The long-anticipated Baldur's Gate 3 has recently been released in early access. Fans of the franchise and Larian Studio's past games can experience the game earlier than others and provide feedback to the developers. A massive discussion point amongst the community right now is class balance.

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Since Baldur's Gate 3 uses Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons as a baseline for its ruleset, many fans had a general idea of how each class would behave. Early access gives players six classes to toy with, but it is clear that not all are created equal. Whether its due to balance changes or bugs, some classes are better than others currently. From stealthy Rogues to charismatic Warlocks, here are all six of Baldur's Gate 3's early access classes ranked from worst to best.

6 Rogue

Baldurs Gate 3

Rogues are by no means a bad class in Baldur's Gate 3. They have solid damage output with Sneak Attack and have great subclass choices, yet Rogues currently struggle due to core balance decisions and bugs present in the Early Access build.

Currently, Ranged Sneak Attack's bonus damage appears to only be granted if the player has Advantage and is on high ground. This deviates from tabletop where players just need Advantage. Melee Sneak Attack requires a backstab like normal.

As for balance, Rogues are currently much weaker than they should be due to missing features and the action economy. Expertise is missing, the Arcane Trickster subclass doesn't get Mage Hand by default, and the restriction to level 4 prevents them from using Uncanny Dodge or other defensive bonuses. Worst of all, their ability to dash as a Bonus Action as a Thief is irrelevant since the global Jump Bonus Action covers more ground than moving and has the disengage action baked into it. This single Bonus Action harms the Rogue's class identity since other classes can replicate the Rogue's unique playstyle.

5 Cleric

The companion Shadowheart talking to the player

Similar to the Rogue, the Cleric is a good class on its own but currently falls behind due to a design decision. Clerics are meant to be support characters that can be on the frontline when needed. This is definitely their strong suit in Baldur's Gate 3, but the issue is that all of their cantrips and spells can be learned by Wizards.

If the Wizard finds a Cleric spell or cantrip tied to a scroll, they can learn it and use it as much as any other spell. Since scrolls are a common drop from enemies, this fundamentally breaks the balance of Cleric and makes them much less useful than they otherwise would be. It doesn't help that Shadowheart, the companion Trickster Cleric in Baldur's Gate 3, has a rather lackluster stat distribution with nine Dexterity and no heavy armor to counteract her low Armor Class.

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Disregarding the scroll mechanic, Clerics are in a good spot in Baldur's Gate 3. Life Domain Clerics can serve as tanks, Light Domain Clerics are fantastic at healing the party while providing buffs, and Trickery Domain Clerics are great when coupled with a Rogue or stealth-oriented Ranger.

4 Warlock

Baldur's Gate 3 Warlock character creator.

Warlocks are a great choice in the current version of Baldur's Gate 3 thanks to their Charisma stat influencing their spellcasting and most dialogue checks. These characters are great at initiating dialogue and blasting targets from afar with the Eldritch Blast cantrip.

While Warlocks have solid damage output and make for great dialogue characters, they do lack utility and build variety. Gish builds—those that use swords and magic—are better off using an Eldritch Knight Fighter currently due to Pact of the Blade and the Hexblade patron being absent. For damage-focused spellcasters, Warlocks are a fantastic choice.

3 Fighter

Baldur's Gate 3 Laezel companion Fighter.

As Warlocks make for solid damage casters, Fighters are built specifically for taking down any foe that stands in their way. Fighters are proficient with most weapons in Baldur's Gate 3, can use any armor they wish, and can dish out incredible amounts of damage through dual-wielding or using a two-handed weapon. Subclasses allow the Fighter to either use spells in combat with Eldritch Knight or unlock new attacks with Battle Master.

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Fighters truly turn into whirlwinds of destruction at level three when they obtain Action Surge. Two actions can grant either a massive increase to a Fighter's damage output or allow an Eldritch Knight to use a spell to turn the tide. No matter what the player wishes to do, Fighters make for a solid option that never fails to impress.

2 Ranger

Baldur's Gate 3 Goblin Archers in cutscene.

By far the worst class in Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons at release was the Ranger. This character's feats were widely regarded as too situational to be useful. The criticism was universally agreed with, so much so that Wizards of the Coast made the Revised Ranger as a means of buffing the character.

Larian could have gone with either the vanilla Ranger or Revised Ranger when developing Baldur's Gate 3, but they instead decided to make their own tweaks to suit the game. What exactly did they change? Favored Enemy grants players proficiency in a skill and grant spells, cantrips, or proficiencies with items. Natural Explorer is significantly stronger than before, now granting players the ability to summon a familiar at will, obtain proficiency with disguise kits and thieve's tools, or obtain damage resistance against a certain element—the options being Cold, Fire, or Poison. Since elemental ground effects are so common in Baldur's Gate 3, these elemental resistances are used much more than a player might expect.

Ranger's light mix of spellcasting is still intact in Baldur's Gate 3. Classics like Hunter's Mark and Hail of Thorns return to give this nature-focused class some extra variety. Combine all of these aspects with the Ranger's subclasses—Hunter and Beastmaster in the early access version—and it's hard to argue that the Ranger is anything but a top-tier choice.

1 Wizard

Baldur's Gate 3 turn-based combat.

Wizards are typically tough to use in the first few levels of D&D due to their low health pool and small spell roster. The former is true in Baldur's Gate 3's early access build since players can only reach level 4, but the latter is non-existent due to a massive design change.

Scrolls can give their spell or cantrip to a Wizard for a small Gold fee. Instead of leveling up to learn Fire Bolt, players can find a scroll with Fire Bolt and learn it from that instead. Since scrolls are so common, this strategy is much more powerful than it should be. Better yet, Wizards can learn any spell or cantrip from a scroll, even if said spell is from another class entirely.

In other words, Wizards can learn spells that are typically reserved for Warlocks or Clerics with no opportunity cost that a feat or item might impose. It is currently unknown if this is an intended mechanic or a bug. Regardless, Wizards are currently the jack-of-all-trades, master of all in Baldur's Gate 3 since they can use any spell or cantrip in the game. Just make sure to keep the Wizard away from the frontline so they don't get focused by the enemy AI.

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