Step 3: Picking Your Class

While choosing your race might be the most important decision in character creation simply because you cannot change it later, deciding on your class is where things get spicy. This will have the most profound impact on your gameplay: do you want to hit 'em very hard with a Barbarian, sneak around with a Rogue, or drop a fireball on your enemies with the Wizard? With even more options than that - plus the idea of Multiclassing to consider, which allows you to mix classes together on the same character - your class often defines the kind of person you are and what you are capable of more than your race or Ability scores.

Helpful Terms and Phrases to Know

If you are unfamiliar with the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition ruleset, there will be terms and phrases you simply haven't come across before in this guide, such as "Advantage", or "Saving Throw". I've jotted down a handy list of them here in the spoiler below, so you can get a quick rundown. Baldur's Gate III will try to explain these during gameplay if you have tutorials active, or if you press T while reading a tooltip, but that doesn't help you reading this!

• d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 - These are referring to various dice, as in a 4-sided die numbered 1 to 4, a 6-sided die numbered 1 to 6, and so on. Different stats and checks rely on certain dice for their roll. If a spell said "8d6 damage", then it rolls 8 dice that are 6-sided to determine the result.
• Advantage/Disadvantage - When you are said to have Advantage in a situation, you roll two dice and use the better result. The opposite is true of Disadvantage, where you use the lower roll.
• Proficiency bonus - A character's Proficiency bonus increases as they level, and it is used as an addition to your roll in situations you excel at. If you swing a greatsword that you are Proficient in, you will add this bonus to your Attack roll to see if you hit the target.
• Ability check - When you are put in a situation that may be difficult or needs additional effort, you roll an Ability check to see if you succeed. Persuading a guard that you totally didn't just murder that guy would require a (very hard) Charisma check.
• Saving Throw - When a harmful condition or spell attempts to influence you, you might be able to roll a Saving Throw to see if you can ignore or mitigate the problem. For example, the spell Lightning Bolt demands you make a Dexterity Saving Throw to only take half damage; fail, and you'll take it all! Not all problems can be avoided: the spell Magic Missiles, for instance, always succeeds.
• Reaction - Reactions are how characters may respond when it is not their turn. The most common is an Attack of Opportunity, provoked by an enemy passing through their melee range. Some classes can use or give up their Reaction for the round to perform other actions.
• Armor Class - Armor Class incorporates your armor's toughness, any natural or magical protection you have, your ability to dodge out of the way, etc. into a number that tells your opponent how hard it is to actually deal damage to you with a weapon. If your AC was a 15, for example, they would need to get a 15 or better with their Attack roll to successfully hurt you.

Ability Scores - Your Attributes

I've also written up a brief description of each Ability score: these are your character's basic attributes. If you don't know your Charisma from your Constitution, you'll have trouble understanding some of your choices. Read below to get started!

• Strength - Your muscles. Carry stuff, break a door down, jump great distances, swing your heavy sword.
• Dexterity - Your coordination. Dodge attacks, shoot your bow, poke someone with a dagger, pick a lock.
• Constitution - Your health. Hit Points, Saving Throws against death, Hit Points, overall endurance, Hit Points.
• Intelligence - Your brainpower. Know various things, recall information, appraise an item's worth.
• Wisdom - Your intuition. Sense lies, spot hidden objects, apply medicine, follow tracks.
• Charisma - Your personality. Gather information, persuade a friend, intimidate an enemy.

There are 12 classes in the game at time of writing, each with their own subclasses to consider. Subclasses are not always decided at level 1 - Druids, for example, choose their subclass at level 2 - but they will further refine your capabilities. Every class comes with its own preferred Ability score bonuses, a certain amount of starting Hit Points, Proficiencies with certain Saving Throws, armor or weapon types, and of course class features unique to them. When you level up in a class, what you gain is set in stone unless a choice is involved: no more, no less, although not every class gets something profound at every milestone.

One thing to take note of is the difference between character levels and class levels. Character levels are your total accumulation of experience, which may or may not be divided up into smaller class levels. A level 3 Bard/level 1 Fighter has a character level of 4; this is important for some aspects of leveling up. Also, the level cap of the base version of Baldur's Gate III is 12, so keep that in mind when you pick your class and consider Multiclassing; Dungeons and Dragons has a normal cap of 20, so not all classes get something amazing in those "middle" levels.

Without any further ado, let's get to it! Below you'll find each class' information in its own mini-guide - this is simply to condense this portion to a manageable level, as there is a lot to consider. The brief description at the beginning of each class is provided in-game.

**The game's Early Access period did not include all there was to know about the game, including various changes from the source material. We'll update as we learn more.**

Continue Building Your Baldur's Gate III Character

When you're ready to continue, head to one of the other sections of this guide; Background is next!