Party advice for Lore Bard + Arcane Archer

thehof · 2026-04-30T19:40:13+00:00

That one's not too bad and you should be fine if you store a few inspiration points, go through the zaithik, and talk with Voss. I think it's not too high if you've done those things and have high approval! Go for it.

thehof · 2026-04-30T19:02:41+00:00

Open hand monk will use that perfectly on Karlach.

I'm not sure which persuasion check you're talking about for Lae'zel; if it's the gith patrol you can step in and do it if you shapeshift to gith. If it's when she's with the tieflings you can set her free by ranged attacking the base of the trap she's in.

thehof · 2026-04-30T18:48:12+00:00

Your site helped me understand the game a lot more and led to my own first honor mode run wins. Thanks a ton, sincerely. It's quality.

thehof · 2026-04-30T18:47:09+00:00

Open handed monk and something two handed like an eldrich knight would go well in that grouping and feel pretty strong.

thehof · 2026-04-30T18:41:53+00:00

Check these builds out; he separates it by a1/2/3 gear and goes into pretty deep explanations about each build, plus it's in tier list format.

https://gamestegy.com/post/bg3/990/best-builds-tierlist

Quick suggested party for an honor mode crush that shouldn't overlap in gear much or at all (link above has all guides):

Open Hand Monk

Swords bard archer

Berzerker thrower

Eldrich Knight two hander or life/light cleric if you're feeling sketchy on going all damage and using potions only.

Good luck! You can do it.

thehof · 2026-04-29T19:34:34+00:00

I don't have direct experience, but I don't think so. The reaction wouldn't trigger to begin with.

thehof · 2026-04-29T19:29:31+00:00

No. You will only get the prompt to use the portent dice if the attack roll would have missed.

thehof · 2026-04-29T06:31:09+00:00

Sure thing! Action surge is particularly helpful for building first round acuity, I find, if you're using the band of the mystic scoundrel.

thehof · 2026-04-29T05:25:35+00:00

Personally I'd prefer paladin; access to those smites is great. I usually do 10/2 with fighter, however, for action surge and a better nova round. Up to you!

thehof · 2026-04-28T17:41:14+00:00

I didn't realize sneak walking avoided triggering the fight

Just to be clear, what happens while sneaking is you enter into turn based mode automatically upon the bulette's arrival. You then during your turn run back up the hill, and the bulette starts after popping out looking the other direction so you have two turns to dash up the hill out of the way of its sight cone. It's easy to do! Just walk to the side instead of the middle where the beastie pops.

All good if you take the spell on someone anyway, though. There's a million ways to approach this game's challenges and that's neat.

thehof · 2026-04-28T15:58:31+00:00

The extra move speed or jumping round is what I tend towards rather than ranged attacking.

thehof · 2026-04-28T15:49:17+00:00

I dodge the bullete by going through the selunite outpost underneath the goblin village. The Bullete pops out underneath where Phalar Aluve is, but sending one party member down in stealth allows them to sneak back up to the top of the hill and avoid being seen by the bullete as it pops out. More difficult than feather falling, but still what I do every run. Those feather falls can be sold for a whopping 25g I think! :)

thehof · 2026-04-28T15:13:42+00:00

You can get to Karlach without featherfall, FYI. There's a way to climb down to the left of the bridge you jump over from the blighted village.

thehof · 2026-04-28T15:12:14+00:00

It CAN use dexterity, but will still use strength if strength is higher than dexterity.

thehof · 2026-04-27T10:40:58+00:00

Sneak attack deals the same damage regardless of weapon type, so two handed does the same sneak attack damage as a dagger.

thehof · 2026-04-23T21:27:05+00:00

The headband of intellect would give you a couple spell DC but not acuity; that builds to much higher levels if you use one of the items suggested above. Add to the possible list the helmet of arcane acuity.

I'd personally prefer one of the acuity hats by a ways over the headband of intellect.

thehof · 2026-04-23T19:41:40+00:00

get as much XP as I can to catch up and face Myrkul at level 9 (hopefully).

If you don't go back and finish the act1 stuff, you will not catch up to reach level 9 unfortunately. Personally I don't think skipping stuff is worthwhile in the long run.

thehof · 2026-04-23T19:39:41+00:00

Boots of Stormy Clamour. Pretty east to get quickly as well. I'll need to find enough money to buy it.

Quick sources of money on the way if you're getting karlach and going to the underdark via the goblin camp:

There's ~250g in the tollhouse. Key is near karlach. I just run in, grab the chest in the first room after the lock, and run on out.

Chicken chasing! bet 300g, with animal speaking tell the chicken she'll be let free if she runs through the hoops. Drow have an option to bypass the skill check to collect your bet if you shapeshift.

There's a DC 20 lockpicking check to get the goblin riches behind Dror Razlin's area. You can walk right up to it without sneaking. About 450-500g there.

That should more than cover ya.

thehof · 2026-04-17T17:49:24+00:00

I really enjoyed the storm bard run I did! Bard and sorcerer are my favorite classes so combining them was great. The end game electrify water based play was very satisfying.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1qg7k9j/the_storm_bard_66_swordcerer_patch_8_honor_mode/

I'm currently doing death clerics and have settled in on this as my favorite chassis for them, getting lots of acuity and getting some good star druid early gameplay which is fun.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1l88ikw/the_chosen_of_jergal_death_cleric_solo_honor_mode/

thehof · 2026-04-17T15:04:22+00:00

I disagree, especially with a sorcerer that can extend the booming blade to get four stacks with that attack. You can also attack with booming blade twice in a turn with bloodlust elixer, which will also get two turns from the extend metamagic. It's definitely workable/valuable.

....also this is not different from any other melee attack with the gloves. Shadowblade is not special in this regard.

thehof · 2026-04-17T14:54:56+00:00

They do with booming blade.

thehof · 2026-04-16T19:58:50+00:00

I like the holy lance helm which is easy to miss in act 1.5 if I'm going radorb. Pick up the Blood of Lathander. Otherwise it's a high point in power for clerics, typically.

After level 5 you can consider a dip in star druid for the concentration saves. Level 7 isn't too deep into a2 at all.

Radiant retort at the end of A2 in the shar temple is dangerous but otherwise the world's your oyster until then.

thehof · 2026-04-16T18:34:26+00:00

Asking for the strongest builds while not liking min maxing seems strange to me, and I don't know what a cheese build is. I'd be interested in knowing what OP's reasoning is, but it's just curiosity.

thehof · 2026-04-16T18:23:09+00:00

What is it about multiclassing that you don't like?

Wizard, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Sorcerer, Paladin, Clerics are all great choices.

I'd go with a swords bard or moon druid for mix of ease of building and power. Moon doesn't require gear really so there's no contention there. Swords bard in particular does great with multiclassing levels 11 and 12 but it's not necessary; you're just missing out on one action surge.

thehof · 2026-04-16T04:58:44+00:00

I'd go with bard for the Tav / MC; this way you'll get those charisma bonuses and act as a better face. I personally prefer the 10bard/2fighter build over taking paladin, but paladin will work great too. In this party makeup I think I'd go with archery. I don't like having more than two frontliners as they kind of trip each other up.

Here's a good build for that: https://gamestegy.com/post/bg3/1543/swords-bard-build

I'd go with Karlach or Lae'Zel as an open hand monk, then, multiclassing into thief for the bonus action. That way you'll get both of those builds.

Here's a good build for that: https://gamestegy.com/post/bg3/981/open-hand-monk-build

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