Baldur’s Gate 3: The Great Old One Warlock build - blast them all!

I've had an absolute blast playing a warlock in battle skate 3. in this video I'm sharing my full warlock build with a great old one a subclass just like mentioned in my Barbarian Build I don't want to put too much emphasis on either race or background because both of these things cannot be changed during respecting a character instead I prefer to offer builds that also can be applied to Companions so simply pick whatever reason background you like it usually only has a marginal impact overall anyway the first thing I get as a warlock is two cantrips and a spell slot let's look into the can trips first late Ward can be interesting for some survivability but I wouldn't mostly pick it in a melee focused warlock build which this one is not going to be bone chill is devastating against some targets completely keeping them from healing back up the one Trend duration can make it hard though to time properly and it is useless if the enemies don't heal themselves at all Eldritch blast is the Cornerstone of this build and as such a guaranteed pick multiple beams per cast make for powerful ways of leveraging the scant trip France is good to further boost some dialogue options which the Warlock as a character Focus class is already perfect for magehand offers some utility when exploring and can theoretically also throw and shove some things I personally haven't grown thought of it yet though minor illusion is great in a more sneaky focused build where you want additional ways of controlling the detection area of enemies for today's build it is less relevant though poison spray is a solid Choice against enemies getting too close but it's not a must-have in any way through strike is good for setting up larger spells later on but since I will be choosing mostly area Focus spells next to algis blast it is less interesting each beam from aldrich's Blast has its own attack roll which means that true strike would only benefit part of a single cast rather than the full spell personally I go with poison spray here as the second option but aside from picking Eldritch blast it is fine to pick either of the remaining can trips subclass is up next and the decision comes with major differences in lifestyle including changes to some of the available spells to choose from the fiend subclass grants temporary hit points when killing enemies this is good for survivability but does also interfere with other means of gaining temporary hit points the grade all one boost critical hits by adding the possibility of area frightening against enemies and the archway allowed to attempt charm or frighten in a more controlled manner but it also comes at the cost of having to spend an action to cast it for my build here the great old one is a clear winner focusing on elders blast as a Cornerstone of the build means each cast shoots multiple beams and as such has multiple chances to crit and Trigger mortal reminder when it comes to the choice of spell that is important to understand what the purpose of the build is the idea is to boost Outreach blasts as much as possible which means my primary action each turn does not cause any spell slots spell slots are those meant to either boost Eldritch blasts even further or to provide opportunities of optimizing survivability t or the use of reactions a guaranteed pick from here initially is hacks hex adds additional damage to each attack and as such synergizes perfectly with Elvis blast as long as all beams are fired against the hex Target multiple beams benefit from the added damage due to the limited amount of spell slots for warlocks my second spell should add something more situational here I personally pick halish rebuke the reason is twofold one as a reaction it can allow me to deal significant damage outside my own turn and on top of that I am able to decide in each instance if activating it is worth the spell slot or not other options as per personal preference are fine next to hacks as well though I would just advise staying away from which bolt here which bolt excels by allowing it to be used every turn without causing another spell slot contrary to recasting hex though it requires an action to do so which interferes with casting Eldritch blast when it comes to the abilities pushing Charisma to 16 is a no-brainer considering it is my primary ability as a warlock the reason I don't go to 17 is because uneven numbers do not increase the bonus modifier so it would be a waste of points right now next up is dexterity to 16 as well this is relevant for a plus 3 bonus to Armor class in order to get more survivability and for an increase to initiative in order to go early during a fight I then set Constitution to 14 to push my health points as high as possible and to get a plus 2 modifier on Constitution saving throws this is relevant as well when taking damage in order to not lose concentration that some spells require such as hacks for example for the rest it is a matter of personal preference I personally accept a lower intelligence because I get too frustrated by the incredibly short jumping distance of strength 8 characters there obviously are ways around that but it always is such a nuisance during exploration so that's why I pushed strength higher here skill proficiencies can be chosen somewhat freely personally I go for acrobatics to increase my resistance against being shaft and then I pick deception and intimidation for additional options during dialogue at level 2 I get some additional Health with this true for all levels aside from that I also get a second spell slot and can pick one more spell and two Eldritch invocations most of the time at this stage I want to use my spell slots for hacks and the reactive use of hellish rebuke so the choice of spell matters only marginally personally I choose arms of hater here it deals damage to enemies close to me and might even be enough to kill one of them if not it also has a chance to successfully prevent reactions which means I could then run away without risking an opportunity attack this would get rid of the threatened status effect for me and make my range spells better again in terms of invocations the decision is much more important and both are more or less a given already agonizing blast is the first one it boosts the damage of every single beam of Blast by plus 3 already due to the Charisma modifier and this gets only more powerful as Charisma is increased further and additional beams get added to each blast armor of Shadows could be useful if Ray's Choice doesn't Grant Proficiency in certain armor types but I wouldn't pick it personally due to more favorable choices available this speech is a no-go for me being able to speak to animals is absolutely great in general throughout the entire game but there are other options to unlock this potions Scrolls or a barbarian companion with a wild-heart subclass are amongst them begueling influence is a good choice when focusing on dialogue over combat but this is not the case for that particular build here Devil's side is a solid Choice without a doubt if The Race Choice doesn't Grant some dark vision already it can theoretically also get picked over repelling blasts as a second invocation here I personally prefer the push effect bow and tend to tackle darkness in other ways or later Finnish Vigor while boosting survivability is simply not strong strong enough in my personal opinion mask of many faces would be another good choice for something more dialogue focused but in this case it's not relevant for me one with shadows would be great as a bonus action but as an action and interferes with Eldritch blast too much for me repelling blast is my personal second choice here the push effect can be toggled on and off on demand and it offers great ways of keeping enemies at a distance to avoid getting the threatened status effect also the world is filled with areas where it is possible to push enemies down for additional damage or even into chasms for instant death FIFA 5 Fates is a no-go for me as well since he cannot have more than one concentration spell active and I do plan to utilize either hex or cloud of daggers more intensely and the latter one gets also unlocked on the next level already at level 3 I get an upgrade to level 2 spell slots which opens up a bit more flexibility during combat on top of that it's also time to choose a boom in terms of spells first cloud of daggers is a clear winner for me here it deals damage natural cast and at the beginning of a character's turn furthermore enemies can be shoved or thrown into the area of damage and with proper positioning it is also possible to have enemies simply run through themselves due to choke points for example the only downside is that it requires concentration too so I have to choose between hexa cloud of daggers at any time when it comes to the Boon there are three choices pack of the chain allows me to summon a familiar from a variety of options this opens up ways for additional damage distraction of enemies as well as status effects such as blind or frightened pack of the blade is mostly relevant for melee focused warlocks that also want to deal damage with weapons that is not the case for me here and pack of the Tome adds additional useful can traps but all of them cost an action when used which means something else would have to give and I don't want to sacrifice the focus on Eldridge blast and the synergies being built around it so my choice is clearly packed of the chain because I can flexibly choose what type of familiar AIDS me best in a given situation Edition also as another body on the battlefield it can do some damage on its own and keep some damage and other harmful effects from my wallet at this level I also replace arms of hater with Misty step Misty step opens up more opportunities to leverage my bonus actions also it is a safer option to get away from enemies close to me and it even makes it possible to easily reach high grounds that then Grant a plus two bonus on every attack roll at level 4 I start by picking another can trip this isn't relevant really at this point so choose whatever you prefer personally I go for friends here to get some extra boost during dialogue next up is another spell we're still at spell level 2 so nothing major was added yet with Eldritch blast hacks and cloud of daggers logged in as my main spells for now this is another opportunity to pick something that suits personal play style I do like mirror image here because it adds a layer of protection when needed and while it does cost an action rather than a bonus action its bonuses usually last for more than one her I also get to choose my first feat in the end all feed choices for this build come down to choosing ability Improvement twice with plus 2 Charisma each time to max out the primary ability and then on top of that I choose spell sniper to increase my chances for critical strikes due to multiple beams for each outage blast later on this feed increases in value since every beam has its own attack roll on top of that it also synergizes well with the subclass passive model reminder from the great old one spell sniper only becomes really powerful later though as Outreach blast beams increase in quantity as well so I choose the Charisma Improvement first here which boosts success chances during dialogue improves my hit chance and gives a guaranteed bonus to all beams as well due to the agonizing blast invocation chosen earlier at level 5 my pack is deepened which for me means that any familiar that has summoned gets an extra attack when attacking during their turn this means a bit more damage outside my turn since the Familia is controlled separately spell slots also get upgraded to level 3 at this point providing a new range of spells here counter spell is one that works well in this build because it allows to improve reactions even more doing more beneficial things outside my turn while dealing lots of damage when I can use my own actions is a great way to increase overall efficiency before getting counter spell though I prefer to pick hunger of hater here though as a concentration spell it does compete with hex and cloud of daggers since all of them cannot be active at the same time but where cloud of daggers is amazing in tight spaces or when multiple enemies are close together hunger of Hada comes with a much larger area of impact the this means it allows me to damage more enemies at once while also providing other benefits such as blinded or difficult terrain at last there's also another invocation to choose while Meyer of mind and sign of ill Omen are added as new options my pick is Devil's side to ensure from here on that Darkness isn't something I have to worry about anymore regardless of whether or not it has natural or magical causes at level 6 the great old one subclass grants me entropic Ward this gives me even more options outside my turn by adding another reaction to my repertoire not only does this help with survivability it also offers another way of improving my own attacks this level is also where I pick counter spell to boost my reactions to the fullest now having hellish rebuke and counter spell with a spell slot cost and in Tropic Ward as well as opportunity attack without any extra cost at level 7 a bit of additional utility is added first I now have access to a few level 4 spells neither of those is really a reason to celebrate but I do like pick taking banishment to ensure some additional crowd control it can't hurt to be able to take a tough enemy out of the fight for two turns in terms of invocations I now also have access to book of ancient Secrets Dreadful word and sculptor of flash it doesn't really matter too much what is picked here though but personally I prefer a book of ancient Secrets because it adds some additional options that might be valuable in certain situations without costing any spell slots at level 8 it's another spell that really is up to preference again personally I picked dimension door to be able to potentially save an ally by teleporting them away with me in terms of feed it is an easy plus two Charisma again the overall bonus still outweighs something like spell sniper in my opinion especially since allerglass hasn't reached all beams per cast yet at level 9 new level 5 spells become available unfortunately neither of those really impresses me especially because they all require concentration as well that's why I personally choose blight here as another damage option another reason for that choice is the fact that warlocks always cast spells at the highest level so blight is cast as a level 5 spell and does deal more damage than shown here when it comes to the next invocation three new options are available with Whispers of the Grave otherworldly leap and Minion of chaos while I don't use it that often I personally pick minion of chaos here because the different element options allow me to exploit potential vulnerabilities of some enemies more efficiently at level 10 it remains rather unexciting in my opinion first I get some protection against psychic damage it isn't mind-blowing no pun intended but does still present itself as useful in some fights I also get to pick another can trip but that really doesn't matter much here personally I picked bone chill to add some necrotic damage that doesn't cost a spell slot to my repertoire in terms of spells we also didn't get anything new so the options are somewhat lackluster for the build I prefer going for something that is similar to Dimension doors so basically something that is more situational but might make a real difference when used that's why I choose Darkness here as it can buy some valuable turns when dropping it on a few enemies I don't want to be at 100 capacity during combat initially overall though the important part to reach warlock level 10 for is a third Beam on algis blast at level 5 a second one was added already and now at level 10 each Outreach blast shoots three beams that can even be shot at different targets at level 11 I can choose a single level 6 Bell this one does not cost any spell slots but is limited to one activation per long rest personally I go for I buy tier while it is a concentration spell as well sometimes pure damage is not the way to go and being able to put enemies to sleep for example can be quite powerful as another spell up to level 5 I definitely want to stay away from anything else requiring concentration so I picked dissonant Whispers while being a level 1 spell its damage does scale when being upcast at level 5. also it adds some psychic damage to my Arsenal and gives me the opportunity to frighten enemies at level 12 well if I add shatter which also scales upwards and damage and gives me some Thunder damage in case I come across any Thunder vulnerabilities just like last level though it really comes down to personal preference here as my last invocation I pick other worldly leap which adds to my movability without requiring a spell slot like Misty step for example life drink as a new invocation to choose is great in general but to really shine it requires a more meleeve Focus build ideally with pact of Blade closing out this build then is the last feat with charismat 20 already I personally pick spell sniper here this doubles my crit chances on every attack and with three beams per hour Blast by now this really adds up over time in terms of cantrip I prefer Raya Frost over Fireball because it also reduces the target's movement speed which does help to keep them at a distance but Fireball would be more than fine here as well I just stay away from the other two shock and grasp requires melee range and Thorn whip pulls enemies closer which is the opposite of what I want the build obviously placed differently in group but here's a quick example to Showcase its versatility and Effectiveness this is a solo fight against five Wolves at level 11 12 with a dozen Critters aiding them I activated otherworldly leap before the fight to reach my desired safety spot in turn 1. without having to spend a spell slot for Misty step or an action for dash I then carefully position cloud of daggers in order to have as many enemies as possible run through it When approaching me my familia is placed in a way to intercept some of the attackers which means less damage to my warlock multiple enemies immediately die or get damaged as they try to get close to me I then summon a fire Elemental as an additional body that keeps enemies at Bay while also dealing significant damage after multiple Critters dying in the cloud of daggers I use Eldritch blast to clear the space in front of me by pushing enemies away as soon as it's my fire Elementals turn again idea your area damage first and then teleport in front of my warlock now ensuring that anyone attacking my warlock in melee has to run through the cloud of daggers from here it's simply Focus killing anyone close to my warlock with Eldritch blast while the fire Elemental keeps tanking and doing area damage without also hurting my warlock in the end even the fire Elemental survives and my warlock took barely any damage at all not only that I also had one spell slot left that could have been used in case of an emergency and that's it for today this is a great and mostly straightforward build for anyone that wants to stay at range and blast enemies to death the reactions really add up over time and the flexibility around multi-targeting with a single cast also allows to keep even multiple enemies at Bay let me know in the comments below what your favorite play style is and don't forget to subscribe to the channel for more content like this in the future see in Balance K3 [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Polemos_RPG

Views: 21,580

Keywords: baldur's gate 3, balder's gate 3, balder's gate, boulder's gate, boulder's gate 3, warlock

Id: mA6C2LxOzFA

Length: 18min 45sec (1125 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 01 2023