Glad to see a build that is more item-oriented. I agree with you that the fixed nature and intersting features available on many magic items in BG3 is just ripe for fun/powerful/interesting builds.
Definitely, this is an appreciated updated just for BG3. I only dislike videos when they include items that aren’t available early. I’d say the cutoff is early, no fights required act 3…. like Nyrulna.
@carlosh9476 I feel like high level items should be used in builds when they just add to it, not if the build works at level 11 when you get the item.
@@UltimateGamer-dc9vfI don't mind if someone is making a high level build, provided they state that it is a high level build. Very annoying if someone posts something like "highest damage bg3 build I've ever seen" then you find out that it only works in late act 3 with certain magic items
Fun part of this build to make it even more gishy, the diadem of arcane synergy. When you inflict a condition such as wet or chilled, you gain arcane synergy which will add your spellcasting mod of the last casting class you recently leveled into to your weapon attacks
Came into BG3 with absolutely no prior DnD knowledge and I must say, your builds and videos have not only been entertaining but have also been so informative in blooding me into this crazy and wonderful world; cheers for being accessible and positive, mate.
I never thought I would love to replay a game over and over with different characters but this game blows me away. Your videos help me out so much. I'm also a first-time DnD player.
Some of this is D&D, some of it is Larian’s twist. I loved the hell out of BG and BGII, but DOS and DOSII are some of the most replayable games ever made. The different origin stories, different build possibilities, impact of every choice… it’s as much Larian as D&D. I’m STILL not done with my first playthrough of BG3, but I’m already excited about my next!
I changed my Shadowheart to Tempest and discovered that you can use the Tempest Cleric's Channel Divinity to do max lightning damage with scrolls. So... yeah... stack those Chain Lightning and Lightning Bolt scrolls when you find them.
When you released your Abjuration build, there was nothing more satisfying than running toward a bunch of melee enemies and forcing them to attack by running past them dealing damage with just movement and then re-casting armor of agathys.
6:07 I feel that! All I do when I’m at work is think about Baldurs gate 3. When I go home, all I do is play BG3. My wife hasn’t been too happy for a couple months.
To hear you reflect on why you choose a particular feat based on wich items you already have and how you acquire specific proficiencys has deepened my understanding of the game and multiclassing so significantly. Thank you Coby ❤
If you go the bard route, and pick up the gauntlets of giant strength then i suggest picking up in act 1 the diadem of arcane synergy to be consistently adding be your spellcasting modifier to melee weapon damage.
Wait a minute. I know how to insert custom enemies into BG3 via mods (or better said, where to learn it). Give me some ideas where to place them and I try to write a "d4 - Fallen legends of Faerun" mod :D If Colby is fine about name/using his builds of course. Thing is, not 100% that they will use the builds perfectly right away. There maybe someone with experience on Larians AI has to help out.
18:40 create water can also be used infinitely as a ritual by picking the third option when you cast it so you don't actually need the rain dancer staff at all
In the other hand, agathys+ward IS soooo damaging that I usually do far more damage using my action to dash (and bonus action to activate the gnome boots of running) and provoking 2 or 3 more oportunity attacks, than with tridente and flail
Indeed - I mention this in a short recap I'll release Thursday but more and more I'm finding it to be more important to intentionally provoke opportunity attacks than just about anything else I can do - especially if they're wet. Haste is fantastic for this (I just wish it didn't increase my AC in this case :). And of course if you get knocked prone it's a real bummer, but often worth the risk).
I have used you companion builds and whoa are they insane. My party has everything it needs and Asterion in particular is unstoppable on sleight of hand skill checks. So glad I've stumbled onto your channel
Yes, I’m so excited to see this! Most guides that mention items mention the same handful of generic optimal ones (don’t get me wrong I love those items they’re good for a reason) But seeing you take a more unique magic item you like and really going in on it is so fun. Really appreciate your videos always!!
Love seeing an item oriented build! Items are so strong in this game I think it's legitimately better to have no feats with perfect gear than a perfect build with average items. Would definitely love to see more build videos like this
Fun Fact: Some classes (Cleric, Druid, and Storm Sorc) that get Create/Destroy Water get the ability to cast a variant of it when they get 2nd lvl spells. They can cast it for free like a cantrip but the wet condition from it only lasts 2 rounds instead of 3 and half the Radius from 4 meters to 2 meters. Still, an AoE way to give enemies the Wet condition with no save or needing to hit is very valuable. I had a very similar Idea for my Honor Mode run which was 1 lvl of White Dragon Sorc/1 lvl of Light Cleric/10 lvls of Abjuration Wizard to maximize Ward and keep full spellcasting progression
Fiend Warlock-2, Abjurer Wizard-10 using create water and Armor of Agathys was my first build at launch once I saw the wet condition. I laughed so hard as I tanked my own AC so bosses would melt to it 😂
Hey love your videos. I use your Karlach throw barbarian build, then I use enraged throw and have carafe/bottle of water as the weapon. This does damage, knocks your opponent prone, AND makes them wet. You then get double damage from loghtning/cold and advantage (str/dex saves) to hit cos of the prone condition.
Just thinking this build would be even crazier if you added 2 Paladin and 1 War Cleric. So changing it to 8 Wizard/1 Sorc/1 War Cleric/2 Paladin. Using Haste you'd get extra attack action and you'd also get 3 bonus attacks each long rest with War Cleric and also create water doubling all cold damage. You lose the 6 level spell slot but you get smites on your weapon attacks and so makes your weapon attacks much more damaging. You'd get two feats and so maybe savage attacks and dual wielder. If you used the ring of mystic scoundrel you could hit first attack (with smite), create water bonus action, attack extra bonus action, hasted attack action. That's some decent damage on your turn and then the enemies you hit with create water are wet for double when they hit you
This is definitely one of the most interesting builds in the game I've seen. And I'm constantly scouring the subreddit for good ideas. So now I have another build of yours to add to the list thanks Colby!
It also creates ice around the enemy that hits you in melee range because of Agathys, which means ice under your own feet. Only use this combo with NightWalkers or Hoarfrost boots, unless you like falling prone all the time.
as a small addition to this build, afaik the spell of the flail targets the weapon in the main hand! so you could cast the spell on lets say the staff from act 1 and just equip the trident afterwards. you loose a few points to hit but get more cold damage d4. and the staff would also be bludgeoning! Also the same "weapon swap trick" can be used to get essentially more lvl6 spellslots. there are a lot of staffs and amulets that either let you refill a spellslot or to let a cast not consume a slot, this works great with armour of agathis being cast out of combat most of the time.
And the Dragonthroat Glaive from Moonrise also let's you enhance a weapon on the ground with an extra 1d4 Elemental damage (and Thunder too) So you could have both Cold and Thunder on that Flail to get *both* x2 Bludgeoning and x2 Thunder. Though we would want to test to see how things proc and if the vulnerability is cleared/broken immediately after being hit by something or if it stays applied for any other length of time.
One of the best outtakes ever you shouldn't be at all ashamed. I was thinking at the start there should def be some Vanilla Ice in the outtakes glad I wasn't disappointed. 😂
This is an absolutely wild build! I had a fun time trying to guess which items and class levels you were going to pick throughout. Since you're open to doing item-oriented builds, I'd love to see something based on radiating orb and reverberation - two conditions which dovetail quite snugly together. Luminous armor + phalar aluve + spirit guardians is a fantastic package right from level 5, and gets even better when you add the boots of stormy clamor and gloves of belligerent skies to start knocking enemies prone left and right. As well as for a cleric, it's a great build for lore bards with dissonant whispers, since frightened + prone is effectively the same as stunned.
@@ZoneZero253 I don’t use Astarion at all but you’re right. They can make the game (especially honor mode) way easier. I’ve got 3 hirelings : one cleric and 2 transmutation wizards (1 with some druid levels also) so after each long rest I can cast warding bond, 2 transmuters stone, longstrider, darkvision and protection from poison on all the group, 16 goodberries, freedom of movement and death ward, heal for free between fights, and crafting the potions twice
I've used a similar strat with Gale (re-spec'ed into cleric) that worked just as well. I haven't tested it with the other companions, but Gale just won't die no matter how much damage I take.
I'm running the alternate version of this on Gale (mostly a Wizard with a 1 level dip in Sorcerer but taking some levels in Tempest Cleric instead of Bard), and I'm absolutely loving it. Gale is a real powerhouse.
The Snowburst ring creates an ice surface below a target whenever you deal cold damage. This can prone enemies which would give you advantage on your melee attacks and keep them locked down close to you which can help you stick to ranged targets that are trying to get distance from you. I would grab a set of boots that prevent you from slipping on ice surfaces so you don't slip yourself.
the bonespike garb (clothing) from early act 3 decreases damage taken by 2 and retaliates with 3 piercing damage. seems like a perfect match for this build.
Also, if you can stomach it, if you kill Karlach in Act 1 to fulfill Mizora's mission for Wyll, you get a Robe with resistance to Fire damage and a free cast of Chill Shield. Could be a really good early game piece, at a high cost
They must've nerfed the Trident of Waves in patch 6, bc I too was really excited to make an enemy wet without a spell slot, but alas all it does now is create a water surface under the enemy :/ womp womp. I guess they could still slip and fall prone or be electrocuted, but not really what we're going for...
You could also have another character add the Draconic Elemental Weapon buff from the Drakethroat Glaive, it would add a +1 enchantment to your weapons and +1d4 cold damage to your Tav. In case you need more damage.
I was just finishing my HM playthrough when this build video came out but I needed 4 more achievements -- 3 were evil durge achievements. This build was fun throughout but really shined at 12. The Wavemother's Robe was a great accompaniment. My hits with the flail and trident didn't hit enough to make much of a difference, it really was all about getting people wet and then get them to hit me with opportunity attacks. I was running with 14 or 15 AC. Early in the game I was using Winter's Clutches gloves and the Cold Brim (?) hat. The fight with Orin was hilarious. She just killed herself on my Armor of Agathys. Almost instantly :D.
It may not work for a video (not sure how many people out there are into modding) but for your own personal enjoyment you should get the Bladesinger subclass mod and 5e spells mod so you can do one of your shadow blade bladesinger builds that you love so much. (Yes shadow blade is in the game, but being able to cast it with spell slots instead of a ring is so much better. Also 5e spells adds booming blade and green flame blade, which happen to work with shadow blade)
Haha, found it and it was exactly what I was hoping for. Excellent! So weird that I somehow missed it. I watch every d4 video that pops up, but somehow I missed that one and his one about modding bg3 in general. Guess that's why I should turn on notifications
My honor run build is similar to this, but a pure caster. They took a cleric dip to keep spell casting progression and gain heavy armor. I’m currently at the Orin fight, and this build is a big reason I was so survivable
Another amazing thing with arcane ward is the damage from the illithid power "transfer life" is also reduced. Combined with the perma-buff from githyanki camp that let's you use those powers as bonus action... At end game - When Karlach got nuked on the verge of death my character only took 7 points of damage and Karlach regained over 40 hit points.... on a raging barbarian ... amazing
I'd love to see more BG3 builds centered on certain items or item effects. With a lot of concepts that just don't exist in tabletop, such as lightning charges, there are probably synergies that are interesting and unexplored.
As someone who has been using the gamertag sapphire sorceress for the past year, thank you for the rather blue oriented sorcerer build to bring it to life. Will be my next honor mode pc!
Tried an eldritch knight build that used Mourning Frost as its main weapon to encrust enemies with frost and create ice surfaces at their feet to control them. It was an amazing all around build and disturbingly potent for a quarter staff wielding fighter
grab mahoksir(?) and staff of power for your inventory to give you free max level spell slots. Even if you just use it for your first AOA or summons. then just swap them out.
Combining this with bleed maim barb with mobility feat on your team, to force enemies to stand still with wizard as the only target to attack seems really fun, will definitely be a part of my next bg3 honor run (especially strong with boaal buff if u can manage to survive till act 3)
getting enemies wet that have resistance removes the resistance. There's no point in taking the elemental adept feat if the strategy is to get them wet first. If you were trying to get hit, you could do 8 Dex, 14 Str for staff hit and damage with Alert for initiative.
PSA to everyone in the comments: you can get elemental weapon earlier from the drakethroat glaive (or just have someone else use the spell). Also, these can be cast on other weapons, so you can use any weapon you want
That's a rlly cool idea for a build. Can even use Summon Undead together with the Thay's book for that Death Knight Vibe. Using 5e Spells, the list of usable Ice Magic gets even better.
I remember the moment that Halsin finally joined the party, and I went, "Yes! Finally! Someone I can give all these Cryomancer items I've been collecting!!" (The Icebite Robe, for instance, is another way to access Armor of Agathys)
Methinks Colby needs to rethink this around the Encrusted with Frost debuff. It can happily also use Chilled + Wet as well, but Encrusted just requires you to stack up the debuff for frozen.
The synergy between the two weapons is really cool. Never thought of that. A fun addition could be the "Bonespike Garb" with the "Amulet of Greater Health" for 6 more piercing dmg when you get hit + 2 flat dmg reduction. Alternativly one could grab "The Skinburster" for "Forced Conduit" charges to get a more defensive oriented variant. Classic - Cleric 1 / Sorc 1 / Wizard 10 for 20 arcane ward charges and war cleric and/or polearm master + cleave from the weapon to get forced conduit up fast, throw in "Heavy Armour Master" for the fun of it and you won't take dmg anytime soon. Only build that felt nearly as unkillable as that was a tiger barb or battle master (3 attacks + cleave) with the "Sword of Chaos" + "Periapt of Wound Closure". At least for me. Anyhow, great vid. Enjoy your week!
I watch. I like. I subscribe. I am a cheap patron. And I still feel guilty when I listen when I absolutely positively have to fall asleep. But Colby is the best sandman I know. Thank you Sandman and goodnigh…
As always, amazing video! As an old time viewer (accompanying the channel since the very first build) I think would be really cool if you made a video talking about possible synergies between your own builds. No numbers needed (that would be a mathematical nightmare) just some ideas of characters that would play great together. Maybe a "Top 10 D4 duos to play with a friend" or something like that. I'm sure that the discord community would love to give their opinion on that too. Thanks again and have a great week!
I made a sorcadin, with armor of agathys trough draconic sorcere. And also playing an asmodeus tiefling to have a blue flame on my right hand, i also changed the skin to blue, took the absolutes protector to get another chill fire, and also the drow sword that does thunder dmg, which deals more dmg if the target is frozen, makes them vulnerable to thunder
A 2-person (or more) tandem of applying the frozen dot and then a Sorlock with lightning damage items to use Eldritch Blast force damage to shatter boss fights seems like a fun combo
I just did a similar build last week in my co op campaign and I did sorcerer 1, tempest cleric 1, and 10 in wizard. The cleric dip give the reaction to zap lightning damage and ability to free cast create water at level two. I pretty much don't attack anything just get things wet, cast sanctuary on teammates and blade ward on myself so I'm focused and I just stand there.
love this build, i used it to go through the game the first time. i liked it so much i played through the game solo a second time. its increadibly strong, even on tactician it makes the game laughably easy. i meam most fights enemies didnt even break through the temp hitpoints, its just that good
Saw another take on this build by Nizargg. He did 2 in Warlock for not only armor of agathys, but also for the magic shield warlock feat. That way he could cast infinite amounts of magic shield after equipping cloth armor and then light armor (removing magic armor). Then re-applying magic armor. That way he could build a massive abjurarion shield. He also dual wield 2 staves (marcoheshkir and the ice staff). Also lots of ice spells. Do like your take more, gives more to do like hitting stuff.
aye - went this route the first time I did an abjuration wizard build a few months ago, but in the end, I'd rather have the spell slots that stack with my other spell caster classes to get a stronger AoA than an easy way to max the ward :).
I changed my current build to use some of these features but I went tempest cleric instead of Bard. While I'm sacrificing extra attack I get better ranged options with their spells, (cleric is my favourite class) and I have the adamantine splint further reducing the damage taken by 2. The cleric proficiency with martial weapons means I didn't need the weapons master feat and I get the wrath of the storm lightning which is also doubled when they are wet adding to the retribution damage. I am currently 1 sorcerer, 2 wizard, 3 cleric. Its so much fun and is making my honor mode run a cake walk (so far... I'm still in act 1)
The key for vault 4 is in the temple of Umberlee (water monster god in lower city) in the bedroom/office of the high priestess on the top floor of the temple
The trident doesn't seem to freeze enemies anymore, it still seems to create the water surface and even freeze it at times but not the enemy itself, bummer. Edit: nevermind, i was using the woe weapon instead of the flail since i could transfer the elemental age but didn't realize that the chill effect was from elements of the epoch which is not transferrable lol.
Definitely slotting this in my honor mod list after my oops all monks which will use Alternate Monk - Complete Class and Subclass Rework mod for a lot of variety
Don't forget create water can be cast as a cantrip (Works on clerics, didn't seem to work for druids). I believe the description over the action describes it as a spell, but when you cast create water in this way it does not consume a spell slot. It makes a puddle about the size that throwing a water pot would be, and it is not permanent water like spell version. It only lasts 2 turns or so.
Colby! Nice video. I think adding special items and their effects are awesome because that increases build diversity and creativity. I have been thinking about a barbarian rogue tank with Adamantine shield and cloak of displacement. If you could get your AC high enough, I think you’d likely never be hit!
Thank you, your build inspired me create abjuration wiz 10/1 tempost cleric (heavy armor and lightning reflect) 1 dragon blood sorcerer (Armour of Agathys). Funniest solo honor mod
It's wild that I built a White Dragon Sorc 1 / War Cleric 1 / Abjuration Wizard 10 to make a gish that capitalizes on this combo but I prioritized Int and it ended up being the most powerful Wizard possible due to the scroll/spell slot synergy. Absolutely unkillable and can cast any spell or bop the enemy for mad damage
After playing this build I find it hard to get foes to attack it even with my AC lower than my other team mates (19). I came across the Paladin spell "Compelled Duel" and thought this would be a perfect fit for this build. So I'm going to go 2 Sorcerer (Allows you to twin the spell), 2 Paladin, and 8 Wizard. Wish me luck.
I worked something like this around level 8 specing as a Sorcerer draconic lightning. Dip intoTempest cleric. Two level dip into warlock for the free arcane ward Eldritch invocation. . . Then wizard all the way out. This can change end game build for sure
In my current game, I built Gale in exactly the same style of mixing Arcane Ward with Armor of Agathys to have a frontline spellcaster, while also making them still primarily a spellcaster and maximizing Wizard levels to get extra stacks of Arcane Ward so you don't have to rely on a Warding Bond cleric back at camp. Here's how I set him up: As soon as I can, I respec Gale with the starting stats: STR 8, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 17, WIS 12, CHA 14 I then take the first level in Warlock, taking Eldritch Blast and Blade Ward as my cantrips and Armor of Agathys and Hex as my spells. By process of elimination, I took Great Old One as the patron, as you won't benefit from Fiend since you can only have one source of temporary HP at a time (and on this build that's AoA), and the Archfey buff takes your action to use and we'll have much better things to do with our action a majority of the time. So Great Old One is going to provide the biggest benefit. The thing to note with this build is that proficiency or Advantage in Constitution saves for Concentration checks doesn't really matter, since you actually have to take damage to trigger a Concentration check. If your Arcane Ward (after damage reduction) reduces the damage to zero or less, you don't even have to make the save. Then I take another level in Warlock and for Invocations I pick up the Armor of Shadows and Repelling Blast. For spell I took Hellish Rebuke, so I have something to throw back at ranged enemies early game. Repelling Blast is likewise handy for some early game battlefield control in a pinch. The real pickup is the Armor of Shadows Invocation. What this does is allow you to cast Mage Armor at will without using spell slots. As Mage Armor is a 1st-level Abjuration spell, it gives us a stack of Arcane Ward. You can then cancel Mage Armor by putting on any suit of light armor, switch back to your robe or other clothing, and recast Mage Armor for another stack of ward. This allows you to top off your Arcane Ward between fights charges and start each combat with a full stack of Arcane Ward. Then at level 3 I took a level in Cleric for the Tempest Domain, for two reasons. The first was as you mentioned: synergy with Wrath of the Storm lightning damage. For cantrips I picked Guidance, Produce Flame, and Light, and the 12 Wisdom lets you prepare two Cleric spells, and I picked Create Water and Sanctuary. This lets me use Gale as his own rainmaker and have a last resort emergency 1st-level Bonus action spell to avoid a dangerous situation if he gets surrounded and all his defenses suddenly go down, and give him free rounds in combat to recast what he needs. At this point his function in combat is primarily to start the fight with Create Water on a given enemy, then on his next turn cast Blade Ward for the damage reduction and run around intentionally provoking attacks of opportunity to make the wet enemies kill themselves. At level 4, I took the first level in Wizard, and for cantrips I took Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, Bone Chill. For Wizard spells, my picks were Shield, Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Find Familiar, Enhanced Leap and Ice Knife. At this early stage, I had pretty good crowd control using a Warlock slot on Hex to give Disadvantage on DEX saves, followed by Chromatic Orb or Ice Knife to create an ice patch under an enemy which almost guarantees a knockdown. Later on after getting Mourning Frost you can swap to Hexing CON saves instead, making it much more likely you'll apply Chilled to enemies. From here on out I levled only in Wizard: Level 5- Abjuration specialist to pick up Arcane Ward. I start each day by upcasting Armor of Agathys in my highest Wizard slot available, and then use Arcane Recovery to regain that slot for regular use. I then top off my Ward stacks with the Armor of Shadows method mentioned above. There aren't many great spell picks due to the delay from other levels so I took Longstrider and False Life. At this point I also respec'd his stats to move the Charisma points into Dexterity to increase initiative, but this probably isn't necessary. Leve 6 (Wizard 3)- here I took Cloud of Daggers for great sustained AoE damage and Flaming Sphere. The sphere doesn't really fit the theme, but at these early levels it's a decent source of damage and it can tank for you so it's a decent pickup. Level 7 (Wizard 4)- Again, not many great spell picks so I took Mage Hand for the cantrip, and Blindness and Gust of Wind. Blindness is an amazing debuff that is a great way to neuter both spellcasters and ranged attackers that would otherwise get around your AoA damag. It lasts for 10 turns and doesn't take your Concentration. The real pickup at this level is the feat at Wizard 4 and I took Dual Wielder. This is an astounding gain for spellcasters as you get a +1 AC and you benefit from two staves at once. I used Mourning Frost and The Spellsparkler for the Lightning damage synergy with Wetness. Level 8- Glyph of Warding, which you covered, and I also took Counterspell since you start to run into a lot of annoying casters from here on out and it's great to be able to shut them down. Level 9- I grabbed Haste which is a great use for your Concentration, as you can now open with Create Water and then fire off Ice Storm or Glyph of Warding (Ice) in the same round. The extra movement also allows you more enemies to reach and provoke Opportunity Attacks from. Level 10- Ice Storm and Fire Shield, which again you already covered. Level 11- I nabbed Stoneskin, which is another incredible use for your Concentration slot and is a great alternative to using Blade Ward for Opportunity Attack farming. There isn't much else of interest so whatever other spell you want is fine. For the feat I took Ability Improvement to bump Intelligence twice, getting up to 20 if you can snag the Hag Hair. Level 12- Finally able to pick up Cone of Cold which is just an absolute cold damage shotgun with the Wet condition. As far as gear goes, here is what I used roughly in the order in which you can earliest acquire them: -The Spellsparkler staff is great early game with this build for extra bonus damage from Lightning Charges. -Winter's Clutches for gloves. These can replace the need to use Hex as they inflict two stacks of Encrusted with Frost debuff which gives Disadvantage on DEX saves. -Necklace of Elemental Augmentation. Ray of Frost and Shocking Grasp are going to be big sources of damage and this adds your Intelligence modifier to it. -Hoarfrost Boots. You are going to make a lot of icy surfaces with this build, and these are a handy way to make you immune to your own condition. -The Protecty Sparkswall. I wore this robe for a long time. Very handy bonus to Spell Save DC, and synergizes well with Spellsparkler for a bump to saves with Lightning Charges. -Snowburst Ring. An incredible pickup early in Act 2 that essentially allows you to use Ray of Frost to do the same crowd control as Ice Knife and Chromatic Orb. You can almost replace those spells entirely with a cantrip now. -Coldbrim Hat. Once per turn this allows you to inflict 2 more stacks of Encrusted with Frost any time you apply any other condition to an enemy. Along with the gloves this means the first time you deal Cold damage each turn you'll apply 4 stacks of Encrusted with Frost. Once an enemy has 7 or more stacks, they have to make a DC 12 CON save or be Frozen, just as if you were to apply Wet to a Chilled enemy. So on the first round, you can wet the targets and use Glyph, Orb, or Ice Knife for 4 stacks on a group of enemies, and then on the next round repeat this for an additional 4 stacks forcing a CON save on the whole group. -Other gear at this point is optional, but I rounded things out with the Fleshmelter Cloak which synergizes with the rest of the build by retaliating with Acid damage when you get hit, and the Bonespike Garb in act 3 which both reduces incoming damage and also retaliates with even more damage via your CON modifier in piercing damage on each hit. I also went with the Callous Glow ring in the other slot which is just a little extra damage on my outgoing spells. I also replace The Spellsparkler with Markoheshkir for extra spell save DC, Arcane Battery for a free fully-upcasted Armor of Agathys each day, and the Frost of Dark Winter buff from Kereska's Favor ability. This buff gets even more cold damage on all spells, cold resistance (for emergencies where you need to include yourself in your own area of effect), yet another stack of Encrusted with Frost, and a free casting of Cone of Cold and Ice storm each short rest, which are both excellent damage for the build. That's about it. Let me know what you think.
Excited to see an item Focused build from you! In the future, if you do this again could you make a section of the video simply going through all recommended items? There are a few great cold focused items that would fit this build and we'd appreciate hearing how you'd optimize them on this build
The concept of this build is rockin, but i dont love the hit to arcane ward that 6 levels of bard takes. To me, the core needs of the build are: 3 attacks per turn, high level spell slots for agathys, and a juiced arcane ward. Best way to spam the ward is two levels of warlock to spam armor of shadows with the don armor/remove armor trick. As such, my build here would be warlock 2, temepst cleric 1, wizard 9. To get the extra attack, you haste yourself (you dont need concentration for fire shield or agathys). Now ive got the martials i need from tempest, the armor of shadows to spam my arcane ward to max with no spell slots, three attacks per turn from haste, and the icing on the cake is that having concentration up will mean more people targeting me, and thus more blasts from agathys.
Thanks so much for this build... I was trying to get back into Honor Mode after a little break, and this is going to be perfect for the white dragonborn that I initially rolled up as a sorlocke... One suggestion I might add: I feel like it would be helpful for viewers if, at specific level breakpoints or "story checkpoints," you could show an example gearset. Something like "beginning of Act II with/without the Headband of Intellect" or "level 5 with/without Morningfrost," just as an offhand example. This video was a nat 20 tho m8! Keep up the great content (:
A good tip is to have multiple hirelings that you respec to clerics in camp and have them throw warding bonds on your party members. We have only 3 hirelings at the same time, so respeccing one of your companions that you never or almost never use into a cleric as well for this use is smart. Making them cast aid and different resist spells is also very good. If you have Shadowheart much or all the time in your party as I often do, then you save using her spell slots by having hirelings and one camping companion doing all this for you. All can make it to easy for many, but it can be a great help for hard fights or for beginners. I still do it when playing harder modes or when playing solo. Or when I try some rather far from top builds. When you play solo, then it is plenty enough to use Shadowheart for this. Make sure to have you clerics in camp to have max constitution to keep them alive. Gale is self healing when taking damage left in camp, so it can be great to respec him into a cleric and let him be you cleric warding bond camp tank if you don't use him much or at all.
I think it’s best to stick with 1 sorc/ 1 tempest cleric/10 wizard, and use duelist’s prerogative one handed. You get full spell slot progression, great bonuses to arcane ward, weapon and armor proficiencies, you don’t need strength, and you can taunt enemies to force them to attack you and all the other cool stuff the rapier offers. I do really like the dual wield concept though.
Glad to see a build that is more item-oriented. I agree with you that the fixed nature and intersting features available on many magic items in BG3 is just ripe for fun/powerful/interesting builds.
Definitely, this is an appreciated updated just for BG3. I only dislike videos when they include items that aren’t available early. I’d say the cutoff is early, no fights required act 3…. like Nyrulna.
@carlosh9476 I feel like high level items should be used in builds when they just add to it, not if the build works at level 11 when you get the item.
@@UltimateGamer-dc9vfI don't mind if someone is making a high level build, provided they state that it is a high level build. Very annoying if someone posts something like "highest damage bg3 build I've ever seen" then you find out that it only works in late act 3 with certain magic items
@@carlosh9476nothing about Nayrulna would make or break a build. Plenty of substitutes until you reach it.
@@Kirk9019 I saw a "highest AC" build on Reddit that required a shield that literally drops in the final fight lol.
Fun part of this build to make it even more gishy, the diadem of arcane synergy. When you inflict a condition such as wet or chilled, you gain arcane synergy which will add your spellcasting mod of the last casting class you recently leveled into to your weapon attacks
Came into BG3 with absolutely no prior DnD knowledge and I must say, your builds and videos have not only been entertaining but have also been so informative in blooding me into this crazy and wonderful world; cheers for being accessible and positive, mate.
Thing is...when Colby says "Welcome home." I do feel at home. Thank you Colby!
I never thought I would love to replay a game over and over with different characters but this game blows me away. Your videos help me out so much. I'm also a first-time DnD player.
You never played Baldur's Gate 2, did you?
Some of this is D&D, some of it is Larian’s twist. I loved the hell out of BG and BGII, but DOS and DOSII are some of the most replayable games ever made. The different origin stories, different build possibilities, impact of every choice… it’s as much Larian as D&D. I’m STILL not done with my first playthrough of BG3, but I’m already excited about my next!
I changed my Shadowheart to Tempest and discovered that you can use the Tempest Cleric's Channel Divinity to do max lightning damage with scrolls. So... yeah... stack those Chain Lightning and Lightning Bolt scrolls when you find them.
When you released your Abjuration build, there was nothing more satisfying than running toward a bunch of melee enemies and forcing them to attack by running past them dealing damage with just movement and then re-casting armor of agathys.
6:07 I feel that! All I do when I’m at work is think about Baldurs gate 3. When I go home, all I do is play BG3. My wife hasn’t been too happy for a couple months.
I'm glad I'm not alone I feel your pain lmao
My wife plays BG3 almost as much as me 😂
To hear you reflect on why you choose a particular feat based on wich items you already have and how you acquire specific proficiencys has deepened my understanding of the game and multiclassing so significantly.
Thank you Coby ❤
If you go the bard route, and pick up the gauntlets of giant strength then i suggest picking up in act 1 the diadem of arcane synergy to be consistently adding be your spellcasting modifier to melee weapon damage.
I hope Larian watches all of these build videos and release them in a DLC...
AS ENEMIES
Don’t give the any ideas
I agree, let some of the fans make some bosses
Wait a minute. I know how to insert custom enemies into BG3 via mods (or better said, where to learn it). Give me some ideas where to place them and I try to write a "d4 - Fallen legends of Faerun" mod :D If Colby is fine about name/using his builds of course.
Thing is, not 100% that they will use the builds perfectly right away. There maybe someone with experience on Larians AI has to help out.
Yeah, no. They should START by making the game they promised. Can fun be had? Sure. DESPITE such a trash game.
@@gethriellmfao, you’re ridiculous but good bait
Fun build. I’d love to see a “quick” summary of your favorite party at end level including items.
Would love to see a build incorporating illithid powers!
Critlander is already there
18:40 create water can also be used infinitely as a ritual by picking the third option when you cast it so you don't actually need the rain dancer staff at all
i would reccomend grapping the gloves of missile snaring, it mostly fixes your ranged enemy issue
In the other hand, agathys+ward IS soooo damaging that I usually do far more damage using my action to dash (and bonus action to activate the gnome boots of running) and provoking 2 or 3 more oportunity attacks, than with tridente and flail
Indeed - I mention this in a short recap I'll release Thursday but more and more I'm finding it to be more important to intentionally provoke opportunity attacks than just about anything else I can do - especially if they're wet. Haste is fantastic for this (I just wish it didn't increase my AC in this case :). And of course if you get knocked prone it's a real bummer, but often worth the risk).
I have used you companion builds and whoa are they insane. My party has everything it needs and Asterion in particular is unstoppable on sleight of hand skill checks. So glad I've stumbled onto your channel
Yes, I’m so excited to see this! Most guides that mention items mention the same handful of generic optimal ones (don’t get me wrong I love those items they’re good for a reason) But seeing you take a more unique magic item you like and really going in on it is so fun. Really appreciate your videos always!!
I love this approach. Magic items can completely change a BG3 build.
Love seeing an item oriented build! Items are so strong in this game I think it's legitimately better to have no feats with perfect gear than a perfect build with average items. Would definitely love to see more build videos like this
More of these please, this will be a good series. This came just in time because I decided to replay the other day with durge
Hey Colby
Just wanted to say i really appreciate your intro. Makes me feel welcome every time i watch a video of yours
I actually showed it to my brother just as an example that genuine, honest sincerity is possible on YT!
The flail of ages is something your character in BG2 assembles.
Fun Fact: Some classes (Cleric, Druid, and Storm Sorc) that get Create/Destroy Water get the ability to cast a variant of it when they get 2nd lvl spells. They can cast it for free like a cantrip but the wet condition from it only lasts 2 rounds instead of 3 and half the Radius from 4 meters to 2 meters. Still, an AoE way to give enemies the Wet condition with no save or needing to hit is very valuable. I had a very similar Idea for my Honor Mode run which was 1 lvl of White Dragon Sorc/1 lvl of Light Cleric/10 lvls of Abjuration Wizard to maximize Ward and keep full spellcasting progression
The can trip version was a bug and it’s been fixed sadly
I swear this guy is psychic, I've been looking for ice build all day yesterday and then BLOP here it is
Fiend Warlock-2, Abjurer Wizard-10 using create water and Armor of Agathys was my first build at launch once I saw the wet condition. I laughed so hard as I tanked my own AC so bosses would melt to it 😂
Hey love your videos. I use your Karlach throw barbarian build, then I use enraged throw and have carafe/bottle of water as the weapon.
This does damage, knocks your opponent prone, AND makes them wet. You then get double damage from loghtning/cold and advantage (str/dex saves) to hit cos of the prone condition.
Just thinking this build would be even crazier if you added 2 Paladin and 1 War Cleric. So changing it to 8 Wizard/1 Sorc/1 War Cleric/2 Paladin. Using Haste you'd get extra attack action and you'd also get 3 bonus attacks each long rest with War Cleric and also create water doubling all cold damage. You lose the 6 level spell slot but you get smites on your weapon attacks and so makes your weapon attacks much more damaging. You'd get two feats and so maybe savage attacks and dual wielder. If you used the ring of mystic scoundrel you could hit first attack (with smite), create water bonus action, attack extra bonus action, hasted attack action. That's some decent damage on your turn and then the enemies you hit with create water are wet for double when they hit you
2:41 I appreciate this part of your content! I’ve even used your older builds for 5e to brainstorm and get inspiration for cool BG3 builds.
This is definitely one of the most interesting builds in the game I've seen. And I'm constantly scouring the subreddit for good ideas. So now I have another build of yours to add to the list thanks Colby!
I prefer the cold draconic sorc 1, war Cleric 1, Abjuration Wizard 10
War cleric for the Channel Divinity? I'm considering this idea for my Gale.
You could also get the snow burst ring in the floorboards of the inn in act 2 if you pass a perception check. It creates ice around the targets.
It also creates ice around the enemy that hits you in melee range because of Agathys, which means ice under your own feet. Only use this combo with NightWalkers or Hoarfrost boots, unless you like falling prone all the time.
what a fantastic video! you've just got such wonderful screen presence, and it's a lot of fun watching you nerd out.
as a small addition to this build, afaik the spell of the flail targets the weapon in the main hand! so you could cast the spell on lets say the staff from act 1 and just equip the trident afterwards. you loose a few points to hit but get more cold damage d4. and the staff would also be bludgeoning!
Also the same "weapon swap trick" can be used to get essentially more lvl6 spellslots. there are a lot of staffs and amulets that either let you refill a spellslot or to let a cast not consume a slot, this works great with armour of agathis being cast out of combat most of the time.
I didn’t know this… thanks for the tip!
And the Dragonthroat Glaive from Moonrise also let's you enhance a weapon on the ground with an extra 1d4 Elemental damage (and Thunder too)
So you could have both Cold and Thunder on that Flail to get *both* x2 Bludgeoning and x2 Thunder.
Though we would want to test to see how things proc and if the vulnerability is cleared/broken immediately after being hit by something or if it stays applied for any other length of time.
One of the best outtakes ever you shouldn't be at all ashamed. I was thinking at the start there should def be some Vanilla Ice in the outtakes glad I wasn't disappointed. 😂
This is an absolutely wild build! I had a fun time trying to guess which items and class levels you were going to pick throughout. Since you're open to doing item-oriented builds, I'd love to see something based on radiating orb and reverberation - two conditions which dovetail quite snugly together. Luminous armor + phalar aluve + spirit guardians is a fantastic package right from level 5, and gets even better when you add the boots of stormy clamor and gloves of belligerent skies to start knocking enemies prone left and right. As well as for a cleric, it's a great build for lore bards with dissonant whispers, since frightened + prone is effectively the same as stunned.
19:40 you can also create a hireling with Withers which will stay at the camp but who will cast Warding Bond on your character
Can also bite the hireling with Astarion as well.
@@ZoneZero253 I don’t use Astarion at all but you’re right.
They can make the game (especially honor mode) way easier.
I’ve got 3 hirelings : one cleric and 2 transmutation wizards (1 with some druid levels also) so after each long rest I can cast warding bond, 2 transmuters stone, longstrider, darkvision and protection from poison on all the group, 16 goodberries, freedom of movement and death ward, heal for free between fights, and crafting the potions twice
I've used a similar strat with Gale (re-spec'ed into cleric) that worked just as well. I haven't tested it with the other companions, but Gale just won't die no matter how much damage I take.
@@scottcombs3882 i don’t get how it’s similar with the hireling strat
@@Juzam777 Lol my bad. That's because I totally forgot to mention that you leave Gale in camp and just pre buff at the start of each day.
i just made a white dragonborn sorcerer yesterday, this video came at the PERFECT time!
I see what you did there Durge.
Love the videos as always. Always stay to the end to watch the outtakes! Priceless! Keep up the great work.
I'm running the alternate version of this on Gale (mostly a Wizard with a 1 level dip in Sorcerer but taking some levels in Tempest Cleric instead of Bard), and I'm absolutely loving it. Gale is a real powerhouse.
If you take a race that gets light armor proficiency, you can grab Mintharas(sp.) armor which gives you advantage on concentration checks.
The Snowburst ring creates an ice surface below a target whenever you deal cold damage. This can prone enemies which would give you advantage on your melee attacks and keep them locked down close to you which can help you stick to ranged targets that are trying to get distance from you. I would grab a set of boots that prevent you from slipping on ice surfaces so you don't slip yourself.
Ooh, excited to see what BG3 shenanigans you are getting up to this time. Just in time to completely overhaul my honour mode party :D
the bonespike garb (clothing) from early act 3 decreases damage taken by 2 and retaliates with 3 piercing damage. seems like a perfect match for this build.
I love it that you are using wepons i never seen befor on another channel❤ pls make more of these bg3 build guides!!!!
Also, if you can stomach it, if you kill Karlach in Act 1 to fulfill Mizora's mission for Wyll, you get a Robe with resistance to Fire damage and a free cast of Chill Shield. Could be a really good early game piece, at a high cost
The best out takes!! Great video, I felt so happy living vicariously through your build! Thanks Colby
They must've nerfed the Trident of Waves in patch 6, bc I too was really excited to make an enemy wet without a spell slot, but alas all it does now is create a water surface under the enemy :/ womp womp. I guess they could still slip and fall prone or be electrocuted, but not really what we're going for...
You could also have another character add the Draconic Elemental Weapon buff from the Drakethroat Glaive, it would add a +1 enchantment to your weapons and +1d4 cold damage to your Tav. In case you need more damage.
I was just finishing my HM playthrough when this build video came out but I needed 4 more achievements -- 3 were evil durge achievements. This build was fun throughout but really shined at 12. The Wavemother's Robe was a great accompaniment. My hits with the flail and trident didn't hit enough to make much of a difference, it really was all about getting people wet and then get them to hit me with opportunity attacks. I was running with 14 or 15 AC. Early in the game I was using Winter's Clutches gloves and the Cold Brim (?) hat.
The fight with Orin was hilarious. She just killed herself on my Armor of Agathys. Almost instantly :D.
It may not work for a video (not sure how many people out there are into modding) but for your own personal enjoyment you should get the Bladesinger subclass mod and 5e spells mod so you can do one of your shadow blade bladesinger builds that you love so much. (Yes shadow blade is in the game, but being able to cast it with spell slots instead of a ring is so much better. Also 5e spells adds booming blade and green flame blade, which happen to work with shadow blade)
Yup, he did a video on mods and Bladesinger, just search the channel
@@richardsego hmm, somehow I missed that one. Guess I'll go look for it
Haha, found it and it was exactly what I was hoping for. Excellent! So weird that I somehow missed it. I watch every d4 video that pops up, but somehow I missed that one and his one about modding bg3 in general. Guess that's why I should turn on notifications
My honor run build is similar to this, but a pure caster. They took a cleric dip to keep spell casting progression and gain heavy armor. I’m currently at the Orin fight, and this build is a big reason I was so survivable
Okay, this build is nuts. Super creative.
Snow Plow is a great build name.
Another amazing thing with arcane ward is the damage from the illithid power "transfer life" is also reduced. Combined with the perma-buff from githyanki camp that let's you use those powers as bonus action...
At end game - When Karlach got nuked on the verge of death my character only took 7 points of damage and Karlach regained over 40 hit points.... on a raging barbarian ... amazing
I love armor of resistance with this build style because it has so much damage reduction built in.
I'd love to see more BG3 builds centered on certain items or item effects. With a lot of concepts that just don't exist in tabletop, such as lightning charges, there are probably synergies that are interesting and unexplored.
As someone who has been using the gamertag sapphire sorceress for the past year, thank you for the rather blue oriented sorcerer build to bring it to life. Will be my next honor mode pc!
Tried an eldritch knight build that used Mourning Frost as its main weapon to encrust enemies with frost and create ice surfaces at their feet to control them. It was an amazing all around build and disturbingly potent for a quarter staff wielding fighter
grab mahoksir(?) and staff of power for your inventory to give you free max level spell slots. Even if you just use it for your first AOA or summons. then just swap them out.
Combining this with bleed maim barb with mobility feat on your team, to force enemies to stand still with wizard as the only target to attack seems really fun, will definitely be a part of my next bg3 honor run (especially strong with boaal buff if u can manage to survive till act 3)
getting enemies wet that have resistance removes the resistance. There's no point in taking the elemental adept feat if the strategy is to get them wet first. If you were trying to get hit, you could do 8 Dex, 14 Str for staff hit and damage with Alert for initiative.
PSA to everyone in the comments: you can get elemental weapon earlier from the drakethroat glaive (or just have someone else use the spell). Also, these can be cast on other weapons, so you can use any weapon you want
That's a rlly cool idea for a build. Can even use Summon Undead together with the Thay's book for that Death Knight Vibe. Using 5e Spells, the list of usable Ice Magic gets even better.
I remember the moment that Halsin finally joined the party, and I went, "Yes! Finally! Someone I can give all these Cryomancer items I've been collecting!!" (The Icebite Robe, for instance, is another way to access Armor of Agathys)
Methinks Colby needs to rethink this around the Encrusted with Frost debuff. It can happily also use Chilled + Wet as well, but Encrusted just requires you to stack up the debuff for frozen.
The synergy between the two weapons is really cool. Never thought of that. A fun addition could be the "Bonespike Garb" with the "Amulet of Greater Health" for 6 more piercing dmg when you get hit + 2 flat dmg reduction.
Alternativly one could grab "The Skinburster" for "Forced Conduit" charges to get a more defensive oriented variant.
Classic - Cleric 1 / Sorc 1 / Wizard 10 for 20 arcane ward charges and war cleric and/or polearm master + cleave from the weapon to get forced conduit up fast, throw in "Heavy Armour Master" for the fun of it and you won't take dmg anytime soon.
Only build that felt nearly as unkillable as that was a tiger barb or battle master (3 attacks + cleave) with the "Sword of Chaos" + "Periapt of Wound Closure". At least for me.
Anyhow, great vid. Enjoy your week!
You could Always Use water Elementals to help boost Ice in the Area, plus imps Explode so you could use them As Ice Bombs
Why would anyone have suggested "Alwayswinter" when "Foreverwinter" is an equivalent but far superior joke?
I watch. I like. I subscribe. I am a cheap patron. And I still feel guilty when I listen when I absolutely positively have to fall asleep. But Colby is the best sandman I know. Thank you Sandman and goodnigh…
As always, amazing video!
As an old time viewer (accompanying the channel since the very first build) I think would be really cool if you made a video talking about possible synergies between your own builds. No numbers needed (that would be a mathematical nightmare) just some ideas of characters that would play great together. Maybe a "Top 10 D4 duos to play with a friend" or something like that. I'm sure that the discord community would love to give their opinion on that too.
Thanks again and have a great week!
I made a sorcadin, with armor of agathys trough draconic sorcere. And also playing an asmodeus tiefling to have a blue flame on my right hand, i also changed the skin to blue, took the absolutes protector to get another chill fire, and also the drow sword that does thunder dmg, which deals more dmg if the target is frozen, makes them vulnerable to thunder
A 2-person (or more) tandem of applying the frozen dot and then a Sorlock with lightning damage items to use Eldritch Blast force damage to shatter boss fights seems like a fun combo
I just did a similar build last week in my co op campaign and I did sorcerer 1, tempest cleric 1, and 10 in wizard. The cleric dip give the reaction to zap lightning damage and ability to free cast create water at level two. I pretty much don't attack anything just get things wet, cast sanctuary on teammates and blade ward on myself so I'm focused and I just stand there.
By level 4 the build is working great
I really like this structure for BG3 builds! Really good job
love this build, i used it to go through the game the first time. i liked it so much i played through the game solo a second time. its increadibly strong, even on tactician it makes the game laughably easy. i meam most fights enemies didnt even break through the temp hitpoints, its just that good
Saw another take on this build by Nizargg. He did 2 in Warlock for not only armor of agathys, but also for the magic shield warlock feat. That way he could cast infinite amounts of magic shield after equipping cloth armor and then light armor (removing magic armor). Then re-applying magic armor. That way he could build a massive abjurarion shield. He also dual wield 2 staves (marcoheshkir and the ice staff). Also lots of ice spells.
Do like your take more, gives more to do like hitting stuff.
aye - went this route the first time I did an abjuration wizard build a few months ago, but in the end, I'd rather have the spell slots that stack with my other spell caster classes to get a stronger AoA than an easy way to max the ward :).
This makes me not as worried to die in my current honor mode run knowing I can then try this one! Sounds so much fun.
I changed my current build to use some of these features but I went tempest cleric instead of Bard. While I'm sacrificing extra attack I get better ranged options with their spells, (cleric is my favourite class) and I have the adamantine splint further reducing the damage taken by 2. The cleric proficiency with martial weapons means I didn't need the weapons master feat and I get the wrath of the storm lightning which is also doubled when they are wet adding to the retribution damage. I am currently 1 sorcerer, 2 wizard, 3 cleric. Its so much fun and is making my honor mode run a cake walk (so far... I'm still in act 1)
The key for vault 4 is in the temple of Umberlee (water monster god in lower city) in the bedroom/office of the high priestess on the top floor of the temple
The Neverwinter shirt when discussing an ice build is greatly appreciated
The trident doesn't seem to freeze enemies anymore, it still seems to create the water surface and even freeze it at times but not the enemy itself, bummer.
Edit: nevermind, i was using the woe weapon instead of the flail since i could transfer the elemental age but didn't realize that the chill effect was from elements of the epoch which is not transferrable lol.
Definitely slotting this in my honor mod list after my oops all monks which will use Alternate Monk - Complete Class and Subclass Rework mod for a lot of variety
Don't forget create water can be cast as a cantrip (Works on clerics, didn't seem to work for druids). I believe the description over the action describes it as a spell, but when you cast create water in this way it does not consume a spell slot. It makes a puddle about the size that throwing a water pot would be, and it is not permanent water like spell version. It only lasts 2 turns or so.
I literally just started a run with this build included yesterday, what a timing lmao. I'm looking forward to see your version though, as always :)
Colby! Nice video. I think adding special items and their effects are awesome because that increases build diversity and creativity.
I have been thinking about a barbarian rogue tank with Adamantine shield and cloak of displacement. If you could get your AC high enough, I think you’d likely never be hit!
You can also get Armour of Agathys from Bard's Magical Secret, Magic Initiate: Warlock (lvl 1 only) and Icebite Robe (lvl 3 only)
Yeah, but I’d consider upcasting basically mandatory.
You can get Armour of Shadows eldritch invocation to cast Mage Armour repeatedly by swappimg armors, then pre buff your Armor of Any.
Thank you, your build inspired me create abjuration wiz 10/1 tempost cleric (heavy armor and lightning reflect) 1 dragon blood sorcerer (Armour of Agathys). Funniest solo honor mod
It's wild that I built a White Dragon Sorc 1 / War Cleric 1 / Abjuration Wizard 10 to make a gish that capitalizes on this combo but I prioritized Int and it ended up being the most powerful Wizard possible due to the scroll/spell slot synergy. Absolutely unkillable and can cast any spell or bop the enemy for mad damage
I've already been running an extremely similar build and love it. Great video.
After playing this build I find it hard to get foes to attack it even with my AC lower than my other team mates (19). I came across the Paladin spell "Compelled Duel" and thought this would be a perfect fit for this build. So I'm going to go 2 Sorcerer (Allows you to twin the spell), 2 Paladin, and 8 Wizard. Wish me luck.
I worked something like this around level 8 specing as a Sorcerer draconic lightning.
Dip intoTempest cleric.
Two level dip into warlock for the free arcane ward Eldritch invocation. . .
Then wizard all the way out.
This can change end game build for sure
In my current game, I built Gale in exactly the same style of mixing Arcane Ward with Armor of Agathys to have a frontline spellcaster, while also making them still primarily a spellcaster and maximizing Wizard levels to get extra stacks of Arcane Ward so you don't have to rely on a Warding Bond cleric back at camp. Here's how I set him up:
As soon as I can, I respec Gale with the starting stats: STR 8, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 17, WIS 12, CHA 14
I then take the first level in Warlock, taking Eldritch Blast and Blade Ward as my cantrips and Armor of Agathys and Hex as my spells. By process of elimination, I took Great Old One as the patron, as you won't benefit from Fiend since you can only have one source of temporary HP at a time (and on this build that's AoA), and the Archfey buff takes your action to use and we'll have much better things to do with our action a majority of the time. So Great Old One is going to provide the biggest benefit.
The thing to note with this build is that proficiency or Advantage in Constitution saves for Concentration checks doesn't really matter, since you actually have to take damage to trigger a Concentration check. If your Arcane Ward (after damage reduction) reduces the damage to zero or less, you don't even have to make the save.
Then I take another level in Warlock and for Invocations I pick up the Armor of Shadows and Repelling Blast. For spell I took Hellish Rebuke, so I have something to throw back at ranged enemies early game. Repelling Blast is likewise handy for some early game battlefield control in a pinch.
The real pickup is the Armor of Shadows Invocation. What this does is allow you to cast Mage Armor at will without using spell slots. As Mage Armor is a 1st-level Abjuration spell, it gives us a stack of Arcane Ward. You can then cancel Mage Armor by putting on any suit of light armor, switch back to your robe or other clothing, and recast Mage Armor for another stack of ward. This allows you to top off your Arcane Ward between fights charges and start each combat with a full stack of Arcane Ward.
Then at level 3 I took a level in Cleric for the Tempest Domain, for two reasons. The first was as you mentioned: synergy with Wrath of the Storm lightning damage. For cantrips I picked Guidance, Produce Flame, and Light, and the 12 Wisdom lets you prepare two Cleric spells, and I picked Create Water and Sanctuary. This lets me use Gale as his own rainmaker and have a last resort emergency 1st-level Bonus action spell to avoid a dangerous situation if he gets surrounded and all his defenses suddenly go down, and give him free rounds in combat to recast what he needs. At this point his function in combat is primarily to start the fight with Create Water on a given enemy, then on his next turn cast Blade Ward for the damage reduction and run around intentionally provoking attacks of opportunity to make the wet enemies kill themselves.
At level 4, I took the first level in Wizard, and for cantrips I took Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, Bone Chill. For Wizard spells, my picks were Shield, Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Find Familiar, Enhanced Leap and Ice Knife. At this early stage, I had pretty good crowd control using a Warlock slot on Hex to give Disadvantage on DEX saves, followed by Chromatic Orb or Ice Knife to create an ice patch under an enemy which almost guarantees a knockdown. Later on after getting Mourning Frost you can swap to Hexing CON saves instead, making it much more likely you'll apply Chilled to enemies.
From here on out I levled only in Wizard:
Level 5- Abjuration specialist to pick up Arcane Ward. I start each day by upcasting Armor of Agathys in my highest Wizard slot available, and then use Arcane Recovery to regain that slot for regular use. I then top off my Ward stacks with the Armor of Shadows method mentioned above. There aren't many great spell picks due to the delay from other levels so I took Longstrider and False Life. At this point I also respec'd his stats to move the Charisma points into Dexterity to increase initiative, but this probably isn't necessary.
Leve 6 (Wizard 3)- here I took Cloud of Daggers for great sustained AoE damage and Flaming Sphere. The sphere doesn't really fit the theme, but at these early levels it's a decent source of damage and it can tank for you so it's a decent pickup.
Level 7 (Wizard 4)- Again, not many great spell picks so I took Mage Hand for the cantrip, and Blindness and Gust of Wind. Blindness is an amazing debuff that is a great way to neuter both spellcasters and ranged attackers that would otherwise get around your AoA damag. It lasts for 10 turns and doesn't take your Concentration. The real pickup at this level is the feat at Wizard 4 and I took Dual Wielder. This is an astounding gain for spellcasters as you get a +1 AC and you benefit from two staves at once. I used Mourning Frost and The Spellsparkler for the Lightning damage synergy with Wetness.
Level 8- Glyph of Warding, which you covered, and I also took Counterspell since you start to run into a lot of annoying casters from here on out and it's great to be able to shut them down.
Level 9- I grabbed Haste which is a great use for your Concentration, as you can now open with Create Water and then fire off Ice Storm or Glyph of Warding (Ice) in the same round. The extra movement also allows you more enemies to reach and provoke Opportunity Attacks from.
Level 10- Ice Storm and Fire Shield, which again you already covered.
Level 11- I nabbed Stoneskin, which is another incredible use for your Concentration slot and is a great alternative to using Blade Ward for Opportunity Attack farming. There isn't much else of interest so whatever other spell you want is fine. For the feat I took Ability Improvement to bump Intelligence twice, getting up to 20 if you can snag the Hag Hair.
Level 12- Finally able to pick up Cone of Cold which is just an absolute cold damage shotgun with the Wet condition.
As far as gear goes, here is what I used roughly in the order in which you can earliest acquire them:
-The Spellsparkler staff is great early game with this build for extra bonus damage from Lightning Charges.
-Winter's Clutches for gloves. These can replace the need to use Hex as they inflict two stacks of Encrusted with Frost debuff which gives Disadvantage on DEX saves.
-Necklace of Elemental Augmentation. Ray of Frost and Shocking Grasp are going to be big sources of damage and this adds your Intelligence modifier to it.
-Hoarfrost Boots. You are going to make a lot of icy surfaces with this build, and these are a handy way to make you immune to your own condition.
-The Protecty Sparkswall. I wore this robe for a long time. Very handy bonus to Spell Save DC, and synergizes well with Spellsparkler for a bump to saves with Lightning Charges.
-Snowburst Ring. An incredible pickup early in Act 2 that essentially allows you to use Ray of Frost to do the same crowd control as Ice Knife and Chromatic Orb. You can almost replace those spells entirely with a cantrip now.
-Coldbrim Hat. Once per turn this allows you to inflict 2 more stacks of Encrusted with Frost any time you apply any other condition to an enemy. Along with the gloves this means the first time you deal Cold damage each turn you'll apply 4 stacks of Encrusted with Frost. Once an enemy has 7 or more stacks, they have to make a DC 12 CON save or be Frozen, just as if you were to apply Wet to a Chilled enemy. So on the first round, you can wet the targets and use Glyph, Orb, or Ice Knife for 4 stacks on a group of enemies, and then on the next round repeat this for an additional 4 stacks forcing a CON save on the whole group.
-Other gear at this point is optional, but I rounded things out with the Fleshmelter Cloak which synergizes with the rest of the build by retaliating with Acid damage when you get hit, and the Bonespike Garb in act 3 which both reduces incoming damage and also retaliates with even more damage via your CON modifier in piercing damage on each hit. I also went with the Callous Glow ring in the other slot which is just a little extra damage on my outgoing spells. I also replace The Spellsparkler with Markoheshkir for extra spell save DC, Arcane Battery for a free fully-upcasted Armor of Agathys each day, and the Frost of Dark Winter buff from Kereska's Favor ability. This buff gets even more cold damage on all spells, cold resistance (for emergencies where you need to include yourself in your own area of effect), yet another stack of Encrusted with Frost, and a free casting of Cone of Cold and Ice storm each short rest, which are both excellent damage for the build.
That's about it. Let me know what you think.
Excited to see an item Focused build from you! In the future, if you do this again could you make a section of the video simply going through all recommended items? There are a few great cold focused items that would fit this build and we'd appreciate hearing how you'd optimize them on this build
The concept of this build is rockin, but i dont love the hit to arcane ward that 6 levels of bard takes. To me, the core needs of the build are: 3 attacks per turn, high level spell slots for agathys, and a juiced arcane ward. Best way to spam the ward is two levels of warlock to spam armor of shadows with the don armor/remove armor trick. As such, my build here would be warlock 2, temepst cleric 1, wizard 9. To get the extra attack, you haste yourself (you dont need concentration for fire shield or agathys). Now ive got the martials i need from tempest, the armor of shadows to spam my arcane ward to max with no spell slots, three attacks per turn from haste, and the icing on the cake is that having concentration up will mean more people targeting me, and thus more blasts from agathys.
Thanks so much for this build... I was trying to get back into Honor Mode after a little break, and this is going to be perfect for the white dragonborn that I initially rolled up as a sorlocke... One suggestion I might add: I feel like it would be helpful for viewers if, at specific level breakpoints or "story checkpoints," you could show an example gearset. Something like "beginning of Act II with/without the Headband of Intellect" or "level 5 with/without Morningfrost," just as an offhand example.
This video was a nat 20 tho m8! Keep up the great content (:
A good tip is to have multiple hirelings that you respec to clerics in camp and have them throw warding bonds on your party members.
We have only 3 hirelings at the same time, so respeccing one of your companions that you never or almost never use into a cleric as well for this use is smart.
Making them cast aid and different resist spells is also very good.
If you have Shadowheart much or all the time in your party as I often do, then you save using her spell slots by having hirelings and one camping companion doing all this for you.
All can make it to easy for many, but it can be a great help for hard fights or for beginners.
I still do it when playing harder modes or when playing solo.
Or when I try some rather far from top builds.
When you play solo, then it is plenty enough to use Shadowheart for this.
Make sure to have you clerics in camp to have max constitution to keep them alive.
Gale is self healing when taking damage left in camp, so it can be great to respec him into a cleric and let him be you cleric warding bond camp tank if you don't use him much or at all.
"Let's break some ice!" -- Ahnold as Mister Freeze probably
I think it’s best to stick with 1 sorc/ 1 tempest cleric/10 wizard, and use duelist’s prerogative one handed. You get full spell slot progression, great bonuses to arcane ward, weapon and armor proficiencies, you don’t need strength, and you can taunt enemies to force them to attack you and all the other cool stuff the rapier offers. I do really like the dual wield concept though.