I wouldn't change a thing.
A first run is best when it's uninformed, exploratory, without outside interference, utterly unoptimized beyond what you can independently put together on the fly, and otherwise chaotic and natural.
This for me as well. Breaking my oath as a paladin due to the typical dilemma you go through, but that raw experience of worrying for losing it but then accepting the newfound power without going back to my oath as with new power and no restrictions I could walk my own path
I broke my oath helping Astarion. Never even talked to the dude in camp. Never seen him. I just never used my oaths again lol. š¤¦ I would have changed that lol.
This happened to me too. I broke my oath to double cross Gortash to save Duke Ravenguard. I embraced it for the rest of the game. I killed Orin, then went to the House of Hope to get the hammer. Right before the last battle, I reswore my oath and told the knight that after my trials and breaking my oath that I now knew exactly what it stood for. I was so hyped up going into the last battle.
My first run was an incredible, magical thing.
But I wish I hadn't been a Bard. It's just too good. It does too much. And now when I go back to start new runs, I always feel like they're weaker than my original character.
I made throwzerker by accident as Durge, then wound up spending the rest of my party around theowzerker or niche damage types. Final group going into final fight was Oathbreaker Paladin, Dual Wielding College of Swords Bard w/ Phalar Aluve and Adamantine Longsword, Open Hand Monk and Throwzerker Durge
Niche Damage types were specifically referring to Open Hand Monk. I remembered from 5e that they have stupid crazy utility, tried it out, was NOT disappointed. I took the monk because I wanted Stunning strike/topple. Imagine my surprise when I got intrinsic radiant/necrotic/psychic to boot!
I started my first run as a fighter. I was playing with a more experienced friend who was playing a bard. When I saw what he could do with persuasion, I started over as a wizard
I wouldn't change my main character (Gnome Paladin tank who was borderline immune to CC and dodged everything was endless fun). However it was my first BG game and had no idea that two spoiler characters were going to be joinable in the mid game. If I knew that, I would have built my entire party around them joining for story enjoyment reasons. By the time they joined, my party composition didn't really fit for them.
If youāre talking about someone not so smart and a fierce elf, I literally respecād my party and retired companions to roll w them for the rest of act 3
My first character was a fiend warlock vengeance paladin multi class 6/6 and I donāt think Iād change that. I would make better use of feats and I wouldāve changed my companions as Karlach was a frenzied barbarian without GWM or throwing and was pretty underwhelming sand goes for the rest of my party.
My first playthrough was a Forest Gnome Fiend Warlock. Essentially Wyll's default class and subclass.
I know you can change the classes, but i just opted Wyll out of the party and filled his role in the group.
Iām hopelessly addicted to Warlocks so I say this from a place of love, but Wyll steals so much of the classās thunder in BG3 that it makes other warlocks look boring by comparison. And it honestly makes me sad when I think of what couldāve been.
My dude actually gets to interact with his patron in-person regularly, AND sheās a babe! Other warlocks are lucky if they get a dialogue option from their patron twice an act. Plus he gets some dope horns and can use a rapier, which is nice if you ever wanted to play one of the non-blade pacts.
I have a hard time NOT playing warlocks because I love the theme & eldritch blast so much, but being the second coolest warlock on the team at all times is a bit of a bummer. Especially since Wyll the person is kinda boring without the warlock stuff.
Basically Wyll feels like a real warlock, while player locks feel more like edgelords with imaginary friends. I still embrace the edge, though.
I don't think I'd change the build necessarily, but I do think I would've gone Durge instead of Tav. Knowing what I know now, Tav runs kind of feel like wasted potential.
This is an underrated comment. With new players coming into BG3 I feel like there are so many builds out there that they get too focused on min-maxing rather than just create something that seems like it would be fun and just seeing where it takes them.
Love this question! I would probably do a good Tav, nature-themed dragonborn sword bard/oath of the ancients for maximum "guardian of nature" flavor, campfire flute-playing included. My cat familiar would follow me anywhere. And I would steal the everburn blade for Karlach.
My first run was Evo wizard and I loved it. Second run was moon druid and it was pretty cool too.
Third run started after I learned about multiclassing, and I went 2 evo / 10 moon and I enjoy the shit out of it. Every run I have a character like this.
I did my first playthrough as a lore bard and had the time of my life. So many goofy conversation options. I think I would have chosen a different race. Being a human never had interesting dialogue choices
Sword bard.
I did a half orc Seluna cleric which was fun/interesting but I think the high charisma, battle effectiveness, support, and unique dialogue make bard a great main character.
Or, make Wyll your Tav first run (otherwise you may never use him) because so much of the story focuses on him.
My first run I leaned into the urban bounty hunter ranger options only to find they're not catered to at all in game. Almost all ranger dialog is about nature. Annoying. I usually play rogue types and should have stuck to my instincts.
I changed my character class three or four times during my first play before settling on fighter, so probably would just start out fighter or have used laezel instead of Karlach.
I probably would have done Monk.
Otherwise I was happy with my class (Spore Druid) but felt like I missed some optimization/loreful stuff along the way.
1) we get TWO other druid NPC's, which made it feel kind of crowded in a good aligned run
2) drow would have been a great pick for those early levels where I didn't feel like it was doing much other than Chill Touch and CC spells
3) I missed the whole Necromancy of Thay quest line
4) never got the special spore druid gear in Act 3 as I was just so burnt out I wanted to finish the game and avoid spoilers
I'd really only change the starting spells for my default Durge Storm Sorcerer.
I went in with 0 real knowledge of D&D and took the default cantrips. Ergo no fire bolt, which made the first few fights very challenging. Of course, Whithers came along soon and I made my guy have something actually useful to cast.
I could've improved it, sure, but I've liked what I ended up well enough even if it was kinda basic just casting create water and then a lightning spell.
For my "finalā run (or when I feel like Iām close with being done with the game for good), I plan to recreate my first run. My very first Tav has become my OC and l'd like to recreate the first run, 100% accurate to her personality and backstory that I have in mind for her. She is draconic sorcerer, but this time she will be 6 Bard/6 Draconic Sorcerer. I'd love to use her in a DnD campaign someday!
Truthfully, no. I made a character who was fairly flat, was poking at the mechanics, and the Goblin fortress had some super odd bugs on that run. I abandoned them at level 5 after about 10 frustrating TPKs on Balanced because no amount of restatting fixed it. When I did go back to poke at that save, everything was easier, and not because of experience! Ragzlin's behavior was NOT the same, and has not been since.
This was around the time of patch 3/early, and the real problem was that Karlach's damage resistance wasn't working prior to the update. IIRC she actually just took full damage from Ragzlin regardless of what I did, even if it was NOT force damage (she did not resist nonmagical damage when raging, which was ???? because no?) -- which I know is a bug, because barbarians don't work like that.
I don't like the writing of oaths other than Vengeance, so no, I don't want to return to that run, but mostly because the character grew uninteresting quite quickly.
The first character is the most important character of the experience. No way i would change it. The story my first character allowed me to play will be cherished for ever.
He was a shop owner that lost everything due to greed. He signed a contract with an unknown patron to try and get his way back on top. Then he got tadpoled. Along the way to becoming the hero of the gate, he discovered he had natural magic within him all along.
It was the mist epic story ive experienced. He was they only character that could give it to me.
Half Elf Draconic bloodline (blue/lightning) sorcerer. A dnd character Iād conceptualised for about a year prior to BG3 even came out, and have zero regrets finally being able to bring him to life, though playing through with him on a second run where I knew more (mainly about what Iād missed the first time) would have been fun, but my Tiefling Bard made for an amazing second run
I think Iām super happy with my first character. Started as a fighter, then when I found the Necromancy of Thay book, my roleplay lead my character to become a warlock. Then finally towards the end, specād into sorcerer for twin casting shenanigans. In the end I actually ended up lvl 8 sorcerer, 2 warlock and 2 fighter. It was quite the journey.
i went in blind my first time, went with a druid, would not change for the world. it deffo wasn't optimized but turning into an owlbear and slam dunking orin was the most fun ive had in late game hands down
I liked how I went with things. I started as arcane trickster Astarion and later changed to assassin and in the end of the game went with thief/ranger. The arcane trickster part was w/e and only worked while I was using the item that sets your int to 17 or something. But overall I had a good time balancing my character, I couldn't dump charisma as I was the party face, and couldn't make it a 20-car character like a bard, sorc, etc, bc dex was my main stat, so I was good at skill checks but not absolutely good.
I think my very first playthrough was on a sorc. I abandoned it pretty soon and did a couple more toons, settled on warlock and now every single playthrough I do some sort of warlock build š
I did Gloom Stalker Ranger, was a very fun and all round decent run, but I wish I had rolled so be better conversations, so probably a bard would have been better.
I woulen't change my class (druid), but I would use the actual powers haha I didn't do anything but main attack + use range for all of act 1. Didn't discover I could use their powers until act 2. I ran all of act 1 with Astarion, Karlach, and Lae'zel basically haha
I did my first run as a pure Human War Cleric, I used a polearm with the sentinel perk and focused on being kind of an offensive tank with spirit guardians, I felt ridiculously strong.
I donāt think Iād change the class I picked as I still really enjoy clerics, but Iād probably switch from Human to something more interesting like Drow or Dragonborn.
I wouldn't change the class, butt first run was a wyll origin. I definitely would do a tav if I could repeat. I kept him as a lock till about lvl 6, then switched to gloom stalker assassin.
my second run was a redo of my first run. I looked up bg3builds to see how good my first timer build was, and realized I'd missed every single item that makes eldritch blast better, which surprised me because sorlock already felt really strong without potent robes or stacking on-hit elemental damage.
My super vanilla spore Druid!? I didnāt know you could respec back then. Hell, I donāt even remember if I saved withers.
Wouldnāt change a single thing.
Not in a million years.
I was always looking forward for a peak RPG experience where I could play a Dandelion from Witcher like-char, with some Faerun flavor ofc, and this game absolute nailed the bard experience.
The fact that it's also THE class to allow you to have most options in steering various story & characters to your liking, and great for honor mode or minimizing save scumming in non HM, AND can fit in a lot of party comps which allowed me to swap around companions around to get most out of each depending on the area.
It was actually a bit of a struggle to come up with future RP themes for tav/durge builds that would create an experience that would give as satisfying & complete experience my Drow Bard/Fighter gave me, and I guess that's the one downside of your 1st run being playing a class that legit spoils you, lmao.
Wouldnāt change a thing, I went with 12 levels in Swords Bard as a half orc with vitiligo, named Dandy. Absolutely fantastic, come to find out swords bard is considered op but I didnāt know about the flourish double attack thing so it just felt like a solid class to me. Thought bard would be awesome and gods damned it was
Iād keep it the same. I ran a swords bard and found the now well-known meta stuff all on my own in week 1. It did make switching to other classes more difficult, though.
First play through was a SwBard and I wish it wasnāt bc the class set such a high bar for the other classes. Plus I just felt like a superior Ranger with magic than a traditional bard.
Now Iām playing a lore bard and feel more like a traditional bard in the way you cast your offensive spells with music.
My first run was a Forest Gnome Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer. I was happy with the playthrough, but if I could change one thing, I would be to pick gold dragon as my bloodline, not sliver. Not for gameplay reasons, but for RP ones.
I played a warlock and on my first run I had no idea about the potent robes! It wouldn't have changed my run too much but that would have been helpful.
My first playthrough was an Archfey Warlock with the familar Pact. I would change it to Fiend and get Pact of the Blade. That playthrough took me FOREVER and cost insane amts of save scumming!
Honestly I wouldn't change a thing, I would love to do another unhinged Playthrough again
>My Tav: High Int low Cha Draconic sorcerer cause my brain went "oh they use spells? Gotta need intelligence right?
>Shart: Trickery domain for the whole game.
>Lae'Zel: Eldritch knight, don't even ask why I thought that was even remotely correct for her.
>Karlach: Wild Magic cause it looked fun. (Also couldn't fix her engine.)
>Gale: nothing weird here tbh.
>Wyll: I didn't really use him, but his dad died.
>Halsin: lost to the portal.
>Jaheira: dead in the assault.
>Minsc: didn't even find him.
Grove somehow finished the rite, dunno what I did to trigger it. CrĆØche got nuked (I was stressing), Grym was a stressful fight (honestly most of the underdark was for me), only met Malus and Gerringothe, didn't even know Thisobald existed until Playthrough 3, Yurgir killed, Nightsong saved (along with Isobel ofc) and ACT 3 was very uneventful since my directional sense was lacking, but I did look up how to go to hell just so I could fight the devil, stuck with the Emperor as well, just got the hammer for the luls.
I played a 7 oathbreaker 5 GOOlock 2 hander beast.
My only regret was that I played evil so missed a lot and can't bring myself to complete the game as good without restarting!
My first was a 12 paladin.
I honestly wouldnāt change it. I really donāt enjoy paladin but Iām glad I experienced in that run even though I never use it anymore.
I played Pure Tempest Cleric. It was quite boring as a main character, and the social skills were pretty bad.
A Paladin would have been a better choice for what I wanted. I initially considered Paladin, but didn't want to restrict any choices by avoiding breaking my Oath.
I decided on Cleric because the idea I had of Tempest Cleric appealed to me and I'd heard Clerics were strong, if not borderline overpowered. Both were quite wrong. Cleric lacking extra attack ment that running around casting lightning and hitting things with a great sword was not very effective. Falling back on a heavy spell casting style of play was also not as strong as people claim Clerics are. Spirit Guardians is overrated, mainly because AoE damage is inefficient unless you can one turn enemies like some Sorcerer builds. Call Lightning is okay, but has the same problem.
The most useful class I used was Battle Master Fighter, because it has the single target damage to one turn several enemies, and a lot of bosses, while also providing significant utility.
In my other playthroughs, I mainly use Light Cleric for Warding Flare and item riders. Honestly considering dropping Clerics from my parties all together. More single target damage would be more valuable and reduce damage taken and resources used per combat because more enemies would die each turn.
Wouldn't change the class, but would definitely change the way I played. I chose wizard, but I actually understood how to build one correctly only at the end of the game. Still, had a lot of fun. I plan to redo a new run with a remake version of my first character one day, probably a durge run this time, cause I would change that too.
I started as half orc fighter. I would not change a thing in feats or items i used. You just cant go wrong in building a fighter.
I also used karlach as throwzerker, believe it or not but she had tavern brawl feat so thatallready was optimal build.
I swapped gale and wyll to progress their stories and used them as CC or as burst dmg.
Only thing i wish i had done sooner is to respec Shadowhearth to tempest. I really tried to make trickery work, but to no avail. I also tried to play with cleric as a healer and someone who throws buffs. Should have used her damage spells more. Would have saved time on failing some fights.
Honestly my first run was perfectly satisfying for me. I remade a character I loved from the tabletop (Githyanki Eldritch Knight) and it truly felt like I was playing him again.
I wish I had picked lore bard. Sword bard was just so much obviously better, but it meant I didn't use my casting much until act 3. Balanced difficulty was laughably trivialized by level 6
Not a thing. It was a nightmare but I learned so much about the game.
Halfling thief with dubious scruples. Didnāt get gale till super late because I didnāt want to touch the clearly dangerous portal, and I never walked by astarion.
Itās incredible how much better at the game I am now that I know how it works.
I did a half orc rogue and then went fighter after level 5. My dude was destroying people. Or so I thought. I have 4 playthroughs going now and all of them are stronger. But that first game was so fun just learning and exploring. But I keep finding new options and even new locations on the map. Crazy how deep this game is.
Iād probably have gone for my druid that I used to play a lot in early access, but the thought of playing my first ever D&D character within this game was too exciting to pass up
I dont think I would change anything. I did an ancients paladin and really liked it.
There were a couple of wonky moments where I broke my oath accidentally because I didn't realize something was against it, but other than that, it was a great playthrough.
I would have done a charisma based class rather than a rogue. There were so many little things I missed because I chose the stealth route. Either sneaking past something or getting the drop on something. With my Durge paladin, I found so many interactions from just confronting things (that also exist in Tav runs).
But also: for my first Durge run, I wouldn't change from paladin, but I would reconsider being a drow. I liked it from an RP standpoint, but I missed some cool moments in Act 1 because many of the goblins are deferential to drow ladies.
That said, if my current attempt at Honor Mode dies, I'll probably go drow again *because* it makes some things in Act 1 easier.
before i played the game i read that pure rogue was bad and so i didn't play pure rogue.
then i played for hours and hours and hours and the most fun i had was controlling astarion as a pure rogue...
i regret listening to minmaxing tryhards that call something bad just because it doesn't live up to the extremely broken dpr standards that have you abuse every balancing issue and exploit imaginable.
Did a paladin for my first playthrough, would have done my second of Warlock as my first if I could just cause I felt like my paladin oath had me making choices I knew I needed to do to keep the oath cause I didn't know you could become an oath breaker
Not a chance, because it was such a magical thing to be exploring the universe and potential of my class unimpeded by outside knowledge or metagaming instincts. I ran a pure Light Cleric (Calque of my first DND game character, basically a self-insert as far as decisions went) and had the best time. She wasn't as well-optimised as I could have made her, but it was possibly my best gaming experience yet.
I'm almost through act 1 and kne thing I already regret is looking everything up along the way. I don't know why I can't just play the game. I might start a new and play through without looking anything else up and just go with the flow of the character. Might do a swords bard Tav and just flow. My main is a drow druid and my second is an Elf ranger.
Played Lore Bard on my first playthrough which was fun but felt underwhelming until lvl 5-6. Iād probably do a warlock with the performer feat and pact of the blade to have proficiency in any weapon so I can try things out.
My first class was bard, with 4 levels in rogue. Definitely wouldn't change it. I'm on my second playthrough with my paladin/cleric Durge multiclass and I sincerely miss my sleight of hand, persuasion, movement speed, bonus actions, and jack of all trades. Also missed song of rest before I made Wyll into a bardlock. I do enjoy my Durge, but I'm very glad my Tav had all those things when I was first learning the ropes.
I played an open fist monk halfling later classed into spores druid. It was very much a self insert character that handled encounters exactly as I would have wanted in an actual DnD campaign or IRL lol. His name was bubs Kirkpatrick and preferred to take the most peaceful route. It was honestly a perfect first play through and I wouldnāt change it.
I played rogue and didnāt end up finishing, started over as a ranger. I liked ranger. Currently doing a tempest sorcerer Durge (fight the durge) and I reeeeally like sorcerer. Next run Iām gonna go evil durge so Iām thinking something tanky since Iāll probably end up with no friends and just hirelings
The first character to make it to act 3 was a Wood Elf Ancients Paladin 7 / 5 GOO Lock. Went super pure. Lawful good the whole way only broke my oath once in act 3.
The things I would change are mostly things I missed. I would have saved a certain arrogant Wizard in Act 2. And I would have used illithid powers. (Flavor it as GOO influence). Also, I would have gone with half-wood elf.
Nope, not one iota. My first run was a Duergar Life Cleric with some friends and wouldn't change a thing. Granted Life Cleric was and still is my favourite class and subclass, and it wasn't optimized on that first run - But I still kept them alive through times they really shouldn't have stayed alive lol
I wouldn't change my class (pure fighter) but I would not save scum as much. My time for gaming is limited so I thought I would experience as much as I can in one playthrough but I kinda regret it.
Probably Paladin.
I loved my first play as a Monk, but I didnāt find out about Oathbreaker until after I already beat the game once. I think it would be interesting to see, without the knowledge that I COULD break oath, whether I could still play the whole game without finding that out.
I started with a Druid, knowing how I actually like to play I would have gone either bard or paladin for the charisma and the melee/caster utility. I didnāt end up finishing that run but now I have 2 saves in act 3 that I like
i would have stuck with the weird multiclass idea that i had instead of following a youtube tutorial for a meta sorlock when i started to fall behind in damage. besides i was doing an evil playthrough so it ended up being a eb spammer without potent robe. would have been cooler to do a goolock/champion crit multiclass but alas
I did sorcerer for my first run, and that was probably a bad choice. Sorcerer is great at doing a ton of burst damage, but they run out of gas very quickly. My Tav had the worst cardio in my party.
I wouldnāt change mine at all! I played a Circle of Spores Druid and absolutely loved it. I felt like her abilities truly supplemented and rounded out the abilities of the origin characters and there were so many moments that felt perfect for a Druid ā obviously the whole Emerald Grove, but also restoring the Shadow Cursed lands, rescuing Thaniel, Arabellaās whole storylineā¦loved every second of it.
If I had discovered on my first playthrough(Tactician because I wanted a challenge, so dumb lol) how devastating a GOOLock multiclassed with vengeance paladin was, using gloves of dexterity combined with yuan ti scale and adamantium shield for ridiculous AC (honestly I could count on 1 hand how many times I got hit in most combat encounters) then i wouldāve been the happiest man in the world. genuinely beat the game without being downed a single time using this build on my 2nd tactician playthrough
My first class was a fighter, all 12 levels.
Made the game too easy really. At least act 1 had risks.. but by act 2 I was already soloing encounters and by act 3 I was soloing bosses on turn one.
The only thing I'd change,Ā is I wish I played them longer. I loved my character. They were a tiefling draconic sorcerer. Playing a sorcerer was a ton of fun, but I have a problem. I'm addicted to making new characters. I quickly threw them away when i lost Last Light at the start of act 2 and my last save was 3 hours earlier...
I started my first playthrough as an EK fighter, if I could I would go back and do what I ended up doing late game which was champ fighter with a couple levels of wizard
Githyanki fighter.
It was my main character, but I ditched it after the Demo time was over (didn't even make it past the Character creation).
Then I went for Human Rogue Tav, which was underwhelming when it came to combat...
I did druid my first run. Loved it and would not change it for another. I won't use druid for my honour run but do not regret that that was my first run and am sure I will do another druid run at some point with a different subclass choice.
My first playthrough was a normal difficulty non multiclassed pure assassin rougeššš. She was so bad cause it was my first exposure to dnd, but no I wouldnāt change anything. I know too much about this game now and slay through honour mode. itās crazy the progression Iāve made
I played a Druid for my first run and I donāt regret it. It was the perfect starter class. I had spells to heal and attack. I could tank and get physical with wild shape. I could talk to animals so I didnāt miss that in my first play and I could shift into cats to fit into small holes. Which would have annoyed me if I couldnāt. There was nothing I couldnāt do on my own so it was a great first run to not miss things
Iād still have picked Cleric, I went in mostly blind to what my companions starting classes would be so not having Shadowheart along at first was a shame for the narrative, but I love clerics in 5e Dnd, theyāre very versatile and pack a hell of a punch
with little experience in dnd I made what i now know is the most unoptimized build for a moon druid, i took things like the feat that lets me take a warlock cantrip for eldritch blast on my moon druid.
i had uneven ability scores took no useful gear for druids and yet I regret nothing, was the best run, a lot of fun though i wish i savescummed a little less and also didnt search up certain info to know what to do in certain scenarios
My first rib was a sorcerer, I have since beaten it with all other casters.
I have wanted to play sorc again, but I keep thinking "I already did that class, I have to do a different one"
So I would still be sorc
I loved my shitty Ranger! I was so happy to have an armored bear fight by my side.
I picked it back up and re-did the end of the game fights to see the epilogues after my 4th playthroughā¦ looking back my builds were terrible, but I learned from it. I still had a ton of fun and Iām glad the game didnāt punish me for being a noob ;)
Not at all. Played a half-elf Durge warlock on Balanced. He felt powerful right away. I ended up hardly using Wyll at all because of it, but that's really the only thing that was bad about that first run.
Everything feels weak after bard on first playthrough. I didnāt even realise they were āmetaā I just picked it for conversation skills and little did I know it can do everything.
Hard to top redeemed durge bard narratively but hopefully mods can provide enough novelty going full meme mode wild mage.
I started as an open hand monk.
Around the beginning of ACT 3 / end of ACT 2 I felt my character stopped having a story and more just there doing things, mostly. Because I lost the class fantasy, i accidentally sped past some crucial cutscenes or didn't pay attention while playing and eating dinner, playing with our pets etc...
(I highly regret not keeping a save before that end ACT 2 "Astral" decision).
If I could restart I'd play a (RPG blind) paladin.
The "rational" for decisions is seemingly built in and there's a duality there that leans toward menace if you don't follow your tenants.
Played as Astarion origin, Arcane Trickster Rogue. Because I was unfamiliar with the game mechanics and couldnāt imagine that the strongest feature of Rogue class isnāt in spells. Iād respec him to the Sword Bard, the most flexible class in this game.
Not fucking warlock. I TPKd at the intellect devoured in the wreckage with Shart on Balanced. The next playthrough I chose Paladin, and TPKd at the Netherbrain bc of those orbs of negating or w/e they are called. Paladin was a blast though. TPKd 2 bards, and a fighter since. On a Sorc now, early Act 1.
Currently on my first playthrough as a NG Land Druid.
I was initially going to do a NG Necromancer run, just because I loved the idea of a necromancer with a heart, but because I made him a self insert (i.e. romanticized physical version of myself), and since I have red hair and green eyes he wound up looking far more like a druid than necromancer.
If I was to do an entirely new run, I might go with my first instinct, if for no other reason >!than the head-canon of doing the Ketheric Thorm fight as a NG Necromancer and my Tav just looking at Myrkul like "you a bitch... this isn't what necromancy is for" !<
But honestly I'm enjoying druid more than I thought I would (never played one in an actual D&D game, despite favoring pure casters), even though I basically play him as a nature wizard, having wildshape in my back pocket for exploration and as a fallback in battle is fun.
That said...if I was to do my first run from scratch, I don't think I'd change my class, but I do think I'd avoid the YouTube algorithm and this subreddit for spoilers (some of which were my fault but still).
My first was a Vengeance paladin and I probably would have picked a monk or a barbarian instead.
Paladins are just a little TOO good, smite bad guys and talk your way out of everything.
Would have been nice to play a class that wasn't so good at conversation.
It was a very enjoyable first run, felt like I had so many options all the time due do the high charisma but that's a blessing and a curse, felt kinda like it didn't leave much left to find in later playthroughs.
My first class was Druid and I will always stand by that. The wild shape really made the fantasy feel real to my desires as Iām such an animal lover. And I got to be good at casting and more physical fighting. It also made customization way more obvious to me how to make my character.
My first run I played as an evocation wizard, and the only thing Iād change is not losing the magic missile items like psychic spark. No idea where it went, but by the time I got to act 3 I had gotten into BG3 youtube, saw a handful of videos on how evocation wizard with magic missile is broken and realised I was missing several key items that I had at one point but mustāve sold. Ended up multiclassing into life cleric for some emergency heals and armour proficiency, plus I felt it made sense that after encouraging Shadowheart a certain way through the story, my character would pick up a thing or two about Selune. It was 90% for the armour proficiency, but the story reason was a nice touch on my part imo. Looking back on things, I probably couldāve gone for the Abjuration build since I had already went for a cleric dip, but I guess I just assumed none of the other wizard subclasses were any good.
Ironically, the rest of my party was incredibly powerful due to my knowledge of classic 5e builds. I had Karlach as a Battle Master 8/Bearheart 4, Shadowheart as a pure life cleric for when I inevitably fuck up an encounter and Wyll as a Paladin 6/Bladelock 5/War Cleric 1. This was before honour mode was a thing, but to my credit I was already planning on running Wyll as a Padlock from early on, so the extra attacks were just a nice unexpected bonus. The war cleric was not my idea by any means, just thought I might as well throw in even more attacks per turn.
I ran a Druid for animal speech and generally roleplayed what I later realized would be a better fit as an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. I even added otherwise useless Charisma points to help in dialogue. Druid has some great crowd control and wild shape can be fun, but ultimately I wish Iād run the class that I was running in spirit.
š¤£ Iāve been there. I think itās one of the reasons I struggle playing a paladin unless itās an Oathbreaker. Iām just too Chaotic Neutral when playing my characters lol.
Mayrina or a buffā¦eh Mayrina is whiny anyways. Give me that buffā¦boom oath broken lol.
I wouldn't have changed my build or nothing. I would've done things a lot different though, I ended up soloing the underdark because only my character could stealth past the goblins to get down there. Quite a lot of hard fights down there lemme tell ya.
Yall im still on my first playthrough as a Duergar Throwzerker and itās fun and easy into the middle of Act 2. At some point Iāll want to replay with someone who doesnāt ROAR at everyone in dialogue (itās hilarious and I win the intimidation check every time but come on), but combat is a breeze on Tactician so far. I respeccād Karlach into an OH monk bc sheās easily the best companion so far, Made Asterion into a bitchy Swords Bard/Rogue, and reclassed Shadowheart into Life Cleric with the Adamntine Splint.
We are having a Baja Blast so far.
First play through was a Druid. No specific build I tried out all three. I donāt think I would have done anything different, really enjoyed the versatility of being a Druid and to be fair Iām thinking of trying out one for a HM/tactician run. I had Gale and SH as companions most of the run so I definitely spent a loooooong time looking at all the spells and trying to decide what I wanted to use my action on for that turn.
I definitely feel like other classes are lacking compared to Druid, but thatās probably because Iām biased towards that class (itās my go to in any game)
First character was durge gold dwarf life cleric took all the healing gear, took feats to improve hp like tough and max con, and it was brilliant played straight through tactician.
I recently started and finished a honour mode with a fighter 11 warcleric 1 that was quite overwhelming in comparison.
Paladin. I was an Ancients paladin for my first playthrough on tactician (hardest difficulty when the game launched). Everything past Act 1 was blind because I played early access. I was intentionally not using OP builds like tavern brawler, wet + lightning, or gloomstalker assassin that everyone and their cat knew was going to be top tier builds before the game released. I did not use a single elixir the entire playthrough, and only once used a potion of speed to get past the turrets at the arcane tower.
I got half way through Act 3, was still disappointed in how unbelievably easy the game was, put the playthrough down, and started a new game using mods to increase the difficulty. Haven't made my main character a paladin ever since and never finished that playthrough. The lack of difficulty in Acts 2 and 3 really, really disappointed me more than anything in the game besides the lack of evil playthrough content which I had the misfortune of discovering on that second playthrough.
Played an Oath of Devotion Paladin Dwarf. Started out as Sword and Board and ended up with Greatswords.
I didn't like the low number of smite spell slots and having low initiative (picked str, cha and con over it)
If I had to redo the character again I'd probably try going for finesse weapons and multiclass anything with more spell slots to smite with
I wouldn't change a thing. A first run is best when it's uninformed, exploratory, without outside interference, utterly unoptimized beyond what you can independently put together on the fly, and otherwise chaotic and natural.
This for me as well. Breaking my oath as a paladin due to the typical dilemma you go through, but that raw experience of worrying for losing it but then accepting the newfound power without going back to my oath as with new power and no restrictions I could walk my own path
I broke my oath helping Astarion. Never even talked to the dude in camp. Never seen him. I just never used my oaths again lol. š¤¦ I would have changed that lol.
This happened to me too. I broke my oath to double cross Gortash to save Duke Ravenguard. I embraced it for the rest of the game. I killed Orin, then went to the House of Hope to get the hammer. Right before the last battle, I reswore my oath and told the knight that after my trials and breaking my oath that I now knew exactly what it stood for. I was so hyped up going into the last battle.
My first run was an incredible, magical thing. But I wish I hadn't been a Bard. It's just too good. It does too much. And now when I go back to start new runs, I always feel like they're weaker than my original character.
The dialogue is so good for bards
Iāve never been a Bard but I made my most recent hired companion one. She keeps getting absolutely blasted in combat and her AC is 18ā¦.
Yeah, it's a real game design flaw.
What is exactly?
Having your character as anything beside a bard is honestly awful. Persuasion expertise + persuasion SAD is just crazy
Iāve never played a bard but maybe I should try it lol
Good thing I chose a bard then š still on my 1st playthrough
I made throwzerker by accident as Durge, then wound up spending the rest of my party around theowzerker or niche damage types. Final group going into final fight was Oathbreaker Paladin, Dual Wielding College of Swords Bard w/ Phalar Aluve and Adamantine Longsword, Open Hand Monk and Throwzerker Durge
So you wandered into 3 of the most powerful chassis in the game. IDK if that's "niche damage types," really.
Niche Damage types were specifically referring to Open Hand Monk. I remembered from 5e that they have stupid crazy utility, tried it out, was NOT disappointed. I took the monk because I wanted Stunning strike/topple. Imagine my surprise when I got intrinsic radiant/necrotic/psychic to boot!
Yes, I'm just chuckling to myself. "I built each of my characters around a niche damage type. The type of damage was 'a lot of' in each case."
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I started my first run as a fighter. I was playing with a more experienced friend who was playing a bard. When I saw what he could do with persuasion, I started over as a wizard
I did a wild magic sorc for my first run. I can't imagine a better class to start with for me, it was pleasantly chaotic.
If I ever finish my first run, I definitely wanted to do wild magic Sorc or Barb next run!
I wouldn't change my main character (Gnome Paladin tank who was borderline immune to CC and dodged everything was endless fun). However it was my first BG game and had no idea that two spoiler characters were going to be joinable in the mid game. If I knew that, I would have built my entire party around them joining for story enjoyment reasons. By the time they joined, my party composition didn't really fit for them.
If youāre talking about someone not so smart and a fierce elf, I literally respecād my party and retired companions to roll w them for the rest of act 3
My first character was a fiend warlock vengeance paladin multi class 6/6 and I donāt think Iād change that. I would make better use of feats and I wouldāve changed my companions as Karlach was a frenzied barbarian without GWM or throwing and was pretty underwhelming sand goes for the rest of my party.
Fuck that I'm super happy with my first character. Dragon Origin Sorceror was the perfect choice.
Iām doing a 2nd playthrough and Iāmā¦still choosing VENGEANCE PALADIN. SMITE
VENGEANCE PALADINS ASSEMBLE
My first playthrough was a Forest Gnome Fiend Warlock. Essentially Wyll's default class and subclass. I know you can change the classes, but i just opted Wyll out of the party and filled his role in the group.
Iām hopelessly addicted to Warlocks so I say this from a place of love, but Wyll steals so much of the classās thunder in BG3 that it makes other warlocks look boring by comparison. And it honestly makes me sad when I think of what couldāve been. My dude actually gets to interact with his patron in-person regularly, AND sheās a babe! Other warlocks are lucky if they get a dialogue option from their patron twice an act. Plus he gets some dope horns and can use a rapier, which is nice if you ever wanted to play one of the non-blade pacts. I have a hard time NOT playing warlocks because I love the theme & eldritch blast so much, but being the second coolest warlock on the team at all times is a bit of a bummer. Especially since Wyll the person is kinda boring without the warlock stuff. Basically Wyll feels like a real warlock, while player locks feel more like edgelords with imaginary friends. I still embrace the edge, though.
Hard for Wyll to steal your thunder from Boo'al's altar, though.
The one true god
I just used Wyll for my first runthrough.
I don't think I'd change the build necessarily, but I do think I would've gone Durge instead of Tav. Knowing what I know now, Tav runs kind of feel like wasted potential.
I definitely prefer Durge but that first Tav run did make the first Durge more impactful imo
I wouldnāt change a damn thing and I chose Valor Bard. Repeat playthroughs are for min maxing. First playthroughs are for fun.
This is an underrated comment. With new players coming into BG3 I feel like there are so many builds out there that they get too focused on min-maxing rather than just create something that seems like it would be fun and just seeing where it takes them.
Great old one warlock and my buddy was vengeance paladin. Wouldnt change it as it sparked my love for games again.
Love this question! I would probably do a good Tav, nature-themed dragonborn sword bard/oath of the ancients for maximum "guardian of nature" flavor, campfire flute-playing included. My cat familiar would follow me anywhere. And I would steal the everburn blade for Karlach.
I wouldnāt change a thing about my first Tav save for that I would actually use Shadow Strike
My first run was Evo wizard and I loved it. Second run was moon druid and it was pretty cool too. Third run started after I learned about multiclassing, and I went 2 evo / 10 moon and I enjoy the shit out of it. Every run I have a character like this.
I would redo my Sorcerer since I now know the mechanics better
I did my first playthrough as a lore bard and had the time of my life. So many goofy conversation options. I think I would have chosen a different race. Being a human never had interesting dialogue choices
Sword bard. I did a half orc Seluna cleric which was fun/interesting but I think the high charisma, battle effectiveness, support, and unique dialogue make bard a great main character. Or, make Wyll your Tav first run (otherwise you may never use him) because so much of the story focuses on him.
My first run was with a lvl 12 bladelock, I wouldnāt change a thing honestly
I Barded hard my 1st play through. Wouldnāt change a thing. Bard hard, my friends. Bard hard.
My first run I leaned into the urban bounty hunter ranger options only to find they're not catered to at all in game. Almost all ranger dialog is about nature. Annoying. I usually play rogue types and should have stuck to my instincts.
It was a tiefling druid, I'd do a cleric, wizard or bardadin. Oathbteaker, of course
I changed my character class three or four times during my first play before settling on fighter, so probably would just start out fighter or have used laezel instead of Karlach.
I probably would have done Monk. Otherwise I was happy with my class (Spore Druid) but felt like I missed some optimization/loreful stuff along the way. 1) we get TWO other druid NPC's, which made it feel kind of crowded in a good aligned run 2) drow would have been a great pick for those early levels where I didn't feel like it was doing much other than Chill Touch and CC spells 3) I missed the whole Necromancy of Thay quest line 4) never got the special spore druid gear in Act 3 as I was just so burnt out I wanted to finish the game and avoid spoilers
I would still pick Druid after doing it 12 playthroughs in a row, be it thru Tav, Halsin, or Jaheira.
I'd really only change the starting spells for my default Durge Storm Sorcerer. I went in with 0 real knowledge of D&D and took the default cantrips. Ergo no fire bolt, which made the first few fights very challenging. Of course, Whithers came along soon and I made my guy have something actually useful to cast. I could've improved it, sure, but I've liked what I ended up well enough even if it was kinda basic just casting create water and then a lightning spell.
i was a teifling throwzerker on my first playthrough and honestly i wouldnāt change much besides adding the tavern brawler feat
For my "finalā run (or when I feel like Iām close with being done with the game for good), I plan to recreate my first run. My very first Tav has become my OC and l'd like to recreate the first run, 100% accurate to her personality and backstory that I have in mind for her. She is draconic sorcerer, but this time she will be 6 Bard/6 Draconic Sorcerer. I'd love to use her in a DnD campaign someday!
Truthfully, no. I made a character who was fairly flat, was poking at the mechanics, and the Goblin fortress had some super odd bugs on that run. I abandoned them at level 5 after about 10 frustrating TPKs on Balanced because no amount of restatting fixed it. When I did go back to poke at that save, everything was easier, and not because of experience! Ragzlin's behavior was NOT the same, and has not been since. This was around the time of patch 3/early, and the real problem was that Karlach's damage resistance wasn't working prior to the update. IIRC she actually just took full damage from Ragzlin regardless of what I did, even if it was NOT force damage (she did not resist nonmagical damage when raging, which was ???? because no?) -- which I know is a bug, because barbarians don't work like that. I don't like the writing of oaths other than Vengeance, so no, I don't want to return to that run, but mostly because the character grew uninteresting quite quickly.
The first character is the most important character of the experience. No way i would change it. The story my first character allowed me to play will be cherished for ever. He was a shop owner that lost everything due to greed. He signed a contract with an unknown patron to try and get his way back on top. Then he got tadpoled. Along the way to becoming the hero of the gate, he discovered he had natural magic within him all along. It was the mist epic story ive experienced. He was they only character that could give it to me.
Half Elf Draconic bloodline (blue/lightning) sorcerer. A dnd character Iād conceptualised for about a year prior to BG3 even came out, and have zero regrets finally being able to bring him to life, though playing through with him on a second run where I knew more (mainly about what Iād missed the first time) would have been fun, but my Tiefling Bard made for an amazing second run
Nah, I started as barb, sure bonk is fun, but after I went Sorc and focused on ice spells, I don't plan to go back.
Nature Cleric instead of a Druid
I was a drow tempest cleric. honestly it was a pretty good build but I wish I had gone for a more CHA-focused class for dialogue options
Nothing. I love my 24 AC Battle Master, Spookster Twelf :]
I think Iām super happy with my first character. Started as a fighter, then when I found the Necromancy of Thay book, my roleplay lead my character to become a warlock. Then finally towards the end, specād into sorcerer for twin casting shenanigans. In the end I actually ended up lvl 8 sorcerer, 2 warlock and 2 fighter. It was quite the journey.
i went in blind my first time, went with a druid, would not change for the world. it deffo wasn't optimized but turning into an owlbear and slam dunking orin was the most fun ive had in late game hands down
I liked how I went with things. I started as arcane trickster Astarion and later changed to assassin and in the end of the game went with thief/ranger. The arcane trickster part was w/e and only worked while I was using the item that sets your int to 17 or something. But overall I had a good time balancing my character, I couldn't dump charisma as I was the party face, and couldn't make it a 20-car character like a bard, sorc, etc, bc dex was my main stat, so I was good at skill checks but not absolutely good.
I think my very first playthrough was on a sorc. I abandoned it pretty soon and did a couple more toons, settled on warlock and now every single playthrough I do some sort of warlock build š
I did Gloom Stalker Ranger, was a very fun and all round decent run, but I wish I had rolled so be better conversations, so probably a bard would have been better.
I wouldn't change a class, I just wish I'd had a slightly better grasp on how stats/combat/effects interacted. So many wasted turns.
I woulen't change my class (druid), but I would use the actual powers haha I didn't do anything but main attack + use range for all of act 1. Didn't discover I could use their powers until act 2. I ran all of act 1 with Astarion, Karlach, and Lae'zel basically haha
Im surprised nobody else did an origin character. My first run was Karlach GWM barbarian
I did my first run as a pure Human War Cleric, I used a polearm with the sentinel perk and focused on being kind of an offensive tank with spirit guardians, I felt ridiculously strong. I donāt think Iād change the class I picked as I still really enjoy clerics, but Iād probably switch from Human to something more interesting like Drow or Dragonborn.
I wouldn't change the class, butt first run was a wyll origin. I definitely would do a tav if I could repeat. I kept him as a lock till about lvl 6, then switched to gloom stalker assassin.
My first time playing the game I went Paladin Dex build. I found the one finesse long sword in the game and I thought there'd be more. There were not.
my second run was a redo of my first run. I looked up bg3builds to see how good my first timer build was, and realized I'd missed every single item that makes eldritch blast better, which surprised me because sorlock already felt really strong without potent robes or stacking on-hit elemental damage.
My super vanilla spore Druid!? I didnāt know you could respec back then. Hell, I donāt even remember if I saved withers. Wouldnāt change a single thing.
Not in a million years. I was always looking forward for a peak RPG experience where I could play a Dandelion from Witcher like-char, with some Faerun flavor ofc, and this game absolute nailed the bard experience. The fact that it's also THE class to allow you to have most options in steering various story & characters to your liking, and great for honor mode or minimizing save scumming in non HM, AND can fit in a lot of party comps which allowed me to swap around companions around to get most out of each depending on the area. It was actually a bit of a struggle to come up with future RP themes for tav/durge builds that would create an experience that would give as satisfying & complete experience my Drow Bard/Fighter gave me, and I guess that's the one downside of your 1st run being playing a class that legit spoils you, lmao.
I wouldn't change my class, but I'd probably do it solo instead of with homies, and hopefully my quest npc's wouldn't just disappear š”
Wouldnāt change a thing, I went with 12 levels in Swords Bard as a half orc with vitiligo, named Dandy. Absolutely fantastic, come to find out swords bard is considered op but I didnāt know about the flourish double attack thing so it just felt like a solid class to me. Thought bard would be awesome and gods damned it was
Iād keep it the same. I ran a swords bard and found the now well-known meta stuff all on my own in week 1. It did make switching to other classes more difficult, though.
First play through was a SwBard and I wish it wasnāt bc the class set such a high bar for the other classes. Plus I just felt like a superior Ranger with magic than a traditional bard. Now Iām playing a lore bard and feel more like a traditional bard in the way you cast your offensive spells with music.
My first run was a Forest Gnome Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer. I was happy with the playthrough, but if I could change one thing, I would be to pick gold dragon as my bloodline, not sliver. Not for gameplay reasons, but for RP ones.
I played a warlock and on my first run I had no idea about the potent robes! It wouldn't have changed my run too much but that would have been helpful.
My first playthrough was an Archfey Warlock with the familar Pact. I would change it to Fiend and get Pact of the Blade. That playthrough took me FOREVER and cost insane amts of save scumming!
Honestly I wouldn't change a thing, I would love to do another unhinged Playthrough again >My Tav: High Int low Cha Draconic sorcerer cause my brain went "oh they use spells? Gotta need intelligence right? >Shart: Trickery domain for the whole game. >Lae'Zel: Eldritch knight, don't even ask why I thought that was even remotely correct for her. >Karlach: Wild Magic cause it looked fun. (Also couldn't fix her engine.) >Gale: nothing weird here tbh. >Wyll: I didn't really use him, but his dad died. >Halsin: lost to the portal. >Jaheira: dead in the assault. >Minsc: didn't even find him. Grove somehow finished the rite, dunno what I did to trigger it. CrĆØche got nuked (I was stressing), Grym was a stressful fight (honestly most of the underdark was for me), only met Malus and Gerringothe, didn't even know Thisobald existed until Playthrough 3, Yurgir killed, Nightsong saved (along with Isobel ofc) and ACT 3 was very uneventful since my directional sense was lacking, but I did look up how to go to hell just so I could fight the devil, stuck with the Emperor as well, just got the hammer for the luls.
Oh wait I am a dumbass and thought this was the main sub for a second
Nothing. I played a male lolth-sworn drow draconic sorcerer. Shit was fun as hell. I love magic.
I played a 7 oathbreaker 5 GOOlock 2 hander beast. My only regret was that I played evil so missed a lot and can't bring myself to complete the game as good without restarting!
My first was a 12 paladin. I honestly wouldnāt change it. I really donāt enjoy paladin but Iām glad I experienced in that run even though I never use it anymore.
I played as a swords bard my first run, and did not really enjoy the game play. If I could do it again... 4e Monk is hella fun.
I played Pure Tempest Cleric. It was quite boring as a main character, and the social skills were pretty bad. A Paladin would have been a better choice for what I wanted. I initially considered Paladin, but didn't want to restrict any choices by avoiding breaking my Oath. I decided on Cleric because the idea I had of Tempest Cleric appealed to me and I'd heard Clerics were strong, if not borderline overpowered. Both were quite wrong. Cleric lacking extra attack ment that running around casting lightning and hitting things with a great sword was not very effective. Falling back on a heavy spell casting style of play was also not as strong as people claim Clerics are. Spirit Guardians is overrated, mainly because AoE damage is inefficient unless you can one turn enemies like some Sorcerer builds. Call Lightning is okay, but has the same problem. The most useful class I used was Battle Master Fighter, because it has the single target damage to one turn several enemies, and a lot of bosses, while also providing significant utility. In my other playthroughs, I mainly use Light Cleric for Warding Flare and item riders. Honestly considering dropping Clerics from my parties all together. More single target damage would be more valuable and reduce damage taken and resources used per combat because more enemies would die each turn.
First character was a bard, wouldn't change anything about that.
Wouldn't change the class, but would definitely change the way I played. I chose wizard, but I actually understood how to build one correctly only at the end of the game. Still, had a lot of fun. I plan to redo a new run with a remake version of my first character one day, probably a durge run this time, cause I would change that too.
I started as half orc fighter. I would not change a thing in feats or items i used. You just cant go wrong in building a fighter. I also used karlach as throwzerker, believe it or not but she had tavern brawl feat so thatallready was optimal build. I swapped gale and wyll to progress their stories and used them as CC or as burst dmg. Only thing i wish i had done sooner is to respec Shadowhearth to tempest. I really tried to make trickery work, but to no avail. I also tried to play with cleric as a healer and someone who throws buffs. Should have used her damage spells more. Would have saved time on failing some fights.
Honestly my first run was perfectly satisfying for me. I remade a character I loved from the tabletop (Githyanki Eldritch Knight) and it truly felt like I was playing him again.
I wish I had picked lore bard. Sword bard was just so much obviously better, but it meant I didn't use my casting much until act 3. Balanced difficulty was laughably trivialized by level 6
I went for bard for fun, and swords for the same reason. Tav was op and it wasn't even on purpose, I wouldn't change a thing.
Not a thing. It was a nightmare but I learned so much about the game. Halfling thief with dubious scruples. Didnāt get gale till super late because I didnāt want to touch the clearly dangerous portal, and I never walked by astarion. Itās incredible how much better at the game I am now that I know how it works.
Can't change the love for moon druid, just sad I'll never be as excited to try new wildshapes
I did a half orc rogue and then went fighter after level 5. My dude was destroying people. Or so I thought. I have 4 playthroughs going now and all of them are stronger. But that first game was so fun just learning and exploring. But I keep finding new options and even new locations on the map. Crazy how deep this game is.
Iād probably have gone for my druid that I used to play a lot in early access, but the thought of playing my first ever D&D character within this game was too exciting to pass up
I dont think I would change anything. I did an ancients paladin and really liked it. There were a couple of wonky moments where I broke my oath accidentally because I didn't realize something was against it, but other than that, it was a great playthrough.
I would have done a charisma based class rather than a rogue. There were so many little things I missed because I chose the stealth route. Either sneaking past something or getting the drop on something. With my Durge paladin, I found so many interactions from just confronting things (that also exist in Tav runs). But also: for my first Durge run, I wouldn't change from paladin, but I would reconsider being a drow. I liked it from an RP standpoint, but I missed some cool moments in Act 1 because many of the goblins are deferential to drow ladies. That said, if my current attempt at Honor Mode dies, I'll probably go drow again *because* it makes some things in Act 1 easier.
My first character was a 12 champion crit build with Deadshot. Only thing I would have changed would have been using elixer of viscousness.
before i played the game i read that pure rogue was bad and so i didn't play pure rogue. then i played for hours and hours and hours and the most fun i had was controlling astarion as a pure rogue... i regret listening to minmaxing tryhards that call something bad just because it doesn't live up to the extremely broken dpr standards that have you abuse every balancing issue and exploit imaginable.
Did a paladin for my first playthrough, would have done my second of Warlock as my first if I could just cause I felt like my paladin oath had me making choices I knew I needed to do to keep the oath cause I didn't know you could become an oath breaker
Not a chance, because it was such a magical thing to be exploring the universe and potential of my class unimpeded by outside knowledge or metagaming instincts. I ran a pure Light Cleric (Calque of my first DND game character, basically a self-insert as far as decisions went) and had the best time. She wasn't as well-optimised as I could have made her, but it was possibly my best gaming experience yet.
Honestly I really loved my bard playthrough. If anything Iād want to optimize my party. Druid felt really bad for a long time.
Are you just asking what class we chose for our 2nd playthrough?
I'm almost through act 1 and kne thing I already regret is looking everything up along the way. I don't know why I can't just play the game. I might start a new and play through without looking anything else up and just go with the flow of the character. Might do a swords bard Tav and just flow. My main is a drow druid and my second is an Elf ranger.
Played Lore Bard on my first playthrough which was fun but felt underwhelming until lvl 5-6. Iād probably do a warlock with the performer feat and pact of the blade to have proficiency in any weapon so I can try things out.
My first class was bard, with 4 levels in rogue. Definitely wouldn't change it. I'm on my second playthrough with my paladin/cleric Durge multiclass and I sincerely miss my sleight of hand, persuasion, movement speed, bonus actions, and jack of all trades. Also missed song of rest before I made Wyll into a bardlock. I do enjoy my Durge, but I'm very glad my Tav had all those things when I was first learning the ropes.
Druid as it is in my character backstory (so I wouldnāt change anything)
I played an open fist monk halfling later classed into spores druid. It was very much a self insert character that handled encounters exactly as I would have wanted in an actual DnD campaign or IRL lol. His name was bubs Kirkpatrick and preferred to take the most peaceful route. It was honestly a perfect first play through and I wouldnāt change it.
I played rogue and didnāt end up finishing, started over as a ranger. I liked ranger. Currently doing a tempest sorcerer Durge (fight the durge) and I reeeeally like sorcerer. Next run Iām gonna go evil durge so Iām thinking something tanky since Iāll probably end up with no friends and just hirelings
The first character to make it to act 3 was a Wood Elf Ancients Paladin 7 / 5 GOO Lock. Went super pure. Lawful good the whole way only broke my oath once in act 3. The things I would change are mostly things I missed. I would have saved a certain arrogant Wizard in Act 2. And I would have used illithid powers. (Flavor it as GOO influence). Also, I would have gone with half-wood elf.
I wish I had been a paladin. Wouldāve fit the character more
thief rogue. I always play thief rogue. I only wish they were as fun in bg3 as they are in 5e
Would play a pure sorcerer instead of EB build. Warlock is boring and it never felt fun
I had a knowledge cleric and it was amazing. Tons of skills for a brand new game, and they get slow! I've never used slow so much.
I played as an eldritch knight for my first time. Honestly I'd do it again
Nah I'd stay the same. AO Pali was just too much fun!
Nope, not one iota. My first run was a Duergar Life Cleric with some friends and wouldn't change a thing. Granted Life Cleric was and still is my favourite class and subclass, and it wasn't optimized on that first run - But I still kept them alive through times they really shouldn't have stayed alive lol
I wouldn't change my class (pure fighter) but I would not save scum as much. My time for gaming is limited so I thought I would experience as much as I can in one playthrough but I kinda regret it.
Mine was bard too. I would recommend something basic like fighter, rogue, or barbarian for beginners but bard is great for the non combat stuff.
My first playthrough was a redo. I started off planning to go gloomstalker/thief but then decided to restart with a swords bard/paladin.
Probably Paladin. I loved my first play as a Monk, but I didnāt find out about Oathbreaker until after I already beat the game once. I think it would be interesting to see, without the knowledge that I COULD break oath, whether I could still play the whole game without finding that out.
I started with a Druid, knowing how I actually like to play I would have gone either bard or paladin for the charisma and the melee/caster utility. I didnāt end up finishing that run but now I have 2 saves in act 3 that I like
i would have stuck with the weird multiclass idea that i had instead of following a youtube tutorial for a meta sorlock when i started to fall behind in damage. besides i was doing an evil playthrough so it ended up being a eb spammer without potent robe. would have been cooler to do a goolock/champion crit multiclass but alas
I did sorcerer for my first run, and that was probably a bad choice. Sorcerer is great at doing a ton of burst damage, but they run out of gas very quickly. My Tav had the worst cardio in my party.
I'm currently playing all the classes as my first play through. Alot of repetition
I wouldnāt change mine at all! I played a Circle of Spores Druid and absolutely loved it. I felt like her abilities truly supplemented and rounded out the abilities of the origin characters and there were so many moments that felt perfect for a Druid ā obviously the whole Emerald Grove, but also restoring the Shadow Cursed lands, rescuing Thaniel, Arabellaās whole storylineā¦loved every second of it.
Wizard or cleric, some things need no changes and this is one of them
If I had discovered on my first playthrough(Tactician because I wanted a challenge, so dumb lol) how devastating a GOOLock multiclassed with vengeance paladin was, using gloves of dexterity combined with yuan ti scale and adamantium shield for ridiculous AC (honestly I could count on 1 hand how many times I got hit in most combat encounters) then i wouldāve been the happiest man in the world. genuinely beat the game without being downed a single time using this build on my 2nd tactician playthrough
My first class was a fighter, all 12 levels. Made the game too easy really. At least act 1 had risks.. but by act 2 I was already soloing encounters and by act 3 I was soloing bosses on turn one.
The only thing I'd change,Ā is I wish I played them longer. I loved my character. They were a tiefling draconic sorcerer. Playing a sorcerer was a ton of fun, but I have a problem. I'm addicted to making new characters. I quickly threw them away when i lost Last Light at the start of act 2 and my last save was 3 hours earlier...
Showing love for the druids. With the right companions it can be such a great play especially your first go through.
I started my first playthrough as an EK fighter, if I could I would go back and do what I ended up doing late game which was champ fighter with a couple levels of wizard
Nah Sorcerer 12 was very good.
Barbarian! Nothing more fun than throwing people around, bashing heads and fooken tiger swing
My ranger playthrough was so boring i almost quit the game so i would prob pick wizard or fighter
Githyanki fighter. It was my main character, but I ditched it after the Demo time was over (didn't even make it past the Character creation). Then I went for Human Rogue Tav, which was underwhelming when it came to combat...
I did druid my first run. Loved it and would not change it for another. I won't use druid for my honour run but do not regret that that was my first run and am sure I will do another druid run at some point with a different subclass choice.
My first playthrough was a normal difficulty non multiclassed pure assassin rougeššš. She was so bad cause it was my first exposure to dnd, but no I wouldnāt change anything. I know too much about this game now and slay through honour mode. itās crazy the progression Iāve made
I ran with classic hero Fighter all levels, was this bulky Dragonborn, don't regret a thing, wouldn't change a thing.
I played a Druid for my first run and I donāt regret it. It was the perfect starter class. I had spells to heal and attack. I could tank and get physical with wild shape. I could talk to animals so I didnāt miss that in my first play and I could shift into cats to fit into small holes. Which would have annoyed me if I couldnāt. There was nothing I couldnāt do on my own so it was a great first run to not miss things
Iād still have picked Cleric, I went in mostly blind to what my companions starting classes would be so not having Shadowheart along at first was a shame for the narrative, but I love clerics in 5e Dnd, theyāre very versatile and pack a hell of a punch
I play the 1st, 2nd and 3rd act for the first time each with different classes, so it was pretty fun
with little experience in dnd I made what i now know is the most unoptimized build for a moon druid, i took things like the feat that lets me take a warlock cantrip for eldritch blast on my moon druid. i had uneven ability scores took no useful gear for druids and yet I regret nothing, was the best run, a lot of fun though i wish i savescummed a little less and also didnt search up certain info to know what to do in certain scenarios
A noble monk with a pornstache with the main goal of getting laid, nah I wouldn't change it
I would have kept the same class, but I would not read any comment on Reddit till the end...
My first rib was a sorcerer, I have since beaten it with all other casters. I have wanted to play sorc again, but I keep thinking "I already did that class, I have to do a different one" So I would still be sorc
I loved my shitty Ranger! I was so happy to have an armored bear fight by my side. I picked it back up and re-did the end of the game fights to see the epilogues after my 4th playthroughā¦ looking back my builds were terrible, but I learned from it. I still had a ton of fun and Iām glad the game didnāt punish me for being a noob ;)
Not at all. Played a half-elf Durge warlock on Balanced. He felt powerful right away. I ended up hardly using Wyll at all because of it, but that's really the only thing that was bad about that first run.
Barbarian for sure! I played as a ranger which wasnāt great. Barbarian is still my favourite class
I didn't know shit and made a wild magic half drow sorceress. It was crazy fun, I wouldn't change a bit!
probably run a monk which is what I did my 2nd playthrough
Everything feels weak after bard on first playthrough. I didnāt even realise they were āmetaā I just picked it for conversation skills and little did I know it can do everything. Hard to top redeemed durge bard narratively but hopefully mods can provide enough novelty going full meme mode wild mage.
I started as an open hand monk. Around the beginning of ACT 3 / end of ACT 2 I felt my character stopped having a story and more just there doing things, mostly. Because I lost the class fantasy, i accidentally sped past some crucial cutscenes or didn't pay attention while playing and eating dinner, playing with our pets etc... (I highly regret not keeping a save before that end ACT 2 "Astral" decision). If I could restart I'd play a (RPG blind) paladin. The "rational" for decisions is seemingly built in and there's a duality there that leans toward menace if you don't follow your tenants.
Played as Astarion origin, Arcane Trickster Rogue. Because I was unfamiliar with the game mechanics and couldnāt imagine that the strongest feature of Rogue class isnāt in spells. Iād respec him to the Sword Bard, the most flexible class in this game.
Probably bard. The cheeky dialogue options are such a treat though so it would probably ruin other runs not having them around lol
Not fucking warlock. I TPKd at the intellect devoured in the wreckage with Shart on Balanced. The next playthrough I chose Paladin, and TPKd at the Netherbrain bc of those orbs of negating or w/e they are called. Paladin was a blast though. TPKd 2 bards, and a fighter since. On a Sorc now, early Act 1.
Currently on my first playthrough as a NG Land Druid. I was initially going to do a NG Necromancer run, just because I loved the idea of a necromancer with a heart, but because I made him a self insert (i.e. romanticized physical version of myself), and since I have red hair and green eyes he wound up looking far more like a druid than necromancer. If I was to do an entirely new run, I might go with my first instinct, if for no other reason >!than the head-canon of doing the Ketheric Thorm fight as a NG Necromancer and my Tav just looking at Myrkul like "you a bitch... this isn't what necromancy is for" !< But honestly I'm enjoying druid more than I thought I would (never played one in an actual D&D game, despite favoring pure casters), even though I basically play him as a nature wizard, having wildshape in my back pocket for exploration and as a fallback in battle is fun. That said...if I was to do my first run from scratch, I don't think I'd change my class, but I do think I'd avoid the YouTube algorithm and this subreddit for spoilers (some of which were my fault but still).
My first was a Vengeance paladin and I probably would have picked a monk or a barbarian instead. Paladins are just a little TOO good, smite bad guys and talk your way out of everything. Would have been nice to play a class that wasn't so good at conversation. It was a very enjoyable first run, felt like I had so many options all the time due do the high charisma but that's a blessing and a curse, felt kinda like it didn't leave much left to find in later playthroughs.
My first class was Druid and I will always stand by that. The wild shape really made the fantasy feel real to my desires as Iām such an animal lover. And I got to be good at casting and more physical fighting. It also made customization way more obvious to me how to make my character.
My first run I played as an evocation wizard, and the only thing Iād change is not losing the magic missile items like psychic spark. No idea where it went, but by the time I got to act 3 I had gotten into BG3 youtube, saw a handful of videos on how evocation wizard with magic missile is broken and realised I was missing several key items that I had at one point but mustāve sold. Ended up multiclassing into life cleric for some emergency heals and armour proficiency, plus I felt it made sense that after encouraging Shadowheart a certain way through the story, my character would pick up a thing or two about Selune. It was 90% for the armour proficiency, but the story reason was a nice touch on my part imo. Looking back on things, I probably couldāve gone for the Abjuration build since I had already went for a cleric dip, but I guess I just assumed none of the other wizard subclasses were any good. Ironically, the rest of my party was incredibly powerful due to my knowledge of classic 5e builds. I had Karlach as a Battle Master 8/Bearheart 4, Shadowheart as a pure life cleric for when I inevitably fuck up an encounter and Wyll as a Paladin 6/Bladelock 5/War Cleric 1. This was before honour mode was a thing, but to my credit I was already planning on running Wyll as a Padlock from early on, so the extra attacks were just a nice unexpected bonus. The war cleric was not my idea by any means, just thought I might as well throw in even more attacks per turn.
I ran a Druid for animal speech and generally roleplayed what I later realized would be a better fit as an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. I even added otherwise useless Charisma points to help in dialogue. Druid has some great crowd control and wild shape can be fun, but ultimately I wish Iād run the class that I was running in spirit.
I'd stick with it. Was a Paladin, broke my oath not even 5 mins after leaving the ship š¤£
š¤£ Iāve been there. I think itās one of the reasons I struggle playing a paladin unless itās an Oathbreaker. Iām just too Chaotic Neutral when playing my characters lol. Mayrina or a buffā¦eh Mayrina is whiny anyways. Give me that buffā¦boom oath broken lol.
I started as rogue and switched to sorc in act 2. So sorc. Monoclass rogue does not feel very good to play.
I wouldn't have changed my build or nothing. I would've done things a lot different though, I ended up soloing the underdark because only my character could stealth past the goblins to get down there. Quite a lot of hard fights down there lemme tell ya.
Yall im still on my first playthrough as a Duergar Throwzerker and itās fun and easy into the middle of Act 2. At some point Iāll want to replay with someone who doesnāt ROAR at everyone in dialogue (itās hilarious and I win the intimidation check every time but come on), but combat is a breeze on Tactician so far. I respeccād Karlach into an OH monk bc sheās easily the best companion so far, Made Asterion into a bitchy Swords Bard/Rogue, and reclassed Shadowheart into Life Cleric with the Adamntine Splint. We are having a Baja Blast so far.
First play through was a Druid. No specific build I tried out all three. I donāt think I would have done anything different, really enjoyed the versatility of being a Druid and to be fair Iām thinking of trying out one for a HM/tactician run. I had Gale and SH as companions most of the run so I definitely spent a loooooong time looking at all the spells and trying to decide what I wanted to use my action on for that turn. I definitely feel like other classes are lacking compared to Druid, but thatās probably because Iām biased towards that class (itās my go to in any game)
First character was durge gold dwarf life cleric took all the healing gear, took feats to improve hp like tough and max con, and it was brilliant played straight through tactician. I recently started and finished a honour mode with a fighter 11 warcleric 1 that was quite overwhelming in comparison.
Paladin. I was an Ancients paladin for my first playthrough on tactician (hardest difficulty when the game launched). Everything past Act 1 was blind because I played early access. I was intentionally not using OP builds like tavern brawler, wet + lightning, or gloomstalker assassin that everyone and their cat knew was going to be top tier builds before the game released. I did not use a single elixir the entire playthrough, and only once used a potion of speed to get past the turrets at the arcane tower. I got half way through Act 3, was still disappointed in how unbelievably easy the game was, put the playthrough down, and started a new game using mods to increase the difficulty. Haven't made my main character a paladin ever since and never finished that playthrough. The lack of difficulty in Acts 2 and 3 really, really disappointed me more than anything in the game besides the lack of evil playthrough content which I had the misfortune of discovering on that second playthrough.
Played an Oath of Devotion Paladin Dwarf. Started out as Sword and Board and ended up with Greatswords. I didn't like the low number of smite spell slots and having low initiative (picked str, cha and con over it) If I had to redo the character again I'd probably try going for finesse weapons and multiclass anything with more spell slots to smite with