Baldur’s Gate 3 has a fair amount of ways you can build your characters to make the most of its many mechanics. Luckily, along with this, you have the open ability to change your builds on most difficulties so long as you have the coin. That being said, optimizing your player build can be a difficult job if you’re not sure how to fit your build. With hundreds of items, spells, and ways to go about the game, you have limitless options at your disposal. Because of this, you have a lot of creative liberties when trying to build your character’s effectiveness. Generally speaking, so long as you consider the class and race you’ve chosen, and have an idea in mind, the possibilities are endless! However when discussing builds there are four main groups to consider: attackers, defenders, healers, and support.
Among these two groups, you are separated into casters and martial classes, along with hybrids in between. With this in mind, it’s important to think ahead of time about what you want your character to turn out with. There’s no point in trying to make a character that can do everything to a level of perfection, but even the jack of all trades has its place. It helps to do a little bit of research and preparation to make the most of build optimization, but if done correctly it can be super easy to master. No matter what though, make sure the builds you make are something you’ll have fun playing. With Baldur’s Gate 3 being such a massive game, you need to stick with what you love.
Looking for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content from Keengamer?
- Baldur’s Gate 3 | Tips And Tricks For Dice Roll Success
- Baldur’s Gate 3 | Things To Improve The Experience
- Baldur’s Gate 3 | Adamantium Golem “Grym” Guide
- Baldur’s Gate 3 | 10 Great Permanent Spellcasting Bonuses
- Baldur’s Gate 3 | 10 Great General Permanent Bonuses
The Big Three Archetypes
The Big Three refers to the types of options a class has available to them in terms of action economy. Martial characters generally stick to physical actions and melee or ranged combat. They prefer weapons, armor, and tactics over the use of the arcane to get their options done. Casters are the opposite, generally being those who prefer magic and spellcraft advantages to physically confronting the enemy. In-between these two are half casters which take aspects of both to act as an intermediary in the face of combat. All three of these are important archetypes to consider when building a character as they can define your action economy.
Each archetype can change the scope of an adventure in one way or another, having strengths and weaknesses much like races do. The main issue with building a character is that archetypes define your damage potential more than they do anything else. For instance, a half-caster like a paladin mixes magic and martial aspects, whereas a bard does similar but in alternate ways. One is a massive damage dealer for the party while the other is ultimately a better support personnel in comparison. Both have their place in the conflict but in their specialized ways.
For most players, this can be the most difficult aspect of the game to get over. Purely because this inspires the player to specialize in one field or another, and directly punishes them from becoming versatile. In all cases, even a half-caster is restricted to using certain types of magic, as casters are restricted in armor and weapon ability. There are of course always exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, there’s nothing wrong with planning ahead of time.
Different classes have different archetypes, for instance the barbarian is a martial archetype class!
Martial Builds
Martial characters are usually going to want impressive weapons and armor to fulfill their tasks. Generally, they go between two subsets; ranged, and melee. This refers to the type of weaponry they prefer to use when engaging an opponent. Beyond this, thinking about what type of weapons and armor you’ll want to use can greatly define what you’ll be more effective at action-wise. A tanky combatant in heavy armor with a shield and axe can be a great way to repel opponents whereas a great sword wielding medium armor melee prefers upfront. Of course beyond this, an archer in light to medium armor can pick off opponents with more precision than some spell casters.
They are usually the front-to-middle ground combatant, sometimes having superiority dice and sneak attacks to close the gap. Monks, fighters, rogues, and barbarians fit this bill but all have subclasses that can make them half-casters. It’s important when picking your class to distinguish if you want to be a martial or half caster early on as it will make a difference. Generally speaking, martials are really good early on but plateau mid to late game, for this reason adding magical equipment to them is key. Beyond this, adding buffs and skill check increases from your allies can make martial characters stand out as unique and powerful on the battlefield.
Martial Roles
When building a martial character you want to keep in mind that you are one of the damage dealers of the group. Moreover, you generally have a larger health pool than other characters making you the one that should be taking most of the damage. Because of this, it’s very important to be able to keep your martial character in the fight through magic, buffs, potions, and any other means. Sometimes it’s best to just keep a collection of items on hand, while others you just need to use sheer skill. But in most cases, the martial class deals high damage and takes the attention away from casters. That being said occasionally like with the battle master you can have access to support role options.
Fighters are a martial class that offers the player good durability and damage output!
Superiority Dice and Ki
One of the unique alternatives to spellcasting that exists for the martial classes is superiority dice and ki. These are two alternate sources of supernatural causes than magic that translate to strategic knowledge, and the will of the combatant. Superiority dice are specific to the battle master fighter subclass and give the player the ability to use their proficiency against opponents. Ki is a type of concentrated fighting spirit that can be used to perform feats akin to magic. In both regards there is a lot of similarity to caster abilities, giving the martial classes more versatility.
Caster Builds
Casters will prefer to hold on to as many magic items and spell slot relievers as possible. Using up all of your spell slots early on can be a bad start to a day, so making up for that with items and Cantrips can help. To make some of the best caster builds you’re going to want to focus on maintaining equipment that suits your caster Playstyle. For instance, a wizard will prefer robes or light armor unless you play as a mountain dwarf. In general, a mountain dwarf caster has more advantage over any other caster because they can innately use large hammers and heavy armor. Additionally, feats like toughness can greatly increase your character’s survival in cases where they might sustain damage.
Unfortunately, though, most features will be better spent on obtaining access to more unique spells. When talking casters we are usually referring to wizards, sorcerers, clerics, and druids who make up the archetype. Each interacts with a battlefield differently but also has a different subset of spell types and ways to obtain magic. For this reason, casters are almost always more complex, and effective in the late game than most martial classes and half casters. Overall though, they prove to be squishy midline or rear guard members of the party.
Gale is a wizard who can be a great asset if you don’t have a lot of experience with spellcasting characters!
Caster Roles
While the caster may have a lot more action economy than the simple martial class, they also have more responsibility. It’s expected that martial combatants will go into the front or snipe from the back, but casters have to buff the field. Additionally, they need to be able to deal damage, heal, or cause some kind of disruption to prove useful. For this reason, diversifying your spellcasting to match a wide variety of situations can be a great way of going about character creation. The spells make the caster, but so do their skills, items, and creativity; making casters one of the best routes to go if you want to have fun in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Spell Slots and Recharging
Something to keep in mind when talking about casters is their ability to use spell slots and potentially regain them. Every short rest most of your spells should be restored, while all spells are returned on a long rest. However, there are means such as the wizard’s ability to regain spell slots to stretch out the usefulness of your caster. At this point, every spell-casting level will grant your player additional spell slots along with potentially more potent spells. Of course, these are usually limited to whatever domain of magic you have chosen to get into, whether it be through nature, the arcane, pacts, or divine sources.
Half Caster Roles
Acting as a hybrid, or in-between state for casters and marital roles, the caster is usually specific to one aspect of combat or another. Half casters include the Bard, Paladin, and Warlock who all use a mixture of martial prowess and magic. Bards mix movement with buffs to create openings and improve your odds of success. Paladins are a unique type of divine caster that is capable of using magic associated with their oath, being a mix of clerics and fighters. Finally, the warlock is a pact magic user who mixes their keen fighting with infernal invocations to augment themselves in battle. Each is potent in its own right but has fewer spell slots and versatility than other casters.
Paladins are extremely powerful, and capable of wiping out massive enemies through sheer damage output with a mixture of divine smites, and martial form!
In this regard, they very often act more like sorcerers in the fact they are highly specialized. To that end though, their specialization allows them to excel above and beyond when they know how to build themselves. The bard is the best support option outside of the cleric, the paladin one of the highest damage dealers, and the warlock one of the best summoners. Additionally, each can stand at any point on the battlefield, boasting some of the most combat potential. Their one weakness is that they often start with less power than other classes, requiring a slow and steady buildup, or clever optimization.
Half Caster Roles
While half casters are one of the more specialized class archetypes in Baldur’s Gate 3, they are also one of the easiest to optimize. Simply put, just play heavy into the role your caster is naturally equipped to deal with. The Paladin is a definite damage dealer that can dominate the front lines with smites and powerful buff magic. Bards are extremely useful for whatever combat and negotiation situation you run into with their healing magic, buffs, and silver tongues. Finally, the warlock is a powerful sorcerer alternative with eldritch blast, and potent summons, including infernal invocations that improve your character. All three can fit the shape of the battlefield you want to play so long as you’re smart about it.
Specific Casters
Half casters are a great way of going about your first few games of Baldur’s Gate 3, however there isn’t very much in the form of versatility. They are great for martial and spell-casting attacks, but they are limited in the way they interact with that battlefield. So the issue becomes that you will become predictable if you don’t find new and creative ways to utilize these spells. Against easier difficulties, this won’t be much of an issue, but with adaptive enemies, this can become problematic. Additionally, they generally don’t have much in the form of spell slots, however, they can generally cast spells more times than full casters. The trade-off is that they only have a few accessible to them.
Spell slots are limited, and extremely important to keep track of!
Features and Equipment
To be completely honest there are limitless amounts of item and feature combinations that can greatly benefit your playthroughs. The best way to look at them is to make sure you focus on what you want to do in your games and build up to that point. Generally, Baldur’s Gate 3 is like an avalanche, you start small but gradually become a force to be reckoned with. However it’s easy to mix yourself up when you are starting, so make sure to reach equipment, and keep in mind the trade-offs of new items. There is no right or wrong answer, however, if you’re trying to optimize, shoot for the moon! Just keep in mind a few dangers that make these systems a trap for new players.
For starters, some features are limited and no class is going to get as many features as you’re going to want to break a character. You’ll want to expect 2-4 feats for most characters which can translate to extra spells or ability modifiers. Secondly, you can easily get tricked by equipment that has overpowered abilities, but bad damage output in general. Remember that even if something can do something once, that doesn’t make it a main weapon to carry. Finally, no god-tier item will save you in every situation. While there are some potent and effective items for most situations, it’s your creativity and ability to think that will save you in the most intense challenges.
