What is the best class in Baldur’s Gate 3? Well, we’ve got the answer right here. After many, many hours of playing the game and testing various characters, we’ve come up with a handy Baldur’s Gate 3 tier list if you are jumping in on PS5 or PC.
Baldur’s Gate 3 features a massive campaign with numerous characters, enemies, quests, outcomes, and secrets. There are 12 Baldur’s Gate 3 classes to choose from, with a staggering total of 46 subclasses that further define them. However, which should you choose, and what will give you the best gameplay experience or the combat you are looking for? We have the answer in our BG3 tier list of best classes and subclasses.
Baldur’s Gate 3 best class
The best Baldur’s Gate 3 class is the Bard, Cleric, Paladin, Barbarian, or Sorcerer. This is because these classes offer great healing capabilities, solid armor for your character, and a wide variety of magic and spells to use in combat and while exploring.
The full Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list is:
- S-Tier — Bard, Cleric, Paladin, Sorcerer
- A-Tier — Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, Warlock, Barbarian
- B-Tier — Rogue, Druid, Monk
This tier list ascertains which class can function well throughout your playthrough. Given that you’re expected to invest a lot of time in the campaign, having a viable character from the get-go is ideal for a smooth run. While you can respec your character at any time, which is great considering the Baldur’s Gate 3 length, your party composition is a complex mesh of your character class, subclass, and race, with that of your companions.
Remember, there are three main categories that decide the best class in BG3. These are:
- Combat: The effectiveness of the class in combat, including defeating enemies, supporting allies, or crowd control.
- Dialogue: The effectiveness of the class in social interactions, including dialogue checks.
- Exploration: The effectiveness of the class in uncovering secrets, navigating, and scouting for the party.
No class is an expert in all these fields, but the best classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 frequently feature overlap that make them highly efficient party members in a variety of situations. Having the best Baldur’s Gate 3 build for each class, including your companions, will also go a long way in improving your effectiveness. While all classes get stronger as they level up, some gain abilities that can cause them to rise up the tier list ranks later on, with new spells and attacks to use.
We have to note that our rankings here are based on preference, as well as the ideal subclass, race, and ability selections. Yours might be different depending on your playstyle (i.e., role-playing purposes or unique combinations). But, generally, these are the best out of the collection that will serve you very well in combat, exploration, and dialogue on any of the Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings.
Baldur’s Gate 3 tier list
Here’s our in-depth analysis of each class in the Baldur’s Gate 3 tier list:
S-Tier
S-Tier classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 are highly integral in your playthroughs. They have spells and abilities that can truly turn the tide of battle, or skills that can let you breeze through dialogue checks.
Bard
- Role: Support
- Abilities: Charisma -> Dexterity/Constitution
- Best subclass: College of Valour
- Best race: Wood/Drow Half-Elf or Asmodeus Tiefling
- Companion: N/A (none, unless Larian decides to make Volo a recruitable companion)
In terms of support classes, you can’t go wrong with a Bard. The reason for this is due to its focus on numerous skill proficiencies, allowing you to succeed in dialogue checks often. Moreover, the class has a unique action called Bardic Inspiration, which grants a bonus to an ally’s attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. At level 4, all charges are refreshed via short rests, ensuring that you have a nifty buff at the right time.
Though they struggle when they’re alone, the Bard thrives with allies, buffing them and setting your team up with the advantage as often as possible. It’s hard not to want a Bard in every team given how strong they are in combat and social interactions. It’s a shame then that there’s no Bard companion.
Cleric
- Role: Support and healer
- Abilities: Wisdom -> Dexterity/Constitution
- Best subclass: Light
- Best race: Wood Elf or Gold Dwarf
- Companion: Shadowheart
It’s safe to say that the Cleric is the best class in Baldur’s Gate 3. This is primarily due to spells like Healing Word, Bless, Guiding Bolt, and Guidance. You’ve got everything you need from restoration and radiant damage to boosts to your ability checks.
Likewise, Clerics are able to use medium armor and shields, allowing them to tank a few hits. As such, you’re likely to keep Shadowheart in your party for most of the campaign. You can even roll a Cleric as your main character if you wish. After all, Clerics take a top spot in the best Baldur’s Gate 3 party, so you shouldn’t leave camp without one.
Paladin
- Role: Melee DPS, tank, and healer
- Abilities: Strength -> Charisma/Constitution
- Best subclass: Oath of the Ancients
- Best race: Zariel Tiefling, Shield Dwarf, or Wood Half-Elf
- Companion: Minthara
Compared to Clerics, Paladins are able to use heavy armor, making them even tankier. While they don’t have as many spells, they still obtain some really useful ones. Divine Smite is the class’ bread-and-butter feature, along with various Smites that apply additional damage or effects with each hit. There’s also Bless, which can empower your whole party, making them an excellent frontline choice and one of the best classes you can pick.
The reason why we rank the Paladin quite high on our list is because of the Oath spells, such as Oath of the Ancients and the Healing Radiance spell. This will heal your entire party upon being cast, and once more at the start of a round, making it an absolute must-have spell for tough encounters. Each subclass has access to absolutely stellar class abilities that will make the Paladin a beast on the battlefield.
Sorcerer
- Role: Caster DPS with Metamagic utility
- Abilities: Charisma -> Constitution/Dexterity
- Best subclass: Draconic Bloodline
- Best race: Wood Half-Elf, Drow Half-Elf, or Lolth-Sworn/Seldarine Drow
- Companion: N/A
We feel that the Sorcerer is the absolute best class in Baldur’s Gate 3, at least among pure spellcasters. This is primarily due to its Metamagic feature. By using Sorcery Points, you’ll be able to modify the effectiveness of spells and cantrips. For instance, Twinned Metamagic lets you pick two enemies to get hit by single-target spells.
Likewise, there’s Quickened Metamagic, which makes a spellcast a bonus action, thereby letting you cast devastating Fireballs twice during your turn.
Overall, Sorcerer’s have access to many of the Baldur’s Gate 3 best spells in combat, such as Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Fireball, and more. So, if you’re looking to play the main damage caster for your party, then the Sorcerer is the best class for you.
A-Tier
A-Tier classes are still superior in their own right, boasting unique features, abilities, and effects that can make the campaign more manageable.
Fighter
- Role: Non-magic DPS (melee and ranged)
- Abilities: Strength -> Dexterity/Constitution
- Best subclass: Battle Master
- Best race: Shield Dwarf or Wood Half-Elf
- Companion: Lae’zel, Jaheira (half Fighter, half Druid)
The Fighter already shows its true potential early in the game (likely once Lae’zel hits level 2 or 3, assuming your main character didn’t pick the same class). There’s Action Surge, which gives you an extra action during your turn (i.e., two attacks). That’s followed by your choice of Manoeuvres, which grant effects to your strikes. For example, you could push or trip your foes to help control the flow of battle.
This makes them absolutely devastating in close-quarters combat, especially when you attack an enemy twice in a single turn. Getting within melee range, however, can sometimes be a challenge. Whether you open the fight from far away, there’s difficult terrain, or simply lots of enemies, you’ll have to pay close attention to how you move your Fighter. Nevertheless, their damage potential certainly puts them within reach of being one of the best classes in BG3.
Ranger
- Role: Hybrid DPS (melee, ranged, magic, and beasts)
- Abilities: Dexterity -> Wisdom/Constitution
- Best subclass: Beast Master
- Best race: Wood Elf
- Companion: Minsc
The Ranger is a hybrid DPS class in that it’s able to strike opponents using various means. However, most would prefer a combination of Hunter’s Mark, followed by ranged shots with bows, and rampaging creatures. With Familiars that can distract or debuff enemies, and Ranger’s Companions that can taunt or charge, you’ve got a lot of tricks that you can utilize.
Wizard
- Role: Caster DPS with a huge pool of spells
- Abilities: Intelligence -> Constitution/Dexterity
- Best subclass: Evocation
- Best race: Deep Gnome or High Elf
- Companion: Gale
Although we consider the Wizard as an A-Tier option, it’s still one of the best classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 due to the sheer number of spells that can be learned and prepared. In fact, Wizards have access to the largest list of spells compared to all other casters. You’ll have everything from Magic Missiles and Fireball to Counterspell and Fly. Perhaps the only downside here is that Sorcerers have a better feature in Metamagic.
Given you’ll be focusing on Intelligence, the Wizard can be weak in social situations and exploration, particularly when compared to Charisma characters like the Bard or tricksters like the Rogue.
Warlock
- Role: Caster DPS with Familiars
- Abilities: Charisma -> Constitution/Dexterity
- Best subclass: The Fiend
- Best race: Drow Half-Elf or Asmodeus Tiefling
- Companion: Wyll
Speaking of spellcaster classes, the Warlock is still a great option. Early on, you’ll make use of Hex to debuff hostiles, making them more vulnerable to attacks. There’s also Eldritch Blast, easily the one cantrip that you’re likely to spam for hours. Despite the more limited selection pool of magics, you’ll still have access to Familiars, passives that grant boons, and short rests that refresh spell slots.
Barbarian
- Role: Melee DPS and tank
- Abilities: Strength -> Constitution
- Best subclass: Berserker
- Best race: Shield Dwarf, Githyanki, or Wood Half-Elf
- Companion: Karlach
Barbarians are absolute powerhouses in melee. By utilizing Rage/Frenzy, this class gains improved offense and defense. You’ll also get to use various objects or even creatures as “improvised weapons,” either swinging them around or tossing them at a target.
Early on, the Barbarian also gains Reckless Attack, which confers advantages to attack rolls. While enemies do gain the same advantage against you, things turn out well enough since you’ll be able to eliminate them swiftly.
Be warned though, while they excel in combat thanks to their Strength and Constitution rolls, this class struggles outside of combat. They’re certainly not as charming as the Bard or as sneaky as the Rogue, so the Barbarian won’t be all that helpful in dialogue or exploration unless you’re looking to intimidate others.
B-Tier
Overall, the B-Tier classes don’t quite stand up to the rest of them, either lacking in flexibility, damage, or are just inferior to similar options above them in this list. So, you will want to choose something else if you’re focused on effectiveness. But if you are adamant about them, here is an overview of each and why they can still be great party members.
Rogue
- Role: Stealthy DPS that focuses on sneak attacks
- Abilities: Dexterity
- Best subclass: Assassin
- Best race: Wood Elf or Lolth-Sworn/Seldarine Drow
- Companion: Astarion
Rogues are really good, and are able to cheese most battles given their Sneak Attack capabilities, poisons, and bonus actions. The reason why we’ve placed them in this spot in our Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list is due to highly situational instances. There will be moments when you’ll find yourself in combat with no time to prepare or reposition, often nullifying the benefits of planning everything while stealthed. If you can’t get the initiative, then the benefits of the Rogue are much harder to take advantage of without fumbling around a little first.
Nevertheless, the exploration opportunities offered by the Rogue are second to none, coming with lockpicking, pickpocketing, disarming traps, and generally making great scouts. This makes the Rogue a great addition to your party despite their low ranking, and certainly a great fighter if you can get the drop on the enemy.
Druid
- Role: Hybrid DPS (caster and shapeshifter)
- Abilities: Wisdom -> Dexterity/Constitution
- Best subclass: Circle of the Land
- Best race: Gold Dwarf or Wood Elf
- Companion: Halsin, Jaheira (half Druid, half Fighter)
Lastly, we have the Druid, one of the most versatile classes in the game that is unfortunately a master of none.
Shapeshifting looks nice and all, but you’ll still want to cast spells. And, although there are some decent picks, such as Healing Word, Moonbeam, and Call Lightning, their overall kit pales in comparison to the three pure spellcasters. They can also be a tank for you party, but lack the tanking and crowd control potential of classes that specialize in this role.
However, the Druid – being one with nature – offers some interesting and unique avenues for exploration and role-playing that still makes them a blast to play. This includes talking to animals and plants, and it’s hard to deny that it’s a cool skill to have.
Monk
- Role: DPS
- Abilities: Dexterity, Wisdom
- Best subclass: Way of the Shadow
- Best race: Wood Elf
- Companion: N/A
Balancing stealth and close-quarters melee, the Monk is a master of manipulating the battlefield and getting the drop on your enemy with powerful attacks. Unfortunately, the Monk lacks a specialty. While they can be highly mobile, they lack the survivability of other melee classes. The spells they can have access to with subclasses like the Way of the Four Elements also pale in comparison to other spellcasters. This means that the Monk isn’t really the best at anything, and when you’ve only got four party slots to fill, that matters.
With that said, the Monk is one of the most unique and fun classes, so don’t let their ranking deter you. After all, BG3 is all about role-playing, and there’s lots of opportunity with the Monk.
That does it for our Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list. There will likely be many discussions on the best classes in the game down the line as players begin to learn the ins and outs of each class, as well as making strong party compositions. With so much content and variety, the best RPG games could be joined by Baldur’s Gate 3.
