#tempest cleric thunder damage

[haplogamingchef]

BG3 Bladesinging Tempest Cleric Build Guide (Max Damage Setup)

BG3 Wizard Cleric Combo: Bladesinging Tempest Build Explained

Introduction

If you're searching for one of the craziest powerful builds in Baldur’s Gate 3, look no further than combining the Bladesinging Wizard with the Tempest Domain Cleric. This setup blends high mobility, devastating thunder magic, and insane single-target burst damage into one unstoppable force. Whether you want to dominate melee fights or rain down lightning from a distance, this multiclass covers all your bases.

In this guide, we'll break down how to create the ultimate Wizard Cleric combo in BG3, optimizing your stats, spells, equipment, and combat tactics to hit like a truck. Whether you're new to multiclassing or a veteran player, you'll walk away knowing exactly how to build and play this powerhouse. Let’s dive into the details!

Choosing Your Starting Class and Stats

When setting up this Bladesinging Tempest Cleric build, it’s best to start as a Wizard. While Clerics have a smoother start early on, starting with Wizard gives you immediate access to important spells and sets you up for a huge power spike at level six with Extra Attack. Plus, Bladesingers get some of the best mobility and defensive buffs right out the gate.

For your ability scores, here’s what you want to prioritize:

Intelligence: Max this first. It's your bread and butter for spellcasting and damage output.

Constitution: Second priority. Helps you survive and maintain concentration spells.

Dexterity: Early on, you’ll want high Dex for armor class, especially if you pick up the Gloves of Dexterity.

Wisdom: You can leave this lower until you multiclass into Cleric.

Strength and Charisma: Dump stats. You don’t need them at all.

Suggested Starting Stat Spread (Before Modifiers):

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 14

Constitution: 14

Intelligence: 17

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 8

Once you grab items like the Dexterity Gauntlets, you can easily adjust your armor class without needing to boost Dexterity too much through leveling.

Picking Cantrips and Early Spells

In the early stages of your BG3 Bladesinging Tempest Cleric build, choosing the right cantrips and spells is super important to set up your combos.

Must-Have Cantrips:

Booming Blade: This is your main damage tool. It pairs perfectly with Thunderbolt Strike once you multiclass into Tempest Cleric.

Shocking Grasp: Great for avoiding enemy reactions when you need to reposition.

Bone Chill: Solid pick to prevent enemies from healing.

Ray of Frost (Optional): Slows enemies down, giving you better control on the battlefield.

Early Wizard Spells to Grab:

Mage Armor: Essential until you have better armor options.

Shield: Always have this ready for emergency defense.

Thunderwave: Strong synergy with Tempest Cleric’s Thunderbolt Strike.

Magic Missile: Reliable damage that can’t miss.

Witch Bolt (Optional): Good early game, but falls off later.

Find Familiar: Useful for scouting and combat tricks.

Chromatic Orb: Flexibility to hit enemies with various elemental types.

Longstrider (Ritual Spell): Buffs movement speed for the entire party without using spell slots.

Getting these spells early builds the foundation for heavy hitting and slick mobility later on.

Choosing Your Bladesinging Subclass and Leveling to 6

At level 2, it’s time to pick the Bladesinging subclass for your Wizard. This is where things start to get spicy. Activating your Bladesong gives you:

A bonus to Armor Class (AC) based on your Intelligence.

+3 meters to your movement speed.

Advantage on Constitution saving throws for concentration.

Bonus to Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.

Bladesong basically turns you into a super agile, hard-to-hit spellblade, and it stacks perfectly with what we’ll build toward as a Tempest Cleric.

Weapon Choice:

Grab a Rapier for your Bladesinging weapon. It’s finesse-based and lets you maximize Dexterity and Intelligence bonuses.

Spell Picks at Level 2+:

Ice Knife: Great for AoE damage if you also grab Silence.

Fog Cloud: Good for escapes or controlling a fight.

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter: Strong crowd control.

Grease: Amazing for setting up crowd control zones.

As you level up to Level 3 and 4, things open up even more:

Misty Step (Level 2 spell): Insanely useful for teleporting out of danger or into key spots.

Scorching Ray: Excellent multi-target damage spell.

Hold Person: Free paralyze if they fail their save — huge for crit setups.

At Level 4, you’ll also pick up another cantrip. Recommended choice:

Fire Bolt: For blowing up barrels and setting things on fire when needed.

Also, grab Shadow Blade. This spell works amazingly with your build because it benefits from melee bonuses and triggers item synergies we'll talk about later. Plus, it scales crazy well with Extra Attack.

Feat at Level 4:

Boost Intelligence by +2 (make it 18 minimum). Higher Intelligence = harder hitting spells + better AC + tougher concentration checks.

Level 5-6 Wizard Highlights:

Level 3 spells unlocked. Pick:

Lightning Bolt: Thematically and practically perfect. Big AoE thunder damage.

Fireball: Still a classic if you need more AoE.

Counterspell: Mandatory for dealing with enemy casters.

At Level 6: Extra Attack feature unlocks. This is the moment where your melee combat becomes truly insane, especially once we start mixing in Tempest Cleric abilities!

Adding Tempest Cleric to the Build

Once you hit Wizard Level 6, it’s time to multiclass into Tempest Domain Cleric. This part takes your build from "pretty strong" to "absolutely broken."

Why Tempest Cleric?

Thunderbolt Strike: Push enemies when you deal thunder or lightning damage.

Destructive Wrath: Channel Divinity lets you max out lightning/thunder damage rolls — no dice rolls, just max damage.

Heavy Armor Access: If you want, you could use heavier armor setups later.

Strong support spells: Healing, buffs, and utility.

How to Multiclass Properly:

You’ll need at least 13 Wisdom to multiclass into Cleric. (Don’t worry — early on, Wisdom can stay lower until you plan your respec or get stat boosts.)

Plan for Wisdom boosting gear later, or just rely on Intelligence-based offense primarily.

Tempest Cleric Features Breakdown:

✅ Level 1 — You get:

Wrath of the Storm: Punish enemies who hit you.

Thunderwave (already familiar) and Fog Cloud as domain spells.

✅ Level 2 — Big spike:

Destructive Wrath becomes available. When you hit with Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning, you automatically max the damage. Imagine hitting for 80+ guaranteed damage. (And that’s before buffs or combo setups.)

✅ Level 3 — Extra tools:

Shatter: AoE thunder spell, great for grouped enemies.

Gust of Wind: Battlefield control.

✅ Level 4 — Boost your stats or pick another feat:

Recommended: +2 Intelligence again if possible. (Wisdom feats are optional depending on your playstyle.)

✅ Level 5 — Top it off:

Spirit Guardians: One of the best cleric spells. Constant AoE damage aura.

Mass Healing Word: Emergency group healing option.

By the time you finish your Cleric levels, your combo looks like this:

Stack Booming Blade and Thunderbolt Strike for massive, forced movement burst damage.

Max out Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning damage with Destructive Wrath.

Maintain insane mobility with Misty Step and Bladesong.

Layer buffs and healing spells as needed.

It’s a devastatingly versatile, high-damage playstyle!

Choosing Gear and Equipment for Maximum Power

In Baldur’s Gate 3, gear can make or break a build. With the Bladesinging Tempest Cleric, smart item choices boost your spell damage, AC, and mobility even higher.

Here’s what you want to prioritize:

Best Gear for the Bladesinging Tempest Cleric Build:

Helmet:

Hood of the Weave: +2 bonus to Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Rolls. (Helps your spells land harder and stick.)

Helmet of Arcane Acuity (Alternative): Stacks Arcane Acuity, increasing your Spell Save DC by up to +10. Insane for locking down enemies.

Armor:

Cloak of Protection: Bonus to Armor Class and saving throws. Essential since Bladesingers love stacking defenses.

Light Armor Options: Look for armor that boosts spellcasting or offers defensive bonuses. (Ballistic armor works if you’re supporting piercing weapon users, but light armor is best.)

Gloves:

Gloves of Dexterity: Early game MVP — instantly boosts AC and Dex-based actions.

Helldusk Gloves (Late Game): Boosts Spell DC and Spell Attack Rolls further.

Boots:

Boots of Speed or anything boosting movement helps keep your Blade Song advantage alive.

Rings:

Killer's Sweetheart: Grants free critical strikes after a kill — great for chain fighting.

Ring of Protection: Extra AC and saves. Always useful.

Weapons:

Rapier (main weapon early): Best for finesse attacks.

Shadow Blade (Spell-Created Weapon): Summoned weapon that scales with Intelligence and dishes out massive psychic damage.

Duelist Prerogative: Grants an extra reaction if your off-hand is empty, boosting your melee versatility.

Longbow (optional backup): For situations where you need range.

Accessories:

Band of the Mystic Scoundrel: Enables Hold Person setups for guaranteed crits. Very strong.

Staffs (Backup Option):

Staff of Spellpower: Grants a free cast (use it for free-casting Shadow Blade or Haste).

Quick Early Game Equipment Priorities:

Get Gloves of Dexterity early (boost AC and attack rolls).

Snag a Rapier and Mage Armor for defense.

Focus on movement boosts to stay agile in fights.

Combat Strategy: How to Dominate Fights with This Build

Now that your Bladesinging Tempest Cleric is fully geared up, it’s time to wreck enemies with devastating combos. This build is all about flexibility, high burst damage, and constant movement.

Here’s how to crush it:

Opening Moves:

Activate Blade Song immediately at the start of combat.

Boosts your AC, Concentration checks, and mobility.

Cast Longstrider (before fights) on your party if possible for extra movement.

Summon Shadow Blade using a free-cast staff or before diving into battle.

Early Fight Setup:

Engage multiple enemies: Run right into enemy groups.

Booming Blade your primary target:

Deals melee damage + thunder damage + triggers Thunderbolt Strike knockback.

Thunderwave or Shatter to push multiple enemies if needed.

Misty Step if you get surrounded or need to reposition fast.

Mid-Fight Combos:

If enemies move after being hit with Booming Blade, they take massive extra thunder damage.

Chain Lightning (scrolls or learned) is your nuke option:

Use Destructive Wrath to guarantee maximum lightning damage without rolling.

Create Water first if you can — doubles lightning damage!

Sustain Tactics:

Keep Spirit Guardians active (after you pick it up at Cleric level 5):

Melts enemies who get too close.

Use Shield reaction when enemies try to hit you — staying alive means keeping the pressure up.

Healing Word or Mass Healing Word if your team starts dropping low.

Finishing Moves:

If an enemy is paralyzed (Hold Person combo), crit them automatically with Booming Blade.

Use Shadow Blade to finish targets with massive psychic crits.

Move constantly to stay out of danger zones and abuse high movement speed.

Summary of Core Combos:

Booming Blade + Thunderbolt Strike = Knockbacks + Thunder damage

Lightning Bolt + Destructive Wrath = Guaranteed massive AoE wipe

Spirit Guardians + Blade Song = Mobile aura of death

Chain Lightning + Create Water = Insane, party-wide nukes

Full Leveling Guide & Spell Selection Per Level

Here’s the optimized path for leveling your BG3 Bladesinging Tempest Cleric Build, including spell picks and key power spikes:

Levels 1–6 (Wizard Progression):

Level 1 Wizard:

Key Cantrips: Booming Blade, Shocking Grasp, Bone Chill.

Spells: Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Thunderwave, Shield, Find Familiar, Chromatic Orb.

Focus: Survive early fights and scribe extra spells.

Level 2 Wizard:

Subclass: Bladesinging.

New Spells: Ice Knife, Fog Cloud, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.

Focus: Use Blade Song every battle for survivability.

Level 3 Wizard:

2nd-Level Spells: Misty Step, Scorching Ray.

Focus: Blink around the field with Misty Step; burst damage with Scorching Ray.

Level 4 Wizard:

Ability Score Increase (ASI): +2 Intelligence (get to 18+).

New Cantrip: Fire Bolt.

Spells: Add Shadow Blade.

Focus: Shadow Blade becomes your main melee weapon for burst damage.

Level 5 Wizard:

3rd-Level Spells: Lightning Bolt, Fireball, Counterspell.

Focus: Start deleting entire groups with Lightning Bolt. Use Counterspell defensively.

Level 6 Wizard:

Extra Attack feature unlocked!

Spells: Add Haste and Counterspell (if not taken yet).

Focus: Double Booming Blade attacks per round if needed; crazy synergy incoming.

Levels 1–5 (Tempest Cleric Progression):

Level 1 Cleric:

Domain: Tempest Domain.

Free Spells: Thunderwave (again), Fog Cloud.

Cantrips: Sacred Flame, Toll the Dead, Thaumaturgy (flex pick).

Focus: Extra options for battlefield control and radiant damage.

Level 2 Cleric:

Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath (guaranteed max thunder/lightning damage).

Focus: Nuking groups with maxed Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning.

Level 3 Cleric:

Spells: Shatter, Gust of Wind.

Focus: More thunder-themed damage options.

Level 4 Cleric:

Ability Score Increase (ASI): +2 Intelligence again (if possible) or +2 Wisdom if you need higher Cleric spell effectiveness.

Focus: Boost overall power.

Level 5 Cleric:

Spells: Spirit Guardians, Mass Healing Word.

Focus: Constant AoE damage aura and emergency healing.

Power Spikes You Must Hit:

Level 6 Wizard: Extra Attack unlocked.

Level 2 Cleric: Destructive Wrath unlocks.

Level 5 Cleric: Spirit Guardians — turning you into an unstoppable movement hazard.

Combat Rotation Examples (Maximize Your Damage Output)

Now that you're fully built, here's how you should sequence your actions for maximum impact during fights.

Standard Opener (Normal Fights):

Blade Song On — Always activate first to boost AC and movement.

Cast Longstrider (pre-fight if possible) for more mobility.

Summon Shadow Blade — Use it as your main melee weapon.

Misty Step into the enemy backline or a safe high ground if needed.

Booming Blade attack your primary target:

Trigger initial damage + Thunderbolt Strike push.

If they move, they eat even more thunder damage.

Extra Attack — Follow up with another melee or Shadow Blade hit.

Reaction — Use Shield if someone tries to hit you.

Burst Damage Combo (Bosses or Tough Groups):

Activate Blade Song.

Create Water (if possible) — doubles lightning damage.

Position yourself so that multiple enemies are lined up.

Cast Lightning Bolt across multiple targets.

Use Destructive Wrath to automatically deal max damage.

Example: Lightning Bolt normally does ~40-80 → now it’s guaranteed 80+ to everyone!

Mop up survivors with Booming Blade + Extra Attack.

Sustained Damage Setup (Mob Fights or Longer Battles):

Cast Spirit Guardians once you are Cleric Level 5.

Stay mobile using Blade Song movement bonuses.

Pull enemies into your aura — Spirit Guardians melt them automatically.

Use Booming Blade on enemies trying to escape or close distance.

Emergency Defense:

Shield whenever hit unexpectedly.

Healing Word if you or an ally drops too low.

Misty Step to reposition instantly out of danger.

✅ Remember:

Booming Blade + Thunderbolt Strike is your bread and butter every round.

Destructive Wrath + Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning is your nuke when things get messy.

Spirit Guardians + Blade Song = infinite crowd control and survival.

Conclusion

The Bladesinging Tempest Cleric build in Baldur’s Gate 3 is pure power packed into a highly mobile, insanely durable spellblade. You get incredible single-target burst with Booming Blade combos, massive AoE wipes with Lightning Bolt and Destructive Wrath, and survivability through Blade Song and Spirit Guardians.

If you enjoy juggling offense, defense, and crazy tactical plays — this multiclass is a dream. Whether you're zooming across battlefields, blasting entire groups into ash, or bullying bosses with Thunderbolt pushbacks, this build never gets boring.

Key Takeaways:

Start Wizard, rush to Level 6 for Extra Attack.

Multiclass to Tempest Cleric for Destructive Wrath and Thunderbolt Strike.

Prioritize Intelligence, gear for mobility and spell power.

Use Booming Blade + Thunderbolt combos to dominate every fight.

Drop Spirit Guardians and roam free, deleting enemies who come too close.

Unleash Chain Lightning + Create Water + Destructive Wrath for absurd burst damage.

Master this setup and you’ll easily be running one of the BG3 best multiclass builds available!

🎮 Meet Haplo Gaming Chef 🍳

Level 99 Kitchen Warrior here! I'm on a quest to transform your gaming sessions into epic culinary adventures. When I'm not farming rare ingredients in MMOs, I'm crafting real-world recipes inspired by your favorite video games.

Specializing in: • Game-inspired recipe creation • Cooking quest guides • Power-up snacks for gaming sessions • Achievement-worthy meal prep

Join my party as we explore the delicious intersection of pixels and plates. Whether you're a casual foodie or a hardcore gamer, there's always room at my crafting table! #Gaming #GamingGuides #GamingChef #HaploGamingChef For More Visit: https://haplogamingchef.blogspot.com/

[verothexeno]

Started a Tactician run with the basic High Elf chick from the character creator and I called her Barbie 'cause I'll be doing the Jack-of-all-Trades achievement with her (leveling up in each classes) 'cause BARBIE CAN DO ANYTHING 💅✨

It's going to be quite the challenge and I will NOT save scum - I will live with the consequences of my actions LOL

IT'S GOING TO BE INSANE BJSBDasbdJHBDASHDb

[areyouwho-ithinkyouare]

she’s everything to me btw 🌩

[sleeepydraws]

If I may butt in with my 15 years of playing and gaming experience...

Don't! worry about memorizing all of your spells and abilities.

Do! look over your sheet before the session and ask questions if you need to. :) Coming prepared (with your stuff) shows the DM that you care, and makes me (at least) hella motivated.

Don't! worry about being an amazing player or role player at the start.

Do! try!! We love to see it, and the comfort comes with time. It's awkward until it isn't, and we've all been there.

Don't! wait around silently after your DM explains a room, NPC, etc. (it makes me hella awkward at least )

Do! feel free to:

restate what they said (for clarification)

ask questions (for spelling, distance, details, etc)

and/or ask others what they'd like to do (helps make the game more group oriented)

For combat...

Don't! space out so much that you don't know when your turn is. (Some spacing out is understandable since it takes a bit.)

Do! keep an eye on when your turn is coming up and what your friends are doing. I learned how to play the game by watching others do their turns. This is also a great opportunity to ask other players to help clarify any of your spells, skills and/or abilities that you're thinking of using.

Personal recommendation! I like to have a "default turn" where if I can't think of ANYTHING ELSE to do that's more applicable, I do the default:

Walk to baddie

Smack baddie (until dead)

(if dead) Smack another baddie (if multiple attacks)

Apply whatever weapons etc you have. Having a default like this makes me so relaxed during a session because when in doubt... I already have my turn planned.

Don't stress! Do have fun :)

Do you have any tips for someone who’s about to start playing DND? It’s me, I’m someone who’s about to start playing DND

Ehh I'm not an expert per se, but I'd say don't worry too much about memorising every detail and every spell etc - if your DM is a nice one they'll be okay with you fumbling things until you get the hang of it 😅

Also maybe don't have your character too set in stone? I personally find it easier to RP a character with some room to wiggle for the first few sessions (leave aspects of their personality or background to fill later) so that I'm not too conditioned by the fear of being OOC while I'm warming up to them

[discoprince1991]

suggestions for BG3 Gale Run

So, I am currently on my third BG3 playthrough. My first was a Tav run with a Half-Orc 8 Oath of the Ancients Paladin/4 Wild Heart Barbarian (Wolf Heart), and my second was a Resist Durge run with a Wood Half-Elf 12 Wild Magic Barbarian later rekit into a 12 Beast Master Ranger.

My third run (the current) is an Origin Gale run, and my first on Tactician. I’m very early on in Act 1. My planned build is 8 School of Evocation Wizard/4 Tempest Domain Cleric of Mystra. Obviously, a blaster mage build focusing on thunder and lightning damage spells. Looking for recommendations for load ups/equipment.

[playpurpur]

i been feeding my daughter worms lately.

~ welcome to gil's Cleric Thoughts ~

i don't usually lore post about my toys since writing isn't my strong suit, but i've been addicted to building clerics lately. my current build of the end is a sorcerer/cleric build. (storm sorcerer/tempest domain, + elemental adept feat if you really want to max lightning or thunder damage. front load dexterity for a higher ac and duel-wield finesse weapons. i actually use the end in melee combat pretty significantly to take advantage of the tempest domain's wrath of the storm. you can also take two levels in wizard and subclass in evocation for spell sculpting, but i don't think the end is the kind of person who would care to properly learn magic or prevent friendly fire LOL.)

lore-wise i like a sorcerer durge, because i like the idea of a durge who's born with inherent power due to the divinity of their blood, and suffers arrogance from it. divine soul sorcerer is the most like. obvious choice for a durge since bhaalspawn have divine souls. (they be talking about gorion's ward's divine soul non-stop in bg2.) however, i also think cleric is wayyyyy under-utilized for durges since our girls Did spend years as the head of a temple. (at least 15 years if you're using the blood in baldur's gate timeline.) (although you can easily argue a durge wouldn't keep any cleric abilities when they're tadpoled and stop praying to bhaal.) unfortunately, multiclassing divine soul sorcerer/cleric doesn't make much sense build-wise since the draw of the divine sorcerer subclass is accessing cleric spells without having to multiclass, so it's hard to rationalize using divine soul sorcerer multi-classed with cleric even though the lore of my heart is telling me both are true. when the next patch comes out i might reclass the end as a shadow magic sorcerer/death domain cleric, even though I'm addicted to using ritual casting + tempestuous magic to fly without using a spell slot whenever i want LOL. bhaal doesn't really have any connection to the shadowfell, but i think on paper you could pretty easily homebrew a reskin of shadow magic to draw its power from gehenna, where the throne of blood (bhaal's domain) is. (you get to go there in bg2: throne of bhaal!) death domain is obviously the most appropriate domain for a cleric of bhaal LOL. you could possibly argue war domain, but bhaal's only ever been published under the death domain afaik.

i just got to rivington in this playthrough with the end and it's making me want to build a cleric of ilmater at some point with a tankier twilight domain build soooo bad. the end obviously has no memory of this, but they were raised by a priest of ilmater after they were found as an infant on the river shore of the boareskyr bridge. (the bridge where cyric struck down bhaal in the time of troubles. superstition remained that bhaal would be revived in the shadow of the bridge. i like to imagine it's a place where he has a pretty strong connection to the material plane, and the waters tainted by his blood became the birthing pool of his progeny.) i imagine their foster father fully knowing that the end was bhaalspawn, but being a follower of ilmater, believed that it was the will of the broken god to extend mercy onto evil and take on any suffering that came of it. i think the end would be a miserable child, raised by a man who believes through mercy he can overcome the latent nature of a god in the body of a child. i imagine that once the end started realizing their connection to bhaal, the choice to betray and eventually kill their foster family was a very intentional show of fealty to their blood father coming to claim them. i also imagine that despite this, their foster father's last act was to forgive them.

i think pre-tadpole, ilmater was possibly the only thing the end was genuinely afraid of (not that they'd ever let anyone know), because it was a light they couldn't extinguish. they feared ilmater could change them in a way that would make them unworthy of bhaal's embrace. i imagine their history with the ilmatari being something they hid, lest anyone start to question if being raised in a house of mercy left an influence on them. it definitely complicates their relationship to masochism as well LOL. anyway, last time i was at the open hand temple with the end i hadn't developed any childhood lore for them, so it's been pretty fun being back there now and thinking about my toy's relationship to a forsaken god.

some of the older forgotten realms media portrays followers of ilmater more like abdirak's following of loviatar btw. there's a cleric to ilmater in bg1: SoD who's just straight up a masochist. (played as a joke but that doesn't stop me from eroticizing pixels.) i personally think ilmater as a martyr complex is more compelling since loviatar has whipping each other covered, but I'm glad clerics being perverts is a time-honored tradition of the forgotten realms.

speaking of loviatar, the forgotten realms has a series of books on clerics that follow evil deities called The Priests, and one of the books, maiden of pain, follows a priestess of loviatar. i read it on the internet archive last year and it was a pretty enjoyable read, written by a guy who definitely wants his wife to beat him but might not be ready to say it with his chest.

another cleric i want to play at some point, in ttrpg, is a cleric of cyric under the guise of a cleric of lathander (taking advantage of the similar sun motifs) so i can slowly accrue life debt from all of my party members. however, i know i'll only be able pull off a secretly evil character if i join a campaign with a party I'm not that familiar with, because i think if i told any of my friends that i (evil) was playing a lawful good cleric of lathander (not evil), they would be immediately suspicious of me. i'm not that excited to build a trickery domain cleric since I've already experienced the build with shadowheart, and it's not my favorite domain. you can argue that cyric also falls under the death domain since he ascended to godhood with bhaal's portfolio, but i feel like it's blasphemy to not take the trickery domain if you're worshipping the prince of lies. this character will probably end up just being exactly the same as my debt-collector warlock character, but hey, i love a shady and morally dubious businessman.

also i think a cleric of bhaal and a cleric of cyric should t4t yaoi kiss. with teeth.

[honourablejester]

5e Character Concept: An Aberrant Ooze

Right. So. The thing I wanted here was a character who did primarily acid damage. Or, since primarily acid damage is asking a bit much, at least regular acid damage. Because every so often I pick one of the weirder damage types and try to play around with it.

And acid … see, the reason I picked acid is that oozes are probably my favourite creature type in all of D&D. So I want something on a theme of a schlorpy little dude. Or gal. So for race, we’re going to be picking plasmoid, whatever else we do.

For class, I’m pretty sure we’re mostly looking at spells to do acid damage, and most of the acid dealing spells are on the sorcerer/wizard lists. There aren’t that many of them, mind you. But. If we’re thinking sorcerer. Sorcerers can get the transmuted spell metamagic, which for 1 sorcery point will let you swap the damage type of a spell that deals one of the following to another of the following: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, thunder. I love this for storm sorcerer/tempest cleric multiclasses, and it’ll do here too to let us drop a giant ball of acid (fireball) on top of our enemies. It’s spending a lot of sorcery points just for a damage type, but eh. If you want a rarer damage type, this is kind of what you’re looking at.

There is one acid spell that’s not on the sorcerer list that I’d kind of like: Primal Savagery, a cantrip from the druid list that gives you acidic claws, it’d work real nice on a plasmoid to mimic most oozes’ being able to just unarmed hit you for acid damage. Plus it’s a melee cantrip, and sorcerers only get shocking grasp there (or booming/green flame blade), so I might pick up either Spell Sniper or Magic Initiate to pick that up later on.

Now. If we’re a sorcerer, and we’re aiming for a theme of ooze … there mostly isn’t one. There isn’t really any subclass on a theme of ooze. But, if we want slimy, tentacley things, Aberrant Mind is an option? The slimy part of Revelation in Flesh we already have just for being a plasmoid, but it could also give us writhing sensory tendrils and/or glistening mucus that gives us a fly speed, so that’s fun. Also it gets us Hunger of Hadar, which is another of the acid spells that’s not on the sorcerer’s list.

The one thing with Aberrant Mind is that it’s psychic damage themed, rather than acid damage. And psychic damage isn’t really an oozy sort of thing. Except.

What if we’re not technically a plasmoid? What if we’re actually an oblex. Specifically, what if we’re a memory duplicate an oblex made, that thing they do where they eat someone’s memories and extrude a pod person copy of them, that somehow detached from the main oblex and wandered off by itself. After a while, without the parent oblex to maintain it, the duplicate lost cohesion and devolved back into a vaguely humanoid reddish hunk of slime, but it still has some foreign memories and aberrant psychic magic as a result? We’re not quite an oblex spawn directly, something weirder happened, and now we’re a lost, fractured personality of stolen memories inhabiting a mobile pile of goo.

(Did I mention I love oozes? I really love oozes. Oblexes are such a cool monster, I adore them. “The oblex extrudes a piece of itself that assumes the appearance of one Medium or smaller creature whose memories it has stolen. This simulacrum appears, feels, and sounds exactly like the creature it impersonates, though it smells faintly of sulfur. The oblex can impersonate 2d6 + 1 different creatures, each one tethered to its body by a strand of slime that can extend up to 120 feet away.”).

Yeah. Yeah, I like this. An aberrant ooze, an oblex spawn, full of bile and torment. (Aka full of acid and psychic damage). A wandering ghost of a mostly likely murdered person, their form eroded into nothing, and only scattered memories remaining.

I wonder … I think I’d want a custom background for this, call it something like ‘amnesiac’. Take Stealth and Survival, maybe, as the skills, or Stealth and Sleight of Hand, and I wonder if a DM would let me borrow from a race feature as a background one? Because if so I’d like to borrow the Reborn’s ‘Knowledge from a Past Life’: “You temporarily remember glimpses of the past, perhaps faded memories from ages ago or a previous life. When you make an ability check that uses a skill, you can roll a d6 immediately after seeing the number on the d20 and add the number on the d6 to the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.” I do want their actual race to be Plasmoid, you see.

So. To pull all of that together. An Amnesiac Plasmoid Aberrant Sorcerer. A collection of fractured memories in a reddish, oozing form. Maybe we’ll pull in some influence from Juiblex, too. He’s a demon lord, not an ooze or an aberration, technically, but he’s the creator of all oozes and pretty fucking aberrant on his best day. If he took a holiday in the Far Realms, none of the locals would so much as bat an organ-analogous-to-an-eye at him. So later if we pull out Hunger of Hadar or Evard’s Black Tentacles, we can say that’s Juiblex’s influence threading through our magic, his vast writhing pseudopods slipping through a crack in the world to answer our call. Yeah. On top of our oblex nature, a being born from stolen memories extruded on a string, some part of us also calls back to the Faceless Lord himself.

But we remember being something else. Humanoid. Normal. We remember being a person. And now we’re wandering the world trying to figure out how much of one we still are. While gently or not-so-gently creeping out everyone in our general vicinity in the process.

And mechanically, we’re not too bad off either. We’re a standard enough sorcerer, but we’ll have resistance to poison, acid and psychic damage by level 6, and we’ll be theming our spells around acid and psychic damage, aided by the transmuted spell metamagic.

So. Picture a distinctly reddish plasmoid, one that smells faintly of sulfur, one that holds itself oddly at times, like it remembers being differently shaped, remembers being someone else. A very nice, perhaps oddly innocent plasmoid, that nonetheless is a little off. And that, when threatened, has a tendency to hurl acidic bile and eldritch horrors at people. Heh.

I just really love oozes, you know?

[rosymourning]

The Rough Tempest - a Gale build

"A rough tempest I will raise."

Gale is an Evocation Wizard, bringing down the wrath of the skies on his enemies. This build but has a strong focus on Lightning and Thunder damage, as well as their respective conditions.

[check out my other builds!]

Gameplay Notes

The general gist is trying to build up and make use of Lightning Charges and Reverberation, prioritizing Lightning and Thunder damage to do so. If you have a Druid or Cleric in the party who can cast Create Water, that's even better, since Wet targets are vulnerable to Lightning and will take double damage. Several of the key items in this build are available in Act 1, which makes this one of my most used Gale builds, if only because it’s so convenient.

Stats and Leveling

Final build: Level 12 Evocation School Wizard

Gale’s (default) stats: STR 8 / DEX 13 / CON 15 / INT 17 / WIS 10 / CHA 12

Level 1 - Wizard Level 1

Cantrips: Shocking Grasp, Minor Illusion, Fire Bolt

1st Level Spells [Thunderwave, Witch Bolt, and Chromatic Orb are most on theme]

Level 2 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 2

Sculpt Spells [I am so in LOVE with this passive - like truly madly deeply]

Level 3 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 3

2nd Level Spells [Shatter is great]

Level 4 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 4

Feat: ASI+ DEX>14, INT>18

Cantrips: add Mage Hand

Level 5 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 5

3rd Level Spells [Lighting Bolt! Glyph of Warding!]

Level 6 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 6

Potent Cantrip [this sounds much cooler than it is]

Level 7 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 7

4th Level Spells

Level 8 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 8

Feat: Elemental Adept (Lightning)

Level 9 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 9

5th Level Spells

Level 10 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 10

Cantrips: add Bone Chill [I guess]

Empowered Evocation [more damage is good!]

Level 11 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 11

6th Level Spells [Chain Lightning!!! Glove of Invulnerability is essential too]

Level 12 - Wizard (Evocation School) Level 12

Feat ASI+ INT>20

Items

Armor -

The Protecty Sparkswall (1 Grymforge)

Robe of the Weave (3 Ramazith's Tower)

Melee Weapon -

The Spell Sparkler (1 Waukeen's Rest)

Markoheshkir (3 Ramazith's Tower)

Adamantine Shield (1 Grymforge)

Ketheric’s Shield (2 Mindflayer Colony)

Ranged Weapon - n/a

Amulet -

The Blast Pendant (1 Selunite Outpost)

Spineshudder Amulet (2 Moonrise Towers)

Helmet -

The Lifebringer (1 Myconid Colony)

Hood of the Weave (3 Philgrave’s Mansion)

Ring 1 - The Sparkswall (1 Arcane Tower)

Ring 2 - Ring of Protection (1 Emerald Grove)

Gloves - Gloves of the Belligerent Skies (1 Creche)

Boots - Boots of Stormy Clamour (1 Myconid Colony)

Cloak - Cloak of the Weave (3 Devil’s Fee) [I would also recommend another party member, probably a frontliner, wearing the Thunderskin Cloak (2 Moonrise Towers)]

Lore and Flavor

So, we all know that Gale is a very powerful wizard. For him, perhaps more so than any other companion, it’s clear that he was once a much higher level than he is when we find him in the portal. How else would be have become a wizard of such renown and stature? Well, as he says himself: “Apologies, I’m usually better at this…” I suppose having a brain worm and a hungry magic orb in your chest is a good enough excuse. :)

Anyway, he ends up being a Professor of Illusion in his good ending, and we see time and time again throughout the game that he really really likes illusion magic. Whether you’re romancing him or not, he’ll create the most gorgeous night sky just to sit under for a moment. But his love for Illusion magic doesn’t mean that is his main focus, especially during the trials and tribulations the party faces on the road. Plus, there is a letter from Elminster, received during a God of Ambition ending, where Elminster mentions he cast Fireball as an 8 year old — clearly, he can do Evocation magic as well. [side note - does anyone have a bg3wiki link for that letter? I can only find it on tumblr] Evocation is also his default subclass on leveling up, which feels right to me. It’s clearly the most combat focused of the schools, without diving into something hyper-specific like Necromancy. So, ok, Evocation School it is, basically!

I won’t lie, a big part of the reason I like this Lightning/Thunder damage build for Gale is because it plays well in game, with lots of really fun synergies. I like building Gale with strong themes around elemental damage types, and I’ve found that my favorites for his character are Cold, Lightning, and Thunder. Fire is fun as well, but mostly because of the Hat of Fire Acuity, and I pretty regularly have other spellcasters who would benefit from Arcane Acuity more. (Also, I never feel great about a Poison build unless I’m leaning into Necrotic damage/Necromancy later in game. I don’t really know why those are connected in my head - something about Poison damage just feels evil, I guess.)

[check out my build disclaimer for info about how and why I don't min/max or completely optimize builds, prioritizing lore and vibe instead]

[bardic-inspo]

Current Honor Mode Party makeup:

Soraya (Durge)

Tempest Cleric / Storm Sorcerer

Started with cleric to get medium armor proficiency + healing word

Will pick up a second level of cleric for Destructive Wrath channel divinity (use a reaction to max thunder or lightning damage)

Primarily a sorcerer

Shadowheart

Life domain cleric bb!! Healing for days!! Buffs also!

Temporarily picking up one level of druid until I have Halsin so I can cast longstrider on everyone as a ritual everday

Astarion

Rogue enough to get cunning action

Primarily Gloomstalker ranger (until multiattack at least)

May circle back to more rogue later to pick up a subclass there (perhaps thief; I'm no good at the assassin build. Arcane trickster is tempting for shield.)

Karlach

Berserker Barbarian! Bonus action throwing shit! Extra attacks!

Gonna get her tavern brawler again on this run, plus ring of flinging so she's extra extra good at throwing shit.

[breezyleavesart]

Doodles of my boi!!! Cyras is literally everything to me, my most favorite Tav I've ever made. I have so much written lore for him. I even played him in an irl game and made plenty of references to his attraction to a certain vampire, hehe.

Part of his lore is that he's chosen by the Stormlord and thus, most of his magic takes the form of thunder or lightning damage. (Tempest Cleric build with 17 WIS and 15 STR, then any of the various melee weapons that deal thunder damage.) He's actually blind in his right eye, due to being struck by lighting and surviving when he was younger.

His relationship with Astarion in my own personal headcanon would be like, a slow-burn where he just doesn't trust Astarion right away and rejects him at the tiefling party (It's not really applicable in-game, because I'm pretty sure if you reject him the first time, it closes the romance??? Correct me if I'm wrong?). Eventually they slowly come to trust eachother, especially around the time of the mirror scene. They're both horribly traumatized individuals, and it leads to some rocky moments in the relationship, but they're both healing together and it requires patience. Cyras would drink a lot, I think, mostly just to help himself chill out. He's been through so much and just can't really put any energy into processing it all while they are on the road to Baldur's Gate. He can be very cuddly and affectionate, especially when he's a combination of drunk/bloodless XD

[cagemasterfantasy]

Cleric (Tempest Domain)

Cleric spells

Cleric level 1: Fog Cloud and Thunderwave

Cleric level 3: Gust of Wind and Shatter

Cleric level 5: Call Lightning and Sleet Storm

Cleric level 7: Control Water and Ice Storm

Cleric level 9: Destructive Wave and Insect Plague

Bonus Proficiency: At 1st level you gain proficiency with martial weapons and heavy armor.

Wrath of the Storm: Also at 1st level you can thunderously rebuke attackers. When a creature withing 5 feet of you that you can see hits you with an attack you can use your reaction to cause the creature to make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 2d8 lightning or thunder damage (your choice) on a failed saving throw and half as much damage on a successful one. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath: Starting at 2nd level you can use your Channel Divinity to wield the power of the storm with unchecked ferocity. When you roll lightning or thunder damage you can use your Channel Divinity to deal maximum damage instead of rolling.

Thunderbolt Strike: At 6th level when you deal lightning damage to a Large or smaller creature you can also push it up to 10 feet away from you.

Divine Strike: At 8th level you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target. When you reach 14th level the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Stormborn: At 18th level you have a flying speed equal to your current walking speed whenever you are not underground or indoors.

Gods in this domain their alignment and their symbol:

Auril NE Six pointed snowflake, Talos CE 3 lightning bolts radiating from a central point, Umberlee CE Wave curling left and right, Kord CG 4 spears and 4 maces radiating out from a central point, Habbakuk NG Blue Bird, Zeboim CE Turtle shell, The Devourer NE Bundle of 5 sharpened bones, Deep Sashelas CG Dolphin, Eadro N Spiral design, Gruumsh CE Unblinking eye, Sekolah LE Shark, Manannan Mac Lir LN Wave of white water on green, Zeus N Fist full of lightning bolts, Hercules CG Lion's head, Poseidon CN Trident, Set CE Coiled cobra, Sobek LE Crocodile head with horns and plumes, Aegir NE Rough ocean waves, Njord NG Gold coin, Thor CG Hammer.

Source: Players Handbook

[positronicdream]

Single damage type challenges in BG3

(Ranked by how fun I think they would be)

Hell yeah

🧠Psychic: I did this one! (kind of. my save file got corrupted near the end of Act 3) It was awesome, you get a great variety of illithid powers, plus bard spells and shadow blade. Not too many psychic-immune enemies, just enough to make avoiding them a fun challenge.

⚡Lightning: Another one I've done! It was a blast. You can use water to make everything vulnerable to lightning, and then you bring a tempest cleric to throw out absurd damage. Good spell variety and synergistic magic items.

🔥Fire: Does it even need to be said? There are so many fire spells! Sure it's commonly resisted, and all the "Heat" magic items are pretty useless, but man look at that spell list. You could even have a melee attacker with a Flame Blade!

🔨Bludgeoning: If I were to pick one weapon damage type to use exclusively, it would be this one. There's nothing quite like bonk bonk bonk. Plus, fall damage is on the table! I can forgive the absence of spells that do pure bludgeoning damage so long as I can cast "throw goblin off cliff"!

❄️Cold: Enemies slipping on ice surfaces is never not hilarious. There are some fantastic magic items to use here and much like lightning, water is your best friend. It's just a shame that Ice Knife and Ice Storm come with non-cold damage attached.

Sure why not

☀️Radiant: There are lots of really good items that synergize with radiant damage. Clerics get some pretty great radiant spells and features, and there would be no better time to bring a Circle of Stars Druid. It would just be a little sad to do a run centered around radiant damage and realize you can't play as a Paladin, because smites have to be attached to a weapon attack.

💥Force: I thought I would put this one higher, because there are a handful of really good spells that do force damage. There's even a crossbow, the Ne'er Misser, that deals force instead of piercing. But I think I would just get sick of hearing dolor, tormentum, dolor, tormentum all the time.

🗡️Piercing: This one has tons of potential, I just fear it will never live up to Proxy Gate Tactician's Bursting Sinew challenge.

⚔️Slashing: There isn't really anything that stands out about slashing compared to bludgeoning or piercing. You have Cloud of Daggers, but your only proper ranged option is throwing handaxes. Maybe you can try to build around the bleeding condition?

I don't think so

🤢Poison: I did this one. It was hell. Extremely low variety of spells, and poison-resistant and -immune enemies are everywhere. I knew it would be a challenge going in, but I did it so you don't have to.

☠️Necrotic: Just like poison, Act 2 is full of resistant and immune enemies. Maybe it would be easier with a Death cleric but I will not be the one to try it.

🔊Thunder: The hardest thing here is there's no cantrip that does thunder damage (not counting booming blade). There's a low variety of thunder spells at higher levels too. The Reverberation condition is fun, but I would probably skip this one.

🧪Acid: There are like. Two spells that do acid damage.

[haplogamingchef]

ESO Heavy Attack Warden Build: Master the 121k DPS Rotation

Complete BG3 Evocation Wizard Build: High-DPS Gale Setup

Introduction

In Baldur’s Gate 3, building a high-performance wizard requires more than just spell selection. To unlock the full potential of Gale or any spellcasting character, this guide provides a structured breakdown of the BG3 Gale Evocation Wizard build. Focused on delivering top-tier damage output both in single-target and area-of-effect scenarios, this configuration also incorporates summon synergy, essential gear, and powerful multiclassing options.

If you're seeking the Ultimate Wizard build for Baldur’s Gate 3, this guide is for you. We’ll walk through optimal race and stat choices, class combinations, leveling strategies, recommended spells, and itemization—ensuring every level contributes directly to battlefield control, survivability, and maximized damage. This build suits players who want to dominate encounters with powerful Evocation magic and efficient resource use.

Choosing Race, Class, and Ability Scores

When constructing the Best Gale Tav combination build, the first step is selecting a race that complements your spellcasting role. Humans, Half-Elves, and Gnomes are excellent options due to their flexibility, survivability, and utility features. Humans offer an extra feat, Half-Elves provide additional darkvision and stat distribution, while Gnomes contribute magical resistance—especially helpful in spell-heavy encounters.

Begin your journey as a Wizard, the base class that supports vast spell variety and scroll-based learning. Prioritize your Intelligence score—it directly influences spell effectiveness and saving throw difficulty. Aim for 17 Intelligence at the start if you plan to receive a permanent +1 boost early in the campaign. Keep Constitution and Dexterity moderately high to improve concentration saves and armor class. Select Intelligence-based skill proficiencies like Investigation, which are commonly useful throughout exploration.

Spell Acquisition and Specialization: Evocation Focus

A key strength of the BG3 Wizard leveling guide is scroll-based learning, allowing your character to expand their arsenal far beyond level-based spells. Whenever possible, prioritize acquiring and learning spells from the Evocation school. This choice is strategic—Evocation specialists benefit from lower scroll learning costs, helping conserve gold and accelerate your repertoire.

Choosing Evocation as your subclass unlocks practical and powerful features. At level 2, the Sculpt Spells feature ensures that your area-of-effect Evocation spells won't harm allies, allowing full battlefield control without friendly fire. Advancing to level 6 improves your cantrips, while Empowered Evocation at level 10 lets you add your Intelligence modifier to all Evocation damage rolls. This becomes particularly effective with spells that hit multiple enemies or have repeated damage instances.

Multiclassing Strategy: Enhancing Damage with Cleric Levels

To further elevate damage output and utility, this Ultimate Wizard build for Baldur’s Gate 3 incorporates a two-level multiclass into the Cleric’s Tempest Domain. While dipping into Sorcerer for Constitution save proficiency and subtle spell features is tempting, it’s less efficient unless heavily invested. Instead, Tempest Cleric provides impactful abilities and spell synergy without sacrificing spell progression.

At Cleric level 1, you gain armor proficiencies and access to Create or Destroy Water, a spell that applies the Wet condition over a large area when upcast. This debuff doubles Lightning and Cold damage, creating an ideal setup for Evocation spells. Additionally, Wrath of the Storm gives you a reactive damage option, retaliating with Thunder or Lightning when enemies land melee attacks. Though defensive reactions like Shield often take priority, Wrath can be valuable in tight spots.

Destructive Wrath and Class Progression Order

Taking a second level in Tempest Cleric unlocks Destructive Wrath, a potent feature that maximizes the damage of a Lightning or Thunder spell once per short rest. For example, Chain Lightning, which averages 45 damage, can spike to a guaranteed 80 damage with this ability. Combine that with the Wet condition and area targeting, and you're looking at damage potential few builds can rival.

To optimize spell access and subclass benefits, prioritize leveling as Wizard up to level 10 before taking the Cleric levels. This ensures early access to Empowered Evocation. However, if you're playing solo or lack party members who can apply Wet, an alternate path is Wizard 5 ➝ Cleric 1 ➝ Wizard 10 ➝ Cleric 2. This sequence grants early access to Lightning Bolt and amplifies it with Wet setups right away.

Feats and Leveling Strategy

With this progression, your character will receive two Feats—at levels 4 and 8. At level 4, the most effective choice is a +2 Intelligence Ability Score Improvement, pushing your spell save DC and damage potential significantly. For level 8, you can either further increase Intelligence or consider a Dual Wielder feat. This feat enables equipping two non-light weapons, opening up specific equipment combos that enhance damage and survivability.

The BG3 Wizard leveling guide recommends taking Wizard levels 1–10 first to secure all the key Evocation perks. The two Cleric levels should follow, enhancing your elemental spell impact. This structure guarantees you access to 6th-level spells while integrating Cleric utility without disrupting spellcasting progression.

Optimal Wizard Spells for Maximum Effectiveness

Spell selection is central to the Optimal Wizard spells BG3 strategy. Prioritize spells that either hit multiple enemies or apply repeated instances of damage. Early staples include Magic Missile, Scorching Ray, and Shatter. As you level up, Lightning Bolt and Fireball become essentials for clearing groups. When you reach higher levels, Chain Lightning, Disintegrate, and Circle of Death become key tools for overwhelming damage.

A major advantage of this build is the use of Conjure Elemental spells. These summons offer sustained battlefield presence, absorbing enemy actions and contributing consistent damage. Notably, Water Myrmidons add utility by inflicting the Wet condition, healing, teleporting, and even flying. Ice Mephits, though weaker individually, can outperform AOE spells over prolonged combat due to low resource cost and persistent damage.

Recommended Equipment: Boosting Spell Damage and DC

For this BG3 Gale Evocation Wizard build, gear selection directly impacts your spell effectiveness. Your main equipment goals are to increase spell damage and raise your Spell Save DC. For the head slot, the Hood of the Weave is a top-tier choice for general casting performance, while the Hat of the Sharp Caster is ideal if you frequently rely on Magic Missile. Both enhance core aspects of the build.

In the cloak slot, Cloak of the Weave offers the best long-term value. Until Act 3, any cloak that improves defense will suffice. Early game itemization can be sparse, but The Protecty Sparkswall robe, available near the end of Act 1, provides solid defense. In Act 2, Bided Time is excellent for melee-oriented spellcasters—its Arcane Charges effect boosts spell damage based on melee hits, which can be activated by having a familiar attack you or being hit by enemies.

Armor, Gloves, and Boots: Synergizing With Spellcasting

If you've taken levels in Cleric, consider borrowing Dark Justiciar Half-Plate from Shadowheart. It significantly improves concentration checks, key to maintaining powerful summoning and AOE spells. Eventually, Robe of the Weave becomes the all-around best option due to its balanced bonuses.

Glove selection has changed with recent updates—Spellmight Gloves no longer support spells without attack rolls. Instead, Gloves of Belligerent Skies are highly effective. They apply Reverberation, a stacking debuff that deals Thunder damage and reduces enemy saving throws—enhancing your spell success rate. For boots, Boots of Stormy Clamour synergize well but may bug occasionally. An alternative is Boots of Arcane Bolstering, which pair with Expeditious Retreat to repeatedly trigger Arcane Charges.

Amulets and Rings: Enhancing Magic Missile and Elemental Damage

For amulets, Psychic Spark is the standout choice. It adds an additional Magic Missile projectile and grants a free cast of the spell each day, which is especially valuable for a build that regularly uses it as a consistent damage option. In terms of rings, the Callous Glow Ring should occupy your first slot—it adds +2 radiant damage, which stacks with many spells and magical effects.

The second ring slot offers several viable choices based on your playstyle. The Ring of Absolute Force adds elemental damage if you've received the Absolute’s Mark from a goblin priestess in Act 1. Meanwhile, the Coruscation Ring synergizes well with Magic Missile, applying the Radiating Orb debuff to targets. For those utilizing frequent lightning-based effects, The Sparkswall Ring provides Electrocute immunity, which is essential when your spells create electrified surfaces.

Weapon Options: Dual-Wielding and Legendary Staffs

For the majority of the game, the Spellsparkler staff offers excellent performance with magic-enhancing properties. When you unlock the Dual Wielder feat, pairing it with Phalar Aluve—a sword that emits a shriek aura—amplifies Magic Missile damage significantly. In Act 3, the best upgrade is the Legendary Markoheshkir staff. Set it to Lightning mode for maximum synergy with your core spells.

For your off-hand weapon, Rhapsody is the best dagger available. When you land a killing blow, it grants stacking buffs that boost attack rolls, spell damage, and spell save DC. This effect applies to all damage types, including Electrocute, and works even when you destroy environmental objects like crates. In the ranged slot, Ne’er Misser (a hand crossbow) adds an extra Magic Missile cast. Wielding two hand crossbows lets you make bonus ranged attacks—a small but sometimes decisive source of extra damage.

Combat Strategy: Opening Moves and Spell Usage

Begin major encounters by upcasting Create or Destroy Water to apply the Wet status across multiple enemies. This primes the battlefield for Lightning and Cold spells, doubling their effectiveness. Your opening attack should use the highest-tier spell available—typically Chain Lightning—to take advantage of area coverage and high burst damage. However, if your target is neutral or not actively hostile, Chain Lightning won’t bounce to other targets. In those cases, Magic Missile is a safer alternative.

After the first target is eliminated, trigger consumables like Bloodlust Elixir to gain additional actions. This lets you cast another high-level spell, summon an elemental, or reposition strategically. This build excels in battles where you can set up conditions and strike decisively within the first few rounds. Use Shield or Wrath of the Storm as needed for defense, but always prioritize maximizing offensive potential each turn.

Spell Slot Management and Summon Efficiency

A common issue for high-damage wizard builds is the limited number of spell slots. In Baldur's Gate 3, however, summoning is particularly effective due to the relaxed concentration rules. Unlike traditional D&D where you can concentrate on only one summon, BG3 allows multiple elementals and constructs to remain active without restriction. Focus on synergy rather than spam—Water Myrmidons and Ice Mephits complement your elemental damage types and battlefield control.

These summons not only act as frontline distractions but also apply key conditions like Wet, healing, and teleportation. Ice Mephits become increasingly valuable in longer fights; if they survive for more than three turns, their damage output begins to rival and surpass standard AOE spells. Combine this with repositioning tools and spell slot recovery items to maintain offensive pressure throughout extended encounters.

Conclusion: Mastering the Gale Wizard Build in BG3

This BG3 Gale Evocation Wizard build is designed to maximize the damage potential and strategic flexibility of spellcasting in Baldur’s Gate 3. With smart multiclassing into Tempest Cleric, strategic spell selection, and optimal use of summons and gear, your character will perform exceptionally well across all stages of the game. From overwhelming groups with Chain Lightning, to punishing foes with Magic Missile, this build brings both immediate impact and long-term consistency.

Whether you prefer to lead with heavy elemental damage or support your party with smart condition applications and summons, this configuration ensures every spell slot and action matters. As the game progresses, access to legendary gear, elemental resistances, and stacking buffs will elevate your wizard into one of the most dangerous forces on the battlefield. This is the Ultimate Wizard build in Baldur’s Gate 3 for players who want to balance raw power, control, and creative combat strategy.

🎮 Level 99 Kitchen Conjurer | Crafting epic culinary quests where every dish is a legendary drop. Wielding spatulas and controllers with equal mastery, I'm here to guide you through recipes that give +10 to flavor and +5 to happiness. Join my party as we raid the kitchen and unlock achievement-worthy meals! 🍳✨ #Gaming #Haplo Gaming Cook #Gaming Chef #Gaming Cook

For Enhanced Guides Visit Us: @https://medium.com/@haplogamingcook

[dndtopics]

Destructive Wave 5E Spell

Hello everyone! Welcome or welcome back to my website. And thank you so much for checking out our dnd spells episode series. Today we're going to be taking a look at d&d 5e spell destructive wave.

This spell is found in the player's handbook and especially usable by the Paladin. Of course you may ask me what level spell is it...means it is a 5th level, evocation spell. Without any further ado let's move on to its description.

DESCRIPTION

You strike the ground, preparing a burst of divine strength that ripples outward from you. Each creature you select within 30 feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 5d6 thunder damage, as well as 5d6 radiant or necrotic damage (your choice), and be knocked prone. A creature which succeeds on its saving throw takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone.

Who Can Cast This Spell?

Paladins are the only base class to have this on their spell list. Of course they won’t get it until level 17 when they get their first 5th level spell slots, though.

Tempest Domain Clerics have it too on their expanded spell list and can start casting it at level 9. Bards will get it one level later at level 10 with their Magical Secrets feature. You can also check out our dnd 5e spells table which contains cantrips to level 9 spells.

Mechanics

Level: 5th-level

School: Evocation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range/Area: Self (30-foot radius)

Components: V

Duration: Instantaneous

So this is a 5th level damage dealing spell. Mainly here the caster would unleash the burst of energy from where-ever they were stand dealing thunder and and even either necrotic or a radiant damage for the creatures surrounded.

FAQ's

Can you upcast destructive wave 5e?

A: No! Their maximum spell level is five.

Conclusion:

That being said about dnd 5e destructive wave! If you would like to share anything about this specific one then make sure to comment below. Some people ask me like is it a good one to choose!

Yes of course it is a good spell for your favorite paladin class and of course some other excemptional classes too.

Do you love to visit staggering smite 5e spell too then check out this website: "https://dnd5ebackgrounds.com/spells/"

[dels-and-dragons]

Character #1: Nynaeve al'Meara

Welcome to my blog, where I indulge in DnD fandom bullshit! For the first character I want to build, I'm going with my fave from the Wheel of Time book series: Nynaeve al'Meara.

To clarify: This build will be for Nynaeve while she has the block on her powers. I wanted my first post to be something challenging. I may revisit her post-block to give her a class change some other time.

Race: Human (Variant: Mark of Finding)

Wisdom’s Intuition: Add 1d4 to any Wisdom (Perception) or Wisdom (Survival) rolls.

Wisdom’s Magic: Once per long rest, Nynaeve can cast Hunter’s Mark and Locate Object, using Wisdom as the spell casting ability.

Skill proficiencies: Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Survival

Ability scores: Strength: 12 (+1 mod) Dexterity: 14 (+2 mod) Constitution: 15 (+2 mod) Intelligence: 11 (+0 mod) Wisdom: 18 (+4 mod) Charisma: 6 (-2 mod)

Level: 10 (Barbarian 3 (modified Storm Herald), Cleric 7 (modified Tempest))

Rage Variant: Wilder Rage For most barbarians, casting spells requires more concentration than they can maintain while in the throes of a rage. For Nynaeve, her anger and her ability to access the One Power have become so intertwined that she can only access leveled spells while raging. She gains no strength, physical attack bonuses, or damage reduction while raging, but gains a +2 to damage, spell save DC, and healing output for leveled spells while raging.

Storm Aura: Starting at 3rd level, any time Nynaeve enters a rage, she gains a 10-foot radius aura that grants 2 temp. HP to all creatures she chooses within that aura.

Wrath of the Storm: when struck by an enemy within 5 feet of her, Nynaeve can call on thunder or lightning to deal 2d8 thunder or lightning damage. This can be called upon a number of times equal to her WIS modifier.

Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath - Once per long rest, Nynaeve can use her abilities as Wisdom to deal maximum thunder or lightning damage. This replaces the Turn Undead feature.

Thunderbolt Strike: At 6th level, dealing lightning damage to a Large or smaller creature can push that creature up to 10 feet away.

Spells known:

Cantrips: Guidance, Resistance, Spare the Dying, Thaumaturgy

1st: Faerie Fire, Longstrider, Ceremony, Create or Destroy Water, Cure Wounds, Detect Poison and Disease

2nd: Locate Animals or Plants, Locate Object, Hold Person, Lesser Restoration, Warding Bond

3rd: Clairvoyance, Speak With Plants, Aura of Vitality, Motivational Speech, Beacon of Hope

4th: Divination, Locate Creature, Aura of Life

Domain Spells: Fog Cloud, Thunderwave, Gust of Wind, Shatter, Call Lightning, Sleet Storm, Control Water, Ice Storm

Feat: Metamagic Adept (Seeking Spell, Twinned Spell)

My Reasoning: While the bloodline of Manetheren which gives Nynaeve her power would be better associated with the Sorcerer class, I went with Cleric for two reasons: 1.) She is a healer, first and foremost, and 2.) Charisma is my girl’s dump stat. And while the healing domain would have been appropriate for her, I went with Tempest due to her ability to listen to the wind. This also informed my choice for her variant race; Mark of the Finder focuses on communing with nature to find what is lost and gain knowledge and insight.

The Barbarian multiclass is there specifically to make things more difficult for her. In the books, Nynaeve is so afraid of her powers that she accidentally locks them away so that they’re only accessible when she’s very angry. So while she might be a magical powerhouse, she’s essentially worthless in a fight if she’s feeling any emotion that isn’t rage. Even healing is only available to her if she riles herself up with the very idea of people being sick, wounded, or otherwise helpless. This gives her an increased urgency to heal in the midst of battle; as soon as the battle ends and her anger fades, so does her ability to cast. I could have given her a single level of Barbarian just to give her the rage feature… but giving her three is a much bigger inconvenience.

For spells, some of them came from the Mark of the Finder variant. For her cleric spells, I tried to focus on ones that focused on healing, water, or her position of leadership in Emond’s Field. The Metamagic Adept feat was given to her for both practical and thematic purposes: to increase the versatility of her magic, and as a nod to the bloodline aspect of her abilities.

I hope you enjoyed this write-up! If you’re interested in me attempting this with other characters, feel free to hop into my inbox.

[ink-flavoured-tea]

Fun D&D 5e Builds 2: Counter Cleric

What you will Need: Cleric Class Tempest Cleric Subclass Gift of the Gem Dragons Feat High Wisdom & Constitution

How it works: At level 1 you will have the "Wrath of the Storm" feature. When a creature within 5ft of you hits you, you can use your reaction to force them to make a Dexterity Saving throw, they take 2d8 thunder/lightning damage on a failure (half damage on a success) You can use this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier per long rest.  

At level 4 (or level 1 if you are a Human or your DM gives you a free feat) pick the "Gift of the Gem Dragons" Feat, when you choose it you will want to improve your Wisdom score by +1. With this feat if a creature within 10ft of you hits you, you can use your reaction to force them to make a Strength saving throw to do 2d8 force damage to them and push them 10ft away from you on a fail (also half damage on a success) You can use this feat a number of times equal to your Proficiency modifier

So at level 4 you'll automatically have 3-7 Reactions (depending on your Wisdom Modifier) per long rest to do damage to your opponents if they hit you with an attack. At max level and Max Wisdom, you'll have a maximum of 11 uses per long rest. This means that in a single round you can potentially cause damage three times, especially if you go for Inflict Wounds as an action, Spiritual Weapon as a Bonus action and then use Wrath of the Storm/Gift of the Gem Dragons as a Reaction.

The only downside with this is that the build relies on taking damage, you will need to ensure that you have a lot of hitpoints or have a lot of temporary hitpoints available...But hey, you're a cleric just cure wounds yourself and get back into the fray. Still picking up the Tough feat and increasing your constitution stat would be a good idea at later level.

The Good:

You can do three types of damage in a single round. 

You have 3-11 (from level 1 to 20) rebukes. 

If you have a high AC then it's a fun little surprise to the creature that finally manages to hit you.

The Bad:

You need to take damage to trigger the rebukes, so make sure your hitpoints are high. 

It does eat up your reactions which prevents you from making opportunity attacks or using the benefits an ally can give you (such as Glamour Bard's Mantle of inspiration feature)

Additional Options: If you want to enhance this build further, go for a Tiefling (one that specially has Hellish Rebuke) and take one level is Warlock.

Tieflings can cast the Hellish Rebuke Spell once per long rest for FREE. Warlocks also know the Hellish Rebuke Spell too, and you'll be able to use your Cleric Spell Slots to cast it when you use up your one Warlock Spell Slot, so you can keep on casting it as long as you have spell slots available. The downside to this is that it might spread your stats a bit thin as you'll need to buff your Wisdom, Constitution and Charisma.

I actually played this build before as an Aasimar and it was REALLY fun, unfortunately I got a little cocky, purposely reduced my AC and then immediately took a critical hit and went down to 4HP...t’was a humbling moment right there haha XD  

Hope you all have a great weekend! :D