HexHunter - Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)

The HexHunter Build - Melee whacker build for Baldur's Gate 3. Use the damage riding sources and Horde Breaker​ paired with Hexblade's Curse​ to become the ultimate killer, utilizing the underrated Rat Bat. With the setup in this guide your combat log will be filled with unholy numbers of damage.

HexHunter - The melee menace

The idea of this build is to utilize the level 3 Hunter Ranger action - Horde Breaker​. By itself, the action seems very simple, however, it has some hidden mechanics which will be explained later in the guide. 

Another contribution is level 1 Hexblade Warlock's action Bind Hexed Weapon​ and bonus action Hexblade's Curse​. The curse is a huge damage boost that may seem like not much in the beginning, however, in huge simplicity; it allows your additional damage effects to repeat themselves and add more stacking damage. Bind Hexed Weapon​ has a chance to apply Hexblade's Curse which also works with Horde Breaker​; you can connect the dots here ​how absurd this may work.

Why Rat Bat ? It has a hidden 1d6 Piercing damage DR-S which stands for Damage Rider that's treated as Source. It means that other Damage Riding Sources can apply onto it to repeat it's damage BUT since it's also a Source, it means that other damage riders may apply onto it. This means that stuff like for example; Craterflesh Gloves which are a full fledged DRS item - will go absolutely crazy paired with all the things combined in this build.

Hope you like the idea of the build, and will enjoy reading it!

Class Contribution

The build can be made in a few different ways. You could go 9/3 split, take a dip 2 in Fighter or even 3 Rogue Thief. For simplicity's sake, I will be going with 9 Hexblade Warlock and 3 Hunter Ranger.

9 Hexblade Warlock

So this is the core of the build that you will use the most:

• ​ Hexblade's Curse and Bind Hexed Weapon​ to boost your damage capabilities.​
• Hex Warrior​ with bonus proficiencies in Medium Armor and Shield. This also lets you use Bind Hexed Weapon​ to use Charisma as the main weapon stat.
• Access to a useful cantrip - Eldritch Blast,​ which scales with level and gains damage bonuses throughout the game 
• Warlock Spellslots that reset on short rest which allows you for usage of a vast array of control spells - Darkness, Hunger of Hadar, Hold Monster​, etc.
• Special invocations which give unique features like Devil's Sight, Repelling Blast​, Agonising Blast​, etc.
• Gain extra attack via the Pact of the Blade​ pact.
• Summon special specters with a reaction thanks to the Accursed Spectre​ feature.
• Unique spell list of Shield, Wrathful Smite, Staggering Smite, Banishing Smite, and many more.

3 Hunter Ranger

• Minor features, and spin on roleplay via Favoured Enemy and Natural Explorer selections.
• Selection of Fighting styles, mainly Defence in this case.
• Spell slots for casting spells - Hunter's Mark​, Spike Growth, etc. 
• Horde Breaker a very powerful semi extra attack feature which has lots of special hidden mechanics.

There are more choices, but I will leave those in the build variation section below.

Build Variations

For this build, there are a lot of options, both from a progression perspective and the level splits

Setup	Description
5 Hexblade Warlock 4 Hunter  3 Thief Rogue	A build that gives you another bonus action to utilize more spells like Hex​ paired with Hexblade's Curse or additional attack thanks to Great Weapon Master: Bonus Attack.​​
7 Hexblade Warlock 3 Hunter Ranger 2 Fighter	Fighter dip gives us another Fighting Style, but the main benefit of this dip is Action Surge​ for an additional Action point; It also resets on short rest which pairs well with Warlock as a whole.

Build Overview

Here is a concise table with all the main picks during your leveling progression. For more detailed reasoning, I go further in the article. Also, do not forget to check the recommended gear as it is crucial.

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You can start with this setup from the early levels. There are very good weapons like Svartlebee's Woundseeker, Jorgoral's Greatsword, Unseen Menace and many more but you can also use Shadow Blade, as this is a simple and effective weapon.

In this setup I will focus on using Two-Handed weapons.

Level	Class	Selection
1	Warlock 1	Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Booming Blade​
		Subclass: The Hexblade​
		Spells: Hex​​, Shield
		STR - 8, DEX - 16, CON - 14, INT - 8, WIS - 10, CHA - 17
		Skills: Deception, Intimidation
2	Warlock 2	Spells: Armour of Agathys​
		Eldritch Invocations: Agonising Blast, Repelling Blast
3	Warlock 3	Spells: Cloud of Daggers​ or Shadow Blade​
		Pact Boon:  Pact of the Blade​​
4	Warlock 4	Cantrips: Minor Illusion​
		Spells: Darkness
		Feat: Ability Score improvement - +2 Charisma or Savage Attacker​ ​​
5	Warlock 5	Spells: Hunger of Hadar​
		Eldritch Invocations: Devil's Sight​
		Replace Spell: Darkness​​ -> Counterspell
6	Warlock 6	Spells: Elemental Weapon​
7	Respec: Lv 1 Ranger Lv 2-6 - 5 Warlock  Lvl 7 - 2 Ranger	Favoured Enemy: Ranger Knight​
		Natural Explorer: Urban Tracker
		Spells: Longstrider, Enhance Leap​
		Fighting Style: Defence​
8	Ranger 3	Subclass: Hunter
		Spells: Ensnaring Strike​
		Hunter's Prey: Horde Breaker
9	Warlock 6	Spells: Elemental Weapon​
10	Warlock 7	Spells: Staggering Smite​
		Eldritch Invocations: Fiendish Vigour
11	Warlock 8	Spells: ​Hold Person​
		Feat: Savage Attacker or Ability Score improvement - +2 Charisma​​
12	Warlock 9	Spells: Cone of Cold​
		Eldritch Invocations: Minions of Chaos

Synergy with other builds

This section will give a few ideas on how to utilize other builds to maximize the combat potential of the group. There are usually various synergies that make the group play more enjoyable. However, this should not be the main factor. With full game knowledge, any party composition will work freely.

Darkness Setup

Thanks to Devil's Sight​ you have a natural way to see and attack through magical darkness. Here's some builds that can help in your party:

Synergetic Builds	Enabler	Description
Beast Master Ranger (level 11)	Dire Raven Companion	From level 11, when using Fly, the raven will create Darkness fields for free.
Shadow Magic Sorcerer	Eyes of the Dark: Darkness	The Sorcerer has an easy way of creating Darkness fields, and see inside of it thanks to Eyes of the Dark
Sorlock	Devil's Sight Darkness	Sorlock can create and also see inside the Darkness thanks to the Devil's Sight

Playing with Darkness

So Darkness is one of those very powerful spells that can break the enemy AI, and make many encounters a breeze. There are a few sources that you can get it from:

• Darkness or Eyes of the Dark: Darkness spells
• Arrow of Darkness
• Shar's Spear of Evening with it's special Shar's Darkness and Edge of Darkness actions.
• Dire Raven Companion at level 11 from Beast Master Ranger, with its flying mechanic.

The created field is special because it will cancel out most of the arrow projectiles, protecting anyone inside it. Of course, it can be buggy, and enemies can still throw stuff, or used ranged attack if they are elevated. There are a few sources of being able to see in the "Magical" Darkness:

• Devil's Sight
• Eyes of the Dark from Eyes of the Dark: Darkness
• Eversight Ring, Steel Watcher Helmet allow to see through magical darkness

With all of the requirements and conditions in mind, you can now use Darkness to your advantage. My recommendation is to position the Darkness field in two ways:

Cover enemies with the field - this is an excellent strategy when enemies are clumped together, and you are the one starting the combat. Cast Darkness on them, so that they would get Blinded and use the character that can see in it, move together with them. Now you have an easy way on avoiding enemies, they also cannot freely move, or you will hit them with Opportunity Attack.

The second option is to use it as a cover field. This is perfect for those situations where you want to take it slowly, there are no enemies that can see in the dark, and you might be overwhelmed by them otherwise. You can then stay in the Darkness field and once your turn starts, move out, hit enemies with spells or weapons, and go back. The NPCs will have to make a choice - should they go inside and gain disadvatnage or stay outside and skip their turn

Another cool thing is that you can use Darkness strategically, with characters that cannot see inside of it. For example, enemies that are inside the field have Blinded condition. Position your melee characters outside, so that enemies would have to attack with Disadvantage. They might also try to run away, which would allow you to use Opportunity Attack for an additional hit against them.

Controllers

As this build uses Rat Bat it comes with a lot of dice rolls thanks to it's hidden 1d6 piercing DRS (Damage Rider Source). The more the dice, the more the build benefits from critical hits. This makes it an excellent candidate for control builds that can guarantee 100% critical chance via Hold Monster​/Hold Person. Here are the relevant builds:

• Fire Sorcerer - one of the most reliable builds for this type of setup with Hat of Fire Acuity + Scorching Ray​
• Lorecerer - similar to Fire Sorcerer, can use the same combo and can easily apply total control. Sadly it is just limited to Hold Person.
• Spellsword build - Sorcadin, Bardadin, Swords Bard Archer, other caster related builds- Lore Bard or even Arcane Trickster with access to unlimited scrolls.

Starting the Game - Level 1

This section covers the creation screen and what would go into the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for the HexHunter build. Some of these choices are impactful as you cannot respec them.

Races

Picking a race provides various benefits - abilities, dialogue options, looks, etc. Specifically for the HexHunter build, they will give important armor proficiencies or advantages on the melee damage dealer archetype.

Race	Features	Description
High Half-Elf	Civil Militia Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry	These picks are relevant mainly for the Booming Blade​ cantrip. This is especially relevant if you will start using Monk weapons later on, as the cantrip will give a significant damage boost.
High Elf	Elven Weapon Training​ Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry
Wood Half-Elf	Civil Militia Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry Fleet of Foot - your movement speed is increased by 1.5m.	Comes with a solid movement speed boost that any melee build can utilize well in combat to reach enemies on the initial turn.
Wood Elf	Elven Weapon Training​ Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry Fleet of Foot - your movement speed is increased by 1.5m.
Half Orc	Darkvision​ Relentless Endurance​ Savage Attacks​	A perfect fighter race - can stand up instead of being Downed but most importantly gains additional rolls for critical hits from Savage Attacks​.

Class

Overview
Warlock
Features
Warlock Spell Slots	These spell slots can be used to cast spells and refill each Short Rest.

Cantrips

You can only take two, so here are my recommendations:

Cantrip	Description
Booming Blade​	The new cantrip can be used with a normal attack without any cost. When enemies move while under its effect, they receive thunder damage. In later levels, it gives a direct damage boost. So no reason not to use it every turn.
Eldritch Blast​	The iconic warlock cantrip, which has good scaling with levels, gains unique invocations for further improvements. This is the go-to option for ranged warlock attacks.
Friends​	This is a somewhat optional cantrip. It can be extremely useful in dialogue checks. However, be careful not to cancel it near the affected NPC, as they can start attacking you.

Subclass

Overview
The Hexblade
Features
Bind Hexed Weapon​	This action allows you to bind any melee weapon and makes you proficient in it. This also results in using Charisma modifier instead of Strength or Dexterity. It also has a 20% chance to apply Hexblade's Curse​ without activating it.
Hexblade's Curse​	Using the bonus action, you can improve your damage and increase your crit chance. This is a great alternative to Hex,​ and it does not use a Concentration slot.
Hex Warrior​	This passive is responsible for the multiple bonuses you get, specifically armor and shield proficiencies.

Spells

There are multiple good spell picks, but for now, you can only take 2:

Spell	Description
Shield​	Extremely valuable spell early in the game. Albeit with limited warlock spell slots, this becomes expensive to use in later levels. So I would only use it for the early game, or if you are in a pinch.
Hex​	Good damage boosting option especially with your ranged Eldritch Blast. Adds a respectable amount of damage + it's a good surprise starting round tool.​
Hellish Rebuke​	It allows you to indirectly attack during the enemy's turn, while you have a limited number of attacks. Sadly, it is useful for the first few levels.

Background

Backgrounds are mostly for role-playing, and you can pick whatever you prefer. If you want to optimize, then it would be good to pick backgrounds that are based on your Wisdom ability points.

Abilities

Skill proficiencies

Overall, the skills should be impacted by your roleplaying and background decisions. However, you would still want those that will give you the best benefits. My recommendations are to pick those at which you have a high ability modifier, and these are Charisma-related.

• Deception
• Intimidation
• any other

Leveling Progression 2-12

Here is the detailed progression for the HexHunter to get you started. You can use it as a guideline because early games can be daunting and overwhelming. Later on, once you get a feel for the class you can start picking your options

Levels 2-6

By this time, you should have landed on the Ravaged beach already and started exploring the initial area. You might need 1 additional encounter if you did not obtain enough XP in the Nautiloid.

For most of the builds, early levels are pretty simple, as there are minimal spell options and features that you can use. However, there are notable spikes at levels 5-6:

• Extra Attack
• Level 3 spells
• Major class and subclass features

With these, you will feel how the game combat opens up, and with correct preparations, you can start eliminating foes with minimal preparations.

Level 2 - 2 Warlock

Spells

Spells	Description
Armour of Agathys​	It can be used before short rest if you have a free spell slot. It improves survivability and can inflict decent cold damage.
Hellish Rebuke​	Alternative damage retaliation

Eldritch Invocations

Invocation	Description
Agonising Blast​	One of the most important invocations to make Eldritch Blast​ more powerful.
Repelling Blast​	If you are interested in improving the Eldritch Blast​ cantrip further, here is my pick. This can be used to push back enemies into chasms or into the Hunger of Hadar.

Level 3 - 3 Warlock

The first level 2 spells are unlocked. You also gain some nice features that will be useful later on.

Spells

Spell	Description
Shadow Blade​	You can use Shadow Blade​ until you acquire Rat Bat in Act 2. It offers a competitive and strong sword and shield playstyle. However, if you plan on using 2 Handed weapons, take something like Cloud of Daggers​
Cloud of Daggers​​	This spell can hit multiple targets, and it activates 2 times - on initial cast and the enemy's turn. It can destroy some early game fights when placed correctly.

Pact Boon

Boon	Description
Pact of the Blade​	The action overlaps with Bind Hexed Weapon; however, without it, you will not be able to access Deepened Pact,​ which gives an additional attack at level 5.

Level 4 - 4 Warlock

Level 4 brings the first feat, it will be a huge improvement. Here you can select from a few choices, based on your playstyle and what kind of playthrough you are doing.

Feat	Description
Savage Attacker​​	Allows to re-roll damage dice for melee weapons for a higher result. Very good with Shadow Blade.
Great Weapon Master: All In​	It gives a bonus attack using a bonus action if you kill an enemy or land a critical hit. On top of it, it also adds a flat +10 damage to our strikes at the expense of -5 penalty to attack rolls. I recommend checking the guide on Attack Roll Increase, to get ideas on how to easily overcome this penalty.
Ability Improvement - +2 Charisma	Another option is improving your Charisma, which is beneficial for your attacks, Eldritch Blast​ and some gear properties.

Cantrips

You can pick only one

Cantrip	Description
Minor Illusion​	A pretty good cantrip that you can use to lure enemies to NPCs. Even before combat, you can perfectly align foes into one spot and land Cloud of Daggers.

Using Minor Illusion

On the other hand, you can also use something like Minor Illusion​ to pull enemies together, changing their vision cones, and attacking with the same spell but hitting all of them. This is a very powerful cantrip that can be overlooked.

First, it does not break Invisibility or stealth (unless you get seen). Second, enemies, when not in combat, will chase it, meaning they will change their vision direction. Third, on most occasions, they will come closer to investigate the illusion.

This creates various opportunities like landing a powerful Area of Effect spell from a caster or scrolls, or hitting with wide attacks.

Spells

Spell	Description
Darkness​	This would be a perfect time to pick this spell, at least to try it out. You can now set up dark areas and gain an Advantage in combat

Level 5 - 5 Warlock

Level 5 plays a pivotal role in most of the builds. You will get access to level 3 spells, which are very powerful and start unlocking the class's potential.

Feature	Description
Deepened Pact​	This is the improved Pact of the Blade​ version, which gives extra attack, highly improving your damage potential.

Spells

Spell	Description
Hunger of Hadar​	This is one of the strongest control spells in the game. It covers a large area and makes enemies blind. Moreover, it inflicts damage per turn and slows them down. This is an extremely strong setup that makes multiple encounters a cakewalk.

Eldritch Invocations

Invocation	Description
Devil's Sight​	This is one of the most useful passives in the game. It helps with general dark areas. However, it also plays well with dark environment like from: Darkness​, Hunger of Hadar​, Arrow of Darkness.

Replace Spell

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Darkness​​	Counterspell​	This is an extremely powerful spell that can be used if you see that the enemy is casting a deadly spell. It can outright save your runs. For Darkness​ use Hunger of Hadar​ or Arrow of Darkness.

Darkness with Devil's Sight

Using Darkness​ spells with a Warlock is one of the ways to guarantee success. You will, of course, need Devil's Sight​ Eldritch Invocation. Once you have it, you can stay inside and either attack with Eldritch Blast, cast spells, or wait for enemies to come and bash them with Advantage, while they are blind.

Sadly, this doesn't work perfectly. Some enemies can throw weapons outside of the fog without penalties, easily breaking your concentration. So be mindful of that, and try to force enemies into the Darkness​ so that they would be at a Disadvantage and Blinded.

Preparing Armour of Agathys and other Long Rest spells

So you can do some next-level precasting with Warlock, especially if you are getting ready for a big fight. For example, you can cast Armour of Agathys, Expeditious Retreat,​ or Elemental Weapon, spending your spell slots. Then use Short Rest to restore spell slots, and go into a fight with maximum preparation.

You can also take Minions of Chaos​ and cast Conjure Elemental​. This minion stays until Long Rest, so it will also help with this setup.

Level 6 - Multiclass into Ranger Lvl 1

Guide how to multiclass:

Let's go through the Ranger choices now:

Overview
Ranger
Rangers are unrivaled scouts and trackers, honing a deep connection with nature in order to hunt their favoured prey.

Pick the Favoured Enemy:

Passive Feature	Description
Bounty Hunter​	Ensnaring Strike​ is a decent spell, and this gives enemies Disadvantage on the Saving Throw for the effect.
Ranger Knight​​	​You gain proficiency in Heavy Armor which can be a nice alternative with pieces like Adamantine Splint Armour, Armour of Persistence or Helldusk Armour

After that, choose Natural Explorer:

Feature	Description
Urban Tracker​	A free Sleight of Hand proficiency, helping to cover more skill options if needed

For Abilities, take anything that your party might need.

Levels 7-10

Generally, this covers the Act 2 part of the game. This unlocks items that give a slight boost to a few builds, and you uncover a really interesting part of the story.

Level 7 -  2 Ranger

A few nice features are unlocked. For the spells, choose 2:

Spells	Description
Longstrider	One of the best cheap spells in the game. Make sure that at least one party member has it, to cast on everyone in the group, for solid movement speed improvement.
Ensnaring Strike	This is a pretty solid spell, especially with Bounty Hunter feature. It can disable an enemy target, and limit their movement.

Now, for the Fighting Style:

Fighting Style	Description
Defence	Gives a +1 Armour class to help avoid attacks.

Feat	Description
Great Weapon Master: All In	This would be my go-to pick, if using Monk weapons - Cacophony and later if you plan on getting Shar's Spear of Evening or Selûne's Spear of Night.

Feat	Description
Savage Attacker	Pick this feat if you are using or plan to use Shadow Blade

Level 8 - 3 Ranger

Spells

Spell	Description
Enhance Leap​	Triples your jump distance for 10 turns. Useful tool to have while traversing the world or pre-cast it in combat to have bigger mobility.

Subclass

Overview
Hunter

Hunter's Prey

Action	Description
Horde Breaker​	This will be one of the core features for why we are taking Hunter. It will give a semi-extra attack, that also has various intricate interactions via passing conditions.

The importance of Horde Breaker

One of the key aspects that makes this build powerful is Horde Breaker. It works both in melee and ranged, and gives a somewhat simulated Extra Attack. However, there is a catch, and a major one, which makes this ability extremely powerful.

I will go through this in short details, but if you want extensive knowledge, I recommend reading this Horde Breaker guide.

First, let's start with the most important point: you want to target enemies that are clustered together. Of course, to activate Horde Breaker 2 enemies are enough. However, as I will explain later, getting many of them in one place will create a cascading effect of conditions.

As you can guess, the secret is the number of tagged enemies. The more you see "affected," the more conditions will have a chance to transfer to. So instead of affecting one enemy, the Horde Breaker allows to apply conditions on multiple targets. Of course, this doesn't mean that damage will transfer, but still a group of enemies that cannot move is a huge boon.

So, what are these conditions that can be transferred?

• Frightened from Bow of the Banshee 
• Reverberation from Boots of Stormy Clamour on one of the targets
• Mental Fatigue from Ring of Mental Inhibition
• Most importantly; Hexblade's Curse​ our main dish of the build.

Another cool aspect is that you can attack an enemy with a Horde Breaker (Ranged) and then do the second attack using Horde Breaker Follow-Up (Melee), which enables you to better control your distance and reach enemies that otherwise would not be reached via normal melee attacks.

Level 9 - Warlock 6

The level unlocks some nice features:

Feature	Description
Accursed Spectre​	Killing an enemy with Hexblade's Curse​ allows you to raise a spectre to fight alongside. It is a cool gimmick, but to be fair, most of the Act 2 fights have undead, and in Act 3, you will be just shredding foes, leaving limited use for it. Still, it looks cool, and when you summon it can be helpful.

Spells

Spells	Description
Elemental Weapon​	This can be a great source of Concentration for Strange Conduit Ring and also provides bonus to damage.

Level 10 - 7 Warlock

Further progression with new level 4 spells

Spells

Spells	Description
Staggering Smite​	Big damage spell that may disable your opponent and give them lots of debuffs

Eldritch Invocations

Invocations	Description
Armour of Shadows​	There is a powerful robe - Potent Robe, that gives an additional charisma damage modifier on all your attacks. Getting Mage Armour​ effect is crucial to sustain a good Armour Class.
Fiendish Vigour​	A free health increase to improve survivability.

Levels 11-12

This is where you will spend most of the time in Act 3. There will be an immense amount of content, and you can finish your builds and unlock extremely powerful gear.

Level 11 - 8 Warlock

The main highlight of this level is the additional feat.

Spells

Here are some relevant spell recommendations:

Spells	Description
Hold Person​	It can be extremely useful if you plan on using Band of the Mystic Scoundrel in Act 3. This is an easy way to guarantee critical hits combined with stuff that grants Arcane Acuity​.

Feat

Savage Attacker​​	Allows to re-roll damage dice for melee weapons for a higher result.
Ability Improvement - +2 Charisma	Another option is improving your Charisma, which is beneficial for your attacks, Eldritch Blast​ and some gear properties.

Level 12 - 9 Warlock

Level 5 spell slots are unlocked with some additional invocations:

Spells

Spells	Description
Cone of Cold​​	Big range good damage spell, it deals pure Cold damage so you can pair it with the Wet​ condition for an astonishing level of damage.

Eldritch Invocations

For now, I think the build has everything covered. So feel free to pick anything of interest:

Invocations	Description
Minions of Chaos​​	Allows to summon powerful Myrmidons that can really aid your team + they're an additional "meat shield"
Beguiling Influence​	Additional proficiencies for charisma dialogue checks.

Equipment Recommendations

Act 1

This covers the earliest part of the game, which generally spans Nautiloid, Wilderness, Underdark and the semi Act 1, or to be precise Act 1.5 - Rosymorn Monastery Trial.

Act 2

The main goal for this act is to obtain the Rat Bat ASAP.

Act 3 - Final Build setup

This is where you will unlock the strongest weapons and armors for most of the builds. It is split into two major parts, starting with Rivington and later reaching the huge area - Lower City itself.

Build Mechanics

In this section, I would like to dive deep into how to play the Shadow Monk. This will help you utilize it to the fullest and correctly use various actions and spells throughout the game.

Important Mechanics and Combos

Let's go through key mechanics and tips on how to effectively use the build.

What in the Nine-Hells is Rat Bat ?

As mentioned many times, Rat Bat has a hidden piercing damage bonus. This combined with all the damage riding features like Callous Glow Ring, Horns of the Berserker, Craterflesh Gloves and many more options will result in damage-riding on damage-riding on damage and so on. Using your Main Hand attack, Booming Blade, Great Weapon Master: Bonus Attack​, Horde Breaker will all result with big chunks of damage stacking from mentioned items.​

Invisibility options

So this build does shine when using Invisibility. First, it allows starting with a Surprise round, giving you 1 turn Advantage which you can use to either kill or weaken enemies. Second, there are multiple ways of getting it:

• Potion of Invisibility - I think the most obvious one. If you can pickpocket or have plenty of gold, this option can be cheesy but effective.
• Invisibility​ - can be cast by various casters or activated via items.
• Cloak of Shadows​ - the iconic Shadow Monk feature, that allows one to become invisible at will.
• The Deathstalker Mantle - one of the key items that you obtain during the Dark Origin playthrough. You enter invisibility after each kill.
• Greater Invisibility​ - this is the most lucrative option. However, to use it you will want both proficiency and expertise in stealth, high dexterity, and stealth Advantage. With this effect, you can outright clean enemies without them even understanding what is happening. This requires a high-level caster like Bard, Sorcerer, or Wizard.

Using any melee Weapon - Bind Pact Weapon

So the key thing that you must not forget to do is cast Bind Hexed Weapon​ after each long rest. It ensures you get the correct ability modifier - charisma, on your weapon. It also gives a chance to apply Hexblade's Curse​ on a hit.

There is another question mark: What does the Bind Pact Weapon​ from Pact of the Blade​ do? Well, its purpose is revealed at level 5 when you gain Deepened Pact​ for a Deepened Pact: Extra Attack. So there is some overlap between core warlock features and hexblade, but both of these picks are necessary if you want to engage in melee combat.

Switching between melee and ranged

So Warlock is especially versatile in mid-game, and it's thanks to a few options that you have. First, you get access to Eldritch Blast,​ which is your go-to option for ranged attacks. This cantrip gets significant boosts with eldritch invocations:

• Agonising Blast​
• Repelling Blast​

Spectres and their usefulness

At level 6, you will unlock Accursed Spectre,​ which allows raising spectres from dead enemies. This is a cool ability, but I think it is somewhat limited. Overall, here are its main features:

• Restores half of the damage dealt as HP to the caster.
• Has a special reaction, Right Behind You,​ which deals bonus damage to Hexblade's target.
• They cannot move, although they have pretty good range.
• In most situations, when they are summoned, the combat will have turned in your favour, and they will have minimal contribution to the combat outcome.
• Summoning them requires that the enemy is under the effect of Hexblade's Curse​ and they are not undead (most of the enemies in Act 2 are undead). This greatly limits their potential.

So all in all, I view them more as a gimmick rather than a huge boost to Hexblade's kit. Still, there were situations where fights were prolonged, and Spectre's help was immense.

Act 2 - Githzerai Mind Barrier

To have good resistances for some time against Intelligence checks, you can do a special mechanic late in Act 2 (illithid colony). This requires you to finish a puzzle and find a specific mind. First, go and complete the puzzle:

Once the doors are unlocked, go inside and pick up the Waking Mind:

Now, go back to the interface and place the mind. After that, you will be able to get the Githzerai Mind Barrier effect.

This is a great buff that will improve your saving throws, giving an Advantage on Intelligence. This will be extremely valuable in the upcoming fight. Sadly, it will disappear if you die, so try to avoid that.

Combat Tactics and Rotation

Maximizing the Build 

This section I would like to dedicate to various optimizations that you can do to further empower your build. Various things like Illithid Powers, consumables can make the build from powerful to totally overpowered, trivializing the hardest game encounters

Maximizing Ability Scores

Ability Scores play an important role both in terms of how your attacks and spells land. Moreover, these can help to also reach extremely high skill rolls needed for a few checks.

1. Act 1 - Auntie Ethel's Hair - you can get +1 Charisma if you pick this choice.
2. Feat - Ability Improvement - +2 Charisma.
3. Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - pick +2 Charisma. Mirror allows you to get additional +1 Charisma although it's based on luck. 

This will allow you to reach 22 natural Charisma with or without the hair if you're lucky.

Illithid Powers

This special mechanic in Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to consume tadpoles and unlock special Illithid Powers.

At first, you can only use the base powers. As you move to Act 3, you will be able to unlock the outer ring powers.

Illithid Power	Type	Description
Favourable Beginnings	Base	Beneficial power to take as it does not have any costs and provides only benefits on the first hits.
Luck of the Far Realms​	Base	Guarantees a critical hit, use it on important targets that you want to make sure are killed.
Psionic Overload​	Base	As this is Psychic damage, you will double it to 2d4 thanks to Resonance Stone.
Psionic Backlash	Base	A decent use for reaction to deal some bonus psychic damage.
Ability Drain​	Base	As you will be using Dexterity, this can help you to reduce enemy Armor Class and give an increased hit chance on the next attack.
Cull the Weak​	Base	Can help to kill an enemy faster if it is left with a few HP.
Illithid Expertise​	Elite	As you are not a charisma-based character, these proficiencies help with dialogue checks.
Psionic Dominance​	Elite	Can be used to save yourself from a deadly spell. This is especially relevant as you will have a Disadvantage on mental saving throws.
Freecast​	Elite	Remove the cost of spell slots or charges.

Potions, Elixirs and Consumables

Let's take a look at what consumables you can use to further empower the build.

Potions

These are general consumables, and most of them are activated for a few turns. Potions are separate from Elixirs and can be active together.

Consumable	Description
Potion of Speed	You can chug this potion before combat, or during combat using a bonus action. It gives another action point that gives an additional attack or one more spell cast. Sadly, its duration is only 3 turns.
Oil of Accuracy	Can be used to enhance your hit chance on a weapon. The +2 bonus is pretty significant, especially when using Great Weapon Master: All In. Best used before combat to save bonus action.
Diluted Oil of Sharpness	Gives a bonus attack roll and damage. It is a good coating if you can apply it before combat to improve hit chances and get a slight damage boost.
Potion of Animal Speaking	Although not something powerful, it is worth stocking up and saving a spell slot.
Potion of Invisibility	Can be used to get a perfect position before the encounter starts. It can also help trigger Surprise rounds.

Elixirs

Unfortunately, only one Elixir can be active at a time. However, the good thing is that they last until a long rest, making them very useful and economical.

Be sure to activate them before combat, as otherwise, you will need to use a Bonus Action.

Consumable	Description
Elixir of Bloodlust	As you will be able to easily kill at least the weakest foe, this ensures additional attacks per turn. This is one of the most powerful options that you can use for a Shadow Monk build.
Elixir of Vigilance	For some encounters, you will want to go first. This elixir will ensure that it overcomes even surprise mechanics.
Elixir of Hill Giant Strength	Sets strength value to 21 until the Long Rest. I recommend this elixir in the early game if you want to throw enemies off to chasms easier.

Useful Buffs

• Auntie Ethel's Hair - Grants you permanent +1 to a stat of your choice. Granted by haggling with Auntie Ethel.
• Volo's Ersatz Eye​ grants you permanent See Invisibility​ effect in exchange for one of your eyes. It's a permanent cosmetic change and it's mutually exclusive with Paid the Price​. It's obtained from Volo.
• Awakened​ - let's you use your Illithid powers as a bonus action. You can obtain it from the Zaith'isk machine.
• Resonance Stone can be found in The Mindflayer Colony effectively boosting your Psychic damage for the prize of debuff on mental Saving Throws but also your vulnerability to Psychic damage.
• Sweet Stone Features - Grants you the Bless​ effect. Pay 5000 gold to Boney in the Circus of The Last Days for Stoney to construct a statue of the player character or another party member​.
• Anointed in Splendour ​ - Grants +2 to all Saving Throws, offer enough gold to one of the deities in Stormshore Tabernacle. Gold needed scales with the difficulty level of the game and your character level.
• Partial Ceremorphosis​ - Allows you to become Half Illithid granting you stronger Tadpole powers in exchange for your looks.
• Mirror of Loss can grant you and your companions +2 to any stat permanently. Can also grant additional +1 to charisma offering it +3 instead of regular +2. I recommend looking into Mirror of Loss guide.

Conclusion and Credits

Thank you for reading the HexHunter build for Baldur's Gate 3. This is a truly strong AoE Horde Breaker​ monster. I hope you enjoyed reading it and that it changed your mind about the Rat Bat.

Cheers!