Best Pillars of Eternity 2 Monk Subclass & Multiclass
If you’re playing Pillars of Eternity 2 (POE2) as a Monk, you’ll want to know what the best subclass and multiclass options are, or else you’ll be stuck on the character select screen for hours. This guide has you covered by letting you know which Pillars of Eternity 2 Monk subclasses and multiclass combinations are generally considered the best.
Pillars of Eternity 2 Subclass & Multiclass Guides:
Monk – Fighter – Rogue – Ranger – Barbarian – Chanter – Cipher – Druid – Paladin – Priest – Wizard
- Related Content:
Pillars of Eternity 2: Best Classes Tier List in PoE2
Pillars of Eternity 2: Definitive Companions Tier List
Pillars of Eternity 2: Best Berath’s Blessings
Table of Contents
Pillars of Eternity 2 Monk Subclasses
Pure Monk
Pure monk is honestly typically considered to be the best option when it comes to Pillars of Eternity 2 monk subclasses, because monk is an extraordinarily effective class on its own (verging on broken), but the subclasses generally each come with a penalty that outweighs their advantages.
Helwalker
Among Pillars of Eternity 2 Monk subclasses, Helwalker gives you an additional point of might with each wound you generate at the expense of 5% additional damage taken.
This means at full wounds, you have +10 might and +50% damage taken. The benefit is significant, but the drawback is unacceptably extreme.
If you’re going to pick Helwalker, the general consensus is that you pick it as the secondary multiclass for a ranged damage dealer, typically one that uses the scepter passive (which causes self-damage to generate wounds).
If you pick this for a melee monk you will die. A lot. Not recommended.
Nalpazca
Nalpazca monks generate 1 wound every 6 seconds as long as they’re under the effects of a drug, and they lose 1 wound every 3 seconds as long as they’re sober. Drugs also last longer, and the crash penalty includes inability to receive healing.
Nalpazca is, all things considered, the best Pillars of Eternity 2 monk subclass taken as a whole. Not only because of the passive wound generation, but also because drugs themselves give significant stat bonuses.
The problem is you have to be constantly using consumables, which is super annoying. It’s up to you whether you’re willing to put up with constantly having to stock and use drugs.
Shattered Pillar
Shattered Pillar monks gain wounds from auto-attacking, but they lose the ability to gain wounds from receiving damage, and they can only stack wounds up to 5 instead of the normal 10.
This is a horrible drawback, since several of the Monk’s abilities give you passive bonuses with wound stacks.
Particularly Turning Wheel, which gives +1 Int for every wound, and The Razor’s Edge, which grants accuracy with each wound.
Shattered Pillar is able to abuse Whispers of the Wind in the endgame, which is pretty powerful, but it doesn’t make up for being unnecessarily stunted the rest of the game.
Forbidden Fist
Forbidden Fist gets a Forbidden Fist ability, which gives the monk a debuff, and it loses the ability to generate wounds from taking damage. Instead, Forbidden Fist generates wounds when debuffs expire.
This is a terrible subclass. You should not pick this one. Receiving debuffs is a fairly rare occurrence and they tend to take a long time to expire.
If you pick this subclass you’ll basically be playing as a monk that has no abilities, since you’ll almost never be generating any wounds. Definitely not the best monk subclass in Pillars of Eternity 2.
Best Pillars of Eternity 2 Monk Multiclass Options
None
In general, it’s better to go with a pure monk class unless you’re using monk to augment another class as a secondary class.
The reason for this is because a monk’s weapon of choice, fists, improves dramatically with Power Level, and multiclass characters only reach level 7 power level by level 20 where single class monks reach level 9 and access to Prestige, which bumps it up to 10.
Not only that, the monk’s high end skills (both passive and active) are particularly powerful.
Devoted
Because Monks automatically gain proficiency with fists, no matter what proficiency you pick for your Devoted weapon, the Devoted bonus will also be applied to fists.
Additionally, monk gets a lot of utility out of the Fighter’s skill tree, especially in terms of passives and defensive skills.
Bleak Walker
Bleak Walker gains Flames of Devotion (+12% corrode damage) which is a significant bonus when applied to fist attacks.
Additionally, the Paladin skill tree provides a lot of passive benefits that are great for any Monk.
Ghost Heart
If you want to get the most out of the Helwalker subclass, you might think about multiclassing with a Ghost Heart Ranger and just not using fists at all, opting for bows instead.
This is not necessarily the best Monk build, but it’s most likely one of the better Ranger builds.
That about covers it when it comes to the best Pillars of Eternity 2 Monk subclass and multiclass options. Check out the games section for more game guides and other game-related content, and click here for more articles related to Pillars of Eternity 2.
