Elemental Warden | Summoner build | Baldur's Gate 3

I've had my site set on creating a summoner build for a few months now and finally here it is so Summoners can struggle in the early levels of bg3 due to the fact that there are no potent Elemental summons until level seven at the earliest however it's definitely possible be a full Elemental caster and a Summoner at the same time so let's explore that idea firstly the disclaimers like always this is a concept first and optimized second style build focusing on the character's story and not the best possible damage this build is focusing on the three main elements fire lightning and Ice it's a fun build to play but summoning wise it does take a few levels to get started if you are just looking for optimization tips I will add a few at the end of the video so if that's all you're after check the time stamps if you missed the backstory for this build here's a link to that but most importantly you are a noble from elel you're a master of diplomacy Adept in dealing with man devil or more your ability to skillfully navigate these situations is second to none and you have always believed in talking first and violence only as a last resort although should your charisma ever fail you your magical prowess and connection to the elemental plane will keep those foes in check okay let's get into the build growing up you were trained in many areas and one of those was The Art of War you learned many weapons marshal or otherwise and of course were trained in the use of armor you train daily and built quite a muscular frame as a result though you were never truly invested in the more mundane forms of combat you still train your body and continue to this day after escaping your pod on the nordid your training took over you are struggling to reach the weave with the tadpole in your head and so character creation and we are starting as a fighter there are a few reasons for this but really it boils down to Constitution saving throw proficiency and heavy armor proficiency that's not all we get for being a fighter though we start the game with a set of medium armor and I like to think we were abducted during a training session all the armor is matching perfectly and I just think it gives me that Vibe we also get second win giving us a nice heal for our bonus action early in the game and finally we get a fighting style and defense gives us one additional AC or Armor class while we're wearing armor for our backstory we are a noble of course giving us Proficiency in Persuasion and history for our stats we are going eight in strength and I wish this could be higher roleplay wise it does feel a little weird not having it but it's the only one that I'm willing to completely dump tanning dexterity and we will be using heavy armor so we don't need a high dexterity modifier I also think that being later in the order suggests that you are spending that time communing with the elements preparing your spells Before You cast them 14 in Constitution 14 in intelligence plus two here for 16 10 in wisdom and 15 in Charisma plus one here now this stap block might seem a little weird as we are an intelligence-based caster and we are taking 16 in Charisma this is for role play of course as this stat governs persuasion deception and intimidation checks and we're going to be using those with this build for our proficiencies and I failed to mention earlier we are playing a human and the main benefit of that is we gain an additional proficiency choice for us that's going to be Arana and for our other two proficiencies we are taking intimidation and insight perfect character creation done now find yourself a finess weapon fight your way off the ship and on to level two shortly after leaving the ship you begin to feel your connection with the weave and more importantly the elemental planes return specifically the elemental plane of air your lightning spells are the first to return to you although the other planes return as well to a lesser degree while you're not strong enough yet to call your companions to your Aid you can muster the strength to command the cantrips and lesser Elemental spells as we take our first level in Wizard so we will now be a wizard from here on out and this build really comes down to our spell and gear choices we can't afford to have any other details as we need to reach level six spell slots there are a few caveats to this which I'll discuss at the end so level one Wizard and 4 out3 cantrips we are taking the elemental options here in Firebolt and shocking grasp you can also take Ray of frost here completing the trio however I'll save that for later and take friends here instead I find that while the skill checks get harder as the game progresses they can be the hardest at the start of the game while you have no gear or spells to add to the checks so giving yourself an early advantage on these Charisma checks will really help for spells we are going to grab the lightning Suite with witch bolt Thunder Wave and chromatic orb then let's grab shield for our defensive reaction find familiar for our first summon of the build and featherfall as a manipulation of the air around us in my experience you're able to summon the familiar out of combat then prepare a different spell letting you keep the summon but have a more useful spell on hand in combat finally for taking wizard we get the Arcane recovery skill when I have a tendency to gloss over in My Wizard builds giving you the ability to spend Arcane recovery charges to restore spell slots you get one of these charges on levels 3 5 7 9 and 11 and it costs the number of charges equal to the spell slot you want to recover up to fifth level spell slots consuming five charges level three and we get our wizard subass for us as a conjur of Elemental forces this is the school of conjuration giving us a casting of the create water spell once per short rest this can seem underwhelming as a subass feature and in some ways it is however as a wizard you wouldn't get access to this spell otherwise and it's a great way to get access to the wet status effect this status effect can interact with our existing lightning spells causing them to deal double damage to wet targets other than that we hold out for our more potent subclass features moving on from there we get two more level one spells you have noticed slowly over the last few days your connection with the elemental plane of fire has been strengthening all the time and you are feeling strong enough now to at the very least summon a jet of flames from your hands so let's grab burning hands here as it is the first spell we pick up as a result of our strengthening connection to that plane for our other spell pick your favorite here and on to level four so on this level we get our level two spells and our connection with the plane of fire is only growing to the point where we are now strong enough to summon in the least of the Denis of the elemental Plains a flaming sphere smoldering Rock a light with magical Flames this mass of volcanic rock requires your concentration and is able to attack for two D6 fire damage ignite flammable surfaces and possesses a flaming Aura dealing an additional 2d6 to any enemy foolish enough to end their turn next to the sphere though the sphere's real strength is in body blocking your enemies place this sphere in a narrow Corridor or in a doorway and watch your enemies attack it while you stand back and lob spells from the distance second on this level we get scorching Ray Another Blessing of the plane of fire this Spell's multiple beams will become very important for us in a few levels but that's it for this level level five and of course Following air and fire comes the plane of water expanding further and in so doing returns to us the ability to cast our icy spells Ray Frost is first followed closely by Ice knife a spell I have yet to recommend for any of my builds dealing piercing and cold damage also leaving an ice surface on the ground beneath the target with the exception of the Thunder variant of chromatic sphere it also has the highest raw damage potential of any of the level one spells following this I think it's a great time to pick up Misty step for our second spell on this level for a bit of Battlefield Mobility finally we get a feat on this level and we have two options first is warcaster giving us advantage on our concentration saving throws however we do already have Constitution saving throw proficiency and heavy armor so it is a valid option but Overkill I think I'm opting for the ability score Improvement instead bumping our intelligence to 18 increasing our attack roles and difficulty checks while three of the elemental planes have opened their connections with you again the plane of Earth has remained quiet in your mind it is a worry that will have to wait as you have more pressing matters to deal with however you do worry you spent many years forging friendships and working with the Elementals to form a lasting Bond if that relationship has been damaged you have to know why though with that said your Mastery over lightning and fire has almost completely returned to the level prior to abduction as you reach level six and unlock third level spells taking the favorites of Fireball and lightning bolt this gives you two fantastic options with with high damage in different situations lightning bolt to hit a long line of enemies and Fireball to devastate a large cluster of foes okay halim and this won't be a long one as we can jump straight into gear for this build you have one essential item that you need to get and luckily it's in Act One the abys beckon his gloves gives you a toggleable ability which grants all your summons in an area around you resistance to all damage types except psychic absolutely wild for a Summoner Focus build and makes your minions incredibly durable there is a downside though that needs to be managed at the start of their turn any sermon affected by the aura has to succeed a wisdom saving throw or go mad attacking whatever is closest to them including you and your party fortunately like I mentioned it is a toggleable effect so you can leave it off out of combat in combat however you need to ensure your minions are surrounded by enemies then it won't even matter I don't love the roleplay implications of this item as you are not forcing your Summers into service though the item is just too powerful for any summoner build to really pass up some other items for act one though include the usual lightning gear I've mentioned this in most of my Caster builds so feel free to check it out in one of those videos the necklace of Elemental augmentation is a great pickup adding a significant damage boost to your can trips morning Frost increasing your cold damage and causing cold vulnerability Creations Echo giving you on demand resistance to any damage type that you possess boots of striding to help you with concentration saving throws and adamantine splint armor reducing the damage you take significantly and giving you a solid armor class since you have no dexterity Ina to the cloak of Elemental absorption gives you some damage reduction and a slight damage boost for one attack and the hat of fire Acuity is a must have for this build this increases your spell attack roles and difficulty checks by one per stack with a Max of seven Stacks area spells only count as one hit however attacks with multiple hits like scorching Ray each gives you two stacks meaning one cast of scorching Ray could give you up to seven stacks on one turn you won't get many other increases to your attack roles with this build so I would definitely do what you can to get this hat finally in act three there is the cloak of the weave giving you a slight damage bump Amulet of Greater Health boosting your health armor of persistence as a significant damage reduction if your main tank or Melee character doesn't need it sta of spell power for the free spell slot and increased hit chance finally marker hesar is the best staff in the game granting you cesca's favor expanding your available spells and increasing the damage of the Spells of that element there are other Elemental effects like heat and en crusted with frost which we will touch on but in other builds since your glove slot is already taken for now though I just want to also mention an interaction to be mindful of while the wet status and the chilled status are both great for vulnerabilities do be aware they also give the target resistance to fire damage so don't go throwing a fireball into a pack of of enemies right after dousing them with rain okay halim over let's get back into the build you have never felt this powerful before of course you have been able to summon your Elemental companions to the Mortal plane but only with the help of Scrolls or magic circles you can feel your power swelling and you walk the elemental Plains in your dreams communing with those who might Aid you and your companions many will not offer help directly although they do offer what help they can often in the form of Mastery over their domain those of the domain of water show you how to create a localized storm blanketing an area in ice and snow making it impossible to concentrate on a spell for any length of time and the domain of air even teach you how to twist the weaves of air in a way that allows you to fly so on this level we are of course taking sleet storm and fly as our two spells along with that we also get an interesting skill as part of our conjuration subass but n transposition teleport letting us either teleport anywhere in range or we can Target an ally and swap places with them this tool tip is misleading mentioning it only being available once per long rest what it doesn't mention is that it recharges anytime you cast a Conjuration Spell of level one or higher giving you access to this many times per long rest this skill is great at let getting yourself out of a tight spot but even better for positioning your summons simply run into the middle of a group of enemies and switch PL letting you safely activate your Abyss Beck in his gloves before their turn alternatively use this to get a malet combatant Into The Fray and potentially double their movement on their turn since they don't need to spend it moving into position this is a very versatile and creative effect so use it wisely just as you find yourself starting to give up hope that the denisons of the plane of Earth will Aid you or even speak with you for that matter you find yourself confronted with two mud methods carrying with them the will of the Elemental plane of Earth they along with the ice methods of the plane of water and the Azure of the plane of fire come to you in your Camp offering you their aid they will fight with you in the name of the elemental planes so finally on level eight we get our first real summons in the form of conjure minor Elemental this comes in the three forms I just mentioned firstly we get the mud and Ice methods you can conjure two of these with a single cast and they have similar abilities just flavored based on the elemental type each type gets a breath attack a range projectile and a Mal attack they can fly and when they die they explode dealing damage to anything around them next we have the Azure a single summon with double the health Armor class and although reduced damage a larger number of skills they have weakening strike concussive smash back breaker searing Smite and overheat dealing damage in an AOE around themselves all the options have their place however I tended to opt for the ice methods mostly the cold damage was often magnified due to my status effects however if I didn't want the enemies to become fire resistant they still worked because they didn't directly cause the chilled or wet conditions one thing to mention is that once one of your methods dies you can safely summon in an a you're also giving you a single tankier summon while maintaining a second summon with it we do also get another spell on this level though and we are taking ice storm dealing a significant amount of damage and working great with your methods since they fly and are not affected by the large ice surface left behind by the spell level 9 and you are now able to summon your allies at will something you have never been able to do before twisting The Weave to your purposes you have of course also worked out how to send them home once they have aided you however this is not reserved strictly for allies banishing any who are not welcome on the Mortal plane back to their own Dimension two more spells on this level and we are grabbing banishment and Wall of flames we also get another feat and it's time to make a choice will you favor one of the elements over the others taking the elemental Adept feet gaining resistance to the element and higher damage potential or will you spread yourself more evenly across the four taking another increase to your intelligence boosting it to 20 I'll increase my intelligence for this video but I encourage you try out the elemental Adept Fe success after success you are un paralleled in combat now even though the threat still looms word of the absolute and its cult has spread far and your allies carried use of it even into the elemental planes where the rulers there debate how to combat the threat they treat with you not the leaders but the emissaries from each plane promising you Aid and more specifically their aid as they have decided to assist you personally they even speak to you of how to increase their power further if only you have the will to do it so level 10 and we get level five spells most importantly the conjure Elemental spell each of the four Elementals conjured here offer a multi-attack and teleport from there each offers a different option in terms of malet or ranged attacks and status effects the water Elemental offers the brittle status and Deals bonus damage to chill targets the fire burns enemies and Deals bonus damage to burning enemies Earth offers reverberation and bonus damage to prone enemies and finally air shocks targets and Deals bonus damage if shocked all great all situational take your pick for what the situation requires we also get a second spell here though and I really like wall of stone our only true earn spell completely blocking a path keeping enemies out or in and blocking all line of sight from the outside a fantastic way to split your enemies and take them down as you please summoning is truly second nature to you now you are even able to take blows in combat without losing concentration on the strands of weave holding them in the Mortal plane you have even expanded your knowledge of the summoning rituals having a complete understanding of how the weaves work letting you even hijack the summoning magic used on other Elementals or even more so level 11 and we have the final perk of the conjuration subass Focus conjuration letting you maintain concentration on conjuration spells even through being damaged your more potent summons don't require concentration however flaming sphere if you choose to use it does for a can trip on this level pick your favorite four spells however definitely pick cone of cold here dealing significant damage in an area in front of you and pler binding letting you as mentioned take control of a Celestial Elemental Fay or fiend creature for up to 10 turns several important NPCs are immune to this spell but you might be surprised which NPCs are not immune finally level 12 and your will is iron there is no turning back now and the final com confrontation is upon you you have no way out but a single blessing you have learned the way to empower your companions with your own magical power bolstering their strength to incredible degrees there is a cost however bound to armor and given great weapons of war your Elemental companions are no longer simply Elementals they are now meridon sacrificing their own will and ambition to increase their strength to fight the coming threat a sacrifice they make willingly but that does not make it any easier on you so as you may have noticed your conure Elemental spell now has eight variants four variants use the fifth level spell slot though there are also four new variants the meridon using your single sixth level slot these ultimate Elementals have a variety of abilities from heels to silence invisibility to haste I won't list them all here but they are the ultimate manifestation of your elemental power and connection to the element planes now you do also get two spells and I will recommend taking chain lining at Uke's freezing sphere here however you will not find a whole lot of opportunities to use them since you only have one six level spell slot although if you do have an item to recover that spell slot these might come in handy so we went right to the end there with the narrative for a change and I tried to leave the finer details of the roleplay open a bit more so you guys can feed your own narratives to the character let me know if you like that form that in the comments by the end of the game you have access to several Elementals at once they aren't exclusive and you can have two minor Elementals your meridon and your flaming sphere all out at once and this build should be great fun to play even if it does take a bit to get started optimization wise I would be remiss to mention that of course the staff block is not optimal and if you take anything other than heavy armor you will have to ditch some of your charisma for dexterity next you don't necessarily have to take fighter and then wizard all the way you technically have three levels to play with since you only need to get to fifth level spells or level 9 with wizard you could take any other spellcasting class with the exception of warlock for the other three levels if you so choose as you will still get to six level spell slots Tempest or light demain cleric could be a good option if you want to play more of one element than the others oron sorcerer gives quite a few Buffs early on along with Quicken and twin spell by level three if you wanted to make use of metamagic other than that there are a few summons you could access if you are just summoning for summoning sake anime dead is the earliest summon available via level ups and there is another unique summon available early in Act One The Scroll of summon quasit it can be learned by Wizards and added to the spell book giving you permanent access to a summon as early as the blighted village finally try to be strategic about the order in which you take your spells if you intend to make use of the wet status early on fire spells won't be very useful taking the fire spells later when they're more potent and you are less dependent on the status effect for one shots that will be much more effective and that's that another build done thanks so much for watching and I hope you enjoyed the build check out my other build guides and it would be awesome if you could subscribe to the channel keep an eye out for my playthrough next week and until then see you

Channel: MrSoulbound

Views: 4,137

Keywords: baldurs gate 3, bg3, baldurs gate 3 gameplay, character creation, official release, balders gate 3, baulders gate 3, boulders gate 3, rpg, rpg 2023, upcoming rpg baldurs gate 3, crpg, larian studios, mrsoulbound, soulbound, ideas, fun build, excited, hype, characters, world, guide, multiclass, summoner, elemental, elements, wizard, conjure, conjuration, minion

Id: tSGMlgf9Vzk

Length: 22min 18sec (1338 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 26 2023