Yup. Most fights in BG3 are based on two things, having one or two seriously dangerous enemies & waves of chaff that can do chip damage or annoying conditions that cause problems if the dangerous enemies aren't already gone.
Well as someone who keeps TPKing in Honor mode I am going to give this party a try. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to do these vidoes.
I’ve been doing all four of your “shadow” builds and I’m having so much fun. I’ve got a shadow monk, a gloom stalker ranger, Shadowheart as a rogue/cleric, and a warlock/rogue as my Tav. I adore sneaking and murdering from the shadows!
I'm so looking forward to trying that in a evil Durge run. Just the idea of shadowstepping between clouds of Darkness to confuse the enemies fills me with joy.
I’ve been trying to theory craft a team like that in my head. Something that’s a pure dark vision assassin type group but with each character bringing something slightly different
I just wanted to say that thx to you and your well explained guide I finally beat honor mode ! This build was perfect for someone like me that overthink too much until i missplay a lot. And that was really nice and smooth. Actually this party made the run really smoothly. (sry for any english mistakes)
Awesome, congrats! Really glad to hear that! And your English was great! If you do want a small tip the only thing is that usually you'd say "made the run smooth" or "made the run go smoothly," but not usually "made the run smoothly," but that's honestly an extremely tiny thing which I wouldn't worry about at all. Cheers!
@@Cephalopocalypse Awww thank you you're so kind mate. Btw I will say again what i saw on the comments but I really love how you speak. You look like a chill guy ! And keep the amazing work ! !
Dude. What the hell?! How have i been listening to spell tier lists and party build guides in the background for like 3 weeks and still have more to go?! Awesome channel, awesome content! Keep it up, brother!
Cephalo, I can’t finish a playthrough and it’s your fault! every time you drop a new build, I get excited and wanna respec it into my party, and then I inevitably respec everyone else so it fits cohesively. fr though thanks for the content
This is my biggest problem with the game (a good problem to have) I have so many builds I want to play around with! I need an arena mode or something so I can have fun with all the different combat interactions. Fingers crossed modders can give me something like it
Youre single handedly making my time playing baldurs gate 3 more enjoyable and fun!! but not only mine, because i sometimes take a look at the comments of your videos and see that other people would definitely agree with my statement that your guides are amazing!! very informative and easy to digest despite them being 30-40 minutes long, they don't feel like a drag or that they contain unnecessary information, i'm very lucky to have found your channel when i was looking for a build for Shadowheart a few days ago!!!
On that note, can i ask for a war cleric build?? i really want to play with shadowheart as my front tank/melee damage dealer but i have no idea how to multiclass it, or what items should i keep an eye on. (it feels to me that war cleric is very weak in comparasion to the others cleric subclasses but i really hope it is just me building it the wrong way 😭)
Important thing to note, when he says leave the area with friends, you have ample time to do so. I used friends so many times and never caused combat because of it. So if you were nervous to use it in your HM run, it's absolutely worth it for the help in dialogue checks! The reward is well with the risk.
I'm not sure if you mentioned it, but a pretty good weapon for the lockadin is unseen menace. The invisibility on it giving permanent advantage with little to no drawback, plus the increased crit chance means with that item you're sitting around a 19% chance to crit and we all know how much paladin loves to crit. I admit I was playing this in the background so I may have missed it if it was mentioned, but I wanted to bring it up because you can get that weapon relatively early. Plus since it's a pike it has extra reach, which is always a nice addition, and piercing damage (relevant if you make certain story choices in act 3). It may not be best in slot but I really like it for its consistency throughout the game.
I might load a save back and buy this just to experiment. I literally just did the inquisitor room’s fight and saved earlier today, but did not buy this weapon. Still on my first playthrough and didn’t check the invisible property in the shop, as it’s really annoying to do on PS5 without it being in your inventory. My understanding was that two handers that use two dmg rolls per attack were better for great weapon fighting, but I didn’t take that early anyway, so there should be no real drawback for me.
I've been watching and rewashing these videos and I'd really like to see a team focused around debuffing enemies in a spin on the super safe team. I enjoy that these videos don't focus on gear, but a cold/radiating orb/reverb build sounds interesting and I'd live to see how you do it!
You mentioned that this party was good for low long rests, I've been meaning to comment, and I'm lazy so here is something I dreamed up a few months ago: my band, “No Sleep Till (Appropriate Location)!” Int: Dice Lord: 6 levels in Div Wizard, at least 5 levels Lore Bard for Cutting Words and inspiration back on SR, get racial lucky and feat to really drive home Lord of the Dice. Wis: Druids get their shape charges back on SR. Since we’re clever we combine Spores with Monk to..., no, Moon Druid lvl 10, Bard 2. Char: Too many different great ways to build here, Warlocks get their slots back on SR, Paladins get back their channel oath, and you already need 2 levels in Bard to exist. If want “I can do this all day” you want 6 Swords Bard, 1 Pali (for oath), and 5 Warlock (and that is what you want). Str/Dex? Tavern Brawler = Str: Even the wiki section on SR misses that Fighters get their 2nd wind back on SR and action surge is worth a dip already. We’re going TB so we have to have some Monk. And at least 2 levels of Bard. They’ve obviously been drinking. So Drunken Master? Drunk anyway. 3 Eldritch Knight for bind weapon, 3 Monk, 6 Bard. What will they do? Start a fight by throwing a shoe, maybe their weapon if we’re lucky? Jolt awake and slash the two closest targets? Hit some rando so hard they miss their next turn? No one knows. Maybe they’ll try to seduce the lamp.
In terms of the assassin-archer i would also recommend playing two of them in your party as there are also two very different ways to equip them. And playing range is most of the time a lot better in BG3 then melee.. sure there are a lot of cool melee-weapons, but ranged attacks are always better in short-round fights if the enemys never reach you or even get an attack. A very powerful weapon that should be mentioned is the Ne`er Misser sold in Act ll in the moonrise towers, that one hand crossbow fires projectiles as force dmg completely ignoring piercing resistences. Would also reccommend the dex-cloth + ethels hair on a Tav Archer to get to 20 dex early over the gloves of dex + dark justiciar gloves for 1d4. And then there is a second weapon that is amazing throuout the entire game for archers, the titanstring bow. Can be obtained right after druid camp visit and fueled with giant strenght potions this deals massive dmg. Using bonus action with hunters mark give concetrate and that supports two other amazin items in the game: Strange Conduit Ring and Circlet of Hunting. Drakethroat Glaive (also sold in moon rise) add another d4 to the bow and you can unequip it after using the buff on the bow. That setup gives 20dex, +1d4 to attackrolls, +2d4 on elemental dmg, strenght mod added to dmg and +1d6 bonusdmg by hunters mark. You hit extremely hard with it. Snowburst ring with helbard buff frost also knocks most enemys prone when you hit them, gives that playstyle a lot of control. Pairing one lvl of warlock (middle one of sublass) that criticals let surounding enemys most likely to get frightened, instead of 4 in fighter gives a lot of control to this absolute dmg-machine. (only 2 levels in fighter are required for action surge and the second feat can be obtained by lvl 4 rogue).
For the TB monk start with 17 wisdom use the hag hair and use 2nd feat on wisdom. If you use mirror of loss too you can reach 22 wisdom for +6 to dmg from manifestations and another +6 from uninhibited kushigo. Also if you use vest of soul rejuvenation the item itself gives +2 ac, your dex gives +3 and your wis gives +6. 21 ac without even adding ring/cloak of protection and bracers of defence and warding bond/shield of faith from clerics
I'm on the hunt for a difficulty alternative to honor mode. I think reloading and trying things differently is part of the fun of RPG games. The Mirror of Loss is pretty much useless without save scumming. But I'm kind of curb stomping tactician mode with my reasonably well optimized party. I even hold back on some of the more OP options like ranged Slashing Flourish, Arcane Acuity with Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, Radiating Orb, twinned Haste, Tavern Brawler with Fast Hands, etc. Maybe you could do an OP build hall of shame video, although these honor mode build guides are pretty much the same thing. Some suggestions would be: 1 Fighter/1 Wizard/10 Swords Bard. Use Gloves of Dexterity and Warped Headband of Intellect to overcome the MADness. Go 1 Fighter/11 Swords Bard or just 12 Swords Bard if you want to use the Helmet of Arcane Acuity, unless you want to sacrifice significant CON and WIS for INT. For feats the choices would be ASI, Alert and Resilient WIS. Pick two, probably ASI and Alert, and take your chances with WIS saves, which should still be OK with buffs like Hero's Feast, but that is late game. 8 Berserker/4 Thief with Tavern Brawler. My Minsc build. It's OP enough that I generally limit throwing to improvised weapons, but even that can be OP. For feats other than TB, choose two of ASI, Great Weapon Master, and Resilient WIS. You shouldn't need Alert, since you get Feral Instinct at level 7. 6 Vengeance Paladin/6 Fiend Warlock. Three attacks per round, Eldrich Blast, smites, Counterspell, Fireball. Ridiculous. My Minthara build. Possibly as OP as swords bard. Maybe other subclass combos are even more OP, but I like Vengeance and Fiend just because I like them. For feats, go with ASI and Alert. A better video idea would be good RP builds for companions and Tav. Some suggestions: Shadowheart: Tempest domain through act two, then respec to Light Domain. TBH, I just went Light domain all the way, because, let's face it, Trickery domain is a travesty in comparison. Feats are ASI, Resilience CON, and Alert. Jaheira: 1 Fighter/11Land Druid. I originally went with 5 Gloom Stalker/7 Nature cleric, but once I figured out how Belm worked, I thought an actual Fighter/Druid combo might be even better. With Belm, which is basically a free Two Weapon Fighting style, she can have two attacks most rounds and be an almost full strength Druid. If you are like me and don't care much for Wild Shapes, then Land Druid makes her almost a wizard, sort of like Light cleric. For Circle of Land spells, I went with Underdark/Arctic/Arctic/Arctic. This gives her Haste, Misty Step, and some good AOE damage and control spells with cold damage specialization, which can be doubled under the right circumstances. I think the one Figher level is totally worth it, even though it comes at the cost of a feat. You can choose a fighting style, either Archery or Defense, you get heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency, and STR + CON saving throws. Interestingly, since you have martial weapon proficiency, you can forgo Belm and go with Duelist's Prerogative instead. This has the same effect as Belm, but it's a better weapon. For feats, choose two of ASI, Alert and Resilient WIS. Karlach: How is Karlach a Barbarian? She's from Baldur's Gate (a city), she served in a Devil's army, and that is a highly structured environment. Most of the Barbarians would be on the other side of the Blood War. Didn't it used to be a D&D rule that Barbarians couldn't be Lawful? She talks like an army brat, not a Barbarian. Karlach is a Battlemaster Fighter. Just go with all 12 levels so you get all the feats. 12 levels of Battlemaster doesn't need any embellishment. You want ASI, Great Weapon Master, Alert, and Resilient WIS. Or go with two ASI if you feel lucky with WIS saves. Minsc: Minsc is your Berserker Barbarian. He even calls himself a Berserker. In BG2, he had an enrage special ability at a time when there wasn't a Barbarian class. Moreover, he isn't smart enough to be a spellcaster. Spellcasting for Minsc makes no sense. But wait, it gets better. Where do we find Minsc? Yep, that's right, as leader of a rival thieve's guild. Now we have lore justification for an 8 Berserker/4 Thief build. Wyll: Straight Warlock isn't optimal, but 2 Fiend Warlock/10 Draconic Sorcerer is tons of fun. Cast Twinned Haste and then just Eldrich Blast. Automatic win, unless your enemy is good at breaking concentration. In that case just quicken the usual damage spells. Great nuker build. For feats, go with ASI and Resilient WIS or CON, depending on which class you take at level 1. You will have to get the equivalent of Alert from items such as the Sentinel Shield. Gale: Just keep him an Evocation Wizard all the way. I think it is the most balanced class in the game. It's powerful without being ridiculous like a Swords Bard, Lockadin, or TB build. For feats go with ASI, Resilient CON, and Alert. Lae'zel: I think Eldrich Knight suits her. I went with all 12 levels for the feats, but you could be cute and give her one level of War Cleric. She was the one that got kidnapped. Imagine how angry she was when Tav Swords Bard freed her in the first round. Oh, and Gust of Wind was one of her spells. LOL. Feats are Alert, Tavern Brawler, Resilient WIS, and Greeat Weapon Master. Substitute ASI for Resilient WIS if you feel lucky with WIS saves. Astarion: Straight Rogue is nowhere land, so I went with the Reddit approved 5 Gloom Stalker/4 Thief/ 3 Eldrich Knight build. You get Extra Attack, Dread Ambusher and a variety of Roguish abilities from Gloom Stalker. For fighter levels, Battlemaster doesn't make much sense, but Eldrich Knight gives you the Shield spell and a couple of other 1st level Wizard spells of your choice along with Action Surge. It's just better than a pure Rogue Build by a country mile. Man, was this post really this long? I need to get out more and play less BG3...Nah, It's BG3 all the way for now.
Just beat the game on honor mode with this build--amazing party! The only thing is that the lockadin never seemed to come online; I am thinking this is more of a me problem. His darkness came in clutch though before the endgame fight though--was able to kill the hordes of enemies without taking dmg once.
Lots of other fights like this...one weakness of spike growth is against steel watchers (who reliably will jump out of it) ...but even there I somehow had luck with it against in the steel watcher boss fight.
@@benjaminkowal7310Especially spike growth plus hunger of Hadar, Or black tentacles and hunger of Hadar😂 Or Spike growth and Hunger of Hadar and Wall of Fire😂
Loving the full-party builds as they are, but I was really curious if you’d given any thought to doing full-party builds with more of a silly, gimmicky lens in mind? I like the approach of a team with a broader strategic goal in mind, but I was curious if you’d given thought to something like a “purely martial” team or a “super-wizard with 3 bodyguards” kinda thing. Just curious! Love your work as is, and appreciate the hard work that goes into it all!
Thanks for the reference to Arsonist's Oil, easy to forget these things exist. In fact, here's an idea for another tier list: consumables! Throwables! Oils, elixirs, potions, and bombs, oh my!
Definitely on the agenda! That's one I need to actually research a little more though since in my casual play I tend not to use a lot of consumables :P
1:13:24 Birthright absolutely stacks with the charisma from the Mirror, my Warlock has 24 charisma and can probably have 26 if I had gotten Athel's hair + the +1 from the mirror by passing the religion check. The extra stats from mirror and Athel are uncapped. Unless there is a special rule from Honor mode; if this is the case please mention it. Nice video otherwise.
I used similiar party for my honor mode. Lae'zel monk, gale fire sorc, astarion gloomstalker assassin, tav bard 10/1/1. Never have problem with my run. Just use astarion to start the fight and gale for the last battle 😬
Taking Ranger Knight option for heavy armour prof is good. I put the Gryms helmet on my GloomStalker in my Balanced mode run. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have disadvantage on stealth. And it prevents crits.
On my first playthrough, and I respected my Asterion just to use this helmet. It needed a good home due to me getting the heavy armor and shield, so my Paladin and Cleric can no longer be crit. Felt like a waste to not have another party member using it. I had to use the hide function, though. It’s pretty fugly on top of hide armor, lol.
As far as the tavern brawler monk goes, I'd add one level barbarian instead of the 9th monk level. That way, you can use a shield and if have the amulett that increases your con to 23, a very high AC. Also if you put that amulett on your monk, you don't have to put attribute points into con either.
Don't forget that Karlach gets additional damage die from soul coins only if she is Raging or at low hp, so if you want to use that mechanic consider Barb 3/Monk 6/Rogue 3. (Not sure if it's worth Alert and Monk 9 tho)
Hey I know this was a few months ago but just to let you know, while the soul coin does state that it only applies when raging or low life, it does in fact always apply to unarmed attacks regardless. On top of that, they actually apply the 1d4 damage TWICE on unarmed attacks, so it's pretty insane. I'm not sure if it's a bug or an inaccurate description but that is the case.
For the monk 16 dexterity is sufficient, you should be putting 17 points into wisdom for elixir builds and rounding it off with jaheiras necklace or Ethel’s hair. This will boost damage and armour class- initiative is high enough if you pick the alert feat
I love this kind of content, but I do wonder if you'd have time to do more niche build guides that include specific multiclassing/team compositions/itemization. As someone who's game knowledge has continued to expand the longer the game has been out, I'm more curious as to more strange ideas. I've been theory crafting characters revolving around empowering salami damage, builds revolving around psychic damage/shadow blade, and team compositions with divination wizard, light cleric, and lore bard using the Lucky feat and Illithid Powers to fully weaponize reactions. I'd love a mix of educational content to genuinely help with making honour mode smooth and content that revolves around optimizing role play builds. I love that you've continued to cover this game at all as we enter the post-honeymoon phase of the game's life. You are much appreciated.
My personal flavor for archery goodness is bard 6 rogue 3 and ranger 3 because Bard song of rest is really nice with Monk and Warlock. I dont think its as powerful, but i find it feels more accurate for Astarion as he does try to get arcane trickster. Swords bard instead makes it feel right at home even if he misses out on some heavy armors.
technically a thrower build (zerkerthief, later fighter) makes better use of tavern brawler, especially with returning pike, dwarfen throw hammer, and the spear from the zircus in act3, your range is higher, amazing splash damage, strong build diversity, heal and status applications with throwing all kinds of things. If you do the githyanki creche check, you can bonus action black hole into AoE- spear combo to clear an unlimited amount of enemies fast and easy, without even having to reach them, in my honor run, I had both. They didnt conflict for giant strength pots because my monk could just mainhand the club of giant strength whenever pots were rare
The actual best damage party is: two Swords Bard archers, one "Twin support"/Tempest Sorcerer, and one Monk. LEVEL 4 PARTY Halfling Sage Tav: War Cleric 1 then Swords Bard 3. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 14. Persuasion, Religion, Deception. Broodmother's Revenge, heavy crossbow. Focus on spells with save DCs, plus Guidance, Resistance, Thaumaturgy, Speak with Animals, Detect Thoughts. Astarian: Bard with Hand Crossbows until you get Titanstring Longbow, then 1 level of War Cleric. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 16 Cha 8. Athletics, Investigation, Stealth, Perception x2 Sleight of Hand x2. Focus on spells without DCs, except Command. Make sure to get Enhance Ability. Karlach: Rogue 1 then Monk 1 then Thief Rogue 3. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 15 Int 8 Wis 17 Cha 8. Perception x2, Stealth x2, Performance, Sleight of Hand. Bow of Awareness, Corellon's Grace, Silver Pendant. Carries scrolls to cast with high Wisdom. Tavern Brawler next level. Shart: Storm Sorc 1 then Tempest Cleric 1 then Sorc 2 then Wizard 1. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 16 Wis 12 Cha 8. Skills don't matter. Twinned Magic Weapon on both archers. Focus on Sorcerer spells/cantrips without Attack rolls or DCs, and without requiring concentration. Important gear: Wapira's Crown, Safeguard Shield and Whispering Promise, all on Shadowheart. Healing Word twinned = bonus action Bless on three party members, and Broodmother's Revenge trigger. Also Amulet of Restoration. LEVEL 7 PARTY Tav: War Cleric 1, Swords Bard 6. Gloves of Dexterity, so respec to Str 10, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 17. +1 Cha hair. Diadem of Arcane Synergy + Giantbreaker. Yuan-Ti Scale Mail, Knife of Undermountain King and Sentinel Shield. Sharpshooter. Astarian: War Cleric 1, Swords Bard 6. Titanstring Longbow + strength elixir. Graceful Cloth and Soulbreaker Greatsword. Sharpshooter. Karlach: Respec to Thief Rogue 3, Open Hand Monk 4. Tavern Brawler, +1 Con. Strength elixir. Fistbreaker Helm. Shart: Sorcerer 5, Cleric 1, Wizard 1. Alert. Magic Weapon now upcast Twinned, along with Drakethroat Glaive, on archer weapons. ACT 3 PARTY Tav: gets Illithid Expertise, respecs into non-Cha skills. Fighter 2 then Bard 8, Archery and +2 Cha. Gets permanent Bless from statue, Rhapsody, Flame Enameled Armour and Gontr Mael. Astarian: gets Ring of Regeneration, Mask of Soul Perception, Legacy of the Masters, and Ambusher. Gets Knife, Revenge and Promise from other party members. Fighter 2 then Bard 8, Archery and +2 Dex. Karlach: Monk to Monk 6, then Fighter 2, then Rogue 4. Defense style, +2 Wis. Gets Boots of Kushigo, Khalid's Gift, Gauntlets of Soul Catching, Hellrider Longbow, Bhaalist Armour, Helmet of Grit and Callous Glow Ring. Shart: Gets Markoheshkir just as Archers get their own Bless, along with Amulet of the Devout and misc caster gear. Gets Bow of Awareness from Karlach. Cleric to 2 and Sorcerer to 8 (+2 Int). Magic Weapon upcast with level 6 slot, Twinned, Freecast.
Honestly, for the Team Brawler monk build, it's better to continue as a Monk at level 7 to gain a few more Monk passives. Then, when you reach level 9, respec to immediately acquire the 3 levels of Rogue for the extra attack. Just my two cents...
Great video! Strong disagree on taking Rogue 1 and then Ranger 5 though-I listened to a build guide and tried that once, and waiting an extra level for extra attack while losing cool level 2-3 Rogue things just makes the first 5 levels (so a good chunk of the early game) feel terrible. I’d suggest Rogue 4 and then respeccing to full Ranger at level 5-then going back into Rogue from 6-9. To be optimal, you’d respec again at level 6 to have Rogue as your base class. It sounds like a nuisance, but a quick visit to Dr. Withers is a lot more painless than having neither sneak attack nor extra attack at level 5.
Would you say Throw Build Barbarian can be used in place of Monk Build? I personally prefer doing this, as it gives range to melee damage and Monk gear often synergizes with throw build
A suggestion on monk, take 17 wisdom and 16 dex and the rest con. With khalids gift that will give you one wisdom and you’ll be able to have 20 wisdom and 18 dex endgame if you want.
I basically did this build with my friend, never saw it anywhere just happened to come about when I was looking at my equipment, only thing is my main class was rogue and fighter not ranger and I swapped the main hand and offhand weapons because I didn’t have that armor that applies vulnerability, I wish I thought of getting advantage with that ring I would have crit every auto
If you dont want to long rest just respec and steal your gold back from withers. If you fail the check he doesn’t care and you can keep trying until you roll high enough
what about 1 level cleric dip for the halfling sorcerer for heavy armor, shield, guidance, sanctuary/healing word and bless? also wouldnt the new "annihilate bosses" build fit better into this party?
Is there a reason for going lockadin over 10/2 smite swords bard? You can get counterspell and conjure elemental with magical secrets (although not Hummer of Hagar) plus all the utility of bard. I guess the floor of eldrich blast with warlock is also super nice, and SSB is a bit more gear dependent to really get to the next level. This is a great list, I’ve played these builds over multiple play throughs, just not in the same party.
This murder hobo party doesn't do skill checks therefore doesn't need guidance. Joking! The archer could take 2 levels of spore druid for guidance and extra dmg
I noticed you did an update vid for the monk build in this (thanks!), just wanted to know how the other three builds have been affected by the patch changes?
Why is Rogue/Gloomstalker Stealth Archer preferred here over (the more widely used?) Swords Bard Turret with 2x hand crossbows? I feel like I'm not understanding the advantage of this archer build
My latest run makes no sense and is a blast. Its an RP team. 2 rangers, 1 tanks with bear, 1 gloomstalker, land druid and tiger barb. Just downed ansur at lvl 11
Literally just decided to try honor mode and almost biffed it already on the nautaloid laezel died which turns out makes landing much easier cause she was just dead right there ready to be revived before I had to deal with the intellect devourers so they didn't last very long either hopefully I figure things out currently going for a 2/10 paladin/swords bard bc charisma but honestly would rather do a ranger of some kind Edit: ive started a playthrough using these builds im in the underdark had to make a pitstop at the creche bc i messed up picking the correct hag hair for karlach so i gave the now str hag hair to astarion and hes going with 16 str 16 con and 16 wis with the gloves of dex best i could think of to salvage my hm run
You can do gloomstalker assassin. Start rogue simply because they have access to expertise in dialogue skills. Act 1 your AC will be kinda low but Act 2 your AC will be high because you can buy armour that you can add your full dex mod too Get to 5 ranger gloomstalker > 4 rogue assassin > 3 fighter battlemaster Feats: sharpshooter > dex to 18 without hag hair or dex to 20 with hags hair ( dex becomes 20 if you wear the graceful cloth. You can also use the mirror to get 20 to 22 DEX depending on whether you used the hag hair or not ) Your AC will be 18 wearing the graceful cloth with 20 DEX from the graceful cloth if you get a hireling to cast mage armour on you ) it will be 20 if you can wear a shield Use Shovel the quasit to surprise the enemies so you get critical hits on surprised enemies Shovel can be summoned by NOT magic classes. Respec into wizard. Summon Shovel. Talk to Shovel and follow this dialogue pathway Illy? > Your name is Shovel? > Shovel is fine > A bit of murder maybe some light pillaging > what book? Then talk to Shovel again and she teaches you how to summon her. Respec back to your original class and your ability to summon Shovel remains even if you aren't a magic user anymore
You could realistically do a party of all Abjuration wizards and I don’t think anyone would die. I barely geared Gale when I got my gold dice, and he was a cockroach. He had warding bond on my Durge from the ring set, and my Durge went down in the Zaravok fight and Gale just shrugged it off.
Ceph's "Four builds to crush Honour Mode" video is essentially a defense party. Abjuration Wizard/Light Cleric/Eldritch Knight/Bard is an incredibly defensive setup, especially if you eschew his original recommendation of Blades Bard and go Lore. Shield + Projected Ward + Warding Flare + Vicious Mockery basically means enemies can't hit you.
@@veryfallible TBH yeah, that’s basically the party I used to get my Gold Dice except I took thief levels on the bard. It’s really safe. I didn’t have any party members drop until Myrkul
Haha yep, as veryfallible said that's basically the build I recommended as the best default build for honour mode - hard to get more defensive than that (except just 4 abjuration wizards)
For the sorcerer, would it make sense to sacrifice the last ASI for dual wielding? You lose one on your spell attack and save dc on the front end, but if you have 2 staves that give spell attack and save dc bonuses, that's negated, and you get a+1 AC
Iv been having issue in my current playthrough with my lockadin. I don’t have an option to smite using warlock spells slots in my reactions tab unless my paladin slots are depleted. In a previous playthrough I was able to set my smites to warlock spell slots even if my paladin slots were full.
you have to get a rogue or bard to get max Charisma, proficiency AND expertise in Persuasion, which gets your prices lower at vendors. Don't buy stuff with anyone else, and pick up literally EVERYTHING you come across. Think of a random junk item as a gold piece. They add up over the course of Act 1.
It’s a little cheesy, but pick pocketing is extremely strong even early game. You can get items in act 1 that give you very high sleight of hand bonus and advantage on of sleight of hand checks.
Loot everything, and get attitude 100 with a merchant (probably Dammon) by donating high enough valued items so that when you sell what you loot, you get a lot of money for it
Without using exploits, the big thing is to loot everything you see and sell it all at max value. Donate to a merchant to raise their attitude, and sell with your character with the highest persuasion, as that's what governs sale price. Merchants also give you better prices if you disguise as a member of their race, but make sure you use the same disguise every time with that merchant - any attitude you build with them will accrue to the disguise, not to the character.
As a lockadin, do you go for level 3 paladin exclusively for sanctuary? if i'm oathbreaker, should i go for 3 aswell? or leave it at 2? I'm playing on honour mode
Cephalo. I'm running this party with wyll as my main as padlock and gale as the draconic sorcerer. Amazing results for me on honour mode. I mean it's trivialised battles I was very worried about. Just want advice on one thing. I'm lvl 4 and just found phalar alive. I've been running everburn on wyll till now. I know phalar is usually an upgrade to this but with the party being so focused on burst damage doesn't it make more sense to stick with everburn and not lose the turn of damage required to get phalar up and running. I mean I realise I've answered my own question but just wondering if I've missed something here.
I love the damage output of this party because I’ve been wanting to do party like this, but I also really wanna do swords bard with band of the mystic scoundrel. Do you think replacing the rogue/assassin with a swords bard will still fit comfortably in this party?
I love your videos, but talking about avoiding exploits in the introduction to immediately follow up with the tavern brawler should only be allowed on the 1st of April.
It doesn’t seem like tavern brawler is an exploit, though. In six patches it hasn’t been changed. At this point it is just a really, really strong strategy, right?
@@annie_1718 To me, it's in the same category as Alert feat - balanced in usual circumstances, but not in the specific ones we can see in BG3. When it comes to not being rebalanced with patches, well... half of the feats we have in the game is nearly useless because they are completely outcompeted by other or options of getting same benefits (i.e. armor proficiency vs 1 lvl cleric dip) - I don't think such imbalances will ever be addressed.
I mostly agree! I don't use TB in my own play because I find it quite boring, and I wish they had nerfed it for honour mode alongside haste and the pact of the blade attack etc. As is though it's pretty clearly working as the devs intended, so while I agree it *shouldn't* work this way, I don't think it's fair to call it an exploit.
@@CephalopocalypseMy house rules won't change (unless I'll die again - I'm trying to make my very first game completion on honour mode, it's way harder when you don't know the encounters ahead). I'd say it is an exploit, just different type. Most exploits exploit bugs. This one exploit poor maths. Nuclear weapons work as devs intended too, yet we're alive :P
![The INVINCIBLE TANK WIZARD - [Updated] Gale Abjuration Honor Build Guide](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/N2hgyD8BcFw/mqdefault.jpg)
"Dead is the strongest crowd control condition you can apply." EXACTLY!! =D
Yup. Most fights in BG3 are based on two things, having one or two seriously dangerous enemies & waves of chaff that can do chip damage or annoying conditions that cause problems if the dangerous enemies aren't already gone.
Ah the good old fashioned red mage mantra: 'The best removal is player removal'
Best healing, is healing your enemies hit points to 0.
Exactly!
The only enemy stat we care about dropping is their hp stat to 0
The strongest CC is death.
Just beat honor mode with this party, and had a blast! Thank you my dude, you are awesome.
Congratulations on the win! And thanks so much for the support - I really appreciate it :D
Tip if you are using disguise self on your party face, the vendor attitude discount will be linked to whatever disguise you are wearing.
Racism !
Does this mean you get a racism bonus in addition to your normal persuade discount?
Yep! Definitely important to remember!
So does that mean same race = discount?
Well as someone who keeps TPKing in Honor mode I am going to give this party a try. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to do these vidoes.
Hows it going so far?
Tpk😅
I’ve been doing all four of your “shadow” builds and I’m having so much fun. I’ve got a shadow monk, a gloom stalker ranger, Shadowheart as a rogue/cleric, and a warlock/rogue as my Tav. I adore sneaking and murdering from the shadows!
I'm so looking forward to trying that in a evil Durge run. Just the idea of shadowstepping between clouds of Darkness to confuse the enemies fills me with joy.
I’ve been trying to theory craft a team like that in my head. Something that’s a pure dark vision assassin type group but with each character bringing something slightly different
Sounds awesome! I also will likely have a party build on that theme coming up soon :D
@@CephalopocalypseHurray! Can’t wait to watch it!
I just wanted to say that thx to you and your well explained guide I finally beat honor mode ! This build was perfect for someone like me that overthink too much until i missplay a lot. And that was really nice and smooth. Actually this party made the run really smoothly. (sry for any english mistakes)
Awesome, congrats! Really glad to hear that!
And your English was great! If you do want a small tip the only thing is that usually you'd say "made the run smooth" or "made the run go smoothly," but not usually "made the run smoothly," but that's honestly an extremely tiny thing which I wouldn't worry about at all. Cheers!
@@Cephalopocalypse Awww thank you you're so kind mate. Btw I will say again what i saw on the comments but I really love how you speak. You look like a chill guy ! And keep the amazing work ! !
Dude. What the hell?! How have i been listening to spell tier lists and party build guides in the background for like 3 weeks and still have more to go?! Awesome channel, awesome content! Keep it up, brother!
Cephalo, I can’t finish a playthrough and it’s your fault! every time you drop a new build, I get excited and wanna respec it into my party, and then I inevitably respec everyone else so it fits cohesively. fr though thanks for the content
Same!! 🤣
Me too😊
This is my biggest problem with the game (a good problem to have) I have so many builds I want to play around with! I need an arena mode or something so I can have fun with all the different combat interactions. Fingers crossed modders can give me something like it
Youre single handedly making my time playing baldurs gate 3 more enjoyable and fun!! but not only mine, because i sometimes take a look at the comments of your videos and see that other people would definitely agree with my statement that your guides are amazing!! very informative and easy to digest despite them being 30-40 minutes long, they don't feel like a drag or that they contain unnecessary information, i'm very lucky to have found your channel when i was looking for a build for Shadowheart a few days ago!!!
On that note, can i ask for a war cleric build?? i really want to play with shadowheart as my front tank/melee damage dealer but i have no idea how to multiclass it, or what items should i keep an eye on. (it feels to me that war cleric is very weak in comparasion to the others cleric subclasses but i really hope it is just me building it the wrong way 😭)
Important thing to note, when he says leave the area with friends, you have ample time to do so. I used friends so many times and never caused combat because of it. So if you were nervous to use it in your HM run, it's absolutely worth it for the help in dialogue checks! The reward is well with the risk.
Dead is the best crowd control
Spok:"Pure logic"
I love videos like this. Please keep up the full party guides for HM
I'm not sure if you mentioned it, but a pretty good weapon for the lockadin is unseen menace. The invisibility on it giving permanent advantage with little to no drawback, plus the increased crit chance means with that item you're sitting around a 19% chance to crit and we all know how much paladin loves to crit. I admit I was playing this in the background so I may have missed it if it was mentioned, but I wanted to bring it up because you can get that weapon relatively early. Plus since it's a pike it has extra reach, which is always a nice addition, and piercing damage (relevant if you make certain story choices in act 3). It may not be best in slot but I really like it for its consistency throughout the game.
I might load a save back and buy this just to experiment. I literally just did the inquisitor room’s fight and saved earlier today, but did not buy this weapon. Still on my first playthrough and didn’t check the invisible property in the shop, as it’s really annoying to do on PS5 without it being in your inventory.
My understanding was that two handers that use two dmg rolls per attack were better for great weapon fighting, but I didn’t take that early anyway, so there should be no real drawback for me.
You’re build videos and ranking videos have really helped me with honor mode, thanks
for the sorcerer the reverse rain cloak gives permanent wetness
True - very cool idea!
Thank you, just beat honour mode using this party. It's almost too good!
True Strike build when?
I've been watching and rewashing these videos and I'd really like to see a team focused around debuffing enemies in a spin on the super safe team. I enjoy that these videos don't focus on gear, but a cold/radiating orb/reverb build sounds interesting and I'd live to see how you do it!
You mentioned that this party was good for low long rests, I've been meaning to comment, and I'm lazy so here is something I dreamed up a few months ago: my band, “No Sleep Till (Appropriate Location)!”
Int: Dice Lord: 6 levels in Div Wizard, at least 5 levels Lore Bard for Cutting Words and inspiration back on SR, get racial lucky and feat to really drive home Lord of the Dice.
Wis: Druids get their shape charges back on SR. Since we’re clever we combine Spores with Monk to..., no, Moon Druid lvl 10, Bard 2.
Char: Too many different great ways to build here, Warlocks get their slots back on SR, Paladins get back their channel oath, and you already need 2 levels in Bard to exist. If want “I can do this all day” you want 6 Swords Bard, 1 Pali (for oath), and 5 Warlock (and that is what you want).
Str/Dex? Tavern Brawler = Str: Even the wiki section on SR misses that Fighters get their 2nd wind back on SR and action surge is worth a dip already. We’re going TB so we have to have some Monk. And at least 2 levels of Bard. They’ve obviously been drinking. So Drunken Master? Drunk anyway. 3 Eldritch Knight for bind weapon, 3 Monk, 6 Bard. What will they do? Start a fight by throwing a shoe, maybe their weapon if we’re lucky? Jolt awake and slash the two closest targets? Hit some rando so hard they miss their next turn? No one knows. Maybe they’ll try to seduce the lamp.
In terms of the assassin-archer i would also recommend playing two of them in your party as there are also two very different ways to equip them. And playing range is most of the time a lot better in BG3 then melee.. sure there are a lot of cool melee-weapons, but ranged attacks are always better in short-round fights if the enemys never reach you or even get an attack.
A very powerful weapon that should be mentioned is the Ne`er Misser sold in Act ll in the moonrise towers, that one hand crossbow fires projectiles as force dmg completely ignoring piercing resistences. Would also reccommend the dex-cloth + ethels hair on a Tav Archer to get to 20 dex early over the gloves of dex + dark justiciar gloves for 1d4.
And then there is a second weapon that is amazing throuout the entire game for archers, the titanstring bow. Can be obtained right after druid camp visit and fueled with giant strenght potions this deals massive dmg. Using bonus action with hunters mark give concetrate and that supports two other amazin items in the game: Strange Conduit Ring and Circlet of Hunting. Drakethroat Glaive (also sold in moon rise) add another d4 to the bow and you can unequip it after using the buff on the bow. That setup gives 20dex, +1d4 to attackrolls, +2d4 on elemental dmg, strenght mod added to dmg and +1d6 bonusdmg by hunters mark. You hit extremely hard with it. Snowburst ring with helbard buff frost also knocks most enemys prone when you hit them, gives that playstyle a lot of control. Pairing one lvl of warlock (middle one of sublass) that criticals let surounding enemys most likely to get frightened, instead of 4 in fighter gives a lot of control to this absolute dmg-machine.
(only 2 levels in fighter are required for action surge and the second feat can be obtained by lvl 4 rogue).
I'm about to start a playthrough with some friends and this team template looks very fun! We mostly enjoy unga bungaing so this looks very fun.
Yess bro u think about everything… even the sweats… u knew we needed this ❤
Not sure if I can get behind a party that doesn’t get the enemy wet first. It’s just so satisfying for both parties.
For the TB monk start with 17 wisdom use the hag hair and use 2nd feat on wisdom. If you use mirror of loss too you can reach 22 wisdom for +6 to dmg from manifestations and another +6 from uninhibited kushigo. Also if you use vest of soul rejuvenation the item itself gives +2 ac, your dex gives +3 and your wis gives +6. 21 ac without even adding ring/cloak of protection and bracers of defence and warding bond/shield of faith from clerics
I'm on the hunt for a difficulty alternative to honor mode. I think reloading and trying things differently is part of the fun of RPG games. The Mirror of Loss is pretty much useless without save scumming. But I'm kind of curb stomping tactician mode with my reasonably well optimized party. I even hold back on some of the more OP options like ranged Slashing Flourish, Arcane Acuity with Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, Radiating Orb, twinned Haste, Tavern Brawler with Fast Hands, etc.
Maybe you could do an OP build hall of shame video, although these honor mode build guides are pretty much the same thing. Some suggestions would be:
1 Fighter/1 Wizard/10 Swords Bard. Use Gloves of Dexterity and Warped Headband of Intellect to overcome the MADness. Go 1 Fighter/11 Swords Bard or just 12 Swords Bard if you want to use the Helmet of Arcane Acuity, unless you want to sacrifice significant CON and WIS for INT. For feats the choices would be ASI, Alert and Resilient WIS. Pick two, probably ASI and Alert, and take your chances with WIS saves, which should still be OK with buffs like Hero's Feast, but that is late game.
8 Berserker/4 Thief with Tavern Brawler. My Minsc build. It's OP enough that I generally limit throwing to improvised weapons, but even that can be OP. For feats other than TB, choose two of ASI, Great Weapon Master, and Resilient WIS. You shouldn't need Alert, since you get Feral Instinct at level 7.
6 Vengeance Paladin/6 Fiend Warlock. Three attacks per round, Eldrich Blast, smites, Counterspell, Fireball. Ridiculous. My Minthara build. Possibly as OP as swords bard. Maybe other subclass combos are even more OP, but I like Vengeance and Fiend just because I like them. For feats, go with ASI and Alert.
A better video idea would be good RP builds for companions and Tav. Some suggestions:
Shadowheart: Tempest domain through act two, then respec to Light Domain. TBH, I just went Light domain all the way, because, let's face it, Trickery domain is a travesty in comparison. Feats are ASI, Resilience CON, and Alert.
Jaheira: 1 Fighter/11Land Druid. I originally went with 5 Gloom Stalker/7 Nature cleric, but once I figured out how Belm worked, I thought an actual Fighter/Druid combo might be even better. With Belm, which is basically a free Two Weapon Fighting style, she can have two attacks most rounds and be an almost full strength Druid. If you are like me and don't care much for Wild Shapes, then Land Druid makes her almost a wizard, sort of like Light cleric. For Circle of Land spells, I went with Underdark/Arctic/Arctic/Arctic. This gives her Haste, Misty Step, and some good AOE damage and control spells with cold damage specialization, which can be doubled under the right circumstances. I think the one Figher level is totally worth it, even though it comes at the cost of a feat. You can choose a fighting style, either Archery or Defense, you get heavy armor and martial weapon proficiency, and STR + CON saving throws. Interestingly, since you have martial weapon proficiency, you can forgo Belm and go with Duelist's Prerogative instead. This has the same effect as Belm, but it's a better weapon. For feats, choose two of ASI, Alert and Resilient WIS.
Karlach: How is Karlach a Barbarian? She's from Baldur's Gate (a city), she served in a Devil's army, and that is a highly structured environment. Most of the Barbarians would be on the other side of the Blood War. Didn't it used to be a D&D rule that Barbarians couldn't be Lawful? She talks like an army brat, not a Barbarian. Karlach is a Battlemaster Fighter. Just go with all 12 levels so you get all the feats. 12 levels of Battlemaster doesn't need any embellishment. You want ASI, Great Weapon Master, Alert, and Resilient WIS. Or go with two ASI if you feel lucky with WIS saves.
Minsc: Minsc is your Berserker Barbarian. He even calls himself a Berserker. In BG2, he had an enrage special ability at a time when there wasn't a Barbarian class. Moreover, he isn't smart enough to be a spellcaster. Spellcasting for Minsc makes no sense. But wait, it gets better. Where do we find Minsc? Yep, that's right, as leader of a rival thieve's guild. Now we have lore justification for an 8 Berserker/4 Thief build.
Wyll: Straight Warlock isn't optimal, but 2 Fiend Warlock/10 Draconic Sorcerer is tons of fun. Cast Twinned Haste and then just Eldrich Blast. Automatic win, unless your enemy is good at breaking concentration. In that case just quicken the usual damage spells. Great nuker build. For feats, go with ASI and Resilient WIS or CON, depending on which class you take at level 1. You will have to get the equivalent of Alert from items such as the Sentinel Shield.
Gale: Just keep him an Evocation Wizard all the way. I think it is the most balanced class in the game. It's powerful without being ridiculous like a Swords Bard, Lockadin, or TB build. For feats go with ASI, Resilient CON, and Alert.
Lae'zel: I think Eldrich Knight suits her. I went with all 12 levels for the feats, but you could be cute and give her one level of War Cleric. She was the one that got kidnapped. Imagine how angry she was when Tav Swords Bard freed her in the first round. Oh, and Gust of Wind was one of her spells. LOL. Feats are Alert, Tavern Brawler, Resilient WIS, and Greeat Weapon Master. Substitute ASI for Resilient WIS if you feel lucky with WIS saves.
Astarion: Straight Rogue is nowhere land, so I went with the Reddit approved 5 Gloom Stalker/4 Thief/ 3 Eldrich Knight build. You get Extra Attack, Dread Ambusher and a variety of Roguish abilities from Gloom Stalker. For fighter levels, Battlemaster doesn't make much sense, but Eldrich Knight gives you the Shield spell and a couple of other 1st level Wizard spells of your choice along with Action Surge. It's just better than a pure Rogue Build by a country mile.
Man, was this post really this long? I need to get out more and play less BG3...Nah, It's BG3 all the way for now.
Going to try this out on my first honour mode run.
Flavour-wise, the best user of a daily elixir of hill-giant strength is a gnome barbarian with a glorious blonde moustache:
Asterix.
Just beat the game on honor mode with this build--amazing party! The only thing is that the lockadin never seemed to come online; I am thinking this is more of a me problem. His darkness came in clutch though before the endgame fight though--was able to kill the hordes of enemies without taking dmg once.
When you talk about "X is good and wins certain encounters all by itself" can you please give an example or two of those encounters? Thank you.
Almost at the end of act 2 in the mind flayer caves, you can almost auto win with spike growth against a large number of undead attacking at once.
Lots of other fights like this...one weakness of spike growth is against steel watchers (who reliably will jump out of it) ...but even there I somehow had luck with it against in the steel watcher boss fight.
@@benjaminkowal7310Especially spike growth plus hunger of Hadar,
Or black tentacles and hunger of Hadar😂
Or Spike growth and Hunger of Hadar and Wall of Fire😂
Loving the full-party builds as they are, but I was really curious if you’d given any thought to doing full-party builds with more of a silly, gimmicky lens in mind? I like the approach of a team with a broader strategic goal in mind, but I was curious if you’d given thought to something like a “purely martial” team or a “super-wizard with 3 bodyguards” kinda thing. Just curious! Love your work as is, and appreciate the hard work that goes into it all!
Thanks for the reference to Arsonist's Oil, easy to forget these things exist. In fact, here's an idea for another tier list: consumables! Throwables! Oils, elixirs, potions, and bombs, oh my!
Definitely on the agenda! That's one I need to actually research a little more though since in my casual play I tend not to use a lot of consumables :P
@@Cephalopocalypse Also in the "finish the game with 3,852 consumables" club
1:13:24 Birthright absolutely stacks with the charisma from the Mirror, my Warlock has 24 charisma and can probably have 26 if I had gotten Athel's hair + the +1 from the mirror by passing the religion check. The extra stats from mirror and Athel are uncapped. Unless there is a special rule from Honor mode; if this is the case please mention it. Nice video otherwise.
The mirror caps at 24, i had to respec to 19 charisma. With 20cha, ethels hair, birthright and the mirror i only got 23 instead of 25
I used similiar party for my honor mode. Lae'zel monk, gale fire sorc, astarion gloomstalker assassin, tav bard 10/1/1. Never have problem with my run. Just use astarion to start the fight and gale for the last battle 😬
Thank you so much for your guides. I love to listen to them. You do a really good job!
Taking Ranger Knight option for heavy armour prof is good. I put the Gryms helmet on my GloomStalker in my Balanced mode run. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have disadvantage on stealth. And it prevents crits.
On my first playthrough, and I respected my Asterion just to use this helmet. It needed a good home due to me getting the heavy armor and shield, so my Paladin and Cleric can no longer be crit. Felt like a waste to not have another party member using it. I had to use the hide function, though. It’s pretty fugly on top of hide armor, lol.
As far as the tavern brawler monk goes, I'd add one level barbarian instead of the 9th monk level. That way, you can use a shield and if have the amulett that increases your con to 23, a very high AC. Also if you put that amulett on your monk, you don't have to put attribute points into con either.
Don't forget that Karlach gets additional damage die from soul coins only if she is Raging or at low hp, so if you want to use that mechanic consider Barb 3/Monk 6/Rogue 3. (Not sure if it's worth Alert and Monk 9 tho)
Hey I know this was a few months ago but just to let you know, while the soul coin does state that it only applies when raging or low life, it does in fact always apply to unarmed attacks regardless. On top of that, they actually apply the 1d4 damage TWICE on unarmed attacks, so it's pretty insane.
I'm not sure if it's a bug or an inaccurate description but that is the case.
@@DyneGadante I see, my bad, I just parroted the tooltip. Maybe they will fix it in September
For the monk 16 dexterity is sufficient, you should be putting 17 points into wisdom for elixir builds and rounding it off with jaheiras necklace or Ethel’s hair. This will boost damage and armour class- initiative is high enough if you pick the alert feat
I tried this but used tempest cleric/storm sorcerer instead of fire sorc (for role play purposes), worked great!
I love this kind of content, but I do wonder if you'd have time to do more niche build guides that include specific multiclassing/team compositions/itemization. As someone who's game knowledge has continued to expand the longer the game has been out, I'm more curious as to more strange ideas.
I've been theory crafting characters revolving around empowering salami damage, builds revolving around psychic damage/shadow blade, and team compositions with divination wizard, light cleric, and lore bard using the Lucky feat and Illithid Powers to fully weaponize reactions.
I'd love a mix of educational content to genuinely help with making honour mode smooth and content that revolves around optimizing role play builds.
I love that you've continued to cover this game at all as we enter the post-honeymoon phase of the game's life. You are much appreciated.
My personal flavor for archery goodness is bard 6 rogue 3 and ranger 3 because Bard song of rest is really nice with Monk and Warlock. I dont think its as powerful, but i find it feels more accurate for Astarion as he does try to get arcane trickster. Swords bard instead makes it feel right at home even if he misses out on some heavy armors.
technically a thrower build (zerkerthief, later fighter) makes better use of tavern brawler, especially with returning pike, dwarfen throw hammer, and the spear from the zircus in act3, your range is higher, amazing splash damage, strong build diversity, heal and status applications with throwing all kinds of things. If you do the githyanki creche check, you can bonus action black hole into AoE- spear combo to clear an unlimited amount of enemies fast and easy, without even having to reach them,
in my honor run, I had both.
They didnt conflict for giant strength pots because my monk could just mainhand the club of giant strength whenever pots were rare
The actual best damage party is: two Swords Bard archers, one "Twin support"/Tempest Sorcerer, and one Monk.
LEVEL 4 PARTY
Halfling Sage Tav: War Cleric 1 then Swords Bard 3. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 12 Cha 14. Persuasion, Religion, Deception. Broodmother's Revenge, heavy crossbow. Focus on spells with save DCs, plus Guidance, Resistance, Thaumaturgy, Speak with Animals, Detect Thoughts.
Astarian: Bard with Hand Crossbows until you get Titanstring Longbow, then 1 level of War Cleric. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 16 Cha 8. Athletics, Investigation, Stealth, Perception x2 Sleight of Hand x2. Focus on spells without DCs, except Command. Make sure to get Enhance Ability.
Karlach: Rogue 1 then Monk 1 then Thief Rogue 3. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 15 Int 8 Wis 17 Cha 8. Perception x2, Stealth x2, Performance, Sleight of Hand. Bow of Awareness, Corellon's Grace, Silver Pendant. Carries scrolls to cast with high Wisdom. Tavern Brawler next level.
Shart: Storm Sorc 1 then Tempest Cleric 1 then Sorc 2 then Wizard 1. Str 8 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 16 Wis 12 Cha 8. Skills don't matter. Twinned Magic Weapon on both archers. Focus on Sorcerer spells/cantrips without Attack rolls or DCs, and without requiring concentration.
Important gear: Wapira's Crown, Safeguard Shield and Whispering Promise, all on Shadowheart. Healing Word twinned = bonus action Bless on three party members, and Broodmother's Revenge trigger. Also Amulet of Restoration.
LEVEL 7 PARTY
Tav: War Cleric 1, Swords Bard 6. Gloves of Dexterity, so respec to Str 10, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 17. +1 Cha hair. Diadem of Arcane Synergy + Giantbreaker. Yuan-Ti Scale Mail, Knife of Undermountain King and Sentinel Shield. Sharpshooter.
Astarian: War Cleric 1, Swords Bard 6. Titanstring Longbow + strength elixir. Graceful Cloth and Soulbreaker Greatsword. Sharpshooter.
Karlach: Respec to Thief Rogue 3, Open Hand Monk 4. Tavern Brawler, +1 Con. Strength elixir. Fistbreaker Helm.
Shart: Sorcerer 5, Cleric 1, Wizard 1. Alert. Magic Weapon now upcast Twinned, along with Drakethroat Glaive, on archer weapons.
ACT 3 PARTY
Tav: gets Illithid Expertise, respecs into non-Cha skills. Fighter 2 then Bard 8, Archery and +2 Cha. Gets permanent Bless from statue, Rhapsody, Flame Enameled Armour and Gontr Mael.
Astarian: gets Ring of Regeneration, Mask of Soul Perception, Legacy of the Masters, and Ambusher. Gets Knife, Revenge and Promise from other party members. Fighter 2 then Bard 8, Archery and +2 Dex.
Karlach: Monk to Monk 6, then Fighter 2, then Rogue 4. Defense style, +2 Wis. Gets Boots of Kushigo, Khalid's Gift, Gauntlets of Soul Catching, Hellrider Longbow, Bhaalist Armour, Helmet of Grit and Callous Glow Ring.
Shart: Gets Markoheshkir just as Archers get their own Bless, along with Amulet of the Devout and misc caster gear. Gets Bow of Awareness from Karlach. Cleric to 2 and Sorcerer to 8 (+2 Int). Magic Weapon upcast with level 6 slot, Twinned, Freecast.
Magic Missile is amazing at breaking enemy concentration. I always try to have at least a scroll of Magic Missile in someone's inventory at all times.
You can also use an Arrow of Interference from Astarion for utility
Like a guild member in a different game once said: Damage is your sustain.
Aye omg my phone accidentally clicked this video and I've never been happier about that happening 😂😂❤ thanks for the great videos
I'm starting my first honor mode run with this party
Honestly, for the Team Brawler monk build, it's better to continue as a Monk at level 7 to gain a few more Monk passives. Then, when you reach level 9, respec to immediately acquire the 3 levels of Rogue for the extra attack. Just my two cents...
Great video! Strong disagree on taking Rogue 1 and then Ranger 5 though-I listened to a build guide and tried that once, and waiting an extra level for extra attack while losing cool level 2-3 Rogue things just makes the first 5 levels (so a good chunk of the early game) feel terrible. I’d suggest Rogue 4 and then respeccing to full Ranger at level 5-then going back into Rogue from 6-9. To be optimal, you’d respec again at level 6 to have Rogue as your base class. It sounds like a nuisance, but a quick visit to Dr. Withers is a lot more painless than having neither sneak attack nor extra attack at level 5.
Would you say Throw Build Barbarian can be used in place of Monk Build? I personally prefer doing this, as it gives range to melee damage and Monk gear often synergizes with throw build
Sure! That would be just fine
A suggestion on monk, take 17 wisdom and 16 dex and the rest con. With khalids gift that will give you one wisdom and you’ll be able to have 20 wisdom and 18 dex endgame if you want.
“Enemies can’t do anything when they’re slain”
They can say mean things to Tav when you cast speak to dead 😢
I would have liked if you Show how you play in act 1 and 2 and more over the items and where to get them
I basically did this build with my friend, never saw it anywhere just happened to come about when I was looking at my equipment, only thing is my main class was rogue and fighter not ranger and I swapped the main hand and offhand weapons because I didn’t have that armor that applies vulnerability, I wish I thought of getting advantage with that ring I would have crit every auto
If you dont want to long rest just respec and steal your gold back from withers. If you fail the check he doesn’t care and you can keep trying until you roll high enough
I see true strike, I drop a like.
what about 1 level cleric dip for the halfling sorcerer for heavy armor, shield, guidance, sanctuary/healing word and bless? also wouldnt the new "annihilate bosses" build fit better into this party?
Any advice for equipment throughout the acts?
This is how I play. Love it.
Is there a reason for going lockadin over 10/2 smite swords bard? You can get counterspell and conjure elemental with magical secrets (although not Hummer of Hagar) plus all the utility of bard. I guess the floor of eldrich blast with warlock is also super nice, and SSB is a bit more gear dependent to really get to the next level.
This is a great list, I’ve played these builds over multiple play throughs, just not in the same party.
lockadin your smites reset on short rest, and you get to use pact of the chain are the main reasons
This murder hobo party doesn't do skill checks therefore doesn't need guidance. Joking! The archer could take 2 levels of spore druid for guidance and extra dmg
I noticed you did an update vid for the monk build in this (thanks!), just wanted to know how the other three builds have been affected by the patch changes?
“Dead is the strongest crowd control you can apply” put kendrick lamar to shame
Song of Balduran, still a banger
Why do you not use hand crossbows for the Gloomstalker? The Sharpshooter passive applies to your offhand as well.
Im surprised that a swords bard build didn’t make this team
Why is Rogue/Gloomstalker Stealth Archer preferred here over (the more widely used?) Swords Bard Turret with 2x hand crossbows? I feel like I'm not understanding the advantage of this archer build
Because it gets all those shots out of combat while using Greater Invisibility.. that are all critical hits.
Damn. Another potion monk build ahhhh the potions cost so much money in honour mode.
My latest run makes no sense and is a blast. Its an RP team. 2 rangers, 1 tanks with bear, 1 gloomstalker, land druid and tiger barb. Just downed ansur at lvl 11
Literally just decided to try honor mode and almost biffed it already on the nautaloid laezel died which turns out makes landing much easier cause she was just dead right there ready to be revived before I had to deal with the intellect devourers so they didn't last very long either hopefully I figure things out currently going for a 2/10 paladin/swords bard bc charisma but honestly would rather do a ranger of some kind
Edit: ive started a playthrough using these builds im in the underdark had to make a pitstop at the creche bc i messed up picking the correct hag hair for karlach so i gave the now str hag hair to astarion and hes going with 16 str 16 con and 16 wis with the gloves of dex best i could think of to salvage my hm run
You can do gloomstalker assassin.
Start rogue simply because they have access to expertise in dialogue skills. Act 1 your AC will be kinda low but Act 2 your AC will be high because you can buy armour that you can add your full dex mod too
Get to 5 ranger gloomstalker > 4 rogue assassin > 3 fighter battlemaster
Feats: sharpshooter > dex to 18 without hag hair or dex to 20 with hags hair ( dex becomes 20 if you wear the graceful cloth. You can also use the mirror to get 20 to 22 DEX depending on whether you used the hag hair or not )
Your AC will be 18 wearing the graceful cloth with 20 DEX from the graceful cloth if you get a hireling to cast mage armour on you ) it will be 20 if you can wear a shield
Use Shovel the quasit to surprise the enemies so you get critical hits on surprised enemies
Shovel can be summoned by NOT magic classes. Respec into wizard. Summon Shovel. Talk to Shovel and follow this dialogue pathway
Illy? > Your name is Shovel? > Shovel is fine > A bit of murder maybe some light pillaging > what book?
Then talk to Shovel again and she teaches you how to summon her. Respec back to your original class and your ability to summon Shovel remains even if you aren't a magic user anymore
Offense party build? Well, you gotta do defense party now!
You could realistically do a party of all Abjuration wizards and I don’t think anyone would die. I barely geared Gale when I got my gold dice, and he was a cockroach. He had warding bond on my Durge from the ring set, and my Durge went down in the Zaravok fight and Gale just shrugged it off.
Ceph's "Four builds to crush Honour Mode" video is essentially a defense party. Abjuration Wizard/Light Cleric/Eldritch Knight/Bard is an incredibly defensive setup, especially if you eschew his original recommendation of Blades Bard and go Lore. Shield + Projected Ward + Warding Flare + Vicious Mockery basically means enemies can't hit you.
@@veryfallible TBH yeah, that’s basically the party I used to get my Gold Dice except I took thief levels on the bard. It’s really safe. I didn’t have any party members drop until Myrkul
Haha yep, as veryfallible said that's basically the build I recommended as the best default build for honour mode - hard to get more defensive than that (except just 4 abjuration wizards)
The hat does stack with the mirror. My bard has 24 charisma.
Would a bard/pally not be better? I thought there was some nerf for Pally/warlock in honor mode
For the sorcerer, would it make sense to sacrifice the last ASI for dual wielding? You lose one on your spell attack and save dc on the front end, but if you have 2 staves that give spell attack and save dc bonuses, that's negated, and you get a+1 AC
Do some weird builds, e.g. all Bards! GOTTA ROCK ACROSS FAERUN!
Iv been having issue in my current playthrough with my lockadin. I don’t have an option to smite using warlock spells slots in my reactions tab unless my paladin slots are depleted. In a previous playthrough I was able to set my smites to warlock spell slots even if my paladin slots were full.
Noob question: how do people get all this gold to stock up on strength potions in Act 1?
you have to get a rogue or bard to get max Charisma, proficiency AND expertise in Persuasion, which gets your prices lower at vendors. Don't buy stuff with anyone else, and pick up literally EVERYTHING you come across. Think of a random junk item as a gold piece. They add up over the course of Act 1.
It’s a little cheesy, but pick pocketing is extremely strong even early game. You can get items in act 1 that give you very high sleight of hand bonus and advantage on of sleight of hand checks.
Loot everything, and get attitude 100 with a merchant (probably Dammon) by donating high enough valued items so that when you sell what you loot, you get a lot of money for it
Inventory bag glitch.
Without using exploits, the big thing is to loot everything you see and sell it all at max value. Donate to a merchant to raise their attitude, and sell with your character with the highest persuasion, as that's what governs sale price. Merchants also give you better prices if you disguise as a member of their race, but make sure you use the same disguise every time with that merchant - any attitude you build with them will accrue to the disguise, not to the character.
nice guide.
Thanks!
which party is easier to finish the game this one or the video posted on March 26th???
As a lockadin, do you go for level 3 paladin exclusively for sanctuary? if i'm oathbreaker, should i go for 3 aswell? or leave it at 2? I'm playing on honour mode
Do you have any videos showing this party in action?
Cephalo. I'm running this party with wyll as my main as padlock and gale as the draconic sorcerer. Amazing results for me on honour mode. I mean it's trivialised battles I was very worried about.
Just want advice on one thing. I'm lvl 4 and just found phalar alive. I've been running everburn on wyll till now. I know phalar is usually an upgrade to this but with the party being so focused on burst damage doesn't it make more sense to stick with everburn and not lose the turn of damage required to get phalar up and running. I mean I realise I've answered my own question but just wondering if I've missed something here.
I love the damage output of this party because I’ve been wanting to do party like this, but I also really wanna do swords bard with band of the mystic scoundrel. Do you think replacing the rogue/assassin with a swords bard will still fit comfortably in this party?
Sure, that would be fine! You can substitute the build from my first party build guide ("the best party in bg3")
@@Cephalopocalypse that’s exactly the build I was going to use! Thank you so much for the response !
I’m working on a grey dwarf thrower build so at end game he can use the trident and the dwarven thrower
for the paladin, i prefer paladin 2lv. bard 10, or even 2lv paladin, 2lv figher and 8 lv bard
Also a solid option!
What about the ability to unlock doors and chests? Is this party build not concerned about that?
The rogue has sleight of hand expertise, which should cover that role very easily!
I love your videos, but talking about avoiding exploits in the introduction to immediately follow up with the tavern brawler should only be allowed on the 1st of April.
It doesn’t seem like tavern brawler is an exploit, though. In six patches it hasn’t been changed. At this point it is just a really, really strong strategy, right?
@@annie_1718 To me, it's in the same category as Alert feat - balanced in usual circumstances, but not in the specific ones we can see in BG3.
When it comes to not being rebalanced with patches, well... half of the feats we have in the game is nearly useless because they are completely outcompeted by other or options of getting same benefits (i.e. armor proficiency vs 1 lvl cleric dip) - I don't think such imbalances will ever be addressed.
I mostly agree! I don't use TB in my own play because I find it quite boring, and I wish they had nerfed it for honour mode alongside haste and the pact of the blade attack etc. As is though it's pretty clearly working as the devs intended, so while I agree it *shouldn't* work this way, I don't think it's fair to call it an exploit.
@@CephalopocalypseMy house rules won't change (unless I'll die again - I'm trying to make my very first game completion on honour mode, it's way harder when you don't know the encounters ahead).
I'd say it is an exploit, just different type. Most exploits exploit bugs. This one exploit poor maths.
Nuclear weapons work as devs intended too, yet we're alive :P
"Still breathing, despite everything"
Is it more viable to oath break with this lockadin?
"... add True Strike to annoy people in the UA-cam comments."
Gangsta 😎😂🤣
Wait a minute…can you fire arsonist’s oil with an arrow of multi targets? That seems…stupidly broken combined with fire sorc lol
Yup
Also, for Karlah why not add a Barbarian level? Otherwise soul coins are almost useless
She would then lose a feat. You would trade the use of Soul Coins for the Alert feat for example.
Can the monk work as a party face or am I gonna struggle trying to use this party that way? I’m on my first play through so still learning everything
Monk's already pretty strapped for attribute points as is. Best to have it as a party member and either the Lockadin or Sorcerer as the MC.
How do deal with orin's fear with this party?
How do soul coins help if Karlach isn’t able to rage?
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
What boss is Disintegrate good against?
The final boss - note its +0 to dex saves!
YES
my hot take is that a build that relies ENTIRELY on wheteher or not you have an elixer to drink every day is not a good build
You're certainly allowed to feel that way! We can all have whatever hot takes we want
Agree. I get that this is super powerful but cheezeing the game to spam out elixirs isn't my style.