I’ve been enjoying a Tactician mode play through of Baldur’s Gate 3 (Patch 8), particularly crafting my builds and party to handle the challenge.

There are loads of combat focused power builds online but far less discussion around party composition and the non-combat elements of the game, so I thought I’d dump some of my thoughts on the subject here.

Party Roles

To create a well rounded party there are six roles we need to cover; 4 combat and 2 non-combat.

With only four party members we’ll need at least two characters to do double duty, but this is easily achieved.

Combat

• Defender
  Defenders specialize in engaging enemies toe-to-toe in melee combat. They possess abilities which increase their own durability and punish enemies for ignoring or moving past them.

• Striker
  Strikers specialize in dealing large amounts of damage to a single target at a time. The possess abilities which help them reach their targets in combat or surprise them.

• Controller
  Controllers are masters of battlefield control. They possess abilities to kill, incapacitate, or impede enemies in large areas of effect.

• Support
  Support character are force multipliers. They possess abilities to empower their friends or debilitate their enemies.

Non-combat

• Face
  Faces specialize in NPC interactions. The possess abilities which help them pass dialogue checks.
  (Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception, Performance)

• Dungeoneer
  Dungeoneers are dungeon exploring experts. The possess abilities which help them to detect and deal with hidden objects, traps, mechanisms, and passage ways, etc.
  (Perception, Slight-of-Hand)

Party Composition

My party includes the following characters/builds to cover all of the Roles described above.

When planning my party I design the characters one at a time and add them to the role table below, making sure that all roles are covered at least once.

Through multi-classing it is pretty easy to cover all required roles with three characters, leaving the 4th character slot open for any type of character you fancy.

• Tav
  Paladin 5 / Warlock 7
  Face, Striker, Defender
  The Knight of the Far-Realms. A greatsword wielding Padlock.
• Shadowheart
  Cleric 6 / Monk 6
  Dungeoneer, Defender, Support
  The Spear of Selûne. A Radiating Orb melee Cleric.
• Gale
  Wizard 4 / Sorcerer 8
  Controller, Support
  The Arcane Savant. A battlefield controlling Mage.
• Karlach
  Barbarian 3 / Fighter 9
  Striker
  The Demon Hunter. A spear throwing Barbarian.

Action Economy

The final consideration, after ensuring that my builds cover the essential Party Roles, is Action Economy.

Baldur’s Gate 3 features a turn-based combat system derived closely from DnD 5e, with a few balancing changes.

In this system, every character has a limited pool of resources to spend each turn:

• Movement
• An Action: A major act, like making an attack or casting a spell
• A Bonus Action: An act, that your character makes almost instantly, like wildshaping

Ideally, every party member should make full use of their Action and Bonus Action every turn.

For example, in a single turn my Gale build can:

• Use Meta Magic Twinned Spell as a free action
• Use his Action to cast Haste on two characters
• Use Meta Magic Quicken Spell as a free action
• Use his Bonus Action to cast Fireball spell

For example, in a single turn while Raging my Karlach build can:

• Use an Action to Throw her spear twice with Extra Attack
• Use a Bonus Action to Enraged Throw her spear again