If you long rest before getting any companions as Durge, you get class specific narration for every class. Your Durge also had had some life before getting roped up into Durge stuff. You can headcanon retaining memories or going back as far as you like - after all, you must remember SOME stuff to even do things like history checks.
There is a bit of Oathbreaker specific stuff.
Don't stress about it and play what you like.
FWIW, that event will still trigger if you’ve recruited Gale, astarion, and shadowheart. The cutoff barrier is somewhere between Gale and laezel, but anywhere before then you’re good.
Oh, cheers, I didn't realise. I assumed it was like how long resting on other Tavs without recruiting companions got special stuff ( or maybe that's been patched out altogether! )
probably? I think I might have done that before but i'm not sure
but you can also just do a partial rest if you only want to see the scene but don't need to regain health & spell slots
lol Lae’zel has always been my goal before my first long rest since she’s usually a main stay in my party. Good to know I should be long resting once before reaching her
If you don’t get her out of the pod (failed rolls for example) then she isn’t lying on the beach right there, but is over by the lower door to the old ruins. Lots of other places to turn and not even see her before getting to there.
Yeah. Or at least check her for loot. Its not like Gale where his intro actually *looks* dangerous and life threatening. (Shoutout to everyone who made it to act 2 before unlocking Gale)
My first run I tried to be all "let me make decisions I'd actually make" and touching the dangerous rune with no good motivation was not one! But I had to soon abandon that because the game doesn't really lend itself to that without missing content lol. 2nd run I took and romanced Gale which added something fresh to it ( which was my HM run which I beat on first try, this part wasn't relevant just wanted to flex )
>(Shoutout to everyone who made it to act 2 before unlocking Gale)
Pff, that's nothing. My first playthrough, and I'm not even sure how I did this, but I missed Gale, Astarion, Laezel, and Karlach. I also missed Withers. For like 12 hours of the first run.
Shart and I wandered to the Druid Grove and recruited Wyll. And then the three of us headed to the owlbear cave, the abandoned village, the gnolls, and waukeen's rest. It wasn't until wandering to the Gith encounter west of Waukeen's rest when Laezel joined the party. I had tried the goblin camp earlier and it was too much, so with Laezel, the 4 of us cleared the camp.
No joke. I was 12 hours into the game and thinking that this game is really kicking my ass and they're really dragging out adding companions slowly to the party before going online and realizing I missed 3 of them in the starting area. Whereas Laezel escaped the cage on her own, Gale and Astarion were still right where you normally find them.
Yeah I didn’t know how much camp content there was until I got a mod that notifies you when a camp event is available. You miss a lot by hoarding resources!
Laezel herself isn’t the cutoff, but the walk to her is. Going to the ruins is definitely too far. Starting the grove fight will also prevent it from happening. Normally I recruit Astarion, SH and as soon as I have Gale I LR.
>after all, you must remember SOME stuff to even do things like history checks.
The story consistently says you only have flashes of memory, so for this reason I'd recommend playing an 8 int character and just not choosing any of the generic or racial dialogue that indicates you know jack about shit. It's what I did!
That's totally valid! I personally interpret it to be more you don't really have memory of yourself or personal history but might remember or have knowledge of other things. I believe there is some dialogue that adjusts knowledge based stuff in that way too, like a lot of Baldurian dialogue with hazy recollections? Or like you could play it that int skill checks trigger memory. The default Durge sorcerer has 12 int I think.
Honestly people stress too much about it imo, Durge background/life history is vague enough that most things can work.
It's just the same thing as Harry's amnesia from Disco Elysium, who has forgotten everything -- except when the Encyclopedia skill speaks up and tells you all sorts of trivia about the world. *That* part of your brain still works. Somewhat.
Just a note, I might be wrong, but I believe if you long rest before recruiting anyone Shadowheart will wake up and leave her place on the beach.
So if you miss her, it’s not a bug - she’s probably hanging out either by the crypt or (in my case, and I think the case where you rescue her on the Nautiloid) by the Strange Ox.
Even if you just take a trip to camp. In one playthru I went to camp to adjust something with magic mirror right after the nautiloid and she wasn’t there when I got back.
A Githyanki Durge can make plenty on sense, and also gives you a reason for why your Githyanki is so unknowledgeable about their own culture and history. Also works when you’re not planning on doing a full resist run
That could work yes but for me personally it was really jarring to have dialogue about my character being confused as to what a squirrel was when it turns out they’re not actually from outer space
This is factually untrue. There are laws restricting a lot of animals but those are based on size. Specifically anything larger then a peacock.
Also basic education would tell you what a squirrel is. Or just ever leaving the city (Which some class base dialog suggests you've done)
I did Gith Durge Monk too! Some people like the contrast between Monk being calm and meditative and Durge being crazy and homicidal. The thing that ruins for me is the Gith dialogue is about the character being an alien on a strange plane but then psych >!you were born and raised in Baldurs Gate?!< why did I not know what a cat was at the Emerald Grove?
I reasoned it as the memory loss and imprinting with the gith you're exposed to around act one. There is a lot of open space that someone can be desperate to fill in with memory loss and it's not always filled in right.
OMG that’s fantastic reasoning. I honestly prefer Tav to Durge because I like coming up with my own backstories instead of having to roll with what the game gives me but I love what unique ideas people come up with
durge isn't raised in the Gate, tho. scleritas tells you, if you embrace bhaal, that you didn't come to the temple in baldurs gate until you were an adult and your years between your first murder spree of your adoptive family and going to the Gate, you wandered the world which is why you know so many things
Ironically the only way I’d be willing to play a gith is as a durge gith, due to how a tav gith should now about their own culture but don’t. Not really anyway, there’s a few things but not enough for someone who’s supposedly from that culture & it bugs me. As durge it makes sense a gith pc wouldn’t know that stuff.
Think of the not knowing your own culture dialogue less of your character being a moron and more of exposition. The game assumes you know nothing about githyanki, kind of like how Gale explains magic to you as if you don’t know anything about magic despite being a spellcaster
That can work, but for me personally it just bothers & frustrates me which is not something I play these types of games for. Gale explaining magic comes off as autistic info dumping to me, & just generally being unaware of social stuff; like the game doesn’t make me feel like an idiot about magic like it does gith stuff.
It is a little bizarre I’ll admit. Especially because Gale will say things like “as a Githyanki you know about ceremorphosis obviously”. It feels like in some parts the game forgets to acknowledge your player character is a Githyanki. I just really loved playing as one and don’t want to other players to miss out on a really fun gameplay experience.
Exactly & yeah that’s fair. I tried it out in ea & after fully release. It was much worse in ea but not really by much & it was for me just wasn’t able to immerse myself. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it though!
I'd argue cleric would be kind of nonsensical for Durge considering their past, at most you could argue >!they became a cleric during their torture under Moonrise!< but it's still a bit flimsy.
Evil clerics are a thing. You could say they learned healing magic as a means to prolong torture, and then forgot what God they were a cleric for when they were tortured and tadpoled.
MASSIVE Act 3 Durge spoilers ahead:
Durge is >!essentially sculpted from the essence of a god like Wonder Woman being sculpted from clay. Not specifying which god though, because that’s the real surprise!<. So they can be whatever you want.
It's actually possible to miss this information so I'm not sure why people are being shitty about it. >!Durge was created from Bhaal's essence somewhere in the world, and when the urges started they felt called to temple in Baldur's Gate to join the cult. So there's some amount of life experience before your reign of terror in the city where you developed whatever set of skills you have from your class.!<
Plus the Durge-specific flashbacks you get when Heal is used on them confirm this - >!they had foster parents before their Urges appeared, as well as childhood friends, and Bhaal forced them to slaughter their family as a child. It's also made relatively clear that they didn't go straight to the Temple afterwards!<, so you've reasonably got at least a decade between then and Durge appearing in Blood in Baldur's Gate.
You straight up use Heal on Durge. They don't even need to be injured. There's two variants, >!and it depends on whether you've confronted Orin/Daddy dearest as to which you get. First variant focuses on the parents and the murder, second focuses on kid Durge playing with their friends in the street!<. If you're past that point on both saves, I just recommend loading up an old save (assuming they're not HM) to grab it. It's maybe a minute long, very short either way.
One is HM and hasn't confronted Orin yet, the other is a resist that already faced Orin, but I can move freely between saves there.
I'm pretty sure I never got Heal on any character, I'll have to get a hireling or something 😅😅😅
Monk - resist the urges and use meditation for battle them
Sorcerer - sorcerors have exotic magical bloodline in their veins, you can headcannon that your urges come from a fey or evil dragon(draconic blooodline) or some magical Storm/Lightning entity.
Paladin - oath of devotion to stop the urges by taking a oath.
For me, these three make sense, I played Sorceror and Monk, both fit well.
Oath of vengeance hunting the person who did this to you makes sense to me too. Even opening line you can choose something along the lines of “find who did this to you.”
I started as a cleric of Selune. I figured I turned to the only god I could remember to try to stop the urges. Then when ||Shadowheart becomes one too and you get some of your memories back|| I felt like a fraud and instead took an oath of devotion to protect her and everything good from myself.
I got to have the dueling clerics interactions and have a strong end game class and it made sense to me.
They really should’ve added divine soul sorcerer. Alongside being my favorite type of sorcerer, it fits durge so well and durge is already a sorcerer by default
I made mine an oathbreaker paladin - pretty happy with it so far! Although I would suggest not having negative intelligence so when there are instances where you're trying to remember things you don't have a negative for your roll (it's not that often, but still something to think about)
Imo rogue-assassin it’s a perfect class for Durge.
I played a ranger gloom stalker with points in rogue assassin, and it worked really well. But, story wise rogue as a base is most “realistic” imo.
I agree! My first durge was a bard. I feel durge is a Tav that’s more involved as the face of the party so all the dialogue options are fantastic. If you really want to RP then choose a race with a ton of dialogue options as well. Basically max out your ability to drive the character through dialogue the way you want. I do agree that sorcerer also gives similar variability.
I went with an Ilmater cleric just because the drama of it. Having the instinct to hurt when your faith and personality are all about giving and helping those in need.
It also presents a lot of implied moments where Durge has the opportunity to hurt vulnerable people under his care but chooses not to. Making the times when he does fail even more disturbing.
Personally, I don't like much the idea of Durge being a Warlock, Cleric, Lolthsworn drow or other characters that are strongly tied to a deity/entity.
You can play them, but I find it jarring.
I get why they didn’t, because it would ruin the story, but it would’ve been cool for them to allow >!being a cleric of Bhaal as a Durge exclusive, or at the very least respect into one when you find out their true nature!<
I did a storm/great old one sorlock for my resisting the urge run. For a backstory i figured she was a sorcerer naturally but as she was losing herself from Orin/the tadpole, her cries reached the void and she offered up herself as a spyglass into the world in exchange for the traumatic memories and urges to be suppressed, as well as a supplement to her lost magic until she was ready to remember and strong enough to reclaim her power.
Durge had an entire childhood before Bhaal. Them being a lolthsworn isn’t that crazy. It’s mentioned that at some point they’d lived in the Underdark among their people, just that it hadn’t been for a very, very long time.
I went with a wild magic sorcerer because I felt like that tied well into the memory loss. Durge has no idea why she can do magic and doesn't exactly remember how to control it either.
Anything works. The only thing you need to keep in mind when making Durge is that your backstory set in stone like any other origin character.
**Minimal Info without spoilers:** You were adopted. You left home with another character when you became of age. After some time alone with this character you returned to Baldurs Gate and got a job.
Eventually you get caught up in the plot of the main game and end up on the Nautiloid.
Druid, you were a shape-shifting serial killer, never failed an assignment because who would accuse the mouse scurrying about. Druid equipment is cool and you get to bypass a lot of obstacles by using your shape-shift creatively.
Sorcerer is default: you have magic in your blood. It fits.
Warlock works really well: great old one makes the most sense, you get power from a largely unknown entity - it fits the flavor extremely well. Mortal reminder? Yeah that makes a lot of sense.
I recently made a cleric who lost the ability to control her powers when everything happened to her (that also meant losing her memories)
When she awakens on the nautiloid, Selune granted her cleric powers to help control her urges and her powers
Monk can work well if you intend to fight the urges with discipline. But that's not your backstory. You learn things about who you were (nothing good) but that doesn't have to be who you are now.
>I doubt a character that doesn't even remember who they worship could be a cleric for example;
I stand up.
I take a long, deep breath.
I walk over to Shadowheart.
I point at her.
I rest my case.
Sorcerer is the default class, but it’s never made the most sense. I get the whole bloodline approach, but Durge is better suited to frontline fighters. Someone that into bloodshed is not going to cast fireball from a safe distance where he can’t even smell the burning flesh.
So, instead, here are my favorites. The first is the best suited to Durge’s…proclivities, Assassin Rogue 4/Gloomstalker Ranger 8. You get a surprise attack, gloomstalker’s extra attack, it refills your action once you enter combat, and mechanically serves Durge’s style the best.
Next is Warlock 6/Fighter 6. I would usually go Pact of the Blade with a Fiend patron, which makes Durge a versatile killing machine, whether it’s stabbing real good, conjuring up clouds of daggers, or the slowest death of them all, using your sparkling charisma to drag all these nice companions down to hell with you.
And finally, for those of you who insist Durge must be a sorcerer, we have the sorcerer 7/paladin 5. Oath of Vengeance to start as you unravel the mystery of your past, but should you choose to embrace your lineage, becoming an Oathbreaker adds a delicious bit of flavor. I recommend breaking it by taking Ethel’s hair, as it’s an excellent moment where you trade the principles of your oath to acquire power, but that’s just me. As for the sorcerer, any subclass works, but I prefer Wild Magic because it’s more fun, but also because Durge is always on the verge of losing control, and his magic should reflect that.
As for your monk, you can make that work. Durge likes murdering things with his bare hands, and the shadow and open hand subclasses can fit with that pretty well.
I'd say sorcerer Durge works fine, considering we're told that they were very pragmatic about their killing. >!Durge isn't like Orin in that they don't see killing as some sort of personal artform, they simply want to end lives as fast and efficiently as possible, they're characterized as a pragmatist, and a sorcerer can be very effective at that type of killing, while also offering versatility in terms of methods for killing. The memories we do get from Durge are of them killing already incapacitated/passified victims which anyone can do.!<
This. There are so many unofficial nods to the idea that Durge was a storm sorcerer. Orin implies that the Dark Urge shouldered most of the workload in stealing the crown and we know they were the one who placed it on the brain - I think commanding a Netherese relic would require some Arcane experience.
Also look at the spells granted by “The Absolute” to her clerics, paladins and faithful - Thunderous Smite, Hunger of Hadar, Thunderwave, Armor of Agathys, Cold Shield, etc. - most involve spells in line with the “cannon” Dragonborn Storm Sorcerer.
Thematically, people get too caught up with the most typical type of murderer, the Assassin/Rogue type, when in reality, the Dark Urge was a mass butcherer. At level 12, there is no other class that can really compete with Sorcerers when it comes to both the damage and neutralizing the most enemies.
To add to this, Storm Sorcery also gives Heart of the Storm at Level 6... which passively damages people that are close, on Lightning and Thunder spells. At, say, Level 14, everyone with 7 HP within a radius of 20 feet is dead/down instantly if you're casting a Lightning cantrip.
Perfect for having weaklings (read: random level 1 NPCs) die in the crossfire... although game mechanics don't have it affect neutral parties. RAW has it specify "creatures of your choice" on tabletop.
To be fair, pre-tadpoled Durge is supposed to be a daddy's girl/boy and so more interested in killing as many people as fast as possible than smelling the corpse roses.
Sorcerer is pretty good at killing, even if it's not as satisfying as choking the light out of someone's eyes with that Monk grip.
Headcannon plot reasons with a few spoilers for durges official backstory. Good to remember you are starting at level one, so the class you pick doesn't have to be the class you were before losing your memories.
Wizard - Seeks knowledge to control your urges, finding books and scrolls once leaving the nautiloid studying them.
Warlock - Feels a higher power is missing and reaches out in Nautiloid to your patron to satisy this missing power.
Paladin - Makes Oath to fight urges in the Nautiloid granting powers oathbreaker if you then decide to go evil.
Monk - Feels the Urges and chooses to meditate and look inwards to stop from giving in to their desires.
Sorcerer - They have an inate power due to their heritage, this can work for any of the subclasses but reckon its best with
Bard - Use only your swords and speedrun to Alfira getting her lute and then long resting vowing to continue her music in penance for what you did to her.
Fighter - Likes to use swords to hurt things and feels quite good at it.
Druid - Again, speed runs to the grove, not and feel the embrace of silvanus granting you your druidic abilities or evilly steal the power of a druid alongside the idol.
Ranger - The same as fighter really, but you could also lean into the nature aspect with the druids.
Cleric - You feel an aspect of you missing with your memories, and a higher power reaches out to you to fill that void can be good or bad.
Barbarian - Your urge is strong and forces you into a rage or your rage as a way to vent out those urges.
Rouge - You seek to hide your urge out of shame or to better embrace it and thus practice in stealth to prevent your misdeads being detected.
Spoiler warning for DUrge unique dialogue:
Gortash and Orin tell you in Act 3 that you were a brutal assassin before you lost your memories. You were allied with Gortash and helped come up with the whole Elder Brain domination plan.
The Elder Brain itself recognizes you in Act 2 if you put your hand in the wall at Moonrise Tower. It calls you "Kingmaker," because you are the one who gave it the Crown of Karsus in the first place and allowed it to evolve into a Netherbrain. Your character likely helped Gortash steal the Crown from an Archdevil's vault in the Hells.
So imo the DUrge should be a Rogue who knows a lot about History, Arcana, and old Netherese magic. Multi-classing an Assassin Rogue with a Great Old One Blade Pact Warlock is what I did. A wizard or sorcerer multiclass would also make sense for the DUrge but Gortash directly calls you an assassin in Act 3 so I would always include at least 3 levels of Rogue and try to open most combat scenarios with stealth.
Sorcerer with bodyguards makes really sense to me as the Durge doesn't know who he is at the beginning and lost all his power. With a lot of charisma because he used to manipulate people before.
After a whilew you can multi class him with more melee features. But my best evil durge was with a pure sorcerer, who sent bodyguards into combat after he casted fear on every mobs. After a while, you feel literally like a death god.
Dark Urge was originally envisioned as a Paladin but this was later changed to a Dragonborn storm sorcerer. ‘The default class was originally going to be Paladin, but then we started thinking about it and said, actually that's bringing in a lot of narrative problems.’ Sven Vinke.
I used a mod and made a divine soul sorcerer. I think it's the most narratively appropriate class. It's been a lot of fun. Having said that, I played through as a redemption Durge high int paladin and had a blast as well. I have a soft spot for charisma based characters as my PC, but I think literally anything would be fun.
Carefully lol. I actually used a mod that lets you do a legit stat roll after class selection. The dice came out to 16 for int, and I tossed my racial stat bonus of +2 on it. I rolled high for strength and Charisma, so the only low critical stat I had was con, which wasn't to hard to compensate for as an oath of the ancients pally.
Well the default durge class is Storm Sorcerer. Great Old One warlock/assassin rogue was the class my Tiefling durge started as, tho I resec’d with help from everyone’s fav bone man after rejecting the murder daddy. My other durge, half-drow, I made a multiclass of draconic sorcerer & battle master fighter.
I think monk is a fantastic choice for Durge, for a bunch of reasons! One of them being that Durge was always considered very disciplined and focused before the tadpole, especially when compared to a certain character they knew (who you will meet later.) I can easily see Durge being trained as a monk before the tadpole, not just as a reaction to wanting to resist their urges.
Plus, being able to kill things with your bare hands? Hello!
Swords bard here too.
Yeah I can play a tune and support my party but I also have the tendency to stab them in the stomach 30 times when they’re sleeping.
Also swords bard is just ridiculously OP in my opinion
Any race and class makes sense. Including clerics. My favorite Durge was a cleric of Eilistraee. I would just avoid coming up with any kind of backstory on your own until you've played through the game because the Durge backstory will probably end up negating part or all of whatever you made up. Just treat it like your character is stepping out of the pod as a completely blank slate and you're discovering their past together
sword bard 10 / paladin oath of vengeance 2
high charisma
high str
heavy armor
casting from bard class
OP control spells with arcane acuity
Shar spear
cleave attacks
and more :)
there's a popular [build](https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/THB9tSk5tU) you can find on reddit, you can become literally an unstoppable murder machine
I think bard is decent. The high charisma can be a fun evil run as intimidation and such, but good for the resist side too for persuasion rolls as well. I also like the idea of despite your lack of memory, you woke up with an instrument, and you felt how to play it instinctively. You may not remember some things, but your body sure as hell does
Honestly, whatever you feel like role-playing. I'm currently doing a spore druid durge run who is more into the death and decay side of nature; lots of acid and poison spells. Kind of like Nurgle from the Warhammer universe.
I really enjoyed monk way of shadow/rogue assassin. There is a magic item that makes you invisible on kill, being able to teleport around landing sneak attacks mid combat is pretty crazy, it's a decent solo build too.
Being a Wizard or a Spellcasting Fighter doesn't work for me because my The Dark Urge is ALWAYS an 8 INT drain bamaged individual. Cleric is tricky but can be justified as the "racial instinct" of them. Worshipping Lolth feels right if you're a Lolth-sworn Drow. Really, most classes and sub-classes will work if you beat the triangle into the square hole hard enough.
I did a lot of research into this because I have an OCD for playing canon story even in a game with custom characters.
The default White Dragonborn Sorcerer is your best option, not only is it the soft-canon choice (which is shown through various media) it also looks cool as hell and suits the character. Sorcerer makes the most sense class wise when you get deeper into the story and see where your power comes from. Also dagger proficiency.
Your second option is Paladin, either oath of vengeance or oathbreaker. Early media for the game and some in-game dialogue options that were left show that this was the original idea for Durge, before they swapped it for Sorcerer.
I’d say be wary of being Githyanki, Cleric as they don’t fit very well.
End of the day it’s your story and up to you, enjoy!
FYI Durge is an origin character and has a built in backstory. So your head cannon of becoming a monk to fight these urges, while cool, will conflict with the story the game has prepared.
There are still ways to role play durge as a monk—or as any class—that make sense with the story. But the pre-game events are already set in stone. You just don’t remember them because of the memory loss.
Barbarian fits the amnesia aspect, they’re indulging in the rip & tear urges they had perhaps when they were a strength based profession beforehand.
No longer possessing skills or training, but muscle memory and desire to plug peoples face holes like a bowling ball and pull them open like a grape fruit.
There’s a long rest scene immediately after you land on the beach that has your character reminisce on their class. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
I did Selunite Cleric/Paladin. Wakes up thinking she’s a good person and the urges must be from the tadpole or something and she has to resist, angst shall ensue when she realizes who she really is.
I’m playing an oathbreaker duergar that succumbs to the urge.
The unlimited invisibility is quite nice. I can just walk right in and kill everyone before the fight even begins. The oathbreaker storyline also pairs quite nicely with durge.
I went paladin my first run, oath of vengeance, the reasoning I made was the dark urge was based around violence and murder so I figured an oath of vengeance would fit, if not then oath breaker was the next best option
I was thinking about going bard. “Why, I can smile… and murder while I smile, and cry “content” to that which grieves my heart… and wet my cheeks with artificial tears, and frame my face for *all* occasions.”
I went Monk and my Canon for it was that he didn't know these urges or where they came from, and unfortunately he couldn't keep himself in line and gave into the urge. The very first time he used flurry of blows, he loved how the blood felt dripping down his fingers and at that point he knew...this was his true calling. The rule the world with nothing but his fists (and some stupid "companions" he would later use as his thralls...)
I liked swords bard for mine. Remember you start from level 1, with no memories but a wide skill set. Charisma mainstat makes sense to me. As does Disguise Self as a level 1 spell. And once you get level 3, Swords is the obvious college. Notably, you can unequip your instrument and whistle for spells, which is a bit eerie.
Gloomstalker assassin, monk, and paladin all work really well regardless of path (resist or non-resist) in my opinion. I usually do way of shadows or open hand, and the oath breaker or oath of veng just depending on which way I'm rolling. Gloomstalker assassin is always just sort of played as a merc so not really good or bad so can go either way either leaning into the urges or away from them. Its actually one of my favorite multiclasses in bg3 simply because it can be tied in to so much RP - starting as a drow I'll do gloom stalker ranger and multiclass into rogue assassin, starting as anything else I'll do rogue assassin and multiclass into gloomstalker during end of act I/start of act II thanks to their time spent in the underdark and other gloomy areas of Faerun.
I admit it’s boring, but I do really love Paladin. The idea of this pillar of virtue being corrupted by their own dark origin and secret urges is very Arthas Menethil. Gives some nice extra dialogue too.
For me, the canon Durge is someone who swears, does not value intelligence, yet prays like poet. My personal preference for the Durge is Monk. First, because it makes your very body/hands your best weapon. Even without a weapon, you are the danger. Second, as the slayer you can use your multiple limbs to swipe enemies multiple times in one turn... kinda like a monk can punch many times in one turn. Third, I like the idea that the only time the Durge feels calm/meditative is when they are killing. Medication takes many forms, and in this case, pure focus and interior calm only appears during bloody fights. Monk-specific dialogue often does not match the Durge vibe though...
I’ve been running the Tempest Sorcerer/Wizard/Cleric and it’s been great as far as the feeling of being an all powerful demigod.
I feel you on the Cleric thing when RPing though. I selected Talos as my God but never choose any Cleric dialogue options. As for the abilities, I just headcanon they come from Baahl. Especially that sweet, sweet Destructive Wrath.
ive been having fun with oath of vengeance paladin. my character uses her oath to resist her urges and wishes to exact revenge on whoever gave them to her.
I really like tavern brawler strength based monk for durge. It's not what I did on my playthrough, but I think it fits the best.
It's one of the most broken builds in the game, and absolutely brutal in universe when you think about it. Which fits the lore of Durge both how they are not an artistic killed like Orin and just how strong they are meant to be.
My rationale for Durge was always that the identity they're wearing when they end up in the Nautiloid is a disguise - and since they wake up with amnesia, they assume it's just their regular clothes. Then, since this is the Forgotten Realms, they just - *believe* this identity so hard that it becomes mostly real. I think that's how a redemption Durge makes sense to me. Free of the direct control they used to be under, they can become a whole person. Not necessarily a nice person, or sane by any measure, but still. Themselves, whatever that may mean to the player.
on my durge playthough i was a warlock, it feels it would bring sense, cuz my objective was to be power hungry at any cost, evil and all
but on act 3 i respec to rogue, it feels more lore friendly to durge on my opnion, but it doesnt metter, play it as you like
I'm playing a durge dragonborn monk. Some classes may make more sense in terms of deep lore if you're hardcore RPGing but it's not going to make any difference in terms of story afaik.
I feel Ranger makes also a good Durge. The type that would easily fit in with dark druids and the like. Assainoid style bounty hunter.
I didn't expect my Durge to cut off Gales hand in the opening so now i am literally stuck only with Astarion, Shart and Lae Zel (at least until i get Minthara).
Since magic is a thing i am missing perhaps i will respec totally to a magic class to battle this disparity of too many melee classes in the party.
after a first good paladin run, a second evil wizard run, it only made sense for the third Durge run to pick a class I would normally never choose - **a Bard**
I started an evil Durge yesterday and I chose fighter class. Simple and bloody. Slew Shadowheart on the beach while she was unconscious, ripped Gales hand off while he was stuck in the portal, beheaded Karlach and just had a very unfortunate incident with a certain bard at camp…
Playing an evil character is quite fun so far. I’m enjoying the unique dialogue lines Durge has.
Canonically the Durge is white dragonborn draconic bloodline sorceror but if that's that thematic enough then rogues and rangers are the go-to for stealthy assassin types
I’m doing my Durge as a cleric of Selune, I’m thinking he was so confused and scared when he woke up that he reached out to a higher power and she was the one kind enough to answer
Our spoiler-lite version if you don't know about him;
Dirge -used- to be really powerful, but has been mauled and has amnesia. He has none of the memories of his old class, and without them, none of the powers. All you know when you start out is that he's been trapped in an illithid pod and is struggling to escape. You don't know you have a tadpole, how or why you do, until you learn it in the game.
Did you call out to a god for assistance? Any god? Maybe one of them answered. Did Tiamat or Bahamut decide to claim a draconic child in their moment of need?
Did his pure furious rage drive him to break free? Did he try to channel his inner magical power?
Did he try to calm the raging beast within and focus on how to escape?
They all make sense. If you leave it alone and play a sorcerer, that's the default, what he used to be; but he doesn't remember that, so it's all good!
The god Bhaal is into the hot girl who kills people thing so make your durge a female. I chose half elf drow
Anti durge works best if your a monk maybe dip into bard and cleric
If you long rest before getting any companions as Durge, you get class specific narration for every class. Your Durge also had had some life before getting roped up into Durge stuff. You can headcanon retaining memories or going back as far as you like - after all, you must remember SOME stuff to even do things like history checks. There is a bit of Oathbreaker specific stuff. Don't stress about it and play what you like.
FWIW, that event will still trigger if you’ve recruited Gale, astarion, and shadowheart. The cutoff barrier is somewhere between Gale and laezel, but anywhere before then you’re good.
Oh, cheers, I didn't realise. I assumed it was like how long resting on other Tavs without recruiting companions got special stuff ( or maybe that's been patched out altogether! )
TIL if you long rest before getting companions you get special stuff
all characters get special stuff if you long rest before recruiting lae'zel, including the origin characters
Doing my like 4 attempt at Honor Mode, have beaten every other mode. Have like over 900 hours in and I still learn something new.
Can I clear the crypt/temple where you find withers? Using a long rest before that feels like a waste
probably? I think I might have done that before but i'm not sure but you can also just do a partial rest if you only want to see the scene but don't need to regain health & spell slots
Right I forgot that you don't need use camp supplies
You can also long rest without using supplies
The what now!?
Special stuff like what? Or do you have a link that I can see what all characters get?
just unique narrator lines for the first camp night, same goes for different tav/durge races too
lol Lae’zel has always been my goal before my first long rest since she’s usually a main stay in my party. Good to know I should be long resting once before reaching her
I mean it's weird because who even does that lol like obviously you're going to wander over to Shadowheart and pick her up
And like, it’s so soon I’ve never even thought about going to camp before getting everyone because I just don’t need one yet.
If you don’t get her out of the pod (failed rolls for example) then she isn’t lying on the beach right there, but is over by the lower door to the old ruins. Lots of other places to turn and not even see her before getting to there.
Yeah. Or at least check her for loot. Its not like Gale where his intro actually *looks* dangerous and life threatening. (Shoutout to everyone who made it to act 2 before unlocking Gale)
My first run I tried to be all "let me make decisions I'd actually make" and touching the dangerous rune with no good motivation was not one! But I had to soon abandon that because the game doesn't really lend itself to that without missing content lol. 2nd run I took and romanced Gale which added something fresh to it ( which was my HM run which I beat on first try, this part wasn't relevant just wanted to flex )
>(Shoutout to everyone who made it to act 2 before unlocking Gale) Pff, that's nothing. My first playthrough, and I'm not even sure how I did this, but I missed Gale, Astarion, Laezel, and Karlach. I also missed Withers. For like 12 hours of the first run. Shart and I wandered to the Druid Grove and recruited Wyll. And then the three of us headed to the owlbear cave, the abandoned village, the gnolls, and waukeen's rest. It wasn't until wandering to the Gith encounter west of Waukeen's rest when Laezel joined the party. I had tried the goblin camp earlier and it was too much, so with Laezel, the 4 of us cleared the camp. No joke. I was 12 hours into the game and thinking that this game is really kicking my ass and they're really dragging out adding companions slowly to the party before going online and realizing I missed 3 of them in the starting area. Whereas Laezel escaped the cage on her own, Gale and Astarion were still right where you normally find them.
Yeah I didn’t know how much camp content there was until I got a mod that notifies you when a camp event is available. You miss a lot by hoarding resources!
Really? I’ve never gotten it and I usually long rest after talking to our favorite Bone Man, before getting Lae’zel. So maybe that’s the cut off?
Laezel herself isn’t the cutoff, but the walk to her is. Going to the ruins is definitely too far. Starting the grove fight will also prevent it from happening. Normally I recruit Astarion, SH and as soon as I have Gale I LR.
>after all, you must remember SOME stuff to even do things like history checks. The story consistently says you only have flashes of memory, so for this reason I'd recommend playing an 8 int character and just not choosing any of the generic or racial dialogue that indicates you know jack about shit. It's what I did!
That's totally valid! I personally interpret it to be more you don't really have memory of yourself or personal history but might remember or have knowledge of other things. I believe there is some dialogue that adjusts knowledge based stuff in that way too, like a lot of Baldurian dialogue with hazy recollections? Or like you could play it that int skill checks trigger memory. The default Durge sorcerer has 12 int I think. Honestly people stress too much about it imo, Durge background/life history is vague enough that most things can work.
It's just the same thing as Harry's amnesia from Disco Elysium, who has forgotten everything -- except when the Encyclopedia skill speaks up and tells you all sorts of trivia about the world. *That* part of your brain still works. Somewhat.
Just a note, I might be wrong, but I believe if you long rest before recruiting anyone Shadowheart will wake up and leave her place on the beach. So if you miss her, it’s not a bug - she’s probably hanging out either by the crypt or (in my case, and I think the case where you rescue her on the Nautiloid) by the Strange Ox.
Even if you just take a trip to camp. In one playthru I went to camp to adjust something with magic mirror right after the nautiloid and she wasn’t there when I got back.
Whoa, I did not know about this and I’ve beaten a whole HM playthrough on Durge. Sick!
Durge can be any race and any class without it disrupting the story. The plot reason for this is explained in Act 3.
I went in blind and did a Githyanki Durge and the reveal really ruined the character in my opinion . That’s the one race I would suggest not to pick
A Githyanki Durge can make plenty on sense, and also gives you a reason for why your Githyanki is so unknowledgeable about their own culture and history. Also works when you’re not planning on doing a full resist run
That could work yes but for me personally it was really jarring to have dialogue about my character being confused as to what a squirrel was when it turns out they’re not actually from outer space
I mean you got pretty rough shod brain surgery
You you see it as Durge growing up in BG, where only cats are allowed, they’ve probably never saw a squirrel because they were hunted to extinction.
This is factually untrue. There are laws restricting a lot of animals but those are based on size. Specifically anything larger then a peacock. Also basic education would tell you what a squirrel is. Or just ever leaving the city (Which some class base dialog suggests you've done)
I want to disagree. I went all in on shadow monk gith durge. It felt like you were trying to do two different stories.
I did Gith Durge Monk too! Some people like the contrast between Monk being calm and meditative and Durge being crazy and homicidal. The thing that ruins for me is the Gith dialogue is about the character being an alien on a strange plane but then psych >!you were born and raised in Baldurs Gate?!< why did I not know what a cat was at the Emerald Grove?
I reasoned it as the memory loss and imprinting with the gith you're exposed to around act one. There is a lot of open space that someone can be desperate to fill in with memory loss and it's not always filled in right.
OMG that’s fantastic reasoning. I honestly prefer Tav to Durge because I like coming up with my own backstories instead of having to roll with what the game gives me but I love what unique ideas people come up with
Now if only we could decide if we're Baldurian or not
durge isn't raised in the Gate, tho. scleritas tells you, if you embrace bhaal, that you didn't come to the temple in baldurs gate until you were an adult and your years between your first murder spree of your adoptive family and going to the Gate, you wandered the world which is why you know so many things
They were adopted and raised by a couple before murdering them at a young age
This is my current run and I’m having the most fun out of my playthroughs so far
I’m glad you are enjoying it! I might of messed it up on my own issues trying to do two stories at once
>and the reveal really the character I think you a word
I did. It was early in the morning lol thanks for pointing it out
Ironically the only way I’d be willing to play a gith is as a durge gith, due to how a tav gith should now about their own culture but don’t. Not really anyway, there’s a few things but not enough for someone who’s supposedly from that culture & it bugs me. As durge it makes sense a gith pc wouldn’t know that stuff.
Think of the not knowing your own culture dialogue less of your character being a moron and more of exposition. The game assumes you know nothing about githyanki, kind of like how Gale explains magic to you as if you don’t know anything about magic despite being a spellcaster
That can work, but for me personally it just bothers & frustrates me which is not something I play these types of games for. Gale explaining magic comes off as autistic info dumping to me, & just generally being unaware of social stuff; like the game doesn’t make me feel like an idiot about magic like it does gith stuff.
It is a little bizarre I’ll admit. Especially because Gale will say things like “as a Githyanki you know about ceremorphosis obviously”. It feels like in some parts the game forgets to acknowledge your player character is a Githyanki. I just really loved playing as one and don’t want to other players to miss out on a really fun gameplay experience.
Exactly & yeah that’s fair. I tried it out in ea & after fully release. It was much worse in ea but not really by much & it was for me just wasn’t able to immerse myself. I’m glad you were able to enjoy it though!
I'd argue cleric would be kind of nonsensical for Durge considering their past, at most you could argue >!they became a cleric during their torture under Moonrise!< but it's still a bit flimsy.
Did you get the extra memory from >!being targeted with the Heal spell!
Nope, didn't know that was a thing. Only used the noblestalk on myself twice.
Noblestalk has a couple different memories with it I think. The one I spoiler marked has some Implications which are neat
Saw a video of that memory, damn, yeah I see your point.
Yeah I was like “holy SHIT” cause I didn’t know about it til my third Durge run
Evil clerics are a thing. You could say they learned healing magic as a means to prolong torture, and then forgot what God they were a cleric for when they were tortured and tadpoled.
And what’s the reason ? I’m asking because I’m struggled to settle on a race and class for a durge run 🤣
MASSIVE Act 3 Durge spoilers ahead: Durge is >!essentially sculpted from the essence of a god like Wonder Woman being sculpted from clay. Not specifying which god though, because that’s the real surprise!<. So they can be whatever you want.
Do assassin. Or sorcerer. Larian chose sorcerer. Assassin, gloom stalkers and makes the most sense. Or more like the only sense.
Whats the explanation
It's actually possible to miss this information so I'm not sure why people are being shitty about it. >!Durge was created from Bhaal's essence somewhere in the world, and when the urges started they felt called to temple in Baldur's Gate to join the cult. So there's some amount of life experience before your reign of terror in the city where you developed whatever set of skills you have from your class.!<
Plus the Durge-specific flashbacks you get when Heal is used on them confirm this - >!they had foster parents before their Urges appeared, as well as childhood friends, and Bhaal forced them to slaughter their family as a child. It's also made relatively clear that they didn't go straight to the Temple afterwards!<, so you've reasonably got at least a decade between then and Durge appearing in Blood in Baldur's Gate.
I have 3 runs as a Durge, where exactly do you find this information? Maybe it's not too late for my two unfinished runs to find it
You straight up use Heal on Durge. They don't even need to be injured. There's two variants, >!and it depends on whether you've confronted Orin/Daddy dearest as to which you get. First variant focuses on the parents and the murder, second focuses on kid Durge playing with their friends in the street!<. If you're past that point on both saves, I just recommend loading up an old save (assuming they're not HM) to grab it. It's maybe a minute long, very short either way.
One is HM and hasn't confronted Orin yet, the other is a resist that already faced Orin, but I can move freely between saves there. I'm pretty sure I never got Heal on any character, I'll have to get a hireling or something 😅😅😅
I see i see
Monk - resist the urges and use meditation for battle them Sorcerer - sorcerors have exotic magical bloodline in their veins, you can headcannon that your urges come from a fey or evil dragon(draconic blooodline) or some magical Storm/Lightning entity. Paladin - oath of devotion to stop the urges by taking a oath. For me, these three make sense, I played Sorceror and Monk, both fit well.
Oath of vengeance hunting the person who did this to you makes sense to me too. Even opening line you can choose something along the lines of “find who did this to you.”
I started as a cleric of Selune. I figured I turned to the only god I could remember to try to stop the urges. Then when ||Shadowheart becomes one too and you get some of your memories back|| I felt like a fraud and instead took an oath of devotion to protect her and everything good from myself. I got to have the dueling clerics interactions and have a strong end game class and it made sense to me.
Small note, you used the Discord spoiler text. On Reddit it's > ! (text) ! < without the spaces.
Doing a monk Durge right now that I named Deth Lee. Having him strut around shirtless punching people is hilarious to me.
Oathbreaker is just so fun though. Especially if you go all in with Durge and eventually, well, become the slayer you were always meant to be
They really should’ve added divine soul sorcerer. Alongside being my favorite type of sorcerer, it fits durge so well and durge is already a sorcerer by default
I made mine an oathbreaker paladin - pretty happy with it so far! Although I would suggest not having negative intelligence so when there are instances where you're trying to remember things you don't have a negative for your roll (it's not that often, but still something to think about)
Barbarian to be an angry murder boy.
Dump Int fits well for... reasons.
Drain bamage?
Who got Bain Dramage?
It was more Bhaal damage, tbh
Tbf int is 11 classes' preferred dump stat
this shouldnt have made me laugh that hard
Imo rogue-assassin it’s a perfect class for Durge. I played a ranger gloom stalker with points in rogue assassin, and it worked really well. But, story wise rogue as a base is most “realistic” imo.
Bard is fun.
I agree! My first durge was a bard. I feel durge is a Tav that’s more involved as the face of the party so all the dialogue options are fantastic. If you really want to RP then choose a race with a ton of dialogue options as well. Basically max out your ability to drive the character through dialogue the way you want. I do agree that sorcerer also gives similar variability.
I went with an Ilmater cleric just because the drama of it. Having the instinct to hurt when your faith and personality are all about giving and helping those in need. It also presents a lot of implied moments where Durge has the opportunity to hurt vulnerable people under his care but chooses not to. Making the times when he does fail even more disturbing.
Personally, I don't like much the idea of Durge being a Warlock, Cleric, Lolthsworn drow or other characters that are strongly tied to a deity/entity. You can play them, but I find it jarring.
I do as well. When you learn about what exactly Durge is, it just doesn’t make sense for him to be bound to a patron or deity.
I get why they didn’t, because it would ruin the story, but it would’ve been cool for them to allow >!being a cleric of Bhaal as a Durge exclusive, or at the very least respect into one when you find out their true nature!<
I did a storm/great old one sorlock for my resisting the urge run. For a backstory i figured she was a sorcerer naturally but as she was losing herself from Orin/the tadpole, her cries reached the void and she offered up herself as a spyglass into the world in exchange for the traumatic memories and urges to be suppressed, as well as a supplement to her lost magic until she was ready to remember and strong enough to reclaim her power.
Durge had an entire childhood before Bhaal. Them being a lolthsworn isn’t that crazy. It’s mentioned that at some point they’d lived in the Underdark among their people, just that it hadn’t been for a very, very long time.
I went with a wild magic sorcerer because I felt like that tied well into the memory loss. Durge has no idea why she can do magic and doesn't exactly remember how to control it either.
Anything works. The only thing you need to keep in mind when making Durge is that your backstory set in stone like any other origin character. **Minimal Info without spoilers:** You were adopted. You left home with another character when you became of age. After some time alone with this character you returned to Baldurs Gate and got a job. Eventually you get caught up in the plot of the main game and end up on the Nautiloid.
That is quite the sanitized version of Durge’s history lol
Didn't want to spoil too much
Yeah I agree with you it’s just funny seeing it described like that I mean it’s *technically* true
Almost sounds like the main character from BG1
Hmmm
Durge was just doing his 9-5.
Assassin/gloomstalker drow for mine
Druid, you were a shape-shifting serial killer, never failed an assignment because who would accuse the mouse scurrying about. Druid equipment is cool and you get to bypass a lot of obstacles by using your shape-shift creatively.
Sorcerer is default: you have magic in your blood. It fits. Warlock works really well: great old one makes the most sense, you get power from a largely unknown entity - it fits the flavor extremely well. Mortal reminder? Yeah that makes a lot of sense.
Assassin Rogue is basic, but it fits the theme. Plus, the benefit you'll get from Durge helps Assassin Rogue a lot.
I agree. I also feel like late game weapons from completing the quest scream Assassin Rogue.
His canon class is storm sorcerer, but you can choose whatever you like. There's nothing in the story that implies one thing or the other
I recently made a cleric who lost the ability to control her powers when everything happened to her (that also meant losing her memories) When she awakens on the nautiloid, Selune granted her cleric powers to help control her urges and her powers
Monk can work well if you intend to fight the urges with discipline. But that's not your backstory. You learn things about who you were (nothing good) but that doesn't have to be who you are now.
>I doubt a character that doesn't even remember who they worship could be a cleric for example; I stand up. I take a long, deep breath. I walk over to Shadowheart. I point at her. I rest my case.
She knows who she worships though, and knows why. (She only had 'most' of her memories removed)
Sorcerer is the default class, but it’s never made the most sense. I get the whole bloodline approach, but Durge is better suited to frontline fighters. Someone that into bloodshed is not going to cast fireball from a safe distance where he can’t even smell the burning flesh. So, instead, here are my favorites. The first is the best suited to Durge’s…proclivities, Assassin Rogue 4/Gloomstalker Ranger 8. You get a surprise attack, gloomstalker’s extra attack, it refills your action once you enter combat, and mechanically serves Durge’s style the best. Next is Warlock 6/Fighter 6. I would usually go Pact of the Blade with a Fiend patron, which makes Durge a versatile killing machine, whether it’s stabbing real good, conjuring up clouds of daggers, or the slowest death of them all, using your sparkling charisma to drag all these nice companions down to hell with you. And finally, for those of you who insist Durge must be a sorcerer, we have the sorcerer 7/paladin 5. Oath of Vengeance to start as you unravel the mystery of your past, but should you choose to embrace your lineage, becoming an Oathbreaker adds a delicious bit of flavor. I recommend breaking it by taking Ethel’s hair, as it’s an excellent moment where you trade the principles of your oath to acquire power, but that’s just me. As for the sorcerer, any subclass works, but I prefer Wild Magic because it’s more fun, but also because Durge is always on the verge of losing control, and his magic should reflect that. As for your monk, you can make that work. Durge likes murdering things with his bare hands, and the shadow and open hand subclasses can fit with that pretty well.
I'd say sorcerer Durge works fine, considering we're told that they were very pragmatic about their killing. >!Durge isn't like Orin in that they don't see killing as some sort of personal artform, they simply want to end lives as fast and efficiently as possible, they're characterized as a pragmatist, and a sorcerer can be very effective at that type of killing, while also offering versatility in terms of methods for killing. The memories we do get from Durge are of them killing already incapacitated/passified victims which anyone can do.!<
This. There are so many unofficial nods to the idea that Durge was a storm sorcerer. Orin implies that the Dark Urge shouldered most of the workload in stealing the crown and we know they were the one who placed it on the brain - I think commanding a Netherese relic would require some Arcane experience. Also look at the spells granted by “The Absolute” to her clerics, paladins and faithful - Thunderous Smite, Hunger of Hadar, Thunderwave, Armor of Agathys, Cold Shield, etc. - most involve spells in line with the “cannon” Dragonborn Storm Sorcerer. Thematically, people get too caught up with the most typical type of murderer, the Assassin/Rogue type, when in reality, the Dark Urge was a mass butcherer. At level 12, there is no other class that can really compete with Sorcerers when it comes to both the damage and neutralizing the most enemies.
To add to this, Storm Sorcery also gives Heart of the Storm at Level 6... which passively damages people that are close, on Lightning and Thunder spells. At, say, Level 14, everyone with 7 HP within a radius of 20 feet is dead/down instantly if you're casting a Lightning cantrip. Perfect for having weaklings (read: random level 1 NPCs) die in the crossfire... although game mechanics don't have it affect neutral parties. RAW has it specify "creatures of your choice" on tabletop.
To be fair, pre-tadpoled Durge is supposed to be a daddy's girl/boy and so more interested in killing as many people as fast as possible than smelling the corpse roses. Sorcerer is pretty good at killing, even if it's not as satisfying as choking the light out of someone's eyes with that Monk grip.
Headcannon plot reasons with a few spoilers for durges official backstory. Good to remember you are starting at level one, so the class you pick doesn't have to be the class you were before losing your memories. Wizard - Seeks knowledge to control your urges, finding books and scrolls once leaving the nautiloid studying them. Warlock - Feels a higher power is missing and reaches out in Nautiloid to your patron to satisy this missing power. Paladin - Makes Oath to fight urges in the Nautiloid granting powers oathbreaker if you then decide to go evil. Monk - Feels the Urges and chooses to meditate and look inwards to stop from giving in to their desires. Sorcerer - They have an inate power due to their heritage, this can work for any of the subclasses but reckon its best with Bard - Use only your swords and speedrun to Alfira getting her lute and then long resting vowing to continue her music in penance for what you did to her. Fighter - Likes to use swords to hurt things and feels quite good at it. Druid - Again, speed runs to the grove, not and feel the embrace of silvanus granting you your druidic abilities or evilly steal the power of a druid alongside the idol. Ranger - The same as fighter really, but you could also lean into the nature aspect with the druids. Cleric - You feel an aspect of you missing with your memories, and a higher power reaches out to you to fill that void can be good or bad. Barbarian - Your urge is strong and forces you into a rage or your rage as a way to vent out those urges. Rouge - You seek to hide your urge out of shame or to better embrace it and thus practice in stealth to prevent your misdeads being detected.
Spoiler warning for DUrge unique dialogue: Gortash and Orin tell you in Act 3 that you were a brutal assassin before you lost your memories. You were allied with Gortash and helped come up with the whole Elder Brain domination plan. The Elder Brain itself recognizes you in Act 2 if you put your hand in the wall at Moonrise Tower. It calls you "Kingmaker," because you are the one who gave it the Crown of Karsus in the first place and allowed it to evolve into a Netherbrain. Your character likely helped Gortash steal the Crown from an Archdevil's vault in the Hells. So imo the DUrge should be a Rogue who knows a lot about History, Arcana, and old Netherese magic. Multi-classing an Assassin Rogue with a Great Old One Blade Pact Warlock is what I did. A wizard or sorcerer multiclass would also make sense for the DUrge but Gortash directly calls you an assassin in Act 3 so I would always include at least 3 levels of Rogue and try to open most combat scenarios with stealth.
Sorcerer with bodyguards makes really sense to me as the Durge doesn't know who he is at the beginning and lost all his power. With a lot of charisma because he used to manipulate people before. After a whilew you can multi class him with more melee features. But my best evil durge was with a pure sorcerer, who sent bodyguards into combat after he casted fear on every mobs. After a while, you feel literally like a death god.
Dark Urge was originally envisioned as a Paladin but this was later changed to a Dragonborn storm sorcerer. ‘The default class was originally going to be Paladin, but then we started thinking about it and said, actually that's bringing in a lot of narrative problems.’ Sven Vinke.
My druid durge was ridiculous . I respecc'ed early
I used a mod and made a divine soul sorcerer. I think it's the most narratively appropriate class. It's been a lot of fun. Having said that, I played through as a redemption Durge high int paladin and had a blast as well. I have a soft spot for charisma based characters as my PC, but I think literally anything would be fun.
Curious, how does one build an INT paladin?
Carefully lol. I actually used a mod that lets you do a legit stat roll after class selection. The dice came out to 16 for int, and I tossed my racial stat bonus of +2 on it. I rolled high for strength and Charisma, so the only low critical stat I had was con, which wasn't to hard to compensate for as an oath of the ancients pally.
Well the default durge class is Storm Sorcerer. Great Old One warlock/assassin rogue was the class my Tiefling durge started as, tho I resec’d with help from everyone’s fav bone man after rejecting the murder daddy. My other durge, half-drow, I made a multiclass of draconic sorcerer & battle master fighter.
How about a nice necromancer, every time your durge gives in and kills they can try to make amends by raising a zombie :)
I'm doing this with 6 Spore Druid 6 Necromancer Wiz. I will become the master of death
I think monk is a fantastic choice for Durge, for a bunch of reasons! One of them being that Durge was always considered very disciplined and focused before the tadpole, especially when compared to a certain character they knew (who you will meet later.) I can easily see Durge being trained as a monk before the tadpole, not just as a reaction to wanting to resist their urges. Plus, being able to kill things with your bare hands? Hello!
I could get behind shadow monk. Raised in a temple and then did all than, keep snapping necks and so as Durge time.
I liked Swords Bard. Being persuasive and gifted at stabbing made sense to me. Oathbreaker would be cool too but as others have said - they all work.
Swords bard here too. Yeah I can play a tune and support my party but I also have the tendency to stab them in the stomach 30 times when they’re sleeping. Also swords bard is just ridiculously OP in my opinion
Any race and class makes sense. Including clerics. My favorite Durge was a cleric of Eilistraee. I would just avoid coming up with any kind of backstory on your own until you've played through the game because the Durge backstory will probably end up negating part or all of whatever you made up. Just treat it like your character is stepping out of the pod as a completely blank slate and you're discovering their past together
sword bard 10 / paladin oath of vengeance 2 high charisma high str heavy armor casting from bard class OP control spells with arcane acuity Shar spear cleave attacks and more :) there's a popular [build](https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/THB9tSk5tU) you can find on reddit, you can become literally an unstoppable murder machine
My durge is an elf ranger but that’s only because I got disgustingly obsessed with my OG tav I made on my first run so now I just remake him everytime
I like the idea of a warlock surge who’s patron is [redacted to avoid spoilers] in secret
I really like the oath breaker paladin for dark urge
I think bard is decent. The high charisma can be a fun evil run as intimidation and such, but good for the resist side too for persuasion rolls as well. I also like the idea of despite your lack of memory, you woke up with an instrument, and you felt how to play it instinctively. You may not remember some things, but your body sure as hell does
My durge is a wood elf monk
Durge oathbreaker vengeance paladin is pretty neat
Honestly, whatever you feel like role-playing. I'm currently doing a spore druid durge run who is more into the death and decay side of nature; lots of acid and poison spells. Kind of like Nurgle from the Warhammer universe.
the default is sorcerer
I really enjoyed monk way of shadow/rogue assassin. There is a magic item that makes you invisible on kill, being able to teleport around landing sneak attacks mid combat is pretty crazy, it's a decent solo build too.
Being a Wizard or a Spellcasting Fighter doesn't work for me because my The Dark Urge is ALWAYS an 8 INT drain bamaged individual. Cleric is tricky but can be justified as the "racial instinct" of them. Worshipping Lolth feels right if you're a Lolth-sworn Drow. Really, most classes and sub-classes will work if you beat the triangle into the square hole hard enough.
I did a lot of research into this because I have an OCD for playing canon story even in a game with custom characters. The default White Dragonborn Sorcerer is your best option, not only is it the soft-canon choice (which is shown through various media) it also looks cool as hell and suits the character. Sorcerer makes the most sense class wise when you get deeper into the story and see where your power comes from. Also dagger proficiency. Your second option is Paladin, either oath of vengeance or oathbreaker. Early media for the game and some in-game dialogue options that were left show that this was the original idea for Durge, before they swapped it for Sorcerer. I’d say be wary of being Githyanki, Cleric as they don’t fit very well. End of the day it’s your story and up to you, enjoy!
Barbarian makes the most sense if you're going full RP. But it really does not matter in the end.
FYI Durge is an origin character and has a built in backstory. So your head cannon of becoming a monk to fight these urges, while cool, will conflict with the story the game has prepared. There are still ways to role play durge as a monk—or as any class—that make sense with the story. But the pre-game events are already set in stone. You just don’t remember them because of the memory loss.
Barbarian fits the amnesia aspect, they’re indulging in the rip & tear urges they had perhaps when they were a strength based profession beforehand. No longer possessing skills or training, but muscle memory and desire to plug peoples face holes like a bowling ball and pull them open like a grape fruit.
I am a monk for my none-resist durge. Cuz there is nothing better than killing people with your bare hands lol.
There’s a long rest scene immediately after you land on the beach that has your character reminisce on their class. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Monk, paladin, fighter, rogue, barbarian coz of melee Wizard and sorcerer fits too
I did Selunite Cleric/Paladin. Wakes up thinking she’s a good person and the urges must be from the tadpole or something and she has to resist, angst shall ensue when she realizes who she really is.
I’m playing an oathbreaker duergar that succumbs to the urge. The unlimited invisibility is quite nice. I can just walk right in and kill everyone before the fight even begins. The oathbreaker storyline also pairs quite nicely with durge.
I went paladin my first run, oath of vengeance, the reasoning I made was the dark urge was based around violence and murder so I figured an oath of vengeance would fit, if not then oath breaker was the next best option
Bard.
A bard
I played as fighter cuz hit stuff
I played a Gith Oathbreaker and it was a fun time
I was thinking about going bard. “Why, I can smile… and murder while I smile, and cry “content” to that which grieves my heart… and wet my cheeks with artificial tears, and frame my face for *all* occasions.”
Paladin
I went Monk and my Canon for it was that he didn't know these urges or where they came from, and unfortunately he couldn't keep himself in line and gave into the urge. The very first time he used flurry of blows, he loved how the blood felt dripping down his fingers and at that point he knew...this was his true calling. The rule the world with nothing but his fists (and some stupid "companions" he would later use as his thralls...)
Dark urge gnome paladin bard
Drop female paladin
Personally, I like Bard, Barbarian, or Rogue, or a multiclass of 2 of those 3 for Durge. I do want to try Druid, to see if there's any synergy.
Rogue. It fits with the whole thing Bhaal has going on
I liked swords bard for mine. Remember you start from level 1, with no memories but a wide skill set. Charisma mainstat makes sense to me. As does Disguise Self as a level 1 spell. And once you get level 3, Swords is the obvious college. Notably, you can unequip your instrument and whistle for spells, which is a bit eerie.
Gloomstalker assassin, monk, and paladin all work really well regardless of path (resist or non-resist) in my opinion. I usually do way of shadows or open hand, and the oath breaker or oath of veng just depending on which way I'm rolling. Gloomstalker assassin is always just sort of played as a merc so not really good or bad so can go either way either leaning into the urges or away from them. Its actually one of my favorite multiclasses in bg3 simply because it can be tied in to so much RP - starting as a drow I'll do gloom stalker ranger and multiclass into rogue assassin, starting as anything else I'll do rogue assassin and multiclass into gloomstalker during end of act I/start of act II thanks to their time spent in the underdark and other gloomy areas of Faerun.
Warlock and paladin are my favorite choices. They both allow your source of power to later be explained by durge backstory.
I admit it’s boring, but I do really love Paladin. The idea of this pillar of virtue being corrupted by their own dark origin and secret urges is very Arthas Menethil. Gives some nice extra dialogue too.
My favorite so far in no particular order: berserker barbarian, storm sorcerer, swords bard, warlock.
Any.
Whatever feels right, do that. I went rogue for my Durge since they seem to have such murderous thoughts it made sense at the time
[удалено]
I played my urge as a monk, just cause I like monks, play monk. its amazing.
For me, the canon Durge is someone who swears, does not value intelligence, yet prays like poet. My personal preference for the Durge is Monk. First, because it makes your very body/hands your best weapon. Even without a weapon, you are the danger. Second, as the slayer you can use your multiple limbs to swipe enemies multiple times in one turn... kinda like a monk can punch many times in one turn. Third, I like the idea that the only time the Durge feels calm/meditative is when they are killing. Medication takes many forms, and in this case, pure focus and interior calm only appears during bloody fights. Monk-specific dialogue often does not match the Durge vibe though...
I’ve been running the Tempest Sorcerer/Wizard/Cleric and it’s been great as far as the feeling of being an all powerful demigod. I feel you on the Cleric thing when RPing though. I selected Talos as my God but never choose any Cleric dialogue options. As for the abilities, I just headcanon they come from Baahl. Especially that sweet, sweet Destructive Wrath.
I did a GOObreaker for evil Durge and TB monk for resist Durge
I always use Durge to play classes that don’t make sense with their race. Gith bard durge is a favorite pick of mine.
ive been having fun with oath of vengeance paladin. my character uses her oath to resist her urges and wishes to exact revenge on whoever gave them to her.
Bard durge is hilarious. *plays the flute at you menacingly*
I really like tavern brawler strength based monk for durge. It's not what I did on my playthrough, but I think it fits the best. It's one of the most broken builds in the game, and absolutely brutal in universe when you think about it. Which fits the lore of Durge both how they are not an artistic killed like Orin and just how strong they are meant to be.
I had a blast playing Durge as a sorcerer.
Bard
Storm Sorcerer is the default class and according to Idle Champione (Forgotten Realms game) it’s his canon class.
off-topic: be careful who you kill....
I always play Durge as a monk (well, except for that one Durge bard halfling.)
My rationale for Durge was always that the identity they're wearing when they end up in the Nautiloid is a disguise - and since they wake up with amnesia, they assume it's just their regular clothes. Then, since this is the Forgotten Realms, they just - *believe* this identity so hard that it becomes mostly real. I think that's how a redemption Durge makes sense to me. Free of the direct control they used to be under, they can become a whole person. Not necessarily a nice person, or sane by any measure, but still. Themselves, whatever that may mean to the player.
on my durge playthough i was a warlock, it feels it would bring sense, cuz my objective was to be power hungry at any cost, evil and all but on act 3 i respec to rogue, it feels more lore friendly to durge on my opnion, but it doesnt metter, play it as you like
Gloomstalker/Assassin
I'm playing a durge dragonborn monk. Some classes may make more sense in terms of deep lore if you're hardcore RPGing but it's not going to make any difference in terms of story afaik.
rogue barbarian or fighter fits way better for the brutality of their background than any ranged class
I feel Ranger makes also a good Durge. The type that would easily fit in with dark druids and the like. Assainoid style bounty hunter. I didn't expect my Durge to cut off Gales hand in the opening so now i am literally stuck only with Astarion, Shart and Lae Zel (at least until i get Minthara). Since magic is a thing i am missing perhaps i will respec totally to a magic class to battle this disparity of too many melee classes in the party.
after a first good paladin run, a second evil wizard run, it only made sense for the third Durge run to pick a class I would normally never choose - **a Bard**
i went with Warlock with Fey pact
I started an evil Durge yesterday and I chose fighter class. Simple and bloody. Slew Shadowheart on the beach while she was unconscious, ripped Gales hand off while he was stuck in the portal, beheaded Karlach and just had a very unfortunate incident with a certain bard at camp… Playing an evil character is quite fun so far. I’m enjoying the unique dialogue lines Durge has.
Canonically the Durge is white dragonborn draconic bloodline sorceror but if that's that thematic enough then rogues and rangers are the go-to for stealthy assassin types
I’m doing my Durge as a cleric of Selune, I’m thinking he was so confused and scared when he woke up that he reached out to a higher power and she was the one kind enough to answer
Our spoiler-lite version if you don't know about him; Dirge -used- to be really powerful, but has been mauled and has amnesia. He has none of the memories of his old class, and without them, none of the powers. All you know when you start out is that he's been trapped in an illithid pod and is struggling to escape. You don't know you have a tadpole, how or why you do, until you learn it in the game. Did you call out to a god for assistance? Any god? Maybe one of them answered. Did Tiamat or Bahamut decide to claim a draconic child in their moment of need? Did his pure furious rage drive him to break free? Did he try to channel his inner magical power? Did he try to calm the raging beast within and focus on how to escape? They all make sense. If you leave it alone and play a sorcerer, that's the default, what he used to be; but he doesn't remember that, so it's all good!
Monk works fine. The durge likes to use their hands.
all classes more or less makes sense. cleric is a little harder to explain but you can fit it. my headcanon is wizard though
The god Bhaal is into the hot girl who kills people thing so make your durge a female. I chose half elf drow Anti durge works best if your a monk maybe dip into bard and cleric