There are many approaches that can be taken when creating a new custom character for Baldur’s Gate 3. While it can be a lot of fun to play with a fully optimized build, some of the most fun characters take a different path. Not all builds in Baldur’s Gate 3 have to be about power and efficiency, in fact just like in its tabletop cousin, Dungeons & Dragons, some of the most fun characters to play with are those with interesting concepts.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is fantastic for roleplaying, with tons of NPCs and companions to interact with to help bring the story to life. The builds below are not all optimal or even powerful, but they all offer something a little different, and most importantly: they are fun. These builds work great on a custom Tav or even a respecced or changed companion character.
10 Pure Bard
Firstly, there is the pure bard, which is less a build and more of a roleplay style. For this character any BG3 bard subclass can be chosen, but College of Lore works well thematically. The key to this character is choosing spells, equipment and responses that are in keeping with a bard who has been plucked from their normal life and thrust into an adventure. This is a character that isn’t in the fray if they can help it, so crowd control spells like Tasha’s hideous laughter, hold person, Otto’s irresistible dance and silence are important. While out of combat, charm person, disguise self or seeming are also good suggestions.
9 Battle Master
Fighter is one of the most versatile classes in both DnD and Baldur’s Gate 3. They are able to use all varieties of weapons and armor, making them the perfect class for beginners. They are also tons of fun to play as, with several of their abilities such as Action Surge adding to the enjoyment. By far the most fun fighter build is the Battle Master with their Battle Maneuvers. This can allow the fighter to do some really fun things in combat like disarming enemies, pushing them or knocking them prone. This build is a lot of fun as it makes combat more interesting, and it’s possible to make a powerful character very early in the game.
8 Tavern Brawler Monk
For a powerful and fun build, it’s hard to go wrong with the Tavern Brawler monk. For this build, choose monk at character creation and level them up to level five, choosing Way of the Open Hand. At level four, when a feat is available, Tavern Brawler should be chosen to add the character’s Strength modifier to damage and attack rolls.
This would already be a really fun and powerful character, but by adding some levels of rogue, things can get really entertaining. By adding three levels of rogue and choosing the Thief subclass, the character will get an extra bonus action. This is perfect for Flurry of Blows, which with Tavern Brawler will mean tons of damage per turn.
7 Bear-barian
A well known DnD build is the Bear-barian which combines Circle of the Moon druid with Totem Warrior barbarian. For Baldur’s Gate 3, Totem Warrior has been redesigned slightly in the form of Wildheart, but the multiclass build still works. This is a great build for power, roleplaying, and tons of benefits such as the extra health pool, healing abilities, and extra rage damage.
When starting a new character, druid should be chosen and leveled up to level two with Circle of the Moon as the subclass. After that, switch to barbarian and level up to level three, choosing Wildheart and Bear Heart for resistance to all damage types except psychic while raging. After this it is entirely up to personal preference, but a 50/50 split works well.
6 Ninja
Anyone who has played Skyrim will agree that playing as a stealth-based fantasy RPG character is ridiculously fun. Baldur’s Gate 3 can take that a step further with the Ninja build to deal out damage from the shadows. To begin, make a new monk character and level them up to level five, choosing Way of the Shadow.
After gaining Flurry of Blows, Stunning Strike, and an extra attack, multiclass into rogue. Follow rogue until level three and choose Assassin to gain auto crits on surprised enemies and advantage on attack rolls if the enemy hasn’t taken their turn. Then return to monk to fully take advantage of the shadows and sneak attack fun.
5 Necromancer
It can be difficult to make new friends when playing as the Dark Urge origin in Baldur’s Gate 3. Whether resisting or surrendering to the murderous impulses, the character does some pretty odd things throughout the game. With that in mind, a very entertaining roleplay build for a Dark Urge playthrough is the Necromancer.
This is a simple build that is more roleplay focused with no multiclassing. Here, just make a wizard and choose School of Necromancy. This choice works well thematically with Grim Harvest healing the Dark Urge when they kill with a spell, but is also practical in using animate dead. A Necromancy wizard creates better zombies using the animate dead spell, raising two corpses at a time with more hit points. Just remember to keep some spare corpses back at camp to make sure the Necromancer never runs out of new friends.
4 Storm Cleric
Another simple but effective build is the Storm Cleric to turn any character into Thor. This build combines of the classic DnD multiclass combo of Tempest cleric with Storm sorcerer for lots of fun hurling lightning at enemies. To begin, start with a cleric choosing Tempest domain to get access to heavy armor and level this to level two to gain the Chanel Divinity ability Destructive Wrath.
After that, move over to sorcerer, choosing Storm Sorcery to gain Tempestuous Magic, which lets the character fly as a bonus action after casting a leveled spell. Now simply continue to level up sorcerer, making sure to choose as many lightning or thunder based spells as possible. This allows the Storm Cleric to use Destructive Wrath on powerful sorcerer spells like chromatic orb, witch bolt, and most importantly lightning bolt. Storm Cleric is also a really fun build to repec Shadowheart into late in the game for her to deal incredible damage during the final BG3 battle.
3 Throwing Berserker
For a sillier BG3 build that is hilarious to play, the Throwing Berserker is well worth a try. This build involves no multiclassing but makes use of the Tavern Brawler feat, which adds the character’s Strength modifier to damage and attack rolls when the character throws something. Combining this with the Berserker barbarian’s Enraged Throw creates some fantastically funny moments in combat, as well as dealing out a lot of damage. However, it is important to remember since the character’s ability to throw items or enemies is based off their Strength score not modifier, it is important to pump as many points into Strength as possible
2 Battle Mage
While it might be more traditional to combine sorcerer with paladin for BG3 multiclassing, choosing fighter instead creates the fun Battle Mage build. This build takes advantage of the fighter’s ability to use all armor types for better defense, as well as gaining an extra attack at level five. Action Surge and the Battle Master maneuvers also add to the Battle Mage’s damage in combat.
For this build, start with a fighter and get them to level two to gain Action Surge, then switch to Sorcerer. Draconic Bloodline is a good choice for the boost to health and then switch back to fighter for three more levels. Combining Action Surge, extra attack, and meta magic, the Battle Mage is able to really skew the action economy of any fight in their favor whilst enjoying a higher AC.
1 Double Chaos
Finally, one of the most fun builds to play for maxim chaos is the Double Chaos. This build combines the Wild Magic sorcerer with the Wild Magic barbarian for pure havoc. The Double Chaos is not in any way shape or form an optimal build, but it is one of the most hilarious. To start, create a Wild Magic sorcerer then switch to barbarian for three levels, then choose the Wild Magic subclass. Then switch back to sorcerer and continue to level that for the rest of the game. Now just watch the utter mayhem unfold in every fight using the most ridiculous build for Baldur’s Gate 3.
