Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Help me pick a class.

Alright so here we go.

I have currently started, but nowhere near finished:

Sorcerer(my furthest progressed, she's almost done with act 2)
bard
cleric
paladin
fighter
monk(Dark Urge, too)

And I can't find a class that I like. I want something that can dish out hits and take them, since the fight that made me quit my sorc was going pretty okayish... til this big ass paladin mob just shows up and smites everyone. I was almost out of spells at that point on everyone to begin with, and


so I had extras. I'm thinking MAYBE a paladin warlock multiclass, but I gotta get past the whole oath thing. I tend to play goodie two shoes with the caveat of being a prick sometimes. Usually to keep a certain companion happy with me. Since I need his lockpicks.

I haven't gotten too far with any of it just yet but man... I just can't for the life of me figure out how to do this. lol. I can't figure out what I want to play and I have multiple characters coming. Out of my almost 300 hours in the game(this includes early access mind you) most of them have been spent below level 4 trying to figure out what I want to do and play.

Send help.

Rogue.

I think there are two ways to roleplay. One is to be like an actor/actress who is been given the choice of multiple roles to play. You can pick any role, and try it on for size. You can experience how it would be if you would be someone totally different from your true self, someone with an interesting backstory perhaps. You can pick a role that allows you to truly prove your acting skills and to experience a life very different fro your own.
Alternatively, you can roleplay as yourself. Use the character builder to create an avatar that physically matches you as closely as possible. Assuming you are human in real life, play as a human. Pick a class that matches you real life occupations. Try to capture yourself in the ability scores you set. Then teleport yourself to Fearûn and start adventuring.
You probably guessed it already: trying to play as yourself will eliminate choice paralysis.

Not keen on rogue as they're pretty one dimensional or dead, ranged or melee, in that order.

Hm.

I'll come back in a bit, see if anyone else has ideas. if not I'll go back to pondering. ><

You quit playing a character half way thru the game bcos one failed fight? With this approach you'll never pick a class, because in this instance the class doesn't matter. You character is just 25% of the group, anyway.

People mostly pick classes that connect with them, it's a preference thing, not mechanical performance in combat.

Personally I love Rogues and Sorcerers the most. I prefer chaos, breaking the law, being charismatic, streetwise, deceitful, neutral, spontaneous.

Some people love Druid and Ranger, they can connect with a character that protects the wild, nature and animals while avoiding civilization. Some people love Paladins, do good, protect the weak, uphold the law. Some like intellectual Wizards, casting spells, acting superior, while others love Bards - play music, joke around and bang chicks. No one can really help you pick a class, it's something you decide for yourself. All classes are flavorful, interesting and powerful.

I personally play as a Drow Ranger Hunter. Massive damage, 4 attacks, strong in both melee and range, high AC so she barely gets hit and incredibly adaptable for all kind of situations.

• As a start; 10 STR / 16 DEX / 12 CON / 10 INT / 14 WIS / 14 CHA.
• Go with Hunter subclass > Colossus Slayer > Take the trait to increase DEX by +2
• Level up the Ranger till level 5 for an extra main attack then multiclass into Rogue
• With Rogue you get an extra bonus attack, you take half damage from attacks (so it's basically double HP) and double proficiency bonus in two skills of your own choosing)
• Once you get another Trait choice, go with DEX +2 once again for 20 DEX
• Dual-hand crossbow for ultimate ranged combat by having 4 attacks per turn, while a shield in your melee slot gives you extra AC for survivability

Ultimately my character is right now standing at 19 STR/20 DEX/17 INT/14 WIS/14 CHA. Incredibly versatile and pretty much usable for all situations. And after Rogue's level 5 you can multiclass into Fighter for +1 AC and Action Surge, but I don't think it's really needed.

I don't think it's down to class. What problems did you have with either your fighter or your monk? In terms of single target damage I found them both extremely strong so I don't know if this is a class fantasy or build issue.

On the tabletop DND, cleric was my favourite class, but when I played one during EA, it sucked. Bad in combat and bad in spellcasting Moreover, I want Shadowheart close to my heart, and 2 clerics in the party is no good either.

I also prefer a mix of melee skills and magic. My favourite class in EA has become the ranger. In the full game I'm running now, I tried a gloomstalker, but so far it's not significantly more interesting than the hunter or beastmaster. I chose this primarily because the end game will be in a city, and so I also multiclassed with the 1st 3 rogue levels to get the assassin skills. Also because I don't want Astarion in my party.

I'm now nearing the finale of Act 2, at level 5 ranger/3 assassin. I like it. I intend to advance only in the ranger class furtheron and stay at rogue 3.

fighter and monk seem to suffer rogue syndrome. Very one dimensional. Walk in and punch stuff/whack stuff with a hammer.

I even bumped that fight down to explorer and couldn't win it. Soon as that paladin comes out he starts wrecking people and I don't have resources left AND theres still mobs alive.

Most rogue builds I've played are ranged. They suffer from Skyrim Sneak Archer Syndrome for me. And I get very frustrated easily when the main character dies. especially since she has the party's highest ac for some reason. o.o

Might give ranger a go. I liked that one in early access. And I like animal companions. Ugh. Who knows. Maybe I'll settle on something.

My builds come from youtube mostly. And I wasn't this frustrated when I lost the fight at last light. Mini boss dude was ALMOST dead damn it.

Do note I play on balanced and am not the greatest of players. ><

I’ve only had one full playthrough and didn’t experiment with respecing or multiclassing, so I know nothing about optimal builds.

All I can really say is that for me a two weapon specialist sword bard was a good character to fit into different combinations of other party members. Cast spells (including healing spells), make multiple weapon attacks, lock pick/trap disarm and talk their way out of problems. They aren’t the best at any of these things, except talking, but it meant I could safely take or leave different companions, rarely feeling I was missing something.

My current character is a sorcerer, and that seems fine too, but I’m taking Gale and Wyll out a bit less than before.

Ultimately I don’t think it should matter too much. You shouldn’t need to be min-maxing unless you really want to. Just pick a character you want to play and go with it.

Party composition is probably more significant than your own character’s class. You’ll probably always want someone to run up and bonk people over the head with a big sword, you’ll probably always want someone with powerful spells and you’ll likely want someone with healing word, which might be the most useful spell in the game (particularly with items that buffs anyone you heal).

PS bards have some great lines for being a bit of a prick.

Lol yeah they do. Like at the folks in the barn(vague on purpose).

Being basically good but occasionally a bit of a prick is the classic bard archetype, so it’s definitely worth considering. And I never found mine weak compared to other party members. She kicked a lot of arse. Battle master Lae’zel could certainly dish out more raw damage, but she couldn’t hypnotize half the enemies into doing nothing for two turns.

I love rogue (thief) + monk (open hand) (can throw in 2 levels of fighter late game for action surge)

You have a lot of attacks. You can backstab, stunning strike (great for controlling dangerous opponents), lots of movement, high AC. You can get a few spells from your race (smites from tiefling) and equipment (Misty Step is fun).

Also some cool dialogue options.

My favorite is sorcerer. I don’t know what subclass you picked, but storm is great in this game. Extra mobility from short fly + disengage means you’ll always have good positioning.

If you want to do lots of stuff, warlock + Paladin in great.

This honestly seems pretty clear cut to me. Here were the things that stood out:
- "I want something that can dish out hits *and take them*"
- Already tried Fighter, Paladin, and Cleric, as well as Monk, indicating a preference for tanky melee characters
- "I tend to play goodie two shoes with the caveat of being a prick sometimes."
- "I get very frustrated easily when the main character dies."

All of that to me *screams* Barbarian. You can take hits better than literally any other class and have the lowest chance of going down, it's a tanky melee class, you can certainly dish out hits, and you can RP the sometimes being a prick as being part of their anger issues. Yes I know, you are concerned with being overly one dimensional, but one should not discount the value a ring of flinging and a bag of axes can provide in helping with that, as can the subclass - Wild Magic Barbarian for example will have a continually shifting set of boons that will vary their role and playstyle for each encounter, at least to an extent. You could also pair them with something else if so inclined, but at a minimum enough Barb to get Rage sounds like it would do wonders for you. I'd likely personally recommend Paladin, especially since you liked Paladin enough to consider coming back to it. Paladins in full plate with Rage going can be terrifying, both offensively and defensively.

Play a Gnome Barb 3 / Paladin 6 with at least 16 Cha and you'll have +6 to all saves and advantage on them, just saying, no magic will ever fail to be resisted. Or go Half Orc and guarantee you never go down (or at least get a free redo) while also getting some absolutely disgusting crits, with advantage on your attacks and triple damage smites as payoffs.

Just some ideas. Good luck!

Hu ?

How the heck does he get +6 to saves from Cha 16 ?

Thats "just" +3 to saves ?

Hm. I do have a barbarian but I can't remember where I left off on her. Forgot about her lol. and she was fun.

Might pick her back up and try ranger to see which I like better. Barb is a half orc, she's kinda RAWRSMASH looking.

I'm also curious about the resists thing. How's that possible?

+3 from Paladin aura of protection with a cha of 16, and +3 with the Barb Wild Magic Magic Awareness feature by 9th due to your proficiency bonus

Dark Urge Assassin Rogue/Gloomstalker Ranger has been amazing. You get a special cloak as Dark Urge where you turn invisible for two rounds after every kill.

So sneak attacks for days.

Min/Max, lots of skills, even without high charisma you can deceive your way thru a lot, pick locks and disarm traps so you are versatile in every way that matters.

barb-sorcerer, Pally-cleric, bard are all good options... personally i think running out of spells means you played bad and just happened to get court

I'd say delete all of them except one and just play, maining that one whatever that is. It doesn't have to be the all being class/race, having tons of characters really just distracts from following through. I put in roughly 70 hours on one character doing just act 1.

But I knew exactly what I wanted which was a blonde freckled halfling lady Lore Bard multi-classed Rogue. Also, you can always tweak your class later on.

This is imo, have fun.