So, you checked out Baldur’s Gate 3’s Honor Mode, and even in the face of a continuous, single save file that forces you to actually deal with the consequences of your actions, abysmal dice rolls, party permadeath, and reworked boss fights with legendary actions, you still want to give it a try.
While your ambition and courage are admirable, don’t expect a quick or easy journey, but rather an intense test of all your knowledge of the game. For the vast majority of players, taking advantage of as many in-game mechanics as possible and methodical strategy will be the best tactics for achieving those swanky golden dice.
Updated on January 16, 2026 by Lucas Olah: Between all updates and new builds created by the fanbase, there’s always another way you can go through this game. Not even Honor Mode is tough enough for only a single method to work, so here, you’ll see some of the many ways you can beat this game in its hardest difficulty.
14
Light Domain Cleric
If you want a reliable healer with large AoE spells, the Light Domain Cleric is a great option for Honour Mode. As a more attack-focused cleric, you can do real damage on the battlefield while filling a support role.
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Spells like Fireball, Flame Strike, and Radiance of the Dawn will significantly damage a wide area, while Mass Healing Word, Bless, and Guidance support and heal your party. If your Light Cleric is a drow, you get a bonus on Perception checks and Superior Darkvision, making you less likely to be surprised by enemies.
It’s worth noting that almost every cleric is a good option for an Honour Mode run. Life Clerics are the definitive healers, and Tempest Clerics are also devastating for dealing damage.
13
Draconic Sorcerer
If you’re someone who, at times, just wants to see the world burn, it’s time to give a fire-flinging sorcerer a try. Sure, you’ll have to depend on tanky party members to save you from lethal damage, but as long as you’re safe in the backline, you’ll be dealing incredible burst damage.
Pump practically all your levels into Sorcerer, maybe a point or two into wizard to learn spells through scrolls, or especially Warlock for extra spell slots and Eldritch Blast. Use the Draconic Bloodline subclass, and take advantage of your high charisma, metamagic like Quickened and Twinned spells, Illithid powers (should you want to), and blast enemies with powerful burst spells. Just make sure you have other elements, just in case the enemy is resistant or immune to fire. Also keep in mind that spells like Scorching Ray will deal a guaranteed critical on creatures trapped by Hold Person/Monster, as long as you’re close enough.
Though you can use multiple builds here, one for each character in the party, the game will be easier if your party leader has high charisma, so they can deal with conversations with ease and avoid fights altogether.
12
Arcane Archer
Fighters, despite being typically known as melee characters, have one of the strongest ranged subclasses in the game in the form of the Arcane Archer.
A pure Arcane Archer is a solid choice for the ranged character in your party, with arrows capable of dealing high damage, conditions, and AoE damage. That said, if this character is the party leader, you can give yourself a relatively good charisma and a level of rogue to have access to Expertise and do well in conversations without ruining your build.
11
College Of Swords Bard
Bards can do more than just play battle music, romance bartenders, or give buffs to your party members. By choosing the College of Swords subclass and utilizing a little bit of multiclassing magic, you’ll see just how overpowered Bards can get.
While the bard class should get the most levels, at least six, all the way up to ten, good multiclass combinations include rogue, fighter, and ranger. A huge reason for this is that bards can take advantage of various mechanics, like Slashing Flourish to attack multiple enemies in one turn, even if it’s a ranged attack. Just be careful; bards tend to be squishy.
10
Shadow Monk
The Shadow Monk subclass is perfect for those of you looking to dish out critical hits left and right, and have an incredible amount of mobility, with the ability to gap-close on high-threat enemies in a single turn across entire battlefields.
Coupled with the Rogue’s Assassin subclass, a race of your choice that has inherent weapon proficiencies that you’d like to use, points allocated towards dexterity, wisdom, and constitution, feats like Ability Improvement, Savage Attacker, or even Alert, proper gear, and using Shadow Step to close gaps, you’ll be assassinating targets in no time.
9
Circle Of The Moon Druid
Subclassing into Circle of the Moon as a druid is a fantastic way to turn a member of your party into an incredibly tanky, versatile asset, thanks to multiple Wild Shape charges that let you shapeshift into fearsome, high-health creatures, such as Bears or Owlbears.
Speaking of Owlbears, it isn’t surprising that this Wild Shape is still pretty reliable, even in Honour Mode, since you can do anything from absorbing lots of hits and knocking enemies prone to making yourself the equivalent of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile by leaping onto groups of enemies from high elevations to deal massive damage.
Tavern Brawler works while transformed into an animal.
8
Life Domain Cleric
We did say most clerics work here, didn’t we? With save-scumming no longer being an option, you’re going to need a party member with high wisdom that can give you the best odds of succeeding wisdom-related checks, but even more important than that, you need someone who can keep your party alive.
Go ahead and respec Shadowheart into a Life Domain Cleric (or anything that isn’t a Trickery Domain Cleric, really), prioritizing wisdom, constitution, and dexterity for the added initiative, in that order. Also, the higher your AC, the better, and Life Clerics can use heavy armor. In terms of spells, you should at least grab:
- Healing Word
- Prayer of Healing
- Mass Healing Word
- Whichever damage-dealing or status effect-inflicting spells complement your party the most.
In Moonrise Towers, there’s the Warden, who has the Spellcrux Amulet, capable of recovering a spell slot of any level once per long rest. Give that to your Life Cleric, so they can cast Aid and Heroes’ Feast at sixth level every time you’re done with your long rest. That will significantly increase the whole party’s health bars.
7
Storm Sorcerer And Tempest Cleric
If you like the idea of a party member that can sweet-talk NPCs with their high charisma stat to increase your odds of passing persuasion checks and getting better deals with merchants, but is also capable of dealing high lightning damage (suck it, Myrkul), it’s time to get acquainted with the Storm Sorcery and Tempest subclasses.
For maximum damage, you can’t go wrong with a Blue Dragonborn for Lightning Breath, though you likely won’t use it often. With that, choose whatever race you want, and dump stat points into primarily charisma, with constitution and dexterity being helpful as well.
Ultimately, you’re shooting for at least nine levels in Storm Sorcery, two levels in Tempest Domain Cleric for added DPS through the Cleric class’ Channel Divinity action on damage rolls, and whatever you’d like for level 12.
Don’t forget to add Create And Destroy Water to your arsenal, as it makes enemies vulnerable to lightning damage.
6
Dwarven Barbarian
While you don’t have to, picking a Duergar Dwarf is the best option for a Barbarian-Fighter that wants to Enlarge themselves and throw things with maximum damage. With this build, Strength is your best friend, followed closely by Constitution, and ideally Dexterity as the last stat to focus on.
What ties this build together is Enraged Throw from the Barbarian’s Berserker subclass for extra throws on your turn, the Tavern Brawler feat to add your Strength modifier to attack rolls twice, and three levels into Fighter for the Champion subclass’s Improved Critical Hit passive. Otherwise, go for strength-enhancing gear, and the legendary trident Nyrulna as your main, throwable weapon.
5
Way Of The Open Hand Monk
Monks that subclass into Way of the Open Hand are versatile, highly mobile fighters capable of dishing out tons of single-target damage, deflecting arrows, and bullying enemies with your bonus actions thanks to Flurry of Blows.
Strength, dexterity, and wisdom are the main attributes you want to prioritize. Monks can take a while (and some gear) to become powerhouses, but once you get there, this character can become one of the most destructive characters in the party.
