Baldur’s Gate 3 is an excellent CRPG game and is one of the best ways for players to experience Dungeons and Dragons. However, when it comes to new players who have no idea about the genre things can get very complicated real soon. The combat in this game is turn-based, which isn’t a problem in itself, but you can only have 4 members in your party at a time. So having the right party composition can make your first playthrough something memorable.
When it comes to choosing the members of your party you have many things to take into account. Some of them include things, like how effectively will your team interact with NPCs to get their way. Whether you need someone to heal you or buff your team. Will your party will be able to deal enough damage, or take when it comes to fights? And plenty more, so to help you out with that, here are some party comps that you can use in BG3.
Best Party Comp for Baldur’s Gate 3
The best party comp that I used in my playthrough consisted of:
- Wizard (Custom Character): Good for ranged attacks using both weapons and spells.
- Cleric (Shadowheart): Team’s support and healer.
- Rogue (Astarion): Up-close melee assassin-like combat and thief.
- Karlach (Barbarian): Plays the role of the tank.
This is one of the most basic but balanced party compositions that you can use. Here is how you should use them:
Wizard (Custom Character)
Through their Intelligence, Wizards can be very proficient with Daggers, Light Crossbows, and Quarterstaves. This class is also excellent for using Area-of-Effect (AoE) spells in battles. Using them you can take care of multiple enemies, and can also provide crowd control abilities to your party. The best subclass to go with when using a Wizard is the choosing the Evocation School.
At level 2 you can learn Sculpt Spells, which can “Create pockets of safety within your Evocation spell”. What this means is your enemies won’t take damage if they happen to be caught in one of your spells. Alternatively, you could also go with Evocation Savant. It basically lets you learn Evocation spells from scrolls at half the usual cost. The other useful spells that you learn as an Evocation Wizard include Potent Cantrip and Empowered Evocation.
Cleric (Shadowheart)
No matter how strong your team’s attacks are, they are of no use if your team gets wiped out first. As such having a support and healer is very crucial. While Wizard is good at damaging the enemies, Clerics excel at healing their friends. If that wasn’t enough of a reason and you want more fights then how about their ability to buff the team?
The best subclass to use with a Cleric is Life Domain. To be more specific the reason you will be going along with it is because of Preserve Life. You learn it at level 2 and it is unnatural how well it can heal your party and the Cleric themself at subclass level 6. This class also has high Charisma so you should ideally send them whenever you want to persuade an NPC.
Rogue (Astarion)
No matter if you are going for a lawful good playthrough or a chaotic evil one, a Rogue has some abilities that make it a must-have in a party. This class has a high proficiency in Dexterity and Intelligence. As such, sneak attacks are your best friend when using them. If that wasn’t enough have a party member talk to an NPC while making the Rogue steal from them, and watch how they magically swipe things without anyone noticing a thing.
When it comes to this class, interestingly there isn’t a “best” subclass but rather what you want from them. If you are looking for a thief with great lockpicking abilities and stuff then you should go with the Thief subclass. However, if you want to take your enemies by surprise and deal deadly damage then Assassin is the subclass you should go with.
Barbarian (Karlach)
Finally, for the team’s fighter and tank, we have Barbarian. Sure, having an excellent healer to support your party is necessary, but having someone that can take hits head-on is equally important. Especially in the early stages of the game till you can level up your other classes and subclasses.
For its subclass, you should go with Wildheart. This is essentially to make your Barbarian more of a tank. With it you get proficiency with things like light & heavy armor, shield, simple & martial weapons, and more to choose from. However, a better subclass if you are sure of your skills and ability to not die is to go with Berserker.
Do remember that no matter what class you initially pick, you can always respec your party members after you rescue Withers and bring him to the camp.
Other Recommended Party Comps
Some other useful party compositions are as follows:
Heavy Damage Party
- Bard
- Subclass: College of Lore
- Fighter
- Subclass: Battle Master
- Sorcerer
- Subclass: Draconic Bloodline
- Druid
- Subclass: Circle of Moon
Good and Evil Party
- Paladin
- Subclass: Oath of the Ancients
- Cleric
- Subclass: Light Domain
- Druid
- Subclass: Circle of the Spores
- Warlock
- Subclass: Fiend
That’s it for the best party comps in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you have already completed a playthrough and are planning to use some of the above compositions, I suggest you also check out our list of the best mods and Act 1 checklist. As for more help on other topics of this game, you can always check out our BG3 section.