The Druid, Bard, and Cleric hirelings are great to have on hand in your camp for this. They all have some really nice Long Rest and some Ritual buffs for the main party. It takes a good 10-15 minutes of shuffling around to get everyone set, but having full buffs without using any spell slots on your main party is actually worth the effort in my opinion.
Yeh I agree! Especially when you know you're walking into a big fight, or one of the big dungeon areas. It's overkill sometimes...but there's no kill like overkill.
My poor cleric hireling: gives me warding bond like a good, faithful servant / I come back to camp from battle and he's standing in a river of blood with half health. I try to be a better junkie and go without next day, but I just can't help myself.
I never played DnD growing up, so BD3 is my first jump into this pool. This video opened my eyes a bit to some of the more interesting stuff I can do with spells...time to experiment!
Remember, in D&D you can do literally anything you can think of. This is largely the same with BG3, but not entirely. You can skip entire boss fights by just assassinating bosses mid-conversation.
First of all, you can also do this with Hirelings. Second, you can also have Transmuter wizard hirelings to give all your party transmuter stones (probably for constitution profficiency) and also with high medicine/wisdom paired with Owl's Wisdom for double alchemy crits.
This is how I do it. I have Level 9 Gale as Bard 3/Transmuter 6. For future readers: Three levels of Bard give you: • Medicine proficiency • Medicine expertise • _Enhance Ability,_ which this character will be casting on themself for advantage on Medicine • _Bardic Inspiration,_ which you'll hand to all party members and summons like candy before the day starts (* caveat below) Six levels of Transmutation Wizard give you: • _Experimental Alchemy,_ providing double the alchemical creations if you pass a Medicine check (this is why we invested so much into Bard) • _Transmuter's Stone,_ which can grant Constitution saving throw proficiency to one party member (but you'll need to remember to recast this at the beginning of every day) • _Longstrider_ spell • _Darkvision_ spell, to cast on your party members and summons which don't already have darkvision A few notes: • Caveat about Bardic Inspiration given to the party ahead of time: By default, this will be consumed by the whole party the first time you walk near a hidden trap or treasure. So toggle it off on all characters and summons. It's an extra step of tedium, but it's quick. • The Transmuter's stats do not necessarily need to focus primarily on Wisdom in order to get his Medicine check success high. With Bard 3, you already have expertise and advantage, and then have a cleric or druid cast _Guidance,_ as well. But if you aren't going to use them in combat, you could spec them to Wisdom, despite being a Bard/Wizard. • In addition to this Transmuter/Bard camp caster, make sure you have a camp caster who is either Cleric or Druid. Keep the build simple, because you want them to have high level spells and a lot of spell slots. They will be casting _Protection from Poison_ on everyone who needs it and (most importantly) the 4th-level spell _Freedom of Movement_ on party members who are most likely to be hampered by difficult terrain or targeted by paralysis/restraint effects. • Finally, throw a toxin (not a poison) on the ground in one of your camp locations, and it will stay there as a dippable surface indefinitely (or until someone accidentally dips a fire weapon into it). You'll be able to dip everyone's melee and ranged weapons in it for all-day toxin goodness, without needing to use the usual bonus action to do that. • Don't forget to imbibe an elixir on every character, as well as potions of animal speaking and mind reading on your party face. Yes, this is a lot to do at the start of every day. This is why I don't take many long rests except when ensuring I have triggered the available camp events. Resource management becomes part of the game again. I take a lot of short rests and I use the potions which allow a character to take a nap in order to regain spell slots or even the effects of a long rest. You can use Bards to grant extra short rests, as well, with their _Song of Rest._
this is some legendary min-maxing it’s almost diabolical, listening to you explain how to break the game like this 😈i had to like the video and subscribe to your channel because i love this energy
I remember hearing that a not in party Gale has a special flag that causes him to restore any damage he receives thus if a cleric Gale warding bonds your entire party it's a cleric you don't have to worry about dropping.
Oh he will in early levels if you only go Cleric, bur yes, he does cast self heals on himself when he takes any bit of damage so long as that damage dose not kill him outright. I made that mistake with a Warding Bond on all my party at level 4 and I found my way into the Underdark from the Zent elevator. Took on the 3 Minotaur's a bit unprepared. I won the fight, but took a fair amount of damage. When I took a long rest I was greeted by that projection of Gale telling me to rez him.... so funny. So be careful how many party members you put the Warding Bond onto in the early levels. I would stick to just front line fighter/barbairan/paladin types only.
Yeah, im doing a perma-death, no reloads run through, and absolutely scummed the Cleric gale warding bond camp buff for all of act 1 and 2 🤣 it massively trivializes the combat.
You can make it more advantageous by making him a life cleric, max out constitution, then wisdom, give him the adamantine splint heavy armor for the damage reduction, and then tough for the next fear for extra hit points. With his heal factor to prevent causing a game over, you have a warding bond machine. And half damage for your whole party. You can also mirror this build with a hireling half orc because while they won’t have a healing factor, they have built in death ward so you could split warding bond, between Gale and this hireling
Fun fact: Deal with goblins as soon as possible for free portable trader. If you free Volo and he gets invited to your camp you can trade with him. As long as you dont talk about mind flayers and your problem with him, there is an option in lower left to trade! And he has some useful stuff too! Revivify scrolls, food, health potions. And most importantly he can buy shit from you. I only tested this in act 1. Even after the thiefling party he stays at your camp.
I was too busy discussing surgical techniques with the man...missed trying to trade with him. Also I laughed when I read "Thiefling". Sounds like you've been hanging out with the Druids in the Grove for too long 🤣
@@PanicRolling Sorry. Its kinda a force of habit when you are a Dungeon Master for a group in a racist setting. But yeah. Since we talking about bench warmer companions I mentioned Volo! Also Scratch is just another cool companion that is not constrained by companion limit.
you hadn't heard of this. if I remember right this was figured out way back in the beta that was just never fixed so you didn't lose the utility that he gave you.
Great video love the warding bond spell. I have played thousands of hours of actual D&D and love the warding bond spell. Another great strat, since Warding Bond is not concentration, you can go barbarian /cleric cast the spell and rage. Now all the sudden any damage taken as a result of the spell is cut in half. You want to go Bear totem, so the cleric can resist everything except Psychic damage. Doing this cuts the cleric's "half of the damage" in half. Only works when raging. But, its also great to stack resistance items on the cleric so they can resist there half of the damage generally speaking.
Awesome video, one tip for ya though. Take 2 levels of Warlock. You can infinitely recharge the Arcane Ward with the Armor of Shadows Eldritch Invocation. Cast Mage Armor on yourself with Armor of Shadows, gain 1 charge for your Arcane Ward from doing so, equip any piece of armor to make Mage Armor go away, unequip the armor so you can cast Mage Armor on yourself again, repeat.
Just to mention on the buff cheese thing: I saw you said you dont like using mods, but for anyone else on PC, there is the No Party limit mod. You will find it effectively impossible to hit everyone in camp without it, but with it, you can position everyone perfectly by ungrouping them (after leaving camp), no worries about the AI fighting you. Not to mention that there are mods for specific spells such as Bless and Haste that remove concentration and make them last till long rest. Even if you dont cheese them by adding party members you dont use (I like the Sit This One Out Mod to have everyone for banter and the occasional dialogue interjections, but no advantage or extra micromanagement in combat), these mods are nice QOL and a slight buff for action economy.
I'm honestly going to look into the mod situation a bit more. I may end up testing some out. I need to do a bit more research on it. Great suggestion though for anyone who wants to test it out!
Nice video! I employ the same strategy with three hirelings (a druid, a 'medicine factory' wizard, and a cleric). However, I just realized that I could respec the other 'benchwarmers' into clerics with high constitution, allowing me to cast four Warding Bonds.
The hirelings are so funny. Withers just casually pilots their bodies for you. I'm pretty sure he just got jealous about sitting in camp, and wanted to do some adventuring.
To get my group to stay close I have a member with performance play an instrument. They all just stand there allowing my friend and I to cast our spells.
@@PanicRolling we don't use a bard but my paladin has the background that allows me to play. Probably a good thing because shadowheart cannot and if I can't do anything with her I'll have her start screeching out a tune badly on a flute just because it's funny.
That's true, there's also a Shield that can give you access to the spell! The items that give you spells are awesome in this game. I especially love the laughing amulet :)
oh i thought you'd lose it without the rings, hell yeah. actually. if the caster of warding bond has armor of agathys, does it proc the armor when they take the bonded damage? because if so, with two abjuration x warlock 2 (2nd level for the free mage armour invocation) you can basically double the armour of agathys output ...
@@mel-burnes only when hit with a melee attack, which the bonded damage isnt. Also technicaly if it did do that, it is the target of bonding that is the cause of said damage. meaning it would damage your party member!
Yeh definitely! A few others have mentioned the idea of using the hirelings to be your buff characters, and I think that's a great idea! Withers basically drives those bodies when you hire them, too...so it's like you're making him do it.
Retry Daylight spell: It lasts until long rest as "Enchanting an item". Just select which item you want to enchant either by clicking the character or by tossing said item on the ground and then reequipping after casting Daylight on it.
See, I was pretty sure it last Until Long Rest. I am pretty sure I used it on my main character's weapon for a very long time in my first playthrough. I also had no clue what I was doing at that point, so I could also be misremembering. I definitely need to try it again, but it had a 10 turn limit when I checked it the other day. The item enchant version, anyway.
@@PanicRolling Also keep in mind it can get snuffed out by certain enemies. I found myself using Sunlight in Act 2 (Shadowlands) and Wraiths will extinguish the spell if they get too close. Good trick I found was to enchant the ranged weapon. Generally you would want the mass visibility when you're shooting at a distance anyway. so you can whip out the bow if you want to provide teammates with light or keep melee weapons on to avoid having the enchantment be snuffed out.
There are some other ways you can optimize the Armor of Agathys retaliation stuff. You can take a level of Cleric for Heavy armor proficiency and take Heavy Armor Master to reduce non-magical weapon damage. Take a level of draconic Sorcerer with white dragon ancestry to get AoA. And now you also have full caster level progression for max number of spell slots too
@@PanicRollingone benefit of going warlock is that for a two level dip you get to top up your ward for free at any time out of combat via Armor of Shadows
Really nice video! I just wanted to point out that instead of one level in Warlock you could take Draconic Sorcerer. The White Dragon ancestor gives you the Armor of Agathys spell, plus you also gain a free permanent +3 to AC while not wearing armor (which most Abjuration wizards wouldn't have unless you take Githyanki race for medium armor)
Absolutely true! I missed a great opportunity to mention the Dragon Sorc. I can't wait until the Sorcercer video so I can go over them in depth. I love the idea of the entire subclass.
I whanted to say that but if you now take even an extra level in Sorcerer you also get the metamagic (2 points by beeing a level 2 sorc now you can make 1 level 1 spellslot into another metamagic point and can twin cast haste once per long rest if you dont whanna swap even more spellslots) And take a level in Tempest Cleric and you get Heavy Armor Proficiency together with the "Heavy Armour Master" Feat you get a reduction of 3 Damage by just wearing Heavy Armor and with a good Heavy Armor you get a reduction of like 2-3 Damage of any type. Finished Build would be: - 2 Draconic Sorc (White Dragon): - Armor of Agathys, Metamagic with Twined Spell and something else - 1 Tempest Cleric: - Heavy Armor (Up to 2-3 Reduction by the armor), Wrath of the Storm - 9 Abjuration Wizard: - Max 18 Warding Bond - Feats: Heavy Armor Master, one of your coosing Damage resistances: Permanet 6 by best Armor and HA Master feat and up to 18 by warding Bond = so 24 max (48 if you get Resistance)
You can also grab 1 level of white draconic heritage sorcerer for that armor of agathys. Taking sorc as the first class allows you to have better con save on concentration spells for the subsequent abjuration wiz levels. You can technically skip warcaster and take spell sniper right away for the cold damage spike. Plus, having dragon scales on your face makes you look... cool.
I started doing this recently with hirelings, when I noticed the power of longstrider on my Ranger Durge character. I'm now getting hirelings on all of my saves to get some of these buffs :)
I'm playing a Drow Durge Warlock right now with Astarion as a Bard. When the Bard casts Longstrider as a spell, they do it by playing a note on their instrument, so Astarion plays us some music to get us pumped for the day after we Long Rest. Highly recommend.
At camp, make a Wizard. Read the tooltips so you pick the one with the alchemy buff. Respec them for high wisdom and take medicine. Then multi class into either Bard or Rogue for expertise into medicine. Leave them in camp and swap them in to craft your Bloodthirst Elixers and potions of speed. Then transfer the items and swap your 4th back in.
Not a big thing like the video tips are but some spells are able to be cast on multiple companions and I didn't notice this until really late game. I though I just moved the buff from one to another if I did that. But it doesn't. My party has two bards and so everyone then gets Bardic inspiration buff (it can be used on 3 targets) before we go out to do anything and some can get the improved bardic inspiration which is a very nice buff. These help with die rolls and all sorts of things. Here's another tip: You can also buff summoned creatures with it. Your Owlbear or summoned Efreet can get AID on it, Bardic Inspiration or Shield of Faith to increase AC +2 (Paladin spell) just as the characters. Or why not all of it? If it's tanking for the party these'll make it last longer. You can even throw potions on them. Aid is a given, as the video shows. I use it on my main character all the time. But take a look at the Paladin spells in late game. At lv 9 I think (or 10-11) at least for Vengeance Paladin which is what I play, you start get eternal buffs you just turn on once and they keep going forever. These buffs give anyone within range improved AC class (I think it's +3 AC so it's no small thig), improved resistance and immunity to Fear. One Paladin won't always cover the entire group during combat, the range is too small, but now imagine having two Paladins a bit spread out like you usually get, the other characters will go from one area effect to the next and basically always have those buffs. It's not so important when you have all the time in the world to take short or even long rests but there comes times you may not want to or are even able to take these. Eternal buffs are still there when all other slots are spent. Also Bardic Rest is a nice spell for those occasions too as it gives you a short rest without spending time or if all of them are already used.
Absolutely! I'm working on the Paladin Deepdive video as we speak, and the Auras are definitely going to have their own segment in the video. They are so strong. I also love the Bard's extra Short Rest. I can't wait to get to the Bard Deepdive video haha! There are so many good things about having one in your group.
Magical Plate + Heavy Armor Master + Warding Bond + Force Conduit = (2+3+up to 7) x 2 damage reduction (up to 24) for physical damage, and (up to 18) for other damage types, without even counting Arcane Ward reductions.
This is oretty well known by now but you can also get the human follower and make him a 1 rogue/x transmutation wizard to brew all you potions with super high medicine skill.
That's a great way to get a bunch of extras! Some of the potions and elixirs you can make are so powerful...getting extras feels great when you're making those.
me watching this video in the background while actively abusing everything being listed as its being listed and grumbling about having to manually move my 50+ summons around wyrms rock that are all properly buffed.
just use turn-based mode to prevent companions from walking away. Also, great tip about using benchwarmers to buff the party. I have never done that, and I'm nearing the end-game on my first playthrough. I haven't needed the tactic, but If I try out an honor mode run, I'm definitely gonna have some stay-at-camp buffers.
It's a really effective tactic, just be aware that it won't work for every fight. I got a nice surprise before the final event of the game, when I lost a ton of buffs right as the fun started. Didn't go great.
@@PanicRolling I certainly won't rely on the tactic, but I'll take what I can get while playing honor mode. Also, yeah I was wrong, while at camp companions return to their location when in turn based mode as too. Also, good to know that before the final event I might lose my buffs. Honestly, I like that, as you have to rely on in-combat tactics/buffs, which will affect action economy. -- I don't know, I'm not there yet, but it's nice to know.
Will add this. Daylight can be added to both weapons just have to select melee to take out melee weapon and have spell applied and select range attack to take out bow/crossbow. I have on my sorc/wiz/cler character and they’re all with a blinding light until long rest
@@mel-burnes you have pick the: apply to item option and just put the cursor on the character. Whatever weapon they had out will get daylight until long rest
WARNING: if you are doing the Abjuration Wiz combo with Armor of Agathys, apparently the spell save DC is bugged when multiclassing. If the last new class you take is Warlock, the game will use your Charisma for the difficulty to pass any of your spells, making most resisted spells too easy to save. I also tried with my bard -> if you do CLERIC 1 / BARD 8 spell save is 16. If you do BARD 1 / CLERIC 1 / BARD 8 spell save is 13 (my bard has +1 wisdom). Very annoying bug
"Potential allies and new party members." followed by Alfira at camp, asking to join, which only happens one way and ends REAL badly like 30 seconds later, lol. I guess you could consider Sceleratas a new ally though!
A bit bothersome, but really usefull nontheless. I thought of using this to guive mage armor to a couple of companions before leaving camping, but i ended up prefering simply to use the spell with my party mage and then get back spell slots with the something something necklace and the arcane recovery feature or that thing the wild magic barbarians get. But i surely will keep this in mind when prepping for a big boss. Great video, as usual.
There are certainly times where I just can't be bothered to do a few of the buffs, and since I like having casters, I usually end up having most of the buffs anyway. But yeh definitely, slapping an extra 32 health on your whole party right before a tough boss? Yes please. Especially if you've already attempted the fight and died. Buff up and head back through the boss fog.
using mage armor on my birds helps alot plus using healing aid buffing their health to 8+ they somehow get an increase chance on hits against enemies at times using blinding hit Also, fun fact, they are ritual spells (summons) so you can summon them on playable characters & then switch the spell & still keep them summoned thankfully & not waste spells 🥺 but they helped 70-80% of the time being a meat shield or reaction usage animal or simply giving me blinding advantage 24/7
I had a similar idea! I might test out and showcase classes that work well together for different situations, including some fun off-the-wall stuff. I want to make sure I get my class Deepdive series finished first, then I might be doing this next.
Even tactician is easy enough to not use "camp casting". I got tired of it really fast - Oh need to long rest then dismiss companion ,get another one, cast and so on. It makes the game so much longer. But it's viable way to play the game so good video.
Not a spell, but one of my favourite all day buffs is from the Drakethroat Glaive found in act 2. Add +1 to hit and d4 elemental damage of your choice to any weapon. Who said there were no +4 weapons in this game?
I love variable buffs like this. Being able to change the elemental damage of your weapon could be very strong for certain circumstances. Having options is always great.
Ah the support staff. I hired Sir Fuzzalump gave him two levels of transmutation wizard, maxxed wisdom, and took medicine proficiency. Took one rogue for expertise in medicine. And one cleric. Had someone else cast owls wisdom on him. had him guide himself. Boom 20 haste potions free of charge in act one from Hyena ears. Named him Potion Midget. I will not take any further questions.
Just to give a list of what buffs I usually give to my party: - Longstrider - Protection from Poison - Aid - Freedom of Movement - Death Ward - Heroes' Feast I don't remember if there are more of them. Also, you can create a specific Warding Bond build: cleric 4/barbarian 8. You can get 20 Constitution plus the Tough feat and give the character an insane amount of HP. They can then cast Warding Bond on one member of your party, and can withstand most of the damage of the day. You'll probably have a benched cleric to provide buffs. Make it a life domain cleric and swap them in for healing without the need for short/long rests, or to heal your warding bond caster from time to time.
My buddy uses Shadowheart to heal and it is just such a hassle on top of underutilizing her accourding to this topic. I'd rather play farly utilising who is actually in my group. I hate all the talking and running around to swich characters. (I also won't do it for the storyx. Where is the replay value in different companions, when i just switch them around for different story lines. Edit: Such exploits might become more usefull on the hard difficulty, but on normal you won't have many problems. If you do splash potions between fights, that is plenty. I have like 50 potions and 30K gold in my camp just to not carry shit around.
Could you potentially have 2 clerics in the party (not at camp) doing this for the other 2 members of your party, and then have them both have Sanctuary on themselves? That way you could keep track of what damage they are taking and heal them if necessary
Oh yeh, there's tons of ways these things can be utilized. That's the best part about this game. I also tried casting Warding Bond on the Cleric that cast it on my Wizard, to see if I could spread the damage even more thinly. But sadly it doesn't work :(
Been using a heirling as my camp caster. Warding bond, freedom of movement and protection from poison. Then leave the caster at camp. I forget about longstrider and aid
@Al_Anon_Marly there's Death Ward as well. Also, warlocks and bards can stack False Life at a higher spell slot with Aid at a higher spell slot to really boost their hitpoints.
You could, absolutely. I wanted as many Wizard levels as I could get for a bigger Arcane Ward, though. Edit: also you'd want the person casting the Warding Bond to be a different person than the Wizard in my scenario. I need to test out what you're saying though, because I hadn't considered using Arcane Ward to mitigate the split damage from Warding Bond. Thanks for the excellent research idea.
@PanicRolling not a problem, actually you get alot of good abjuration spells and even cantrips from just 1 level of cleric. Blade ward: cantrip, resistance: cantrip, protection from good and evil, sanctiary and shield of faith
That's one drawback I mentioned in the explanation. The companion AI will fight against you when you try to do this, lol. I resorted to throwing roots on the ground to entangle Jaheira and trap her in place...but the spell cast on a candle and set her on fire. So that was not ideal.
I know Protection from Poison is one of those spells, it can make the fight with the phase spider matriarch trivial. Just need to prepare it on a Cleric or Druid. hireling.
It's true lol. I actually got lucky on my first playthrough and accidentally killed a few of the available companions, so I didn't have to leave too many behind. Silver linings, or something like that.
I left Halsin with the one level of druid for goodberry and put the rest of his levels in sorcerer so he can give me everything as goodberry casts before I ditch him for the day. 36d4 of healing per party member per long rest per benchwarmer so far.
Hey goodmorning! Is there any chance you could make a honor mode party build? Or if your up to it a let's play on honor mode! There are alot of bg3 players that are really good just not that interesting. Really love the vibes and would love to see a let's play
@@PanicRolling im right there with you!! But I'm just saying as a casual player I like seeing people who are still learning the game alittle (or haven't mastered it) play. I'm just saying I'd definitely watch!
@@PanicRolling yeah it hilarious and makes sense for his character. Also great vid, I’m using Abjuration wizard fighter multiclass on lae’zel currently so I’m definitely gonna try some of these things you talked about in the vid
Haha yeh the game definitely doesn't require tricks like this, for which I'm actually glad. It is nice to have in your back pocket though, in case an encounter ends up being tougher than you thought.
I didn't know if the amount of times you long rest affected game play so I insisted on going without it for as long as possible, so I would just swap out party members that used all of their big stuff with fresh ones. It was kind of fun, might abuse elixirs and do the same thing next time I play again. You get so much gear that you can just make everyone viable without trading equipment back and forth.
It got kind of interesting because I was playing a diviner, so I had limited spell slots (and portants). Ended up piling all the single use/day magic items on the MC because the rest of the party was a lot more free to use their big guns. Went back to the chest a lot to pick up gear so I could save high level spots. The prophecy thing got a lot more important because it was a way to get portant dice back without spending my second short rest. Got fun when it was Gale's turn to hop in because double wizard works really well sometimes. Turns out two fireballs in a row can do a lot. @@PanicRolling
Yeh that sounds awesome...I'm definitely going to have to come up with some cool limitations like this and do a challenge run. There's some serious fun to be had, I believe.
Bro casting daylight works off casting from a hireling and then dismissing them. Ur probably casting the orb by accident if u enchant an item it works fine
I might've completely just had a brain fart and looked at them backwards or something. You're not the only one mentioning this, haha! That's good though, that means Daylight has the cool interactions and possibilities that I imagined. I told someone else before, I'm almost 100% sure that I used this on my Tav's weapon in Act 2 on my first playthrough...so I thought I was reading it incorrectly when it said 10 turns, and I probably was. Thank you for the info though, I'm always happy to be corrected!
This makes me think what if you have full team of at least lvl 3 clerics (maybe some multiclass as well) and everybody casts warding bond on each other 🤔
the caster of WB cannot have WB cast on them, however they can cast WB on multiple people if you're interested in that (though it's risky with how the dmg would quickly add up)
Silly thought, can one daisy chain this spell and have a second cleric casting the ward on the first to halve the damage that comes from the character on the field?
tbh that spell has so much less value than in 5e. healing potions are pretty common in bg3 and the spell created way less berries than in dnd, so i wouldn't say it's exactly worth it. though it definitely could be a lifesaver in an emergency!
Awesome thing about this game... The developers will likely see this and applause your use of synergy... An EA game would be like... "QUICK fix this to Punish Players for Mathing"
You're 100% correct. Larian is a very special company and one of only a handful of game devs that I still trust. They've not burned me yet, and I have no indication that they're planning to.
This is the second video today that someone mentioned upcasting. What is that? Is that something for computer players? I play PS5 and not everything is obvious or explained well.
Upcasting is when you cast a spell using a higher level spell slot than required. For some spells, this results in additional damage, larger area of effect, or the ability to affect more targets per cast. Spells will tell you if they have bonuses for being upcast. A lot of them have no bonuses for being cast this way, but you can still use a higher level spell slot to cast the normal spell.
@@PanicRolling is that different than just choosing to cast the higher level? For the PS5 you choose the spell and then you choose the level to cast it at.
Same thing, people just call it "upcasting" when you choose a higher level for the spell than it requires. So for instance, you cannot cast Fireball using a level 2 spell slot. You CAN cast Fireball using a level 3 spell slot, OR you can Upcast Fireball to level 4, 5, or 6 in BG3 if you have the spell slots available.
So you use a companion from the camp that I am not playing with (or not in my party of 4) right? What level do I get that for my wizard? The arcane thing
Multiclassing isn't necessarily the best idea for every character, as some of them get very powerful spells and abilities in the later levels...and multiclassing can cause you to miss out on those. It's a give-and-take situation almost every time, so you'd have to weigh your options based on your specific character. I don't think playing a single class to 12th level is a bad idea though. I actually recommend it for most players. At least on their first playthrough.
Upcasting is just what it's called when you cast the spell at a higher level than normal. For instance, Fireball is a level 3 spell. You can cast it normally with a level 3 spell slot, but if your spellcaster is a higher level, and has access to higher level spell slots...you can use those to Upcast the Fireball to level 4, 5, or 6. This increases the damage.
Man you are great. Thanks for responding and teaching me. This game is amazing and this is my first time in D&D. I cant wait to finish this game and play again with the other 3 characters I havent tried yet. Karlach, Lae'zel, and Wyll.@@PanicRolling
You're very welcome! There's a lot to learn in this game, and I'm happy to help where I can! Make sure to look through the comments too, there's some other really good tips from other players in there.
Pretty nice exploitation I found using Warding Bond with the tankiest half orc hireling I could make. In the end, I didn’t use it much because the game is easy enough already. The extra edge is just over kill
I've considered it, for sure. I just don't like messing around with the mods before the official mod tools are out. There are plenty of awesome mods available right now, it's just too risky for my taste at the moment.
fyi this mod is very safe, i once forgot to reinstall it after an update and my game was fine (all the extra party members were still there and unbroken), didn't even notice it was gone until i decided to shift my party setup. and it doesn't need the support of any other mods, so you should be fine!
That's the beauty of the build. The Warding Bond and Arcane Ward combo prevents you from losing that temporary hp for a very long time. You'll get a ton of retaliation damage out of Armour of Agathys if you use it this way. Normally though, I'd agree with you about it not being as great. The wombo combo gives this spell quite a big boost.
It can get tedious sometimes, sure. If it's not fun for you to play that way, you might be better off not seeing every questline in one run. I do understand wanting to complete everything you have access to, though...
Why not just mod the game and cheat? The game is already so damn easy with the parasite I don't see why you would need to cheese party mechanics but that is just me i suppose.
A lot of people don't want to mess with mods until the devs release the official mod tools. Myself included. I will most definitely be checking out a bunch of mods and making videos about them when they become available.
Absolutely! I have no issue with mods, I just haven't used them with BG3 yet. I am actually going to look into some of them and see what the current modding situation is like. I might be swayed lol, we'll see.
@@PanicRolling There's a lot of good mods with BG3. I'm not gonna lie. But I'm not going to touch them until I clear tactical mode. Also, when the inevitable DLC comes out, I'd like to have a 'clean' story where I don't have to worry about game saves not being playable because the mods aren't compatible with the latest game version.
Yeh stuff like my save files being corrupted is what worries me. I'm going to look into them, definitely. But I'm not going to risk my saves for mods if it comes down to that. I need my saves to make the videos.
Must be nice to be that guy. Lot of people pray to him, and I think there are a few books about his exploits through time. Also his houses are nice to visit on a Sunday I hear...@@PanicRolling
The Druid, Bard, and Cleric hirelings are great to have on hand in your camp for this. They all have some really nice Long Rest and some Ritual buffs for the main party. It takes a good 10-15 minutes of shuffling around to get everyone set, but having full buffs without using any spell slots on your main party is actually worth the effort in my opinion.
Yeh I agree! Especially when you know you're walking into a big fight, or one of the big dungeon areas. It's overkill sometimes...but there's no kill like overkill.
My poor cleric hireling: gives me warding bond like a good, faithful servant / I come back to camp from battle and he's standing in a river of blood with half health. I try to be a better junkie and go without next day, but I just can't help myself.
@@1957DLT could rename him/her as Roronoa Zoro
"Nothing Happened."
I never played DnD growing up, so BD3 is my first jump into this pool. This video opened my eyes a bit to some of the more interesting stuff I can do with spells...time to experiment!
This game blows my mind with all of the crazy little hidden things.
And it's not even everything you can do in DnD
Remember, in D&D you can do literally anything you can think of. This is largely the same with BG3, but not entirely. You can skip entire boss fights by just assassinating bosses mid-conversation.
First of all, you can also do this with Hirelings.
Second, you can also have Transmuter wizard hirelings to give all your party transmuter stones (probably for constitution profficiency) and also with high medicine/wisdom paired with Owl's Wisdom for double alchemy crits.
Put Ol' Withers to work!
This is how I do it. I have Level 9 Gale as Bard 3/Transmuter 6.
For future readers:
Three levels of Bard give you:
• Medicine proficiency
• Medicine expertise
• _Enhance Ability,_ which this character will be casting on themself for advantage on Medicine
• _Bardic Inspiration,_ which you'll hand to all party members and summons like candy before the day starts (* caveat below)
Six levels of Transmutation Wizard give you:
• _Experimental Alchemy,_ providing double the alchemical creations if you pass a Medicine check (this is why we invested so much into Bard)
• _Transmuter's Stone,_ which can grant Constitution saving throw proficiency to one party member (but you'll need to remember to recast this at the beginning of every day)
• _Longstrider_ spell
• _Darkvision_ spell, to cast on your party members and summons which don't already have darkvision
A few notes:
• Caveat about Bardic Inspiration given to the party ahead of time: By default, this will be consumed by the whole party the first time you walk near a hidden trap or treasure. So toggle it off on all characters and summons. It's an extra step of tedium, but it's quick.
• The Transmuter's stats do not necessarily need to focus primarily on Wisdom in order to get his Medicine check success high. With Bard 3, you already have expertise and advantage, and then have a cleric or druid cast _Guidance,_ as well. But if you aren't going to use them in combat, you could spec them to Wisdom, despite being a Bard/Wizard.
• In addition to this Transmuter/Bard camp caster, make sure you have a camp caster who is either Cleric or Druid. Keep the build simple, because you want them to have high level spells and a lot of spell slots. They will be casting _Protection from Poison_ on everyone who needs it and (most importantly) the 4th-level spell _Freedom of Movement_ on party members who are most likely to be hampered by difficult terrain or targeted by paralysis/restraint effects.
• Finally, throw a toxin (not a poison) on the ground in one of your camp locations, and it will stay there as a dippable surface indefinitely (or until someone accidentally dips a fire weapon into it). You'll be able to dip everyone's melee and ranged weapons in it for all-day toxin goodness, without needing to use the usual bonus action to do that.
• Don't forget to imbibe an elixir on every character, as well as potions of animal speaking and mind reading on your party face.
Yes, this is a lot to do at the start of every day. This is why I don't take many long rests except when ensuring I have triggered the available camp events. Resource management becomes part of the game again. I take a lot of short rests and I use the potions which allow a character to take a nap in order to regain spell slots or even the effects of a long rest. You can use Bards to grant extra short rests, as well, with their _Song of Rest._
this is some legendary min-maxing
it’s almost diabolical, listening to you explain how to break the game like this 😈i had to like the video and subscribe to your channel because i love this energy
Welcome to the channel, Traveler!
I remember hearing that a not in party Gale has a special flag that causes him to restore any damage he receives thus if a cleric Gale warding bonds your entire party it's a cleric you don't have to worry about dropping.
I'm definitely gunna look into this! That would be ridiculous, but it wouldn't shock me because of Gale's storyline.
Oh he will in early levels if you only go Cleric, bur yes, he does cast self heals on himself when he takes any bit of damage so long as that damage dose not kill him outright.
I made that mistake with a Warding Bond on all my party at level 4 and I found my way into the Underdark from the Zent elevator. Took on the 3 Minotaur's a bit unprepared. I won the fight, but took a fair amount of damage. When I took a long rest I was greeted by that projection of Gale telling me to rez him.... so funny. So be careful how many party members you put the Warding Bond onto in the early levels. I would stick to just front line fighter/barbairan/paladin types only.
Yeah, im doing a perma-death, no reloads run through, and absolutely scummed the Cleric gale warding bond camp buff for all of act 1 and 2 🤣 it massively trivializes the combat.
You can make it more advantageous by making him a life cleric, max out constitution, then wisdom, give him the adamantine splint heavy armor for the damage reduction, and then tough for the next fear for extra hit points. With his heal factor to prevent causing a game over, you have a warding bond machine. And half damage for your whole party.
You can also mirror this build with a hireling half orc because while they won’t have a healing factor, they have built in death ward so you could split warding bond, between Gale and this hireling
Fun fact: Deal with goblins as soon as possible for free portable trader. If you free Volo and he gets invited to your camp you can trade with him. As long as you dont talk about mind flayers and your problem with him, there is an option in lower left to trade! And he has some useful stuff too! Revivify scrolls, food, health potions. And most importantly he can buy shit from you.
I only tested this in act 1. Even after the thiefling party he stays at your camp.
I was too busy discussing surgical techniques with the man...missed trying to trade with him.
Also I laughed when I read "Thiefling". Sounds like you've been hanging out with the Druids in the Grove for too long 🤣
@@PanicRolling Sorry. Its kinda a force of habit when you are a Dungeon Master for a group in a racist setting.
But yeah. Since we talking about bench warmer companions I mentioned Volo!
Also Scratch is just another cool companion that is not constrained by companion limit.
I knew about the warding bond camping trick but that combo is pure genius !! Pickpocketing Withers? How did I not consider this lmfao!!😂
Stack him full of gold and he's like a loot piñata!
you hadn't heard of this. if I remember right this was figured out way back in the beta that was just never fixed so you didn't lose the utility that he gave you.
Great video. Clearly explained and enjoyable to watch. My brain isn't wired to work out synergies like this so thank you very much.
Happy to help!
Great video love the warding bond spell. I have played thousands of hours of actual D&D and love the warding bond spell. Another great strat, since Warding Bond is not concentration, you can go barbarian /cleric cast the spell and rage. Now all the sudden any damage taken as a result of the spell is cut in half. You want to go Bear totem, so the cleric can resist everything except Psychic damage. Doing this cuts the cleric's "half of the damage" in half. Only works when raging. But, its also great to stack resistance items on the cleric so they can resist there half of the damage generally speaking.
Wow, what an awesome idea lmao! I love this idea and will absolutely be messing around with it.
Awesome video, one tip for ya though. Take 2 levels of Warlock. You can infinitely recharge the Arcane Ward with the Armor of Shadows Eldritch Invocation.
Cast Mage Armor on yourself with Armor of Shadows, gain 1 charge for your Arcane Ward from doing so, equip any piece of armor to make Mage Armor go away, unequip the armor so you can cast Mage Armor on yourself again, repeat.
That's a cool interaction, also!
Just to mention on the buff cheese thing: I saw you said you dont like using mods, but for anyone else on PC, there is the No Party limit mod. You will find it effectively impossible to hit everyone in camp without it, but with it, you can position everyone perfectly by ungrouping them (after leaving camp), no worries about the AI fighting you. Not to mention that there are mods for specific spells such as Bless and Haste that remove concentration and make them last till long rest. Even if you dont cheese them by adding party members you dont use (I like the Sit This One Out Mod to have everyone for banter and the occasional dialogue interjections, but no advantage or extra micromanagement in combat), these mods are nice QOL and a slight buff for action economy.
I'm honestly going to look into the mod situation a bit more. I may end up testing some out. I need to do a bit more research on it.
Great suggestion though for anyone who wants to test it out!
Nice video! I employ the same strategy with three hirelings (a druid, a 'medicine factory' wizard, and a cleric). However, I just realized that I could respec the other 'benchwarmers' into clerics with high constitution, allowing me to cast four Warding Bonds.
The hirelings are so funny. Withers just casually pilots their bodies for you.
I'm pretty sure he just got jealous about sitting in camp, and wanted to do some adventuring.
I’ll hold onto this video for later reference
Handy little trick to have up your sleeve.
To get my group to stay close I have a member with performance play an instrument. They all just stand there allowing my friend and I to cast our spells.
This is another great idea!
I also love Performance, and I often use it to spice up combat with some battle music after I finish my turns :)
@@PanicRolling we don't use a bard but my paladin has the background that allows me to play. Probably a good thing because shadowheart cannot and if I can't do anything with her I'll have her start screeching out a tune badly on a flute just because it's funny.
Looool that's hilarious. I love how you can get them to whistle if you unequip their instrument and have them Perform.
If you don't have a cleric, you can use the warding bond rings from the house of healing in act 2. Just remove the rings after casting the spell.
That's true, there's also a Shield that can give you access to the spell!
The items that give you spells are awesome in this game. I especially love the laughing amulet :)
oh i thought you'd lose it without the rings, hell yeah.
actually. if the caster of warding bond has armor of agathys, does it proc the armor when they take the bonded damage? because if so, with two abjuration x warlock 2 (2nd level for the free mage armour invocation) you can basically double the armour of agathys output ...
@@mel-burnes only when hit with a melee attack, which the bonded damage isnt. Also technicaly if it did do that, it is the target of bonding that is the cause of said damage. meaning it would damage your party member!
@@metholuscaedes6794 ah, i suppose that's true. would've been funny though
Love these videos! I avoided Warding Bond until now
It's not mandatory by any means, but it might help you in a tough spot if you find yourself stuck!
very cool vid thank you! I love the idea of camp crew helping , can always higher someone from withers specific for Buffs
Yeh definitely! A few others have mentioned the idea of using the hirelings to be your buff characters, and I think that's a great idea! Withers basically drives those bodies when you hire them, too...so it's like you're making him do it.
Retry Daylight spell: It lasts until long rest as "Enchanting an item". Just select which item you want to enchant either by clicking the character or by tossing said item on the ground and then reequipping after casting Daylight on it.
See, I was pretty sure it last Until Long Rest. I am pretty sure I used it on my main character's weapon for a very long time in my first playthrough. I also had no clue what I was doing at that point, so I could also be misremembering.
I definitely need to try it again, but it had a 10 turn limit when I checked it the other day. The item enchant version, anyway.
@@PanicRolling Also keep in mind it can get snuffed out by certain enemies. I found myself using Sunlight in Act 2 (Shadowlands) and Wraiths will extinguish the spell if they get too close.
Good trick I found was to enchant the ranged weapon. Generally you would want the mass visibility when you're shooting at a distance anyway. so you can whip out the bow if you want to provide teammates with light or keep melee weapons on to avoid having the enchantment be snuffed out.
dude, this is amazing. thx a lot. Also quite clear speaking, I'm not english speaker so sometimes i don't understand everything. didn't happened here.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thank you!
Gale self heals in camp so if you multiclass him to cleric and have him cast the warding bond there’s no gold needed.
Someone else mentioned this, lol. I had no idea, but it makes sense based on his storyline.
Great info, though!
There are some other ways you can optimize the Armor of Agathys retaliation stuff. You can take a level of Cleric for Heavy armor proficiency and take Heavy Armor Master to reduce non-magical weapon damage. Take a level of draconic Sorcerer with white dragon ancestry to get AoA. And now you also have full caster level progression for max number of spell slots too
Excellent info! This is definitely a better way than what I mentioned in the video, and I'm definitely going to mess around with that idea!
@@PanicRollingone benefit of going warlock is that for a two level dip you get to top up your ward for free at any time out of combat via Armor of Shadows
Really nice video!
I just wanted to point out that instead of one level in Warlock you could take Draconic Sorcerer. The White Dragon ancestor gives you the Armor of Agathys spell, plus you also gain a free permanent +3 to AC while not wearing armor (which most Abjuration wizards wouldn't have unless you take Githyanki race for medium armor)
Absolutely true! I missed a great opportunity to mention the Dragon Sorc. I can't wait until the Sorcercer video so I can go over them in depth. I love the idea of the entire subclass.
I whanted to say that but if you now take even an extra level in Sorcerer you also get the metamagic (2 points by beeing a level 2 sorc now you can make 1 level 1 spellslot into another metamagic point and can twin cast haste once per long rest if you dont whanna swap even more spellslots)
And take a level in Tempest Cleric and you get Heavy Armor Proficiency together with the "Heavy Armour Master" Feat you get a reduction of 3 Damage by just wearing Heavy Armor and with a good Heavy Armor you get a reduction of like 2-3 Damage of any type.
Finished Build would be:
- 2 Draconic Sorc (White Dragon): - Armor of Agathys, Metamagic with Twined Spell and something else
- 1 Tempest Cleric: - Heavy Armor (Up to 2-3 Reduction by the armor), Wrath of the Storm
- 9 Abjuration Wizard: - Max 18 Warding Bond
- Feats: Heavy Armor Master, one of your coosing
Damage resistances: Permanet 6 by best Armor and HA Master feat and up to 18 by warding Bond = so 24 max (48 if you get Resistance)
Lol I love this! What a ridiculous amount of damage mitigation...
You can also grab 1 level of white draconic heritage sorcerer for that armor of agathys.
Taking sorc as the first class allows you to have better con save on concentration spells for the subsequent abjuration wiz levels. You can technically skip warcaster and take spell sniper right away for the cold damage spike.
Plus, having dragon scales on your face makes you look... cool.
Draconic Sorc is so cool lol. The problem is...they know it.
200 hours, and I haven't thought to play the game like this. It's time to start another playthough.
I started doing this recently with hirelings, when I noticed the power of longstrider on my Ranger Durge character. I'm now getting hirelings on all of my saves to get some of these buffs :)
I'm playing a Drow Durge Warlock right now with Astarion as a Bard. When the Bard casts Longstrider as a spell, they do it by playing a note on their instrument, so Astarion plays us some music to get us pumped for the day after we Long Rest.
Highly recommend.
At camp, make a Wizard. Read the tooltips so you pick the one with the alchemy buff. Respec them for high wisdom and take medicine. Then multi class into either Bard or Rogue for expertise into medicine. Leave them in camp and swap them in to craft your Bloodthirst Elixers and potions of speed. Then transfer the items and swap your 4th back in.
Transmutation Wizard camp crafter! This is a great idea, and can potentially save you a ton of gold on crafting. I like it!
Not a big thing like the video tips are but some spells are able to be cast on multiple companions and I didn't notice this until really late game. I though I just moved the buff from one to another if I did that. But it doesn't.
My party has two bards and so everyone then gets Bardic inspiration buff (it can be used on 3 targets) before we go out to do anything and some can get the improved bardic inspiration which is a very nice buff. These help with die rolls and all sorts of things. Here's another tip: You can also buff summoned creatures with it. Your Owlbear or summoned Efreet can get AID on it, Bardic Inspiration or Shield of Faith to increase AC +2 (Paladin spell) just as the characters. Or why not all of it? If it's tanking for the party these'll make it last longer. You can even throw potions on them.
Aid is a given, as the video shows. I use it on my main character all the time. But take a look at the Paladin spells in late game. At lv 9 I think (or 10-11) at least for Vengeance Paladin which is what I play, you start get eternal buffs you just turn on once and they keep going forever. These buffs give anyone within range improved AC class (I think it's +3 AC so it's no small thig), improved resistance and immunity to Fear. One Paladin won't always cover the entire group during combat, the range is too small, but now imagine having two Paladins a bit spread out like you usually get, the other characters will go from one area effect to the next and basically always have those buffs.
It's not so important when you have all the time in the world to take short or even long rests but there comes times you may not want to or are even able to take these. Eternal buffs are still there when all other slots are spent. Also Bardic Rest is a nice spell for those occasions too as it gives you a short rest without spending time or if all of them are already used.
Absolutely! I'm working on the Paladin Deepdive video as we speak, and the Auras are definitely going to have their own segment in the video. They are so strong.
I also love the Bard's extra Short Rest. I can't wait to get to the Bard Deepdive video haha! There are so many good things about having one in your group.
Magical Plate + Heavy Armor Master + Warding Bond + Force Conduit = (2+3+up to 7) x 2 damage reduction (up to 24) for physical damage, and (up to 18) for other damage types, without even counting Arcane Ward reductions.
Yeh that's a scary combo!
This is oretty well known by now but you can also get the human follower and make him a 1 rogue/x transmutation wizard to brew all you potions with super high medicine skill.
That's a great way to get a bunch of extras! Some of the potions and elixirs you can make are so powerful...getting extras feels great when you're making those.
me watching this video in the background while actively abusing everything being listed as its being listed and grumbling about having to manually move my 50+ summons around wyrms rock that are all properly buffed.
Lol! It can definitely be tedious. Being fully buffed in this way is so powerful, though.
@@PanicRolling I just wish my dryad had the ability to jump. Would make this a whole lot easier
just use turn-based mode to prevent companions from walking away. Also, great tip about using benchwarmers to buff the party. I have never done that, and I'm nearing the end-game on my first playthrough. I haven't needed the tactic, but If I try out an honor mode run, I'm definitely gonna have some stay-at-camp buffers.
It's a really effective tactic, just be aware that it won't work for every fight. I got a nice surprise before the final event of the game, when I lost a ton of buffs right as the fun started.
Didn't go great.
@@PanicRolling I certainly won't rely on the tactic, but I'll take what I can get while playing honor mode. Also, yeah I was wrong, while at camp companions return to their location when in turn based mode as too. Also, good to know that before the final event I might lose my buffs. Honestly, I like that, as you have to rely on in-combat tactics/buffs, which will affect action economy. -- I don't know, I'm not there yet, but it's nice to know.
Will add this. Daylight can be added to both weapons just have to select melee to take out melee weapon and have spell applied and select range attack to take out bow/crossbow. I have on my sorc/wiz/cler character and they’re all with a blinding light until long rest
Unleash the power of the sun!
how are you applying it till long rest? when i tried to, it expired in about 20 turns
@@mel-burnes you have pick the: apply to item option and just put the cursor on the character. Whatever weapon they had out will get daylight until long rest
WARNING: if you are doing the Abjuration Wiz combo with Armor of Agathys, apparently the spell save DC is bugged when multiclassing. If the last new class you take is Warlock, the game will use your Charisma for the difficulty to pass any of your spells, making most resisted spells too easy to save.
I also tried with my bard -> if you do CLERIC 1 / BARD 8 spell save is 16. If you do BARD 1 / CLERIC 1 / BARD 8 spell save is 13 (my bard has +1 wisdom). Very annoying bug
Wow, that's excellent info! Hopefully they get that fixed pretty quickly...
"Potential allies and new party members." followed by Alfira at camp, asking to join, which only happens one way and ends REAL badly like 30 seconds later, lol. I guess you could consider Sceleratas a new ally though!
Shhh, don't tell 'em.
you explain things really well, you should make more guides. do phone book guides for all I care, but guide people my dude, guide away!
Incoming 9 hour phone book guide!
Haha thank you though, it means alot to me!
A bit bothersome, but really usefull nontheless. I thought of using this to guive mage armor to a couple of companions before leaving camping, but i ended up prefering simply to use the spell with my party mage and then get back spell slots with the something something necklace and the arcane recovery feature or that thing the wild magic barbarians get. But i surely will keep this in mind when prepping for a big boss. Great video, as usual.
There are certainly times where I just can't be bothered to do a few of the buffs, and since I like having casters, I usually end up having most of the buffs anyway.
But yeh definitely, slapping an extra 32 health on your whole party right before a tough boss? Yes please. Especially if you've already attempted the fight and died. Buff up and head back through the boss fog.
i guess a workaround would be having party limits begone and just having the buff crew stay at camp while still Technically in the active party
using mage armor on my birds helps alot
plus using healing aid buffing their health to 8+
they somehow get an increase chance on hits against enemies at times using blinding hit
Also, fun fact, they are ritual spells (summons) so you can summon them on playable characters & then switch the spell & still keep them summoned thankfully & not waste spells 🥺
but they helped 70-80% of the time being a meat shield or reaction usage animal or simply giving me blinding advantage 24/7
This was very helpful, thank you!
Sure thing! Thanks for watching!
Should do a video on potential tactician builds and group comps! Great vids btw!
I had a similar idea! I might test out and showcase classes that work well together for different situations, including some fun off-the-wall stuff.
I want to make sure I get my class Deepdive series finished first, then I might be doing this next.
@@PanicRolling Right on, I'm looking forward to Paladin! Going to be my next playthrough.
Paladin is the next video I'll be uploading. I took a detour for this one, but we're going to get through all of the classes, for sure.
Even tactician is easy enough to not use "camp casting". I got tired of it really fast - Oh need to long rest then dismiss companion ,get another one, cast and so on. It makes the game so much longer. But it's viable way to play the game so good video.
It can be a bit tedious, for sure. I'm hoping it'll help someone get through a tough fight they're stuck on.
Not a spell, but one of my favourite all day buffs is from the Drakethroat Glaive found in act 2. Add +1 to hit and d4 elemental damage of your choice to any weapon. Who said there were no +4 weapons in this game?
I love variable buffs like this. Being able to change the elemental damage of your weapon could be very strong for certain circumstances.
Having options is always great.
Ah the support staff. I hired Sir Fuzzalump gave him two levels of transmutation wizard, maxxed wisdom, and took medicine proficiency. Took one rogue for expertise in medicine. And one cleric. Had someone else cast owls wisdom on him. had him guide himself. Boom 20 haste potions free of charge in act one from Hyena ears. Named him Potion Midget. I will not take any further questions.
"Who are you calling the shortest potion-crafting midget alchemist you've ever seen in your entire life?!"
-Edward Elric
Just to give a list of what buffs I usually give to my party:
- Longstrider
- Protection from Poison
- Aid
- Freedom of Movement
- Death Ward
- Heroes' Feast
I don't remember if there are more of them.
Also, you can create a specific Warding Bond build: cleric 4/barbarian 8. You can get 20 Constitution plus the Tough feat and give the character an insane amount of HP. They can then cast Warding Bond on one member of your party, and can withstand most of the damage of the day.
You'll probably have a benched cleric to provide buffs. Make it a life domain cleric and swap them in for healing without the need for short/long rests, or to heal your warding bond caster from time to time.
Sounds like a good setup to me. You guys keep giving me more and more ideas for builds and synergies, so thank you for that haha!
My buddy uses Shadowheart to heal and it is just such a hassle on top of underutilizing her accourding to this topic.
I'd rather play farly utilising who is actually in my group. I hate all the talking and running around to swich characters. (I also won't do it for the storyx. Where is the replay value in different companions, when i just switch them around for different story lines.
Edit: Such exploits might become more usefull on the hard difficulty, but on normal you won't have many problems. If you do splash potions between fights, that is plenty. I have like 50 potions and 30K gold in my camp just to not carry shit around.
Could you potentially have 2 clerics in the party (not at camp) doing this for the other 2 members of your party, and then have them both have Sanctuary on themselves? That way you could keep track of what damage they are taking and heal them if necessary
Oh yeh, there's tons of ways these things can be utilized. That's the best part about this game.
I also tried casting Warding Bond on the Cleric that cast it on my Wizard, to see if I could spread the damage even more thinly. But sadly it doesn't work :(
Been using a heirling as my camp caster. Warding bond, freedom of movement and protection from poison. Then leave the caster at camp. I forget about longstrider and aid
@Al_Anon_Marly there's Death Ward as well. Also, warlocks and bards can stack False Life at a higher spell slot with Aid at a higher spell slot to really boost their hitpoints.
This is going go help so much in my tactician pluse enhanced enemies Playthrough.
You can squeeze a decent amount of party power out of your lazy camped allies. Make them earn their stay at camp.
Warding bond is an abjuration spell, so you could in theory go 8 wiz, 3 cleric 1 warlock
You could, absolutely. I wanted as many Wizard levels as I could get for a bigger Arcane Ward, though.
Edit: also you'd want the person casting the Warding Bond to be a different person than the Wizard in my scenario.
I need to test out what you're saying though, because I hadn't considered using Arcane Ward to mitigate the split damage from Warding Bond. Thanks for the excellent research idea.
@PanicRolling not a problem, actually you get alot of good abjuration spells and even cantrips from just 1 level of cleric. Blade ward: cantrip, resistance: cantrip, protection from good and evil, sanctiary and shield of faith
@PanicRolling also by level 3 there is aid, lesser restoration, protection from poison anx the warding bond.
I really dig the way you explain
Thanks!
I didn't know about the Armor of Agathys, Now that's broken. I know what i'm gonna do on my tactician playthrough.
It causes a ton of overall damage for the cost. That one's dangerous!
White Dragon Sorcerer also get Armor of Agathys without loosing the caster level and extra slots.
Absolutely. That's a good catch! Plus you get to look down on everyone else just a little bit, because your Dragon blood is superior to theirs.
@@PanicRolling You can also get sorcerer 2 and get sorcery points aka more high level spell slots without loosing anything on the wizard side
And you'd still have a 20 charge Arcane Ward. Not too shabby.
Holy Moses!!! Great vid!!
Thank you very much!
Great video! Love your stuff. Keep it up.
Thanks!
Well explained, have a like and a sub :)
Delicious, thank you very much!
I thought that abusing the respec feature for spell slot restocking was broken but this takes things to another level
Yep! No need to respec all the time when you can just have dedicated buff characters in your camp.
I thought this video was interesting, helpful, AND entertaining
The trifecta! Excellent.
How do you keep your party members from going back to their respective tents when you’re not controlling them?
That's one drawback I mentioned in the explanation. The companion AI will fight against you when you try to do this, lol.
I resorted to throwing roots on the ground to entangle Jaheira and trap her in place...but the spell cast on a candle and set her on fire. So that was not ideal.
I know Protection from Poison is one of those spells, it can make the fight with the phase spider matriarch trivial. Just need to prepare it on a Cleric or Druid. hireling.
i’m not wasting companions
The Dev’s are
the amount of gear unused
It's true lol. I actually got lucky on my first playthrough and accidentally killed a few of the available companions, so I didn't have to leave too many behind.
Silver linings, or something like that.
So I tried this the DAY I saw this video. Gamechanger .... literally 😂
It can make a very big difference, that's for sure. I'm glad you got some value out of it!
Yeah but I don’t have bench warmers unfortunately. Everyone is in my party
The more, the merrier!
I left Halsin with the one level of druid for goodberry and put the rest of his levels in sorcerer so he can give me everything as goodberry casts before I ditch him for the day. 36d4 of healing per party member per long rest per benchwarmer so far.
This is the kind of dedication I like to see!
I would just have all my bench warmers cast their spells on me alone and maybe one more. Screw the rest
That's another way to do it, for sure. You'll still get a pretty big bonus for buffing the one character.
This is genius!!!
I tell myself that all the time!
Hey goodmorning! Is there any chance you could make a honor mode party build? Or if your up to it a let's play on honor mode! There are alot of bg3 players that are really good just not that interesting. Really love the vibes and would love to see a let's play
Lmao the problem is that I'm ass at the game! I don't have golden dice myself.
@@PanicRolling im right there with you!! But I'm just saying as a casual player I like seeing people who are still learning the game alittle (or haven't mastered it) play. I'm just saying I'd definitely watch!
@@PanicRolling also it doesn't have to be bg3! You seem like just a good youtuber!
Holy crap i never thought of pickpocketing withers
Haha, yep! He just stands there waiting... pockets overflowing with your gold.
@@PanicRolling yeah it hilarious and makes sense for his character. Also great vid, I’m using Abjuration wizard fighter multiclass on lae’zel currently so I’m definitely gonna try some of these things you talked about in the vid
Abjuration Wizard/Fighter sounds like a dangerous individual.
Now we just need a difficulty Mode tommake this advice relevant.
Haha yeh the game definitely doesn't require tricks like this, for which I'm actually glad. It is nice to have in your back pocket though, in case an encounter ends up being tougher than you thought.
I didn't know if the amount of times you long rest affected game play so I insisted on going without it for as long as possible, so I would just swap out party members that used all of their big stuff with fresh ones. It was kind of fun, might abuse elixirs and do the same thing next time I play again. You get so much gear that you can just make everyone viable without trading equipment back and forth.
That's actually a great idea! Kinda like a challenge run, and it would force you to make the most of ALL of your available tools each day.
It got kind of interesting because I was playing a diviner, so I had limited spell slots (and portants). Ended up piling all the single use/day magic items on the MC because the rest of the party was a lot more free to use their big guns. Went back to the chest a lot to pick up gear so I could save high level spots. The prophecy thing got a lot more important because it was a way to get portant dice back without spending my second short rest. Got fun when it was Gale's turn to hop in because double wizard works really well sometimes. Turns out two fireballs in a row can do a lot. @@PanicRolling
Yeh that sounds awesome...I'm definitely going to have to come up with some cool limitations like this and do a challenge run.
There's some serious fun to be had, I believe.
On Nexus Mods, there’s a mod to get rid of the party limit.
Yeh I've heard about it. I haven't messed with the mods any, yet. I plan on doing some research to see what all is available very soon, though!
Bro casting daylight works off casting from a hireling and then dismissing them. Ur probably casting the orb by accident if u enchant an item it works fine
I might've completely just had a brain fart and looked at them backwards or something. You're not the only one mentioning this, haha!
That's good though, that means Daylight has the cool interactions and possibilities that I imagined. I told someone else before, I'm almost 100% sure that I used this on my Tav's weapon in Act 2 on my first playthrough...so I thought I was reading it incorrectly when it said 10 turns, and I probably was.
Thank you for the info though, I'm always happy to be corrected!
@@PanicRolling ur a trooper having played without it
This makes me think what if you have full team of at least lvl 3 clerics (maybe some multiclass as well) and everybody casts warding bond on each other 🤔
the caster of WB cannot have WB cast on them, however they can cast WB on multiple people if you're interested in that (though it's risky with how the dmg would quickly add up)
I never saw Alfira dialog to join me. Talked to her lots too. Bummer. Maybe next playthrough.
She will only trigger that conversation if you're playing Dark Urge. She's great to have around!
Silly thought, can one daisy chain this spell and have a second cleric casting the ward on the first to halve the damage that comes from the character on the field?
No, sadly. I tested that out, trying to reeeallly spread that damage thin, but it doesn't work. Good thought, though!
Didn't they made it so that when you enter camp you automaticaly break concentration, and all those buffs disappear?
It doesn't work with Concentration spells, no. That would be incredible if it did.
Good stuff
Hey, thanks!
To be fair, tactician difficulty doesn't require such tactics, it's fairly easy, and i'm no tactical genius i struggled with DoS2 tactician.
I agree that for most situations, this strategy is not necessary. It will help out some people who might be struggling on certain encounters, though.
Don't forget goodberry
Yep, that's another good one to pass out before you leave camp!
tbh that spell has so much less value than in 5e. healing potions are pretty common in bg3 and the spell created way less berries than in dnd, so i wouldn't say it's exactly worth it. though it definitely could be a lifesaver in an emergency!
I'm somewhat aware of this but find it too annoying to actually do, maybe when I know it's gonna be a boss or something.
It takes a minute to do full buffs sometimes, that's true. But yeh definitely keep it in your arsenal in case you get stuck!
Awesome thing about this game... The developers will likely see this and applause your use of synergy... An EA game would be like... "QUICK fix this to Punish Players for Mathing"
You're 100% correct. Larian is a very special company and one of only a handful of game devs that I still trust.
They've not burned me yet, and I have no indication that they're planning to.
This is the second video today that someone mentioned upcasting. What is that? Is that something for computer players? I play PS5 and not everything is obvious or explained well.
Upcasting is when you cast a spell using a higher level spell slot than required. For some spells, this results in additional damage, larger area of effect, or the ability to affect more targets per cast.
Spells will tell you if they have bonuses for being upcast. A lot of them have no bonuses for being cast this way, but you can still use a higher level spell slot to cast the normal spell.
@@PanicRolling is that different than just choosing to cast the higher level? For the PS5 you choose the spell and then you choose the level to cast it at.
Same thing, people just call it "upcasting" when you choose a higher level for the spell than it requires. So for instance, you cannot cast Fireball using a level 2 spell slot. You CAN cast Fireball using a level 3 spell slot, OR you can Upcast Fireball to level 4, 5, or 6 in BG3 if you have the spell slots available.
@@PanicRolling Thank you 😊. I appreciate you taking the time to explain this.
No problem at all! There is a ton of terminology in this game that is very confusing if you don't read about it all day like I do lol.
So you use a companion from the camp that I am not playing with (or not in my party of 4) right? What level do I get that for my wizard? The arcane thing
Arcane Ward is a passive effect that Abjuration Wizards gain immediately after you choose the subclass. It grows in power as you level up your Wizard.
The AI won’t fight against you if you use turn based mode…
Lol! This is also true, and hilarious that I didn't think about it when I recorded the video...
Thanks Dude...
Sure thing!
How many of these still work after patch 6 &7?
Im not multiclassing. Is this a waste??
Multiclassing isn't necessarily the best idea for every character, as some of them get very powerful spells and abilities in the later levels...and multiclassing can cause you to miss out on those.
It's a give-and-take situation almost every time, so you'd have to weigh your options based on your specific character. I don't think playing a single class to 12th level is a bad idea though. I actually recommend it for most players. At least on their first playthrough.
Ok cool thanks!@@PanicRolling
How much of these tips still work?
Whenever you say "upcast the spell" what does upcast mean?
Upcasting is just what it's called when you cast the spell at a higher level than normal.
For instance, Fireball is a level 3 spell. You can cast it normally with a level 3 spell slot, but if your spellcaster is a higher level, and has access to higher level spell slots...you can use those to Upcast the Fireball to level 4, 5, or 6. This increases the damage.
Man you are great. Thanks for responding and teaching me. This game is amazing and this is my first time in D&D. I cant wait to finish this game and play again with the other 3 characters I havent tried yet. Karlach, Lae'zel, and Wyll.@@PanicRolling
You're very welcome! There's a lot to learn in this game, and I'm happy to help where I can!
Make sure to look through the comments too, there's some other really good tips from other players in there.
Pretty nice exploitation I found using Warding Bond with the tankiest half orc hireling I could make.
In the end, I didn’t use it much because the game is easy enough already. The extra edge is just over kill
No kill like overkill, or so they say.
if you're on PC and not using the unlimited party mod, then I pity you
I've considered it, for sure. I just don't like messing around with the mods before the official mod tools are out.
There are plenty of awesome mods available right now, it's just too risky for my taste at the moment.
fyi this mod is very safe, i once forgot to reinstall it after an update and my game was fine (all the extra party members were still there and unbroken), didn't even notice it was gone until i decided to shift my party setup. and it doesn't need the support of any other mods, so you should be fine!
Comment for the comment gods.
Response for the appreciation gods.
you lose armour of agathys when your temp hp run out. Its not worth the spell slot especially upgraded.
That's the beauty of the build. The Warding Bond and Arcane Ward combo prevents you from losing that temporary hp for a very long time.
You'll get a ton of retaliation damage out of Armour of Agathys if you use it this way. Normally though, I'd agree with you about it not being as great. The wombo combo gives this spell quite a big boost.
@@PanicRollingstill disagree. You get hypnotic pattern, fireball, counterspell, slow as a warlock at lvl 5. You only get 2 precious slots.
@@johnwallace5284this build is a primary wizard with a 1 or 2 lvl warlock dip, they aren't concerned about the slots
lol just isnstall a mod to win if you're doing this type of cheese
You could do that! Some people like to mess around and see how broken they can make their team, and I think this works pretty well in that regard.
This game is trash with only 3 companions in it. So tired to always go camp and switch them up for certain quests
It can get tedious sometimes, sure. If it's not fun for you to play that way, you might be better off not seeing every questline in one run.
I do understand wanting to complete everything you have access to, though...
Game braking
Lol yeh, that too!
Why not just mod the game and cheat? The game is already so damn easy with the parasite I don't see why you would need to cheese party mechanics but that is just me i suppose.
A lot of people don't want to mess with mods until the devs release the official mod tools. Myself included.
I will most definitely be checking out a bunch of mods and making videos about them when they become available.
@@PanicRolling I've never used the parasite for RP reasons, so this is a nice alternative.
Absolutely! I have no issue with mods, I just haven't used them with BG3 yet. I am actually going to look into some of them and see what the current modding situation is like. I might be swayed lol, we'll see.
@@PanicRolling There's a lot of good mods with BG3. I'm not gonna lie. But I'm not going to touch them until I clear tactical mode.
Also, when the inevitable DLC comes out, I'd like to have a 'clean' story where I don't have to worry about game saves not being playable because the mods aren't compatible with the latest game version.
Yeh stuff like my save files being corrupted is what worries me. I'm going to look into them, definitely. But I'm not going to risk my saves for mods if it comes down to that. I need my saves to make the videos.
Cheesy, boring, and unnecessary. Nothing less fun than removing all of what small amount of challenge there is in this game on Tactician.
Some people just like seeing how they can break games like this. I just love that things like this exist, for anyone who wishes to use them.
Must be nice to be that guy. Lot of people pray to him, and I think there are a few books about his exploits through time. Also his houses are nice to visit on a Sunday I hear...@@PanicRolling