Way of the Four Elements is a Subclass of Monk in Baldur's Gate 3. Monks primary ability is Dexterity & Wisdom, their saving throw proficiencies are Strength & Dexterity and they have a Hit Dice of 1d8 per monk level.  They have proficiency with Simple weaponsshortswords. 

In Baldur's Gate 3Monks employ a unique gameplay Actions mechanic. These Actions mimic spell effects, but their distinctive feature lies in their consumption of Ki Points. 

 

You focus your ki to bend the elements to your will, using them as an extension of your own body.

 

 
 

 

BG3 Monk Class Progression

 

BG3 Way of the Four Elements Progression

By selecting the Way of the Four Elements Monk subclass, you'll also gain access to:

 

BG3 Way of the Four Elements Tips & Builds

  • Monks gain 1 additional Ki Point at each level after the 1st.
  • Notes, Tips, and other Trivia for the Way of the Four Elements subclass go here.

 

Way of The Four Elements, Disciple of the Elements Spells

 

 

 

 

Classes and Subclasses
Arcane Trickster  ♦  Archfey  ♦  Assassin  ♦  Barbarian  ♦  Bard  ♦  Battle Master  ♦  Beast Master  ♦  Berserker  ♦  Circle of Spores  ♦  Circle of the Land  ♦  Circle of the Moon  ♦  Circle of the Spores  ♦  Cleric  ♦  College of Lore  ♦  College of Swords  ♦  College of Valour  ♦  Conjuration School  ♦  Divination School  ♦  Draconic Bloodline  ♦  Druid  ♦  Eldritch Knight  ♦  Enchantment School  ♦  Fighter  ♦  Gloom Stalker  ♦  Hunter  ♦  Illusion School  ♦  Knowledge Domain  ♦  Life Domain  ♦  Light Domain  ♦  Monk  ♦  Nature Domain  ♦  Necromancy School  ♦  Oath of the Ancients  ♦  Oath of Vengeance  ♦  Oathbreaker  ♦  Paladin  ♦  Ranger  ♦  Rogue  ♦  Sorcerer  ♦  Storm Sorcery  ♦  Tempest Domain  ♦  The Fiend  ♦  The Great Old One  ♦  Thief  ♦  Transmutation School  ♦  Trickery Domain  ♦  War Domain  ♦  Warlock  ♦  Way of Shadow  ♦  Wild Magic  ♦  Wild Magic (Barbarian)  ♦  Wizard

 




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    • Anonymous

      The problem with this subclass is the wasteful use of KI points. You have to rest every two/three fights. Something is recovered but it is the problem of resource classes.
      I don't like them, just like I don't like the Monk Tavern Brawler.

      • Anonymous

        I kind of find it odd that low lvl damage spells gets outclassed by cantrips.

        I personal think that every spell caster focus class should have like at lvl 8 or 9.
        Using lvl 1,2,3. Spell slots are upcasted by one.


        Like what monk has, but monks can't upcast at all. Which should also be a monk feature. Like add 1 or 2 ki point to upcast.

        • Anonymous

          You can go for the meta open hand monk, but spell casting animation of monk using way of the four elements spells is just cool as f. Martial arts combined with fire, wind, water or ice makes u feel these spells hit really hard on the enemies. Clench of the north wind and flames of the phoneix are my favorite, they just feel different than hold person and fireball which basically do the same stuff.

          • Anonymous

            I'm having a blast as four elements monk. Fire snake, water whip and the ice cube as utility. At level five I can kill enemies in one turn.

            It strikes a good balance between physical and magic damage.

            • Anonymous

              > Powerful super human punching
              > Shooting Fire beams
              > Using ice powers
              > Ability to fly

              This is literally a superman build

              • Anonymous

                What increases the chance to hit enemies with these spells? Dex or Wisdom? Which ability should I be prioritizing?

                • Anonymous

                  The level 11 spell selection is missing here.

                  It includes some attacks, a Gaseous Form (until long rest or cancelled, I think), and a till rest "Flying" option, just like... perma-fly.

                  I don't have the know-how to grab the images from wherever they sit in the game files, but it feels noteworthy enough that the 11th level probably shouldn't be "???" here.

                  Or at least, the impression you'd get if you were multi-classing is that "Four Elements is done at 9, so spend your last 3 levels elsewhere unless you want Purity of Body"

                  I don't know if people would find the 11th level spell options "worth it", but there's some interesting ones at least.

                  It's also unclear (on Fextra, Reddit, etc.) how the Monk "spells" interact mechanically with some other features. Do feats like Elemental Adept, Spell Sniper, etc. impact monk spells? If they don't, do more physical-type feats and bonus apply to them? Are they considered "Spell damage" for the purpose of item passives? Weapon damage? Neither?

                  They get called "spells" in-game, but apparently aren't subject to restrictions present on spells in other circumstances (re: Barbarian Raging, Silence?) so, it'd be good to know (a lot of things are poorly documented in-game, such as the change in your "fist" damage as you level a monk (and no other class, iirc).

                  • Anonymous

                    Trying to put together a party that takes advantage of the wet condition. Was gonna run tempest cleric and a draconic lightning sorcerer.
                    Was unsure about the last two. Could take a wizard a druid or a way of the elements monk. Just not sure how well the monk could take advantage of the bonus cold and lightning damage if everything is going to be wet.

                    • Anonymous

                      A nice thing I missed about these spells is that they'll activate your martial arts bonus action secondary just like a weapon attack. So you could opt to follow them up with a flurry of blows if you wanted. This lends to the idea that they're not just spells, but martial arts moves.

                      • Anonymous

                        Comparing raw damage to open hand is missing the point.

                        Having access to a wide array of tools, such as forced movement, hold person and a range of elemental damage types makes you hyper versitile at the expense of raw damage.

                        It means you can use the environment to your advantage, exploit specific vulnerabilities and set up combos for your core Spellcasters.

                        • Anonymous

                          I'm currently trying to theorycraft a way of the four elements monk, and I'm intrigued about clench of the north wind.

                          Does it activate the bonus unarmed attack like most of the other spells do ? I thought about playing a half-orc and use it to force critical hits, but if the only follow up option on the first turn is flurry of blocs, it would probably not be worth it if you are the only one on melee with the target

                          • Anonymous

                            So you're telling me Way of the four elements allows you to gain a few meters of range at the cost of 2-3 Ki points while Way of the open hand gets a 1 point Flurry of blows that has crazy control potential AND extra magic damage on every hit? Gee, very nice balance; what a joke of a Subclass.

                            • Anonymous

                              Does the elemental fisting work with barbarian rage

                              I’m thinking wild mage barb /4 elements monk 6lvls each

                              • Anonymous

                                I made Karlach a Barbarian/Monk and gave her all of the fire abilities and elemental adept and she can almost solo the game.

                                • Anonymous

                                  Fangs Of The Fire Snake seem to be the only good spell since it is considered an Attack Roll and can take advantage of extra attack at lv 5, plus you get extra fire damage on attacks on that turn which applies to your bonus unarmed strikes despite the damage calculation not showing it (similar to STR monks with tavern brawler). Other spells like Blade Of Rime can't use the extra attack despite having the Attack Roll description when taken, but maybe I'm misunderstanding the Attack roll description. Overall cool subclass with sick animations.

                                  • Anonymous

                                    yeah bro that reminds me of my d&d game last week where me and my friends were playing a game of d&d and we were all playing the same character and we were all playing the same character and we were all playing the same character and we were all playing the same character

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