BG3 Honour Mode Party Composition
Obviously you’re going to want to be fairly optimal with your party members to minimize the chance of a wipe in Honour Mode. That being said, there are still a TON of very strong options and nearly infinite ways to assemble your party.
Some of the previously “strongest” builds are significantly weakened in Honour Mode because of changes to DRS and Haste, but despite that they tend to STILL be some of the strongest builds.
Example Party
Here’s what I’ve used most recently. Remember that nothing is stopping you from making Lae’zel into a Cleric and Gale into a Barbarian, though generally I try to be “on theme”. One thing to keep in mind is to avoid combinations that will fight over the same equipment.
- 10/1/1 Sword Bard - This is my Main Character
- Light Cleric - Shadowheart
- Open Hand Monk / Thief - Karlach if good, Astarion if Evil (this isn’t just an “on theme” thing. Soul Coin / Vamp Bite work well here.)
- FLEX SLOT FOR STORY. I use a Battlemaster Lae’zel in Act 1 because Fighters are very solid right out of the start. This will be my Minthara slot for my Dark Urge run, and I’ll probably keep her as some type of Paladin (Pal 12, Pal6/Sorc6, Pal7/Lock5). This would also be a great spot for a Sorcerer.
Update 2024-01-07 - The excellent /u/Prestigious_Juice341 on Reddit has made a spreadsheet of fun party combinations: https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/190r158/bg3_party_building_templates/ – Note how similar the “Balanced Defense” party is to my example above.
Melee Builds
- Open Hand Monk 8 / Thief Rogue 4
- Shadow Monk 9/ Thief Rogue 3 (or 8/4) – This feels really “on theme” for Astarion. Massive mobility. Can either do an unarmed variant or a non-heavy weapon variant.
- Battlemaster Fighter 12 is just soooooooo solid.
- Barbarian 8 / Battlemaster Fighter 4 (Action Surge/Maneuvers are better than going Pure Barbarian) - Great Weapon Fighter is great for this.
- Paladin 12
- Oath of Vengeance (or Risky Ring wearers) gets advantage, so Great Weapon Master is a no-brainer for them
- Other oaths may prefer Savage Attacker instead (which combos well with Smites)
- You could do both, but likely want some ASI’s to boost strength too.
- Paladin 6 / Sorcerer 6 (more spells / smites). If you are playing Oath of the Ancients you likely want a 7 / 5 split instead because your level 7 Aura is excellent.
Paladin 7 / Warlock 5 (if you want your level 7 aura) – Pact of the Blade doesn’t stack with extra attacks in Honour Mode.- Paladin 2 / Swords Bard 10 – Helmet of Arcane Acuity from Act 2 is your best friend. Start as a pure Bard until level 6, then respec to Pal 2 / Bard 4
- Warlocks in general can be excellent in melee, but I have them in the “Arcane” category, below.
- Circle of the Moon Druid now benefits from some parts of Tavern Brawler during Wildshape, so it’s stronger than before. It also has “multiple health bars”, which can make them very dependable in Honour Mode. NOTE: It currently only “half works” in Wildshape in Honour Mode. Keep an eye on the patch notes.
Ranged Builds
- Gloomstalker Ranger / Assassin Rogue / Fighter is great in a few different combinations. 5/7/0, 5/5/2, 5/3/4 all work well. Titanstring Bow isn’t as overpowered with the DRS changes in Honour Mode, but still excellent. That being said, The Dead Shot may be a better option in Act 3. Alternatively, replace Assassin with Thief and use a pair of hand crossbows.
- Despite being massively hit by DRS/Haste nerfs in Honour Mode, Tavern Brawler Throw is still a powerful option, such as this 5 Berserker Barbarian / 4 Thief Rogue / 3 Fighter build. As a plus, it has very little gear overlap with most other builds.
- Eldritch Knight throw builds are also great, either pure EK or with one level of War Priest Cleric. They get additional spellcasting utility, including the powerful Shield spell, and can use Weapon Bond to make any weapon “returning”. (This can also be cheesed by using an EK hireling in camp.)
Casters
- Life Cleric – Either stack Healing riders or go Radiant Orbs.
- Light Cleric – Radiant Orbs
- Cleric 12 is great, though I prefer Storm Sorcerer 1 / Cleric 11 – you basically break even on feats (because you don’t need Resilient) and gain the Shield spell and great mobility. Alternatively, you can go Wizard 1 / Cleric 11 or Sorcerer 1 / Wizard 1 / Cleric 10 to add some utility via scroll learning – which might be the strongest option, though your level 6 spells slots will only be used for Wizard spells or upcasting.
- Circle of the Land Druid 12. I think Druids are underestimated as caster-focused characters. They have excellent utility spells and a huge array of area control options. Take Arctic or Grassland at level 5 for Haste. As with the Cleric, adding a level of Sorc and/or Wizard is likely very good.
- Sorcerer 12. Twinning Haste or Chain Lightning will always feel good. You could splash one level of Wizard, but it’s less required than with Cleric/Druid because you’ll mostly already have the Arcane spells you want.
- Fiery Sorcerer 11 / Warlock 1
- Wizard/Bard/Sorcerer(/Cleric) build. The Cleric variant is essentially what I used in my co-op (Tactician) campaign with friends, where I acted as the party face, provided twinned Haste, and dropped AoE control spells.
- The Sword Bard 10 / Wizard 1 / Fighter build provides great early ranged damage, followed by excellent control spellcasting at the end game. I’m currently using this in my Honour Mode Durge playthrough. You can also go Bard 10 / Fighter 2 for Action Surge if you don’t care for scoll learning.
- Warlock 2 / Sorcerer 10 or Warlock 2 / Fighter 2 / Sorcerer 8. Depending on the situation, you can be Ranged (with Eldritch Blast), Melee, or be Caster-focused.
The latest version of this guide can be found at http://quill18.com/bg3