The best Baldur’s Gate 3 Warlock builds offer a true jack-of-all-trades experience, able to charm your way through dialogue checks, cast powerful magic and even engage in some light melee. As the saying goes, this is oftentimes better than a master of one, and in Baldur’s Gate 3 this is doubly true, as there are countless ways to solve most situations. This versatility and the otherworldly nature of the Warlock’s power offers a unique experience and one you should understand, whether it’s for your own Warlock or for Wyll Ravengard. Here are our recommendations for making the best Warlock build.
Baldur's Gate 3 best Warlock build and choices
The key to the best Warlock build is to bear in mind their innate strengths and focus on the Charisma ability:
- High Charisma is useful for spellcasting and speech skills
- Spells are powerful and recharge on short rests, but you don't get many Spell Slots to use them
- Unique Warlock spells and cantrips useful for ranged attacks
Like Paladins, Warlocks in Baldur's Gate 3 are very powerful Charisma-based spellcasters, but they have some very noticeable flaws that you need to work around. Unlike Paladins, Warlocks aren't quite as useful in close combat, though they can definitely hold their own if it comes to drawing swords compared to a fragile Wizard. Thankfully, to make up for this, Warlocks get some extremely powerful spells slots and some unique unlocks as they level up, offering extra abilities, skill proficiencies, or even free spells - it’s one of the best Baldur’s Gate 3 classes to choose and is certainly only of the most unique as well. To maximize your Warlock's potential, we suggest a build like the following:
- Race: High Elf
- Highest attributes: Charisma, Constitution
- Subclass: The Archfey
- Background: Entertainer or Guild Artisan
- Class skills: Intimidation, Deception
- Equipment: Simple melee weapon of choice, light armor
High Elf is what I recommend for a Baldur's Gate 3 Warlock given the additional cantrip you receive and other resistances to charm attempts and sleep. Pick either Fire Bolt or Ray of Frost to go with Eldritch Blast and they'll form the basis for your strong ranged attacks in your early-level build.
The Archfey makes an excellent subclass for High Elves, especially Warlock High Elves, thanks to its powerful Fey Presence class action. This has the chance of Frightening or Charming nearby foes for two turns, rendering them unable to attack you while being vulnerable themselves. Swap out whichever of the starting spells appeals to you least for Hex (Hex plus Eldritch Blast is a core combo for Warlocks), though Faerie Fire is very useful when going up against closely-packed hordes.
Being such charismatic individuals, there are several routes you can go when deciding your background for your Baldur's Gate 3 Warlock. Entertainer makes a fitting background for any Archfey High Elf Warlock, adding Acrobatics and Performance, making you proficient in three of the four Charisma skills – useful for talking your way out of sticky social situations. Similarly, Guild Artisan provides Persuasion and Insight, making you a conversation master.
Warlocks also get a lot of extras to pick as they level up. At Level 2, you'll get to pick your first two Eldritch Invocations - small buffs that add extra spells or powers to your Warlock. Agonising Blast is an essential pick to improve Eldritch Blast, and Armour of Shadows is another great early-game option too. If you are a fan of shoving people off high places, consider swapping in Repelling Blast, which makes your Eldritch Blast throw targets back up to 15 feet. At Level 3, you'll get a Pact Boon and Pact of the Chain is a good option for this particular build, though the other two options aren't bad either. Choose the Imp as your familiar with this Pact Boon and you'll have a creature you can send in to distract and attack enemies while you spam spells from afar.
Later level Warlock builds: As your rank goes up and you expand your magical repertoire, it's worth remembering that Warlocks have extremely limited but very powerful spellcasting powers, so every spell must count. Level 2 spells like Misty Step are helpful for mobility but can feel a bit wasteful, especially when you're using Level 4 or 5 spell slots to cast. It's a good idea to focus on supportive cantrips (Eldritch Blast should be your go-to DPS cantrip anyway) while focusing your main spells on powerful damage or crowd control options like Hypnotic Pattern or Hunger of Hadar.
Finally, since High Elves have an innate ability that's quite similar to an ability that Archfey Warlocks gain at Level 10, I'd also highly recommend taking three levels in Sorcerer. Doing so will get you more spells and cantrips, Level 1 and 2 Spell Slots, and metamagic options like Twinned and Quickened Spell, making a powerful "Sorlock" build in Baldur's Gate 3!
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