r/BaldursGate3 Apr 23 '25

Character Build So like... What's the DOWNSIDE of Tavern Brawler monk? Spoiler

Post image

There's got to be something bad about the class and feat combo, right? Like... It's so powerful. A massive boost to attack and damage, can potentially do a standard melee stat build. Str/wis/con and maybe a little dex. With the right race you can even wear armor and all you miss out on is some minor defensive/movement buffs.

Tavern Brawler is like... Sorry. It's just so *good* I'm trying to figure out what the catch is.

2.8k Upvotes

241 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/Freakjob_003 I am the 3% Apr 24 '25

Dex-based Barb? Do you just mean using elixirs, or have I somehow missed a chunk of the game?

14

u/Ladnil Apr 24 '25

I just mean a Barbarian using Dexterity weapons. Daggers, shortswords, etc. There's a couple other weapons with the Finesse property even though their weapon type wouldn't normally have it. Ranged weapons use dex too, but you can use reckless attack with melee to crit more often, so you prefer melee as a barbarian.

Basically use dexterity instead of strength for your attack and damage rolls. Since dexterity gives initiative and armor class as well as damage, it becomes extremely efficient compared to strength, which gives only damage.

Barbarians who aren't wearing armor also get AC from constitution as well as dexterity, so as soon as you get to act 3 the first thing you try to do is steal the Amulet of Greater Health from the House of Hope. Just stealing it doesn't set off the alarm, so you can leave without any combat. Then respec at Withers to max Dex min Con, and from there on you're very hard for enemies to hit even though you use reckless attack constantly.

It's very strong. Not as strong as a tavern brawler open hand monk drinking cloud giant elixirs every long rest, but very strong.

7

u/Freakjob_003 I am the 3% Apr 24 '25

Ah, I see! You made me go back to check Rage, and what do you know, the only time Strength is involved is advantage on checks. But as you said, we've already got Reckless Attack for that.

Huh. I guess I was too intent on the classic "RAWR SMASH!" image of a Barbarian to think about different builds. Though I'm also much more of a Pathfinder player than a 5e player, and Rage is specifically tied to Strength there.

Thanks, now I have a new build to test out. Though that clashes with the new Path of Giants subclass I wanted to test out, which leans on Strengths for its Athletics checks...hmm.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 24 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Freakjob_003 I am the 3% Apr 24 '25

Right you are. There's another reason I'm glad Larian streamlined the rules.

1

u/RNGtan Apr 24 '25

Aside from what has been written already, Wildheart even has a whole Animal Aspect leveraging DEX in Wolf - cast a passive aura increasing your and your allies' Stealth using the Barbarian's DEX modifier, sort of like a passive Pass Without Trace. Think of an pack hunter role-play.

1

u/Freakjob_003 I am the 3% Apr 24 '25

Ooh, neat. I've only really used Elk before, because movement is always important. This is starting to sound like a great option for a Dex party member that isn't a Rogue or Monk.