Being powered by the Dungeons & Dragon's 5th edition, Baldur's Gate 3 features classes seen in the tabletop RPG, with some tweaks to make them work better in a video game setting. These classes are essentially different fighting styles that determine what any given character is good at.
While there are a lot of variations between them, classes can be divided into those that prefer fighting the enemy head-on with melee weapons and those that specialize in casting spells to dish damage from afar. Let's find out which type is the best.
Are Melee Fighters Better Than Casters in Baldur's Gate 3?
As already mentioned, Baldur's Gate 3 features different classes that specialize in different things, but they can be very roughly divided into classes that focus on melee fighting, like the Fighter and Barbarian, and casters such as the Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Cleric. Both class types can dish out decent damage with the proper setup and build, so you really cannot go wrong with either.
At the start of the campaign, however, melee fighters are the absolute winners in this contest. Casters are very disappointing at low levels as they have a limited selection of spells as well as limited Spell Slots, which negatively impact what they can do in battle. Being extremely fragile, lacking AOE spells, and having to manage resources to do the little they can makes them very frustrating to play.
Melee fighters, on the other hand, feel powerful even at low levels. Fighters, and especially Barbarians, have some interesting tools from the start, which only get better as they level up and learn appropriate feats, such as Dual Wield, which works great for any melee build that doesn't have much use for Bonus Actions, as characters who have learned this feat can attack with their off-hand weapon while doing a regular attack if they have Bonus Action available. So, if you are struggling at the start of Baldur's Gate 3, you should consider getting more melee fighters in your party than casters. A group of three melee fighters and a Cleric works well to balance offense and support.
The fact that melee fighters start strong doesn't mean that you should discount casters and keep them out of your party for the entire duration of the game. The contrary, actually. While melee fighters continue to be solid choices even in later Acts, casters truly start to shine once they reach level 5, as their spell selection becomes much bigger, they have multiple Spell Slots to use, they get devastating AOE spells that work great to damage and apply debuffs to enemies, and they become slightly more resilient, although they should still be away from enemies as much as possible. Warlocks, for example, don't seem that great at low levels, but after a few level-ups, they become a force of nature, thanks to their Eldritch Blast, which doesn't require Spell Slots to use, and the additional effects that can be granted to it.
Wizards, to make another, can learn a lot of different spells that can make them extremely versatile, so even if crushing everything you find in your path, they are still a very solid choice as they can provide tons of support that can make melee fighters life easier, such as with the Grease spell, which can cause Prone, a condition that makes it easier for any character to hit the afflicted enemy. If you feel confident, you could also make a hybrid character using the Multiclass system to take the best of melee fighters and casters and create the ultimate warrior, although you should also keep in mind that Multiclassing will prevent any character from reaching their maximum potential in a single class due to the Level 12 cap. Thankfully, respeccing is easy and convenient, so fell free to experiment to your heart's content, as any mistake can be corrected with just a little gold.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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