How Pact of the Blade works in Baldur's Gate 3

Feb 25, 2024

Wait a minute, this sword isn't Eldritch Blast...

Baldur’s Gate 3 couldn’t fit in every single aspect of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Some things got left behind, like the many different Warlock Patrons you can otherwise call. But that allowed some mechanics to grow very strong, like the Pact of the Blade. This, available to Warlocks from level three, allows the class a ton of melee options.

So, what does it do, and why is it so powerful to consider?

The Pact of the Blade is the Warlock class feature unlocked at level three, alongside second-level spells.

If you select Pact of the Blade, you are able to bond with a weapon you are using or summon a melee weapon. Options include a Battleaxe, Glaive, Greatsword, Rapier, Trident, or Warhammer. While they are bound to you, any weapon that uses Charisma for their swings, rather than Strength or Dexterity.

With the Pact of the Blade, a Warlock will always be armed and ready for melee fights. The best weapons to summon are the Glaive (if you have Polearm Master), the Greatsword (if you don’t), or the Battleaxe/Warhammer (one-handed).

Warlocks with Pact of the Blade are quite good at melee attacks since they can use Charisma instead of their (likely) lower Strength or Dexterity stats. It works with any build, including ranged weapons, but I’d steer clear of that since Eldritch Blast is far more efficient than any ranged weapon you could come across.

Moreover, if you take the Pact of the Blade, at level five, you get to make an Extra Attack. This functions like the Fighter or Barbarian Extra Attack and is a great way to keep your melee damage very high.

Pact of the Blade is an excellent option in quite a few scenarios.

If your party has one or no melee characters, the Pact of the Blade is an excellent choice. Holding chokepoints and forcing enemies to move awkwardly is important in BG3. Plus, having awesome Bonus Action abilities like Flourish lets you have a larger impact on a fight than just shooting Eldritch Blast every turn.

That said, if you have a melee-heavy party, it can still work. Just make sure that your party can handle a melee warrior clogging the frontline. You really don’t want more than two melee characters since bosses have gigantic, high-damage areas of effect that you don’t want to get slammed by. Try to spread out or have one melee character be purely defensive, like a Devotion Paladin. You can eat a ton of damage otherwise.

If you have a Fiend Warlock, Pact of the Blade Warlocks works well since that extra HP comes in handy. The Fiendish Vigor invocation is also handy. Furthermore, if your Warlock happens to be a Shield Dwarf or Githyanki, those races give Medium Armor Proficiency and will let you pump Constitution and Charisma without losing too much AC, so Pact of the Blade plays into their strengths.

Do yourself a favor and take Agonizing Blast, as well. Having a 1d10+Charisma ranged option that shoots up to three times at level 11 is far too strong to ignore. For turns where you can’t reach your target, you can still dome them for something approaching 35 damage without breaking a sweat. At level 12, you can finish up your build with the Lifedrinker Invocation, since you’re already very good at melee attacks.

Related: How to solve the stone disc puzzle in the Defiled Temple in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Pact of the Blade Warlock will often be in danger and should consider defensive spells to stay alive. Spells like Hex and Armor of Agathys are useful if you plan on rocking the frontlines and dealing loads of damage.

Pact of the Blade Warlocks are an amazing multiclass option, too! Starting Paladin and going three levels into Warlock will let you ignore all stats except Constitution and Charisma. And, since Paladins have such good Charisma-based abilities, that’s a recipe for success!

Contributing writer. Perpetual Fighter main in every game that he is part of, Jason has written about video games and board games over several websites. From gathering trivia information about Street Fighter to deeply analyzing the differences between Lunar and Clockwork Soul Sorcerers, he strives to bring TTRPGs to the forefront through analysis and guides.