Best party compositions - Baldur's Gate 3
The right party for the right job depends on what outcome you want in Baldur's Gate 3.
The best Baldur’s Gate 3 party composition depends on what you want to accomplish and who your main character is, though there are a few broad guidelines to keep in mind as you play. One of them is that, unless you stack a bunch of magic classes or weaker characters together, you can make pretty much any party work.
How to build the best Baldur’s Gate 3 party
A good Baldur’s Gate 3 party has:
- A healer or support unit
- A tank
- A spellcaster
- A ranged attacker
BG3’s Origin characters have most of the important bases covered already, so if you’re playing as a custom character, it’s usually better to pick a non-Origin class. “Tank” gets tossed around a lot in BG3 conversations, but it’s a bit misleading compared to other games with tanks. A tank in BG3 can take a lot of hits, but their main role is dealing hefty amounts of damage. Even characters with high armor and HP – Lae’zel and Karlach, for example – fall quickly in Balanced and Tactician battles without the right setup, so don’t expect to send them off alone and watch them absorb all the hits.
A few classes, including Bard and Druid, have some healing potential, but your best bet for support and healing in one is a Cleric. Shadowheart starts as a Cleric, though her official Trickster path limits how much she can heal. Consider choosing a Life Domain Cleric for your character or reclassing Shadowheart.
The most important thing to remember is that your BG3 party needs to function outside of battle as well. Key stats for social and exploration interactions include:
- Wisdom for perception and insight checks
- Charisma for persuasion and deception
- Dexterity for sleight of hand, lockpicking, and stealth checks
- Intelligence for investigation
Charisma is the most important of these unless you want to brute force your way through every interaction, every time. Violence is a feasible option, if you’re strong enough, but persuading or lying to people often unlocks new interactions and even different quest outcomes. Wyll is your go-to ally for this stat, unless you create a bard or sorcerer as your custom character.
Wisdom is just below charisma in importance. Insight gives you leverage in certain interactions, but the real draw is perception. While the “Investigation” description makes it sound as if that skill is what helps you uncover hidden items, Perception is almost always what directed me toward a hidden lever or an obscured button that offered a simpler solution to a puzzle. Shadowheart and Halsin are ready-made for Wisdom.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is practically overflowing with keys for doors and chests, but since obtaining them often involves murdering the original keyholder, lockpicking is usually a safer, quieter bet. It’s also something you really don’t have to worry about if you keep Astarion around. He’s exceptional with sleight of hand, even before adding bonuses and extra modifiers.
Intelligence fuels your history, religion, and related stats, which occasionally offer new conversation paths in key exchanges. A lot of these are just for flavor or extra insight, though some do alter the course of a quest as well. Wizards excel in Intelligence, so Gale is an easy choice for this stat.
Best all-around Baldur’s Gate 3 party
This setup is a pretty standard one that you’ve probably seen other people use, but it works.
- Paladin (or Lae’zel or Karlach)
- Shadowheart as a Cleric
- Wyll as a Warlock
- Astarion as a Rogue
You can fill the tank roll with Lae’zel or Karlach, but I’m partial to Paladin. Paladin gives you a decent mix of support and attack options, including a skill that deals extra damage to the undead – a group of enemy that you’ll encounter rather often in Act 2. Shadowheart covers your Wisdom and healing needs, while Wyll handles Charisma and hurls powerful spells. Astarion mops up enemies from the shadows and unlocks everything in sight.
We recommend reclassing Shadowheart as a Light or Life Domain Cleric. Light Clerics learn powerful spells, and Life Clerics are much more efficient at healing.
Gale is usually the popular choice in this setup, since he has more spell slots. I swapped him for Wyll to get the Charisma help. However, you could give one of your characters a Feat that improves stats and pour those points into Charisma instead, then use Gale for your spellcaster. If Shadowheart is a Light Cleric, she’ll learn some of Wyll’s more powerful Warlock spells anyway.
Best Baldur’s Gate 3 party for exploration
If you want to get the most from the world, consider putting this party together.
- Karlach as a Barbarian
- Lae’zel as a Fighter
- Gale as a Wizard
- Halsin as a Druid
Karlach has a high survival rating, so you’re almost guaranteed to uncover any hidden treasure with her around. Lae’zel learns a psionic ability that lets her jump exceptionally far, handy for getting to hard-to-reach places, and Gale’s Wizard class gives him high Intelligence for Investigation, Religion, and History checks. Meanwhile, Halsin has your Nature and Animal Handling covered. He can transform into an animal and speak with the furry folk without using a potion and reach places that you’d otherwise never find.
It’s not a terrible party for combat either, though you’ll rely mostly on Halsin and potions for healing.
Best Baldur’s Gate 3 party for combat
So many party combinations work for battle in Baldur’s Gate 3, so we’re going to list a few possibilities that hone in on how to build around certain characteristics – Astarion’s overpowered advantage attacks, for example, or specializing in certain types of magic.
- War Cleric
- Berserker Barbarian
- Rogue Assassin
- Wizard
Your War Cleric is this party’s cornerstone. They can heal and attack like most Clerics, but the real draw is the War God’s Blessing spell they learn at level 6. It adds +10 to an ally’s next attack roll, so if you drop that on an already buffed Barbarian or a Rogue who can pull off an advantage strike, then they’ll deal a hefty amount of damage.
An Arcane Trickster Rogue can learn True Strike and set up their own Advantage Strikes, but you can also teach your Wizard the Invisibility spell to give your Rogue advantage and set up the strike in one turn. The Wizard is also here to exploit elemental weaknesses and wear down sturdy foes, so you’ll want to slap Ray of Enfeeblement and some powerful level three or higher spells.
This one has multiclassing at its core:
- Tempest Cleric + Storm Sorcerer
- Battle Master Figher + College of Swords Bard
- Paladin + Warlock
- Fighter + Barbarian
This Frankenstein’s monster of a party focuses on a handful of important aspects from each class. Your Tempest Cleric and Storm Sorcerer double down on thunder and lightning damage, with some useful extra bonuses from each class that push the damage numbers higher. The Bard creation uses Battle Master’s Action Surge and status attacks with Mobile Flourish to attack, zip around the battlefield, and impair enemies all in one turn. Higher level Bards can spend Bardic Inspiration and use their class actions twice in one turn as well, so this combination has a lot going for it.
Paladin and Warlock are a bit more standard. The Warlock’s Charisma works well with some of the Paladin’s extra features, and you get the useful Eldritch Blast spell into the bargain. High-level Warlocks don’t have too much to offer, so focus on leveling your Paladin in this combination.
A level five Fighter and level five Barbarian can just wreck the battlefield. Action surge and extra actions mean you can act a frankly ridiculous number of times in one turn – both class’ “extra action” features don’t stack, though – and the Barbarian’s Rage means your Fighter deals more damage with their strong melee weapons. Barbarians, like Warlocks, have less to offer at higher levels, so focus your efforts on the Fighter here.
Check out our Baldur's Gate 3 walkthrough and strategy guide if you're after more help on your trip through the Far Realms.
-
Shacknews
replyJosh Broadwell posted a new article, Best party compositions - Baldur's Gate 3
