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With such a flexible and adaptable character building system, it’s plain to see that there are some potentially devastating multiclass combos to be found inBaldur’s Gate 3. Multiclassing allows characters to gain the features of more than one class at a time, and while this often stunts their growth in their base class, the resulting class synergies can be supremely powerful.
Things get tricky when it comes to the monk class. Monks rely on their ki pool to use their special abilities and they have powerful features hidden quite late in their progression. That said, it’s possible to make multiclassing work for them.
Updated July 09, 2025, by Sean Murray:The best monk multiclass options in BG3 are waiting for you in this guide. That’s why we refreshed this guide’s formatting, given it more breakout tips, and also added new links to other helpful Baldur’s Gate 3 topics.
What Makes A Good Multiclass For Monks?
Since thethree different monk subclassescater to entirely different playstyles, whether or not multiclassing is the right choice for you will depend on your choices.
The important thing is to consider your progression when thinking about multiclassing.Multiclassing too earlywill mean you’rewaiting longer to access certain monk featuresthat are important to these builds.
Definitelywait until at least Level 5 before multiclassing. This will get you access toExtra Attack, which vastly improves your damage-per-turn. Delaying it any longer than it needs to be will hamper your monk’s usefulness.
Other breakpoints to consider areLevel 7(Evasion is very useful) andLevel 9(Advanced Unarmored Movement grants a great deal of flexibility on the battlefield).
Whilebarbarianmay seem like a natural multiclass option for monks thanks to their shared interest in remaining unarmored, it’snot actually as synergistic a combo as it looks. The two sources of Unarmored Defence do not stack and the damage bonus granted while raging as a barbarian is not applied to unarmed attacks.
Similarly, whileclerics and druidsalso use the Wisdom stat, they aren’t very good at mixing with monks as they rely largely on beingfull casters. That said, asingle-level dip into a war domain clericwill provide some great utility and offence options.
Rogue Multiclass
This is perhaps the most popular multiclass option for monks and with very good reason. The rogue’sthief subclasscomes with anextra bonus action per turn, which the monk can use to tremendous effect thanks to the plethora of bonus actions available to them.
This can be seen to its fullest extent with ouropen hand monk build guide.
Three levels in rogue are all you need to unlock the second bonus actionand gain that wonderful boost to your action economy. This route is best takenafter Level 6, ensuring that your attacks are magical (the game has many creatures who will resist your attacks otherwise).
While this multiclass route shines most with theway of the open hand, the other monk subclasses can benefit greatly - after all,two Flurry of Blowsper turn is a wonderful skill to have in your back pocket.
This multiclass combo works best for maximum damage when used with aStrength-focused monk(as opposed to a Dexterity-focused monk) thanks to theTavern Brawlerfeat, which improves damage significantly and even comes with a +1 to Strength.
Ranger Multiclass
As with the rogue multiclass, theranger multiclassrelies on the abilities granted by a certain subclass to shine. Specifically, you’ll wantthree levels of ranger and access to the gloom stalker subclass. This will get youDread Ambusher, which improves your monk’s abilities on the first turn of combat.
The second levelof ranger is a littlebit of anempty level, considering the choices available here, but there’s a possibility that Unarmed will be added as a Fighting Style later in the game’s lifetime!
Ranger will also grant the monk ahandful of spells. Of these, the supportive spells are the best options, unless you’re a weapon-wielding monk, in which case,Hunter’s MarkandEnsnaring Strikebecome great pickups.
This route specifically meshes well with theway of shadow subclass, thanks to the stealth-focused abilities granted by it. Despite the somewhat limited ki pool, you’ll havelots of debilitating optionsandgreat burst potentialwhen you start new fights.
Consider combining athree-level dip into gloom stalkerwitha three-level dip into thiefafter getting your initial six monk levels. This will give you the best of both worlds, even if it does severely hamper your core monk progression.
