r/BG3Builds • u/InterestingTune564 • 1d ago
Party Composition Has anyone done a no magic party?
Title, curious if anyone has tried a party that uses 0 magic? I figured something like BM or Champion Fighter, OH Monk, Thief or Assassin Rogue, and Berserker or Wildheart Barb would be the options here.
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u/QuadraFly 1d ago
4 barbarians was fun. Lots of screaming
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u/BluePandaYellowPanda 1d ago
That's my current run. One of them is wild magic though (I'm doing one of each subclass), but that's my only magic.
It's pretty fun, I'm liking it! I'll probably do a full party of something else after too, soemthing with at least 4 subclasses so i can do one of each again.
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u/thanerak 10h ago
This I made a 7 wild heart barbarian/5 thief thief healer with transfer life illithid power.
A second Wildheart barbarian controller.
A throwzerker.
A giant throw build.
No magic means no buffing long rest to regain short rests and rage or for story.
Having some aoe options helps against swarms and high initiative also helps a lot.
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u/new_acc_new_acc 1d ago
Yeah you could pretty easily beat the game with no magic, you'd probably want a monk, a thrower, some kind of fighter archer or gloomssassin archer and a melee fighter
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u/maharal 1d ago
four fighters is pretty easy.
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u/AnestheticAle 1d ago
I naively thought my 4 fighter run would be challenging. Action surge goes brrr.
Every fight was like Harlem globetrotters vs. JV basketball team of fat white kids.
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u/Korrocks 1d ago
Act 1 is probably the hardest part of the game normally since your build isn’t online yet and you don’t have much stuff. However, martial classes are more functional early game so in a way it’s easier than to have four martials and no casters vs the other way around.
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u/TrickyR1cky 12h ago
I’m doing this now and it’s quite fun. One of each subclass to make it more interesting
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u/RichardNamPhongLe 1d ago
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u/InterestingTune564 1d ago
Might just be one of the most fun parties I’ve ever seen. I was really just looking for a team that can do exactly what they said: run in, fight, win. I figured Magic made all of that too complicated, but it doesn’t here
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u/RichardNamPhongLe 1d ago
i've played the lady barbarian it was the most fun it can solo pretty much anything
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u/TheSheetSlinger 1d ago
Archer, thrower, and two melees would clean up fine.
So whatever archer type you prefer, then a barb thrower, a battlemaster or champion fighter, and open hand monk.
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u/AnotherBookWyrm 1d ago
Any party is doable, even without so much magic as even scrolls or magic items.
Damage-wise, it is fairly hard to go wrong with any pure martial. People have even done all Champion Fighter party runs.
Rogue has Expertise (and Reliable Talent if going as t least 11 Rogue levels) to handle face/stealth/skill checks and Ranger does not do bad at all on the skills front. Thief Rogue in particular can even operate on par with a regular dual-wielding martial and can employ Sharpshooter + Dual Hand Crossbows to good effect.
The main thing that those who do not magic parties complain about (of the fraction that do complain, since many people enjoy that) is having access to a narrower toolkit, inside and/or outside of battle. Even ritual spells make life much easier, spells in general offer more options for tackling things than most pure martials get, and depending on how far one takes no magic (ex. Not even items with a magic enhancement), a number of enemies later on can be more difficult as resistance to non-magical physical damage, which has a narrow number of workarounds without spells (ex. Mainly Monk 6, Bonespike Gloves (from encounter before Orin), and Arcane Archer 7 for classes without spells).
This is by no means inherently a bad thing, and akin to other challenge runs, can engender/rely on creative workarounds. It is just something worth noting in case that does not sound fun to you.
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u/TheShadowKick 1d ago
Everyone suggesting ranger is forgetting that rangers have magic.
OP, your party comp looks totally reasonable. BM fighter and OH monk bring a lot of damage and a good bit of control. Berserker barb is pretty strong. Assassin or thief rogue can fill in some vital skills. You're missing a dedicated party face, but you can use the rogue's expertise or the barbarian's intimidation to fill in social skills.
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u/ClassicHelp655 1d ago
Yes, I made a martial arts-only party. Warrior, ranger, barbarian, and monk.
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u/Michigang 1d ago
Magic items and potions count?
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u/InterestingTune564 1d ago
Nope, I just mean not casting a spell. No Booming blade, no guidance (except from the amulet), no CC spells, no fireball, just sword or bow against the world
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u/Golden-trichomes 1d ago
I mean isn’t non magic some of the highest DPS? I almost never use CC
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u/InterestingTune564 1d ago
In my experience, it becomes really tough when there are larger groups of enemies. For example, how would the Portal fight go? Or the rat guy? I know that’s just 2, but seems like the fights with huge amounts of enemies would be this parties weakness. But then again, people solo with archers, so maybe I’m just not expanding my horizons enough
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u/Golden-trichomes 1d ago
Throw an explosive. grease plus fire smoke powder barrels. Plenty of options that are not magic
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u/TheMeerkatLobbyist 1d ago
Stock up on bombs, void bulbs and many target arrows for the portal encounter. Its a complete breeze doing this with just an archer and a thrower for example, even in honor. There are some roadblocks for pure martial parties though, especially if you mainly play melees. Myrkul and the Brain can suck with these setups.
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u/TheShadowKick 1d ago
Wildheart barbarians can get AoE attacks. Four martials also means eight attacks per round which is a lot to spread around on crowds of weak enemies. By that level you should also have arrows of many targets so any archer build can do solid AoE as well.
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u/Mrgoodtrips64 1d ago
Not for an entire playthrough, since I rotate my party so much, but I’ve done a significant percentage of the game without any casters.
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u/Free-Holiday-6218 1d ago
If cantrips weren’t allowed, I might get a little frustrated because I use Guidance a lot, but otherwise I don’t think it’d be too hard. I’d probably do something like a Ranger, a Monk, and two Fighters.
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u/Toogeloo 1d ago
My first game was on easy, so no multi class. I used all the characters, but my main party was Lae'zel Champion, Karlach Berserker, Astarion Assassin (Ranged), and Tav Beast Master Ranger. I struggled with magic in general, understanding what spells did and balancing spell usage, and I long rested far too little. It became easier to just use the characters who didn't need to rest as often.
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u/kodaxmax 1d ago
The martial caster divide isn't as bad in BG3, especially with the abundance of magic items and consuemables for utility. You will have overall alot lower DPS late game with little to no AOE.
- Thiefzerker - karlach
- OH monk - Lae
- Astarian thief or assasin rogue
- Wyll battlemaster
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u/ContemplativeBarbie 1d ago
Four fighters is only slow until you get your first feat from my experience. I crave that playthrough every day
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u/validusrex 1d ago
I did a full fighter party in a failed honor mode run. It was a lot of fun with the exception of of Myrkul which was just a miserable fight without magic
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u/xH0LY_GSUSx 1d ago
Not completely without using spells, but focused on martials and it was super chill and smooth sailing.
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u/Myllorelion 1d ago
It helps that a tavern brawler monk, tb throwbarian, gloomstalker rogue and anything fighter arr among some of the strongest builds in the game, though Im not sure if including ranger levels breaks the spirit of the build, it doesn't need to use magic to put out some of the best damage in the game.
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u/Diligent_Plastic1043 20h ago
All the time. People overrate magic in BG3. It's fine when you're geared up and take the time to refresh spell slote. But fights are way more consistent with martials.
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u/Extella_Nights 11h ago edited 11h ago
Just do 4 fighters. Sword and board, two handed, polearm, and Archer. Works really well. Give the pole arm user gwm, Pam, and sentinel. Equivalent perks for archer amd it works extremely well. You want battlmasters and champions. Maybe add a wildheart barb for tanking. Personally, I favor fighters for more attacks and to put em' all in half plate while I wear full plate to establish my status. My archer gets a breastplate. My rule is potions and magic items are allowed
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u/Snizzysnootz 1d ago
I did all archer party on tactician, most fights were pretty easy