Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Order of the Dark Moon

I was thinking it might be cool to make a Monk from the Order of the Dark Moon. This is a worshiper of Shar (nice fit for Shadowheart) and gives a good RP start for a Monk character. The lore is that all members of the Order of the Dark Moon must have demonstrated some sort of sorcerous power.

So this leads me to asking about how others would considering going about the build. It sounds like you start with a level in Sorcerer and then add in Monk. Do you alternate them at equal levels or do heavy Socr / Light Monk or reverse that.

I am curious how some see a build like this being created.

You could go straight monk, take 4 elements to represent casting, or feat in a magic initiate in a casting class for some cantrips and a spell. Theres plenty of gear with spell effect in it too you can flavor as sorcerous.

monks are already Multiple Ability Dependent, you need Dex and Wisdom for your unarmored defense, weapon attacks, spell Dc on stuns, etc... You also want decent Con of course, so then to mix in a need for heavy Charisma is going to be difficult. I recommend focusing on one of the Wisdom casters if you really want some spell caster levels, the right cleric domain might work.

By lore a member of the Order should have some Sorcery Power.

Way of the Four Elements lets you use ki to infuse elemental aspects to your attacks. Gwmort's suggesting that that ability could be justified as the "sorcerous power". I don't think you need the wisdom for unarmored defense, though, since you can go draconic bloodline sorcerer to get a 13 AC, which you'd need a 18 wisdom to exceed. Draconic Sorcerer will also get you 1 hp per sorc level, so that helps a tiny bit with the con issue. There are problems that remain, though. One thing is saving throw DC for the enemies, as well as to hit bonus for the sorc half. These want wis for the monk stuff, and cha for the sorc one. You'd probably have to pick one or the other to focus on. Gear would also be a bit torn. Another issue is that elemental monks aren't half-spell casters, so that would limit spell access, while the sorc levels mean fewer ki points, which really hurts the elemental monk. And, of course, cha impacts your quantity of ready sorc spells.

But let's see, as to how I'd go about it... I'd start with a level of Sorc, Draconic Bloodline. Stats would be 10 str, 17 dex, 14 con, 8 int, 14 wis, 12 cha (though maybe flip wis and cha around, depending on how you feel it plays). Then probably a level of monk for flavor, followed by 3 more levels of sorc to reach your first feat, which would be War Caster. The reason why is Enlarge, which should let your monk do an extra 1d4 on all his unarmed strikes. This is a concentration spell, so you'll need con saves, and War Caster will help with that. The Shocking Grasp on enemies moving out of range will also aid with the "I'm a sorcererous monk" feel. Sorcs also get con as one of their proficient saves, so that will help with that as well. For meta-magic, you'll probably want Twin Cast, so you can Enlarge another melee, and Quickened Spell, so you won't burn your main action to cast Enlarge.

From then on, I'd go monk for a while, with the Open Hand. Why Open Hand? Because the abilities only cost 1 ki, so you can get more uses of them, and punch 2x, so more benefit from Enlarge. And you'll get that benefit even if the enemy has an easier time making their saves due to your lower wisdom. Now stick with Monk to at least monk 5 to get the extra attack, as well as another feat at monk 4. That should be Ability Improvement if you got the hag hair to boost dex, so you now have 20, or else Resilient for dex if you didn't, for better saves and 18 dex. Either way, you are boosting both AC (so you get hit less often, so fewer concentration checks) and hit more. Probably should go all the way to Monk 6, for the magical unarmed attacks and Manifestation. And now you have a choice. One more level of sorc gets you haste, so you could use that instead of Enlarge, but this would mean no feat at 12, which could be Tavern Brawler, if you want to use some item that boosts your strength, like if you've been stockpiling potions. Haste also has more severe consequences if it gets broken. But you could twin-cast it, so there's that. Or just stick with Enlarge, and keep trucking along. And all monk levels for the rest.

Gear-wise, you'll want The Graceful Cloth sold by Lady Esther, for the +2 dex ,so don't pick a fight with her, and, of course, various things that add to your damage.

hmm. i think i would...

start monk

dump str, dump int

16 dex, 16 cha --the rest split between con and wis

then switch to sorcerer, draconic, for five levels --draconic for the ac boost and extra hp

then go back to monk for two more levels to get subclass

then... either get two more monk levels for extra attack or switch back to sorcerer to finish out with nine levels in sorcerer for fifth level spells

so, 5/7 or 3/9... obviously shadow monk

*

the opening level of monk gives the bonus attack and allows weapons to be used with the dex modifier. that alone goes a long way for combat.

*

both feats given to ability increases, dex and cha... cha first would be my leaning

urchin background for stealth and sleight of hand

So been trying out my idea just a tad. Some further thoughts:
1) Probably 5 sorc, 7 monk or 6/6 will be best overall, feel-wise. 6/6 is probably the way I'd recommend. 5/7 gives you evasion and stillness of mind, but 6/6 will give you another 3rd level spell slot, meaning a 3rd cast of haste, which lines up nicely with combat, short rest, combat, short rest, combat, long rest. But you could long-rest more, or use Enlarge for one of the three fights. The monk bonus unarmed attack takes your bonus action, so if you have 2 actions, you won't be able to get the extra unarmed strike there with this class mix. But it will be a good place to cast a spell, to amp up the sorcerer side of things. 6 levels of sorc will also let you add your cha bonus to matching element spells.
2) For spells, avoid ranged spells with to hit rolls, for the most part. You'll be at a disadvantage if you try to use these in combat. Melee range ones are good, ideally ones that still do half damage if the target makes the saving throw. Unfortunately, none of the cantrip ones do this.
3) For draconic heritage, lots of give and take. Red gives you Burning Hands, which is a melee range spell you'll probably want available, and will therefore let you add another spell to the mix, but its cantrip is a ranged spell, which might limit how much you use it. White gives you Armour of Agathys, for 5 temp hp and some damage if something hits you, a spell you can't get elsewhere, but like red, cantrip is ranged. The others have saving throw rather than to hit cantrips tied to their damage type, but less useful heritage spells.
4) Stat-wise, 8 str, 17 dex, 14 con, 8 int, 10 wis, 16 cha. Basically going for the sorc side of things a bit more.
5) For your starting cantrip, if going 6/6, make sure you have one that matches your draconic heritage, so you can take advantage of that bonus. Get Shocking Grasp regardless, because advantage on metal wearing targets.
6) Thinking 1 sorc, 1 monk, sorc to 3 or 4, monk to 3, sorc to 5 or 6, and on to 6/6 to your preference from there; or else, 1 sorc, 1 monk, sorc to 5, monk to 3, and then however you want to do it to 6/6 from there. The first gets the monk side rolling faster, the other to twin casting haste faster.

Anyway, running mine with Dragonborn, because that seemed like a good fit. Went with white to fit my white heritage.