Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 - tips, tricks & helpful information

[FugueLah]

For the Honour mode I'm quite enjoying a Sword Bard 6 / Blade Warlock 3 / Oath of Devotion Paladin 3.
Unfortunately in practice its a respec build I guess. And Warlock is the least critical part. On the other hand, I started with Warlock, so I prefer to keep it. And Blade Pact + Gloves of Dexterity mean I only need to worry about Charisma and, to a lesser dgree, Con. Plus Mirror Image, Armor of Agathys, Misty Step and the occassional Hellish Rebuke are nice. Oh and Mortal Reminder on crits.

Slashing Flourish + Bhaalist Armor Aura of Murder + Nyrulna is pretty cool ....can also get guaranteed crits (Luck of the Far Realms + Killer's Sweetheart), smites and even paralyse (Surgeon Subjugation Amulet) on bosses...

Pact of the blade is a noob trap. 10 Bard 2 Paladin blows it out of the water.

I also use Astarion Rogue 3 / Sword Bard dual wielding hand crossbows.
In general I can recommend a ranged caster hybrid with a Hat of Arcane Acuity, the Drakethroat Glaive to enchant a ranged weapon with Cold and Snowburst ring. Sword Bard is great with Slashing Fluorish - Ranged (and/or Arrows of Many Targets).
DC 25+ slippery Ice patches for everyone!

Plus the Band of Mythic Scoundrel for Bonus Action CC spells, of course.

This is currently the most broken meta honor mode build in the game.

 

[Yosharian]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

I'll wait until mods have matured a bit so that there is an actual challenge worth playing for

 

[Haplo]

Pact of the blade is a noob trap. 10 Bard 2 Paladin blows it out of the water.

Yeah. In Act 3. Where everything is overepowered anyway.
Meanwhile a Blade Warlock dominates the game right from the start, when its the most difficult.

 

[Grunker]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

I'll wait until mods have matured a bit so that there is an actual challenge worth playing for

Why not just play something that’s not overpowered

 

[FugueLah]

Yeah. In Act 3. Where everything is overepowered anyway.
Meanwhile a Blade Warlock dominates the game right from the start, when its the most difficult.

So you delay getting a second attack until level 9 and you somehow think this is the best approach to melee swords bard? You have to go Bard 6 first, and going 2 Paladin after is just the logical choice. For any level after this, it doesn't make sense to chase Pact of the Blade at level 12 when you can get more bard levels: more smites, confusion, hold monster, counterspell, and a fucking myrmidon. Your build also only has one feat btw.

 

[Haplo]

Yeah. In Act 3. Where everything is overepowered anyway.
Meanwhile a Blade Warlock dominates the game right from the start, when its the most difficult.

So you delay getting a second attack until level 9 and you somehow think this is the best approach to melee swords bard? You have to go Bard 6 first, and going 2 Paladin after is just the logical choice. For any level after this, it doesn't make sense to chase Pact of the Blade at level 12 when you can get more bard levels: more smites, confusion, hold monster, counterspell, and a fucking myrmidon. Your build also only has one feat btw.

I never said I have not respecced. I actually wrote the opposite. I started with Warlock 5, which is one of the best starts possible IMO.
And yeah, as I dislike being reliant on pots - and actually consider other elixirs more valuable - I do think that the single attribute dependancy of a Blade Warlock is a huge added value. Especially with Diadem of Arcane Synergy.
Some slots that regenerate on Short Rest for Smites are neat also.

Didn't care about Confusion, as both Astarion and Gale had it. Counterspell - Gale plus illithid power (earlier had it from Warlock). Hold Monster? A single target level 5 spell? Without Arcane Acuity? Yeah, no thanks.

Though one thing does need updating. I no longer recommend to use Nyulna with Sword Bards. In order to reliably use Slashing Fluorish in melee, you need a Reach weapon. Unseen Menace is so Act 1... and frankly a bit unreliable. So Breaching Pikestaff it is.

 

[Haplo]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

I'll wait until mods have matured a bit so that there is an actual challenge worth playing for

Why not just play something that’s not overpowered

Yeah, like a druid. Or pure class Warlock.

 

[FugueLah]

I never said I have not respecced.

Since you can respec from anything to anything else, whatever you start with is not in anyway relevant to how you finish. You made a warlock and then respecced him to Bard, but you could have respecced him to a better bard, so my point still stands. You don't need strength elixirs either. Your dex should be high regardless, so just dump strength and use finesse weapons. 3 levels for just cha modifier is a trap. 18 dex and savage attacker, 16 cha + acuity helmet will give you guaranteed hold person/monster.

Didn't care about Confusion, as both Astarion and Gale had it. Counterspell - Gale plus illithid power (earlier had it from Warlock). Hold Monster? A single target level 5 spell? Without Arcane Acuity? Yeah, no thanks.

As a package 10 Bard brings so much to the table. If you don't need counterspell, you can choose one of the other best spells in the game instead. And don't sleep on hold monster either. Illithid powers are also cheating.

 

[Stoned Ape]

I went Swords Bard 8/Wizard 4 High Elf (for the longbow proficiency and Wizard Cantrip at 1st level). Started with 8 Str, 10 Dex, 14 Con, 16 Int, 10 Wis, and 16 Cha, bumped INT with 2 ASI. Levelled to 6 bard then 4 wizard, then finished with bard levels. I relied on Shocking Grasp & bard spells until I grabbed the Gloves of Dexterity, then went archery & magic. Act 1 equipment was basically as much lightning charge stuff as I could find before I could buy the gloves.

4 levels of Wizard + 22 Int means you get a decent number of spells to prepare from that list. You can't get counterspell, but you could go 6 Swords Bard/6 Wizard or 10 Bard/2 Wizard if you really need it. I prefer the extra feat from the 8/4 split to get Sharpshooter and boost arrow damage. I generally used the Risky Ring to help the arrows land and trigger Band of Mystic Scoundrel for the free spell.

After getting the Hag hair and both mirror upgrades I reached 22 INT and 18 CHA in the end game. With the helm of arcane acuity it's easy to buff DC and make both Bard and Wizard spells land reliably.

Overall, I felt the game was pretty challenging at the beginning playing as a caster bard with limited options in combat and terrible AC, but after getting the Gloves of Dexterity the game became very easy, even more so after getting wizard spells from level 7.

 

[Swen]

 

[Fedora Master]

The memes really tell you a lot about the sort of people who play this game.

 

[Vibalist]

What do they tell you?

 

[Stoned Ape]

What do they tell you?

To me, memes like that suggest that the people that make them have a Belgian sense of humour. Mostly harmless but not very funny.

 

[Grunker]

can you fuck off to the main thread with your pathetic attempts at discourse and not shit up the only good bg3 thread in the forum

thx

 

[Yosharian]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

I'll wait until mods have matured a bit so that there is an actual challenge worth playing for

Why not just play something that’s not overpowered

Yeah, like a druid. Or pure class Warlock.

1) choosing to not use half the classes/feats/items in the game in order to create some semblance of challenge is not what motivates me

2) Moon Druid and pure Lock are insanely strong and in many ways trivialise the game, so trying to paint them as the underdog options is pretty funny to me

 

[Grunker]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

I'll wait until mods have matured a bit so that there is an actual challenge worth playing for

Why not just play something that’s not overpowered

Yeah, like a druid. Or pure class Warlock.

1) not what motivates me

2) Moon Druid and pure Lock are insanely strong and in many ways trivialise the game, so trying to paint them as the underdog options is pretty funny to me

1) You like challenge. You also consistently choose to play what is the most broken. These things conflict, and RPGs will always be broken, there has never been one there wasn't. I'm not saying you should pick suboptimal stuff, I'm saying you can't have both.

2) Where did I do this..?

 

[Swen]

What do they tell you?

To me, memes like that suggest that the people that make them have a Belgian sense of humour. Mostly harmless but not very funny.

Don't you like Tintin or Smurfs humour?

 

[Yosharian]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

I'll wait until mods have matured a bit so that there is an actual challenge worth playing for

Why not just play something that’s not overpowered

Yeah, like a druid. Or pure class Warlock.

1) not what motivates me

2) Moon Druid and pure Lock are insanely strong and in many ways trivialise the game, so trying to paint them as the underdog options is pretty funny to me

1) You like challenge. You also consistently choose to play what is the most broken. These things conflict, and RPGs will always be broken, there has never been one there wasn't. I'm not saying you should pick suboptimal stuff, I'm saying you can't have both.

2) Where did I do this..?

I just told you, there isn't much fun in finding out what's good when nearly everything in the game makes it very easy on the hardest difficulty

I was responding to Haplo as well as you

 

[Fedora Master]

What do they tell you?

The average fan is a normie, homosexual or a woman.

 

[Catacombs]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

How many hours did you clock?

 

[Yosharian]

It's piss easy to break this game, to the point where I'm bored making builds for it

How many hours did you clock?

219 currently

 

[Haplo]

You don't need strength elixirs either. Your dex should be high regardless, so just dump strength and use finesse weapons. 3 levels for just cha modifier is a trap. 18 dex and savage attacker, 16 cha + acuity helmet will give you guaranteed hold person/monster.

Why should I nerf my Sword Bard with Finesse weapons? Now not only I'm doing 10 damage less per hit (at least prior to some OP weapons in Act 3), but also I've halved my Bards effective melee attacks, as I can't use Melee Slashing Flourish most of the time.

 

[FugueLah]

You don't need strength elixirs either. Your dex should be high regardless, so just dump strength and use finesse weapons. 3 levels for just cha modifier is a trap. 18 dex and savage attacker, 16 cha + acuity helmet will give you guaranteed hold person/monster.

Why should I nerf my Sword Bard with Finesse weapons? Now not only I'm doing 10 damage less per hit (at least prior to some OP weapons in Act 3), but also I've halved my Bards effective melee attacks, as I can't use Melee Slashing Flourish most of the time.

Wdym 10 less damage? If you are running GWM, you have no asi feat. Max 18 CHA with hag's hair and you are investing 3 levels for CHA mod. You can still build STR like a stock standard Paladin build for similar results if you insist on GWM and reach, or take elixirs, whatever. Savage attacker across normal and smite rolls does similar overall damage anyway, so the difference is a d8 rapier vs d10 polearm.

 

[Haplo]

You don't need strength elixirs either. Your dex should be high regardless, so just dump strength and use finesse weapons. 3 levels for just cha modifier is a trap. 18 dex and savage attacker, 16 cha + acuity helmet will give you guaranteed hold person/monster.

Why should I nerf my Sword Bard with Finesse weapons? Now not only I'm doing 10 damage less per hit (at least prior to some OP weapons in Act 3), but also I've halved my Bards effective melee attacks, as I can't use Melee Slashing Flourish most of the time.

Wdym 10 less damage? If you are running GWM, you have no asi feat. Max 18 CHA with hag's hair and you are investing 3 levels for CHA mod. You can still build STR like a stock standard Paladin build for similar results if you insist on GWM and reach, or take elixirs, whatever. Savage attacker across normal and smite rolls does similar overall damage anyway, so the difference is a d8 rapier vs d10 polearm.

Yes, 10 damage less was hasty. Its rather 7-8 damage less, after we consider Dueling Style, ASI and difference in damage dice. Still, two hits per attack versus just one (5 times per Short Rest). Plus frequent GWM Bonus Action attack procs, whenever you kill or crit (which should be almost every round, every second round minimum).

 

[FugueLah]

Yes, 10 damage less was hasty. Its rather 7-8 damage less, after we consider Dueling Style, ASI and difference in damage dice. Still, two hits per attack versus just one (5 times per Short Rest). Plus frequent GWM Bonus Action attack procs, whenever you kill or crit (which should be almost every round, every second round minimum).

Not even close to 7-8. Savage attacker on smite attacks is comparable to GWM and is better than GWM against high AC targets. Also, the more damage sources you add to your attacks the faster GWM falls off.