 3 Interactive Map.