Monks train in the way of martial arts and can learn different skills that suit their requirements. You can specialize your build by picking the Way of Shadow Monk subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3. Monks who follow the Way of Shadow are stealthy and gain Obscurity bonuses while serving as true assassins and spies.
All monk builds can differ from each other and offer many variations, but we will look at the best build setup for the Way of Shadow subclass build for Monks.
Starting Abilities and Skills for Way of Shadow Monk in Baldur’s Gate 3
All builds are supposed to be tailored to every player’s individual needs, and the build we recommend here is the best option players can opt for during character creation for an ideal result with their Way of Shadow Monk in BG3.
| Class | Monk | – |
| Sub-Class | Way of Shadow | – |
| Race | Wood Elf | The Wood Elf race has the highest mobility of all races and benefits Monks perfectly. You get 1.5m extra movement speed, allowing players to move around the battlefield faster and reposition themselves better. |
| Ability Points Distribution | STR 10, DEX 17, CON 14, INT 8, WIS 16, CHA 8 | Dexterity is the main ability modifier for the Monk class. |
| Skills | Athletics, Acrobatics, Stealth, Religion, Insight, Perception | – |
Best Background
Unlike the rest of the monk builds, the best possible background for Monk Way of Shadow is Urchin. Urchin’s background allows players to invest in Sleight of Hands and Stealth, the mainstay of the Way of Shadow build. However, if that is not what you desire, you can also pick Outlander.
The Outlander background offers much-needed survivability to your character, who depends on low-weight armor and athletics, allowing players to move through the fight more easily and take punishment openly.
Best Feats for Way of Shadow Monk build
Since you can choose a feat for your character even 4 levels, players need to carefully choose their feats. You can pick only 3 feats for yourselves; here are the best-recommended feats for Monk Way of Shadow build in BG3.
| Level | Feat | Description |
| 4 | Athlete | Athlete allows players to use less movement when changing their pose and increase strength or dexterity by 1. |
| 8 | Mobile | Mobile increases player’s movement speed and allows players to move through any difficult terrain without suffering from debuffs. |
| 12 | Tavern Brawler | This feat allows players their strength modifier to be added twice whenever using unarmed attacks or with an improvised weapon. |
Best Shadow Arts for Way of Shadow Monk
Way of Shadow sub-class offers different Shadow Arts that players can choose to further strengthen their build. These are unlocked every few levels instead of every level, like Ki Points. Let us look at the best Shadow Arts you can pick for Way of Shadow build in BG3.
| Level | Shadow Arts | Description |
| 3 | Hide. Pass Without Trace. Silence. | All these arts allow players to cover their presence from their enemies. You can use Hide as a bonus action rather than a complete action and gain a +10 bonus to Stealth. These will allow your character to go around the enemies without fearing detection. |
| 5 | Cloak of Shadows | You remain invisible for the next 10 minutes. |
| 6 | Shadow Step | Teleport from one shadow to another shadow. These shadows need to be 18m from each other max, and this is a bonus action. |
| 11 | Shadow Strike | From a hidden position, teleport to any enemy and deal 3d8 additional Psychic damage. |
Best Armor and Weapons
Helm: Haste Helm – Gain a +3 momentum bonus at the start of the turn.
Back: Cloak of Protection – +1 to class armor and saving throws
Armor: Vest of Soul Rejuvenation – regen 1-4 HP when you succeed in a saving throw against any spell attack.
Hands: Brace of Defense – Gain +2 Bonus to your armor class if you are neither wearing armor nor using a shield.
Amulet: Amulet of Misty Step – Ability to use Misty Step spell to teleport from one point to another within the 18m range.
Weapon: Shortbow – Pierce and Radiant damage along with resistance to Fire and Cold damage.
Rings: Ring of Protection – +1 to armor class and Saving Throw.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Way of Shadow Monk Build level progression
As you level up your Way of Shadow Monk in BG3, you will automatically unlock new features and actions for your main Monk class as well as those exclusive to the Way of Shadow subclass. The Monk class level progression remains the same regardless of your subclass choice.
That is why, below we will be focusing on all the features and class actions that are unlocked and useful for Way of Shadow Monk builds in Baldur’s Gate 3.
| Level | Unlocks | Description |
| 1 | Race, Background, and Ability Points Distribution. | Choose from the recommendations above. |
| 3 | Sub-class selection. Shadow Arts unlock. Minor Illusion cantrip. | Minor Illusion allows you to distract nearby enemies. While Shadow Arts like Darkness allows you to create darkness, partially blinding the enemies. Darkvision allows you to see the enemies in the dark. |
| 4 | The first Feat unlocks. | Athlete to increase your strength or dexterity ability by 1 while reducing your movement. |
| 5 | Shadow Art: Cloak of Invisibility. | Cast invisibility on the user and let them become invisible for the next 10 minutes. |
| 6 | Shadow Art: Shadow Step. | Teleport from one shadow to another shadow. These shadows need to be 18m from each other, and this is a bonus action. |
| 8 | The second Feat unlocks. | Mobile to increase your movement speed and pass difficult terrains with ease. |
| 11 | Shadow Art: Shadow Strike. | From a hidden position, teleport to any enemy and deal 3d8 additional Psychic damage along with your attacks. |
| 12 | The final Feat unlocks. | Tavern Brawler, which adds your strength modifier twice to your unarmed strikes. |
Is Way of Shadow Monk any good in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Way of Shadow Monks are masters at using shadows to hide themselves. They can create darkness to turn their enemies blind while striking from the shadows. Monks can move swiftly through various terrains and attack enemies when they least suspect it. They can also use a few weapons with their fists and can learn a few spells, too.
However, they lack armor proficiency and have low health. You will need a support healer in your party to utilize this build effectively. They lack AoE attacks, making it difficult to control the crowd.
We recommend that you multiclass Way of Shadow Monk with Ranger class (9/3) in Bladur’s Gate 3. You won’t be losing anything useful while you gain the Sneak Attack class feature from Rogue.
