As an aspiring wizard wielding powerful control spells in Baldur‘s Gate 3, choosing the right adventuring allies in your party can make or break your gameplay experience. Let‘s explore some of the best companion options for complementing and empowering a control wizard build.
Why Companions Matter for a Control Wizard
Playing solo as a fragile spellcaster leaves you vulnerable in battles and hinders your progression through the game‘s dangerous world. The right companion serves multiple purposes:
- Tanks enemy hits so you can cast spells safely from range
- Deals damage consistently when enemies resist your disabling effects
- Grants buffs/heals to further boost your combat potency
- Unlocks additional story and quest content
With the flexibility to tweak subclass choices and assign ability points, companions can be specialized to assist control-focused wizards remarkably well.
Top 5 Companions for a Control Wizard Build
After extensive playtesting various companion pairings, these 5 allies prove most beneficial for controller wizards:
1. Shadowheart – Devotion Cleric
As a cleric with access to the life and light spell domains, Shadowheart acts as an indispensable healer and buffer. She also packs decent melee potential when enemies approach.
With abilities like Channel Divinity and spell prep options including Bless, Shield of Faith, and Warding Bond, Shadowheart can augment your wizard‘s defenses and accuracy. This grants more flexibility to focus on potent disabling and damage spells.
Her ranged attack cantrips can also whittle down foes while staying safely behind the frontline.
2. Lae‘zel – Eldritch Knight
This githzerai warrior excels as a formidable frontline tank to guard squishy casters. With access to numerous defensive buffs and the action surge ability, she can draw enemies into melee while you barrage them with impactful spells.
As an Eldritch Knight, Lae‘zel can also learn wizard cantrips like Blade Ward to reduce incoming damage. This increases her longevity as an effective meat shield.
She can further lock down enemies using Fighter maneuvers like Trip Attack, keeping them in the radius of your hindering AoE spells for longer.
3. Karlach – Ancestral Guardian
The Ancestral Guardian subclass diversifies this hard-hitting barbarian into a reliable off-tank. She can taunt enemies to attack her instead of you while resisting damage, allowing a control wizard breathing room to shape battles from afar.
Karlach also has access to useful buffs like getting resistance to all damage types while raging. This further boosts her survivability on the frontline as she absorbs attacks meant for squishier party members.
With high strength letting her grapple enemies reliably, she can hold key targets in zones of your harmful spells.
4. Astarion – Arcane Trickster
While not a primary tank, Astarion‘s mobility and stealth grant advantages. He can sneak attack isolated backline enemies and quickly reposition to assassinate wounded targets affected by your spells.
With Magical Ambush letting him double the duration of incapacitating effects on surprised enemies, Astarion can extend how long foes suffer the impact of your disabling magic.
His skills helping to unlock objects and detecting traps also reduce the party‘s reliance on just your wizard‘s capabilities.
5. Gale – Evocation Wizard
While you occupy an indispensable controller role, situations arise where raw damage and AoE blasting are needed. As the party‘s second wizard, Gale fills that offensive niche perfectly.
His Evoker abilities like Sculpt Spells allow him to bombard enemy clusters with explosive magic without harming allies in the area. This grants impressive synergy using zones created by your hindering spells it to maximize damage.
Gale also benefits from your slew of buffs targeting allies. This mutually empowering dynamic makes you a formidable magical duo.
Key Takeaways on Companion Synergy
Here are the key synergistic effects to utilize with a control wizard:
- Tank companions allow safely shaping battles with CC spells
- Healer/buffers patch weakness of low hit points/AC
- Allies capitalize on disabling targets for added damage
- Supplementary skills access more quests/locations
- Combining hazards created by Control and Evocation magic
Carefully experiment in combat with different ability and spell combinations between you and the companions. This grants valuable insight into highly impactful teamwork dynamics you can exploit to overcome future challenges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions for optimizing companions as a control wizard:
What stats should I improve on companions to assist a controller?
Prioritize Constitution for tanks to increase health/AC, Wisdom for clerics to improve heals/buffs, Dexterity for rogues to boost accuracy/evasion, and Intelligence for wizard allies to empower their spells.
Should I choose companions based on story preferences?
Absolutely! While combat synergy is crucial, choosing companions you genuinely enjoy the company of improves the roleplaying experience.
How do I configure party formations efficiently as a spellcaster?
Use the tank companion to spearhead and drawing aggro, then position your wizard and remaining allies behind them. This allows safely bombarding enemies clustered on the frontline.
What equipment boosts companion abilities to handle specific threats?
Equip your tanks with the best available armor/shields to bolster AC and items granting resistance to common damage types. Give clerics gear boosting Wisdom, and wizards equipment adding Intelligence for heightened spell DC/attacks.
Should I control companions manually or use AI during battles?
Either can work effectively depending on the complexity of the engagement. Though for tricky high-stake fights, manually commanding allies allows coordinating intricate combo abilities.
Make key decisions around allies deliberately as a Controller wizard. This grants the most satisfying and rewarding Baldur‘s Gate 3 adventure tailored to your playstyle.
