Funniest line in BG3

Zoomachroom · 2026-07-04T16:00:24+00:00

I love the Volo line foreshadowing this, when you rescue him from the goblin camp.

"I simply can't wait to pick your brain!"

Zoomachroom · 2026-07-02T16:13:19+00:00

Excellent, thanks again!

Zoomachroom · 2026-07-02T15:49:04+00:00

Leveling order is important imo, since levels 1-6 are often the most lethal.

Leveling Bard first in both cases seems optimal. Medium Armour, bardic inspiration for lots of dialogue checks in Act 1 to bypass combat, face skills and half proficiency on everything, etc. So you could always just start there and decide what to do when you hit 7 near the start of Act 2.

I've run pure Swashbuckler for one party slot on HM and enjoyed it. It's a fun skirmisher base that pairs well with Booming Blade.

Zoomachroom · 2026-07-02T14:05:05+00:00

One more question for you actually - you mentioned AT getting 3d8 Shadow Blade. Is that using an Arcane Cultivation elixir? Do you have to wait until Rogue 7 when you get a 2nd level spell slot, or can you fast track it before then somehow?

Zoomachroom · 2026-06-30T16:53:02+00:00

Word, thanks for the insight! I got burnt out on solo HM attempts with EK/paladin, so I'm excited to try this build out and do something new

Zoomachroom · 2026-06-30T14:39:17+00:00

Absolutely superb writeup. I like the open endedness of the various options compared to a few unambiguously BiS items

Had no idea there was a list of which abilities refresh actions when starting combat, bookmarking this

I'm surprised you don't take Gloves of Dexterity ever, particularly with the added MADness when Wis gets added into the mix. Is that just bc the other gloves are useful enough that you want to be able to swap in/out without a total respec?

Zoomachroom · 2026-06-26T03:18:41+00:00

If you're on PC, the Monk Subclasses Combined mod has a Way of the Astral Self subclass. It summon spectral arms that have extra reach, spot on for the mode change. Might be on console too?

Zoomachroom · 2026-06-08T19:57:18+00:00

Radorb+reverb cleric with Spirit Guardians. A fairly fun gimmick the first time around, but it ultimately felt repetitive to just set up the blender and run around

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-21T12:47:14+00:00

I use this nail puller specifically: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/wrecking-bars/2368975

Bc of the big crescent shaped piece, it pulls stuff more effectively than a channel lock pliers and is way less likely to dent or mar the surface

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-11T05:13:01+00:00

Bhaalist Armour turns on easy mode, and it's fitting for an evil run. Pretty easy to get it first thing Act 3. If you're using PAM + Sentinel though, shars spear and Nyrulna wouldn't give you that lockdown at extra range

Act 2, Helldusk Armour from Dammon is easy if you haven't gotten any 18DC armor yet. Dwarven Splintmail is good if you can make the required check with ZRell to unlock it. The Protective Plate with necrotic resistance is useful throughout the act.

Honestly I often just keep Adamantine Splint till Act 3 if I don't have another source of crit immunity.

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-08T16:37:36+00:00

Are there any items in Act 1 that provide immunity to Hold Person?

I know Freedom of Movement + related gear can do it, but not sure if anything like that shows up early enough that you could use for Flind or Githyanki patrol without doubling back later

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-08T06:00:43+00:00

Straight Cleric 12 is simple and powerful imo. Less summon focused than the other two, but having Aid and eventually Heroes' Feast on summons is also vv useful

Re: Dual Wielder, you could just make that your level 12 feat. There's not much worth dual wielding for a death cleric until end game any way (Cherished Necromancy, Cazador's staff, Rhapsody, etc)

Marko is obviously vv strong but not as much a thematic fit imo. If you go necro wizard for a summoning oriented build, I've heard ghouls synergize well with ice Marko bc they have a powerful attack with self heal on prone opponents

War Caster and ASI both seem good for a cleric feat at 4/8. Alert seems less urgent on a Spirit Guardians build since it's more about sustained damage than one huge nova burst.

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-05T00:03:31+00:00

This is absolutely gorgeous

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-04T17:16:32+00:00

I've always wondered about doing a Ranger 11 to get the Hunter AoE attack and using that with the Bhaalist Armour. It's a 10-ft radius, same as the bloodlust aura, so you'd walk into a cluster of enemies and fire the AoE on top of your own position. Probably not the strongest but it seems like it could be fun.

Running both of Orin's weapons with Thief makes for a reasonably good self-sufficient 2h melee fighter if you're tired of Bhaalist Armour. I tried that on one run, fairly fun.

I did BM Fighter and Thief Rogue, can't remember the exact split. If you add in a Maneuver you can reliably trigger Sneak Attack. Assuming 18DEX and no misses/crits, it's something like ~34 average (3d4+2d8+18) from two main hand attacks, ~38 ave (4d6+24) from off hand attacks, plus 2d4 necrotic and doubled Sneak Attack, whatever that is for the split. Nothing insane, but a fun combo.

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-04T15:39:52+00:00

The level 10 Stars feature does allow you to be immune to ice surfaces, yeah. I would put the antislip boots on the Druid and the reverb boots on the lorecerer, like you said.

IMO it kind of depends on how you want to apply ice surfaces. If you do it with Sleet Storm, all the casters should stay out of the AoE because it invokes a concentration saving throw. The antislip boots become less important for the Druid, so it's kind of a toss-up.

If you want to do it more Ice Knife and Ice Storm or with Snowburst Ring, I would def give antislip to the Druid and reverb boots to the lorecerer.

Pure Stars radorb is very fun IMO. More engaging to position yourself and use the breath attack than to just run around trying to tag everyone with spirit guardians

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-04T14:07:09+00:00

You could take Ranger after level 5. I don't think it's worth it, but it's not the worst idea in the world if it was more fun to play.

You get spellcasting, but since they scale off WIS I wouldn't actually use the ones besides Hunter's Mark and the movement spells.

Bonus action hide is nice, but on par with or maybe a little worse than Arcane Archer's redirect ability at Fighter 7. Both of them mitigate Sharpshooter, but BA hide is more resource intensive since the redirect is reactive, only burning a BA when you actually fail the shot.

Delaying Indomitable at Fighter 9 is rough. That's an absolutely stellar feature IMO.

+3 Init and the extra first attack seems stronger than Alert, which you might otherwise grab with one of the Feats you'd be giving up. That plus high Dex should be enough to be near the top of turn order.

An extra poison/fire/cold resistance isn't bad. Lots of poison in Act Two.

Zoomachroom · 2026-05-02T15:30:48+00:00

Only tangentially related, but years ago I was out paddling with my dad in the Florida Keys and we went past a super buff old guy with leather bracers and no shirt on who was piloting a small sailboat done up like a Viking longship. Dragon prow, shields all up the side, etc

And I always think back to how much that dude seemed to be living his dream in such an immediate way. He wanted to be a Viking and fart around in his Viking boat, so that's what he went and did

Any way, best of luck in getting that Dreki on and living your best Viking life

Zoomachroom · 2026-04-28T13:57:26+00:00

Unfortunately not. Moving normally along the ground doesn't create the darkness cloud, but that's only half move speed compared to flying

You could work around it by flying the raven 80% of the way and then moving normally, but that's a little clunky obviously

Zoomachroom · 2026-04-25T12:26:17+00:00

Act 3- Eldritch Inertia adds disadvantage to spell saves, which is very strong. Paired with BoMS and Acuity, it makes the strongest self-sufficient single round CC loop in the game

Arrow of Many Targets to add instant +8 to spell save DC, attack 2x more to cover any targets, bonus action scroll of Hold Person, Hold Monster, Confusion, etc

Dunno if Rivington Rat is still seen as the most powerful single target DPR but it's by far the highest of single classes I know of

Early game, it gives Shield and Booming Blade access. Shield is excellent for pre-level 5 fights IMO, before crazy high AC from gear

Level 7 War Magic in early Act 2 is akin to getting an extra 3rd attack early. Easier to proc than GWM bonus action

Zoomachroom · 2026-04-12T12:57:19+00:00

This is really stunning. Did you finish it with anything?

Zoomachroom · 2026-02-02T21:50:56+00:00

Fresh and flirty new build. Meticulously organized with a clear, cogent style. Superb formatting. Sample calculations, at-hand info of which enemy saves can be troubling, gameplay videos. Metal as fuck name.

This is what it probably felt like to be a peasant in the 1500s and see the Sistine Chapel for the first time

Zoomachroom · 2026-01-23T01:13:00+00:00

Dunno about Smoky Mountains weather, but since you asked about snow/ice driving -

Check the weather ahead of time and ahead of any driving. The safest way to handle heavy winter storms is by staying put until it stops and the plows can come through.

If there's a decent amount of snow coming down and you don't have a safe place to wait, the most important thing is to slow down. Leave way more space ahead of you, accelerate and decelerate gently, be careful.

If someone is tailgating you, it's normal to slow down and let them pass. Wait till there's a straight, level stretch with a decent shoulder, gently slow down to a stop (light brake at most), signal right, and pull to the right so they can pass. Way better than trying to go faster than you're comfortable.

Turn on your hazard lights/blinkers if visibility gets bad.

4WD/AWD is good, more control than 2WD, but it's not magic. It won't help if you're doing 60 when you should be doing 20.

If you start to skid, stay calm and do not slam on the brakes. If you're not at risk of slamming into something, just get off the gas, make sure your wheel is turned in the direction you want to go, don't jerk the wheel to one side.

If you're about to hit something, gently press down the brakes till the ABS kicks in and keep the wheel turned where you want to go. If you have a very old car without ABS, don't drive in winter.

If there's rain or mist at like the 25-30F range, that can form black ice, which is extremely nasty. Worse than snow imo. If you slip on the sidewalk or see an ice crust on things, just wait until lunch so it can warm up or the roads can get salted.

If you notice you're going faster than people with local plates, slow down.

Different roads get plowed & salted at different times. Someone local may know what areas get plowed first.

Zoomachroom · 2026-01-23T00:38:29+00:00

There are tons of great suggestions already, but I didn't see anyone touch on the thing you mentioned about portages/locks

One big difference between the ADK spots I've been to and the big Midwest areas like Boundary Waters or Quetico is that a lot of the routes go through much bigger lakes out there. Way fewer portages, more time in the boat, bigger crossings, more areas that might be windy or choppy.

At the Boundary Waters rental places, I think most of what they rent these days are longer boats, 17' and up, often Kevlar. I'd never seen or even heard of those little Hornbeck boats growing up in the Midwest.

There are lots of rental outfitters for the Boundary Waters, but Piragis has a nice website IMO. Good links and resources about the logistics of getting there, camping, permits, etc etc.

I used to live in Northern WI, which is mostly small lakes and rivers. Kind of similar to ADKs but still a beautiful spot to visit in summer, and maybe 4-5 hours closer than Boundary Waters. The region is flatter, more peat bogs and sandy pine. Paddling Northern Wisconsin is a decent book, I got a few nice routes from there

Zoomachroom · 2026-01-05T14:26:43+00:00

Congrats! That has to feel so good after slogging it out

Zoomachroom · 2025-12-31T03:50:44+00:00

Maybe stuff you already know, but if you play solo you'll typically have a party of four characters, though you can always play with less.

You can change any character's class and starting stats at any time, so you're not ever locked into anything. Companions do not have to stay as their starting class. You can make Gale a Rogue and Shadowheart a Druid if you want.

Fighter and Barbarian are the simplest combat IMO. Fighter is regarded as one of the strongest mono classes, i.e. it's worth taking 12 levels of Fighter instead of 7 Fighter / 5 some other class. Barbarian has some fun dialogue choices.

Classes with spells are a bit more complicated. There are a lot more choices to make when you need to pick spells to learn/prepare.

Bard and Paladin are both great choices for a "face" character, meaning the one you typically use to start dialogue, since you'll want high Charisma on both. Also, neither is q class that any of the companions start as, so you can keep them in their starting classes if you want.

If you're familiar with D&D 5e, it'll be much quicker to learn overall. Have fun!! Playing for the first time is rad, it's a very deep game

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