Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Help me turn Kharlach into a Polearm queen

Hi there,

I want to build up Karlach into my polearm queen, probably a Halberd or Glaive specialist but I have questions:

1) Biggest question is do great weapon buffs work with polearm buffs, particularly the Great Weapon master and Polearm master feats… do they stack?

2) I m probably going to multi class her, but im trying to find something that fits her character.., suggestions? Leaning towards a Paladin, order of vengeance but I can see arguments for an assassin, gloomstalker, champion or even a bard. Convince me !

The classical combo for Polearm Master is Sentinel, for great control of the battlefield (it does not work that often in the many times chaotic battles, but anyway). I would assume the GWM feat does not work as polearms don't have the "heavy" label, but I'm not sure. As Lae'zel left us (only because we killed all Giths ...), our party has a hireling Fighter with a polearm in it, a nice addition to my three ranged chars.

The problem of the Barbarian is that he only gets 3 feats till lvl 12, not 4 like the Fighter. So your ASI is lacking when taking two feats. There is a halberd to buy (tiefling at the inn in Shadowcursed Lands) which adds + 2 Strength, that's an option. Otherwise I use the halberd from Bernhard or the halberd you get in the Gith creche. I don't like the Bear Wildheart Barbarian normally, but for a defensive polearm fighter that might be a good subclass choice.

Multiclassing is not my preference, but I think a Paladin would be a good choice, as you could add a lot of damage to the build with Divine Strike. Rogue Thief might be good too, for more bonus actions.

There is a light Armor, Bhaalist Armor, that gives any enemy within 10 feet piercing vulnerability. Might not be a bad idea to rock a 2h spear or Pike.

Problem is that barbs don't get a lot of feats, and polearm build needs a lot of those.

Its better to do polearms on a Fighter or Paladin for the extra attack with smites, but you can try it on Barbarian too.

In the dead tree version of 5e GWM+PAM is kind of an infamous combo but I’ve never gotten confirmation that it works in BG3 especially as you say due to the importance of the « heavy » label. I always liked this as it reinforces IRL superiority of the Polearm on the battlefield.

Your point on feats is well taken. A multi class into Champion or Battlemaster would make sense but I already have 2 other fighter-barbarians in the party :P

You can get gauntlets that set your STR to 23 early-mid act 3, so you don't really need ASI down the road.

I believe they do ...

Whats even better is that GWM +10 damage bonus works with 1d4 Polearm Bonus Action ...
The only let down is that when you kill someone, or score a critical strike ... you dont have any Bonus Action left for that another full attack you get. :-/

Are we talking about ASI?
Bcs if so, that is not necessarily true.

Quite honestly, playing unarmored Barbarian in this game makes no sense ...
Allready in Act 1 you get Medium armor that gives you 18AC, and some other benefits ... wich is something you can barely achieve on level 8 ... and only if you dump everything else.

There is no problem to squeeze at very least two feats into any build ... 3 if you are willing to drink a potion after each Long Rest.

Or potion that sets it on 21 ...
Or another potion, wich sets it on 27 (if i remember that corectly) !!!

Just tested it today, GWM does not stack with polearm master's bonus action 1d4 attack

Thanks for the confirmation. That’s a shame

The polearm master feat's opportunity attack also doesn't seem to work like half the time. It gives the prompt to use it, but nothing happens.