Cleric/Wizard Necromancer

Overview

The Death Domain Cleric – Necromancy Wizard multiclass is an incredibly diverse Necrotic-focused build for Baldur’s Gate 3. We have great offensive capabilities, an array of utility and significant bulk without having to compromise on anything. We have great presence in combat, straight out of character creation, and the build is very accessible and cheap to assemble – utilising gear that not a lot of other builds/archetypes use. This build feels super satisfying to reach Level 12 with, boasting a rewarding synergy of thematic and mechanical features that makes you feel like a true puppeteer of the dead. My version of this build drew heavy inspiration from zanuffas at Gamestegy and Jay Dunna, who are both exceptionally creative build-crafters. This guide will explain the core functions and strengths of the build, the general progression over the course of your playthrough and gear advice.

Strengths of the build:

• A consistent power level throughout all stages of the game.
• Access to the bulk of the cleric and wizard spell lists enabling insane utility.
• Can fit into almost any party team comp, combat-wise.
• Reliant on very few magical items, which are often uncontested, and can make use of all the classic powerhouse items.
• Our subclass features neuter the not uncommon resistance to necrotic damage before it becomes prominent and grant respectable sustain in the late game.

Shortcomings of the build:

• An awkward split of ability scores means that our raw skill proficiency bonuses aren’t as high as other classes/builds.
• The focus on necrotic damage make the bulk of our kit ineffectual in the few predominantly Necrotic damage immune encounters, i.e. the Murder Tribunal and fight against Mystic Carrion, meaning we have to rely almost exclusively on our Destroy Undead for offense in these situations.
• The true power fantasy of being the leader of an undead army isn’t realised until we reach character level 12 in Act 3.

Disclaimer

The primary purpose of this guide is to give you an understanding of how and why the build works, allowing you to tailor a number of its elements to fit your preferred playstyle, spells and/or skills. Thus, a number of the core build elements (especially breakpoint/capstone class features and frequently referenced spells/actions) will be essential, whilst pretty much everything else can be tweaked to whatever you find most fun or interesting – we are playing a video game so make things your own and enjoy. Moreover, as Baldur’s Gate 3 is an incredibly complex game with an inconceivable number of combinations of spells, features, items, buffs and de-buffs, there will likely be a number of variants of the build that are stronger on one or more fronts than what I have planned out, and that’s OK. One of the objectives of my build plans is to create something strong and capable but also simple enough to understand and thus, easy to improve upon, should you seek to min max it. Now that we understand that, let’s get into the build guide.

Character Creation

Ability Scores

The ability score distribution for our build is a little unorthodox, due to the nature of our multiclass. As the primary stat for Cleric is WIS and the primary stat for Wizard is INT, we have 4 pretty important ability scores to distribute amongst. Thankfully, we don’t need to race to the ability score soft cap to keep up with the ability checks in the mid to late game. My suggested distribution is 9 STR, 14 DEX, 14 CON, 14 INT, 16 WIS and 8 CHA – this is based on the idea that we are not using the hag hair for the free +1. If we are using the hag hair, because of how messy the style of multiclass is, we could push to 17 WIS but would have to dump some of the DEX bonus points allowing us to hit 18 WIS without an ASI. However, I personally do not recommend this spread as it would be quite an inefficient use of the hag hair and the lack of DEX would result in a lower AC, meaning a heavy armour proficiency would have to be subsidised with the free feat slot we gained. I think other builds that need less varied distributions of ability scores would make a lot better use of the hag hair. Starting out with a 16 WIS as our highest ability score, and not making use of the hag hair, isn’t the end of the world – especially when we get into the late game and have the bulk of our BIS gear.

We will only need to respec our ability scores in the late game if we elect to pick up one of the few magical items that set an ability score to a specific number – in which case, we can respec to dump the original investment and place the remainder in one, or a number of, our other prominent ability scores.

Class, Features and Abilities

This build gains some of its core functions before we even step foot on the Nautiloid. Our first level is going to dropped into the Cleric, with the Death Domain, which immediately bolsters our offenses with the Reaper feature. In selecting Toll the Dead, Bursting Sinew and Guidance as our three standard Cleric cantrips and then Bone Chill as the cantrip granted by the Death Domain‘s bonus feature, we have three different multi-target spell attacks that use no spellcasting resources whilst also having access to Guidance for bolstering our party members skill checks – insanity. No other Level 1 build has this much consistent, efficient offensive output and because these are cantrips, the damage of these spell attacks continue to scale in the later levels, even though we multiclass out of Cleric half-way through our adventure. For spells, you should select Inflict Wounds, Healing Word, Guiding Bolt and Command – these options further cement this builds place as a combat powerhouse right from first level.

Other Character Creation Options

Race

The race options for this build don’t matter too much. We can choose whatever tickles our fancy aesthetically, or whatever grants us a racial bonus feature we would find convenient. I personally like either the High Elf or the High Half Elf as they can get yet another free cantrip, totalling 5 cantrips at level 1. I would elect to pick up Booming Blade with this feature as it can synergise with the Spirit Guardians spell that will become a mainstay of combat in the mid game. Enemies hit by Booming Blade will often have the choice to either: suffer the Booming Blade damage, should they elect to move away from us to escape the Spirit Guardian damage, or face extra damage from the Spirit Guardians if they forego movement to avoid Booming Blade damage. This combo is often a lose-lose situation for anyone unlucky enough to be hit by it. If we were looking for a more aesthetically/thematically matching race, we may want to select the Drow. If we opt for the Lolth-Sworn, we will automatically have Lolth herself selected as our Cleric Deity, and if we select the Seldarine Drow, we may want to select Kelemvor as our deity. Gaining Darkness and Faerie Fire for free over the course of Act 1 is nothing to scoff at too – these are effective supportive concentration spells that can be used in combat encounters where our Necrotic damage is ineffective and we want to operate in more of a supportive role, rather than offensive.

Background and Skill Proficiencies

As we split our ability scores among INT and WIS, we can pick a number of backgrounds that align with either of them and reap some decent benefits:

• If we wanted to focus more on the INT skills, we can opt for Sage.
• If we wanted to focus more on the WIS skills, we can opt for Folk Hero.
• If we wanted one of each, we can opt for Acolyte.

With the skill proficiency options granted by Cleric, we can fill out some extra proficiencies associated with WIS and INT, such as Medicine, Religion and History.

Levelling, Progression and Gear

With this build path, we are aiming to drop 6 levels into Cleric and then 6 levels into Wizard, targeting the subclass features granted at these breakpoints.

Why start with Cleric?

Starting with the Cleric first allows us to be a lot safer and durable in the early levels of the game – the Reaper feature also lets us unleash multi-target offensive spells every turn without easily chewing through the limited spell slots we have access to at the beginning of the game. If we put our first 6 levels into Cleric, we will have our Necrotic Spirit Guardians available, the War Caster feat to maintain concentration on them and ignore the resistance which starts to become more common as we head into Act 2. Also, starting with Cleric first allows us to build up a large stockpile of learnable spell scrolls before selecting the Wizard spells on level ups – this allows us to have the most diverse spell-book possible, reduces gold waste and expands on the optional tools available to us in the earlier Wizard levels.

Progression

The 6 Cleric levels grant us the bulk of our close range and melee-focused Necrotic spells and features and allows us to function as a significant front-line threat while maintaining many of the supportive capabilities that your average Cleric brings to the table. Spirit Guardians will be our primary damage source in close-range combat, supported by our cantrips which will be super economical, spell slot-wise. Once we start getting some levels in Wizard, we evolve from a lower range front-line carry into a more diverse menace. The primary strengths we gain here will be in the form of a greatly expanded spell pool – there are a number of spells that we will only be able to learn through scrolls, especially the 5th and 6th level spells. We will soon be capable of sustaining ourself with the Grim Harvest feature, and with access to all of our new blasting spells, we will decimate our foes at longer ranges, eventually attain the cornerstone of the Necromancer playstyle – the ability to raise an overwhelming army of undead. Our snowballing potential in fights is remarkable and there are a healthy number of items to compliment both the strengths and weaknesses of our build.

Early in the game, before acquiring any magical items, we’ll want to pick up a set of medium armour (hijack Lae’zel’s Githyanki Half Plate, I’m sure she will not mind), a shield, a rapier and a heavy crossbow. These are a solid baseline to build up from and should be more than sufficient for our adventure throughout Act 1.

As far as the Act 1 magical items go, some of the best options include:

• Melf’s First Staff: A +1 Quarterstaff that grants us a +1 bonus to our Spell Save DC and spell attack rolls which, without the early ASI or access to stacking Arcane Acuity, is very much welcomed.
• The Blood of Lathander: Though the aesthetic clashes with the theme of our build, and most of us will have STR as a dump stat, the +3 Weapon Enchantment and access to a 6th level AOE spell this early into the game will offset the flaws of this overpowered weapon. Also we are raising many undead minions this early in the game so the de-buff from Lathander’s Light won’t be as detrimental as it would likely later on in our adventure.
• Phalar Aluve: Simply one of the most consistent weapons available in the early game. The Sing action allows us to bestow pseudo-Bless on, potentially, our entire party without concentrating on it. Freeing up the chance to focus on another powerful combat spell. Just nuts.
• Adamantine Shield: Bolsters our defence and consistently reduces incoming damage when we are on the front-lines.
• Safeguard Shield: The +1 Saving Throws can mean the difference between having Spirit Guardians and wasting a turn casting it again.
• Boots of Stormy Clamour: Synergises insanely well with Spirit Guardians, lowering enemy Saving Throws and potentially knocking them prone with zero manual activation.
• Ring of Arcane Synergy: A welcome but sometimes inconsequential option that boosts our melee attacks, should we use them each turn. If we become a regular user of Shadow Blade, this will find more use.
• Ring of Protection: The +1 increase to AC is always good, especially with our medium armour and the +1 to Saving Throws, once again, cannot be understated when trying to maintain Spirit Guardians.

Once we get into Act 2, we’ll notice that the weapons don’t exactly improve, and the weapons we acquired in Act 1 still hold up quite well. As far as new armour goes, these are some of our options:

• Ketheric’s Shield: +1 to our Spell Save DC and spell attack rolls across the board is the best offensive buff a shield can grant us. Advantage on DEX Saving Throws is not super relevant but can only benefit us, and may mean the difference between no effect and a potentially crippling de-buff, should the situation arise.
• Fistbreaker Helm: A +1 to our Spell Save DC and Initiative Rolls grants more consistency to our Spirit Guardians and our future Circle of Death spell.
• Circle of Bones: An valuable piece of equipment that will gain merit once we reach full build, capable of granting our future undead army more staying power. Something to pick up in Act 2 and keep in our back pocket, should we want to focus on our undead army.
• Hat of Fire Acuity: It may seem like a mistake to mention this item but combining it with the Scorching Ray spell we gain at Character Level 10 and casting it out at 5th level can grant us 10 full stacks of Arcane Acuity which boosts our Spell Save DC and spell attack rolls by 10, compounding on top of all of our other boosts. The temporary offensive capabilities granted by this buff alone is enough to render a Major Boss’s Legendary Resistance completely useless. Unbelievable.
• Gloves of Battlemage’s Power: Grants us a way to help maintain our stacks of Arcane Acuity until the moment is right to drop a Circle of Death.

In Act 3, where our flesh puppeteer dream comes to life, we will transition to more concrete gear:

• Staff of Cherished Necromancy: This staff can be acquired the second we reach the Lower City in Act 3, and the Circle of Death blasting enabled by the item’s Life Essence feature will make us truly unstoppable. This is a must have for true necromancers and is what lets us overwhelm our enemies once we reach our Wizard breakpoint at level 12.
• Viconia’s Walking Fortress: The strongest defensive shield in the game and, thus, highly contested. Unless you’re the recipient of a dozen high level AOE spells or pushed off something very high on to something very sharp, the Grim Harvest feature should out-sustain any damage not mitigated by this shield.
• Hellrider Longbow: The Heightened Awareness feature alone is enough to make this a BIS item. In 99% of situations, our cantrips are still stronger than this weapon’s attacks.
• Helldusk Armour: It’s Helldusk Armour, man.
• Armour of the Sporekeeper: Though it fits the aesthetic of our build, it is quite lacklustre. A bonus to our Spell Save DC is cool, but the 1 bonus Necrotic damage is completely negligible. We would rather have a significantly higher AC – a simple +2 Half Plate or Breastplate would probably be better overall. If you are OK with compromising on some of your raw defences and wanna look cool, then this is an option.
• Helldusk Gloves: A contested and incredibly synergistic item that gives us everything we could possibly want in an endgame item.
• Amulet of the Devout: A free +2 bonus to our Spell Save DC is ridiculous and there aren’t many other amulets that compete at this stage in the game. The extra Channel Divinity charge helps us overcome the Undead enemies we typically have trouble deleting.

Build Variations

There is decent wiggle room for customisation in the more minor aspects of the levelling process, ability score distributions and skill proficiencies. Depending on the rest of our party composition, we may want to lean more into a supportive role by investing more into the spells that enable our party members to do damage such as spreading Faerie Fire and Create or Destroy Water. We may want to learn Ice Storm to create difficult terrain or pick up more healing spells and healing gear to alleviate pressure from a more frail melee-based team. This build can pretty much do anything inside of combat, especially in the later levels, and depending on what we find that we need to over the course of the playthrough, we can adjust a number of selectable elements to compensate.

Unfortunately, it feels as though we can’t afford to branch out any further with multiclassing, especially for dips for extra proficiencies, lest we give up on the 6th level class features that are the pillars of our build. There is room for a combination of an Oathbreaker Paladin and Death Domain Cleric Build, dropping the Necromancy Wizard altogether. This would be more melee focused, enable heavy armour proficiency and grant the ability to straight up control undead enemies. A 6/6 split, just like our current build, or a 7/5 split would grant a synergistic combination of features too. This build would make greater use of Shadow Blade too, thematically and functionally, with the multi attack Paladin feature and smiting capabilities.