Best BG3 Class Tier List – Baldur’s Gate 3
Welcome to the BG3 Class Tier List. Most players want to pick the best class for their Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough. Here we will rank the Best BG3 Classes from the most powerful to the least.
We’ll mainly be considering the following factors when ranking the classes:
- Damage output
- Party support (buffs, healing, etc)
- Survivability
- Range & Mobility
This means that while having excellent damage output is certainly a valuable part of a class, this isn’t the only way for them to be a useful member of your party. A class with relatively low damage output but very good support, utility and survivability can be just as useful as a heavy hitter in Baldur’s Gate 3.
If you want a general overview of all classes, please visit the BG3 Classes Overview article.
Table of Contents:
How the BG3 Class Tier List Works
We’ve broken down the BG3 classes into 3 tiers for the purposes of this ranking:
- S-Tier: Supremely powerful, a major asset for your party and capable of turning the tide of battle or controlling the battlefield in a variety of situations.
- A-Tier: Extremely strong and versatile class, adaptable to anything the game can throw at you
- B-Tier: Very strong and can handle the majority of situations with ease, but some minor weaknesses of note
- C-Tier: Decent, but with several weaknesses that require consistent effort to mitigate.
Please note that there are not really any “bad” classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 – If you go with a class that’s ranked C-Tier on the list, you will still be able to play through the game on any difficulty.
However, the highest-ranked classes will typically make your playthrough a little easier and are more suited to beginners or people trying Tactician/Honour mode for the first time.
Without further delay, let’s get into the rankings!
BG3 Class Tier List
| Tier | Classes |
|---|---|
| S |    |
| A |      |
| B |   |
| C |   |
S-Tier Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3
The BG3 classes in the S-Tier are supremely powerful and give players ample options in combat.
- Druid
- Wizard
- Fighter
Druid
The Druid makes for a powerful Spellcaster in BG3, however thanks to its ability to transform into various Wild Shapes it can also become a strong melee fighter when needed, able to fill a variety of niches.
Their spellcasting is a little weak at the start of the game, but once you reach Level 3, things start to pick up really quickly. The Druid can deal plentiful AOE damage with spells like Call Lightning, Insect Plague and Sunbeam, can use Spike Growth for area denial, and is also great at healing allies.
All three Druid subclasses are really good, but the Circle of the Moon probably secures the status as the best Druid variation, gaining access to a wider variety of Wild Shapes (including the Bear at Level 2, which is a great early game fighter and tank) and more powerful attacks when Wild Shaped. The great thing about Wild Shapes is that when your HP reaches 0, you transform back into your normal self, and your HP goes back to what it was before you transformed. This means you can even use your Druid to tank enemy hits while being a real menace in melee. At higher levels, you unlock stronger Wild Shapes, including the Owlbear, Dilophosaurus and powerful elemental myrmidons.
While Wild Shapes are great, the Druid is also a powerful spellcaster, and if you want to focus on that instead, you’re better off going with Circle of the Land subclass. This subclass provides you with a greater range of spells to cast, and allows you to restore an extra Spell Slot after every Long Rest.
The versatility of the druid makes it undoubtedly one of the best classes in BG3. Its only weakness is its lack of strong Cantrips to deal damage without Spell Slots, but with access to Wild Shapes, a decent selection of Weapon Proficiencies and spells like Call Lightning that can deal damage across multiple turns (if you maintain Concentration), this isn’t much of a setback at all.
A great early gear option for the Druid is the Whispering Promise. This gives a +1-4 bonus to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws for 2 turns to any creature you heal. It is sold by Grat the Trader in the Goblin Camp. Another great option is to purchase the Incandescent Staff from Quartermaster Talli at the Last Light Inn. This allows you to use the Fire Bolt Cantrip, a big improvement on the Thorn Whip option that you have to begin with. It also lets you cast Fireball, another great AoE spell.
Wizard
The Wizard makes it to this ranking simply because of the great versatility afforded by the sheer number of spells the Wizard can learn. If you find a spell that your Wizard hasn’t learned yet, then you can learn it from a Scroll for a modest Gold cost.
While they can hit enemies with their staff in a pinch, the Wizard is generally not a good melee fighter (although I’m sure you could make that work if you really want to) – try to put them in relatively safe areas where they can see the entire battlefield and decimate enemies with their spells. If you need single target damage, AOE, buffs, debuffs, healing, summoned creatures or undead, or crowd control, the Wizard has a spell for every situation and having one in your party will give you many new creative ways to progress through various situations and encounters in BG3. When your Wizard is Concentrating on a spell, try to utilize distance, line of sight and defensive buffs between their turns to avoid being hit by enemies.
A great early-game item for the Wizard is The Sapphire Spark, which will passively improve your Magic Missile Spell, adding a fourth projectile to every cast. You can purchase it from a merchant called Blurg in the Myconid Colony, found in the Underdark. Later in the game, you should look out for items like the Robe of the Weave, which increases your Wizard’s Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Roll ratings. Put simply, this makes it harder for enemies to resist or avoid the effects of your spells.
Wizards typically can’t wear armour and instead don magical robes, so ensure to cast the Mage Armour spell after every Long Rest for a much-needed boost to your Armour Class. While you’ll have countless powerful spells at your disposal, to avoid burning through your Spell Slots too fast, make ample use of Cantrips like Fire Bolt or Bone Chill to deal damage between spell casts. The damage of your Cantrips will increase once you pass certain level milestones.
There are several subclasses of the Wizard, all of which are very similar to each other. The Evocation Wizard is probably the best in terms of its damage potential, but if it’s your first playthrough, I recommend choosing the subclass that thematically fits your idea of how your Wizard operates in combat. You can always change it later if you don’t like it.
Fighter
A melee heavy hitter, the Fighter is able to make multiple strong attacks per turn after some levelling up.
The Battle Master is generally the most powerful variant of the Fighter, as they gain a multitude of Battle Master Maneuvers that can frighten, disarm or knock over enemies, roll attacks with Advantage or give allies THP. They can also heal themselves or gain an extra Action once per Short Rest. This makes the Battle Master decent at group support as well as being an excellent melee fighter.
To fully utilize your Fighter, you need to make use of the alchemy system and stock up on Speed Potions and Bloodthirst Elixirs. You can use these concoctions side-by-side to get ridiculous attack chains going on your Fighter – at high levels, you can easily find yourself making nine attacks in a single turn. Combine this with a powerful two-handed melee weapon (The Blooded Greataxe works great in the early game; later on, you can get the legendary Balduran’s Giantslayer), and your Fighter will have massive damage potential, regardless of which subclass you chose.
Focus on armour that gives your Fighter more survivability and mobility, as well as ways to deal with bonus damage when they attack their foes.
A-Tier Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3
The A-Tier classes are still very strong but tend to be slightly overshadowed by their S-Tier counterparts, or suffer from one or two mild weaknesses that make them tougher to play.
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Cleric
- Warlock
- Paladin
Barbarian
The Barbarian class is a melee heavy hitter that has high HP, the ability to empower its attacks with powerful Rage mechanics, and is able to make multiple attacks per turn at higher levels.
The Berserker subclass is an especially powerful version of the Barbarian that can use their Bonus Action to make an extra strike with their melee weapon. They can also throw enemies or use objects as improvised weapons when Frenzied. At Level 5, the Berserker is already capable of making three attacks per turn and has extra Movement Speed. While other Barbarian subclasses are also strong, the Berserker is a true powerhouse that’s great at rapidly dispatching enemy minions or carving up a boss enemy.
If this tier list was about damage output only, then the Barbarian would be in S-Tier. However it falls a bit short because it just lacks the team support and control that the Fighter can obtain with its Battle Master abilities. Barbarians also can’t make quite as many attacks as Fighters per turn. That being said, if you already have a party full of spellcasters and you just need someone to jump into the fray, cause utter carnage and live to tell the tale, then the Barbarian fills this role perfectly.
A good early item for the Barbarian is the Haste Helm, which gives extra Movement Speed for the first three turns of combat. This helps you to get into melee more quickly. You can find it at Blighted Village, inside a wooden chest near a cart, close to the waypoint.
You should make liberal use of your Barbarian’s Rage or Frenzy, which makes you more resistant to damage and increases your own damage output. Beware, however, that being enraged will prevent you from carrying out some actions. Anything involving spells or cantrips is out of the question, including smite spells. Try to keep this in mind and plan your turns accordingly. Rage is a very powerful buff, but it’s not always the best thing for a situation.
Bard
The Bard is the pinnacle of versatility in BG3. It can do pretty much anything to at least a reasonable degree, whether that’s using a melee weapon, shooting a bow, healing, buffing allies or controlling enemies.
The Bard makes for a good spellcaster, while a lack of high-damage endgame spells means that it’s not quite in the same league as the Cleric and the Druid, it’s not far behind.
Not only is it extremely flexible in combat, the Bard is a really fun class to play for roleplay purposes. You’ll unlock a lot of fun dialogue options, be excellent at talking your way out of situations, and if you want a quick break, you can play music anywhere you want. This will attract nearby NPCs to you (I’m sure nobody will misuse this to attract NPCs to a pile of explosives). With the Bard class, you can use Bardic Inspiration to give a buff to an ally. The ways in which Bardic Inspiration can be utilized depends on your chosen subclass.
If you’re really stuck on which class to pick for your first character, then I’d recommend that you try the Bard, as it will give you the opportunity to try out pretty much every aspect of combat in BG3, and it does at least a decent job at all of it.
The Bard can benefit from wearing the Cap of Curing, a unique hat that heals allies whom you inspire with Bardic Inspiration. You can find it in a locked chest near the Tiefling Bard called Alfira, near the Druid Grove.
Cleric
The Cleric is a very good class, and is very close to being in the S-tier. It is a tanky class that has access to an excellent range of spells, especially at high levels.
The main downside of the Cleric class is that it’s quite weak in the early game, as it doesn’t start with any good damage spells or cantrips and doesn’t hit especially hard in melee. But similarly to the Druid, the Cleric starts to come alive when you level up a few times. Level 5 is the magic number for the Cleric, where you will start unlocking great spells like Spirit Guardians, and it only gets better from there. At high levels, you have powerful damage spells like Insect Plague to look forward to. If the Cleric had a better early game, it would undoubtedly have made the cut for S-tier, but from levels 1-4, it can feel like it’s just making up the numbers in your party, and that can’t be overlooked.
While the Cleric, at first glance, seems like it should be built as a melee support character, you might actually want to keep them at range most of the time. This is because they’re not especially good melee fighters, and you’ll want to keep them out of too much trouble to minimize the chance of failing Concentration Checks on active spells – the Cleric’s most powerful spells all require Concentration.
While their melee prowess isn’t spectacular, the Cleric can do pretty much everything else, with great team buffs, enemy debuffs, healing and long-range AOE spells. It also makes Act 2 much easier due to its high concentration of enemies that are weak to Radiant damage.
At Level 3, you gain access to the Aid spell, which buffs your entire party’s max HP by 5 (including any summons). Later on, you can upcast this spell to increase the HP amount by 5 per spell level, and at Level 11, you also get access to Heroes’ Feast, giving you another HP buff and a haul of Camp Supplies. This passive support is a great asset for your party.
The Cleric also has access to an amazing weapon in Act 2 that you definitely should get your hands on. It is well hidden and tough to get. We are talking about the Blood of Lathander. This is a Legendary Mace with a +3 Enchantment that will heal you and your party when you reach 0 HP (once per Long Rest) and also gives you a toned-down version of the Sunbeam Spell, which will make Act 2 much easier. To get this excellent weapon, you’ll need to take the Mountain Pass route when progressing from Act 1 to Act 2. The mace can be found at the final chamber of the Rosymorn Monastery.
Warlock
The Warlock class makes for a great spellcaster, immediately able to deal great damage in the early game by building around the Eldritch Blast Cantrip. The Warlock gets fewer spell slots than most other Spellcasters, but these spell slots will always upcast spells to the highest possible level, and they can be replenished with a Short Rest rather than a Long Rest.
The Warlock is a good damage dealer that can also hold its own in melee more than the Wizard and Sorcerer, and it is also pretty good at controlling enemies with spells like Hold Person. However, it is generally more of a selfish class than some other spellcasters, and that’s the main downside to it. The Warlock doesn’t really heal or buff, it just does damage and crowd control – but it does do a really good job at those things, so you shouldn’t have any real problems using this class in your party.
As you level up, your Warlock can choose extra Eldritch powers. The easiest, and arguably strongest way to build your Warlock is to keep building around Eldritch Blast. Its damage increases as you level up, and you can set it up so that it knocks back enemies. It combines excellently with the Hex spell, which applies heaps of extra bonus damage for every hit with Eldritch Blast.
Look out for items that improve the Warlock’s Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Rolls. The Mask of Soul Perception is an excellent choice, and makes for a great combo with the Potent Robe. Check our Warlock Build for more info about how these items work so well together.
Paladin
The Paladin makes for a pretty good melee fighter, able to empower its melee attacks with various smite spells. It also has a good selection of buffs, healing, early-game damage spells and control spells. So with all of that in mind, why not S-Tier?
In my view, the Paladin fills the same role as the Cleric but does a worse job at it. Sure, it’s a better melee fighter than the Cleric, but therein lies the problem. Since the Paladin lacks the powerful late-game damage and support spells that the Cleric has access to, it relies on its melee skills to keep dishing out good damage. But then, by placing your Paladin in melee slogs, you’re going to find it difficult to maintain Concentration on any of your buff spells. This leaves the Paladin in a bit of an awkward place, in my opinion.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad class, and I’m certainly not here to tell you that you shouldn’t pick the Paladin. But for me personally, I would be hard-pressed to find reasons beyond RP to choose it over the Cleric, which is better at healing, better at spellcasting, and is only a little bit less sturdy than the Paladin. With this in mind, I just can’t justify ranking the Paladin higher than the Cleric.
Having said all of that, the Paladin’s Smite spells are very satisfying to use, and you will probably have a lot of fun with this class if you just want to use it as a melee heavy-hitter with a magical twist.
In Act I, make sure you pay a visit to the Adamantine Forge and craft the Adamantine Splint Armour for your Paladin, one of the best heavy armour items in the game. This gives you the defences needed to be comfortable operating without a shield, so you can wield a powerful two-handed weapon to maximise your melee damage potential.
B-Tier Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3
B-Tier classes are still quite good, but are either tougher to play or have more weaknesses than A and S classes.
- Sorcerer
- Rogue
Sorcerer
In many ways, the Sorcerer class resembles the Wizard. However, it has access to fewer Spells in total and cannot learn spells from Scrolls like the Wizard can. The Sorcerer attempts to make up for this with metamagic abilities, which empower your Spells in various ways. Examples of this are increasing the range or duration of your spells or the number of targets they can hit. You can add to this further with the Wild Magic subclass, which has a chance to add random magical effects to its spells. These are usually positive for the spellcaster, but not always.
While it is still a very good spellcaster, the Sorcerer’s smaller spell list means that it lacks the versatility of the Wizard. However, the spells that it does have are very useful, and the Sorcerer still has plenty of potential to damage and control enemies. So, then, why is it ranked two ranks below the Wizard?
The main reason for the Sorcerer ranking down in the B-tier is that whenever I think about the class, the question “Why would I choose this over the Wizard?” comes to mind, and I struggle to answer this question. The Sorcerer plays like a watered-down Wizard who casts spells with Charisma instead of Intelligence and gets a few special abilities to make up for it. Sure, Metamagic is quite strong, and Wild Magic Surges can bring some extra hijinks to the battle, but in my opinion, it’s just not quite enough. The Sorcerer needs a unique identity to set it apart from the Wizard – until then, it will remain overshadowed. Still, it’s not a bad class, so don’t write it off completely.
You can get a really good Quarterstaff for the Sorcerer in Act 1, called the Spellsparkler. It grants you 2 Lightning Charges whenever you spells damage an enemy. The charges add +1 to your Attack Rolls, and if you reach 5 charges then they are consumed for an extra 1-8 Lightning Damage. This synergises especially well with spells that shoot multiple projectiles, such as Magic Missile. You can get the Spellsparkler as a reward from the Rescue the Grand Duke quest.
Later in the game, look for equipment that boosts your Spell Save DC, including the legendary Markoheshkir Quarterstaff.
Rogue
The Rogue is a difficult class to rank – a skilled min-maxing player can cheese pretty much everything in the game using the Rogue’s stealth abilities and bonus damage, and in these cases, it’s an obvious S-tier. But the vast majority of players just aren’t at that level (or don’t want to play in this way), so it doesn’t seem like a reasonable way to rank the class.
What the Rogue does give you is excellent bursts of damage if you play it properly and utilize its stealth and sneak attacks, and some good out-of-combat utility thanks to its high Dexterity, making any shady deeds much easier. But if you don’t use it in this way, the Rogue can feel quite weak and certainly out of its comfort zone. It’s quite squishy and doesn’t do much, if anything at all, to support your party in combat.
If you enjoy the Rogue’s playstyle of using stealth to get the jump on your opponents, you’re going to love this class. But if you prefer a direct approach, you’ll probably feel like this class isn’t a good fit for you.
While the Rogue’s Thief subclass seems at first glance to give you very little, it’s actually the best version of the Rogue, in my view, as you get an extra Bonus Action. Since the Rogue can perform actions like Dash and Disengage with a Bonus Action, that gives you a lot of mobility, allowing you Hide or Disengage and Dash on the same turn (or Dash two or three times on the same turn), allowing it to escape from situations by sacrificing one turn of attacking in exchange for simply unmatched mobility.
In summary, this is a good, sneaky damage dealer with a high skill ceiling, but it falls into the B-Tier due to its fairly one-dimensional nature.
Make sure you pick up the Gloves of Thievery, which will give your Rogue an Advantage on Sleight of Hand Checks, making lockpicking and pickpocketing all but the most secure targets an easy endeavour. Later in the game, get the Shade-Slayer Cloak, which increases your Crit Chance when attacking from stealth.
C-Tier Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3
While they may still excel in some situations, C-Tier Classes are typically less versatile than those in higher tiers and require a greater level of player skill to get the best out of them.
- Monk
- Ranger
Monk
Themed around eastern martial arts, the Monk class excels in unarmed combat, although they can also make use of simple weapons.
The Monk has no access to spells, and therefore has very little ability to support and heal the party. But it is instead able to use its class mechanic, called Ki, to cast a selection of special abilities in combat. The Monk is able to use its Bonus Action to do a Flurry of Blows from the start of the game, and as you level up, you will gain an extra attack, too.
This class is really good at dealing damage and causing problems for enemies when in melee range, but it lacks any real ranged prowess. You do get higher mobility than most other classes though, something which helps you to get your Monk into melee range where it excels.
This lack of all-round versatility is what causes the Monk to fall into C-Tier.
The Sparkle Hands are great gloves for the Monk Build. They give you Lightning Charges when you do unarmed attacks on enemies, which will improve your subsequent attack rolls or release the charges for extra Lighting Damage if you have five charges. The Sparkle Hands drop in the Sunlit Wetlands (where the Hag Hut is). They can be found inside a Wooden Chest.
Ranger
The Ranger class has one domain that it excels in, as you would expect, and that is wielding ranged weapons. Specifically bows and crossbows. After Level 5, the Ranger is able to take two shots per turn instead of one.
Besides dealing high Ranged damage, the Ranger can exert some control over enemies with a modest selection of Spells. One of the most important of these spells is Ensnaring Strike, which can immobilise an enemy and apply an extra damage per turn effect on them. Like the Druid, it also has access to Spike Growth in case you need to slow down multiple enemies.
All three of the subclasses are pretty good. Go with Hunter if you want a more “honest” approach, and Gloam Stalker if stealth and ambushing is more your idea of fun. The Beastmaster has less direct offensive ability than the other two subclasses, but adds some versatility to the team with its ability to spawn an animal companion.
The Ranger is a class that’s capable of dealing decent damage and a little control, but it has little utility other than that, and you do need to keep the class in a favourable situation to get good results out of it. Like the Rogue it has a high skill ceiling, but it doesn’t have the mobility of the Rogue.
Rangers will benefit a lot from picking up the Disintegrating Night Walkers in Act 1, looted from True Soul Nere in the Grymforge. They will give you the Misty Step spell, as well as immunity to the Enwebbed, Entangled and Ensnared conditions and prevent you from slipping on ice or grease. These are a great counter to effects that can otherwise pin down your Ranger and leave them vulnerable. In Act III try to get your hands on Gontr Mael, the most powerful Longbow in BG3. It drops from the Steel Titan in the Steel Watch Foundry.
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