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The best Baldur’s Gate 3 class can be formed from a plethora of races, subraces, subclasses and more to choose from, it’s hard to know who you should be first – especially if you haven’t played any of the previous games or D&D before! Ultimately that doesn’t matter, because this is why we’re here – to guide you to becoming the fantasy character you always wanted to be.
Before we get started, you should ask yourself this: what sort of character do you want to be, and what sort of game are you looking for? Are you here for the stealth? The fighting? Both? Want to figure it out while you go along?
Don’t worry, we’ve got the answers for all of it, and if you’re looking for more general help check out these Baldur’s Gate 3 tips.
Rogue
When you think of a Rogue, you may easily fall into the line of thinking that ‘oh, I need to be stealthy for this class.’ And while that is somewhat true, you do get more damage with sneak attacks, after all, it isn’t the only thing a Rogue can focus on. Again, it ultimately depends on what you want your Rogue to be like…
If you’re looking to be a thief in the night, then the best thing you can do is put most of your points into your Dexterity. This further boosts your Stealth and will give you more of an advantage of sneaking past without being seen, and thus more than enough time to plunge your dagger in your enemy’s unsuspecting back. As for your second best stat with this build, we recommend Wisdom. Wisdom boosts Perception, a useful thing to have in detecting traps to disarm in the first place. Dexterity and Wisdom are perfect stats for your thief, as it lets you play more of a supporting role without making you useless when you do get into a one-on-one fight. We recommend this sort of Rogue first as it’s great fun to play, and if you value sneaking around, you’ll love this build the most.
Of course, if you’d rather be a Rogue that’s more magical – as in, you want to take the Arcane Trickster subclass when you reach level 3 – then we recommend that you keep Dexterity as your number one stat to put points into, but choose Intelligence over Wisdom. This is because Intelligence is much more helpful in making spells cause more damage, something you should heavily consider for more of a magical Rogue build.
As for the race of your character, it doesn’t truly matter role-playing wise, but stat wise? We would recommend choosing races like Halflings and Elves for either build, as these two races have decent bonuses in Dexterity and/or Wisdom/Intelligence.
Warlock
In Dungeons & Dragons, the patron a Warlock chooses – an entity that accompanies you – often changes your playstyle, but the Warlock class in Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently rather simple, as there are only two different patrons to choose. For that reason, there really is only one Warlock build we can recommend and that is the Warlock with The Fiend as a patron.
A Fiend patron Warlock should pick the stat Charisma for their number 1 stat, because Charisma is what powers the damage, as well as saving throws, of a Warlock’s spells. The higher it is, the better, as with this patron comes the ability ‘The Dark One’s Blessing.’ This ability grants the Warlock some health points with every enemy they down. Warlocks are known to be quite squishy, even if their second best stat is Constitution, so an ability to help them get some more HP? Nothing to turn your nose up at, that’s for sure!
As for Warlock’s offensive abilities, the majority of Warlocks have the Eldritch Blast cantrip (a spell that doesn’t take up spell slots and can be used all the time) which is an incredibly effective damage dealer that gets stronger the higher you level up. You’ve also got Hellish Rebuke when you’re a Fiend patron Warlock, a defensive and offensive spell that has the potential to deal a huge amount of damage if a character hits you.
If you’re looking for a race that helps with making a powerful Warlock, we recommend choosing Tiefling due to their high Charisma. Elves and Humans are also an option, but do not have that high of a Charisma.
Ranger
Let us be blunt by saying that Ranger is possibly the weakest class in Dungeons & Dragons. So, be thankful that isn’t the case with Baldur’s Gate 3 and that, with the right preparation, you can make your Ranger a force to be reckoned with.
Stat-wise, we’d argue that both Dexterity and Strength could be your top stat to pump your points into. If you’re looking to be a Ranger that dual-wields, we’d say Strength, but if you prefer one-handed weapons and a bow, go for Dexterity, especially if you’re looking to be a little stealthy, too. That said, if you want the best of both worlds, you can just make Strength or Dexterity your second best stat, though we would recommend Wisdom too, as that fits more with a Ranger’s skills, such as Animal Handling and Survival.
The subclass of a Ranger that you need to try out when you reach level 3 is Beast Master. While The Hunter does give you more proficiency bonuses, you’re able to summon animals as allies in a fight which, with how high some animals HP is, can turn the tide very quickly in a fight. Animals for role-playing purposes are also useful, as certain animals like rats and ravens are able to sneak around in ways that not even a Rogue can do.
Race-wise, Wood Elves are the very best for Ranger due to their high Wisdom and Dexterity stats. Though any old Elf will do!
Wizard
Wizards are puny in a one-to-one melee fight, but they are ridiculously powerful on the battlefield when given the opportunity to wreak havoc at the back. And let’s be honest, that’s why we’ve picked a build that will truly reward any person out there wanting to become the biggest damage dealer in the party.
The two stats that any Wizard worth their salt should put their time and energy into improving is Intelligence and Wisdom, arguably Constitution for Wizards out there who want to make their character feel less like glass. The reason for Intelligence is that all of your spells saving throws are based on that, and the higher the stat, the higher it’s going to be for your enemies to escape from your magic and its effects. As for subclass purposes – which starts at level 2 for Wizards – we’d recommend the Abjurers ability over the Evoker’s Sculpt Spell ability. Abjurers prioritizes protection, which is something that a Wizard desperately needs when it comes to tricky situations. More importantly, sometimes the best offence is a great defense.
High-elves are considered the go to race for wizards due to their high Intelligence stat, but humans work just as well because, as expected with Humans, they are good at mostly everything. Other races to consider are Asmodeous Tieflings, but they don’t work as well as High-elves or any other elf subrace.
Cleric
Clerics are a very interesting class in Baldur’s Gate 3 because, like its D&D counterpart, you can play the class in a variety of different ways thanks to the three different domains that are on offer to you. As of writing this guide, however, the domain that stands out as being the very best for a Cleric is the Life Domain – a domain that lets players cast healing spells more effectively, and with your Channel Divinity, are able to heal allies without using up a spell slot. We say this domain over the others because, unless you’d rather bring Shadowheart everywhere, you’re not going to get the healing you need unless you spend a ton of money on health potions. With that in mind, it goes without saying that the best build for the Cleric at the moment is a healers build.
The first stat you should look to make your main stat is Wisdom. Wisdom is essential for Clerics, as your spellcasting ability and saving throws will depend on that stat more than anything else. The next stat should either be in Constitution or Strength, depending on if you want your Cleric to still be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to melee combat. We recommend Strength, as while your cantrips can help, a backup of a mace/sword and shield will benefit you greatly if your Strength stat is good.
The best race for Cleric are Gold Dwarves, due to their high Wisdom and Constitution stats. But don’t count out half-elves or humans if you’d rather play something else – as long as they have high Wisdom, they’ll be an effective Cleric!
Fighter
Fighters are hands-down the very best class for players who just want to get up close and personal and melee their way through enemies. It’s a class that combines brutal strength with tactics, and for this guide we’re going to show you the ultimate build to make a warrior that enemies will go out of their way to avoid.
As you might have expected, the best stat for Fighters is Strength. Strength helps with weapon damage, particularly if you prefer two-handed weapons like greataxes and greatswords, and with a few swings (and hopefully a lot of excellent dice rolls) you can make mincemeat of your enemies fairly quickly. The next stat can be either Dexterity or Constitution. Dexterity if you’d rather have a higher chance of going first in combat, as well as having bonuses in skills such as Acrobatics and Sleight of Hand, or Constitution to help make your meat shield, well, meatier!
In regards to the subclass of the Fighter, you should only really choose Eldritch Knight if you’re in need of more magical firepower in your party. For example, if your main go-to party is Lae’zel, Astarion and Wyll, then maybe an Eldritch Knight would actually fit right in. But, considering only Astarion and Lae’zel are typical ‘melee’ combatants, we doubt this will be the case, and instead you should pick the Battle Master subclass instead. With Battle Master, you’ll get 4 superiority dice that are d8s. You can spend these die to do special abilities like Menacing Attack, which has the chance to frighten enemies and cause them to run.
Last but not least, the race for a Fighter varies, as both Humans and Half-Elves have a decent Strength stat. However, if you want to be the ultimate Fighter, we would suggest playing as a Githyanki, just for the extra Strength bonuses.
