D&D General BG3 Honor Mode Tips And Tricks.

[Zardnaar]

So thought I would share a few. Feel free to add more.

1. S tier classes. I consider Fighters, Sorcerers, and Clerics as S tier classes. Some archetypes eg Swords bard also belong here along with specific builds at certain areas or levels. Rogues the worst generally a 2-4 level splash.

2. Ranged is better than melee. Apart from obvious effects it's things like sharpshooter and archery style combined with great magical weapon options. Additionally abundant special arrows one can fire as standard from level3+.

3. Dexterity and charisma are your super stats. Charisma can carry you to level 4 with minimal combat. Initiative is rolled on a d4. Lots of charisma dialog checks.

4. Death is still best status effect vs control. Control can be better if things go pear shaped eg opponents are resistant or immune to your attacks. Control is better low levels vs higher levels (you miss more often, deal less damage comparatively).

5. Raspberries. Theses are a camp supply item that restore 1hp. However they are a free action to eat. Rather than use them for healing use them to trigger the broodmothers revenge amulet (1d6 poison damage) or a free bless effect via whispering promise ring. One can also use them to heal if you have acquired the healing items. 35 Raspberries are in Act one. North of scratch 3 bushes and 4 bushes south of the blighted village. More bushes are in the camp scene in Act 2.5 between Moonrise towers and Rivington.

6. The Reverberation items plus coruscation and callous glow ring are very good on multiple builds. Radiant clerics, magic missile evokers, artillery types. Even archers can use them via special arrows and class abilities.

7. Dedicated healers not needed but can be clutch. Generally this means life clerics, radiant or tempest clerics with the healing items or an oath of the ancient paladin.

8. Customize your party vs expected encounters. If a foe is resistance to piercing party full of archers may not be ideal.

9. Equipment often doesn't become obsolete. Lots of key equipment is in Act 1 eg githyanki creche. Several weapons are also viable right through to the end of act 3. A few also include the boss. Blood of Lathender is the obvious one but the titanstring bow. Bow of the banshee, phalar aluve+ others have their uses late game. Some are useful on boss fights.

10. Dual wielding is good level 1-4 maybe until 6, falls off then becomes good again end of Act two or lower city Act 3. Exception is dual hand crossbows which are good right through but you will need specific builds Act 3.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

3. Dexterity and charisma are your super stats. Charisma can carry you to level 4 with minimal combat. Initiative is rolled on a d4. Lots of charisma dialog checks.

Worth noting you only need CHA on whoever will be the face, whereas DEX is a strong stat on every character, even Heavy armour ones because of how extremely important initiative is, and how easily a bonus to it can overwhelm the d4 being rolled for initiative (somewhat surprised HM didn't swap it for a d20).

4. Death is still best status effect vs control. Control can be better if things go pear shaped eg opponents are resistant or immune to your attacks. Control is better low levels vs higher levels (you miss more often, deal less damage comparatively).

I think this can easily be overstated because many control effects are pretty easy to apply where killing or doing significant damage would not necessarily be viable. I think the more important takeaway is that against weak opponents who you can potentially rapidly kill, it's rarely worth using CC. It's notable that all the +spell DC equipment seems more valuable in HM, because there's no reloading if you fail to land the spell you want.

Stuff I'd add:

11. Make sure you know what you're getting into - This is I think a key point for HM. Even in Tactician if you walk into everything face-first, you'll be fine. But in HM, if you do that, if you don't die it's going to be more due to luck than judgement. Whether you do this by sitting and reflecting on what is to come in an act or an area - but definitely taking some time on it - or by consulting guides and wikis, is up to you. I would strongly suggest consulting the wiki to see the additional abilities enemies possess on HM, because some of them verge on "GOTCHA"s if you're playing normally.

12. Don't be afraid to prepare the battlefield if there's an opportunity to. HM expects you to know what's coming, and to be prepared, and if you're not, it'll punish you. So if you're going to talk to Isobel, take some time to grab a few crates and barrels to block the doors at a minimum, and think about how you're going to deal with Isobel's intentional and repeated triggering of AoOs (in that case she doesn't use spells/abilities until after she's tried to trigger as many AoOs as possible, so Invisibility and Sanctuary work well, though she will intentionally break them to do absolutely nothing useful after she's moved). Equally if you're planning to start something, maybe some of those dozens of barrels of smokepowder you have could be placed beforehand?

13. Only one person has to survive to avoid a TPK - if you're in a very dice-y area, you may want to just keep one party member out of the group you're moving and in a safe place. If the rest of the party gets blown off a cliff or something, they'll be able to go Withers and say "res please" (weirdly my Withers will NOT do this for Karlach, he absolutely will not under any circumstances offer her the res companions option - he's fine with every other companion - so that's a weird bug).

14. If you love cheese, hire some NPC, spec them as buffers, and use them to buff the actual characters who will be in the party that day with until-long-rest non-Concentration spells - even Death Ward works. This is a little too cheesy for me I think (well I haven't used it yet), but it definitely works and it's not completely implausible in-setting.

 

[Zardnaar]

Worth noting you only need CHA on whoever will be the face, whereas DEX is a strong stat on every character, even Heavy armour ones because of how extremely important initiative is, and how easily a bonus to it can overwhelm the d4 being rolled for initiative (somewhat surprised HM didn't swap it for a d20).


I think this can easily be overstated because many control effects are pretty easy to apply where killing or doing significant damage would not necessarily be viable. I think the more important takeaway is that against weak opponents who you can potentially rapidly kill, it's rarely worth using CC. It's notable that all the +spell DC equipment seems more valuable in HM, because there's no reloading if you fail to land the spell you want.

Stuff I'd add:

11. Make sure you know what you're getting into - This is I think a key point for HM. Even in Tactician if you walk into everything face-first, you'll be fine. But in HM, if you do that, if you don't die it's going to be more due to luck than judgement. Whether you do this by sitting and reflecting on what is to come in an act or an area - but definitely taking some time on it - or by consulting guides and wikis, is up to you. I would strongly suggest consulting the wiki to see the additional abilities enemies possess on HM, because some of them verge on "GOTCHA"s if you're playing normally.

12. Don't be afraid to prepare the battlefield if there's an opportunity to. HM expects you to know what's coming, and to be prepared, and if you're not, it'll punish you. So if you're going to talk to Isobel, take some time to grab a few crates and barrels to block the doors at a minimum, and think about how you're going to deal with Isobel's intentional and repeated triggering of AoOs (in that case she doesn't use spells/abilities until after she's tried to trigger as many AoOs as possible, so Invisibility and Sanctuary work well, though she will intentionally break them to do absolutely nothing useful after she's moved). Equally if you're planning to start something, maybe some of those dozens of barrels of smokepowder you have could be placed beforehand?

13. Only one person has to survive to avoid a TPK - if you're in a very dice-y area, you may want to just keep one party member out of the group you're moving and in a safe place. If the rest of the party gets blown off a cliff or something, they'll be able to go Withers and say "res please" (weirdly my Withers will NOT do this for Karlach, he absolutely will not under any circumstances offer her the res companions option - he's fine with every other companion - so that's a weird bug).

14. If you love cheese, hire some NPC, spec them as buffers, and use them to buff the actual characters who will be in the party that day with until-long-rest non-Concentration spells - even Death Ward works. This is a little too cheesy for me I think (well I haven't used it yet), but it definitely works and it's not completely implausible in-setting.

Camp caster I did that first honor mode run. Generally don't bother now.

Soloing around the map is somewhat fine but I did have a life cleric. You don't need one but they're a great life insurance policy.

Hardest fights were the gith patrol, shambling mound and maybe Grym or Bernard.

Final fight is surprisingly easy if you know what to do.

 

[Seramus]

15. Use Sanctuary liberally. So many fights can be blunted by having a high AC/Save character with Sanctuary cast on them walk into danger and trigger the fight. Yes, they do take splash damage and can be battered around, but it will OFTEN give your party a full turn of free offense on your opponents.

16. BACK AWAY! This is such an obvious tactic but it bears repeating. Run away from fights and draw them back into choke points. An overwhelming number of enemies will give chase and run into unfavorable conditions, which can be used to butcher them.

17. Exploit the AI walking distance. Some enemies have very high mobility and this is moot, but many of them will choose to attack a nearby high AC/Save character rather than dash towards a squishy character in the back if you measure your distance carefully and ensure your squishies are far enough back that they CANNOT be reached by an enemy dash. You can win some of the toughest fights by standing waaaay back and edging close enough to cast a spell, then back away.

18. Boring as it is, consider watching an HM Youtube video at the same time as your own HM game. Use it to remind yourself what enemies and abilities are you are going to be fighting against. It's entirely up to you how cheesy you feel this might be, but you can think of it as a refresher since you've probably already played through at least once before attempting HM.

 

[Zardnaar]

19. 5 Finger Discount.

At level 3 enhance ability becomes available. Combine with a thief rogue, smugglers ring and high dexterity/skill focus sleight of hand. Or get gloves of dexterity off the Zhentarim. Guidance off the silver pendent.

Arron in the Druids Grove is a prime robbing candidate. Enter turn based mode and pick pocket. Avoid high DC items eg armor and stacks of cash.

Clear out arrows, healing potions, dye, scrolls Thieves tools and etc. Keep what you want sell the rest back to him or another vendor.

Vendor stock refreshes after a long rest or when you level someone up.

Act 2 target Arajj in Moonrise tower and in ACT3. Over the road is a general store merchant, down the road a scroll seller full of level 6 scrolls. Reliable talent kicks in at level 11. You can plunder all 3 with a single Guidance casting in 5-10 minutes of real time. 10-15k haul per cycle.

Buy whatever at sorcerers sundries or wherever you like.

From level 3 animate dead can be acquired. Skeleton archers are useful. Conjure elemental scrolls turn up around 7 iirc.

Moonrise towers is a lot easier with 4 fire elementals tagging along. Especially when you're level 8 or lower.

 

[Seramus]

20. Maximize initative. Another obvious one, but it goes beyond merely giving your entire party a "free turn" against your enemies. Since you can switch back and forth between characters, it allows you to set up completely devastating combination moves. The old Black Hole + Haste + 4x Fireballs / Glyphs / Volleys are among the most basic. Just don't forget that enemy attacks are also clumped when you do this, and protect yourself accordingly.

 

[Zardnaar]

20. Maximize initative. Another obvious one, but it goes beyond merely giving your entire party a "free turn" against your enemies. Since you can switch back and forth between characters, it allows you to set up completely devastating combination moves. The old Black Hole + Haste + 4x Fireballs / Glyphs / Volleys are among the most basic. Just don't forget that enemy attacks are also clumped when you do this, and protect yourself accordingly.

Or better yet bonus action black hole plus volley plus haste plus elixir of blood lust plus gloves of martial exertion= 5 "fireballs" from one character.

Killed a dragon doing that and had action surges left over for the big bad.

 

[Seramus]

Or better yet bonus action black hole plus volley plus haste plus elixir of blood lust plus gloves of martial exertion= 5 "fireballs" from one character.

Admittedly, I'm one of those weirdos who never use consumables. I always save them for a "more important fight" then still not use them in the final battle.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

19. 5 Finger Discount.

At level 3 enhance ability becomes available. Combine with a thief rogue, smugglers ring and high dexterity/skill focus sleight of hand. Or get gloves of dexterity off the Zhentarim. Guidance off the silver pendent.

I would generally say this is not worth it in HM unless you are, inexplicably, struggling for money (why? how?), or you're totally willing and happy to slaughter bunches of guards and civilians, because there is always a chance this will fail catastrophically, and on HM you have no take-backsies. So to me this is the opposite of what I'd consider good HM advice.

If you want real cheese with vendors that you are going to end up killing, I can tell you a better way:

1) Sell/give the vendor a bag.

2) Go into barter mode.

3) Open the bag in their inventory and drag everything into that bag. It has to be everything - don't leave a few things you don't care about, it won't work reliably if you do.

Now when you kill the vendor you get literally everything they had.

Doing this even once with say the Githyanki creche vendor will break the economy enough that you'll probably never need to risk pickpocketing anything. Do it to say, the Goblin camp, Zhent hideout, and Creche vendor (all in Act 1), and you will be rich, rich, rich.

10-15k haul per cycle.

Why would you ever need to do that more than once lol? This game throws loot and gold at you!

 

[Zardnaar]

I would generally say this is not worth it in HM unless you are, inexplicably, struggling for money (why? how?), or you're totally willing and happy to slaughter bunches of guards and civilians, because there is always a chance this will fail catastrophically, and on HM you have no take-backsies. So to me this is the opposite of what I'd consider good HM advice.

If you want real cheese with vendors that you are going to end up killing, I can tell you a better way:

1) Sell/give the vendor a bag.

2) Go into barter mode.

3) Open the bag in their inventory and drag everything into that bag. It has to be everything - don't leave a few things you don't care about, it won't work reliably if you do.

Now when you kill the vendor you get literally everything they had.

Doing this even once with say the Githyanki creche vendor will break the economy enough that you'll probably never need to risk pickpocketing anything. Do it to say, the Goblin camp, Zhent hideout, and Creche vendor (all in Act 1), and you will be rich, rich, rich.


Why would you ever need to do that more than once lol? This game throws loot and gold at you!

I had 138k 8n act 3. After shopping I had around 10k left.

If you get caught stealing in HM you attack the vendor initiating combat.

Then you use dash and run away. You'll escape easily enough.

I'll start using consumables level 3 or so. Use it or lose it.

Even discounted scrolls are around 500 gp each. Hasted burning through 2 scrolls eats things up. A life cleric might have makeshar and 10-20 level 5 and 6 scrolls.

Key items tend to be around 3k. Some builds cost around 20k per person.