Baldur's Gate 3 class tier list: the best classes to build your party

Our tier list for the best classes in Baldur's Gate 3

Author:
Ryan Woodrow
Publish date:
Aug 3, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

One of the biggest decisions you must make in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the very first – what class will you play as? While you can change your class later down the road, what class you choose out of the gate will dramatically shape your playstyle.

If you’re an avid RPG player, then you may already have a good idea of what you like, but if you’re looking for something different or new to the genre, this class tier list should give you an idea of what the strengths and weaknesses of each class are.

If after reading this you want to respec your character, check out our guide on how to change your class so you can do just that. Plus, pick up powerful party members of these classes by recruiting Shadowheart, Volo, and Gale.

S tier – Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list

Bard

Is it any surprise that such a charming personality would be our favorite?

A Bard’s propensity for talking their way out of any situation is legendary, and that translates in Baldur’s Gate 3 – any good Bard will often find things got their way. However, they also have a wide range of combat abilities, focusing primarily on supporting spells and dexterity weapons. It makes them a fantastic all-rounder both in and out of combat.

Cleric

With a mixture of strong healing magic and powerful offensive spells, Clerics can learn most of the game’s most powerful spells. They have limited spell slots, but that doesn’t matter so much when they can use those slots to fry enemies to death or heal the entire party. Even if you don’t fancy your main character being a Cleric, having one on your team, like Shadowheart is a must.

A tier – Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list

Paladin

If you want something with more of a melee focus that can really get into the meat of battle, then Paladin is easily the best choice. It still has access to the healing magic like the Cleric, and its Charisma focus lets it excel outside of battle like the Bard. However, the trade-off for the melee expertise, is that it doesn’t do either of those things quite as well as its counterparts.

Sorcerer

Baldur's Gate 3 Socerer — Larian Studios

For those that are all about magic, Sorcerer is an easy choice. While your focus is narrower than other magic classes, you can bend the elements to your whim and use spell modification to create some truly powerful magics. You just have to stay far out of harm’s way, as a lack of armor and a low HP pool mean you’ll have very little staying power when under pressure.

Wizard

The Wizard is a bit of a blank slate on which you can build your own magic style. Focusing entirely on intelligence, the only thing the Wizard can’t have proficiency in is healing magic. Still, you have freedom to learn spells with just 50gp and a scroll, plus the power to regenerate your spell slots mid-encounter – which is good, because as soon as a Wizard runs out of those, he’s as good as useless.

Druid

The ability to transform into an animal is by far the flashiest of all available, and we all know that – were this real life – we’d all go out of our way to learn Wild Shape. It’s pretty powerful here too, as not only does it give you a variety of offensive capabilities, but as you don’t share HP with your animal forms, it’s a great way to tank damage. It doesn’t get the strongest array of offensive spells, but that’s not as big of an issue in the grand scheme of things.

B tier – Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list

Fighter

In the same way that the Wizard is a blank slate magic class, the Fighter is a blank slate melee class, all you need to do is decide whether you want to go down the Strength or Dexterity route. Its biggest flaw is that it doesn’t do much of note outside of combat. Sure, it can pass a Strength check with little worry, but they’re not exactly the greatest conversationalists. It’s worth having a Fighter in the party, but perhaps not as your main character.

Rogue

While stealth builds can be ridiculously overpowered in some RPGs (looking at you, Skyrim), Baldur’s Gate doesn’t give them quite as much to work with. Rogues are good at acting quickly but riskily. They can use things like Dash as a bonus action rather than a regular action, letting you scout ahead, but if they get caught, they’re going to go down pretty quickly. They get some good bonuses outside of combat though, particularly with Dexterity and Charisma checks.

Warlock

Warlocks are good if used right, but they often require a delicate touch. They have medium access to weapons and armor, however, they get fewer spell slots as a result. This is somewhat negated by the ability to refresh them with a short rest rather than a long one, but in the midst of a battle that’s not so helpful. They have strong Charisma though, which is a huge boost outside of combat.

C tier – Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list

Ranger

Rangers just feel a bit weak on the whole. Their abilities are fun, but often have very specific use cases, plus, standing at the back directing traffic isn’t the most enjoyable battle strategy. It can get better if you specialize into Beastmaster and gather animal friends, but why would you when Druids can actually become those animals?

Barbarian

Maybe it’s a personal thing, but I’m not keen on throwing myself at the sharp objects trying to kill me. Of course, any raging Barbarian in a horde of enemies is going to do alright for themselves, but if the situation is any more complex than that, you may as well just have a Fighter. Plus, they don’t have much going for them outside of combat to back it up.

Monk

The newest class added for the official release, Monk just doesn’t quite live up to the hopes. Using unarmed combat is cool, and if you’re a skilled player then you can make something pretty great out of it, but it’s so inflexible that you don’t get much choice in terms of utility and specilization.