July post #3 Gale Origin Mode do-over Honour Mode part 3 Act2 finished

My second attempt at a Gale run; first run was all-Wizards and was going OK but one mistake cost me my whole low-HP party in one go; this is now a Gale as Wizard leading my least-used classes (pure, no multi-class Ranger, pure Druid, not-Swords pure Lord Bard).

The party so far

Gale Evocation Wizard 10

Occasional moments of brilliance, generally just solid member of the team - it is very satisfying to throw a fireball straight at my party or allies and not worries about damaging anyone. I usually fireball at the very start or end of combat so it's nice. I'm pretty sure Wall of Fire does no damage to them either? Need to double check that but it's cooking nicely. Hat of Fire Acuity as well so it's great.

Lae'zel Swarmkeeper Ranger 10

She got Sharpshooter at level 8 and I've been keeping it off but finally got the Risky Ring late in Act 2 and it all started to come together a bit. I hardly ever use the Flying charges the class provides but otherwise it provides tons of damage plus Arcane Acuity and Lightning Charges.

Shadowheart Starry Druid 10

This was amazing in the Shadowlands; I alternated between Colossus Owlbear and Starry Dragon Form but either one was excellent. Such a great use of bonus action. Probably the MVP of Act 2 due to all the Radiant shenanigans.

Astarion Lore Bard 10

Not the most powerful party member but have been giving him Elixir of Hill Giant Strength and the Titanstring bow and he can do a solid 20 damage that way. Otherwise he's just kind of a utility caster and support as necessary.

Timeline so far

17 July 2026 - cleared half of Act 2; had 1 long rest in the middle for the giggles

18 July 2026 - finished second half of Act 2

Assessment

Not the most exciting line up in combat but I've been making it fun with gigantic owlbear and arcane acuity shenanigans. This is also the least I've used barrels in the last couple of playthroughs, I'm surprised. That may change with some of the encounters in Act 3 (need to do Cazador, Raphael, Sharran Temple, possibly will try Gondian quest for first time ever).

I've found myself paying attention to the story again so that's good, I'm not skipping around as much and am taking my time. 

Would love to try the Shadow Blade build sometime with Stone of Bliss and that Karlach all-barbarian run is sounding good, plus Shadowheart all-clerics to finish out the Origins.

July post #2 Gale Origin Mode do-over Honour Mode

 So I hit New Game on the 10th of July into the 11th of July and have now completed Act 1. Managed to do it in about 14 hours or so, which is about par for my recent Saoirse run. I was able to clear Act 2 twice recently in about 8 or 9 hours with no long rests so am hoping to repeat that, is it doable?

The party so far

Gale Evocation Wizard 7

Wizards really got nerfed in Bg3. I have zero desire to scribe a load of spell scrolls; often its just better to pick what you actually need at level up and simply use the scroll and move on.

I have Fireball and Wall of Fire etc now so should be fine.

Lae'zel Swarmkeeper Ranger 7

Occasionally she is the MVP, occasionally she is just there. Swarmkeeper extra damage after hitting with attacks plus Hunter Mark pops off crazy damage; not as much as an Open-Handed Monk but it's nice seeing numbers everywhere.

It's nice to have someone with decent HP, armour and damage potential but it's far from the most exciting. Super satisfying to do the Swarm Attack after hitting once though. Not sure if I prefer Bees, Jellies or Moths yet, I've been alternating every level.

Shadowheart Starry Druid 7

Not sure how to feel about this; I was using Starry form a lot in second half of Act 1 (levels 4>6) so a lot of the swamp, Goblin camp, Underdark and Forge but other than the incredible bonus action breath it wasn't amazing. 

For the last bit in the monastery I had her take an Elixir of the Colossus and go Owlbear so she was 5005kg and with Tavern Brawler she was just a monster. Constantly in the way but Crushing Flight and double claws attack could do a tasty 40-60 damage everytime.

Astarion Lore Bard 7

Probably the least effective member, but he gets the job done. Dual wielding blades and dual wielding crossbows; occasional buffs and healing, increasingly large number of control spells.

Timeline so far

10 July 2026 - new game; cleared as far as level 4;

11 July 2026 - cleared from level 4 all the way to level 7 right as I picked up the Blood of Lathander; barely defeated creche boss and then Undead fight at end of Act 1 (crashed again due to Void Bulb / Wall of Fire shenanigans) and met Elminster, saved in camp right as we moved to Act 2.

Assessment

It's going fine; still not in love with druids but they can be fun; Rangers are fine too; plus bards... and wizards it's like I'm playing all the classes/subclasses I am least interested in (in Bg3). Looking forward to the Shadowheart All-Cleric run and Karlach All-Barbarian run more now.

Also these Origin runs are just the death of interesting characters; Gale is such a great character but when you play as him you only hear him in banter while travelling around, he just becomes a silent protagonist. Really looking forward to my 'Dark Urge as Sorcerer' run in the future, they nailed that.

July post #1 Gale FAIL Honour mode run Origin 4

 I started as Gale on a whim on 10th of July 2026 - Bg3 is my comfort game these days so fuck it, what's yet another Honour Mode run?

The party

Gale Wizard: Evocation 5

Blaster wizard who rarely got to blast! I was just short of Level 3 spells so was not too exciting. I had him with higher Con and lower Cha so while he had more HP I failed a lot of Persuasion checks.

Lae'zel Wizard: Bladesinger 5

Bladesinging is always cool, one of my fave concepts. Boiled down to just Lae dual-wielding and occasionally Bladesinging (only 2 charges so was not often used).

Shadowheart Wizard: Abjuration 5

I had an idea to make her a sort of frontline tank but it never really popped off.

Astarion Wizard: Divination 5

I heard Divination was Op so went for it; was initially thinking Necromancy but it's so weak compared to Death Cleric. It was kind of annoying as when I had Portent Dice it would ask constantly if I wanted to use them and the rolls sucked.

Timeline of events

10th July 2026 - I managed to make it to level 4 and had just cleared the Goblin camp when I decided to push onto Flind's cave. I let them kill the two guys and go inside as usual but then as I set down some smokepowder barrels at the mouth of the cave I was caught and combat initiated! One acid arrow later andthe whole party was wiped.

As this is not my first rodeo I was not too upset, I barely reacted to the ending. I decided to honourably delete my save file and left it for a bit; I hopped back on a New Game later and got as far as I did in 8 hours in 4 hours. I went with a different setup: Gale locked in as Wizard but SH as Stars Druid, Lae as full Ranger, Astarion as Lore Bard. Basically all the stuff I never use/otherwise multi-class. I decided against Sorcerer for now, that's for the Durge run and is powerful. TBC.

Assessment

I was kind of bored - I hate long resting so my Wizards were reduced to cantrips and crossbows, not very exciting but it was mostly working. I use a lot more exploits now where possible (explosive barrels and whatnot) to reduce playtime and grind. I prefer my new 'under-used classes' party headed by a full Wizard Gale. I always multi-class away from Ranger so will be interesting to see full Ranger 12 (loving Swarms so far) plus Starry Druid and Lore Bard (loved Swords, others are eh).

June post #6: Baldur's Gate 3 Tav Run. Honor Mode Completed 6 times. Saoirse 24 hour

Shortly after finishing up as Lae'zel I booted up a fresh run as Astarion. The gimmick this time will be 'all-rogues' and doing a somewhat evil (probably more chaotic) run.

The party

Tav Paladin: Oath of Vengeance 11 / Warlock: Hexblade 1

Went back to my roots. I just wanted to be something strong and reliable with access to strong persuasive skills to breeze past certain parts of the game.

Playing a Drow for the first time - tons of unique dialogue for sure in Act 1.

Lae'zel Monk: Open-Hand 8 / Rogue: Thief 4

My fave with one of my fave builds now. With a Strength elixir she was often our MVP.

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Shadowheart Cleric: Light 12 ???

I initially had her switch to Starry Druid but it didn't excite me much; then she was Light Cleric for a bit and just didn't really add much.

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NOT-Karlach Barbarian: Berserker 8 / Rogue: Thief 4

I had accidentally pissed off the Grove forever this time so Karlach was mad at me when I tried to recruit her. Cue me immediately going to Withers and hiring Not-Karlach.

She's FINE my main issue is I seem to have outgrown the Throwing warfare a bit; while amazing and powerful, it can be a bit annoying waiting for the returning weapon to return sometimes. I prefer having a two-handed GWM build now to just wallop enemies, much more plug and play.

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Jaheira Ranger: Gloomstalker 5 / Fighter: Champion 4 Rogue: Assassin 3

When in doubt, go back to one of your first OP builds. I was missing having the extra banter Karlach would have provided (Not-Karlach would very rarely talk) so as soon as I got Jaheira I switched her in.

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Minthara 

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Timeline of events

3rd June 2026 - s

Assessment

It was good! B

June post #5 All of Act 2 Baldur's Gate 3 in 9 and half hours on Honour Mode

 

June #4 post: Saoirse charity

 https://www.sdvs.ie/fundraisers/eoghanfallon/gamers-for-saoirse

June #3 post: Baldur's Gate 3 Origin Run 3: Astarion. Honor Mode Completed 5 times

Shortly after finishing up as Lae'zel I booted up a fresh run as Astarion. The gimmick this time will be 'all-rogues' and doing a somewhat evil (probably more chaotic) run.

The party

Astarion Arcane Trickster

I was able to replace Fire Bolt with Friends which would come in handy in some social encounters. He has the Warped Headband of Intellect and Club of Hill Giant Strength, plus the Sussur Dagger (handy to have).

The main spell use was Shield for reactions, ritual Longstrider and Feather Fall. Very rarely used Level 2 slots, but Knock came in handy a few times plus of course Cloud of Daggers.

Astarion will ascend!

Shadowheart Swashbuckler

Shadowheart can use a shield thanks to martial training or whatever so that came in handy.

Her big contributions were to cast Vicious Mockery, which I fell in love with. I avoided it multiple times as a Bard and whatnot in Bg3 so far BUT the dialogue is so funny. Addictive. Also helped set up 'Dirty Advantage' for Sneak Attacks. Rakish Sneak Attacks were pretty good for her.

She became a Dark Justiciar as I had not done enough good stuff AND said nothing at all when we met the Nightsong. So for the first time in almost 10 playthroughs I saw the NS murdered. Aw! SH was even more badass afterwards though, some of the Shar powers helped with Rogue stuff.

Gale Assassin

This is my fave subclass for Rogue and for combining with Gloomstalker and whatnot, so I had some experience with it. The plan was to recruit Minthara and have Gale sit in camp BUT Gale actually killed Minty with an arrow. Oops!

Gale helped set up loads of surprise rounds and murdered loads of stuff in one shot, so was possibly an MVP at various points. He struggled a bit versus Undead but so did all of the party. He could also wear a shield so was solid, but mostly just sniped.

The plan is to make him God for the first time, but we shall see.

Lae'zel Thief

Lae'zel is one of my fave companions if not my most fave; she got relegated to the somewhat wishy washy Thief subclass. The extra bonus action is amazing on so many different classes and I have dipped into it various times; here as a pure Thief it was underwhelming BUT not too bad. She can't wear a shield so was dual-wielding, which works well with the extra bonus action. 

I re-specced her at the start of Act 3 to have Lucky which I have never used before, Dual-Wielding and dropped Defensive Duelist (crap) plus Alert as she has fixed Dexterity at 18 thanks to the Gloves, allowing me to invest more in her mental stats for defence. I forgot to buy the Risky Ring in Act 2 so will pick it up in Act 3 and have her fish for attacks.

The plan is for her to ride off into the sunset with Orpheus, but we shall see.

Timeline of events

3rd June 2026 - started the run, got as far as Withers' Temple.

6th June 2026 - few tight corners but got the party to level 4; they seem more durable than the fighter party somehow.

7th June 2026 - Underdar struggles; I usually avoid the Bulette now. I've killed him a few times on HM it's fine.

8th June 2026 - Arcane Tower cleared and level 5;

9th June 2026 - managed to sneak 2 pieces of mithral equipment and not attack Grym at all; killed Nere to get level 6; cleared the whole creche minus the boss and reached level 7;

10th June 2026 - cleared all of Act 2 in one session minus Myrkul fight.

11th June 2026 - beat Myrkul; was a slow grinding fight but fine; almost forgot to do the Thaniel quest and save the Shadowlands on way out; killed various Giths at end of Act 2/start of Act 3. Stopped at entrance of Rivington around level 10.

12th June 2026 - cleared a good chunk of Rivington and into BG

13th June 2026 - finished the game; House of Shar was trivial with DJ Shadowheart; Cazador was also trivial with Origin Astarion who Ascended. Killed Raphael. Killed Auntie Ethel in Act 3 for the first time and on HM. Killed Orin the usual way, knocking all her servants off the ledges and then sniping her. Some close calls but all good. Killed Ansur and Gortash. I had like 10 scrolls of Globe of Invulnerability stolen so was trivial but some scary moments. Everything done more or less, I went to the brain and managed to methodically kill all of the Emperor's lackies and the brain itself.

Astarion Ascended, Gale was God, Lae'zel is the Comet (sorry Orpheus) and Shadowheart was the Mistress of the Dark or whatever.

Assessment

It was good! Better than the all-fighter party. I dominated much of Act 1 and 2 which sneak attack criticals and whatnot but started to lag a bit in Act 3; the problem was equipment. In the final session I acquired the Bhaalist Armour which made everything vulnerable to Piercing so I would just have Shadowheart fly near the enemy, then everyone else would shoot them. Rinse repeat.

Thief was somewhat underwhelming all game but made it work as Dual-Wielding Medium Armour Lae'zel. Swashbuckler was better; Vicious Mockery/Dirty Disadvantage was very handy plus Rakish Sneak Attacks. Arcane Trickster was OK, very seldom used spells outside the occasional ritual, cantrip or Shield reaction. Assassin was great as ever for starting surprise fights.

What's Next

I will probably take a short break from BG3 it's been a crazy month and a half or so since I started playing it again almost every day.

I have Wyll, Lae'zel and Astarion runs done now; all that's left is Shadowheart, Gale and Karlach.

I think Karlach has to be an all-barbarian suicide run to Gortash's coronation. But the other two will probably be Shadowheart all-Cleric (easy) and Gale all-Wizard(might be too hard for me). Maybe instead of Gale All-Wizard, it will be All-Mage, as in, Wizard Gale plus Sorcerer, Warlock, Druid? Or something? I have no experience with Wizard in BG3 but plenty in 5e; 'all-mage' at least reduces some of the equipment overlap but is still challenging.

Aside from that maybe an all-Bard run as Tav/Durge some other time; then whatever else!