Errata: I'm seeing a lot of posts about this so wanted to clarify - turns out that the DC of your magic items is *not* based on the first class you took, but it's also not necessarily based on the *last* class you took. Here's a good explanation I found online: "If your first level is in Sorc then any abilities granted by items or Illithid powers will use Charisma. If you then level into Cleric, all items and Illithid powers will now use Wisdom. If you now level back into Sorc, all items and Illithid powers will still use Wisdom. Items and Illithid power use the spellcasting ability of the last new class you leveled into. So now if this character leveled into Wizard or example, items and Illithid powers will now use Intelligence. If they level back into Sorc and then level back into Cleric afterwards, items and Illithid powers will still use Intelligence since these were both existing classes on that character. But if they level into Monk then the ability used for items and Illithid powers will switch to Wisdom again, since Monk is a new class for this character." (source: www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/185s5kl/determining_what_ability_modifier_casting_stat_is/) Hope that keeps things clear when we're respec'ing!
interesting... so basically if you're multiclassing, just respec and make sure the last class you choose uses the right one. So sorc first for proficiency, then cleric, then bard to ensure Charisma. If you want to add 1 level of wizard, you have to respec again and fit it after sorc, but before bard. If you added 2 levels of fighter or barb last, would it make spells/scrolls use Strength instead, or stay charisma since those aren't caster classes?
One thing I really appreciate about bg3 builds, is that it forces you to build around the wheelhouse of levels in which D&D is predominantly played. Sure, the theoretical aspect of levels 13-20 are nice, and yes we've all had fun in a level 20 one-shot. But the value in fine tuning a character to levels 1-12 cannot be overstated. Thanks for the entertainment Colby, you made my workday a little easier 🎉
As a quick tip for anyone speed running the gear - for the Boots of Stormy Clamor, you do need to get the mushrooms from the Arcane Tower and finish that quest for Omeluum before he will sell them to you.
As an even quicker tip: If you're lucky, Derryth (or potentially Blurg/Omeluum) will sell you the ingredients Omeluum needs. I think I even bought them from Omeluum once.
You can reach the Selunite Outpost in the Underdark before going through the Goblin camp. Get some invisibility, a potion/scroll of feather fall and go into the spider caves below the Blighted Village. Go to the cliffs where he Matriarch is at and you'll see the central, glowing green pit. Pop Feather Fall and jump into the pit, you'll float down into the Underdark right outside the outpost.
@@Ankz0r If you walk to the edge of the cliff from where the ettercaps were, it's range isn't that far. The invis is more to bypass the other spiders and ettercaps.
Also be careful not to lose inviz there. You'll be about to get jumped by a pair of minotaur right nearby where you land, and if you're not level 5 yet it's a hard solo fight
@@BraghDaMan No you're not. The Minotaurs are farther up, and the one that attacks the outpost doesn't come until you're inside the outpost. I've done this like 5x with level 2 characters.
I accidentally put together a similar build with Shadowheart during my current play through. I was so confused why no one could hit her and why I kept hearing thunder and then would see people get knocked prone or just flat out dying 😂 Thanks for explaining it all and helping me tweak the people's princess even further.
I stumbled onto your channel not that long ago thanks to Baldurs Gate 3, and I also used to play a ton of DnD. Your content is awesome, and your delivery/style is top notch. So glad I found your channel. You have gotten me back into this endless labyrinth of theory crafting, and I am so glad to be re-immersed in it all. I am more of an RP-player, over min-maxxing and optimization, but you still put a lot of emphasis on seeking out "flavor" in these concoctions of yours. I may not follow things to a T all the time, but it always helps to know that I can find some way of getting the vibe of a character that I want to build, and still make it viable/effective mechanically. You do great works here.
Hey Colby, thank you for these awesome builds as always. Just wanted to add one thing I found while attempting to recreate this build in-game. The Ilithid power, Stage Fright, targets a group of enemies in a circle and makes it so that enemies in that zone attack you with Disadvantage and if they miss they receive 2-12 psychic damage. Not sure if this counts as a condition yet but if it does WOO boy. Think this might be a candidate for a solo run in the future haha
I mixed this build with the shadowheart build you made for tempest cleric and it is just so nice. The first time I used all of the abilities together was in grym forge against nere and all those duergar. The gloves of belligerent skies works for tempest cleric nova and for spirit guardians. Shatter and spirit guardians really just works
Little hack I found with callous glow ring, since you are more than likely a bard at this point, cast the light cantrip on your instrument before going into battle so you can always rigger the extra damage.
It's really cool to see this video on my feed, today I started playing my honor mode with the same idea of leaning heavily on radiant damage! Always love your content btw :D
My Sorlock has almost this exact set of items, the extra radiant damage and radiant explosions on eldritch blast, with repelling blast counting as a condition is pretty hilarious.
Completely unrelated, parasocial and nonsensical but maybe a little funny(?): I had a dream where I lived in an apartment next door to yours and I had discovered a secret passage into a labyrinth of sorts. One time I entered it and realized the door got stuck (made more sense back then) because you had entered yours at the same time (guess all nerd apartments come with a labyrinth these days) and we managed to dungeon crawl our way into each other's apartments Okay, now that I wrote it all down, it's more weird than funny but I already wrote it so I'm posting it
Love this build! Started playing it as soon as I saw this vid. One change I made is after getting bard to 6, I took sorcerer to 3. This allows me to get misty step with sorcerer levels freeing up the magical secrets slot for counterspell. More importantly it provides quickened spell to set up spirit guardians + shriek in 1 turn. Also by starting wood elf you get longsword proficiency (and extra movement!) so I took the Light cleric domain for warding flare to mitigate crits as that’s more useful than war cleric. Then bard to 8 for a second feat. This all works only if you plan to stay as a Lore bard rather than changing to swords at level 12. The downside of course is I won’t get level 5 spells, but there was nothing there I needed anyway. An bardic inspiration stays a d8, but I can live with that.
Glyph of Warding is also super good with builds like this, especially if you're an elf character as you can just walk into groups of enemies with spirit guardians and then sleep them with your glyph of sleeping
Amazing build. Never thought to go the bard route to do this combo, always been a light cleric which works great but I'm definitely switching it up tonight to test it out
These builds are so good but the day or so between the short teasing the build and the actual build is literally torture!! Why do you do this to us Mr. Critlander?
Haven’t watched yet but… *Inhales* LIFE BEFORE DEATH!!! STRENGTH BEFORE WEAKNESS!!! JOURNEY BEFORE DESTINATION!!! What is the most important step a man can ever take brothers?!
Thanks so much for putting out more BG3 builds, Colby! I know you mentioned not getting as many views on them, but as someone who just got access to BG3 recently, I’m loving it. I joined up to support!
This quickly became prob my favorite build. I feel it's so much easier to use and is fully online way quicker than arcane ward + armour of agathys shenanigans. A really cool thing to do is get the buff from the zaith'isk. Stuff like Force Tunnell, Stage Fright and Shield of Thralls on a bonus action synergize so well with what you're doing. And get the Cloak of Displacement also, it's nuts for this build. Didn't even know a couple of these items existed before this, thanks for the vid!
I absolutely love the luminous orb gear in BG3. In every playthrough I’ve had a pure Light Cleric using it, but it’s always been a companion character. Looking forward to seeing an optimized build!
I was certain that the ice breaker was the most fun build. I was blissfully surprised when I built this and absolutely wrecked the duergar hunters. I literally giggled the entire encounter. Fantasticly, *brilliant* build, Colby!
I basically ended up on this exact build on my latest run, going Storm Sorcerer 1 + Tempest Cleric 11 instead, just for a bit more of that Cleric-y support. Was great coming back to this video and comparing it to my notes and realising they were so similar.
Great stuff as always! I would recommend making this a Gith character giving you proficiency in Medium armour without the Cleric Dip as well as a racial Misty Step.
Gith do not get shield proficiency though... I just hit Act 3 using this Radiant build, but I did it as a Gith. The big negative about being a Gith is that NPCs initially seem to not like you. Everyone hates the Gith, even the Gith seem to hate the Gith. But that extra +1 to any section of skills and extra Misty Step is pretty sweet.
I just arrived at the beginning of act three and happened upon a fantastic weapon for this build mere hours after watching this video, the Nyrulna! It can be found in the circus, after a bit of drama with the djinn Akabi. (On a side note, I'm loving these build videos. Keep it up!)
I’ve been soloing with this build and just finished act 2 last night. Will probably need to respec if I go to the house of hope and I’m not sure about the brain fight either - it really shines vs multiple enemies but struggles a bit vs single bosses.
Love this build!! Ive used it on several of my play throughs using Sorcadin, and Hunter Ranger with volley!! Will definitely try the addition of cleric!
I was just thinking about making a Kaladin build for my next playthrough, as a new fan of yours, and an editor for the Coopermind, this video hits the perfect spot for me. Thanks!
Man, I had most of these items already on shadowheart, but realized I had a few sitting at camp and a few I could go grab before going into the shadowfel, so good timing before I lost the chance to pick a few up. Also, had the thunderskin cloak just sitting in inventory which is a nice little bonus.
I do enjoy conceptualizing builds as much as playing the game. Your vids make me wish I could sit around the table and theory craft with you. So great and I’ll be “joining” soon. Does this build not give Diablo II Hammer Paladin vibes?! I love it. I’m going to slightly re-spec Shadowheart to try a Tempest Cleric version that uses watery terrain to add the electrocuted condition and enhance lightning, thunder (& cold) damage… the “sparkswall” ring gives you immunity to being electrocuted and therefore lets you stand in the puddle. The enraged thrower Karlach build you did synergizes really well as she can use barrels and bottles of water to lay down puddles without harming your team-mate and without wasting a spell slot on casting “create or destroy water”. Like I commented previously on your Karlach Enraged Thrower build, there are also LOTS of lightning and/or charge items which could be used to round out the party. Love this video & concept, thanks so much!
Now, I know you've done modded content before, but have you considered using the level 20 mod and going all out? "But wait!" I hear you say, "That would make the game far too easy!" You'd be right, if you didn't also mod the enemies to make them tougher. "Player level scaling" levels up the monsters with you, or a couple levels ahead of you for bosses (Though when running through town you will hear the "level up" sound a lot as it levels npcs you get close to) but that doesn't QUITE add enough challenge, because the enemies don't get new skills, so I also add in "Tactician Plus health boost" (I did 30% last playthrough, thinking about bumping it to 50% next) which just simply boosts enemy health. Now you can theory craft all the way to level 20 and still have a challenging game! Also, you could boost the health even higher (up to 300%) if you wanted to mod in a fifth or sixth character to your party and still have it be a challenge.
This is amazing, I love builds that come online quick with items in act 1. I wish this worked with necrotic from spirit guardians for a "lore friendly" version for Shadowheart.
You know....given the amount of trick arrows that the game seems to want to throw at you, I'm surprised that I have not seen a Green Arrow/Arsenal build based on Gloomstalker Ranger/Assasin Rogue or Battlemaster Fighter/Open Hand Monk/Thief Rogue. All using the Archery fighting style and sharpshooter feat.
Hey Colby. Is it possible to make a build with some of the Tal Dorei Feats or subclasses? I would love to see the new Thrown Weapon Master in a build whether it's sharpshooting darts an extra 40 feet or a dual wielding spinning returning scimitars or hell. A net and great axe toss build! Nets now get 25/55 range with the feat and two handed weapons get a range of 15/30!
One suggestion for the lore (i.e. non-swords bard) route: dip 2 levels of monk, so we get Step of the Wind: Dash, which removes the bonus action requirement for jumping. With strength elixirs, this means the knight radiant can literally fly (i.e. jump) everywhere in a single turn, afflicting every possible enemy no matter how big the battlefield is. I've used this for my radiating orb/spirit guardian build and it makes the build even more fun.
One more item: ring of mental inhibition. Anytime you deal damage with spirit guardians, they also take 2 stacks of metal fatigue. So now ALL saves are rebuffed by spirit guardians. It’s just silly.
If you use the gloves they cause reverberation on lightning as well as radiant, thus shooting lightning arrows counts. Better yet, if you coat with basic poison your weapon this causes an extra condition and the poison works on entire AoE from arrow, not just main target. Add the ring that adds radiant damage to attack and you cause more reverberation.
I just used this in my HR in the house of hope and it destroyed Raphael, he just couldn’t get a turn it was brilliant. Usually this wouldn’t work BUT I saw a tip that they have 1 turn Radiant reflect. You can use the Light of Lathander to hit a group and the mace will stop you from dying and give you a small heal. I preloaded the room with barrels and took elixirs for high initiative. I blew them up and they lost their reflect for some reason. Regardless challenge accepted im taking this build for a solo honor run with a bunch of “do not die” options to hopefully let me survive! Wish me luck 😅
This is a great build!!! I thought item DC that was based on casting modifier was based off of your last taken spell caster multiclass, not the first? I’m pretty sure this is how it works for the elemental augmentation necklace
This is a great build to augment a party. Soloing in Tact+ difficulties, you have to keep enemies at range (and best stay stealthed) to succeed. This build to do the most damage, you have to get up close and personal with combat. Some fights solo, this can lead to probably death.
Hey Colby, a gift: Flame Blade 🔥 is NOT concentration in BG3. It opens a world of possibilities: Hasted Flame Blade, Hold Person Fast Hand Flame Blade (crit plus two strikes in turn one), etc.
Little late to the party but I’ve been trying to decide which build to try/play for my very first honor run and I think I found it :) At first I was excited about cleric because I’ve wanted to play one and then you’re like “now we’re bard” and I was like awww. But bards are so strong I now see why. Keep up the amazing work, Colby! You and your channel are my #1 source of BG3 builds 🤙
I just had an idea that I'd like to pitch to see in the future. It's inspired by my plan to (eventually) play a full playthrough as a different class each time. At least starting or predominantly as said class. So maybe a build series that focuses on a fun build centered around each class? With similar restrictions, in that the starting class should be the primary focus and/or the build mainly focuses on said class and its features.
The Infamous Radiator build. Nice! Some notes - -In Bg3, spiritual weapon does not require constant bonus action usage. It one bonus action to summon, it behaves as a summon after that. -Warden of Vitality is not available to Clerics. It's a lvl3 Paladin spell, meaning lvl 9 Paladin or lvl 6 Lore Bard is the earliest you can get it. -The Boots of Stormy Clamour i have not found to be bugged. It is probable that the reverberation stacks seem to apply more than they should because the thunder damage from the Gloves of Belligerent Skies/Phalar Aluve Shriek combo also applies reverberation indtantly. -For maximizing effectiveness in any Spirit Guardian based build, Crusher's ring provides 10 feet if extra movement, 20 on a dash. Stack this with Longstrider at the start of the day, and you'll be applying the effects all over the battlefield, if you're willing to move around a lot -Sprllshudder amulet applies reverberation on ranged spell damage. It should be considered, especially if using magic missile. -For solo potential, a dual wielding Paladin2/Light Cleric 10( or 1 Fgtr/2Pal/9Cleric for two weapon fighting style) build is probably the version most suited. I prefer Light cleric for the base build anyway, because of the huge radius of Radiance of Dawn.
@@bradleybarr7572 If you're only taking 2 levels of Paladin, the subclass is not that impactful. Ancients is probably the best because of the healing aura, which can combine with the healing items in the game. Those items can apply buffs on heal, like blade ward and bless.
I think the only thing you're missing is adding the Halberd from Moonrise that can cast Thunder 1d6 with an addition +1 to the weapon to hit, without concentration till long rest, to your longsword from the stone. It's just extra for free thunder damage. I think I might try this for Act 3 and Fighter 1 (+1 AC fighting style) 11 Bard swords and use the Longbow that can cast guiding bolt, as well as use the elemental weapon on it for the extra thunder damage.
If i remeber right you can be stunned if you r not a robot using that weapon (there is gloves for it) but either way is not a good option being a single target hit. Pallar alluve is so mutch stronger aoe wise.
A few thoughts on the leveling up to 5 portion - I think I'd throw in a couple of alternate consideration. Tempest cleric levels up very nicely at low levels - the channel divinity is massive for burst damage in the lvl 3-4 range, which can smooth over some tougher fights in that period (and more impactful I would think than the war cleric stuff). For boots I'd consider the ones Minthara has as well in certain fights (boots of striding)- while it removes some of your ability to deal debuffs/conditions, if it's a fight where you're possibly getting knocked prone I *hate* losing concentration to it. Appreciate the build as usual - always a highlight of the week to see what you cooked up!
Jen, my love, come here real quick... In my first playtrhough I started a fighter dual-wield and used Phalar Aluve paired with another sword until level 12 (then I've respec to fighter 2/paladin 10). I'm thinking that going another Tav dual-wield with Phalar Aluve and using this build with Shadowheart using the Blood Of Lathander would be very interesting.
For your next BG3 build I would love your take on a mostly Swords Bard build. The most popular version I see is 10 Sword Bard/1 Fighter/1 Wizard. That gets you magical secrets, two fighting styles and with the right gear a lot of utility from wizard and bard spells. Even without the right gear one level of wizard still gives you a lot of DC independent spells. I think swords bard actually has the potential to do the most attacks per round. 1 level of War Cleric lets you use your Flourishes as a bonus action (provided you still have bardic inspiration to burn). 3 levels of thief rogue gives you that extra BA. And of course who could forget Fighter 2 Action Surge A 6 Sword Bard/1 War Cleric/ 3 Rogue/ Fighter 2 could be a monsterous build. Definitely not ideal only having one ASI/feat, but monsterous nonetheless. Equipment would be crucial, but you could probably come up with something incredible
Love your voice and your charming looks, but did you ever think on "editing" a bit?, like for example, put half of the screen with your video and the other half with in game character while editing what you are narrating?
Would it be possible to make a character that grapples an enemy and jumps really high to weaponize fall damage? As far as i can tell it works RAW, the only effect grappling has on jumping is indirectly by halving your movement speed
Just going to add my personal modification of this build if anyone else is interested and so I can come back and consult this in the future. I used this build on Shadowheart too so I didn’t need a lot of the party face options you get from Lore Bard. I like Tempest Cleric far more than War cleric both because of channel divinity options and always prepared spells. In addition to those you don’t have to give up martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency (even though we are using medium armor here). As such I tweaked this build to incorporate that (and nuking things with lightning+wet when applicable). So Tempest cleric to five to get Spirit guardians. Take the same equipment. Phalar Aluve being a finesse weapon really saves us here as it means we can dump our strength once we get it. Strength and Charisma go down to 8 set Int to 16, Wis to 16, Dex to 14, and Con to 12. Con is a little low in this setup but I prefer the increased combat versatility and it’s so hard for enemies to hit us anyway. The Gloves synergize really well with the thunder and lighting damage features of tempest cleric and with a few levels in Wizard we can pick up Lightning Bolt from a scroll without slowing down our spell slot progression. I personally went for a 4Wiz 8Cleric split to ensure I still get three feats as we are a little bit MAD in this build. Two ASI and war caster for advantage on concentration checks plus a nice opportunity attack option that synergizes with tempest cleric and glove features. Resilient Constitution is also viable here if you play around with the ability scores if you would rather have proficiency over advantage. Dealers choice here honestly. Took Create/Destroy Water and lighting bolt to max out damage with Tempest Cleric while also getting a lot of the value Colby illustrates in this vid. Obviously the downside is this setup sucks as a party face, but fits pretty nicely for Shadowheart. Even fits thematically for her imo as it shares a lot with the build he did for her in the optimizing companions series. Really happy with this setup tbh as it kind of allows you to have your cake and eat it too. Hope this helps anyone who isn’t jazzed on War cleric.
I have to assume Sandon Branderson will eventually come up with a knight radiant class, probably with a subclass for each order, although he might put it off until each has been properly introduced. Power-wise, 4th Ideal Kaladin seems about perfect for around a level 15 character, so 5th ideal would probably correspond well to level 20.
Not sure if better than Boots of Stormy Clamor, but Boots of Striding should at least be considered. Between constitution saving throw proficiency and war caster, being knocked prone is pretty much the only realistic way to lose concentration. These boots completely negates that if you have spirit guardians up
I basically did this build less the helm. SPOILER -> in the gauntlet of shar when the rats attack and run to their death in your Spirit Guardians it is a very easy fight. Then the rat justiciar spawned with 10 orbs already on him :)
I’m gonna use this for SH on my HM run, Tav will be dual crossbow bard, throwzerker Karlach, and Sentinel Laezel to lock down enemies even further while me and Karlach just destroy them from afar 🎉
I'm loving this build so much! Currently playing it with a couple changes - not multiclassing my War Cleric (for RP purposes). Wyll is a Pact of the Blade Bardlock in this party so I have him using Phalar Aluve as his pact weapon. Tav instead uses the Shining Staver of Skulls for the radiant damage with every hit. It also lets Wyll launch Shriek and Tav set up Spirit Guardians in the same round meaning it comes online faster. Now that I have the Blood of Lathander too, seriously tempted to use two weapons with that and the Staver all through Act 2.
I would also like to toss it out there, if you wanted to get to the under dark even quicker, B line to the spider monarch under the blighted village, once you kill it, you can cast feather fall and jump into the under dark in the center of the spiders nest. The hole is right next to the gem you find for the necromancer book.
My only real suggestion is to forgo ASI's and stay at 18 Cha/Wis via Hag's Hair depending on the route taken. Then taking Mobile/Res Con with Crusher's Ring from the Goblin Camp. Like you said you don't really need your spell save DC and you've that +2 dc necklace in the city. If you aren't a cleric you do miss out on the +1 channel divinity but hell +2 dc is the equivalent of two ASIs. So the helm DC isn't that important but now suddenly you've got +6m movement speed which means your bonus action doesn't need to be used on misty step/jump
Errata: I'm seeing a lot of posts about this so wanted to clarify - turns out that the DC of your magic items is *not* based on the first class you took, but it's also not necessarily based on the *last* class you took. Here's a good explanation I found online:
"If your first level is in Sorc then any abilities granted by items or Illithid powers will use Charisma. If you then level into Cleric, all items and Illithid powers will now use Wisdom. If you now level back into Sorc, all items and Illithid powers will still use Wisdom. Items and Illithid power use the spellcasting ability of the last new class you leveled into. So now if this character leveled into Wizard or example, items and Illithid powers will now use Intelligence. If they level back into Sorc and then level back into Cleric afterwards, items and Illithid powers will still use Intelligence since these were both existing classes on that character. But if they level into Monk then the ability used for items and Illithid powers will switch to Wisdom again, since Monk is a new class for this character." (source: www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/185s5kl/determining_what_ability_modifier_casting_stat_is/)
Hope that keeps things clear when we're respec'ing!
that's a long way to say the last level 1 class you took :)
Indeed. Last class added is the simple way.
One thing to add: this is also how the game determines which ability to use for scrolls.
interesting... so basically if you're multiclassing, just respec and make sure the last class you choose uses the right one. So sorc first for proficiency, then cleric, then bard to ensure Charisma. If you want to add 1 level of wizard, you have to respec again and fit it after sorc, but before bard.
If you added 2 levels of fighter or barb last, would it make spells/scrolls use Strength instead, or stay charisma since those aren't caster classes?
@@jasonm.6442 fighter, barb, rogue all use int as their spellcasting modifier
These words are accepted.
Life before death
Strength before weakness
Journey before destination
I want to like this but don't want to be the one to push you past the current number. Nice...
@@quennedr1 your restraint is admirable
@pederw4900 short lived unfortunately. 71 2 too high lol
Journey before pancakes!
yes your pancakeness
@@joshuaroberts4604
One thing I really appreciate about bg3 builds, is that it forces you to build around the wheelhouse of levels in which D&D is predominantly played. Sure, the theoretical aspect of levels 13-20 are nice, and yes we've all had fun in a level 20 one-shot. But the value in fine tuning a character to levels 1-12 cannot be overstated. Thanks for the entertainment Colby, you made my workday a little easier 🎉
Should've known Colby would be the first to speak the 4th ideal
KNIGHTS RADIANT MENTIONED RAHHHH
The most important Rolls a man can make
As a quick tip for anyone speed running the gear - for the Boots of Stormy Clamor, you do need to get the mushrooms from the Arcane Tower and finish that quest for Omeluum before he will sell them to you.
As an even quicker tip: If you're lucky, Derryth (or potentially Blurg/Omeluum) will sell you the ingredients Omeluum needs. I think I even bought them from Omeluum once.
As an even (more) quicker tip: Steal the boots from Omeluum
@@ВалентинЛагутин-и2т best way to get the best advice online is to post bad advice lol
@@ВалентинЛагутин-и2тto be fair…hard to do in an HM run.
Just steal them… you don’t have to get the mushroom for him to trade with you.
You can reach the Selunite Outpost in the Underdark before going through the Goblin camp. Get some invisibility, a potion/scroll of feather fall and go into the spider caves below the Blighted Village. Go to the cliffs where he Matriarch is at and you'll see the central, glowing green pit. Pop Feather Fall and jump into the pit, you'll float down into the Underdark right outside the outpost.
Be very careful if you are on Honor Mode. The big spider can see invis.
@@Ankz0r If you walk to the edge of the cliff from where the ettercaps were, it's range isn't that far. The invis is more to bypass the other spiders and ettercaps.
Also be careful not to lose inviz there. You'll be about to get jumped by a pair of minotaur right nearby where you land, and if you're not level 5 yet it's a hard solo fight
@@BraghDaMan No you're not. The Minotaurs are farther up, and the one that attacks the outpost doesn't come until you're inside the outpost. I've done this like 5x with level 2 characters.
I accidentally put together a similar build with Shadowheart during my current play through. I was so confused why no one could hit her and why I kept hearing thunder and then would see people get knocked prone or just flat out dying 😂 Thanks for explaining it all and helping me tweak the people's princess even further.
My dear D&D God!
Every time I start my knew adventure, your outstanding new build is right on time!!
I stumbled onto your channel not that long ago thanks to Baldurs Gate 3, and I also used to play a ton of DnD. Your content is awesome, and your delivery/style is top notch. So glad I found your channel. You have gotten me back into this endless labyrinth of theory crafting, and I am so glad to be re-immersed in it all.
I am more of an RP-player, over min-maxxing and optimization, but you still put a lot of emphasis on seeking out "flavor" in these concoctions of yours. I may not follow things to a T all the time, but it always helps to know that I can find some way of getting the vibe of a character that I want to build, and still make it viable/effective mechanically.
You do great works here.
Hey Colby, thank you for these awesome builds as always. Just wanted to add one thing I found while attempting to recreate this build in-game. The Ilithid power, Stage Fright, targets a group of enemies in a circle and makes it so that enemies in that zone attack you with Disadvantage and if they miss they receive 2-12 psychic damage. Not sure if this counts as a condition yet but if it does WOO boy. Think this might be a candidate for a solo run in the future haha
I mixed this build with the shadowheart build you made for tempest cleric and it is just so nice. The first time I used all of the abilities together was in grym forge against nere and all those duergar. The gloves of belligerent skies works for tempest cleric nova and for spirit guardians. Shatter and spirit guardians really just works
You cannot have my pain! But, you can have this sweet build.
Oh man, my favorite moment from Book 4... time to go re-read in preparation for Book 5!
Little hack I found with callous glow ring, since you are more than likely a bard at this point, cast the light cantrip on your instrument before going into battle so you can always rigger the extra damage.
In favor for Light cleric, Radiance of the dawn is a very nice big aoe of radiant dmg to start things of.
It's really cool to see this video on my feed, today I started playing my honor mode with the same idea of leaning heavily on radiant damage! Always love your content btw :D
My Sorlock has almost this exact set of items, the extra radiant damage and radiant explosions on eldritch blast, with repelling blast counting as a condition is pretty hilarious.
Didn't realize "apply a condition" was so generous in its definition - thanks!
I love the singing at the end of your videos, and look forward to it at this point, lol.
Completely unrelated, parasocial and nonsensical but maybe a little funny(?):
I had a dream where I lived in an apartment next door to yours and I had discovered a secret passage into a labyrinth of sorts.
One time I entered it and realized the door got stuck (made more sense back then) because you had entered yours at the same time (guess all nerd apartments come with a labyrinth these days) and we managed to dungeon crawl our way into each other's apartments
Okay, now that I wrote it all down, it's more weird than funny but I already wrote it so I'm posting it
🤣
Love this build! Started playing it as soon as I saw this vid. One change I made is after getting bard to 6, I took sorcerer to 3. This allows me to get misty step with sorcerer levels freeing up the magical secrets slot for counterspell. More importantly it provides quickened spell to set up spirit guardians + shriek in 1 turn. Also by starting wood elf you get longsword proficiency (and extra movement!) so I took the Light cleric domain for warding flare to mitigate crits as that’s more useful than war cleric. Then bard to 8 for a second feat. This all works only if you plan to stay as a Lore bard rather than changing to swords at level 12.
The downside of course is I won’t get level 5 spells, but there was nothing there I needed anyway. An bardic inspiration stays a d8, but I can live with that.
I have an aasimar paladin D&D character that I never got to play, and this build looks incredible for it. Great work as always!
Glyph of Warding is also super good with builds like this, especially if you're an elf character as you can just walk into groups of enemies with spirit guardians and then sleep them with your glyph of sleeping
Amazing build. Never thought to go the bard route to do this combo, always been a light cleric which works great but I'm definitely switching it up tonight to test it out
These builds are so good but the day or so between the short teasing the build and the actual build is literally torture!! Why do you do this to us Mr. Critlander?
Haven’t watched yet but…
*Inhales*
LIFE BEFORE DEATH!!!
STRENGTH BEFORE WEAKNESS!!!
JOURNEY BEFORE DESTINATION!!!
What is the most important step a man can ever take brothers?!
HIS NEXT 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Thanks so much for putting out more BG3 builds, Colby! I know you mentioned not getting as many views on them, but as someone who just got access to BG3 recently, I’m loving it. I joined up to support!
This quickly became prob my favorite build. I feel it's so much easier to use and is fully online way quicker than arcane ward + armour of agathys shenanigans.
A really cool thing to do is get the buff from the zaith'isk. Stuff like Force Tunnell, Stage Fright and Shield of Thralls on a bonus action synergize so well with what you're doing. And get the Cloak of Displacement also, it's nuts for this build.
Didn't even know a couple of these items existed before this, thanks for the vid!
“I will protect even those I hate, so long as it is right.”
I absolutely love the luminous orb gear in BG3. In every playthrough I’ve had a pure Light Cleric using it, but it’s always been a companion character. Looking forward to seeing an optimized build!
I was certain that the ice breaker was the most fun build. I was blissfully surprised when I built this and absolutely wrecked the duergar hunters. I literally giggled the entire encounter.
Fantasticly, *brilliant* build, Colby!
the markoheshkir staff also has destructive wave in its thunder setting, which is both htunder AND radiant. And friendly fire.
I basically ended up on this exact build on my latest run, going Storm Sorcerer 1 + Tempest Cleric 11 instead, just for a bit more of that Cleric-y support. Was great coming back to this video and comparing it to my notes and realising they were so similar.
Great stuff as always!
I would recommend making this a Gith character giving you proficiency in Medium armour without the Cleric Dip as well as a racial Misty Step.
oooh, interesting thought
Gith do not get shield proficiency though... I just hit Act 3 using this Radiant build, but I did it as a Gith. The big negative about being a Gith is that NPCs initially seem to not like you. Everyone hates the Gith, even the Gith seem to hate the Gith. But that extra +1 to any section of skills and extra Misty Step is pretty sweet.
Rewatched this to write down the build the second time. Looking forward to trying this tomorrow!
I am all for the box being opened! Finally, a chance to use the 300 plus magic items I've hoarded!
THE GREATEST STEP A MAN CAN TAKE IS THE NEXT STEP
I just arrived at the beginning of act three and happened upon a fantastic weapon for this build mere hours after watching this video, the Nyrulna! It can be found in the circus, after a bit of drama with the djinn Akabi.
(On a side note, I'm loving these build videos. Keep it up!)
Damn... in the end, I was really feeling sorry for those poor bastards. Deadly built.
My god you’ve outdone yourself with this one Colby
Sounds like this might be a good build for a solo play threw. Thanks for the continued BG3 support.
I’ve been soloing with this build and just finished act 2 last night. Will probably need to respec if I go to the house of hope and I’m not sure about the brain fight either - it really shines vs multiple enemies but struggles a bit vs single bosses.
Love this build!! Ive used it on several of my play throughs using Sorcadin, and Hunter Ranger with volley!! Will definitely try the addition of cleric!
Stahp, I already have two custom parties filled with your creations. I'm gonna have to add a third at this rate. ❤
Immediately restarted my Baldurs Gate honor mode run to try out this build. Incredibly excited!
I was just thinking about making a Kaladin build for my next playthrough, as a new fan of yours, and an editor for the Coopermind, this video hits the perfect spot for me. Thanks!
Crazy idea. Instead of warcaster for the last feat, take dual wielder and wield *both* Markoeheshkir AND Phalar Aluve.
Hey, I missed you from my feed, nice to have you back!
Man, I had most of these items already on shadowheart, but realized I had a few sitting at camp and a few I could go grab before going into the shadowfel, so good timing before I lost the chance to pick a few up. Also, had the thunderskin cloak just sitting in inventory which is a nice little bonus.
I do enjoy conceptualizing builds as much as playing the game. Your vids make me wish I could sit around the table and theory craft with you. So great and I’ll be “joining” soon.
Does this build not give Diablo II Hammer Paladin vibes?! I love it. I’m going to slightly re-spec Shadowheart to try a Tempest Cleric version that uses watery terrain to add the electrocuted condition and enhance lightning, thunder (& cold) damage… the “sparkswall” ring gives you immunity to being electrocuted and therefore lets you stand in the puddle.
The enraged thrower Karlach build you did synergizes really well as she can use barrels and bottles of water to lay down puddles without harming your team-mate and without wasting a spell slot on casting “create or destroy water”. Like I commented previously on your Karlach Enraged Thrower build, there are also LOTS of lightning and/or charge items which could be used to round out the party.
Love this video & concept, thanks so much!
Now, I know you've done modded content before, but have you considered using the level 20 mod and going all out?
"But wait!" I hear you say, "That would make the game far too easy!" You'd be right, if you didn't also mod the enemies to make them tougher. "Player level scaling" levels up the monsters with you, or a couple levels ahead of you for bosses (Though when running through town you will hear the "level up" sound a lot as it levels npcs you get close to) but that doesn't QUITE add enough challenge, because the enemies don't get new skills, so I also add in "Tactician Plus health boost" (I did 30% last playthrough, thinking about bumping it to 50% next) which just simply boosts enemy health. Now you can theory craft all the way to level 20 and still have a challenging game!
Also, you could boost the health even higher (up to 300%) if you wanted to mod in a fifth or sixth character to your party and still have it be a challenge.
When I saw dalinar in the background months ago... I have been waiting for this since I subbed
Light cleric with these equipments is my favorite for Shadowheart. Radiance of the Dawn is so good with radiating orbs
This is amazing, I love builds that come online quick with items in act 1. I wish this worked with necrotic from spirit guardians for a "lore friendly" version for Shadowheart.
Excited for this one after seeing your short this week
You know....given the amount of trick arrows that the game seems to want to throw at you, I'm surprised that I have not seen a Green Arrow/Arsenal build based on Gloomstalker Ranger/Assasin Rogue or Battlemaster Fighter/Open Hand Monk/Thief Rogue. All using the Archery fighting style and sharpshooter feat.
Hey Colby. Is it possible to make a build with some of the Tal Dorei Feats or subclasses? I would love to see the new Thrown Weapon Master in a build whether it's sharpshooting darts an extra 40 feet or a dual wielding spinning returning scimitars or hell. A net and great axe toss build! Nets now get 25/55 range with the feat and two handed weapons get a range of 15/30!
Will have to put it on the to do list :)
One suggestion for the lore (i.e. non-swords bard) route: dip 2 levels of monk, so we get Step of the Wind: Dash, which removes the bonus action requirement for jumping. With strength elixirs, this means the knight radiant can literally fly (i.e. jump) everywhere in a single turn, afflicting every possible enemy no matter how big the battlefield is. I've used this for my radiating orb/spirit guardian build and it makes the build even more fun.
One more item: ring of mental inhibition. Anytime you deal damage with spirit guardians, they also take 2 stacks of metal fatigue. So now ALL saves are rebuffed by spirit guardians. It’s just silly.
If you use the gloves they cause reverberation on lightning as well as radiant, thus shooting lightning arrows counts. Better yet, if you coat with basic poison your weapon this causes an extra condition and the poison works on entire AoE from arrow, not just main target. Add the ring that adds radiant damage to attack and you cause more reverberation.
I just used this in my HR in the house of hope and it destroyed Raphael, he just couldn’t get a turn it was brilliant. Usually this wouldn’t work BUT I saw a tip that they have 1 turn Radiant reflect. You can use the Light of Lathander to hit a group and the mace will stop you from dying and give you a small heal.
I preloaded the room with barrels and took elixirs for high initiative. I blew them up and they lost their reflect for some reason.
Regardless challenge accepted im taking this build for a solo honor run with a bunch of “do not die” options to hopefully let me survive! Wish me luck 😅
This is a great build!!! I thought item DC that was based on casting modifier was based off of your last taken spell caster multiclass, not the first? I’m pretty sure this is how it works for the elemental augmentation necklace
This is a great build to augment a party. Soloing in Tact+ difficulties, you have to keep enemies at range (and best stay stealthed) to succeed. This build to do the most damage, you have to get up close and personal with combat. Some fights solo, this can lead to probably death.
Hey Colby, a gift: Flame Blade 🔥 is NOT concentration in BG3.
It opens a world of possibilities: Hasted Flame Blade, Hold Person Fast Hand Flame Blade (crit plus two strikes in turn one), etc.
The Cleric is OP in BG3. Light Cleric with Reverb and Thunder damage = DOMINATION
Little late to the party but I’ve been trying to decide which build to try/play for my very first honor run and I think I found it :) At first I was excited about cleric because I’ve wanted to play one and then you’re like “now we’re bard” and I was like awww. But bards are so strong I now see why. Keep up the amazing work, Colby! You and your channel are my #1 source of BG3 builds 🤙
I just had an idea that I'd like to pitch to see in the future. It's inspired by my plan to (eventually) play a full playthrough as a different class each time. At least starting or predominantly as said class. So maybe a build series that focuses on a fun build centered around each class? With similar restrictions, in that the starting class should be the primary focus and/or the build mainly focuses on said class and its features.
Awesome build and really good info! Might make my Shadowheart something like this as I preferred a half caster Tav
Confirmed. This build is nuts. I respecced shadowheart into this build and it is ridiculous. Makes my other characters feel kinda pointless 🤣
The Infamous Radiator build. Nice!
Some notes -
-In Bg3, spiritual weapon does not require constant bonus action usage. It one bonus action to summon, it behaves as a summon after that.
-Warden of Vitality is not available to Clerics. It's a lvl3 Paladin spell, meaning lvl 9 Paladin or lvl 6 Lore Bard is the earliest you can get it.
-The Boots of Stormy Clamour i have not found to be bugged. It is probable that the reverberation stacks seem to apply more than they should because the thunder damage from the Gloves of Belligerent Skies/Phalar Aluve Shriek combo also applies reverberation indtantly.
-For maximizing effectiveness in any Spirit Guardian based build, Crusher's ring provides 10 feet if extra movement, 20 on a dash. Stack this with Longstrider at the start of the day, and you'll be applying the effects all over the battlefield, if you're willing to move around a lot
-Sprllshudder amulet applies reverberation on ranged spell damage. It should be considered, especially if using magic missile.
-For solo potential, a dual wielding Paladin2/Light Cleric 10( or 1 Fgtr/2Pal/9Cleric for two weapon fighting style) build is probably the version most suited. I prefer Light cleric for the base build anyway, because of the huge radius of Radiance of Dawn.
Which subclass for Paladin would you recommend on this?
@@bradleybarr7572 If you're only taking 2 levels of Paladin, the subclass is not that impactful. Ancients is probably the best because of the healing aura, which can combine with the healing items in the game. Those items can apply buffs on heal, like blade ward and bless.
I was wondering about this as a Paladin build
I think the only thing you're missing is adding the Halberd from Moonrise that can cast Thunder 1d6 with an addition +1 to the weapon to hit, without concentration till long rest, to your longsword from the stone. It's just extra for free thunder damage. I think I might try this for Act 3 and Fighter 1 (+1 AC fighting style) 11 Bard swords and use the Longbow that can cast guiding bolt, as well as use the elemental weapon on it for the extra thunder damage.
If i remeber right you can be stunned if you r not a robot using that weapon (there is gloves for it) but either way is not a good option being a single target hit. Pallar alluve is so mutch stronger aoe wise.
A few thoughts on the leveling up to 5 portion - I think I'd throw in a couple of alternate consideration. Tempest cleric levels up very nicely at low levels - the channel divinity is massive for burst damage in the lvl 3-4 range, which can smooth over some tougher fights in that period (and more impactful I would think than the war cleric stuff).
For boots I'd consider the ones Minthara has as well in certain fights (boots of striding)- while it removes some of your ability to deal debuffs/conditions, if it's a fight where you're possibly getting knocked prone I *hate* losing concentration to it.
Appreciate the build as usual - always a highlight of the week to see what you cooked up!
Thank you for this.
A variation of this was part of one of my deathless HM runs.
Another awesome video!
Jen, my love, come here real quick... In my first playtrhough I started a fighter dual-wield and used Phalar Aluve paired with another sword until level 12 (then I've respec to fighter 2/paladin 10). I'm thinking that going another Tav dual-wield with Phalar Aluve and using this build with Shadowheart using the Blood Of Lathander would be very interesting.
For your next BG3 build I would love your take on a mostly Swords Bard build. The most popular version I see is 10 Sword Bard/1 Fighter/1 Wizard. That gets you magical secrets, two fighting styles and with the right gear a lot of utility from wizard and bard spells. Even without the right gear one level of wizard still gives you a lot of DC independent spells.
I think swords bard actually has the potential to do the most attacks per round. 1 level of War Cleric lets you use your Flourishes as a bonus action (provided you still have bardic inspiration to burn). 3 levels of thief rogue gives you that extra BA. And of course who could forget Fighter 2 Action Surge
A 6 Sword Bard/1 War Cleric/ 3 Rogue/ Fighter 2 could be a monsterous build. Definitely not ideal only having one ASI/feat, but monsterous nonetheless. Equipment would be crucial, but you could probably come up with something incredible
Love your voice and your charming looks, but did you ever think on "editing" a bit?, like for example, put half of the screen with your video and the other half with in game character while editing what you are narrating?
Would it be possible to make a character that grapples an enemy and jumps really high to weaponize fall damage? As far as i can tell it works RAW, the only effect grappling has on jumping is indirectly by halving your movement speed
Saw the first few seconds of the intro and my radiating orb sense immediately started tingling!
Just going to add my personal modification of this build if anyone else is interested and so I can come back and consult this in the future. I used this build on Shadowheart too so I didn’t need a lot of the party face options you get from Lore Bard.
I like Tempest Cleric far more than War cleric both because of channel divinity options and always prepared spells. In addition to those you don’t have to give up martial weapon and heavy armor proficiency (even though we are using medium armor here).
As such I tweaked this build to incorporate that (and nuking things with lightning+wet when applicable). So Tempest cleric to five to get Spirit guardians. Take the same equipment. Phalar Aluve being a finesse weapon really saves us here as it means we can dump our strength once we get it. Strength and Charisma go down to 8 set Int to 16, Wis to 16, Dex to 14, and Con to 12. Con is a little low in this setup but I prefer the increased combat versatility and it’s so hard for enemies to hit us anyway.
The Gloves synergize really well with the thunder and lighting damage features of tempest cleric and with a few levels in Wizard we can pick up Lightning Bolt from a scroll without slowing down our spell slot progression. I personally went for a 4Wiz 8Cleric split to ensure I still get three feats as we are a little bit MAD in this build. Two ASI and war caster for advantage on concentration checks plus a nice opportunity attack option that synergizes with tempest cleric and glove features. Resilient Constitution is also viable here if you play around with the ability scores if you would rather have proficiency over advantage. Dealers choice here honestly.
Took Create/Destroy Water and lighting bolt to max out damage with Tempest Cleric while also getting a lot of the value Colby illustrates in this vid. Obviously the downside is this setup sucks as a party face, but fits pretty nicely for Shadowheart. Even fits thematically for her imo as it shares a lot with the build he did for her in the optimizing companions series.
Really happy with this setup tbh as it kind of allows you to have your cake and eat it too. Hope this helps anyone who isn’t jazzed on War cleric.
Thanks Colby
What a monster of a build! I think I can try Honor Mode now 😂
I have to assume Sandon Branderson will eventually come up with a knight radiant class, probably with a subclass for each order, although he might put it off until each has been properly introduced.
Power-wise, 4th Ideal Kaladin seems about perfect for around a level 15 character, so 5th ideal would probably correspond well to level 20.
Not sure if better than Boots of Stormy Clamor, but Boots of Striding should at least be considered. Between constitution saving throw proficiency and war caster, being knocked prone is pretty much the only realistic way to lose concentration. These boots completely negates that if you have spirit guardians up
I basically did this build less the helm. SPOILER -> in the gauntlet of shar when the rats attack and run to their death in your Spirit Guardians it is a very easy fight. Then the rat justiciar spawned with 10 orbs already on him :)
Aura of Vitality does not exist in bg does it? At least for clerics. Paladin and bard get warden of Vitality which does the same
I’m gonna use this for SH on my HM run, Tav will be dual crossbow bard, throwzerker Karlach, and Sentinel Laezel to lock down enemies even further while me and Karlach just destroy them from afar 🎉
Knight Light?
Black hole illy worm ability. Doesn't come through until you get astral-worm.
Consider getting the dual wielder feat to get both the staff and sword. Not having shield can suck a little but still
Stormlight Knight
I'm loving this build so much! Currently playing it with a couple changes - not multiclassing my War Cleric (for RP purposes). Wyll is a Pact of the Blade Bardlock in this party so I have him using Phalar Aluve as his pact weapon. Tav instead uses the Shining Staver of Skulls for the radiant damage with every hit. It also lets Wyll launch Shriek and Tav set up Spirit Guardians in the same round meaning it comes online faster.
Now that I have the Blood of Lathander too, seriously tempted to use two weapons with that and the Staver all through Act 2.
This combination of items is exactly what I put onto my Light Cleric Shadowheart. She carries fights with ease.
You could use the boots that make it so you can't get knocked prone while concentrating on a spell. I think they're mintharas?
Phalar Aluve is a shard blade. HEADCANON ENGAGED.
I would also like to toss it out there, if you wanted to get to the under dark even quicker, B line to the spider monarch under the blighted village, once you kill it, you can cast feather fall and jump into the under dark in the center of the spiders nest. The hole is right next to the gem you find for the necromancer book.
Friendship with hufflepuff ended. Willshaper is my excuse for a personality now!!
My only real suggestion is to forgo ASI's and stay at 18 Cha/Wis
via Hag's Hair depending on the route taken. Then taking Mobile/Res Con with Crusher's Ring from the Goblin Camp. Like you said you don't really need your spell save DC and you've that +2 dc necklace in the city. If you aren't a cleric you do miss out on the +1 channel divinity but hell +2 dc is the equivalent of two ASIs. So the helm DC isn't that important but now suddenly you've got +6m movement speed which means your bonus action doesn't need to be used on misty step/jump