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Discover everything you need to know about the Tavern Brawler in Baldur’s Gate 3 and how it works with best classes.
Tavern Brawler is one of the best feats in Baldur’s Gate 3 that can turn any Strength build into an absolute powerhouse. This unique feat provides you with incredible versatility if you’re punching enemies or throwing weapons in combat. Tavern Brawler makes unarmed attacks, improvised melee weapons, and throwing builds extremely powerful.
Improvised melee weapons are the objects your character can pick up to attack with, such as furniture, barrels, corpses, and even live creatures. The Tavern Brawler feat affects your unarmed strikes by multiplying your Strength modifier to both attack rolls and damage. In this guide, we’ll discuss how Tavern Brawler works in Baldur’s Gate 3 and the best tips and tricks to consider when choosing this feat.
How does Tavern Brawler Work in Baldur’s Gate 3?
You can either focus on a Monk, Barbarian, or Moon Druid build to play a Tavern Brawler in BG3. Take the Tavern Brawler feat at level 4 to enhance unarmed and improvised weapon attacks by adding your Strength modifier twice to both damage and attack rolls. Simply put, at level 4 you will get a massive power spike by unlocking your first feat, Tavern Brawler. This adds your Strength modifier twice to your damage and attack rolls when you make an unarmed attack using an improvised weapon or by throwing a weapon.
At this point, unequip any weapon you are using and use unarmed attacks. Make sure to always have an Elixir of Hill Giant Strength on at all times because we want a high Strength modifier. Since we dumped all our Strength, the Elixir is mandatory. You can find ample supply from Auntie Ethel in the Emerald Grove in Act One. Any time you level up a character or Long Rest, her supply will refresh. Be sure to put the ability points you get from Tavern Brawler into Constitution to increase it to 16.
Best Classes for Tavern Brawler
The best classes and subclasses for the Tavern Brawler feat in BG3 are:
- Monk: Way of the Open Hand
- Barbarian: Path of Giants
- Druid: Circle of Moon
Tavern Brawler works perfectly with the classes that excel at Strength-based attacks. Monks can take advantage of the Tavern Brawler to deal heavy damage with their unarmed attacks. Barbarians can use Tavern Brawler to boost their melee capabilities and also to throw enemies or any object. Moon Druids, on the other hand, use Tavern Brawler to enhance their Wild Shape attacks. This makes them even more powerful, allowing them to dominate enemies with unarmed attacks.
Feats in Baldur’s Gate 3 are the special talents that grant unique capabilities to the players. You get an opportunity to select between an Ability Score Improvement Feature or a Feat at specific levels. Keep in mind that Tavern Brawler applies to any improvised weapon, not just thrown weapons. Equipping gear like Mighty Cloth, Gloves of Dexterity, and Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo can boost your Strength.
Effects of Tavern Brawler
Tavern Brawler can add +10 to your damage rolls when using unarmed attacks, improvised weapons, or throwing objects if you have a +5 Strength modifier. This feat also allows you to make a bonus action grapple attempt when you hit an enemy with an unarmed strike or an improvised weapon. Unarmed attacks are not considered weapons for weapon-based Fighting Styles. The weapons with the thrown tags or those that return on their own like Returning Spike and Bloodthirst work with this feat. Normal damage from these weapons is also applied in addition to damage provided by this feat.
If you use unarmed strikes, it can trigger effects from other items like Flawed Helldusk Gloves and The Sparkle Hands. If you have a weapon without the Thrown tag, then they can work as improvised melee weapons in the game. Thrown is basically a weapon property that allows a weapon to be used as a projectile with the Throw or Enraged Throw action. Improvised melee weapons can deal damage depending on the Strength modifier and the weight of an item.
Tavern Brawler also works well with the Devilfoil Masks as they increase the Strength. The extra damage this feat provides is added to the damage roll from a thrown weapon. However, the Tavern Brawler does not work with the Duelling fighting style in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Tavern Brawler for the Monk
By the time you get to Act 3 as a Monk with Tavern Brawler in BG3, the amount of damage you can do is absolutely outrageous. Not only are you taking down enemies in a single blow in some cases, you are also disrupting them by knocking them down to the ground, and giving your allies an advantage on each of their attacks. With the addition of Tavern Brawler, the Monk build gets an extra +4 damage when your Strength is 18 (+4) and your attack roll gets +4. This makes it a total of +8 bonus to damage. This is the best feast to choose for the players who depend on unarmed attacks or improvised weapons.
Tavern Brawler Tips and Tricks in BG3
Here are the best tips and tricks for the Tavern Brawler feat in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Crusher’s Ring, Titanstring Bow, Gloves of Dexterity, and Frost Giant Strength Potion are the best items and gear for Tavern Brawler in BG3. Crusher’s Ring provides +1 Strength, Titanstring Bow increases strength-based attacks, and Gloves of Dexterity sets Dexterity to 18.
- Tavern Brawler boosts your Strength modifier twice for attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes and improvised weapons. So, it’s best to abuse the Strength modifier for massive damage.
- Tavern Brawler works while in Wild Shape or Slayer Form, adding bonus damage to all unarmed attacks for both attack rolls and damage. Weapon using Wild Shapes such as Myrmidons do not benefit from Tavern Brawler.
- Consider getting a Berserker Barbarian with Tavern Brawler to obtain the strongest and most accessible combat class at Level 4. You need to add Throw Weapons to allow 18 Strength high hit rates and high damage.
- Tavern Brawler is a must-have for the Giant Barbarian build, which relies heavily on thrown weapons and kicks.
- Experiment with a Barbarian Sniper with Throw Weapons and Eagle Heart.
- Make sure you have enough supply of Elixir of Hill Giant Strength to maximize damage from the feat.
- Your bonuses will be STR + STR when your STR is higher than your DEX. However, the bonuses will be STR + DEX when your DEX is higher.
- Throw dead bodies at enemies to deal massive damage as the damage dealt is based on the weight of an item.
- You can stack Rage, Enlarge, and Hill Giant Strength for heavy melee attacks.
- You can also mix Monk’s Extra Attacks & Flurry of Blows for up to 7 attacks per turn.
FAQs about Tavern Brawler in Baldur’s Gate 3
What counts as an Improvised Weapon?
Improvised Weapons are any objects and creatures that you can pick up to attack or throw, such as furniture, barrels, corpses, mugs, and shields.
Does Tavern Brawler feat make Unarmed Strikes stronger?
Yes, the Tavern Brawler feat makes unarmed strikes stronger. This allows you to deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 plus your Strength modifier multiplied by two. It also provides benefits like increased damage with improvised weapons.
Does Tavern Brawler feat work with thrown weapons?
Yes, the Tavern Brawler feat in Baldur’s Gate 3 works with thrown weapons. It adds your Strength modifier twice to both attack and damage rolls when you throw an object.
Does this work with Wild Shape (Druid)?
Yes, the Tavern Brawler feat does work with Druid’s Wild Shape. It provides a bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls while attacking with unarmed strikes in animal forms. However, weapon-using Wild Shapes like Myrmidons do not get the Tavern Brawler bonus.
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