Way of the Four Elements | Baldurs Gate 3 Wiki

Maybe this works with wildshape

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The spells of the Monk of the Four Elements are not actually spells, but class actions. So while they don't have standard spell scaling, they do have a high starting DMG and can't be canceled by a counterspell (because they're not spells). In general, this subclass is a non-magical warlock.

List of spell uses:
Never take: Blade of Rime, Chill of the Mountain, Gong of the Submit, Touch of the Storm, Sweeping Cinder Strike
Unprofitable: Embrace Inferno
Situational: Sphere of Elemental Balance, Mist Stance
Area Control: Fist of Four Thunders/Rush of the Gale Spirits, Shaping of the Ice
OP/DMG: Clench of the North Wind (bugged), Fangs of the Fire Snake (low ki use), Fist of the Unbroken Air, Ride the Wind, Water Whip (bugged sawing trows)
And area damage: Flames of the Phoenix

If someone wants to play him, set his stats 16 DEX, 17 WIS and at the fourth level take feat Resilient: Wisdom for free +2/3/4 to difficulty for saving throws

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This seems like it'd be an ok combo with Tempest Cleric for a thunder build until you realize the chromatic orb equivalent (sphere of elemental balance) is the only spell in the list that interacts correctly with the channel divinity. The other 3 spells just waste the charge without maximizing the damage, leaving you wondering why you didn't just go sorc instead.

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No idea if that would be too strong or not, but i really wish the monk-spells that do damage were all considered attacks instead, so that they all proc extra attack as well. That way you could do all manner of crazy combinations like shoving someone back into a crowd with fist of unbroken air and then sending a fireball right after them.

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So, I’ve heard that you can cast monk spells while raging, but does anyone else realize that monk is the only class that can consistently cast spells while silenced? It feels like monk magic just has completely different rules, and I’m all for it

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I don't get why this subclass is called weak. I'm playing with Lae'zel using it and she's cleaning house and is my primary damage dealer (Not by design, she just happens to outdamage everyone else)

Playing with Dex + Wis
Knife of the Undermountain King + Sword of Lifestealing (Will swap for Crimson Mischief in Act 3)
Gloves of the Balanced Hands
Circlet of Arcane Synergy
Graceful Cloth
Caustic Band
Callous Glow Ring

Fangs of the Fire Snake is the bread and butter of the build. Use it to get the buffs (The 1d4 fire damage on attacks and Arcane Synergy) and attack with weapons for Dex + Wis mod damage (Plus 1d4-1d10 toxin damage from dipped weapons). This gets even stronger if you're able to get AoO (Since the fire buff lasts until your next turn thus your AoO will be dual wield attacks with the bonus fire damage)

With optional utility from other spells. Fist of the Four Thunders for pushing enemies into chasms. Clench of the North Wind to murderize someone. Water Whip to pull a ranged enemy closer. Flames of the Phoenix because Fireball is a decent spell.

This isn't even a particularly optimized build. It could be better with 1 Fighter dip for Two-Weapon Fighting to open up gloves slot for Gloves of Crushing (For the +1 attack on Fangs) or Helldusk Gloves (For the 1d6 on all attacks and +1 spell save DC)

Or even go Str + Wis Tavern Brawler for more accurate Fangs.

So yeah, is it as strong as Tavern Brawler Open Hand/Thief Flurry spam? No. But it doesn't mean it's weak.

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I honestly feel like this class is the worst subclass in the game, even classes that have strange leveling progression (like war domain cleric that doesn't get double hit or fey warlock that doesn't get enough control spells, or brave bard which gets a terrible BI usage) have better leveling progression because they are able to at least make a case for themselves by getting what their base class provide, but this class just seems horrible no matter what you do with it, if you go for low level you don't get enough ki points to spend with your spells, if you go mid level your spells don't do enough damage to compensate spending ki points in it instead of going for flurry of blows, and if you go high you get a spells that other spellcaster got at mid level and still don't get enought Ki to use it a lot of times in the same battle.
I feel like the best way to play this is to follow the way of the open hand "tavern brawler", do less damage and, from time to time, have a situational better AOE (assuming you will still spend your ki points in the flurry and, sometimes, won't have ki enough for fireball)

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still majorly bugged after patch 4, improved elemental casting does not work

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level up screen says the spellcasting stat is wisdom but shows the modifier from dexterity, even though my strength is higher. (18str 16dex, 8 wis)

also would have been really nice to know that this subclass even has a spellcasting stat, it doesn't say that anywhere on this page.

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What subclass is worse then this?

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class for enemy. not hero.

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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.

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Any fix for 4e monk after patch 3 ?

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No EARTH spells??? Its one of the 4

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I AM THIS CLOSE FROM MAKING THE AVATAR GIVE ME EARTH ELEMENT

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

This is literally a superman build

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

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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).

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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.

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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.

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At what levels does 4E get more spells after level 3?

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.... there's only 3 elements
They're missing acid again
Larian really has it out for us copper dragons :(

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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.

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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

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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.

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You can use monk spells whilst raging it turns out

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Elemental Adept works wit the Diciplines?

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So what spell are unique to the 4E monk ?

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Does the elemental fisting work with barbarian rage

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

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All these spells scale off of DEX?? Because I can't find anywhere if they scale with CHA, WIS or INT

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Rouge 4 thief / monk 8 way of four elements just destroys this game. try it.

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

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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.

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Soo where's the Earth abilities?

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Do these work while in Rage?

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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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This is crazy and nuts. Just like Avatar: The Last Airbender!

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Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived in peace...

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