Best Lae'Zel Build Guide - Baldur's Gate 3
Nov. 28, 2023Best Lae’Zel Build Guide – Baldur’s Gate 3
In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Lae’Zel Build Guide, I’ll be showing you how to play Lae’Zel in Baldur’s Gate 3 if you want to make her into a Fighter/Wizard that is extremely hard to kill and has a lot of flexibility. Eldritch Knights combine the martial prowess of Fighters with some Wizard spells anyway, and Wizards have the flexibility to change spells when things aren’t working for them. In this Lae’Zel Build Guide I’ll also cover Ability Scores, Class Features, Equipment, and I will provide tips on how to get the most out of Lae’Zel when played this way.
Eldritch Knights are arguably the strongest Fighter subclass in BG3, because not only do they gain all things regular fighters gain like Extra Attack, an extra Feat, and all the weapon and armour proficiencies, but they can also use several spells that make them even more effective in combat. These include: Shield, Magic Missile, Burning Hands, Acid Splash, Blur and Misty Step.
By taking some levels of Wizard,Lae’Zelcan also make use of higher level spells likeHaste,FireballandLightning Bolt, while also being able to learn spells fromScrolls. If you take theEvocation Schoolyou can also cast AoEs without worrying about harming yourself, and if you take Divination you have more battlefield control. In this Guide we’ll discuss why you might select either of these.
Additionally, I’ve added a way for Lae’Zel to gain Arcane Acuity somewhat easily, which makes her Spells more difficult to Save against, allowing her to attack the first turn or two, and follow up with devastating spells afterwards. Since Lae’Zel is a Githyanki, having some spellcasting talent makes sense for her character.
Since Lae’Zel begins BG3 as a Fighter, her Ability Scores are in line with what a typical Fighter might have. However, you will want to respec her eventually to get the most out of her, otherwise she will not be optimized for much of the game.
Starting Ability Scores
Ideal Ability Scores
You can see that we’ve evened out many of her Abilities to provide more benefit. I’ve set DEX to 14 in order to get the most of Medium Armour and to provide some Initiative, and I’ve increased Intelligence to 12 to help with Spell DC and to be able to slot an additionalWizard Spell. You can dump Intelligence early on in the game if you plan to use the Warped Headband of Intellect, but you will eventually need to slot a different helmet, so if you do this you’ll want to respec eventually.
Also note, that you can play this Build as a DEX Fighter if you want, and you can dump STR, increase DEX to 16, and pump up INT to 16. However, if you do this you will limit yourself to Finesse Weapons, which means you essentially need to use Phalar Aluve, since making use of Great Weapon Master is a big part of this Build.
Lae’Zel has Proficiency inAthleticsandIntimidationfrom herBackground, so you cannot change these. Athletics is good for pushing and resisting being pushed. What other Skills you choose is not particularly important, since Lae’Zel won’t be handling many dialogue checks, butAcrobaticsis a good pickup for even more push resistance, and History because Lae’Zel should have decent Intelligence.
I like to keep myCompanionsat least theClassthey begin the game with, since it feels like that is how Larian intended for them to be played, and it’s no exception with Lae’Zel. Lae’Zel begins the game as a Fighter, but he does not yet have a subclass, and here we’ll be choosing Eldritch Knight. This provides Lae’Zel with some spellcasting, which fits well with her story and race.
Level 1 –Fighter
The two main benefits of taking Fighter first for this Lae’Zel BG3 Build, is that she gains all Weapon and ArmourProficiencies, and that she gains CON Saving Throw Proficiency. This allows Lae’Zel to use any Weapon or Armour in the game, and also allows her to add her Proficiency Bonus to Concentration Saving Throws, making her more likely to succeed in them. This helps if she plans to use Blur, Haste, or any other spell that requires Concentration.
She will also gainSecond Windat this level, allowing her to heal as a Bonus Action for 1D10 + Fighter Level once per Short Rest, as well as a Fighting Style. For Fighting Style I recommend selecting Great Weapon Fighting, which allows her to get more consistent damage from her two-handed weapon. Defence is also an acceptable choice.
Level 2 –Fighter
At level 2 of Fighter, Lae’Zel will gain Action Surge, allowing her to take a second Action once ever Short Rest. This really shines later on when Lae’Zel gains Extra Attack, allowing her to attack 4x in a given turn, and 6x if she is using Haste.
Using Action Surge at the beginning of combat is a great way to gain full stacks of Arcane Acuity once Lae’Zel has gotten the proper gear.
Level 3 –Eldritch Knight
At level 3 of Fighter, Lae’Zel will get to choose a Fighter Subclass. We’ll be taking Eldritch Knight in order to gain access to someWizard Spells. I highly recommend selecting Shield and Magic Missile at this point, as well as Acid Splash.
Shield will allow Lae’Zel to use her Reaction and a Spell Slot to increase her AC by +5 for a round, which can make her extremely difficult to hit.
Magic Missile is a great ranged option that can hit multiple targets and doesn’t rely on Intelligence to connect, since it cannot miss its target and cannot be Saved against.
Acid Splash gives Lae’Zel an AoE that can be used even point blank to hit multiple enemies, and once she’s level 7 she will be able to use this when surrounded and then attack with her Bonus Action thanks to War Magic.
She will also gain Weapon Bond at this level, allowing her to throw her weapon and have it return to her, and prevents it from being knocked out of her hand.
Level 4 –Eldritch Knight
At level 4 of Eldritch Knight, Lae’Zel will get to choose a Feat. Here we’ll take Great Weapon Master in order to deal more damage with her weapon which will be two-handed, and also give her an option for her Bonus Action to make another attack if she Crits or kills an enemy with a melee attack.
Level 5 –Eldritch Knight
At level 5 of Eldritch Knight, Lae’Zel will gain Extra Attack, allowing her to attack a second time each turn if she uses her Action to attack. This is an extremely important level for her, as she will become much more effective in combat, essentially doubling her damage potential.
Level 6 –Eldritch Knight
At level 6 of Eldritch Knight, Lae’Zel will gain an extra Feat, one that all Fighters gain at this level. Here she will increase her Strength for more hit chance and damage. The hit chance is the more important of the two, since Great Weapon Master will penalize her hit chance. If you made her a DEX Fighter, then you would select DEX here instead.
Level 7 –Eldritch Knight
At level 7 of Eldritch Knight, Lae’Zel will gain level 2 Spells and War Magic. Level 2 Spells allow her to use things like Blur and Misty Step. Blur makes her damn near impossible to hit in combat, and Misty Step provides good mobility when she needs it.
War Magic allows Lae’Zel to cast a Cantrip and then attack with a Bonus Action. This is a lot better on paper than it is in practice, since generally you want to attack twice every turn if you can. However, this allows you to use Acid Splash to hit many enemies when they are grouped up, which can often out perform two attacks from a weapon.
Level 8 –Eldritch Knight
At level 8 of Eldritch Knight, Lae’Zel will get to select her 3rd Feat. This will allow her to either choose STR (or DEX) for more accuracy, or INT for better spellcasting. Either of these is a good option, and whichever you go with you will want to do the opposite with her fourth Feat at level 12.
Level 9 –Wizard
At level 1 of Wizard, Lae’Zel will get to select some more Spells. Here I recommend taking several Ritual Spells that don’t consume spell slots when used outside of combat, as well as Thunderwave for its knockback effect. She will also get to learn Spells from Scrolls at this level, so keep that in mind.
Arcane Recovery will allow her to gain 1 level 1 Spell Slot back every Long Rest at this level, so be sure to use it when needed.
Level 10 –EvocationorDivination Wizard
At level 2 of Wizard, Lae’Zel will get to select a magic school. I suggest either Divination or Evocation here. Divination will allow Lae’Zel to control some outcomes on the battlefield, while Evocation protects friendlies from her AoEs. She won’t have many AoEs, if any at this point, so it’s better once she gains Fireball or Lightning Bolt than before. You can select either.
Level 11 – Evocation or Divination Wizard
At level 3 of Wizard, Lae’Zel will get to choose level 2 Wizard Spells, but more importantly she will have level 3 Spell Slots. This will allow her to learn level 3 Spells from Scrolls like Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Haste, so make sure you buy these and have her learn them.
Level 12 – Evocation or Divination Wizard
At level 4 of Wizard, Lae’Zel will gain her fourth and final feat, which is made possible by 8 level of Fighter. Here she should select INT or STR/DEX depending on what was chosen at level 8. Capping at 14 INT may seem too low for hostile spells, but we do have a way of increasing Spell DC with Arcane Acuity, which I will discuss in the next section.
Lae’Zel Armour
Since Lae’Zel is a Fighter, she has access to all Armour in the game. You want to look for Armour with the highest possible Armour Class in order to avoid taking damage. Since she should have 14 DEX, either Medium orHeavy Armouris fine. One Armour I can recommend later on isDark Justiciar Half-Plate, which also provides Advantage on Constitution Saving Throws, which will allow her to maintain Concentration on spells like Haste, Blur or Hold Person more easily.
Lae’Zel Weapon
Lae’Zel will need to use a Heavy or Versatile Weapon for this Build in order to get the most from Great Weapon Fighting and Great Weapon Master. If you got theEverburn Bladeat the very beginning of the game this is a great weapon for her, otherwise really any two-handed weapon will work. If she went DEX instead of STR though, you’ll need to get thePhalar Aluve Longswordfrom theUnderdark.
For ranged weapon, she won’t really be using this all that often, but look for Ranged Weapons that benefit her in some other way, like The Deadshot.
Lae’Zel Accessories
One really important accessory for this Build, is theHelmet of Arcane Acuity. This allows Lae’Zel to gain 2 stacks of Arcane Acuity each time she hits an enemy. Arcane Acuity lets her add +1 to Spell Attack Rolls or +1 to Spell DC for each stack. If on turn 1 she attacks twice, then Action Surges and attacks twice again, she will have max stacks of this on her second turn, allowing her to cast a hostile spell with +7 to Spell Attack Roll or DC.
As I mentioned earlier though, you can use the Warped Headband of Intellect early on, but eventually you’ll want to replace it with the Helmet of Arcane Acuity.
Cloak of Protectionis a good choice for Cloak, since it provides 1 AC and +1 to Saving Throws, and I likeGloves of the Growling Underdogfor Gauntlets because they give Lae’Zel Advantage on Melee Attack Rolls when engaged with 2 or more enemies. This really helps with accuracy, which is needed when using Great Weapon Master’s toggle.
Evasive Shoes are good for boots because they also provide an additional AC, helping to protect Lae’Zel further.
ForRingsI likeCaustic BandandRing of Arcane Synergy. Caustic Band simply adds damage to Lae’Zel’s attacks, and Ring of Arcane Synergy increases damage after hitting an enemy with a Cantrip. This is nice for after casting Acid Splash, and following up with a bonus attack thanks toWar Caster.
For Necklace, I like Necklace of Elemental Augmentation to increase Cantrip damage, but another good choice is the Physic Spark, which makes Magic Missile fire an extra dart each time you cast it.
The general idea with this Lae’Zel Build is to build up Arcane Acuity by attacking on the first and/or second turn of combat, and then fire off a hostile spell that is unlikely to be Saved against. Spells good for this areBurning Hands,Thunderwave,Fireball,Lightning BoltorScorching Rays. Note that none of these spells require Concentration.
Try to save Concentration Spells on Lae’Zel for Blur, Haste, Hold Person or something like Hypnotic Pattern. You won’t always need these, but make sure to use them for harder fights, and make sure not to overwrite them with other Concentration Spells. For instance you cannot use Haste and Hold Person together.
Remember that Acid Splash can be a great spell when Lae’Zel is surrounded if you want to save a Spell Slot or she’s running low. Because of War Caster she can attack again after casting it on the same turn.
You don’t have to play this Build with 8 Fighter and 4 Wizard. You can play with 6 Fighter and 6 Wizard or 7 Fighter and 5 Wizard if you’d prefer. The downside is that you’ll miss out on a fourth Feat, but the upside is that you will gain access to level 4 Spells.
Lastly, hang on to Scrolls you come across that you’ll want to learn with Lae’Zel so that you can do so once she takes a level of Wizard. And consider taking 1 level of Wizard earlier in order to make this happen faster, like after level 5 of Fighter.
That wraps up our Baldur’s Gate 3 Lae’Zel Build Guide! Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content as we update the otherBuilds, and be sure to drop by ourDiscordif 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.
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
