HOW TO BUILD GOOD PARTIES - Baldur's Gate 3 Honour Mode Party Composition Guide

Let's talk about the general principles you can use to build powerful, synergistic parties. Let's master avoiding weapon and item conflict, what roles and strategies you need to cover, and how to think about structuring your group for maximum synergy! Build the strongest compositions every time!

[@mikeunger4165]

"Wizard and Paladin make good buddies, because Wizard will have the right answer to a problem and Paladin will have the Smite answer to a problem." Well done🤣

[@travisretriever7473]

As a guy who keeps rolling Paladins, it's no wonder I love keeping Gale in my party. :)

[@rogue_recruit]

I listen to each of your build videos like a podcast while I'm doing other things so please keep making them!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much! More every day :D

[@christianabruzzo6632]

If you ever do a let’s play I will 100% watch every episode and thoroughly enjoy it!

[@awesomepossumdude]

This video is just like when I played baseball in high school. I was an outfielder and this one game I got totally confused, “why is the ball getting bigger?” And then it hit me

[@TheCassinus]

You, sir, are much like the scarecrow who won an award. He was out standing in his field

[@tightoa]

"Staves... Uh, staffs!" I see you, Mr. Ceph. Commenting to help you find the visability you deserve.

[@The_Breaded92]

Oh man I remember the day I finally started pronouncing this correctly after playing fire emblem for YEARS! 😂

[@Eirandir]

I just watch all your videos, not because I'm interested in the specific topic covered in the video, but because I LOVE the delivery, the way you present the information is extremely well made and I want to support you so that whenever a video comes out of something I would actually want to know I know for a fact it's going to be the absolute best way for me to understand it

[@ClockworkBard]

This is a huge help for taking a macro look at a build. While none of it is brand new info for this channel, framing it in this context is hugely helpful. Your timing is great too. I'm in a co-op game and have been struggling on how to contribute cohesively to an established party (ice sorc, arcane trickster, and vengeance paladin) while still getting to play sometime I'm in the mood for. Looking at this party through these pillars, it feels way more complete than I'd previously thought and I have way more options the next time I talk to Withers!

[@itsyoungk04]

We come for the content, but stay for your voice ❤

[@phoenixwright3752]

literally, need him to do a long let's play of bg3 as something properly to fall asleep to

[@cosmicdragonrawr]

💯

[@joeracer302]

I don’t want to know what makes you come.

[@matthewlands9839]

I am so impressed by your channel and the time you put into your videos. As a new player playing balders gate, videos like this have been a great tool in planning my playthrough of the game.

[@Kailokel]

Awesome video that actually broke down things I'd kind of had as a muddy mess in my head but wasn't able to properly solidify in an actionable way.

[@Feersumdjinn]

As ever, an excellent break down of fundamental concepts. Your content is top notch! Here to stay, whatever it is your covering

[@yvaskhmir]

What I love about BG3 is how they make martial classes have "more buttons" (as you called it) than their D&D counterparts, with the inclusion of easily accessed throwable items and with throwing being a viable option instead of a simple attack (even excluding Tavern Brawler) for Strength builds that lack Dexterity and with special arrows for Dexterity builds that often lack Strength. Making arrows into less busted spells for martial classes is just very cool. Of course, excluding "more damage against x" arrows, as they are just that and don't really add anything unique to the table.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

I agree! In particular I think the bonus action jump and shove and the short rest weapon actions were great game design that they should absolutely roll into the upcoming D&D update

[@jacobthejacobmcgee]

I’m just about caught up with the “build good characters” playlist and it’s been super informative. You are really thorough and knowledgeable without rambling on, I’d be surprised if you don’t have any irl teaching experience. Great work 👍

[@yvaskhmir]

I don't think you have to worry about people not needing to watch your party composition videos after teaching them about building parties, as, even with all the knowledge, the amount of options is still incredible, so it's still fun and interesting to see what sb cooks up. And besides, you make it very clear explicitly every time, that there's hardly a need for your videos, as the game makes it kinda hard to make a weak character without doing so on purpose. The added knowledge you provide is helpful, yes, but, at least for me, the main reason to watch your videos is to listen to a well-prepared, open-minded, passionate person with a pleasant sounding voice talk about a game they like and I like as well. I know a joke is a joke, but still, seemed worth to type this out nonetheless, even if to just fill your "weird compliment from a stranger" quota for the day.

[@LadyBernkastel92]

Great video, I learned a lot! Also I'm glad you brought up BG3 being stingy with bows, I'm glad that I haven't just been somehow missing all the great bows, cuz every time I go into my magic weapon supply to equip a character I'm always pretty surprised by the lack of ranged options. I got swords and clubs all day long, but I hardly have enough really good ranged stuff to even cover my party.

[@cobyvanderwall7490]

I so so so wish there was more content as clean and thorough as yours - just perfect

[@zethgb]

Your content is top notch man. Your builds are to optimized for my taste, But they inspire and help me getting better at building on my own!

[@CMiY0]

I love how his builds are all optimized around simplicity and flavor rather than just sheer min-maxing (for the most part). Personally, I hate multiclassing for the sake of it. I prefer having an RP element for a multiclass.

[@quaffie]

its just fun to watch what people come up with. keep going with your party compositions.

[@PhantomPhD1218]

Fantastic video! I love the breakdown on team composition considerations. There should always be a balance between theory and practice.

[@bunchofives313]

Excellent, super informative content. Just twenty hours in and it has made my first play-through much smoother so far. Bonus dad joke: when I realised I had set up my characters terribly, I got so angry I smashed my keyboard against the wall. Keys went everywhere. That’s when shift really hit the fan.

[@jwow6817]

been looking for a video just like this, great content!

[@cyrylkowalczyk9392]

Great guide, leaving a lot of place for individuality, flavour and role play!

[@alex1sandulache]

1:36 Good use of the meme. I actually like your individual character build videos quite a lot.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks!

[@uncannyresemblance]

Have you ever considered doing a let’s play? I know they don’t click very well on modern KZbin but I feel your current audience would really enjoy watching them.

[@TheLukas144]

Really nice breakdown of party mechanics, verified some of my own thoughts but also learned a bunch of tips amd tricks!

[@Lucifer-sn9ir]

Love these videos because you sound naturally trustworthy and battle tested per se when it comes to knowledge of the game I always feel like I can trust the builds you give us without worry about me messing it up for being idiotic

[@cherylyan4334]

Your videos helped me a lot. Thanks. You're doing a fantastic job!

[@meliannhawke3318]

AWESOME explanations! I cannot put into words how helpful this is - thank you so much. ❤

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much! Glad you enjoyed it :D

[@c.cfellton3105]

I just really dig this channel so much.

[@karnazacss]

I would watch a whole educational playthrough from you, I think more people would aswell.

[@matheusmterra]

You just blew my mind: I'm having an easy time-ish almost finishing Act 1 honour mode and it always struck to me "well, creating water and only in the next turn exploiting wet sounds terrible, how's that good?". I had no idea you could mix and match actions of characters if there isn't any enemies acting between one another.

[@gardandresen5939]

Mind blown seconded 😁

[@Cephalopocalypse]

The game really does not make it clear!

[@quaffie]

i found out on the nautiloid because i played my first playthrough in coop and that makes it pretty obvious that you can mix and match :D

[@Skyfoudre64]

Comment to help you out with the algorithm. Love the content thanks for all the work you do ❤

[@JODYHiROLLER-Smite]

I love how long these videos are. I listen to them while at work.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@khairulbasirrudin732]

Smoother gameplay is the keyword for me..Thanks for this gigantically useful tutorial! Previously I followed DND 4th Ed guidebook for Defender, Leader, Striker & Controller builds.

[@jamminkeys]

one of my favorite themed parties I ran was my dark urge evil run, in which I recruited Minthara, and had Shadowheart make the evil choice. since I had the Spear of Evening to cast darkness at will, I built the whole party around it with immunity to blindness, darkvision, and ways to root enemies (GoO warlock, wolverine barb, etc). it was such a blast to play the "Warriors of Darkness", trapping enemies in the dark and wrecking them 🕶

[@BerserkPlaysYT]

phenomenal video, thank you for being as thorough as always

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@avinabdas5647]

Just recently started following your guide and loving it. One suggestion from my side maybe you can suggest compatible party members for each of detailed builds that you do!

[@BecomingtheDragon38]

How many goblins does it take to paint a house? Depends on how hard you throw ’em.

[@connornelson3277]

Only commenting for the algorithm but your channel is sick man, liked and subbed off this one

[@eduardoserpa1682]

Needed or not, party-building is a fun puzzle to have, so I appreciate the framework.

[@notinwater]

So.... basically just make a party of 4 Bards

[@InvaderTroy]

i would like to see you do solo run builds, at least a few would be cool to see. I know others have covered the topic but you tend to go in depth with your game analysis and I think you could provide a good perspective on that aspect of the game.

[@THEcamobackpack]

This was SUCH a helpful video!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@bdonlazy]

When is a joke a Dad joke? ... When it becomes apparent!

[@FinalHooba]

Love your videos my dude. The start killed me 😂

[@MXF-sy9hy]

Excellent, as always. Thanks very much.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thank you!

[@thebrokuyasu4733]

These videos are great for helping me plan out the honor mode run that I will never do. As for a dad joke. A dad is washing his truck with his son. After some time the son says “Can you use a sponge instead?”

[@johansmith9424]

Thank you for your videos. From a french player

[@michaelackerman2283]

Love your videos, I found you last week and have watched just about everything BG3 you’ve done. Do you have interest in more CRPGs, like PoE2?

[@Lamentationsofapoory]

Exactly what I wanted in a video!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

glad to hear it!

[@papaAJ88]

Love your build guides!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@PurplePhoenix5]

Thank u so much r those understandable videos!

[@travisretriever7473]

Re: Role Balance, it's a reason why wizards (esp. Divination wizards) and Paladins (any of them, really) pair so extremely well together. As a guy who loves maining Ancients Paladins, I knew I loved having Gale in my party for a damn good reason. ^.^

[@yvon_souche]

Great video, thank you !

[@alexmashkin863]

Very well thought out meaningful comment of more than six words

[@itsJPhere]

I have learned so much from your videos. Now, if Larian just fixes the worst honor mode ending bugs, I might try it one day. Tactician feels easy. None of my characters actually die in battle anymore. Although Jaheira died fighting Sarevok but that doesn't count because she literally single handedly took all the damage.😅

[@dirtiestdan4756]

MOOD, my closest shaves with my honor mode ending were all bugs 💀. I also almost permanently lost an ally slot because shadowheart randomly decided she wouldn’t be controlled by me or fast travel with me (had to kill and res her 7 times to get her fixed and she almost left the party taking all the items and armor I got her)

[@gabcoleman395]

Godsend timing as always 👌 Just about to start a duo honormode with a mate, so your knowledge on the topic couldn't have come at a better time 🙏❣️ Ps, will you be adding timestamps in the near future?

[@Sosozanyway]

Lame thing happened last night to me and my friend in our Honor Mode run. We returned to camp after a fight at the goblin camp, and the Oathbreaker Knight turned hostile upon arrival. He slaughtered my party and ended our Honor Mode run then and there. I looked it up, and didn't find many people that have shared my experience. It was odd, and frustrating. Oh well! Time to start a new run 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@TheGuardian707]

Hello my friend can you please do a mono-class Barbarian (for Karlach) and a mono-class warlock (for Wyll). As someone who doesn’t know a lot about D&D and play on Explorer difficulty where multi-classing is disabled. Your builds really help me both make strong characters and overall enjoy the game. It would be cool to have builds for those characters that are both lore friendly and don’t require multi-classing to work properly. Keep up the great work and have a good day

[@Ragatokk]

Control is not the opposite of damage, power is not the opposite of versatility. Rather a powerful character with good control and damage options is a versatile one.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

That's trivially true, and if characters were simply on a scale from "good" to "bad" then that would be the right way to look at it - but the point here is that different builds emphasize different things, and you trade strength in one area for strength in another.

[@Magnus_Strand84]

Awesome video. Are there builds you made that would work well together?

[@jimruthers4583]

My friend is just getting into bg3 and dnd and I'm gonna recommend the crap out of this. He was really set on the WoW roles and he wouldn't listen to me. But your paladin description is what he needs to hear lol now go SMITE!

[@jcc019]

Great vid! Any chance we can get an illithid power video discussing each one's strength, specific builds, or perhaps how best to spread the powers across a party?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks! Definitely on the agenda

[@xaveir7787]

YES thank you! 🎉

[@davidsharpe1611]

As per your kind request - “What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.” :-)

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Excellent

[@slkrsmobile]

Right now I'm working on an honour run, but I'm also insisting on Lae'zel being an Oath Breaker paladin - for thematic reasons she kept her oath until the Creche. I using Karlack as a monk because it pairs with her soul coins. I'm running Minthara as your Paladin/Rogue slayer, and I keep respecting my Tav as I haven't settled entirely on something. It's always some spell caster - typically wizard. I'm working towards your lightning lord build now.

[@darkmoone9984]

Going to try the Blast Everything Before They Can Act builds to see if I can finally beat Honor mode.

[@cannyvalley8522]

I would like to add Enhance Leap to utility spell list. Some places are inaccessible with 8 str jump. It also makes easier positioning before and in combat

[@Roman_Z_ov]

I needed this video 6 mons ago

[@Teratoma..]

My favorite party is Swords bard (dark urge) Open hand monk Karlach Gloom stalker ranger (anyone works) Eldritch knight thrower Lae'zel At least for the early game before you unlock some of the crazy equipment like bhaalist armor. I'll also cycle in light cleric Shadowheart for encounters like the mountain pass death shepherds and outside the goblin camp

[@b1ackm4gic]

That's similar to my current honor mode run except my gloomstalker and Swords bard are the same multiclassed character. Then I have land druid putting down hazards, and my Tav is a warlock. Nobody melee ever reaches my party lol

[@Bruno-ki9iz]

I'd add that a huge factor is how reliant the character is on long rests. My parties tend to have a ranger and a fighter in order to save supplies. Btw, perhaps you could make a guide or a tier list on that? xD

[@bruceflyingsolo3977]

Great stuff

[@CerebralRage66]

Thank you so much

[@AK-bm1yl]

To be honest, if you want to have a cakewalk for honor mode, you maximize burst damage. If you have 3 characters with extremely high single target output and 1 character for extremely high AOE output, you can end, or make the fight just a mop up in 2 rounds. You also spec 1 for the party face (preferably something like a bard xbow, or bardadin dual wield with Phalar Aluve for A1+2. For example, my first honor mode run was with a party of abjuration wizard/tempest cleric, TB monk/rogue/fighter, bardadin and light cleric. Because none of them had action surge besides the monk, there would be a lot of times when high threat enemies would get a turn and do their nasty things In contrast, my last honor mode run was with a party of magic missile evocation wizard/tempest cleric, bard/fighter/rogue dual xbow, EK thrower, Battlemaster/war cleric archer. With this set up, I can zerg any high threat in round 1 (all my characters had alert feat to have high init) and make round 2/3 just a mop up. The design intent behind DnD and by extension BG3 was to make healing pretty ineffective. Larian also nerfed some of the crowd control spells/effects to last less. Because of this, "crowd controlling" via taking out a target before they can have a turn seems to be the most effective way.

[@bramo1825]

Great advice and insight not just for bg3 but also D&D! Here's the dad joke as requested: "This roof might not be my child, but I will raise it." 😊

[@jkfoxworth17]

Nice work

[@Baseballman1224]

Still the most articulate KZbinr

[@DrXtoph]

Thanks - you're awesome

[@Goodpsychiatry]

It would be amazing to see a deep video of the first strike team comp for honor. I would love to try that 😊

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Stay tuned ;)

[@Goodpsychiatry]

@@Cephalopocalypse

[@djcowell91]

Stat gear: No mention of the Club of Strength from the Arcane tower? I love it as an off hand weapon for an archer with the Titan Bow.

[@matteozecca7425]

Commenting to help ❤

[@cherimoya122]

My favourite professor at BG3 university

[@Its_whats_his_face]

My current playthrough has an interesting party. My halfling Barbarian named Franklin failed to roll a 7 or higher to pull Gail out - so no wizard. Lazel would not say "please" - so no fighter. Franklin would not tolerate another Barbarian - Karlach is dead. Barbarian - Eagle Totem Rouge - Assassan Cleric - Trickery Warlock - Fiend

[@Chris_the_Nerd]

Excellent guide

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@Chris_the_Nerd]

@@Cephalopocalypse No problem! There's a handful of great BG3 creators out there, but I've enjoyed your content the most of all of them.

[@TylerTried]

Great content.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks!

[@YoungMastaWill]

Good job

[@cannyvalley8522]

My favorite Gale joke is Gale, our tank

[@lawrencefosterjenkins8216]

Oh yes, we’ve all watched that lonewolfie ft. shenpai video at one point. “he’s gonna action surge and cast two spells” 💀

[@michaelboron2534]

My biggest issue is that I tend to get stuck on a certain quest line and basically push the main story line while severely under leveled

[@dimKiriyenko]

Buff on heal items are the curse of my party composition. I have 5 completed playthroughs with someone them and mass healing word, now making the sixth one and decided I don't want to necessarily fit in a cleric, and what do you know, it's level 4 and I am literally planning a respec to have a cleric that does not look like a cleric (the one with intelligence that learns most of what he casts from scrolls) because I want that bless, I underestimated how much it helps other three to hit things these early levels.

[@jmr90000]

Nature Cleric, Veng Pally, Hunter Ranger, and Divination Wizard has been fantastic

[@jmr90000]

Halfling Cleric Tav, Pally Shart, Ranger Karlach, and Gale Gale (I think once the beginning of Act II roles around Karlach has cooled down enough to wear armor and not lose control all the time, so thats when I swapped her from Barb)

[@jmr90000]

One more comment for the engagement push

[@phillipp3940]

What would be a good comp with a Land Druid (controller) and a Vengeance Paladin (Striker)?

[@robertbuchanan7609]

I wish I had this video in my first play through. I hadn't played table top since second addition. So my mind was thinking like a video game player. Tank, healer, dps and controller. I struggled a lot.

[@Alexander_Chase22]

Would love to see an evil playthrough party comp and an updated lore bard if you'd change it at all

[@JosieJOK]

My current party: Throwing Barbarian, Swords Bard/Rogue, War Cleric and Abjuration Wizard. Tactician, not Honor-don’t think I’m ready for Honor quite yet!

[@Ddotsattack]

Thanks

[@kimashitawa8113]

I'm doing a no melee, pure caster playthrough right now, but i'm struggling with what to fill it with and i play Durge so i missed the Potent Robe. How would i build a full caster party?

[@a-walpatches6460]

How about a party themed around summons, getting access to all of them and having as many as possible so your party can just popcorn through the game.

[@benjaminkowal7310]

I like these videos

[@kamilrichert8446]

21:30 love it xD