Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion (Spoilers) Who is your Thrower? Karlach, Lae’zel, or a Monk?

Throwing is quite broken in BG3, by virtue of the Tavern Brawler feat, as has been widely established. The question is: Who from among our companions (or Tavs) should take on that role, assuming we want at least one character capable of using this broken feat? Karlach as a Barbarian (Berserker + Thief for the extra bonus action with Enraged Throw), Lae’zel as a Fighter (Eldritch Knight), or a Monk (Sina’zith being the default Monk hireling), given that Monks like to pick Tavern Brawler for increased damage on unarmed attacks? (Of course, if your Tav is a Barbarian, Fighter, or Monk, just insert them into this question.)

While there are enough regular spears to go around so that our characters won’t have to fight over them (and you can always pick them from another character’s inventory even mid-combat), the supporting gear for throwing, such as the Ring of Flinging, can of course only be worn by one character at the time — and Strength elixirs are finite, too.


I just saw a discussion in the YouTube comments about at which point Eldritch Knight outperforms Berserker/Thief — it seems to be fairly late in the game, when the Fighter has three regular attacks. So this seems to suggest Berserker-Thief is the wiser choice for the early game; however, if one is already used to this class combination by the time they reach the end game, would they really want to swap Karlach’s and Lae’zel’s roles at this point?

The Thrower usually keeps their distance (darling), so if Karlach is throwing from the back (as a Berserker), Lae’zel might be at the front tanking melee hits, likely as a Battlemaster. Conversely, if Lae’zel is throwing from the back (as an Eldritch Knight), Karlach is probably tanking as a Wildheart (Bear) Barbarian.


Since enemies like to go for characters with the lowest AC, having Karlach without armour be the tank may make more sense than Lae’zel, who is likely wearing the Adamantine Splint Armour or something similar. Karlach can also take the highest number of hits, since Barbarians are the only class with d12s as their hit-point dice. Eldritch Knight Lae’zel and Wildheart Karlach would also be the “canonical” options, as these are what the respective characters choose upon first reaching Level 3, unless the player changes it.

That said, whether this is “canon” is debatable, as Gale chooses Evocation Wizard by default when reaching Level Two, even though at the end of the game…


The case for the Monk being the thrower, meanwhile, is that not only do they like to pick Tavern Brawler anyway — they also don’t like to remain in Melee range: They rush in, hit hard, then run away again, since despite having unarmoured defence similar to Barbarians (scaling with Wisdom instead of Constitution), they don’t have the same hit-point dice, and are therefore a lot squishier.

The Monk probably won’t want to multiclass into Barbarian for enraged throwing (even though I do like Minsc as a Berserker-Monk for roleplaying reasons), since Flurry of Blows will deal more damage with that same bonus action. However, the Monk could still use rush in, do Flurry of Blows, get out of melee range again, and then use their main actions for throwing attacks. Alternatively, if you do pick up Enraged Throw, you could make the target prone with a throw first, then have the Monk rush in and do Flurry of Blows with advantage.


So far, I’m mainly making Karlach the Throw-Berserker and Lae’zel the Battlemaster… but perhaps there are reasons for picking the “canon” versions, even in the early game, and swap those two roles around?

It mostly depends on what your party actually is really. Not everyone runs with Karlach and Lae'zel, or uses Hirelings.

Really it comes down to class, Fighter vs Barbarian vs Monk

Fighter is ultimately the best choice, because Improved Extra Attack synergizes with Action Surge and Haste (Outside of Honour Mode) very well.

Barbarian peaks earlier because 5 Berserker + 3 Thief gets you the 2 bonus actions and Extra Attack at level 8 compared to Fighter's Improved Extra Attack at level 11.

Monk has no synergy with thrown items other than wanting to go Tavern Brawler anyway (While Fighter/Barb both can just whack things with melee weapons and ignore Tavern Brawler entirely). But if they're going meta Tavern Brawler Open Hand then throwing isn't even particularly good for them, because they'll simply do more damage with unarmed attacks rather than throwing.

It's worth noting that even though Barb peaks earlier, it's not necessarily that much better than equally leveled Fighter. Since Fighter will still have Action Surge to get off more attacks in a turn which can be all you really need to end a fight. Fighter will also have more Feats due to not multiclassing (As well as being a Fighter, whom gets bonus feats as a class feature) allowing for more utility. Fighter will also have the bonuses of their subclass (EK can get some nice spells such as Shield) while much of Berserker's subclass is just enabling the extra thrown attacks.


They are not. Which is part of why they're so stuipidly broken.

Shops infinitely restock consumables and crafting supplies upon Long Resting, allowing for infinite amounts of Elixirs.


Entirely debatable. Enemies will prioritize targets that are threatening them over simply lowest AC much of the time (Due to the simple interaction of Opportunity Attacks)

Lae'zel isn't necessarily wearing Adamantine Splint Armour (Most people actually favour the uncapped medium armour you get in early Act 2 shop and pump Dex for high AC for their "Tank" characters)

Karlach's AC isn't necessarily lower than heavy armour Lae'zel (Especially if you're using Strength Elixirs so you can juice DEX and CON for double AC bonuses from an unarmoured Barbarian Karlach)

Karlach isn't necessarily the one who can take the highest number of hits. Heavy Armour and Heavy Armour Mastery can negate a lot of damage from hits (Even more so when you factor in chugging Health Potions which provide more EHP if you're actively mitigating damage than if you simply have a larger health pool). Throw in stuff like Shield spells and you can mitigate actually taking hits as a Fighter.

In the end, it's largely about how you design your party. Whom you take, what classes you give, what equipment you choose to use.

Overall, I find that Fighter Thrower feels the most practical. It provides a more overall decent character with extra utilities from Feats and Spells as well as early Action Surge can literally wipe out some early fights. The amount of time's I've accidentally killed bosses like Ragzlin, Flind, Anders even Ethel in a single turn of a single Fighter because of Action Surge and obscene throw damage is pretty silly.

But maybe you want your Fighter to do something else (Like Champ multi-crit build. Or Battlemaster) and instead you have no plans for your Barbarian. (Whether or not these characters are Lae'zel and Karlach respectively are another matter entirely. I've often swapped them to alternate "Lore Friendly" class/builds. Personally I quite like 4 Elements Monk Lae'zel a la Orpheus' Honor Guard and also quite enjoy Pala/Fiendlock Karlach playing off her ideals combined with the Zaria enslavement. But I've also done other things like Fighter/Wizard Abjuration Tank Lae'zel, Bard Karlach, Fighter Karlach, Cleric Lae'zel etc. There's a lot of leeway when it comes to creative headcanon to justify alternate classes for Origin characters)

I used Karlach reskilled as Monk.