The BEST MELEE WARLOCK in BG3 - Lore Friendly Wyll Build Guide
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- čas přidán 3. 11. 2023
- Want Wyll to mix it up in melee as the dashing swordsman he was always intended to be? Want to output incredible damage, both in terms of burst and sustained firepower, at both melee and range? Want to have full Warlock spellcasting and incredible mobility to boot? Look no further! This build is the best Hexblade around without Hexblade even existing!
This character uses Pact of the Blade Fiend Warlock, Oath of Vengeance Paladin, and Storm Sorcerer to get powerful spells, devastating attacks, unrivalled damage in melee and at range, and all with a heaping pile of grace and charm! - Hry
I use wyll as a swords bardlock with the duellist prerogative, helm of acuity, and band of mystic scoundrel. 3 main action attacks per action, and the option to use the bonus action for either attack or a control spell. Works really well and feels like his character since he does a lot more touting and bragging than we actually see him doing heroics.
I just wanted you to know, I appreciate your help with my classes. When it comes to my companions I needed help with being the best I could possibly be in my new playthrough. I have found that I am borderline OP when it comes to most scenarios which has helped me enjoy the story progression of the game itself. So thank you. You have rightfully earned a subscription.
incredibly succinct, straight to the point. you're able to give valuable information the whole 30 minutes and it's incredible
kudos for use of the word succinct. You don't see that word often enough.
I like the idea of starting him out as a paladin! It fits his character and backstory really well.
I wouldn't because a big part of his story is that he lacked any kind of power or skills of his own which is why he entered the pact to begin with.
@@QuestionableObjectSo he was a crap Paladin then.
@@billybatts8283 A paladin with no powers is a fighter.
Fighter would fit his story better. A paladin wouldn't resort to making a deal with the devil for more power.
@@aleccrespo2381well there were the Paladins of Tyr you meet in act one.
Perhaps if you took Oathbreaker that would fit, though you wouldn’t get inquisitors might and spiteful suffering just isn’t that good.
Have nothing great to comment I just try to make a point to comment on all of your videos I watch to help with engagement. Honestly appreciate all you do. Top bg class builder imo
That sorceror dip was pretty slick. I like that. I have built this very similarly, but finished it with just warlock in my plays. I will try the sorceror dip to see how I like that the next time I play. I do like the fact this one makes Wyll an actual blade-focused character, which he's always bragging about in-game, so it fits the theme well. I've always liked using the darkness/devil sight combo as well.
Thanks! Yeah I think sorc is the second-best 1-level dip in the game (after only cleric) so it's always worth checking if it can add something to a build!
And yeah exactly - the man never stops talking about his blade the least we can do is actually give him one :P
I'd consider grabbing Magic Missile with that Sorc dip to deal with Unstoppable stacks--if you don't have another character that can handle that easily.
Thank you for all your great builds. I am currently running about with your suggestions for Minsc and Jaheira and they are a lot of fun. =) I'll use this one to give Wyll some retraining.
Great video! Well put and easy to understand while still delving into the details.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it :D
Love the video, raised some stuff I found with Wyll which was him lacking and solutions I tried more in line with your solutions slightly different but ended up with Wyll being Paladin Warlock.
I love your builds! I just wish you had a website or something that we could see the builds in text haha. Even a patreon would be great! Keep up the good work!
Rogue would be a decent final level dip - the sneak attack synergizes with divine smite as extra damage instances that benefit from crits and damage riders
First of all, I love the setup here and it's fantastic. I appreciated the pacing and in-depth breakthrough.
That said, I think losing 2 levels of warlock (So only lvl 7 instead of 9) to pickup 3 levels of sorcerer, so you can bonus action your cantrip.
This, combined with the arcane synergy ring you can get (which stacks with PAct of the blade), would allow you to triple dip on your CHA for your 2 attacks per round. And, since smite is capped at 5d8 damage, your actual smite damage, should you choose to you it, doesn't get reduced at all. That arcane synergy lasts 2 rounds per use. The problem there obviously, is that you lose 1 ASI if you do that.
Alternatively, if you just go Lockadin in a 7/5 split, you'll get 3 attacks (I know, I know, it's bugged), still get 4 ASIs and a maximum level smite slot.
Finally, especially if Wyll is your main character. Using 2 ASIs to get up to 20...... there are ways in game without the birthright help of getting up to another +4 in CHA (1 in Act 1, 3 in act 3 [may be bugged]), to enable other helps for you. Maybe the -1 to crit while obscured, and add in the -1 to crit bow as well.
Just thoughts, obviously BG3 doesn't require that level of min-max, but I just thought I'd offer it for fun.
Hey, thanks so much! Appreciate the kind words and love the detailed breakdown.
Sorc 3 is also an excellent build imo, though you do lose some of the short-rest-only power of the build since sorcery points regenerate on long rest. Definitely a powerful option, but the 1/day quicken I think does fall short of an extra ASI and 5th level spell access.
I actually went and looked it up since they didn't change the blade pact stacking extra attack in this latest patch, and apparently Larian have said it's intended to stack and give 3 attacks/round. I also thought it was a bug so didn't include it, but since it's on purpose it's definitely extremely powerful! Certainly the best option once you hit level 10 I think.
I try to keep the companion builds without Ethyl's deal since i assume most people put that on their main character if they take it, but definitely an excellent option for an origin Wyll, needing one fewer asi is obviously huge.
Thanks for taking the time, big fan of these discussions!
you could also go 11 warlock to get the necrotic attack and 1 level dip in fighter to get prof with armor and fighting style 2h and get sorrow. that way you get the thorn whip as a bonus action
I really love the concept, but it's a misconception that the hexblade is THE warlock melee archetype. Pact of the blade was in 5th edition well before the hexblade, if larian intended hexblade to be the melee warlock they could've implemented it the same. Pact of the blade, although often not as strong, is the dashing swordsman warlock.
Thanks for your work, your videos are great inspiration and guidance source! I have one question which still I think I don't fully into. How would you suggest in-battle interaction between party members in the context of casting Darkness? Does this tactic involve having some abilities for seeing in the darkness for other party members? Or other characters should just focus on enemies that are not covered with darkness?
I started a Wyll MC run and really wanted to do a 1H + shield Pala/Lock, so I'm glad I've stumbled into your channel.
Everyone builds 7 Pally / 5 Lock for the 2 extra attacks, but that feels cheesy to me, since they disabled it in Honour mode for a reason.
I was thinking of going 8 Pally / 4 Lock to maximize Feats and throw a Savage Attacker in there, since Smites generate so many damage rolls. Do you think this could be a viable option ?
The Sorcerer dip I didn't ever consider, but it's actually pretty smart ! Doesn't really fits RP-wise for Wyll though, but still interesting to keep in mind.
Oh, and excellent guides !
Please continue making your Origin char builds, I really love thematic builds that feel believable RP-wise and your guides have proved excellent in that regard.
(For inspiration, I'm currently looking into a TB Barb/Monk build for Karlach and one that would include Shadow Monk on Shart.
Also recently discovered you can use GWM on sneak attacks with versatile finesse weapons like the Phalar Aluve, if you 1H them with an empty 2nd hand, so maybe some fun melee assassin build could be done with that in mind)
Thank you for these videos. I really appreciate them!
Question, don't you think Wyll fits more the Swords Bard multiclassed with Fighter/Warlock to be more his character?
Thanks very much :D
I definitely think sword bard is a great interpretation of Wyll's character as well - I was honestly surprised after his intro that he wasn't one! It's still very weird to me that the game gave us no bards and instead we got two druids.
this is what I looking for 😮 nice build
Thanks! Glad it helps :D
Another cool build, and yeah, very lore appropriate, Wyll is very much Palalock by definition
But just a note, 5th level Smites are not a thing (or shouldn't be). The damage caps out at 5d8 (+1d8 against undead/fiends), so using 5th level spells slot does nothing.
I have my current Durge specced similarly, but for mostly RP reasons:
Started as 2 levels of Dragon Sorc (grab Shield+Jump+Featherfall for utility)
Keep grabbing PotB GOO Warlock when the Urge start waking and causing bard-related indcidents after leaving the Nautiloid until level 9 (getting 4th level slots)
Grab 3 Vengeance Paladin when resisting the Urge and swearing vengeance on the cultists who messed you up
True! The 5th level spell access is mostly nice to upscale your actual spells (armor of agathys for example is great when cast at level 5, and the elemental summon is excellent). The build you mentioned is also great! I might consider going Paladin 2 / Warlock 7 / Sorc 3 though, to get access to Quicken Spell - it's extremely strong!
I have some thoughts on this because my character is a pally/warlock. If you level pally to 5 and warlock to 5, you get 3 attacks per turn rather than 2 with your pact weapon. I then added 2 levels of bard to get additional spell slots. With your build, you hit hard but may suffer from still only having 2 warlock spells slots. If you darkness to fight and throw a counterspell, you don't have any left to smite with. Once i burn my bard/pally spell slots, if necessary I chug a potion of angelic reprieve after the fight is over. I also still wear gloves of the growling underdog from Act 1 to get advantage on all melee attacks when surrounded by 2 or more foes.
One level war cleric and you can do a main hand attack with your bonus action three times
True! Definitely worth considering over the sorc dip. I think on balance I *slightly* prefer access to Shield and the mobility, but the extra attack is also very strong. Great suggestion!
I’ve really been enjoying your content and builds, and I was excited to play this one. However, in current gameplay at lvl 4 (1 Paladin/3Warlock) I’m just underwhelmed. Both eldritch blast and melee are low hit percentages and low damage. This is the first slowdown and lot of game from 4 to 5 and Wyll feels like a tag-a-long compared to rest of group. Was this build more for a late game respec rather than playthrough? Thanks.
Thanks! So a couple things - make sure you're using Darkness to get advantage where appropriate, and make sure you've bound your Pact weapon after every long rest, so your melee attacks will be using charisma. Your melee attacks won't really come online until next level when you get smites though - at level 4 you're still more a ranged warlock than a melee character. Hope that helps!
I'm probably gonna turn wyll into this hahaha. Side note, agonizing blast only adds charisma mod to eldritch blast not your melee attacks. Thats for the warlock pactboon pact of the blade
Awesome, let me know how it goes! And yeah sorry if that was confusing, you get agonising blast for EB since that's still an incredible ranged option, and then add 2x your charisma to melee from blade pact and the vengeance paladin feature (when it's active)
@@CephalopocalypseAhh I see, it's more for the utility of making EB significantly more powerful as it's your go to for ranged, but it doesn't directly effect Melee. The Charisma bonus to melee comes from pact weapon and vengeance paladin (when active). Thanks!
Your videos are so great, I’ve got Helldusk armor should I give it to Laezel, Wyll or Karlach??
Thanks! Helldusk armor is actually best on characters that don't get heavy armor proficiency at all, since it counts as proficient, so you can really boost the ac of a wizard in some cases. It also (unless they changed this, I haven't checked recently) has the secret unlisted property that you can rage while wearing it even though it's heavy, so it works very well for barbarians
The lack of the cantrips "green flame blade" and "booming blade" definitely hampers the melee warlock. These are the go-to cantrips for a spellsword in dnd
Yeah, it's true! If you're on PC, there are mods that add them though
I built pretty close to the same but mine is still a work in progress. Some difference in levels but the biggest difference is I go the great old one subclass for mortal reminder. I set up shadowheart as a light cleric for the reaction and polearm with the sentinel feat. I keep them together as my front line, if they attack my warlock, shadowheart gets a free attack on them. Bunch of CC capabilities like frightened among others but I still haven't beaten the game yet, maybe this is a better way
Love your build videos. I have a hard time recommending melee classes taking less than 5/5 for pact of blade.
Getting an extra attack from BOTH pact of blade AND the melee class, that stack, is just too strong. It also mitigates warlocks only getting 2 spell slots. Granted they're short rest spells, but one you cast darkness that's only 1 smite per battle. And that's if you're resting after every encounter.
Thanks so much! I hadn't wanted to recommend that because I had thought the extra attacks stacking was a bug, but since the new patch didn't change it I looked it up and it seems like Larian have confirmed it's intended to give you 3/round. Given that, it's definitely a powerful option!
You do lose access to 5th level spells which are of course very strong, and don't get Shield (and 1st level spell slots for smites) from the sorcerer dip. So it's not all upside, but it for sure gives you more sustained damage in long fights. Good suggestion!
They officially replied and said the stacking extra attack IS intentional. I do my levels in 4s. I like feats.
@charlesbryson7443 Just consider the 5th level of lock or melee class as your Great weapon master feat, except it's just a free extra attack.
Much stronger than having to use a bonus to attack again.
@@Cephalopocalypse I've come to terms that's not a bug because imo, it's either 3 melee hits or 3 eldritch blasts. At least, that's the way I'm playing it. If the extra attack didn't stack, I honestly wouldn't bother with meleeing outside of divine smites. I like having the option/idea to melee things close to me (might outdamage eldritch blasts) but also keep the range utility + knockback of eldritch blasts.
There's already a lot of op builds in the game, I was hoping the extra attack stacking needing 10 levels wouldn't be an issue when elixir doping/tavern brawler is in the game lol
Levelling breakdown from the video:
Hexblade/Bladelock
Level 1 - Paladin 1:
Abilities :
• Strength - 8
• Dexterity - 14
• Constitution - 16 (+1)
• Intelligence - 8
• Wisdom - 12
• Charisma - 16 (+2)
Subclass: Oath of Vengeance
Skills - Whatever you would like
Level 2 - Warlock 1:
Cantrips - Eldritch Blast, Blade Ward
Spells - Armor of Agathys, Hex
Subclass - Fiend
Level 3 - Warlock 2:
Spells - Expeditious Retreat
Invocations - Agonizing Blast, Devil’s Sight
Level 4 - Warlock 3:
Spells - Darkness
Replace - Hex with Misty Step
Pact Boon - Pact of the Blade
Level 5 - Paladin 2:
Fighting Style - Dueling
Level 6 - Warlock 4:
Cantrip - Minor Illusion
Spells - Command
Feat - Charisma +2
Level 7 - Warlock 5:
Spells - Counterspell
Invocation - Repelling Blast
Replace - Expeditious Retreat with Hunger of Hadar
Level 8 - Warlock 6:
Spells - Any L3 spell
Replace - If needed
Level 9 - Warlock 7:
Spells - Wall of Fire
Replace - If needed
Invocation - Armor of Shadows
Level 10 - Warlock 8:
Spells - Whatever you find useful
Feat - Charisma +2
Level 11 - Warlock 9:
Spells - Fire Shield
Invocation - Minions of Chaos
Level 12 - Sorcerer 1:
Cantrips - Utility cantrips
Spells - Enhanced Leap
Subclass - Storm Sorcerer
One thing I was wanting clarification on - when it comes to saving throws you have to make to whatever attack done to you. If you are a Barb for examples it adds the bonuses you get from Strength + Con on top of the points you get from your stats for the saving throw?
So you have to do a wisdom save but if your wisdom is average (0 bonus) the bonuses from Strength and Con get added on top of it?
Good question! So, not exactly. When you make a save, you roll using your bonus to that attribute (so a wisdom save uses your wisdom bonus). If you have proficiency in that save, you then get to add an extra bonus on top, which scales with your level. So if you're a barbarian it makes you better at passing strength and con saves, but doesn't help your wisdom save. Hope that helps!
@@Cephalopocalypse Yeah it did. Thanks didn’t know the first level pick was the pick you have through all the levels when it comes to the stat bonuses
I'm curious why you didn't mention Hellish Rebuke? I'm still a total noob with game mechanics, but when I did a simple respec 100% warlock (only to level 4 at the time) it worked pretty well in the Hag fight - but then I have nothing to compare it with.
Probably because you only have so many spell slots to use it at earlier levels, and in the later levels he offers better reaction spell options instead
I've been wondering what to do with Wyll, now that I've reached Baldur's Gate and want him in my party so I might give this a try.
One thing, warlocks do get spells every short rest, but very few of them. You are going to be very stingy with using spells with Wyll. Just one darkness per battle should be enough. With devils sight you can both snipe enemies with impunity using eldritch blast, and dominate the melee.
Also, Wyll makes Sharrans versus Shadowheart battle in act 3 a breeze. They do half the job for him by spamming darkness ...
Do you offer write ups?
19:58 I got +3 charisma from the mirror in act 3. Which Feat should I take insted of this one? Already at 22 CHA lol
Dexterity is always good for AC and AoE saving throws
Just a note that the spellcasting stat for paladin spells is Charisma, not Wisdom.
Haha, you're right! I've played too much D&D 3.5. WOOPS
Though arguably I think wisdom suit paladin more than charisma
I’m confused. My game does not show I can change the free skill option for race when reclassing Wyll. I only see the class skill options. How do you view/change the race skill?
Sadly it's bugged as of the last patch - the human companions' skills can't be changed. Hopefully will be fixed soon!
@@Cephalopocalypse thanks for answering! I’ve quite enjoyed playing some of the builds you’ve highlighted. It really helps newbs like myself understand WHY things are good and how to think through a build.
But if you use Phalar Aluve with Duelling fighting style the bonus won't proc, because it's a versatile weapon, would it?
You're right! I should have had 2 more damage for the example attacks, bad choice of weapon!
@@Cephalopocalypse Actually, Duelling still works for versatile weapons, as long as you don't use them with an empty second hand. So it procs just fine with a shield.
This is probably a dumb question, but does anyone know what skill wyll, minsc and gale's human versatility gives them proficiency in by default?
Wyll and Gale both get Persuasion, and Minsc I *think* is Survival but it's not listed on the wiki.
quick question, do you have to take armor of Ag at lvl 2? isnt it always prepared wether its in your list or not?
i did 5lock/ 7 ob paladin with 2h. that dude went nuclear
For sure! I did a build guide on that exact build only a few days ago, you can find it under "Breaking the lock(adin)" :D
Subbed.
I was looking for a good Melee Wyll build as I plan on doing a full blown simp playthrough. Wyll will do anything for his Patron and Karlach will be dying.
I don't understand what you mean by level 5 warlock giving us level 3 smite, can you please explain that?
Sure! Smite attacks use your spell slots - the damage of the smite is based on the level of the spell slot used. Warlocks get new spell levels every odd level, so at level 5 they have level 3 spell slots, which for warlocks also recharge on a short rest. You can spend those level 3 spell slots on smite attacks, doing tons of additional damage.
@@Cephalopocalypse Thank you for the reply, I'm new to this, but I'm following this build exactly. I'm paladin level 2, warlock 3. So I have a one-handed uncommon bound rapier 7-14 damage, with a shield and took duelist. Before I attempt a melee attack I'm using inquisitors might + divine smite, am I doing that right? I've only used the build for a couple of battles. It just seems like the melee damage is not outstanding considering the buffs, and eldritch blast way outperforms it, like hitting for 11 or less damage sometimes, does that sound right? I have no comparison because until now I had a pure caster build, and was never even attempting melee attacks.
I like going cleric first instead of Paladin for the ability to get three extra bonus attacks every long rest. Also, the ability to turn undead is not an inconsequential ability can be fairly useful
Interesting idea! I think giving up the damage from smite is pretty painful, since that's a huge amount of the available burst for this character, but I do like the extra war cleric attack. Cleric 1 instead of the sorc dip is worth considering!
@@Cephalopocalypse One MASSIVE downside though, is because you have to go cleric first so that you can get the CHA to effect your warlock stuff which means your extra attack from your war cleric happens first over your extra attack from your pact.
Once I noticed that I am starting to consider going paladin. But with paladin you have to roleplay a specific way or become an oath breaker, which means if you want to respec you have to spend 1k gold which can be annoying.
Around 13:00 you say "your save DC is going to be based on Wisdom," but Paladins use Charisma.
Yup, the perils of having played D&D for decades, in older editions they use wisdom but of course it's cha in 5e
I'm doing warlock/fighter now. Not the biggest burst, but great for minimizing long rests.
Also very solid! My other warlock build that's currently up uses fighter if you want to check out my take on it! :D
@@Cephalopocalypse As I said, the main goal of the build is to maximize sustain, not top DPS/burst. I'm thinking either 6/6 or 7/5 fighter/warlock, blade pact. Very solo capable due to darkness cheese and top charisma. Not as (broken) strong as a pure blaster, but I already played that last time.
Paladin start is the opposite of lore friendly, because the whole reason he entered the pact of the fiend was because he lacked any skills or powers (like being a paladin) of his own.
The Blade actually stands ready LOL
:D
in my playthroughs he always stands ready in camp, and i don't talk to him, so much whining lolz
There is a hexblade mod :)
I like dex based melee warlock. Using a certain rapier. Yuan-ti armor, ring/cloak of protection, risky ring, bhaals armor, horned helm, nightwalkers, and I forget which gloves. 4 paladin/8 warlock. Gotta have those feats! The loss of 1 attack is fine. The rapier + haste is more than enough.
True! I will likely cover some modded builds at some point, but this is as close as you can get with the vanilla game I think.
That build is great but I'd still strongly consider paladin 5 / lock 7, there really aren't many feats that beat an extra attack every turn!
Cool build, but I prefer my Wyll 3 lvl Battlemaster 9 Warlock. Makes him real master of the close combat.
Lore friendly... starts with Paladin?
Well spotted!
You get command from paladin, don’t get it as a lock
That's right of course, I just tricked myself by thinking we needed to avoid Save-DC-based spells on Paladin but since they use the same casting stat it doesn't matter at all. Just too many years of D&D 3.5 where Paladin cast off of Wisdom lol
Command is on the Fiend Warlock spell list
@@jimking8342so?
Incorrect, you get it from the fiend subclass
@@henrymckenzie6619 what are you arguing?
12:53 Healing word? Paladin spell save DCs based on wisdom? I think you're confusing paladins with clerics here. I'm pretty sure paladin spell save DCs are based on charisma, which means warlocks can take full advantage of all of them, so this is quite misleading. Good build, though!
this build just fundamentally does not work, unfortunately
combat flow will be walk up to enemy -> darkness
enemy will just eat the OA and walk out of the dark
you can't even hex them because hex competes for your concentration
it is just awful. even in some hypothetical best case scenario, the warlock is still getting 1 attack with advantage on an enemy
i'm trying to piece together a blade build myself, and it is just super hard because warlocks are a fundamentally gimped class in 5E. just pure garbage compared to everything else
i think probably the best use case is just leaning hard into the fact that warlocks can force disadvantage on saving throws and try to use that to do... SOMETHING. but IDK what
How is paladin lore friendly? he never take oath, he only want to hunt monster ranger fighter more lore friendly i think. Paladin supposed to hunt devil so isn't it hypocrisy to have a contract with a devil?
“Lore friendly”
“First, we’re gonna give him 2 levels of Paladin”
😐
I don't like that the warlock has so few spell points ;( a swords bard is much nicer
Is it true that Agonizing Blast adds your Charisma modifier to melee attacks? The way it's worded indicates that it only effects Eldritch Blast - is that wrong?
EDIT: Ahh I see! Agonizing Blast DOES NOT effect melee, but it's worth it for the significant improvement to Eldritch Blast - which is your go to ranged attack. See comment by @troddenleper8915!
It does not - sorry if I implied otherwise! We take it here because it gives you a great ranged option, which can force enemies to enter your darkness cloud and engage you in melee, and it's just the best invocation overall.
@@Cephalopocalypse All good! I agree it's still an amazing invocation and well worth it to take
Do a Minthara Paladin you coward. 😂
On the way! I'm just waiting for the stable version of the script extender to come out after the patch so I can mod her into that save file without breaking everything :P
where the fuck are timestamps?
Only people with basic manners get them, sorry. CZcams must have turned them off for you.
Time stamps should be illegal.
that's not a good guide for leveling. you should just either pick paladin(melee) or warlock(probably not take the blade pack, just take the imp/quasit, they're ok for low level) to lv5, the reason is simple, double attack at lv5. and respec to 2/5 paladin/warlock at lv7.
Darkness is only useful for solo. It's a waste of time for group play.
2 handed weapon isn't idea. The reason? you only got 2 feats for multiclassing and if you take the Great weapon feat you can't max out Cha. There're some good 1hander options, like the hag quest, like the deva hammer.
Just do 5/5/2 paladin, warlock, wiz and learn shield/haste for wiz. yes that mean you need to have 10 int to prepare 2 spells.
This is a guide to levelling without respecing. If you are finding darkness useless you should try it again - no save immunity to ranged attacks is one of the best defensive options in the game.
Also, you'll have better luck with questions or suggestions if you word them politely!
@@CephalopocalypseI absolutely agree. I actually meant to post a similar comment earlier but I think I decided against it when I realized my comment was almost as rude as his, only directed at him instead of you. Lmao
i just cannot stand his thirdperson whining. I would rather use a hireling. or the pc.
Sure! This build works for any character :D