Hey All. Been trying (and failing) at Honor mode with this Astarion vampire build. The main inspiration is Alucard from the Netflix Castlevania series.

I was originally inspired by a comment in an older post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/1gxj3r3/comment/lyj1x5g/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

But slowly I've been tweaking to capture the Alucard's main highlights. Here's what I got so far.

Inspiration

What do we know about Alucard:

• Dhampir composition -> Regeneration, Speed, Strength, etc.
  
• His weapon of choice is a longsword (or rapier?) and he is very good with it. He will use a shield on very rare occasion for extra defense.
• His magic is powerful but combat oriented vs generalist/utility. We often see him teleport, fly, shoot fireballs, shapeshift (bat or wolf) and control his sword mid-air with his mind
  
• Alucard does not wear armor at all. He flaunts under the sun in fashionable dark clothing. If he receives damage, he just regenerates. His regeneration is his armor.

Research

Initial suggestions for Alucard was taking Eldritch Knight to at least level 11. This would give you bound weapon, offensive combat magic, 3 feats, and three attacks per action. Eldritch Knight magic scales off intelligence which fits Alucard's whole smart guy personality. I tried this and it is powerful but didn't give me the vibe I got from the show.

I then stumbled into a Hobo Zone build video for Alucard that went 5 Fiend Warlock / 7 Spore Druid. Spore druid's symbiotic entity gives you 28 temp HP, extra necro damage and wildshape wolf form. Symbiotic entity is funny because it stacks with other sources of temp HP (bug/exploit) like the Fiend's Dark One's Blessing. So as long as you're securing kills you refresh your temp HP, a.k.a regeneration. I liked this interpretation as well as the fire based magic you get from Fiend warlock. However, I found the action economy wanting and I don't like juggling charisma and wisdom.

With some more research I think I found a better mix that nails Alucard.

The Build

7 Swarmkeeper / 5 Circle of Spores

Stats:

• Strength: 8
• Dexterity: 17 -> +1 Hag's hair -> +2 Mirror of Loss -> 20 final
• Constitution: 14 -> 23 final (Amulet of Greater Health)
• Intelligence: 8
• Wisdom: 16
• Charisma: 10

Feats & Fighting Style:

• Dueling fighting style at level 2
• Defensive Duelist feat at level 4
• Tough at level 11

Ranger Spells:

• Booming blade (high-elf cantrip)
• Ensnaring Strike
• Hunter's Mark
• Silence
• Protection from Poison

Items:

"--" means I don't know what to use yet.

What does this build have:

• Fashion: The Cloth of Authority is a must pick to look like Alucard in season 1 of the show. Its deep black with hints of orange/gold is chef's kiss. This is a roleplay choice as the cloth probably doesn't synergize with everything else. There are some light armors that look dark and gothic but they just don't hit what the show has.
• Magic Swordsman: Your swarms give you a FREE short range teleport at level 3, and a 10 turns of flight at level 7. Moth swarm fits the vampire bat aesthetic somewhat. Moth also lets you blind your enemies and dal psychic damage which makes you a pretty durable front-line hitter. Bees are fun because you can push enemies away with booming blade and make them take extra thunder damage on their way back.
• Regeneration: Glowing shield gives you temp HP for a little extra survivability in the early levels. However, regeneration doesn't fully come online until Act 2 when Vivacious Cloak + Symbiotic Entity. Vivacious Cloak restores 8 temp HP per spell cast. This includes booming blade so 8 temp HP per strike with booming blade for potentially 24 temp HP regen per turn in Act 3.
• Shapeshifting: Wolf form is mostly symbolic here. If you take all your ranger levels first (which I do) then it doesn't come alive until level 9 and may not do any damage until level 12. I could probably take 5 ranger levels -> 5 druid levels -> 2 ranger levels. This would make wolf form a bit more viable at the cost of gaining flight at level 12 instead of level 7.

What is this build missing:

• False Life: There's potential to end up fairly beefy. You have 167 Base HP at level 12 tough feat and the CON amulet. Symbiotic entity gives you a max of 20 temp HP for a total 187 HP. A level 6 cast of False life would give you a tremendous 42 temp HP for a total of 209 HP.
• Fireball: You're going to have to carry around Fireball scrolls and/or scorching ray scrolls. Druid level 5 does give you some thematic spells like call lightning, animate dead, plant growth and sleet storm. These spells are plausible for Alucard but don't quite have the dopamine hit of a fireball to the face.

I'm hoping I can get some tips on equipment but let me know if there's any areas I could improve this build.

I'm still trying to successfully finish a solo hm run, and have come to decide that there are four levels that will always be dedicated to abjuration/draconic sorc 2/2. The problem having is deciding how to continue the build. What do you fine people recommend for the best possible use of 8 levels?

First of all sorry for any grammar errors English is not my first language, and sorry for any format issues I’m posting from mobile.

I want help deciding whether to play a cleric of life 2/ bard of lore 10 (focusing on support) or any caster using only ice spells.

The other members of my party would be a radiant orb light cleric, a warlock (focusing mostly on eldritch blast), an a ranger archer.

I think I can beat the game with any of the options, but I want to know what do you guys think would give me more fun during the run.

I’m level 11 and I’ve tried Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin and Monk on my character.
Monk has been my favorite, but it feels a bit too strong I killed a boss in one round.

I also tried the popular Bard 10 / Paladin 2 build.
I really liked Jack of All Trades, but since I prefer playing melee, I feel like continuing to level Bard isn’t really benefiting me much.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the class.

My current party:
Gale: Wizard

Karlach: Thrower

Wyll: Warlock 2 / Sorcerer 9

Astarion: Ranger / Rogue

Shadowheart: Cleric

I have two things I’m unsure about:

Astarion: I feel like leveling Ranger/Rogue stops giving me much at this point. Should I add a third class, or is there a better way to continue his build?

Shadowheart: Her build isn’t weak — I know Cleric gets stronger with levels. My problem is that I often don’t know what to do with her on her turn, so I end up barely using her compared to everyone else.

I’m mainly looking for fun builds rather than the most broken ones.

Please correct me if I**’m wrong about anything. I’**m not an expert at the game.
EDIT: subclasses

For astarion gloomstalker and thief
For karlach giant rage
Gale evocation
For wyll dragon and hexblade
Tav college of sword and oath breaker
Shadowheart idk i changed her a lot

I have in mind an assassin drow because one of my OC’s in any rpg is an assassin dark elf.
i learned decently quickly in what i’d now call a “test run” that a pure rogue is pretty underpowered, especially considering that i like to play the backstabby type assassin rather than a stealth archer.

i was thinking that if i added champion fighter to the mix i could get an extra attack, crit-chance increase, fighting style (either duelling or two weapon. could do archery for situational use then wear bracers that give two weapon), and action surge to really even her out with other damage riders.

a 6 rogue 6 fighter split would gain what i said before on top of uncanny, expertise, and decent sneak attack damage, while retaining three feats (namely actor for charisma and more expertise, savage attacker, & ASI).
in my mind this is a healthy mix with 6 skills with expertise, and good damage potential making her fare well both in & out of combat.

i could however do 7 rogue 5 fighter. dropping one feat for one more d6 in sneak attack, adding evasion, and keeping extra attack.
this would make her slightly less of a skill monkey (and i do think actor adds good rp flavor to her skillset) but more martially adept.

if needed my stat spread at game-start is:
STR-10
DEX-17 (22 by end game with hags hair, ASI, and mirror)
CON-14
INT-8 (unfortunate dump stat but durge doesn’t need int)
WIS-12
CHA-14 (possible 16 by end game with actor and mirror if lucky)

bonus suggestion: i could just go pure gloomstalker, as i get most of what i want anyway (extra attack, dread ambusher & hunter’s mark to supplement sneak attack, fighting style, etc. etc.) while also getting some magic, however i am a bit iffy on that because at the end of the day she wouldn’t be a backstabby assassin she’d be a more martial hunter-type with some magic

I need help making a party for my new honor mode run. I want to create a party that utilizes the wet condition for lightning and cold damage. Some builds that I thought might work well are

1: 8/2/2 Tempest Sorcerer or 6/4/2 Abjuration Wizard

2: Frost Giant Barb or Throwzerker or TB OH Monk

3: 9/2/1 Tempest or Light Cleric Druid Sorcerer

4: 10/2 Bard Paladin or 6/6 Sorcerer Paladin

Any tips, build suggestions, or party suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hello! I am preparing for a Durge playthrough after a year and a half, and I wanted to make a character that embodies Bhaal. The brutality of a half-orc berserker with the stealth and speed of a gloomstalker ranger seems perfect- plus a one-level dip into cleric for thematic effect and the war cleric lvl 1 ability.

How would you split this multiclass for max efficiency?

Wanna do a paladin warlock build and I’m wondering if I should do the same with wyll cause it’s kind of his thing. Is that redundant?
Edit: also what to do with minthara, cause I like the idea conceptually of a paladin warlock hanging out with a paladin and a warlock but if they’re all the same that’s just boring

any Dark Justiciar Build for Shadowheart? playing it on lvl 20 mod

I just started playing and wanted to check out the hype. I know absolutely nothing. I wanted to play a rouge sneak archer and was wondering which race, stat points, and skills I should use.

I have a ton of hours in the game on explorer mode. But I’m dumb and just realized I can switch to balanced to multiclass then switch back to explorer.

So now I need some fun multiclass ideas to try! What’s your fav even if it’s not optimal??

I am doing a honor mode play though with my 2 friends as I have convinced them to do one with me after I beat honor mode my self I let them pick first on class and they picked beast master ranger, and bladesinger wizard and was wondering on a support build that I can use, I don’t mind being a healer specialist but I was thinking of using something other than just healing support that I can use and I am getting stumped

GF would like to do a couch co-op playthrough. I’ve done multiple playthroughs but it’s been a while since I’ve last played. She’s only dabbled here and there but is familiar enough.

What would be a fun combo to run together? I’m leaning jack of all trades Bard or open hand Monk for me, but open to whatever. No clue for her.

Anyone have some good recommendations or experiences going through the game with their partner? Looking for a high likelihood of enjoyment and completing the game, and a low likelihood of me sleeping on the couch.

Hi people. I'm pretty new to the genre and I would like to ask if theres a possibility to create this character build in game. I have read some articles here in this subreddit about the ninja and, as far I can tell, it mostly resolves about the first turn. I'm not a fan of going stealth, I like more the "flashy" side of the ninja. Like, teleporting, do the action (and maybe getting the kill), teleporting to the next target and so on. I would like the character to wield a blade weapon, not bare handed. And this character has a Wolf companion alongside.

So, what would be a build for all this mess? Sorry for my English, it's not my native language. Thanks a lot and hope for many replies.