Baldur's Gate 3: Best Tavern Brawler Build

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Baldur's Gate 3 has so many character creator options that no two characters are the same. However, some choices are generating more buzz than others. Tavern Brawler, one such point of interest for players, provides a crazy amount of value for the low cost of your level four feat.

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In addition to being powerful, it's just good fun - who doesn't want to beat Priestess Gut over the head with their shoes? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about building a Tavern Brawler and start your crate-throwing, salami-wielding quest through Faerûn today.

Updated by Abigail Angell on October 14th, 2023: An explanation of why gnomes and halflings are undesirable for this build, while dwarves are viable has been added.

Best Class For Tavern Brawler

monk and barbarian with unarmored defense

The best class for a Tavern Brawler build is one that synergizes with the Tavern Brawler's need for strength. Additionally, features that do not specify a weapon are a must. With these things, as well as the flavor of the Tavern Brawler, in mind, either Monk or Barbarian are the clear winners.

Building a Barbarian Tavern Brawler

This build is one of the best for Barbarian because it makes excellent use of the Barbarian's Rage. Rage causes your character to deal extra damage when using melee weapons, improvised weapons, or when throwing objects. You'll want to choose the Berserker subclass at level three due to its multiple attacks and increased damage with thrown objects.

Building a Monk Tavern Brawler

Monk Tavern Brawlers are for players who want to gain Crowd Control capability and Mobility. While there are several good Monk builds, this is one of the few Strength-based ones. This is due to the ability of Dexturous Attacks (which allows them to swap strength for Dex with weapon attacks). However, in the Tavern Brawler Build, you will still want to use Strength as your main Ability since the weight you can throw scales off of it. At level three, choose The Way of The Open Hand so that you can Push, Stagger, and Topple your foes with a myriad of random household objects.

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Best Race For Tavern Brawler

Baldur's gate 3 Fighter Build Githyanki companion

The Tavern Brawler focuses on Strength above all else to boost their maximum throw weight and damage. This means that their defensive stats can suffer - especially if you take the Monk Route. As such, Githyanki is an excellent choice for Monk Tavern Brawlers due to their additional mobility spells and proficiency with Medium Armor. Barbarian Tavern Brawlers already get Medium Armor proficiency, so they might play Half-Orc to get extra damage from Savage Attacks.

Especially if you choose Barbarian, most races work for the Tavern Brawler build. The one thing to remember is that you want to avoid being Small (a Gnome or Halfling) because this affects how much you can carry and throw. However, if you do want to be a short King or Queen, Dwarves are viable in this build. This is because, while they have a lower movement speed like other shorter races, they do not receive a carrying capacity penalty.

Best Ability Score Distribution For Tavern Brawler

an ingame screenshot of the barbarian tavern brawler's ability score distribution

As a Tavern Brawler, your goal will be to get your Strength as high as possible. This means you should select Strength for your +2. Additionally, you're likely to spend a lot of time in melee, so put your other racial bonus into Constitution for extra Hit Points.

When allocating points, keep in mind that you'll wear Medium Armor, so you should have a +2 modifier to Dexterity. The ideal stat distribution will have a 14 Dex, 17 Strength, and a Con between 12 and 16. The rest of the points are yours to allocate as you please.

Ability scores in Baldur's Gate 3 only benefit your character on even numbers; for this reason, try to limit the number of odd numbers in your array. In this build, we have an odd number in Strength with the intention of bringing it to 18 at level 4.

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Best Skills & Background For Tavern Brawler

a screenshot of the soldier's background description in baldur's gate 3

While most backgrounds can work for the Tavern brawler, the best ones are those that will give you proficiency in Athletics. This allows you to choose your class proficiencies with greater flexibility and give your character some real personality. As such, the best backgrounds are Outlander and Soldier. Soldier provides your character with Proficiency in Athletics, Intimidation, and Inspiration for showing martial prowess. Outlander, on the other hand, gives Athletics and Survival, as well as Inspiration for showing dominion over the natural world and its beasts.

The Best Multiclass Build For The Tavern Brawler

Baldur's gate 3 Fighter Build Shield Dwarf

If you're keen on Multiclassing, however, there is another build path entirely for a powerful Tavern Brawler. Known as the fighter dip, this build focuses on being a lean, mean, brawling machine. As with most Multiclasses, it takes some additional time to come online - which is the only major drawback.

Class Progression

For this multiclass, you'll start as a Fighter. Most people only do a one-level dip to get the weapon and armor proficiencies, then level as the main class (Monk Way of The Open Hand) for the next five levels. This delays your second attack at level five as little as possible, as well as getting you a feat only one level late.

After you have five levels in Monk, your options are a bit more flexible. It is advised to do at least one more level in Fighter at this point to gain Second Wind and Action Surge. The level is insane for attacks, allowing you to attack six times in a single turn when using Action Surge & Flurry of Blows. Far from being a rare gimmick, you can do this 3 times a day and can drive the number of attacks per turn even higher with the Haste spell.

Race

The best race for this build is a Dwarf since you will be fixing their only downside through the Monk's increased movement. Gold Dwarves gain extra HP, which can help you stay up when your armor fails you. Alternatively, going Druegar will get you access to the Enlarge Spell at level 3, which you can use to increase your damage and throw even heavier objects.

Ability Scores

Because you're starting Fighter, you'll get your armor proficiencies immediately. Heavy Armor has no Dexterity bonus, there is little reason to spec heavily into it. While high Wisdom is not necessary for this build, it will make your Stunning Strikes more likely to land. As a result, this array is best.

Strength	17
Dexterity	10
Constitution	16
Intelligence	8
Wisdom	14
Charisma	8

The rest of the build runs essentially the same as a straight Monk Tavern Brawler, so you can apply the advice in the more general sections for Feats, Skills, and Backgrounds.

Best Items For Tavern Brawlers

The Blast Pendant, The Sparky Points, and The Joltshooter from Baldur's Gate 3

When equipping your Tavern Brawler, you'll want to prioritize items that increase the damage done with thrown items, unarmed strikes, and/or the size of items you can throw.

Best Headgear

Hat of Uninhibited Kushigo	After dealing damage with an unarmed attack, the wearer gains +1 bonus to their Spell Save DC until the end of their turn.	Bought from Quartermaster Talli at Last Light's Inn
Scabby Pugilist's Circlet	Your weapon and unarmed strikes deal an additional 2 damage while surrounded by 2 or more foes.	Bought from Mattis in Rivington
Cap of Wrath	When an enemy damages the wearer, the wearer gains Wrath for 1 turn.	Looted from Thudd in Grymforge

Best Armor

Garb of the Land and Sky	While using Patient Defence, you also benefit from the effect of Blade Ward. While using Step of the Wind, your next Attack Roll has advantage and deals 1d8 additional Force Damage. +1 to Armor Class	Bought from Entharl Danthelon in Danthelon's Dancing Axe at Wyrm's Crossing.
Bloodguzzler Garb	During combat, when the wearer starts their turn with 50% Hits Points or less, they gain Wrath for 1 Turn.	Looted from the Bulette in the Underdark
Armor of Uninhibited Kushigo	While Patient Defence is active; the wearer can use their Reaction to make an unarmed strike against any attacker that misses.	An optional reward after giving Sergent Thrinn in Grymforge the Boots of Speed

Best Gloves

Gloves of Soul Catching	Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d10 Force damage. Once per turn, on an unarmed hit, you regain 10 Hit Points or gain Advantage on Attack Rolls and Saving Throws until the end of your next turn. +2 Constitution to a maximum of 20	A quest reward for the quest Saving Hope in the House of Hope.
Gauntlet of the Tyrant	Your unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 Force damage. You gain a +1 bonus to Spell Save DC. You gain the ability to cast Command	Looted from Enver Gortash in Wyrm's Crossing
Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo	The wearer deals an additional 1d4 damage with Throw Attacks and attacks made with Improvised Weapons.	Given to you by Derryth Bonecloak in the Myconid Colony for saving the Mushroom Picker
Dark Displacement Gloves	You gain a +1 bonus to Attack Rolls when throwing and may swap positions with the target if they fail a Dexterity Saving Throw. +1 to Sleight of Hand	Bought from Popper at the Circus of the Last Days

Best Boots

Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo	The wearer deals additional damage equal to their Wisdom Modifier with unarmed strikes	Lootable from Prelate Lir'i'c in the Astral Plane
Linebreaker Boots	When the wearer Dashes or takes a similar action during combat, they gain Wrath for 3 turns	Lootable from Beastmaster Zurk in the Shattered Sanctum

Rings

Shadow-Cloaked Ring	The wearer's weapon and unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d4 damage against Lightly or Heavily obscured creatures and creatures made of shadow	Lootable from the Shadow Mastiff Alpha in the Ruined Battlefield of the Shadowlands
Bracing Band	After shoving an enemy, the wearer gains a +1 to their Armor Class until their next turn	An optional reward after giving Sergent Thrinn in Grymforge the Boots of Speed
Ring of Flinging	Wearer deals an additional 1d4 throw damage.	Bought from Arron in the Emerald Grove

Next: Baldur's Gate 3: Best Fighter Build