Baldur's Gate 3 - The Firelight Monk (Build Request)

Hi all! Back with another build request today, in which I was asked to make a fire-themed monk. This isn't exactly a hard concept to get down, as you could just go with 12 levels of Four Elements Monk and call it a day, but I wanted to showcase something a bit different. I think the multiclassing mixed with the chosen equipment will create a fun playstyle!
Flame Monk (Four Elements 6/Light Cleric 6)
Weapons:
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If you don't plan to use the Incandescent Staff for the whole game, make sure you pick High Elf or High Half-Elf as you race to learn Firebolt that way. Be warned that Elf cantrips use your INT so you may need the bg3.wiki/wiki/...
Armour:
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Accessories:
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[@BigMeem]

I feel like Lathander would make a whole ton of sense. God of the Dawn and Sun which would match the fire and radiant theme.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

Likewise, my first thought. Others would be Selûne who is plot relevant and the goddess of the moon and Moradin who is all about fire as well if you wanted to be a dwarf.

[@Raxisabominae]

Bahamut was my though lt too. Play as a dragonborn

[@Jerrell7321]

I would grab the gloves of Dexterity to dump dex, and invest that ability score increase to Elemental Adept: Fire. This will boost the overall damage from all the fire stacks and applies to your summoned Fire Sphere. With the Heat + Arcane Acuity, you'll be golden

[@Jerrell7321]

Not to mention, it minimizes heat damage to self to a max of 2 per turn

[@tevisstier9044]

I prefer produce flame over sacred flame, because it relies on an attack roll, not a dex save.

[@thisjustin77]

Sacred flame is dog water 😂 produce flame for life

[@tevisstier9044]

@@thisjustin77 sacred flame becomes a bit better if you have a warlock in the party who hexes the target's dex before you cast it.

[@RJM1410]

​@@tevisstier9044hex affects checks not saves. Has no effect on sacred flame

[@cbdrawer9527]

With the Fire Resistence on the build, if you don't mind getting up and personal with people, I would recommend thr Staff of the Mumbling Wizard. Not only does it give you the unique "Firebolt?" cantrip, which is a Firebolt that never misses, but there is a small chance where instead you cast Fireball centered on yourself

[@chipskylark5500]

That sounds dope! There's also a consumable fireball casting wand you can use in melee range lol

[@cbdrawer9527]

​@chipskylark5500 I found that! I was like "The hell does this do?" Then blasted Gale to ash by accident because he used it.

[@benborchardt8438]

You can also do a 7 monk/5 cleric split to get evasion from monk, so if you succeed the dex save against your fireball on self, you take 0

[@thornelson1411]

Unfortunately to those just seeing this video they've patched it so you cannot ressurect Karlach. You have to keep her dead.

[@curiouschao1]

After your Eliastrae video and the discussion about a naked drow, I started brewing an Eliastrae Open hand Monk/light cleric that would be fun as hell to play

[@mokeymale8350]

I’m always down for more monk builds especially 4Elements monks. They don’t get enough love because of their goofy spells not being attacks

[@cbdrawer9527]

On the contrary. They aren't even classified as spells, so you can cast them while Raging, making a really nice Barb/Monk build for Karlach

[@HoboZone]

You can also cast them while Silenced! And Fangs of the Fire Snake does count as an attack, activating extra attack.

[@anthonygoad4214]

I’m so glad I saw this! My 4 different flavor monk build is coalescing as I read all your awesome comments ❤

[@Proamjoe]

I’m definitely not first, but I’m happy to see many build requests being done. Can’t wait for more of the “chosen” deity builds.

[@yanewstepdad1355]

Crazy cause i had this same idea but either for a lightning monk mixed with the dragon ancestory or storm.

[@ThatReplyGuy]

I really thought you'd go druid for Flaming Scimitar to use with Fangs of the Fire Snake. Was surprised by Cleric, but I guess I understand the reasoning. There's less mechanical synergy, but you can do a lot more between rests and have more options overall. Also, 13 ki points sounds low, but when you recover all of them on a short rest, it's not too bad. Just look at Warlock's two spell slots.

[@Anystic]

This was basically what i did for my first play-through it was a lot of fun since it's based off one of my own characters. Another variant i liked if you wanna lean more into casting and be the face as a monk was going draconic sorc/monk and doing a 6/6 or 7/5 split. you'll get some more hp and base ac will be 13 so you won't need much wisdom and having things like haste and blur on monk are also really nice.

[@Fae2705]

Ah, you made a functional Sun soul monk, good on you mate.

[@gothicshark]

Lathander, The Morninglord, it also means clearing out all the "you know who" at "you know where" at the end of act 1.

[@Alpha_Draconis20]

I'm not certain but from what I heard there are no unique lines from a lethander cleric for the location and you can even fail to recognise your own god if you fail a religion check. so it might suck for roleplay, but I guess you could pick up lethander cleric afterwards for roleplay being inspired by the monestary or whatever.

[@gothicshark]

@@Alpha_Draconis20 Sadly their are a lot of missed cleric lines of dialogue missed in the game.

[@Dinidug]

Oh hey! And Monk/Cleric build! Not enough of these! It feels like it makes sense, considering monks don't have a deity, and both classes use wisdom. Honestly, I am doing a similar build (sans the fire focus) for my second (durge) playthrough, and its been fun roleplaying a dark urge who used to use his monk abilities to tear apart is enemies wit his bare ands, but now, is properly relearning the monk discipline, actually practicing the religious elements, and attempting to actually be a good person, rather than just learning the bare-handed skills. I really like the fire focus you are taking here, and honestly, there is a lot of equipment here that I just haven't been thinking about. That being said, the AC of this build feels a little low to me, so I think I'll still keep using some of the more defensive equipment, like the ring of protection. Can't wait to see the Halloween build video!

[@whiskeyjack6668]

I really enjoy your builds and style. If you're taking requests I'd love to see a build that's based on being a pacifist where enemies take themselves out when attacking. Maybe something like a retaliation tank.

[@RandomGuy010]

This gave me the idea of going Open Hand 7/Trickery 5 With the right item combination I can proc radiant orb, snowburst ring and cast my trickery spells as bonus actions.

[@ShiniestMeatManKrieg]

Taking this build and making it frost based rn. Same headpiece, mourning frost, winters clutches until snow dusted ones, evasive boots, plus 3 levels in eldritch knight and 9 monk instead to get shield, blade ward, protection from good and evil and a few thunder spells because why not. Githzerai build here I come.

[@ProbeAway]

I was really hoping fangs of the fire snake would trigger the extra bonus action from the pyroquickness hat. Sadly (and predictably), it does not 😢

[@Hwachaaah]

Gloves of Cinder and Sizzle + Hat of Fire Acuity on a monk would make your stun DC really high!

[@user-jq2pu8zx1d]

First time commenting...FF11 and FF14 dark knights are different, FF11's version inflicts self-damage to increase additional damage to enemies. FF14's variant is a tank class using their powers to defend the party. Oathbreaker is def good for either to work. Gunbreaker is FF14 only, they are a tank class that use magic bullets to increase their damage. Warrior's lore in FF14 is basically berserker lol, while FF11's variant is more Fighter as it focuses on the most weapon types. Dragoon is a spear specalist that jumps in the battlefield on both games. FF11 Scholar focuses on all types of magic, swapping between white and black; can likely do 6cleric/6wizard for that. FF11 rune fencer uses runes to buff self to tank. Fighter/Abj Wizard best resembles their playstyle. These are all I can think of immediately.

[@Jabberwokee]

I know how you got that armour, you monster! Also, nice build 🥲

[@cruzanassassin]

How did he get it? Looks cool and I want it! Lol

[@Jabberwokee]

@@cruzanassassinallow Wyll to kill Karlach- it’s a gift from his patron for killing her

[@cruzanassassin]

@@Jabberwokee thanks

[@cruzanassassin]

@@Jabberwokee what's it called? I need to look up the stats on it to see if it's worth killing my baby Karlach😂

[@bananaacquaintance569]

@@cruzanassassinit just gives you fire shield and it’s cloth armor with + 1 AC

[@ThePoxtops]

Basically a Sun Soul Order Monk build. Awesome. I was actually thinking about this a few days ago just wasn't exactly sure how to realize it.

[@Voicelet]

Your Ghostflame concept would fit naturally in this build too.

[@frankhorrigan8175]

super hype for the build tmr 👀

[@RegiCBT]

This, the cryomancer, the pyromancer and the thunder god or the talos one are going to be on my next run for sure, lol. About the FF builds, I've played a lot of XIV, but I'm not that knowledgeable about all the jobs. However, off the top of my head, I can think of some ideas. The dragoon, a fighter/barbarian that uses a spear and jumps around the battlefield, can get the eagle heart for that jump attack. The dark knight, a common blade warlock with maybe a dip in oathbreaker and the bard, a bow-oriented sword bard with maybe a dip in cleric for some more buffs. I would really like to see what you would make inspired by the jobs of FF and can't wait for the last Halloween build either.

[@fabioferreiragomesdias6090]

Dragoon could use 2 levels of monk for limitless jumps and jump as bonus action. Red Mage, samurai, blue mage and mystic knight (ff5) would be great to see. Can you throw gold to simulate gil toss????

[@boy-lb9he]

Solid builds always enjoy watching them, can't wait for the next deity build. And If this guy discovers Pathfinder:WOTR the builds are never going to end.

[@HoboZone]

It's definitely on my list of games to try!

[@boy-lb9he]

Jeez your quick on the responses, mad respect for that.@@HoboZone

[@MiguelRamirez-jv5mq]

Fantastic build as always! Looking forward to your final Halloween build.

[@andersfrieden567]

I have a Barbarian Monk thematic build in mind, that relies on using bloodied condition on your enemies, an then punching them to death and maiming them in the process, using Wolverine aspect of the Wild Heart Barbarian. This build screams to me as a hardcore ECW, CZW wrestler, who is good at both - brawling and maiming your opponent.

[@jasongaylard2547]

I would go Monk 7/Cleric 5 for Evasion and Slippery Mind.

[@Frinntintin]

Thanks for this build. I am looking at making a Goku build for my next play-through and this has some great elements!

[@rman4539]

I'd play this as a dragonborn, red or gold, so you have another AOE fire spell, or a tieflin for fire resistance and fire/radiant smites

[@Justin-ct2il]

I have a fun idea what if in the video you show us a custom bar for the character you are presenting that only includes the abilities that pertain to that build for role play purposes.

[@oneupkev]

Looks like a fun build! i'll give it a try as i've been wanting to do something with a cleric and i love the flavour

[@blairbrook1336]

hey can you make a build that uses finesse spear with great weapon mastery, savage strikes feats. the chest piece that doubles piercing damage and try to sneak attack for loads of damage?

[@HoboZone]

I could see this being an Assassin Rogue/Champion Fighter mix.

[@blairbrook1336]

@@HoboZone yeah I I’m not sure if it would work I just know some spears you can sneak attack with. Some spears you can use great weapon master on. And the chest piece doubles the damage.

[@DJMavis]

If I might suggest "what ho!" as an intro, in the most ridiculously posh, daddy owns half of Surrey and I am marrying my cousin sort of way? ref Jeeves and Wooster for inspiration

[@TheDeerInTheHeadligh]

ooh if you're calling for ff14 fans i can do that job pretty well. i've thought a lot about how to make my ff14 ocs in dnd already, so doing a more generic build in bg3 shouldn't be hard. as a start, since you said you're interested in dark knight first, i'd say the obvious choice is oathbreaker. one of the defining traits of dark knight is that their power comes from their inner darkness and not some other thing, so regular paladin is off the table, as are cleric and warlock dips (even though a fiendlock multiclass would be super powerful.) that said, one really flavorful spell one could get for this build would be death ward, which keeps you alive at 1hp when you would otherwise die, mimicking dark knight's infamous "living dead" ability. unfortunately, it's a cleric-restricted 4th level spell. the only other way to get it would be from bard with their 10th level magical secrets, and making your dark knight a bard just doesn't seem right. you might know if there's a piece of late game equipment with that spell or a similar effect but otherwise the next best option is to play as an orc (roegadyn) and get relentless endurance. that aside, you can either go full oathbreaker or take a dip into battle master for goading attack. between goading attack and compelled duel, you can keep one or two enemies locked down pretty well. grab sentinel to lock down anyone you can't taunt and you're good. and obviously you want to use the spikiest heavy armor and biggest fuck-off greatsword you can find.

[@nevyns9285]

Heat does 0 damage if you are resistant AND using an item that reduces the damage by 2 or more. so, there is a use case where it is all benefit.

[@marcelocasalini406]

i totally agree! lathander suits better for this build

[@MrZealot112]

Have you thought of maybe doing builds based on classes from like other games, I'm thinking of maybe elder scrolls online, and a Dragon Knight, like a frontline tank type, but that does fire spells AOE control of fire. I would maybe think of like a Dragonborn fire breath, then a fighter mix with wizard. Could be cool, great video though, your builds give me inspiration :)

[@Heartless-Sage]

Cue lots of people telling you to play more FFXIV as you stopped just before it gets good XD All of this comes from XIV hmm the XIV Bard could be a fun one for you to try, Bard onbviously as a base and combine it with a ranger possibly as the XIV Bards start as Archers and become Bards, their whole style is Archers who started singing in battle to support their allies and eventually they became magically infused songs. White and Black mages seems like they would just be a Life Domain Cleric and a wizard but you could do something a bit different with XIV White Mages as they start as conjurers who draw their power from nature, so a druid and life domain cleric combo is a possibility there. Circle of the Land Druid is what I'd suggest. Black Mages hrmm maybe a Wizard Sorcerer combo? They unleash devistating elemental destruction and while they don't have the nature theme of the white mages they do still draw power from the world around them. Dark Knight lines up with Oathbreaker in almost every way, an Oathbreaker or Vengeance paladin very well. Their whole vibe is mercilesly cutting down evil doers, it doesn't matter who they are or the price to the dark knights reputation, if they know someone is evil they take them out. You have a holy priest, beloved by the community, high ranking, wealthy and politically powerful. No one knows but they are using their position to abuse others for personal pleasure, there is no proof, no one who would ever try to arrest or convict them if there was, there is no hope of taking them down and no one would believe the person that does so. A Dark Knight will not hesitate in taking them down. So Vengeance Paladin ethos but Oathbreaker powers, the Dark Knight in XIV draws upon their own Darkness to empower themselves with merciless conviction,but it comes from a place of love, they love the world and its people and will do ANYTHING to protect them if not avenge them, no matter the cost to themselves. In many ways the Dark Knights are the true heroes, as no law, no oath, no misguided morals will stop them doing what is truly right. Machinist is harder, they use guns but also tools to get the job done, a summon to replicate their automoton would be a vibe and a crossbow, maybe Gortash's one as its a more tech based weapon. Gortash and his steel watch essentially are a machinist in some ways, the D&D Artificier has most in common with them, not sure how to replicate that in BG3. I could try to add more but this is getting very long as it is. XD

[@aaxxeell92]

You could do a infernal posesion barbarian,prty hallowenesque. wild magic barbarian with fiend warlock, armor of agathis and fireshield with rage are insane you can jump into the enemy and let them hit you

[@TheRedneckGamer1979]

Honestly instead of the cindermoth cloak I would have gone with the cloak of protection in act 1 and cloak of displacement in the later game. For unarmored builds like monks the cloak of displacement is REALLY good.

[@kingprimeKANG]

dude Selûne gave fire/the sun to the world

[@GrampsD63]

I gotta try this one out

[@covilderagnaros1028]

What do you think of an Oath of Ancients Paladin and Archfey Warlock? It sounds like a thematic combination

[@Ghost200x]

Its actually a common build

[@HoboZone]

I've considered it a few times. It's a build you see a lot, as already stated, so I would juts take my Ronin build and move stuff around.

[@hws_wolf6963]

Using this for karlach i never agreed with her being a Barbarian just didnt feel right this makes more since to me anyway

[@murderycatdoll1380]

Aaaaalright, that's great xD

[@alvinbgyt5143]

Lightning and Ice also please

[@johnbarry3869]

Sorry not a FF player or fan but would love to see what might be a very good 3 class build that may be more of a min-max style but would love a theme as well.

[@HoboZone]

It's a bit hard to do, as most classes get the good stuff at level 5, and as such trying to get a good mix of classes while not losing too much power is tricky. I have made builds with lots of multiclassing, such as my Luck Bender, but those were only 1 or 2 level dips. I think a build with three evenly split classes could be interesting, but getting it done right would be tricky (or just make a dual crossbow build with Fighter/Rogue/Bard)

[@johnbarry3869]

@@HoboZone I was thinking maybe a 5/4/3 split to get the power boost of 1 level 5 build, 1 dip at level 4 and 3 for 3 sub-classes. I was thinking maybe a Monk/Open Fist(5) Barbarian/Not sure here (4) Rogue/Thief (3) for a Dex/Con-based build to take advantage of extra attacks, extra bonus actions, and Rage. Just an idea.

[@tostupidforname]

Wait how is stunning strike no good? Its kinda the monk signature thing.

[@danogo3166]

0:14 Hellooo💅

[@marcrainbow1714]

Great video! I have been a big fan of your work. I do have a question, you mentioned that fangs of the fire snake prompt arcane synergy with the ring of arcane synergy. However, when I have attempted that combination, I have not gained arcane synergy. Might I inquire how you achieved it? Please continue with your entertaining and original content. Cheers

[@HoboZone]

That is very strange. It seemed to proc when I did it. Maybe it was the Diadem, which was activated because Fangs of the Fire Snake inflicts a condition on yourself?

[@marcrainbow1714]

@@HoboZone Thank you for the reply. Actually, the diadem procs when the wearer applies a condition and unarmed strike is a condition. I have been abusing this delightful interplay with my monk character,

[@Mike_W78]

Not exactly pertaining to this vide but how do you make videos at lvl 12 in the starting ship. So many people do this but not sure how. Sure it’s a mod but not sure which one.

[@HoboZone]

Check out my 1000 sub special where I go over how I do it and link all the mods.

[@arthaerielarthaeriel2784]

with the talent u can be immune as fireDMg i think

[@NaveSutlef]

Not complaining as I love the video, but didn't you say there would be a Halloween build on Monday and Tuesday? Or am I misremembering?

[@HoboZone]

No, just Tuesday.

[@NaveSutlef]

@@HoboZone Oh, okay. Either way, looking forward to it! And all future builds I'm sure haha.

[@MoonsongReverb]

Not sure if the game has Kossuth. But it also would work. Otherwise Lathander is great I still wonder where my build request is ;)

[@HoboZone]

Remind me which one was yours?

[@MoonsongReverb]

@@HoboZone It's been a while. It was a child of the Starry Quill cincept idea, with deiry Mystra. Like someone who is a good gatherer of informations and allround supporter. Roughly i suggested something like Bard/Cleric/Sorcerer. Does that ring a bell?

[@HoboZone]

Yep working on it.

[@MoonsongReverb]

Thank you :)

[@gr3ndl3r]

I tried this build and I don't know if it's the build or my bad luck, but I couldn't hit a flipping thing.

[@HoboZone]

With 18 DEX and 18 WIS, there's no reason you wouldn't hit most of the time. Must just be bad luck.

[@gr3ndl3r]

Yeah, those dice are going to dice jail@@HoboZone

[@The5armdamput33]

Too bad Sacred Flame isn't on this build... it's very on-theme...

[@HoboZone]

You could still grab it.

[@miguelfernandez4120]

Can you do a summoner build please?

[@HoboZone]

I've done a few. Check my Meilikki guardians and Evil Dead videos

[@lightmagericky]

15:35 this didn’t age well

[@HoboZone]

It sucks so much