Baldur's Gate 3 - The Shadow Thrall (Shadow Blade/Illithid Build)

[@jtirri8842]

The Resonance Stone is a must-have item if you are doing solo, or mostly solo, evil Dark Urge with this sort of Shadow Blade build. Mitigating the risks you get from carrying it is not too hard: - Being a Gnome gives you advantage on all three mental stat saving throws, fully canceling out the Stone's saving throw penalties. - There are quite a few Gith items that help with mental stat saves. - Wisdom is the really important one (apart from the few encounters with illithids where Intelligence saves are needed.) You can get advantage on WIS saves from the Harper amulet sold by the Last Light Quartermaster. - For protection against Mind Flayers, you want to find a jarred brain ("waking" IIRC) not far from where you find the Resonance Stone. Like the others, it can be inserted into the creepy brain DVD player thingy next to the table where the Stone sits. This mind is an "awake" Githzerai's. "Helping" it will give you a permanent buff that provides advantage on INT saves. - Getting Gale or another "Camp Caster" to put Warding Bond on you will cancel out the Psychic vulnerability. (Better than using Psychic Resistance elixirs for this purpose.) - Running solo, or at least having a minimal and distant party, is best. The Stone's aura has a huge, invisible AoE, so it's very difficult to keep allies from being negatively affected.

[@HoboZone]

I did mention the Resonance Stone in the video but this other info for mitigating the downsides is really useful. Pinning this.

[@InvaderTroy]

The resonance stone is also crazy with a full team if you have everyone take illithid powers. Between cull the weak, displace, psionic backlash, and stage fright you can put out quite a bit of psychic damage. Also something to note is the resonance stone has good synergy with the risky ring since half of the disadvantage it imposes normally is redundant. If you have one source of advantage like harper amulet and githzerai mind barrier you roll normally no matter how many disadvantages you stack.

[@CreativeExcusesGaming]

Stunning strike is probably the best feature for any weapon monk. If youre a tavern brawler monk, its not as good. But for a weapon monk, its the best. Stun, next target, stun, next target, punch/topple/push. Incredible.

[@user-xx2ec6bj1i]

The problem is not your hit chance, the problem is Stunning strike save DC is determined by your WIS score, not DEX or STR EDIT: lemme explain myself further, your point is valid, with the assumption that Stun actually applies, it gets really frustrating really quckly

[@CreativeExcusesGaming]

@@user-xx2ec6bj1i according to the wiki the tooltip in game is wrong (which isnt uncommon) and the DC is based on strength or dex, whichever is higher. I had stunning strike land pretty consistently against all sorts of enemies. It wasn’t really a problem for me.

[@user-xx2ec6bj1i]

@@CreativeExcusesGaming well it should be based on WIS, and judging by my "success" with it i believe it is based on WIS

[@CreativeExcusesGaming]

@@user-xx2ec6bj1i Its a weapon action, and no where else in the class kit is it mentioned that all of its class features use wisdom. Just unarmored defense and the ki based spells.

[@user-xx2ec6bj1i]

@@CreativeExcusesGaming its 5e based video game, stunning strike save DC should be based on WIS is what i meant. Battle master manoeuvres, class features, all the spells etc. that are in the game have identical saves and overall mechanics to DnD 5e, i dont see a reason why it should be different for Stunning strike.

[@NaveSutlef]

Can I just say that I SUPER appreciate it that you still avoid major spoilers.. I'm really enjoying this game and I've managed to stay relatively spoiler free despite watching videos for months which is a miracle honestly.

[@tostupidforname]

Wanted to say this as well!

[@Akira-ss6cm]

I envy your luck! Had to turn off recommendations because of spoilers, save for this Chad.

[@lipe6885]

would love to see more illithid based builds, love those powers

[@Thanosdidnothingwrong.]

I already loved your 2 psychic builds but this one....this has to be my favorite build to date. This is awesome even more so knowing your absolute detest of the shadowblade prior.

[@Edelweysss]

Consider taking the gith buff device in the creche for making all you'r illithild power cost a bonus action instead of an action for the character that use it. It's really strong for this kind of character, and it's really easy to stack a bunch of saving throws bonuses/advantage to make it almost a guaranted take even in honor mode dispite the very high savings checks (stacking resistance cantrip from cleric, enhance hability for advantage and bless, transmutation stone etc, if you use all of that since the saves are target on you'r classes stats you should have some bonus at the get go but with all of that last time i ended with +10-18 on my throws, at this stage it's hard to miss it). And even if you fail, you can cure the debuff by cure curse spell.

[@alicelufenia3648]

I think this build more than any other Dark Urge build has made me excited for that playthrough. I've been playing around with Illithid powers in my main run, and while I'll be reversing my initial choice at the end of Act 2 to [REDACTED], I will definitely be doing so with this build in the future. Also feels like it fits in nicely with some spoilery things I've heard about the Dark Urge run, so looking forward to that too.

[@ERBanmech]

Alternatively the shadow blade build is conductive to a paladin / warlock build as well if you’re looking for a striker / tank setup. That setup works well if you don’t want to play Durge and it is only really dependent on charisma and constitution since you can make shadow blade a pact weapon once you summon it and of course add the potency of smites into the mix. If you’re not wanting to go as far into monk, open hand monks can give themselves psychic damage on their unarmed attacks at level 6 allowing countless other class combinations.

[@Gabranicus]

I actually have a very similar character (grey skinned, purple eyed gith, i even gave him mouth scars to make it look like his lips were splitting into tentacles, 'raised' by illithids, etc.) The only thing i did differently was that I went with a Great Old One Warlock for that extra connection to the abberant nature of the illithids and the Far Realm itself

[@vidcap2169]

Stre:8 Dex:16 +2 Con:16 +1 Int:10 Wis:14 Char:10 - [ ] Diadem of arcane energy: Location: Inquisitor's Chamber, Crèche Y'llek: Drop by: Ardent Jhe'rezath - [ ] Render of mind and body: Location: Moonrise Towers: Merchant: Sold by Lann Tarv in Moonrise Towers. - [ ] Shadow blade ring: You need to help Arabella in Act 1, find Arabella in Act 2 near the House of Healing, and send her to your camp. After that, find her parents in the House of Healing, then talk to her after long rest. - [ ] The deathstalker mantle: dark urge item, (knock out tief bard in grove) - [ ] The Graceful Cloth(SoB lady near crèche) - [ ] Braindance Gloves (Act Two: Can be looted from a skeleton in the Necrotic Laboratory of the Mind Flayer Colony) - [ ] Boots of uninhibited kushigo (astrial prism, act 3) - [ ] Sentient Amulet (forge area with lava elemental) (amulet of greater health later) - [ ] Strange Conduit Ring (Location: Inside a chest in Inquisitor's Chamber (where you talk to Vlaakith's projection), Crèche Y'llek.) Resonance Stone Found in a small area south-west of Necrotic Laboratory in the Mind Flayer Colony near the Mind-Archive Interface, act 2

[@TheRagingStorm98]

To get the shadowblade Ring, do I need to save the Tieflings?

[@sydstema]

​@@TheRagingStorm98 yes

[@jtirri8842]

In Act 2, well before you can find the Amulet of Greater Health, there's another good Durge option for getting advantage on Con saves: You can take the robe from the corpse of a certain Selunite Cleric. This item also provides some good AC boost and other minor perks. The Moon Devotion Robe doesn't look the part at all, and you have to be OK with committing a crazy evil act to obtain it. However, it would let you stay unarmored and still have the Con save advantage, which is probably a required feature if you want to rely on using the Shadow Blade. I really like the permanent Cat's Grace on this type of character, and I like the look of the Graceful Cloth, so I'd probably switch back to it after scoring the Amulet.

[@user-ef1lc4bt6r]

I’ve had no interest in playing dark urge or using the tadpoles in 400 hours of gameplay until i just watched this video!

[@chemievideo]

I would use both amulets. if ur KI is running out swap (in act 3) out the amulets, refresh ur KI und put back on the Con amulet. I did something similar with gale in act 3. There was an amulet, which had the skill to recharge a used Spellslot ( tier 6 in this case) and reeuiped my main amulet.

[@sean.alphonse]

This was very similar to a psychic/teleporting monk build I ran on honor mode! The main difference was I ended up with 11 levels Shadow Monk and 1 level Barbarian so I could add the Constitution modifier to AC. Since I was trying unarmored that really helped. I also ended up going with Tavern Brawler and the slinging shoes for added damage, and for a while I was rocking the eversight ring to create darkness and still see people. And for a while I would always have a shield for AC and unarmed strikes. It went really well with Wyll having devil's sight. I did briefly try a different build that wasn't quite what I wanted since I wanted more of a psychic ninja, but if you're looking for all psychic all the time without concentration, it would be Way of the Open Hand + Manifestation of Mind and the extra bonus action, and just being a brawler or render of mind and body + a shield. And that's a little easier to multiclass since it's all available at level 6 rather than having to wait til 11 Shadow Monk to get Shadow Strike

[@ERBanmech]

I went a different route to the braindrain gloves with a Dex barbarian build using the sword of screams and the render of mind and body. The build works more within a party comp allowing my control caster an easier time to lock down enemies. Would love to use shadow blade one day though since it’s one of my favorite spells in both BG3 and D&D.

[@daviscooper3936]

A little late to the party but it's perfectly viable to use a longsword in your offhand. Specifically the Blade of oppressed souls for the d8 as opposed to the d6 slashing as well as guaranteed psychic damage. This only works if you're a race that has proficiency with longswords though, such as githyanki or zariel tieflings (i might be wrong about that second one) since any weapon you're proficient with is treated as a monk weapon besides two handed/heavy weapons. You will have to get the dual wielder feat to use it with shadowblade though.

[@ricbulow]

Ah Dark Urge build where you do not get that free bloody hand at the start?! Preposterous!

[@TheRobversion1]

Nice to see you come around on shadow blade as i remember one of your older vids where you shit on it and i posited that shadow blade is actually one of the best weapons in the game. i have a similar build (shadow monk), that i'm currently running on solo honor mode right now but i have additional restrictions like no illithid powers. i'll share mine as well. I will factor the key items in the dmg computations but it doesnt factor in any contributions from the party and other unspecified item slots. feel free to tell me what you think or to ask questions. the build protects shadow blade concen by always being in cloak of shadows or spamming stunning strike on a singular enemy. This is a burst striker build: "PSI-BLADE" battlemaster 4, shadow monk 5, assassin 3 dex 15+2, wis 15+1, con 14, cha 10, str and int 8 race: half-orc (for savage attacks. wood elf is fine too for fleet of foot) feat: +2 dex, savage attacker fighting style: defense maneuvers: precision attack, menacing attack, any 1 of your choice expertise: perception, stealth key spells: minor illusion progression: fighter 1->monk 5->rogue 3->fighter 4 (comes online at level 9) #KEY MAGIC ITEMS: bg3.wiki/wiki/Shadow_Blade_Ring this is the inspiration of this build. i think this weapon is cool and underrated. in combination with the build and other items, it's one of the best weapons for dmg in the game. bg3.wiki/wiki/Resonance_Stone doubles shadow blade dmg. this is why i even bothered thinking this build was plausible. bg3.wiki/wiki/Strange_Conduit_Ring the build likes dmg dice and psychic dmg. this is a perfect fit. bg3.wiki/wiki/Belm gives us another shadow blade attack as a bonus action via perfectly balanced strike. #TACTICS: pre-combat: cast shadow blade. use stealth and cloak of shadows while exploring. use minor illusion to group up enemies. trigger surprise with a melee sneak attack. alacrity will return your action. 1st turn: action: crit menacing attack x2 at advantage. activate sneak attack action surge: crit menacing attack x2 at advantage bonus action: crit perfectly balanced strike at advantage 2nd turn onwards: bonus action: perfectly balanced strike at advantage. activate sneak attack action: cloak of shadows or stunning strike x2 (if down to 2-3 enemies left on the field) #DMG BREAKDOWN (BURST): 22d8 (crit shadow blade x5, normal shadow blade x1) + 30 (dex, assuming +5 mod) + 6d6 (crit sneak attack x1, normal sneak attack x1) + 8d8 (menacing attack) + 11d4 (strange conduit ring) + 5d8 (savage attacks)= 236 average burst dmg without any bonuses from other gear, consumables or party buffs/debuffs. with savage attacker= 288.78 with savage attacker and resonance stone= 577.56 #DMG BREAKDOWN (SUSTAINED): 2d8 (shadow blade) + 5 (dex, assuming +5 mod) + 2d6 (sneak attack) + 1d4 (strange conduit ring)= 23.5 average sustained dmg without any bonuses from other gear, consumables or party buffs/debuffs. with savage attacker= 26.75 with savage attacker and resonance stone= 53.5

[@HoboZone]

Just so you know, posting links in your comment gets it auto-blocked by KZbin. I had manually approve this.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@HoboZone good to know. Thanks!

[@Strmshadow73]

​@@TheRobversion1can you add what equipment you are using in the other slots that you didn't mention?

[@TheRobversion1]

@@Strmshadow73 sure. there could be alternatives but here we go: bow; bow of the banshee armor; elegant studded leather (mutiliated carapace is fine too when applicable) helmet: bonespike helmet cloak: deathstalker's mantle gloves: legacy of masters boots: boots of stormy clamor (boots of psionic movement is fine too when applicable) amulet: amulet of greater health (re-specced to dump con)

[@Strmshadow73]

@@TheRobversion1 Thanks so much!

[@Thanosdidnothingwrong.]

So I really wanted to try this build but I took +1 Char from Ethel and I had to work around it and I think that was probably the best part. As of level 8(4 GOOlock, +2 to Char/ 3 Swords Bard 2 weapon fighting, 1 Rogue). You can bind shadowblade as your pact weapon as well as give it the drakethroat glaive buff and poisons. Equipment: Same head and cloak as video Yuan ti mail Gloves of dex Boots of stormy clamor Same rings Same weapons Bow of the banshee.

[@NRV0]

This build looks really fun! I wanted to use Shadow Blade for my main character(Who happens to be my profile picture!), but the constant concentration kind of killed it for me.

[@Joci445]

love the mono classed builds! my main durge character is a shadow monk but i multiclassed into thief for the extra bonus action (i also think taking battle master fighter or dipping into GOOLock for the AoE fear could be interesting). but shadow strike works so well with the deathstalker mantle, i might try a mono classed shadow monk out. the evasive shoes could also work for this build, just for the extra AC

[@sh3pdawgtv]

Black hole is great for moving groups of enemies to a specific spot

[@Drakerai]

For one of my co op playthroughs, I slapped a resonate stone on my crit focused duel orc Gave em the illithid power psyonic overload so then I almost allayed crit doubling the damage with an element almost everyone will be weak too Plus gave them an advantage on all physical checks, For those curious Fighter champion + rogue theif Duel wielding playstyle Half orc And almost all items equipped gave me a -1 to crit, i think the lowest I had was 14 to crit? Before potions but its been a fair bit since I last played

[@ReekuKun]

1 min in and im already loving this

[@HezkaH]

Hell yeah Ive been thinking about a new Tav like that

[@johnbarry3869]

Insane damage!!

[@IVKenji]

Your builds are awesome and not just the usual generic stuff you can find. I do wonder if you could possibly do some sort of sickle based build? It definitely would be a challenge since the weapon does so little damage unless you get the redcap versions.

[@HoboZone]

You could use monk for that. If you go to level 9, the sickle would have a D8 of damage.

[@IVKenji]

@@HoboZone well I knew monks could use simple weapons but when I looked at a few of the classes only druids had it as a proficiency so I wasn't entirely sure thank you for letting me know most definitely will run a monk on my new save.

[@KittyCat77712]

i love it and mix it with dark ruge so have fun

[@ohokaye817]

You have GOT to stop inspiring me to make new characters, I've got 300 hours and have yet to get to act three man😂 you're not helping

[@Duncan55Watson]

I am in your shoes

[@OrjanLoma]

Savage attacker should replace War caster, since you have so much DRS.

[@InvaderTroy]

Fully agree. Shadow monk should simply not be getting hit so concentration saves are largely irrelevant. With the durge cloak it's trivial to reset combat over and over to gain infinite surprise

[@user-sp4zg9te7c]

I’ve got an interesting build request for you you could also use it as a livestream in the game is an achievement for having 1 level in each class and not using withers so it might be interesting to see the level progression the community comes up with

[@ttestagr]

Regarding Amulets to put on any class, I am a fan of combining the Psychic Spark and having the Ne'er Misser in the ranged slot. 2 casts of magic missile (one of them being upcasted to 3rd level) both having an extra bolt and the more powerful one recharges on short rest. If you have ring like Caustic you get spell riders as well.

[@ho8ojoe8]

Great to see you using some cheesy strats. I think thats what I love about the game, and what is gonna make all my playthrough be honor mode to balance my pure cheating. That withers

[@ye-roon]

and since you're a gith with this build, you are proficient in greatswords. greatswords are not classified as heavy in this game and thus can be used as monk weapons if you are proficient. Using the silversword of the astral plains can be a nice alternative for the rare occurance where you do lose concentration

[@HoboZone]

Monk weapons cannot be two-handed. Greatswords are two-handed. You cloud use that weapon, but you'd need to use elixirs of giant strength or something.

[@ye-roon]

@@HoboZone ah yes, i read the tooltip wrong when i had it equipped.

[@breezyrose12]

So thing fun with this could be six levels of any monk and then mix six levels of swords bard. Extra teleporting that way.

[@Nephlyte348]

Do you have any thoughts from your theory-crafting on how you might make a Paladin of Mystra? So a Paladin/Wizard build. I know it’s MAD and before anyone throws out Sorcerer instead, from an RP perspective that’s not the same as sorcs powers are innate not necessarily from study of the arcane. It’s less about mechanics and more trying to determine if it’s possible to make a decent themed build. Or would it just end up being like your Mystic Theurge build? Thoughts?

[@HoboZone]

I can see you going for either a 6/6 split or a 2/10 split leaning towards wizard. If you want extra attack, go for the 6/6 as that'll net you a decent amount of spell slots and you'll have more consistent melee damage. You'll be more MAD though as you'll want to focus on both INT and CHA for your spells. However, if you go with a Paladin 2/Wizard 10 split, you'll get up to level 6 spell slots which will mean very high damage smites and all the spells you can dream of. The high damage smites might make up for the lack of extra attack. And if you go Evocation Wizard for example, you get a buff to all of your spells equal to your spellcasting modifier. If you go with a finesse weapon and less CHA as you won't need as much, you won't be MAD at all. You can focus on INT and have your DEX and CON be at more standard levels. It's totally doable.

[@Nephlyte348]

@@HoboZone Thanks so much!! The 2/10 is maybe more interesting here for the reasons you say. And it feels like it'd allow for the ability spread to be managed a bit better. With the 6/6 could you invest less in INT initially and use the INT headband to make up the difference? Though admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of builds that rely on specific items that heavily to work.

[@HoboZone]

@@Nephlyte348 I would actually use the Gloves of Dexterity and spread your stats amongst INT, CHA, and CON. You have the potential for higher overall stats that way.

[@michadybczak4862]

Build focused (partially) on ilitihid powers and all of those powers cost action, not the bonus action? Why don't you have the bonus from Act 1 that changes all your ilithid powers into bonus action?

[@hammock329]

Dope and edgy as ever! Love it

[@Popthigh]

Would duergar be a good race choice due to the perma invisibility plus lore wise they where also enslaved by mind flayers

[@HoboZone]

Yeah you can use whatever

[@Matriarchator]

And here I was wondering how you were supposed to have tadpoles for this build in the beginning of the game ... I guess I was wrong to mistrust your capability to not spoil too much of a game. 🙂

[@ricbulow]

Also.. Monks do not get the shadow blade spell, nor do any of your gear produce it? How are we to gain the ability to make the blade? :)

[@HoboZone]

The Shadow Blade ring. It's the only way to get it in this game. Check the description.

[@ricbulow]

Thin kyou must've done the wrong link or something, because it was not there when I checked. Only shadow-cloaked ring was.. Should've figured on my own, sorry.@@HoboZone

[@HoboZone]

@@ricbulow No, that one was my mistake. I accidentally used the wrong link. It's fixed now.

[@ricbulow]

Also.. Thanks so much for all your work, man. Do you have a patreon or a way to support you? @@HoboZone

[@HoboZone]

@@ricbulow Nope. I don't want to be exclusively paid for this stuff. Just watching ads puts bit extra in my pocket each month.

[@NaveSutlef]

So I left the stream to avoid spoilers and the very next thing I did in-game was unlock Illithid powers haha.

[@checkmate741]

What is the mod that allows you to get all items from the tutorial chest?

[@kurtcobane1762]

I run a similar build and have found a bow to be really handy no obscuring areas? lol k arrow of darkness no Ki points used i use it in combination with the eversight ring

[@joelhuff2086]

Nice now let’s a half orc assassin 🙏🏾

[@HoboZone]

I could do this. Seems like its about getting the additional damage die on the guaranteed crits?

[@matturso2224]

What skin tone did you pick?

[@Kaploy8]

You mentioned the only visual mod you are using the be the hairstyle. Did you do anything to hide the face veins? I thought unlocking elite powers like Mind Blast forced you to get those. Seriously considering this build if I get picked as the "stealthy" in my next coop campaign.

[@HoboZone]

Eh... that happened because I used a mod to get the powers early. Unless you have a mod to get rid of the veins, they'll still appear.

[@Kaploy8]

@@HoboZone damn, thought so lmao. Thanks for the answer

[@alvinbgyt5143]

We can’t do this on evil playthrough 😢 I wanna try this cause i’m doing evil playthrough and i’m in shadowlands

[@HoboZone]

What exactly can you do on an evil run?

[@vitterling]

@@HoboZone They probably mean that you need to save the Grove to get the Shadow Blade ring.

[@HoboZone]

@@vitterling that's true! I hadn't considered that. I did envision this run as more of a good durge run so I can see the issue. The render of mind and body will still work quite well, but I would pair it with the knife of the undermountain king as well.

[@alvinbgyt5143]

@@HoboZonethank you!

[@alvinbgyt5143]

Is dualwield feat necessary for this?

[@HoboZone]

No since they're both light weapons

[@Strmshadow73]

What's the name of the hairstyle mod??

[@HoboZone]

All mods are linked in the description. You can install all the hair mods, and it won't cause issues.

[@sh3pdawgtv]

Is the MK ultra build 😂