Baldur’s Gate 3: PXP 006 (Dark Displacement Party) – Builds and Walkthrough with Honour mode demo

Table summary of all parties[docs.google.com]

• 00x generation
  • Beginner Party (with Astarion origin demo) – designed as a tutorial party that starts off simple, then increases in complexity as it gains level.
  • Land’s Stride Party (with Karlach origin demo) – thematic party that plays on Difficult Terrain mechanic with complete immunity to Spike Growth and Plant due to Land’s Stride class feature.
  • Rapid Cooling Party (with Wyll origin demo) – designed primarily to elevate Bludgeoning damage in Act 3 to compete with Bhaalist Armour by utilizing Brittle status effect.
  • Irresistible Party (with Shadowheart origin demo) – party that always get their way, with the enemies always failing saves against their spells. This is then taken advantage of by a smiting Paladin.
  • Elements Party (with Gale origin demo) – thematic party of 3 full casters focused on utilizing opposing elements of Light/Darkness, Fire/Ice, Earth/Lightning, and Silence/Thunder to shut down and control enemies.
  • (this guide) Dark Displacement Party (with Lae’zel origin demo) – thematic party built around the Dark Displacement gloves and focused on movement, both of their own mobility and of forcible displacement of their enemies.
• 10x generation (coming later)
  • Wetland Guardians Party (with Karlach origin demo) – thematically, focus on embodying the powers of the Wetlands. Mechanically, focus on the Wet condition, Halo of Spores power, and many debilitating status effects.
  • Glyphs of Ancients Party (with Lae’zel origin demo) – thematically, focus on being a sacred ancient order preserving nature’s balance and tradition. Mechanically, focus on Plant Growth to force infinite prone, and Glyph of Warding to force critical hits.
  • Selûnite Enclave Party (with Shadowheart origin demo) – thematically, focus on isolated Selûnite enclave theme. Mechanically, focus on durability and tries to make use of Selûne’s Spear of Night.
  • Danse Macabre Party (with Astarion origin demo) – thematically, focus on necromancy and summons. Mechanically, tries to make summons as useful as possible by causing Acid and Corrosive conditions on the enemies, as well as other CC spells.
  • Frost Hunters Party (with Wyll origin demo) – thematically, led by Ranger Wyll with no Warlock in the party and be Wyll’s and Karlach’s Avernus conquering band. Mechanically, uses Frozen status to double Force damage of Banishing Smite and tries to one-shot bosses.
  • Frontline Battlemages Party (with Gale origin demo) – thematically, a total gish party that’s totally comfortable on the front line. Mechanically, everyone is capable of melee and of wading into the fray, while still being respectable casters that aren’t just restricted to Illusion and Enchantment allowed by the Mystic Scoundrel ring.

If you’re on mobile, try to bring up the Section list. This guide is long so should be navigated by section. On PC screen it should be on the right.

Here are the Sections and what they’re about.

• Introduction – what we’re doing.
• Storyline Requirements – you should make your storyline match these few points if you want to have access to required items.
• Party Overview – the 4 members briefly summarized. Pros and Cons.
• 1st-4th Member – in detail, and their Level up guide.
• Act 1-3 – summarizes best equipment in-slot and overview of the fights for each Act.
• Level 3-12 – explains how your party changes at each level (and at each place), what they should look like, what they’re generally doing, and discusses the strategies for potential fights at each level, as well as videos of fights demonstrated.

Now, please navigate this guide by section of interest to you..

This is a full party build example and general guide for party synergies.

• It is a party designed around playing with movement, intending to weaponize the unique Dark Displacement Gloves[bg3.wiki]
• In a way, the gloves, and generally the party, are a non-illithid version of Black Hole, with powers to gather enemies into groups and generally having the enemies where we want them.
• Most of their resources recharges on Short Rest, in general allowing longer days, with less emphasis on burst.
• There’s a lot of brute force but also unique tools for movement manipulation/restriction. Such combination lends itself well to creative solutions.
• Played right, they’re totally not dependent on consumables or illithid power. The party’s supposed to be very playable without investing your time in farming consumables, and ‘keeping true’ to the spirit of the game – avoid becoming Mind Flayer.

Storyline affects which merchants and items are available.

• Convince Rolan to stay at the Grove at first time you reach it. (keeps Mattis alive)
• Choose Spellsparkler[bg3.wiki] staff as quest reward from saving Florick at Waukeen’s Rest.
• Keep Dammon alive by not causing the Druids to attack the Tieflings.
• Keep Dammon alive by saving the Grove, and do so before going to Mountain Pass or Grymforge.
• While not strictly necessary, getting Ethel’s hair is recommended and will be done in the demo.
• Keep Quartermaster Talli, Dammon and Last Light Inn alive, at least until you get all you need from them.
• Spare Nightsong, so Dammon survives into the Act 3
• Don’t slaughter the murder tribunal initially. Become their assassin to unlock their shop, get what you need, then you can slaughter them.

The full party comprises these 4 character concepts.

• Displacer Battlemaster
  • Battlemaster Fighter 12
  • Main brute force of the party with late ability to swap places with enemies.
  • Full Fighter for 3 attacks and 4 feats.
• Shadow Blade
  • Champion Fighter 4 / Way of Shadow Monk 8
  • Reliably maintain concentration to legitly use Shadow Blade[bg3.wiki] without any exploit. Deal psychic damage, attack the mind, and using Shadow Step to get to places.
  • Fighter for Con save proficiency and Shadow Monk for Shadow Step, to allow mobility despite wearing armour. There is enough Short Rest resources from Monk class, so Champion is favoured over Battlemaster.
• Feywild Bender
  • Archfey (Pact of the Tome) Warlock 3 / Way of Four Elements Monk 9
  • Way of Four Elements Monk sacrifices raw power of Way of Open Hand for some niche skills that manipulates movement and position of enemies. Alone, these skills might not amount to much, but in combination with teammates, you’ll see how these can be very useful. Since Four Elements ‘spells’ uses spell save DC, also wield Markoheshkir for elemental nuke support that recharges on Short Rest.
  • Fey Tome Warlock for occasional cast of Calm Emotion, Darkness, and Devil’s Sight and the ability to cast Guidance, since we field no Cleric or Druid this time. Way of the Four Element Monks for some niche skills that manipulates movement and ability synergy with Markoheshkir.
• Flourish Transpositioner
  • College of Swords Bard 6 / School of Conjuration Wizard 6
  • User of Air. Use Thunder Trident (Nyrulna) to push enemies, then cast Silence to shut any spellcaster down. Create electrified water that pushes enemies away. Also casts Darkness.
  • Swords Bard for Flourishes, which aside from power Slashing variation, also comes with Mobile variant to manipulate movement. Conjuration Wizard for potential to use Benign Transposition to swap places with allies.

Pros

• Short Rest resources recharge and one Song of Rest makes for quite a long day before running out.
• CC enemies with prone, restricting movement, or combine with other abilities to prone them indefinitely.
• Manipulate the positions of enemies (non-illithid version of Black Hole)
• ‘Swords Wizard’ for combination of strike power, Arcane Acuity, and spell versatility.
• Very good mobility overall.

Cons

• Not much spells and long rest resources make the party unsuitable for extreme burst strategy.
• Not obvious how to convert manipulation/restriction of movement into offensive power. This party equips you with unique tools that require creativity to play.

This member, if played as a party leader, is highly recommended to be a Githyanki

• We’re after the Racial skill Astral Knowledge, which can give us proficiency in all social skills.

Role in party

• Party face and Trader
• Dark Displacement Gloves wearer – the main theme of the party – throwing weapons at enemies swap places with them.
• Damage Dealer
• Tank/Frontliner
• Tactical Manoeuvers
• Mental Fatigue from landing Manoeuvers

Class composition

• Battlemaster Fighter 12

Leveling
FFFFFFFFFFFF
Take 12 straight Fighter levels

General Stats

• Ability Scores – 3 numbers are represented. They’re, in order, final ability score, final raw ability score after Mirror of Loss and Amulet of Greater Health, and initial raw ability score. If you’re not playing the Displacer Battlemaster as party leader, dump Cha and put more points in Wis or Int
  • Str – 22 (16, 17) +2 from Mirror of Loss
  • Dex – 16 (16, 8)
  • Con – 23 (8, 16)
  • Int – 8 (8, 8)
  • Wis – 10 (10, 10)
  • Cha – 16 (15, 14) +1 from Mirror of Loss
• HP – 147
• AC – 21
• Raw Spellcasting DC – N/A
• Initiative – +5
• Feats
  • Great Weapon Master
  • ASI
  • Tavern Brawler
  • Sentinel
  • (not feat) Ethel’s hair +1 Int
  • (not feat) Araj Potion +2 Str

Choices on level up

• Great Weapon Fighting as Fighting Style

Equipments

• Main hand – Nyrulna[bg3.wiki]
• Off hand – none
• Ranged – Hellrider Longbow[bg3.wiki]
• Body – Helldusk Armour[bg3.wiki]
• Cloak –
• Gloves – Dark Displacement Gloves[bg3.wiki]
• Boots – Bonespike Boots[bg3.wiki]
• Head – Helldusk Helmet[bg3.wiki]
• Amulet – Amulet of Greater Health[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 1 – Ring of Mental Inhibition[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 2 – Ring of Spiteful Thunder[bg3.wiki]

• Level 1
  
• Level 2
  
• Level 3
  
• Level 4
  
• Level 5
  
• Level 6
  
• Level 7
• Level 8
• Level 9
• Level 10
• Level 11
• Level 12

Role in party

• Damage Dealer
• Mental Fatigue
• Stunning Strike
• (very occasional) Darkness or Silence
• Mental Fatigue from Shadow Blade attacks
• Steeped in Bliss – carry the Resonance Stone to make nearby enemies disadvantaged on Wis saving throws, alongside buffing own damage

Class composition

• Champion Fighter 4
• Way of Shadow Monk 8

Leveling
FMMMMMMMMFFF
F for Fighter, M for Monk, and R for Ranger. Start with Fighter for Con save and heavy armour proficiency. Then 8 levels in Shadow Monk for 2 feats, and finish with the return to Fighter class.

General Stats

• Ability Scores – 2 numbers are represented. They’re, in order, final ability score, and raw ability score.
  • Str – 8 (8)
  • Dex – 20 (17) +2 from Mirror of Loss
  • Con – 16 (16)
  • Int – 8 (8)
  • Wis – 16 (15)
  • Cha – 8 (8)
• HP – 101
• AC – 25
• Raw Spellcasting DC – N/A
• Initiative – +10
• Feats
  • ASI
  • ASI
  • Alert

Choices on level up

• Defence fighting style at 1st level

Equipments

• Main hand – Shadow Blade[bg3.wiki]
• Off hand – Viconia Walking Fortress[bg3.wiki] or Dolor Amarus[bg3.wiki]
• Ranged – Dead Shot[bg3.wiki] or Vicious Shortbow[bg3.wiki]
• Body – Armour of Persistence[bg3.wiki]
• Cloak – Cloak of Protection[bg3.wiki]
• Gloves – Braindrain Gloves[bg3.wiki]
• Boots – Boots of Stormy Clamour[bg3.wiki]
• Head – Steelwatcher Helmet[bg3.wiki]
• Amulet – Fey Semblance Amulet[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 1 – Shadow Blade Ring[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 2 –

• Level 1
  
• Level 2
  
• Level 3
  
• Level 4
  
• Level 5
  
• Level 6
  
• Level 7
• Level 8
• Level 9
• Level 10
• Level 11
• Level 12

Role in party

• Forced movement of enemies.
• Water Whip: Prone
• Stunning Strike
• Damage Dealer
• Occasional Calm Emotions and Darkness.

Class composition

• Archfey (Pact of the Tome) Warlock 3
• Way of Four Elements Monk 9

Leveling
WWWMMMMMMMMM
W for Warlock and M for Monk. Start with 3 in Warlock for Guidance and Devil’s Sight, then the rest in Monk.

General Stats

• Ability Scores – 4 numbers are represented. They’re, in order, final ability score, final raw ability score after Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength, raw ability score after getting Tavern Brawler feat, and initial raw ability score.
  • Str – 23 (8, 16, 8)
  • Dex – 16 (16, 10, 16)
  • Con – 16 (16, 15, 16)
  • Int – 10 (10, 8, 12)
  • Wis – 18 (16, 16, 14) +2 from Mirror of Loss
  • Cha – 8 (8, 8, 8)
• HP – 99
• AC – 21
• Raw Spellcasting DC – 22
• Initiative – +3
• Feats
  • Tavern Brawler
  • ASI

Choices on level up

• Eldritch Invocations
  • Devil’s Sight
• Warlock spells
  • Hex
  • Calm Emotions
• Four Elements Monk ‘spells’ (highly recommended)
  • Water Whip – this is one of the most useful Four Elements ‘spells’. Against creatures that can be proned, this skill can force infinite prone status that only goes away by spending movement to get up. If only this uses spell save DC… (it uses weapon action DC, so you can’t bump it with spell DC gears).
  • Fangs of the Fire Snake – this is for when raw damage preferred.

Equipments

• Main hand – Markoheshkir[bg3.wiki]
• Off hand – empty
• Ranged – Gontr Mael[bg3.wiki]
• Body – Vest of Soul Rejuvenation[bg3.wiki]
• Cloak – Cloak of the Weave[bg3.wiki]
• Gloves – Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength[bg3.wiki]
• Boots – Boots of Uninhibited Kushigo[bg3.wiki] for damage or Bonespike Boots[bg3.wiki] for prone CC (2 turns duration)
• Head – Hood of the Weave[bg3.wiki]
• Amulet –
• Ring 1 – Ring of Feywild Sparks[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 2 – Ring of Protection[bg3.wiki]

• Level 1
  
• Level 2
  
• Level 3
  
• Level 4
  
• Level 5
  
• Level 6
  
• Level 7
• Level 8
• Level 9
• Level 10
• Level 11
• Level 12

This member is recommended to be a Human of Half-Elf
We’re after the racial Shield proficiency.

Role in party

• Sleight of Hand
• Flourishes
• Benign Transposition
• Wizard

Class composition

• College of Swords Bard 6
• Conjuration School Wizard 6

Leveling
BBBBBBWWWWWW
B for Bard and W for Wizard. Get extra attack with Bard, then finish with Wizard.

General Stats

• Ability Scores – 3 numbers are represented. They’re, in order, final ability score, final raw ability score after Gloves of Dexterity, and initial raw ability score.
  • Str – 8 (8, 8)
  • Dex – 18 (8, 16)
  • Con – 16 (16, 16)
  • Int – 20 (16, 14) +2 from Mirror of Loss
  • Wis – 12 (12, 12)
  • Cha – 14 (14, 8)
• HP – 93
• AC – 19
• Raw Spellcasting DC – 20
• Initiative – +6
• Feats
  • ASI
  • ASI

Choices on level up

• Bard Spells (highly recommended)
  • Detect Thoughts
  • Silence
  • Calm Emotion
  • Plant Growth

Equipments

• Main hand – Rhapsody[bg3.wiki]
• Off hand – Dolor Amarus[bg3.wiki] or Bloodthirst[bg3.wiki] or Sentinel Shield[bg3.wiki]
• Ranged – Vicious Shortbow[bg3.wiki]
• Body – Bhaalist Armour[bg3.wiki]
• Cloak –
• Gloves – Gloves of Dexterity[bg3.wiki]
• Boots – Evasive Shoes[bg3.wiki]
• Head – Helmet of Arcane Acuity[bg3.wiki]
• Amulet – Amulet of the Devout[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 1 – Eversight Ring[bg3.wiki]
• Ring 2 – Band of the Mystic Scoundrel[bg3.wiki]

• Level 1
  
• Level 2
  
• Level 3
  
• Level 4
  
• Level 5
  
• Level 6
  
• Level 7
• Level 8
• Level 9
• Level 10
• Level 11
• Level 12

Generic comments about Act 1 fights

• Overall, Act 1 starts with your raw power level barely matching that of your enemies.
• Getting surprise round, hiding, using the environment is very important on harder difficulties.
• This becomes less so once you leave the Wilderness and Underdark for Grymforge and Crèche. It’ll become less crucial to get that surprise round.
• Act 2 fights will introduce special mechanics for most fights, but for Act 1, it’s about making up for enemies’ numbers and power with good approach. You don’t need to think much beyond increasing your raw power and making up for that when you lack it.

• Battlemaster should already be a Battlemaster and gets their 1st feat. Before Ethel’s hair, take ASI. After Ethel’s Hair, take Great Weapon Master.
• Shadow gets Way of Shadow subclass.
• Feywild takes their 1st Monk level.
• Flourish gets the 1st feat and puts it in ASI. They should already be a College of Swords Bard.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 4
• Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 3
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Monk 1
• Swords Bard 4

Recommended fights at level 4 – see list in the demo below. These are selected fights for level 4 based on my experience.

Demo of some fights done at level 4.
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• 0:00 – Priestess Gut
• 1:10 – Minotaurs
• 4:29 – Mud Mephits & Wood Woads
• 11:08 – Kagha & Shadow Druids
• 16:09 – Harpies
• 22:24 – Lump (3 Ogres)
• 26:23 – Minthara
• 29:23 – Dror Ragzlin
• 30:42 – Anders (fake Paladins hunting Karlach)

• Battlemaster gets Extra Attack.
• Shadow gets 1st feat and puts it in ASI for better hit rate and +2 to AC.
• Feywild gets Step of the Wind, allowing them to reposition with ease.
• Flourish now recharges Bardic Inspiration on Short Rest, and learns Plant Growth.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 5
• Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 4
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Monk 2
• Swords Bard 5

Party snapshot at level 5, right before facing Inquisitor Ch’r’ai W’wargaz

Recommended fights at level 5

• Wilderness map
• Underdark – make sure you already have Great Weapon Master before facing honour mode Bulette. Don’t hesitate to use consumables. The Bulette’s Legendary Action is quite imbalanced at this point in the game.
• Grymforge – Nere should be proned by whatever move you have on honour mode, otherwise his legendary action will trigger.
• Mountain Pass
• Githyanki Crèche
  • Inquisitor Ch’r’ai W’wargaz – If you have the Unseen Menace pike, you can brute force your way through the Inquisitor.

Demo of some fights done at level 5.
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• Wilderness & Underdark
  • 0:00 – Phase Spider Matriarch
  • 5:21 – Flind (Gnolls at the cave)
  • 13:17 – Auntie Ethel
  • 16:43 – Gekh Coal
  • 23:23 – Nere & Grymforge Duergars

• Mountain Pass
  • 0:00 – Crèche Inquisitor Ch’r’ai W’wargaz
  • 6:57 – Crèche Captain Kith’rak Therezzyn
  • 12:12 – Death Shepherds at the Mountain Pass

Generic comments on Act 2 fights

• Overall, Act 2 fights are different from Act 1 in that
• while your party raw power now can exceed that of enemies.
• there are some special mechanics for most fights, which you have to approach correctly.
  • some boss are immune to physical damage until you deal elemental damage to him for a few rounds.
  • some boss throw really devastating bombs that can kill your whole party immediately.
  • some boss turn you to gold.
  • in some fights your enemies are not targeting you. You’re instead protecting their target.
  • etc.
• It’s now less about getting surprise round but more about dealing with these special mechanics.

Act 2 generally best-in-slot equipment and expected AC, base spell DC, and initiative

• Displacer Battlemaster
  • AC –
  • Initiative –
  • Main hand – Halberd of Vigilance or Soulbreaker Greatsword (only if Gith)
  • Off hand –
  • Ranged – Bow of Awareness
  • Body – Adamantine Splint Mail
  • Cloak –
  • Gloves – Gloves of Automaton
  • Boots – Disintegrating Nightwalkers
  • Head – Dark Justiciar Helmet
  • Amulet –
  • Ring 1 –
  • Ring 2 –
• Shadow Blade
  • AC –
  • Initiative –
  • Main hand – Shadow Blade
  • Off hand – Sentinel Shield
  • Ranged – Least Expected
  • Body – Dark Justiciar Armour
  • Cloak –
  • Gloves – The Sparkle Hands
  • Boots – Boots of Striding
  • Head – Grymskull Helmet
  • Amulet –
  • Ring 1 – Shadow Blade Ring
  • Ring 2 –
• Feywild Bender
  • AC – 19
  • base spell DC –
  • Initiative – 1
  • Main hand – Blood of Lathander
  • Off hand – empty
  • Ranged – Darkfire Shortbow
  • Body – Mighty Cloth (level 7+) or Graceful Cloth (level 6-)
  • Cloak – Cloak of Protection
  • Gloves – Bracers of Defence
  • Boots – Evasive Shoes
  • Head – Fistbreaker Helm
  • Amulet –
  • Ring 1 – Ring of Protection
  • Ring 2 –
• Flourish Transpositioner
  • AC –
  • Initiative –
  • Main hand – Knife of the Undermountain King
  • Off hand – Adamantine Shield
  • Ranged – Ne’er Misser and Hellfire Hand Crossbow
  • Body – Luminous Armour
  • Cloak –
  • Gloves – Gloves of Dexterity
  • Boots – Boots of Stormy Clamour
  • Head – Helmet of Arcane Acuity or Holy Lance Helm
  • Amulet –
  • Ring 1 – Callous Glow Ring
  • Ring 2 – Strange Conduit Ring

• Battlemaster gets 2nd feat and increases their Strength further for better hit rate.
• Shadow gets Extra Attack and Stunning Strike. Both are invariably useful. If you’re in Act 2 and Shadow Blade Ring is obtained from Arabella, they becomes Shadow Blade.
• Feywild gets Way of the Four Elements subclass, becomes Feywild Bender, and allows more tactical maneuvers, like Water Whip, or Fang of the Fire Snake to punch from range.
• Flourish gets Extra Attack.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 6
• Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 5
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 3
• Swords Bard 6

Recommended fights at level 6

• All of Act 1
• All of Act 2 before Shadowfell
  • Gerringothe Thorm – refer to guide 001, level 6 section for generic strategy. The mechanism is tied to the boss and any party can exploit it.
  • Thisobald Thorm – once again, refer to guide 001, level 6 section for generic strategy.
  • Malus Thorm – can be brute-forced by eliminating the nurses first. You’ll need to tank some confusion from the nurses’ screeches. Battlemaster‘s Great Weapon Master is useful here as they can one-hit the resurrected nurse, leaving 2 attacks against Malus each round.
  • Halsin portal – if you aren’t familiar with this fight, wait for level 7 for Flourish to learn Sleet Storm. Otherwise, Plant Growth is your best bet of area control spell. You can brute-force most of them with extra attacks from 2 Monk’s Flurry of Blows and the bonus action attack from Battlemaster‘s Great Weapon Master.
  • Oliver – on honour mode with his Legendary Action silence necrotic domes, I recommend to obtain Strange Tendril Amulet[bg3.wiki] from the Morgue first, to restrict half of his friends from reaching you, allowing you to contain the spread of the silence domes.
  • Yurgir – as mentioned in previous guides, yeeting him down will waste his first turn trying to get back up, and the best tool in your party to do that is Flourish‘s Mobile Flourish, since there’s no saving throw and you get advantage attacking from stealth.
  • Balthazar – with Shadow Blade[bg3.wiki] and Ne’er Misser[bg3.wiki], he can be bursted down quite quickly in his lab, even with all the resistances he gets on honour mode.

Demo of some fights done at level 6.
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• Day 1 of Act 2
  • 0:00 – Marcus
  • 7:06 – Kar’niss (caravan raid)
  • 14:05 – Malus Thorm
  • 21:40 – Halsin Portal
  • 36:30 – Gerringothe Thorm

• Day 2 of Act 2 (online 2024-10-28)
  • 0:00 – Oliver
  • 6:43 – Thisobald Thorm
  • 14:39 – Yurgir & Merregons
  • 27:10 – Balthazar

• Battlemaster gets more manoeuver choices and charges.
• Shadow Blade gets Shadow Step. This skill surprised me of its utility when I first tried it. On PC press shift will change the cursor to reveal illumination of the spot where the mouse points.
• Feywild Bender gets the 1st feat. They respec into a Str Monk with Tavern Brawler feat.
• Flourish gets 1st Wizard level.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 7
• Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 6
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 4
• Swords Bard 6 / Wizard 1

Recommended fights at level 7

• All of Act 2 before descending the illithid colony
  • Shadow Blade‘s Shadow Stepping everywhere is very useful in Moonrise Assault.

Demo of some fights done at level 7. (online 2024-11-03)
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• 0:00 – Moonrise Assault (no taking out guards beforehand)
• 16:27 – Ketheric Thorm rooftop fight

• Battlemaster gets 2nd feat and chooses Tavern Brawler, in preparation for Nyrulna in Act 3.
• Shadow Blade gets Evasion, allowing them to take no damage from AoE spells on a successful save.
• Feywild Bender gets Extra Attack.
• Flourish gets School of Conjuration subclass.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 8
• Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 7
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 5
• Swords Bard 6 / Conjuration Wizard 2

Party snapshot at level 8, right before facing the apostle of Myrkul.

Recommended fights at level 8

• All of Act 2
  • This is repeated in every guide, but removal of the Mind Flayer in turn 1 with surprise round and blinding of the Apostle of Myrkul is the key to Act 2 finale fight. It’s very difficult to die if all these are followed.
    • Offence against the Apostle, for this party, will mainly rely on magical bludgeon damage, psychic damage from Shadow Blade, and force damage from Ne’er Misser.

Demo of some fights done at level 8. (online 2024-11-05)
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• 0:00 – Ketheric Thorm in illithid colony
• 9:56 – Apostle of Myrkul

Act 3 is the final one. You should transition into your final set of gears. Personally, I beeline for the gears first ever since my 1st run, since I like fighting and want to enjoy my team’s full power for longer.

• Generic comments on Act 3 fights
  • Act 3 fights have all sorts of flavours, with one thing in common in contrast to earlier Acts;
    • The enemies are very strong offensively. In contrast to Act 2 finale Myrkul, who can barely damage you but is a marathon to take down, in Act 3 enemies will be pitting their offense against you.
      • Which is why ‘nova’ or burst damage is the generally preferred strategy. Without consumables and illithid power, the demo’s burst will be less powerful than with. At this point consumables are simply balance shattering, that’s why we do demo without them to still have something to think for.
      • It is possible to play with a composition without burst, but it’s much harder.
  • In Act 3, in some fights you’ll be on the back foot in raw power again, but only if you let the enemies release their full offensive capabilities. Ansur is the best example of this. Nothing survives their ‘attacks’ for long.
  • In others, there are special mechanics like most of Act 2, and some are real extreme. The main plot boss Orin the Red in particular, there’s 0% chance of beating them without dealing with their special mechanics with the right tools. Power won’t even come into play while that special mechanics last.
• Party-specific comments

• Battlemaster gets Indomitable. If they’re in Act 3 and obtains Dark Displacement Gloves, they becomes Displacer Battlemaster.
• Shadow Blade gets 2nd feat and puts in another ASI.
• Feywild Bender‘s punches becomes magical.
• Flourish gets level 5 spells through scrolls.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 9
• Fighter 1 / Shadow Monk 8
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 6
• Swords Bard 6 / Conjuration Wizard 3

Recommended fights for level 9

• Finish up Act 2 if you haven’t
• Act 3
  • (list to be compiled and added.)

Demo of some fights done at level 9. (online 2024-11-07)
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• 0:00 – Raphael & Yurgir
• 11:59 – Lorroakan
• 13:09 – Sarevok Anchev

• Displacer Battlemaster more manoeuver choices.
• Shadow Blade gets Action Surge.
• Feywild Bender gets Evasion and Stillness of Mind.
• Flourish gets 2nd feat for another ASI.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 10
• Fighter 2 / Shadow Monk 8
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 7
• Swords Bard 6 / Conjuration Wizard 4

Recommended fights for level 10

• Everything recommended at level 9
• (further list to be compiled and added.)

There is no demo at this level as we skipped straight to level 11.

• Displacer Battlemaster gets Improved Extra Attack
• Shadow Blade gets Champion subclass for improved critical hit chance.
• Feywild Bender gets 2nd feat and puts in ASI.
• Flourish gets level 6 spells through scrolls.

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 11
• Champion Fighter 3 / Shadow Monk 8
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 8
• Swords Bard 6 / Conjuration Wizard 5

Recommended fights for level 11

• Everything recommended at level 10
• (further list to be compiled and added. In the mean time, check out the list for the demo.)

Demo of some fights done at level 11. (online 2024-11-09)
Demo is played without consumable and illithid power. You can incorporate them to make the fights even easier. Demo is honour mode.

• 0:00 – House of Grief (Viconia DeVir and Sharrans)
• 12:11 – Orin the Red
• 15:25 – Steel Watcher Titan

• Displacer Battlemaster gets the 4th feat.
• Shadow Blade gets the 3rd feat.
• Flourish Transpositioner gets Benign Transposition and becomes a proper Flourish Transpositioner

Party is now

• Battlemaster Fighter 12
• Champion Fighter 4 / Shadow Monk 8
• Fey Tome Warlock 3 / Four Elements Monk 9
• Swords Bard 6 / Conjuration Wizard 6

Fights recommended at level 12

• Everything in the game