Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Dark Urge evil playthrough build help?

Looking to do an Evil playthrough on Dark Urge, probably just on normal for an easier/quick playthrough just to experience the dialogue, but I'm not entirely sure what build to go with.

I have been really wanting to make a Tempest Cleric/storm sorc but not sure if that would work thematically with dark urge or not. The other 2 options are a Necro or Spore druid, anyone have some suggestions?

I plan to recruit Minthara so maybe run her as a Palock, but what other characters work with an evil playthrough? I know probably Astarion but who else? If I run Cleric, then I'll probably make one of the companions a necro and not too sure on the last class, whatever works thematically.

any advice would be appreciated.

Unfortunately I have no insight regarding Sorcerer or Druid class so can't offer any suggestions about those two classes, but if I was making a Dark Urge thematic build I'd personally go with Dexterity Tiger Barbarian dual-wielding daggers and multiclass into Rogue. That way;

• The Barbarian rage would fit Durge's urges aspect as in gameplay, dialogue and roleplay elements
• You'd be able to make enemies bleed a lot which fits the sanguine theme
• As a Rogue you'd also have the roleplay elements of being sneaky and knowing the underground, which fits Dark Urge's lore
• And Durge really loves its daggers so that would further fit the sanguine theme of who they are

As for companions; I personally went with Shadowheart, Lae'zel and Minthara in my evil playthrough because manipulating them two down the worst path imaginable to corrupt them is far more fun in my opinion, which is why I made Shadowheart and Lae'zel evil fanatical zealots of their own gods and eternally enslaved them afterwards.

That would be fun, however I'm mid A2 with a Tiger Barbarian right now (Tactician) and looking to play something different. I've also already finished a Sorcadin build so I don't really want my TAV to be a pally either. Thats why I chose the 3 classes, since I have very little experience with those.

If you want to do Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorc then do it. I'm on ACT III with a Paladin Urge (resisting) and so long as you embrace your nature and kill kill kill you'll be evil and more or less true to the evil or "embrace the Urge" storyline.

While the class/multiclass you are suggesting does damage best through spells there is nothing to stop you from carrying a blade and indulging your bloody impulses in a more "hands-on" fashion from time to time, which would provide some interesting RP opportunities.

Don't forget you can always use hirelings to fill out your party, after all playing as evil Durge is all about putting your interests first.

Also of note, just because you get the Durge equipment doesn't mean your Tav has to use it. I say that for 2 reasons:
1) Since your main concern is experiencing the story, it doesn't hurt to focus on expertise in passing skill checks which might come up during exploration and dialogue with your Tav, and leave extreme combat focus to your NPCs. I've got a thread open which is legitimately the build I'm doing next for Durge, and it has 100% skill proficiencies and while it's not *terrible* in combat (hard for a COS Bard to be terrible when you can open a combat with 8 attacks to a single target while hasted) it's certainly not Optimized for combat. It's optimized for skills, and that's ok.
2) Even though lore wise it might make the most "sense" for you to play a stealthy murder type, you can also just synergize with an NPC playing that role. Tempest Cleric / Storm Sorc (recommend 1 level of Wis too just saying) can go in on the whole "reverberation" build, which in turn makes others applying bleed, poison, etc. I'm definitely planning on having a Tiger Barb in the party (GWM with a possible eventual goal of Bhaalist armor and maybe Nyrulna, for -5 to attack, +20 damage, and Crazy crits) it just won't be my Tav, it'll likely be Karlach.

I had a lot of fun with a Ranger/Rogue (Gloom Stalker/Assassin).

I had fun with Cleric/Draconic Sorcery Durge

In that game I gave in to the Durge in Act 1, but then resisted the Durge in Act 2, which was pretty satisfying. I went Storm Sorceress Drow Durge in another play and dip towards the end, also pretty fun.

I thought the Cleric split was the most entertaining in the early game, cause I get the Deity selection, armor & shield just from the lvl1 dip, and all the clerical spells can come in handy. Sorcerer dialogue seems typically condescending, but with Cleric I get a bit more variety. With Lump's circlet I don't get hit as hard on arcana checks. Wisdom is a really important save throughout so never hurts to have that in the bank, CHA takes care of most of the rest. Dip into Cleric gives me the option to go STR instead of DEX if I want and then pick it up later through itemization. Durge also gets a lot of early inspiration for doing Durge-y things, so even if resisting, it can be fun to lean into it sometimes.

To me the spell command feels somehow like one of the most villainous spells in D&D, while Sanctuary is like the power of goodness to counterbalance, so kinda leaves open the option to swing either way for the Durge, which seemed somehow thematic for that storyline.

Oh and Minthara is super reliable once she's in the mix, she pairs very well. Core party is Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Astarion and Gale for me, since they will do whatever in Act I. If you want to roll with Wyll or Karlach I think there are potential issues trying to get them all together with Minthara, but haven't tried it since the last hotfix. Probably easier to just go full tilt Durge at the start if going for Minthara. I ran Shadowheart as a Sporedruid and it was fun. Gale as a Necromancer seems like it could work, bases kinda covered just for seeing which combo seems entertaining in that comp. I think for the Main, the other characters can totally carry Sorcerer Durge a little behind the level curve, if you respec them at the start with Withers. Otherwise it's probably a little easier after the lvl 5 spike, just cause that's such a big power up for everyone. I've done the dip at lvl 6 as well and didn't feel it too hard. It was actually kind of entertaining to be one level off the power curve, just cause that made the even lvls feel like more of a pickup. Shadowheart as Druid has the offset lvl spikes too, just cause the Druid level progression is slightly different in the midgame, so they'd kinda hit at the same time. Lae'zel and Astarion can pretty much carry the group once they hit their power ups, and Minthara crushes. I have the hardest time sticking to Durge in Act II, because of one character who I just always want to have around for reasons of nostalgia heheh.

On Normal mode it does not matter much what build you choose, you could probably dip into all classes once and still succeed. Shadowheart in my playthroughs always went to Tempest domain after she turned away from Shar, it's a very strong build without any dip. If you want an easy time, it's better to have a Storm Sorcerer or so as separate char, for the obvious synergies of the (insane) condition the build cries to (ab)use. So maybe you could go Storm Sorcerer/Warlock, seems me dark enough a theme. However you had to accept that you could not get an important Warlock item (except you want to metagame or use a spawn mod).

Necromancer or Spore Druid for me would be too refined for a Dark Urge, too indirect and slow. Blasting creatures with Eldritch Blast or lightning spells seems the more appropiate way for such a tormented character bristling with dark energy. And Warlocks are known for weak morality, so that fits to not resisting the dark path.

I have currently parked my Honour mode before Orin and the brain and started a new playthrough with a dark urge character and some combat mods (which btw makes Honour mode appear as quite easy, sigh). I wanted to go Bardlock, but changed to a more slash-slash-bloody-rip-the-guts-out-idea, a bit like Crimsonrider proposed. Seems perfect for me when I look at what I do to people. I want to follow the good path however, let's see.

Yeah Stormshadowheart is probably the most fun going Tempest!

That one you can kind of reconcile with Shar too, if she's like a dark storm cloud, sometimes interrupted by forks of lightning and thunderclaps. Speaking of

Light Domain Shadowheart can also reconcile with Shar I think. Here is a fragment by Heraclitus the Obscure (Haxton translation) that sort of works the angle, for either riff probably.... Lambent flame casting the shadows and such

Every player character in this game can be good or evil, can be powerful or OP, can be a killer or a murderer. However, "The Dark Urge" (its in-game full name) is not any of them. Otherwise, in terms of character build, what can possibly distinguish the Dark Urge from yet another evil Tav? You could just pick one or any OP build and play it as your own Dark Urge. There would be no such questions as asked by OP here. Which to pick would all be purely based on personal preferences.


However, The Dark Urge per se is not an ordinary character, an ordinary killer or an ordinary murderer. It has the following story-wise unique traits:

• Murder people without being a murderer
  • Highly skilled in deception and/or intimidation (and persuasion on rare occasions): if you succeed in making a kill, you can (always or almost) get away with it with no bad consequences on your own part.
• Make a kill solely for the sake of making a kill
  • Durable in combat: if you fail to make a kill the way you have wanted, you can still get away with it any way you like. If you have to flee in order to avoid getting put down for your attempted murder, you are not Dark Urge enough.
• Has the raw power for making a kill with just a thought
  • Barbarian's Rage, Bard's Inspiration, Paladin's Oath, Druid's Shapeshifting, etc. don't fit into the perceived nature of The Dark Urge very well: If you need a preparation for combat or a certain faith for combat abilities, you are not dark enough to be "The" Dark Urge.

Of the three builds you mentioned, only the Sorcerer (Storm+Tempest) build fits The Dark Urge perfectly, for the following reasons:

• Can be highly skilled in deception and intimidation
• Can be a very durable tank wearing heavy armory and holding a shield
• Can wipe floor with this game's most powerful damaging spell

There is a reason why the default in-game class for The Dark Urge is Sorcerer.


BTW, if you (being The Dark Urge) wish to hire Minthara, you should never choose to be a pawn of hers. If you choose to obey her command as a pawn, you should murder her in YOUR sleep later. This is the way of the Dark Urge. Otherwise, you would be no different from an ordinary Tav that chooses to accept both her order and her offer - in other words, you would be just an ordinary Tav who wishes to follow the steps of The Dark Urge but who doesn't understand The Dark Urge's true nature.

Regardless of being an evil or a good force, The Dark Urge is capable of getting every possible companion into the same party in a single playthrough. If urged to do so, it can murder any of the companions at a later time.

If you are that consequent with the presuppositionlessly nature of the Dark Urge, a dip into Cleric (Tempest or what else) for me would be out of the way too, as you depend solely on the grace of a god. Only a pure Sorcerer would then fit.

I never saw the Barbarian Rage as a special preparation. It's just the inner wrath that comes out at will, you need to click a button only because of how a game works. So I would not exclude a Barbarian from the perfect Urge class.