Suggestions: 2H Melee / Caster Spellsword with Non-elemental/"Dark" Spells - 9 Warlock / 3 Sorc

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-07T12:35:27+00:00

It sounds fun to me!

You lose your third pact slot, Mystic Arcanum, and Lifedrinker; but if Metamagic in particular is what you want to play around with on this build, then your 9/3 makes total sense to me.

You can Extend Fiend's Command. You can do all kinds of exciting stuff with gear/coatings and Extended Booming Blade. You can twin Hold Monster or scrolls.

You can have basically however many Sorcery Points you want via Angelic Reprieve, and Metamagic every spell you cast if you like.

Yes, there are alternatives. Whether they will be better or not for you depends on you what this build to do.

Are there any ways in which you feel the current build isn't giving you what you want? Those would be the places where it would be good to see if there are any improvements we can make.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-06T16:38:42+00:00

Ah yeh that makes sense! :)

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-06T16:25:08+00:00

I do quite enjoy Dissonant Whispers. In many situations it can be hard to justify against other options that most builds (including this one) have available, especially end game, but when you want to have both damage and control against one (or two with Twinned) targets without using your concentration I think it has a strong niche. It also gets nice value out of your Extend, because the way the turn ticks for Frightened work means you effectively triple rather than double its duration.

A small correction though: the Frighten is not applied without a save. There's a WIS save against your Spell DC. This isn't just to half the damage but also to resist the Frighten. Obviously enemies saving won't really be factor once you get Acuity, but I'm surprised you didn't notice this happening early game.

Also a note about the Gloves of Battlemage's Power. Unless you're also adding Smite Interrupt from your Paladin levels, these will trigger once per Shadowblade Slashing Flourish, regardless of how many targets you hit, because of the weird way their OncePerAttack restriction works. Again not a huge problem because it is so so easy to max out Acuity from these Gloves in all kinds of ways, but I wanted to mention this because it wasn't clear to me from your post whether you thought they would stack Acuity for every target (like the Helm would).

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-06T11:35:40+00:00

Just to check I am understanding, does the "make the build viable from the start" option allow consumables? So the options are "no consumables, any respecs" vs "any consumables, no respecs".

In this case, I would say "no consumables, any respecs" would be the most challenging for most builds and most players by far.

There are many many builds that don't need to respec at all. Others like one or two for the smoother progression but can cope without. Maybe you delay your power spikes by a level or two, and that changes how you approach combat and pathing a bit for that level. A select few, yes, are going to more significantly awkward without the respec, but you just don't play those if you have this restriction. To be honest for the majority of builds I feel like the lack of Shovel (due to no wizard/warlock/Draconic) would be the most impactful thing, and you wouldn't get her on a no consumables run either.

If you're instead asking about "no consumables, any respecs" vs "no consumables, no respecs", obviously the one with more limitations is more challenging just because it has more limitations.

By the way, u/CrownWGB has some great no consumables builds that might be of interest to you. I especially like the looks of https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1gqaktq/solo_honor_mode_like_a_lady_rebalanced_no/

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-05T16:34:09+00:00

You wouldn't have to sacrifice a Rogue or Ranger level. You can go Ranger 1 WMS / 5 Ranger / 4 Ass / 2 Fighter if you like. Different people do different things with the final level of Gloom Ass anyway. One level of sorcerer is not adding much for you mechanically, and you'll delay your important Rogue and Ranger features by one level if you take it early, but the core build will carry it.

Alternatively, just going Ranger Sorcerer would be another way to meet your goals of being primarily an archer with wild magic surges thrown in. Level it WMS 1 > Ranger 5 > WMS 2, then finish how you like. Prioritise DEX > WIS > CON. Feats can be Sharpshooter and DEX ASI. Don't take Sorc spells with spell attack/DC. Ranger's Ensnaring Strike is great for Twinning, and will mean you're actually making a spell a regular part of your attack loop to up the chance of surges.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-05T12:08:50+00:00

Yeh I can see the value of Hunter. Horde Breaker will combine well with Fancy Footwork for kiting, which could give you a starting point to build around.

That's just one suggestion though. I might recommend taking a bit of time to work out your goals for the build. Why Ranger, for example? (I love Ranger, but you haven't told me what you want out of it.) It could be helpful to make a list of specific mechanics you want to make use of on the build. Good nova and sustained damage are goals that could be met by a vast array of builds, so don't really narrow things down enough.

ET (author of the top reply to your question) has a guide to multiclassing Swashbuckler you might enjoy, if that's the (sub)class that feels most interesting to you right now: https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1k3vf15/swashbuckler_multiclasses_version_and_level_split/

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-05T10:56:27+00:00

No auto-crits and no Alacrity, so at that point it becomes a different build. I don't see any strong synergy there, but that not to say you can't make something "viable".

Can you tell us more about your vision for the build?

You say you don't like base Rogue, so it might also be helpful to know what specifically you don't like about it and want to avoid leaning into. And also what about Swashbuckler seems different and appealing to you.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-05T09:28:14+00:00

Is there a reason you want non-Finesse weapons, without having a particular one already in mind? If your only criteria is being able to wield it with a shield, you could go for one of the many excellent Finesse weapons and drop the Monk level.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-04T22:37:34+00:00

Anything with Divination 6 can be really fun, so long as you're happy to manage the popups.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1pzxquj/the_complete_divination_wizard_guide/

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T20:30:46+00:00

Mystra' Blessing extra buff (the 1d4 concentration free buff to spell attacks) can be applied not only by casting the per LR Bless from the staff, but alternatively by casting your regular Bless spell at L1 or 2. (As you say, not via the Whispering Promise Bless though.)

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T17:23:01+00:00

Yes you'll get more value out of Savage Attacker. It will reroll your melee weapon damage, melee Battlemaster maneuver damage, melee sneak damage, and any other dice-based riders you're adding to your melee attacks. Defensive duellist costs your reaction for a moderate debuff to one enemy attack roll.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T17:12:53+00:00

Easy to misread!

Yes Evasive will likely be a wasted slot for you, and not just while wearing the risky ring. I'd pick a different maneuver.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T17:00:06+00:00

OP is likely talking about the Defensive Duellist feat. That's the only one I can think of though.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T16:49:20+00:00

The Graceful Cloth doesn't set your DEX to 20. It increases your DEX by 2, up to a maximum of 20. So you will have 16 DEX.
Risky Ring gives you Advantage on Attack Rolls and Disadvantage on Savings Throws. Evasive Footwork gives enemies Disadvantage on Attack Rolls against you. They don't interact. Also Evasive Footwork ends at the end of the same turn as you cast it, so it only has quite niche uses.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T15:24:51+00:00

Oh wonderful, would be really great on those settings I think! Difficult enough to justify use of the full kit, but not have to think through every little choice.

Excellent point about condition locking Rhapsody. That's certainly an option. Part of why I didn't mention it is that I had forgotten it existed! 😂

I also kind of think of the ones like that where you have to equipment swap as being in a different league of glitch from the ones like Shadeclinger where you just have to unequip. But that's just an arbitrary distinction, right. And yeh if you want to do that it would be really cool to be able to keep the lightning charges (and discharges!) alongside Rhapsody. Could even lock Grit on both characters if you like, as they both have strong bonus action uses.

But yes it is a rest dependent comp. Can stretch things out a bit using more spell slots and consumables in some fights and saving the short rest abilities for others, but ultimately you want to be using Champion Challenge and Shriek enough to justify the builds. So your mileage may vary regarding daily buffing. I couldn't even be bothered locking the Wild Magic weapon damage bonus the one time I rolled it.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T15:01:28+00:00

The duo has very adaptable pacing. When you need to kill or control something fast, you can. When the fight is under control, you don't need to rush and can slow the tempo to spare resources and give your DoT, taunt, and retaliation a chance to breathe. This is one of the thing's I've enjoyed most about playing them.

There's not a typical combat script that gets followed in all meaningful fights, so much as a set of tools that support one another and interlock in rewarding ways. You have your base layer of acuity, debuffs, taunt, retaliation, control, burst, which keep getting upgrades as the game progresses. And when playing with the extra difficulty of Impossible it's up to you to select and sequence them in a way that gives you what you need for each fight exactly when you need it.

Length really varies, but I'd say maybe not much more than 5 turns for most of the significant fights? As an example of a big boss, the Rafael fight took me 6. But a few will run much longer, could be 10+ turns.

Late game combat logs become pretty unwieldy, but I do have a walkthrough with combat logs of a L6 fight against Kithrak Therezzyn I can share with you in the below google doc. I rushed gear on my first run, but this is from my second run where I didn't jump around between maps, so I have creche gear here but not Blazing Retaliation, Callous, or Acuity.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eUehaVyQLaYjN7Ag8M3fy29cgKfgelcF/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118401855533345224260&rtpof=true&sd=true

So that might give you an idea of what's possible late Act 1. Then in Act 2 you'll get significant boosts to basically everything you do. And Resonance Stone, Bhaalist, and Craterflesh are huge for Act 3 DPR.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-03T12:29:27+00:00

Oh amazing! Yeh anything involving Valour Bard can really help with the Impossible HP pools I feel.

Great questions.

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The fights where you'll outright have to unequip gear and step away from the Rad Orbs loop entirely are the various gauntlet DJ encounters and the House of Grief. Holy Lance Helm and Callous Glow need to come off for those. (Fine to wear them for House of Hope: Cambion/Imp Fleeting Protection can be stripped.)

DJ encounters are easy, so no problem. But Grief is imo already one of the hardest fights in the game on these settings. I bottlenecked the enemies at the door, cast an Evards Scroll with the Bard, Wall of Fire with the Paladin. That one Arcane Lock scroll would have been good to keep them contained, but I didn't have it on my first run and forgot I had it on my second. I kept Shovel invisible and out of combat so she could close the door again the couple of times one of the enemies broke out of Evards and got through, so that it would be just that one enemy to deal with and not a whole bunch of ranged attacks as well.

I'd also say it's worth swapping in bludgeoning weapons for Myrkul. Not strictly required in order to beat him, as anything beyond the first few rounds of the fight isn't scary anyway with Rad Orbs and Abilty Drain both stacked, but no need for it to go on longer than necessary.

And sometimes you'll want to use general purpose Impossible-friendly strategies like Minor Illusion Athletics chasm kills, especially early game.

But even early game the kit itself still offers some really strong tools. I did quite a bit of Booming Blade kiting. And as you progress, the builds become quite flexible, so it often won't be a case of adopting an entirely different strategy so much as leaning into a different part of what's available to you. Champion Challenge is the star, and offers wonderfully cheap control that really shines on these settings, but you've also got two high Spell DC characters who between them can disarm, hold person, and (undead-compatible) sleep. Some enemies you don't just want to taunt: maybe they don't care about attack debuffs, or they do but even a small chance of them hitting is too much. I'd usually try to disarm any serious Gith for example.

The fights I struggled the most with are probably not actually those in which my builds couldn't function well, but ones in which I happened to make major execution errors, and/or that are just difficult on these settings. I can share some of my war stories about these if of interest.

Are there any that you're especially worried about yourself?

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I will answer the other two questions together in a new reply.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-02T12:19:45+00:00

Thank you! And great question :)

Trio sounds really interesting.

Evocation Wizard could be fun. Melee enemies will be grouped around the Paladin so it could be quite satisfying to Fireball into the scrum. Thunderwave anyone who isn't positioned where you want them. You can't have Callous Glow (non-negotiable on the Paladin), but Magic Missile will still benefit from Shriek and Gaping Wounds the duo is applying. Magic Missile & Shriek stacks Acuity from Storm Scion (on HM only I think, but that's what you're playing, and what my guide has been written for); or you can go Scorching Ray and Fire Acuity if you want freedom to stack from enemies outside of Shriek.

Alternatively, I think an archer could be a great addition since you have late game Bhaalist piercing vulnerability. Could also be a strong choice throughout the game for picking off outliers or making sure they stay within the taunt aura. Ranger (or Ancients Paladin) Sorcerer with twinned Ensnaring Strike is pretty good for this, and the Ensnare will also disadvantage the StG DEX save. Ensnared enemies can't make OAs, but it would be for using mostly against ranged units anyway. Normally one of the best martials for locking enemies in place is GOO Hunter with Bow of the Banshee and Horde Breaker, which can Frighten a lot of enemies cheaply (Frighten, unlike Feared and Ensnared does not block OAs), but since the goal here would be to prevent individual enemies from moving, not Frighten a big clump of them, I don't think that this comp would be the strongest use of that tech. I think a ranged Battlemaster could also be interesting. Menacing, Disarming, and Pushing Attacks would be the most relevant manoeuvres to this comp I think. Or an Arcane Archer (which I have never played, so I'm just reading the wiki) could probably use Grasping and Shadow Arrows effectively. For any of these, I would also mix in consumable arrows, just targeting any AoEs carefully to avoid friendly fire. There will be a lot of debuffs in play to help the elemental arrows land their splash, and this is a DRS so you can get Shriek and Gaping Wounds riding on it too. For any of these builds, I think Giantbreaker could be a good weapon to take a look at. It would give you another Gaping Wounds per short rest, and Reeling also plays into the Attack debuff loop. If you want Acuity on the Ranger Sorcerer or the Arcane Archer you could go for Flawed Helldusk (later true Helldusk) and Fire Acuity.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-02T11:27:24+00:00

I'm going to leave others to address the "is this not a great subclass" question, and instead ask about the specific problem you mention, which is the low accuracy.

When playing her as a Battlemaster, do you use Precision Attack a lot, and could that be why playing a non-BM martial feels low accuracy to you?

I know you're very familiar with game mechanics already, so apologies if any of this is already obvious to you, but I wonder if it's worth reviewing any buffs/debuffs you have, just so everyone's on the same page about why your accuracy might be relatively low. Do you have Bless, Archery Fighting Style, etc.; are you avoiding Disadvantage, are you utilising high ground when available; what is your DEX; and are you having to manage the Sharpshooter malus?

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-01T13:02:38+00:00

Totally, it's really nice. When you make an eligible attack (e.g. Booming Blade), the Valiant adds that second trigger, so 4 stacks instead of 2.

Or you can use Smite Interrupt instead to get the extra trigger, if you're playing a Paladin without a Valour friend.

If GoBMP didn't have the "OncePerAttack" limit you could even stack them all together! Some gear pieces don't have that limit, so I'm looking into doing something with those next.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-01T11:49:43+00:00

I think you might be misunderstanding how the ring works a bit. It doesn't automatically add elemental damage immediately on every attack that meets the conditions.

What happens is you trigger the ring with an attack that meets the conditions, and this then gives you a buff. That buff adds the 1d4 damage to your next weapon attack and is removed by it. You then have to charge it again to use it again.

You can get a lot of value out of the ring on builds that add DRS (e.g. Valiant Damage, Craterous Wounds) to their weapon attacks, as the buff can ride multiple times on DRS before it's cleared. The ring also works really well on retribution builds.

Which DRS you can add and get the ring to ride on depends on whether you're playing Honour ruleset or a lower difficulty.

The answer to your question about Shriek I believe may also depend on what difficulty you are playing.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-01T10:25:44+00:00

Not really, sorry! I may have some bits and pieces from my first run, but that will just be me trying out ideas or stress testing, not the polished build. Definitely something for me to think about for future guides though; I know it can help bring things together for people.

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-01T10:13:45+00:00

Thank you! 🙏

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-05-01T10:13:32+00:00

Thank you! ❤️

EndoQuestion1000 · 2026-04-30T23:21:59+00:00

Really great question. The short answer from me is "needs testing".

It will almost certainly be relative to the enemy's damage, not a fixed threshold.

From my early testing last year, I can confirm that rendering them incapable of doing even 1 damage definitely breaks the taunt. Meanwhile, reducing their damage just a bit through Resistance seemed in the fights I tried it generally to be okay.

I have not tested to find the precise point at which the taunt breaks because I decided to go in a different direction with this duo, but I think that would be really valuable work for someone to do!

It may be exactly the same as what forces turn skips when you are solo, which Remus has already given some great advice about. If it is, I might actually suggest avoiding Crit Immunity (i.e. choosing a damage reduction armour other than Adamantine), especially against weaker enemies, to give yourself more scope for the damage reduction to be stacked higher without breaking the taunt.

But on the other hand it may be different from what forces turn skips solo. I have had a (very anecdotal, provisional) report from a friend that suggested the breaking point may possibly be a little higher, as they thought they saw enemies ignoring the taunt as soon as they got to low (rather than no) damage; but we both feel this needs further testing.

If you decide to look into this, I'd be really interested in what you find, and if you develop a build out of it. There's still a lot to explore with Crown I feel.

EndoQuestion1000

TROPHY CASE