A Quick-Start Guide to Multiclass in ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’
Multiclassing is one of the most powerful tools for building your character in Baldur’s Gate 3. And it’s easier than you think!
D&D and multiclassing have gone hand in hand since day two, basically. No sooner were there three distinct classes, than some player wanted to combine at least two of them together. Because who doesn’t want to both swing a sword AND cast a spell, am I right?
Flash forward almost fifty years, and now people are mashing together Paladins and Sorcerers. Bards and Warlocks. Wizards and pretty much everyone. There’s something for everyone in the multiclass arena, yes, even Monk.
So of course multiclassing is a big part of Baldur’s Gate 3. But before you go piling on class after class, there are a few key things to keep in mind. You’ve got to know both why and how to multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3. At least if you wanna take on those big boss fights with ease.
How to Multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3 – A Quick-Start Guide
First things first, let’s talk about how to multiclass. Because this one’s kind of hidden away in the game. And you won’t have access to this option until you attain 2nd level as a character. Once you do, instead of clicking through to see everything you get, you’ll want to find the button marked “Add Class” on the level-up screen. We’ve highlighted it above, in case you haven’t seen it. Which you might not have because it looks like a very fancy “close window” type button with its crossed hilts and all.
Click on that and you’ll be treated to the above window, which lets you pick out the class you want to take next. The neat thing about this is that unlike 5th Edition, you can freely mix and match classes.
In the tabletop game, every class has certain multiclassing minimums which are required to multiclass into or out of any given class. A Wizard has to have at least 13 Intelligence to multiclass into anything else, for instance.
Not so in Baldur’s Gate 3. Your dreams of playing a Barbarian who picks up a level or two of Wizard to be able to cast Shield can come true. And this applies to your NPC party members as well. You can turn Astarion into a Fighter/Rogue to pick up Action Surge. Or Shadowheart into a Fighter/Cleric to pick up Action Surge. The possibilities (of taking Action Surge) are limitless.
But Why Though
Now that you know how let’s talk about why you’d want to multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3. A very good reason might be because it feels like what your character would do. The more you roleplay and get into character in Baldur’s Gate 3, the better a time you’ll have.
But on top of that, there’s a very strong mechanical incentive to multiclass. Which is that through multiclassing you can gain more power. And access to abilities that open up whole new options for your class, like a Fighter’s Action Surge or a Sorcerer’s metamagic abilities.
Both of these options let you do more with your turn. Action Surge is a powerful ability that lets you take two actions on your turn instead of just one. And Metamagic gives you access to Quicken Spell which lets you cast a spell that takes an Action as a Bonus Action instead.
Here are some other combos you might want to try and what you get out of them:
Paladin/Sorcerer – a powerful melee combatant who typically takes Paladin levels to learn Divine Smite and other abilities (usually around level 6) and switches to Sorcerer for increased numbers of spell slots and more variety of magical abilities. More spell slots mean more smites. And Dragon Sorcerer is especially good given how much you can throw elements around in this game.
Warlock/Bard – Bard is a fantastic class in Baldur’s Gate 3 because of how skilled you can become. Warlock plays extremely well since the Pact of the Blade (at level 3 of Warlock) means all you have to focus on is Charisma for your melee attack and your spellcasting. This combo can lead to a very cool spell-slinging swordsperson. Combine College of Swords/Warlock of the Fiend and you’ll get some amazing options.
Fighter/Rogue – A classic combo that gives you powerful melee abilities from both classes (a Fighter with sneak attack can be devastating) while still also letting you use a wide variety of skills. Mix with Battlemaster for best results.
What are your favorite multiclass combos in Baldur’s Gate 3?
