Fair call. I always cycle characters through my party in games like this and it's always a challenging choice. Even more challenging in BG3 because Shadowheart has been a permanent member since Act 2 and most of Act 1. Two spare slots isn't much to play with.

I'd probably find Astarion less annoying as the main because I wouldn't have to listen to the voiced lines and I could choose his responses. No disrespect to the voice actor but I find the delivery annoying, as he comes across as very pompous. Arguably that's due to the strength of the voice acting and interpretation of Astarion's background. There are also some interesting decision points for Astarion which would be interesting to role play.

Actually all you need to get low prices is a Bard with Cha 17+ and Persuation Expertise.

Wyll doesnt get lower prices than that.

Yeah - bard is another class I haven't quite figured out... but I haven't really tried. As far as I can tell, Volo isn't playable and I'm not playing with any custom chars this time through.

I'm actually a little surprised that we don't have more playable classes among our companions. In BG1 it felt like everyone you met was willing to just drop what they're doing and tag along behind you. I'm surprised there's no bard, monk, or sorcerer option amongst the playable companions... though I guess maybe there is and I just followed a path that excludes them, like with the Pally.

Bard is pretty straightforward. They are a support class first and foremost, but depending on the college they choose at level 3 it changes their group role. Lore is spellcaster and skill oriented, valor is to be tankier, swords is for fighting. Bard can basically fit in any group and take over for many different roles, but they arent as good as a specialized class. I prefer to setup my guy as lore group support and skills. Bard spellcasting looks weak on first glance, but they get access to some of the really handy spells that clerics and wizards get. And of course they have no issue with taking over the rogueish skill duties.

Volo is a Wizard.



Bard is pretty easy to understand,

They are the other Trickster class next to Rogue and with D&D5 they really can take over for a Rogue in this area very well.

They get only three skills at character creation, but unlike Rogue or any other class you can pick any skills. If you later pick College of Lore, you get three more skills, so now you've beaten Rogue with their four skills.

Like Rogue Bards also get Expertise in four skills total, though they get it a bit later (Rogue: 2 at level 1, 2 at level 6; Bard: 2 at level 3, 2 at level 10). They also get Jack of all Trades at level 2, which gives them half Proficiency bonus to skills they dont have Proficiency in. Rogue doesnt get that, but they get minimum roll of 10 for any skill at level 10 instead, which is of course much stronger. Thats the main reason while Rogue is still king of skills.

You also can spellcast like a Sorcerer, but your spells are much more support, healing, and crowd control focused. You also can choose spells from other classes. According to the original rules, it could be any spell, however in BG3 the selection is more of a best of. College of Lore gets 2 spells like that on level 6, all Bards get 2 such spells at level 10.

Finally if you dont choose Lore but one of the other two you get Medium Armor, more weapon options, and like a warrior class a second attack at level 5.


Bards are my favorite class, but the main reason I mentioned them is because they naturally will have high Charisma, too, since thats their spellcasting stat. While a Rogue can put Expertise into Persuade just fine, too, they have no reason to brutally maximize their Charisma like a Bard does. It literally would do nothing during battle for them.

Since Persuade controls shop prices, thats why Bards are ideal for shopping.

First time playing as a Bard and I can only partially comment as I'm multi-classing College of Lore Bard 6/Divination Wizard 6 but some things I've really enjoyed from the Bard side:

Cutting Words (College of Lore): use a bardic inspiration charge as a reaction to subtract 1d6 (1d8 @ level 5) from enemy attack rolls. The reaction UI tells you exactly what the enemy rolled so you can decide whether it's worth it. There's a variety of fully voiced insults that are so ridiculously silly rather than offensive that they're funny. Bardic inspiration recharges after short rests from level 5.

Vicious mockery cantrip: enemy has disadvantage on next attack. Also accompanied by a fully voiced insult.

Skills monkey as others have said: don't need a rogue in my party for locks and traps and can easily pass charisma based skill checks.

The hardest part of playing a bard for me is having to specifically choose which spells to learn at each level, compared to a druid or wizard, leading to decision paralysis at times. Same issue as some other classes like Sorcerer and Warlock. Multi-classing as a Wizard alleviates that issue to some extent but not completely because a Bard has access to some useful Cleric and Druid spells as well. Depending on what you choose, you can effectively have a bit of Wizard, Cleric and Druid in a single party member, making it less necessary to have particular companions in the party.

One pretty notable aspect of a pure bard is they have no offensive cantrips, other than a really small amount of damage from vicious mockery, but you could get around that via the Spell Sniper, Magic Initiate: Sorcerer or Magic Initiate: Warlock feats.

I think it's a lot of work to create a companion and thread their interaction throughout the game in the way BG3 has, so I'm not surprised they focused on the "core" classes. I'm surprised there are two druids but maybe the second character was a late addition and due to who they are, they had to be a druid. Plus, in my playthrough, it transpired I got one of them much later than I could have, pretty much never used them, then they were gone again.

Both Druids have been added due to fan feedback, originally neither was planned, nor was Minsc.



Yes Bard isnt great at offensive spells. But with Patch 1 a Lore Bard at level 6 and all Bards at level 10 can choose between Bone Chill, Eldritch Blast, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, or Sacred Flame for Cantrips. You will probably want to pick Elditch Blast, even if it doesnt have any secondary effects, but hardly anything is immune to Force Damage.

Even before you could pick spells like Magic Missle or Fireball. Note however thats only four spells total on a Lore Bard and even only two on the other Bards.

its hard to justify taking anything before Magic Missle because that 100% hit really brings home the bacon when you are fighting something in armour or hiding in shadow

a warlock can help hit by grabing the the dagger and high ground... the key point is a Elditch Blast can fire every round without needing to long rest

The great thing is many styles are viable. I haven't actually used magic missile that often. If something's hard to hit, I find Faerie fire often does the trick better, as every member of your party can then attack with advantage.

I main Warlock. First, if you're having trouble hitting things in melee, make sure you have chosen Pact of the Blade, and each day after you rest, you have to cast the Bind Weapon or whatever its called to make your weapon become your Pact Weapon - then they will use Charisma for the attack rolls and damage rolls. So a Warlock with 8 STR and 20 CHA has the same chance to hit with a Pact Weapon greatsword as a fighter with 20 STR.

Also, the pact weapon feature gives the Warlock proficiency with that weapon, so you don't need to take any levels or feats for weapon proficiency to use any melee weapon.

If you really want to make a cheesy build, give them the Agonizing Blast + Repelling Blast, and Devil's Sight. Cast Darkness centered on yourself. Now you can perfectly see through magical darkness, and any melee enemies that wander in will be blinded and have a horrible chance to hit you, while you stand there almost completely unharassed while blasting away.

Your party can also stand in the darkness and just step out of the edge, use an attack, and step back in, if you feel inclined to play that way.

You can also just be completely silly with it, by giving everyone a couple Warlock levels and Devil's Sight... or make them all Warlocks all the way, use Darkness and Hunger of Hadar to cover the battlefield, and if they somehow try to get into your darkness circle, blast them back into the HoH circle instead.

Wyll is the best damage dealer among casters (per long rest). The strength of the Warlock is that you get 6-8 max level spell slots per-long-rest, compared to every other caster's 1-3.

For example:
At level 5, the Warlock gets 6 fireballs -- the Wizard/Sorcerer gets 2-3. If you have a bard (lvl 2) in the party, you pickup an extra short-rest which will give your Warlock 2 more fireballs (8 total), and the Wizard/Sorcerer gets nothing (2-3 total). By the time you reach level 4 spells, wizards/sorcerers start with only 1 max level spell slot -- while the Warlock will still receive 6-8.

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And keep in mind, all of the Warlock's spells are automatically upgraded to the highest casting level, which makes damage dealing spells like fireball/shatter/blight timeless. While spells like hex, misty step, and darkness become underwhelming (level-1 hex is the same as a level-4 hex). A level-1 hex obviously does not hold up against a level-4 fireball, yet they cost the same for the Warlock. Darkness is a build unto itself, and a great one (very fun), but doesn't have the same damage output as starting off every battle with 2 fireballs (or whatever massive damage deal spell you prefer).

So start each of your battles with back-to-back fireballs; then utilize melee or eldritch blasts on turn 3. Elemental affinity is a great choice for the Warlock. Obviously, multi-classing will completely ruin this playstyle. For equipment, find anything which improves spell DC.

I enjoy using magic missile to break concentration, as a situational melee spell, or to pick off a number of enemies on death's door.

Wyll is the best offensive spell caster in the character pool. The Warlock makes for a bad utility spell casting-class due to their mechanics. For example, utility spells rarely have much benefit to cast at higher levels, but the Warlock only casts at the highest level possible. This makes mobility & utility spells a waste. A level-7 Warlock will cast a dimension door (level-2) or a fireball (upscaled to level-4) for the exact same cost; so any spell which is not damage orientated, or which does not scale up becomes wasteful. The level-4 fireball is obviously much more valuable than a level-2 dimension door.

I posted above explaining how Warlocks work (or at least how I use them to get the most damage), and why they are the supreme damage dealers (per long rest).

I will say that after respeccing Wyll at level 12 as suggested, he is a lot less worthless than he was before.

He doesn't get spell shaping, though (or whatever it is that wizards get that lets them cast AOEs without friendly fire), which makes the 6 vs 2-3 fireballs/long rest example a bit less of an even comparison. It is *incredibly* rare that I'm in a situation where there are multiple enemies in a group without one of my characters nearby.

I'm on a second playthrough and I took a different approach with him - he was still not quite as useful as my monk or rogue at the lower levels, and then I made some choices that caused them to leave my group, so I guess I won't get to see mid-tier this time around. I guess they're just a bit more sensitive to being played (and leveled) correctly, vs melee types which are more or less just point and smash.

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Ya, if the Fireballs won't work because of the angles, then Shatter is pretty good for groups (working around teammates). It has a smaller area and it is much easier to place (you don't need a direct projectile path.) Having your frontline drink fire resistance is good, if you do want to throw Fireballs. I think Blight is also pretty nice if I recall correctly, for single targets. I can't recall what the best damage spells the Warlock has after spell-level 4.

But you can shoot fireballs at single targets. For the Warlock, there is no reason not to. The Warlock has an abundance of max level spells like no-one else, and should fire away.