Lockadin - Paladin Warlock Multiclass Build - Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)
Contents
Lockadin - Paladin Warlock Multiclass Build
The main aspect is that you multiclass two very powerful and popular classes into one. Paladin is a charismatic frontline with auras and magic. Its highlight is Divine Smite action. Another aspect is unique auras that give various buffs to you and the party. This is already powerful by itself, but let's take a look at the next class.
Warlock is a caster but also can be a frontliner. The main attractiveness is its Pact of the Blade giving the ability to use Charisma as the main attack modifier instead of Strength of Dexterity. From level 5 Deepened Pact gives an additional attack per action point. Another aspect is additional spells like Hunger of Hadar giving full control of the battlefield. Warlock's spell slots also restore on short rest, but this is not a major point in my opinion.
So by merging these classes, we get:
- Concentrate on one attribute point - Charisma instead of two for damage.
- Three attacks per action point thanks to Extra Attack and Deepened Pact.
- Additional crowd control spells and spell slots that restore each short rest.
With correct setups like Haste, Elixir of Bloodlust, Great Weapon Master: All In, etc. you will be able to do 8+ attacks per turn. This will leave any enemy dead that you put on your sights in one turn:
Let's go!
Leveling Overview
This is a short overview and progression of the Paladin Warlock multiclass build. A more detailed description with texts, suggestions, and improvements can be found in the next sections
Level | Class | Choice |
---|---|---|
1 | Paladin 1 | STR 16 (14+2), DEX 10, CON 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 16 (15+1) |
Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Persuasion | ||
Subclass: Oath of the Ancients | ||
2 | Paladin 2 | Fighting Style: Defence |
3 | Paladin 3 | - |
4 | Paladin 4 | Feat: Great Weapon Master: All In or Ability Improvement +2 Strength |
5 | Paladin 5 | - |
6 | Warlock 1 | Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Friends |
Subclass: The Fiend | ||
Spells: Armour of Agathys, Hex | ||
7 | Warlock 2 | Spells: Protection from Evil and Good |
Eldritch Invocations: Agonising Blast, Devil's Sight | ||
8 | Warlock 3 (respec abilities) | STR 8, DEX 16 (15+1), CON 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 17 (15+2) |
Spells: Darkness | ||
9 | Warlock 4 | Cantrips: Mage Hand |
Spells: Hold Person | ||
Feat: Great Weapon Master: All In or Savage Attacker | ||
10 | Warlock 5 | Spells: Hunger of Hadar |
Replace Spell: Protection from Evil and Good -> Counterspell | ||
Eldritch Invocations: Fiendish Vigour or Repelling Blast | ||
11 | Paladin 6 | - |
12 | Paladin 7 | - |
Starting the Game - Level 1
We start with the early game. I would go into what are the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for Lockadin. Some of these choices are impactful as you cannot respec them.
Progression Options
The one downside for the Paladin Warlock build is that it fully comes online at level 10. This is when you get access to 3 attacks per action. This leaves you most of the game stranded with a few choices on how to reach the desired outcomes. The goal is to have triple attacks at level 10. Let me share some progression options:
Progression | Pros | Cons |
---|---|---|
|
You will be enjoying most of the Paladin class benefits early - Extra Attack, auras, and divine smite. After respec, you will fully play as a Lockadin. This choice is also perfect if you need a frontliner in your group. | Playing as a pure Paladin may not be what you came for, and you get to enjoy the Warlock part only from level 10. |
|
Here you will be playing as Warlock for most of Acts 1 and 2. This is a perfect choice if you need a caster in your group. Moreover, based on your subclass choice you will get access to some really powerful spells at level 5. | Again, you will play only as a Warlock, and access Divine Smites, the coolest-looking actions fairly late in the game. |
|
You get access to Extra Attack at level 5. From level 8, you get Warlock Deepened Pact and can concentrate on Charisma. This lets you get some benefit of Warlock at level 8. | I would say Levels 8-9 are somewhat dead levels as you do not get any huge damage benefits. You also do not access Paladin auras for quite some time. |
I would recommend going with the third option 5 Paladin followed by 5 Warlock. Why? I assume you want to enjoy the game as this awesome multiclass build and waiting for it until level 10, may be disappointing. It is not the optimal choice, but enjoyable. So the build progression will assume you are going with this.
The first and second options are optimal, and much more powerful. If you decide to go with either of them you can follow any Warlock builds or any Paladin Builds until level 10. After that, respec and follow the progression of the build I recommend below.
Races
Picking a race provides various benefits - abilities, dialogue options, looks, etc. Because Paladin gets Heavy Armor proficiency you have many more options on what to choose.
Race | Features | Description |
---|---|---|
Half-Orc |
|
Half-Orcs shine as Lockadins. They can resurrect in case they die and get an additional die roll on a critical hit. This gives a big damage boost if you are using something like Polearm or Greataxe. |
Zariel Tiefling |
|
Zariel Tiefling comes with fire resistance and Thaumaturgy for better dialogue rolls. They also have additional smites, but I do not think they are important. |
Halfling |
|
This race has a unique effect where they can reroll dice that roll 1. This results in better damage and dialogue success. |
Drow |
|
Get elven-like bonuses of Fey Ancestry. But we are also interested in the Darkness spell that gives an advantage against enemies without Dakrvision. |
Wood Half-Elf |
|
What makes these special is their increased moving distance. I think this is valuable as once you start taking out enemies one by one with Smites, this will prove advantageous. Overall the same applies to Wood Elf. |
Class
Overview | |
---|---|
Paladin | |
Features | |
Lay on Hands | Use your blessed touch to heal a creature or cure it of all diseases and poisons. |
Divine Sense | Gain Advantage on Attack Rolls against celestials, fiends, and undead. |
Channel Oath Charges | You gain the ability to channel the power contained in your Paladin Oath, which you can use to fuel certain actions. |
Subclass
In total Paladin has 4 subclasses. 3 can be chosen in the creation screen and the last one, once you break an Oath. What are my recommendations? Here is a short overview:
Subclass | Description |
---|---|
Oath of Devotion | A righteous Paladin who protects the weak and helps those in need. Its spells and actions rely on helping allies and resisting various effects. I would say it is the weakest one as you do not increase your or your party's capabilities in any way. |
Oath of the Ancients | Protectors of light and good. They have much better options for healing and protecting allies, moving around the battlefield. the Aura of Warding at level 7 reduces spell damage by half. This is the sturdiest option, perfect if you want to get this "tank" and frontliner feeling. |
Oath of Vengeance | Fight the Evil forces of the world. A much more aggressive option that gives bonus damage to you and allies. Moreover, actions like Vow of Enmity, are perfect for relentlessly hunting a single prey. However, their level 7 feature is somewhat disappointing. |
Oathbreaker | Requires you to break Oath from the 3 subclasses. Very aggressive playstyle as at level 7 you can boost damage based on the charisma modifier. Because with this build we go all in Charisma, Oathbreaker's Aura of Hate stacks with Pact of the Blade bonus and can easily reach high bonuses. This also does not limit your roleplay and you can take any decisions you prefer |
Overview | |
---|---|
Oath of the Ancients | |
Features | |
Healing Radiance | Gives an opportunity and an option to heal everyone using bonus action. I would say it is quite useful early on. |
Oath of the Ancients Tenets | These are the rules that you should not break so that the Oath of the Ancients subclass would be active. |
Abilities
Now let's take a look at the abilities of the Paladin/Warlock build. Correct allocation will allow us to maximize the early gameplay and get good modifier bonuses. I will give two options here, first start with:
Starting game attributes
Ability | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
Strength | 16 (14+2) | Because we start as a Paladin, strength is our main weapon damage modifier. It will give bonus damage and allow succeeding saving throws. |
Dexterity | 10 | Dexterity is a debatable stat. Because Lockadin uses Heavy Armor, we do not need much (as it does not give bonuses to Armor Class). However, we also do not want to have low initiative and be last, when you may get knocked out. So you can either go with 10, or 12 and take 2 points from Wisdom. |
Constitution | 14 | Important stat for any build gives bonus HP and improves the success of Constitution Saving Throws, which ensures your Concentration spells don't break. |
Intelligence | 8 | Not an important stat for us |
Wisdom | 10 | We get 10, to not get any negative modifier for Wisdom Saving Throws, as a lot of spells target it. |
Charisma | 16 (15+1) | The main ability of Lockadin, once we get Deepened Pact with Warlock Lv 5. Before that, it is only a modifier for casting spells. As I recommended before you could go with lower Charisma and boost Strength until reaching Warlock Lv 3. |
Skills and Expertise
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:
- Athletics
- Persuasion
- Intimidation
Leveling Progression 2-12
Here is the detailed progression for the build to get you started. You can use it as a guideline because early games can be daunting and overwhelming. Later on, once you get the feel for the class you can start picking your options
Level 2
At this level, you will have left the tutorial area and access Level 2 Paladin. You can now break the Oath and access Oathbreaker.
Overview | |
---|---|
Oathbreaker | |
Features | |
Spiteful Suffering | Deadly ability that is perfect for high HP enemies, where you will fight them a few turns. |
It gets the most famous action - Divine Smite. Moreover, we obtain 2 level 1 spell slots, that will mostly be used by this action.
Actions | Description |
---|---|
Divine Smite | This Paladin-specific feature gives +2d8 Radiant Damage and an additional 1d8 against undead and fiends. it expends a spell slot if hits. Using higher-level spell slots deals more damage. |
Fighting Style
Here you can pick a style that fits your weapon usage or playstyle:
Style | Description |
---|---|
Defence | Gives +1 Armour Class which results in a decent increase in survivability. I would say this is a better pick, as Great Weapon Fighting damage bonuses are negligible. |
Great Weapon Fighting | When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack with a two-handed melee weapon, that die is rerolled once. |
Prepared Spells
Paladin level 1 spells are okay. They do not provide any crazy tactics but can work in some situations. Here are my recommendations for what is good to have in your arsenal
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Thunderous Smite | A smite alternative that deals Thunder damage and can make enemy prone. I would use it in case you have a free bonus action that you do not plan on using. Otherwise, use normal Smite. |
Shield of Faith | Gives +2 Armour Class as long as you can maintain concentration. Lasts until a long rest. |
Command | Can command the creature to drop a weapon, run away, come close, etc. It can be useful in some encounters, especially against low Wisdom enemies. |
For other slots pick what you want.
Optional Elixir of Hill Giant Strength
Well, there is a trick early in Act 1, after you reach the first settlement - Druid's Grove. There you can stock up on some really powerful potions for the rest of the game - Elixir of Hill Giant Strength.
What do they do? They increase the Strength to 21 until a Long rest. More or less this negates any need to have strength investments if you plan to use them. This is somewhat gimmicky, however, if you are interested here is a guide on how to farm Elixir of Hill Giant Strength.
So here is the setup once you get these Elixirs and decide to use them. Remember to respec, to get the full utility:
Ability | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
Strength | 8 | The potion will raise the strength to 21, meaning that we do not need this ability. |
Dexterity | 14 | Again, this is a debatable stat. It will not give the Paladin any Armour Class bonus, but the initiative bonus will be higher. You could also go for 10 or 12, and put those points into Wisdom. |
Constitution | 16(15+1) | Important stat for any build gives bonus HP and improves the success of Constitution Saving Throws, which ensures your Concentration spells don't break. |
Intelligence | 8 | Not an important stat for us |
Wisdom | 10 | We get 10, to not get any negative modifier for Wisdom Saving Throws, as there are many of them. |
Charisma | 17(15+2) | The main ability for spellcasting, and dialogue checks. You can now more or less control the outcome of most encounters where you can use Persuasion, Intimidation, etc. This assumes you will be using Auntie Ethel's Hair for +1 Charisma, to round it to 18. However, if you will not use it on the character, then leave the ability at 16, and put two points you get into Wisdom. |
Level 3
We continue leveling Paladin. Level 3, brings some great things both for class and subclass. First the class benefits:
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Divine Health | Prevents diseases from affecting the Paladin. |
And now some cool things from the subclass:
Action | Description |
---|---|
Control Undead | By using Channel Oath Charge you can take control of Undead. This is very powerful as the undead follows you until Long Rest |
Dreadful Aspect | An area of effect ability that Frightens enemies. Although it does not deal damage, imagine getting 5 enemies frightened and they are not able to move and have a disadvantage on attack rolls. This is a very powerful spell |
And this is not all. We also get bonus spells from our subclass.
Spells | Description |
---|---|
Hellish Rebuke | Use reaction to cast a fire spell. It is good in early levels, but later on, best to save the spell slots for Divine Smite |
Inflict Wounds | Similar to Hellish Rebuke, it is a good melee spell early one, however, at later levels it is best to save spell slots for Divine Smite. |
Level 4
Finally, our Lockadin build will get the first Feat. In addition, another Lay on Hands Charge is unlocked, for more healing spells.
Feat
Now, I think there are two main options that you can go with the Paladin/Warlock build.
Feat | Description |
---|---|
Ability Improvement | The best choice at this stage is +2 Strength. This will improve Paladin's damage for now. Once you reach level 8, you will do a respec, and take a different allocation. |
Great Weapon Master: All In | This is the strongest feat if you are using two-handed weapons. First, it gives a bonus attack using a bonus action if you kill an enemy or land a critical hit. Second, it gives a big 10 damage boost, that comes with a -5 penalty to attack rolls. This is problematic in the early game but can be overcome in various ways. I recommend checking my guide on Attack Roll Increase, to get ideas on how to mitigate it. |
Level 5
Finally, level 2 spells are unlocked, new Oath spells and we get the Paladin class feature - Extra Attack.
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Extra Attack | Can make an additional free attack after making an unarmed or weapon attack. |
Oathbreaker bonus spells are very good for Level 5:
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Crown of Madness | Drives the target crazy and makes them attack the nearest person. To be honest I did not use it much, as the Concentration slot would be taken by other options. |
Darkness | This is an extremely valuable spell to have. For now, without Warlock, it may not be as useful as you need a special dark vision against magical darkness. |
Prepared Spells
As level 2 spells are unlocked here are some considerations to include in your build:
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Lesser Restoration | Can heal disease, poison, paralysis, and some other negative effects. Not mandatory, but good to have if the situation arises. |
Magic Weapon | This spell can empower your weapons with bonus damage rolls and attack rolls. The higher the spell slot you use the bigger the bonus. Another thing is that the bonus may seem low, but it will greatly boost your success on hitting while having Great Weapon Master active. |
Level 6 - Warlock Lv 1
Now we take the first step to multiclassing. We take Warlock and concentrate on it until level 7. What matters is that we unlocked Smites that will be effective together with Warlock spell slots.
Class
Overview | |
---|---|
Warlock | |
Features | |
Warlock Spell Slots | These spell slots can be used to cast spells and refill each Short Rest. |
Cantrips
Cantrip | Description |
---|---|
Eldritch Blast | At first, it may not seem super strong, but this will change at higher levels. It can increase its damage with Charisma and knockback enemies. From level 5 you can release two of them. |
Friends | If you are the main character and do most of the dialogues, this is also a good choice as it gives an advantage during rolls. Hell, it is good for everyone. |
Subclass
The best bet would be to pair Paladin with these subclasses:
Subclass | Description |
---|---|
The Great Old One | Can apply Frighten on enemies that you Critical Hit - Mortal Reminder. Nearby creatures must also pass Wisdom Saving Throw. It gives some debilitating spells, but the good ones are at a high level which we will not reach. |
The Fiend | Allows you to gain Temporary health points for each enemy that you kill - Dark One's Blessing. This can be helpful as it improves survivability. Another thing is that this subclass comes with powerful fire spells like fireballs, which are hard to pass. |
As you can guess my pick is:
Overview | |
---|---|
The Fiend | |
Features | |
Dark One's Blessing | When you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points, this gift from your patron grants you temporary hit points |
Spells
We can pick two level 1 spells. Here are my recommendations:
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Armour of Agathys | This spell will lead you through most of the game. It gives you temporary HP (it does not stack with Dark One's Blessing) and deals cold damage to attackers. |
Hex | At the expense of Bonus Action, you will gain an additional 1d6 necrotic damage with each hit. Don't forget you will also weaken enemy abilities. |
Another good spell is Command. However, you will have it already from the Paladin class.
Level 7 - Warlock Lv 2
The second level unlocks another spell slot, which will lead us to this Lockadin build. We also get new Eldritch Invocations
Spells
I think anything works for a spell, just be sure not to pick the same ones as Paladin's. Overall, none of the spells matter here at this stage of the build.
Eldritch Invocations
And now we get to the sweet stuff of level 2 warlocks. You can choose your first two Eldritch Invocations. We want to empower Eldritch Blast as it will be our go-to action for long-ranged attacks
Invocation | Description |
---|---|
Devil's Sight | I recommend taking this one if you are heavily using the Darkness spell. The invocation allows us to see both in natural and magical dark places, it is an upgrade to Darkvision. Moreover, it is a mandatory choice if you do not have any Darkvision. |
Agonising Blast | Improves damage of Eldritch Blast per each ray. |
Repelling Blast | Eldritch Blast now knocks back. This is very powerful as you can throw enemies from ledges. |
Level 8 - Warlock Lv 3
Level 3 Warlock unlocks a level 2 for spell slots, allowing you to cast stronger spells. Moreover, we get Pact of the Blade which gives a melee damage increase based on our Charisma. We no longer need maximum strength.
So this requires a respec in Camp. More or less leave everything the same and you will need to change your ability point allocation and the level 4 Feat.
Abilities
The allocation leaves one stranded ability point, which I used in Wisdom
Ability | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
Strength | 8 | Dumping strength as it will be replaced by Charisma due to Pact of the Blade. |
Dexterity | 16 (15+1) | Keeping Dexterity will allow wearing Medium armor to the maximum effectiveness. Later you may want to equip a particular light armor Bhaalist Armour, for a huge damage boost. |
Constitution | 14 | Important stat for any build gives bonus HP and improves the success of Constitution Saving Throws, which ensures your Concentration spells don't break. |
Intelligence | 8 | Not an important stat for us |
Wisdom | 10 | After respeccing this will ensure that Lockadin can effectively resist enemy spells |
Charisma | 17 (15+2) | During respec we maximize Charisma as it will determine spell damage, weapon damage, aura effectiveness, and ability rolls for dialogues. This also assumes that you will use Auntie Ethel's Hair from Act 1 for +1, or Mirror of Loss for +3 in Act 3, this way it will result in an even number for an additional bonus. |
Feats
When respecing you will be able to select a feat again:
Feat | Description |
---|---|
Ability Improvement | The best choice at this stage is +2 Charisma. This will improve almost all aspects of the build - roleplay, damage, attack succession, etc. |
Spells and Replace Spell
Specifically for the Lockadin build, there are not many important spells here. The main reason is that each spell used wastes Divine Smites.
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Mirror Image | This spell does not use a concentration slot and gives a substantial boost to the armour class |
Darkness | With it, you can cover an area and use it as a defensive ground to attack enemies who can barely see you. Only take this if your race or party members cannot cast it. It's best to save casting spell slots during combat |
Pact Boon
A gift from your patron that will give unique actions and effects. As we are doing a melee build there is only one choice for us:
Pact Boon | Description |
---|---|
Pact of the Blade | Bind a weapon to the Lockadin and make the wielder proficient in it. Moreover, get a Charisma modifier bonus for weapon damage. |
Level 9 - Warlock Lv 4
We finally unlock the first Feat for the Paladin/Warlock build. It will be a huge improvement in the melee capabilities especially as we are using two-handed weapons
Cantrips
At level 4 Warlock we can choose one additional Cantrip with the Fiend subclass. Pick one:
Cantrip | Description |
---|---|
Mage Hand | Create a hand that can manipulate objects. Can be used for solving puzzles, shoving enemies from ledges, or throwing items. |
Minor Illusion | If using it from stealth you could group enemies before you activate something like Darkness or Hunger of Hadar (next-level spell) |
Spells and Replace Spell
In terms of spells, I would recommend these options. Nothing special here, but the next level will give some very good choices.
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Misty Step | Could be a viable option if your subclass is Oath of Devotion or Oathbreaker. Otherwise, you will get it as a subclass spell |
Hold Person | Could be used to Hold an enemy to deal critical hits on the next attacks. I recommend using this if you have Potion of Speed or Haste on you. Oath of Vengeance gets this spell at level 5 Paladin |
Regarding spell replacement, you could take out the ones you do not use.
Feat
Finally, we reached our second Feat. There are multiple choices that you can take. It depends on the weapon you use.
Feat | Description |
---|---|
Great Weapon Master: All In | This is a very powerful feat. First, we get an additional weapon attack if kill an enemy or land a critical hit. Second, we can sacrifice a -5 attack roll and gain 10 weapon damage. Overall this makes the Two-Handed weapon usage much stronger. |
Savage Attacker | If you are not going with Two-Handed weapons this can be a good choice. It rerolls damage dice rolls, in theory increasing your average damage. Because the build uses Smites, there are a lot of Dice Rolls, that make this reroll worth it. |
Level 10 - Warlock Lv 5
Level 5 Warlock unlocks great things. First, you get the additional spell. Next, you unlock level 3 spell slots, so all your spells will now be upcast. And last but not least you unlock another Eldritch Invocation. Oh and I almost forgot the biggest thing - Deepened Pact
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Deepened Pact | You now do an extra attack with your weapon hits. resulting in two weapon hits each turn. Together with an Extra Attack from Paladin on level 10, it will be 3 weapon attacks each turn. |
Spells and Replace Spell
So the first level 3 spells are here, and they are powerful. You can get better Crowd Control and more damage. There are multiple good spells, but I would recommend first taking Hunger of Hadar
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Hunger of Hadar | The scariest spell you can use - probably the whole game. Use it to cover enemies and force them to move out of the fog. This will damage them, and you can wait for them outside to hit with melee weapons or use Eldritch Blast to bash them while they are blind. |
For replacement, I would remove the previously chosen spells that you do not use and get:
Spell | Description |
---|---|
Counterspell | A defensive spell that can counter almost any spell that foe casts. Even if you don't use it often, it is good to have it as it will notify you of what enemies are casting and let you decide the next steps. |
Remove Curse | It will be useful in a few places in Act 3. If you do not care about Counterspell (as another party member has it), then take this one for utility. |
Eldritch Invocations
We unlock another Eldritch Invocation. Moreover, a few new ones appear. Here are my picks:
Invocation | Description |
---|---|
Fiendish Vigour | Get additional temporary hit points. The spell can be cast without using spell slots. May not be as potent, because you already have Armour of Agathys spell. But this one does not use a spell slot, making it somewhat more cost-efficient. |
Level 11 - Paladin lv 6
We are back to leveling Paladin and do this until the end of the game and we get some sweet actions right off the bat:
Action | Description |
---|---|
Aura of Protection | You and nearby allies gain a bonus to Saving Throws equal to your Charisma modifier. This will make you an extremely sturdy frontliner. |
Level 12 - Paladin Lv 7
This is another milestone for the subclass where you unlock another aura. Moreover, Lockadin Build is finished and we unlock one last thing:
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Aura of Hate | This aura gives bonus damage based on the charisma modifier if attacking with weapons. That is huge and results in at least 5-7 bonus damage based on your Charisma. |
We also get an additional level 2 spell slot for more smiting.
Illithid Powers
This is a special mechanic in Baldur's Gate 3, that allows you to consume tadpoles and unlock special Illithid Powers. These range from somewhat useful, to extremely deadly. I would like to leave a few recommendations:
Base Illithid Powers
Order | Illithid Power | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | Favourable Beginnings | Very useful power to take as it does not have any costs, and provides only benefits on the first hits. |
2 | Luck of the Far Realms | Guarantees a critical hit, a very powerful action to have. |
3 | Transfuse Health | Taking only for progression, to unlock the next power. |
4 | Perilous Stakes | This can be extremely powerful if used correctly. Target a boss or other stronger enemy and delete them in one turn with your party. |
5 | Concentrated Blast | Taking only for progression, to unlock the next power. |
6 | Cull the Weak | Passive feature that does not cost anything and automatically deals bonus psychic damage around the target, once it is close to death. |
7 | Shield of Thralls | Taking for progression, to unlock the next power, but it also provides a good bonus as temporary health. |
Elite Illithid Powers
These become unlocked later in the game as you progress. They are extremely powerful additions to the build.
Order | Illithid Power | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | Freecast | Removes any cost of spell slots or charges, allowing you to cast some very powerful spells in case you cannot do that, or want to save Smite slots. |
Maximizing Ability Scores
Now, as the build progression is covered there are a few aspects and important decisions you will have to make throughout the game. These will decide your final score for abilities.
Charisma
- 17 Charisma - the base from character creation.
- Act 1 - Auntie Ethel Hair - you will want to get +1 Charisma if you pick this choice.
- Feat- Ability Improvement - +2 Charisma.
- Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - pick +2 Charisma.
- Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - Patriar's Memory additional +1 Charisma, to counteract Auntie Ethel Hair if it was skipped in Act 1.
These will allow you to reach 22 natural Charisma, which results in a +6 spellcasting modifier and improved Spell Save DC.
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 | In case you or your other casters have a Concentration spell slot taken and cannot cast Haste, use this potion. It acts similarly, but the effect is just for 3 turns. |
Potion of Animal Speaking | Although not something powerful, it can be used to enable dialogues with animals. |
Potion of Invisibility | Can be used to get a perfect position before the encounter starts or leave the encounter if it comes to worst. |
Oil of Accuracy | Gives +2 to attack rolls, which minimizes the negative impact from Great Weapon Master: All In. |
Diluted Oil of Sharpness | Gives a bonus attack roll and damage. It is a good coating if you can apply it before combat. |
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 Bonus Action.
Consumable | Description |
---|---|
Elixir of Bloodlust | Very effective elixir that gives another action point if you kill an enemy. I would say this is the best one to use to maximize your output through the turn. |
Elixir of Heroism | Very valuable elixir especially in the early game to counteract the Sharpshooter: All In and Great Weapon Master: All In effects of -5 attack rolls. |
Elixir of the Colossus | Makes you bigger, and a bit stronger with a 1d4 damage boost. |
Elixir of Vigilance | For some encounters, you will want to go first. This elixir will ensure that it overcomes even surprise mechanics. |
Equipment Recommendations
Now I would like to go through some gear recommendations to maximize the Paladin Warlock multiclass build. Items are especially important as they take the build to the next level thanks to their unique effects.
Act 1
Slot | Item | Description |
---|---|---|
Melee (Two-Handed) | Unseen Menace | Solid choice as it increases the critical chance and provides an advantage on attack rolls. |
Svartlebee's Woundseeker | One of the top Act 1 Greatswords. If you manage to get it, I recommend using Great Weapon Master: All In feat. | |
Sword of Justice | A very good choice, has +1 Enchantment but most importantly it can use a spell that gives +2 Armour Class. Fighters don't use the Concentration slot for anything else, so the Tyr's Protection is the perfect choice. | |
Everburn Blade | This sword is worth it until you reach Druid's Grove, there it is much better to buy items with +1 Enchantment like Greataxe +1 or Greatsword +1 as they give a better chance of landing attacks and minimal damage decrease. | |
Ranged | Bow of Awareness | The higher initiative bonus will allow you to start your turn earlier. |
Hand Crossbow +1 | Equipping two of these will allow you to attack with off-hand. This is important as you may not have use for Bonus Action. However, for dedicated ranged weapons check the options above. And it becomes useless once you get Great Weapon Master. | |
Head | Diadem of Arcane Synergy | The best option that will lead you through the game. Be sure to use Divine Smite on the first attack, to activate Arcane Synergy. |
Grymskull Helm | Gives resistance to critical hits and allows the use of Hunter's Mark, for additional single-target damage. | |
Haste Helm | Provides increased speed at the start of the combat. | |
Cloak | The Deathstalker Mantle | The only option in Act 1 that is okay, is by providing once-per-turn invisibility. |
Armor | Adamantine Scale Mail | Another powerful armour from Grymforge, that is best worn with 14 Dexterity, to get Bonus Armour Class, making it equal to Heavy Armour. |
Adamantine Splint Armour | Very powerful armor in Act 1, that is perfect for frontliner and if you have 12 Dexterity or lower. | |
Chain Mail +1 | A good Heavy armor that is available early in the game. | |
Githyanki Half Plate | This can be equipped when starting the game by taking it from Lae'zel. Very solid option with a high Armour Class. | |
Gloves | Gloves of the Growling Underdog | As a frontliner, it will be easy to get surrounded by two enemies, so the ensured advantage is very valuable. |
Gloves of Dexterity | The +1 to attack rolls is a decent boost. Moreover, they give 18 Dexterity which is good for bonus initiative. | |
Boots | Disintegrating Night Walkers | Avoids slipping on various terrains and most importantly unlocks Misty Step each short rest. These boots can last till Act 3, as walking on icy surfaces can be deadly for melee build. The item removes this problem. |
Vital Conduit Boots | As you may cast some spells with concentration these boots will give bonus survivability via temporary hitpoints. | |
Amulet | Broodmother's Revenge | This is a very powerful amulet, that will lead you through most of the game, the 1d6 bonus damage is very good. |
Pearl of Power Amulet | Restores up to level 3 spell slot, this means that you can use it after a combat encounter to have an additional spell slot for Divine Smite. | |
Rings | Caustic Band | Provides 2 damage increase on each weapon hit, making it a good choice in Act 1. It is very expensive. |
Strange Conduit Ring | It's easy to activate it as you can concentrate on multiple spells in your arsenal, which will result in bonus psychic damage. | |
Ring of Protection | Gives defensive bonuses to Armour Class and Saving Throws. | |
Ring of Absolute Force | Bonus thunder damage to thunder spells. |
Act 2 - mid-game
Act 2 changes the landscape and there will be a lot of dark areas. For Lockadin build, specifically two-handed this whole Act will be filled with various spears, glaives, and halberds, that top one another with various bonuses and unique actions. Feel free to try them out and fully enjoy their benefits.
Slot | Item | Description |
---|---|---|
Melee (Two-Handed) | Shar's Spear of Evening | One of the best weapons in the game. You will get it late in Act 2, but it can be a solid choice until you get the endgame weapons or Nyrulna. It is an alternative version of Selûne's Spear of Night |
Selûne's Spear of Night | Very powerful option as it can buff allies with 1d4 damage, and create difficult terrain. It is an alternative version to Shar's Spear of Evening. | |
Moonlight Glaive | Has a passive light effect, making it effective with Callous Glow Ring. Moreover, it gets bonus radiant damage and unique attack actions. | |
Halberd of Vigilance | A good choice for Act 2 and can be used till Act 3. Besides its unique benefits, it comes with bonus 1d4 force damage and not many enemies can resist it. | |
Drakethroat Glaive | You can imbue a weapon with any element 1d4 damage and gain a +1 to attack rolls. You can get the bonus elemental damage on any weapon. For example, drop another weapon on the ground, cast the spell with this glaive, and equip the said weapon. This is a very powerful combo, although it may be a bug. | |
Ranged | The higher initiative bonus will allow you to start your turn earlier. | |
Head | Diadem of Arcane Synergy | The best option that will lead you through the game. Be sure to use Divine Smite on the first attack, to activate Arcane Synergy. |
Cloak | Cloak of Protection | Improves survivability and Saving Throw success. |
Fleshmelter Cloak | Reflect 1d4 acid damage if somebody hits you in melee range. | |
Armor | Dwarven Splintmail | Truly a solid heavy armor option for a frontline. It also increases the Constitution for higher HP. |
Yuan-ti Scale Mail | This armor is strange and very useful for the build. With it, you are not limited to a +2 Armour Class bonus from Dexterity. So you could start using it once you have the Warlock subclass at level 3. | |
Gloves | Gloves of the Automaton | Similar to the option below, these provide an Advantage on attacks but require Bonus Action to activate the effect. It would be best if you did that before combat starts. Once you get Risky Ring, drop them. |
Luminous Gloves | These gloves may be used by your cleric. If not, you can equip them together with Luminous Armour to apply tons of Radiating Orbs. They will reduce the effectiveness of enemy attack rolls. | |
Gloves of the Growling Underdog | These gloves are mandatory at least until you get Risky Ring or if you do not use Great Weapon Master feat yet. | |
Flawed Helldusk Gloves | Provides bonus fire damage, however, only use it once you get Risky Ring. | |
Dark Justiciar Gauntlets | A solid option as it gives a bonus 1d4 necrotic damage. But only use it after you get Risky Ring. | |
Boots | Evasive Shoes | Bonus armor class for higher survivability. |
Disintegrating Night Walkers | The boots are still a good option in Act 2. | |
Amulet | Broodmother's Revenge | Still, the best amulet as it provides a substantial damage boost if healed - a cleric can do this easily. |
Surgeon's Subjugation Amulet | Not a perfect amulet, but could be useful once you have Risky Ring and other options are taken | |
Spell Savant Amulet | Gain an additional level 2 spell slot for more Smites. | |
Rings | Killer's Sweetheart | Allows dealing guaranteed critical hit per long rest. After this, you can just unequip it. Moreover, it can change an attack that misses and turns it into critical. |
Risky Ring | Provides an Advantage on attack rolls. This is a mandatory ring as it will both guarantee more hits and a higher chance of critical hits. | |
Callous Glow Ring | The bonus damage can easily stack from multiple sources. For example paladin base attack + Divine Smite. | |
Caustic Band | 2 Acid damage on any kind of attack. With multiple attacks you do the bonus is substantial. | |
Eversight Ring | Makes you immune to being blinded, which can be detrimental in some encounters. |
Act 3 - Final Build setup
This is the last act of the game, where you will get access to the most powerful items. To get them as early as possible you will need some planning, but overall, it should not be a problem.
Act 3 gives so many different items, that the build can be changed multiple times as you explore it. For example, you could go with Nyrulna + Bhaalist Armour for very strong damage, but sacrificing armor class. This is the biggest damage improvement for the Lockadin build,
On the other hand, you can pick Balduran's Giantslayer and take armor like Helldusk Armour or Armour of Persistence to play a more survivability role. So definitely try out different combinations to find the sweet spot for your playstyle.
Moreover, spears from Act 2 - Selûne's Spear of Night and especially Shar's Spear of Evening are good weapons.
Slot | Item | Description |
---|---|---|
Melee (Two-Handed) | Shar's Spear of Evening | The weapon's effectiveness comes if you will use Bhaalist Armour. When attacking obscured enemies, the bonus damage rider will also double in damage. |
Nyrulna | This weapon can also be used as two-handed, albeit its base damage is not as high. It can be a perfect choice until you obtain the top ones. However, if you choose to use Bhaalist Armour this can be the best performer on this build. | |
Silver Sword of the Astral Plane | A good choice, specifically for Githyanki due to bonus damage and resistance. Otherwise, it falls short of other options. | |
Balduran's Giantslayer | Very strong weapon, and the strongest two-hander. The only downside is that it requires you to use Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength or Gauntlets of Frost Giant Strength to get the highest damage boost. Without high strength, this sword does not perform as well as other options. | |
Hellbeard Halberd | This gives a bonus of 6 poison damage per hit, which is very high, making it a strong top weapon contender. | |
Ranged | The Dead Shot (BiS) |
The best bow for crit fishing builds as it increases the critical chance. |
Head | Diadem of Arcane Synergy (BiS) |
The best option, in terms of damage. However, this requires inflicting conditions, like negative status effects, etc. |
Sarevok's Horned Helmet | Alternative in case, you want something else. Increases critical chance, which can make your smites do crazy amounts of damage. | |
Cloak | Cloak of Displacement (BiS) |
Improves the chances of attacks missing the wearer until getting hit for that turn. |
Armor | Armour of Persistence | A solid defensive choice, that comes with damage reduction cantrip effects. |
Bhaalist Armour (BiS) |
The best armor for maximum damage. This is light armor, so you should be maximizing your Dexterity and have it at least at 16, to get a good Armour Class. Together with Nyrulna or Shar's Spear of Evening, you can deal frightening amounts of damage due to the Aura Of Murder effect. However, it may be unobtainable based on your choices in the game. | |
Armour of Agility | The armor does not limit the Dexterity bonus to AC and improves your saving throws. | |
Helldusk Armour | This armor has the highest armor class in the game. Moreover, it grants flying and burns enemies in flames when they attack you. | |
Gloves | Legacy of the Masters (BiS) |
The best gloves for melee attacks with improved attack rolls and damage. |
Helldusk Gloves | Gives a solid bonus of 1d6 fire damage on hit, and provides a fire spell with Strength as a casting ability! | |
Gauntlets of Frost Giant Strength | These gloves can be used to permanently increase Strength. This means you no longer need Elixir of Hill Giant Strength. Moreover, you can gimp on strength and leave it at 8. Use those attribute points on Dexterity or Wisdom. | |
Boots | Helldusk Boots (BiS) |
Allows avaoiding failed Saving Throws, and uses reaction to change the outcome. Moreover, provides bonus actions for mobility and damage. |
Boots of Persistence | Gives a huge boost to mobility and avoids difficult terrain. | |
Amulet | Broodmother's Revenge (BiS) |
The amulet still pulls strong even in the late game. |
Amulet of Greater Health | Makes any Constitution ability investment redundant as it maximizes it to 23 points. However, this means that you will not be able to use Broodmother's Revenge for a bit more damage. | |
Magic Amulet | Gives an Advantage on attack. I would use this only if you do not have Risky Ring. Otherwise, this does not provide much use, besides Saving Throw Advantage. | |
Rings | Ring of Regeneration | This ring can be used to activate Broodmother's Revenge so that you will not forget. |
Risky Ring (BiS) |
Provides an Advantage on attack rolls. This is a mandatory ring as it will both guarantee more hits and a higher chance of critical hits. | |
Killer's Sweetheart (BiS) |
Guarantees a critical hit once per Long rest. Moreover, it can change an attack that misses and turns it into critical. | |
Caustic Band | 2 Acid damage on any kind of attack. With multiple attacks you do the bonus is substantial. Can be equipped after Killer's Sweetheart has been used |
Build Mechanics
In this section, I would like to dive deep into how to play the Lockadin Build. 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 use the build effectively.
Managing Great Weapon Master
One of the more important feats of the build is Great Weapon Master: All In. It gives a flat damage boost at the cost of decreased attack rolls. Generally, it is best to take this later in the game at level 8+, when you have higher attack bonuses and better gear.
However, if you can effectively use it at level 4, you will be able to easily kill most of the enemies you encounter, especially as it is easy to die in Act 1. So if you are up for putting in additional effort the benefits are immense. Here are the main ways to increase your attack rolls:
- Bless from Cleric or Paladin, for a 1d4 bonus.
- Spells like Faerie Fire, and Blindness give an advantage to attackers.
- Oil of Accuracy or Diluted Oil of Sharpness, for 1 and 2 attack roll bonus.
- Gloves of the Growling Underdog - can be obtained in Goblin Camp, and gives an advantage for attack rolls.
- Svartlebee's Woundseeker - early game greatsword that you can get before engaging in any of the major battles of Act 1.
Now, if you want more in-depth information, I have a guide covering how to increase attack rolls, which lists a lot of options and combinations. You can then pick the bonuses based on your party setup.
Divine Smites
The key aspect of any build that involves at least 2 levels of Paladin is Divine Smite. It is one of the coolest actions punishing your targets with a ray of light. To use it effectively there are a few tips that I have.
First, update your reactions and make sure the Divine Smite has a reaction on critical hit and asks you to use it:
This way you will not waste your time with unnecessary popups and can use it when needed. For example, using a critical hit Divine Smite on a weak foe with a few HP will feel like a waste. However, you still might want to use it on the boss even if it has few HP to finish them off.
If you want to use the normal smite, just activate it from the quick bar by selecting Divine Smite action.
Overall, critical hits are extremely important for these attacks as the big number of dice rolls get doubled and get rerolled with Savage Attacker. That is why I recommend Killer's Sweetheart, Luck of the Far Realms, and spells like Hold Person.
Using any melee Weapon - Bind Pact Weapon
The main mechanic of Bladelock that allows it to be effective in weapon combat is the Bind Pact Weapon. This allows you to be proficient with any melee weapon and use Charisma as the main modifier instead of Strength or Dexterity.
So this is why with 8 strength you will use Two-Handed weapons for the first half of the game, and later switch to Rapiers.
Darkness with Devils Sight
Using Darkness spells with 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 hit them with advantage, while they are blind.
Short Rest after you expend spell slots
One of the advantages of the Warlock multiclass is that you will get spell slots that reset on each short rest. This is kind of good resource management as you can continue being an effective combatant even after a big fight.
So when in combat, and you are using Divine Smite confirm which spell slot will be utilized. For simple encounters, you will probably want to use Warlock Spell slots. However, for boss fights or bigger fights, use all of them.
For this reason, I do recommend using Bard Build with Song of Rest to give another short rest to the party, to extend the offensive capabilities of this build.
Hunger of Hadar
This, Warlock level 5 spell is extremely powerful. It can be used to confuse enemies, waste their action points, and blind them. Moreover, the more time they spend on it, the more damage they will receive during this period.
The good thing is that you can stand outside with your Lockadin and wait for them to come. Once they appear, bash them with your weapon or push them away with Eldritch Blast. However, as Lockding has a low amount of spell slots, evaluate if it's worth using the spell. Because it could be used for a Divine Smite and instantly kill a normal enemy.
Early Game Combat
Let's cover how you should progress combat levels 1-6. For this stage you will mostly be a Paladin, so I will cover from this perspective:
- Shield of Faith is an excellent spell to use early on to improve Armour Class.
- Thunderous Smite can be used in early games to give use for bonus action and inflict adequate damage.
- Based on your hit chance turn on and off Great Weapon Master: All In, try keeping it at 65%+. Once you get Magic Weapon it can be used to improve your hit chance.
- I would save Divine Smite for critical hits or on enemies like casters or bosses. Due to limited spell slots, you can go through them very fast.
- Misty Step is useful to get close to the enemies if you will not be able to reach them otherwise. It can also be used in the opposite way to get away.
Mid to Late Game Combat
- Be sure to activate Bind Pact Weapon so that you can use Charisma instead of Strength/Dexterity for attacks.
- Attack, attack, and attack. The stacking of Extra Attack and Deepened Pact allows for 3 attacks per action point on non-HM difficulties.
- Maximize your Divine Smite damage and use it on critical hits or to finish off foes.
- Be sure to activate auras like Aura of Hate for bonus damage.
Conclusion
Thank you for reading the Lockadin build for Baldur's Gate 3. It is the best Paladin Warlock multiclass below Honour Mode. I covered how we use Pact of the Blade to remove any need for strength and utilize Charisma on any melee attacks or spellcasting. Moreover, I suggested some gear throughout the game to maximize the effectiveness of the build
Cheers!
Discussion
When I respec at level 8 to choose Warlock as my first levels (1-3), then multiclass into Paladin (4-8) - I lose my heavy armour proficiency, but most of your gear options have heavy armour. Am I doing something incorrect in following your guide? I want to use heavy armour, but don't want to waste a feat point to unlock it
Oh I mean that you only need to change your ability points and feat when respeccing. So you still do 5 Levels of Paladin first, and then do 3 levels of warlock. Will update the build with this info
Ah got it, thanks so much - my mistake! Awesome work on the website too 👍 super well put together!
Which companion is best to use this build on?
There are marginal differences between the companions, so I would pick anything you like. Wyll is a popular choice for this one as he is a warlock.
I know the build is complete and you give some skill to focus on about. But since most recent build has them I think some background recomendations would be highly apreciated. As always an amazing build
Also where to allocate ethel hair would be apreciated too
Never mind with above this plase. You already answered. I´m just used to see it in the ability point section
Great guides and builds thank you! n the Leveling Overview, you say take Great Weapon Fighting but further down under the description of Great Weapon Fighting and Defence, you recommend Defence. Which do you prefer?
(I'll also post this on the discord)
Thanks, updated!
Is there a way to utilize strength elixirs for more damage in this build, while also taking advantage of the pact extra attack cheese? Not sure if using a strength elixir voids this
You will already have high Charisma, so don't see much point in that. It can work great in the early game when both cha and str are low. Moreover, Bloodlust Elixir on Tactician will give you 3 attacks, so I doubt that STR Elixir will improve overall damage.
do the best weapon choices in act 3 remain the same without bhaalist armour?
Deva mace
Yeah, I have listed it - Balduran's Giantslayer, Nyrulna is also pretty good with its special actions.
Hello,
What would be your recommandation if Deepened Pact does not work in Honor ?
it works, but it does not stack with paladin's "extra attack". In this case, I would go with 9 paladin/3 Warlock, so that you can use Charisma as the main stat.
5/7 split would still work, if you want access to level 3 spells like Hunger of Hadar.
Hi! Thank you for this. I'm following this not for my Durge, but for Minthara. I'm up to level 9 now and when she hits, she does reasonably high damage. The problem is, her to-hit percentage often hovers around 20%, so she seldom lands any melee attacks. She can usually hit with Eldritch Blasts, since they usually have 50% or so to hit.
Is there something I'm doing wrong? What could I do to improve her attack rating?
Hey, yeah this is definitely very low. Here are a few points and questions:
Are you binding your weapon so that charisma modifier would be used for weapon attacks?
What are your ability scores?
Do you use Strength elixirs?
Check the "Managing Great Weapon Master" section under mechanics, this goes into how you can improve your hit chance with the build
Ah, it's the binding thing. I'm sorry; the only kind of warlock I'd played before was Pact of the Chain, so I didn't know this mechanic. I just bound her weapon, so that should do the trick!
Cool! I would aim for 75%+ hit chance. So try to get advantage whenever possible and if needed disable Great Weapon Master (you can do this in the spell screen, drag the GWM icon to hotbar)
Starting as a paladin, I leveled my Tav up to level 10 and then decided to respec as you suggested, but for some reason, I don't receive any eldritch invocations at level 2 warlock. I tried looking it up, and I have no idea and it seems I'm the only person with this problem. I don't have any mods outside of QoL ones, so I doubt those are the issue.
Well, I would still try uninstalling the mods, as otherwise, I haven't heard of this kind of bug, which is unfortunate :/
I think there is a little mistake in this guide. The Luminous Gloves are an Act 1 item in this guide, but don't you get them in Act 2?
Thanks, fixed it
There is also a small mistake in the Leveling overview section.
Level 9 Warlock 4:
Feat: Ability Improvement +2 Strength
It's correct later section though. :)
Any suggestions on how to break re break your oath of vengeance in shadow lands or moonrise tower?
I would probably check the wiki for that
I heard the extra attacks stacking now no longer work regardless of difficulty since patch 7, is that true?
Tactician and below it stacks. Honor mode it doesn't. It's been that way since patch 5, patch 7 didn't change anything for this.
Hmm, haven't seen or heard or read anything about this in any communities. Also, patch notes did not mention anything about this.
Saw this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1f9pk71/comment/llvfmvl/ I'll test it after I finish updating the game and see if it works on Tactician, could be that it was someone who played with honor mode custom roles
I loaded my lockadin save and it did work as described - 3 attacks per action.
I also contacted the person in Discord who left the comment on Reddit and they confirmed that they were falsely informed of the fix.
What do you think about going 5 warlock first then paladin?
Yeah I list it as one of the progression options. If you want more of a "caster" start, this is good pick.
When reaching level 8 and respecing, are both feats +2 Charisma? or do I take the Great Weapon Master? is GWM just recommended for level 4?
Basically at level 8, when you respect, what feats are chosen? i know one is +2 charisma.
DARNIT! it was lower on the page. I didn't see it at 8 and I hadn't scrolled to 9. Forgive and forget, please.
well this build is intended for Tactician, as on HM the stacking extra attack does not work.
Second, losing the Hair is not a huge problem. You will be able to round the Charisma in Act 3 via the mirror of loss patriar memory.
Still, I am a bit confused "the spell to give a bonus roll". You mean that spells like Guidance initiated combat again?
saving the game****
Heyy I have a question for you about infernal rapier and this build using infernal rapier would give the effect of pact of the blade (without the 3rd attack) so I could run pact of the tome gaining animate dead haste call lightning vicious mockery guidance and thorn whip as well as a campion that gets a boost off aura of hate while still being buffed from bhaalist armor my question is what do you think of going this route vs the pact of the blade route
Sorry meant cambion not campion lol
If you have some kind of RP or flavour in mind go for it. If you are going for optimization it will be much worse than third attack. Moreover, the spells you mention are kind of average, and dont bring much to the table.
Hello, Can you get Bhaalist armor without durge? Simply with good playtrough.
It does not require Durge playthrough, however, you will have to make an evil decision. But of course, this can be done by your companion. I would also check online, maybe there is a guide that avoids it.
Would be glad to hear, what you will do :)
Thanks for fast reply, i want to start new playtrough with this build, I'm curious about that piece of armor because in my previous playtrough i save that annoying elephant and dont get it :D also thanks for providing that builds, they really good and also well written.. also want for shart do your newest blaster tempest build.
yeah, the elephant is at fault :D Glad that you like the builds! THere is one more Paladin build incoming so stay tuned :)
Would it be better to stay with paladin till level 8 then respec
If you want "optimal" progression, going 10 Paladin or 10 Warlock and only then respeccing to 5/5 is the way.
If you want the warlock features earlier respec at 8 is also okay.
What's good builds to go with this as wanna use it for my evil durge playthrough
As you will be getting Bhaalist Armor, something that also can exploit the piecring vulnerability - any kind of Archer.
OK so would gloom stalker, lore bard, and either barbarian or spore druid work
Hmm, maybe I would go with Druid. You will still want access to Guidance. But I would pick Land, as it is better caster in my opinion, especially as it can access Lightning Bolt.
Stacking paladin extra attack and the bound pact weapon extra attack does not work anymore on Tactician. From what I've read elsewhere, this was changed in patch 5, can't confirm that though.
That's why you need to test things more often :) Yes, it does work. It does not work on Honor mode.
I just tested it, unless Im doing something wrong, I can only do the main attack then one extra attack, then my actions are done. (level 5 oathbreaker, level 5 pact of the blade, I haven't forgot to bind the pact weapon, both extra attack and deepened pact are listed under notable features. I am on tactician, on the latest patch).
Hey, the save file is from March. Moreover, if this mechanic did not work, the build would not be the most popular recommendation in Reddit, Bg3 Discord, etc. Also, I have not read or heard anyone mentioning that it does not work on Tactician. There would be a major shift in Tactician Meta builds.
Cheers!
I have a couple of mods, could be that, though I did start the game after patch 6, someone did say that it was patched in patch 5. Maybe if your save file is from before that (November 23) It will still work.
are you sure? just tested it, on the save file where i made the build and it works as expected. Maybe you have some mods installed? Also, make sure you have a pact of the blade active, many people, forget to activate it. Also check that you have Deepened Pact effect
Proof?
The video at the top
on your tierlist you commented that stacking Extra Attack and Deepened Pact does work now on Honour Mode is it still true?
Hey, I don't think I have said that, where have I written this? It does not work on Honour Mode.
What are the ability points if you go warlock first instead of paladin?
I would use ability points from my Bladelock Build:
STR - 8, DEX - 16, CON - 14, INT - 8, WIS - 10, CHA - 17
Do you suggest respec'ing once you get Bhaalist Armor to get more Dex? Thanks for taking the time to make this guide - it's been much appreciated.
With level 8 (or 10) respec you will already have 16 Dexterity. The maximum is 17, which will not improve your armor class.
Hi. I really enjoyed your article and I took one or two (or more) out of your suggestions. Thanks a lot for your time and effort. I am a little surprised there is no mention of the deva mace as a weapon recommendation. Especially with savage attacker and crit fishing it deals tons of radiant damage. Is it not good enough in your opinion because you lose HWM and + to hit or are there other reasons?
Hey, no it's not bad, its very powerful :) I just avoided it as it is clearly intended as NPC weapon. 4d8 radiant damage is the highest damage rider in the game, by a huge margin compared to other options.
Thank you for mentioning it!
Instead of doing respecs, would this build work if I dip strength, set dex to 16 and cha to 17 then use finesse weapons right from the start until I get pact of the blade at level 8 and then switch to using 2H weapons after? Or do I just make it harder for myself?
Yeah you can do that. Its just that best 2h weapons in act 1 - svartlebees woundseeker and unseen menace use STR. For dex you can use Phalar Aluve or Larethians Wrath and later move to the Str weps :)
I want to try this build in a similar way, Oathbreaker/GOA Warlock, like a Dark Death Knight Lore in Honour Mode, what would you suggest changing? 8 Levels of Paladin and 4 Warlock or 6 and 6? I'm open to any type of suggestions.
Hey, there are various suggestions. Generally, it is not as good as other Paladin multiclasses - Sorcadin and Paladin. So the popular options are:
9 Paladin/3 Warlock - I would recommend this as you get two additional level 3 spell slots. I do not think that 3rd feat is that much necessary for this type of build.
8 Paladin/4 Warlock - You will get level 2 spell slots from Warlock, but lose level 3 spell slots from Paladin. You also get third feat. This setup is good if you have Bard in the group to give additional restore for Warlock spell slots.
5 Warlock/7 Paladin - would work similar to the current build, and you would get Hunger of Hadar spell, which is really strong. However, there is no extra attack stacking.
So these builds are not considered "meta", but I would say for your roleplay any of these will work :) You could also go with Pure Paladin, as it is very strong especially after level 11 - Improved Divine Smite.
Cheers!
I really appreciate your reply and great ideas, I think I will be going with 5 Warlock/7 Paladin for the Hunger of Hadar and the Lv3 Warlock spells.
I hope you can reply to this one as well, for the final gear I really want to try that Bhaalist Armour + Nyrulna, but I'm a little concern for the low AC since with 16DEX +1 AC from the Fighting Style I will have 18 AC and for an Honour Mode ACT 3 IDK... What would you do for the rest of the gear? Would you sacrifice 1 of the rings or boots/gloves for the ones that give 1+ AC?
I was thinking 1 or 2 of this options:
Cloak of Protection
Ring or Protection
Gloves of Dex
Evasive Shoes
I'm open to any suggestions! I hope I'm not a pain in the ...
Hey, yeah that could be a problem, but remember lockadin will not be the only member in the group. There will be others who will freeze, paralyze or disable enemies. So first, you will be able to destroy ant strong and squishy enemies on the first turn. And your other party memebers eill disable them. So, i do not see much reason to add ac gear. Moreover, you can optimize the gear once yoy get there :)
I stayed at Auntie Ethel's Hair I stayed at Auntie Ethel's Hair I chose Auntie's Ethel's Hair Strength, now I wanted to reskill, I only have 19 Charisma because of that, is it better if I make something else lower and Charisma to 20?
So you can have a Charisma maximum of 17 when respeccing, so even if you decrease any other stat, you will not be able to go above. So in your situation, I would rather leave it at 16 (put those points somewhere else like Wisdom), add 2 points from Ability Improvement and 2 from Mirror of Loss for total of 20.
Even if this is not optimal, you will still do a lot of damage as it mostly comes from multiple attacks you do.
Planning a new evil durge run with this build for tav. I'd like also to use Minthara as spore druid and Shadowheart as gloomstalker assassin (mainly to equip her with shar's stuff). Last party member will be Astarion.. can you give me some suggestion on the build for him? Maybe a full caster?
Thx
hmm, seems like you are going for Darkness setup?
Maybe try Sorlock - 2 Warlock/10 Sorcerer setup?https://gamestegy.com/post/bg3/885/sorlock-sorcerer-warlock-buildIt could help with setting up darkness, can also cast Eldritch Blast while inside it, to debuff and damage enemies. Also, if you need you will still have access to control and offensive spells :)Okay you will not get Potent Robe so you could then do Lore Bard. This fits thematically him and there are various setups:
Lorecerer (6 bard and 6 Sorcerer) - https://gamestegy.com/post/bg3/984/sorcerer-bard-multiclass-build-lorecerer this is great as you are effective controller and can do good damage :) Also, you could get Hunger of Hadar, Darkness, or other spells to help your group.
Pure Lore Bard for support and control spells - https://gamestegy.com/post/bg3/986/lore-bard-build you can also get Darkness, Hunger of hadar. Also by getting Mass Healing Word you could buff your allies using bonus action.
Is it worth using Great weapons master and savage attacker, forgoing an ASI (resulting in 20 cha instead of 22)?
Hey! Without doing any math, here is what I think:
Charisma is the main ability of the build, and holds true even more, compared to other builds. Your auras, spell success, weapon damage, hit rate, almost everything depends on it.
Savage Attacker is great, but it will be the most valuable on Smites and you will use those when doing critical hits.
So I would personally go with ASI.
The creator of this guild needs a bullet in the head. You don't get 3 attacks. Delete this guide. It's worthless. Can't believe I tried this useless build.
Awww, I think somebody forgot to take their nappy time and is feewing cwanky. Seriously dude, chill out and maybe think about why it doesn't work and maybe ask questions instead of calling for someone to die. Freaking man-babies, I swear.
On Balanced and Tactician, it does work, unless you forgot to activate Blade of the Pact. It does not work on Honour Mode.
I included a notice at the top of the build with this information.
Also even without three attacks the build is not useless and is a strong Tier A contender.
Cheers!
I understood that Oathbreakers cannot respec. How are you respeccing at paladin lvl 10 after breaking your oath?
Hello, you can go to the Oathbreaker Paladin in camp, pay to restore your oath, and do a respec. After you are done, you can break the Oath again.
Okay, so it's 1000 g each time I want to respec? That hurts.
It's very easy to pickpocket money in this game from traders. But yeah the price also increases the more times you break the oath.
I have reached level 10 with 5 levels in paladin and 5 and 5 warlock. Currently I only have 2 attacks. Has there been a change to the game since this build was made?
Hey, there has been a change in Honour Mode. There you cannot stack these effects. However, if playing on Tactician or Lower it still works - be sure to activate Bind Pact Weapon
What party comp is best for this build
As this build is mainly frontliner, it would be good to have a mage - Sorcerer or Wizard. Moreover, Someone with proficiency of pickpocketing and lockpicking (sleight of hand) is useful. This will most likely be rogue, ranger or even bard.
And of course, cleric is a good option as it can provide some heals if needed but most importantly debuff and damage nemeis with Radiant Orbs and Spirit Guardians.
Cleric isn't needed if you are Paladin as you are already getting cleric spells from Paladin tree.
You are not getting Spirit Guardians, Mass Healing Word and some other stuff, which is the cornerstone of Cleric build. Moreover, cleric serves a different role - support and debuffing, while Paladin is more about damage. You don't want to use Paladin's valuable action on support spells.
What
im al ittle confused
after respecing and adding charm as my bonus on weapon dmg its lower than it was with Str, using giant hill strengt elixier (+5 Bonus instead of now +3). whats the benefit from it multiclassing with warlock?
Yes, it will be lower, as Elixir of Hill Giant Strength is somewhat overpowered. But you will reach 22 Charisma by getting Auntie Ethel Hair, +2 Charisma Ability Improvement, and a Mirror of Loss bonus. However, I think you are missing a few points.
High Charisma will increase your spellcasting modifier, meaning that your Auras (Aura of Protection, Aura of Hate, etc.) and spells are more effective.
You have better modifiers for dialogue checks
Later in the game, you may want to use Elixir of Bloodlust instead. Without Elixir of Hill Giant Strength, your strength will be low and Charisma will be used as an attack modifier.
With Warlock, you get spell slots that restore on Short Rest. In addition, if you have a bard in your group you can restore those slots 3 times per long rest. Moreover, you get a higher total amount of spell slots than pure Paladin.
(This only holds for Tactician and lower difficulties) - you get 3 attacks per action point at level 10. This is achieved only by a fighter who gets it at level 11. This may be changed in the future as the build outmatches almost every build in terms of damage.
So, going with this multiclass build of Warlock Paladin, you only need to invest in one main attribute - Charisma, for it to work. These elixir optimizations are just that - optimizations.
P.S. One thing, if you plan on using Balduran's Giantslayer, then going with Elixir of Hill Giant Strength or Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength is mandatory in the late game, as it gets huge damage bonuses from Strength.
I can't break the Oath second time. I'm in a middle of Act 1/2 and after resetting the stats I've tried to kill a couple o fNPC, like fire elemental or some guys in Druid groove. The oathbreaker is simply standing in the camp and tell same thing, after long break he doesn't show up and I dont have any reaction to npc killing.
This sounds like a bug. It would be best to report this to Larian :/
Also maybe you changed your Oath, and killing is not an Oathbreak for all of them.
Same Oath, and also tried different ones.
Thanks so much for this guide. It's fantastic, I can't wait to try it on my second run.
Do you think that in tactician mode it is too difficult to start 2 paladin 5 warlock to immediately play a hybrid class instead of 5 paladin --> warlock?
I would not say it is difficult, but this way you miss the big bump in power that Paladin 5 or Warlock 5 provides. Paladin gets Extra Attack, that doubles your damage. Warlock (specifically Fiend) get Fireball and Hunger of Hadar. Both of these spells are very powerful, and make many fights very easy.
You could also go 2 paladin -> 3 Warlock -> respec -> 5 paladin. This could be an option if you do not care about respecing, as some people try to minimize these interactions.
Can you share an older version of the guide?
Yeah, please join me on discord and I will provide it - https://discord.gg/ZFQUsyFtA3
Level 10 - 3 attacks from getting Extra Attack from Deepened Pact.
Don't extra attacks from multiple classes not stack? That's what it says in the hyper-link.
Warlock's extra attack is separate from Ranger, Fighter, Paladin, etc. So they do stack.
Awesome. So excited to try it out, thank you.
Yeah it's the best multiclass for Paladin, so expect some big numbers once you get to higher levels and get good gear :)
Is there a reason why you choose odd numbered stats? From what I understand, you only receive Stat bonuses when they are multiples of 2.
Hey added additional explanations to the ability selections in the build. The odd number stat for Charisma is chosen because, most likely, you will use Auntie Ethel's Hair to get +1 Charisma or Mirror of Loss in Act 3 for +3. This way it will round to an even number.
Thanks for the update. A lot of builds I've seen tend to have uneven stats, so it confused me.
For Level 6 (Warlock Lv. 4), what exactly is the damage spell that doesn’t require concentration that you recommend? It doesn’t seem to say, and it only shows the other options you recommend.
Sorry, as I was reusing a template it was copied form other post. Fixed it!
Could you replace the 7th level of paladin with one in Wizard just to get some versatility spells?
Definitely, of course, if you are an Oathbreaker you will lose Aura of Hate which is amazing. For other subclasses I don't think it is a problem.
However, I would raise a question, why would you need additional spells? Because each spell used would waste your action or spell slot. So you would be able to use fewer smites. Maybe there are situations where you do not have a counter?
I'm Curious as to what gear you would pair with This build, are there any specific items you'd want to take to really boost the builds damage output
Hey,
It depnds on which Act you are. But form the top of my head:
Adamantine Splint Armour (Act 1) for heavy armor
Doom Hammer (Act 1), perfect for bludgeoning damage.
Blooded Greataxe (Act 1)
Halberd of Vigilance (Act 2)
Sword of Chaos (Act 3)
These are just some items, that I can suggest. For better optimization I plan on adding gear recommendations in the future
Currently (as of 8/28/23) you can't make smites use warlock spell slots until you use all of your normal spell slots first. In 5e you're supposed to be able to choose, but you can't currently do that in BG3
I have the same problem. How it is not fixed yet ?
I found this on larian forum and it is seems to be the problem: The bug only persists when you have warlock spells slots and regular spells slots of the same level. Currently, when you have warlock spell slot and regular spells slot of the same level, the game forces you to use all of your regular spell slots first when casting spells outside of the warlock spell book and forces you to use all of your warlock spell slots first before regular slots when casting warlock spells
Okay I see what you mean. I was testing on warlock level 3 spell slots and paladin level 1, 2. This is the reason why I could select them.
Hey, yes you can do that. I just tested and everything works. I could choose between warlock and paladin spell slots when casting Divine Smite or any other spell
If you can, please show proof. It looks like it allows you to cast from the Pact Spell Slots, but after using it, you notice your other spell slots are used.
You can join the discord https://discord.gg/FCGdP7T7nd and we can talk there. I just tried it again and it works. Moreover, if this was happening by everyone, reddit and discord would be filled with chats about this bug. I think it is a local bug, that you should report to Larian