The summary of ‘Baldur's Gate 3: Cleric Build – Terror Of Tiamat’

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00:00:0000:22:20

The video by Mortum discusses an optimal "Terror of Tiamat" build for Baldur's Gate 3, focusing on a multi-class combination of Cleric and Paladin classes. The build features a Blue Dragonborn Tempest Cleric, highlighting powerful, high-damage melee strikes and AOE spells suitable for the hardest difficulty, tactician mode. Key components include Sacred Flame and Guidance cantrips, storm-based spells from the Tempest domain, and the complementary divine abilities from Paladin levels. The build harnesses advanced abilities like Divine Smite and Thunderous Smite for peak damage, emphasizing the effective use of illithid powers such as 'Favorable Beginnings' and 'Luck of the Far Realms' for critical hits. Strategic gear choices, like the Blood of Lathander mace and Killer's Sweetheart, enhance combat effectiveness by granting powerful effects and critical hit opportunities. The build adeptly balances damage output and party support, becoming exceptionally effective by the end of Act 1, integrating optimal leveling and gear strategies to remain formidable against bosses and in AOE spellcasting throughout the game.

00:00:00

In this segment of the video, Mortum introduces his cleric build for Baldur’s Gate 3, named the “Terror of Tiamat,” which he used during his second playthrough on the game’s hardest difficulty, tactician mode. Initially, he intended to play as a cleric of one of the Dead 3, but due to changes in the game’s launch version, he chose to follow an evil deity, resulting in a blue Dragonborn Tempest cleric build. The build evolved into a combination of multiple abilities and effects, focusing power into a single, highly damaging melee strike that could be used once per long rest initially and twice in the later game. This attack dealt between 100 to 250 damage and was effective in one-shotting bosses even on tactician mode. When not using the powerful melee strike, the character performed as an AOE spellcaster, supported by the Tempest cleric domain’s various AOE damage spells and support capabilities. Mortum also discusses the multi-classing aspect, mentioning the integration of two Paladin levels to enhance the build, while highlighting the drawbacks, such as only getting one major melee attack per turn.

00:03:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the optimal build for a Paladin and Tempest Cleric multiclass character in a game. The build focuses on leveraging high-level spells and making powerful critical attacks despite the limited number of times they can be used per day. They recommend against taking extra Paladin levels for an additional attack, preferring to maximize spellcasting abilities instead.

For character creation, the speaker chose a Blue Dragonborn for thematic reasons but mentions that a Half-Orc’s passive ability for extra critical damage would be a min-max option. They emphasize the importance of selecting Tempest Cleric for heavy armor and melee weapon proficiencies, along with storm-based area-of-effect spells.

The suggested cantrips are Sacred Flame and Guidance, while the deity choice can vary based on alignment and role-play preferences, affecting dialogue options. The background choice, which mainly influences available skills, is left to personal preference, with the speaker choosing Folk Hero for animal handling and survival skills.

00:06:00

In this part of the video, the focus is on character creation and optimization for a specific build involving a combination of Cleric and Paladin classes. The key actions include selecting a background that aligns with wisdom or strength and determining the initial ability scores. Strength is set at 16 for effective melee combat using a mace, and wisdom is raised to 17 for spell casting, with other attributes allocated accordingly. The character will undergo two levels each in Cleric and Paladin by level four, with particular emphasis on leveling strategies and abilities like Destructive Wrath from the Tempest domain. This setup may result in early game challenges, especially in tactician mode, but is crucial for the desired build to function effectively by level four.

00:09:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the progression and key features of a multi-class character build focusing on combining cleric and paladin levels. Initially, leveling up as a cleric offers additional Channel Divinity charges. At level three, taking the first level of Paladin grants the Lay on Hands ability, which scales with character level, maintaining its usefulness throughout the game. The speaker chooses the Vengeance Paladin for a thematic evil playthrough, although the specific oath taken is inconsequential for the build.

Upon reaching Paladin level two at character level four, the build acquires significant abilities such as Divine Smite, which is pivotal for dealing extra radiant damage, especially effective against undead and fiends. Additionally, thunderous Smite can be combined with Divine Smite and melee attacks for substantial damage. The fighting style chosen is dueling, which enhances melee damage further.

From levels 5 through 12, the focus returns to cleric, prioritizing key abilities and improvements. At level six, the build gains an ability score improvement, incrementing wisdom and constitution. At level eight, thunderous strike from the Tempest cleric domain, which can knock enemies prone with thunder or lightning damage, is added. By level 10, another ability score improvement boosts strength to enhance melee attack accuracy. Finally, at level 12, divine intervention becomes available, offering powerful but one-time-use effects.

The speaker notes the importance of these abilities while mentioning that the build will also gain numerous spells throughout this progression, which will be discussed further.

00:12:00

In this part of the video, the discussion centers around a character build that combines Cleric and Paladin classes. The Cleric’s domain spells are emphasized for their convenience as they don’t require preparation and are always ready to cast if spell slots are available. Key Cleric spells include Thunder Wave, Shatter, Sleet Storm, Call Lightning, and more, with a focus on AoE spells and essential healing and utility spells like Guiding Bolt, Spiritual Weapon, Mass Healing Word, Revivify, and Spirit Guardians. From the Paladin side, Thunderous Smite is the primary concern, always prepared due to the low Paladin level.

The video also highlights the importance of taking specific illithid powers to enhance the build. ‘Favorable Beginnings’ grants a proficiency bonus to initial attack rolls and ability checks, which helps in landing hits, while ‘Luck of the Far Realms’ allows for a critical hit once per long rest on a successful attack. This critical hit synergizes well with Thunderous Smite and Divine Smite, maximizing damage against enemies, especially bosses. The segment suggests that these illithid powers significantly improve the build’s effectiveness, particularly recommending their use by the end of Act One.

00:15:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses strategies and gear necessary for achieving powerful attacks and survival in the game. They outline the importance of stacking effects, which allow for a minimum of 100 damage per hit and up to 250 damage against enemies weak to the attack type, making it effective even against bosses. Essential gear includes the best heavy armor and shield for extra AC, specifically recommending Reaper’s Embrace and disintegrating night walkers. The latter provides a free cast of Misty Step, aiding in mobility and avoiding terrain effects.

Additionally, the speaker emphasizes the Blood of Lathander mace, obtainable in the mountain pass area. This weapon offers auto-revival, healing, Holy Light shedding that can blind fiends and undead, and a Sunbeam enchantment for significant radiant damage. Lastly, Killer’s Sweetheart is highlighted for its ability to force a second critical hit for melee attacks, obtainable towards the end of Act 2 in a story-related dungeon.

00:18:00

In this part of the video, the speaker details the use of an item that allows the next attack roll to be a critical hit after killing a creature, which can be activated once per long rest. They explain the combat strategy involving a critical hit targeting the biggest enemy using abilities like Thunderous Smite and Destructive Wrath to maximize damage. The potential damage output varies depending on whether the enemy is weak to radiant damage, with figures ranging from 100 to potentially 200-250 damage. Additionally, the segment covers the importance of boosting initiative, the use of AOE spell casting, and leveraging support spells for optimal effectiveness in combat.

00:21:00

In this part of the video, the speaker discusses a versatile build that excels in both dealing significant damage to bosses and supporting the party in combat, specifically on tactician difficulty. The build becomes particularly effective by the end of act 1, despite not being fully optimized. The speaker found this approach both rewarding and enjoyable, and encourages viewers to like, comment, and subscribe, as well as to share their thoughts and build requests.

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