Baldurs Gate 3 Warlock Guide | Best Builds and Options

Baldur’s Gate 3 has a ton of potential options, even this early on! It’s incredible what the team at Larian were already able to put into this game, and all of them are super loyal to the source material. However, we don’t have all of the options that 5E was able to give over the years; the Warlock, for instance, only has access to a select few subclasses. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to choose from! Learn what to consider, and what to ignore, in our Baldurs Gate 3 Warlock Early Access Build guide!

Table of Contents

Warlock in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Warlock in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a Charisma-based spellcaster, pulling from a list of damage and utility spells. They tend to be blasters, thanks to their ability to quickly regain spell slots and use them in most fights. Right now, there is no synergy for Pact of the Blade Warlocks. We’ll have to wait for that before we attempt any melee builds! So, for now, the Warlock is a ranged damage dealer.

Best Race for Warlock in Baldur’s Gate 3

I adore how many races are available in Baldur’s Gate 3 already! We suggest you select a race with +2 Charisma, since that will boost your spells the most. Tieflings gain +2 Charisma (we recommend Asmodeus). Half-Elves are slightly better, getting +2 Charisma, and then optionally +1 Dexterity and +1 Constitution. Tieflings have better racial skills, with good utility and good damage resistances. However, Half Elves probably are still even better, thanks to their Subrace feature.

If you really don’t want to be a Half-Elf or a Tiefling, and don’t mind losing some damage, then Lightfoot Halflings or Drow give at least some Charisma, and boost Dexterity by a significant amount.

Best Early Spells for Warlocks in Baldur’s Gate 3

To best prepare for your role, it’s important to choose your spells carefully. There is one spell that every single Warlock must have, but your other options are honestly quite fantastic!

Cantrips

Eldritch Blast: A must-have. Arguably the best cantrip in 5E, and definitely the best cantrip for Warlocks here. Deal damage from an incredibly safe distance, and later on, get invocations that make it better!
Friends: Not… abysmal? If you’re worried about someone failing a Persuasion check (including yourself), this will help make things easier. Do remember that you only have 2 Cantrip slots.

Poison Spray: An area-of-Effect option, though not exactly overwhelming in its strength. Take this only if you’re worried about your ability to take on hordes with normal spell slots.
Mage Hand: Interact with things from a safe distance! If you don’t have a Wizard who can help out with far-ranged interactions, this is legitimately strong.

Spells

We only have 1st and 2nd level spells, since we’re only in Act 1. I won’t list the entire spell list here, but you’ve got some juicy choices already. If your party has a spellcaster that can replicate this effect, consider other options, such as the choices offered by your pact.

Arms of Hadar (1st): Admittedly not the strongest choice, but a good panic option if you need to get away from someone without provoking opportunity attacks.
Protection from Evil and Good (1st): If you don’t have a Cleric (for some reason), then this is a great counterplay option to many, many different types of creatures.
Witch Bolt (1st): Not… abysmal single-target damage, allowing you to essentially put a lightning-based DoT effect on an enemy. Just like in D&D, Witch Bolt isn’t the strongest option.
Hex (1st): Hex was heavily nerfed from 5E, no longer allowing it to spread when the target goes down. However, it only costs a bonus action and increases the damage you deal to a target. Great for bosses.
Hold Person (2nd): Frustrated by boss fights? If they’re humanoid, Hold Person will lock them down and let you beat them up, for free!
Invisibility (2nd): Really good for letting someone scout ahead without having to worry about them being seen instantly.
Misty Step (2nd): The best escape tool in the game. If you’re worried about someone catching you, Misty Step will save you every time.

See Also: Our Baldur’s Gate 3 Wizard Guide

Best Warlock Subclass for Baldur’s Gate 3

Originally , the Great Old One and the Fiend were the two subclasses available. Now we’ve got three to choose from!

The Fiend. The Fiend offers a better starting ability, letting you get a rather substantial health shield after a kill! But realistically, the Fiend is just a little bit better option than the others.
The Great Old One. The Great Old One’s first ability that it gives in 5E is Telepathy… and, well, that’s not terribly useful in a video game. You can argue that the spells you can learn from the Great Old One have better utility, at least
The Archfey. You get Fey Presence, which lets you charm or frighten nearby foes.

Best Warlock Invocations

The Warlock has quite a fantastic list of Invocations, and they all work really well together. I’m going to group them by what build you might like to use them in, since they actually seem to come in pseudo-pairs.

Eldritch Blast (Agonizing Blast + Repelling Blast): This combo increases your blast’s damage and pushes creatures away from you. Great for spamming that cantrip.
Face Skills (Beguiling Influence + Mask of Many Faces): Disguising yourself can help shore up your reputation against creatures that hate you. It’s not super easy to use, so considering switching that out for something else. On the other hand, Beguiling Influence gives you two skill proficiencies, letting you be a fantastic face with your high Charisma.
Tank Up (Armour of Shadows + Fiendish Vigor): Get high AC with Mage Armor, and great health with False Life. Extremely good durability.
Information and Utility (Beast Speech + Devil’s Sight + Thief of Five Fates): This is the grab-bag of skills that can replace any other option. Beast Speech lets you talk to animals (always fun in Larian Games), Devil’s Sight lets you see even in Magical Darkness (which makes the Darkness spell useful), and Thief of Five Fates is a valid debuff spell.

Best Feat

At level 4, you get a feat. Ability Improvement will always be just fantastic, giving you a huge buff to your Charisma. If you don’t want to do that, your options are admittedly limited. Tough increases your health, Mobile might get you out of bad situations faster, Moderately Armored increases your AC if you need that boost… But, otherwise, you can only take awkward utility skills.

We highly suggest Ability Improvement for Charisma, and slowly get some extra damage and accuracy.

Conclusions – Baldurs Gate 3 Warlock Guide

The Warlock is a fantastic class in 5E, and it’s already looking good now! Admittedly, the options are quite few and far between right now, but it only promises to get better! With some luck, we’ll get some frontline Warlock pacts in the near future, so we can use Armour of Agathys more effectively.