Baldur's Gate 3: Cleric Build - Terror Of Tiamat

[@MortismalGaming]

As of Patch 3, this build was nerfed a bit. It still works and will still be viable and effective, but it will deal less consistent damage due to some changes to Divine Smite.

[@MrPhilippeCP]

Can you elaborate on this? I've been playing this and I can't find my thunderous smite anymore.

[@MortismalGaming]

@@MrPhilippeCP Check your paladin spell list, it probably just fell off your hot bar

[@kevingonzalez142]

What were the changes to divine smite??

[@alangrant2728]

@@kevingonzalez142 it's detailed in the patch notes. But to summarize, there was a bug that would allow you to get two divine smites in one attack and there was also a bug that let you upcast divine smite to get higher damage than should have been possible. Normally divine smite maxes at 5d8 damage regardless of how high you upcast it. Before patch 3 you could upcast to higher levels and end up with more dice being rolled. e.g. casting as a level six spell would sometimes result in 7d8 damage instead of 5d8.

[@Artrysa]

@@alangrant2728 Oh well that's not too bad. Does the video even show a double smite?

[@Cyphu]

There’s a necklace in the game that gives access to “paralyzing critical” which you can use once per long rest to paralyze a target after a critical hit. Since paralyzed targets take crit damage you could get two big hits in

[@Fluffy_Cuddle6969]

only works on humanoid

[@erikhendrickson59]

The idea of a "100% playthrough" review of this game is just nutty.

[@kyleflorence8042]

Mortym is a sick, sick man.

[@cartergunter1898]

It’s not the game world itself isn’t super large. Most of the content is pretty copy paste with super rich story to cover it up. The length is in the branching storyline. Dos2 and pwotr are both larger games that probably take the average person longer

[@Drago5899]

This is wildly untrue. much of the content is dependent on several factors such as the order in which content is completed, the characters who are alive before the quest starts, as well as what information is known to both the PC and the NPCs. These are not flavor changes they are significant and have massive implications in later acts.

[@darwinshrugged7347]

@@kyleflorence8042 I'm half convinced he's actually not human, but an advanced AI. Would explain the machine-like dedication and output. Completely astonishing.

[@jamesbrice3267]

@@darwinshrugged7347 Think of him as proof that Dune's Mentats are real.

[@marteendee6842]

Incredible work as always. Your very balanced approach and soothing radio voice make these videos both informational and a pleasure to watch/listen to. Looking forward to seeing some druid builds!

[@leeh1ful]

I played a cleric of Talos about six months ago on my last bg2 run and loved it so much this guide appeared right before my second playthrough of bg3, lightning is so hot right now

[@austintehguy]

Really hope the success this game is seeing serves to boost your channel ever high Mort - you deserve all the success for your dedication to thoughtful, thorough, and honest reviews. Doing Tiamat's work!

[@gabrielvasconcelos71]

You could use the dex gloves from the Githyanki vendor in the Mountain pass that sets your dexterity to 18 and gives +1 attack to offset the initiative problem, should be pretty OP with this build

[@Shmern]

Holy shit that sounds disgusting. I gotta find them.

[@Masquerademasque]

yea pretty muhc have tem perm on a character. most op gloves

[@henkhenk4396]

wow damn read that as +1 attack roll, that's pretty disgustingly strong

[@PseudoJulianoK]

I put those in Lae'zel and now she is a beast in both melee and ranged

[@selendile030]

Gave them to my PotB light armor Wyll. Initiative and AC. Nice fit, IMO.

[@rickkybobby8118]

You know with how much freedom players have to *nearly* fully respec their character at any time, I think theres room for a purely early-game build that doesnt rely on things you cant change like race. Its whole point would be to make life easy for the first few levels until you are able to spec into a more lategame oriented build

[@saintsword23]

The inability to reselect race is killing me. I think the best choice is Wood Elf, as the extra movement, darkvision, and proficiency in perception are useful for just about any build on any class. Deep Gnome is really good too, as Superior Darkvision and advantage on all the mental checks are good on every class.

[@rickkybobby8118]

@@saintsword23 Because it only costs 100 gold to recruit a wizard hireling that can cast long rest buffs like darkvision on your whole party then sit in camp while your main group go off adventuring I really dont value normal darkvision at all. Same for movement buffs and debuffs, because longstrider is something all party members should have at all times since its a ritual. If you're making a caster I think Githyanki is by far the best race choice. Medium armour, greatsword, longsword and free proficiency in all skills of a chosen attribute that you can swap each long rest. Kinda puts all other proficiencies other races get to shame

[@saintsword23]

@@rickkybobby8118 That's a clever use of the camp. I'm thinking into the future too, where I think there will be multiplayer servers where that sort of thing may not be possible. The Wood Elf extra speed would still be useful, but ya, compared to medium armor and Ancestral Knowledge it's really not the best and I agree with you. There's cases to be made that Half-Orcs are best for melee strikers and Deep Gnomes for the sneaky builds, but you're probably right that Githyanki are the overall best choice for a character you may respec multiple times (Medium armor goes to waste with certain classes, but getting proficiency in an entire attribute's worth of skills is waaaaaaay OP). The Halfling Lucky ability is also extremely underrated - never critically failing a role is incredible. I've also had a thought that there may be a Githyanki Knowledge Cleric build that could presumably get proficiency in about every ability. You take Urchin background for stealth and sleight of hand, take 3 knowledge skills (arcana, religion, nature for instance) getting expertise on two of them, and then use your Githyanki and Channel Divinity on Wis and Cha skills. All in all you get proficiency in every skill except investigation, acrobatics, athletics, and a knowledge skill. By adding a level of ranger at some point you can add Investigation and either athletics or acrobatics (Urban Tracker does nothing because there's no background other than Urchin that wouldn't just be a duplication).

[@gabrielbjornursidae]

@@saintsword23 That's why Wrath of the Righteous is a superior game.

[@battlericky17]

Perfect timing for my break at my new job. Cant wait for the September console release for this

[@HalfinchLonomia]

This is an exceptionally detailed guide. Well done, sir 👏

[@WayFastWhitey02]

Just got to act 2 on my first playthrough with a Tempest Cleric, about to log back into the game to change to this because it looks amazing! Never thought about the obvious synergy with Paladin, thanks for the video!

[@coconutologist]

Kind of sounds like you reinvented The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch into melee form. Hope the smotin' divine. Onward to 300k. All glory to the algorithm.

[@jaywall4591]

You can get the respective giant bracers to set your STR to 23, which allows you to shift those points into DEX. Late game but it's what I'm doing! (I went 2 Paladin; 2 Tempest and 8 Storm Sorcerer for the metamagic and flying, started Sorcerer and switched your point allocation between WIS and CHA)

[@uttrik]

This is probably my favorite gish build so far. Every build I've tried either was a support caster that was mostly martial, or a character that was better off just casting spells. But with BG3's Destructive Wrath maximizing all damage dice associated with the attack that uses it, you only need one attack and two spell slots to deal superb damage to a single target. And having 10 levels in Tempest Cleric means you have good offensive spells to cast. While this build isn't the end all, be all of damage output, it is the only one so far where I can play like a gish. Thanks for the video Mort, I'd never even thought about trying Thunderous Smite with Destructive Wrath because RAW it would only maximize the 2d6.

[@billc.8569]

Wow, seems like a fun class. I know you might be planning on a future video for this but would love to see as you are finishing the game multiple times, a ranking of the characters that you have played. Specifically which ones you enjoyed the most.

[@z808z]

I was looking for a Cleric build that can contribute to my team and still make use of the legendary mace. This build is perfect for it. Thanks for sharing!

[@ivanbssouza]

A ranged version of this build would be Storm Sorc + Tempest Cleric ! Very nice build ! nice thematic character !

[@TheMing21]

I love the paladin cleric combo, I've been meaning to try it but haven't pushed myself to it yet, now this pushes me over the edge to go and try it! Great video, keep up the good work

[@unixtreme]

Min Max is my jam!

[@minmaxwax]

It’s a way of being

[@richardweems4517]

I looked at the build and loved it. While I like extra attack, I see what you mean about the power of the tempest support and damage spells. Thanks for your hard work.

[@BorpoTingis1312]

Love your build guides! As a total smooth brain who so far has stumbled through the game with a cobbled together build, it's really interesting to see the potential characters have.

[@marcie151.]

easily my favourite bg3 content creator, I trust nobody else anywhere near as much haha

[@MoonThePaladin]

Love this build, gonna try it in my Honour run, thank you!

[@kagankarahan183]

Pls do more of these build videos. Make a series man. Its amazing

[@mkstrouse4109]

Love your reviews and seeing the builds you use to get yourself through them 🎉

[@kbar4462]

Great guide, i haven't explored the other domains for cleric, but sounds like this would be really fun to respec into. Doubly good since i just got Blood of Lothandar last night lol

[@TheCoulsonlax]

My favorite part of your builds is how thematic they are

[@khal7702]

Terror of Tiamat sounds like it's in game lore

[@TheCoulsonlax]

@@khal7702 agreed. that could be the alternate name for the entire Tyranny of Dragons campaign in D&D

[@ZarviroffSerge]

There are Gloves of Dexterity, which give you just statically 18 dex. These fix initiative really well. They're also found in the Mountain pass area, sold by a trader and could be simply pick pocketed from them (along with everything else lol).

[@cynxtv]

Can't wait to see what other builds you'll share with us. Just started a Warlock and will use your 'Whispers' build as a template, it's just great, love it. Keep up your awesome work!

[@semiawesomatic6064]

I did a similar build, but pally 6 and then cleric 6, vengeance and war cleric. Only have fourth level slots but they last a lot longer, and war cleric can give you a third attack a few times a day.

[@kaidorade1317]

Mort in his Cleric Build: “do you know of our Lord and Savior Tiamat?”

[@barneysoldierson54]

I'm using your warlock build for tactician, it's really good so far , I will use this build on Shadowheart , great video thanks

[@adcaptandumvulgus4252]

Bat n board is a time-honored cleric tradition

[@_lime.]

There's a pair of gloves that boosts your dex to 18 regardless of what it already is. That would allow you to dump dex down to 8, add those points elsewhere, and still get decent initiative. They're called the Gloves of Dexterity, and are found early on in the Githyanki Creche. Conversely, for a late game pair of gloves there are the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, which boost your strength to 23. Same idea as before, dump strength, boost other stats.

[@TheThornicator]

I love your videos. Especially your build videos... of all thr games you play. BG3 is phenomenal!

[@quietwulf]

I was just thinking of a Tempest build! Thanks man, love your content!

[@thubanyeob3823]

Man, you're making me want to try this on the next campaign i start. Looking forward to the rest of the build break-downs.

[@aguscm4175]

As someone who was thinking of running the absolute same thematic but without multiclassing with an Eldritch Knight but gave up on it because I wanted a character with high Charisma for dialogue and decided to go Paladin instead I have to say. THANK YOU. I'll be starting as a Paladin however, hope that doesn't fuck up things.

[@magegod989]

A perfect weapon for this build as a blue dragonborn is a glaive called the Drakethroat Glaive. It give disadvantage on saving throws against your breath weapon (which now scales with your level as of patch 1) and it lets you cast elemental weapon once a day so you could give it lightning damage which imo plays well with tempest domains abilities.

[@conner121100]

Totally doing this for my mirrored play-through, my character in d&d was a Tiamat follower who flipped sides, he ran into a weird mirror that popped out a clone who did the opposite, so now I made my main play through as my OG paladin and this works perfectly for my next play through

[@RexCogitans]

Some comments about companions, when those decisions are relevant to get the most out of a build, would be interesting. I find a divination wizard (Gale) to be my preferred way to "cheat". Anyway, great guide, thank you very much.

[@RwnEsper]

Going last can actually be great as a healing class, as long as you are aware of how that should affect your strategy. Being in a position to be reactive can save you a ton of trouble; if it helps, try to think of it as rather than 'going last', you are in position to determine the flow of all additional rounds.

[@theAV8R]

I think there's a strong argument for taking Alert in lieu of 2nd ASI on account of the math on the value of going earlier. It's always a discussion of effect = (probability x consequence). Asi bumps up probability, and consequence is already high, but +5 init just might still win out. God damn you have good content man.

[@Ingeb91]

Definitely trying this. This looks fucking awesome. The one punch man of Baldurs Gate

[@Ophelia381]

There's a weapon that could be cool for this. Duellist's Prerogative. This weapon: give an extra reaction (one more wrath of the storm per turn) an extra attack as a bonus action as long as you're not dual wielding and a crit on 19 instead of 20 that stacks with other crit effects. It also has extra necrotic damage and the ability to add necrotic damage to an attack by spending a reaction.

[@warzagg5022]

Sad that the Dead Three were cut as deity options. A run as a cleric of Bhaal especially had a lot of potential to be unique... and crazy evil.

[@yeahjustme3680]

But the dead 3 are not gods anymore, it would be weird for them to grant spells to clerics. 🤔

[@MortismalGaming]

Thats not quite true, they are still gods but they can just be killed as a punishment for defying Ao and continuing to interact with mortals.

[@yeahjustme3680]

@@MortismalGaming I stand corrected, oh mighty one. 🥺

[@abysswalker3891]

I mean there's dark urge for that on Bhaal kek

[@MrBoxer42]

Love your videos! Are you planning yo make build videos for each of the companions? I’m really itching to find some good builds for them

[@Oluz1975]

I was about to ask the same question, beat me to it! :)

[@MortismalGaming]

Yeah a few will be

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Thank you for another guide about a class build!!

[@MrWystan17]

That was really great video! I would love to see some bard build in the future!

[@ChickenSoupMusic]

Combo’ing this with the create water spell to add vulnerability to lightning would be strong. I’d also multiclass a companion to 2 tempest cleric / 9 lightning sorc / 1 wizard (wear the 17 int helm so you get 4 wiz spell slots and you can learn up to 6th level wiz spells from scroll like chain lightning)

[@wisabusiness]

This is an incredible build, Mort! I've been thinking of doing a second playthrough (Evil alignment of course) and your build has made me think about how to approach Tactician Mode!

[@GoadedGoblin]

This is awesome

[@Redharp]

I tried it and it rocks! This is now my mainstay build for Shadowheart :) Gave her gloves of dex and now she has 4 initiative which puts her right after rogues :)

[@kkmak123]

I started the game with something like this in mind for my first playthrough from my pen and paper days, I found your build and changed a few things, I also have the gloves of dexterity, but the damage is ridiculous. I reload most boss fights and try to hold on the smites as long as possible to enjoy the mechanics :))

[@Gerdoch]

I've been stuck on a fight in act 1 (haven't had tons of time to play) where you're on a timer to save someone in a cage, and switched my level 4 half-orc to this build after watching the video. Proceeded to 1-shot the boss,l save the NPC, and laugh about how trivial it was.

[@Shikao87]

Oh man! I am super excited to test this build in one of my playthroughs! I knew I would like to play cleric once and Tempest was one of more interesting domains to me. Your build my bump it up quite a bit in order I wanted to play. I am stil in Act I in my first playthrough, but I have the idea to play Selune believer and see how Shadowheart will react.

[@JohnnyTightIips]

Love it. I've been playing as a Dragonborn Paladin of devotion for my first play through, this looks great.

[@AristasTheMonsterHunter]

The evil folk hero, the folk villain.

[@DPS_GMs]

T is THE goddess of evil dragons

[@jthopkins]

Ugh, I’m so jealous the Mac version of BG3 isn’t out of early access yet. This looks amazing

[@grey_wulf]

Heyo Mortym! Love these BG3 videos. I am currently playing a bard and it's fantastic. First time trying that class out in a DnD related crpg.

[@javiernovoa8756]

Really great build, definitely gonna try it.

[@flaviomonteiro1414]

Never knew Clerics could be that fun!

[@theusernameicoodfind]

I want to play through it multiple times the classes are so cool

[@Did_No_Wrong]

Sweet! Looks like I found my dark urge build.

[@nunomarkyboy]

Thank you for the amazing content.

[@FuchZen]

Only thing hitting harder than your crits with this build is me hitting that subscribe button! Killer content, love it!!!

[@aaronthompson2329]

Leave it to Mort to break the game in the best way. This looks like so much fun that I must try it on my next playthrough. On my current run, I am a half-orc assassin who sneaks up behind you and then nukes you with a 3x crit backstab ;)

[@KungKokkos]

About the backgrounds, in addition to the skills and possibly as important in my book, is that it dictates what you get inspiration from. So picking folk hero then going straight evil might net you very few inspirations, for example.

[@magies24]

This build is bonkers. Gonna try it for my second play through.

[@jfg6092]

I'm currently playing a Paladin with a two-handed weapon inspired by this build and its ridiculously strong. 👍

[@travelg33k]

Awesome stuff, was looking for a strong cleric build for tactician and this looks so much fun! Would starting as paladin for first two levels break anything in the build? Thinking that might make the early game maybe a bit easier potentially with the earlier smites and already planning to use Shadowheart as a cleric at the start?

[@TheMetalGaia]

It shouldn't, but also you could respec in case things get funky doing it that way.

[@ERHershman1]

I’d love a melee/two-weapon fighting ranger guide at some point. After many restarts, I’ve finally settled on a ranger with the Dark Urge Origin. In future videos, could you maybe talk about what party you went with, or make a short video on party composition? I’m really feeling the pinch in trying to compose well-balanced four person parties in this game.

[@scatsandwich38]

This game is so over my head but idc!! Im getting really excited to role play this game baby!! Time to venture forth…

[@Rmason3156]

There is another good set up you can use that will offset your terrible dex quite nicely and gives you 24ac with a +3 sheild is the Gloves of Dexterity and the armour of Agility(sets your Dex to 18 giving you a +4 to your initative) and taking spells like Hold Person and Hold monster make this build completly nuts and to break that i recommend giving gale the dual weild feat and using 2 staffs that increase his spell save DC

[@ericmatthews4245]

Don't forget, having someone else cast create water on the enemy to give them the wet debuff will also boost your lightning damage

[@SniperYanda]

I’m still on my first playthrough myself, but with how freely available respecs are and dabbling in a bit of min maxing, I think a unique way to consider builds is drastically changing them at different levels. Like a war cleric 1 + rogue or monk probably outclasses a fighter in melee combat until Character Level 5, then you could swap all levels to something to enjoy Extra Attack. Maybe Beastmaster Ranger 5, where their animal companion just got their biggest jump in strength, then a level or two later could change everything again. It’d be cool to see what you think the strongest/most useful builds at each level are!

[@kuzonfire1213]

patch 3 just nerfed this build, so bummed because i was saving this for my dark urge tactician run.......coping with my sadness through compliments so (should've done this when i saw the vid when it first dropped but) great build, liked and subscribed!

[@ates423]

I plan on doing a light temple cleric that’s a drow dark urge starting origin. But not lolthsworn and attempt to actually do a paragon run. Like a person trying to fight against all the stereotypes. Will be a fun campaign x) As for my companions I don’t know who I should bring. Minthara looks like the coolest companion so far but I guess I’ll have to reserve that for another playthrough I guess.

[@arouraios4942]

*Cries in Radiant Retort*

[@MortismalGaming]

I actually did this to one of them just to see what would happen and crit myself for about 400 damage lol

[@AndreyKrichevsky]

Cool build! I literally just got the Blood of Lathander about an hour ago. Brute forcing my way through the final puzzle was a lot more fun then i expected.

[@bacchus8081]

With "brute forcing" you mean shooting down the 4 light focuses right? Is there another way? I was happy enough too get out of it alive with a very shiny mace that I didn't consider reloading to check for alternatives xD

[@AndreyKrichevsky]

@@bacchus8081 SPOILERS for people who didn't get there yet... There seems to be a slot to insert something in the mechanism. I assume if you find it, it disables the trap. And immediately after destroying the 4 lights i wondered if maybe i could instead go through the same door where the light goes. Haven't tried it yet though...

[@bacchus8081]

​@@AndreyKrichevsky That laser-thing is on the roof near the Eagles nest where you find the Ceremonial Hammer, so that's probably where you would end up. Now that I think about that...I wonder if you can break the laser before going into the Artifact Chamber? Definitly something I will check out next playthrough.

[@AndreyKrichevsky]

@@bacchus8081 I thought about breaking it in advance too. Just tested my door theory. Can totally get out through there. Though had to use haste potions and Feather Fall to make it to safety in time. Lae'zel was NOT happy...

[@AndreyKrichevsky]

@@bacchus8081 Man, i love this game! 4 completely different solutions to an optional puzzle you might not even find. At least one of them with serious ramifications for the narrative. This is how you make an RPG!

[@tahmed6052]

This build is awesome dude. This is either gonna be my 3rd playthrough (I wanna do Monk for my 2nd) or I'll respec Shadowheart into this for my 2nd run.

[@RunsaberSR]

That's a nice build! My son played a pally that was thunder/divine smite at the table and it was a great nova build. I couldn't do this one myself in BG3 though. Not because it isnt effective, just because i LOVE Cha as a stat. 😅

[@Retiredmagician1]

Been waiting for this. Been wanting to respec Shadowheart

[@geopi_]

Would love some lore friendly companion builds

[@FestorFreak]

This is almost identical to my character in my 4 player campaign. Blue dragonborn tempest cleric in service to Tiamat, mace and board with heavy armor, and spamming aoe spells for the most part, with a bit of support casting for our fighter , and bonking/shoving things that get close

[@Thurium]

Awesome build...i wonder if u can do this build with light domain instead of tempest...for a pure divine roleplay character

[@MortismalGaming]

The big attack would still work, but the spellcasting would look a bit different

[@danielcook8480]

Crit fishing paladin was my first build aswell except i went bard for 10 levels and its working really well . 2 levels in paladin does so much for so many builds and lets you get higher levels of divine smite much earlier than you would normally get .

[@saintsword23]

I feel the same about War Cleric. One level gets you an extra attack with a two-hander! That's nuts. I might do Fighter 11/War Cleric 1 and just get bonkers amounts of extra attacks.

[@nathansalvetti8232]

Now this is interesting. If we look at normal 5e, people have tried to optimize a single attack plenty of times, but it ends but being gimmicky. Most damage builds (like in 3.5 and PF) will gravitate towards getting as many attacks as possible. 5e is most forgiving there as while you can get a ridiculous amount of attacks in both 3.5 and PF, in 5e most combat classes only get 2, plus a bonus one with a bonus action. Some classes can get more and fighters can double theirs, but usually you make sure you have three attacks and you're good. So it is funny to see that in the confines of BG3, you consider losing extra attack for more cleric levels as optimal. In normal 5e optimization, you create a relatively campaign agnostic build, while for BG3 we can know exactly the challenges we need to overcome and the thresholds we need to meet. In BG3 it is irrelevant that a build would lose steam at 13th level, or that it cannot handle enemies not present in the game. One slight nitpick to close out, since your first ability score improvement is to bring constitution to 14 and wisdom to 18, you can just start with 16 wisdom instead of 17 and your constitution already at 14. You do not lose any wisdom bonus and you get your +2hp per level from the start.

[@grey_wind]

I 100% plan on doing a second or third playthrough with some kind of Storm Cleric/Sorcerer Dragonborn. Probably will change something as I build it out, but the tempest cleric is a must. Definitely some info I can steal from this.

[@gr8avocado]

Same. My thoughts are Blue Bragon Born, Blue Draconic Sorcerer and a Tempest Cleric of Talos = God of Thunder and Lightning!

[@DrZaius3141]

The gloves that set your DEX to a straight 18 are perfect. It means you can drop it to 8 in character creation and the gloves are extremely easy and early to reach.

[@DeLuciosX]

That's kinda what I imagined to be my second playthrough. Dragonborn Paladin with some cleric, oathbreaker and Dark Urge. Calling him "Archam, the not so but also pretty cruel."

[@TJ_Blazkowicz]

Min max approach could be dumping strength, take one feat for constitution proficiency (for spirit guardians) then ASI for wisdom, and then just use potions of hill giant strength

[@Fubnin]

If you take Astarion to moonrise theres an easy +2 permanent strength potion there

[@rainmaker6261]

Gloves of dexterity is great for improving Initiative. Automatically brings dexterity to 18.

[@user-yi4jf7ur7f]

My first play through is already with an oath of devotion pally, but this makes me want to play a hobbit cleric for some reason.

[@menalgharbwalsharq648]

I like min maxing, but I always keep it inside the border of my roleplay boundaries. Games that actually give you some flavour to play with are not that many to just go with the best maths

[@chasekwe]

Aside from preferring that mace is there any particular reason this couldnt be a dex build instead of str and just use a rapier? Just asking as i intend to respec my Shadowheart when I get off work.

[@franciscofracaro3648]

Super cool build idea, wp!!!

[@yungwrld9923]

this is so sick