Baldur’s Gate 3 The Great Old One Warlock Build Guide
Jan. 18, 2023Baldur’s Gate 3 The Great Old One Warlock Build Guide
Baldur’s Gate 3 The Great Old One Warlock Build Guide– In thisBaldur’s Gate 3 The Great Old One Warlock Build Guide, I’m going to cover myWarlock Build, and show you what I’ve found to work best. I’ll be doing moreBuild Guidesat the launch ofBaldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s look at how you can useThe Great Old One Warlock.
Be sure to check out our other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds including:Beast Master Ranger,Hunter Ranger,Circle of the Land Druid,Circle of the Moon Druid,Wild Magic Sorcerer,Wildheart Barbarian,Draconic Sorcerer,Berserker Barbarian,College of Lore Bard,College of Valour Bard,Oath of Devotion Paladin,Oath of the Ancients Paladin,Oathbreaker Paladin!
The Warlock is a decent and straightforward choice for those who are learning the ropes of being a Spellcaster. Right from the start, they’re already a force to be reckoned with because ofEldritch Blast. This is a Ranged Attack Cantrip, which means that it has to be used from a distance, and since it’s a Cantrip, you won’t need to spend anySpell Slotwhen cast. Coupled withThe Great Old One’suniqueSpellssuch asDissonant WhispersandTasha’s Hideous Laughter, it’ll be simple to debilitate targets and efficiently slay them in the process.
What’s more, is that they gain the advantage of summoning Familiars due to their patron. Not only do these creatures attack enemies effectively but they also serve as worthy distractions in encounters. Since Warlocks can only wearLight Armor, they’re not as durable as the otherClasses, meaning it would be best to position them as far away from the middle ofCombatas possible for added protection.
In this section, we’ll take a look at how to set up your Warlock duringCharacter Creationfor the best results.
ForBackground, choosing one that provides you withCharisma Skillsshould be enough since this is your primaryAbilityto hit and damage enemies, alongsideDexterityandIntelligence. Charisma hasDeception,Intimidation,Persuasion, andPerformance. Some Background examples areEntertainer,Sage, andSoldier.
The firstRacethat works well for this Build is theWood Half-Elf. Wood Half-Elves have Darkvision to see and attack better in dark places. They even gainFleet of Footto be able to move more effectively in encounters as well asMask of the Wildto becomeProficientinStealth.
Alternatively, you can pick theDrowwho not only hasSuperior Darkvision, allowing them to see twice as far in the dark as the Wood Half-Elf but alsoDancing Lights. This Cantrip will serve as a light source to benefit allies who need it. As a Drow, you can also wieldRapiersto deal good Physical Damage in the Melee Range.
During Character Creation, you’ll be selecting theSubclassthat you’d want to specialize in. For the Warlock, it’ll differ based on their respective Subclass Features as well as some of the Spells available to them. For this Build, you’ll choose The Great Old One. As The Great Old One, you gain access toMortal Reminder, which will automatically incapacitate a creature when they’re Critically Hit. Because they end up beingFrightened, they won’t be able to move and they even incur aDisadvantageon Attack Rolls, making it challenging for their hits to connect.
For Cantrips, I recommend takingBlade Ward, and especially Eldritch Blast, which is the bread and butter of the Warlock.
Blade Ward grants Physical Damage Resistance fromWeaponattacks, thereby lowering the corresponding damage by half. This is particularly useful for survivability should melee enemies get too close to you.
Eldritch Blast deals 1-10 Force Damage from a distance. And since this is a Cantrip, you can keep casting it every round without worrying about your remaining (and few) Spell Slots.
For Spells, I suggest pickingHexand Dissonant Whispers.
Hex imposes a Disadvantage on aSaving Throwof your choice. For instance, if you have another Warlock orWyllin the party, and you cast Hex, the other Spellcaster’s chances of landing Tasha’s Hideous Laughter will be much higher since the lower roll will be considered when the affected target makes a Saving Throw. You can also use this Spell for the opponent to receive an additional Necrotic Damage upon hitting it. One example is casting Eldritch Blast right after Hex in the same turn since the latter is aBonus Actionanyway. Furthermore, if that same target dies, you can use this Spell again without consuming a Spell Slot provided that you maintainConcentrationby successfully makingConstitution Saving Throws.
Dissonant Whispers deals massive Psychic Damage in addition to temporarily Frightening the target for a couple of turns. Should they successfully roll aWisdom Saving Throw, they still take half the damage.
ForSkillsagain it’s not super important, but you’ll have high Charisma and Dexterity, so selecting Skills that fall under these Abilities is ideal. Dexterity hasAcrobatics,Sleight of Hand, andStealth, and I’ve already listed what Charisma Skills there are. You can also choose Intelligence Skills likeArcana,History,Investigation,Nature, orReligionsince you’ll have a decent score for this Ability.
The primary Abilities that are needed for The Great Old One Warlock Build are Charisma, Dexterity, and Constitution. Charisma is necessary to land and effectively harm your foes with Spells while Dexterity is important to increase yourAC, considering that you can only wear Light Armor, in order to survive longer in encounters. Moreover, Constitution increases HP and helps to maintain Concentration. Lastly, there’s Intelligence, although not useful in combat, encompasses a large number of Skills. And if the Warlock is your player character then it’s wise to have a few points here to help with interactions.
At Level 2, you’ll be able to select 2Eldritch Invocationsthat will allow you to further customize your Warlock. Out of the 9 options, I highly recommend takingAgonizing BlastandRepelling Blastas they’ll greatly improve the effectiveness of Eldritch Blast. Agonizing Blast adds your Charisma Modifier to the damage of this Cantrip. This will be +3 Damage until Level 4, at which point it’ll become +4 when you increase Charisma to 18.
Meanwhile, Repelling Blast pushes back the target hit by Eldritch Blast 4.5m away, thereby preventing them from reaching you and your allies.
You also gain 1 Spell Slot. Here, you should take Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. Tasha’s Hideous Laughter leaves the target laughing like mad on the floor for up to 10 turns provided that you maintain Concentration. It makes them a dead weight to their allies since they can’t do anything significant while knockedProne.
Concentration is broken if you cast another Cantrip or Spell that also requires Concentration. You can tell which these are because it will say so on the Spell itself. For example, if you cast Hex, but then you cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, you would stop “Concentrating” on Hex and begin Concentrating on Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.
Moreover, if you take damage while Concentrating on a Spell, you must make a Constitution Saving Throw, and if you fail, then the effect of that Spell ends. Should you succeed in your Saving Throw, you maintain your Concentration and the Spell continues. This is why it’s vital for Warlocks to have average to high Constitution because of the Spells that require this Ability and is wasted if it’s constantly broken.
You’ll be able to unlearn and learn old and new Spells, respectively, via the Replacement Spell, similar to theRanger. Unlearning a Spell lets you select what you wish to remove from your list. As a replacement, you’ll get to pick one Spell when you level up. But if you want to keep your current list, you can simply ignore this feature and continue to learn new Spells. In The Great Old One Warlock Build Guide, we won’t be unlearning any Spells since the ones we’ve chosen are essential in combat.
At Level 3, you gain access toPact of the Chain, which allows you to summon a Familiar to assist you in combat. So make sure you start casting this outside of combat so it can help you defeat enemies when fighting. For the Warlock, the creature I tend to summon often is theImpbecause they’re unique to theFind Familiar Spelland they have the ability to cover huge distances thanks to fly. Imps can even sting their prey, possibly poisoning them in the process.
Additionally, you can pick 1 Spell. Here, I recommendShatter,Hellish Rebuke, orMisty Step.
Shatter deals huge Thunder Damage against multiple adjacent enemies. UnlikeCloud of Daggers, it doesn’t require Concentration so you can still maintain the benefits of Hex, for example, while casting this Spell.
Hellish Rebuke is very useful, especially if you’re constantly the prime target in combat. As aReaction,meaning you can’t initiate this Spell yourself, you end up dealing at least 2-20 Fire Damage when you receive damage, potentially killing enemies with low to average HP. However, remember that it can’t be triggered more than once in a single turn and when you run out of Spell Slots. Otherwise, you can choose to continue reaping its benefits.
Misty Step lets you teleport to a location you can see, allowing you to get to High Ground easily to gain the +2 Attack Roll bonus when using Eldritch Blast. Since this is a Bonus Action, you can also perform anActionduring the same turn. Alternatively, you can opt to get theAmulet of Misty Stepfrom theUnderdarkinstead to be able to gain Misty Step but you’re going to have to wait a while to do so.
At Level 4, you’ll gain 2 Ability points to place into Charisma, bringing it to 18 and your corresponding Modifier to +4. This will not only increase the likelihood of landing your attacks but also increase Eldritch Blast’s damage by +1.
You can also pick another Cantrip of your choice and any of the Spells you didn’t select from the previous Level.
At Level 5, you get to choose 1 more Eldritch Invocation, and here I recommend takingOne with Shadows. One with Shadows makes you temporarily Invisible so you gain anAdvantageon your Attack Rolls. Once you perform an attack, cast a Spell, or even walk toward your enemies, you’ll be revealed. So it’s best to use this right before initiating combat. Alternatively, you can go withDevil’s Sightif you’re not a Drow to prevent incurring a Disadvantage as well as to see better in dark places!
Additionally, you can select 1 Level 3 Spell. The good ones to consider areCounterspellandFear. Counterspell is a Reaction that can significantly throw a wretch in your enemy’s plans as long as they’re located within 18m of you. Doing so will let you stop the corresponding Spell’s effects. But remember that since it consumes The Great Old One’s Spell Slots, you can only use this at most 2 times before taking aLong Rest.
Next is Fear, which would allow you to scare your enemies. In doing so, they drop their Weapons, regardless of whether or not they’re metal, and they end up running for their lives to stay away from you, making it a win-win condition.
At Level 6, The Great Old One Warlock gains access to Entropic Ward, which makes it so that you can use your Reaction to impose a Disadvantage on the enemy’s Attack Roll against you. Should this attack miss, you gain an Attack Roll Advantage against that same creature. Entropic Ward can only be used again after taking aShortor Long Rest.
Meanwhile, at Level 8, you’ll be able to select a Feat. You can choose to increase your Charisma to 20 or takeModerately Armored. Moderately Armored is good to have because it makes the Warlock proficient in wearingMedium Armorand aShield, thereby improving their overall AC and resilience. Since you’ll don Medium Armor, you can lower Dexterity’s Ability Score from 16 to 14 since only +2 will be accounted for.
At Level 10, The Great Old One Warlock learns about Thought Shield, which makes things interesting in the roleplaying sense. Thought Shield prevents creatures from reading your thoughts unless you allow them to. What’s more, is that you gain Psychic Damage Resistance plus, when an enemy deals Psychic Damage against you, they end up taking the same amount of damage (minus the resistance, of course)!
At Level 11, the Warlock gains access to Mystic Arcanum, allowing them to choose 1 Level 6 Spell from theWarlock Spell List, which you can check on ourBG3 Wiki. The great thing about this Arcanum Spell is you can cast it without expending a Spell Slot but you’ll need to take a Long Rest before doing this again.
And lastly, at Level 12, you’ll be able to choose your final Feat. You can pick Ability Improvement or Moderately Armored, whichever you didn’t select at Level 8.
As The Great Old One Warlock, you don’t have to concern yourself with finding the right Weapons since for the most part, you’ll be casting Spells anyway. Instead, it’ll only be useful if you can’t move away from the melee range without taking damage. So remember to equip any Simple Weapon likeThe Watcher’s Guideor dualDaggers. With dual Daggers, you get to inflictMain Hand AttackandOff-hand Attack (Melee)in the same turn.
And then for the Ranged Weapon, you can wield theLight Crossbow. With itsPiercing Shot Weapon Action, you not only deal a decent amount of Piercing Damage but also inflictGaping Woundsfor extra damage. The Light Crossbow will let you shoot enemies from afar as an alternative to your Ranged Spells and Cantrips.
In terms ofArmor, you should wear theSpidersilk Armour, which you get after defeatingMintharain theShattered Sanctum. This, together with your +3 Dexterity Modifier, should give you a total of 15 AC.
ForAccessories, you can equip theHelmet of Gritfrom the Shattered Sanctum andTarnished CharmfromAuntie Ethel. Helmet of Grit is another Light Armor where you receive an extra Bonus Action if your HP dips to 50% or less. On the other hand, Tarnished Charm is useful if you find yourself rolling Death Saving Throws frequently. With itsFey Life Feature, your chances of successfully making these rolls are going to be higher.
The Great Old One Warlock makes use of Hex, Eldritch Blast, and a couple of powerful Spells that deal great damage or make targets useless in combat such as Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. With Hex, they inflict extra Necrotic Damage every time the affected enemy is attacked, thereby increasing the chances of eliminating them quickly. Remember that for Eldritch Blast, you’re going to have to position yourself on High Ground with respect to your target to boost your chances of hitting them. Doing so with Misty Step orJumpwill make life easier for you.
Compared to the other Spellcasters in Baldur’s Gate 3, the Spell Slots of Warlocks don’t increase (and are limited to 2) as they level up, instead, they are automatically upcast. The difference is that they can simply replenish these Spell Slots by taking a Short Rest instead of a Long Rest. But in Early Access, the latter doesn’t affect the way you play since you have numerous Camp Supplies anyway but I’m guessing that this will change when the game fully launches.
Lastly, if you have another Spellcaster in the party who can castFlyon you, then it would be beneficial. Using only your Movement Speed, you can easily approach Fearful targets and hit them with any of your offensive Cantrips or Spells.
Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content as we update the otherBuilds, and be sure to drop by ourTwitch Channelif you have questions about the game. If you need something specific, check out ourBaldur’s Gate 3 Wikiwhich is being worked on night and day, as well as ourBaldur’s Gate 3 Guides.
Reiku
Writer at Fextralife. I enjoy playing RPGs, narrative-driven games, and platformers. Outside of gaming, I like watching meaningful movies and reading sci-fi and dystopian books.
