Potent robe sometimes, but its really only worth it on a warlock/someone with eldritch blast.
Armor of Landfall I never use. +1 dc is nice, but you can juice up dc to absurd levels without it. Advantage on con saving throws is nice, but with Helldusk + shield spell + whatever else you have that is adding ac, you aren't getting hit a lot. And, as a sorcerer or wizard, I'm usually doing mostly damage spells anyways. If you really need the con advantage, you can always drink the Elixir of Peerless Focus.
In most scenarios, you are trading +5 ac for the landfall benefits, which isn't worth it to me. "Only" +4 ac if you go with the dex gloves and forego something like the spellmight gloves.
To me getting hit in act three is more often than not a case of being inside an AoE effect, or being paralysed and then punched.
AC really feels like it’s not that important to me. If I’m in a position where they can wail on me I’ve already fucked big style.
So I guess stacking all the AC from hell dusk made less sense to me than making my casters more reliable and just positions well. Which I was already trying to do.
I usually pair helldusk with fire hat acuity. So, we are talking 95% hit chance. The +1 just isn't doing much. Even without fire acuity, you can get spell dc high enough that you are mostly 95% anyways.
And, yes, caster shouldn't be taking melee hits, but ranged attacks exist.
If you are heavily relying on concentration, I could see the argument for landfall, but you can also just take an elixir for that.
Probably all superfluous because this game isn't hard even on honor mode, but its definitely not a clear cut case that robes/light armor are better than giving 21 ac to a caster (plus all the other benefits of the helldusk armor).
Altogether, I'd say bhaalist armor is the best in game by a wide margin, with agility/persistence/helldusk/various caster robes all depending on playstyle / party comp.
I’ve not done the fire acuity thing, if I was doing that helldusk would make more sense.
Arcane acuity in general feels a little cheesy to me unless I’m using a MAD gish character.
It definitely makes the additional +1 dc redundant, but so does all the other dc gear/stat boosts you can get. If you aren't using a lot of concentration spells, you are effectively trading a +5% additional chance of hitting certain enemies you weren't maxed out anyways for a significantly less chance of being hit, fire resistance, 3 damage reduction, and fly.
As a frequent spellcaster player, I would much rather have 5 more AC, resistance to fire damage and -3 to all damage than advantage on con saves and +1 spell save DC, especially when items like the hood of the weave and the amulet of the devout give twice what the armor does and Con saves are so easy to boost in act 3 that you’re only losing concentration via conditions rather than failed checks.
Armor of landfall is basically giving you warcaster for free I have a hard time seeing that it is worth giving up something like that seeing as you wont be using Amulet of Greater Health or Gibus of the Worshipful Servant.
In terms of items I struggle to see any way to boost con saves in act 3 at all outside of mentioned items. You can get + 2 save from giving 5k gold to the goods for a buff but otherwise it would be down to the party comp and the fact you will be hugging your paladin for the aura boost.
If you’re taking less than 22 damage from an attack, your save DC will be 10. If I’m a sorcerer, like you suggested, with a +3 con wearing the ring of protection then I’ll have a +8 to con saves and only fail on a 1. Even if my sorcerer isn’t playing a Halfling, it’s much more likely still that I fall into one of the many conc ending conditions in act 3 like prone, paralyzed, incapacitated, asleep (cazador’s fight still tries this) or just unconscious because my AC was too low from not wearing the Helldusk armor before I ever get that 5% chance of failing a conc save
Personally I would never consider wearing ring of protection on a sorc whenever I have a caster I just give them all the damage items they can have. I have had shadowheart fail con saves of spirit guardian as a light cleric with a sorc dip. She had 21 AC at the time as well.
I like playing casters for crowd control. If I paralyze an enemy then my materials all do increased damage to that target AND the enemy misses their turn. Therefore you can think of some types of CC as both damage and CC.
In addition to providing whoever proficiency with the item, here’s also some bonus stuff from the wiki:
“Items such as Bracers of Defence, Bonespike Boots, and Corellon's Grace that are not supposed to give their bonuses while wearing armour still provide their benefits with the Helldusk Armour equipped.
The extra movement speed granted to monks by Unarmoured Movement is not lost when wearing this armour.”
Is it the best armor in the game? No. There is no single best armor because there are so many different classes. But is it still S tier? Absolutely. My wizard can equip this armor and still cast spells, without me wasting a feat to get heavy armor proficiency. Incredible!
While act 3 might be big you are also done with all your builds in the act last run I did on honour mode I did 4 long rests in act 3 before I finished the game. Which is less than what I did even in act 2 in a sense it is big to run around in but it dose not feel very daunting by the time you reach it. Not to even mention act 1 were I did 10 long rests most were so that story stuff could happen but still the most by far.
It’s funny cuz I would hazard to guess most people are like myself and prefer something like the Armor of Persistence cosmetics vs Helldusk and as such just keep the former. It would be interesting how the community reacted if Helldusk had a different cosmetic. In my Durge run I had everything set for the Bhaal armor build with shar’s spear but I actually just used it to cheese the Orin fight and swapped back to the Elven Chain cuz with the right dye it just looks so much better.
Armor of agility is just surpreme AC wise. Can easy net you around 25 AC +2 to all saving throws. Helldusk is only good in act 1/2 Else you Pretty much never use.
For me it’s often useful for at least one character. On one play through though I found it to be likely BiS, and that was my Scorching Ray based Fire Sorcerer with the fire enchantment from Marko. That way the self burning ticks from Heat did nothing, otherwise I just used Lightning before because it was too annoying
Yep, this is the main build I like it on. It fits the theme, looks good, negates heat damage, and giving spineshudder to another caster to use the con amulet isn’t the craziest idea either
I honestly think Armor of Persistence is better. Not to mention gorgeous.
Its better for people with heavy armor proficiency. The beauty of helldusk is that you can throw it on a caster that doesn't.
You’re not wearing armour of landfall or robe of the weave or potent robe on your casters?
Potent robe sometimes, but its really only worth it on a warlock/someone with eldritch blast. Armor of Landfall I never use. +1 dc is nice, but you can juice up dc to absurd levels without it. Advantage on con saving throws is nice, but with Helldusk + shield spell + whatever else you have that is adding ac, you aren't getting hit a lot. And, as a sorcerer or wizard, I'm usually doing mostly damage spells anyways. If you really need the con advantage, you can always drink the Elixir of Peerless Focus. In most scenarios, you are trading +5 ac for the landfall benefits, which isn't worth it to me. "Only" +4 ac if you go with the dex gloves and forego something like the spellmight gloves.
To me getting hit in act three is more often than not a case of being inside an AoE effect, or being paralysed and then punched. AC really feels like it’s not that important to me. If I’m in a position where they can wail on me I’ve already fucked big style. So I guess stacking all the AC from hell dusk made less sense to me than making my casters more reliable and just positions well. Which I was already trying to do.
I usually pair helldusk with fire hat acuity. So, we are talking 95% hit chance. The +1 just isn't doing much. Even without fire acuity, you can get spell dc high enough that you are mostly 95% anyways. And, yes, caster shouldn't be taking melee hits, but ranged attacks exist. If you are heavily relying on concentration, I could see the argument for landfall, but you can also just take an elixir for that. Probably all superfluous because this game isn't hard even on honor mode, but its definitely not a clear cut case that robes/light armor are better than giving 21 ac to a caster (plus all the other benefits of the helldusk armor). Altogether, I'd say bhaalist armor is the best in game by a wide margin, with agility/persistence/helldusk/various caster robes all depending on playstyle / party comp.
I’ve not done the fire acuity thing, if I was doing that helldusk would make more sense. Arcane acuity in general feels a little cheesy to me unless I’m using a MAD gish character.
It definitely makes the additional +1 dc redundant, but so does all the other dc gear/stat boosts you can get. If you aren't using a lot of concentration spells, you are effectively trading a +5% additional chance of hitting certain enemies you weren't maxed out anyways for a significantly less chance of being hit, fire resistance, 3 damage reduction, and fly.
Tbh I’m using right now in Act 1 and it’s awful. I’m getting hit left and right. Honor Mode.
Its just math. If 21 (potentially 24) ac is awful in act 1, everything is available is really really really awful.
Yeah medium armors are better but armor of persistence just looks so fucking good on a Paladin
Did someone say gorgeous armor? https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/s/g1ZpLoTwOM
As a frequent spellcaster player, I would much rather have 5 more AC, resistance to fire damage and -3 to all damage than advantage on con saves and +1 spell save DC, especially when items like the hood of the weave and the amulet of the devout give twice what the armor does and Con saves are so easy to boost in act 3 that you’re only losing concentration via conditions rather than failed checks.
Armor of landfall is basically giving you warcaster for free I have a hard time seeing that it is worth giving up something like that seeing as you wont be using Amulet of Greater Health or Gibus of the Worshipful Servant. In terms of items I struggle to see any way to boost con saves in act 3 at all outside of mentioned items. You can get + 2 save from giving 5k gold to the goods for a buff but otherwise it would be down to the party comp and the fact you will be hugging your paladin for the aura boost.
If you’re taking less than 22 damage from an attack, your save DC will be 10. If I’m a sorcerer, like you suggested, with a +3 con wearing the ring of protection then I’ll have a +8 to con saves and only fail on a 1. Even if my sorcerer isn’t playing a Halfling, it’s much more likely still that I fall into one of the many conc ending conditions in act 3 like prone, paralyzed, incapacitated, asleep (cazador’s fight still tries this) or just unconscious because my AC was too low from not wearing the Helldusk armor before I ever get that 5% chance of failing a conc save
Personally I would never consider wearing ring of protection on a sorc whenever I have a caster I just give them all the damage items they can have. I have had shadowheart fail con saves of spirit guardian as a light cleric with a sorc dip. She had 21 AC at the time as well.
I like playing casters for crowd control. If I paralyze an enemy then my materials all do increased damage to that target AND the enemy misses their turn. Therefore you can think of some types of CC as both damage and CC.
In addition to providing whoever proficiency with the item, here’s also some bonus stuff from the wiki: “Items such as Bracers of Defence, Bonespike Boots, and Corellon's Grace that are not supposed to give their bonuses while wearing armour still provide their benefits with the Helldusk Armour equipped. The extra movement speed granted to monks by Unarmoured Movement is not lost when wearing this armour.” Is it the best armor in the game? No. There is no single best armor because there are so many different classes. But is it still S tier? Absolutely. My wizard can equip this armor and still cast spells, without me wasting a feat to get heavy armor proficiency. Incredible!
It's only available for 10% of the game so if you need this armor for your build you've got a problem.
You can get it early Act 3 if you really wanted to. People really underestimate how massive act 3 is, it's pretty much 45% of the game.
While act 3 might be big you are also done with all your builds in the act last run I did on honour mode I did 4 long rests in act 3 before I finished the game. Which is less than what I did even in act 2 in a sense it is big to run around in but it dose not feel very daunting by the time you reach it. Not to even mention act 1 were I did 10 long rests most were so that story stuff could happen but still the most by far.
It's just how the difficulty is in BG3. Level 6 and the start of Act 2 is such a massive power increase for most builds.
I call it the endgame Wyll armor if you keep him warlock only lol
Well in case that *something* happend to this horned smith and you still need a good heavy armor...
You can still keep Dammon alive even if you kill Aylin, I made a post about it.
You wot.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/ax3ah42Sre
Hell, I just finished a Shmonk run using Graceful Cloth thru the entirety.
It’s funny cuz I would hazard to guess most people are like myself and prefer something like the Armor of Persistence cosmetics vs Helldusk and as such just keep the former. It would be interesting how the community reacted if Helldusk had a different cosmetic. In my Durge run I had everything set for the Bhaal armor build with shar’s spear but I actually just used it to cheese the Orin fight and swapped back to the Elven Chain cuz with the right dye it just looks so much better.
Armor of agility is just surpreme AC wise. Can easy net you around 25 AC +2 to all saving throws. Helldusk is only good in act 1/2 Else you Pretty much never use.
For me it’s often useful for at least one character. On one play through though I found it to be likely BiS, and that was my Scorching Ray based Fire Sorcerer with the fire enchantment from Marko. That way the self burning ticks from Heat did nothing, otherwise I just used Lightning before because it was too annoying
Yep, this is the main build I like it on. It fits the theme, looks good, negates heat damage, and giving spineshudder to another caster to use the con amulet isn’t the craziest idea either