This is a speculative build for my main character on my initial BG3 playthrough. It is a Swords Bard with dips into the Thief subclass of Rogue and the Fighter class. The intention is a jack-of-all-trades character who does considerable damage on the first turn of combat.
It isn't quite as good a match for
my original NWN concept of Ember as the
Bard/Rogue/Ranger version, but it is probably a little more optimal for BG3, and is still at least in the spirit of the character concept. I really only took Ranger in the NWN version of Ember because in that version of the D&D rules, some skills required training, which was based on class, and Bard/Rogue/Ranger unlocked all skills for me (which combined with how Bard Song worked in NWN, meant that at higher levels I succeeded on every skill check, ever, unless I rolled a critical failure). And then I made up a background story that matched Bard/Rogue/Ranger. So the game mechanics drove the character background, in the NWN version, which makes me feel a little less guility about breaking with the class choices for the BG3 version of Ember.
NOTE: This is the build I ended up playing.
| Character Level |
Class Level |
Attributes |
Skills |
Proficiencies |
Other |
| 1 |
Rogue 1 |
STR: 8 (-1)
DEX: 16 (+3)
CON: 14 (+2)
INT: 10 (+0)
WIS: 10 (+0)
CHA: 16 (+3)
|
Acrobatics (via Entertainer)
Performance (via Entertainer)
Stealth (via Half Wood Elf)
Perception (via Rogue)
Persuasion (via Rogue)
Sleight of Hand (via Rogue)
Insight (via Rogue)
Expertise (Perception, Stealth) |
Light Armour
Simple Weapons
Shield
Hand Crossbow
Longsword
Rapier
Shortsword
Spear
Pike
Halberd
Glaive |
Sneak Attack (1d6)
Darkvision
Fey Ancestry |
| 2 |
Fighter 1 |
|
|
Martial Weapons
Medium Armor |
Second Wind
Fighting Style: Archery |
| 3 |
Bard 1 |
|
|
Investigate
Musical Instrument Proficiency
|
Bardic Inspiration (d6)
Initial Instrument (Lute)
Cantrips
Level 1 Spells |
| 4 |
Bard 2 |
|
|
|
Jack of All Trades
Song of Rest
|
| 5 |
Bard 3 |
|
Expertise x2 (Persuade, Sleight of Hand) |
Scimitars (CoS) |
Level 2 Spells
College of Swords (CoS)
Fighting Style (CoS) (Two-Weapon Fighting)
Slashing Flourish (CoS)
Defensive Flourish (CoS)
Mobile Flourish (CoS) |
| 6 |
Bard 4 |
|
|
|
Feat (Sharpshooter) |
| 7 |
Bard 5 |
|
|
|
Improved Bardic Inspiration (d8)
Font of Inspiration
Level 3 Spells |
| 8 |
Bard 6 |
|
|
|
Countercharm
Extra Attack (CoS) |
| 9 |
Fighter 2 |
|
|
|
Action Surge |
| 10 |
Rogue 2 |
|
|
|
Cunning Action: Dash
Cunning Action: Disengage
Cunning Action: Hide |
| 11 |
Rogue 3 |
|
|
|
Sneak Attack (2d6)
Subclass: Thief
Fast Hands (Thief)
Second Story Work (Thief) |
| 12 |
Rogue 4 |
|
|
|
Ability Improvement: DEX (16=>18) |
That's probably not all quite correct. I'm still learning how the game mechanics work. Hopefully it is close.
This isn't a min/max optimized one-turn-kill (OTK) build. Assassin would probably be better for that. The whole point of Ember is to be reasonably effective in combat, while also being pretty good at just about everything else. There's no way to do that without giving up a few things.
As written, the build is designed to dual-wield hand crossbows. It wouldn't be hard to change it to dual-wielding any Finesse melee weapon, or even sword-and-boarding with a single Finess weapon and a Shield.
Order matters here, at least a little. At least one level each of Rogue and Fighter should be taken before any levels of Bard, so that CHA sticks as my Spellcasting Ability when using items. Otherwise, the additional Rogue/Fighter levels can be added whenever.
Swapping the first two levels (Fighter at character level 1 and Rogue at character level 2) would get me Heavy Armor Profiency, at the expense of one skill. It might net a couple more hit points - I didn't do that math on that. I don't intented for Ember to ever wear heavy armor, and skills are important to the build, so I took Rogue first.
Taking Rogue to level 4 is just for the additional feat. If you'd prefer to get Level 4 Bard Spells, or something from one of the Fighter subclasses, stop Rogue at 3 and take the last level in Bard or Fighter instead. Or give up Fast Hands and stop Rogue at 1.
From a roleplaying perspective, I made up for not taking Ranger by taking Speak to Animals and Animal Friendship spells. That helped maintain the spirit and feel of the character, while also being pretty darned useful. Turns out some animals in BG3 have a lot to say!
The build worked out really well. It was great for skills, utility, being the face of the team, and generally covering any gaps that others couldn't. It was meh in combat until getting Sharpshooter. After that, I had an effective way to deal weapon damage, in addition to my many other combat options (spells, scrolls, thrown items, buffing allies, etc.). I respec'd Shadowheart as a healer, and generally brought one melee companion and one caster companion. I also broke my normal habit of hoarding everything and boldly used consumables and spent gold on gear. A few fights were still challenging, but I never felt hopelessly outmatched.
By the end of Act 3, when I was max level with full end-game gear, I was virtually unstoppable. I generally went with Risky Ring and Helmet of Arcane Acuity, plus the best other gear I had. A common tactic was to open fights with an Arrow of Many Targets and/or the ranged version of Slashing Flourish to hit lots of targets quickly. If any enemies were still alive by my next turn, I then had enough Arcane Acuity charges to reliably land any spell I wanted to cast. Or just keep plugging arrows into enemies, which often did more damage anyway. For harder fights, Action Surge let me get in enough attacks that few enemies other than bosses could survive past the first turn.
Avoiding spoilers, there was one particular mini-boss, a wizard that I encountered in Act 3 for whom the confrontation had been building up since Act 1. On the first turn of combat, I killed both him and his two main thugs before any of them could take an action. That was pretty satisfying.