Baldur’s Gate 3isn’t afraid of a tough challenge, especially with the release ofHonour Mode, which is so difficult thatonly 10 percent of players have beaten it.
In gaming terms, it’sIronman Mode— meaning that players have one shot on the hardest possible difficulties, and the save file is wiped upon a game over. Honour Mode grants the option to keep the file, but it would be a custom game from then-on.
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Because of this, players have to be very resourceful in how they play the game.Every decision matters, both in and out of combat — with one wrong move having potentially devastating outcomes.
Perhaps one of the most important decisions, however, would bethe party makeupand players' individual builds. Thankfully, there are some builds that would provide excellent benefits and increase chances of success in Honour Mode.
10Pyromancer
Fire Spell-Based Sorcerer or Wizard
Hat of Fire Acuity;Ring Of Fire;Helldusk Gloves
Key Spells/Actions
Burning Hands;Fireball;Wall of Fire
Ability Score Improvement (ASI) forCharisma; Spell Sniper; War Caster
A common joke among fans ofDungeons and Dragonsis a simple sentence:“I don’t care how big the room is, I said I castFireball.”
Naturally, the sentiment is shared inBaldur’s Gate 3. Fire spells are some of the most powerful in the game, especially as the fire spreads to things in the environment, burning additional enemies.
Playing as a pyromancer is a classic way to have tons of fun while utilizing damage output. The best way to do this would be through theDraconic Bloodline subclass(specifically with a red, gold or bronze dragon) ofSorcerer, which increases fire spells' damage and grants resistance to fire.
It is possible to build a pyromancer from aWizardorLight Domain Cleric, but Sorcerers useCharismaas their spellcasting modifier. Having Charisma as the main stat would be ideal in Honour Mode, especially sincesave scummingisn’t an option for dialogue.
Plus, the inclusion ofMetamagicbreathes a whole new life into fire spells, and provides tons of new potential to combat.
9Demander of Decay
Circle of Spores Druid
Armour of the Sporekeeper; Shapeshifter Hat;Circle of Bones
Fungal Infestation; Halo of Spores; Symbiotic Entity
Durable; Ritual Caster; War Caster
Perhaps one of the most underrated in the game, theCircle of Spores subclassforDruidsis immensely powerful, and is a build on its own.
The entire class focuses on necromancy, which includes raising the dead — combine this with theNecromancy of Thayand, suddenly, the party is accompanied by an undead army.
Summonsare a huge help in Honour Mode. Ideally, players want to outnumber the enemy or at least be even in numbers, the more allies the better. So, if that means raising the dead to make that happen, then useFungal Infestationor castAnimate Dead.
Symbiotic Entityis also a very useful buff to this subclass, granting much neededtemporary HP(that scales with leveling up) and increasing necrotic damage. Plus, it remains until all the temporary HP is gone (or until along rest) — so, upon waking up from a long rest, activate it, and now there’s more of a cushion in case of combat.
8One Man Army
Battle Master Fighter
Caustic Band;Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength;Helm of Balduran
Disarming Attack; Menacing Attack; Rally
Athlete; Great Weapon Master; Savage Attacker
A lot can happen in a combat round, despite it (bizarrely) taking place in six real-time seconds. It’s important to maximize the damage, defense, movement and environmental influence in each action and bonus action if players want to make it through Honour Mode.
Thankfully, that’s an easy feat forBattle Masters, a subclass ofFighterthat turns players into, essentially, a one-man army.
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With the inclusion ofSuperiority Dice, players are able to invoke a number of conditions in combat throughManoeuvres.
For example,Disarming Attackremoves the enemy’s weapon if they fail the save, which would force their turn to deal significantly less damage (that is if it’s not just re-equipping the weapon). This extra time and extra damage avoided could be literally life or death in Honour Mode — and that’s just one Manoeuvre.
7Banisher of Shadows
Light Domain Cleric
The Blood of Lathander; Luminous Armour;The Sacred Star
Faerie Fire; Radiance of Dawn;Spirit Guardians
Ability Score Improvement (ASI) forWisdom; Medium Armour Master; Spell Sniper
For the player that has asked themselves:“How can I completely no-diff Act Two?”, the answer is theLight Domainsubclass forCleric.
TheRadiance of Dawnability removes all darkness, magical or otherwise, within its radius, which is crucially helpful in theShadow-Cursed Landsin Act Two. It would also be essential againstSharrans, in theHouse of Griefand in theGauntlet of Shar.
So long as the enemy doesn’t haveRadiant Retort(such asRaphaeland other enemies inThe House of Hope), Radiance of Dawn can be devastating. The entire subclass is centered, obviously, on light — which includes fire.
Combined with thehealing spellsClerics have access to, and suddenly, the Light Cleric is almost unstoppable.
6A Divine and Devilish Messenger
Paladin/Warlock Multiclass
Disintegrating Night Walkers;Helmet Of Smiting;Surgeon’s Subjugation Amulet
Divine Smite;Eldritch Blast;Hunger of Hadar
Ability Score Improvement (ASI) forCharisma; Savage Attacker; Sentinel
Divine Smiteis aPaladin’s entire bread and butter, regardless of subclass. ForWarlocks,Eldritch Blastis the meat and potatoes of the whole class.Multiclassing, however, spells out a recipe for disaster for enemies in Honour Mode.
Pact of the Bladeworks best for a build that embraces melee combat and is a half-caster, relying on magic to be assistance rather than artillery. Considering how Paladins are also half-casters that rely on melee combat, they would pair nicely.
This multiclass, sometimes called thePalalock, is very flexible, and offers endless options for high damage output. It would just depend on how many levels in each class players ultimately choose to take. If they wanted, they could do an even six levels in each.
5The Silver Tongue
College of Lore Bard
Boots Of Brilliance;Braindrain Gloves; Ring of Mental Inhibition
Cutting Words;Dissonant Whispers;Vicious Mockery
Ability Score Improvement (ASI) forCharisma; Actor; Spell Sniper
Charismais crucial in Honour Mode, especially for players trying to avoid combat at all costs (which would be beneficial to do so in such a difficulty).The most notorious class for Charisma, without a doubt, isBard, and theCollege of Lore subclasstakes it one step further.
It takes the power of words, and speaks them into combat.
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By usingCutting Words, players are able to force an enemy to re-roll an attack, potentially causing them to miss instead. Plus, as they level up, theSpell Save DCand the damage output forVicious Mockeryincreases.
Lore Bards also are able to get access to spells that are normally exclusive to other classes through theirMagical Secretsfeature, starting atLevel 6. This provides many helpful benefits for beating the game.
Plus, Bards are incredible for Honour Mode.Getting a 3rdShort RestthroughSong of Rest, a bonus to all rolls throughJack of All Trades, expertise and other incredible feats, relieves manyof the challenges that Honour Mode throws.
4Olympian Rager
Berserker Barbarian
Bonespike Helmet;Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength;Ring of Flinging
Frenzied Rage; Frenzied Throw; Reckless Attack
Athlete; Savage Attacker; Tavern Brawler
TheBerserker subclassforBarbarianis infamous for its tanky, high damage build. The Berserker is on the front lines, the first to throw a punch, and the last to fall in combat.
The class provides the ability to attack and do damage as a bonus action afterRaging, which can quickly turn the tide in any fight.
The only downside is when the enemy is flying, or in some other range that isn’t melee-range. Enter theRing of Flingingand theTavern Brawlerfeat, and suddenly, the barbarian is throwing javelins like it’s an Olympic sport.
Remembering to pick these weapons back up is crucial, so ammunition is always stocked. The last thing players need in Honour Mode is to lack resources in any fight.
3The Healer
Life Domain Cleric
The Blood of Lathander;Hellrider’s Pride;Spellcrux Amulet
Beacon of Hope; Preserve Life;Sanctuary
Ability Score Improvement (ASI) forWisdom; Heavy Armour Master; War Caster
Enemies are going to hit incredibly hard in Honour Mode — at times, it will one-shot the player, depending on several different factors. Having a cleric or some other healer in the party is critical in order to make it through the game.
There is no better healer in Baldur’s Gate 3 than theLife Domain Cleric. When healing other players, the clerics themselves also heal, and they are given countless other perks and benefits to healing others.
The healing can easily be buffed with the inclusion of theHellrider’s Pride(a set of gloves that castsBlesson individuals who are healed) which players can get from Zevlor after theInvestigate Kaghaquest.
The best way to prevent the Healer from being downed in a fight would be to castSanctuaryin the first round.
From there, strictly heal or buff other party members without being attacked. Attacking would remove the protection thatSanctuarygrants, which creates vulnerability (and the ability to breakConcentrationfor spells that could buff healing, such asBeacon of Hope).
2The Martial Artist
Way of the Open Hand Monk
Amulet of Greater Health;Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo;The Graceful Cloth
Flurry of Blows; Ki Resonance; Stunning Strike
Athlete; Mobile; Tavern Brawler
TheMonkclass offers an extremely hot commodity for players in early levels of Honour Mode: abonus actionoffhand attack.
Monks are an incredibly powerful class that does tons of damage with every hit, but the subclass with the highest damage output would easily beWay of the Open Hand. Weapons are useless for these monks.
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As they level up, these monks are able to add elemental damage types (and can switch these damage types on the fly depending on an enemy’s resistance) to their already powerful unarmed attacks.
This, combined withStunning Strike(which prevents the enemy from taking a turn at all), can be devastating on the battlefield. It’s important to be able to buy time in combat for whatever plan the player has cooked up, but a monk could prevent the need entirely — by beating away the enemy entirely.
Assassin Rogue
Killer’s Sweetheart;Shifting Corpus Ring;The Graceful Cloth
Hide;Invisibility; Sneak Attack
Alert; Mobile; Sharpshooter
Initiative Ordercan make or break a combat encounter — this is especially true in Honour Mode, where being first in the initiative order guarantees at least something working for the player in this encounter.
For theAssassin subclassforRogues,Sneak Attack(which can have insane damage outputs and is more likely to be aCritical Hitif hidden) is guaranteed for someone behind in the initiative order.
Plus, if the Stealth Roll is successful and players are able to properly ambush the enemy, they’ll be able to get aSurprise Round. These rounds make the impossible task of Honour Mode combat into something doable, and already in the player’s favour.
Rogue is one of the best options for multiclassing as well, as Sneak Attack is able to be triggered from any attack (as can Divine Smite for Paladins).
For example, multiclassing into theGloom Stalker subclassforRanger(called theGloomstalkerAssassin) will amplify the ranged Sneak Attack, and dual-wielding will amplify the melee damage by offering a melee Sneak Attack option in the offhand.
Combined with the rogue’s ability to stealthily avoid combat, pick locks/disarm traps, and with their various other abilities, playing an Assassin might be one of the most effective ways to succeed in Honour Mode.
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Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
23 years on from the release of the seminal RPG, Baldur’s Gate 2, the third game in the series has been developed by Larian Studios (of Divinity: Original Sin fame). Set over 120 years after the events of the last game, Baldur’s Gate 3 tasks you and your party of heroes to fight off a mind flayer invasion of Faerun, while seeking a way to remove the tadpole in your brain that’s slowly turning you into the enemy…
