Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Barbarian]

You know the most fun build I have played so far is a champion/assassin multiclass on honour mode. On paper I know it seems worse than the perennial assassin/gloom stalker, but it isn't.

The idea is to have lower critical threshold(18 right off the bat with improved critical passive + elixir of viciousness) and set yourself up to attack with advantage every round. You will be crit fishing very reliably and there will be some cool tactics and positioning involved. I seem to be critting at least 1 out of every 3 attacks. Sometimes I fish 2 crits in one round.

Assassin + alert gives you guaranteed advantage on all first round attacks. Deathstalker mantle makes you invisible every time you take out an enemy(therefore giving you advantage). Then there is hiding, using guiding bolt, etc.

Strenght being main stat - the single one the game allows you to get to 20 by early chapter 2 without a single ASI being spent(Cutting a deal with Ethel and then convincing Astarion to bite the drow creep in moonrise towers). Extremely mobile(dash bonus action and being to jump on top of buildings as well) and you can also shove reliably and throw enemies and objects around.

Didn't have nearly as much fun playing Assassin/Stalker and Paladin. Also didn't plan my rounds or actually use tactics as much.

 

[Haplo]

Eh, devoting a class to improving critical range by 1 sounds kinda bad to me.

Also you mention Strenght based - but are you using Finesse weapons with that? Because you can only Sneak Attack with Finesse weapons.

 

[Barbarian]

Eh, devoting a class to improving critical range by 1 sounds kinda bad to me.

Also you mention Strenght based - but are you using Finesse weapons with that? Because you can only Sneak Attack with Finesse weapons.

Yes. Currently nearing the end of chapter 2 and going with the short sword of life stealing. Duelling fighting style + Gloves of the Duellist(total + 2 to attack rolls and damage besides the + 5 I get from strenght and + 2 I get from the sword, I hardly ever miss attacks). I'm basically doing 9 +1d6 damage every melee attack, besides bonus 2d6 sneak once every round and poison/oil effects(which I use often). The 10 extra necrotic damage on crits was uselles most fights since most enemies in the chapter are undead, but boy I often saw it pack a punch on those that weren't. Also heals you when it does.

Str 20 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 9

Level 9(fighter 6/rogue 3). Alert and Savage Attacker feats. You might argue savage attacker is a wasted feat with short swords, but since I'm critting often it is really paying itself off. Alert + action surge means I get that sweet string of attacks with advantage on a first round.

I finish most of my rounds either invisible(always try to kill something with my last action in the round) or hiding. Which ironically means I'm often not attacked, being that I'm usually first mover due to high initiative. Deal massive amounts of damage. Use amulet of branding for those annoying resistant enemies. Or when I want even higher damage on a single attack(had a few very satisfying massive crits this way by making enemies vulnerable to piercing).

Build is not just improved critical. There is also extra attack,, action surge, extra feat at level 6 and then becoming frogleap incarnate at level 7(fighter 7/rogue 5 final is the plan). And getting your main stat to 20 with no ASI involved(massive advantage over being a caster or a dex melee/ranged fighter).

Honestly this is the only build where I actually feel like I'm playing a "dark urge". I'm one shotting things much more often then I did as a paladin.

 

[Barbarian]

The math on critical hitting chance with advantage. I'm currently at 18 threshold with champion passive plus elixir of viciousness every long rest and can reliably make 4 to 5 attacks attacks with advantage first round using haste potions and action surge. There have been instances where I netted 3 critical hits on a single round.

It will get better on chapter 3 with better crit fishing items. Also if I can get my hands on improved invisibility somehow. People sleep on these builds. Very fun and very OP.

Critical Hit Threshold	Chance without Advantage	Chance with Advantage	Two attacks with advantage
20	5%	9.75%	18.55%
19	10%	19%	34.39%
18	15%	27.75%	47.8%
17	20%	36%	59.04%
16	25%	43.75%	68.36%
15	30%	51%	75.99%
14	35%	57.75%	82.15%

 

[Yosharian]

If you want to use math you should be attempting to determine the amount of extra damage per round that your increased chance to crit gives

I suspect it's very little

 

[Haplo]

If you want to use math you should be attempting to determine the amount of extra damage per round that your increased chance to crit gives

I suspect it's very little

Except when critting on Sneak Attack. But that's maximum one time per round. And not so frequent outside of Surprise rounds.

In general I think you'd get much more value from Battlemaster, with Maneuvers adding extra d8 damage (x2 on crits, which can be forced in Surprise Round), possibly easy and fairly reliably additional source of Advantage from Proning enemies, Precise Strike when you face an enemy that is not so trivial to hit and an occasional Riposte extra attack.

 

[Yosharian]

Or alternatively just be a Swords Bard and hit everything twice

 

[Haplo]

Or alternatively just be a Swords Bard and hit everything twice

Y not both?

Swords 6 / Assassin 3 / BM 3
Action Surge into Slashing Fluorishes for quadratic crits on alpha round


Actually that's what I've been planning for my Durge... until I held off BG3 for DD2.
...with Resonance Stone and Shadow Blade for x2 damage (though I realize I will have issues reaching enemies with melee Slashing Fluorishes... but ranged combat is for sissies).

 

[Yosharian]

It's just so boringly OP

 

[Haplo]

It's just so boringly OP

Maybe.
But the thing with BG3 builds is that you rarely get very OP very early.
There are steep tradeoffs everywhere.
The build I mentioned gets Action Surge at level 11, which is Act 3.
So quite a bit playtime strong, but not excessively OP.

 

[Fedora Master]

You sure need to minmax to win the game....

 

[jackofshadows]

Is there restrictions for guaranteed crits in honour mode? Hold person etc

 

[AshenNedra]

You sure need to minmax to win the game....

Indeed.

 

[Barbarian]

If you want to use math you should be attempting to determine the amount of extra damage per round that your increased chance to crit gives

I suspect it's very little

Let me see. This is for the character at level 12(fighter 7/rogue 5) assuming I keep the same gear loadout I have right now(I will likely have much better stuff by then). Also setup sneak attack to "ask" to proc on reaction so I always use it on some critical hit.

Regular attack: 9 + 1d6 damage = maximum 15 damage)
Critical hit attack: 2x(9+1d6) + 10 flat necrotic damage = maximum 40 damage(28 + 2d6)
Critical hit sneak attack: 2x(9+1d6) + 2x(3d6) + 10 flat necrotic damage = maximum 76 damage(28 + 8d6)

Assume I quaff a haste potion and use action surge on the first round of combat. That is 5 attacks. Assume at least two of these attacks are critical hits.

That is 161 maximum damage output in one round(101 flat + 10d6). 68 of that number comes from critical damage.

That is not to mention other shenanigans I can use, such as the amulet of branding once per long rest(which itself doubles damage by making enemies vulnerable - meaning maximum 152 damage on a single critical hit).

I'm sure this is not the best damage output build in the game, but it sure has more damage and more function than the assassin gloom stalker build everyone uses. Specially first round(which is also where such alternative build would shine)

 

[Yosharian]

Ah if you are guaranteed to use up your SA on a crit then that's slightly better to be fair.

Even so, I seriously doubt you are doing better damage than just going straight fighter and thus getting an additional attack.

 

[Desiderius]

If you want to use math you should be attempting to determine the amount of extra damage per round that your increased chance to crit gives

I suspect it's very little

Let me see. This is for the character at level 12(fighter 7/rogue 5) assuming I keep the same gear loadout I have right now(I will likely have much better stuff by then). Also setup sneak attack to "ask" to proc on reaction so I always use it on some critical hit.

Regular attack: 9 + 1d6 damage = maximum 15 damage)
Critical hit attack: 2x(9+1d6) + 10 flat necrotic damage = maximum 40 damage(28 + 2d6)
Critical hit sneak attack: 2x(9+1d6) + 2x(3d6) + 10 flat necrotic damage = maximum 76 damage(28 + 8d6)

Assume I quaff a haste potion and use action surge on the first round of combat. That is 5 attacks. Assume at least two of these attacks are critical hits.

That is 161 maximum damage output in one round(101 flat + 10d6). 68 of that number comes from critical damage.

That is not to mention other shenanigans I can use, such as the amulet of branding once per long rest(which itself doubles damage by making enemies vulnerable - meaning maximum 152 damage on a single critical hit).

I'm sure this is not the best damage output build in the game, but it sure has more damage and more function than the assassin gloom stalker build everyone uses. Specially first round(which is also where such alternative build would shine)

I remember being surprised how solid the Improved Crit was on straight-up Champion, but can’t remember what I was doing with it (Reach + Sentinel?)

Advantage is a mechanic that makes wide crit ranges better than they seem, especially if you can get more bites at the apple, but crit fishing is usually something used to exploit autoconfirm effects against things that are hard to hit.

 

[Barbarian]

If you want to use math you should be attempting to determine the amount of extra damage per round that your increased chance to crit gives

I suspect it's very little

Let me see. This is for the character at level 12(fighter 7/rogue 5) assuming I keep the same gear loadout I have right now(I will likely have much better stuff by then). Also setup sneak attack to "ask" to proc on reaction so I always use it on some critical hit.

Regular attack: 9 + 1d6 damage = maximum 15 damage)
Critical hit attack: 2x(9+1d6) + 10 flat necrotic damage = maximum 40 damage(28 + 2d6)
Critical hit sneak attack: 2x(9+1d6) + 2x(3d6) + 10 flat necrotic damage = maximum 76 damage(28 + 8d6)

Assume I quaff a haste potion and use action surge on the first round of combat. That is 5 attacks. Assume at least two of these attacks are critical hits.

That is 161 maximum damage output in one round(101 flat + 10d6). 68 of that number comes from critical damage.

That is not to mention other shenanigans I can use, such as the amulet of branding once per long rest(which itself doubles damage by making enemies vulnerable - meaning maximum 152 damage on a single critical hit).

I'm sure this is not the best damage output build in the game, but it sure has more damage and more function than the assassin gloom stalker build everyone uses. Specially first round(which is also where such alternative build would shine)

I remember being surprised how solid the Improved Crit was on straight-up Champion, but can’t remember what I was doing with it (Reach + Sentinel?)

Advantage is a mechanic that makes wide crit ranges better than they seem, especially if you can get more bites at the apple, but crit fishing is usually something used to exploit autoconfirm effects against things that are hard to hit.

That is where assassin is powerful. In the first round pretty much every attack is made with advantage(assuming you either have high dexterity or the alert feat).

5 attacks means 10 d20 rolls with advantage. Every single one of these 10 rolls I make that is an 18, 19 or 20 will be a crit. There is gear later in the which lowers critical threshold even further.

 

[Barbarian]

You sure need to minmax to win the game....

Not minmax. Thematic build.

If I was minmaxing I would go for some munchkin shenanigans such as taking some paladin levels for added smites.

That said honour mode greatly improves difficulty, action economy and balance. It is a much better game on this difficulty.

 

[Yosharian]

'Things that are hard to hit'

Lmao this is BG3

 

[Grunker]

It's just so boringly OP

Isn’t this kind og every build you do

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It's just so boringly OP

Isn’t this kind og every build you do

Is there such a thing as entertainingly OP anyway?

 

[Dishonoredbr]

I started a Monk Dark Urge run on the side of my main one, act3 Fatigue is quite real. Dark Urge changes/adds quite a bit of content compared to normal Tav. Not doing a Evil run but planning to recruit Minthara.

I quite impressed by how much of Act 1 I didn't do or missed. Sadly , Monk and DragonBorn lack a lot of the reactivity from Druid Drow.

 

[Yosharian]

It's just so boringly OP

Isn’t this kind og every build you do

Well

If the build hasn't taken any effort to create or execute, then... it's just not satisfying. Like the guide for this build: 1) pick Swords Bard 2) equip bow 3) that's it

Also, there isn't much content for such an OP build to be used against, in Wrath at least there are extremely challenging bosses. In BG3 there is virtually no challenge.

 

[Barbarian]

I started a Monk Dark Urge run on the side of my main one, act3 Fatigue is quite real. Dark Urge changes/adds quite a bit of content compared to normal Tav. Not doing a Evil run but planning to recruit Minthara.

I quite impressed by how much of Act 1 I didn't do or missed. Sadly , Monk and DragonBorn lack a lot of the reactivity from Druid Drow.

Some races barely having any reactivity actually makes sense to me. Why should characters randomly interject on you being a human, half-elf or any of the more common races. Nü D&D also seems to make it so that there are no snowflakes anymore.

I mean Drow are now everywhere in the surface, even working in brothels and owning shops. Not like ye olde days when Drizzt was an oddity. Deep gnomes are everywhere and even have their own faction in Baldur's gate. "Frontier" races like half-orcs are in the city doing menial jobs like waitering and cooking, ditto for the dragonfolk. So even the interactions with these races seem like they should be dime a dozen.

 

[Barbarian]

It's just so boringly OP

Isn’t this kind og every build you do

Well

If the build hasn't taken any effort to create or execute, then... it's just not satisfying. Like the guide for this build: 1) pick Swords Bard 2) equip bow 3) that's it

Also, there isn't much content for such an OP build to be used against, in Wrath at least there are extremely challenging bosses. In BG3 there is virtually no challenge.

Rule of a thumb should be either pure class or at most dual class with things which made sense in traditional D&D. Like back in the day you could only multi combs like thief + fighter or wizard + fighter or thief(the latter two make no sense now that you have arcane trickster and eldritch knight).

The rest to me are system exploits, munchkin builds and frankly BS that ruins actual roleplay and hardly ever makes sense. My headcannon durge makes absolute sense as a half-elf(which automatically begins with "civil militia" perk) who started out as a soldier, become an assassin upon heeding his heritage and now is back to being a fighter. Before that it was a paladin who (you guessed it) broke his oath upon beginning his murder spree. I hated that trend in the pathfinder series with having builds with dips in 5 or even 6 classes. How does that even makes sense?

Durge barely makes sense as most classes btw. How in the hell would a Bhaalish cult leader and serial killer be a bard or druid for instance. Even the canonic dragonborn sorcerer makes no sense and the interactive novel thingie they did where the normies voted for his race and class was utter bullshit.

So guys here is this murder mystery about a secretive serial killer who is leaving brutally mutilated corpses around the city. YEAH MAKE HIM A DRAGONBORN SPELLCASTER FOR THE LULZ