WEEKLY HELP THREAD - READ FAQ, COMMUNITY WIKI, MULTICLASSING, LORE

The "quest" that the Noblestalk unlocks isn't really a quest. It's more like a little bit of extra foreshadowing for her main quest. You get a cutscene and your quest log will update to tell you to find something related to it, but it's something that you can/will find anyway as you do her main quest. You aren't really missing anything vital.

There is one caveat to this, which I can't explain without some spoilers: She has a secret point system that determines what decision she makes during an important moment in her personal quest. Giving her the Noblestalk counts as a point. However, (a) you can earn enough points without it, and (b) if you don't earn enough points there are still ways to ensure either decision is made.

"Tied to a quest" is technically true, but it's nothing notable. You can largely hit all of the same story beats without the questline, and there's no loot associated with it. Realistically you're missing next to nothing.

I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Dark Urge would basically be the only customizable character to go with if not for Larian adding the custom Tav choice which allows you to create a completely blank slate in your mind for your character's backstory. Dark Urge i.e. Durge is fully customizable (except the background which is locked in to the exclusive "Haunted One") with the character woven directly into the main plot. They also get a few exclusive cutscenes and a very nice cloak, as well as a couple of optional abilities depending on your choices.

The Dark Urge is a playable origin that doesn’t show up in the game if you play as a Tav (or as any other origin character). Their default race/class is dragonborn and storm sorcerer, but you can customize their appearance/race/class as with any other tav. Playing the Dark Urge adds some new interactions, quests and cutscenes in the game, so it can offer you a slightly different experience than playing a tav.

The Dark Urge’s backstory is gradually revealed as you progress. At the start of the game, they have amnesia and the only thing they know about themselves is that sometimes they get overwhelmed by a very strong urge to kill, which they can either indulge or resist.

I would definitely advise you to finish your current run and pick the Dark Urge for your next playthrough. Having an elaborate backstory for your main would contradict the Dark Urge’s background.

does anyone have any opinions on what a good class/approach would be?

What are you generally drawn to?

To give an overview on the new subclasses:

• Path of the Giant (Barbarian): A Barbarian subclass that lets you turn Giant in size (name appropriate), enhance your weapons (also turning them into auto-returning thrown weapons), kick enemies, and suplex-style throw enemies. Really flavourful and fun subclass. Also fairly strong as a thrown-weapon subclass. I would argue Berserker is mechanically stronger for throwing, but this is more fun IMO.

• College of Glamour (Bard): Standard Bard for the most part, but with two marquee features - Mantle of Inspiration, and Mantle of Majesty. Mantle of Inspiration is a buff you can put on allies that will give them temporary HP and will charm enemies who hit the ally with a melee attack. Mantle of Majesty is the Command spell, but charmed enemies will automatically fail their saving throw. Granted, Mantle of Majesty is limited to one cast per long rest, IIRC.

• Death Domain (Cleric): This is a necrotic-focused Cleric. There are a number of features. You get to select an additional target on single-target cantrips. You have a channel divinity that deals bonus necrotic damage on melee attacks. You also have a once-per-turn action that allows you to make a melee attack with bonus necrotic damage. And you ignore necrotic resistance. You're probably still going to lean into Spirit Guardians like most Clerics, but it does offer some cool options for Necrotic spells. And, IMO, this feels like the most lore-appropriate starting class for Shadowheart.

• Circle of the Stars (Druid): This is a Druid subclass that has access to "Starry Forms", which are an alternative to Wild Shape. Unlike Wild Shape, a Starry Form doesn't actually transform you, but rather gives you buffs and additional actions. Archer form gives you a bonus action ranged attack. Chalice form enhances your ability to heal allies. Dragon form passively enhances your ability to make concentration saving throws, and also gives you a bonus action dragon breath attack. IMO, Dragon form is the strongest, given the degree to which it helps you on concentration saving throws. It also gives you the ability to fly at a later level. You also get Cosmic Omens, which afford you the ability to boost ability checks, attack rolls, or saving throws. Or you can debuff enemy attack rolls or saving throws. You get a few Cosmic Omens per Long Rest, which you can use as you see fit. Because of Dragon Form, a two-level dip into Cleric can be pretty strong on any character that relies on holding concentration on spells.

• Arcane Archer (Fighter): Similar to how the Battlemaster Fighter gets all kinds of maneuvers, the Arcane Archer gets special ranged attacks known as Arcane Shots. Each of them has a special effect that gets applied. To name a couple, Banishing Arrow basically casts Banishment (in addition to dealing the weapon damage). Or Piercing Arrow deals AOE damage to all enemies in a line. On a missed range attack, you can use a bonus action to redirect the arrow to the nearest enemy to the target (once per turn). And your arrows are considered magical, to avoid resistances. IMO, this is a really solid and fun archer class, if you value options in battle.

• Way of the Drunken Master (Monk): The flavour of the class is that you're a drunkard who benefits from drinking alcohol, and can possibly get enemies drunk in combat. Pretty interesting concept on paper, but I can't recommend this class, as the features are very underwhelming and undertuned.

• Oath of the Crown (Paladin): "You have sworn yourself to the ideals of civilisation, serving the laws that hold society together and preserving the order they command." This pally subclass is quite strong IMO. From level 1, you have a feature (Righteous Clarity) which will allow you to add a proficiency bonus to you or a target's attack rolls. This is a huge bonus right off the bat, that should remain effective and strong into the late game. Most of the subclass features from then on are catered around keeping your party safe. You have a Challenge ability, that will allow you to impose disadvantage on enemy attacks against your allies (with the goal of drawing aggro yourself). You have an AOE heal. You have a reaction ability that, when an ally nearby takes damage, will allow you to substitute a portion of that damage to yourself instead of your ally. You also get Spirit Guardians at Level 9. Really solid subclass overall, and fits the "tank" archetype about as well as any subclass in this game.

• Swarmkeeper (Ranger): A Ranger subclass that allows you to choose one of three swarm types to fight by your side - bees, jellyfish, or moths. Each will help enhance your attack damage, while also affording you some utility options. Bees will push back the targets of your attacks, Jellyfish will shock the target, or Moths will blind the target. Each effect does require the enemy to fail their saving throw. You also get bonus damage on Hunter's Mark, the ability to fly, and the utility effects on your swarms get enhanced in the late game (Bees prone enemies, Jellyfish disarm enemies, and Moths Slow enemies). Not the strongest class on the damage front, but really cool for debuffing enemies.

• Swashbuckler (Rogue): The 'pirate' archetype within the Rogue class. Can outright avoid enemy opportunity attacks, gets a bonus to initiative right off the bat, and has easier ways to deal sneak attacks, even if you don't have advantage. The signature features of the class, IMO, might be the "Dirty Tricks". You can use a bonus action to: flick your weapon at an enemy to deal damage and possibly disarm them, toss a handful of sand at an enemy to possibly blind them, or cast vicious mockery. Later on, you get a feature called Panache that can be useful for non-combat dialogue, or can be used to basically force an enemy to focus on you. Really flavourful subclass with some pretty solid features.

• Shadow Magic (Sorcerer): A Sorcerer subclass built around darkness. You get a version of the Darkness spell that you can actually see in. You get a Shadowfell-esque dog summon. You get shadow/darkness teleportation. You also get to recover to 1 HP when your HP is reduced to 0 (once per long rest). It's not my favourite Sorcerer subclass personally, but I can see it being fun if you really want to lean into a Darkness party.

• Hexblade (Warlock): You get some extra armour and weapon proficiencies to help with gear access, because this subclass is built around making both weapon and spell attacks. Sometimes both simultaneously. You bind a "Hexed Weapon", turning its damage magical, making it unmovable from you, and making it scale with Charisma instead of Strength or Dexterity. You also might apply "Hexblade's Curse" to targets you hit. Hexblade's Curse enhances your damage against the cursed target, and makes critical hits more easy (also gives you HP regain if you kill the target). You can cast Hexblade's Curse on enemies once per short rest, or there's a chance that your Hexed Weapon will curse a target automatically. Cursed targets who die can also be rained as an "Accursed Spectre", basically a summon that will fight for you. And, in the late game, when a cursed target attacks you, you can spend a reaction for a 50% chance that the attack is nullified. A monoclassed Hexblade is among my favourite subclasses in the game, as I love gish characters (characters who both make martial weapon attacks and cast spells).

• Bladesinger (Wizard): The other main gish of the new subclasses. You get some armour and weapon proficiencies. Fewer than Hexblade, but still more than sufficient. The core mechanic is the Bladesong. When you invoke the Bladesong, you get a bonus to AC, movement, acrobatics, and constitution saving throws. While bladesinging, you accumulate charges depending on what you do. Casting spells will add damage charges, and making weapon attacks will add healing charges. At the Bladesong "Climax", you leap to a target location, your damage stacks dealing damage to enemies in AOE, and your healing stacks healing you and allies in AOE. Your bladesong ends on the climax. The gist is that you get tankier and more evasive as a bladesinger, you stack charges, and you end the bladesong to deal burst damage and get some healing. If you're bored of backline Wizards, this can be a really fun and powerful alternative.

With only one playthrough, there are a lot of classes and subclasses that you haven't experienced yet. I would poke through the class pages on the wiki, take a look at the various subclasses, and see if any of them jump out at you as interesting.

It can be fun to respec characters, but I personally like to respec them in a way that is still consistent with their story. For example, Wyll is definitely a warlock who uses a sword--but you could change him to Hexblade (a new subclass) for a different spin on it. You could change Shadowheart to Death Domain (a new subclass) if you wanted to keep her a cleric, but she also makes sense as a Paladin. Astarion's class isn't mentioned; if you want to keep him as a rogue, Swashbuckler is really fun (Vicious Mockery!), but I've also done him as as a Great Old One Warlock (loading him up with tadpole powers) and Swords Bard and thought they fit him well. And so on. I'd say away from multiclassing if you don't have a good grasp of build mechanics, but that still leaves you with a lot of other options.

For your player character, I might suggest Durge. Check the content warnings on it, but it is not necessarily an evil playthrough. Resist!Durge is my favorite playthrough, personally, and it adds another perspective on the story.

Personally the game is a lot better playing on keyboard and mouse than with a controller, so if you love the game and plan to do more playthroughs but find the controls clunky it could be worth it. But some people like controller, if you don't mind the controller experience then there's not much reason to buy both unless you just want to own both

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One of the fun little perks of doing a jack of all trades run is the laundry list of dialogue choices you sometimes get from all the classes.

Do you mean the Oubliette, the gruesome pit that is full of bodies underneat the prison? When you climb out you are behind the prison cells.

If that's the case, then this is supposed to happen. That road leads out of the Shadow-Cursed Lands and towards the city, but you're not supposed to leave until you complete the story in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. The way that the game developers enforce this is to have the characters explain you can't make it through the army, and then throw you in the Oubliette if you try anyway.

In general, one-handed weapons give you more ways to build into your defense: you can use a shield in your off-hand, or you can take a feat like defensive duellist or dual wielder (with two one-handed weapons). Of course, you might also just prefer the perks of a specific one-handed weapon for your build.

Of course, if you're not playing hexblade warlock and not in heavy armor, you might end up using one-handed weapons because you're focusing on your dexterity stat (and IIRC all but three finesse weapons are one-handed).

Without mods? None, really, as this isn't really a game where a lot of focus is put on different cosmetic options. I would probably go with either the halfplate armor (medium) or chainmail (heavy), but you might have a different opinion on what's closest. I think halfplate fits the male character models more similarly to the reference images I looked up, but chainmail doesn't have the pauldrons fancier halfplate does so it's closer in that way.

Here is the wikipedia page that lists all of the armors available in the game if you want to take a look. Beware that the unique armors might have spoilers on their wiki pages because they are tied to quest rewards or areas you might not have discovered yet.

If I'm understanding you right, what happened in your game is completely normal.

You can initiate a romance with any companion at the party as long as your approval with them is high enough. It functions as a backup of sorts, letting players start a romance in case they missed earlier chances. If you have approval with several of them it can feel almost like being presented a menu...

(Gale MIGHT be an exception? I've never tried initiating a romance with him at the party, since the weave scene is really easy to get early on.)

However, you can't initiate them all at the same party. For most of the romances, you have to follow through with a long rest scene that night; you can only do one, and if you don't follow through the romance isn't started. So for example, you can tell both Lae'zel and Astarion you'll sleep with them, but you can't sleep with both, and the romance will only start with the one you didn't stand up.

As for why you had the option to start a romance with Astarion despite probably still being stuck on neutral approval with him: That's normal too. He has character reasons for propositioning you regardless. IIRC, it's possible to miss this dialogue if you take different dialogue paths so you might just have not seen it before.

Going with the Dark Urge as your origin is one surefire way to introduce variety, assuming you didn't do that the first time around. You don't even need to do an "evil" playthrough per se, though that would be even more of a substantial change if you did.

Class wise, as you know, the monk obviously focuses primarily on unarmed strikes. Flavour-wise, monk is a very unique class, so most other classes are going to feel different in that regard. Mechanically, the use of unarmed strikes obviously necessitates melee range positioning. So anything that attacks from long range will be different in that sense. But that isn't to say that there aren't other melee classes that will feel foundationally-different from monk. I'll assume that you would find a standard melee-range weapon user (who mainly uses regular melee attacks) to be too samey-feeling, so here are some options I would give:

• Swords Bard: You can use your ranged Slashing Flourish to attack numerous enemies (or make two attacks on one enemy) using a single attack action. As a full-caster, you also can cast a variety of spells, from spells that help your allies, to spells that inhibit (or kill) the enemy. The strongest way to use Swords Bard to to grab gear that helps you stack arcane acuity (when you make weapon attacks). You start out the battle stacking arcane acuity via ranged slashing flourish. And once you've built up enough, you can cast control spells on the enemy that will have a high chance of landing. Being a high-charisma character (who has access to 'Jack of all Trades' and skill proficiencies and expertise), this makes arguably the strongest "party face" in the game.

• Arcane Archer Fighter: This is a subclass of the Fighter class that is built around using Arcane Arrows (special arrows that make for unique attacks). Unlike how people traditionally play fighter, this subclass will typically drop STR entirely, and focus instead on DEX. The arcane shots make this class a fun ranged weapon attacker with a good amount of variety for attacking. Especially if you also collect the special consumable arrows from vendors and elsewhere in BG3.

• Bladesinger Wizard or Hexblade Warlock: These are both fairly different from one another, but they represent the same archetype of build - something known as a "Gish". This is a D&D term (supposedly originates from Githyanki lore) that people use to describe characters that blend martial prowess with spellcasting ability. In either of these classes, you do so fantastically. Hexblade Warlock is going to be a high-charisma character (therefore a party face) that leans heavily on the Booming Blade cantrip to make melee attacks, occasionally using Eldritch Blast for ranged attacking. It will spellcast, too, but usually that will come in the form of a singular concentration-based spell in a fight (Darkness, Hunger of Hadar, etc.). It generally wants to use actions on Booming Blade. Bladesinger will likely also take Booming Blade, but it's going to be casting spells more often than Hexblade Warlock would. Bladesinger wants to do both spellcasting and melee attacking. Bladesinging also earns you a really high AC, so it's going to be fairly evasive of enemy attacks. A Hexblade Warlock will be less evasive, but it's worth noting that taking the Devil's Sight invocation will allow your Hexblade to hide and fight inside of magical Darkness (from the Darkness spell). While in darkness, enemies won't be able to make ranged attacks on you, and they'll have disadvantage on melee attacks. Conversely, as you have devil's sight, you'll have advantage on attacks you make.

• Moon Druid: You can go with any Druid subclass, really, but I prefer Moon Druid for the number of Wild Shape forms you get. This is one of the best ways to gain a wealth of options from combat to combat. Some Wild Shapes are objectively better than others, but you can simply rotate between a number of different Wild Shapes, depending on what feels most fitting to the situation.

Beyond that, there are still so many options. Sorcerer for explosive spellcasting. Cleric for a comination of offensive and support spellcasting. Maybe you can make a Barbarian built around thrown-weapon attacks. As I said before, the Monk class is fairly unique, so many of the other classes will feel meaningfully different.

Sunbeam has a magic scroll, which I just farm for "free" level 6 spell slots. But hoarding isn't for everyone.

Personally, my level 6 spell slots are most commonly used for upcasting whichever spell best targets a specific enemy's (or situation's) weak points. That's going to vary a lot per encounter.