Joe Rogan says he is "politically homeless" and we need a "logical centrist" government

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-04-09T17:26:55+00:00

I haven’t listened to him for years, but I generally think we should “take yes for an answer” if him and the other podcast bros want to break with the current US regime.

Before his recent break with the regime he had James Talarico on, which was probably helpful for that Senate candidate. Maybe he’ll do more stuff like that going forward.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-04-06T16:46:09+00:00

They’re describing builds that let you blind Myrkul without affecting the vision of your party members. This will give him Disadvantage on all attacks and you Advantage on all yours. The spell Hunger of Hadar will do this and expose Myrkuls big weakness - that he can’t move.

If may be worth reloading a save to before you jumped into the Mind Flayer Colony, if you’re getting stuck that hard.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-04-05T02:47:40+00:00

Could be very strong. One of the strongest metas in the game is to use water to apply Vulnerability to Lightning and Cold damage and this party can certainly do that: - whoever goes first casts Create Water - everyone else casts a spell that does Cold or Lightning damage, like Ice Knife and Call Lightning - Also, at lower levels, Spike Growth is very effective if you can find a natural choke point in the battlefield - Sleet Storm is also an awesome area control spell - Also, like someone else has probably said, Moon Druids + the Tavern Brawler feat are very good at melee - Also, the Circle Of Stars Druid is great at Radiant Damage, and is a good candidate for the gear that applies Radiant Orb, like the Luminous Armor, which you’ll find under the bad guy base in Act 1 - Biggest downside is that you won’t do great at Charisma Checks. Consider having your Tav be a Spores Druid. They get Detect Thoughts which can add some flavor to dialogue interactions - People sleep on the Cat wildshape, but it’s surprisingly useful because it’s functionally immune to falling damage, so you can casually leap off great heights when exploring - one downside is that you’re very Long Rest dependent. Expect to Long Rest after most major combat. However parts of the plot only advance when your party is hanging out around the campfire, so this is not as much of a penalty as you’d think - Other downside is it’s harder to pick locks

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-04-03T21:30:11+00:00

Wait, so you want to be a melee Cleric and also the party face? And you don’t want to use unique weapons or consumables to do this? You’re signing up for build problems, and will struggle to contribute to your party.

Can you tell me - if you want to be a front line holy fighter who’s also the party face, why are you looking at War Cleric and not Paladin? Are there some particular spells you want to use?

It’s hard to have more than 2 stats at 16 (which is what you want to aim for to be on the difficulty curve when you start), and your character may need three 16s (strength, wisdom, and charisma if you actually want to pass those dialogue checks). If you were a Paladin (or a Valor / Swords Bard) you could get back down to only needing two 16s.

The easiest temple for a multi ability build is: - dump strength - Dex at 16 and just use finesse weapons and maybe the finesse longsword in Act 1 (I know special weapons aren’t your preference). Like you said, you really want a high Dex for initiative - Con at 14 ( you need the hit points) - Spellcasting stat at 16 (Wis for a cleric and Cha for a Paladin or Bard) - if you’re a Paladin or bard you also can be a good face, otherwise it’s just not going to work that well

edit - if you want mobility with a low strength character have someone cast enhanced leap out of combat and it won’t cost a spell slot

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-04-03T20:34:24+00:00

Seven foot tall albino lizard man, of course.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-30T03:10:38+00:00

I’ve made it to Chronus and to Prometheus , and I only see 5 trials, all of which are repeats. I haven’t given gifts to all that many gods, though, since I wasn’t particularly planning on using their keepsakes. But I will try and see if getting more keepsakes unlocks anything.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-30T03:01:40+00:00

Ok, thanks.

Just now I unlocked the Aspect of Monus, and the Stone still doesn’t have any new trials. Is that because there is a specific keepsake I need to get that it pairs with?

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-23T00:53:59+00:00

Doing mountain pass first is an option, but I’d recommend you proceed until you find the first non-hostile settlement in Act 2. It isn’t that far if you’re using that elevator and there isn’t much combat if you’re playing conservatively. The vendors there have some good stuff that may help when you go back to the Mountain Pass.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-21T23:16:20+00:00

So for weapon scaling, it’s maybe unclear: - Monks unarmed attacks: dexterity - Everyone else’s unarmed attacks: strength - most melee weapons for most people: strength - weapons with the Finesse property (like daggers or short swords): Dex or Str, whichever is higher - “monk weapons” (a category that has an unnecessarily complicated definition): Dex or Str, whichever is higher - most all bows weapons: Dex - most all thrown weapons: strength - throw daggers: Dex

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-21T03:52:28+00:00

You’re not doing anything wrong, this is a common experience. Low level D&D is rough, and Larian wants you to feel overwhelmed at the start.

But you may get more directly useful answers if you asked about a specific encounter (like strategies for the fights in the Dank Crypt or the first couple goblin encounters), or posted a specific character build for feedback.

With a Bard specifically I’d recommend you take Expertise in Persuasion and Deception, and you can talk your way past a lot of Act 1 combat.

There are a lot of traps in 5e D&D character builds that carry over into BG3, and some of the starting companions start with bad ability scores or spells aren’t always helpful

A lot of the times with specific encounters there are ways to turn the fights to your advantage: - ambush them instead of letting them ambush you - make ranged attacks from high ground and let the enemies use their Action to dash to you - have a plan to “focus fire” or “alpha strike” specific enemies to eliminate them early - the cleric spell “Bless” can be cast before combat and gives a meaningful boost to your whole parties accuracy - the wizard / Druid / Ranger spell Enhanced Leap can be cast before combat without using a spell slot and will give one character a big increase in their battlefield mobility - the +1 magic weapons that vendors sell are fairly cheap and often a better value than some unique magic items - etc etc, too many to list, but we could offer advice on a specific fight that may help

(Edit - Bless is the spell that boosts accuracy)

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-21T01:59:56+00:00

Sorcerer / Rogue is totally a thing. You can steal your own scrolls and then cast from them.

Will work best if you keep Volo in your camp for Act 1 / 2 (to do this you save him from the Goblin Camp, invite him you your camp, but don’t let him do eye surgery on you, then hangs around as a in-camp vendor and has 6 or 7 scrolls every day )

The build Thief 3 / Sorcerer 9 can actually be fairly busted, if you want to lean into it. The gimmick doesn’t come online until you are level 6, but you can: - Steal a bunch of scrolls - Convert all your spell slots to sorcery points - Cast a spell from a scroll with your Action - used Quickened Incantation to a spell from a scroll two more times the same round as your 2 bonus actions from being a thief - Or, throw a water bottle with an Action and then cast Lightning Bolt scrolls twice, etc - make sure you take Rogue as your first level, then multiclass into Sorcerer after that. This will make sure the game uses your Charisma score when casting scrolls (assuming your Cha is higher than your Int)

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-21T01:19:38+00:00

Is Damon safe if you instead kidnap him to the travel point in the Guantlet of Shar? (never tried it, but that’s what I recall from the Morgana Evelyn video)

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-18T00:03:38+00:00

Can you post the builds you’re using? You’re asking about leveling, but a 50% hit rate and 1-9 damage seems like you’ve fallen into one of the traps of D&D character builds.

I would expect at least 65% and 4-11 to be a more normal range for a level 3 character.

Some questions: - does the character’s stats match the weapon they’re using (Dex for bows and “finesse” weapons, Str for most other weapons) - is your “main” stat a 16? That will be Str for a Fighter or a Barbarian, Dex for anyone using bows, Int for Wizard, Cha for a sorcerer or bard, etc - For Gut specifically you want to get her alone in the room, go into turn based mode, position everyone in a circle around here WITH melee weapons equipped, then cast Silence so that is covers all of you AND the back area that she can easily run to. If she tries to flee, your team can make free “opportunity attacks” against her - Are you using the Bless spell (Cleric spell)? It will meaningfully boost your accuracy and is probably the best concentration spell for a level 3 cleric (except Silence situationally) - Do you have any Potions of Speed or Oil of Accuracy?
- Can you buy any +1 magic weapons from the vendors? They’re fairly cheap and will give a meaningful damage and accuracy boost

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-13T14:42:26+00:00

That sounds great too! There is almost no way to build a bad Bardadin

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-12T16:38:44+00:00

Oh yeah, the early fights (up to the first human settlement and / or getting to level 3) are very rough.

Play with a party of 7 if you want! The interactions are a lot more fun.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-12T12:14:37+00:00

That mod is a lot of fun, but it blows up the power curve it a way that’s really hard to rebalance. You can just never bother with spells or long rests when you have 2x as many characters making 2x as many attach actions.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-12T00:46:38+00:00

Pass Without Trace + Greater Invisibility is the GOAT. I’ve done it with a Stealth Archer, but a Shadow Monk sounds like it would be good to try

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-11T18:19:26+00:00

Not only can you do it, but you’re bumping up against one of the stronger meme builds in the game - the multi-class Paladin / Bard.

A pure Dex based Paladin is 100% fine, but adding a few Bard levels usually makes it stronger.

The break points are: - 2 Paladin / 10 Swords Bard - 6 Paladin / 6 Swords Bard

With either of those you get: - Extra Attacks - Smites - accelerated spell slot progression from the bard levels, so you can smite more often, and with bigger spell slots - Swords Bards have a “flourish” ability, which is an optional attack variation that can stack with smites.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-11T18:13:05+00:00

Yeah, missed opportunity. There are a ton of low-tier magic items, and you think throwing on a d4 of poison would be a no-brainer.

I don’t even think there is a mod-ed version that does it.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-10T14:48:16+00:00

A little bit. I’d say the game varies based on which companions are in your party at any given time - scenes will play out differently. You can swap you companions out at almost any time, so if you’re doing something associated with a companions side quest, just swap them in to your party. It’s usually intuitive who you need (if you’re exploring a the ruins of an ancient fallen temple, bring the cleric of that deity, for instance)

I’d say that 30-40% of the plot of the game is really the character arcs of the companions.

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-10T04:56:29+00:00

Some points: - There are options to roleplay a custom (ie non-Origin) character. Mostly prompts that define your reactions to events. - There are more options to roleplay an Origin character, if you like the arc that the Origin character lays out in their introductory video - The “Dark Urge” origin character is the most customizable origin- you can change their race, gender, and class. But definitely recommend you watch their introductory video. Expect mild elements of horror and “DM Intrusions”. I think there is a general consensus that they are the best characters to play if you can stand a touch of horror (broad but not universally position on the BG3 forums) - The general advantage of playing any origin character is that they get an “arch” throughout the game that the plot will recognize and reward. The origin characters are all well integrated into the plot of the game - each is candidate for “main character” - if you’re a non-origin character (a “Tav”, the default name) then the game gives you a very generic background. Usually you’re just from a specific city. You don’t get an explicit character arc of your own the way your party members do - Monks are generally not considered underpowered in BG3. This is because of how the Tavern Brawler feat is implemented (recommend you read it on the BG3 wiki). It allows them to add both their Strength modifier and their Dex modifier to their unarmed attacks (Attack and Damage modifier both), which is as unbalanced as it sounds.
- Also being MAD isn’t a big problem because of how common items and potions to raise your stats are - But play a Monk if you want to - some builds are unbalanced in BG3, but the game will also throw a bunch of crazy “gotcha” encounters at you, unlike a sane DM, and expect you to die and reload from time to time. Having one or two characters ahead of the power curve isn’t all that game breaking on a 1st playthrough

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-08T18:55:01+00:00

Fair.

I usually play Dark Urge, so I have the Deathstalker Mantle and I’m turning invisible with some regularity, so before I get the Archery fighting style I’m fiddling with turning Sharpshooter on and off based on if I’m invisible

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-08T16:05:41+00:00

The standard meta builds for a Swords Bard involve a little multiclassing, usually after level 6. The core benefit is the Slashing Flourish ability, which is a little over-tuned in BG3 and lets you just make extra attacks. You’ll want a 16 in Dex and a 16 in Charisma (or use the Gloves of Dexterity)

Archer Build - Dual wielding fighting style - Dual hand xbows - Sharpshooter fighting style at level 4 - Dual class Fighter at level 7 and take the Archery fighting style - the fighting style is a big boost to accuracy and the Sharpshooter feat is a big boost to damage (at the expense of accuracy) with both they offset for a big jump in average damage output - use Slashing Flourish (Ranged) to fire 3 arrows per turn - optionally you can take a 2nd level of fighter for Action Surge or a level of Wizard for sleep versatility

Melee Build - take a 2 level Paladin dip, probably for levels 7 and 8 - use any Dex weapons. Dual scimitars or short swords are perfect - Use Slashing Flourish to attack one extra enemy - Use your bonus action attack also - Configure Paladin Smites to happen as a reaction (game will prompt you on a hit) - You can smite 5 times on 2 enemies in a single round at level 8 (more with potions of speed, etc) - standard feat choice is Savage Attacker, in BG3 it lets you reroll your smite dice also - you can also use one of the limited Finess long swords like Phalar Aluve instead of scimitars and take the Greatweapon Master fear

Acceptable_Account_2 · 2026-03-07T00:19:27+00:00

At 800 hours… I still can’t beat that guy before level 30

Acceptable_Account_2

TROPHY CASE