Updates and Errata Section! I'll keep this updated as I learn more - First up, as many have pointed out, Greater Invisibility is pretty nerfed in BG3 currently - when you take actions that would *normally* break Invisibility, it makes you make an increasingly difficult stealth check to see if you maintain your invisibility. Lame! So yeah, don't dump dex and maybe respec to give yourself stealth proficiency :). Second, currently, the Pact of the Blade Extra Attack *stacks* with Extra Attack from other classes. I have to believe this will be fixed in a patch in the future, but until then, Warlock 5/Pally 5 looks *really* good at level 10 for that Gish. Next! Looks like Devil's Sight/Darkness is working - you still can't move it, but can still be useful, especially if you're a ranged character.
Just a quick shout out to Colby's opening. Every time I feel so good that he welcomes us in and tells us we belong. Some days it just feels good to hear that. Thank you Colby! We love it here!
Not only is baldur’s gate three probably the best game I’ve ever played, but it also led me to your channel, and your videos are delightful and exactly about my favorite thing about RPG’s, build crafting.
You're in the right spot dude, trust me. If you like BG3 then TRUST ME you should try and play tabletop DnD if u can. Then you can put some more of Colby's 100's of build ideas to work!
@@bigaj6901 I’d love to play tabletop. I played it pretty regularly when I was a kid in the nineties. Back under 2e rules. My problem now is my work schedule. I don’t have consistent days off and I run a restaurant so it’s not easy for me to be able to consistently attend a game night. It’s a shame cuz I know I’d love it. 5e is way more approachable than 2e was
Colby is such a warm, wholesome individual. I started watching his videos for the informed, well thought-out content but stayed for the sunshine he radiates. Thanks Colby! 😄
Love your videos Homelander. The deeper I get into Baldur's Gate 3, the more I realize that I think a lot of the really cool builds for subsequent playthroughs are gonna come from all the weird magic items they've peppered into the game. Many of them clearly synergize with each other or classes, and some of them are completely build-enabling. I think it wouild be cool to see videos that explore builds from an item perspective since it's not something you probably often get to do from a tabletop POV.
Yeah, magic items open up a lot of builds that would be "sub-optimal" in a regular play through. Crit fishing build looks fun with all the items that improve the crit rate. A lot of Barbarian and Monk magic items as well, makes monks actually somewhat fun
this was the first thing i thought when i discovered this channel. lol he could legit be a relative to homelander. subbed for the awesome tips after i got passed the traumatic flashbacks.
Honestly BG3 has been so good for your channel. You absolutely deserve the viewership and more. Your tips and commentary as well as your attitude is amazing. Great video have a good day.
A small correction on Darkness + Devil's Sight. It appears that the game distinguishes between magical darkness and normal darkness. Where passive darkvision from something like an elf seems to only work in natural darkness, Devil's Sight specifically prevents you from getting the blinded status in magical darkness. I'm using this to great effect right now with your blaster sorlock from your first video. I use a shadow monk to shroud my warlock in darkness, who then stands right in the middle of everyone and blasts away with advantage on every spell cast roll.
Doing the same with a Paladin/Warlock, while it is true you can't put darkness on yourself, and does it makes the enemies just run out... That is at least a turn of advantage + opportunity strike, and being very safe for a round or two afterward. There are also some web+darkness shenanigans that gets a bit abusive tbh =)
My friend made a sorlock build with darkness and devil's sight in a 5e campaign a few years ago and it worked beautifully. The one difference is in 5e you can cast in on an item you hold, and the darkness follows you as you move around the map 🤯
Does them running out of the darkness make them no longer subject to the secondary effects? I guess I'm asking, did Larian not implement the advantage for your ranged attacks as an unseen attacker because you are still in the darkness, and therefore, they can't see you/you are heavily obscured? Or the disadvantage to hit you because you are heavily obscured to them by the darkness? If so, it would still be very effective if you were hitting them with EB, right? I get that isn't really the point of the melee build, but I'm hoping there is still something effective I could do in that situation. I've been thinking about playing a warlock, but many of the things I could typically use to be very niche-effective have been poorly implemented (aspects of the visibility rules) or intentionally nerfed (hreater invis is a terrible, nearly-useless spell) by Larian. Yet shove and high-ground are god-mode...
I can second that - yet he won me over with his first video, just based on his well him. The guides I can follow but never really judge because I have no background in those things - so yeah all him.
I finally got around to playing BG3 (was obsessed with video game RPGs... it's giving me modern Dragon Age Origin vibes!) and I've been obsessed. I'm 90 hours in on my first playthrough... and I JUST started my 3rd Act lol. And it's all thanks to the repec feature! And the save scumming to see how dialogues play out (I choose my original, watch the consequences, and then go back to see the other options, then go back to the original choice to respect the RP). I couldn't be happier! It feels like I've played the game 3 different so far. Ha.
i actually really like the fact that Charisma to weapon attacks is attached to the Blade pact. makes more sense, can be used with multiple subclasses, and requires a 3 level investment instead of a 1 level dip
It is the fix they should bring to the next edition, not confident they will unfortunately. Particularly if it is meant to be backwards compatible, then the old hexblade should still work.
Hexblade has been a banned sub class for multiclassing in my friend group. And after BG3 we have started to talk about a homebrew fix in line with this from this on . Mini rant: sry DnD one, IMO is going to be a disaster and split the 5e/one players in 2 groups, because WotC sell books, They both want it to be compatible with 5e stuff, and at tne same time say everyone now has to new books, you can't have players with 2 different rule sets in a game. at that point we not just re use 3rd edition(which many do just homebrew in). To a point is was the problem they had with going from 3e/3.5e too 4e(which does have it's strong points) And the whole name of DnD one, Why? Didn't they learn from Xbox/Xbone that its sucks as a name, you'll have the "dnd one, do you mean 1e" enter in to conversation and When when if they wanted to go to a version less game (assuming theres going to be no DnD two) they could have called it "Dnd next" or "Dnd living age" or what ever. Rant over: "Sry had to get it off my chest"
@@TheGismonoThey aren't calling it D&D One anymore. They're just still calling it 5e. Which is honestly even more stupid & confusing.. They keep making drastic changes then reverting them back to where they barely changed at all. WotC has no freaking clue what they're doing..
@@TheGismono i just don't think any 1 subclass deserves a ban. It doesn't do enough to warrant it. I've done over 100 character builds at this point and played a good solid 15-20 of them, including 3 hexblades. Even when i power-gamed Charisma in my battle butler build, it wasn't that bad. 2 levels of Hexblade, 3 levels of Swashbuckler rogue, 6 levels of Paladin. Inspiring Leader Feat. It was fine. Even if i add ghe Dance Bard to it next. Wouldn't be overpowered.
@@5-Volt I don't have much faith in current WotC. They've been a wash for awhile now, just stumbling upwards during covid since they have an IP people are interested in and utilizing. People were bored with everything being delayed in covid and not much else has as much depth besides maybe pathfinder. WotC was trying too hard to get as much money as they can out of it before interest faded, same with MTG.
Just wanted to say, as someone who's been here nearly from the beginning, It's been a joy to watch this channel grow and the content get out to more people. Recently hitting 100k? Incredible! Just wanted to say that your content is always awesome, and the effort you put in to all your videos and your channel (even when on vacation) is inspiring. Keep it up Colby! You rock!
Tip for anyone eyeing the Gish Blade Pact build, Greater Invisibility makes you roll Stealth checks to determine whether you lose Invisibility, with the DC increasing on each action. This means you really won't want to dump Dex if you want to keep using Invis. If you keep a moderate Dex and look for Advantage to Stealth items and you'll be able to get 2-3 rounds of this setup.
This change really nerfs greater invisivility specially if you went githyanki for the medium armor prof since it also gives you disadvantage on your stealth checks. Also I am running the devil's sight +darkness combo and I'm having no issue with it. I'm getting advantage and my enemies are blinded.
@@DnDDeepDive Worth noting you can get Yuan-ti Scale Mail early in Act 2, AC 15 medium armour with no cap on how much dex you add to AC and doesn't take disadvantage on Stealth Checks (and I think gives +1 to stealth as well), you should be about Lvl 6 at that point so an excelent reason to respec for Paladin 1/Warlock 5 when you get it. There's also an AC17 medium armour you can pick up with the same abilities in Act 3 though it's nearly 7000 gold to buy.
@@TheChiminguito I think the issue with darkness was an early access one where Devil's Sight didn't counter magical darkness. That was fixed, though I do find enemies simply avoid the darkness and attack the characters outside it. Since it isn't moveable and you can't fire out of it, it felt only situationally useful to me unless I was solo.
I was looking for multiclass ideas for BG3, discovered Colby had some very interesting and well thought takes, and am now staying for the welcoming and wholesome vibes. Love the content! Can only imagine a very calm and feelgood DnD session with Colby at the helm as DM. Edit: Delving through the other comments here, it seems like Colby's fans are just as wholesome!
I appreciate how you bring about your dnd knowledge into this, but at the same time approach the builds for what it actually is: a video game. Some other dnd content creators or folks on forums would instead criticize the game for 'what/how it should be' instead of working with the cards we are dealt with. Because, unlike tabletop, we are not face-to-face with our DM which means there is no chance for negotiations, arguments, or improvisations. Only reloads. And I love the fact that you don't shy away from broken mechanics, while still keeping awareness for patches/fixes.
Fun fact: The hand crossbow bonus attack is also bugged. When you use Sharpshooter on the BA attack, it applies the damage bonus but not the accuracy penalty.
^ This. As it stands right now, 4 lvls of thief (for Sharpshooter) and that helmet that gives you another bonus action (3 bonus actions) when under 50% HP makes dealing damage trivial. Tried it and had to respec away because when combat is that easy it takes a lot away from the experience.
@@PunkGuitarX How is it even possible for devs and QA to miss a bug like that? It literally requires one attack with that setup to notice it. Baffling.
BG3 also includes great items. A common one is a potion of speed which costs 1 BA and gives you haste for 3 rounds without needing concentration or a spell slot like Haste. There is also a staff that you can get in act 2 that gives you 1 free fireball a day. With those items you can definitely go rogue 3 to get a second BA and you’ll be able to hit cast 5 fireballs in one nova round. (Action, action surge, haste action, 2 Quickened spells)
Items in this game are amazing, but I also really appreciate that these guides are not based on any. I feel like most bg3 guides are focused on having specific items, and as someone that does not want to look up where to find those because, well, spoilers, it's a bit annoying. Would rather have the guides the way they are and if I find an item that compliments a build, I can be excited and put it on.
Been rolling with Swords Bard. The number of attacks you can pull off with no buffs is unreal. They've changed Slashing Flourish to "attack two enemies in range, dealing the bardic inspiration bonus damage AND your attack damage to both", which also applies to ranged weapon attacks. Take two-weapon fighting style, and at level 6 you can: -Use slashing flourish to attack twice with your crossbow (ranged Slashing Flourish does not stop you from targeting the same creature with both attacks). -Use slashing flourish on your multiattack to attack twice with your crossbow _again_. -Use your bonus action to attack with your off-hand crossbow. -If you've pumped three levels in to Thief Rogue, use your second bonus action to attack with your off-hand crossbow. So, now you have six attacks per turn at level 9. The first four deal 1d6+1d8+DEX each, potentially for a combined total of 6d6+4d8+30 damage, assuming you have +5 dex or +4 with +1 crossbows (or 5d6+4d8+25 at level 6). You can do this two turns in a row (or more if you use magic items to get more bardic inspiration) and short rest after every fight to get them all back. (And with song of rest, you get a third short rest too!) But what about your spells? Well that's the best part! Upcast Cloud of Daggers or Hold Person to initiate a fight, then pump out a twister of damage while your concentration stays active.
Love Swords Bard. I am currently Swordsbard 8 / Paladin 2 and I have like 5 lvl 1 spell slots and weirdly enough your overall spell levels do still go up even though you picked paladin :D I have gotten 5th level spellslots when i went Bard 7 / Paladin 2 which is weird cause i got the slots but was not allowed to actually choose 5th level spells. But the smites don't care about that anyways ;D
@@1337Maju Yeah that's how multiclassing spellcasters works in 5e as well. Two levels in a half caster counts as one full caster level for you spell slot progression. but considering your spells prepped are tied to your class you can only upcast spells you already have (or go crazy with smite of course!).
There's a ring (Strange Conduit Ring) you can get that gives you 1d4 psychic damage on weapon attacks if you're holding concentration on a spell that has been very nice to have on my Bardlock who typically opens with Cloud of Daggers. There's also a ring that adds 2 acid damage on weapon attacks too. Unsure if there's better rings I might've missed but they've been pretty ok.
@@SuperDdall last night i found some gauntlets that unleash a noxious cloud that deals 1d4 acid damage in an aoe whenever i deal acid damage. which is every time, because i have that acid ring! haven't tested if the AoE cloud hits the target that took the acid damage or if it hits all enemies except that one. could be very fun either way
Colby, I thought of a new tank/damage build. It comes "into play" at 8, takes off at 9. 6 beast soul barb. Bear at 3, stallion at 6. Then go thief rogue. Cunning action dash/disengage allows you to run throughout the battlefield. When you dash, you get thp equal to 2 times your level from stallion. Scores are Str 17, Dex 14, Con 16. First feat get athlete to increase your Str by 1 and jump distance by 50%. Get that 4th level rogue for Great Weapon Master Feat. Then do what you want...fighter levels or finish of Barb to cap off you Str score. If your Githyanki and get resist to psychic damage, youre golden
Small tip: some races have been tweaked to get armour proficiencies. So for your gish-y Warlock, you could get med armour by taking Shield Dwarf or Githyanki!!
@@1337Maju dwarves are fine, but I'll admit I was put off playing a Githyanki. Their racial bonuses are SO great, but they just look fugly for the most part haha
I knew BG3 would be an amazing gateway drug into the world of D&D for a lot of people. Glad to see it bringing more attention to great content creators such as yourself!
Have you considered making multi character builds? Or party wide builds that have really good synergies? Since most of the time we will be playing as a 4 character unit rather than an individual. I think thats something a lot of us would be interested in.
Optimizing the companions, while keeping them true to themselves (so Shadowheart has to at least start out as a Trickery Cleric of Shar, Lae’zel needs to at least start as a Fighter and be mostly a martial, etc), would be amazing!
@@jonathanrich9281 Thats also an interesting idea, trying to achieve the companions highest potential so to speak, but keeping their identity. However, I feel that would probably need to be a much longer video/series. But hey, more content is always a good thing.
He has done a few videos called "team up" builds where he builds around a combination of characters. One of them was the necromancer wizard and the oathbreaker paladin iirc.
An alternative to "The Tactical Nuke" build casting Haste on itself before combat would be to use a Potion of Speed which gives all the effects of Haste but in potion form, and drinking a potion is a bonus action as well. It only lasts 3 turns but if what you're doing is just dumping all your slots for a single round of nuking, it doesn't really matter either way. And you should be able to get the ingredients for it fairly early in Act 1, though idk the prevalence of the ingredients later on.
you get to kill/loot some hyenas in act 1, but after that, you only get their ears from vendors or by stealing. i only drank (didn't know about throwing) haste potions when absolutely necessary, and i still ran out (i had 3 for the final fight, not optimal but fine, took them 3 turns before the timer ran out and barely made it).
not only is polearm master amazing, there's a +2 halberd you can get in act 2 that gives you advantage on opportunity attack rolls so it's a perfect pairing
@@moonlight2870 What he is saying is you can forego the Sentinal feat. Sentinal doesn't as far as I remember give advantage though it does stop an enemy in his tracks.
Yea, it's a "good" combo. The problem is, my main character is named Vanity, and she refuses to let anyone use the halberd because the animation is ugly. XD
I’ll admit, I don’t have a current gen console, and specifically for now an up to par PC, to play Baldur’s Gate as I’ve had other financial priorities and I’ll also admit that I’m not super into the builds for it because of it. On the bright side, it has been a good excuse to revisit some of your older episodes. I’m really glad that you are not only branching into other, albeit very adjacent stuff, and that much of your community also enjoys it! Not that you need it, but I encourage you to keep doing what you enjoy. Myself, and I’m sure other similar viewers, won’t be going anywhere! Your videos/podcasts (thank you for uploading that way as well) bring me such joy through long days of work. Great stuff!
Since there's an achievement for multiclassing into every class without respecing, a video on building the most powerful Barbarian/Bard/Cleric/Druid/Fighter/Monk/Paladin/Ranger/Rogue/Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard possible sounds like a video that'd be right up your alley. On an unrelated note, points off for Larian for not calling the achievement something like "Your build is Abserd!"
I've been playing the Gish for my first time playing this game (or a warlock in general), it's quite fun to play a character who can't be killed (heavy armor + agathyst), has good ranged options (pushing blast + any control AOE concentration spell), and annihilates in melee combat
A quick side note: going for heavy armor prof with the first build would still be beneficial due to being able to still wear medium armor in the chest spot, and being able to use heavy armor gloves, boots...etc. more build versatility :). Love your content!
Your videos have popped up in my feed due to the glut of BG3 content I've been consuming, and I gotta say I'll be sticking around! I love your presentation and speaking style and your videos have just the right balance of content, explanation, and humour.
I am SO looking forward to you also including gear: I made a Warlock (Will in my playthrough): put on a rope adding char mod to any cantrip, in addition to agonizing blast, got the rapier that attacks with char mod instead of dex (without pact of the blade) that also can summon a cambion while being pact of chain (imp); multiclassing fighter blasting out 4 (soon 5) eldritch blasts making at least 4 x (4+4) = 32 at LEAST dmg every turn without spending a single spellslot. There are more aspects like the shield repellig, a headband restoring a spellslot, etc etc. (cape adding dmg, gloves I think add extra HP per hit). Its... broken. Like FUN broken. Tried this build solo tactician: you can pretty much run in at... anything.
For your Rogue/Ranger here is the best Armor IMO. Im at AC 20 and can solo most encounters. Dark Justiciar Helmet: Magical Durability: The wielder has a +1 bonus to Saving Throws against spells. Covert Critical: While obscured, the number you need to roll a Critical Hit while attacking is reduced by 1. This effect can stack. Constitution Saving Throws +1 Yuan-ti Scale Mail AC15 Exotic Material: Add your Dexterity Modifier to your Armour Class. Additionally, this armour does not impose Disadvantage on Stealth Ability Checks. Gain a +1 bonus to initiative rolls. Gloves of the Balanced Hands: Grants Two Weapon Fighting Style The Deathstalker Mantle: You gain expertise in Stealth Checks. Once per turn when you kill an enemy, shroud yourself in primeval darkness to become invisible for 2 turns Evasive Shoes: +1 Athletics +1 AC
I think it would be SO cool to have a little minute or two segment at the end of each D&D build for BG3. I don't have the ability to play D&D in person, but I love BG3 so having someone well-versed in the rules to explain the differences between each and how to make the D&D builds work in BG3 would be so helpful.
I've been playing BG3 for almost weeks and I absolutely LOVE this game. Top 3 games I've ever played easy. I'm so glad I found your UA-cam channel. Extremely well put together and informative. Thank you!!
got the ranger gloomstalker/Assassin build on Astarion and it's great! Add some poisons to his attacks and he just shreds enemies and the dual hand crossbows are working really well.
You're really good at this. Thanks so much. Also love how you do really quick cuts and make the cadence of your talking both quick and feel really natural. Was mostly audio only before, so hadn't noticed all the extra work you were putting in to make such a great vid. Kudos.
I'm in my third playthrough and i didnt even know about multiclass before i stumble on your videos. Your work is amazing i'm currently running shadowheart as bard/cleric, gale as a sorcerer/fighter/wizard, astarion as a open handed thief rogue/monk and myself as a paladin and its been my easiest playthrough by far im blasting through everything. Thank you for your videos i really enjoy your content I also took performer as my last feat on my paladin and gave a level of bard to two companions i didnt plan on using on my team. So from times to times i just like to go in the city and blast a full concert with my 4 bards all using different instruments this game is so incredible
I've been waiting for this for my second playthrough, you're figther sorlock is very fun. I have not been able to play any D&D on my own because of me being in a 3rd world country and have not connection or not even know anyone playing in my country because its sophisticated game to have and I dont have any resources to able to get my own because It's expensive. So this is what the closest D&D I can get aside from online scenarios. Thank you Homelander, for this sophisticated guides and informative aspect of all D&D and all of your previous videos. You're very easy to understand and have very mellow voice that Even I that does not a native english speaker perfectly understand!
I think I'm gonna try the (Martial Arts) Monk + (Moon) Druid To give the Animal Form claw attacks additional damage and Flury of Blows plus the additioinal unarmed attack. I was going to use the Badger form to call it my Wolverine build.
There are two Rare Long swords in the game that use the Finesse Property if you get the Dual wielding feat, you can get a bump in damage and unique extra attacks, their names are Phalar Aluve and Larethian's Wrath
I made a Roguebarian build based entirely around getting those two swords as quickly as possible. I love practically *smiting* people with a Reckless sneak attack
I thought the same thing. Since I got a permanent +1 to DEX, I think I might respec, put 17 DEX and 15 CON. Get the ASI at level 7 and then Dual Wielder at level 8. Resilient (CON) was my option for level 8,so that I have a better chance of holding concentration on Hunters Mark, but I'm honestly not sure... Too bad that the off-hand's ability can't be used. I'm not sure if it applies the rest of the stuff on the off-hand weapon, but phalar aluve is the best option by far, for the main hand.
I am a new fan and fellow theory crafting madman. What do you think of the following? Main Eldrich Knight Fighter -Take 1 point into Paladin: This gives all your melee attacks +1D8 Holy damage. -Take 1 point in wizard: You are now an Eldrich Knight that can learn ANY SPELL IN THE GAME! The idea is create a fighter who is a jack of all trades magician. Hits hard and can cast all kinds of situational spells.
I want to see what you could do with a monk with a little bit of thief rogue, maybe some barbarian if it can fit, and the Tavern Brawler feat. If I'm reading this correctly, Tavern Brawler lets you add your strength modifier to attack and damage rolls for all unarmed attacks. So as a monk you'd potentially add your dexterity and strength to attack & damage rolls for your unarmed attacks.
WOW it is so refreshing seeing builds from someone who actually knows about 5e!! The other vids on yt are like “play a paladin so you can cast spells and use a weapon 😮” like no shit I’m here to see some creative interactions!! Really appreciate the effort you put into these.
Dual hand crossbows has been brilliant for me. It lets you shoot a magic arrow from both so you can ice arrow, fire arrow then lightning with next character and shock a whole room. Or you use teleport arrow twice and move a long way.
Got Lae'zel on a strength variation of the blender. Currently at battlemaster 5/thief 3. Had a magic item to give her hunters mark, which is pretty much the main reason to go ranger. Have her dual wielding a rapier and a longsword so she can still get that sneak attack off.
Watching this channel when the ranged fighter episode came out, on the day it came out and now seeing it 1) getting the attention it deserves and 2) being a stable part of my weekly routine has been amazing. Thank you for your calming voice and weirdly nieche theory crafting builds Colby!
23:10 i started with a single level of draconic sorc so i'd get the extra ac from there. i was able to aquire both the bracers of defense and the ring of protection so im at 18 ac in cloth.. could be better in plate but its working for me right now.
Warlocks with devils sight are immune to blindness from the darkness spell, they have full functionality so it is useable actually :) I’m currently running that combo in my game I just lob eldritch blasts while the enemy A.I. shits the bed in confusion
I just wrote this too lololol. Curiously, does taking a drow, or any race with superior dark vision, give the same effect? Or is this specific to devil sight?
@Gamer_Cafe superior darkvision specifically doesn't give the ability to see through magical darkness, and sadly blindsight doesn't seem to be a thing in baldurs gate 3. This means warlocks and imp summons are the only ways to see through the darkness spell that I've found. At least in the early game. I'm a warlock and I know for sure I want Wyll on my team. Means I'm still looking for other ways around blindness in magical darkness.
Just wanted to add a comment for the youtube algorithm, and thank you for the content. I saw a comment about BG3 being a gateway drug for tabletop D&D and couldnt agree more. You have years of builds that you could repurpose for BG3. May the monetization gods smile upon you!
Jusy as a heads up, you still cant cast darkness to move with you, but being inside darkness while having Devils sight now gives you advantage and not blinded
I'm running the blender build and it's a blast! Currently lvl 6. It's powerful, but most important thing is that it's so much fun playing it. Plus, there are some Magic objects that Buff this playstyle. Thank you Colby for all this knowledge❤
I'm trying it on my first play through and just hit level 5, so I just got Rogue 3 and Fast Hands. It's been a fun character so far. Hopefully the damage starts to ramp up a little. What weapons were you using around the time of your post? My options haven't been great so far, so I'm using Speedy Reply (Scimitar 1d6+3) and Hunter's Dagger (1d4+4). Do you have any suggestions of weapons I should look for?
@@peteshepherd15 I got a shortsword that crits on a 19 but i don't remember where i found it. The other "shortsword" it's a ring of shadowblade. I mean, the ring cast shadowblade.
As someone who’s been playing DnD for over a decade and has a serious character making habit, it’s surprising how long it took for me to find your channel. Really liking your BG3 content, and I’m definitely going to have to go back and watch some older DnD content
Colby, I think you would approve of my Wizard Tank shenanigans: I made Gale an Abjuration Wizard (way better in this than 5e), and took one level of Fiend Warlock to get Armor of Agathys. I don't know if it's his background or Warlock giving him shield proficiency, but he has my Adamantine Shield, lol. He starts the day with his Wizard level in Arcane Ward stacks, then immediately gets one from Mage Armor and more from upcasting Armor of Agathys with his highest Wizard slot. Arcane Ward reduces damage taken by the number of stacks (like temp HP) but upon taking damage you only lose ONE stack. So in combat, he generally turns on Fire Shield, then spams Blade Ward while deliberately running past enemies to eat their opportunity attacks. From what I've seen, the damage reduction works as follows: 1. First, Blade Ward cuts the total weapon damage received in half. 2. What's left hits the Arcane Ward, which at level 8 started the day at 12. That attack is weakened by 12 flat. 3. Arcane Ward drops to 11 stacks. 4. Even if the attack never got through the ward, Armor of Agathys and Fire Shield go off. 5. Use Warlock slot to cast Hellish Rebuke. 6. Armor of Agathys usually still has 20 HP. Now, if you want him to still take attack actions, and be safer from ALL types of damage, have Shadowheart cast Warding Bond on him at the start of the day too. Now he's resistant to EVERYTHING. She takes the same amount, sure, but I have her with a helmet that heals her a bit every time she heals someone, and that includes potions. So she can just toss potions at my Monk and Barbarian to keep them standing, while getting small heals herself. If you respec her to Life Domain, even better, but not necessary. I have her as Tempest Domain. I also gave Gale equipment that has retaliation damage, like a cloak that deals acid damage to melee attackers, lol. Gale very rarely takes any damage so far, but he destroys entire rooms just by soaking hits.
Love the builds. My main is your previous Sorlock/Fighter (2F 2W 8S) and im LOVING IT SO MUCH!!! Total sidenote, found out about Magic spoon from another creator, and normally I and iffy on sponsorships but I DID try it, and it is definitely worth a shot if you're needing to cut carbs or are on a high protein diet for weight training. its basically puffed whey proteins from milk flavored to taste (close) to childhood cereals. Marshmallow, Chocolate, and honey gram mixed together is like a s'more...
For the Second build: the extra attack from pact of the Blade stack with extra attack from paladin. So, 7/5 or 6/6 would be better. Also, oathbreaker level 7 aura is awesome with this build.
Yeah, I'm not sure if he's aware that in BG3 the Extra Attack from Pact of the Blade stacks with Paladin's (and other martial classes) Extra Attack, allowing for 3 chances to smite in a single turn, provided you got the spell slots--then you add the extra slashing damage provided by the Oathbreaker's aura, it's very deadly. You can also go Paladin 5/Warlock 5/Bard 2 for more skill proficiency, distraction with performance checks, and a few more spell slots. It's really a matter of: Do you want to break your Oath for more direct damage or keep your oath, succeed in dialog a little more frequently, and have a few more spells at your disposal + a few more spell slots for smites. Either way, you still get 3 weapon attacks.
I’m on his channel for his awesome dnd builds, and I don’t play baldur’s gate. I just wanted to say congratulations on these videos getting 200k views. Super awesome that you’re getting the attention that you so deserve!
GUYS, for those of you coming from baldurs gate, welcome to the best place to talk shop about dnd, we love critlander, so please please please lets get him to 250k!
This is such great content! I started out as a Bard and then wanted to play a Gish bard so went into Warlock for the pact of the blade. I would be super happy to hear your ideas to flesh this one out!
17:58 The Blender build is very similar to a build I'm using with my DnD group. I based my character on "The Shadow" so I'm a gloomstalker ranger that uses two hand crossbows. I just hit level 6 and started dipping into rogue. I'm going to go Arcane Trickster just to stay loyal to The Shadow theme, but I am getting a bonkers amount of damage out of handcrosbowman.
For the warlock/ pally build, the extra attack from warlock 5 stacks with paladin extra attack. The ideal build is probably Oathbreaker 7 warlock 5, but the build doesn’t really take off til 8 (pally 5 lock 3, put everything in cha) and you’re better off using one class until you can reroll then.
@@sagilia4393 anything that would normally break your oath will still function for them. Could go devotion and attack the teiflings holding lae’zel or go ancients and kill the owl bear mama if you want oathbreaker asap.
I found you through the baldur's gate video when I was looking for some resources to send to friends less familiar with tabletop that could help them understand how building a character works, but as a super longtime DM I've been having a blast going back through your other stuff and seeing some fun options for multiclassing!
Hello Colby, I'm new here, thanks for your BG3 multiclass videos for BG3, they are pretty interesting. I got a point regarding Greater invisibility : it has been really nerfed comparatively to D&D 5e rules because in BG3, health checks are done each turn to maintain the spell active. It seems than even with very high dexterity and stealth proficiency, the skill breaks very easily following several reddit posts. Personally I decided to use a Barbarian with the wolf heart in my group (4 barbarian/8 paladin for protection aura and Hate Haste aura) with 2 other melees character (2 paladin/10 warlock) & pure GWM fighter (2 extra attack with advantage). It is the more reliable way I found to have advantage with my attacks rolls. Keep the good work !
I have been dabbling in thinking up a few builds myself, and thought I might share one of them after seeing what you devised here. It actually sort of blends your first two builds together in a unique way. The only tricky part of this first build is I could not decide what levels to take in which class at any given time, as they all are really important in one way or another. That being the case, this build will truly shine as attain level 11 to 12. I will call this build - The Smite Blender Level 1 - We will want to start with paladin for the better health and defenses, since this will be intended for the front lines. You will allocate your stats to have- 16 dex 14 con 16/17 Charisma Level 2 - Straight into paladin just to get smite online early game, but we will stop putting levels into paladin here. If you pick Oath of devotion, you can add that charisma modifier to the attack rolls for better consistency too. The third level is one I debated a lot. This build will multiclass into two additional classes. We can't really go a consistent many weapon attack build without attaining 3 levels in rogue for the extra bonus action from thief, however the other class is probably more import to build up next for many reasons. That being the case, it's hard not to consider dipping one point into rogue now early just to get sneak attack and expertise for Persuasion and Intimidation (Making us a fantastic face character too). That being said, Level 3 - We will probably put into bard! Why bard all of a sudden? well, there is many reasons! Being a full spell caster class, each level will push us to higher spell slots for bigger smite bursts on crits which may happen more often then you suspect getting consistently up to 4 attacks a turn. Their spell casting modifier is also Charisma, so there is nothing to worry about there allowing us easy diversity with our spells should we need to pivot our strategy some. But the big kicker is that thanks to the bard subclass collage of swords we can still acquire both the Dual Wielder fighting style AND the extra attack at level 6 bard. To top it all off, we still get expertise as well along the way, still allowing us to have one heck of a face character. We would push bard all the way to level 6, which will happen either at character level 8 or 9 depending on if you decided to dip rogue early or not. After this point we will want to push rogue to level 3 for the extra bonus action. We also will have 4 total expertise, allowing us to pick up performance and deception for the perfect face character. The final 12th level is a bit more flexible as we can opt to put it into rogue for the extra feat/stats, or we can put it into bard for a few extra spell slots + higher spell slot level for one perfect max damage crit smite. The only thing that makes this build better is making sure you have advantage against your opponent so you get 8 chances to crit every turn, and pump out serious smite damage consistently thanks to our decent quantity of spell slots from being mostly bard. If the concept interests you and you want to tweak/feature it, just give my name a shout out so I can flaunt it to my family hahaha, cheers!
I think my favorite moment in BG3 so far was finding out I could use my bard to play music to bring everyone to a small area, literally the size of a fireball from Gale. Everyone is vaporized and my bard is still playing music.
If anyone wants to read more neat multiclass combos, I have one for show and tell! My current build is to make the tankiest caster I can manage, mainly with Arcane Ward and stacking defenses like Temp HP, AC, forcing Disadvantage etc. The leveling progression is kinda weird and includes a respec at Level 5, so I'll just give an overview of the goals of the build. It's pretty long, so prepare for some pretty dense text if you want to learn more. ARCANE WARD! It works as a flat reduction that gets exponentially more powerful the higher the intensity. It starts at an intensity equal to your Wizard level, and caps at double that level. To best utilize this feature, we want Armor of Shadows DESPERATELY! There are no Abjuration rituals we can use like Alarm, and there is no Eldritch Adept either. So, we'll have to settle with 2 levels in Warlock to get Invocations. While we're there we can get Armor of Agathys too. Though we can still take Fiendish Vigor if we want to, since there aren't that many other good options for Invocations (and its free temp hp), You might notice that you can't actually choose to use Warlock slots for non-Warlock spells until you run out of normal slots, so those short rest spell slots are probably going to waste anyways. Other good options there are the Disguise Self one, or One with Shadows. ARMOR. I think its still good to have a good DEX save, so Medium armor is a good idea. A Shield Dwarf will get you that, but if you already had your character made (like me) you could take a feat, or choose a starting class with it. Cleric and Druid work if we want to avoid stemming spell slot progression, but Druid gets subclass at Level 2 so Cleric would be our best choice there. If we wanted heavy armor after all, some Cleric subclasses will give us Heavy armor. Given we're a bit MAD right now (but also just about everything other than Strength is needed), I'd avoid picking spells and features that require rolls and saves other than INT. I found Life/War to be the best for Heavy, and Light for just Medium. And of course, a shield. +2 AC is always great. SPELLS? As previously mentioned, our stats are spread thin here. Pick spells to avoid using attacks and saves with our relatively poor CHA and WIS, so take those spells for the Warlock and Cleric levels and leave attacks and saving throw spells for the Wizard half. For cantrips, as mentioned let's leave damage cantrips for Wizard, then pick up tons of utility on Cleric and Warlock. I picked High Half-Elf so I have Fire Bolt, then I chose Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, and Acid Splash, then Blade Ward, Guidance, and Resistance, then Light, Mage Hand, and Friends. Ten Cantrips! So much utility and base damage options! As for spells, basically everything is a good choice for your prepared Cleric spells. Warlock, of course Armor of Agathys, but also Hex for a use of bonus action and Protection from Good and Evil because a SO many enemy types apply! For this campaign, Aberrations and Undead are quite common. And Wizard, we'll want some spells that can work in close quarters. Melee spells, Saves, AoEs, or Magic Missile, but also maybe some Melee Attacks. Use a Finesse Weapon for this because we dumped STR, basically just daggers since we're only proficient in simple weapons (though if you can somehow manage to get proficiency in Shortswords without a feat or class, by all means use it) FEATS! As always we have a lot to pick here, between Shield Master, Heavy Armor Master, Tough, Resilient Dex or Con, War Caster, Sentinel, and of course a humble ASI. I'm not actually sure if Shield Master applies to AoE spell DEX saves or not, but it does let you potentially negate the damage, not to mention the +2 to DEX saves. For Resilient, respeccing with Withers makes it much easier to make the best use of half-feats like this, for improving both an ability modifier and your saves. If you took Heavy Armor, then Heavy Armor Master stacks well with Arcane Ward, negating even more damage flat. War Caster gives you better Concentration as well, and a good Opportunity Attack too! Sentinel is great for locking an enemy into melee with you to improve your tanking ability. You should use a Finesse Weapon to ensure it lands though That's about everything there. Personally, I started the adventure as Abj. Wizard 2, then went Fiend Warlock 2, then at Level 5 respecced as Light Cleric 1, then Abj. Wizard 1, then Fiend Warlock 2, then stayed on Wizard for the rest. Ultimately it gives us a caster who can take a good beating, with Warding Light, clever use of defensive spells, and a fully-tiered Arcane Ward, fueled by Armor of Shadows. And eventually (EVENTUALLY!) we can get Projected Ward to negate damage on the fly.
I am running Dual Hand Crossbows and Dual Scimitar with my Thief Gloom Striker. I don't have sharpshooter yet but the offhand does apply your modifier without any feats.
I did a Blender build on my game, kind of happened out of nowhere. I had initially wanted to go Thief/Barbarian to trigger sneaks by myself with Reckless Attack but since I couldn't get dex to damage on the offhand with those classes i changed it to Monk/Rogue and it turned out AMAZINGLY well It went Rogue at first level for expertise in Sleight of Hand and Perception, proficiencies and Sneak attack 5 levels of Open Hand monk for the extra attack 1 Rogue/5 WotOH Monk 2 more level of Rogue to Thief for the extra bonus action Monks get to use Flurry of Blows as a bonus action + 1 Ki point to attack twice per bonus action and WotOH can use their Flurry of Blows to knock enemies prone in addition to the two attacks. Prone enemies are open to receiving Sneak Attacks At Monk level 6 (Character level 9 with 3Thief/6WotOH Monk) you can 1d4+wisdom to unarmed strike damage and you get Wholeness of Body which gives you another bonus action for 3 rounds AND refills half you Ki AND heals for 18 HP So at level 9 when under the effects of Haste and Wholeness of Body you get 2 actions and 3 bonus actions all of which can attack twice for a total of TEN attacks per round ! (I havent gotten to 9 yet, only 8 atm but I'm really, really hoping the extra bonus action from Wholeness of Body and Thief add up together)
For the Sorceror/Fighter build, you might want to consider Wizard 1 in those extra levels at the end. Wizard 1 is able to learn all scrolls, regardless of their spell slot level, and cast them with the slots you already have. Throw on Headband of Int to prepare 5 spells
ok, you may have sold me on the wizard part. If it was just for crafting spells to be safe for my party... meh. screw em. BUT, being able to learn more spells, now that's worth while.
Comment on dual wielding hand crossbows: It works with sharpshooter, but is also bugged, so you get the +10 to damage without the -5 to hit on the bonus action attack. This is very good on a thief rogue, because you get two of these insane attacks. My first character in the full release of bg3 was a gloomstalker 5, thief rogue 3, fighter 2. with dual hand crossbows and sharpshooter. that gave me 5 attacks on the first turn of every battle, all doing over 20 damage each.
Your Blender build also works extremely well with Archery + Sharpshooter with dual hand crossbows. In fact right now the game is bugged, so the bonus action attacks apply the +10 damage from Sharpshooter but don't apply the -5. For some reason when you use two hand crossbows it applies your Dex to the off-hand attack even if you don't have thw TWF style.
One of my best hommes in my 20s and I would spend long nights theory crafting stuff like this. For MTG, Marvel Super Heroes RPG, Dungeons and Dragons. He introduced me to the original BG and really PC gaming in general in 1998. We lost touch a couple years ago right before the pandemic and he passed last year. The way you talk about this stuff reminds me of sitting across the table from him and bullshitting for hours about just how we could make the most broken characters, decks, etc. It makes me kinda sad he wasn't alive this year to play D4 or BG3. Thanks for your content homme.
Awesome video, and great builds. By the way, I created my Conan build and it’s turned out amazingly well. 6 lvls into berserker barb, 4 into thief, and 2 into fighter. I get two attacks w/extra attack, 2 quick actions thief giving me potentially 4 attacks per round with enraged strike/throw. I also get action surge for 2 more attacks for a total of 6 on the first turn. For feats I pick up GWM and tavern brawler. This way my base strikes get +10 and if they’re far away my base throws get double my strength modifier. With the tank health of a barb, I almost killed Raphael single handed. My entire party nearly died, but my barb kept going and finished the devil. I love the multiclassing in this game.
Those of you wanting to do the DW handbows. Rogue 4 (Thief/Sharpshooter) > Fighter 6 (Battlemaster/ASI) > Rogue 6 (ASI). Four attacks per turn at 1d6+5+10 damage. Not counting sneak attack, haste, superiority dice, or action surge. If u want to point blank shoot prone ppl after trip attack, swap one ASI for xbow expert.
I was thinking about the blender build and what about 2 levels of barbarian at levels 9, 10 for the 2 rage damge per attack.And Making it a strength build. For weaker enemies the math might be better than repplying hunters mark and the 1 lost sneak attack die? Probably not, I just don't like having to reapply hunters mark and like raging ha!
BG3 is such an amazing Game, I’m absolutely in love! Definitely a contender for the „RPG of the Century“ !!! But I think also one thing that is awesome about it is that so much more people are maybe trying DnD or other TTRPGs afterwards. Love it!
Just a neat little thing to share because I really enjoy watching you get excited about mechanic nuances and how they interact with other mechanics: The ranged Slashing Flourish for Sword Bards in BG3 functions very differently from d&d. When you use ranged Slashing Flourish, you can make two attacks with one attack, meaning you can hit one target with both attacks from Slashing flourish. And bard’s bardic inspiration doesn’t scale off charisma, so you can dump it for Dex only. My sword bard 6/fighter 2 character can output 8 ranged attacks at level 8.
Yo a quick start guide for a sweet duel hand crossbow build is; start rouge drow for the racial hand crossbow prof. You should hit level 3 after beating the goblins attacking the Grove but dont level up yet. Go to the teifling blacksmith and buy +1 handcrossbows. If he doesn't have any in stock, level one of the characters up to refresh the stock. Once you have two, select thief as your subclass. Now you have 3 attacks at level 3. Once you hit 4 and get the sharpshooter feat and you are golden. Takes about an half hour or less if you skip everything
Just discovered your channel, and I must say, you are truly inspiring. I love the tone, the information provided, your vibe, and just overall what a breath of fresh air. Serene, calm, insightful, informative, and well-made. Can sing nothing but praise.
Just want to say THANK YOU for these build videos so far. I'm a complete newbie to the world of DnD beyond watching the Dungeons & Drag Queens video by Dimension 20 and I've basically spent more time watching/reading tutorials of the game. Luckily I learn quite fast and I'm now at the point where I can understand multiclass mechanics a bit more and so it feels great to watch recommendations from a true veteran. I know they're not really proficient with multiclassing but I would love to see a Wizard video as well. Maybe something for Bards and Druids too beyond the Support and Tank builds from your previous video.
55:50 On average Elemental Adept will add ~4 damage to a level 3 fireball. The way the math works out it's 0.5 points of extra damage for each die, no matter the size of the die (slightly less if it's programmed to reroll 1's instead of "not roll 1" like the description says).
Gosh, I'd watch a ton of these videos just to learn all the differences between 5e and BG3 so I can make informed decisions. Thanks for doing the legwork so we don't have to! ^_^
Thanks for the Great content. - Just one thing to add : on Act 1 (around lvl4-5) you can get +1 stat from the Hag encounter - so 17-16-14 is lot more potent on multi class builds than it usually should be (yes I'm a dirty min-maxer - throw your downvotes XD )
Updates and Errata Section! I'll keep this updated as I learn more - First up, as many have pointed out, Greater Invisibility is pretty nerfed in BG3 currently - when you take actions that would *normally* break Invisibility, it makes you make an increasingly difficult stealth check to see if you maintain your invisibility. Lame! So yeah, don't dump dex and maybe respec to give yourself stealth proficiency :). Second, currently, the Pact of the Blade Extra Attack *stacks* with Extra Attack from other classes. I have to believe this will be fixed in a patch in the future, but until then, Warlock 5/Pally 5 looks *really* good at level 10 for that Gish. Next! Looks like Devil's Sight/Darkness is working - you still can't move it, but can still be useful, especially if you're a ranged character.
A go-to race for the Gish build becomes a Deep Gnome for that sweet natural advantage on Stealth checks.
What is the best way to get stealth proficiency adding a background like Urchin or Criminal? @DnDDeepDive
how would a respec give you proficiency with stealth? i dont think you can do this but hope im wrong
i would probably pin this to the top, very important
@@EdgeMirage oops! Thought I had. Done.
3:48 “I really want to keep this under an hour”
Final length = 59:58
Nailed it!
_UNDER IS UNDER_
It doesn't matter if it's by a minute or ten. Under an hour, is under an hour.
- Toretto, Dom
That's with outtakes (which admittedly you do have to watch) but really the video was done 57:21.
😂
You have no idea how much stuff I was cutting to get there
Just a quick shout out to Colby's opening. Every time I feel so good that he welcomes us in and tells us we belong. Some days it just feels good to hear that. Thank you Colby! We love it here!
1:08-1:12 putting this here for when I need Colby to cheer me up
Same. The world needs more encouragement and this little bit can easy make my day.
Agreed. Such a friendly and cheerful voice makes gaming even better!
And the words of kindness and encouragement at the close of every video. Always brings a smile to my face. Colby seems so genuinely kind.
It feels incredibly parasocial to me
Not only is baldur’s gate three probably the best game I’ve ever played, but it also led me to your channel, and your videos are delightful and exactly about my favorite thing about RPG’s, build crafting.
Welcome, I'm happy you found a home on the internet, we're happy to have you.
You're in the right spot dude, trust me. If you like BG3 then TRUST ME you should try and play tabletop DnD if u can. Then you can put some more of Colby's 100's of build ideas to work!
@@bigaj6901 I’d love to play tabletop. I played it pretty regularly when I was a kid in the nineties. Back under 2e rules. My problem now is my work schedule. I don’t have consistent days off and I run a restaurant so it’s not easy for me to be able to consistently attend a game night. It’s a shame cuz I know I’d love it. 5e is way more approachable than 2e was
Thank you , Homelander ❤
Homielander°
😭😭😭😭😭😭
Colby even multi-classes his cereals, mixing and matching the flavors. I love it.
Colby is such a warm, wholesome individual. I started watching his videos for the informed, well thought-out content but stayed for the sunshine he radiates. Thanks Colby! 😄
Except when he wears his Homelander suit and lasers us all.
@@smreason Critlander is a great name 😂
@@smreason God I wish Colby would drink my breast milk
I miss the member icon. Guess I'm going to have to remedy that problem
Love your videos Homelander.
The deeper I get into Baldur's Gate 3, the more I realize that I think a lot of the really cool builds for subsequent playthroughs are gonna come from all the weird magic items they've peppered into the game. Many of them clearly synergize with each other or classes, and some of them are completely build-enabling.
I think it wouild be cool to see videos that explore builds from an item perspective since it's not something you probably often get to do from a tabletop POV.
"Homelander"
Now, I can't unsee this
🤣
My first thought was "wow, turns out that Homlander is a really nice guy!" :D
Yeah, magic items open up a lot of builds that would be "sub-optimal" in a regular play through. Crit fishing build looks fun with all the items that improve the crit rate. A lot of Barbarian and Monk magic items as well, makes monks actually somewhat fun
Jamie Lanister
this was the first thing i thought when i discovered this channel. lol he could legit be a relative to homelander. subbed for the awesome tips after i got passed the traumatic flashbacks.
Honestly BG3 has been so good for your channel. You absolutely deserve the viewership and more. Your tips and commentary as well as your attitude is amazing. Great video have a good day.
* Me
“Oh the Boulders gate videos did well? How many views did they… FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY FIVE THOUSAND VIEWS!?!?!?… well. Alright then.”
A small correction on Darkness + Devil's Sight. It appears that the game distinguishes between magical darkness and normal darkness. Where passive darkvision from something like an elf seems to only work in natural darkness, Devil's Sight specifically prevents you from getting the blinded status in magical darkness. I'm using this to great effect right now with your blaster sorlock from your first video. I use a shadow monk to shroud my warlock in darkness, who then stands right in the middle of everyone and blasts away with advantage on every spell cast roll.
You beat me too it was coming to say the same thing and can confirm is very effective
Doing the same with a Paladin/Warlock, while it is true you can't put darkness on yourself, and does it makes the enemies just run out... That is at least a turn of advantage + opportunity strike, and being very safe for a round or two afterward. There are also some web+darkness shenanigans that gets a bit abusive tbh =)
My friend made a sorlock build with darkness and devil's sight in a 5e campaign a few years ago and it worked beautifully. The one difference is in 5e you can cast in on an item you hold, and the darkness follows you as you move around the map 🤯
Does them running out of the darkness make them no longer subject to the secondary effects? I guess I'm asking, did Larian not implement the advantage for your ranged attacks as an unseen attacker because you are still in the darkness, and therefore, they can't see you/you are heavily obscured? Or the disadvantage to hit you because you are heavily obscured to them by the darkness? If so, it would still be very effective if you were hitting them with EB, right? I get that isn't really the point of the melee build, but I'm hoping there is still something effective I could do in that situation. I've been thinking about playing a warlock, but many of the things I could typically use to be very niche-effective have been poorly implemented (aspects of the visibility rules) or intentionally nerfed (hreater invis is a terrible, nearly-useless spell) by Larian. Yet shove and high-ground are god-mode...
@@Sammael757 if they are not in darkness but you are still heavily obscured, you still get advantage on attack rolls
I don't know who this guy is, but his passion for D&D builds is fantastic! Never would have found him without BG3. Cheers!
Same!
I can second that - yet he won me over with his first video, just based on his well him. The guides I can follow but never really judge because I have no background in those things - so yeah all him.
It`s homelander
Bg3 adding a respec option was so awesome. Makes the game so much more managable!
I finally got around to playing BG3 (was obsessed with video game RPGs... it's giving me modern Dragon Age Origin vibes!) and I've been obsessed. I'm 90 hours in on my first playthrough... and I JUST started my 3rd Act lol. And it's all thanks to the repec feature! And the save scumming to see how dialogues play out (I choose my original, watch the consequences, and then go back to see the other options, then go back to the original choice to respect the RP). I couldn't be happier! It feels like I've played the game 3 different so far. Ha.
i actually really like the fact that Charisma to weapon attacks is attached to the Blade pact. makes more sense, can be used with multiple subclasses, and requires a 3 level investment instead of a 1 level dip
It is the fix they should bring to the next edition, not confident they will unfortunately. Particularly if it is meant to be backwards compatible, then the old hexblade should still work.
Hexblade has been a banned sub class for multiclassing in my friend group. And after BG3 we have started to talk about a homebrew fix in line with this from this on .
Mini rant: sry
DnD one, IMO is going to be a disaster and split the 5e/one players in 2 groups, because WotC sell books, They both want it to be compatible with 5e stuff, and at tne same time say everyone now has to new books, you can't have players with 2 different rule sets in a game. at that point we not just re use 3rd edition(which many do just homebrew in). To a point is was the problem they had with going from 3e/3.5e too 4e(which does have it's strong points)
And the whole name of DnD one, Why? Didn't they learn from Xbox/Xbone that its sucks as a name, you'll have the "dnd one, do you mean 1e" enter in to conversation and When when if they wanted to go to a version less game (assuming theres going to be no DnD two) they could have called it "Dnd next" or "Dnd living age" or what ever.
Rant over: "Sry had to get it off my chest"
@@TheGismonoThey aren't calling it D&D One anymore. They're just still calling it 5e. Which is honestly even more stupid & confusing.. They keep making drastic changes then reverting them back to where they barely changed at all. WotC has no freaking clue what they're doing..
@@TheGismono i just don't think any 1 subclass deserves a ban. It doesn't do enough to warrant it. I've done over 100 character builds at this point and played a good solid 15-20 of them, including 3 hexblades.
Even when i power-gamed Charisma in my battle butler build, it wasn't that bad. 2 levels of Hexblade, 3 levels of Swashbuckler rogue, 6 levels of Paladin. Inspiring Leader Feat.
It was fine. Even if i add ghe Dance Bard to it next. Wouldn't be overpowered.
@@5-Volt I don't have much faith in current WotC. They've been a wash for awhile now, just stumbling upwards during covid since they have an IP people are interested in and utilizing. People were bored with everything being delayed in covid and not much else has as much depth besides maybe pathfinder. WotC was trying too hard to get as much money as they can out of it before interest faded, same with MTG.
Just wanted to say, as someone who's been here nearly from the beginning, It's been a joy to watch this channel grow and the content get out to more people. Recently hitting 100k? Incredible! Just wanted to say that your content is always awesome, and the effort you put in to all your videos and your channel (even when on vacation) is inspiring. Keep it up Colby! You rock!
Tip for anyone eyeing the Gish Blade Pact build, Greater Invisibility makes you roll Stealth checks to determine whether you lose Invisibility, with the DC increasing on each action. This means you really won't want to dump Dex if you want to keep using Invis. If you keep a moderate Dex and look for Advantage to Stealth items and you'll be able to get 2-3 rounds of this setup.
Thanks - pinning a comment about this.
This change really nerfs greater invisivility specially if you went githyanki for the medium armor prof since it also gives you disadvantage on your stealth checks. Also I am running the devil's sight +darkness combo and I'm having no issue with it. I'm getting advantage and my enemies are blinded.
@@DnDDeepDive Worth noting you can get Yuan-ti Scale Mail early in Act 2, AC 15 medium armour with no cap on how much dex you add to AC and doesn't take disadvantage on Stealth Checks (and I think gives +1 to stealth as well), you should be about Lvl 6 at that point so an excelent reason to respec for Paladin 1/Warlock 5 when you get it. There's also an AC17 medium armour you can pick up with the same abilities in Act 3 though it's nearly 7000 gold to buy.
@@TheChiminguito I think the issue with darkness was an early access one where Devil's Sight didn't counter magical darkness. That was fixed, though I do find enemies simply avoid the darkness and attack the characters outside it.
Since it isn't moveable and you can't fire out of it, it felt only situationally useful to me unless I was solo.
Yeah idk if he knew that they changed it
I was looking for multiclass ideas for BG3, discovered Colby had some very interesting and well thought takes, and am now staying for the welcoming and wholesome vibes. Love the content! Can only imagine a very calm and feelgood DnD session with Colby at the helm as DM.
Edit: Delving through the other comments here, it seems like Colby's fans are just as wholesome!
Seriously! The most kind gentle session that everyone deserves!
on general "you reap what you sow". Calm, wholesome youtubers usually get calm wholesome commenters :)
Multiclassing runs so deep in Colby's blood that he even multiclasses his cereal
Hahaha! Fantastic!
Cocoa fruity pebbles are s tier multiclass in my house
Lol!
You can even multiclass the milk if you want. Enjoy a 1 level or more dip into Oat Milk or any other class of milk.
I appreciate how you bring about your dnd knowledge into this, but at the same time approach the builds for what it actually is: a video game. Some other dnd content creators or folks on forums would instead criticize the game for 'what/how it should be' instead of working with the cards we are dealt with. Because, unlike tabletop, we are not face-to-face with our DM which means there is no chance for negotiations, arguments, or improvisations. Only reloads.
And I love the fact that you don't shy away from broken mechanics, while still keeping awareness for patches/fixes.
Fun fact: The hand crossbow bonus attack is also bugged. When you use Sharpshooter on the BA attack, it applies the damage bonus but not the accuracy penalty.
^ This. As it stands right now, 4 lvls of thief (for Sharpshooter) and that helmet that gives you another bonus action (3 bonus actions) when under 50% HP makes dealing damage trivial. Tried it and had to respec away because when combat is that easy it takes a lot away from the experience.
OH SOOO THATS WHY MY FIGHTER THEIF ALWAYS HITS👀👀👀☠️
Ohh, is this why my bonus attack always has a higher chance to hit than my primary?
@@PunkGuitarX How is it even possible for devs and QA to miss a bug like that? It literally requires one attack with that setup to notice it. Baffling.
Helm name?
@@PunkGuitarX
BG3 also includes great items. A common one is a potion of speed which costs 1 BA and gives you haste for 3 rounds without needing concentration or a spell slot like Haste. There is also a staff that you can get in act 2 that gives you 1 free fireball a day. With those items you can definitely go rogue 3 to get a second BA and you’ll be able to hit cast 5 fireballs in one nova round. (Action, action surge, haste action, 2 Quickened spells)
Items in this game are amazing, but I also really appreciate that these guides are not based on any. I feel like most bg3 guides are focused on having specific items, and as someone that does not want to look up where to find those because, well, spoilers, it's a bit annoying. Would rather have the guides the way they are and if I find an item that compliments a build, I can be excited and put it on.
Been rolling with Swords Bard. The number of attacks you can pull off with no buffs is unreal. They've changed Slashing Flourish to "attack two enemies in range, dealing the bardic inspiration bonus damage AND your attack damage to both", which also applies to ranged weapon attacks. Take two-weapon fighting style, and at level 6 you can:
-Use slashing flourish to attack twice with your crossbow (ranged Slashing Flourish does not stop you from targeting the same creature with both attacks).
-Use slashing flourish on your multiattack to attack twice with your crossbow _again_.
-Use your bonus action to attack with your off-hand crossbow.
-If you've pumped three levels in to Thief Rogue, use your second bonus action to attack with your off-hand crossbow.
So, now you have six attacks per turn at level 9. The first four deal 1d6+1d8+DEX each, potentially for a combined total of 6d6+4d8+30 damage, assuming you have +5 dex or +4 with +1 crossbows (or 5d6+4d8+25 at level 6). You can do this two turns in a row (or more if you use magic items to get more bardic inspiration) and short rest after every fight to get them all back. (And with song of rest, you get a third short rest too!)
But what about your spells? Well that's the best part! Upcast Cloud of Daggers or Hold Person to initiate a fight, then pump out a twister of damage while your concentration stays active.
Love Swords Bard. I am currently Swordsbard 8 / Paladin 2 and I have like 5 lvl 1 spell slots and weirdly enough your overall spell levels do still go up even though you picked paladin :D I have gotten 5th level spellslots when i went Bard 7 / Paladin 2 which is weird cause i got the slots but was not allowed to actually choose 5th level spells. But the smites don't care about that anyways ;D
@@1337Maju Yeah that's how multiclassing spellcasters works in 5e as well. Two levels in a half caster counts as one full caster level for you spell slot progression. but considering your spells prepped are tied to your class you can only upcast spells you already have (or go crazy with smite of course!).
There's a ring (Strange Conduit Ring) you can get that gives you 1d4 psychic damage on weapon attacks if you're holding concentration on a spell that has been very nice to have on my Bardlock who typically opens with Cloud of Daggers. There's also a ring that adds 2 acid damage on weapon attacks too. Unsure if there's better rings I might've missed but they've been pretty ok.
@@daanbeukers181 difference would be in bg3 half caster levels rounds up instead of rounding down
@@SuperDdall last night i found some gauntlets that unleash a noxious cloud that deals 1d4 acid damage in an aoe whenever i deal acid damage. which is every time, because i have that acid ring! haven't tested if the AoE cloud hits the target that took the acid damage or if it hits all enemies except that one. could be very fun either way
Colby, I thought of a new tank/damage build. It comes "into play" at 8, takes off at 9. 6 beast soul barb. Bear at 3, stallion at 6. Then go thief rogue. Cunning action dash/disengage allows you to run throughout the battlefield. When you dash, you get thp equal to 2 times your level from stallion. Scores are Str 17, Dex 14, Con 16. First feat get athlete to increase your Str by 1 and jump distance by 50%. Get that 4th level rogue for Great Weapon Master Feat. Then do what you want...fighter levels or finish of Barb to cap off you Str score. If your Githyanki and get resist to psychic damage, youre golden
Or put one into monk to always weaponize the 2 bonus actions
Small tip: some races have been tweaked to get armour proficiencies. So for your gish-y Warlock, you could get med armour by taking Shield Dwarf or Githyanki!!
Yes but you would be either small and fat or Green Michael jackson
Fem Giths are beautiful.
@@1337Maju dwarves are fine, but I'll admit I was put off playing a Githyanki. Their racial bonuses are SO great, but they just look fugly for the most part haha
@@lastructchure389 debatable, but to each his own I guess. Can we at least agree the male giths are goofy 😂
did shield dwarf myself, went for one level of sorc so far, aiming to get the storm subclass so they can fly after a spell, helping that low movement
I knew BG3 would be an amazing gateway drug into the world of D&D for a lot of people. Glad to see it bringing more attention to great content creators such as yourself!
I'm kinda curious about that as I've only been getting a bit into D&D shortly before BG3 came out
What other D&D focused channels can you recommend?
Have you considered making multi character builds? Or party wide builds that have really good synergies? Since most of the time we will be playing as a 4 character unit rather than an individual. I think thats something a lot of us would be interested in.
Optimizing the companions, while keeping them true to themselves (so Shadowheart has to at least start out as a Trickery Cleric of Shar, Lae’zel needs to at least start as a Fighter and be mostly a martial, etc), would be amazing!
@@jonathanrich9281 Trickery cleric is terrible in bg3 though... atleast invoke duplicity is
@@jonathanrich9281 Nah get SH off trickery immediately
@@jonathanrich9281 Thats also an interesting idea, trying to achieve the companions highest potential so to speak, but keeping their identity. However, I feel that would probably need to be a much longer video/series. But hey, more content is always a good thing.
He has done a few videos called "team up" builds where he builds around a combination of characters. One of them was the necromancer wizard and the oathbreaker paladin iirc.
An alternative to "The Tactical Nuke" build casting Haste on itself before combat would be to use a Potion of Speed which gives all the effects of Haste but in potion form, and drinking a potion is a bonus action as well. It only lasts 3 turns but if what you're doing is just dumping all your slots for a single round of nuking, it doesn't really matter either way. And you should be able to get the ingredients for it fairly early in Act 1, though idk the prevalence of the ingredients later on.
If u put ur chars close together u can throw it and gives everyone the buff
you get to kill/loot some hyenas in act 1, but after that, you only get their ears from vendors or by stealing. i only drank (didn't know about throwing) haste potions when absolutely necessary, and i still ran out (i had 3 for the final fight, not optimal but fine, took them 3 turns before the timer ran out and barely made it).
not only is polearm master amazing, there's a +2 halberd you can get in act 2 that gives you advantage on opportunity attack rolls so it's a perfect pairing
I think sentinel already gives you that tho. And polearm master + sentinel is already a goated combo
why waste another feat when a weapon gives it for free@@moonlight2870
@@moonlight2870it does not.
@@moonlight2870 What he is saying is you can forego the Sentinal feat. Sentinal doesn't as far as I remember give advantage though it does stop an enemy in his tracks.
Yea, it's a "good" combo.
The problem is, my main character is named Vanity, and she refuses to let anyone use the halberd because the animation is ugly. XD
I’ll admit, I don’t have a current gen console, and specifically for now an up to par PC, to play Baldur’s Gate as I’ve had other financial priorities and I’ll also admit that I’m not super into the builds for it because of it. On the bright side, it has been a good excuse to revisit some of your older episodes. I’m really glad that you are not only branching into other, albeit very adjacent stuff, and that much of your community also enjoys it! Not that you need it, but I encourage you to keep doing what you enjoy. Myself, and I’m sure other similar viewers, won’t be going anywhere! Your videos/podcasts (thank you for uploading that way as well) bring me such joy through long days of work. Great stuff!
Since there's an achievement for multiclassing into every class without respecing, a video on building the most powerful Barbarian/Bard/Cleric/Druid/Fighter/Monk/Paladin/Ranger/Rogue/Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard possible sounds like a video that'd be right up your alley.
On an unrelated note, points off for Larian for not calling the achievement something like "Your build is Abserd!"
I've been playing the Gish for my first time playing this game (or a warlock in general), it's quite fun to play a character who can't be killed (heavy armor + agathyst), has good ranged options (pushing blast + any control AOE concentration spell), and annihilates in melee combat
A quick side note: going for heavy armor prof with the first build would still be beneficial due to being able to still wear medium armor in the chest spot, and being able to use heavy armor gloves, boots...etc. more build versatility :). Love your content!
Your videos have popped up in my feed due to the glut of BG3 content I've been consuming, and I gotta say I'll be sticking around! I love your presentation and speaking style and your videos have just the right balance of content, explanation, and humour.
I really like how you go through the thought process of your builds and how they would work per-level.
I am SO looking forward to you also including gear: I made a Warlock (Will in my playthrough): put on a rope adding char mod to any cantrip, in addition to agonizing blast, got the rapier that attacks with char mod instead of dex (without pact of the blade) that also can summon a cambion while being pact of chain (imp); multiclassing fighter blasting out 4 (soon 5) eldritch blasts making at least 4 x (4+4) = 32 at LEAST dmg every turn without spending a single spellslot. There are more aspects like the shield repellig, a headband restoring a spellslot, etc etc. (cape adding dmg, gloves I think add extra HP per hit). Its... broken. Like FUN broken. Tried this build solo tactician: you can pretty much run in at... anything.
Hell yeah! Im so happy people are finding your channel through bg3. Your builds have given me so much to play with in my dnd games.
For your Rogue/Ranger here is the best Armor IMO. Im at AC 20 and can solo most encounters.
Dark Justiciar Helmet: Magical Durability: The wielder has a +1 bonus to Saving Throws against spells. Covert Critical: While obscured, the number you need to roll a Critical Hit while attacking is reduced by 1. This effect can stack. Constitution Saving Throws +1
Yuan-ti Scale Mail AC15 Exotic Material: Add your Dexterity Modifier to your Armour Class. Additionally, this armour does not impose Disadvantage on Stealth Ability Checks. Gain a +1 bonus to initiative rolls.
Gloves of the Balanced Hands: Grants Two Weapon Fighting Style
The Deathstalker Mantle: You gain expertise in Stealth Checks. Once per turn when you kill an enemy, shroud yourself in primeval darkness to become invisible for 2 turns
Evasive Shoes: +1 Athletics +1 AC
I think it would be SO cool to have a little minute or two segment at the end of each D&D build for BG3. I don't have the ability to play D&D in person, but I love BG3 so having someone well-versed in the rules to explain the differences between each and how to make the D&D builds work in BG3 would be so helpful.
I've been playing BG3 for almost weeks and I absolutely LOVE this game. Top 3 games I've ever played easy. I'm so glad I found your UA-cam channel. Extremely well put together and informative. Thank you!!
got the ranger gloomstalker/Assassin build on Astarion and it's great! Add some poisons to his attacks and he just shreds enemies and the dual hand crossbows are working really well.
You're really good at this. Thanks so much.
Also love how you do really quick cuts and make the cadence of your talking both quick and feel really natural. Was mostly audio only before, so hadn't noticed all the extra work you were putting in to make such a great vid. Kudos.
I'm in my third playthrough and i didnt even know about multiclass before i stumble on your videos. Your work is amazing i'm currently running shadowheart as bard/cleric, gale as a sorcerer/fighter/wizard, astarion as a open handed thief rogue/monk and myself as a paladin and its been my easiest playthrough by far im blasting through everything. Thank you for your videos i really enjoy your content
I also took performer as my last feat on my paladin and gave a level of bard to two companions i didnt plan on using on my team. So from times to times i just like to go in the city and blast a full concert with my 4 bards all using different instruments this game is so incredible
Love it!
I've been waiting for this for my second playthrough, you're figther sorlock is very fun. I have not been able to play any D&D on my own because of me being in a 3rd world country and have not connection or not even know anyone playing in my country because its sophisticated game to have and I dont have any resources to able to get my own because It's expensive. So this is what the closest D&D I can get aside from online scenarios. Thank you Homelander, for this sophisticated guides and informative aspect of all D&D and all of your previous videos. You're very easy to understand and have very mellow voice that Even I that does not a native english speaker perfectly understand!
I think I'm gonna try the (Martial Arts) Monk + (Moon) Druid To give the Animal Form claw attacks additional damage and Flury of Blows plus the additioinal unarmed attack. I was going to use the Badger form to call it my Wolverine build.
If you can quicken twice in the same turn you could do 5 fireballs with 6 sor, 2 fig, 3 rog
There are two Rare Long swords in the game that use the Finesse Property if you get the Dual wielding feat, you can get a bump in damage and unique extra attacks, their names are Phalar Aluve and Larethian's Wrath
I made a Roguebarian build based entirely around getting those two swords as quickly as possible. I love practically *smiting* people with a Reckless sneak attack
I thought the same thing. Since I got a permanent +1 to DEX, I think I might respec, put 17 DEX and 15 CON. Get the ASI at level 7 and then Dual Wielder at level 8. Resilient (CON) was my option for level 8,so that I have a better chance of holding concentration on Hunters Mark, but I'm honestly not sure... Too bad that the off-hand's ability can't be used. I'm not sure if it applies the rest of the stuff on the off-hand weapon, but phalar aluve is the best option by far, for the main hand.
Ohh shit! I have both lol. Might respec now 😅
I am a new fan and fellow theory crafting madman. What do you think of the following?
Main Eldrich Knight Fighter
-Take 1 point into Paladin: This gives all your melee attacks +1D8 Holy damage.
-Take 1 point in wizard: You are now an Eldrich Knight that can learn ANY SPELL IN THE GAME!
The idea is create a fighter who is a jack of all trades magician. Hits hard and can cast all kinds of situational spells.
I want to see what you could do with a monk with a little bit of thief rogue, maybe some barbarian if it can fit, and the Tavern Brawler feat. If I'm reading this correctly, Tavern Brawler lets you add your strength modifier to attack and damage rolls for all unarmed attacks. So as a monk you'd potentially add your dexterity and strength to attack & damage rolls for your unarmed attacks.
WOW it is so refreshing seeing builds from someone who actually knows about 5e!! The other vids on yt are like “play a paladin so you can cast spells and use a weapon 😮” like no shit I’m here to see some creative interactions!! Really appreciate the effort you put into these.
Dual hand crossbows has been brilliant for me. It lets you shoot a magic arrow from both so you can ice arrow, fire arrow then lightning with next character and shock a whole room. Or you use teleport arrow twice and move a long way.
So you shoot via each and next turn shock? :v magic archer soundin fun
Got Lae'zel on a strength variation of the blender. Currently at battlemaster 5/thief 3. Had a magic item to give her hunters mark, which is pretty much the main reason to go ranger. Have her dual wielding a rapier and a longsword so she can still get that sneak attack off.
Dude what a cool build. You wouldn't dual wield longswords?
Watching this channel when the ranged fighter episode came out, on the day it came out and now seeing it 1) getting the attention it deserves and 2) being a stable part of my weekly routine has been amazing. Thank you for your calming voice and weirdly nieche theory crafting builds Colby!
23:10 i started with a single level of draconic sorc so i'd get the extra ac from there. i was able to aquire both the bracers of defense and the ring of protection so im at 18 ac in cloth.. could be better in plate but its working for me right now.
Warlocks with devils sight are immune to blindness from the darkness spell, they have full functionality so it is useable actually :) I’m currently running that combo in my game I just lob eldritch blasts while the enemy A.I. shits the bed in confusion
I just wrote this too lololol. Curiously, does taking a drow, or any race with superior dark vision, give the same effect? Or is this specific to devil sight?
@@Gamer_Cafethis is very specific to devil sight
This plus the super awesome prosthetic eye that gives you invisibility vision is great
I'm planning to do this in my current run with a melee build. WIll try a few different setups, but 6 Fighter 6 Warlock looks pretty strong on paper.
@Gamer_Cafe superior darkvision specifically doesn't give the ability to see through magical darkness, and sadly blindsight doesn't seem to be a thing in baldurs gate 3. This means warlocks and imp summons are the only ways to see through the darkness spell that I've found. At least in the early game. I'm a warlock and I know for sure I want Wyll on my team. Means I'm still looking for other ways around blindness in magical darkness.
Just wanted to add a comment for the youtube algorithm, and thank you for the content. I saw a comment about BG3 being a gateway drug for tabletop D&D and couldnt agree more. You have years of builds that you could repurpose for BG3. May the monetization gods smile upon you!
Jusy as a heads up, you still cant cast darkness to move with you, but being inside darkness while having Devils sight now gives you advantage and not blinded
I'm running the blender build and it's a blast! Currently lvl 6. It's powerful, but most important thing is that it's so much fun playing it. Plus, there are some Magic objects that Buff this playstyle. Thank you Colby for all this knowledge❤
I'm trying it on my first play through and just hit level 5, so I just got Rogue 3 and Fast Hands. It's been a fun character so far. Hopefully the damage starts to ramp up a little. What weapons were you using around the time of your post? My options haven't been great so far, so I'm using Speedy Reply (Scimitar 1d6+3) and Hunter's Dagger (1d4+4). Do you have any suggestions of weapons I should look for?
@@peteshepherd15 I got a shortsword that crits on a 19 but i don't remember where i found it. The other "shortsword" it's a ring of shadowblade. I mean, the ring cast shadowblade.
As someone who’s been playing DnD for over a decade and has a serious character making habit, it’s surprising how long it took for me to find your channel. Really liking your BG3 content, and I’m definitely going to have to go back and watch some older DnD content
Colby, I think you would approve of my Wizard Tank shenanigans:
I made Gale an Abjuration Wizard (way better in this than 5e), and took one level of Fiend Warlock to get Armor of Agathys. I don't know if it's his background or Warlock giving him shield proficiency, but he has my Adamantine Shield, lol.
He starts the day with his Wizard level in Arcane Ward stacks, then immediately gets one from Mage Armor and more from upcasting Armor of Agathys with his highest Wizard slot. Arcane Ward reduces damage taken by the number of stacks (like temp HP) but upon taking damage you only lose ONE stack. So in combat, he generally turns on Fire Shield, then spams Blade Ward while deliberately running past enemies to eat their opportunity attacks. From what I've seen, the damage reduction works as follows:
1. First, Blade Ward cuts the total weapon damage received in half.
2. What's left hits the Arcane Ward, which at level 8 started the day at 12. That attack is weakened by 12 flat.
3. Arcane Ward drops to 11 stacks.
4. Even if the attack never got through the ward, Armor of Agathys and Fire Shield go off.
5. Use Warlock slot to cast Hellish Rebuke.
6. Armor of Agathys usually still has 20 HP.
Now, if you want him to still take attack actions, and be safer from ALL types of damage, have Shadowheart cast Warding Bond on him at the start of the day too. Now he's resistant to EVERYTHING. She takes the same amount, sure, but I have her with a helmet that heals her a bit every time she heals someone, and that includes potions. So she can just toss potions at my Monk and Barbarian to keep them standing, while getting small heals herself. If you respec her to Life Domain, even better, but not necessary. I have her as Tempest Domain. I also gave Gale equipment that has retaliation damage, like a cloak that deals acid damage to melee attackers, lol.
Gale very rarely takes any damage so far, but he destroys entire rooms just by soaking hits.
BG3 Early Access got me into D&D and I've been absorbing your content like a sponge. Great to see you do BG3 Content Now that its out!
Love the builds. My main is your previous Sorlock/Fighter (2F 2W 8S) and im LOVING IT SO MUCH!!!
Total sidenote, found out about Magic spoon from another creator, and normally I and iffy on sponsorships but I DID try it, and it is definitely worth a shot if you're needing to cut carbs or are on a high protein diet for weight training. its basically puffed whey proteins from milk flavored to taste (close) to childhood cereals. Marshmallow, Chocolate, and honey gram mixed together is like a s'more...
For the Second build: the extra attack from pact of the Blade stack with extra attack from paladin. So, 7/5 or 6/6 would be better. Also, oathbreaker level 7 aura is awesome with this build.
Yeah, I'm not sure if he's aware that in BG3 the Extra Attack from Pact of the Blade stacks with Paladin's (and other martial classes) Extra Attack, allowing for 3 chances to smite in a single turn, provided you got the spell slots--then you add the extra slashing damage provided by the Oathbreaker's aura, it's very deadly.
You can also go Paladin 5/Warlock 5/Bard 2 for more skill proficiency, distraction with performance checks, and a few more spell slots. It's really a matter of: Do you want to break your Oath for more direct damage or keep your oath, succeed in dialog a little more frequently, and have a few more spells at your disposal + a few more spell slots for smites.
Either way, you still get 3 weapon attacks.
I’m on his channel for his awesome dnd builds, and I don’t play baldur’s gate. I just wanted to say congratulations on these videos getting 200k views. Super awesome that you’re getting the attention that you so deserve!
GUYS, for those of you coming from baldurs gate, welcome to the best place to talk shop about dnd, we love critlander, so please please please lets get him to 250k!
This is such great content!
I started out as a Bard and then wanted to play a Gish bard so went into Warlock for the pact of the blade. I would be super happy to hear your ideas to flesh this one out!
Really really appreciated these well structured videos as someone who's not familiar with DnD. Great stuff!
17:58 The Blender build is very similar to a build I'm using with my DnD group. I based my character on "The Shadow" so I'm a gloomstalker ranger that uses two hand crossbows. I just hit level 6 and started dipping into rogue. I'm going to go Arcane Trickster just to stay loyal to The Shadow theme, but I am getting a bonkers amount of damage out of handcrosbowman.
For the warlock/ pally build, the extra attack from warlock 5 stacks with paladin extra attack. The ideal build is probably Oathbreaker 7 warlock 5, but the build doesn’t really take off til 8 (pally 5 lock 3, put everything in cha) and you’re better off using one class until you can reroll then.
I'm planning on going 6 Pala/5 Warlock/1 Sorcerer for more defende thanks to pala aura and shield
@@sagilia4393 you really want to use your spell slots on smiting, not shield, and you’re missing out on a good anount of damage from aura of hate.
Oathbreaker 7 warlock 5 is what I'm planning for my next playthrough :)
@@alexw4482i get your point. how can i get oathbreaker for a companion?
@@sagilia4393 anything that would normally break your oath will still function for them. Could go devotion and attack the teiflings holding lae’zel or go ancients and kill the owl bear mama if you want oathbreaker asap.
I found you through the baldur's gate video when I was looking for some resources to send to friends less familiar with tabletop that could help them understand how building a character works, but as a super longtime DM I've been having a blast going back through your other stuff and seeing some fun options for multiclassing!
Yesss loving the bg3 content Colby! Im so glad you have more builds to make for us 🥰
"I want to keep this video under an hour."
*Video is **59:58*
You are a wonderful human ❤ thank you for these videos!
Excited to watch this! I would suggest builds for companions next, something that is still true to their character but also fun and strong.
Hello Colby, I'm new here, thanks for your BG3 multiclass videos for BG3, they are pretty interesting.
I got a point regarding Greater invisibility : it has been really nerfed comparatively to D&D 5e rules because in BG3, health checks are done each turn to maintain the spell active. It seems than even with very high dexterity and stealth proficiency, the skill breaks very easily following several reddit posts.
Personally I decided to use a Barbarian with the wolf heart in my group (4 barbarian/8 paladin for protection aura and Hate Haste aura) with 2 other melees character (2 paladin/10 warlock) & pure GWM fighter (2 extra attack with advantage). It is the more reliable way I found to have advantage with my attacks rolls. Keep the good work !
Ya, pinned a comment on this :)
Thanks and welcome!
I have been dabbling in thinking up a few builds myself, and thought I might share one of them after seeing what you devised here. It actually sort of blends your first two builds together in a unique way.
The only tricky part of this first build is I could not decide what levels to take in which class at any given time, as they all are really important in one way or another. That being the case, this build will truly shine as attain level 11 to 12.
I will call this build - The Smite Blender
Level 1 - We will want to start with paladin for the better health and defenses, since this will be intended for the front lines.
You will allocate your stats to have-
16 dex
14 con
16/17 Charisma
Level 2 - Straight into paladin just to get smite online early game, but we will stop putting levels into paladin here. If you pick Oath of devotion, you can add that charisma modifier to the attack rolls for better consistency too.
The third level is one I debated a lot. This build will multiclass into two additional classes. We can't really go a consistent many weapon attack build without attaining 3 levels in rogue for the extra bonus action from thief, however the other class is probably more import to build up next for many reasons. That being the case, it's hard not to consider dipping one point into rogue now early just to get sneak attack and expertise for Persuasion and Intimidation (Making us a fantastic face character too).
That being said, Level 3 - We will probably put into bard! Why bard all of a sudden? well, there is many reasons! Being a full spell caster class, each level will push us to higher spell slots for bigger smite bursts on crits which may happen more often then you suspect getting consistently up to 4 attacks a turn. Their spell casting modifier is also Charisma, so there is nothing to worry about there allowing us easy diversity with our spells should we need to pivot our strategy some. But the big kicker is that thanks to the bard subclass collage of swords we can still acquire both the Dual Wielder fighting style AND the extra attack at level 6 bard. To top it all off, we still get expertise as well along the way, still allowing us to have one heck of a face character.
We would push bard all the way to level 6, which will happen either at character level 8 or 9 depending on if you decided to dip rogue early or not.
After this point we will want to push rogue to level 3 for the extra bonus action. We also will have 4 total expertise, allowing us to pick up performance and deception for the perfect face character.
The final 12th level is a bit more flexible as we can opt to put it into rogue for the extra feat/stats, or we can put it into bard for a few extra spell slots + higher spell slot level for one perfect max damage crit smite.
The only thing that makes this build better is making sure you have advantage against your opponent so you get 8 chances to crit every turn, and pump out serious smite damage consistently thanks to our decent quantity of spell slots from being mostly bard.
If the concept interests you and you want to tweak/feature it, just give my name a shout out so I can flaunt it to my family hahaha, cheers!
I think my favorite moment in BG3 so far was finding out I could use my bard to play music to bring everyone to a small area, literally the size of a fireball from Gale. Everyone is vaporized and my bard is still playing music.
If anyone wants to read more neat multiclass combos, I have one for show and tell! My current build is to make the tankiest caster I can manage, mainly with Arcane Ward and stacking defenses like Temp HP, AC, forcing Disadvantage etc. The leveling progression is kinda weird and includes a respec at Level 5, so I'll just give an overview of the goals of the build. It's pretty long, so prepare for some pretty dense text if you want to learn more.
ARCANE WARD! It works as a flat reduction that gets exponentially more powerful the higher the intensity. It starts at an intensity equal to your Wizard level, and caps at double that level. To best utilize this feature, we want Armor of Shadows DESPERATELY! There are no Abjuration rituals we can use like Alarm, and there is no Eldritch Adept either. So, we'll have to settle with 2 levels in Warlock to get Invocations. While we're there we can get Armor of Agathys too. Though we can still take Fiendish Vigor if we want to, since there aren't that many other good options for Invocations (and its free temp hp), You might notice that you can't actually choose to use Warlock slots for non-Warlock spells until you run out of normal slots, so those short rest spell slots are probably going to waste anyways. Other good options there are the Disguise Self one, or One with Shadows.
ARMOR. I think its still good to have a good DEX save, so Medium armor is a good idea. A Shield Dwarf will get you that, but if you already had your character made (like me) you could take a feat, or choose a starting class with it. Cleric and Druid work if we want to avoid stemming spell slot progression, but Druid gets subclass at Level 2 so Cleric would be our best choice there. If we wanted heavy armor after all, some Cleric subclasses will give us Heavy armor. Given we're a bit MAD right now (but also just about everything other than Strength is needed), I'd avoid picking spells and features that require rolls and saves other than INT. I found Life/War to be the best for Heavy, and Light for just Medium. And of course, a shield. +2 AC is always great.
SPELLS? As previously mentioned, our stats are spread thin here. Pick spells to avoid using attacks and saves with our relatively poor CHA and WIS, so take those spells for the Warlock and Cleric levels and leave attacks and saving throw spells for the Wizard half.
For cantrips, as mentioned let's leave damage cantrips for Wizard, then pick up tons of utility on Cleric and Warlock. I picked High Half-Elf so I have Fire Bolt, then I chose Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, and Acid Splash, then Blade Ward, Guidance, and Resistance, then Light, Mage Hand, and Friends. Ten Cantrips! So much utility and base damage options!
As for spells, basically everything is a good choice for your prepared Cleric spells. Warlock, of course Armor of Agathys, but also Hex for a use of bonus action and Protection from Good and Evil because a SO many enemy types apply! For this campaign, Aberrations and Undead are quite common. And Wizard, we'll want some spells that can work in close quarters. Melee spells, Saves, AoEs, or Magic Missile, but also maybe some Melee Attacks. Use a Finesse Weapon for this because we dumped STR, basically just daggers since we're only proficient in simple weapons (though if you can somehow manage to get proficiency in Shortswords without a feat or class, by all means use it)
FEATS! As always we have a lot to pick here, between Shield Master, Heavy Armor Master, Tough, Resilient Dex or Con, War Caster, Sentinel, and of course a humble ASI. I'm not actually sure if Shield Master applies to AoE spell DEX saves or not, but it does let you potentially negate the damage, not to mention the +2 to DEX saves. For Resilient, respeccing with Withers makes it much easier to make the best use of half-feats like this, for improving both an ability modifier and your saves. If you took Heavy Armor, then Heavy Armor Master stacks well with Arcane Ward, negating even more damage flat. War Caster gives you better Concentration as well, and a good Opportunity Attack too! Sentinel is great for locking an enemy into melee with you to improve your tanking ability. You should use a Finesse Weapon to ensure it lands though
That's about everything there. Personally, I started the adventure as Abj. Wizard 2, then went Fiend Warlock 2, then at Level 5 respecced as Light Cleric 1, then Abj. Wizard 1, then Fiend Warlock 2, then stayed on Wizard for the rest. Ultimately it gives us a caster who can take a good beating, with Warding Light, clever use of defensive spells, and a fully-tiered Arcane Ward, fueled by Armor of Shadows. And eventually (EVENTUALLY!) we can get Projected Ward to negate damage on the fly.
I am running Dual Hand Crossbows and Dual Scimitar with my Thief Gloom Striker. I don't have sharpshooter yet but the offhand does apply your modifier without any feats.
It would be great to see your ideas/builds for the companions you get in game if you are playing solo!
I did a Blender build on my game, kind of happened out of nowhere. I had initially wanted to go Thief/Barbarian to trigger sneaks by myself with Reckless Attack but since I couldn't get dex to damage on the offhand with those classes i changed it to Monk/Rogue and it turned out AMAZINGLY well
It went Rogue at first level for expertise in Sleight of Hand and Perception, proficiencies and Sneak attack
5 levels of Open Hand monk for the extra attack 1 Rogue/5 WotOH Monk
2 more level of Rogue to Thief for the extra bonus action
Monks get to use Flurry of Blows as a bonus action + 1 Ki point to attack twice per bonus action and WotOH can use their Flurry of Blows to knock enemies prone in addition to the two attacks. Prone enemies are open to receiving Sneak Attacks
At Monk level 6 (Character level 9 with 3Thief/6WotOH Monk) you can 1d4+wisdom to unarmed strike damage and you get Wholeness of Body which gives you another bonus action for 3 rounds AND refills half you Ki AND heals for 18 HP
So at level 9 when under the effects of Haste and Wholeness of Body you get 2 actions and 3 bonus actions all of which can attack twice for a total of TEN attacks per round ! (I havent gotten to 9 yet, only 8 atm but I'm really, really hoping the extra bonus action from Wholeness of Body and Thief add up together)
For the Sorceror/Fighter build, you might want to consider Wizard 1 in those extra levels at the end. Wizard 1 is able to learn all scrolls, regardless of their spell slot level, and cast them with the slots you already have.
Throw on Headband of Int to prepare 5 spells
ok, you may have sold me on the wizard part. If it was just for crafting spells to be safe for my party... meh. screw em. BUT, being able to learn more spells, now that's worth while.
The ogres of act I drop a head band that sets your int to 17.
I’m glad Colby has found the “blender” this build has been my main since launch and I love it.
I am honestly very surprised that Colby hasn't done a strength based tavern brawler monk looking forward to seeing what he cooks up with that!
Comment on dual wielding hand crossbows:
It works with sharpshooter, but is also bugged, so you get the +10 to damage without the -5 to hit on the bonus action attack. This is very good on a thief rogue, because you get two of these insane attacks.
My first character in the full release of bg3 was a gloomstalker 5, thief rogue 3, fighter 2. with dual hand crossbows and sharpshooter. that gave me 5 attacks on the first turn of every battle, all doing over 20 damage each.
Your Blender build also works extremely well with Archery + Sharpshooter with dual hand crossbows.
In fact right now the game is bugged, so the bonus action attacks apply the +10 damage from Sharpshooter but don't apply the -5.
For some reason when you use two hand crossbows it applies your Dex to the off-hand attack even if you don't have thw TWF style.
Was gonna say this if nobody else did.
I actually gave my thief/ranger a longbow because dual crossbows felt too much like cheese.
I had to pause the video to make sure someone had already made this comment haha.
One of my best hommes in my 20s and I would spend long nights theory crafting stuff like this. For MTG, Marvel Super Heroes RPG, Dungeons and Dragons. He introduced me to the original BG and really PC gaming in general in 1998. We lost touch a couple years ago right before the pandemic and he passed last year. The way you talk about this stuff reminds me of sitting across the table from him and bullshitting for hours about just how we could make the most broken characters, decks, etc. It makes me kinda sad he wasn't alive this year to play D4 or BG3. Thanks for your content homme.
Love the Baldur's Gate 3 content! Keep it up, Colby!
Awesome video, and great builds.
By the way, I created my Conan build and it’s turned out amazingly well. 6 lvls into berserker barb, 4 into thief, and 2 into fighter. I get two attacks w/extra attack, 2 quick actions thief giving me potentially 4 attacks per round with enraged strike/throw. I also get action surge for 2 more attacks for a total of 6 on the first turn. For feats I pick up GWM and tavern brawler. This way my base strikes get +10 and if they’re far away my base throws get double my strength modifier. With the tank health of a barb, I almost killed Raphael single handed. My entire party nearly died, but my barb kept going and finished the devil. I love the multiclassing in this game.
Sickkkk
That's my Karlach build, except I went for 3 in fighter to get weapon bond from Eldritch Knight.
Potions are super important. Potion of speed to save on the Haste spell, and elixer of bloodlist gives an additional action when you kill an enemy
Those of you wanting to do the DW handbows. Rogue 4 (Thief/Sharpshooter) > Fighter 6 (Battlemaster/ASI) > Rogue 6 (ASI). Four attacks per turn at 1d6+5+10 damage. Not counting sneak attack, haste, superiority dice, or action surge. If u want to point blank shoot prone ppl after trip attack, swap one ASI for xbow expert.
You could have a career in asmr
I was thinking about the blender build and what about 2 levels of barbarian at levels 9, 10 for the 2 rage damge per attack.And Making it a strength build. For weaker enemies the math might be better than repplying hunters mark and the 1 lost sneak attack die? Probably not, I just don't like having to reapply hunters mark and like raging ha!
First build is literally one I've been trying to plot out for the past week, you're the GOAT bro
BG3 is such an amazing Game, I’m absolutely in love! Definitely a contender for the „RPG of the Century“ !!!
But I think also one thing that is awesome about it is that so much more people are maybe trying DnD or other TTRPGs afterwards. Love it!
Just a neat little thing to share because I really enjoy watching you get excited about mechanic nuances and how they interact with other mechanics:
The ranged Slashing Flourish for Sword Bards in BG3 functions very differently from d&d. When you use ranged Slashing Flourish, you can make two attacks with one attack, meaning you can hit one target with both attacks from Slashing flourish. And bard’s bardic inspiration doesn’t scale off charisma, so you can dump it for Dex only.
My sword bard 6/fighter 2 character can output 8 ranged attacks at level 8.
I feel lovingly called out at 21:00. A fellow monk lover and Gish enthusiast? It's always wonderful to hear,
Yo a quick start guide for a sweet duel hand crossbow build is;
start rouge drow for the racial hand crossbow prof.
You should hit level 3 after beating the goblins attacking the Grove but dont level up yet.
Go to the teifling blacksmith and buy +1 handcrossbows. If he doesn't have any in stock, level one of the characters up to refresh the stock.
Once you have two, select thief as your subclass. Now you have 3 attacks at level 3.
Once you hit 4 and get the sharpshooter feat and you are golden.
Takes about an half hour or less if you skip everything
Just discovered your channel, and I must say, you are truly inspiring. I love the tone, the information provided, your vibe, and just overall what a breath of fresh air. Serene, calm, insightful, informative, and well-made. Can sing nothing but praise.
Just want to say THANK YOU for these build videos so far. I'm a complete newbie to the world of DnD beyond watching the Dungeons & Drag Queens video by Dimension 20 and I've basically spent more time watching/reading tutorials of the game. Luckily I learn quite fast and I'm now at the point where I can understand multiclass mechanics a bit more and so it feels great to watch recommendations from a true veteran. I know they're not really proficient with multiclassing but I would love to see a Wizard video as well. Maybe something for Bards and Druids too beyond the Support and Tank builds from your previous video.
55:50 On average Elemental Adept will add ~4 damage to a level 3 fireball. The way the math works out it's 0.5 points of extra damage for each die, no matter the size of the die (slightly less if it's programmed to reroll 1's instead of "not roll 1" like the description says).
Gosh, I'd watch a ton of these videos just to learn all the differences between 5e and BG3 so I can make informed decisions. Thanks for doing the legwork so we don't have to! ^_^
Thanks for the Great content. - Just one thing to add : on Act 1 (around lvl4-5) you can get +1 stat from the Hag encounter - so 17-16-14 is lot more potent on multi class builds than it usually should be (yes I'm a dirty min-maxer - throw your downvotes XD )