Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Wyll's stat block needs a change

Wyll's statblock is inconsistent with his nickname "blade of the frontier". It is also fairly bad from an optimization standpoint:

Str 9
Dex 13
Con 15
Int 14
Wis 11
Cha 16

The first thing that strikes me on looking at this is that four of the stats are odd. Odd stats are wasted stats in D&D 5e, and Larian really should avoid them on NPC's when possible. They also should not be part of the "recommended" stat block for any characters, but I digress.

In addition to the problem of having four odd attributes, Wyll's attributes are very poorly chosen for a melee combatant. Now, his 16 charisma is just fine for a warlock, and if you keep him away from enemies he can just blast away to great effect. However, that fits poorly with his backstory. If we are to put him in melee range of the enemy (presumably after they add blade pact) then he will need better defenses and a better melee attack stat.

I have two alternative approaches for tackling this problem.

Approach 1 change the stat block: This is fairly easy. Lower intelligence to 12 and wisdom to 9 (these stats do nothing for warlocks and from an optimizers standpoint can be dumped, from an RP standpoint a lower wisdom fits Wyll nicely, and a 12 intelligence means that he is a bit above average, which also fits). Next, swap the CON and DEX stats in his block, and then raise dex to 16 and con to 14. This is what will result:

Str 9
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 9
Cha 16

The higher dexterity will give him better defense in light armor, and will also allow him to hit with his rapier. In the long run he will probably still lag behind a dedicated frontline combatant like Lae'zal (even with blade pact) but he will at least be competent.

Approach 2 custom patron: Hexblade would fix Wyll very nicely, but its probably not going to be in the game at release, and it also conflicts with his lore. However, granting Wyll some of the features of Hexblade as part of a "special deal" with his patron would work. Specifically, give him proficiency in rapier and medium armor, and also use charisma as attack stat instead of dex/str whenever he uses a rapier.

This would allow him to be a fairly effective front line combatant without any changes to his stat block. This fits fairly nicely with his backstory (or what I know of his backstory at least) since it will be very clear that his ability in combat is directly related to his patron. It will add real consequences to any decisions to break that special deal that we may encounter later in the story. If he breaks the deal with the patron he will go back to relying on his weak str and dex to fight.