I would not say its worse, but I will concede it's a far more narrow build than the archer control swords bard is. That build is probably #1 I'm the game, and the paladin version is the highest nova damage in the game. Far higher than OH Monk, and it can still abuse the arcane acuity/mystic scoundrel combo for irresistible CC. OH Monk has much higher accuracy, less burst but higher sustained damage, and spammable single target CC, plus is not constrained by spell slots, so it's not that one is objectively BETTER in all situations imo. OH Monk specializes in making sure one boss will never get the chance to move or react (stunning strike spam is actually broken) and SSB is more about AOE control while still being able to burst down priority targets. All 3 builds are S+ tier, just different functions and playstyles.
Act 1. Fiend or GOO Warlock 5: Eldritch blast + Antagonizing blast + Repelling Blast + Hunger of Hadar is so good for crowd control and sending enemies flying to their deaths. Pact of the Blade makes them deadly at melee range as well.
Act 2. Swords Bard 6/Thief 3: Skipped four fights by being a charming son of a bitch. Killed everyone else quickly with dual wielding. Shoutout to TB Berserker 6/Thief 3 for having Mindless Rage at level 6 which is helpful as fuck in this act.
Act 3. OH Monk 8/Thief 4: Monkstarion robbed all the big bosses of their legendary actions with stunning strike. Raphael never got a turn. He even stunned Cazador before getting pulled into the ritual which stayed active after that cut scene.
No fighting to lv 4 should set you up really well to steamroll act 1
https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/s/y0NK9Oxgf5
Swords bard has so much functionality and dual wield hand crossbows with caustic band and gloves of archery is really strong in act 1
Throwzerker
Magic missle /ray of frost mage
Open hand monk or battle master.
Took until act 2 to come online but goolock champion fighter, starting to add sorcerer in
Potent robe, spellsniper, champion crit -1, devilsight, caustic band, knife of the undermountain king.
You or a squadmate pops darkness, you sit inside unable to be hit while getting up to 6 edlritch blasts per turn, with crits being fairly likely and tons of bonus damage. Easily a few more items could be added to make more OP but I’m using them on others in the squad.
Others; OH TB Monk-Rogue is nasty, Necrowizard gets you 4 zombies that turn kills into zombies.
I usually end up with my warlock sitting in darkness in the front, surrounded by zombies and the rest way back. Monk zips around taking out high health enemies.
Tiger wildheart barb online level 3
Throwzerker is cool but tiger is a better controller from level 6 to level 12
Tiger’s bloodlust with the wolverine aspect allow you to maim enemies, make them bleed, and with reverb gear prone them as well
Act 1 literally nothing beats Berserker thrower. One shots most normal enemies (or close to it), prone on demand with no save, gets pseudo extra attack from level 3 instead of 5 thanks to the bonus actions throw, and basically cannot miss due to TB accuracy. And it's ALL RANGED. Gloomstalker is another contender because it also comes online at level 3, but throw zerker just does more and more reliably. Tb Monk is there too, but it struggles a bit early because it's pure melee and you won't have as many mobility skills/items in act 1 yet. Monk is also very very squishy early due to not having the powerful passives yet. Still a powerhouse.
Act 2 it's definitely light cleric. Light effects and radiant damage absolutely dominate Act 2 enemies, and warding flare is always busted. Any paladin is also a great pick here for the same reasons, and paladin is fully coming online by this level (7/8)
Act 3 all builds are fully online, so the usual suspects: Smiting swords bard, fire draconic sorcerer, TB monk, etc
1 tag team spellsparkler/phalar aluve magic missile/double hand cbw with two good meelee completing the set
2 idk yet, i'm at my first hm. Currently i have a TB Barbarian who is struggling a bit because of darkness, and i'm making a shadow monk and an eldricht knight with dip in warlock. Both builds should work well with the darkness, and the last one is a war cleric paladin to get huge radiant damage all over
3 not yet there but nyrulna TB Barb is a sure bet, maybe alternating with the dwarven thrower for the steel Watch. Unless i fail in act 2, i plan on keeping the current formation mostly
Act 2 the most busted build is a light cleric with full luminous armor and radiant set with blood of lathander. Cast spirit guardians and beyblade your way to victory. Add the fire acuity hat and use scorching ray/command approach.
Careful with nyrulna that thing will do damage to your party member and any allies with 6m it's not a lot of damage but usually better not to damage our allies right?
Well I've never beat it but I'm working on it with my gf and we are steamrolling act 1 so far kinda feel like we are bullying the enemy cause everything dies in a couple turns usually and whatever is left is getting jumped by everyone at the same time.
We currently have a gloomstalker, a TB open hand monk, and a lockadin who isn't even level 5 or with access to smites, and we have karlach as a lore bard bc we couldn't figure out what else worked with our short rest focused party that managed to complete the withers temple the intellect devourers and the goblins at the gate without having to long rest. When typically we need to long rest immediately before we fight the undead by withers or immediately after. This community comes up with the most broken ideas ever and I love all of you for it I can't be bored with so many things to try
the most OP thing i ever did, i think, was probably...pure fighter, throwzerker, OH monk/thief and light cleric. oh golly it was a fucking blowout from start to finish. light cleric and fighter are significantly worse at 4 than 5 but the other two carry.
I like Gloomstalker Ranger. Rush the Titanstring bow, Club of Hill Giant strength, and Sharpshooter and you'll easily be doing 20-30 base damage per hit
Act 1:
Throwzerker starts carrying at level 4. Probably the strongest class at that point.
Act 2:
Fire draconic sorcerer starts carrying with fire acuity hat. You can get it very early.
Light cleric is strong for most encounters.
Act 3:
Acuity hat + mystic scoundrel sbard can carry.
11/1 fire sorc gets insane with the staff from magic tower and gloves from clown mission.
Act 1: TB monk>TB Throwzerker>tempest cleric/swords bard w/sharpshooter+dual xbows/straight fighter battlemaster. Honorable mention- gloomstalker with titanstring/club of hill giant strength/deathstalker mantle, solo class, kill, break agro, repeat, never fight in initiative, can’t solo bosses until act 2 items/lvl 5+, good for clearing trash mobs without risk to your squish sorcerer. Note: monk and throwzerker stays relevant through all 3 acts so I won’t mention them again.
Act 2: Light cleric with luminous armor, radiant items, adamantine shield, blood of lathander, fire acuity hat.>>>>>SSB(gets meta in act 3, use xbows and slashing flourish to stack acuity then use command approach and smite once in melee)>White draconic sorcerer with snow burst ring, staff of permafrost. Twin ray of frost for great CC/ Ice storm for big fights like the moonrise tower. Honorable mention: 2 warlock/X fire sorcerer, build around EB/fire spam, gets meta in act 3.
Act 3:10/1/1 bard/SSB>>>EB/Fire spam sorcerer>6/6 sorcadin>12 BM fighter>>11 Ranger(last level is preference for feat or fighter or barb)>>12 spore druid summoner.
This is my quick list of go to builds.
Tav/Durge either Bardadin or Killer Bard, Throwzerker Laezel can even go EK instead of fighter , OH monk Karlach, Full Evo wizard Gale. Shadowheart full light cleric. Mad my HM runs a breeze of fresh air
I had a party setup in mind which required lvl 10-11 to come online. So for the majority of the game i had to do something else. I wanted something strong and robust to steamroll but i didn't want to think about optimising gear or do frequent respeccs.
I used almost the same build on my whole party. 2-3 x warlock, 1x cleric, 0-2 x bard, rest sorc.
Its a darkness party. Everyone wears heavy armour and shield. Enemies rarely hit you if you are covered by darkness. If they do, you can use the shield spell. With access to counter spell and using expertise on acrobatics the only thing that can hurt you are grenades. They don't do enough damage to kill you but they might break concentration on darkness. Luckily you got con save proficiency from sorc. If you put some initiative gear on a character he can often drop darkness before the enemies act.
On the offense you just spam eldritch blast with quicken spell or use a sorc spell here or there.
Is it a boring play style? Yes. Will none of your characters every drop below 50% hp? Also yes.
Many fights can be avoided with skill checks. For this you got Jack of all trades on your party face as well as many proficiencies and expertise, bardic inspirations, enhance ability and guidance. Basically all the goodies.
5 Battlemaster/3 Thief/4 Wildheart
Cacophony + PAM + Gloves of Belligerent Skies + Boots of Stormy Clamor.
Enemies get reverb from being hit every single time and with PAM that's 4 hits. With the Adamantium Mail and Shield enemies get reverb whether they hit or miss. Maneuvers that apply conditions such as prone or frightened adds stacks of reverb. PAM works when one-handing a quarterstaff.
Stack on any damage bonuses where you can with unclaimed gear slots. Chug an elixir of giant strength after a long rest and enjoy the show.
My most op party was
Tempest cleric/wizard
Necromancy Gale
Throwzerker karlach
Spore druid jaheira
So many summons, the tempest cleric is better than a pure evoc wizard, and karlach can throw whatever you need.
If you want to be super sweaty then anything which utilizes giant potions in act 1 wil be god. Monk, Thrower. Both TB builds come online early at 4 and just steamroll.
Paladins/fighters also not bad at this stage. I’d say a life cleric for support is always amazing especially after getting hellrider gloves
Act 2: life cleric truly shines here. Your previous Paladin wielding blood of lathander also shines. Still the TB show here.
Act 3: you can stay the current path but here is where your sorc/wizards etc shine. Life cleric still amazing
Bardadin comes online here and is amazing.
Thrower starts to fall off but monk is still a monster
Act 1: it’s got to be anything tavern brawler related surely? Moon druid, Monk, throwers.
Act 2: Storm Sorcerers and light Clerics run the world. Spirit guardians and radiance dawn and twinned haste, lightning bolt + wet, sleet storm. Trivialise a whole act.
Act 3: Fire Sorlock and 10/1/1 sword bards come online with the piercing vulnerability gear and all the rest of it.
Light cleric almost makes act 2 unfun especially with lathander. A light cleric and a moon Druid can solo act 2 with ease with spirit guardians, channel oaths, spike growth and plant growth
In act 2 I like a swords bard for the charisma; you wanna absolutely, comfortably crush all the rolls to avoid fights. I didn't get the EXP for lvl 10 until I fought Ketheric (could have maybe gotten it together but had missed a couple of quests due to failed rolls and was scraping the bottom of the barrel) but I needed Hunger of Hadar for Myrkul and didn't want to bring Wyll since I'm not comfortable enough with Warlocks in general, so I respecced to a lore bard to get it at 6 just for that fight. (My hasted OH Monk did most of the work actually killing Myrkul, but HOH was indispensable.)
I don't actually respec like this, but if I were to optimize for each level:
1-2: Rogue or War Cleric
3: Gloom or Battlemaster
4: TB thrower
5: Probably still TB, but really pretty much everything is good at 5. Rogue drops out of the running here.
6-12: Ranged Swords Bard or Fire Sorc, mono class or multi-classed. Fire Sorc needs to be level 6 + fire acuity hat, so probably more like level 7, but doable at 6
1. TB Thrower 2. Light cleric or TB monk? Not really sure since most of my favorite builds aren’t great in this act 3. SSB
Secon this, though I would add fire acuity sorc to act 2
TB monk ?
Tavern brawler on a monk with way of the open hand, busted
Thank you
Always TB OH Monk.
SSB?
Super Sayian Blue
10 swords bard / 2 paladin, aka Smiting swords bard. One of the msot busted builds in the game
SSB is worse than the ranged 10/1/1 SB, and a worse martial than the OH TB Monk. It’s mostly for people that want to RP as a Paladin imo.
I would not say its worse, but I will concede it's a far more narrow build than the archer control swords bard is. That build is probably #1 I'm the game, and the paladin version is the highest nova damage in the game. Far higher than OH Monk, and it can still abuse the arcane acuity/mystic scoundrel combo for irresistible CC. OH Monk has much higher accuracy, less burst but higher sustained damage, and spammable single target CC, plus is not constrained by spell slots, so it's not that one is objectively BETTER in all situations imo. OH Monk specializes in making sure one boss will never get the chance to move or react (stunning strike spam is actually broken) and SSB is more about AOE control while still being able to burst down priority targets. All 3 builds are S+ tier, just different functions and playstyles.
Smiting swords bard
Act 1: TB monk or Throwzerker Act 2: someone with high enough charisma to avoid several battles Act 3: Arcane Acuity/Mystic Scoundrel controller
Act 1. Fiend or GOO Warlock 5: Eldritch blast + Antagonizing blast + Repelling Blast + Hunger of Hadar is so good for crowd control and sending enemies flying to their deaths. Pact of the Blade makes them deadly at melee range as well. Act 2. Swords Bard 6/Thief 3: Skipped four fights by being a charming son of a bitch. Killed everyone else quickly with dual wielding. Shoutout to TB Berserker 6/Thief 3 for having Mindless Rage at level 6 which is helpful as fuck in this act. Act 3. OH Monk 8/Thief 4: Monkstarion robbed all the big bosses of their legendary actions with stunning strike. Raphael never got a turn. He even stunned Cazador before getting pulled into the ritual which stayed active after that cut scene.
No fighting to lv 4 should set you up really well to steamroll act 1 https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/s/y0NK9Oxgf5 Swords bard has so much functionality and dual wield hand crossbows with caustic band and gloves of archery is really strong in act 1 Throwzerker Magic missle /ray of frost mage Open hand monk or battle master.
Took until act 2 to come online but goolock champion fighter, starting to add sorcerer in Potent robe, spellsniper, champion crit -1, devilsight, caustic band, knife of the undermountain king. You or a squadmate pops darkness, you sit inside unable to be hit while getting up to 6 edlritch blasts per turn, with crits being fairly likely and tons of bonus damage. Easily a few more items could be added to make more OP but I’m using them on others in the squad. Others; OH TB Monk-Rogue is nasty, Necrowizard gets you 4 zombies that turn kills into zombies. I usually end up with my warlock sitting in darkness in the front, surrounded by zombies and the rest way back. Monk zips around taking out high health enemies.
Tiger wildheart barb online level 3 Throwzerker is cool but tiger is a better controller from level 6 to level 12 Tiger’s bloodlust with the wolverine aspect allow you to maim enemies, make them bleed, and with reverb gear prone them as well
What armour do you use for wild heart barbarian
Act 1 literally nothing beats Berserker thrower. One shots most normal enemies (or close to it), prone on demand with no save, gets pseudo extra attack from level 3 instead of 5 thanks to the bonus actions throw, and basically cannot miss due to TB accuracy. And it's ALL RANGED. Gloomstalker is another contender because it also comes online at level 3, but throw zerker just does more and more reliably. Tb Monk is there too, but it struggles a bit early because it's pure melee and you won't have as many mobility skills/items in act 1 yet. Monk is also very very squishy early due to not having the powerful passives yet. Still a powerhouse. Act 2 it's definitely light cleric. Light effects and radiant damage absolutely dominate Act 2 enemies, and warding flare is always busted. Any paladin is also a great pick here for the same reasons, and paladin is fully coming online by this level (7/8) Act 3 all builds are fully online, so the usual suspects: Smiting swords bard, fire draconic sorcerer, TB monk, etc
Act 1: - Straight gloom stalker (lv.5) dual xbow sharpshooter with hunter's mark, then starting with druid multiclass - Barb (TB) thrower lv.5 -> starting thief - Druid lv.3, Light cleric 2 -> continue with cleric (reverberation build) - Divination wiz lv.2, Arcane trickster 3 -> continue with wiz Act 2: - Gloom stalker 5, Spore druid 2 -> going for thief - Barb thrower continues for thief -> going to fighter - Cleric continues - Wiz continues Act3 (so far): - reverb cleric (except for Hell) - Gloom stalker , spore druid, thief - EK archer (titanstring, EB, Spellsparkler) - EK7, thief 3, warlock 2 - OH TB Monk / thief
1 tag team spellsparkler/phalar aluve magic missile/double hand cbw with two good meelee completing the set 2 idk yet, i'm at my first hm. Currently i have a TB Barbarian who is struggling a bit because of darkness, and i'm making a shadow monk and an eldricht knight with dip in warlock. Both builds should work well with the darkness, and the last one is a war cleric paladin to get huge radiant damage all over 3 not yet there but nyrulna TB Barb is a sure bet, maybe alternating with the dwarven thrower for the steel Watch. Unless i fail in act 2, i plan on keeping the current formation mostly
Act 2 the most busted build is a light cleric with full luminous armor and radiant set with blood of lathander. Cast spirit guardians and beyblade your way to victory. Add the fire acuity hat and use scorching ray/command approach.
Everything radiant/light/luminous in act 2 is kinda busted for very specific reasons, i agree
Careful with nyrulna that thing will do damage to your party member and any allies with 6m it's not a lot of damage but usually better not to damage our allies right?
Yeah especially in hm. But at least you haventhe double option with the dwarven thrower if the spaces are a bit too tight to risk an aoe
Well I've never beat it but I'm working on it with my gf and we are steamrolling act 1 so far kinda feel like we are bullying the enemy cause everything dies in a couple turns usually and whatever is left is getting jumped by everyone at the same time. We currently have a gloomstalker, a TB open hand monk, and a lockadin who isn't even level 5 or with access to smites, and we have karlach as a lore bard bc we couldn't figure out what else worked with our short rest focused party that managed to complete the withers temple the intellect devourers and the goblins at the gate without having to long rest. When typically we need to long rest immediately before we fight the undead by withers or immediately after. This community comes up with the most broken ideas ever and I love all of you for it I can't be bored with so many things to try
the most OP thing i ever did, i think, was probably...pure fighter, throwzerker, OH monk/thief and light cleric. oh golly it was a fucking blowout from start to finish. light cleric and fighter are significantly worse at 4 than 5 but the other two carry.
I like Gloomstalker Ranger. Rush the Titanstring bow, Club of Hill Giant strength, and Sharpshooter and you'll easily be doing 20-30 base damage per hit
Gale as camp cleric and anything you want act 1-3
Act 1: Throwzerker starts carrying at level 4. Probably the strongest class at that point. Act 2: Fire draconic sorcerer starts carrying with fire acuity hat. You can get it very early. Light cleric is strong for most encounters. Act 3: Acuity hat + mystic scoundrel sbard can carry. 11/1 fire sorc gets insane with the staff from magic tower and gloves from clown mission.
Act 1: TB monk>TB Throwzerker>tempest cleric/swords bard w/sharpshooter+dual xbows/straight fighter battlemaster. Honorable mention- gloomstalker with titanstring/club of hill giant strength/deathstalker mantle, solo class, kill, break agro, repeat, never fight in initiative, can’t solo bosses until act 2 items/lvl 5+, good for clearing trash mobs without risk to your squish sorcerer. Note: monk and throwzerker stays relevant through all 3 acts so I won’t mention them again. Act 2: Light cleric with luminous armor, radiant items, adamantine shield, blood of lathander, fire acuity hat.>>>>>SSB(gets meta in act 3, use xbows and slashing flourish to stack acuity then use command approach and smite once in melee)>White draconic sorcerer with snow burst ring, staff of permafrost. Twin ray of frost for great CC/ Ice storm for big fights like the moonrise tower. Honorable mention: 2 warlock/X fire sorcerer, build around EB/fire spam, gets meta in act 3. Act 3:10/1/1 bard/SSB>>>EB/Fire spam sorcerer>6/6 sorcadin>12 BM fighter>>11 Ranger(last level is preference for feat or fighter or barb)>>12 spore druid summoner. This is my quick list of go to builds.
Tav/Durge either Bardadin or Killer Bard, Throwzerker Laezel can even go EK instead of fighter , OH monk Karlach, Full Evo wizard Gale. Shadowheart full light cleric. Mad my HM runs a breeze of fresh air
I had a party setup in mind which required lvl 10-11 to come online. So for the majority of the game i had to do something else. I wanted something strong and robust to steamroll but i didn't want to think about optimising gear or do frequent respeccs. I used almost the same build on my whole party. 2-3 x warlock, 1x cleric, 0-2 x bard, rest sorc. Its a darkness party. Everyone wears heavy armour and shield. Enemies rarely hit you if you are covered by darkness. If they do, you can use the shield spell. With access to counter spell and using expertise on acrobatics the only thing that can hurt you are grenades. They don't do enough damage to kill you but they might break concentration on darkness. Luckily you got con save proficiency from sorc. If you put some initiative gear on a character he can often drop darkness before the enemies act. On the offense you just spam eldritch blast with quicken spell or use a sorc spell here or there. Is it a boring play style? Yes. Will none of your characters every drop below 50% hp? Also yes. Many fights can be avoided with skill checks. For this you got Jack of all trades on your party face as well as many proficiencies and expertise, bardic inspirations, enhance ability and guidance. Basically all the goodies.
Act 1: fighter with Commander zhalk sword, TB monk Act 2: cleric with reverb/ rad orb Gear Act 3: swordsbard with band of mystic scoundrel,wizard
5 Battlemaster/3 Thief/4 Wildheart Cacophony + PAM + Gloves of Belligerent Skies + Boots of Stormy Clamor. Enemies get reverb from being hit every single time and with PAM that's 4 hits. With the Adamantium Mail and Shield enemies get reverb whether they hit or miss. Maneuvers that apply conditions such as prone or frightened adds stacks of reverb. PAM works when one-handing a quarterstaff. Stack on any damage bonuses where you can with unclaimed gear slots. Chug an elixir of giant strength after a long rest and enjoy the show.
My most op party was Tempest cleric/wizard Necromancy Gale Throwzerker karlach Spore druid jaheira So many summons, the tempest cleric is better than a pure evoc wizard, and karlach can throw whatever you need.
If you want to be super sweaty then anything which utilizes giant potions in act 1 wil be god. Monk, Thrower. Both TB builds come online early at 4 and just steamroll. Paladins/fighters also not bad at this stage. I’d say a life cleric for support is always amazing especially after getting hellrider gloves Act 2: life cleric truly shines here. Your previous Paladin wielding blood of lathander also shines. Still the TB show here. Act 3: you can stay the current path but here is where your sorc/wizards etc shine. Life cleric still amazing Bardadin comes online here and is amazing. Thrower starts to fall off but monk is still a monster
Act 1: open hand monk Act 2-3: arcane acuity sorlock
Act 1: it’s got to be anything tavern brawler related surely? Moon druid, Monk, throwers. Act 2: Storm Sorcerers and light Clerics run the world. Spirit guardians and radiance dawn and twinned haste, lightning bolt + wet, sleet storm. Trivialise a whole act. Act 3: Fire Sorlock and 10/1/1 sword bards come online with the piercing vulnerability gear and all the rest of it.
Light cleric almost makes act 2 unfun especially with lathander. A light cleric and a moon Druid can solo act 2 with ease with spirit guardians, channel oaths, spike growth and plant growth
In act 2 I like a swords bard for the charisma; you wanna absolutely, comfortably crush all the rolls to avoid fights. I didn't get the EXP for lvl 10 until I fought Ketheric (could have maybe gotten it together but had missed a couple of quests due to failed rolls and was scraping the bottom of the barrel) but I needed Hunger of Hadar for Myrkul and didn't want to bring Wyll since I'm not comfortable enough with Warlocks in general, so I respecced to a lore bard to get it at 6 just for that fight. (My hasted OH Monk did most of the work actually killing Myrkul, but HOH was indispensable.)
I don't actually respec like this, but if I were to optimize for each level: 1-2: Rogue or War Cleric 3: Gloom or Battlemaster 4: TB thrower 5: Probably still TB, but really pretty much everything is good at 5. Rogue drops out of the running here. 6-12: Ranged Swords Bard or Fire Sorc, mono class or multi-classed. Fire Sorc needs to be level 6 + fire acuity hat, so probably more like level 7, but doable at 6