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 be ranking 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.
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: Extremely strong and versatile class, easily adaptable to anything the game can throw at you
- A-Tier: Very strong and can handle the majority of situations with ease, but some minor weaknesses of note
- B-Tier: Quite strong, but has several weaknesses that the player will have to navigate around
Please note that there are not really any “bad” classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 – I originally planned to have a C-Tier on this list, but I found that no class was really weak enough to justify putting it there, which is a testament to the good job Larian have done with balancing the classes in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you go with a class that’s ranked B-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 therefore more suited to beginners or people trying Tactician for the first time.
Without further delay, let’s get into the rankings!
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.
- Cleric
- Druid
- Wizard
- Fighter
- Bard
Cleric
The Cleric is one of the best classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a S-Tier class. The Cleric provides you with great support for your party. It has access to the Bless spell which is vital for improving your Attack Rolls.
This class can feel pretty weak early in the game, as it doesn’t get any particularly good damage spells to begin with 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.
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.
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.
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 the Sunbeam Spell, which will make Act 2 in particular 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.
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. That said, if you don’t want to use Wild Shapes for some reason, you’re better off going with Circle of the Land, as this subclass provides you with a greater range of spells to cast.
The versatility of the druid makes it undoubtedly one of the best classes in BG3.
A great 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.
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 manage to 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 swing their staff around 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 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.
A great 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.
Fighter
A melee heavy hitter, the Fighter is able to make mutliple strong attacks per turn after some leveling up.
The Battle Master is generally the most powerful variant of the Fighter, as they gain a multitide 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.
The Fighter can debuff enemies by equipping the Gloves of Power, which can give a -1-4 penalty to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws on creatures you hit. They are dropped by Za’Krug near the entrance to the Druid Grove.
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 swinging 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).
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.
A-Tier Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3
The A-Tier classes are still very strong, but have more weaknesses than the S-Tier classes or excel in fewer situations.
- Barbarian
- Warlock
- Sorcerer
- 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 its 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. 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 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.
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 replenshed 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 the spellcasters that made it into S-Tier, 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.
A potentially useful item for the Warlock is the Vital Conduit Boots, which will give you Temporary Hit Points whenever you cast a Concentration Spell. These can be purchased from A’jak’nir Jeera in Crèche Y’llek.
Sorcerer
In many ways the Sorcerer class resembles the Wizard. However it has access to less 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 basically allow you 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.
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.
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 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.
A great gear option for the Paladin is to purchase the Shield of Devotion from Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn. With this shield, you can use your Reaction to attempt to knock a melee attacker Prone when they hit you, ending their turn and giving you an advantage when attacking them on your next turn.
B-Tier Classes in Baldur’s Gate 3
While they may still excel in some situations, B-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
- Rogue
- 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 B-Tier rather than A-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.
Rogue
Let me preface this by saying that the Rogue is not a bad class, at all. It can do very good single-target damage in both melee and at long range – especially if you’re able to utilize stealth often.
The main issue with the Rogue is that it’s really quite one-dimensional. In ideal situations it can do great damage, but outside its comfort zone it struggles more than possibly any other class.
While the 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. I suspect that players who like pushing the limits of the game and doing challenge runs (like solo playthroughs) will take a liking to the Rogue, as its ability to Disengage and Dash on the same turn (or Dash two or three times on the same turn) allow 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, and it only falls into the B-Tier due to its fairly one-dimensional nature.
A good item for the Rogue is the Linebreaker Boots. Whenever you Dash or perform a similar action in combat, you gain Wrath for 3 turns (+1 bonus melee damage). Dropped by Beastmaster Zurk in Shattered Sanctum. These boots work well for the Rogue because it can dash with a Bonus Action, making it feasible to dash around and activate the buff without wasting a turn.
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 is also able to deal 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 favorable 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. All of this holds the class back a just enough to keep it below the A-Tier.
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.
