Best Bard Paladin Multiclass BG3 Build

Welcome to the BG3 Bard-Paladin Multiclass Build for Baldur’s Gate 3. In this guide we will be explaining how to build a character that is a hybrid between the Bard and Paladin classes. The Bard-Paladin Build BG3 works for both PC and Console (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S).

Please visit our Best BG3 Builds overview page for more builds or check out our Best BG3 Bard Build with the College of Lore subclass. To get an overview of all classes please visit the BG3 Classes overview page.

This is a little more complicated than just sticking to one class, and you might not have even noticed that multiclassing is possible at all in BG3.

We first will explain how multiclassing works, and why you might want to combine these classes to begin with, and after that is a step-by-step guide on making the build, from Character Creation all the way until Level 12, including recommended equipment and spells for the build.

Table of Contents:

• Build Features and Mechanics
  • Multiclassing Explained
  • Why Bard and Paladin Work Together
• Character Creation (Level 1) (Class, Race, Skills, Abilities)
• Leveling Progression
  • Level 2
  • Level 3
  • Level 4
  • Level 5
  • Level 6
  • Level 7
  • Level 8
  • Level 9
  • Level 10
  • Level 11
  • Level 12
• Early-Game Equipment
• Late-Game Equipment
• Overpowered Potions

Build Features and Mechanics BG3 Bard Paladin Build

In this section, we will explain how the multiclassing works in BG3, and what makes the Bard and Paladin classes fit together nicely.

Multiclassing Explained in BG3

As the name suggests, multiclassing allows you to have a character that combines features from multiple classes. You create a multi-classed character by initially creating your character as normal, then later on when levelling up you can add any other class of your choice, which can include subclasses.

This works by progressing through each class separately – for example, if you are a Level 3 Bard and then decide to add 1 level of Paladin, you will be considered a Level 4 character, who is a Level 3 Bard and a Level 1 Paladin. This means that you cannot just wait until you are max level and then add one level of another class to gain access to the most powerful spells of two classes – you are instead progressing through two different classes consecutively.

The advantage of Multiclassing in Baldur’s Gate 3 is that it can allow your character to gain a wider range of abilities from different classes, including Proficiencies. Heavy Armour Wizards who can wield great weapons and Barbarians who can wield magic are both examples of the kinds of builds you can create with multiclassing.

However, the downside is that for every level you multiclass, you are reducing the maximum level that your character can progress along in the class progression. You will still gain common rewards for levelling up, such as increased HP and Spell Slots, however, if you split your levels evenly between two classes then you will finish with 6 Levels in each class, potentially preventing you from unlocking the most powerful benefits of each class. So in effect, your increased versatility comes at the cost of reduced specialisation in your class.

How To: To add another class to your build, click the button highlighted on the image below when levelling up your character.

Why Bard and Paladin Work Well Together in BG3

The main reason Bard and Paladin combine together effectively is that they both use Charisma as their spellcasting ability. This means spells from both classes will work together very effectively in BG3’s combat.

Paladin is generally a good class to multiclass with other classes that focus on Charisma, because they have a powerful toolkit of Smite spells and AOE buffs and healing for the party (depending on subclass).

Bard on the other hand allows you to augment the Paladin playstyle with a wider range of spells, as well as other buffs from Bardic Inspiration.

Combining both of these classes therefore allows us to create a strong hybrid spellcaster that is also very good at buffing and healing allies. With the setup in the build, the bread and butter of the build will be using the Smite spells to deal high burst damage to enemies in melee range, however, we will also have some ranged damage ability from spells, when required.

Bard-adin Character Creation

In this section, we will guide you through all aspects of character creation for this BG3 Bard-Paladin multiclass build.

Best Race

We recommend choosing from any of the following races for this build:

• Wood Elf – Gains increased Movement Speed and Longbow Proficiency.
• Half Wood Elf – Gains increased Movement Speed
• Half-Orc – Rolls another extra damage die when you land a critical hit. Resists death once per Long Rest (healing to 1 HP instead)
• Githyanki – Gains access to extra benefits from Githyanki weapons, which can provide extra damage later in the game.

If you want to pick a different race then don’t worry, it won’t ruin the build. The difference between the races in BG3 is fairly minor.

Starting Class and Subclass

In character creation, we will begin the build by selecting the Paladin class. This provides us with Proficiency with Martial Weapons, all Armour types and Shields, which allows you to equip most items that you will find.

It also grants us the Lay on Hands Action, which allows you to spend a Lay on Hands charge to heal a creature. You can spend two charges to heal for double the amount.

As for the subclass, for this build, we are using Oath of Ancients. You can choose a different one if you want, however, we recommend Oath of Ancients because it provides us with powerful healing and buffs for you and your allies.

For the time being, we get Healing Radiance which heals all nearby allies in exchange for a Channel Oath charge.

Background

The best Background for this build is Soldier. This gives a bonus in the Athletics and Intimidation skills. These skills use Strength and Charisma respectively, which are both abilities that our build will have plenty of.

Abilities

The most important Abilities for this multiclass build are:

• Strength – Increases the accuracy and damage of melee weapons
• Constitution – Increases HP and makes it easier to succeed Concentration Saving Throws (continuing to produce the effects of an ongoing concentration spell after taking damage)
• Charisma – Used to determine the efficacy of our Paladin and Bard spells

With that in mind, the following ability distribution is what we recommend for the Bard-adin Build:

• Strength – 16
• Dexterity – 10
• Constitution – 14
• Intelligence – 8
• Wisdom – 8
• Charisma – 17

Skills

You can choose an additional two Skills to be Proficient with. I recommend choosing Persuasion, in order to maximise the bonus this skill is already getting from our high Charisma, and any other skill of your choice.

Levelling Progression for the Bard-Paladin Multiclass Build

We will now go through the levelling-up process step by step, from levels 2 to 12.

Level 2

At Level 2, we will be adding a Bard level to our multiclass build. This will immediately grant us the Bard’s basic abilities and Proficiencies. Specifically, we’ll unlock:

• Bardic Inspiration – Inspire an enemy, granting them a +1d6 bonus to their next Attack Roll, Ability Check or Saving Throw.
• 3 Bardic Inspiration Charges – These will recharge after each Long Rest.
• 2 Level 1 Spell Slots

You can choose two Cantrips. We recommend going with the following options:

• Vicious Mockery – Deals a small amount of Psychic Damage and gives an enemy Disadvantage on their next attack. Handy if you are out of melee range and want to debuff an enemy.
• Blade Ward – Grants you Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing damage for 2 turns. Good if you are unable to make a good attack this turn and want to improve your survivability instead.

Finally, you can unlock four Level 1 spells from the Bard spell list. We recommend:

• Sleep – A very good early-game control spell. Creatures cannot resist this unless they are immune to Sleeping. At level 1 you can put creatures with up to 24 combined HP to sleep, which is good for knocking out several weak enemies or one stronger one. Later on, you can upcast the spell to increase the HP limit. Hitting a Sleeping creature in melee will be a guaranteed crit, but they will wake up as soon as they take any damage.
• Faerie Fire – This is an AOE debuff spell that causes your subsequent attacks against the target to roll with Advantage. This can be really useful as it significantly increases your hit chance against enemies successfully debuffed by the spell.
• Thunderwave – Deals Thunder damage to enemies in a cone, and possibly knocks them back. This can be used to knock multiple enemies off a ledge or cliff, dealing extra fall damage and potentially insta-killing them.
• Healing Word – This is a versatile healing spell. It heals for a little less than Cure Wounds, but it’s generally a better spell because Cure Wounds requires you to be in touching distance of the ally you want to heal.

With this, we now have the basic elements of both the Paladin and Bard classes, and can begin gradually improving both of them.

Level 3

This time we’ll be adding to the Paladin side of the build so that we can begin accessing this class’ powerful Smite spells. This will grant us the following bonuses:

• Divine Smite – Spend a spell slot to deal extra Radiant damage on your weapon attack.
• Choice of a Fighting Style
• 5 Level 1 Paladin Spells to choose

For the fighting style, it is up to you which one you want to get. The best ones are Defence, which will give you an extra +1 Armour Class, or if you want to build for maximum damage then go with Great Weapon Fighting, which makes it very unlikely that you will roll a 1 or a 2 with your Great Weapon damage rolls.

For the spells, I recommend getting the following options:

• Bless – A decent buff spell that gives 3 allies a 1d4 bonus to their Attack Rolls and Saving Throws. Later on, you can upcast it to increase the number of targets.
• Command – Another good early-game control spell. You can force enemies to perform basic actions such as halting, fleeing, or dropping their weapon.
• Searing Smite – Imbues your weapon with extra fire damage, and causes them to burn every turn.
• Thunderous Smite – Imbue your weapon with extra thunder damage, knocking back the target and possibly knocking them Prone.
• Wrathful Smite – Your weapon deals extra Psychic damage and your attack may Frighten the target.

One thing to be careful of when casting your Smite spells is that many of them require Concentration for an ongoing effect. So keep an eye out for that – remember that you can only concentrate on one spell at a time, as soon as you cast another concentration spell, any ongoing effects from the previous one will end immediately.

Level 4

For the next few levels, we’re going to continue to add Paladin levels. This is because there are some very strong buffs that we want to pick up, including the ability to make two attacks per turn which is vital.

Grab the next Paladin level, so that you are a Level 3 Paladin and a Level 1 Bard. You will unlock the following:

• Divine Health – Gives you passive immunity to disease
• Nature’s Wrath Action – Root an enemy in place, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.
• Turn the Faithless Action – Force nearby Fey and Fiends to flee from you.
• Speak with Animals Spell – Self-explanatory, allows you to communicate with beasts as though they were humans. Is a Ritual spell, meaning you can cast it outside of combat without spending a Spell Slot.
• Ensnaring Strike – Make an attack that can ensnare an enemy, rooting them in place until they break free or are helped by an ally.

You can also choose one more Paladin spell. I recommend going with Compelled Duel, a kind of soft-taunt spell that gives an enemy Disadvantage on attacks against anyone but the caster. This is a situational spell, but it can sometimes be really handy for getting an ally out of trouble, for example, if a powerful melee enemy reaches a ranged-focused ally, and you’re having a hard time getting them out of trouble.

Level 5

Once again, we will add another Paladin level here, taking us to Level 4 Paladin and Level 1 Bard.

This level is a little bit sparse in terms of what we get from the Paladin class, but we need to get through it to reach higher levels. You gain an additional Lay on Hands charge and can choose one more Paladin spell to prepare. We already have all of the best ones for now, so take a look at the remaining ones and get whatever sounds most interesting to you.

We also get to choose a Feat. We recommend choosing the Ability Improvement feat and improving your Charisma score to 19. This will improve your Spellcasting and also increases the number of Paladin spells you can learn by one.

Level 6

We’ll add another Paladin level here – this time we get a lot more out of it.

To start with, we get the all-important Extra Attack passive, which does exactly what it says – your Actions will now afford you two attacks rather than one. Actions and spells that are not direct attacks will not benefit from this.

Our Oath of Ancients subclass will grant us two new spells which are always Prepared:

• Misty Step – Allows you to teleport to an empty space that’s visible, within 18 metres. This is excellent for quickly closing the gap to an enemy since the strongest place for this build is in the thick of melee. You can also use it as an escape if needed.
• Moonbeam – Summon a small AOE of moonlight that deals Radiant damage to anyone who touches it. You can move the beam each turn, as long as you maintain Concentration. The beam can last for up to 10 turns.

It took a little while, but we now have access to some level 2 magic. As usual, we can prepare another new spell – I also recommend replacing one of the previous spells, whichever one you are using the least, so in total we will be slotting two new spells at this level:

• Aid – Lets you increase the HP of your whole party by 5 until the next Long Rest. This is really good because it doesn’t require Concentration, so you should pretty much always use this immediately after camping. You can upcast the spell to add more HP to the buff.
• Branding Smite – Your weapon attack deals extra Radiant damage, and can prevent targets from turning Invisible. This smite spell deals very good damage and will be especially potent in Act II, when many enemies are undead and vulnerable to Radiant damage.

Please note that your Aid spell will not stack with another character’s Aid spell. So if you already have a Cleric (or another Paladin) in your party providing Aid, then replace it with something else. Protection from Poison is a good option, as the Poisoned debuff is otherwise difficult to counter and causes quite severe penalties to your attacks.

Level 7

We are now going to return to the Bard class for a while. Add your second level of Bard here – so you are now considered a Level 5 Paladin and a Level 2 Bard.

This will grant the following bonuses:

• Song of Rest – Basically provides an extra Short Rest for your party
• Jack of All Trades – Add Half of your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down) to any Ability Checks that you are not Proficient in
• Choose one more Bard spell to prepare;
  • Tasha’s Hideous Laughter – A very nasty single-target stun that forces a target into an uncontrollable laughing fit. They will roll a save every turn to try to break free of the effect. Upcast to target multiple enemies at once.

Level 8

At Level 8, take another level of the Bard class. We will need to choose a Bard subclass at this point.

We highly recommend going with the College of Swords subclass, which unlocks several new weapon attacks:

• Defensive Flourish – Buff your Armour Class when you hit an enemy
• Slashing Flourish – Deal damage to two adjacent enemies
• Mobile Flourish – Hit an enemy and knock them back. You can optionally teleport to the enemy’s new location.

You can also choose a new Fighting Style – If you decided to fight with a one-handed weapon and Shield, then the Duelling Fighting Style can be useful to you. But if you went with Great Weapons, then neither of the choices are of any real use.

In addition to these new subclass features, at this level you can also choose 2 skills that you are already Proficient in, and gain Expertise in those skills, doubling your Proficiency bonus. Choosing Persuasion and Intimidation are good options to make your character extremely good at passing a wide range of dialogue checks in BG3. But you can choose something else if you prefer.

Here you can choose another new Bard spell, with access to Level 2 spells now. I also recommend replacing whatever was your least used Bard spell, so in total we will be choosing 2 new spells:

• Hold Person – Another really good stun, it completely paralyzes a humanoid enemy, and all melee attacks against them are guaranteed crits, which is basically a death sentence if they don’t break free quickly.
• Shatter – a ranged AOE spell that deals 3d8 Thunder Damage. Upcast to add an extra 1d8 to the damage, per upcast level.

Level 9

We are adding another level of the Bard here.

You can choose another Feat at this level. The Feat we recommend depends on how you decided to build your Paladin:

• If you went with a one-handed weapon and shield, get the Resilient Feat and choose Charisma. This will give 20 Charisma, and Advantage on all Charisma checks. If you already managed to increase Charisma to 20 from another source, then instead get Ability Improvement and put the +2 extra points in Strength.
• If you went with Great Weapons, then get Savage Attacker, which significantly increases your crit chance, maximising the already high damage that you get from attacking with Great Weapons.

You can choose another Cantrip, too. We already have the best ones, so pick whatever you like.

Finally, you can select one more Bard spell. See Invisibility is a useful spell, although it’s very situational. It’s good because it doesn’t require Concentration so it won’t interfere with your Smite spells, and it stops anyone from hiding from your Paladin!

Level 10

For Level 10, we’ll add another Bard level, meaning we now have 5 levels in both Bard and Paladin.

At this level, you will gain:

• An extra charge of Bardic Inspiration
• Font of Inspiration – Your Bardic Inspiration charges now recover after Short Rests
• Improved Bardic Inspiration – Your Bardic Inspiration buff is now 1d8 instead of 1d6
• Scaling Cantrips – Your damaging Cantrips gain an additional damage die.
• One more Bard spell to prepare. We recommend:
  • Glyph of Warding – Place an elemental AOE that explodes when an enemy touches it. Deals decent AOE damage, but be careful not to get an ally caught in the radius.

We now have a decent range of spells and buffs from the Bard class, and there’s little else that can be gained from this class with the 2 remaining levels, so after this level we will switch back to adding Paladin levels.

Level 11

As mentioned above, we will now be adding another Paladin level to the build. Paladin Level 6 grants the following bonuses:

• Aura of Protection – You and allies within 3 metres gain a Saving Throw bonus equal to your Charisma Modifier (this should be a +5 bonus if your Charisma is 20)
• One more spell to Prepare:
  • Lesser Restoration – A situational spell that can be used to cure various conditions, such as Blinded, Poisoned and Paralysis.

Level 12

For the last level, we’ll be adding another Paladin level, taking you to Paladin Level 7 and Bard Level 5. At this level, you will get:

• Aura of Warding – You and allies within 3 metres only take half damage from all spells. This is a very powerful buff and it’s the main reason we increased the Paladin side of our build to this level.
• One more spell to Prepare.
  • We got most of the good spells already. You can choose whatever sounds interesting here – just remember that Concentration Spells will interfere with most of your Smite spells.

With that, you have now finished levelling up your Bard Paladin Multiclass build! In this next section, we will talk about the best equipment for the build.

Equipment

In this section, we will provide an overview of suggested early-game and late-game equipment setups for this multiclass build. The tables provide the names of the items, and you can mouse over them to see their effects. Below the tables are more detailed explanations for each item along with a description of how to obtain each item.

Early-Game Equipment Setup

Below is the early-game equipment setup. This is comprised of items that can be found in Act I or the earlier parts of Act II. Don’t worry if your setup doesn’t exactly match what it shown below – the build will still work fine.

Now let’s take a look at where you can get the early game gear for the Bard-adin.

Helmet of Smiting

The Helmet of Smiting can be found inside a chest at the Selunite Outpost in the Underdark. You get a +1 to Constitution Saving Throws and when you apply a condition with one of your Smite spells, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to your Charisma modifier. And because our Charisma is pretty high you get a lot of THP.

The easiest way to get there is through the Goblin Camp front door into the Shattered Sanctum. Then from there enter the Defiled Sanctum and go downstairs, open the hidden wall via the hidden lever (Perception Check). Now you can enter the Underdark and get right into the Selunite Outpost where the helmet can be found. Don’t forget to activate the Waypoint there too.

For an in-depth guide on Underdark passages please read the How to Enter the Underdark.

Cloak of Protection

The Cloak of Protection is one of the few cloaks in BG3 that you can get right at the start of Act 2. This item can be purchased by Quartermaster Talli in Last Light Inn, it doesn’t cost that much either so it is a good pick. The cloak gives you extra +1 Armour Class and +1 Saving Throw.

You can also read our in-depth guide on How to get the Cloak of Protection in BG3 which explains everything in detail.

Adamantine Splint Armour

The Adamantine Splint Armour is one of the best Heavy Armour you can acquire and you already get to do that in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3. While wearing the Adamantine Splint Armour enemies can’t land a critical hit on you and all incoming damage is reduced by 2. Additionally, if an enemy is hitting you with a melee attack they will get the Reeling condition (Recovering from a terrible blow or hitting a strong metal. -1 penalty to Attack Rolls for every turn remaining.)

The armour can be obtained during the Adamantine Forge quest. While progressing the game you will naturally end up in this location, but you could still miss it. While this armour has a long process of getting it, it is still totally worth it because of how powerful the equipment is. The Adamantine Forge is located in the Grymforge. You reach the Grymforge via a boat in the Underdark. The fights are tough, come prepared.

Additionally, to craft the Adamantine Splint Armour you need Splint Mould and Mithral Ore which you also all find in the Grymforge area (marked on the map).

Chain Mail +1 (Easy to get)

You can get the Chain Mail +1 earlier and without much hassle. This is also a good starter option. When you are inside the Druid Grove go talk to Dammon the Blacksmith, you can buy it from him. The only requirement is that you are level 4 for the heavy armour to show up.

Hellrider’s Pride Gloves

The Hellrider’s Pride gloves are great for our early-game Paladin gear. Whenever you heal someone, they gain Resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks. So it is basically a free protection buff that is applied to the healed creature. Additionally, you also get +1 Strength Saving Throws.

You can get the Helldrider’s Pride gloves from Zevlor inside the Secluded Chamber that you reach through the Druid Grove as a reward for completing the Save the Refugees quest.

Hellrider’s Pride works great in combination with The Whispering Promise ring.

Note: There are also Paladin-specific gloves called Gloves of Heroism worth picking up.

Boots of Aid and Comfort

The Boots of Aid and Comfort are great together with Hellrider’s Pride and The Whispering Promise because they all synergize with each other. The boots give you 3 Temporary Hit Points when you heal a target.

You can buy them from Grat the Trader inside the Goblin Camp in Act 1 of BG3. Sometimes traders won’t have all items available at the same time. You can use a Long Rest to reset the traders items, you don’t need to use any camp supplies. You might have to try several times until the item shows up.

Amulet of Restoration

The Amulet of Restoration is a great early game amulet for the BG3 Paladin Build. It gives you the Healing Word and Mass Healing Word spell. You can the Amulet of Restoration from Derryth Bonecloak after you complete her quest in the Myconid Colony in the Underdark (Guide: How to enter the Underdark).

Ring of Protection

The Ring of Protection is a really good ring that you can obtain early in Act 1. The ring gives you a +1 to Armour Class and +1 to Saving Throws. You get the ring by completing the Steal the Sacred Idol quest. To start the quest head into the Tiefling Hideout in the Druids Grove and talk to Mol. She is the gang leader and wants you to steal the Idol of Silvanus. The Idol is used as a ritual in the middle of the Druid, it won’t be easy to steal it.

The Whispering Promise

The Whispering Promise ring applies Blessed to a healed creature. Giving them a 1d4 bonus to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws for 2 turns. This ring synergizes well with Hellrider’s Pride and Boots of Aid and Comfort.

You can buy them from Grat the Trader inside the Goblin Camp in Act 1 of BG3. Brem inside the Zhentarim Hideout also has the item. Roah Moonglow also has the item. Sometimes traders won’t have all items available at the same time. You can use a Long Rest to reset the trader’s items.

Shortsword +1

The Shortsword +1 is a good starter weapon. Roah Moonglow is selling the weapon inside the Shattered Sanctum. If you do not see the weapon in her wares, then take a Long Rest (Don’t need to spend supplies) and return to the Roah. This should reset her items, and the Shortsword+1 should appear. You might have to do this several times because trader inventory is random.

You can also read our in-depth guide on How to get the Shortsword +1 in BG3 to get a detailed walkthrough on how to obtain the sword.

Blooded Greataxe

This option is for players who want to go with the Great Weapons variation of the build. It’s a good early-game two-handed weapon that will deal plenty of damage, especially when augmented by your Smite spells. It can be purchased from either Grat the Trader in the Goblin Camp, or Roah Moonglow in Shattered Sanctum. If the weapon isn’t there when you go to buy it, try to Long Rest and try again.

Shield of Devotion

The Shield of Devotion is a very rare shield that can be obtained at the start of Act 2. It gives you Shield Bash, when a foe attacks you in melee you can use your Reaction to knock them Prone. You also gain an additional Level 1 Spell Slot and the Aid Abjuration spell. Lastly, it also gives you an extra 2 Armour Class.

Until then just use whatever shield you can find for your Paladin.

Once again, don’t sweat it too much if you can’t find all of the items. The build works just fine without these. Having these special items is basically just the cherry on top.

Late-Game Equipment Setup

Below is the late-game equipment setup, which includes items from Act III. Earlier items may still be included here if they are powerful enough to keep up with the late-game items.

Helm of Balduran

The Helm of Balduran is a legendary item that is one of the most powerful items in Baldur’s Gate 3. It gives you the following perks:

Amulet of Greater Health

The Amulet of Greater Health is another item that is immensely powerful. It will boost your Constitution score to 23, increasing your health tremendously. Like the Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength and Orphic Hammer it can also be found inside the Archive in the House of Hope that you reach via Devil’s Fee.

You can also read our in-depth guide on How to get the Amulet of Greater Health in BG3.

Ring of Regeneration

The Ring of Regeneration lets you restore 1-4 Hit Points at the beginning of your turn. The ring synergizes well with The Reviving Hands, Hellrider’s Pride, The Whispering Promise and Boots of Aid and Comfort. You could sort of create a chain reaction with all these items if you want to.

The Whispering Promise

We are using The Whispering Promise which we also used in the early game setup. The synergy effect in combination with the other gear we use is just too good to pass up.

Devotee’s Mace

The Devotee’s Mace is a legendary item and is actually fairly easy to get. It has a +3 Enchantment and gives you the Healing Incense Aura, which triggers even more healing at the start of your turn to you and nearby allies and will trigger effects of your other gear items as well. It also deals extra Radiant Damage.

You get the Devotee’s Mace by reaching level 10 with a Cleric Build. Select Divine Intervention: Arm Thy Servant and cast it to obtain the Devotee’s Mace for free.

Tip: You can only cast Divine Intervention once per playthrough. Instead of using it with Shadowheart, you can summon a Cleric Hireling at level 10 and let him cast it. That way Shadowheart (Cleric) will still have the Divine Intervention for later.

Balduran’s Giantslayer

Balduran’s Giantlayer is an alternative weapon option for players using the Great Weapons version of the build. It is a legendary Greatsword that increases the damage bonus from your Strength Modifier, gives you Advantage when attacking large enemies, and allows you to enlarge yourself temporarily, increasing your damage. Balduran’s Giantslayer is looted from the dragon Ansur, found in the same location as the Helm of Balduran above.

Viconia’s Walking Fortress

The Viconia’s Walking Fortress is the best shield that you can get in BG3. Like always, When someone hits you with a melee attack, you can use your Reaction to deal 2d4 Force damage and knock them Prone. You also gain Advantage on Saving Throws against spells. Spell Attack Rolls against you have Disadvantage.

You also get the Warding Bond spell and the Reflective Shell action. Warding Bond allows you to ward an ally and they gain Resistance to all damage and a +1 bonus to Armour Class. Reflective Shell allows you to reflect projectiles back to the enemy.

Location: You can get the Viconia’s Walking Fortress inside the House of Grief in the lower city. Through the backdoor you can get into the Cloister of Sombre Embrace where you need to defeat Viconia and loot the shield from her.

Note: If you want to check out all paladin-specific equipment that you can find in the game, then please view the Paladin Class Specific Items Guide for BG3.

Overpowered Potions for the Paladin Bard Multiclass Build

There are two potions that are especially well-suited to this Paladin Bard multiclass build, especially if you opt for the Great Weapons version of the build.

Potion of Speed

The Potion of Speed is a very strong potion in BG3, especially for builds with high damage output. It works by giving the drinker an extra Action each turn for 3 turns, as well as +2 Armour Class, Advantage on Dexterity Saving Throws and increased Movement Speed. This is great for situations with many enemies or one especially strong enemy – you can dish out damage very quickly for a few turns, or perform other actions such as casting spells and healing.

The downside of the Potion of Speed is that after the effect expires, you will be Lethargic for 1 turn, preventing you from taking an Action. As long as you account for this downtime and don’t leave your character in too dangerous of a position when it occurs, the Potion of Speed is a great boost that I highly recommend making plentiful use of.

You can craft a Potion of Speed by combining Ashes of Hyena Ear with any Salt.

Elixir of Bloodlust

The Elixir of Bloodlust is another powerful potion in BG3. When drunk, it lasts until your next Long Rest (unless you drink another Elixir, as you can only have one Elixir active at a time). Whenever you kill an enemy while under the effects of this potion, you will gain 5 Temporary Health and an extra Action on your current turn. You can combine this with the Potion of Speed, or another source of the Hastened effect, to potentially gain 3 Actions on your turn if you manage to kill an enemy on that turn.

Combined with the Extra Attack passive and a weapon action that allows you to attack with a Bonus Action, you can make seven weapon attacks in a single turn if you manage to have your character under all of these effects at the same time. This is obviously a best-case scenario and you won’t always be able to pull it off, but keep an eye out for opportunities to do it, and you can unlock some very powerful plays for your Bard-adin build.

You can craft an Elixir of Bloodlust by combining Ashes of Worg Fang with any Salt.

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