Baldur’s Gate 3 Best Classes: Tier List And Which One You Should Pick

Choosing your main character’s class in a role-playing game is often the most important (and first) major decision you’ll make. With a universe as expansive as The Forgotten Realms, where

Bards are here for one reason and one reason only: They are a jack of all trades. Wait, come back. I know that’s not technically “one reason,” but hear me out. Bards are skilled with ranged weapons, they are decent with melee weapons, they have spells, they have healing abilities, they have buffs, and they have debuffs. Bards are great as the main character because they rely on Charisma, meaning you’ll be able to pass conversation checks much easier than Barbarians and the like. With tons of versatility, Bards are welcome in every party. Read our complete Baldur’s Gate 3 Bard guide.

Cleric

Clerics have long been one of the most desirable classes in Dungeons & Dragons, and with Baldur’s Gate 3, that isn’t changing. Clad in medium or heavy armor and wielding a wide variety of spells, including a wide range of rare healing and buffing abilities, Clerics will make sure your party makes it through even the toughest encounters intact.

Paladin

Paladins are part of the S tier for several reasons; durability, strength, and utility. Trading the Cleric’s spell utility for the ability to deal more physical damage with large two-handed weapons, the Paladin is an excellent combatant for the front lines, while still retaining the ability to bless, heal, and use its special Holy Smite ability to bring the pain to enemies (particularly the plentiful Undead enemies in BG3).

Sorcerer

Sorcerers are more limited in available spells than their Wizardly cousins, and they don’t have as reliable, sustained access to damage as Warlocks with Eldritch Blast, but Sorcerers make every spell count, and they can turn on a dime. Being able to choose any spell they know at the moment, without memorizing, and then use Sorcery Points to twin-cast it, or make it go further than usual

A Tier Classes

This tier represents classes with high levels of power. While they may have flaws, they are still very strong in one area, or are strong in more than one area, giving more choices with how they can be built to complement the team.

• Barbarian
• Ranger
• Rogue
• Warlock
• Wizard

Barbarian

Barbarian is a great class that is completely dedicated to dealing melee damage and throwing stuff all over the place. While they are not as flexible as Fighters, Barbarians are fantastic at what they do, which is smash things, rage out, and bring swift ends to your enemies.

Ranger

Rangers are another flexible damage-dealing class with a bit of utility as well. They can stay safe at range while dealing good damage, they can enhance party member attacks with Hunter’s Mark, and (depending on your preferred subclass), they can even add another fighter to the fray with their Beast Master companion. They also have limited spell-casting ability, which lets them do some minor healing and more.

Rogue

Rogues are incredibly helpful to have on your squad. With the ability to weave in and out of stealth during combat, they have very bursty damage, and outside of combat, they bring tons of utility. Steal whatever isn’t nailed down, pick locks to gain access to every chest and room, and generally be where you aren’t supposed to. They can also deal good damage from range, and have a lot in common with Rangers in that regard.

Warlock

Warlocks don’t have the flexibility of Sorcerers, and they don’t have the all-encompassing nature of the Wizard’s spellbook. As a matter of fact, Warlocks have access to the fewest spells of any of the spellcasting classes, but the ones they have are incredibly powerful. Their spells are always cast at the highest possible level, and Eldritch Blast is a cantrip with (effectively) the same power as a Spell Slot ability, and it gains power as your character develops. They also have skill in melee combat, with proficiency in rapiers and other similar weapons, although you should still be very careful when taking them to the front lines.

Wizard

Wizards can do all manner of ridiculous things. Unlock doors, cause fogs to obfuscate combat encounters, call down grease pools, teleport, charm people, and the list goes on nearly forever. Wizards can also learn spells from scrolls you find or buy with a modest gold payment, and this ability (among others) make Wizards the most flexible, versatile, and tedious of the spellcasters in BG3. If you have a mind for absolute min-maxing, the skill ceiling on a Wizard is quite high, but if you don’t have patience for managing all of that, you’d be safer choosing the vastly more nimble Sorcerer.

B Tier Classes

Classes in B tier are missing that special something that S and A tier characters have. Whether their abilities are weaker versions of those classes, or they are just not as valuable, overall, these are classes you should take for flavor, but not much else. At least, not if you care about power.

• Druid
• Monk

Druid

With the ability to shapeshift, as well as access to a wide pool of spells, Druids are a very flexible class. They end up in B tier because while they have many strengths, none of them are particularly notable, particularly compared to other classes who have fewer possible roles. Jack of all trades, master of nine, indeed.

Monk

The monk is an interesting class that, like Druid, doesn’t excel in any one category, which is unfortunate, because they really only have one focus; dealing melee damage. That having been said, if you like characters that have free movement and martial arts flavor, you can still make room for one on your team. Read our full Baldur’s Gate 3 Monk guide.