The new Honour Mode difficulty in BG3 has increased the challenge to a point where straightforward builds may not be the best option. If you want to have a chance at winning it in one save, you’d be best picking some of the best multiclass builds from this guide.
Best builds to defeat Honour Mode in Baldur’s Gate 3
Since bosses get new Legendary Actions, it is in your best interest to eliminate them as soon as possible, before they can complicate things for your party. Therefore, you will need all your party members to be able to deal big amounts of damage.
In this difficulty, enemies are more likely to resist your spells, so the most consistent form of single-target damage is generally through Attack Rolls and not crowd-control effects.
Always use elixirs, especially before important fights. And remember, there is no save scumming: if you try to exit the game in the middle of a fight — or turn off the electricity of your house when you feel you’ve gotten yourself in a dire situation —, the game keeps track of where you were and tries to write the save file even when you force exit. You are stuck with your decisions.
To have a successful Honour Mode run, I chose four party members who can deal lots of damage in the first round to eliminate the most serious threats. Healing won’t be the most important thing if you hit fast and hit hard.
Swords Bard Build for Honour Mode in BG3
At level 3, a School of Swords Bard gains the feature Slashing Flourish (among others). This feature works differently in tabletop Dungeons & Dragons, and it is so good in BG3 it seems to be a bug.
The game lets you use Slashing Flourish with a melee or a ranged weapon, and in its ranged form it shoots two arrows (could be directed to the same or different target), adding extra damage equal to a roll of a bardic inspiration die to each of the projectiles.
- This lets you start the combat with two attacks, but doesn’t count as an extra attack.
- Therefore, you can use the extra attack from the Swords Bard (unlocked at level 6) and shoot two more times (all this with a single action).
- Use Action Surge from a dip in Fighter to shoot four times more for a total of eight.
- If you are dual wielding crossbows, you get to shoot one more time with your bonus action.
Attributes
Although you could technically dump Charisma and Wisdom, I like to keep my character dialogue-ready, and give them some Wisdom for Perception (traps will be your worst enemy in Honour Mode), and for Saving Throws against many powerful spells.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 16 |
Race
- Wood Elves make the obvious choice for their Longbow proficiency (if you prefer to go that route instead of the crossbows) and their extra movement.
- Halflings are always a good option for their Luck feature, which allows you to reroll 1s.
Recommended spells
- Healing Word is always good to have in case a party member has fallen and it would be risky to wait until your healer’s next turn to revive them.
- Longstrider is a ritual, which means it doesn’t cost a spell slot to cast it outside of combat and it lasts all day. So you can increase the speed of your entire party before fights.
- Bane is a good concentration option, although you would want to be using your actions to shoot and leave the casting to someone else.
- Silence can stop enemy Spellcasters from using their spells, and force them rellocate.
- Plant Growth isn’t concentration based and it reduces creatures’ speed by four time, which makes it good for delaying enemy reinforcements from joining the fight.
Progression
Here is a breakdown of the level progression from the start of the game, however it is worth trying to respec at higher levels and start over with Fighter from level 1 to get Constitution Saving Throws.
| Level | Class | Important Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bard 1 | Inspiration |
| 2 | Bard 2 | Song of Rest |
| 3 | Bard 3 | College of Swords (Defensive, Slashing and Mobile Flourish) |
| 4 | Bard 4 | DEX to 18 |
| 5 | Bard 5 | Font of Inspiration |
| 6 | Bard 6 | Extra Attack |
| 7 | Fighter 1 | Fighting Style: Archery |
| 8 | Fighter 2 | Action Surge |
| 9 | Fighter 3 | Subclass Champion (CRIT on 19) |
| 10 | Fighter 4 | Sharpshooter Feat |
| 11 | Bard 7 | |
| 12 | Bard 8 | DEX to 20 |
Eldritch Knight Build for Honour Mode in BG3
Weapon throwers are a versatile damage dealing build since they can fight ranged or melee. The key of this build resides in using the Tavern Brawler feat to double the Strength modifier of your thrown attacks. In addition, the Eldritch Knight is able to bind their weapon to return to their hand right after they throw it.
- At the start of the game you will be better off using a typical melee build. However, with Action Surge and Extra Attack from Fighter, you would soon be able to make four thrown attacks in the first round of combat.
- At level 5, you can dip one level of War Cleric to gain three bonus action attacks per Long Rest.
- The Alert feat will give you better initiative and you will be making five attacks before the enemy takes an action.
Attributes
Although Eldritch Knights use Intelligence to cast spells, this build will be focused on thrown weapon damage, so you should pick utility spells that don’t need an Attack Roll or a Saving Throw.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
Race
- Githyanki is the best choice since you gain the Misty Step spell to reallocate to higher ground.
- Halfling is always a solid option because of their Luck.
Recommended spells
- Shield uses a reaction which leaves your action free for combat, and bumps up your AC in critical moments. Use most of your spell slots for this.
- Protection from Evil and Good is a spell that lasts the whole day. Since you won’t be using your concentration for other significant spells, this is a good one to have.
- Fog Cloud can be useful to pickpocket or escape from a fight if things go south.
- Magic Missile is useful in a few situations, particularly against the Hag’s illusions.
Progression
| Level | Class | Important Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fighter 1 | Fighting Style: Defence |
| 2 | Fighter 2 | Action Surge |
| 3 | Fighter 3 | Eldritch Knight Subclass, Weapon Bond. |
| 4 | Fighter 4 | Tavern Brawler feat, increase STR to 18. |
| 5 | Fighter 5 | Extra Attack |
| 6 | Cleric 1 | War Domain, War Priest feature. |
| 7 | Fighter 6 | Alert Feat |
| 8 | Fighter 7 | Action Surge |
| 9 | Fighter 8 | STR to 20 |
| 10 | Fighter 9 | Indomitable |
| 11 | Fighter 10 | |
| 12 | Fighter 11 | Improved Extra Attack |
Druid Build for Honour Mode in BG3
Druids are the best tanks of the game since they can use wild shapes to absorb enemy damage. In addition, you can use conjures to summon minions that will absorb more enemy attacks.
- Moon Druids are the best in wild shape fighting, so you want to pick that subclass.
- All summons need to be made before fighting since most of the time you will be in beast shape.
- Take Perception proficiency, since traps can be deadly in Honour Mode and you need a high Wisdom character to be able to spot them.
- Get the Tavern Brawler feat because that doubles your Strength modifier for unarmed attacks, and most wild shapes hit with unarmed attacks.
Attributes
Although you could technically dump Charisma and Wisdom, I like to keep my character dialogue-ready, and give them some Wisdom for Perception (traps will be your worst enemy in Honour Mode), and for Saving Throws against many powerful spells.
I put 17 on Wisdom to use Ethel’s Hair to increase it to 18 later on, but if you feel you may not be able to get it (remember there is no save scumming here), then you can leave Wisdom at 16 and put those two points in Intelligence or Charisma.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 17 | 8 |
Race
- Because you will stay in Wild Shape for the most part, race isn’t as important. Therefore, Halfling is the best option for their Lucky feat.
- Gnomes are a great choice too because they have Advantage on Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence Saving Throws.
Recommended spells
- Guidance is a must cantrip for Clerics and Druids.
- Goodberry can be useful to revive fallen companions in combat. You can throw a Goodberry at them to give them 1HP.
- Hold Person is always useful against humanoids, particularly when upcasted since that allows you to target more than one enemy.
- Call Lightning is a powerful spell to use against the Steel Watch.
- Sleet Storm is great to break the concentration of an enemy caster, and it will also make enemies slip on ice.
- Conjure Woodland Being summons a Dryad that can also summon a toad and cast Entangle. You can use the dryad for crowd control while you switch into your wild shape.
- Conjure Elemental can be cast before combat and have another minion follow you to tank attacks and deal with the weaker enemies.
Progression
This is a pure Druid, focused on Wild Shape abilities. However, it is important to notice the order of the feats and have in mind the recommended spells for when you level up. You can always change the list of spells when out of combat.
| Level | Class | Important Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Druid 1 | |
| 2 | Druid 2 | Druid Circle (Circle of the Moon) |
| 3 | Druid 3 | |
| 4 | Druid 4 | Tavern Brawler feat |
| 5 | Druid 5 | Wild Strike (extra attack for Wild Shape) |
| 6 | Druid 6 | Primal Strike (magical damage for Wild Shape) |
| 7 | Druid 7 | |
| 8 | Druid 8 | +2 to Wisdom |
| 9 | Druid 9 | |
| 10 | Druid 10 | Improved Wild Strike (make 3 attacks per action), Myrmydon form |
| 11 | Druid 11 | |
| 12 | Druid 12 | Max out Wisdom if you haven’t, or get the Alert feat. |
Light Cleric Build for Honour Mode in BG3
While the Druid and Bard can dish out some healing, you will need one more support healer who can deal AOE damage. The Light Cleric not only goes in theme in case you want to use Shadowheart for that, but also is a good blend between a damage dealer and a healer.
- The spell selection will be a mix of fire and radiant damaging spells and some healing and restoring effects.
- However, most of the damage from this Cleric will come from the Spirit Guardians spell. This concentration based spells lets you damage enemies who get into a 10ft radius, so you can use your action for any other thing and just walk towards an enemy to harm them.
- For that, you will need good mobility to be able to walk the battleground and touch as many enemies as you can with your AOE. Therefore, you should take two levels in Rogue to get cunning action Dash.
Attributes
I try to keep at least a 12 in Strength in case it becomes necessary to hit with the melee weapon. I already planned on using Ethel’s Hair for the Cleric so we can go with a flat 16 in Wisdom.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 8 |
Race
- High elves or half-elves are great to get an extra cantrip and take Fire Bolt since Clerics lack good damage-dealing cantrips.
- A Zariel Tiefling is a solid alternative which gives you a few useful smites in case you want to deal more melee damage.
- Githyankis give you a few extra proficiencies and Misty Step.
Recommended spells
- Guidance is a must cantrip for Clerics too.
- Sacred Flame is good against low Dexterity enemies.
- Healing Word to revive fallen allies. Since you will have two bonus actions you can bring two up on the same round.
- Spirit Guardians is the bread and butter of this build, you will be able to damage enemies just by using your movement.
- Bless is great to help your party save against spells and hit more consistently. Just beware of not casting it when you are concentrating on Spirit Guardians.
- Lesser Restoration to cure from blinded, paralyzed, and other status.
- Fireball to have a solid AOE damaging spell.
Progression
This progression focuses on a multiclass option with 2 levels of Rogue for extra movement. However, you could put 3 levels in Rogue instead, and go for the subclass Thief which grants an extra bonus action.
That is not what I did because I wanted to get to Cleric 10 to have Divine Intervention. The feature, which can only be used once per character, could be a game-saver move if one of the battles gets out of hand.
| Level | Class | Important Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleric 1 | Warding Flare |
| 2 | Cleric 2 | Radiance of the Dawn |
| 3 | Cleric 3 | |
| 4 | Cleric 4 | Feat: Wisdom to 18 |
| 5 | Cleric 5 | Destroy Undead |
| 6 | Cleric 6 | Improved Flare |
| 7 | Rogue 1 | Expertise |
| 8 | Rogue 2 | Cunning Action (Dash and Disengage) |
| 9 | Cleric 7 | |
| 10 | Cleric 8 | Feat: Wisdom to 20 |
| 11 | Cleric 9 | |
| 12 | Cleric 10 | Divine Intervention |
For more on Baldur’s Gate 3, check out BG3 Divination Wizard Build Guide here on .