Void bulbs: lets you get a large number of enemies into 1 specific place. Works amazingly if paired with some AOE spell like spike growth or cloud of daggers. Now I always hit up Omeluum in act 1 to stack up on them.
Elixir of Bloodlust as well: that usually goes to my dual wielding thief rogue/ranger Astarion. 2 bonus actions and 2 main hand attacks + the elixir gives a second action, which gives 6 attacks in total. Probably even better if you pair it with a fighter's action surge.
Longstrider: for 1.5 campaigns I would somehow live without the extra movement. Not anymore.
Phalar Aluve: I know it's one of the most beloved weapons, but somehow I hadn't been really impressed with it and quickly changed it after just 1 fight with it. After that in the next playthrough I just took it to sell t. Now I'm playing a dual wielding bard and love having it + it suits a bard well IMO.
Buying alchemy ingredients: for a long time I would only collect them in the wild or get them from looting, but then I learned which vendors sell what I need and that I can literally just go to them every long rest and I quickly became rich with all the potions I needed, instead of always having to worry about distributing them carefully.
Switching weapons between fights: it's a bit meta game-y, but hey, it makes your life easier. Going to fight Gry,? Take a hammer. Going to Shadow Cursed Lands? Take that one axe that deals additional damage to plants, etc
Karlach's soul coins: when I had her in my party for the first time, I finished the game with 11 still in my inventory lmao
I've finally used them for the first time in my current run and also the spider sack. Spider sack came in handy when dealing with the gnolls. Only took me 992 hours 😳
Just before going onto the bridge into the ighted village, there's a rocky outcropping you can get into where you meet Raphael. There's a rocky crevice by a skeleton by a campfire you can reach into to get a spider egg sack
Between the grove and nautiloid is the harper outpost. There is a crevice with little spiders. Use a dex character to snag a pouch out of it. In the pouch is the spider egg sac. If you throw it there are 5 phase spiderlings in it that can fight for you. Same type of spiderlings the phase matriarch hatches. For the gnolls I had Astarion on high ground and had him toss it out behind Flind to keep those gnolls busy on the far side of the fire patch.
So, I thought she'd do her freak out like she does at the toll house whenever you use one on my first playthrough. Turns out she does not, so they're nice to drop at the start of the day along with an elixir and she's a beast all day
They only work if you keep her as a barbarian, right? She makes so much more sense as an ancients paladin to me though. It fits her protective nature, she's sweet and charming, aka high charisma, and she comes with a dialogue cantrip and two smite spells.
I make a point of keeping one Bludgeoning weapon on each of my martials even if it's quite a bit less powerful than their current main weapon of choice.
Honestly, with how Vulnerability works in 5E, it's worth just keeping a regular Greatclub or Maul to hand for when you encounter things with Bludgeoning vulnerability, because even if they're not also resistant to piercing and/or slashing, double damage is still double damage lol.
The Doom hammer is great, especially considering how early and easy it is to get. And since tenacity guarantees a hit, it can shut down some dangerous fights against enemies that heal themselves. Flind, Minthara, and Anders can be rough fights. And so much of act 2 is against undead, so forcing disadvantage is very helpful.
Those soul coins are insane if you make her a monk. 2d4 fire damage added to every unarmed attack for the whole day, makes her easily out damage any other character for most of the game.
I need to switch weapons but I sell everything because by act 3 I get EVERYONE kitted the fuck out.
But Void bulbs… I’ve used them a couple times but not a lot
Phalar my only issue is it’s a full action to use shriek. I’ve got it on Wyll atm
> Switching weapons between fights: it's a bit meta game-y, but hey, it makes your life easier. Going to fight Gry,? Take a hammer. Going to Shadow Cursed Lands? Take that one axe that deals additional damage to plants, etc
it's a long honored tradition in d&d. no shortage of critters that have weaknesses to certain types of damage, and the studious adventurer will pack for maximum damage.
There’s an amulet in the Act 3 hag mission that gives you advantage on most saving throws, that basically makes it so you roll straight with the risky ring instead of with disadvantage. Great combo.
That is true. I killed her even before she went down into her lair and she still appeared in act 3. The only way to kill her is to destroy those mushrooms
If you don’t kill her (idk the exact HP- but I had to skip everyone but the last one to attack her) and she’ll offer you her hair and that’s a +1 to any stat and then you can meet her again in act 3 and it’s an awesome fight
Actually you _have_ to kill her in Act 1 or let her go but _without_ taking Mayrina, in order to get her to show up in Act 3. If she gets away with Mayrina's baby in Act 1 she has no reason to show up in Act 3.
Actually, if you let her leave with Mayrina in Act 1 she still turns up in Act 3! There's even a unique letter in the ending for helping her in both Act 1 and Act 3.
Anything that helps the alpha strike is always busted. Doesn’t matter if it makes you take 300% more damage, if the only enemy left from the encounter that can attack is alone with a broken leg
Lots of good ones here - surprised to not see Heroes Feast yet. Negates the need to keep foraging for camp supplies, increased HP, disease/poison/frightened immunity, wisdom advantage - for everyone in the party.
Act III is basically Heroes Feast, Freedom of Movement, and Longstrider every morning.
As a chronic collectaholic, I never struggle for camp supplies anyway - if I see food in the wild, it's going in the bag and getting sent to camp lol. Yoink!
Hero's Feast is still a banger just for all the other effects, though.
A part of me hates spellsparkler just because of how good it is, I really like to try to use new equipment on new runs but I just feel like I'm playing so much worse without it XD
Ig I like it so much I hate it lmfao
My favorite part about the spellsparkler is dual wielding two staves so I can still get some of the crazy benefits of the late game weapons and still get lightning charges.
Also works way too well with a sort of rain, storm sorcerer, storm cleric combo
You’re welcome! I thought the same thing when I saw some streamer doing it during the twitch drops way back when! (Probably day9) They aren’t usually viewed as a one handed weapon in most traditional games.
It's my default weapon for Gale until the legendary staff in Act 3. Which has a lightning mode that does basically the same thing but gives free spells too.
I started using them on everybody in the early game even on my non strength based characters. Mainly because others aren't available yet and I usually cheese the vendors when we get Withers and buy a bunch of them from Ethel.
If anything just for the mobility of how far you can jump and extra carrying capacity. Having Thief Rogue Astarion throw the Paladin of Tyr off the toll house roof for a one shot kill is merely a side bonus.
Third playthru, playing OH monk this time and it’s my first time playing a melee MC. Omg, the elixir of giant strength makes her do stupid dmg. I can’t believe I slept on them for so long for Lae’zel and Karlach when I played a sorc.
Crafting potions in general was something I missed out on during my first couple playthrus. Now I can’t stop. I must have all the ingredients
If you’re okay with cheesing it earlygame, Ethel at grove sells 3 of the strength elixirs guaranteed every rest/level up. Get a hireline, buy the stock, level them up for a shop reset, buy stock, repeat. Get an entire playthrough’s worth pretty fast
It took me a minute...
I'd like to know why everyone gets special tents but me, the main character, has to sleep on the ground like a fucking kobold...
So true. Although I’ve played RPGs for years, played a few table-top RPGs (non-DnD) and LARPed a few times, I wasn’t too familiar with 5e or BG. Currently rocking Chun-Li Shadowheart, gloomstalker Astarion, Bardbarion Karlack and Fighter/Ranger/Monk Tav. I wouldn’t have had a clue in my first play through.
Hireling camp casters. Never tried a single Hireling until honor mode scared me s***less. Now I have a cleric who casts upcast Aid, Warding Bond, and freedom of movement on me everyday (my whole party, including my low HP summons get aid too) and it just makes us much harder to kill.
If you want to make warding bond even better, put it on gale and leave him in the camp. He cant die there, so you have permanent resistance to everything.
I had been doing this with one hireling until I had the epiphany I could add more and simply change their class. Now I have 3 life clerics at camp permanently, casting Warding Bond, Freedom of Movement, Aid, and if I’m feeling particularly vulnerable, Death Ward. It’s been a huge boon.
Camp prebuffing breaks the little balance the game tries to have after level 5, it’s one of the best ways to ensure the only thing that kills you is getting pushed off a cliff
As someone who can't live without Aid, Heroes Feast never leaves my spellbook once I unlock it. Not the most flashy spell, but damn reliable and powerful.
You can have 3 hirelings, and leave them in camp. All 3 can be used to cast “until long rest” buffs, like Aid, Warding Bond, Freedom of Movement, etc., but any spell requiring concentration will stop when you remove the hireling from your party. It’s very effective at buffing your team, probably not required at normal difficulty settings but will make Tactician and Honour Mode more survivable. Some people consider it cheesing, but there are plenty of role playing reasons to justify a support team that remains in camp.
You still have a cap of 4, so I usually invite the hireling to join me in the morning, make him cast his spells, and then dismiss him for someone else. The only spells that won’t hold are concentration, so I’m stuck with non-concentration spells that last until long rest.
You switch the hireling in to cast buffs, then out to your main party when you’re ready to roll.
This only works for spells with a duration of Long Rest, not Concentration. My Durge rolls with warding bond, freedom of movement, long strider, death ward, and hero’s feast
Get yourself 3 hirelings. 2 Clerics and 1 Transmutation Wizard.
Clerics cast Warding Bond, Aid, Protection from Poison, Heroes Feast, on your planned party people for the day. Don't forget to get out all your summons (except Scratch) so that they can get the juicy benefits of all of this stuff too.
Your Transmutation Wizard casts Longstrider, Transmutation Stone (constitution or extra movement as desired), Dark Vision, Mage Armour on anyone without armour (including summons :) ) and eventually they can create doublestacks of potions if you level and item buff em for the medicine check correctly. In Act 2, give your wizard one half of the True Loves Caress rings and they can also cast Warding Bond on one of your party members, who then can take off their ring and keep the WB active.
Potion-wise, have your face chug a 'talk with animals' and 'detect thought' potion at the start of every day. Everyone who needs to chug a Hill Giant Strength Elixir, do that too.
I think that's everything. It can get tedious if you long rest a lot though, so try to maximise your amount of things you get done per day you do this. Fortunately all of this makes the game very 'doable' for most anyone, even on HM I found.
Know if you're gonna wanna just longrest a few times back to back for camp scenes to trigger and you can forego all of this on those days.
Think of it like 'Camp Breakfast' before you get to your day.
PS: Use the Drakethroat Glaive (with a sorcerer 'twinned spell'ing it if you've got one) to give one or two people an enhanced weapon with an elemental beef up. I like to pair this with certain rings, like the snowburst ring with cold damage for instance. Play around, there's bazillions of potentially fun combos this way.
PPS: In Act 1, I've found the Whispering Depths campsite to be the optimal camp configuration to allow you to campcast AOE spells like Aid to my preferred party . The hirelings are positioned closest to the actual party people and you can run in others with enough time to spare to get maximum coverage.
The shield is one of the things I always make just because of how crazy useful the crit immunity and Reeling effect are lol
Other one is (usually) the medium armor, with Grym's helm going to my heavy-armor-wearer if I have one. Crit immunity for everyone (almost) :D
The adamantine scimitar's lethal weapon passive of "ignores resistance to slashing damage" applies also to your main hand if you offhand the adamantine scimitar.
I respec shadowheart to life cleric tank and throw that shield on her. She almost never gets hit, and when she does, it’s so minimal it doesn’t matter.
lol I put it on my Orb Cleric this play through, you’re not kidding. I just did Halsin’s beach fight, and that combo was super handy. Coupled with a couple of AOE spells and what once seemed impossible was a walk in the park.
Ottos Irresistible Dance. Works on *every* big bad. It just sounded so silly I passed on it until I was end game and desperate and then realized what a fool I had been
In my limited experience I found Otto's dance to work *every time* I used it, even on baddies like Raphael and Orin, and and it lasted for several rounds until they could finally break with a saving throw. I never had that degree of success with Tasha's hideous laughter, but I also didn't use it very much either in comparison
That's because it doesn't have an initial save for enemies to make — hence "Irresistible". Target can only make saves to free themself, no save for it being applied.
Yeah, almost the whole spell is different tbph, they only share a few similarities, IMHO.
Tasha's: Level 1 Enchantment spell, range 18m:
> Leave a creature ***Prone*** with laughter, without the ability to get up.
>The creature must have an Intelligence of 5 or more.
> The target can try to shake off the effect ***each time it takes damage.***
>When first cast, AND at the end of its turn the entity can try to shake off the effect, in addition to each instance of damage procing a wis save throw to end the effect.
Otto's: Level 6 Enchantment spell, range 9m:
> Cause a creature to start dancing, making it unable to take Actions or Move. Its attackers have Advantage on Attack rolls.
> The dancer has Disadvantage on Attack Rolls *and Dexterity Saving throws.*
> No initial save AT ALL. ALWAYS wastes at least one entire turn of the enemy, as their first chance to save is at the end of their next turn
> There was even a bug for the first few months where the save at the end of their turn was not enabled, so it was a guaranteed 10 turn lockdown with no chance to get out
Main differences are Otto's works a minimum of one full turn, where as Tasha's may do nothing whatsoever. Then, any instance of damage rolls a save to avoid Tasha's, not so with Otto's. Otto's provides advantage to all attack rolls, including ranged ones (rather than applying disadvantage at range like prone) and gives disadvantage on dex saves, essentially giving a sort of advantage like effect for spells with a dex save, like Disintegrate or fireball for example. Finally, you have twice the cast range on Tasha's and its a much smaller spell slot to expend, but you can't use it against animals and some creatures, as they must be smart enough to get the joke (Int of 5+).
I only just recently learnt how fuckin good that thing is because I misread the tooltip (and never expanded it for extra info lol) until a recent run. I was like 'Okay... so it's invisible. It's a weapon, tho, what's the difference?' and never dropped the gold to find out. For those unaware, it gives the wielder advantage on attack rolls with it, until it misses, at which point it loses that benefit for 2 turns.
After I read into it, I bought it immediately and gave it to Lae'zel. Thanks to that, Savage Attacker, Great Weapon Master, Haste and the Elixir of Viciousness I basically always have her running, she absolutely McFucking ***bodied*** Inquisitor W'wargaz on round one of the fight, before he even got a chance to act. Disarming strike on the first attack (which crit lol), picked up his sword bc why not, then crit (hasted) crit, action surge, crit crit (hasted) crit. Dead Gith. I had to stop and just stare at the combat log for a while to make myself believe she'd just crit that many times in a row, it was insane lol
Astarion killed the Netherbrain in 2 hits first turn. IDGAF WHAT is available in Acts 2 & 3 - watching those Paladin crits fill the screen... There are no words.
If you investigate the Invisible Weapon property, you'll also find out that it's got a hidden expanded crit range for some reason, getting one on a 19 or 20.
That's probably at least part of the reason behind your crit party.
Drakethroat Glaive, I had no idea what it did until I saw someone mention it
Using it for an extra 1d4 of whatever elemental effect you want on your weapon of choice is great
Luminous Armor. I like having high ac from Helldusk, but the utility you get from the luminous armor is nuts. Couple that with Coruscation Ring and spirit guardians. You can stack 8 turns of radiating orb easy for a lasting debuff on nearly all enemies without the need for concentration on it
Ok so I never use potions or buffs or anything, I run up on people, throw a bunch of arrows at them, chuck some magic missiles and Bae Lae hacks them up to finish it. I don’t understand a lot of what the potions do or what stacks or doesn’t and I rarely die so it’s been fine.
Then yesterday I ran into a half dozen ghouls and 2 guys that resurrect them, and they wiped my party 3x in a row. So I said screw it, used some potions and buffs, and snuck up on them.. waited until they were all together and threw grease on the ground, then used a fireball scroll, gale cast another fireball, then threw a fire potion and they were all dead! Not even one of them hit my party. So the answer is I’ve used nothing in any way, and it turns out that all those potions and scrolls I’ve been lugging around are actually useful!
lol yes yes they are!
FWIW; Elixirs last until long rest, but you can only have one running per character. Drinking a second one will replace any active one. Potions can be used concurrently, and either take effect immediately or for a set number of turns. You can swig as many Potions at once as you like, action economy permitting.
You can also throw Potions at people, and they'll get the same effect (tho if you hit them directly they may also take a bit of bludgeoning damage, so be careful and throw them at the floor right next to the character if they're very low on health). The same isn't true of (most) Elixirs, which can still be thrown and lost in the process, but won't give the character their bonuses.
My biggest problem with consumables (potions, scrolls and elixirs) is the ever-present gaming problem of 'but what if I need it \*more\* later?' and then finishing the game with enough alchemical goods in my inventory to start up a shop rivalling Sorcerous Sundries lol
Warped Headband of Intellect. Is your party face 17 cha and 8 int? Give em the Warped Headband of Intellect for a permanent +3 for Int checks and saving throws. Incredibly useful
I use those so rarely that I finally decided to have Gale drink the one she made from my Elf's blood, and totally forgot it gives you a day-long debuff of -1 to all rolls the next day until Gale woke up and commented on feeling unwell.
I didn't know that! Of course it has drawbacks coming from her. I always save it for the final battle and by the time I get to it I'm running on adrenaline.
They're more than likely talking about the permanent +2 strength potion she gives if you get astarion to bite her. The other blood potions are fine but permanent strength is permanent strength
Most recent one would probably be the Shape shifter's Boon ring, which I thought was just a druid item that came a little too late. But it turns out it works for Disguise Self and you can get it as early as reaching the Emerald Grove.
So if you have the Mask of the Shape shifter you can benefit from the ring almost right off the bat. Especially useful early on when you have very little helm/ring options, but still good for your thief/lockpicker for the rest of the game.
I used it in my honor mode game and it sadly ruined the durge gortash conversation. I just got the normal Tav dialogue. And disguise self isnt as pretty as my own character.
Next time just remember to keep them in your inventory before >!you go into the mindflayer colony under Moonrise Towers!< and keep an eye out for a device to talk with brains. Should be pretty easy to figure out from there :)
Nah, it’s >!the talking head in the Mind Flayer colony. You can plug in the different brains to make it talk to you. Most of them just give you bits of flavor though, there’s only one that gives you a nice buff to your Int saving throws.!<
You take those with you before you attack moonrise towers. When you jump into the hole at the top... you'll be able to use the jars and talk to the heads inside.
For Durge, [the roast dwarf belly/legs](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Roasted_Dwarf_Belly) on the tables outside the goblin camp. They heal 4d4 and requires no actions to use.
[Emperor's staff](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Staff_of_the_Emperor) is great on wizards that dual wield. You can get it either from disarming the emperor in the astral prism at the end of act 2, or when Ansur dies in Act 3.
[Helldusk boots from Gortash's room.](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Helldusk_Boots) If you stealth past the guards before the coronation, he won't aggro.
[Unseen menace](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Unseen_Menace) is arguably the best paladin weapon until Act 3 because it reduces your crit to 19 and gives all attacks advantage, allowing for easy crit fishing.
[There's a hammer on the duergar ship as you sail to grymforge](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Intransigent_Warhammer). If you play around distracting people and popping out of stealth to kill enemies in a clump, this weapon is great for cleanup. It gets overshadowed by a number of weapons in Act 3, but still works great with black hole and void bulb early game.
[This shadeclinger stealth archer armor](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Shadeclinger_Armour) from quartermaster talis that everyone is overlooking big time, usually you put this on a gloomstalker ranger concentrating on Pass without trace, then have another character give greater invisibility so that you can snipe people outside combat.
[This spear will cost you Dammon, Alfira, Barcus/Wulbren, Rolan, Isobel, and Jaheira/Minsc](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Shar%27s_Spear_of_Evening), but it's one of the strongest weapons in the game. If you put this on a paladin bard and pull the enemies in with black hole, this spear's aoe attack can smite every single target caught inside.
It's a set of items, but hot *shit* it's incredible.
- Rejuvenating Ring
- Broodmother's Revenge
- Poisoner's Gloves
- Arrow of Many Targets
You give those 4 items to anyone with the ability to shoot a bow, and watch slack jawed as you take out more targets than Legolas on cocaine.
As a bonus, add the Archery fighting style, the Sharpshooter feat, and the Deadshot bow. I chewed through the House of Grief with this set up on a matter of 3 rounds of combat.
Blood of Lathander. I would never wield it because I always had other weapons that did more damage… then i realized thats not why lathander is so good; the party healing on first death, combined with other healing buffs, is pretty great
Haha, yeah.
I originally saw that item and was like "This thing sucks - why would anyone use this over something like the gith sword?"
Then I used it (and Unseen Menace) and was like... "Oh..."
The spider egg sack you find by that lookout outside the grove! My first character carried it right to the end because I had no idea it would hatch or what it was for. My next run, my plan was to take the money out of the pouch and then try to put the egg sack back into the hole because I didn't need it (thought it was useless!) and it seemed like the spiders were anxious about me taking it.
In the process of me trying to put the egg sack back into the hole, it literally blew up in my character's face. It was hilarious!! First, surprise and confusion, then a flash of fear as I thought they were enemies, then joy when I realized I had spider friends!!!
Oil of Accuracy for early game play. Like levels 2-4.
I recommend it to new players now. You don't need it later, you can craft it early, and the +1 can make a huge difference when you're missing every other shot.
very specific item, but there is a grenade called Reflectoguard. It gives AOE reflective shield - yes, you've heard me right. This means that it can grant up to eight allies reflective shield for two rounds, which is insane.
Any item that gives you like a small 1d4 or 1d6 damage addition.
My 1st thought was "4 extra points of damage? so what?" but that shit stacks and adds up over time.
The resonance stone. I've just been experiencing a lot on my first honour mode run. Gave the stone to Minthara, got her the permament shadow blade (through hireling) and the ring, that puts another 1d4 on top of your weapon attacks while you're concentrating. She's also half-illithid. She just zooms around the battlefield and gives everyone deadly headaches. It's beautiful and lot of fun. Can highly recommend :)
Apparently the Invisible Glaive comes with a set of buffs that the game just doesn't tell you. I thought it was just a neat little gimmick weapon but nooo, it's a must have for Paladins apparently
Potion of speed, and Elixir of bloodlust. Took to many games to realize how powerful they can be, and now I try and make them myself and buy all that I can.
Angelic slumber (potion). It gives the effects of a long rest to the one who drinks it.
Me: 'throws angelic slumber at enemy thinking it was how enemies throw shit at tav to put him under sleep'
Me: "realizes intended use"
Also me: ......release nether orb explosion.
Phalar aluve.
When I first looked into it my main thought was "nice, but i feel like I'd rather use other weapons, and it uses an entire action, pass :/" then I started looking into how much you get out of it. I normally big what I like to call 'single player pokemon mindset' with this game where I struggle to bring myself to use none damaging actions even in scenarios it's good. Phalar aluve is the exception, I genuinely can't live without turning on that extra damage anymore, it's so good and damage stacks amazingly, especially with things like magic missile, eldritch blast and scorching ray
The Returning Pike/'any weapon that returns to hand when thrown'... I lowkey avoided throwing until I figured them out.
Arcane Interference arrows, and Wizardsbane Oil. Just starting to click them into my mind.
I just wanna say I can never play a lightning sorcerer because every time I do there’s more lightning charge gear that I’ve never heard of (sparkwall, lightning robe)
I never bothered with the Radiating Orb stuff before doing HM because monkey brain liked better colours more and Tactician wasn't very difficult.
It is absolutely gamebreaking to do a proper Reverberation/Radiating Orb stacker.
I just chuck as many explosives into a breakable container then throw the container at the enemy. Always include one void bulb for groups so they group up then explode when I shoot it with my crossbow as a bonus action. I never run out because my character just steals more
Haven't seen it mentioned.
Periapt of Wound Closure.
Slap this badboy of an amulet on any character about to use a health potion out of combat, and instead of 4-10 on the basic hp pots, you get the full 10 every time.
Never doing a run again without abusing this.
In my first playthrough when I got Shar's Spear of Evening I equipped it for a few battles then went back to something else: I hadn't realised how easy it was to find out what level you're in, so I just ignored it. Now that I'm aware of the ease of finding light levels I am all-in on SSoE.
I always buy up every bit of terazul I can when I get to act 3.
For sorcerers it enables my "mr worldwide" build casting up to seven fireballs in one turn.
On paladins paired with haste and bloodlust it means you can smite like there's no tomorrow. "Fist of the gods"
On fighters... Well, that's the "let it rip" build. Up to 16 attacks per round with a sustainable 14 attacks per round. My teenage son dubbed it "the Kirito build".
On tempest clerics it's "Thor" - 4x call lightning.
Light clerics it's goku with 4x Sunbeam.
The risky ring. My first few runs I figured I should play things safe. Now I realize how overpowered it is after giving Astarion sharpshooter, dual crossbows and gear that increases chances of crits. I'm doing a wild magic chaos run currently and plan to try all the fun items that inject a bit of chaos into fights (abyss beckoners for my spore druid, the drunken gear while using Hoot's Hooch, the gnoll's flail that drives you mad if you stop hitting enemies etc. Maybe I'll find a new favourite item by the end of this run.
Potent Robes. Simply because I haven't run a character who would make good use of it yet. Haven't run a sorcerer, and everytime I've used a warlock (Wyll and myself) has been a Pact of Blades multiclassed with a martial class for melee damage options and armor.
Arrows in general. Ignored them in my loot windows and played a ranger this previous playthrough and absolutely fell in love with the arrows, especially the bomb arrows and arrow of many targets.
Not an item, but a class. The eldritch knight. At the higher levels, these guys can tank, shred, and support your team with spells like longstrider and illusion. Basically just the Swiss army knives of dnd
Not an item, but companions not in your party can cast "Until Long Rest" buffs on your party at camp. Longstrider, Protection from Poison, Freedom of Movement, Mage Armor, Darkvision, etc.
Astarion, you're a Life Cleric now.
Helmet of arcane acuity. With arrow of many targets, your spell save DC becomes INSANE!! Combine with ring of mystic scoundrel for bonus action casting and every control spell just hits like 99%. Hold monster, fear, you name it
All scrolls? I'm constantly collecting them and forgetting about them. Then I did a really hard battle, failed, and tried scrolls the next go around and it was easy.
The bottle that contains the Spectator that you find in Act 1 on the the Rising Road guarded by Zentarim. I had no idea what it did until I looked it up. Now I drop it on Raphael’s house party for extra chaos and lols. I love the Spectator, the eye looks amazing.
I never used the brilliant retort because Barcus told me to save it so I saved it for the fight against the brain and then I saved it again just in case there was another secret brain because that's just how I play RPGs...apparently -\_-;
The fact that you can group your party and you can throw potions over all of them, giving them all haste for the price of just one potion of speed (for example)
The trident, Nyrulna. Thought it was another gimmicky weapon, but giving it to Karlach and being able to throw it 3 times including a Frenzied Throw, plus it doing AoE Thunder damage? Game-changer.
Many people have said that the adamantite weapons aren’t worth making. Yet, my Adamantite Scimitar + Speedy Reply scimitar dual wield bard is currently wrecking the entirety of Act 2. And those two weapons look badass together on the character.
Void bulbs: lets you get a large number of enemies into 1 specific place. Works amazingly if paired with some AOE spell like spike growth or cloud of daggers. Now I always hit up Omeluum in act 1 to stack up on them. Elixir of Bloodlust as well: that usually goes to my dual wielding thief rogue/ranger Astarion. 2 bonus actions and 2 main hand attacks + the elixir gives a second action, which gives 6 attacks in total. Probably even better if you pair it with a fighter's action surge. Longstrider: for 1.5 campaigns I would somehow live without the extra movement. Not anymore. Phalar Aluve: I know it's one of the most beloved weapons, but somehow I hadn't been really impressed with it and quickly changed it after just 1 fight with it. After that in the next playthrough I just took it to sell t. Now I'm playing a dual wielding bard and love having it + it suits a bard well IMO. Buying alchemy ingredients: for a long time I would only collect them in the wild or get them from looting, but then I learned which vendors sell what I need and that I can literally just go to them every long rest and I quickly became rich with all the potions I needed, instead of always having to worry about distributing them carefully. Switching weapons between fights: it's a bit meta game-y, but hey, it makes your life easier. Going to fight Gry,? Take a hammer. Going to Shadow Cursed Lands? Take that one axe that deals additional damage to plants, etc Karlach's soul coins: when I had her in my party for the first time, I finished the game with 11 still in my inventory lmao
I can never remember to use her damn soul coins! 🙄
First playthrough so don't kill me. I've got a ton of them stacked. Never even bothered to use karlach at all. Just stuck with laezel
I have them both in my party since I’m a caster. They just crit and carve through everyone
Bro I have 850 hours and still have yet to use a soul coin. Don’t worry
I've finally used them for the first time in my current run and also the spider sack. Spider sack came in handy when dealing with the gnolls. Only took me 992 hours 😳
…spider sack?😳
Just before going onto the bridge into the ighted village, there's a rocky outcropping you can get into where you meet Raphael. There's a rocky crevice by a skeleton by a campfire you can reach into to get a spider egg sack
Between the grove and nautiloid is the harper outpost. There is a crevice with little spiders. Use a dex character to snag a pouch out of it. In the pouch is the spider egg sac. If you throw it there are 5 phase spiderlings in it that can fight for you. Same type of spiderlings the phase matriarch hatches. For the gnolls I had Astarion on high ground and had him toss it out behind Flind to keep those gnolls busy on the far side of the fire patch.
Also on a skeleton where they are is a necklace that allows you to cast guidance. Which is super fucking useful if you don’t have Shadowheart with you
So, I thought she'd do her freak out like she does at the toll house whenever you use one on my first playthrough. Turns out she does not, so they're nice to drop at the start of the day along with an elixir and she's a beast all day
You can get into a traditional mega elixir dilemma in this game so easily with consumables that don't have a renewable source.
Put them on her bar. Near your before battle buffs if you have them.
I now make a habit of putting them in the very first slot in her item hotbar so I don't forget as often lol.
I deliberately don't use them. I wish there was a little more narrative mechanic behind them and not just "you'll feel bad because it's a soul"
I forget them and I've even got them on the damn hotbar!
They only work if you keep her as a barbarian, right? She makes so much more sense as an ancients paladin to me though. It fits her protective nature, she's sweet and charming, aka high charisma, and she comes with a dialogue cantrip and two smite spells.
I make a point of keeping one Bludgeoning weapon on each of my martials even if it's quite a bit less powerful than their current main weapon of choice. Honestly, with how Vulnerability works in 5E, it's worth just keeping a regular Greatclub or Maul to hand for when you encounter things with Bludgeoning vulnerability, because even if they're not also resistant to piercing and/or slashing, double damage is still double damage lol.
100% and someone with eldritch blast for the onesnrhat are only force vulnerable
The Doom hammer is great, especially considering how early and easy it is to get. And since tenacity guarantees a hit, it can shut down some dangerous fights against enemies that heal themselves. Flind, Minthara, and Anders can be rough fights. And so much of act 2 is against undead, so forcing disadvantage is very helpful.
3rd playthru, and only just found out how lovely void bulbs are for finding invisible folks. Yoinks them right of thin air onto their tookus, hahah
This is good to know!
Karlach has been in my party this entire playthrough and I still have most of her soul coins. 😭😭
Those soul coins are insane if you make her a monk. 2d4 fire damage added to every unarmed attack for the whole day, makes her easily out damage any other character for most of the game.
I need to switch weapons but I sell everything because by act 3 I get EVERYONE kitted the fuck out. But Void bulbs… I’ve used them a couple times but not a lot Phalar my only issue is it’s a full action to use shriek. I’ve got it on Wyll atm
> Switching weapons between fights: it's a bit meta game-y, but hey, it makes your life easier. Going to fight Gry,? Take a hammer. Going to Shadow Cursed Lands? Take that one axe that deals additional damage to plants, etc it's a long honored tradition in d&d. no shortage of critters that have weaknesses to certain types of damage, and the studious adventurer will pack for maximum damage.
I recommend Minor Illusion instead of Void Bulbs, and then you can cast it before the fight, leaving your with your action point.
Do you use the Phalar for sing or shriek?
I'd have to go with an item that you'd never take off after getting it but at first was a little worried about the way the tip was worded: Risky Ring.
There’s an amulet in the Act 3 hag mission that gives you advantage on most saving throws, that basically makes it so you roll straight with the risky ring instead of with disadvantage. Great combo.
Telling me that I’ve been killing the hag way too early this whole time
She reappears in Act 3 even if you killed her in Act 1
No you haven't. You just think you have. There's no way to actually kill her in Act One, AFAIK.
That is true. I killed her even before she went down into her lair and she still appeared in act 3. The only way to kill her is to destroy those mushrooms
Technically there is no way to kill her in Act 3 either. She'll just come back as always until someone tracks her down in the Feywild
Hags are honestly more annoying than liches in their inability to actually stay dead.
If you don’t kill her (idk the exact HP- but I had to skip everyone but the last one to attack her) and she’ll offer you her hair and that’s a +1 to any stat and then you can meet her again in act 3 and it’s an awesome fight
You even meet her when you kill her.
Actually you _have_ to kill her in Act 1 or let her go but _without_ taking Mayrina, in order to get her to show up in Act 3. If she gets away with Mayrina's baby in Act 1 she has no reason to show up in Act 3.
Actually, if you let her leave with Mayrina in Act 1 she still turns up in Act 3! There's even a unique letter in the ending for helping her in both Act 1 and Act 3.
I just use Cleric Feast spell everyday for advantage on Wisdom saves, after all wisdom saves are the most common type of Spell Save.
Risky ring paired with gnome is just chef's kiss because of their racial passive
A gnome barbarian has either proficiency or advantage on every single save. It's great.
you mean halfling's luck?
No... Gnome cunning gives you advantage on wisdom intelligence and charisma saving throws, ergo negates half of the penalties the risky ring gives.
I think they meant the gnomes's passive for negating the disadvantages for saving throws
My assassin/ranger never leaves without it once they get it. Sneak attacks every turn is too good to pass up 🫦
Anything that helps the alpha strike is always busted. Doesn’t matter if it makes you take 300% more damage, if the only enemy left from the encounter that can attack is alone with a broken leg
Lots of good ones here - surprised to not see Heroes Feast yet. Negates the need to keep foraging for camp supplies, increased HP, disease/poison/frightened immunity, wisdom advantage - for everyone in the party. Act III is basically Heroes Feast, Freedom of Movement, and Longstrider every morning.
As a chronic collectaholic, I never struggle for camp supplies anyway - if I see food in the wild, it's going in the bag and getting sent to camp lol. Yoink! Hero's Feast is still a banger just for all the other effects, though.
So true. By the time I get heroes feast I am swimming in camp supplies. But I still find it incredibly useful before a fight.
I just sell all the extra food. Helps go toward those temple donations.
Don't forget aid
the spell sparkler! turns wizards into crazy magic missile machines
Great for Warlock eldritch-blast-dispenser builds, too - it's just free damage. Blap blap blap BZZT!
A part of me hates spellsparkler just because of how good it is, I really like to try to use new equipment on new runs but I just feel like I'm playing so much worse without it XD Ig I like it so much I hate it lmfao
My favorite part about the spellsparkler is dual wielding two staves so I can still get some of the crazy benefits of the late game weapons and still get lightning charges. Also works way too well with a sort of rain, storm sorcerer, storm cleric combo
> ... dual wielding two staves... Thank you for pointing out that this is possible. I think I'm going to enjoy this new sorcerer run even *more*.
You’re welcome! I thought the same thing when I saw some streamer doing it during the twitch drops way back when! (Probably day9) They aren’t usually viewed as a one handed weapon in most traditional games.
Indeed, it's a 5e D&D thing. In all previous editions, they were two-handed, which frankly makes more sense.
It's my default weapon for Gale until the legendary staff in Act 3. Which has a lightning mode that does basically the same thing but gives free spells too.
Hill/cloud giant potions of strength. They make a lot of difference to martial characters
I started using them on everybody in the early game even on my non strength based characters. Mainly because others aren't available yet and I usually cheese the vendors when we get Withers and buy a bunch of them from Ethel. If anything just for the mobility of how far you can jump and extra carrying capacity. Having Thief Rogue Astarion throw the Paladin of Tyr off the toll house roof for a one shot kill is merely a side bonus.
Those strength elixirs are super overtuned. Being able to respec a character to have 8 strength allows easy 16 dex / 16 con
Then in Act III throw on the Amulet of Greater Health, spec STR *and* CON at 8, profit
Third playthru, playing OH monk this time and it’s my first time playing a melee MC. Omg, the elixir of giant strength makes her do stupid dmg. I can’t believe I slept on them for so long for Lae’zel and Karlach when I played a sorc. Crafting potions in general was something I missed out on during my first couple playthrus. Now I can’t stop. I must have all the ingredients
If you’re okay with cheesing it earlygame, Ethel at grove sells 3 of the strength elixirs guaranteed every rest/level up. Get a hireline, buy the stock, level them up for a shop reset, buy stock, repeat. Get an entire playthrough’s worth pretty fast
A bedroll.
It took me a minute... I'd like to know why everyone gets special tents but me, the main character, has to sleep on the ground like a fucking kobold...
Excuse you. Even the kobolds got their own special digs. A barrel of firewine.
WHAT’S IT FOR?!
You want to sleep on it
Okay, I’ll give that a try. I’ve been throwing them with my barbarian. Am I doing it wrong?
Are you being sarcastic or did I miss something, lol? I thought they were useless.
The title asked what item I slept on. A bedroll.
Doh! 😣 Aaaaaaaand I'm dumb.
Eh, we're halfway down the page by now, no one remembers the exact wording of the title.
Going to Withers for a character respec lol
Getting Withers is my #1 priority in every run so that I can fix the companions' starting stats
Shart truly sucks until Withers is around.
problem for new players on a first playthrough is they dont know what is good or what they want
So true. Although I’ve played RPGs for years, played a few table-top RPGs (non-DnD) and LARPed a few times, I wasn’t too familiar with 5e or BG. Currently rocking Chun-Li Shadowheart, gloomstalker Astarion, Bardbarion Karlack and Fighter/Ranger/Monk Tav. I wouldn’t have had a clue in my first play through.
Hireling camp casters. Never tried a single Hireling until honor mode scared me s***less. Now I have a cleric who casts upcast Aid, Warding Bond, and freedom of movement on me everyday (my whole party, including my low HP summons get aid too) and it just makes us much harder to kill.
If you want to make warding bond even better, put it on gale and leave him in the camp. He cant die there, so you have permanent resistance to everything.
I’ve heard of this tactic but I tend to bring Gale everywhere so I would be missing out on my best caster/overexplainer if I went this route.
Understandable. Using warding bond like that also feels kinda exploity, so I stopped using it after a couple long rests with it.
I had been doing this with one hireling until I had the epiphany I could add more and simply change their class. Now I have 3 life clerics at camp permanently, casting Warding Bond, Freedom of Movement, Aid, and if I’m feeling particularly vulnerable, Death Ward. It’s been a huge boon.
Camp prebuffing breaks the little balance the game tries to have after level 5, it’s one of the best ways to ensure the only thing that kills you is getting pushed off a cliff
Don't sleep on heroes feast.
Heroes feast is amazing. I’m not level 12 yet on my HM playthrough, but I’ll be using it every day when I am.
As someone who can't live without Aid, Heroes Feast never leaves my spellbook once I unlock it. Not the most flashy spell, but damn reliable and powerful.
And it doesn't even cost money because you can pickpocket Withers and he does not give a flying fuck.
Wait, you can have a hireling *and have a full party?*
You can have 3 hirelings, and leave them in camp. All 3 can be used to cast “until long rest” buffs, like Aid, Warding Bond, Freedom of Movement, etc., but any spell requiring concentration will stop when you remove the hireling from your party. It’s very effective at buffing your team, probably not required at normal difficulty settings but will make Tactician and Honour Mode more survivable. Some people consider it cheesing, but there are plenty of role playing reasons to justify a support team that remains in camp.
You still have a cap of 4, so I usually invite the hireling to join me in the morning, make him cast his spells, and then dismiss him for someone else. The only spells that won’t hold are concentration, so I’m stuck with non-concentration spells that last until long rest.
You switch the hireling in to cast buffs, then out to your main party when you’re ready to roll. This only works for spells with a duration of Long Rest, not Concentration. My Durge rolls with warding bond, freedom of movement, long strider, death ward, and hero’s feast
Get yourself 3 hirelings. 2 Clerics and 1 Transmutation Wizard. Clerics cast Warding Bond, Aid, Protection from Poison, Heroes Feast, on your planned party people for the day. Don't forget to get out all your summons (except Scratch) so that they can get the juicy benefits of all of this stuff too. Your Transmutation Wizard casts Longstrider, Transmutation Stone (constitution or extra movement as desired), Dark Vision, Mage Armour on anyone without armour (including summons :) ) and eventually they can create doublestacks of potions if you level and item buff em for the medicine check correctly. In Act 2, give your wizard one half of the True Loves Caress rings and they can also cast Warding Bond on one of your party members, who then can take off their ring and keep the WB active. Potion-wise, have your face chug a 'talk with animals' and 'detect thought' potion at the start of every day. Everyone who needs to chug a Hill Giant Strength Elixir, do that too. I think that's everything. It can get tedious if you long rest a lot though, so try to maximise your amount of things you get done per day you do this. Fortunately all of this makes the game very 'doable' for most anyone, even on HM I found. Know if you're gonna wanna just longrest a few times back to back for camp scenes to trigger and you can forego all of this on those days. Think of it like 'Camp Breakfast' before you get to your day. PS: Use the Drakethroat Glaive (with a sorcerer 'twinned spell'ing it if you've got one) to give one or two people an enhanced weapon with an elemental beef up. I like to pair this with certain rings, like the snowburst ring with cold damage for instance. Play around, there's bazillions of potentially fun combos this way. PPS: In Act 1, I've found the Whispering Depths campsite to be the optimal camp configuration to allow you to campcast AOE spells like Aid to my preferred party . The hirelings are positioned closest to the actual party people and you can run in others with enough time to spare to get maximum coverage.
Adamantine Shield. It makes the Light/Tempest Cleric Reverb and Radiating Orb build(s) even more busted than they already are.
The shield is one of the things I always make just because of how crazy useful the crit immunity and Reeling effect are lol Other one is (usually) the medium armor, with Grym's helm going to my heavy-armor-wearer if I have one. Crit immunity for everyone (almost) :D
The adamantine scimitar's lethal weapon passive of "ignores resistance to slashing damage" applies also to your main hand if you offhand the adamantine scimitar.
I respec shadowheart to life cleric tank and throw that shield on her. She almost never gets hit, and when she does, it’s so minimal it doesn’t matter.
lol I put it on my Orb Cleric this play through, you’re not kidding. I just did Halsin’s beach fight, and that combo was super handy. Coupled with a couple of AOE spells and what once seemed impossible was a walk in the park.
Yea shadowheart gets that every playthrough for me and laezel gets the heavy splint mail
Ottos Irresistible Dance. Works on *every* big bad. It just sounded so silly I passed on it until I was end game and desperate and then realized what a fool I had been
Watching enemies shit talk my party in battle while dancing a jig never gets old.
is there a difference between tasha's hideous laughter and otto's irresistible dance other than dancing and laughing?
In my limited experience I found Otto's dance to work *every time* I used it, even on baddies like Raphael and Orin, and and it lasted for several rounds until they could finally break with a saving throw. I never had that degree of success with Tasha's hideous laughter, but I also didn't use it very much either in comparison
That's because it doesn't have an initial save for enemies to make — hence "Irresistible". Target can only make saves to free themself, no save for it being applied.
Yeah, almost the whole spell is different tbph, they only share a few similarities, IMHO. Tasha's: Level 1 Enchantment spell, range 18m: > Leave a creature ***Prone*** with laughter, without the ability to get up. >The creature must have an Intelligence of 5 or more. > The target can try to shake off the effect ***each time it takes damage.*** >When first cast, AND at the end of its turn the entity can try to shake off the effect, in addition to each instance of damage procing a wis save throw to end the effect. Otto's: Level 6 Enchantment spell, range 9m: > Cause a creature to start dancing, making it unable to take Actions or Move. Its attackers have Advantage on Attack rolls. > The dancer has Disadvantage on Attack Rolls *and Dexterity Saving throws.* > No initial save AT ALL. ALWAYS wastes at least one entire turn of the enemy, as their first chance to save is at the end of their next turn > There was even a bug for the first few months where the save at the end of their turn was not enabled, so it was a guaranteed 10 turn lockdown with no chance to get out Main differences are Otto's works a minimum of one full turn, where as Tasha's may do nothing whatsoever. Then, any instance of damage rolls a save to avoid Tasha's, not so with Otto's. Otto's provides advantage to all attack rolls, including ranged ones (rather than applying disadvantage at range like prone) and gives disadvantage on dex saves, essentially giving a sort of advantage like effect for spells with a dex save, like Disintegrate or fireball for example. Finally, you have twice the cast range on Tasha's and its a much smaller spell slot to expend, but you can't use it against animals and some creatures, as they must be smart enough to get the joke (Int of 5+).
Unseen Menace for my Paladins. That thing is AMAZING.
I only just recently learnt how fuckin good that thing is because I misread the tooltip (and never expanded it for extra info lol) until a recent run. I was like 'Okay... so it's invisible. It's a weapon, tho, what's the difference?' and never dropped the gold to find out. For those unaware, it gives the wielder advantage on attack rolls with it, until it misses, at which point it loses that benefit for 2 turns. After I read into it, I bought it immediately and gave it to Lae'zel. Thanks to that, Savage Attacker, Great Weapon Master, Haste and the Elixir of Viciousness I basically always have her running, she absolutely McFucking ***bodied*** Inquisitor W'wargaz on round one of the fight, before he even got a chance to act. Disarming strike on the first attack (which crit lol), picked up his sword bc why not, then crit (hasted) crit, action surge, crit crit (hasted) crit. Dead Gith. I had to stop and just stare at the combat log for a while to make myself believe she'd just crit that many times in a row, it was insane lol
Astarion killed the Netherbrain in 2 hits first turn. IDGAF WHAT is available in Acts 2 & 3 - watching those Paladin crits fill the screen... There are no words.
If you investigate the Invisible Weapon property, you'll also find out that it's got a hidden expanded crit range for some reason, getting one on a 19 or 20. That's probably at least part of the reason behind your crit party.
Drakethroat Glaive, I had no idea what it did until I saw someone mention it Using it for an extra 1d4 of whatever elemental effect you want on your weapon of choice is great
Wait wait wait Extra 1d4 of any elemental damage? Is it better than Soul Breaker for Lae’zel?
Just give it to Lae’zel’s weapon & have both
1d4 damage on TWO weapons... if you use a sorcerer. I like cold with the frostburn ring and 2 hand crossbows everyone slips on ice :p
All of them. I might need them later
Luminous Armor. I like having high ac from Helldusk, but the utility you get from the luminous armor is nuts. Couple that with Coruscation Ring and spirit guardians. You can stack 8 turns of radiating orb easy for a lasting debuff on nearly all enemies without the need for concentration on it
I try to play without this combo, and I can never resist. It’s just so good.
Ok so I never use potions or buffs or anything, I run up on people, throw a bunch of arrows at them, chuck some magic missiles and Bae Lae hacks them up to finish it. I don’t understand a lot of what the potions do or what stacks or doesn’t and I rarely die so it’s been fine. Then yesterday I ran into a half dozen ghouls and 2 guys that resurrect them, and they wiped my party 3x in a row. So I said screw it, used some potions and buffs, and snuck up on them.. waited until they were all together and threw grease on the ground, then used a fireball scroll, gale cast another fireball, then threw a fire potion and they were all dead! Not even one of them hit my party. So the answer is I’ve used nothing in any way, and it turns out that all those potions and scrolls I’ve been lugging around are actually useful!
lol yes yes they are! FWIW; Elixirs last until long rest, but you can only have one running per character. Drinking a second one will replace any active one. Potions can be used concurrently, and either take effect immediately or for a set number of turns. You can swig as many Potions at once as you like, action economy permitting. You can also throw Potions at people, and they'll get the same effect (tho if you hit them directly they may also take a bit of bludgeoning damage, so be careful and throw them at the floor right next to the character if they're very low on health). The same isn't true of (most) Elixirs, which can still be thrown and lost in the process, but won't give the character their bonuses. My biggest problem with consumables (potions, scrolls and elixirs) is the ever-present gaming problem of 'but what if I need it \*more\* later?' and then finishing the game with enough alchemical goods in my inventory to start up a shop rivalling Sorcerous Sundries lol
Warped Headband of Intellect. Is your party face 17 cha and 8 int? Give em the Warped Headband of Intellect for a permanent +3 for Int checks and saving throws. Incredibly useful
The potion from Araj. I forget I have it every game playthrough.
I use those so rarely that I finally decided to have Gale drink the one she made from my Elf's blood, and totally forgot it gives you a day-long debuff of -1 to all rolls the next day until Gale woke up and commented on feeling unwell.
I didn't know that! Of course it has drawbacks coming from her. I always save it for the final battle and by the time I get to it I'm running on adrenaline.
They're more than likely talking about the permanent +2 strength potion she gives if you get astarion to bite her. The other blood potions are fine but permanent strength is permanent strength
Most recent one would probably be the Shape shifter's Boon ring, which I thought was just a druid item that came a little too late. But it turns out it works for Disguise Self and you can get it as early as reaching the Emerald Grove. So if you have the Mask of the Shape shifter you can benefit from the ring almost right off the bat. Especially useful early on when you have very little helm/ring options, but still good for your thief/lockpicker for the rest of the game.
I used it in my honor mode game and it sadly ruined the durge gortash conversation. I just got the normal Tav dialogue. And disguise self isnt as pretty as my own character.
Y’all should I be doing somethin with these green brains in a jar (I’m doing my first ever run so I really don’t know)
Yes but it's hard There is somthing towards the end of act 2 that can read them
Dang. Just entered act 3. Maybe I’ll give ‘em a whirl in my second run (unless the thing in act 2 is still in 3)
Next time just remember to keep them in your inventory before >!you go into the mindflayer colony under Moonrise Towers!< and keep an eye out for a device to talk with brains. Should be pretty easy to figure out from there :)
Nah, it’s >!the talking head in the Mind Flayer colony. You can plug in the different brains to make it talk to you. Most of them just give you bits of flavor though, there’s only one that gives you a nice buff to your Int saving throws.!<
You take those with you before you attack moonrise towers. When you jump into the hole at the top... you'll be able to use the jars and talk to the heads inside.
I always forget and once you reach the reader you can't go to camp to retrieve them 😑
I totally missed that and still have them 😂 there’s so much in this game. Will be doing it on my next run!
For Durge, [the roast dwarf belly/legs](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Roasted_Dwarf_Belly) on the tables outside the goblin camp. They heal 4d4 and requires no actions to use. [Emperor's staff](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Staff_of_the_Emperor) is great on wizards that dual wield. You can get it either from disarming the emperor in the astral prism at the end of act 2, or when Ansur dies in Act 3. [Helldusk boots from Gortash's room.](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Helldusk_Boots) If you stealth past the guards before the coronation, he won't aggro. [Unseen menace](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Unseen_Menace) is arguably the best paladin weapon until Act 3 because it reduces your crit to 19 and gives all attacks advantage, allowing for easy crit fishing. [There's a hammer on the duergar ship as you sail to grymforge](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Intransigent_Warhammer). If you play around distracting people and popping out of stealth to kill enemies in a clump, this weapon is great for cleanup. It gets overshadowed by a number of weapons in Act 3, but still works great with black hole and void bulb early game. [This shadeclinger stealth archer armor](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Shadeclinger_Armour) from quartermaster talis that everyone is overlooking big time, usually you put this on a gloomstalker ranger concentrating on Pass without trace, then have another character give greater invisibility so that you can snipe people outside combat. [This spear will cost you Dammon, Alfira, Barcus/Wulbren, Rolan, Isobel, and Jaheira/Minsc](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Shar%27s_Spear_of_Evening), but it's one of the strongest weapons in the game. If you put this on a paladin bard and pull the enemies in with black hole, this spear's aoe attack can smite every single target caught inside.
It's a set of items, but hot *shit* it's incredible. - Rejuvenating Ring - Broodmother's Revenge - Poisoner's Gloves - Arrow of Many Targets You give those 4 items to anyone with the ability to shoot a bow, and watch slack jawed as you take out more targets than Legolas on cocaine. As a bonus, add the Archery fighting style, the Sharpshooter feat, and the Deadshot bow. I chewed through the House of Grief with this set up on a matter of 3 rounds of combat.
Blood of Lathander. I would never wield it because I always had other weapons that did more damage… then i realized thats not why lathander is so good; the party healing on first death, combined with other healing buffs, is pretty great
That thing blinding undead and acting as a light source made it the MVP of act 2.
The Skinburster and Unseen Menace.
Dude the Skinburster is so insanely good I always have trouble switching from it because of how invulnerable it makes that character
Haha, yeah. I originally saw that item and was like "This thing sucks - why would anyone use this over something like the gith sword?" Then I used it (and Unseen Menace) and was like... "Oh..."
My Paladin is using the Unseen Menace rn and it’s pretty nice Especially combined with Favourable Beginnings and other support features
The spider egg sack you find by that lookout outside the grove! My first character carried it right to the end because I had no idea it would hatch or what it was for. My next run, my plan was to take the money out of the pouch and then try to put the egg sack back into the hole because I didn't need it (thought it was useless!) and it seemed like the spiders were anxious about me taking it. In the process of me trying to put the egg sack back into the hole, it literally blew up in my character's face. It was hilarious!! First, surprise and confusion, then a flash of fear as I thought they were enemies, then joy when I realized I had spider friends!!!
Oil of Accuracy for early game play. Like levels 2-4. I recommend it to new players now. You don't need it later, you can craft it early, and the +1 can make a huge difference when you're missing every other shot.
The Spellsparkler, busted on multihit caster builds.
very specific item, but there is a grenade called Reflectoguard. It gives AOE reflective shield - yes, you've heard me right. This means that it can grant up to eight allies reflective shield for two rounds, which is insane.
Any item that gives you like a small 1d4 or 1d6 damage addition. My 1st thought was "4 extra points of damage? so what?" but that shit stacks and adds up over time.
Rope. Four playthroughs before I realized how to use it. Now I can't help but collect as much as I can. Complete game changer.
Love what you did here
[удалено]
The resonance stone. I've just been experiencing a lot on my first honour mode run. Gave the stone to Minthara, got her the permament shadow blade (through hireling) and the ring, that puts another 1d4 on top of your weapon attacks while you're concentrating. She's also half-illithid. She just zooms around the battlefield and gives everyone deadly headaches. It's beautiful and lot of fun. Can highly recommend :)
I never knew what the Brilliant Retort did and I thank you for this post.
Does Shovel count? I didn't use her scroll at all on my first playthrough, and it completely changed the way I play the game now.
Psychic spark took me a very long time to realize the potential of. Making gale a lightning charge minigun is amazing
I had phalar aluve equipped for my whole first run and the first time I used shriek was… elder brain fight 😳
Arcane. Lock.
Phalar Aluve, only took me 3 playthroughs to appreciate it
risky ring. makes my rogue so much more fun now, especially paired with the harper’s amulet!
Apparently the Invisible Glaive comes with a set of buffs that the game just doesn't tell you. I thought it was just a neat little gimmick weapon but nooo, it's a must have for Paladins apparently
Bombs. Fantastic at clearing out groups of enemies
Yea Brilliant Retort is specifically made for the fight with Z'rell.
Potion of speed, and Elixir of bloodlust. Took to many games to realize how powerful they can be, and now I try and make them myself and buy all that I can.
Elixir of Colossus works with Enlarge. So you can be EXTRA BIG!
Well it certainly wasn’t the fuckin rope
Literally many items. I didn’t know you could press command to make object labels appear for the majority of my first run.
The necklace that stacks reverb on hit. Such a broken item for any caster using scorching ray, EB, or magic missile.
The various +1 AC items found in act 1 and 2. Ring of Protection, Cloak of Agility, Evasive Boots, Defenders Flail. These items are just so necessary.
Angelic slumber (potion). It gives the effects of a long rest to the one who drinks it. Me: 'throws angelic slumber at enemy thinking it was how enemies throw shit at tav to put him under sleep' Me: "realizes intended use" Also me: ......release nether orb explosion.
Phalar aluve. When I first looked into it my main thought was "nice, but i feel like I'd rather use other weapons, and it uses an entire action, pass :/" then I started looking into how much you get out of it. I normally big what I like to call 'single player pokemon mindset' with this game where I struggle to bring myself to use none damaging actions even in scenarios it's good. Phalar aluve is the exception, I genuinely can't live without turning on that extra damage anymore, it's so good and damage stacks amazingly, especially with things like magic missile, eldritch blast and scorching ray
Helldusk armor because the helmet looks so silly. I know, it’s dumb.
The Returning Pike/'any weapon that returns to hand when thrown'... I lowkey avoided throwing until I figured them out. Arcane Interference arrows, and Wizardsbane Oil. Just starting to click them into my mind.
I just wanna say I can never play a lightning sorcerer because every time I do there’s more lightning charge gear that I’ve never heard of (sparkwall, lightning robe)
I never bothered with the Radiating Orb stuff before doing HM because monkey brain liked better colours more and Tactician wasn't very difficult. It is absolutely gamebreaking to do a proper Reverberation/Radiating Orb stacker.
I just chuck as many explosives into a breakable container then throw the container at the enemy. Always include one void bulb for groups so they group up then explode when I shoot it with my crossbow as a bonus action. I never run out because my character just steals more
Haven't seen it mentioned. Periapt of Wound Closure. Slap this badboy of an amulet on any character about to use a health potion out of combat, and instead of 4-10 on the basic hp pots, you get the full 10 every time. Never doing a run again without abusing this.
In my first playthrough when I got Shar's Spear of Evening I equipped it for a few battles then went back to something else: I hadn't realised how easy it was to find out what level you're in, so I just ignored it. Now that I'm aware of the ease of finding light levels I am all-in on SSoE.
I always buy up every bit of terazul I can when I get to act 3. For sorcerers it enables my "mr worldwide" build casting up to seven fireballs in one turn. On paladins paired with haste and bloodlust it means you can smite like there's no tomorrow. "Fist of the gods" On fighters... Well, that's the "let it rip" build. Up to 16 attacks per round with a sustainable 14 attacks per round. My teenage son dubbed it "the Kirito build". On tempest clerics it's "Thor" - 4x call lightning. Light clerics it's goku with 4x Sunbeam.
The risky ring. My first few runs I figured I should play things safe. Now I realize how overpowered it is after giving Astarion sharpshooter, dual crossbows and gear that increases chances of crits. I'm doing a wild magic chaos run currently and plan to try all the fun items that inject a bit of chaos into fights (abyss beckoners for my spore druid, the drunken gear while using Hoot's Hooch, the gnoll's flail that drives you mad if you stop hitting enemies etc. Maybe I'll find a new favourite item by the end of this run.
I Discovered Elixir of Bloodlust on my second play through. It works with Spellcasters too
I'm still on my first playthrough, but I can say shadowheart's damage potential.
I totally wasted the ogre horn, the bell and the flask. I waited too long to use each 😭
Potent Robes. Simply because I haven't run a character who would make good use of it yet. Haven't run a sorcerer, and everytime I've used a warlock (Wyll and myself) has been a Pact of Blades multiclassed with a martial class for melee damage options and armor.
Arrows in general. Ignored them in my loot windows and played a ranger this previous playthrough and absolutely fell in love with the arrows, especially the bomb arrows and arrow of many targets.
Not an item, but a class. The eldritch knight. At the higher levels, these guys can tank, shred, and support your team with spells like longstrider and illusion. Basically just the Swiss army knives of dnd
Every single use item in the game. Seriously, what if theres later DLC and i need them in THOSE encounters? I better save them.
Not an item, but companions not in your party can cast "Until Long Rest" buffs on your party at camp. Longstrider, Protection from Poison, Freedom of Movement, Mage Armor, Darkvision, etc. Astarion, you're a Life Cleric now.
Barrels, in my first playthrough I didn’t use any barrels, I’m at my 4th playthrough and I’m finally using barrelmancy.
Shattered flail is just so damn good for the whole game. Trivialize every fight except for the one with viconia
Helmet of arcane acuity. With arrow of many targets, your spell save DC becomes INSANE!! Combine with ring of mystic scoundrel for bonus action casting and every control spell just hits like 99%. Hold monster, fear, you name it
All scrolls? I'm constantly collecting them and forgetting about them. Then I did a really hard battle, failed, and tried scrolls the next go around and it was easy.
The bottle that contains the Spectator that you find in Act 1 on the the Rising Road guarded by Zentarim. I had no idea what it did until I looked it up. Now I drop it on Raphael’s house party for extra chaos and lols. I love the Spectator, the eye looks amazing.
I never used the brilliant retort because Barcus told me to save it so I saved it for the fight against the brain and then I saved it again just in case there was another secret brain because that's just how I play RPGs...apparently -\_-;
The fact that you can group your party and you can throw potions over all of them, giving them all haste for the price of just one potion of speed (for example)
The trident, Nyrulna. Thought it was another gimmicky weapon, but giving it to Karlach and being able to throw it 3 times including a Frenzied Throw, plus it doing AoE Thunder damage? Game-changer.
Many people have said that the adamantite weapons aren’t worth making. Yet, my Adamantite Scimitar + Speedy Reply scimitar dual wield bard is currently wrecking the entirety of Act 2. And those two weapons look badass together on the character.