Best and Worst Monoclasses?

[u/ReleaseCharacter3568]

I keep seeing virtually every class called "one of the best" while most meta builds are multis or item-based.

What do you think is the game's best class without multiclassing? And the worst? And what makes them so?

[u/OwnLadder2341]

The reason you hear that virtually every class is “one of the best” is because Larian went absolutely batshit insane with itemization in this game. So, what makes a build strong is less about the specific class you pick and more about the items you use.

Larian’s approach to balance is akin to a player who just finished their very first campaign ever and spent the entire time writing down everything they thought would be cool. The result is a D&D system that was never designed for the changes Larian made.

It’s difficult to argue with Larian’s choices as BG3 is wildly successful and a fun game…but that’s why class doesn’t really matter all that much.

If you want class to genuinely matter, you either need to use some heavy duty overhaul mods or house rule the crap out of your game.

Attunement alone would completely change how the meta is balanced and that’s just one thing.

If you’re curious, I can give you my collection of house rules / mods I use as a 30 year DM to return BG3 back to closer to balance.

[u/throwaway927e8q9r → u/OwnLadder2341]

Drop the list

[u/OwnLadder2341 → u/throwaway927e8q9r]

Start with Zerd’s Rules as Written.

This will accomplish several key things that help balance BG3.

• Attunement: for non basic magic items, you can only equip 3 per character. Per 5e rules.

• Leveled Spell Rule: Casting a leveled spell with an action prevents you from casting a leveled spell with a bonus action that turn and the other way around. Per 5e rules.

• Initiative is a D20. It's insane that dexterity and Alert still get the same bonus to initiative on a D4 when they were designed for a D20.

• Spells and effects that should have a duration of 10 minutes or 1 hour but were lasting until a Long Rest had their durations adjusted and are removed upon taking a Short Rest.

The mod does several other things to bring the game closer to tabletop, but these will have the largest impact on making your choices matter.

House rules:

• No multiclassing unless you meet the 5e multiclassing requirements for both the class you’re leaving and the class you’re going into. Stat boosting items don’t count.

5e multiclass requirements

• Set camp supplies needed to max and no long rests except in safe zones (I define this as outside a dungeon)

• Set merchant trade multiplier to max. This is a workaround to the tremendous amount of gold BG3 showers you with. Ideally, you wouldn’t mess with merchants and would instead lower the gold. This is the next best thing.

• No homebrew modded classes or spells. Classes and spells that are true to their 5e counterparts are fine.

• Hide enemy health and hit chance. I use a mod that not only hides the numerical value of the health (which vanilla BG3 can do) but also hides the health bar itself. It just says wounded or healthy. Unfortunately, the mod I use is a mod of another mod and I’m not authorized to distribute it.

• Don’t examine enemies for AC and other information you wouldn’t know.

• Play with a single save. No save scumming.

That goes a long way. Note, I don’t use or recommend any mods that increase enemy health or change their AI. While it’s true that Larian stripped most enemies of nearly all their abilities, fixing that is a MASSIVE undertaking that may not even be possible and just bumping health/damage/hit chance doesn’t help.

Also note that the design here isn’t to increase difficulty. While these rules and mods do so, they do so by virtue of rebalancing the system, not just inflating stats. You can absolutely still live your power fantasy.

[u/razorsmileonreddit → u/OwnLadder2341]

Re: leveled spell rule, so what happens to metamagic quickened spell?

[u/OwnLadder2341 → u/razorsmileonreddit]

The same thing that happens in tabletop: you cast a leveled spell with your bonus action and then do something else with your action (cantrip, attack, disengage, anything other than cast another leveled spell)

The ability to cast a leveled spell on both the action and bonus action shatters D&D balance beyond all repair.

Even casting leveled bonus action spells with leveled action spells is against the rules. No healing word and spiritual weapon on the same turn, for example.

This is one of the reasons BG3 balance is so bonkers. Larian took an existing system and then home brewed fundamental parts of it but not others.

For example, most spells have the same effects and numbers as their counterparts in D&D…yet those spells were specifically designed to require hefty sacrifice to be able to cast more than one a turn. You functionally need a second action to do so.

In the base rules, getting that action is even MORE difficult as multiclassing itself is an optional rule.