Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Most Popular Class&Race by Larian!

I noticed that, too. I think there should be some adjustments for a couple classes that take into account the changed rules. My biggest gripe is that the 4 least popular races all lost racial abilities they had in 5e and got nothing in return. Rock Gnome lost Tinker (a big one) and Dwarves lost Tool Proficiency and Stonecunning (and have the added insult of Humans and Half-Elves being better with Armor/Shield than Gold Dwarves). Githyanki need their Psionic Resistance back, which they had in 5e.

For classes, I'm more inclined to think they should make the least popular (Cleric) more interesting without making them stronger. Like drop and Armor Proficiency down a level for some in exchange for a Proficiency (or drop Knowledge Cleric to No Armor and give them Expertise in 3 Knowledges instead of 2); drop Nature Cleric to Medium Armor (you still have some other Clerics that can wear Heavy if that's the draw) in exchange for a free proficiency in either Animal Handling, Nature, or Survival, with the other two as options; and drop Trickery Cleric to Light Armor in exchange for a free proficiency in either Deception, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth, with the other two as options. Players would then put some thought into whether they want to go with a lighter more skilled Cleric or a heavier less skilled Cleric (and you would feel like you were getting something out of the Medium Armor Proficiency of a Githyanki or Shield Dwarf).

Even though Wizards are not the least popular class, I think they are most deserving of an actual power increase. Clerics are powerful enough; they just aren't as interesting as they could be. Wizards are weak because they kind of stood still in a game that made Sorcerer better. They have the added burden of relying on the worst attribute (INT), which for some reason didn't seem quite as bad in TTRPG because you could be the smart one of the group, but with limited Knowledge rolls and no option for using INT in a creative manner, Wizards feel like less than they were in BG3. I'd just straight-up bump their power level (with no tradeoff) by adding Arcane Foci that let you do things depending on the type of Arcane Focus. Like a Wand that allows you to invest a 1st Level Spell of your School (or higher Level Spell at higher Level) and cast 1/Long Rest, an Orb that gives you Proficiency (or Expertise if you are already Proficient) in Arcana, a Crystal that allows you to replenish Spell Slots with a Short Rest kind of like Arcane Recovery but for free, a Staff that allows you to swap prepared spells as a Bonus Action 1/Short Rest (you can already swap between spells outside of combat, so this would be a cool thing that only Wizards could do in combat), a Rod that lets you add your Proficiency Bonus to Concentration (or twice your Proficiency Bonus if you already can add Proficiency Bonus), a Material Component Pouch that lets you cast any Spell you Know 1/Long Rest, and stuff like that (and Swap Arcane Foci after a Long Rest if you can find others during the adventure). I think it would be a mistake to try to make Wizards compete head-on with the Sorcerer's metamagic, but giving them more spell flexibility or spellcasting "endurance" seems like a good way to go. You could also let Wizards learn an additional Spell of their School when they get access to a new spell level instead of having to add a scroll spell to their spellbook at a discount, especially considering Clerics and Druids know all their spells each time they get a new level of spells.

I think Larian actually knew Wizards needed something extra because in EA they allowed Wizards to learn spells from any Class if they found the scroll, but removed the option because of player feedback. I kind of agree with the feedback regarding that particular ability, but Larian didn't replace it with anything.