Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks Build for dialogs + melee: rog1/bard, or pal2/bard?

Hey everyone,
Could you please help me with my first character for the release?

I'd like to have as many options as possible to resolve situations. Not always peacefully, though - if there is a real bastard to be punished, it is better to prevent a 'bigger evil' in the future.
So thinking about 'skill monkey' - but still relatively competent in combat.

So I'm thinking about 2 options:

1. Rogue 1 / Bard (Valor)
Starting with Rogue for skills, mostly
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 11 (I know that it is highly recommended - but I intend not to be hit), Int 12, Wisdom 14, Charisma 16
Race: wanted to go Human, but with attributes nerf for them - Wood Half-Elf for darkvision, stealth, and faster movement

Pros: lots of skills + expertise, sneak attack, freedom of choices, faster Bard progression
Cons: no heavy armor (helmets/gloves), no fighting style, no Smite
I want to use medium armor, a rapier and shield


2. Paladin 2 / Bard (Lore)
Starting with a paladin for better save throws
Race & attributes are the same

Pros: much more resilient, especially at the start. More spells, smite, fighting styles
Cons: less expertise/skills to be proficient, slower bard progression, restrictions based on Oath (as far as I read - not working as expected in many situations)


I would appreciate your advice!
Thanks

Your Paladin build is broken if you use the 8 str...

I'm not talking the str vs dex argument that has gone on forever, I think a dexadin can work fine, but at 8 strength you're armor gimped even if you use a rapier. And you can't smite with ranged weapons...soooo


Also why the odd con? If you plan to use volo's eye I'd add 1 to charisma (17) and reduce con by 1 without changing bonuses, and reduce int by one (this does reduce the bonus, but won't reduce rolls when you use the eye, which would cause you to lose the +1 anyway).

Not sure that I understand what you mean by 'broken'. I intend to use medium armor and rapier - which is dex-based (yes, only +2, but it is not the main idea of this build)

Odd number in con - just in case there will be (in the full version) some item with +1 con

And as for the eye - before we don't know what is changed in the full version (and obviously what items will be there additionally) I try not to use 'itemization' in builds.

Thoughts that apply to both:
I think you are off by a point. Your spread based on your higher numbers would be:
14 (16), 14, 13 (14), 12, 12, 8

Regardless, don't neglect Con. it doesn't matter that someone can't hit you with a stick if your important caster save is a flat 0. You are only one Thunderwave away from losing concentration and half you HP. I'd take 3 points from Wis to put Con at 14.

You actually end up with the same amount of spell slots with both builds, you just lose out on spells to cast them with. (Maybe? Larian has made it sound like you get the spells if you have the slots).


Choosing one over the other:

If you want to be up close and personal, you are going to want multi-attack. So I would suggest your Rogue Valor bard if you just want a dip.

Paladin 2 is a good dip for melee classes (or subs) that are going to get multi-attack anyway, but on pure casters it isn't as great. You'd want a 5 or 6 Paladin if you want to play a punchy Lore bard.

While there aren't any Strength requirements in this interpretation of D&D, there is weight.

You get 10 pounds of lift per point of strength, so at 8 you'd have 80lbs MAX lift.. which puts you at moderately encumbered somewhere around 55 or 60.

Just the body piece of medium armor is between 8 and 14, a shield is about 3, another pound for your weapon.. Absolutely minimally armed and armored you're half way to shutting down jump and limiting movement to half. You're not yet wearing boots, gloves, helmet, a bow/x-bow.

This doesn't mention the inconvenience associated with being the face of the party used to buy/sell equipment/goods you can't carry. The disadvantage of being a front liner with a gimpy jump. Never being able to carry or equip heavy armor.

You asked our opinion, so I'm giving it.. It seems like you're trying to create the perfect character for all situations, and forgetting that you're a party of 4.

A charisma of 16 and higher stands on it's own, there is no reason to gimp a front line fighter or striker just to make your other stats average.. Not when those stats are perfectly fine for a lightly armored character like you have in option 1.

Oh. I didn't think about weight.
Thank you, then STR should be 10, will reduce INT and WIS

I understand that my char will not be as competent in combat as any proper martial build. That's ok, that's why I have 3 more in my party.
The main focus is ability checks.