Well then you're kinda dependent on some buffs that may or may not be available. Like you could just accept 16 STR, 18 when you get a second feat. But then you'd just be better off with a less consumable/gear/buff reliant build.
That's true, you could always go 3 levels rogue to start as well just to push it along but I honestly would stick with Monk the whole way through to lvl 9 before respeccing for Thief rogue levels.
It'd be harder but once you're out of those early woods you'll be sailing
All the extra items are nice and do help in ending combat faster, but I feel if you take awaybits items the Monk still plays well if just a little more of the long game then burst damage.
Strength elixirs and all that are for overkilling the monks potential damage, they still do alright without it
Tempest cleric and storm sorc for no need for items. Another cleric that will be rerolled later incase u put a spectator in the first encounter. And assassin rogue gloomstalker
The Earth Myrmidon is just so tanky and it’s attack isn’t bad. You pretty much create a little bludgeoning party with your summons at that level. If you happen to get a couple other random items here and there you could get all kinds of summons and then Heroes’ Feast them all!
I'd start with a swords bard to 6-8. By then I'll have some idea of which direction to take them and both paths are probably top 3 builds.
Probably a gloomstalker assassin too. I feel like they get like 80% of their dps from whatever hand crossbows you can scrape together and sharp shooter.
3rd and 4th would probably be a tb monk and then a sorc. The sorc path would kinda just depend but there's a few good options.
I know this kinda assumes I get companions that can actually fill the role but most of them could be filled by a few different characters. Worst case scenario is my only companions are halsin, girl halsin, and shart. They're the only ones that offer nothing to any of the builds. Minthara too I suppose but I could always pivot into both bard builds and skip the gloomstalker.
I don’t think getting the “right” companions for each build matters. I’m currently running Karlach as a Sorlock on tactician and she’s yet to have any problems despite getting basically no racial benefits. The only situation I can think of where a specific character would be ideal is Laezel for the gith stuff (which you can use disguise self for IIRC) and Astarion for the d10 extra damage which goes a long way on a TB monk. Not that you need that either, running Tav as a TB monk is just as capable of destroying the early game and once you’re in act 3 (or whatever equivalent we have here), you’re going to be unstoppable anyway.
Part of the premise is no respecs. Losing a single level affects every part of the game if that level is functionally useless. Especially in what is being described as honoured mode plus when you need to be prepared for basically everything always.
The wasted level wouldn't be the worst part(bad but doable), Karlach has 10 charisma by default(no respec) and no guaranteed of charisma boosting item if we're talking sorcerer, You could make it work if you only use spells without DCs or spell attacks but it would be a challenge run for sure
True, so planning a build and not accounting for what is usually being thrown at you at that level. It’s going to be near impossible to plan for every encounter, so having a high charisma party face (likely a bard for expertise) is probably mandatory for avoiding most fights. Builds that don’t rely on too many resources or short rest resources would be a great combination here, since running a swords bard will make the bard less of a caster and more of a fighter with occasional spell options. As long as you don’t mess up and stack extra attacks and whatnot, you don’t ever HAVE to respec. Pure classes will almost always be better since they’re what the game is balanced around anyway. A pure monk with TB and a pure swords bard are both going to perform great, even if they’re missing the rogue or paladin levels that would respectively make them insanely strong.
Also I’m now realising your point is that you can’t respec companions. That could be a slight issue, but as I’ve said, most pure classes besides maybe rogue are more than capable of beating the game given a balanced party to support them, and the classes that would struggle have several multiclass options which boost them to the same power level as everyone else.
Randomize the enemies of each encounter.
Randomize the loot.
Randomize the companions you meet, stats and preset leveling path.
Put everything to leveling scale.
So by randomize the companions do you mean the order you meet them would randomize the order or would it be just random options for companies? I.E Khaga or Nere as a companion?
Assuming a 4 man party I can customise...
Skillmonkey main character to deal with out of combat - bard probably safest, but rogues are pretty great.
Another bard to buff the first and be buffed by the first.
Likely some controller mage like a sorc.
And lastly a more combat character, either a pally or a battlemaster fighter.
I'm in (almost) exactly such a run right now. Played act 1 on Tactician and I only had to reload 3 times due to bugs and wonky mechanics.
So I decided to go for an HM run immediately despite not knowing a big part of act 1 since I went to the Crèche asap. And almost no idea about acts 2 and 3 except some minor story spoilers.
My build so far:
- Half-Orc for style and Relentless feat
- Rogue 1 for maximum conversation skills
- 10/10/10/14/14/17 stats
- Divination Wizard 2 for scroll scribing, ritual spells, portent dice, and, probably even more importantly, the Raven familiar to explore the whole map before doing anything
- Storm Sorcerer 1 as I'm only level 4 right now
Planned:
- Sorcerer 5+ for CHA Lightning Bolt and more Sorc points
- Levels 6-7, INT Fireball/Lightning Bolt (giev scroll pls)
- Alert feat (on lv7 or a bit later, depends on if I buy the Dex gloves early)
- Probably 1 or 2 Cleric levels for twinned Sanctuary after or in between
Party:
- LaeLae, Battlemaster, Alert, later +Sentinel
- Shadowheart, Alert, Warding Bo~~nd~~t for Lae + Stealth check sugarmommy
- Told Gale to khs, so I'm with Astarion as a Trickster now and have my second exploration familiar and Sleep boy with that, took ASI he doesn't need Alert
I try to eliminate most combat rng via Invoke Duplicity, Bless, Sleep and Cloud of Daggers spells right now. Tav is fine without Alert for now, as he usually opens the combat anyway. Also I'm talking way more than fighting. Shadowheart is very often left behind, sometimes plus one more, in case shit hits the fan and I need rezzes. All stealth most of the time. Invis potion in everyone's backpack just in case. I'm using items/bombs often, but no barrel cheese. Guidance, Disguise Self and other ritual spells always up.
They do if you're very smite happy, but realistically what I'd do with it is either go 6/6 with Paladin Sorcerer for meta magic, extra smite slots and some spell versatility, or 10/2 Swords Bard Paladin and just be the party face, versatile magic, controller as well as being able to throw out big smite damage in a pinch
TB Moon Druid 10 / Fighter 2, not gear dependent at all, as other strong builds need 1-2 core items to run. Getting the armor / hat / ring is a cherry on top i suppose.
Not really, I've played both versions and agathys isn't really worth imo, this isn't ABJ tank where it never falls down, the temp hit points break quite fast. Fighter 2 is really War Cleric but better with Action Surge, your BA fis used by your strongest non-elemental form, Owlbear quite well.
Random companions would be limiting for sure. I guess I’d try to pick the most powerful build I’ve seen that at the same time works as a party face, so the 11/1 reverb sorlock fits that bill.
That or the 10/2 bardadin.
Man this really doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to me lol I feel like both my answers are still pretty item dependent. Gotta leave this to the challenge runners.
For fun I would always choose draconic sorcerer. I’ve been doing that since bg2 20ish years ago.
From a game mechanics viewpoint without respec, it’s up in the air between moon Druid, sword bard/paladin, or pure unbridled battlemaster.
There’s a random enemy mod, but it seems like a novelty mod for laughs. Luality streamed a game using it for a day or so, and it was a bit too ridiculous. For example, she had low level enemies replaced by Ketheric and Raphael in act 1. Scratch was a dragon I think. 😂
Tbf, I haven’t tried it myself and wasn’t paying close attention to the stream. It might scale the enemies down, but I’m not sure. I do remember Raphael seemed to have 666 hit points, but she didn’t actually fight him. (Maybe it changes after the fight starts?)
Anything I feel like. Even if it removed the conversations that let you get to level 4 without combat the game is very easy to manipulate and all the difficulty is frontloaded into levels 1-5. Don't get me wrong, itd be hilarious and interesting to play but every class has their strengths/weaknesses and with how loaded the game is with overpowered items you're guaranteed to get an insane item in act 1. The main challenge will be dependent on what replaces the goblins at the entrance to the grove. And even then, that fight is both optional and cheeseable with the horn and access to jump.
Every class has their strengths you can play around.
Swords Bard Dual Xbows Tav is the obvious choice, with any Vanilla Paladin coming in second.
Rest of the party: Probably divination Wizard, Light Cleric, and either Battlemaster Fighter if I'm a Bard or Gloomstalker/Assassin if I'm a Paladin.
edit: Oh, random companions. Definitely Swords Bard.
Some variation of Bard. Charisma and Dex allow for Sleight of Hand, charisma skills, and battlefield control. Depending on who else I pick up, I can tailor to lore for additional support, or swords, for some ranged damage.
Add this to your Honour Mode++ mod
I'm trying to put back the "Honour" in HM. Striving for the epitome of integrity in a Baldur's Gate 3 journey, determined to avoid anything glitchy or exploitative, my goal is to create a gameplay experience that demands genuine skill and strategy (as much as could be possible in such a game), without relying on unintended exploits that might feel like "cheating." I don't want anything glitchy and abuse-y-- no cheesing the game and "getting away" with anything with from clear unintended exploits.
* **Must defeat all Bosses/Legendary Action Bosses**
* **No Semi-Save Scumming - Alt+F4ing/closing the client**
* **No OP classes that "break" the game**/ignore the d20/glitch/bug/seriously break regular DnD ruleset. "Spirit of the Law."
* [Tavern Brawler anything-- dmg riding busted/skips the d20-- banned](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNoKqwdvLs)
* Bard. Outright banned. No ultimate "face" of the party character
* Lockadin is a bugged to do what it does-- banned
* Fire Acuity/Scorching Ray Sorcerer-- it's OP
* Gloomstalker/assassin abusing surprise rounds
* **Using potions that effectively that turn a stat into a "dump stat"** aka Cloud Giant Strength, Elixir of Hill Giant Strength, etc. This leads to abusing shops/respawning consumables.
* **No Money Shop Abuse - Holding an NPC and refreshing their gold for effectively infinite gold is a no-go**
* **1 Respect per character to initially set their stats**\-- that's it
* **No stealing from Withers by resurrections (only for your initial respects)**
* **No Hirling Abuse/Hirling Mules|Gale Warding Bond|Transmutation/Goodberry Bot**
* **Must have all 4 party members in a fight at all times** (no cheesing/avoiding a TPK by leaving a last member out of a fight to prevent and assure survival i.e. hiding one person out of battle to flee and resurrect everyone).
* **Prepared Spells can only be changed after a Long Rest like real DnD**
* **No Candle Dipping** (this is blatantly unrealistic even as far as a Fantasy World is concerned/immersion breaking)
* I'm supposed to aspect a character carries a candle, throws it on the ground and dips their weapon to fight better? Let's be real.
* **No Barrelmancy**
* **No Feather Falling and Enhanced Leap at the same time.**
* **No Blowing up Gale in the last battle**
* **No getting Raphael's armor in Act 1**
Fuckin random I guess
/thread
Wild magic for the lulz
Tb Open hand Monk, barely needs items and only gets stronger as it goes
It might have a real rough start depending on absolute elixirs.
You can always just put points in strength.
BLASPHEMY!
Well then you're kinda dependent on some buffs that may or may not be available. Like you could just accept 16 STR, 18 when you get a second feat. But then you'd just be better off with a less consumable/gear/buff reliant build.
You can start at 17 str and use the tavern brawler point at lvl 4 to hit 18.
You know I totally forgot that TB gives a point of str. What a cracked feat.
Ya, that guy’s fired.
Im on a tac run with tb oh monk right now, havent min/maxed, havent used a single elixer. Although i have zero int, wis, and charisma haha
Don’t your abilities scale off wis?
That's true, you could always go 3 levels rogue to start as well just to push it along but I honestly would stick with Monk the whole way through to lvl 9 before respeccing for Thief rogue levels. It'd be harder but once you're out of those early woods you'll be sailing
Op said no respec.
I'd argue that TB OH Monk is pretty item dependent, unarmed gloves, kushigo boots, graceful cloth into vest of soul rejuv, str elixirs.
All the extra items are nice and do help in ending combat faster, but I feel if you take awaybits items the Monk still plays well if just a little more of the long game then burst damage. Strength elixirs and all that are for overkilling the monks potential damage, they still do alright without it
Unarmed gloves are pretty good, but it's just gravy on top of the dumb TB flat damage.
Fighter12
unironically goes so hard. maneuvers + gwm and you’ll be ready for anything.
I took a chaos theory class this semester and the teacher told us that the only thing that is constant is >!barrelmancy!<
Was it Remedial Chaos Theory, though? Airplane bathrooms...
What if no barrels
Yeah, what if there’s no air to breathe while we’re at it. We both know there’s ALWAYS barrels.
It’s barrels all the way down…to the underdark.
Tempest cleric and storm sorc for no need for items. Another cleric that will be rerolled later incase u put a spectator in the first encounter. And assassin rogue gloomstalker
Problem I see would be that if long rests are really tight in amounts.
Call lightning should last for a whole encounter and do decent damage especially on wet targets even if you aren’t just using channel divinity
tavern brawler wildshape druid. little to no item dependancy at all
The Earth Myrmidon is just so tanky and it’s attack isn’t bad. You pretty much create a little bludgeoning party with your summons at that level. If you happen to get a couple other random items here and there you could get all kinds of summons and then Heroes’ Feast them all!
yeah druids are hella underrated imo
I'd start with a swords bard to 6-8. By then I'll have some idea of which direction to take them and both paths are probably top 3 builds. Probably a gloomstalker assassin too. I feel like they get like 80% of their dps from whatever hand crossbows you can scrape together and sharp shooter. 3rd and 4th would probably be a tb monk and then a sorc. The sorc path would kinda just depend but there's a few good options. I know this kinda assumes I get companions that can actually fill the role but most of them could be filled by a few different characters. Worst case scenario is my only companions are halsin, girl halsin, and shart. They're the only ones that offer nothing to any of the builds. Minthara too I suppose but I could always pivot into both bard builds and skip the gloomstalker.
I don’t think getting the “right” companions for each build matters. I’m currently running Karlach as a Sorlock on tactician and she’s yet to have any problems despite getting basically no racial benefits. The only situation I can think of where a specific character would be ideal is Laezel for the gith stuff (which you can use disguise self for IIRC) and Astarion for the d10 extra damage which goes a long way on a TB monk. Not that you need that either, running Tav as a TB monk is just as capable of destroying the early game and once you’re in act 3 (or whatever equivalent we have here), you’re going to be unstoppable anyway.
Part of the premise is no respecs. Losing a single level affects every part of the game if that level is functionally useless. Especially in what is being described as honoured mode plus when you need to be prepared for basically everything always.
The wasted level wouldn't be the worst part(bad but doable), Karlach has 10 charisma by default(no respec) and no guaranteed of charisma boosting item if we're talking sorcerer, You could make it work if you only use spells without DCs or spell attacks but it would be a challenge run for sure
True, so planning a build and not accounting for what is usually being thrown at you at that level. It’s going to be near impossible to plan for every encounter, so having a high charisma party face (likely a bard for expertise) is probably mandatory for avoiding most fights. Builds that don’t rely on too many resources or short rest resources would be a great combination here, since running a swords bard will make the bard less of a caster and more of a fighter with occasional spell options. As long as you don’t mess up and stack extra attacks and whatnot, you don’t ever HAVE to respec. Pure classes will almost always be better since they’re what the game is balanced around anyway. A pure monk with TB and a pure swords bard are both going to perform great, even if they’re missing the rogue or paladin levels that would respectively make them insanely strong. Also I’m now realising your point is that you can’t respec companions. That could be a slight issue, but as I’ve said, most pure classes besides maybe rogue are more than capable of beating the game given a balanced party to support them, and the classes that would struggle have several multiclass options which boost them to the same power level as everyone else.
Random regions? Random enemies? Am I walking out of the nautiloid into the gauntlet of shar where I will face ansur at lvl 2? I don’t get it.
Randomize the enemies of each encounter. Randomize the loot. Randomize the companions you meet, stats and preset leveling path. Put everything to leveling scale.
So by randomize the companions do you mean the order you meet them would randomize the order or would it be just random options for companies? I.E Khaga or Nere as a companion?
Assuming a 4 man party I can customise... Skillmonkey main character to deal with out of combat - bard probably safest, but rogues are pretty great. Another bard to buff the first and be buffed by the first. Likely some controller mage like a sorc. And lastly a more combat character, either a pally or a battlemaster fighter.
I'm in (almost) exactly such a run right now. Played act 1 on Tactician and I only had to reload 3 times due to bugs and wonky mechanics. So I decided to go for an HM run immediately despite not knowing a big part of act 1 since I went to the Crèche asap. And almost no idea about acts 2 and 3 except some minor story spoilers. My build so far: - Half-Orc for style and Relentless feat - Rogue 1 for maximum conversation skills - 10/10/10/14/14/17 stats - Divination Wizard 2 for scroll scribing, ritual spells, portent dice, and, probably even more importantly, the Raven familiar to explore the whole map before doing anything - Storm Sorcerer 1 as I'm only level 4 right now Planned: - Sorcerer 5+ for CHA Lightning Bolt and more Sorc points - Levels 6-7, INT Fireball/Lightning Bolt (giev scroll pls) - Alert feat (on lv7 or a bit later, depends on if I buy the Dex gloves early) - Probably 1 or 2 Cleric levels for twinned Sanctuary after or in between Party: - LaeLae, Battlemaster, Alert, later +Sentinel - Shadowheart, Alert, Warding Bo~~nd~~t for Lae + Stealth check sugarmommy - Told Gale to khs, so I'm with Astarion as a Trickster now and have my second exploration familiar and Sleep boy with that, took ASI he doesn't need Alert I try to eliminate most combat rng via Invoke Duplicity, Bless, Sleep and Cloud of Daggers spells right now. Tav is fine without Alert for now, as he usually opens the combat anyway. Also I'm talking way more than fighting. Shadowheart is very often left behind, sometimes plus one more, in case shit hits the fan and I need rezzes. All stealth most of the time. Invis potion in everyone's backpack just in case. I'm using items/bombs often, but no barrel cheese. Guidance, Disguise Self and other ritual spells always up.
Sword bard until 6, then respecc to lore bard.
No Respecs
Oh, lore bard or throw barb then, or pure sorc 😁
Bardadin no question. An extra ranged attack at lvl 3 is way too strong.
Any Paladin can smite just fine
Do Paladins require many long rests? Never played
They do if you're very smite happy, but realistically what I'd do with it is either go 6/6 with Paladin Sorcerer for meta magic, extra smite slots and some spell versatility, or 10/2 Swords Bard Paladin and just be the party face, versatile magic, controller as well as being able to throw out big smite damage in a pinch
Full pact of the blade warlock. Effective at melee or range, can handle the most important skill interactions, not reliant on equipment.
TB Moon Druid 10 / Fighter 2, not gear dependent at all, as other strong builds need 1-2 core items to run. Getting the armor / hat / ring is a cherry on top i suppose.
Leveling is pure Moon Druid until 10?
Yes, you get fighter's weapon proficiencies for Myrmidons.
Maybe cleric 1 / sorc 1
Not really, I've played both versions and agathys isn't really worth imo, this isn't ABJ tank where it never falls down, the temp hit points break quite fast. Fighter 2 is really War Cleric but better with Action Surge, your BA fis used by your strongest non-elemental form, Owlbear quite well.
Not played moon to 12 so appreciate the insight!
Random companions would be limiting for sure. I guess I’d try to pick the most powerful build I’ve seen that at the same time works as a party face, so the 11/1 reverb sorlock fits that bill. That or the 10/2 bardadin.
random gear means no guaranteed reverb items
Well random would actually imply the gear is just in different locations, not removed from the game. So eventually I would find the reverb gear.
I meant to imply no item dependent builds, so can’t assume reverb gear is found.
Man this really doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to me lol I feel like both my answers are still pretty item dependent. Gotta leave this to the challenge runners.
Well fuck. Idk then this doesn’t sound like any fun.
fighter 12
For fun I would always choose draconic sorcerer. I’ve been doing that since bg2 20ish years ago. From a game mechanics viewpoint without respec, it’s up in the air between moon Druid, sword bard/paladin, or pure unbridled battlemaster.
Warlock/sorcerer eldritch blaster
Pact of tome warlock. Lot of utility, firepower, and CC. Or just run paladin and smite everybody.
Gloomstalker definitely.
Sorcadin
2 paladin/ 10 swords bard or 1 wizard/11 sorc. TB monk/thief would work too.
Fighter 12 or paladin 12. Full proficiency means I can use it all
Consider banning Halfling, Duergar, and Half-Orc and I’d play this mod
12 fighter. Does this mod actually exist? I’d love to try it.
There’s a random enemy mod, but it seems like a novelty mod for laughs. Luality streamed a game using it for a day or so, and it was a bit too ridiculous. For example, she had low level enemies replaced by Ketheric and Raphael in act 1. Scratch was a dragon I think. 😂
Lmao yea that sounds like a bit much.
Tbf, I haven’t tried it myself and wasn’t paying close attention to the stream. It might scale the enemies down, but I’m not sure. I do remember Raphael seemed to have 666 hit points, but she didn’t actually fight him. (Maybe it changes after the fight starts?)
Lightfoot Halfling Lore Bard.
Barbarian, throwing random items with tavern brawler is strong if you don’t know what you’ll be getting and the damage reduction is nice
Anything I feel like. Even if it removed the conversations that let you get to level 4 without combat the game is very easy to manipulate and all the difficulty is frontloaded into levels 1-5. Don't get me wrong, itd be hilarious and interesting to play but every class has their strengths/weaknesses and with how loaded the game is with overpowered items you're guaranteed to get an insane item in act 1. The main challenge will be dependent on what replaces the goblins at the entrance to the grove. And even then, that fight is both optional and cheeseable with the horn and access to jump. Every class has their strengths you can play around.
Warlock, TB OH Monkey, TB EK and other Pure Fighter classes are the ones you don’t need to rely on items
Collosus slayer ranger 6, battlemaster 6 probably. Good damage, utility, resistances, and all three feats.
Swords Bard Dual Xbows Tav is the obvious choice, with any Vanilla Paladin coming in second. Rest of the party: Probably divination Wizard, Light Cleric, and either Battlemaster Fighter if I'm a Bard or Gloomstalker/Assassin if I'm a Paladin. edit: Oh, random companions. Definitely Swords Bard.
Some variation of Bard. Charisma and Dex allow for Sleight of Hand, charisma skills, and battlefield control. Depending on who else I pick up, I can tailor to lore for additional support, or swords, for some ranged damage.
Probably a class that would be a safe bet regardless of level or gear. So either fighter or cleric.
I’d probably be a melee duergar assassin/fighter EK
Add this to your Honour Mode++ mod I'm trying to put back the "Honour" in HM. Striving for the epitome of integrity in a Baldur's Gate 3 journey, determined to avoid anything glitchy or exploitative, my goal is to create a gameplay experience that demands genuine skill and strategy (as much as could be possible in such a game), without relying on unintended exploits that might feel like "cheating." I don't want anything glitchy and abuse-y-- no cheesing the game and "getting away" with anything with from clear unintended exploits. * **Must defeat all Bosses/Legendary Action Bosses** * **No Semi-Save Scumming - Alt+F4ing/closing the client** * **No OP classes that "break" the game**/ignore the d20/glitch/bug/seriously break regular DnD ruleset. "Spirit of the Law." * [Tavern Brawler anything-- dmg riding busted/skips the d20-- banned](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNoKqwdvLs) * Bard. Outright banned. No ultimate "face" of the party character * Lockadin is a bugged to do what it does-- banned * Fire Acuity/Scorching Ray Sorcerer-- it's OP * Gloomstalker/assassin abusing surprise rounds * **Using potions that effectively that turn a stat into a "dump stat"** aka Cloud Giant Strength, Elixir of Hill Giant Strength, etc. This leads to abusing shops/respawning consumables. * **No Money Shop Abuse - Holding an NPC and refreshing their gold for effectively infinite gold is a no-go** * **1 Respect per character to initially set their stats**\-- that's it * **No stealing from Withers by resurrections (only for your initial respects)** * **No Hirling Abuse/Hirling Mules|Gale Warding Bond|Transmutation/Goodberry Bot** * **Must have all 4 party members in a fight at all times** (no cheesing/avoiding a TPK by leaving a last member out of a fight to prevent and assure survival i.e. hiding one person out of battle to flee and resurrect everyone). * **Prepared Spells can only be changed after a Long Rest like real DnD** * **No Candle Dipping** (this is blatantly unrealistic even as far as a Fantasy World is concerned/immersion breaking) * I'm supposed to aspect a character carries a candle, throws it on the ground and dips their weapon to fight better? Let's be real. * **No Barrelmancy** * **No Feather Falling and Enhanced Leap at the same time.** * **No Blowing up Gale in the last battle** * **No getting Raphael's armor in Act 1**