The Best Honour Mode Builds In Baldur’s Gate 3

A big reason why Baldur’s Gate 3 is so popular is due to its availability; players don’t need to have fast reactions or a deep understanding of core video game principles to enjoy it. Its slower, turn-based gameplay allows people who aren’t as well-versed in video games to pick it up and enjoy it as opposed to more action-focused RPGs.

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However, there is still difficulty present in Baldur’s Gate 3 for those who do desire a challenge. Honour Mode is the hardest difficulty available, and Larian provided a tough campaign for players to attempt. Bosses were given new abilities to shake things up. Most daunting, was the inability to save, with a party defeat leading to the end of the run and no acquisition of the shiny golden dice. Of course, people have found ways to make playthroughs easier via various builds, some providing healing, some utility, some damage, and some allowing players to escape a game over.

8 Barbarian Thrower

High Damage And Good Crowd Control

• Nyrulna is an amazing throwing weapon that can return to the player.
• The Returning Pike is the best early-game throwing weapon that can return to the player.
• The Ring of Flinging deals bonus throwing damage.
• The Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo deals extra throwing damage.
• The Bonespike Garb gives a bonus to throwing attacks.

The Barbarian is one of the most popular classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, and they can be worth playing in Honour Mode. One of the best builds is a thrower Barbarian, due to some of their mechanics.

They are able to deal good damage, but more importantly, can cause enemies to go prone due to Enraged Throw while Frenzied as part of the Berserker subclass.

Even if there are situations where throwing isn’t viable, a Barbarian is still worth the investment due to its tankiness. Multiclassing with a Thief Rogue is also powerful as a result of their acquisition of an additional bonus action at level three.

7 Life Domain Cleric

A Healer To Save Potential Game Overs

• The Blood of Lathander can save deaths, as well as possessing a strong spell.
• The Crown of Wapira can heal the player instead of using healing spells on themselves.
• The Whispering Promise can buff companions when they are healed.
• The Reviving Hands gives a free Revivify on top of buffing companions and having.
• Till Death Do Us Part grants a free Beacon of Hope, allowing for better healing.
• Revivify is a must for reviving companions.
• Mass Healing Word is a great AoE healing spell.
• Spells that remove debuffs are useful against any enemies that utilize them.
• Heal is a very strong single-target healing spell.

A Life Domain Cleric occupies an interesting role in Honour Mode. Players who are doing a playthrough for the first time, or just want to be safe, should bring along a Life Cleric as their healer, while others who have completed a run might not need one.

Regardless, Life Clerics make for fantastic healers, something desperately needed when a single battle could be the end of the game. Obviously, Shadowheart would be the de facto choice since she starts as a Cleric, but the player could also be a Life Domain healer if they want Shadowheart as a different class or subclass.

6 Light Domain Cleric

Strong Damage And Powerful Crowd Control

• Markoheshkir is a great weapon for magic classes that will help with casting and resisting spells.
• The Blood of Lathander has a powerful inherent spell, can blind enemies, and will help with gear that needs enemies to be illuminated.
• The Sacred Star is good for Light Domain Clerics due to its inherent radiant damage and its radiating orb infliction.
• Luminous Gloves inflict radiating orb via radiant damage which can debuff an enemy.
• The Luminous Armor will inflict a radiant shockwave whenever radiant damage is dealt.
• The Coruscation Ring further inflicts a radiating orb, degrading an enemy’s attack roles.
• The Callous Glow Ring is paired great with gear that inflicts radiating orbs.
• Spirit Guardians can deal massive damage, especially in Act Two.
• Sanctuary is a powerful tool for avoiding damage.
• Spiritual Weapon is a strong bonus action spell that requires no concentration.
• Guardian of Faith is useful for crowd control and tanking enemies.

Cleric has a lot of subclasses to pick from, especially compared to some other classes that only have three. While there are subclasses of Cleric that are also good for Honour Mode, the Light Domain subclass is great in certain areas.

It is a strong build for crowd control, something desperately needed in Honour Mode. Spirit Guardians is a famously powerful spell that will prove its use in an Honour Mode run. The reactions Light Domain Clerics have will also be incredibly useful, and the Channel Divinity Actions will further help deal lots of damage.

5 Storm Sorcerer And Tempest Cleric Multiclass

Using Lightning And Thunder To The Maximum

• The Spellsparkler can be useful to generate lightning charges used in other pieces of gear and with the environment.
• The Staff of Arcane Blessing gives a free Bless spell useful for saving against and attacking with spells.
• The Sparkswall is strong for standing in electric water, something the build frequently utilizes.
• The Blast Pendant is good for dealing extra lightning damage with spells or cantrips.
• The Watersparkers are useful for area denial, and further generation of lightning charges.
• The build is focused around lightning and thunder damage, making The Gloves of Belligerent Skies very useful.
• Create or Destroy Water is great for making enemies wet and thus dealing more lightning damage against them.
• Thunderwave is a great early-game spell also useful for knockback.
• Call Lightning is a powerful AoE spell that can be recast without expending a spell slot.
• Lightning Bolt is a highly damaging spell.
• Chain Lightning is a devastating spell that can jolt to nearby enemies.

Casters are more of a safe option for Honour Mode runs due to their increased options of dealing with enemies at range. A Storm Sorcerer and Tempest Cleric multiclass not only has ranged options but also additional utility for dealing with enemies getting too close.

Storm Sorcerer has the ability to use Fly after casting a level one spell, avoiding potential damage. Tempest Cleric has extremely strong reactions that will prove powerful in Honour Mode, as well as granting proficiencies that a Storm Sorcerer wouldn’t have on their own, such as using different armor and weapons.

4 College Of Swords Bard

A Jack Of All Trades

• The Duellist’s Prerogative is an incredibly strong rapier, one of the main weapons of a bard.
• Bard’s use Charisma as their primary stat and so Birthright is useful to boost it.
• The Gloves of the Growling Underdog is powerful due to a College of Swords Bard’s Slashing Flourish.
• The Hunting Shortbow adds some extra damage via a free Hunter’s Mark spell, as well as advantage over any monstrosity enemies.
• Slashing Flourish is one of Bard’s notable abilities, hitting two enemies at once.
• Hold Person and Hold Monster are great for dealing high melee damage and for crowd control.
• Other crowd-control spells such as Tasha’s Hideous Laughter and Sleep can also be strong.

In Honour Mode, successfully rolling through dice checks in dialogue can save a run. Various options can either engage the party in combat, or entirely avoid encounters in the first place, and Bard is one of the best classes suited for doing so.

They also function as a very good class for almost all aspects of the game. Sword Bards are able to deal high damage, have access to spells, possess good martial prowess, can support the party, and are able to deal damage to multiple enemies.

3 Paladin And Warlock Combo

A Swiss Army Knife Of A Build

• Balduran’s Giantslayer is an obvious choice, being absurdly powerful.
• The Everburn Blade is a very early-game weapon that can last a playthrough.
• The Strange Conduit Ring is good for dealing more damage given Paladin and Warlock both utilize concentration.
• The Boots of Striding are good for closing the distance between enemies for melee attacks.
• The Adamantine Splint Armor is armor that can be acquired in Act One and can last until the endgame.
• The Diadem of Arcane Synergy can deal bonus damage.
• The Fistbreaker Helm can help with spell saves, which can be important given both classes utilize concentration.
• Divine Smite is Paladin’s signature damage-dealing attack.
• Eldritch Blast is a Warlock’s signature damage-dealing attack.
• Hunger of Hadar is an incredibly strong crowd control and area denial spell.

Without the safety harness of saving in Honour Mode, there is no opportunity to test something out before putting it into action. Runs will consist of actions being committed to, regardless if the player truly wants to do so or not.

The Paladin and Warlock build, nicknamed the Lockadin or Padlock, is an incredibly versatile build that can allow players to get away with actions possibly unavailable to others. The damage is good, utility is plentiful, healing is apparent, and it is just one of the best multiclass overall.

2 Way Of The Open Hand Monk

No Weapons No Problem

• The Gloves of Soul Catching is an obvious piece of gear due to its scaling with unarmed attacks.
• The Surgeon’s Subjugation Amulet is great for dealing more damage via critical attacks.
• The Mask of Soul Perception further increases a player’s damage.
• Since monks are up close and personal, the Fleshmelter Cloak is a good defensive option.
• The Vest of Soul Perception also scales with unarmed attacks, making it good for monks.
• The Gloves of Cinder and Sizzle further deal additional unarmed damage.
• The Disintegrating Night Walkers grant monks more movement options.
• The Flurry of Blows attacks are great for crowd control.
• The Manifestation abilities are superb for dealing even more bonus damage.

Contrary to the popular attitude, using weapons to damage enemies is something not entirely needed. A Way of the Open Hand Monk is able to roll through the game just using their fists.

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This subclass of Monk possesses a great amount of versatility. Anyone playing as such will do a great amount of damage, have a wide array of crowd-control abilities, and possess the powerful mobility needed for Honour Mode. Some fans have called for nerfs on the Way of the Open Hand subclass due to just how exceedingly powerful it can be.

1 Gloomstalker Assassin

A Build That Can Save Runs

• The Deathstalker Mantle offers free invisibility via the defeat of an enemy, which is useful for stealth.
• The Gloves of Archery deals bonus damage via ranged attacks.
• The Moondrop Pendant doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks, allowing players to flee if a fight goes wrong.
• The Shade-Slayer Cloak allows for easier critical attacks.
• The Fetish of Callarduran Smoothhands gives free invisibility, which is powerful for a stealthy class.
• The Gontr Mael is the best bow in the game, making it an obvious choice for a Gloomstalker multiclass.
• The Spidersilk Armor is an early-game item that will heal with stealth checks.
• The Shadow of Menzoberranzan gives a free class action that functions as an invisibility spell.
• Killer’s Sweetheart offers a chance to deal massive damage via a guaranteed critical attack.
• Umbral Shroud is a powerful invisibility tool.
• Sneak Attack (Ranged) is the ability mainly used in stealth-ranged attacks.

Without the luxury of saving, combat encounters can be nerve-wracking, especially for first-timers. The combination of a Gloomstalker Ranger, and an Assassin Rogue can alleviate the tension of fighting.

Not only does this build possess high damage, but it also has the occasional utility. The build is able to gain initiative in fights due to its sneaky nature, but most importantly, being a stealthy class also allows players to retreat from fights. Pair this with their high damage from stealth and their initiative gain, and players can start fights, kill enemies quickly, and then run away out of combat. Rinse and repeat and platoons of enemies can be defeated this way.