The Fiendish Ranger - Wyll
"Battle favours the fearless."
Wyll is a Fiend Warlock and Hunter Ranger, trusting his own prowess in battle alongside his patron's magic. This build leans into narrative continuity while still being fairly effective in combat.
[check out my other builds!]
Gameplay Notes
The goal here is to make Wyll a decent melee fighter, without dipping into the Fighter or Paladin classes [either of which would, to be clear, make this build so much stronger]. Ranger gives a lot of utility and there are several lore-friendly and strong items that work great with Wyll’s character, so the build is perfectly serviceable in lower difficulty levels.
Ranger and Warlock have very limited synergies, but it’s important to note that this build does not put anything extra into WIS. Instead, the build prioritizes DEX for melee attacks with a rapier and CHA for spellcasting and items boosts.
Stats and Leveling
Final build: Level 5 Fiend Warlock, Level 7 Hunter Ranger [PLEASE NOTE: when you reach Level 6 and are starting to add Ranger levels, RECLASS to start Ranger Level 1, that way your item spell-casting modifier will still be CHA, which is relatively essential for the build. I know I usually avoid doing this because I like keeping people as their starting class, but I think this is an exception because it’s just a quirk of how bg3 handles multiclassing. more info on the bg3 wiki]
Wyll’s (default) stats: STR 8 / DEX 13 / CON 14 / INT 13 / WIS 10 / CHA 17
Level 1 - Warlock (The Fiend) Level 1
- Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Bone Chill
- 1st Level Spells [Hex is essential, Hellish Rebuke and Burning Hands are thematic]
Level 2 - Warlock (The Fiend) Level 2
- Eldritch Invocations: Agonising Blast and Devil’s Sight [I love picking Devil’s Sight on Wyll because of Mizora’s sending stone eye… something about it feels fitting]
Level 3 - Warlock (The Fiend) Level 3
- Pact Boon: Pact of the Blade
- 2nd Level Spells [Cloud of Daggers is my favorite spell in the game]
Level 4 - Warlock (The Fiend) Level 4
- Feat: ASI+ DEX>16
- Cantrip: Friends [but pick whatever you like]
Level 5 - Warlock (The Fiend) Level 5
- Deepened Pact/Extra Attack
- 3rd Level Spells [Hunger of Hadar and Counterspell are my recommendations]
Level 6 - Ranger Level 1 [PLEASE NOTE: when you reach Level 6 and are starting to add Ranger levels, RECLASS to start Ranger Level 1, that way your item spell-casting modifier will still be CHA, which is relatively essential for the build. I know I usually avoid doing this because I like keeping people as their starting class, but I think this is an exception because it’s just a quirk of how bg3 handles multiclassing. more info on the bg3 wiki]
- Favored Enemy: Keeper of the Veil
- Natural Explorer: Wasteland Wanderer: Fire
Level 7 - Ranger Level 2
- Fighting Style: Duelling
- 1st Level Spells [WIS won’t be high enough for anything incredibly relevant, so prioritize utility]
Level 8 - Ranger (Hunter) Level 3
- Hunter’s Prey: Colossus Slayer
Level 9 - Ranger (Hunter) Level 4
- Feat: ASI+ DEX>14, CHA>18
Level 10 - Ranger (Hunter) Level 5
- Extra Attack [if you’re not in Honor Mode, this stacks with Pact of the Blade]
- 2nd Level Spells
Level 11 - Ranger (Hunter) Level 6
- Favoured Enemy: Bounty Hunter [at this point in the story, he might have talked about wanting to track Mizora down]
- Natural Explorer: Wasteland Wanderer: Poison [this is basically a random pick, choose whatever you want]
Level 12 - Ranger (Hunter) Level 7
- Defensive Tactics: Multiattack Defense
Items
Armor - Helldusk Armour (3 House of Hope)
Melee Weapon - Infernal Rapier (2 Mindflayer Colony)
Ranged Weapon - Crossbow of Arcane Force (1 Creche)
Amulet - The Spectator Eyes (1 Underdark)
Helmet -
- Diadem of Arcane Synergy (1 Creche)
- Helldusk Helmet (3 House of Hope)
Ring 1 - Ring of Arcane Synergy (1 Creche)
Ring 2 -
- Snowburst Ring (2 List Light Inn) [this is great if you’re using Hunger of Hadar]
- Burnished Ring (3 House of Hope)
Gloves - Helldusk Gloves (3 House of Hope)
Boots - Helldusk Boots (3 Wrym’s Rock)
Cloak - Cloak of Displacement (3 Danthelon's Dancing Axe)
Lore and Flavor
If Wyll manages to break his pact with Mizora, he settles into the life of a heroic ranger — faring just fine without his patron’s powers. In a lot of ways, the ranger class is a bit of a blank slate (if you ignore the stereotypical “Aragorn-esque” theming), and I think the writers of BG3 reference the class primarily to explain how Wyll, a relatively low strength character, could succeed in physical combat in the Hells. So this build leans into that!
I enjoy roleplaying this build as if Wyll becomes more and more hesitant to use his powers as the story progresses, especially in Act 3 where his personal narrative comes more into play. I also LOVE putting Wyll in the Helldusk armor set — partially because I think it looks awesome on his character, and partially because I feel that the hellfire synergy makes sense for his character. [is it entirely optimized to use the whole set on one character? probably not! but idc] Usually, by the time I actually manage to get out of the House of Hope alive, Wyll has already declared himself the Blade of Avernus, so I think it fits. Plus, I always try to put the Helldusk armor on a character that wouldn’t otherwise be able to wear heavy armor, so that’s an added bonus. The one downside is that I can’t quite believe Wyll would go to Avernus in the best armor in the whole game and then show up to the epilogue six months later in a feathery tank top. [jk he can do whatever he wants, maybe he got too hot or something lmao]
A note about the Infernal Rapier: While I’d also recommend Duellist’s Prerogative (3 Lora), I am so in love with the description of the Infernal Rapier that I can’t part with it: “this blade is Wyll's soul summarised in steel.” I think he would switch it out after losing his powers (and therefore not benefitting from the Melee Caster attribute), but that doesn’t happen until after the game is done, so I leave him with the Infernal Rapier from the moment I get it through the defeat of the Brain.