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to have the bestBalder’s Gate 3run you may have, you will need to have a well-balanced team. Someone to cover magical utility, someone to be stealthy, someone to converse with all the NPCs, and someone to destroy absolutely everything they encounter in combat.
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Polearm Master is a very powerful feat in Baldur’s Gate 3, and its power just gets even more impressive when you build into all of its strengths and pair it with other feats.
Updated by Chad Thesen onSeptember 27, 2023:This guide has been updated to feature new embedded links that can allow easier navigation for readers. These embedded linksincludeguides for how to build the best Fighter and Wizard characters for your party.
Best Polearm Master Ability Distribution
Polearm Master gives you a range ofdifferent weaponsto use with thefeat. This includesglaives,halberds,quarterstaves, andspears.Noneof theseofferthefinessequality, meaning youshould not focus on Dexterityfor optimal results. You will want aStrength-drivenclass of character. Strength will be your main driving force for this feat for both your attack action and the bonus action. Your character will not be paging through volumes of books or expected to know the history of the universe, so you canmake Intelligence as low as possible. The same can be said for Charisma.Constitution,on the other hand, will keep youaliveon the frontlines, so this should be your secondary focusafter Strength. Dexterity and Wisdom come up more than others in terms of Saving Throws, so these can serve as the middle ground. This concludes your knowledge ofAbilitiesfor this build.
Primary Abilities (Max these out):Strength and Constitution
Secondary Abilities:Wisdom and Dexterity
Dump Abilities (Ignore These):Intelligence and Charisma
Best Race For The Polearm Master
Half-Orcis a no-brainer, just like thisbuild. First off, they getRelentless Endurance. With this feature, anytime your health drops to 0, it instead drops to 1. This can let themsurvivea fatal blow and finish off their foes before they go down for good.Polearm Masteris all about attacking more often.Savage Attackslets you capitalize on that by letting you roll onemoreof your weapon’sdamagedice another time and adding it to the total damage. When you factor inExtra Attack, the rate of this feature increases, and so does the build’sdamage output.
Alternative Race Option
Dwarvesare not a bad choice, they offer a lot of toughness and tankiness. However, in a game like Baldur’s Gate 3, taking down an enemyfaster means you mitigate all future damage from it. Not being squishy is good, but not optimal if your damage output is very bad. Half-Orcs benefits are in a league of their own that no other race option offers for this build.
Best Class For The Polearm Master
TheFighterclass is theoptimalpick for this. They are all aboutStrengthin combat and get a total of4 featsby the time they reach level 12. This lets youfully optimizethem for using any of theweaponsthat make use ofPolearm Master. They also offer a wide range of subclasses for different weapons that make use ofPolearm Master.
Battle Master
Selune’s Spear of Nightshould be the weapon you desire for aBattle Master, and it may well be the best weapon for a Polearm Master in general. This will give youAdvantageon allWisdom Saving ThrowsandPerception Checks. Both of these are great for staying alive. As a Half-Orc, theDarkvisionis not a factor. For any race that does not have Darkvision, it is a welcomed extra topping. This Weapon hasWeapon Enhancement of +3, the highest amount offered. This will add +3 to your Weapon Attack Rolls and your damage with the weapon.Moonmotecan make things much harder on enemies at closing the distance to your allies, whileMoonbeamcan unleash a high damage blast of Radiant damage when you need it.
Shar’s Spear of Eveningis aChampion’sfriend. This lets you get right up in an opponent’s face and castShar’s Darknesswith it. Normally this would be a bad thing, as Magical Darkness can make your own rolls suffer. However, this weapon grantscomplete Immunity to Blindness. Not only that, you getAdvantageon all of yourSaving Throws for every single Abilitywhile you are lightly or Heavily Obscured. If that was not overwhelmingly enticing enough, the weapon also has aWeapon Enhancement of +3. This makes the frontline using it obscenely tanky.
Eldritch Knight
Markoheshkiris aQuarterstaffthat is great forWizards. As anEldritch Knight, you will have highStrengthand be getting into melee range a lot. This lets you reap the benefits ofPolearm Masterwhile also bolstering yourspell caster-likenature. This only has aWeapon Enhancement of +2and does not deal as much damage as the above options. However, thanks toArcane Enhancement, you receive a+1 to all your spell attack rolls and +1 to all of your spell saves. In addition to castingKereska’s Favor, which imbues you withElemental Energy, this weapon also hasArcane Battery. Arcane Battery has it so thenext spell you cast will not consume a spell slot.
Warzard (Fighter Wizard Multiclass)
Just like with the Eldritch Knight above, theMarkoheshkiris a truly amazing weapon in the hands of this FighterWizardmulticlass. They will have access to a lotmore spell slotsand can even reach their6th-level spellslot, while Eldritch Knights are stuck at only 2nd-level. If youenjoy playingan Eldrtich Knight, want a moretanky Wizard,or even want to try your hand at anall-Frontliner party. This multiclass might be something to try out for asecond playthrough.
Best Skills And Background For The Polearm Master
Strength only has one skill associated with it,Athletics. you may pick this up from either your Background or the class you will be selecting. Since you are going with a Fighter, they can pick up Athletics and Perception.Wisdom is a middle-ground Ability, andit can happen now and again, making having this useful when you normally fall short by 1. It is best to take a Background that also gives you some passive rolls you will constantly be making in the game. This means a Background that gives 2 Wisdom skills.Folk Herois a great choice forAnimal Handling and Survivalproficiencies. All you really need is the Athletics, but having a moment where one of these other skills saves the day when they are not supposed to will be a rush of satisfaction.
Alternative Background Options
Soldieris a greatalternative, giving you Athletics and the ability to rack up Inspiration more often than other Backgrounds. You will be less proficient across the board, but you may make up for that by spending those Inspirations often.
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Best Feats For The Polearm Master
A fighter gets4 feats, the first of which will be Polearm Master. There are other feats that are great forFighters,Barbarians,andPaladins, such as Great Weapons Master. However, Great Weapons Master uses a bonus action in the same way Polearm Master does, but not all the weapons you use Polearm Master with will meet the requirements for its maximum benefits. So, the other feats to pair this with will beSentinel,Mage Slayer,and anAbility Improvementfor your Strength. Sentinelsynergizesvery well with Polearm Master’s extendedOpportunity Attacks.
Feat Description
Polearm Master
When attacking with a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a Bonus Action to attack with the butt of your weapon. You can also make an Opportunity Attack when a target comes within range.
Ability Improvement (Strength)
You increase one Ability by 2, or two Abilities by 1, to a maximum of 20.
When an enemy within melee range attacks an ally, you can use a reaction to make a weapon attack against that enemy. Target ally must not have the Sentinel Feat. You gain Advantage on Opportunity Attacks, and when you hit a creature with an Opportunity Attack, it can no longer move for the rest of its turn.
Mage Slayer
When a creature casts a spell Within melee range of you, you have Advantage on any Saving Throw against it, and you’re able to use a reaction to immediately make an attack against the caster. Enemies you hit have Disadvantage on Concentration Saving Throws.
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Best Party Composition For The Polearm Master
You will be coveringfrontliningandbolsteringcombat more than any other member will be capable of. This means the others need to cover various other roles in the group.First, someone todetect thingsgoing on around and act as ahealerwhen things go south. This requires high Wisdom and access to healing spells. you’re able to have aCleric,Ranger,orDruidfill this spot. A Cleric can help on the frontlines, a ranger can increase damage from a distance, and Druid can alternate between these two thanks to Wild Shaping.Next, you will want someoneknowledgeableand can unleash anoverwhelmingly high amountofdamagein a single turn using a limited resource. This screamsWizard, who will make Intelligence their primary Ability. You will now need someone to handle traps and move silently through the shadows. This is where aRoguewill shine thanks to theirhigh Dexterityand proficiency inThieves Tools.
Polearm Master’s Role In Combat
Your first and foremost objective is toclose the gapand get into the faces of your enemies; once this is accomplished, you will be using both yourActionandBonus Actionto pour on as muchdamageas possible. Thanks to your other feats, you may use yourReactionto attack even more. The other members of your party can attack from a safe distance with the Polearm Master’sextended Opportunity Attacks, and if one of them is targeted by an enemy, the Polearm Master will be able to use their Reactions to strike enemies outside of their own turn. This can finish off foes faster.
