The BEST SORCERER in Baldur's Gate 3 - [Updated] Honour Build Guide

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Hey friends, one error in this video: I mention the Boots of Striding, which are of course medium armor - do NOT wear these unless you're a githyanki or have taken a dip into a class that gives medium armor proficiency. Sorry for the dumb mistake!

[@awokensleeper]

A shield dwarf also works

[@denyzn6517]

I ended up using the Boots of Striding on a pure fighter companion and they are surprisingly useful. There are several items that give you something to concentrate on all day like the tollhouse sword with shield of faith or the protection from good and evil amulet from the hag's lair. Fighters are already good at passing concentration checks due to proficiency and high con so boots that make you immune to displacement are actually really nice.

[@wargumbyx]

there are 2 errors then. there is a lacking stipulation to all spell casting classes in 5e (even though the game is technically not 5e) and that is that without exploits 100% of their power comes from luck, whether it is hoping an enemy doesnt beat the spell dc or hoping the 19 incoming attacks per round from basically every combat that auto targets any spell caster holding concentration ...doesnt break your concentration making almost all concentration spells instantly undervalued and in some cases go deep into negative values. i am just after the coronation and have yet to not have a dc beaten or a concentration save made ...on normal....because i am NOT lucky and since the game is NOT 5e my wizard cant even abuse the growing spell levels that can be cast for free

[@manleteater1970]

@@wargumbyxI would turn off karmic dice if you’re having trouble with dice rolls. While the in game description makes it seem nice bc it “prevents going on a losing streak”, it also seems to prevent winning streaks. Which makes having high stats basically pointless. Enemies will also hit you and crit you more even if you have high ac

[@wargumbyx]

@@manleteater1970 it is off..i am just not luck so i dont get the thing that people attribute to stats which is actually luck. in this game you can rig a character to have a bit higher dc and saves etc but you cant put those things completely out of reach like you can in something like kingmaker (which is also a bad game) and so if i am relying on 25% failure rate that is 100% for me or a 10% chance something lands on me...its landing 100% of the time. chance in an ability makes it luck based. hell i have had things most people dont even imagine are in the game happen to me just to fuck me. for example i had a fight against the adamantine golem where astarion didnt need to move even 1 single step to get in range or los of the golem...so he ran backwards into the lava ...because fuck me. i have a barbarian with 96% hit chance with advantage, with 3 attacks per round that can still go multiple combat rounds without landing a single hit. it is a luck based game and too many people talk about it like any kind of skill or intelligence plays any role in it. if you cant entirely remove the rng, it will always ONLY be luck based

[@dylanbailey2812]

This isn't strictly relevant to this guide, but I want to share because it made me happy. Just yesterday, I had the big fight in Moonrise. I had Shadowheart as a Tempest Cleric, and I also had Halsin and Jaheira in the party. Redundant, I know, but it worked out. I had Wyll intentionally waste an Eldritch Blast so Z'rell would burn her counterspell, then cast 3 Ice Storms with the Cleric and two Druids, turning the entire arena into a skating rink. Then I went in and smited Z'rell down in the first turn of combat. It was by far the easiest time I've ever had with that fight, and put a huge smile on my face. I'm not great at the game, but I remember a time when I would struggle to no end with some of the more intense fights in the game, so I've gotten better

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yeah! I think that fight was also where it clicked for me for the first time just how incredible ice surfaces are

[@dylanbailey2812]

Looking back, I realize at least one sleet storm would have mitigated the enemy acolytes' Hungar of Hadar, but hindsight being 20/20, I'll do that next time

[@GAMER32231]

Huh on my tactician run the fight was so annoying I had to resort to explosive force

[@Kito-san13]

beautiful, my favorite part about spellcasters is how you can completely cheese difficult battles with strategic spells. I recently got through the raphael boss fight (i'll try to avoid spoiling anything) and completely cheesed it: first i concentrated on breaking the pillars so the boss goes into the second phase, got through it in 2-3 turns with gale's Artistry of War and my paladin/warlock mc's eldrich blasts, then comes the fun part. Gale casts invulnerability dome, shadowheart casts wall of knives right on it's edge, my whole team stands in the dome with karlach and mc at the front wailing at the enemies who are standing in the wall taking damage, gale and shadowheart blasting spells from the back while my whole team is invulnerable. It felt like my team transformed into a gundam, indestructible machine capable of long range and meele attacks, god of destruction)

[@Kito-san13]

i remember how in my coop playthrough with friends my mate was playing as a fighter, during the boss fight with ketheric in phase 2 the first thing he did was a disarming attack, that epic death god dropped his scythe and basically couldn't attack any of us while we just bullied him back to the afterlife,

[@MyanRiller]

Slow down, I need to make it out of act 2 before rerolling again 😂

[@coreyh-d2593]

Please send help. I’m still in act 1 rerolling and I preordered the game 💀. What is your secret?

[@makrusnormendez357]

I haven’t left act one yet either although this time I’m further through the underdark 🤞

[@mattwithoutfear]

Into* Act 2 #FTFY

[@denyzn6517]

@@coreyh-d2593 I have a problem. I bought bg3 the day it entered early access like 4 years ago and have yet to make it to act 2.

[@sephikong8323]

Act 1 : Boring, did it too many times since the EA, low level is not fun in 5E Act 3 : Tedious. Check-list of quests to do Act 2 : Where I actually jam (+ my aesthetic)

[@harris9324]

Just a reminder that Tempesteous Flight is nowhere near as good as Misty Step! I highly advise getting both because the passive flight feature has a very underwhelming range as you start. Having both is not a waste at all and I encourage it.

[@pctlr7567]

You should add in game examples of how this class rocks (like boss fights, etc.).

[@BenjaminRatthe]

I think he wants to make his guides spoiler-free

[@Cephalopocalypse]

The reason I don't usually do this is twofold: first, it's a ton of extra work, and second, people don't watch it. When I've included gameplay sections, viewership for those sections has dropped dramatically - which makes sense when you think about it! By including gameplay, I'm suddenly competing with professionally-edited Let's Plays from studios with entire teams behind their scripting, editing, and mixing - and production lead times of weeks rather than daily videos like I do. On the other hand, when it comes to builds I have world-class knowledge so that's something people can't easily get elsewhere.

[@Subarashii_Nem]

​​@@CephalopocalypseAlso personally, I like to test the builds "spoiler free" as it were. That is run into enemies and just play them and learn how the combos and stuff work by myself because that's where the fun lies for me personally. Then changing up the build to fit how I wanna do a run so I take the core of the build and change it to fit whatever it is I'm doing.. I use these builds as a guide, not a one to one copy so seeing gameplay to me puts the "This is how you NEED to play the build" thought in my head and not the "This is the overall vibe and guide but you do you!" vibe that I like from your videos. Especially with gear where most of your builds you say "I recommend this but slot it whatever you want to fit how you play" which frees up a lot of creativity even when following the build closely! Since I don't know much about DnD at all, your guides give me great insight to have a character at camp with the proper build then build my character off that and change stuff that fits how I have fun! Like the Paladin/Cleric! I swapped from War to Life Domain and had it just be a tank that does some good damage but the role is literally to just soak damage, heal itself and stand there being an absolute menace and that works for how I like to play! So personally I prefer the no gameplay because it doesn't give the "follow this strict path" vibe and in a game as free thinking as BG3 is such a good thing to have because the possibilities are quite endless if you don't mind not mim/maxing!

[@guts5398]

@@Cephalopocalypseskill issue you could literally show it in the background while you drag out that intro.. a ton of work

[@AgentNoun]

@@Cephalopocalypse Huh, that's really interesting! I love to watch the gameplay demos of builds myself and I guess I assumed most other people did, too. That's an interesting look behind the scenes.

[@AndrewJohnson-oy8oj]

Draconian bloodline doesn't require you to focus on one damage type. It makes you marginally better at one damage type while leaving exactly as capable as any other sorcerer at all other damage types.

[@clockwark]

Well, it's still an opportunity cost, though. If you're choosing to boost a damage type with Draconic, then you're giving up all the other things you could get from being Storm (whilst getting a few other Draconic boosts in turn, of course). Not saying that makes it a bad choice, but it's fair to frame it as an investment in one damage type.

[@MandalorianRevan]

Bone Chill/Arrows of Illmater are exceptionally useful against the Bluette in the Underdark. If you don't kill it fast enough, it will escape and regenerate. If you hit it with Bone Chill or an Arrow of Illmater and then it escapes, it will start the next combat with the health it ended with from the previous combat.

[@clockwark]

Having played Sorcerer on multiple as-yet ill-fated Honour Mode runs, I agree with everything you said and learned a few things! Nice video. I'm towards the end of act 3 this time, and just managed to get past a certain boss with a lot of debtors in his house. Phew! I respec'd to tweak some things after watching this. Thanks!

[@dsagruppe5859]

I really enjoy these videos. Keep up the good work!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks!

[@CMiY0]

I like taking disguise self or enhance leap at level 2 to be able to proc tempestuous flight for exploration purposes. Disguise self utility being pretty nice in early game for content too.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep, that can be a great swap if you value the utility earlier! I get it at level 4 here because I think having the combat option can make some early fights smoother, but especially for more experienced players getting the ritual asap can be really good

[@magister343]

I find it hard to invest a spell in Disguise Self when the Mask of Many Faces gives it for free.

[@CMiY0]

@@magister343 the head slot is heavily contested and I personally don’t have that edition of the game.

[@erezkz]

hey man, thank you for your content! I just started playing bg3 recently, and I have now arrived at Act 3, now that I got the hang of the game I started watching some videos to learn more from other people's experience. your videos are so well put man, all the explanations, the time tags, etc. well done! thank you 👑

[@Z200a]

I just discovered your channel yesterday and have already watched about 9 of your videos, lol. I really love your content! I was avoiding all BG3 content on KZbin until I finished my first complete run through the game. (I wanted to avoid everyone's opinions so I could experience the game for myself and draw my own conclusions.) I finally beat the final boss on Saturday and now I'm finding out what everyone has to say about the game. In any case, I love your channel, especially the build guides. I spent the whole game wondering about those consumable arrows, potions, oils, and elixirs! :-D And I was happy to see you think so highly of the Bard class. I just started by 2nd run, and spent about 3 hours trying to figure out what to play next. I finally settled on Bard, but I was ambivalent about it and worried I was making a bad choice. So I'm glad to hear at least one person thinks it's a great choice! In any case, I have noticed something in the last 48 hours: It has become very common for people to describe any powerful feature or skill as "broken." Or "game breaking." It gets a bit predictable after a while. I guess it's the new superlative to say something is really good. I personally don't think everything is broken just because it is powerful. But what do I know, I've only played the game once!

[@embreis2257]

39:01 [BG3 calculating save DCs] multiclassing with one level in Wizard would trigger this problem, right? INT instead of CHA would break SAVE DCs on items and scrolls. would that mean taking one Wizard level might be best followed up by one level in Warlock to get back to CHA saveDCs and then take all the rest in sorcery again?

[@cottonxcandyxjollyxrancher]

Your vids have been so helpful with teaching me to improve my game play and rekindle my love for the game. I clearly didnt know what I was doing. lol

[@kruk1766]

Thank you very much for that vid. I'm still in rogue playthrough but already decided that 2nd run will be storm sorc with 1 lvl of tempest cleric and this build guide will help me a lot

[@magister343]

I discovered last night (while fighting Orin) that Chain Lightening can be used to attack enemies with Sanctuary Active if targeted at a nearby unit without Sanctuary. I also found that Arrows of Many Targets can hurt those with Sanctuary too.

[@arthursorryformybadenglish5461]

I discovered this last part in the githyanki encounter in the shadowfell, man those arrows ricocheted everywhere wth

[@gaigeriel]

Your uploads always have perfect timing, sorcerer is the only class I have not used extensively and I plan to play one soon!

[@mahmud7645]

Super Fun and imo leaves room for more creative uses of a pure spellcaster than a wizard

[@donkeysunited]

A Charisma based spellcaster that can twin some spells and has good concentration saves is a very potent character.

[@R7AWSUM]

I think that people should combo this with the fire sorcerer video because I've found it really easy to actually start as draconic when SRay spam is really good, and then spec over midway as it falls off and things start resisting fire.

[@almtzd]

been using your build suggestions since my first play-through. now i'm starting my first honor run with this build! ☺send thoughts and prayers lol

[@El-ik9cv]

PLEASE NOTE: when you use disguise self, you can't do it in turn based mode (it drains a spell slot), however once cast, you have to click turn based mode, because the opportunity to use flight, will be almost instantaneous. This caused a couple cringes in my play through

[@dangr123]

Ah, the classic 'Troll Strike' cantrip. 👌

[@embreis2257]

two questions for character set-up: 2:44 #1 Halfling is great for Halfling luck but for the purposes of saving rolls I would consider _Gnome Cunning_ to be preferable 12:39 #2 why choose 'Shield' over 'Mage Armour' to ensure survivability? once used the 'Shield' is gone but the 'Mage Armor' stays until you sleep again

[@OakandIV]

This is great fun. And while I still prefer the Lightning Lord build, this build really is a great candidate for being your primary scroll librarian with almost as many options and equal or better resource management.

[@gregoberski5897]

I think one of the only builds left for you to do is a straight Champion Fighter. Challenge mode is to make a good 12 level Champion, or just 1 level dips to keep Improved Extra Attack. I would personally go with a Dex Archer that makes use of all the games amazing special arrows (in lieu of Maneuvers or spells). Start with 17 dex and take Sharpshooter @4, Athlete dex @ 6 (synergy with champion jump distance), ASI dex @ 8, and Dual Wielder @ 12 and hold two finesse weapons. Comfortable at all ranges of combat, with 3 special arrow attacks per turn at baseline. For a 1 level dip build start 16 dex and do Sharpshooter, ASI, ASI. I like LIGHT cleric for this for more survivability and regular use of reaction + utility.

[@MrAzerty3009]

The only thing missing is the dip in Dual-wielding feat at level 12 (or on a late game reroll) to access to very good combo with multiple Act 3 weapons like Rhapsody or the staff in Raphael's hideout, especially if you don't have access to shield proficiency

[@chalp1290]

Duel wielding is essential for the staffs. You can get two extra 6th level spells.

[@embreis2257]

21:14 '...using their sorcery points, meaning you can cast it on two party members. you can even cast it on yourself and another party member...' maybe I am too new to BG3 but how does this work? you need to *concentrate* on _Haste_ . doesn't that mean it is impossible to maintain on two party members concurrently? it can last up to 10 turns and even big fights should be over by then.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

If you twin a spell it's still a single spell, so you can just concentrate on both copies at once!

[@embreis2257]

@@Cephalopocalypse wow. this is unreal. 🤯thanks for pointing this out. 🤟

[@NateLyell]

Really enjoy your videos!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@shravananyam]

I would put Extended spell higher up. The best CC in the game is from a sorcerer that dips 1 into fiend Warlock to pick up Command. Level 6 extended Command locks down 6 targets for two turns without concentration, which should win just about every combat.

[@lost_witness_8495]

Whoa nice ! 👍

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep, I discuss that when talking about a warlock dip - I think it's not very good if you are staying monoclassed sorcerer, but the synergy with command makes it excellent if you're going for that level dip

[@tranducquang5912]

I dunno about that tbh, usually as a sorceror i can just kill 6 enemies at the same time, or atleast kill 2-3. Most mobs has like no HP to survive Level 6 Cull of the meek Fire ball (fire ancestor fire sorc ofc) along with Blackhole or you set it up first with Minor Illusion) . No need for CC if they are dead. For stuff like big boss fight hold person or hold monster is usually better cause you can just guarantee crit on most melee character(Hold monster level 11 GWM fighter just melts through any encounter, i 2 shotted Raphael using fire sorcerer + Laezel fighter Mono and it was only a 2 shot cause i didnt do any buffing before hand besides the HP buffs so i can listen to the HOH OST for longer lol). Command is strong i won't deny that, but i won't wanna do it for my dps or my concentration Hold monster/Person for me imo.

[@shravananyam]

@@tranducquang5912 that's fair enough. But extended Command comes in handy for tougher encounters or those with lots of mobs. Command Approach is great for grouping enemies from a larger distance before the big black hole / fireball

[@damienbotts7981]

Great video

[@magister343]

Wouldn't it be better to start as a Fighter, Cleric, or Paladin to get all armor proficiencies before going Storm Sorcerer? And maybe get Fighter 2 for an Action Surge for an extra spell in one turn per short rest? And one level of Wizard to let you learn any spell from a scroll? And maybe a level or Warlock (preferably Great Old One, for the Mortal Reminder frightening enemies on every Crit) if you get to go back too using Charisma as your spellcasting modifier after multiclassing into something else?

[@tranducquang5912]

dip means less feat though, feats are nice for party face cause you want dialogue skills like Actor . Alert + ASI is always a good combo. Stacking that with the Mirror of loss + Auntie ethel hair means you can get up to 24 Charisma without any items, so you don't need to use birthright hat and can use stuff like Hood of the weave or the Arcane acunity hat for the element of your choosing depending on the dmg you deals. I think Action surge is rather overrated for sorcs. Its not as strong as on martial characters, you can just get more turns using potions of speed or Haste spell, and with 3 spells anything should die at that point, if not than 4 spells probably won't kill it cause it either has resistance, the legendary action makes you unable to do dmg to it, or you are just a support for that fight in particular( My sorceror party face is basically an alchemist fire throwing bot at auntie ethel boss fights, my martial characters are the one to deal with her)

[@jejo63660]

Fighter 2 for action surge is least useful on this character IMO because sorcerers get multiple casts of spells already with metamagic. Plus it keeps them from level 6 spells. Wizard dip I think could be good if it’s on its own as an 11/1 split. GOO warlock dip I don’t think is great here unless you are deliberately going with a scorching ray sorcerer crit build.

[@MichaelHaneline]

One of these days I will do a wild sorc honor run without cheating. Some of those effects are very powerful.

[@soulfox32]

So....how do tou get the boots of striding to work? Cause i cant as its medium armor

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep, that's a mistake in the video, sorry! I correct it in the pinned comment

[@soulfox32]

@@Cephalopocalypse This is why I come too you for build guides lol

[@davidshepard-alenko4232]

I wish they would patch the items and scrolls spell save dc thing. it should be more intuitive. like based on whatever caster class you have the most levels in. simple. beyond that, the existing spellcasting stat for non-casters is fine the way they have it (int for rogues and fighters, wisdom for monks and barbs). if you have equal levels in two caster classes, it uses whichever one you last took a level in. that's the way I would program it. for this build in particular it's a bummer having to choose between con save proficiency and the ability to use scrolls effectively if you decide to take a dip.

[@THEMithrandir09]

2 levels of tempest cleric for guaranteeing maximum lightning damage is great too!

[@4m4n40]

Yeah, it’s good, but a sprinkle of rng is lovely. Longer fights are so much better than short ones.

[@THEMithrandir09]

@4m4n40 You should play wild magic then instead of "the strongest sorcerer" :P Also the dip only gives you a single use per short rest so plenty of opportunities to roll :)

[@thepeoplesjewels]

Tempest is awesome

[@CMiY0]

@@THEMithrandir09 strongest sorcerer, not sorcerer with cleric dip lol. This was never a multi-class build otherwise it’d be in the title.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Absolutely! I talk about that in the multiclassing section :D

[@Kito-san13]

great build, improves some areas of the build i'm running, but also has a couple points i'd like to add to: instead of the alert feat taking dual wielder is better in my opinion (this makes the biggest difference in late game so you might pick alert at first and rebuild to dual wield in act 3). There is a second staff with the same skill as the markoheshkir (staff of spellpower), you can find it in house of hope (hell) and cast another lvl 6 spell for free, which is really strong obviously. You also can compensate the loss of alert with items. Since spellcaster's don't have any gamebreaking gloves like the strength gloves for fighters or barbarians, you can wear gloves of dexterity to compensate the loss of initiative from not using alert, they set your dex to 18 which almost guarantees you will be the first (or one of the first) to get a turn, if you add the other initiative boosting items like the helm mentioned in the vid, then you're set. So basically you get another lvl6 spell for free without losing anything, using dual staves also boosts your overall damage since you get spell roll bonus from both of them. Also Disintegrating Night Walkers are by far the best boots in the game, especially for this build. They let you ignore various movement effects, make you immune to slipping on ice or grease and give a free misty step for when you need to dip fast, don't count as armor so anyone can wear them. Anyway this is pretty much all i had, hope it helped someone)

[@sjbell4653]

Yes, I am late to the party but was going to say exactly this. Setting DEX to 16 at character creation will almost guarantee you go first during all of Act 1 and Act 2. Once you get the Gloves of Dexterity you can respec, if you want, and put those points elsewhere. I do not think Alert will ever be needed, but maybe take it with your last feat at lvl 12. Dual Wielder is so much better as your first feat selection at lvl 4. Ability Increase at lvl 8 and probably again at lvl 12.

[@DieGurke_]

If you want to go really broke with AC in Build you can always go Helldusk for 21 AC on Spellcaster

[@khyro498]

Can you use any race or must you strictly only play halfling?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

any race works!

[@blumilkBW]

Can somebody explain again how the spell save dc works when multiclassing? Im trying to go 11 Sorcerer with 1 Wizard and can still use charisma for scroll usage Am i supposed to go 1 level of Wizard 1st? I dumped my intelligence so i would really love to have everything scale to Charisma

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep, in that case you want the wizard level first - bear in mind that will use your cha for spells you CAST from scrolls, but not ones you LEARN from scrolls - those will always use your int no matter your level order.

[@blumilkBW]

@@Cephalopocalypse okay that was even more complicated than I thought it was lol I got it now bro Thanks for the quick response I love your channel keep up the amazing content 👏🏾

[@alphamorion4314]

Hey dude, been watching your build videos for a week now, and I've gotta say: they helped *a lot* It's my first playthrough, and I'm going for Balanced, not even Honour, so sometimes I find myself crushing combats completely. Other times I struggle a bit, but this is due to me still being a rookie who still doesn't understand all of the nuances of BG or even D&D. Both me and my wife are playing it (separate playthrough for now, since both of us want to enjoy the solo story and maybe we'll go co-op in the future), and I have convinced her too to give a look ar your builds and implement them. Having said that: she plays a Bard, and I've noticed that you have few "updated" builds on support role Bard. Maybe I didn't look close enough, but the most recent ones from you I've seen that focus on Bard, they seem to be more in the damage dealing aspect of things instead of strong and solid support. Is there any chance that you may bust out a build like that, with all the recent patches in mind? And if you already have something like that, maybe a bit older that still applies now, could you maybe point it out to me? Thanks man

[@eduardoserpa1682]

Nice call, I'm a huge fan of that style of Bard. I think the most recent ones that come close to that are the "perfect strategist" (Bard/Warlock) and "best healer" (Bard/Cleric/Rogue) builds, if you're interested. You could even leave 2-3 levels of Cleric/Warlock, and then go full Bard with the rest, and those builds would still be incredibly powerful. I'm currently doing something like that with my wife, and it's really flexible (Paladin 2, Lore Bard 10).

[@micahisonYT]

Hey hey maybe check out his “one turn killer” video which is a swords hard build that dumps a lot of damage by using bardic inspirations for multi attacks. Swords bard is to my knowledge the most direct DPS setup for Bard while the other lean a bit more into control and support.

[@SkyNinja759]

I'm running a Bard-warlock multiclass right now. It's a "support" build with that acts as a face of the party. Guide artisan background, class profiency in intimidation and sleight of hand, actor feat at level 4 for expertise in deception and performance. This way you get every single charisma skill and slight of hand for lockpicking (plus pickpocketing). Taking the friends cantrip for the best dialogue rolls in the game. 7 bard, 5 warlock is what I am going for but you can stop at warlock 3 for 10 levels in bard. Take your first level in bard, swap to warlock at level 2 and level it until you're ready to go back to purely bard for the rest of the game. Any warlock choices are good when leveling. You're really just taking warlock for Eldritch blast, devil's sight, and some spells like hunger of hadar and darkness. This character becomes the smoke grenade for the party. I didn't choose pact of the tome but if you want access to guidance as a support you can do so. Keep in mind you cannot use both friends and guidance from the same character when in dialogue. For bard choices I went for college of swords for the utility and damage of the fourishes. Being able to push enemies in melee and teleport to them keeps them off the party, even though you're not a "tank". You could go college of lore for magical secrets and take a bunch of support spells; or take college of valour for a more straightforward supportive roll with your inpiration usage. Dipping warlock as a bard is too good for me to not take. It fills in Bard's terrible combat cantrip selection while giving access to short rest spellslots and decent combative spell selection. Bard covers the true supportive and manipulative side of the character. Remember to take disguise self and get the shapeshifter ring in act 1 for 1d4 on all checks for the entirety of the game, the gloves of dexterity for setting your dex fairly high, and getting a light armour that adds to dexterity checks. This character will be an insane lockpicker and face for the party. I was hitting 11-23 skill check bonuses (with advantage on dialgue checks) by late act 1.

[@alphamorion4314]

@@micahisonYT Thank you man, but my wife actually wants the opposite. She is more like the face of the party, and support/control in combat. For combat purposes, she just has both Karlach and Lae'Zel, and Gale for control. So yeah, she is more interested in the optimized support/face of the party version of the bardic build, less so in the DPS version of it. Still extremely appreciated though! I will still definitely check out that build, maybe for My own potential second playthrough as Durge 😁

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Awesome, thanks! I'm still going through and updating each of the simple class guides (bard coming soon), but my original lore bard guide "the best bard in bg3" will still work just fine! The two builds Eduardo mentioned are also more recent and focused on playing as support, so those are great suggestions!

[@alewalek4634]

I have a question about dips for sorcerer as it was in this video in multiclass section. If I want to deep into cleric or wizard how it should be done properly, what I mean what class is your starting class and on what level you make a dip? I know that Sorcerer start is strong due to constitution proficiencies but then after a dip into another class I heard that some some spells and Items depends from new class so how do I play around that and what look for, how exactly it works. Thanks

[@victor1756]

Illihid powers are missing, and do you recommend any potion? For smashing classes you often recommend potion like giant strength, but what about casters, nothing? For spell casters I struggle between blood elixir , speed and battle mage power potions? I like you updated the 1st halfling sorcerer video I've played a lot, thanks.

[@ginar2339]

He’s done video on the best potions and elixirs on this channel.

[@GAMER32231]

I always get concentrated blast, psionic backlash and cull the weak. Every. Single. Time. (For illithid powers)

[@chalp1290]

Just use the fire acuity helm from the cow in act 2. Start off using that fire spell, uhhh, scorching ray, like, every hit will proc the helm and give you plus to hit with your spell. Haste yourself or use a speed potion. Duel wield staffs. At first use melfs and uhhh cor something or the incandesant staff. They give plus 1 to spell attack rolls. Anyway, by act 3 you can use the uhhh, staff of spellpower and the one from Raphael, Markoheshkir something. Both give you plus one spell rolls and a free 6th level cast per long rest. (sry not raphael, its that other dude from the shop in act 3, whatever TF his name is, uhh one beeach dude was supposed to go work for him from act one)

[@BearExec]

What companions would you take with this build and is there a certain way you would build them? This build looks amazing and I'm going to try this out for a full playthrough! I haven't managed to complete act one yet as I cant get set on a build I like yet... keep up the great work!!

[@ianwinter514]

how does disguise self work on merchants? i have not seen any difference the couple of times i tried it

[@shayhearn4250]

Could you do one of these for bard?

[@linkdude09]

So I realize that you already have videos covering the sorlock as you called out, but something that might be worth pointing out is that 9 sorc / 3 warlock, gets you a lot of nice things at very little trade off because Markaheskir gives you effective Lv 6 spellcasting even if you don't natively get Lv 6 slots. Additionally, I've found that having the warlock spell slots as Lv2 slots, makes it really easy to have one misty step at the start of every combat and then have a 2nd one ready to go if you misclick or the enemies get you wherever you initial position was. For that, I know that chain pact is the mechanically best but I like tome pact for for guidance and because I dislike low level summons even if they are great utility. though blade pact is also good if you want to be prepared for the admittedly rare case where your spellcaster just needs bonk someone on the head with their staff. On a somewhat related note, could you do a paladin build with Wyll on the idea that after (and if) he breaks his pact with Mizora, he swears paladin oath? I know Lockadin is a great multiclass, but I'm asking for a more paladin monoclass focus build I suppose

[@tranducquang5912]

Misty step is not as important for this build cause you can literally fly and not get attack by opportunity. 99% of the time longstrider + Fly is way more than enough distance for the build

[@tastethedragon250]

If you do a 1 level dip into wizard, do the spells you learn cast from your intelligence or charisma?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

They'll use your intelligence - spells always use the casting stat of the class you learned them from, and any spells you learn from scrolls will be wizard spells. That also means you can learn the same spell twice - if you do, be careful to cast the version with the higher save DC!

[@lostinsim]

What background do you recommend?

[@lostinsim]

Urchin of course!

[@turtledude101]

Am i misssing something i chose disguise self but i do not get fly, was this patched? Im currently level 4

[@bloodmoon135]

So where do we put that dip class? At lvl 1? Don't really understand...sry

[@TheMartin8289]

How is the build progression when multiclassing with Wizard? Do you start as Sorc for con proficiency then wizard 1 and then normal sorc progression?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep, exactly! It's either that or go sorc 5 first to get Alert and 3rd-level spells asap. It depends a little on how much your party needs utility spells (eg, if you don't have Longstrider elsewhere in the party, you want to level wizard early so you can learn it immediately)

[@TheMartin8289]

@@Cephalopocalypse Cheers mate! Thanks for the quick reply and appreciate the content. Keep it up!

[@Twisted4Funk]

If I understand correctly. If you have 1 dip in wizard you can't use any learned wizard damage spell as it uses int spell save (prob to hit) You can only use spells that use charisma. I think. As all scroll spells learned and used are intelligence based. However if you use a spell directly from a item or scroll it uses charisma or int? Since any character can use activate a scroll. Is there an easy page that explains this whole mechanic?

[@robulrich6355]

You can still cast spells learned from scrolls, they just use your spell save DC based on Int (for wizards). Also, casting from scrolls now use Int. You would have to add a class such as Barbarian, Bard, Paladin, or Warlock to reset it back to Charisma. The rule for items is the last class added (not class level) determines the spell save DC. I know it can be confusing, but I hope that helps.

[@zeropierre4662]

Spell save DC? does that help every spell land or just ones like hold person?

[@andreasm.7025]

Im thinking of a wild magic build as mix of a sorcerer and barbarian. Start as Sorcerer, switch for 3 Level to Barbarian and then switch back and level the rest as sorcerer. Would that be the best multiclass for a wild magic sorcerer build and max the wild magic or would you splitt the levels in another way? The build should still be a sorcerer, no fighter.

[@GC-co1jb]

Will you be making an improved bard guide anytime soon?

[@Muad_Dib420]

Why no ritual caster feat on this build, can someone explain?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

All ritual caster does is allow you to learn two more spells, so it's generally not worth spending a feat on - we also have access to all the ritual spells we want for this build inherently.

[@turtledude101]

I was able to get hags hair, and plus 3 charisma from mirror of loss. Going into level 12 i already have 24 charisma due to having with birthright hat.So idk what to do with the last feat. Not sure what i should choose. Elemental adept seems like a good option. But dual weilding staffs opens up so many cool options, woe for arcane vamperism, staff of cherished necromancy. Or even staff of spell power. For an additional arcane battery. Coupled with my half illithid free cast and my spell cruz amulet spell restoration. I could just spam lvl 6 spells. What do you think?

[@thekiltedzombie8230]

Whats your thoughts on using the Helldusk armor since it doesn't require proficiency?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

A good option when you get it! (or of course if you cheese it early)

[@thevigilmain6628]

Can you do an illithid powers tierlist please?😭😭😭

[@thepeoplesjewels]

unlock all of them then toggle on Cull the weak.

[@thevigilmain6628]

@@thepeoplesjewels so everything is in D tier and cull the weak is in S tier😂

[@Alexander_0385]

the boots of striding are medium armor...

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yes, my bad! Updated in the pinned comment

[@noahtewell5030]

Can you do a Mono-Class party build for Honor Mode? Say like a party of Bards? Or Bards with different multi-classes? That’d be a really fun theme party.

[@thepeoplesjewels]

Distanced spell with shocking grasp is nice.

[@gildartsclide]

Can your one shot lightning lord build still one shot the enemy?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

yep!

[@Caillouteletub123]

I'm using it right now with some friends in coop and yes, it does ! It's their first time playing BG3 and their reaction gets me everytime I do 100+ lightning damage hahaha.

[@mikedickens848]

Dam you true strike!!!

[@michadybczak4862]

Who is the first character in your party?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Just the custom main character for that savefile!

[@RichyRich2607]

I cant help me, but atm I am playing sorc tav on honor mode and he feels kinda weak (atm lvl 4). Cloud of daggers can be super op, but in situations also kinda useless. besides CoD there is nothign big left at this point. Chromatic orb is okay-ish, magic missle does not enough damage to matter (besides finishing low hp enemys) and therefore I spam most of the time cantrips with 60-70% hit chance.

[@Faelandaea]

I admit I have only played “Balanced”. What is it, exactly, that makes a build “Honour” or “Tactician”? I am curious as I cannot for the life of me find a video or guide explaining anything other than the difference in game modes, but not the difference in builds. Am I missing something? I apologize if this sounds idiotic but I am struggling to understand since BG3 is as close to D&D as I will ever get, so trying to learn all the ins and outs (I only started playing a month ago and this is my first turn based game. I am addicted.)

[@chalp1290]

You can go 12 lvls of Sorcerer and be strong AF. Draconic. 12 nat AC

[@ecbrown6151]

Ah yes Sorc, my first love.

[@michealcaboose1875]

Not sure if this was me not paying attention or if it’s a new mechanic.. the other day I casted ray of frost on a guy who was standing in blood and the blood turned to ice and when it melted it became water.

[@blaym4271]

Yea blood is treated the same as water except I don't think it can make an electrified field when hit with lightning. Not sure about that part tho

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep! Blood and alcohol surfaces can freeze, but melt back into water surfaces

[@hugoluiz2353]

This is good but can be better, get dual wielding feat at lv 8 or 12 instead of another ability improvement as you can enhance it with act 3 charisma hat and hag's hair/mirror, equip 2 staves to boost magic, along with globe of invulnerability and chain lightning also get disintegrate to twin/quick cast, if you really wanna minmax this, you can get 1 dip into tempest cleric for the passives and utility spells since sorcerer effectively ends at lv 11.

[@alewalek4634]

When do you dip into it? Start as Sorcerer and Dip at level 2 then back to sorcerer? What about some item dependancy, I read that your second class has some influence on items rolls? I am just starting with BG 3

[@northofself]

Holy heck, the Markoheshkir Chain Lightning can still be twinned? 😂

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yep, as can Witch Bolt if upcast to any level but 1 - they tried to fix those things in patches but did not quite manage :P

[@lamontwhite5157]

The game breaker!

[@ReinbachIII]

Doesn't scribing require 2 Wizard levels, at least in honor mode?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

nope!

[@Viper3220]

Shield before mage armor? Why? 3AC all day for 1 slot vs 5AC for a single round using a spell slot every time? I can see that making sense on a gith with medium armor. Otherwise though seems like a massive mistake

[@paragonca9736]

Unless I'm mistaken, Hold Person/Monster can't be twin-cast, but it can be upcast. So a Heightened upcast Hold Person/Monster... 🥶

[@tranducquang5912]

you can twin cast it, its just not as efficient as upcasting it. But yes Heightened Hold monster on boss is one of the ways to 1 shot encounters turn 1 especially if your team has good dex + alert for martials/melee characters). I can 1 shot raphael turn 1 simply with Elixir of Battle mage, heighten hold monster and 2 martials character wailing at him and he has 666 HP and 27 AC ! He could literally never move and with Cons proficiency, high cons(i am playing dragon ancestor Fire sorceror when i did that combo to Raphael making arcane acunity stacking trivial), dude never stood a chance

[@kayodoubleu3310]

I just don't understand why in lot of those videos there is no gameplay. It would be fun to watch how the build plays itself. How to level up i could just read and don't need to watch a 40 min video.

[@barryevans791]

Wizard is the best caster to play as a new character because you can learn spells from scrolls, so you can learn what is useful. Choosing the right spells on a Sorceror is difficult if you do not have any experience with spellcasting unless you are willing to sit down for ages reading what each spell does before making a decision.

[@Ragatokk]

Really surprised to not see a multiclass here.

[@ecbrown6151]

It hurts the build somewhat, missing a feat etc. There’s a good argument for 2 Wiz though with the headband, scribe scroll and Wiz sub class is super strong on Sorc. Also gives you 5 swappable spell slots of any level.

[@Ragatokk]

@@ecbrown6151 yeah, and then you have things like tempest cleric and warlock.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

For multiclassing advice, try the multiclassing section of the video ;)

[@Ragatokk]

@@Cephalopocalypse What I meant was: I were surprised that the finished 'best' build was a pure one.

[@ecbrown6151]

@@Cephalopocalypse haha we got there eventually, nice vid as per usual, I think Sorc is such a great choice for someone’s first play through

[@Im_Still_LightSpeedLayne]

Why don’t people use the Meta that is basically counter spell? I truly don’t get it. Your whole group can keep from getting hit.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

I'm not sure what ability you're asking about - what's it called?

[@hwate8]

You probably should have mentioned that two levels of Warlock gets you Fiendish Vigor, which basically lets you fly infinitely in-and-out of combat.

[@Levelord92]

Come on, a little showdown please on how to use this class

[@poetg3000]

I'm barley in Act 2 😅😅😅😅 after almost a year of playing 😊😊😊😊

[@robulrich6355]

Why would you name your character after a grain?

[@Caillouteletub123]

​@@robulrich6355😂😂😂

[@djglxxii]

I immediately unsubbed when I saw you take True Strike.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Like so many before you!

[@djglxxii]

@@Cephalopocalypse j/k

[@magister343]

I never liked True Strike, until I modded it so that it doesn't use an action or bonus action. When it can be used for free it is pretty great.

[@djglxxii]

@@magister343 in the very least it should be a bonus action

[@sebastiendouilhet5890]

I am thoroughly annoyed by the true strike choice.. May the algorythm bring you back to the right path

[@iinfrunamii.]

howd you know i had just started my first ever sorc playthrough? 🧐🧐

[@Cephalopocalypse]

tadpole mental link!

[@ezoni8438]

yeah race proficiencis cool and al,,,, but huge dragon

[@andrerodon3921]

You always talk about "true strike to annoy people in the comments" but I'd actually like to know why you take it. I don't have a negative predisposition to the spell and I'm assuming you have some rationale or particular usage case in mind - I'd like to hear what it is. Can you explain one time for those of us that aren't haters and haven't played the game past lvl 3 ?

[@redtreatrick5265]

I hate the tension you raised by not replacing spells. It worked tho since I wouldn't watch the whole video otherwise

[@Cephalopocalypse]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean! We replace spells a few times in the level-up process, but only when a new spell would be better.

[@redtreatrick5265]

@@Cephalopocalypse I probably underestimate chromatic orb and magic missle past first half of act2 because I mostly switch them at this point and I never picked a ritual spell for sorcerer since there are a couple of items with ritual spell bound to them, especially for enhanced edition

[@g0r1lla35]

is going for 11/1 split really that good? having an extra feat for dual wielding or attribute improvement seems to be a bigger advantage than having access to more spells by dipping into warlock/wizard. moreover, having only one wizard spell prepared is kind of annoying for lazy people like me. big QoL loss imo. it should also be mentioned in the video when to do the dip. i tried lvl 6 sorc, then 1 wizard, then rest sorc and was confused why my scrolls had such poor hit chance. well, turned out the scrolls used my INT stat instead of CHA :( so if you want to go heavily on scrolls you need to go wizard first and then rest in sorc in order to make CHA work with your scrolls. i mean i am kind of a rookie in this game so i might be wrong on these things. would appreciate if someone can enlighten me ;)

[@GrimsBar]

11 warlock, 1 wizard. Full illithid tadpoles. Pass all checks at the zaythisk. Mindflyer skills become bonus action. Blackhole, fireball, haste, firewall. It will obliterate everything. Was playing today and hit over 700 damage in 1 turn didn't include cull the weak damage, instant death below 27 health). Duel-weild staves, second feat into fire. Burning helm, Raphael armor, burning boots, monk gloves with bonus action on fire damage, both spell save DC staves with free cast, mental fatigue ring, self heal 2 hp ring, +2Spell save DC Clarice necklace. Brutal combo. 21-22 spell save DC and melt. After fireball, use that heat to buff fire wall. 😂😂😂

[@minnesotanose]

i am currently running a hafling swords bard all i gotta say is its stupid.

[@Im_Still_LightSpeedLayne]

With toons that you can only change their spells on level up ( sork, ranger, warlock, etc ), what happens after level 12? I’ve always played with clerics, wizards and Druids. After 600 hours I made it a point to play with toons I haven’t used yet and am wondering what happens when you max level.

[@ZeMovinPixxle]

i just dont understand the true strike joke

[@joshhobbs4862]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Zero_Zone.]

Comment for Al-Gore-Rhythm.

[@th3thatguy631]

All praise the Al-Gore-Rhythm

[@MoejoTheGreat]

Distant spell is a must for runepowder shenanigans.

[@daviddyke1]

Misty step is vastly superior to flight btw, flight has only half the distance of misty step

[@RichyRich2607]

Why would you go for so many concentration spells? For me its 99/100 times twin haste :D

[@magister343]

I don't see why you would want Mage Armor after leaving the wildness area. It is much better to have a stealth character attack Raphael when he first appears then silence him and knock him out when he comes to your camp, so that a character without armor proficiency can wear the AC 21 Heldusk armor (which has a bonus that makes anyone proficient in it).

[@VJ-zm5xi]

But sorcerers always spend a spell slot, even when casting spells that are considered to be ritual for e.g. wizards and clerics…

[@05kamora]

❤