As a passionate Baldur‘s Gate fan whose logged over 200 hours across multiple playthroughs, few things excite me more than tricky encounters that require strategic use of consumables, equipment, and environmental advantages to overcome. So when I unlocked the Adamantine Forge in my latest run, began crafting these powerful items, and slotting them into my character builds, I was giddy to test their capabilities.
This guide outlines which of the 6 Adamantine Items in Baldur‘s Gate 3 is the Best Adamantine Item for your case. I‘ll be drawing on extensive first-hand experience using them in various party configurations to highlight the top adamantine gear for different roles and styles of play.
Unlocking the Adamantine Forge
But before ranking the items themselves, let‘s quickly go over the process of gaining access to this special crafting forge, as the materials needed are easy to miss.
The Adamantine Forge is located in Grymforge (coordinates X: -569, Y: 252). To gain entry, you must pass a series of skill checks while navigating Grymforge‘s traps and duergar inhabitants. Eventually, you‘ll secure a meeting with Derrik Hraveksson who can guide you to the forge if you assist the duegar smiths with some soul coins.
I highly recommend completing this adamantine forge quest around level 4 or 5. By that point, you‘ll have enough skills and gear to take on the duergar while still benefiting greatly from the early power spike unique adamantine items provide.
To craft an item, you need:
- Mithral Ores: Found on certain enemies or in mithral deposits (2-4 ores needed per item)
- Item Mold: Looted from containers and battles in Grymforge (1 mold needed per item)
It takes 1 mithral ore and 1 item mold to craft each piece of adamantine equipment at the forge.
Next I‘ll break down the traits and ideal uses of each item:
Adamantine Item Comparison Table
| Item | Type | Base AC/Damage | Crit Immunity | Backlash Effect | Downsides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scale Mail | Medium Armor | 16 AC | Yes | 2 Turn Reel | Stealth Disadvantage, +2 Dex AC Cap |
| Splint Armor | Heavy Armor | 18 AC | Yes | 3 Turn Reel | Stealth Disadvantage, No Dex AC |
| Scimitar | Finesse Weapon | 1d6 Slashing | On-Crit | None | None |
| Longsword | Versatile Weapon | 1d8/1d10 Slashing | On-Crit | None | None |
| Mace | 1H Blunt Weapon | 1d6 Bludgeoning | On-Crit | None | None |
| Shield | Off-hand | +2 AC | Yes | 2 Turn Reel | None |
1. Adamantine Scale Mail
Type: Medium Armor
Base AC: 16
The Adamantine Scale Mail is my personal choice for the best Baldur‘s Gate 3 adamantine item overall. Here‘s why:
This medium armor strikes the ideal balance between physical protection and retention of dexterity, stealth, and spellcasting capabilities.
You gain damage and crit immunity on par with heavy sets, while avoiding their crippling stealth penalties. The modest +2 cap to dexterity AC bonuses ensures you aren‘t too encumbered to pull off actions like Backstabbing, casting magic missiles, or picking pockets.
In many fights I initiated combat with ranged attacks and spells, exploited high ground and cover, then swapped to melee once enemies engaged my fighter and cleric. This flexible fighting style simply wouldn‘t be possible in heavy adamantine plate!
Beyond combat, I leaned heavily on Shadowheart and Gale‘s stealth and thievery during quests to avoid cumbersome battles with trivial bandit groups or tedious traps. The scale mail‘s sneaking impediment is minor compared to heavy armors.
When incoming melee attacks did occasionally land, my reward was watching hapless enemies recoil and squander their turns trying futilely to penetrate my razor-sharp scales.
In summary, the Adamantine Scale Mail enables adaptable party roles, balanced offense and defense, and safely exploring dungeons while conserving resources. It will carry you far through early and mid game content until acquiring specialized end game kit.
2. Adamantine Splint Armor
Type: Heavy Armor
Base AC: 18
For pure tanks and strength focused frontliners, the Adamantine Splint Armour cannot be beaten. It trades stealth and dexterity for the highest AC and protection possible.
Clad head to toe in this imposing suit, I brazenly initiated every fight, shield raised. Foes hopelessly batter themselves against my armored hull as I methodically crush them with axe and hammer blows.
By mid game, only the most accurate boss monsters could hope to penetrate my formidable plated shell. And even then, their blows glanced off harmlessly, failing to land devastating piercing strikes or surgical weak point hits thanks to the suite‘s immunity to critical hits.
The intense 3 turn backlash effect meant that most enemies struck by my party were still reeling from my armor‘s shockwave by the time our next initiatives rolled around. This created openings for my rogue and ranged allies to leisurely mop up staggered foes without ever entering melee range themselves.
The tradeoff comes in questing and exploration. Foregoing dexterity and stealth bonuses forces you to fight more mundane battles and carefully navigate tile traps. My lumbering fighter frequently had to wait outside while my thief and wizard stealthily infiltrated enemy camps.
But when diplomatics fail and swords are drawn, an Adamantine Splint Armour tank anchored at the front is an invaluable asset. The layer of protection and attrition it provides cannot be understated. It‘s easily worth temporarily splitting the party when subtlety is needed.
3. Adamantine Scimitar
Type: Finesse Melee Weapon
Base Damage: 1d6 Slashing
No adamantine item better exemplifies raw, brutal offense than the Adamantine Scimitar. This slender blade lets rogues, rangers, and dexterity fighters capitalize on vulnerabilities with devastating critical strikes.
All Adamantine weapons possess the Diamondsbane property, causing them to automatically critically hit objects and environment elements like barrels, locks, chains, and more. This helps immensely during dungeon runs and puzzle solving.
But where the scimitar truly soars is exploiting the vulnerability of humanoid enemies. Sneak attacks, hunter‘s mark, smites, and other on-hit effects synergize tremendously with guaranteed critical hits.
My battles consisted of using the environment, consumables, and party abilities to rigorously debilitate groups of foes as my rogue vanished into the shadows. She would then re-emerge behind isolated, softened up enemies and ruthlessly hack them down in 1-2 gloriously gory strikes with her trusty adamantine scimitar given pet name "Spine Separator."
It was brutal. It was exhilarating. And the scimitar delivered,sawing effortlessly through plate and scale alike.
While scimitars deal slightly less base damage than longswords, their lighter weight enables reliable, rapid sneak attacks. And the scimitar‘s finesse trait supplements dex focused classes better.
For pure, unadultered DPS, pair the Adamantine Scimitar with high ground, a tank, battlefield control, and your preferred damage multiplier specialization. Then watch your critical hit tally rack up.
4. Adamantine Longsword
Type: Versatile Melee Weapon
Base Damage: 1d8/1d10 Slashing
Functionally near-identical to the scimitar in terms of crit-focused damage potential, the Adamantine Longsword appeals most to strength-focused warriors who benefit less from finesse, and value the versatility of 1 or 2-handed use.
2-handed longswords offer higher damage dice maximums, overcoming the deficiency in base crit multiplier compared to lighter scimitars. But in prolonged battles, I found the versatility of switching between sword-and-board and heavy devastating chops invaluable.
The Pommel Strike and Rush Attack traits enabled creative控制敌人的战术. Quickly battering enemies with disorienting non-lethal pommel bashes made it trivial for my allies to mop up shaken foes. Charge attacks to bowl over spellcasters mid-cast or knock archers from elevated sniping spots was similarly effective.
In easier battles I made a game of controlling enemies through pommels, charges and forced movement rather than directly damaging them. It added engaging new elements of strategy beyond simply hiding and attacking from behind each fight.
So while the Adamantine Scimitar may edge out higher raw damage numbers, I greatly appreciated the Longsword‘s flexibility and tactical options. If you favor strength-based martial builds, grab this iconic adamantine weapon.
5. Adamantine Mace
Type: One-Handed Blunt Weapon
Base Damage: 1d6 Bludgeoning
An easy-to-overlook adamantine item, the Adamantine Mace proves invaluable for clerics, druids, and characters facing enemies with heavy bludgeoning resistance.
Against basic humanoids, the mace lags behind flashier blades in raw damage potential. But when battling resilient constructs, helmed horrors, and bludgeoning-immune foes, this humble cudgel overcomes limitations that render steel or enchanted weapons pitifully ineffective.
My Tempest Cleric struggles mightily against helmed horrors resistant to the thunder and lightning spells I liberally blast everywhere. Swapping to my Mace of Disruption offered no meaningful improvement. But after forging an Adamantine Mace, my fights against helmed horrors transformed from long slogs tolaughably one-sided beatdowns.
Similarly, the standard mace‘s concussive smash attack reliably stuns feeblemind flayers, disrupting their psi attacks and preventing my intellect devouring. Timing this against a mind flayer‘s nightmare harvest has won me several desperate victories.
So while raw performance metrics don‘t favor maces, I highly recommend keeping one handy for bypassing specific enemy resistances.
6. Adamantine Shield
Type: Shield
AC Bonus: +2
No melee build is complete without a trusty shield watched over your flank. The Adamantine Shield offers a suite of defensive boons, enabling even relatively squishy fighters to become temporarily unkillable.
By bashing enemies with my shield rather than dodging or parrying, I could frequently turn the tables by knocking tormenters flat on their backs, exposed for devastating reprisal strikes.
Meanwhile, blows and spells directed my way were casually defected as I advanced behind my glittering bulwark. Affixed with a Shield of Faith spell, my shielded crusader became an immovable object, impervious to the desperate attacks of overmatched highwaymen and cultists breaking themselves against his bastion.
With the shield‘s backlash shockwave effect, groups surround me soon turned fratricidal as missed swings recoiled allies instead of my well-protected self. This induced panic and chaos for easy clean up duty.
While the AC bonuses and damage resistances of a proper armor set technically offer more durability, a shield‘s active mitigation through bashing, spell deflection, pushing, and forced movement intricately complement direct protective stats.
If you expect to mix it up at close quarters, always equip a shield. And you can‘t do better than the Adamantine variety.
Closing Thoughts on Adamantine Gear
Hopefully this guide has helped demonstrate which Baldur‘s Gate 3 Adamantine Items best improve your capabilities for different party roles and approaches to combat.
The Adamantine Forge offers huge power spikes obtainable earlier than most comparable gear. Taking time to complete the associated quests pays tremendous dividends.
Prioritize Adamantine Scale or Splint Armor first to amplify your frontliners‘ staying power. Then grab an Adamantine Scimitar or Longsword to enable devastating critical hit playstyles. And don‘t underestimate the value of niche tools like maces and shields for tackling specific challenges.
Properly kitted with Adamantine, you‘ll laugh off blows that would flatten lesser adventurers while dishing out punishment of equally ridiculous proportions. It fundamentally alters the difficulty of low and mid level content.
Even end game, I still don my trusty Adamantine Scale Mail during particularly dangerous missions rather than strictly chasing paper doll stat improvements from more advanced armors. The unique perks adamantine provides remains incredibly valuable when combat outcomes hang by a mere few HP.
Let me know what you think of this Baldur‘s Gate 3 Adamantine gear guide! I‘m eager to hear whether your own experieces align with my rankings and assessments. Please drop any questions below as well. I‘m happy to offer specific adamantine item or build advice.
Now if you‘ll excuse me, an intellect devourer has occupied a trade ambassador‘s body, and I mean to evict the foul beast with extreme prejudice via my shiny new Mace of Mind Bludgeoning. Adventure calls!
