15 Most Fun-To-Play Class Builds In Baldur's Gate 3 (2024)

There are many approaches that can be taken when creating a new custom character for Baldur's Gate 3. While it can be a lot of fun to play with a fully optimized build, it can often be more interesting and amusing to take a different path. Not all builds in Baldur's Gate 3 have to be about power and efficiency - in fact, just like in its tabletop cousin Dungeons & Dragons, some of the most fun characters to play with in Baldur's Gate 3 are those with interesting concepts.

Baldur's Gate 3 is fantastic for roleplaying, with tons of NPCs and companions to interact with to help bring the story to life. Whether focusing on the roleplaying experience for a first campaign or kicking back after a punishing Honour Mode run, there are plenty of reasons to set aside the idea of getting the highest stats. The builds below are not all optimal or even powerful, but they all offer something a little different, and most importantly: they are fun. These builds work great on a custom Tav or even a respecced or changed companion character.

15 Pure Bard Is More Of A Roleplaying Style

Musical Adventurers

Firstly, there is the pure bard, which is less a build and more of a roleplay style. For this character, any BG3 bard subclass can be chosen, but College of Lore works well thematically. The key to this character is choosing spells, equipment and responses that are in keeping with a bard who has been plucked from their normal life and thrust into an adventure.

A bard is ideally a character that isn’t in the fray if they can help it, so crowd control spells like Tasha's hideous laughter , hold person , Otto's irresistible dance and silence are important. While out of combat, charm person, disguise self or seeming are also good suggestions. It's also exceptionally fun to get serious NPCs to dance along to a tune, which can often make for a silly sight.

14 ...But Bard-Barian Adds To The Fun

Vigor & Voice

For those who want the roleplaying benefits of a bard, but don't want to sacrifice the combat prowess of meatier melee classes, look no further than the bard-barian. There are many ways to balance this multiclass build, but it's probably best to start as a barbarian for that early attack and HP boost, then take at least three levels in bard throughout the game. Besides the excellent unique dialogue options and Jack of All Trades bonus to skills the bard isn't proficient in, they'll also get a number of handy bonuses that can help boost their own skills and support their teammates.

It's best for a bard-barian to take at least a couple of healing spells, like healing word , so they can keep themselves alive while tanking. Support spells like hideous laughter and silence are useful in debuffing their enemies. Song of Rest can also be helpful, effectively giving the entire party an extra short rest so they can keep going a little longer. Although College of Lore is always good, if they only plan on taking three levels in the class, College of Swords might be best for the bard-barian due to its unique Flourish maneuvers.

13 Rogue-Ranger Assassins Are Sneaky Little Tricksters

Pure Damage Output & Unparalleled Sleight-Of-Hand

Drawing attention to oneself is all well and good, but sneaking around can be fun too. Enter the rogue-ranger build, focused solely on dealing as much damage as possible in the first turn of combat. This is mainly done using the rogue's Sneak Attack feature, which gives them a 1d6 bonus on one attack each turn, as long as they're hiding. Their abilities are then further enhanced by the Assassin subclass for rogue and the Dread Ambusher subclass for ranger. The former enhances the first turn in battle, especially when the rogue-ranger surprises their enemies. The latter adds to those bonuses, and even helps them hide with Umbral Shroud.

Ideally, players won't use this build on their first runs of Baldur's Gate 3. It doesn't work as well in story-centric battles that begin with long stretches of dialogue; it relies almost entirely on getting the first turn and surprising enemies, which can cause first-timers to miss out on a lot of context. Still, for experienced combat optimizers who know their targets, and love nothing more than marveling at massive damage numbers, playing a rogue-ranger is an easy and satisfying way to cut a path through the Sword Coast.

12 Battle Master Is The Best Fighter Build

Versatile Fighters With Extra Abilities

Fighter is one of the most versatile classes in both DnD and Baldur's Gate 3. They are able to use all varieties of weapons and armor, making them the perfect Baldur's Gate 3 class for beginners. They are also tons of fun to play as, with several of their abilities such as Action Surge adding to their versatility and the player's enjoyment.

By far the most fun fighter build is the Battle Master with their Battle Maneuvers. This can allow the fighter to do some really fun things in combat, like disarming enemies, pushing them, or knocking them prone, all of which can be even more useful in Baldur's Gate 3 than in tabletop DnD thanks to an overall emphasis on verticality. This build is a lot of fun as it makes combat more interesting, and it's possible to make a powerful character very early in the game.

11 Tavern Brawler Monk Is Full Of Strength

Aggressive Attackers

For a powerful and fun build, it’s hard to go wrong with the Tavern Brawler monk. For this build, choose monk at character creation and level them up to level five, choosing Way of the Open Hand. At level four, when a feat is available, Tavern Brawler should be chosen to add the character's Strength modifier to damage and attack rolls.

This would already be a really fun and powerful character, but by adding some levels of rogue, things can get really entertaining. By adding three levels of rogue and choosing the Thief subclass, the character will get an extra bonus action. This is perfect for Flurry of Blows, which with Tavern Brawler will mean tons of damage per turn.

10 Bear-barian Is A Fun Druid-Barbarian Combo

Tanky Brawlers With A Fluffy Twist

A well known DnD build is the Bear-barian, which combines Circle of the Moon druid with Totem Warrior barbarian. For Baldur's Gate 3, Totem Warrior has been redesigned slightly in the form of Wildheart, but the multiclass build still works. This is a great build for power, roleplaying, and tons of benefits, such as the extra health pool, healing abilities, and extra rage damage.

When starting a new character, druid should be chosen and leveled up to level two with Circle of the Moon as the subclass. After that, switch to barbarian and level up to level three, choosing Wildheart and Bear Heart for resistance to all damage types except psychic while raging. After this, it is entirely up to personal preference, but a 50/50 split works well to balance the strengths of both classes.

9 Ninja Is A Great Rogue Multiclass

Multi-Class Stealth Experts

Anyone who has played Skyrim will agree that playing as a stealth-based fantasy RPG character is ridiculously fun. Baldur's Gate 3 can take that a step further with the Ninja build to deal out damage from the shadows. To begin, make a new monk character and level them up to level five, choosing Way of the Shadow.

After gaining Flurry of Blows, Stunning Strike, and an extra attack, multiclass into rogue. Follow rogue until level three and choose Assassin to gain auto crits on surprised enemies and advantage on attack rolls if the enemy hasn't taken their turn. Then return to monk to fully take advantage of the shadows and sneak attack fun and savor the moments where enemies don't know what hit them until it's too late.

8 Necromancer Requires No Multiclassing

Undead Connoisseurs

It can be difficult to make new friends when playing as the Dark Urge origin in Baldur’s Gate 3. Whether resisting or surrendering to the murderous impulses, the character does some pretty odd things throughout the game. With that in mind, a very entertaining roleplay build to lean into all the weirder aspects of a Dark Urge playthrough is the Necromancer.

This is a simple build that is more roleplay focused with no multiclassing. Here, just make a wizard and choose School of Necromancy. This choice works well thematically with Grim Harvest healing the Dark Urge when they kill with a spell, but is also practical in using animate dead. A Necromancy wizard creates better zombies using the animate dead spell, raising two corpses at a time with more hit points. Just remember to keep some spare corpses back at camp to make sure the Necromancer never runs out of new friends.

7 Way Of The Four Elements Monk Makes You The Tavatar

A Spell For Every Weakness

One of the easiest ways to make every battle feel fresh and fun is to give a character lots of options in combat. In that, the Way of the Four Elements monk excels. This class takes the hand-to-hand prowess and maneuverability of a monk, slaps on a bunch of martial arts-flavored adaptations of wizard spells, and calls it a day. This turns the monk into a hybrid spellcaster with a variety of options for elemental damage, making them a force to be reckoned with at both short and long range.

The real beauty of this build, though, is its ability to hit almost any kind of enemy weakness. The Way of the Four Elements monk plays a secret game of rock-paper-scissors that no one else is privy to, constantly honing in on which attacks will hurt their opponents the most, then exploiting them to deal tons of damage. It may not be the best monk build in BG3 by raw attack power, but it's a lot of fun to play.

6 Padlock Builds Provide OP Fun

The Best Of Both Worlds

Padlock is generally thought of as the archetypal overpowered Baldur's Gate 3 build. It's a playful combination of paladin and warlock, granting a character incredible melee strength, all armor proficiencies, and powerful spells that recharge with every short rest. Much like Four Elements monks, padlocks are all about options. Taking the Fiend subclass and binding a two-handed sword effectively makes this a single-ability dependent class build, effectively allowing the padlock to put all their ability points into Charisma without seeing much of a reduction in any of their skills. A five-seven split is ideal, with more levels going to paladin for Aura of Protection and the improved HP increases.

From a roleplaying standpoint, padlocks are also innately interesting. They combine two classes known for taking power from patrons, but each has a totally different flavor from the other. Paladins are generally paragons of good who call on divine grace to heal the wounded, protect the weak, and punish the wicked. Warlocks are often harborers of dark secrets or perennial regrets, usually deriving strength from forces of evil. To combine the two creates an interesting conversation around morality, and can be the impetus for a fascinating character journey.

5 Storm Cleric Is Simple But Effective

Lightning And Thunder Wielders

Another simple but effective build is the Storm Cleric to turn any character into Thor. This great cleric multiclass build combines the classic DnD multiclass combo of Tempest cleric with Storm sorcerer for lots of fun hurling lightning at enemies. To begin, start with a cleric choosing Tempest domain to get access to heavy armor and level this to level two to gain the Chanel Divinity ability Destructive Wrath.

After that, move over to sorcerer, choosing Storm Sorcery to gain Tempestuous Magic, which lets the character fly as a bonus action after casting a leveled spell. Now simply continue to level up sorcerer, making sure to choose as many lightning or thunder based spells as possible. This allows the Storm Cleric to use Destructive Wrath on powerful sorcerer spells like chromatic orb, witch bolt, and most importantly lightning bolt. Storm Cleric is also a really fun build to repec Shadowheart into late in the game for her to deal incredible damage during the final BG3 battle.

4 Throwing Berserker Is A Powerhouse Build

Improvisational Ranged Warrior

For a sillier BG3 build that is hilarious to play, the Throwing Berserker is well worth a try. This build involves no multiclassing but makes use of the Tavern Brawler feat, which adds the character's Strength modifier to damage and attack rolls when the character throws something. Combining this with the Berserker barbarian's Enraged Throw creates some fantastically funny moments in combat, as well as dealing out a lot of damage.

However, it is important to remember that since the character's ability to throw items or enemies is based off their Strength score, not their modifier, pumping as many points into Strength as possible is a crucial part of the build. This will also open up more inventory space thanks to an increased carry weight, making it easier to lug around absurd items to throw at foes.

3 Battle Mage Has Magic & Strength

Magic Users With Frequent Attacks

While it might be more traditional to combine sorcerer with paladin for BG3 multiclassing, choosing fighter for the latter option creates the fun Battle Mage build. This build takes advantage of the fighter's ability to use all armor types for better defense, as well as gaining an extra attack at level five. Action Surge and the Battle Master maneuvers also add to the Battle Mage's damage in combat.

For this build, start with a fighter and get them to level two to gain Action Surge, then switch to sorcerer. Draconic Bloodline is a good choice for the boost to health and then switch back to fighter for three more levels. Combining Action Surge, extra attack, and meta magic, the Battle Mage is able to really skew the action economy of any fight in their favor whilst enjoying a higher AC.

2 Beast Master Ranger Summons Herds Of Animal Companions

Lions & Tigers & Miniature Giant Space Hamsters

In case the undead army summoned by Necromancer wizards isn't cute enough, there's a cuddly alternative in the Beast Master ranger build. This is a simple, single-class build that simply requires the player to take the Beast Master subclass for ranger, and sit back and watch the fun. They'll immediately receive the ability to summon the animal companion of their choice at will: a bear, a boar, a dire raven, a lion, a wolf, or a giant spider. This can be cast independently of find familiar and other spells that summon creatures, so players can theoretically have a whole menagerie of beasts following them at once.

As the Beast Master ranger levels up, they gain additional abilities that help boost the power of their summons. Although they can't unlock new animal companions throughout the game, the ones they do have access to will gradually become stronger. Each one has a unique ability: ravens can blind enemies, bears can goad them into attacking, and spiders can entangle them in webs before poisoning them. This opens up a wide variety of fun and flashy tactics, and allows the player unprecedented control over the battlefield.

1 Double Chaos Is Packed Full Of Fun

Wild Magic Master

Finally, one of the most fun builds to play for maximum chaos is the Double Chaos. This build combines the Wild Magic sorcerer with the Wild Magic barbarian for pure havoc. Min-maxers might not be in love, as the Double Chaos is not in any way shape or form an optimal build, but it is undoubtedly one of the most hilarious.

To start, create a Wild Magic sorcerer, then switch to barbarian for three levels, then choose the Wild Magic subclass. Then switch back to sorcerer and continue to level that for the rest of the game. Now just watch the utter mayhem unfold in every fight thanks to a surplus of random rolls with surprising effects granted by using the most ridiculous build for Baldur's Gate 3.

RPG

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence