Optimizing Every Companion in Baldur's Gate 3 (Part 1)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Watch Part 2 here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXnTXnSbd9qoZs0 Also - Errata: I mention that Call Lightning follow up damage doesn't scale in D&D - I was confusing it with Witch Bolt - it scales just the same as in BG3 :). Also, not really an errata but they fixed enraged throw as of patch 3 so it no longer applies frenzied strain. Woo hoo!

[@rthj6446]

Dude, can you go for a BG3 specific deep dive into controlling for initiative. Having all partymembers act at the same time is so much more useful than having them spread out. I think it would actually be more useful to have low initiative across the board just for this reason. But I honestly dont know what a +6 will result in, since I do not know the initiative of the enemies. What is the majority, what are the initiatives of bosses, and so on. TBH, I wished that Larian would home-brew this in an update, and use Initiative in two stages. The mean of each group involved in the battle is compared for turn-order of the player. Then computer controlled initiative function like it does now. If it somehow breaks balance, then add some enemies to every encounter or something. It is as much a QoL as a benefit in combat. Damn, sometimes I wish I learned how to mod.

[@antarath517]

@@rthj6446 I think simultaneous party actions by average initiative would be a great toggle setting in-game. I would consider providing an exception for turn 1 specifically, since assassins getting lumped into the party would make them feel REALLY bad if you went last.

[@Xandour]

Your build for Wyll have me divided now... I was thinking him in my mind Warlock 5 into Paladin 5 with Bard 2 (thematically) but the Warlock 5 Bard 7 sounds appealing as well! (also with the Duellist's Prerogative Rapier using our bonus action for an extra attack - Dueller's Enthusiasm - when Hex is already up and/or we are concentrating on something else )

[@kalfoxx7749]

Agreed, although I would be happy with a higher initiative being able to delay taking their turn from when they are eligible to any point after.

[@freman007]

Yes, I did make Shadowheart a Light Domain Cleric. My main is a Half-Drow, Urchin, Draconic Sorcerer with two levels of Fiend Warlock. Lae'zel is a Vengeance Paladin, currently wielding the flaming greatsword the Cambion on the ship can be commanded to drop. Astarion is an Arcane Trickster, and Gale is an Abjuration Wizard.

[@darsynia]

Said this elsewhere but I wanted to say, I know you hesitated a bit on this but I actually took a break on the game a bit because I felt like I was, no joke, not optimized in a way that respected how important the companions were to me. I wasn't really sure how best to do that, and this helps so much. Thanks for all your hard work, Colby!! It's like having a bestie I can get advice from 'on demand' 💚

[@PalleRasmussen]

He seems like a good bestie really. Kind and humble, and good at what he does.

[@darsynia]

I was under the impression that D&D Wizards got to learn spells from scrolls like BG3! In retrospect, I see why that would be problematic, but I actually wonder (as a writer, so seeing this as a plot thing) if it's meant to lessen the stress on Dungeon Masters for tabletop? If you have to worry about your team knowing a spell vs. just finding it, that adds complexity, but for a game, that's less of a Thing, IMO. *watches more*

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@darsynia when I GM, they learn from scrolls.

[@Darklinkftw12]

​@@darsyniaAt my table, the wizard can and often does learn spells from scrolls, and my artificer can now use any spell scroll(with an appropriate arcana check) since scrolls are magic items, and artificers can bypass magic item class, race, and level requirements after a certain point

[@DaveyBooms]

Umm, his name is COLDPLAY. 😂

[@Pibblepunk]

I suspect Larion put the starting stats on mostly odd numbers so that new players will reach their first ASI and be able to put 1 point here, another point there, and see the significant boosts to their attacks and abilities. From a videogame design standpoint, it's a way to give someone completely new to the game a big reward for leveling up to that point.

[@EKTurduckin]

I also figured it was a way to not punish folks for taking something like tavern brawler where you get +1 to 1 of 2 stats

[@jerubaal101]

I was just thinking... they probably want the starting stats to be reasonable but not min maxed.

[@scalpingsnake]

I think it was because they designed them primarily as people, to us gamers it's crazy how they don't have optimized stats but for the devs who designed them, they probably see them more than just numbers on a screen.

[@ThelordHayden34]

I know that just…17 hurts my eyes . Let me have 18 Damn it ! I don’t want to take 2 ASI to have 20s

[@deathzexion]

@@ThelordHayden34 You can't start with 18 in BG3 or 5E if you're not rolling for stat. 17 is good for some build since it lets you take an ASI. It also allow you to reach 20 at level 4 if you SPOILERS FOR ACT I Get the hag hair which give +1 to any stat.

[@ethan6882]

It's too bad there are no Twilight Clerics in BG3 cause that seems thematically perfect for Shadowheart. The bridge between darkness and light? So fitting.

[@shadowmaster335]

yeah, considering shadowhearts story implication

[@marysbigpimp]

Hey, I’m not really spun up on any of this. What’s a twilight cleric and shadowheart? Where should i look?

[@shadowmaster335]

@@marysbigpimp as the name implies, in a state in between day & night, aka light & dark, as for shadowheart context, i wont spoil you, just play the game ;)

[@peterthenoob2416]

Is there possibly a mod?

[@shadowmaster335]

@@peterthenoob2416 hmm unsure, last i checked there wasn't any class mods, but that is like ages ago and i wasn't specifically looking for class mods

[@BenCappel-l3e]

Homelander plays bg3

[@hugofelix7103]

Came here for this comment

[@sir9678]

This spoiler system is actually fantastic. It makes it super easy to scrub past them and doesn't disrupt the whole video or require a bunch of pinned time stamps. Great idea

[@J.sh_CDN]

I agree! I was actually super impressed by it@ you can even just mute until it goes away if you don't want to skip!

[@XSamsaX]

Except when he uses black and white mode in-between for jokes. Nice consistency.

[@deffdefying4803]

@@XSamsaX it says "spoilers" in the corner when the black-and-white section is about spoilers.

[@brianfox340]

Agreed. We should all ALWAYS respect content creators that respect spoilers.

[@SleepySanOwO]

@@XSamsaX maybe use your brain a little bit? big ass baby

[@tonylanman]

I love this build for Wyll both mechanically and thematically. I've never really run with him, but this build makes me want to try! Great call thematically with the Bard. With his courtly upbringing, dancing, manners, diplomacy, etc - it's spot on.

[@AsgeirAakre]

+1 Wyll build lover here

[@BrightBlueInk]

He's my romance in my first playthrough and he even wants to have a romance "like the stories." My character is a bard and that's one of the reasons she fell for him, Wyll being a bard is an amazing choice for him.

[@nathanfivecoate5848]

I turned down Wyll's advances in my playthrough since I was thoroughly involved with Shadowheart and disinterested in polygamy, but he was in my party almost the entire time after Gale left to go erupt all over some poor sods in the underdark. He's a good guy though, and I'm glad I was able to set him up with Karlach in the end, even if thay are in Avernus together. He was a Paladin/Warlock multiclass with a 1 level Sorcerer dip in the final battle.

[@Marcus21H]

@@nathanfivecoate5848 I also went Paladin/Warlock for Wyll in my playthrough. The heroic nature of him and determination to hunt Devils screamed Oath of Vengeance to me.

[@nathanfivecoate5848]

@@Marcus21H Not to mention Inquisitor's Might was a nice buff for him to give me, Karlach, or Lae'zel

[@TheBoromirDonkey]

Spoilers for Shadowheart's story. In my second playthrough I started SH as a war domain cleric, since she says herself that her dream is to become a dark justiciar, and do Shar's bidding through violence. After the end of act 2 she became a light domain cleric, as her goddess changed and she found new powers. However, towards the end of act 3, and after she had saved her parents, I made her into a nature domain. My justification was that she was no longer completely devoted to a either Shar or Selune, was no longer trapped between darkness and light, and could pick for herself - that meant accepting both of those aspects within her, and look to her true passions: flowers, animals and nature. I found it sweet to imagine her, with her parents in a cottage somewhere, regaining her sense of self and rediscovering her love of nature.

[@darsynia]

I love your care and attention for Shadowheart! I'm gonna avoid upvoting this so it doesn't float too high re: spoilers, but I upvoted you in my heart!

[@Leekinator]

When she became a dark justiciar, Which was lvl 9, i made her oathbreaker paladin5 and 4 points into warlock which i thought was a really cool idea since this gave her magical dark vision and allowed for some really cool use of her gear that she gets. Lvl 10 if you haste her she gets to attack 7 times a turn with advantage which gave me the biggest power surge of my whole life xD

[@nickrubin7312]

I mean, in game she herself changes the diety she worships to Selune automatically, such as the writing for one of her paths, from darkness into light (the other is full darkness), but also becoming her own person and embracing her true self (which is over-arching theme for every companion in the game), so I guess if only we RP her into changing again to worship another diety after her parents die, burt then again, it's kinda fitting with how they die, but their lights are carried away that she worships Selune. Not to take from RP, just saying that in-game it is a bit different scripting (diety automatic change), you wrote a pretty cool RP-arc for her yourself. That is regardless of domain, which is cool either way, nature domain is cool.

[@TheBoromirDonkey]

@@nickrubin7312 100% agree. I read some of her conversations with her parents as her sort of taking a middle path between the two goddesses, or perhaps forsaking them both in a way. I am specifically thinking about her thoughts on keeping her name, not wanting to completely let go of her past and her shadows, and saying that she has lost too much to not, in some way still, be tied to Shar. But despite all that she has absolutely changed her deity. We know for sure that her divine powers come from Selune if we go down that path :)

[@theAV8R]

Technically, Light isn't any of Selune's domains! Her domains are moreso a Knowledge / Life anyway. Good call.

[@luisasilva8698]

Haven’t been this addicted to a game since DA Origins and these videos are a huge part of why. It is so much fun to build characters and I’ve learned a ton from each of these videos. Never played DD but that sponsor was a great opportunity for me to check it out and see if I enjoy it. Happy to join the channel and support the sponsor. 💪✊

[@brandontankersley8107]

I just started playing about a week ago and that's exactly how I've felt. DA Origins felt so much like a pure tabletop rpg and BG3 has so much of that same feel, as it should.

[@shuriksokol]

God I’ve literally spent 160 hours in ONE playthrough and got really tired. However I freaking LOVE doing builds for this game, and I most certainly love watching you do it, Colby! Thank you for both BG3 and D&D videos you make, we all really, really appreciate that!

[@cp159632]

almost 200hr in, half of the time just sitting in camp doing respec, hep

[@Sheamu5]

202h to finish for me, lost of respeccing and doing almost every quest I found.

[@moksound19]

Saaaaaaaame. I guess all that time alt-tabbed out, to look up details on spells and class mechanics is really inflating the played time though.

[@Rukagames0801]

I finished today with 132h for that run. And next time I am going Tactition instead of Balanced and I like to play more optimized this time. I did a run with gutfeeling and it was fun. Now I am comfortable with challenging myself and the game. XD

[@chrisstone1929]

My first playthrough lasted 260 hours. I finished it August 29.

[@RamathRS]

Brother, you are a man after my own heart! While I like to be mechanically effective, I always seek to do so in an attempt to support the RP goal of the character. It seems that so many people embrace either end of the RP/Mechanic spectrum as if the two were mutually exclusive. It's nice to see someone who blends the two together.

[@Karboluk]

Lovely builds. as a note, upcasting Call Lightning in base 5e also scales the damage on future turns, not just the first one. It's Witch Bolt that only scales the initial damage.

[@jeepersmcgee3466]

the one constant is that Witch Bolt sucks bolts

[@insidechaos4913]

​@jeepersmcgee3466 it's good as a 1st level spell and the moment you get 2nd level it drops drastically and when you get to third level spells it is no longer needed

[@ThePope1831]

Yes. This. I was confused for a moment.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Snap! You’re right. Will include an errata :)

[@Iam_Stu]

@@DnDDeepDive You probably only made this mistake because it was only fixed recently, at release the subsequent uses didn't scale with upcast.

[@nowayjosedaniel]

This guy is so wholesome. Wish more ppl were like him.

[@themudpit621]

You don't know him. I don't either, just saying... don't believe what you see on the internet. People are more complex than that.

[@smitaaay]

@@themudpit621You’re fun at parties, huh? 😂

[@I_Ace]

Mudpit isnt wrong, he seems cools on the surface, but thats the surface

[@willfeen]

he reminds me of Shooter McGavin

[@nowayjosedaniel]

@@themudpit621 Now that youre a kid, this might be true for you. Not for all others. When you become an experienced adult, you become a lot better at knowing people. There are signs of good/bad, intelligent/dumb, judgemental pricks / kind persons, etc. This guy is wholesome. 99% chance he isnt a jerk to cashiers and isnt a dumbass redneck making society more idiocracy. Undoubtedly this guy is very intelligent. We know this for a fact. Just like how we know you are a bit immature thinking such shallow thoughts as everyone is unknowable in every context. Not true. We have objective evidence this guy is a lot smarter than most people who are incapable of the math and critical thinking required to make solid game builds. We also know he is very creative too. He is hard working on his channel and very charismatic too. There is plenty we do know. Which is why I said I wish more were like him.

[@Skelethin]

Wyll does really good as the "cheese grater" build. Pick up Sorrow, with gives a Thorns Whip as a bonus action. I haven't bothered going Druid for Spiked Growth because Swarm of Daggers does far more damage, and enemies just keep running into head first. Sorrow is a glaive that Wyll as a human always has proficiency with that you can get really early if you can pick pocket the key to get it as soon as you get to the grove. Could even go Thief for that extra bonus action so you can push and pull twice each a turn under Haste, or just pull 4 times with Thorn Whip and Sorrowful Thorns.

[@eduardoarancibia169]

I need to look into this.

[@dank2804]

Funny how we think alike. Since release i've never neglected to equip wyll with sorrow in any of my playthroughs. It's really good for that bonus action thorns whip.

[@Madrigalian]

I did the exact same thing with Will at level 6. He seemed like he needed to make a change and Bard was a perfect fit with his backstory and desire to redeem himself. I think it was his dialog about dancing and revelry that sparked the thought. Just fit. Besides, he rocks the hat with his horns.

[@nyteraven]

Yeah, I'm not there yet in my current run, but had been leaning a paladin multiclass. After this I feel like Colby made some good points and I'm now loving the idea of a swords bard.

[@Byssbod]

Plus he hates his patron. Tbh I think it's perfectly on brand for him to branch out of warlock even earlier, like 3 or so

[@ethanderrick8486]

So did you run with Wyll in your party? What do you think about potentially going 17 CHA, using the Hag's air for 18, and then picking up Defensive Duellist as a feat?

[@Madrigalian]

@@ethanderrick8486 He's a party member, not my main. Switch him in and out depending on the situation. I used the Hags hair on my main. I am playing a Paladin/Warlock Oathbreaker myself which is why I went with Bard instead of Paladin for Wyll. For me, Will is all about his Eldrich blast and bardic inspiration. Add his Devil Sight with mine, on a darkness spell strategy, both with advantage... its a beautiful thing.

[@mickpratt8327]

Nope, I couldn't change Wyll to Bard because his whole character progression arc is that he's a Warlock. Astarion on the other hand is a great Bard candidate and is maybe the most useful companion in the game for it.

[@PharCry]

Went Warlock/Paladin myself for Wyll, but that's a good call on Bard might try that next time. Funnily enough I took Shady and Karl the same paths with Storm/Light Cleric (no sub class though) and Chuck-zerker. Loving the BG3 videos, and wish you the best.

[@Enkarashaddam]

I turned Wyll into a stealth sorlock, gave him mintharas armor, better dexterity and invisibility (with eldritch blast and magic missile, yes, stealth missiles!)

[@daviaugusto8752]

These builds are already my headcanon on my next play! OMG, if every Origin is getting a build, we NEED a build for the Dark Urge! Maybe even two different thematic builds, one for embracing the Urge and one for refusing it!

[@deeem9500]

Yes! And spoiler free/warnings too!

[@BuckysKnifeFlip]

If you wanted one for embracing Dark Urge, I saw a Wildheart Barb/Champion Fighter build that was an absolute monster. They went with the Tiger, and I think Tiger again or Wolverine totem. It would constantly cleave and crit. It was wild watching it solo fights and kill multiple opponents at the same time.

[@Tcrror]

I started off as a Paladin, then I broke my Oath, then I multi-classed into Warlock. I'm trying to ride the line between evil and good, but I'm mostly just a softy, lol. Evil choices make me so uncomfortable.

[@tenjenk]

Light Cleric. That's how they find their victims. Sometimes they heal people wrong just for the fun of it.

[@DarksideGmss0513]

This is very interesting as in the game if you pick The Dark Urge it defaults to a white dragon born storm sorcerer. I think if you don't pick Dark Urge you can find his body in the game.

[@GeorgiaDCA]

This was so helpful! I was feeling overwhelmed and going through it, step by step, started to clear it up for me. Thank you so much for doing this. Thank you for taking in consideration their history & personalities. I'm sure I'm not the only one who really appreciates your thoughtfulness and hard work. I can't wait for part 2 & my girl Lae'zel! EDIT: Ranged Swords Bard?! Please?

[@Orciwan548]

Personally gale being an illusion wizard makes a lot of sense to me. Especially if you do his romance stuff he conjures so many illusions and stuff kinda just matches his flashy nature.

[@jeffgillum7094]

Running your light cleric build, it's bad ass. I ran it from the beginning. Did the good girl route by chance, not cause of the sub class.

[@juanmanuelk.3896]

Man, I love your videos and your way of speaking. I met you with the release of Baldurs and hearing someone so well spoken and knowledgeable about something is satisfying. congratulations for your work.

[@meals7341]

The sponsor for this week is sweet. Mostly for the fact of sealing our warlock pacts to Colby. We invoke his name gaining knowledge, entertainment and discounts. Woot

[@ilavain]

Bladelock/Swordbard is actually what I did for my Tav, glad that it's getting more popular! It was always my favorite gish combo over PalLock.

[@Iam_Stu]

10 sword bard 2 pala is fun too, but with how busted ranged slashing flourish is it just always feels bad using melee before you're out of inspiration

[@JustARandomFio]

Stumbling over your channel was godsent! BG2 and DA:O disciple here (the two best RPGs ever made, hands down). I gifted myself BG3 this Xmas and am slowly getting into the game (general overview & turn-based combat). I always end up running a party of two magicians (one for the blasts, the second for utility, support & heals - one of them is me), one tank/melee (usually sword & shield, mostly Paladin), a rogue/archer for utility (locks & stealth), ranged attack & backup melee, plus a dedicated healer/buffer if there is place. Spent two days to find a nice setup (thanks also to you and others) and decided to go: Sorlock (myself, 10 Sorc/2 WL - no fighter) as damage dealer, Karlach (like her) as a Barb/Pally for melee, Asterion as rogue/archer for utility & backup, and Shadowheart as Cleric/Wiz (10/2 probably) for heals, buffs & utility/secondary dps magician. With this combo, I also have all stats served with at least one char. Thanks for the precious input, a Happy New Year, and greetings from Italy. you got a sub, of course :)

[@dannyberry8725]

Sounds like the best weapon for Karlach for this build would be the trident you get from the circus in Act 3, Nyrulna. it auto-returns to you, does extra thunder damage in a small aoe on hit, makes you immune to fall dmg, and adds 3m of move speed, plus it gives you 2 unique attacks; a charge and a gust of wind type attack.

[@hyteclowlife]

I rocked that on my throwing build Karlach as soon as I got to act 3, but I felt so easy (even on tactician) that I ended up respeccing her into a beastmaster ranger instead lol

[@Yabbamann]

Yah, Nyrulna is BROKEN on Throwing builds, especially with Lightning Charges boots when you dash (as a bonus action cus rogue), then the Illumination Ring thing (+2 radiant on targets), AND Tavern Brawler. For some reason the 2 radiant damage procs on ALL damage rolls, so the bugs from Enraged Throw and possibly Sneak Attack actually result in like +6 radiant damage on 1 attack. Honestly, I did Karlach as a Tavern Brawler melee monk with 1 level in Barbarian and it was beyond broken. I had to stop using her because she trivialised literally the entire game. I think Tavern Brawler is currently the single most broken feat in the game without debate and can fundamental break the entire balance of the game with TWO DIFFERENT PLAYSTYLES. It's actually crazy that Tavern Brawler makes both Unarmed and Throwing builds vastly superior to basically any other option and makes even Tactician difficulty a joke.

[@praescia]

Be careful with Nyrulne; since the Aoe is so large it can easily hit your allies and then you have to roll concentration saves. The Dwarven Thrower is safer in that regard; it also returns after a throw and actually deals more damage for single-target if you're a Dwarf or Disguise Self into one. (Much like Lightning Charges or Phalar Aluve's Shriek, it adds another damage source to which all your throwing damage bonuses apply.) Naturally, I run around with both on hand and use them depending on situation (distant vs close targets) or enemy resistances (piercing vs bludgeoning).

[@kingp2272]

COLBY! The dnd-meets-BG3 vids have been OUTSTANDING SIR! I hope they are bringing you many many views, you are so sweet and have such fun character concepts/optimization prowess, thanks for all the hard work you put in =))

[@Samlli]

Nice. The Wyll build is the exact build I used in my playthrough. Blade Warlock/Swords Bard is perfect thematically.

[@FranciscoTSoares]

Same here, thinking of trying multiclassing him to Paladin next playthrough or maybe try something weird and do a Blade Warlock/Hunter Ranger

[@shawngillogly6873]

5/5 warlock/bard. 2 lvls Paladin. That seems pretty on-point. You're trading the 3rd attack for Divine Smite. But I can accept that. My only problem with Pact of the Blade is I always forget to use it until midway through the 1st battle. Which means I have to use it after the battle. 😂

[@WolfHreda]

​@@shawngillogly6873 I do that with both my Blade Warlocks and my Eldritch Knights. 😂 All the time.

[@Freddyman0]

Just want to say I’m a big fan of doing the origin characters separately, doing all of them at once would be risk burning you out. The less burnt out you are, the more you’ll enjoy making videos, which means I’ll get to enjoy more videos 😁

[@moksound19]

I was really looking forward to an approach to trickery cleric for shadowheart. It's difficult to run, which necessarily means it's just not as good as an easier subclass, but it can still be leveraged effectively. I guess the Storm domain kinda works thematically, but it'd be cool to see Trickery Shadowheart revisited. Particularly with a little bit of attention to the affect some early gear could have to tie it all together.

[@stevenwoodward5923]

You seem like the right person to ask this question, is naming another site on a site your watching considered discourteous? I saw that Shadowheart build on a another site and would tell you later if it's appropriate.

[@jooyichen]

Do spells automatically deactivate invisibility ( ignoring stealth check )? If so I'd go with Rogue Trickster build. Invisibility is the only i can see this domain matching up in power and effectiveness.

[@undeadamerican1107]

Thanks for doing so many Baldur's Gate videos. It's a great game and the optimization is so much fun!

[@bshorrar]

I am super stoked for all RPG content. So glad the BG3 bump is helping the channel!

[@richardhollis3783]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to do this

[@zombocom2869]

Congrats on your silver play button, you really deserve it! I’ve been watching your content since your original blade singer video and it’s awesome to see your channel grow as much as it has! Keep up the great work!

[@ohSh0rty]

Absolutely love these builds, cannot wait for part 2! I will note , i hate that when i search for D4, i get diablo stuff it clearly doesn’t know me well

[@johannesreus5154]

Respeccing Shadowheart into a Life Cleric is actually weirdly thematic the longer you play. If you know you know

[@shawngillogly6873]

I've respecced her to both Light and Life in different runs. But always at the appropriate time. And yes, when that choice gets made, it's 100% right story-wise.

[@Emberbro]

It’s also legitimately the best version of her skillset in the endgame.

[@lolpaladins]

Light is just as good, having that HUGE aoe nuke being able to be used twice per short rest is great unless you're running a party with multiple aoe nukers already.

[@nathanfivecoate5848]

Light Domain is a life-saver when you go to the House of Grief to complete her companion quest in act 3. So much Darkness...

[@johannesreus5154]

@@lolpaladins i played her as a life cleric/lore bard multiclass and while she was excellent support I found myself casting vicious mockery most turns if it was simply not necessary to cast any spelsl sometimes and that was a little bit underwhelming so I can absolutely see the benefit of going nuclear on a cleric. I've always wanted to play a damage cleric anyways in DnD but never got to it

[@kodywilliams7830]

Was admittedly hesitant, but also intriguing by the build you cooked up for Shadowheart. I was kinda enjoying what I was hearing for Karlach. But Wyll? Wyll sold me. I have now liked, subscribed, and I will be checking your channel for the Part 2, hopefully. Thank you very much for the video! 'Tis good stuff!

[@catchingphoenixrtr]

This is such a well presented video. Your presence is very calming yet engaging, and I was really expecting this topic to be presented as just “here’s the best cleric build.” Thankfully, you put a lot of effort into trying to keep the characters true to their selves, and it really showed. This is my first time seeing your videos; sub earned 👍🏻

[@DnDDeepDive]

Cheers!

[@catchingphoenixrtr]

@@DnDDeepDiveyou’re awesome! Keep having fun with your channel. I wish you tons of success.

[@israalqamar5658]

YOOOOOO I did the Karlach build with the throwing trident Nyrulna + Additional Levels mod (the one that let's your character level go to 20 but none of your class levels go past 12). Karlach is an absolute beast. Took out 5 enemies completely alone in the Forge just now in one turn. Since Nyrulna already returns to your hand, I didn't bother with extra levels of anything but Barbarian. Now I just need to figure out the optimized way to prevent Thunder damage on my other melee folks #friendlyfire Thanks!! Can't wait for part II....I even liked and subbed

[@srellison561]

That's what i use, too. She does massive damage with that. Spoiler: You get Nyrulna from the Djinni in the circus in Rivington (Baldur's Gate area), you need to steal his Djinni ring first, then play his game. Be prepared to fight or run away from dinosaurs in a solo encounter.

[@jonathanrich9281]

I would argue that you’re absolutely right-Wyll is more a Bard with a Warlock Pact than a Warlock with Bard levels. I think he could be the one exception to the “keep them mostly in their core class” rule. Especially since Wyll notes that before the tadpole, he could conjure festering clouds-a reference to the Stinking Cloud spell, meaning he was at least level 5 before the tadpole weakened him. But meeting Tav and making the right decision with Karlach might mean that he looks for other sources of power than his pact. You know, like being the Bard he was always meant to be.

[@Dylster1009]

I have been trying my best as someone who has never played dnd before to do something like this where I keep the characters as their base class and use their personalities to define any multi classing and this guide helped me so much! Thank you I was looking for something exactly like this

[@Rimaku0]

I have my Wyll as a Bladelock/Ranger Knight and use him as a very tanky front-liner. I thought Ranger fit the Blade of Frontiers persona well, but I can definitely see Bard.

[@austin51280]

So glad i found your channel! Offered so many new ideas and thoughts for builds which is my favorite part. Thank you

[@avoidant560]

Considering how Shadowheart got trained in the way of torture and Shar in general, I think it also makes sense for her to be a Rogue Assassin or Gloomstalker Ranger

[@MulbeeryDeer]

Yeah but they literally stuck her as the "healer" in the raid.

[@makkie_3321]

This is what my friend and I are doing with her. We decided Gloom Stalker 5 Assassin 3 Trickery Domain 4 is thematically fitting and strong enough, if not obviously the best compared to say going Fighter instead.

[@luxum11]

Also bonus dash is great for maximising spirit guardian damage without using up your action.

[@benkelly7182]

@@luxum11now that I like

[@andreisandulescu9042]

ehh, kinda, but then the whole act 2 story stops fitting as well, I think

[@gusinwv]

I built my Karlach for throwing! My husband and I sit there and giggle cuz Karlach carries us. She killed someone with a bucket and I thought my husband and I were gonna fall out of our chairs from laughing 😂 she is the best, she's so precious

[@kroanosm617]

It's actually not bad to start with odd numbers depending on how you are planning your build. When you get feats you can increase two abilities into evens or increase one to even and get a bonus effect. There are also items that increase ability scores. This allows you to spread the points and be more balanced.

[@TheCommunistColin]

Your build videos have worked amazingly well on my companions. The Ultimate Blaster SorFighterLock build has turned my Wyll into an absolute beast and the Assassin-Monk build has turned Astarion into a blazing fists of fury punchbox who can still lockpick the hell out of stuff. It's really funny to see this skinny prettyboy vampire beating the crap out of people with his bare hands, lol.

[@Seraphim_MTG]

I'm probably too late, but Colby and everyone else who likes this channel need to know - there is a mod for adding Bladesinging to BG3! And yes, there's a mod that adds Booming Blade, so you can feel like a real bladesinger :)

[@n05ta1gia5]

The phalar alvue is great thematically here

[@itsMasric]

I've been hoping you'd do this ever since I first saw a comment weeks ago. Imagine how fast I clicked this video as soon as I saw it show up on my subscriptions feed, Lol. Thank you, so much, for all of this work, Colby! I have so many new sticky note files with builds saved xD

[@SpudLord_PhD]

I really love your Karlach build. I definitely will give this a go in my next playthrough. I'm currently running a Barbadin (I think that's what you would call a Barbadin Paladin.) Lore wise it fits in my opinion do to the fact of her wanting vengeance on some one(I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't gotten that far yet.) and her being as you said that raging firery goddess.

[@radiatedspore]

You are my new hero. Seriously, Loving the content. I would love to hear a podcast on the psychology used in creating all these characters. The writing is on point. The characters are so beautifully flawed and, I think I learned a lot about myself based on my choices during my first play through.

[@Silent_Onis]

I hope you are doing a 3rd part with Minthara, Halsin, and Jaheira 😁 Keep up the good work!

[@Rivnwolf]

I started to follow you when I got back into dnd for my partner, needed a little help since it had been in the 3.5 era since I had even rolled the dice, but since then I have benefited greatly from watching your stuff. We both love bg3 and have been waiting as patiently as we can for your content. Thanks for everything you do, you really make it feel like home.

[@TheSimbulUK]

After the main 6 are done I'd love to see possible Halsin, Jaheira, Minsc and even Minthara builds. Especially given the changes to some of these characters in regards to earlier BG games (ehem *Minsc*). Druids are tricky for me personally so that would be super helpful 😊 Thanks for these first 6 though!

[@Julian_FP-7]

I made Minsc into a wild heart barbarian. I know he was a ranger in OG Baldur’s gate but dude is literally a berserker and wildheart seemed like a nice middle ground.

[@Xanshi]

Minsc in the original BG games was a ranger with rage ability. So i went for Ranger 4 (hunter) / Barbarian 8 (wildheart). Originally i was going for STRanger build. But i went for more Barbarian because you can't take advantage ranger level because you you can't concentrate while raging. You can go for wasteland explorer fire for fire resistance and rage has physical resistance. But wildheart bear for all resistance except psychic. But personally went for elk heart for the charge to prone enemy. Jaheira in the original BG is fighter/Druid. So Fighter 5 (battlemaster)/Druid 7 (circle of the land). You can go for F6/D6 for the extra feat. But Druid 7 get's you 1 level 4 spell. I went for coast land spells because of misty step and mirror image. In my build, you don't have to go for two weapon fighting, even though Jaheira is wielding two weapons. Basiaclly i use, flame blade which you can get at druid 3. Which grants you a flame weapon that use spellcasting modifier, and sylvan scimitar (the weapon jaheira has when recruited) also uses wisdom. Basically i made Jaheira a shillelagh build without using the cantrip. Using spells like mirror image to keep her alive at melee. I didn't went for two weapon fighting style because i do not know if it's works on wisdom. EDIT: You can also for ranger 5 instead of fighter for more spell slots. I figure superiority dice was better for damage. Halsin, i went straight for moon druid. The problems is gear do not work on wildshape. It's the reason why i didn't go for moon druid for Jaheira. There are wildshape specific gear but it's in the middle of Act 3. I haven't done a evil campaign. I haven't experience Minthara. I guess a Paladin of vengeance is perfect for her. There numerous Pally builds Lockadin or Sorcadin would be my build for her.

[@hyteclowlife]

If you get Jaheira's sword, staff and amulet from her basement, you can make a "canon" Jaheira build with 6 fighter/6 land druid. Go dual wielding for feat, Staff main hand, Belm offhand, cast shillelagh. Turn off dual wielding next to your character portrait so that you don't waste your bonus action on basic offhand attacks.

[@Yabbamann]

@@hyteclowlife Whilst this sounds awesome I'd be incredibly tempted to go Spores 6 for the Necrotic damage on attacks if we're going to be dual-wielding. I'm guessing Battlemaster because it's just like, the best, and we can get some wicked combos going, as well as 3 ASIs or Feats since we have Fighter 6. Dual-Wielding, +2 Wis, +2 Wis is probably the best bet. I'd be tempted to get the unique Spores armour from Act 3 (which is medium) so 14 Dex, then we can just go 16 Con for the saving throws and HP. It's a shame that Jaheira's unique weapon is a Shortsword because I'd love to use a Wis-longsword in the offhand but wielding any of the Arcane Battery staves is completely fine for our main hand. Land Druid DOES however give the possibility of Haste on ourselves which we already know is gonna be FANTASTIC, and probably meshes better with Jaheira's lore. That way we can have Halsin be a Bearbarian for the tanky moon wildshapes and leave Jaheira as a scout. Although, I believe Druids get Extra Attack at 5/6 for their Wildshapes, so you can even resort to one of those forms whilst Hasted or Call Lightning-ing to do good damage.

[@thebrewingsailor9172]

I took Shadowheart down the War Domain and I love it. The Wyll build is the one I'm using for him in the play through where I'm using him in my party. I'm using that build as one of my own characters too. Looking forward to what you do with Lae'zel and Gale. With Astarion, I took him Thief, dual hand crossbows, got the sharpshooter feat, then when 2 levels of fighter for Action Surge and Archery.

[@bondric]

The video i was looking for! i can't wait for the ranged swords bard! i played 100h on just 1 run of EA when there was not the bard class and that's exactly the build i want to play now as main and i will not start bg3 untill i'll see ur buil d^_^ my other idea would be a cool bombs/explosive build, smtg like a sapper! do u think that this bard could do it or maybe i must try smtg else like a rogue or maybe some sort of thrower? btw, thx for the great content, your channel is my only bg3 source. I love the calm and polite attitude.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Hey thanks! Will have to put this on the to do list :)

[@TheShepherdFilms]

I'd love to see your take on The Dark Urge, which feels like it needs to be some sort of single or dual wielding dagger person, piercing damage build. Curious what you'd pick..

[@Psynister_PBP]

I'll second that

[@yardsards]

this video was awesome because of its amazing content, but also the way you talk/explain things makes me feel like we're on facetime. loved it thanks

[@dcs305]

On my 1st run I retrained Shadowheart to Tempest Domain and I had a blast playing through with her.

[@MattMeerkat46]

Thank you for making these builds. They are legitimately strong and fun to play, and I love keeping the companion’s lore accurate

[@Manga_Lloyd]

When respec'ing at Withers how do I change the pre-selected bonus stats for my companions? When I try to set up my Shadowheart with 16 wisdom and 16 intelligence the game won't let me because in the apply bonuses area wisdom and strength are already selected and it won't let me change them.

[@adamstevens3661]

Bro my man Colby, stumbled on your channel after starting bg3. I gotta say your a class act, and that intro makes me wanna helo in any way i can to support the channel.

[@oielvert]

My Karlach is an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. It mixes very well with her Tiefling abilities and lets me fully heal the party every short rest with a single ability. Karlach, Lae'zel and Wyll are my main party at the beginning of the day and then I switch to Astarion, Shadowheart and Gael after I run out of short rests.

[@ianfischerschilling9779]

I have been watching you BG3 videos for so long, I have been craving to play it. Now finally it came out for Xbox and I can have some fun! Thanks so much for the amazing videos!

[@dcfavorite]

Highly anticipating Part 2. Gale is one of the more difficult ones to consider multi-classing, really interested in what you would suggest for our wizard.

[@GreyfauxxGaming]

2 Levels fighter, to get the Heavy Armor proficiency, and action surge, rest any spell caster, I picked Enchantment because he's got that Charisma. Then you can walk around with easily over 20 AC, and can double cast level'd spells. (Action Surge)

[@azku]

Great content. This is probably the first video on BG3 build without ingame images that I watched till the end. Gonna go respec my companions now!

[@JasonGarcia97]

Homelander sure knows a ton about Baldur’s Gate

[@grouthorax3963]

This is probably the best build guide for all companions, ive seen a few videos out there for companions but a lot of them just strive to make those characters the main powerhouse, which sometimes doesnt thematically fit the characters profile. Im greatful for these vids

[@sputnik90]

Also your Sponsor chapter is labelled Magic Spoon instead of Obvious Mimic just fyi

[@NotreDanish]

32:17 I love the Karlach build, especially cause I had been theorycrafting almost the exact same build with a friend lmao

[@psyler_6305]

Awh man. I'm so happy about bg3, not just cuz it rules but also because now i know of this awesome channel. It's so relaxing to listen to and full of all the info and creativity in such a clear and great way. Colby you rule and my ADHD thanks you very much. I often play these while I work and it really helps me stay on task while still soothing my little rat brain. Thanks for being flippin neato my guy. 💕

[@caseyryanking5137]

I love these videos! Man be looking like the purest sweetest most holesome homelander I've ever seen ❤ spitting dnd facts with pure elegance

[@Revanxbone]

GREAT VIDEO!! I love even the basic explanations for create water as i am not "creative" enough for stuff like this, but it gives ideas which is much appreciated! Looking forward to prt 2 and will watch the other stuff

[@internettrashtalker]

Love this video, was trying to figure this out last night and was overwhelmed. Great information as always, thank you Homelander!

[@Hellyardsown]

I am so glad you posted this, this is EXACTLY what's been on my mind this week!

[@jesseclinton7779]

Really well done video! Also, perfect for me, seeing as these are the three main companions I’ve been playing with on my first play through.

[@FaolanHart]

I don't tend to look up builds for tabletop as my stats tend to be more character driven. So this is the first I'm seeing from you. You present this in a super chill way, subbing. Looking forward to seeing more like this. On my second run ATM so don't care about spoilers. But I really like how you handle them here.

[@LKZToroh]

I've never knew about your channel because I actually never played D&D(lack of friends that play, never played so kind of anxious to join a table with people I don't know, etc.) but I just found your channel due to bg3 and I'm loving the builds. I'll need the part2 asap ok? Thanks =D

[@brucemartin1420]

This actually ended up being my exact party comp on my current play-through. I love all of these builds so much. Wyll as a bard is so thematic. Karlach thrower build is so much fun and shadowheart as a tempest cleric is just *chefs kiss 🤌🏼

[@RevenantEternal]

I love your channel and all these BG3 builds. Building and respecing/rosterbating is almost as fun as playing the game hahaha you make it difficult with the great content. Thank you so much for providing not only great content, but a great community for it as well.

[@ikxius4404]

I need to be honest I just came for warlock and let me tell you thats exactly what I was looking for so amazing the way you explain, calm no rush just getting the point across just amazing. Bardlock here we go!

[@oshermdaddy2058]

For dual wielding wyll, there is a rapier that specifically uses charisma in the game, so you could just use that as your off hand while u use your pact weapon as your main hand.

[@hvnterly8388]

So happy to have stumbled on this channel! I’ve just finished Act 2 on my very first play through and while most of my team has a function they’re performing very well, wouldn’t you know it, my trickery domain Shadowheart just doesn’t feel right. I always avoid build videos until I understand the game and it’s combat better so now I feel ready to dive into your videos. Thanks much!

[@praiseit4805]

At first I was a bit skeptical about Wyll multi-classing as a bard, but then I heard him muttering to himself about what to name the next chapter in his own adventure and my mind changed so fast

[@zacharel9876]

Very nice video. Clear, detailed, calm & nice-to-listen-to voice. Humor and even music sprinkled in. Any feedback for me personally would be to add some tooltips or clips sporadically, so I get to see more than your person.

[@RJrevenger]

For my Shadowheart i used the cleric bard build from your first bg3 video, and i found it fitting to the cleric... My opinion, i found the the violin brings a "dark vibe" to her, and her snarky comments personality fits vicious mockery... And for Karlach, i kept barbarian util level 3 but muti-classed into vengeance paladin which i think fit quite well with her personality, fighting for justice and swear vengeance to those who wronged her...

[@TheGruntSavior420]

I havnt even started the vid but im so glad u did this. I have taken ur perspective and my thoughts from ur previous builds and I have worked out 2 of my companions and loved the hybrid design so far. So I look forward to a flashed out topic from u for sure on the companions. And keep up the great content. Found u from bg3 but im an old 3.5/3.5e player and miss this community. :)

[@chromewick]

Solid video. Thank you for the original ideas and deeper-than-I-already-knew dive into DnD mechanics versus BG3.

[@Eplesnadder]

I really loved both your build but especially your argument behind the Blade of Frontiers. Will try it out!

[@zeroboolinme]

You're content is always so well thought out and polished on top of your uplifting energy. I'm so glad I found this channel!

[@cerrylerollyn4490]

Recently got into your videos, this backlog of videos to watch is an absolute treat to try and go through. (I also love gishes. Bladesinger is always so tempting) On another note about the wizard, I reread the spellcasting for wizard recently due to BG3's wizard single level dip "exploit". From what I can tell, you can transcribe a spell to your spell book if it is of a spell level you can prepare. As for preparing spells, you can prepare a number of wizard spells equal to int+ wizard level. The only requirement on the spells is that they must be a level that you have spell slots for. As such, it could be interpreted that you can do what you do in BG3 for learning wizard spells. Learning Spells of 1st Level and Higher section, which is about the two spells you learn on level up, is the only one that references the Wizard table as a limitation on spells you can learn. The main limitation is that you have to choose which spells you have prepared at the end of a long rest, and a 1 level wizard multiclassed will have a severely limited number of prepared spells compared to a pure wizard. This means that the way spell preparation in BG3 operates enhances this a lot. So, kinda broken in BG3, but not as broken for tabletop. Still a bit confusing to read though.

[@Cromeman82]

loving this! thank you! Got so much inspiration out of this. Please do a Part 3 covering the Druids, Minthara & maybe Minsk :)

[@ibis0921]

The moment you said bard for wyll I thought … “omg he’s a theatre kid. Of course!”

[@SetUSMC]

Perfect timing on this video. I started another playthrough after a 3 month break from BG3. These are the exact 3 companions I decided to use this time.

[@LowDeeHum]

I think this is the first time I've ever made a build for a character, then seeing one of the people I watch on youtube make a video talking about the exact same one. They made Frenzy barbarian so good, and while most of the time I had Karlach equip a magic axe or the fire sword you get from the devil in the intro I usually end up having her switching to throw the returning pike due to distance from enemies (as I inevitably end up wanting to save on resources by having my party take on the entirety of a faction at once which involves a *lot* of sprinting around). I didn't even realize the extra damage or knockdown though, thanks for the tip!

[@noahdoyle647]

this is the first video ive seen from you and man what a good dude. definitely going to you for dnd/bg3 info from now on

[@direnova6284]

The best presentation skills on the Toob, loving ya vid's mate, pure class.

[@Mpgking]

Did the exact thing for Shadowheart! I also respec'd Lae'Zel after a similar story "change"(no spoiler) and love the character development and respec to help push that development into the battlefield!

[@junkwarrior58]

Shadowheart as a tempest cleric make a lot of narrative sense! thanks for the videos, Colby!!

[@bobbyt2197]

I look forward to part 2, I hope it ends up in my feed. Thanks for the great content!

[@TheRustyCanuck]

Long time gamer… but new to D&D, Baldurs and your channel! Subscribed and considering your patreon as I’m super impressed with your content. I was inspired by your Stormy/Frosty Shadowheart & Karlach Enraged Thrower builds. Wanted to leave you with this thought… on top of the “returning spear” early game you get a 4x set of lightning charge armor: Jolty Vest, Sparkle Hands, Speedy Lightfeet & Joltshooter longbow which is the natural choice since we’re taking returning spear. The interesting bit is that Sparkle Hands text reads “on a hit with an unarmed attack” which includes throwing attacks. I think it’s a really nice early game synergy that I submit for your and your viewers’ consideration! I’m having fun with it :)