Agilio Macabasco
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11 Min read Welcome to our tier list of the best Baldur’s Gate 3 classes.
We’ve ranked all twelve of the main classes based on our team’s experiences playing through BG3’s campaign on the Tactician/Honor mode difficulties.
Check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 subclass tier list here! Or, see our list of the best BG3 multiclasses.
Here are our rankings for the best classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 (click on a class to jump to their section):
| Tier | Classes |
|---|---|
| S | Bard, Paladin, Barbarian, Fighter, Sorcerer |
| A | Warlock, Monk, Ranger, Cleric |
| B | Druid, Wizard |
| C | Rogue |
If you prefer a more visual representation, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 Tier List infographic:
Your journeys in Baldur’s Gate 3 will have you facing a wide range of situations. Some that you will be ready for, and others that you would never see coming (without using a guide or something of course).
In addition to the wide range of situations you’ll face, you’ll usually have many ways to solve that problem. Using the classic example of a locked door, a Fighter or Barbarian might break it down, a Rogue may pick the lock silently, and a Bard may simply convince the guard to open it for them.
Due to this wide range of playstyles and approaches to problem-solving, our criteria for this tier list can be summarized as three main categories:
Some of our class rankings will be much different than the perceived best classes of D&D 5th Edition due to the ease of being able to rest often in Baldur’s Gate 3.
For example, in 5E, the Cleric is an S-tier class because it can be difficult to find time to safely rest in dangerous areas of a campaign (this depends on your dungeon master of course). Having no healer at all can be much riskier as you’ll be lacking ways to reliably sustain your party’s health during and between battles.
However, in Baldur’s Gate 3, even at the highest character levels and on Tactician (the hardest difficulty), you get enough Camp Resources to rest at will (as long as you’re collecting supplies along the way). In addition, there are areas where resting is blocked, but you can easily backtrack a bit to find somewhere where you can rest.
This makes no healer party builds much more viable (in fact, one of our writers beat Tactician mode with a Wizard, Barbarian, Monk, and Fighter build.
In many situations, you’re better off focusing on killing the enemies as fast as you can with high damage and mobility builds. Basically taking the “best defense is a good offense” mentality.
Likewise, since you can Long Rest easily, this also diminishes the value of classes like the Warlock and Fighter whose strengths traditionally include replenishing their resources with Short Rests.
Out of all of the classes available in Baldur’s Gate 3, Bards are definitely the most versatile when it comes to utility. Depending on your preferred playstyle, you are capable of covering all of the basic fronts in battle, including damage, buffs/debuffs, healing, and out-of-combat proficiencies without necessarily needing to multiclass.
Their passive feature, Jack-of-all-Trades, allows them to add half of their proficiency bonus to any ability that they aren’t proficient with in addition to being able to learn any ability in the game, making them a true, well, Jack-of-all-Trades. Additionally, their Class Action, Bardic Inspiration, can provide your team with a veritable edge in battle. These are all factors that make Bards a viable member in most lineups.
In dialogue, their proficiencies in Charisma skills such as Persuasion and Deception make it easier to gain access to certain story outcomes and items as well as sometimes avoiding conflict altogether (L Ketheric Thorm). Furthermore, because it’s their main spellcasting modifier, their high CHR stat means that their spells will be more efficient in battle, giving
Masters of both single-target DPS and dialogue, Paladins are a great addition to almost any team composition. Their high Charisma and Strength make them great explorers, as they can jump far distances and hold many items due to their STR and pass most dialogue checks with their high CHS.
You also gain access to many Paladin dialogue options when speaking to NPCs. While you have low DEX, so you’ll rarely roll high initiative, you can catch up to any stray enemies easily due to your high jump distance.
Your damage will almost always come from the numerous Smites at your disposal. While your smites are single-target damage, the sheer amount of DPS they have makes them a great asset on any battlefield. While their AoE leaves much to be desired, a Paladin’s strengths far outweigh their weaknesses.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has no shortage of backline spellcaster classes, rendering Barbarian a must-have for most team compositions. Not only are they capable of doling out a high amount of damage due to their high Strength, proficiency in most weapon types, and Rage, but their ability to take as much damage as they can deal is one of the more attractive features of this class.
Their Passive Feature, Unarmoured Defence, adds both their Constitution and Dexterity modifier to their Armor Class, providing them with survivability on par with their damage output, which is later supplemented by their access to Extra Attack.
Barbarians also gain access to the Passive feature, Danger Sense, meaning that they have Advantage on DEX Saving Throws against traps, spells, and surfaces, which is incredibly useful for both exploration and combat. Their exceptional STR also provides them with additional exploration benefits as they can jump longer distances and lift heavy objects.
Fighters are a great catch-all for any party during combat. They can do it all: archery, front-line tank, or main DPS. They’re also extremely self-sustainable and often very hard to kill. The main problem with Fighters is their lack of CHR and the fact they don’t do as much damage as Paladins or Barbarians.
They gain access to Second Wind, which essentially acts as a free healing potion once per Short Rest. If you choose to play as a Battle Master Fighter, you’ll be able to use Battle Master maneuvers. There’s a massive variety of maneuvers, ranging from Rally, Disarming Attack, or Menacing Attack, that can add a great deal of supportive and damaging capabilities to your team.
Fighters also have their signature and most interesting move, Action Surge.
This lets them immediately take an additional Action during their turn once per Short Rest. You gain this ability at Level 2, which makes Fighters a very common multiclass for this ability alone.
While they aren’t the most interesting class in Baldur’s Gate 3, Fighters offer a great deal of value to team comps. Their supportive and DPS capabilities make them a great class to either fully commit to or multiclass due to Action Surge.
Born as natural spellcasters, Sorcerers are the best pure spell-casting class in Baldur’s Gate 3. While they aren’t able to learn Spells using scrolls like Wizards, their high Charisma and Metamagics make them an insanely impactful class.
Metamagic allows Sorcerers to upgrade/enhance spells with different buffs. These Metamagic buffs can include Distant Spell (increase spell range by 50%), Twinned Spell (single-target spells can target an additional enemy), or Quickened Spell (Spells that take an Action take a Bonus action instead).
This makes them insanely good spellcasters since they can bend or buff spells to work for any fight they’re a part of.
Since they’re a CHR-based class, they also gain great out-of-combat utility in dialogue and trading. They also gain class-specific dialogue options that let you bypass fights entirely.
Sorcerers are a great addition to any team due to their high DPS and CHR. While they might not be as versatile as other classes, their high damage makes up for it tenfold.
Enlightened through their teachings, Monks are a highly mobile and strong class. Being able to jump from enemy to enemy whilst also dealing great amounts of damage with Bonus Actions makes them a great DPS class.
They have great AC due to their high DEX, deal high damage with their Bonus Actions per turn, and can dodge most enemy spells and attacks. This makes them great combat units, and Way of the Open Hand Monk is commonly thought to be an S-tier class for these exact reasons.
While they may not have access to CHR, their DEX and damage make up for it. If you decide to multiclass with Thief Rogue, then you’ll have an insanely strong unit at your disposal that can basically solo any fight.
The reason this class is A-tier is due to how underwhelming Way of the Four Elements Monk is when compared to the two other monk sub-classes.
The strangest spellcasting class is by far Warlocks. While they don’t have as many spells at their disposal as other spellcasting classes, at max rank having three spell slots, they’re able to regain all spell slots on Short Rest. They cast all spells at max rank, and their main damage-dealing ability, Eldritch Blast, is only a cantrip.
With their Eldritch Invocations, you’re able to customize your spells and playstyle upon level-up. These Eldritch Invocations include Agonizing Blast (when you cast Eldritch Blast, add your Charisma Modifier to the damage it deals), Repelling Blast (when you hit a creature with Eldritch Blast, you can push the creature up to 4.5 m away from you), Devil’s Sight (you can see normally in darkness, both magical and nonmagical, to a distance of 24m), and many others.
If you take the Warlock Fiend subclass with the Pact of the Blade, you can build up temporary hit points and have a melee playstyle with high CHR.
Since they’re also a CHR caster, they have great utility in dialogue and trading. They’re a great all-rounder class that can deal great damage and talk their way out of most situations, but their lack of spell slots can make some players feel underwhelmed.
True to their name, Rangers are experts when it comes to exploration. Their decent combat capabilities and general versatility are a large factor in their appeal. Rangers have high Wisdom and proficiencies in related skills such as Animal Handling, Insight, Perception and/or Survival.
This makes exploration incredibly simple, especially when paired with their Level 8 Passive Feature, Land’s Stride: Difficult Terrain, which negates the effects of any terrain that inhibits your movement speed such as mud or Plant Growth. As mentioned previously, Rangers are an incredibly flexible class. They’re a spellcaster hybrid, meaning that they can use spells to supplement their martial damage or provide them with additional survivability.
Depending on your preferences, Rangers are capable of focusing on either stealth or martial playstyles. When it comes to efficiency, their single-target damage output is largely outclassed by other classes such as Paladins or Fighters; however, their other gameplay capabilities make up for it.
Clerics are extremely versatile due to the high number of sub-classes available for them. You can fill any empty slot in your party with a Cleric because of the sheer amount of sub-classes they have.
They’re able to frontline, heal, buff their allies, or do considerable damage against the undead and heretics alike.
Since healing potions are very easily bought or crafted, and Long Resting is extremely easy even on Tactician, they aren’t commonly thought to be as integral to a team comp as many other classes. However, they can still save your party from sticky situations and even be a main damage dealer (depending on sub-class) and are great additions to most comps because of their adaptability.
Intertwined with nature, it truly stands to reason that Druids would excel in exploration and supportive capabilities. With their ability to use Wild Shape to transform into various creatures, they are inherently able to communicate with animals, providing benefits in certain areas. Wild Shape grants them different Ability Scores and actions depending on the selected form, making exploration go much faster.
Their high Wisdom is also helpful since it makes Nature, Animal Handling, Perception, and Survival checks easier. In combat scenarios, this effectively gives you a second health bar, allowing you to soak up a lot of damage for your team in addition to any special abilities you gain. However, an issue that arises when it comes to combat gameplay is the Druid class’ reliance on spells that require Concentration. While Concentration can be maintained in Wild Shape, you can’t interact with or move any spells that require it, such as Moonbeam.
Additionally, you are unable to cast spells in Wild Shape, meaning that if your Concentration is broken, you have to wait until you’re back in your normal form to try again. Finally, a Druid’s damage output isn’t the most reliable or consistent, and while they do have a fair amount of supportive capability, they pale in comparison to other classes such as Cleric or even Paladin.
One of the best scaling classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, Wizards are an interesting addition to a team. Since they’re able to learn any spell in the game through scrolls, and you can edit your spellbook at any time, you can constantly change your spells and counter whatever fight you’re about to begin.
While they do have access to the biggest variety of sub-classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, many sub-classes can feel weak and fall short. They’re also the only class that scales based on INT (sorry Artificers), which can make them feel weak during exploration and dialogue.
However, since no other class uses INT, Wizards do offer some interesting benefits when it to INT rolls during dialogue and encounters that you won’t normally get with other classes
Wizards are a good spellcasting class, especially if you pick a great sub-class such as Evocation or Divination. However, they aren’t as well-rounded as Sorcerers or Warlocks.
Rogues are a stealth-based class that is focused on single-target damage. Most of their draw comes from their utility and proficiencies in skills such as Sleight of Hand, Deception, Perception, Insight, and Stealth.
This both makes scouting and exploration much easier. Additionally, using these skills, you can access some areas that are generally progress-locked as you typically won’t need to fight or explore to find keys.
However, Rogues are incredibly dependent on multiclassing as throughout their level progression, they don’t get many perks or abilities that allow their damage or general capabilities to scale in any meaningful way. While you can still perform decently in combat, playing as a full Rogue isn’t ideal if you want to maximize your ability output.
If you made it all the way here and you still don’t know what to play, consider these categories:
Thanks for checking out our early list of the best classes in Baldur’s Gate 3. Remember that a lot can change from Early Access and although Larian built a lot of BG3 from 5E, there are a ton of differences between playing a video game and having a live table run by a dungeon master.
Ultimately, if you want to play with four Barbarians, four Bards, or four Monks, go for it! You’ll honestly be able to beat the game with nearly any comp (maybe not on the Tactician difficulty) as long as you play to the comp’s strengths. GLHF!
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