The ENDLESS ARCHER - BG3 Astarion Honour Build Guide

[@AshGreen359]

It's great that you showed a demonstration of how the build works

[@muschuu857]

I swear I could listen to you talk about this game for hours

[@xAfterTomorrowx]

This build was such a huge help in finishing my first hm mode run. having the sporekeeper armor on this character added a whole new dimension for how a ranged archer could play in this game. throwing haste spores while criting half the enemies in the field made act 3 a breeze. probably my favorite archer build you shared

[@DtlaDaisy]

whoa i need to try that!!!

[@RuneForumwalker]

Oh my god, Druid 2 is roughly a build concept I thought up a while back when trying to think of different 2 level dips besides fighter on Gloomstalker/rogue build. Nice.

[@obscuX]

Risky Ring is also a nice way to guarantee advantage on attacks. Getting the Drakethroat Glaive and use its weapon enchant ability on your bow also adds another +1 enchantment and damage dice to your attacks.

[@trengilly01]

The other melee weapon you want with this build is the Ambusher short sword. 1d6 Necrotic damage to all enemies that haven't taken a turn yet (and doubling with your auto crits) is crazy good. Plus it gives you another +1 to initiative. Skip the shield.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Good call! Definitely a great item

[@DtlaDaisy]

where can i get the Ambusher short sword?

[@trengilly01]

@@DtlaDaisy Its sold by the Dragonborn weapon merchant in Rivington Act 3

[@tranducquang5912]

Bloodthirst is good too which is what i used. Double -1 crit dagger, -1 crit bow , -1 crit cloak and a -1 crit helmet along with mirror of loss for 22 dexterity. If you drink the elixir that gives -1 crit requirement too making you roll a 14 and still crits. Thats like 30% crit, making you crit every 3rd attack too ! Along with multi attack arrows, You can almost always crit atleast once every arrow you shoot !

[@drprospect505]

Gets my like and comment for not using a Potion of Speed in the in the combat example alone. Much better way of showing off the specific ability of the class as opposed to a generic buff that's good for everyone

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

This looks so fun! I would have never guessed dipping into war cleric will be part of the build instead of 2 levels fighter but it makes so much sense and it's refreshing

[@luk2386]

If you start the fight with a normal ranged attack, you can surprise and also apply the extra attack to that initial arrow while also gaining another 2 ranged attacks, since your whole action would be back cause youre assassin. Thats makes 4 attacks + ambusher attack + war cleric attack for a total of 6 on first turn. This works on honour mode. Making this character the perfect one to initiate combat.

[@LordAryu]

I used a similar build in my Evil Durge run, and this guy singlehandedly trivialized nearly every fight on his own

[@Rygar777_]

I have never watched a channel for so long and no subscribe. Just realized my error. Great content warrior. ❤

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much!

[@stephenwilliams891]

Same

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

Your comment reminded me to subscribe, too 😂

[@SharpGhost]

That Oathbreaker Knight never knew what hit it.

[@necareon1379]

(Edit: did some math in the replies) Really nice build. Combining ranger with druid is something I’ve never thought of, but it also fits thematically. Something that’s always a key consideration for me when building characters and that I’m surprised you’re not really talking about much is whether builds have a “win more” strategy, i.e. when you’re already winning, you’ll win even harder, but they offer far less value when you’re on the back foot. In the case of this build, when you take damage or can’t surprise the enemy, your damage goes down a lot more than it would for other builds. And if you surprise the enemy and don’t take damage, you probably would have won anyway. That’s why I generally prefer thief builds to assassin builds, even though assassin is more popular according to Larian’s stats iirc. Assassins are flashy and can take over the encounter when everything goes your way. But those are situations the thief would have won too, even if being less flashy. And the extra bonus action from thief is really nice for recovering when something unexpected happens. This build is still very strong if things go badly, so it’s not a pure “win more” build. But it is a consideration when comparing it to other archer builds. The one I’m running in my current honour mode is Gloomstalker 5, Thief 3, Bard 4 with Sharpshooter. This video now made me want to go through the stats and calculate how the damage compares between the two with and without surprise round :D

[@gildartsclide]

Show your results of that test so we can plug it in to see if what you are saying is true and come back here and give you a thumbs up if so :) Makes me wonder if you should do three tests adding in the fighter dip as well

[@necareon1379]

Average damage numbers by build TL;DR: GAWD = Gloomstalker/Assassin/War Cleric/Druid GTS = Gloomstalker/Thief/Swords Bard For normal archer with early act 3 gear but no bosses defeated: First round: 293 dmg (GAWD) vs. 193 dmg (GTS) First round if you’re attacked: 181 dmg (GAWD) vs. 193 dmg (GTS) 2nd round onwards: 135 dmg (GAWD) vs. 160 dmg (GTS) Total for 3 round fight: 560/448 (GAWD) vs. 513 (GTS) For Ascended Astarion (with Happy and Scarlett Remittance): First round: 368 dmg (GAWD) vs. 277 dmg (GTS) First round if you’re attacked: 219 dmg (GAWD) vs. 277 dmg (GTS) 2nd round onwards: 162 dmg (GAWD) vs. 229 dmg (GTS) Total for 3 round fight: 692/543 (GAWD) vs. 735 (GTS) GAWD hits harder per attack (especially in the surprise round), GTS hits more often. This means GTS gets stronger the more per hit buffs you have and the longer the combat. For ending the combat in 1 turn, GAWD is better. I might do the same for the Action Surge variant eventually, but for now I’m tired. -------------------------------------------------- The whole thing is an Excel file with formulas. I’ll try to make it as clear in text form as possible. If you’re one of the max 2 people who read all this, you have my respect. Also, don’t get confused by rounding errors. Assumed gear: Risky Ring (always advantage) Flawed Helldusk Gloves (+1d4 fire damage) Caustic Band (+2 acid damage) Knife of the Undermountain King Circlet of Hunting Hellfire Hand Crossbow (GTS) Hand Crossbow +2 (GTS) The Dead Shot (GAWD) Assumed buffs: 20 Dex Sharpshooter is always on. For sake of simplicity, I assume that Hunter’s Mark is already on the target. Ignored gear: Burning effect from Hellfire Hand Crossbow because it doesn’t list a DC Gloves of the Balanced Hands sound nice for Thief, but when I tested them they didn’t do anything. Look buggy. Numbers for this section assume a Tav, so no Happy All hit chance is against AC 18 (Oathbreaker Knight) GAWD: 94% hit chance, 27.8% crit chance (crits at 18, so 1-0.85*0.85). 94% - 27.8% = 66.2% chance of non-critical hit GTS: 88% hit chance, 19% crit chance (crits at 19, so 1-0.9*0.9). 88% - 19% = 69% chance of non-critical hit Average damage per dice roll is (max die number / 2) + 0.5, so e.g. 3.5 for a d6. Knife of the Undermountain King rerolls 1 and 2. It doesn’t state if it rerolls infinitely or if a second 1 counts. For sake of simplicity, I’ll assume the former which adds a flat +1 dmg to each damage roll. Now we can calculate the extra damage added to each attack through bonuses. All damage instances that are doubled on a crit are marked with * GAWD: 2 (Caustic Band) + 3.5* (Flawed Helldusk Gloves) + 2 (Weapon Enchantment) + 5 (Dex) + 10 (Sharpshooter) + 4.5* (Hunter’s Mark) + 4.5* (Symbiotic Entity) = 31 dmg on hit, 44 dmg on crit GTS: Same as above minus Symbiotic Entity, so 27 dmg on hit, 35 dmg on crit Now to combine this with the attacks for each round, starting with a normal round (i.e. not the first one). GAWD had three d8 attacks: first attack, second attack, and War Cleric attack, meaning 5.5 dmg on hit and 11 on crit. To get to the average damage, we add the 5.5 to the 31 (average non-crit bonus), multiply that by the non-crit hit chance, do the same for the crits, and add both: (5.5+31)*66% + (11+44)*27.8% = 41.25 damage 41.25 damage * 3 attacks + 11.3 (average sneak attack) = 135 damage GTS has five d6 attacks: 2x Slashing Flourish, 2x off-hand, second attack, so 4.5 on hit and 9 on crit. Same logic as above: (4.5+27)*69% + (9+35)*19% = 30 dmg 30 dmg * 5 attacks + 9.63 (average sneak attack) = 160 dmg Now for first round damage. This is only complicated for GAWD if you can surprise them. Starting attack: 41.25 (normal attack from above) + 11.3 (sneak attack) = 53 dmg Surprise round: since every hit is a crit, we multiply the average crit damage with the total hit chance. (11+44)*98% = 54 dmg 54 dmg * 3 attacks + 17.6 (average sneak crit) + 60.8 (average dread ambusher crit) = 293 dmg First round damage when you’re getting attacked is simple, you just add average dread ambusher damage. For GAWD that’s 46 dmg (so 135 + 46 = 181 dmg), for GTS that’s 34 dmg (so 160 + 34 = 194 dmg). For Ascended Astarion we get the following bonuses: Happy (+1 to hit) Scarlett Remittance (+3 to hit and dmg) Ascension (1d10 necrotic damage) That means new hit chances are 98% for GTS and identical for GAWD (in both cases you only miss with a double nat 1). I went through the same calculations and won’t go through them again here for brevity, but the results are at the top.

[@toneskatsu]

@@necareon1379bloody legend thank you for the computation

[@brianb152]

@@necareon1379thanks for the info this is really helpful

[@Cephalopocalypse]

That is extremely cool, great work!

[@matheus.bueno47]

I did a Rogue Bard, loved it, and it did the same role in combat. I just don't feel like Ranger really suits Astarion in roleplay, so I always choose Bard multiclass for him or Fighter.

[@Squattindawg12]

Love this build. I started using it yesterday. Missing the war domain cleric portion but it’s still working really well

[@HoboHunterr1001]

Finally found my Astarion build for my next run. I love all of your videos. Thank you so much.

[@atomic_cow]

man only makes bangers

[@SCP-49668]

Great Build! Though I would, as myself who is going to be running this in my next honor mode attempt, would probably point out that if you are doing a tavern brawler monk in the party too, the drain on the elixers may be an issue! If you grab the Club of Hill Giant Strength, you can use that in your melee slot to up your strength to 18. That would give you a solid 4 damage on the Titanstring! Save those Elixers for the Monk!

[@bloodboughtsaint777]

Because you're expecting to be concentrating on something, basically all the time, the Strange Conduit Ring would be a great addition to your build. While concentrating on a spell, all of your weapon attacks get an additional 1d4 Psychic damage.

[@mrblackroc1807]

Love the vids. I would really enjoy a vid with a party composed of your latest honour mode guides! Im thinking of something like the Sentinel/the Archer/the Bardlock + something else might be really nice! It does get hard to distribute gear around

[@verybrownsalmon]

I’ve been thinking about Spore Druid dip for a long time for additional 1d6 damage, and never thought about ranged weapons, good find! Imagine what Symbiotic Entity does for a Crossbow Bard) UPD: My Next Astarion build will 6 Sword Bard, 2 Spore Druid, 4 Gloomstalker, Titanstring Bow and Club of hill giant

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Nice! Yeah, the entity damage is melee-only in tabletop, but it works on ranged weapons in BG3 (imo a good change)

[@scottmcmillen3015]

@cephalopocalypse Love your videos! Your analysis is consistently top tier and you rarely misjudge any important considerations. Your nearly flawless analysis compels me to point out an oversight you make whenever you discuss cleric spells. Yes, Bless is awesome, and yes, it has the advantage over Bane of not requiring enemies to fail a saving throw. However, Bless is not the “almost always” spell you describe it to be, because Bane can often be more useful. Which one is better depends on how your enemies are attacking you and how your party is attacking them. When your enemies’ danger comes from attack rolls rather than forcing saving throws, Bless’s +1d4 to your saves does not help, but Bane’s -1d4 to their attacks helps a lot. Similarly, if your party’s most important actions rely on saving throws rather than attack rolls, then Bane’s -1d4 to enemy saving throws is more valuable than Bless’s +1d4 to your attack rolls. Thus, which one is better depends on your party and the enemies you face. I recommend the excellent video on this topic by Treantmonk. I know you’ve covered nearly everything you can for BG3, but I hope to hear some love for the Bane spell in future videos if it comes up. Cheers, and thanks for the great content!

[@gettinggrounded5490]

If you go 7 rogue you have an extra 2d6 of sneak on each attack (risky ring), + uncanny dodge. + evasion, and it lets you max out perception on top of stealth and sleight of hand so you can easily see traps and other hidden stuff.

[@Pierce886]

You can also use the very rare helmet from the murder tribunal to lower your crits by another 1 and it doesn’t require you to be obscured. So from stealth thanks to the cloak and rest of the gear 16+ crits and no stealth 17+ crits you’ll bully most of the game.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

True! Also a great item

[@rpgdave24]

If I don't already have advantage I tend to toggle sharpshooter off to land ensnaring strike, then back on with advantage because the enemy is ensnared. Thanks for your builds, all very clearly explained.

[@derekspaeth6854]

Awesome build as always. I was wondering if you would make some more honor mode build guides revolving around wizard, or maybe updating the tank wizard build for honor mode. My biggest struggle in honor mode is wanting to have Gale as a companion but finding it hard to actually utilize him in any meaningful way.

[@tranducquang5912]

i just play him as a copium Lighting Wizard. Works but man it feels terrible playing Wizard as a pure DPS class. Even the OP level 5 spell art of war or something name that is like the extremely strong magic missle spell still feels alot weaker than just play Fire sorcerer or even lightning/storm sorcs due to quickening spell and heightening spell. Having infinite chain lightning feels pretty good, but doing 1 level 6 2 level 5 Ray of fire is just so much better as single target dmg with multiple chances to crit, especially with cull of the meek if you play with illithid power is just insanity

[@cHaMp630]

Camping bonespike gloves and bhaalist armor in act 3 is the best option for an archer. Ac doesn't matter if everything is dead in the first 1-2 turns.

[@danielwelch9752]

I was proud of myself for not playing a stealth archer yet but this build…

[@ProbeAway]

Cool idea to use the spore Druid necrotic damage! From a pure optimisation perspective, would respeccing at level 8 to take rogue first be slightly better? They get more skill choices and I think you would end up with one more skill proficiency. Not a massive deal but a nice little bonus

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks! Yeah, the extra skill proficiency is probably better than the extra HP, though I kind of assume by level 8 you've got your party's skill split figured out already. Can be useful if there's something you're missing though!

[@THEMithrandir09]

While I like assassin here, Thief+Hand crossbows should maximize sharpshooter and hence be more sustained damage no?

[@KingMJAH]

Would a warlock dip work at all ? I was thinking the great old one for the fear on crits but I don’t know if it would work. Or maby it’s just not relevant with the ensnaring strike ?

[@awholemewworld4799]

Thank you for another great build! So glad your channel is growing. Love the content!

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks very much! The growth has honestly been wild

[@shoulderdeepcloud3398]

best one yet imo

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Thanks!

[@KerbalJoe]

Would you also recommend starting with Rogue instead of Ranger for the proficiency bonuses?

[@edielungreen]

Lots of great info here, but I’m still trying to figure out which god Astarion would cleric for lol

[@toneskatsu]

Hi thanks for the build guide! Will dual hand crossbows work better for this build?

[@KirDmA]

At last something different. Astarion getting a smaller ascension - pretty cool idea. But if I build this character I definitely will take Thief for extra bonus action - thanks to cleric feature it is extra damage in addition to usual mobility/stealth. And sanctuary. The only thing I regret is that this build is only suitable for late game and in the meantime I had to use standard gloomstalker build on Astarion.

[@Isaax]

What I don't understand is why your icons in the hotbar look so sharp and clear. I play on PC at 1080p, and my icons look all wrong and compressed, like trying to fit a 128x128 image into a 96x96 pixel space (random numbers for the sake of example). I'd assume that because you play at a higher resolution yours looks better, yet using fullscreen on the video on my 1080p display makes the icons look perfectly sharp, making me wonder why I can't have that in my game...

[@danielk.2733]

Is double crossbow or bow better? I have a feeling that double crossbow is just the best damage with sharpshooter

[@dylanconnors2727]

i did lower health cause i did the charisma for conversations

[@thebenc1537]

What about dual wielding crossbows? How would that rate against using a normal bow or crossbow?

[@HoboHunterr1001]

Just use the best setup you have at any given part of the game. Hand crossbows are better the more you can use your bonus action, worse the less you can

[@javiergomez9320]

Anyone else having an issue with the oath breaker not showing up in camp? I haven’t been able to reclaim my oath since act 2 and now I’m on act 3 and nothing. Keep in mind I got the tavern room for rent and still not showing up. I uninstalled the game and installed and nothing! Does anyone know how to fix it?

[@FroggyNakasuko]

Did you kill him? Beecause if you kill him he simply won't come back.

[@christinehede7578]

Would you be better with 14 con and 18 wisdom seeing as you are a ranged character?

[@welshyb2928]

If you're doing an honour mode run those extra hp are crucial but if you're playing any other mode yes you are correct

[@Casualcivlifer]

Where can we find your playthru videos?

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Right here on the channel!

[@tkgg]

Don't pick Selûne as your deity if you like using mirrors in act 3.

[@GridMatos]

how do i use the extra attack with the war domain?

[@michadybczak4862]

It just shows automatically, like with extra attacks.

[@maddux_17]

you could also get the titanstring bow early act 1 and use elixir of hill giant strength to get even more damage even though you would get less crits

[@maddux_17]

sorry. typed this before end of the vid lol

[@osirisgem]

Im getting ideas.

[@ThorVeras]

Dual Crossbow will do much more damage using the druid bonus that u dont need. I would do 4 thief 3 champion 5 gloom stalker dual crossbow. there is 2 wep that get better crit plus the helmet

[@zamboozled322]

I see that you had the odd numbered wisdom stat at the start, wouldnt it be smarter to put that into something like intelligence or strength, for either the int saving throws, or carrying capacity?

[@jakeinfactsaid8637]

It was me. I said cheeky heal.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

Yeah! Great tip :D

[@jakeinfactsaid8637]

The tip works particularly well with this build actually because even if you’re me and hate prebuffing, you can wear broodmother with your bless ring and shore up accuracy and add damage with just a reaction on the first turn of every fight.

[@ArjunSidhan]

Yeah... Science

[@christinehede7578]

Dread ambusher misses as often as it hits, very frustrating.

[@katsilva4277]

Every time a youtube build puts odd points in starting stats and doesn't take a half-feat to justify that decision, an angel loses its wings.

[@Cephalopocalypse]

We need those stats to hit 18 dex and 16 wis, as you'd know if you watched the video :)

[@thomasrosendahl2783]

Astarion can be a Rogue, Ranger or Bard. Other classes dont suit him if you like to role play.

[@fardass3535]

Druid could work since vampires traditionally shapeshift

[@Cephalopocalypse]

if that's what you want for his character, by all means!

[@MarekFischer854]

fighter is a better dip...

[@milanstepanek4185]

Before I even look at the first frame lemme guess: Thief+Warpriest+gloomranger+fighter

[@Sara-df5xi]

oops, guess you should have watched to see.

[@milanstepanek4185]

almost got it lol@@Sara-df5xi