The Fighter is one of the most impressive combat classes in DnD 5E and BG3, but also one of the most boring ones. By adding another class to your build through the multiclass system, you can add a bit of flavor to the Fighter’s dry palate.
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Fighters are damage-focused characters in BG3 who use their Fighting Style and Action Surge to tear apart single targets with weapons. Even a few levels of Fighter can make a huge difference in a fight, as it grants proficiency with heavy armor, shields, and all weapons in the game. Using those levels effectively can be tricky on the surface, but will quickly change your build from a weapon-swinging caveman to a complex and powerful warrior.
The best Fighter multiclass options in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Fighter class adds incredible durability and strong weapon options to any build, as well as the ability to give any class an additional action per turn. The downside is that Fighters lack area-of-effect coverage, magical utility, and strong reasons to get mental stats with their multiclass.
Dwarven Throw-zerker: Fighter 8/Barbarian 4
- Role in party: Ranged damage dealer, occasional tank.
- Pros: Access to Frenzy, letting them throw weapons or objects as a bonus action. Reckless Attack provides improved accuracy on melee attacks during stuffy melee combats.
- Cons: Lose access to heavy armor if you want to Rage. Cannot get all three attacks for Fighter.
- Feats: Tavern Brawler.
- Important magic items: Dwarven Thrower, Gauntlets of Frost Giant Strength.
Rage, toss, and repeat.
This build is one of the very few in the game that requires a race to be viable, since the Dwarven Thrower hammer needs a Dwarf to wield it at its fullest potential. If you have a Mask of the Shapeshifter, you can rock a Half-Orc for this build and add some extra damage on critical hit.
The build
To use it effectively, invest five levels into Fighter, then four levels into Barbarian, before putting three more levels into Fighter. The feats you need are Tavern Brawler and Tough, while you want to hit a Strength of at least 22 and a Constitution of around 18. That level of Strength is possible with the Gauntlets of Frost Giant’s Strength or the Potion of Everlasting Vigor when you reach 20 Strength through Ability Score Improvements.
For Fighting Style, we’ll want to use Dueling. This fighting style boosts our thrown weapon damage by two as long as we’re using a shield. If you want to use the Bloodthirst dagger to further pump your critical hit rate, you can instead use Defense to bolster your AC.
For this build, you’ll want to be a Champion Fighter and a Berserker Barbarian. Champions have a higher critical hit rate than other classes, while Berserker offers the most thrown item support of any other class in BG3.
Uses
This build primarily focuses on critical hits with the Dwarven Thrower. At maximum power, you can expect your Dwarf to deal 3d8+16 damage with a 18-20 critical hit ratio without too much favoritism. You will need to give your Dwarf a bow with improved critical hit, and maybe a dagger that has it too, but you’ll be well-rewarded with a devastatingly accurate Fighter.
That’s not terrible, especially since you’re not losing much durability for it. Barbarian forces you down to Medium Armor if you want to access its Rage, but that will still leave you with ACs of 21 or more without much issue. When your Dwarf-zerker runs out of Rage, you can swap back to Heavy Armor without any punishment.
You can further augment your damage capabilities through items that add to your weapon damage rolls. Dice are multiplied on critical hits, so getting access to spells like Hunter’s Mark or magic items like the Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo can lead to big damage turns if you get lucky.
Sadly, Reckless Attack only works on melee attacks. So, that feature will only come in handy if your Dwarf needs to start punching people. Surprisingly, you’re probably still going to throw weapons in melee; you only miss on critical failure with a +18-20 to attack rolls, after all, so disadvantage doesn’t even do that much.
This build doesn’t solve all of the Fighter’s problems. You’re still a one-trick pony, focusing more on damage than any sort of utility. You’ll have great Athletics checks and good Jumps, which is nice, but nothing exceptional.
Eldritch Blast Knight: Fighter 7/Warlock 5
- Role in party: Ranged damage dealer, magical problem solving.
- Pros: Exceptional ranged damage with Eldritch Blast and War Magic. Spellcasting through second level, with third level Warlock spells. High damage with Hex online.
- Cons: Lower health, lose access to one feat.
- Feats: Sharpshooter.
- Important magic items: Potent Robe, Birthright, Gontr Mael.
Further proof that Eldritch Blast is absolutely busted. The Eldritch Blast Knight utilizes the unique interaction of Eldritch Knight which gives it an edge when working with cantrips.
The build
You’ll want to start with Fighter, get to level two in Warlock, and then start leveling Fighter again. Once you reach Fighter seven, which is when the Eldritch Knight gets War Magic, you can put the rest of your levels into Warlock for additional Pact Magic.
We’ll also be using a unique stat lineup: We want 16 Dexterity and 16 Charisma, unless Auntie Ethel is involved and we can get away with 17 in either of those stats. This is because we’re going to be ignoring the Intelligence part of our Eldritch Knight entirely to focus on Charisma and Eldritch Blast damage.
This Fighter will be using Archery to follow-up cantrips with powerful bow attacks. Our feats will be focused on bringing Charisma up to 20 and then getting the Sharpshooter feat. With Auntie Ethel’s hair, we can afford to also get another plus-two to Dexterity.
Our subclasses are Eldritch Knight and the Fiend. Eldritch Knight is the core of the build, utilizing magic and being able to attack after casting a cantrip. The Fiend adds extra durability and gives the Warlock access to Fireball and Scorching Ray.
Our spell choices are relatively simple; we want defensive options. Our Fighter will pick up options like Shield, Mage Armor, Sleep, and Protection from Good and Evil. Our Warlock levels will be dedicated to Hex, but can also include Armor of Agathys and problem-solving spells like Invisibility, Misty Step, and Counterspell. You can even take damage options like Scorching Ray and Fireball if you want, though few things compare to your Eldritch Blast.
For your Pact, there are two options. Pact of the Blade lets you attune to your bow and use Charisma for attack and damage rolls. That’ll usually be a plus-two or three to attack and damage for your bonus action, which is nice. You can also pick Pact of the Tome and get access to Haste—on your Fighter. This is a very dangerous combination and one you should really use.
As for Invocations, there’s only one must-have: Agonizing Blast. Adding Charisma to your Eldritch Blasts is about 90 percent of the build. Other worthwhile Invocations include Armor of Shadow, Beguiling Influence, Devil’s Sight, and Beast Speech.
Uses
Your combat gameplan is straightforward. Against bosses, use Hex to start. Against most other creatures, cast Haste on yourself and go bananas. Eldritch Blast, with a Potent Robe and the Birthright helm, deals 1d10+12 damage per blast. Then, your bonus action bow shot will deal around 1d8+17. On a turn where you hit everything, you’ll be dealing 4d10+1d8+65. Without any other magical items. With Haste, bump that up to 7d10+1d8+101. Action Surge? 10d10+1d8+137.
Unlike the Throwzerker, these attacks are done at a long range and come with moderately effective spells. That said, you have lower crit chances and are naturally much less durable. Try to keep them away from the frontlines, as even with Mage Armor, you’re probably only rocking 16-18 AC.
Mage Knight: Fighter 6/Wizard 6
- Role in party: Magic user, physical damage dealer
- Pros: Deals better single-target damage than a Wizard. Fourth level spellcasting with heavy armor and strong weapons. Huge improvement on crowd-control and area-of-effect options with Wizard spell slots.
- Cons: Reduced single-target damage, as you lose an attack. Lower health.
- Feats: Sharpshooter.
- Important magic items: Diadem of Arcane Synergy, items to improve attack rolls.
By combining the Fighter with the Wizard, you get the middle of both worlds. Which might be good enough.
The Mage Knight combines the powerful attacks of a Fighter with the spellcasting options of a Wizard, without ascending to the heights that either class is known for. Still, it gets close. And being close to the best attacker and caster is not a bad place to be.
The build
Start as a Fighter and get Extra Attack, and then get Wizard to level five. This build is a bit flexible, with the last two levels going to either class. Fighter six gets you a feat while Wizard six gets you another subclass feature, making it optimal for our purposes.
Your fighting style is dependent on what your party needs—Defense for a tank, Archery for a ranged damage dealer. Your feats will almost all go into Intelligence and Dexterity improvements. You want high Intelligence for spells and Dexterity for damage. A Strength build is possible, but not quite optimal—high initiative is very important for a Wizard.
Your subclasses will be Eldritch Knight and Abjuration School. Eldritch Knight is for extra spell slots, while Abjuration protects both yourself and your party. Most Wizard classes work fine, however. Feel free to experiment with Necromancy, Conjuration, or even Transmutation.
For spells, you are largely reliant on your Wizard spellbook to learn most powerful magic in BG3. Must-have spells include Shield, Sleep, Haste, Fireball, Hold Person, and Misty Step.
Magic items are largely up to you, but we like the Diadem of Arcane Synergy, which adds your Intelligence to your weapon attacks. Starting a fight with Hold Person into Action Surge for a free pair of crits is a highlight of your build.
We like this build as a bow user, but you can make it work as a melee enforcer.
The gameplan
Like a Wizard, your gameplan depends a lot on the fight ahead of you. Try to use your camera to scout ahead and find out what’s about to come. A fight with Oozes, for example, could use Fireballs, while a fight with Githyanki could make use of Hold Person. Prepare your spell list accordingly, and use Arcane Recovery to get back a third-level spell when possible.
When fighting a single target, your weapon attacks will do fine damage. If you choose to go Fighter Seven, use a Cantrip and a bonus action weapon attack. We think that losing the Projected Ward feature is not worth this slight damage boost, but your Mage Knight might be here to harm rather than protect.
Spend spell slots liberally. Long Rests are an important part of BG3 and should be used often. So, you should also use your spell slots often. Keep your party, and yourself, as safe as you can.
Your concentration slot is quite important. Giving yourself Haste is an obvious great idea, giving you high damage to a single target and the potential for the Triple Fireball. That said, spells like Hold Person or Hypnotic Pattern are important to stop major threats from beating your party up.
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