The BEST ASTARION BUILD in BG3 - Lore Friendly Honour Build Guide

[@tudar72011]

I am convinced you are somehow related to Withers and have seen so many combinations, that you start cataloging the good ones and sharing them with us

[@alexmashkin863]

So it's not for the fact that you have to pay Withers to try out all these juicy builds? 😂 I'd think they're related based on that alone

[@job5861]

Not this one, nor this one, and this one less worthy still.

[@flibbernodgets7018]

No one said the scribe can't also have a scribe

[@Jeremy-d7i]

@@job5861legend

[@arokh72]

Nice to see a lore friendly companion guide instead of the usual min max style, that changes the companion. I hope this becomes a series covering all companions.

[@meliannhawke3318]

I wholeheartedly second that. ❤

[@Cephalopocalypse]

It already is! Check out the Lore Friendly Character builds playlist on the channel :D

[@meliannhawke3318]

@@Cephalopocalypse Thank you! ♡

[@JVBAIN1]

“For other players not for you” is 11/10 content that was fantastic

[@OakandIV]

This was a lot of fun. Proof that you can be a single class Arcane Trickster and still be a perfectly viable and powerful character by the end of the game. It makes me want to try it out, maybe with one level of wizard to allow scroll learning.

[@dimKiriyenko]

When I wanted to make Arcane Trickster using invisible mage hand for benefit in combat, I found out mage hand can consume Elixir of Giant Strength and then actually throw enemies (for example throw archers from their positions closer to your close combat specialists, or throw someone into a chasm). Invisible hand is much better at this job than a regular one. This DID feel like I am playing a trickster, and, most importantly, it DID look very funny when picking the throw trajectory, while mage hand is holding that poor goblin. Can't recommend enough for this build.

[@Yobolight]

😮

[@kt2official597]

That's actually insane lmao

[@HimothyHimsworthy]

How does the hand drink the strength potion? Do you throw the potion on it or can it consume it like a normal character?

[@dimKiriyenko]

@@HimothyHimsworthy the latter.

[@neondystopian]

You really do have the best guide and build videos for bg3

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@MidlifeCrisisJoe]

I have to agree wholeheartedly with this build seeing as it’s pretty much how I built my Astarion in my first playthrough. One thing I did though was pick Mobility as his first feat, which was a feat you rated lowly in your feats tierlist, but on a rogue on any kind is absurdly powerful. The ability to move further per turn allows you to guarantee being able to hide in most every turn and usually allows you to both hide wherever a shadow exists and still make a sneak attack in the same round. The free disengagement if you attack is nice and all, but is less useful. With this version of Astarion he was never a great damage dealer, but he was incredibly reliable and basically never died and thus was able to save my party numerous times just from being so hardy for a rogue. There was also some fun stuff you could do with the Trickster’s unique mage hand, like moving it through tiny holes into hidden chambers and then unlocking doors and chests from the inside, like with one of the hidden cells in the Zhentarim hideout.

[@GriD0831]

love this series idea! Idea for a challenge: Every companion, but you only use their default class/subclass to get a lore accurate build. For example, no Paladin/Fighter/Bard for Wyll, strictly Warlock + Pact of the Blade for all 12 levels.

[@Princess_Salami]

I LITERALLY yesterday, made an Arcane Trickster hireling (just because I wanted to steal from a bank and DC30's are tough for Hunter Ranger Astarion), so this video just came out that the PERFECT time for me, and is still amazingly well thought out! By the way, the skill "selection" at 6th level is for your 3rd and 4th Expertise, and not swapping skills. On this character, I might strangely want to take Magic Missile, because as I've seen Luality use it in her Wild Magic modded run, you can use magic missile to break potions that are at yours or an ally's feet. This way, should your party be in need of a moderate form of support, you can use the spell this way. It IS a rather ressource heavy way of healing allies. But if you have a potion of speed at your own feet, you can "somewhat" counter that cost. The moments when Misty Step is valuable on this character is if, at any point in the movement required, a jump is involved, since, with our low Strength, our jump distance (if we haven't Enhanced Leap'ed pre-combat) is mediocre at best, so the distance we can cover with Misty does compensate somewhat from it taking away our Bonus Action Dash for that turn. Also, Enhanced Leap cast on this character means there are still some high jumps you cannot make, due to our low STR again. So sometimes, instead of having to zigzag up ledges or ladders, Misty stepping to the top can really cut on the ressource requirement for movement. If, for some weird reasion, someone wanted to grab a damaging cantrip, I guess Acid Splash is the only viable option, and only after level 9, thanks to the fact that it's a Saving Throw related cantrip. A weird "order of operation" interaction with Magical Ambush that I'm wondering about is: if you cast either of (the terrible) Ray of Sickness or Ray of Enfeeblement, would the enemies have disadvantage on the saving throw, since you initiated the attack from hiding? Or would they make the save normally, since you making the attack roll to initiate the casting of the spell broke your concealment? Does Reliable Talent not turn Nat1's for stealth checks into 10's, since you can't roll lower than a 10? Also, I believe it's important to mention that in order to get a guaranteed Critical hit on a Held enemy, you need to be within 10 feet of them. For itemization, the Sword of Clutching Umbra can combo rather well with the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, because it has a Weapon Action attack that doesn't break concealment, so once per Short Rest, you can make the special attack, and still be able to impose disadvantage on the save for Hold Person. The Justiciar's Scimitar, which has no Item Proficiency requirement, also has a weapon action that doesn't break concealment, and even without that special weapon action, the possibility of blinding enemies when attacking with advantage combos really well with a Rogue.

[@bigsunnyvibes]

Good afternoon, thank you again for the video. These are actually quite nice listening to as kind of a podcast. I work long hours, so they're a life saver.

[@maelucchino6339]

Wow, I was starting an Astarion Origin run last night and looked through you Astarion builds to see if you had any rounded out builds for him, and voila! You post the exact built I wanted this morning! Thank you for all your hard work 👏🏼👏🏼

[@WylliamJudd]

Another reason to turn off Sharpshooter damage is just that +10 damage is often overkill. When you're dealing the last ~6-10 damage to an enemy, you'd rather be more likely to hit.

[@ssap620]

I personally prefer the hands on "cloak and dagger" kind of style with Astarion (like the thief/fighter build you made) over ranged weapons, but this is a muuuuch needed addition to the bg3 community. When I tried to figure out how to play arcane trickster most effectively in the past, all I could find was how much it sucks lol.

[@singincowboy]

Thief rogue with sentinel is pretty powerful, in my testing it appears that you can add sneak attack damage to opportunity attacks, so if you do use things like gloves of balanced hands, risky ring and bhalist armor, you can pretty easily break 200 average damage per round(very high for a mono class) when you really maximize attacks of opportunity. (The dagger Bloodthirst gives you unlimited riposte too, which gets your chance to 100% if you get into melee range with someone before ending your turn.

[@ssap620]

@@singincowboy That sounds like an intriguing combination that I may need to try out on my embrace durge run

[@singincowboy]

@@ssap620 moderately armoured and sentinel are very good feats to have!

[@LoreFoundry]

I've had a Rogue in each party I've played. Assassin Battle master is a nasty combo, round 1 can be nutty. Arcane trickster is different than other rogue's. Before the fight find the target you intend to kill. Hit them with a crowd control spell, and focus fire. Eventually their spells are targeting people and those people will have disadvantage on their saving throws. Grabbing wizard after that lv 9 feature can get you a few extra spells slots.

[@GameMusicHallberg]

I just love the positive snark, I'm not any experience player, but I love that you already put me on honor mode and one of the great ones that never fails :) giving a thumbs up, i'm not even playing honor mode but great to have the support :D

[@mitnehmerrippe]

Another great use of invisible mage hand is using it as a sneak attack guarantee similar to the risky ring but without the downsides of the risky ring (nobody gets advantage on attack rolls against you with the invis mage hand!) - because the hand is invisible, it will not get drawn into combat so doesn’t get subjected to turn based rules. This means that invisible mage hand has free movement on the battlefield at all times, including before you prepare to make a sneak attack (giving you auto-advantage unless you have another disadvantage that overruled your advantage - like being out of range for example - and effectively freeing up your bonus action for something else because you don’t need to hide, you can just reposition your invis mage hand to act as an ally near an enemy without that enemy ever knowing it’s there and get auto-advantage that way) and after making your attack(s) to get it out of the way again (so that it never gets caught in AOE by accident, so it can stay useful throughout the entire fight even if it does nothing else other than move around). I have not tried if there are synergies with other class traits or feats that would do something when an ally is in melee range (but not threatened and not getting attacked).

[@shaniciablake6037]

I love that you keep making builds I’ll watch them all 😆😆

[@thrillhouse4151]

I made mine a Rogue/ Fighter for his Origin playthrough and I think it’s nasty. An assassin/battlemaster, sneaking up on people and then disarming/ inflicting fear with extra attacks. Dunno how optimized it is but it’s fun for like a “murderer” build.

[@cannyvalley8522]

came for True Strike, was not disappointed :)

[@prometeo69]

One good thing about fog cloud is that it helps you to get advantage on enemies in it and you only need dark vision, bc it blinds everyone inside without a saving throw, and as long as you have dark vision you can see through it and your ranged attacks will have advantage, you can do this with darkness but in that case it only works with spells, as the game right now still wont let you shoot arrows into darkness even if you can see through magical darkness. So it's nice especially in early game to use fog on your wizard so you can give easy advantage for your rogue/ranger.

[@flibbernodgets7018]

28:42 I know you pretty much only ever see 3 levels of rogue but if you can tough it out to level 11 this feature is just so nice.

[@CCFelton94]

I really love this guy's guides. They're so thorough!!!!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@Yobolight]

For those last 2 levels, I’d probably just take 2 levels of divination because the extra (level 3) spell slots, divination dice, and scribing lvl 3 spells seem worth more than the 4th feat, etc. to me.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Definitely a solid option - like all rogue builds, this can get a lot of benefits from multiclassing, though of course here the goal was to focus on a monoclass character

[@Karina-winsmore]

Ever since your singe class tier list - i dreamed about mono class arcane trickster. Thank you!

[@Tentacl]

Very cool build. Actually makes pure rogue more enticing, I usually make Astarion either rogue/ranger/fighter asan archer or rogue/lore bard (themathic and good caster).

[@soysaucerb]

I appreciate the focus on Arcane Trickster, but I don't think I could forgive myself if I didn't give Astarion Gloom Stalker levels. Imo it emulates his vampiric nature wonderfully. (Still hate that Urban Tracker doesn't work for him, but whatever)

[@eraserdusting1840]

I'm so happy someone actually likes Arcane Trickster, so many people shit on them. 💀

[@clairhibiki]

surprised that you didn't mention what to do with points if you don't go charisma - what i think is really strong is to go 8/17/16/8/14/8 (you have 2 left over so you can push something to 10) and then instead of level 8 ASI dex you can go for medium armour proficiency to set dex to 18 and use the Exotic Material armours you can get throughout the game - huge boost to AC edit: also quite surprised at the spell list excluding find familiar early game

[@bryttonica6286]

More lore friendly builds please!

[@nick4488]

Thanks for the video ceph, I love stuff like this!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks - glad you liked it!

[@rodolfokatz5098]

I humbly disagree with your assessment of Reliable Talent. I think that you get it too late in the game for it to give a return of the investment. The great majority of traps, locks and skill checks are behind you by then. If you had another act to go through, then it would be strong as you claim.

[@thepurge7964]

You get it just in time to loot the bank in act 3, so there's that 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@bronzebow4235]

I would love to see a solo class Eldridge Knight build that has a fair bit of utility while also being a great fighter.

[@SirCharles12357]

Thinking of the Arcane Trickster as a scroll master is an intriguing incentive for me to try it out. There's hundreds of scrolls in the game of almost every available spell.

[@RemyKuchiki]

I have looking for a build like this for soooo long!

[@joshbennett5119]

I really do love these lore character build vids

[@rofibhoi9788]

Would love it if you did a "STRONG" builds ranking. I'd love to see the (Tempest 11 + Wizard 1) build get the broken S+ rank lol.

[@TheGuardian707]

Can you do more mono class/lore friendly builds for the other characters as well. Just wondering I love to see it. You by far my favorite creator for BG3 builds

[@Cephalopocalypse]

I have! Check the lore-friendly character builds playlist on my channel :D

[@TheGuardian707]

@@Cephalopocalypse will do :)

[@TheGuardian707]

⁠@@CephalopocalypseI meant more I would like to see more mono- class builds for the companions characters. Wyll and Karlach come to mind. Either way you videos really help me with my character and your by far the best builds channel I’ve found. Keep doing what your doing bro

[@KyleDB_1994]

Cool video I have never tried an arcane trickster

[@lu6460]

just started an honor run with this build on a lightfoot halfling

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Nice! Good luck!

[@daisycarbonell]

Ohhhh finally, an arcane trickster build I can try :D I've been hoping for one because it seems like a cool idea on paper, but gameplay its always been kind of meh.

[@pepparmostheelder]

Hopefully Larian changes magic hand to work like its supposed to for arcane trickster. I havent played DND but from my understanding their magic hand works significantly different and can do a lot more then the version in the game can which also in turn basicly removes that "special" thing that is stand out for arcane trickster

[@ryandornan8698]

a mage hand / minor illusion uses video would be cool

[@joshforthsorare7871]

I was looking back through some of your builds for inspiration for a solo honour run and wonder if this is a viable option? The lack of extra attack makes me think it might be a bit beyond me, but I like the idea of this character a lot and might give it a go regardless. I could always cheese some bosses with greater invis if needed lol. Great build as always, kudos.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

I think this would be a fairly tough solo honour run just because your dps is fairly low - though as you say any stealth archer has great tools! I'd be a little worried about your damage in the lategame for the time-limited encounters, but those you can probably cheese with explosives etc - I'd say it's very hard but most likely doable with very tight play

[@HugoSarrotte]

Play mistakes ? What are you talking about ? We are perfect players thanks to you 😉

[@alexmoran8662]

Hey what’s up ceph, another great video! I know I’m late to the party but if you see this I was hoping for a bit of insight on deciding what reaction to use; shield or uncanny dodge. When is one better than the other? If you could elaborate I’d appreciate it, thanks.

[@karefalk4119]

Rogue isn't weak. You can make a two handed assassin Rogue with constant crits and sneak attacks. Just because people don't know how to play, doesn't mean it's a weak class. Also the Rogue's sneak attack is probably the highest damaging skill in the game.

[@peanuts7324]

yeah rogue is definitely not weak. you could say its the worst out of all 12 classes but it still can be a very strong class. i think the idea that “rogue is bad” originally came from the powergamers who consider anything that isnt minmaxed or broken “trash” and eventually spread to the more inexperienced gamers who just hopped on the bandwagon

[@LLMCxDak]

Smite exists. Spirit guardians exists. Wizards exist. Barbarian throwers exist. Sneak attack is not even close to being the most damaging skill in the game.

[@Kek393]

Why does your game show Charisma for the Arcane Trickster?

[@Wild-Instinct]

I don’t get how having a tank thief is beneficial since Astarion always act from the shadows to have advantage attacks and stay sneaky 🤔 the point is not being exposed to ennemies’ sight so… Imo, Rogue / Ranger is a way better option for him for every situation, but I guess it depends on people’s flavor

[@dead4419]

"everyone makes mistakes, not u, but everyone else" xD

[@CCFelton94]

I think you should do more builds for other games.

[@FinalOven_Mint]

Surprised you didn’t dip into wizard after level 9 I don’t think AT adds much after that

[@doloresabernathy9809]

hey ceph I did not understand why you said that in later levels you should use Sharpshooter at 50% or better because its more important to land sneak attack. How are they inconsistent? i thought that if you hit and have advantage you get sneak attack damage, once per attack per turn. So are you saying because Sharpshooter decreases hit chance then the higher the damage would be without it the less benefit from using it because the lost expected damage outweighs the increase? But what if your Sneak attack already hit that turn. Then it would not matter right? also did you consider how the arcane trickster compares to the other rogue mono-builds? im not into the “lore” angle but I would like to try a rogue mono build rather than always use the meta Rogue/Ranger. can you do a video on Rogue monos in general or is that covered in your mono tierlist?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yup, that's exactly it - as your damage per attack rises, the +10 damage from sharpshooter loses relative value, since it's a smaller portion of your overall damage. Simultaneously, the -5 attack gets more impactful, since missing costs you more damage than it did before. Though it's important to know it's still excellent value and you should use it almost all the time anyways

[@YungToyBreaker]

No lae’zel lore friendly companion build yet?

[@doloresabernathy9809]

I had trouble understanding this build. im sure thats my fault, but one thing that puzzled me was the hide+hold+off hand crossbow. The Arcane rogue only gets one BA Hide. So Hide will use the Bonus Action. And there is only one attack. So where does the off hand crossbow attack come from?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

You're right, that was a confusing way to put that! To use that pattern of actions, you'll want to be hidden before combat starts - that way you can use both the hold person and the offhand attack in the opening turn

[@doloresabernathy9809]

@@Cephalopocalypse aha makes sense now. thanks!

[@Icecube88]

is this stronger than your last astarion build video

[@marcosdheleno]

i still think astarion should've been a bard. specially because him being a rogue, makes shadowheart being a trickery cleric even worse than she already is.

[@toneskatsu]

How do you play this build? Sorry im a newbie

[@ChWi1]

Utility for the party? You are getting lore inaccurate within the first 20 seconds of the video xD

[@Cephalopocalypse]

haha, true

[@tarawolf425]

Sneak attacked by a SNEEZE!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

The most dangerous foe!

[@dedenibnuhaeruzaman7794]

Lae'Zel please

[@bdonlazy]

nice

[@mattcat83]

I deliberately nerf myself with scrolls, requiring that I only use a scroll if the character knows the spell as spell ammo. The game is easy enough as it is, even on the hardest difficulty modes.

[@buluketek5030]

still not convinced to go pure ROGUE, especially ARCANE TRICKSTER, especially on HONOUR mode

[@KirDmA]

Arcane trickster is massively weaker than any other rogue subclasses. Most effects of it effectively repeats a 1 level dip of wizard. If you really want to see power rogue in bg3, use monoclass rogue/thief and abuse broken action economy with powerful ranged attacks. Astarion can basically soloing the whole game with it(taking 1 level of wizard in any time you want and don't forget to use scrolls/potions you steal ).

[@silverview6305]

f u ... 35 min video for a full rogue build. I am glad I spent 7 min skipping through this bad video

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Take a deep breath

[@danenderwick9285]

First

[@KirDmA]

Please, be more realistic - arcane trickster is a massively weaker than a

[@Cephalopocalypse]

That's definitely true for multiclass rogues, but actually not true for monoclass

[@JulesBrunoJjBaggy]

I still haven't had a run where i didn't kill/sacrifice Astarion early on

[@zsaida9424]

I'm level 4 so far and it's a little fussy to play. That does add to the interest. You will get the Warped Headband of Intellect early. Or you can just not stat dump as you probably don't need to mix/max this. It's not obvious, but the easiest way I found on PC to toggle Sharpshooter was to press "K" and drag the Sharpshooter Passive icon to the "Custom" tab. Click and a swirl around the icon means it on. Click it again to turn it off. Equip a ranged weapon and hover the pointer over a mob and you will see Sharpshooter is on or missing which means it's off -- test it, you'll see. Max your stealth score and be sure to turn off the closest fires and torches. Every turn: cunning hide, then shoot. I like the roleplay of taking arcane roguish cantrips and spells like Disguise, Long Strider, Minor Illusion, etc. It's fun and adds a lot of charm. This build is not weak, it's fun and stays true to the lore. So, thank you. I enjoy playing it.

[@LoreFoundry]

Try using mage hand to drag potions to your feet and punch them under your character. Do it with speed, healing or other potions. It saves you a turn for your other characters.