BG3 Necromancer Warlock Build Guide

Imagine for a moment you're playing a Warlock, but you have an army of undeath at your side thanks to your Wizard Necromancy subclass. If you're a typical D&D player, you probably can't imagine this working out due to the stat dependency of both classes being different. However, thanks to Larian's generosity toward multi-classing and the many diverse items available in BG3, it is very much possible and very powerful. If this build sounds interesting to you, read on, because I'm about to break down my Necrolock build just for you.

Best Necrolock Build in BG3

The Necrolock fuses the ability to summon powerful undead to fight by your side while you unleash multiple Eldritch Blasts each turn. Thanks to the Warped Headband of Intellect, we can forgo the need to put any points into INT (the Wizard's main stat), allowing us to throw our points toward buffing up Eldritch Blast while ensuring all Wizard spells are powerful enough to be a threat to most enemies in the game. With a large health pool, multiple summons, many AOEs, and strong crowd-control, the Necrolock is effective in any scenario. Let's get into building it.

Related: Is There a Bag of Holding in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Best Stats and Race for Necromancer Warlock in BG3

As with a normal Warlock, the best races tend to be the ones that give you Fey Ancestry and/or Superior Darkvision. The Drow race gives you both, so I consider that one of the best options for the build. As a backline caster, Eldritch Blast is your primary damaging spell, making Charisma your core stat; you'll need some additional AC and Intitive to play a strong caster, making Dexterity second in value. Your third priority is Consitution, to bring up a relatively small health pool.

• Race - Drow/Any Elf Race
• Strength - 8
• Dexterity - 16
• Constitution - 14
• Intelligence - 8
• Wisdom - 10
• Charisma - 17

Note your Intelligence will always be 17 using the helm piece mentioned earlier. As such, there are no suitable replacements for it to make this build work—it is a requirement.

Best Multiclass for Necromancer Warlock in Baldur's Gate 3

For this build, you'll want to go the Necromancy (9) subclass for Wizard, The Fiend (2) subclass for Warlock, and Storm Sorcery (1) for Sorcerer. The goal is to be able to upcast the most powerful version of the Animated Dead spell, which allows you to call upon Ghouls and Flying Ghouls. With these by your side, you'll be primarily using Eldritch Blast for your personal DPS, as it gets its full scaling benefits due to your combined spellcaster levels. Storm Sorcery is specifically for Tempestuous Magic, a very useful tool for repositioning and mobility as needed, as it allows you to Fly as a Bonus Action if you cast a Level 1 spell or higher.

Related: BG3 Wizard Build Guide – Best Stats and Subclass

Best Necromancer Warlock Features, Feats, & Spells - BG3

As a Wizard, you can learn every Wizard spell except for Level 6 spells from scrolls with this build. Additionally, if you would prefer another level in Wizard, feel free to drop the level in Storm Sorcery, as its main purpose is to boost mobility (the build functions almost identically regardless).

Meanwhile, the Fiendish Vigour Warlock Invocation allows you to cast False Life—a free method to meet the requirements for Tempestuous Magic, which is useful for repositioning at will, even outside of combat.

Best Items and Gear for Necromancer Warlock in Baldur's Gate 3

Due to the unusual nature of this multi-class, it needs gear to function at its most potent:

• Head - Warped Headband of Intellect
• Back - Cloak of Displacement
• Chest - Potent Robe
• Gloves - Spellmight Gloves
• Feet - Bonespike Boots
• Neck - Spellcrux Amulet
• Ring 1 - Crypt Lord Ring
• Ring 2 - Risky Ring
• Main-hand - Staff of Cherished Necromancy
• Off-hand - Markoheshkir

The combination of Potent Robe, Spellmight Gloves, and the Risky Ring turns Eldritch Blast into a viable, free single-target spell that deals fantastic damage per turn. Each separate beam of Eldritch Blast gains benefits from this combo of items.

The Spellcrux Amulet combined with the Crypt Lord Ring and the Staff of Cherished Necromancy allows you to summon your minions practically anytime your heart desires. The Staff of Cherished Necromancy also allows you to gain Life Essence from anything that has a health bar (including inanimate objects such as doors, crates, boxes, etc), which is amazing for building up Life Essence stacks after a Long Rest, allowing you to cast all Necromancy Spells at no Spellslot cost.

Markoheshkir allows you to attune to an element of your choice and invoke free high-level spells from that elemental once per turn. These spells become alternatives to casting Eldritch Blast and depend on what you need most. You also become highly resistant to the element you attune to, granting you effective magic resistance to every elemental type, so long as you're pre-prepared for it.

Where to get Warped Headband of Intellect in BG3

The Warped Headband of Intellect can be found in the Blighted Village (X:9, Y: 369) from the Ogre Trio encounter in Act 1. You need to pull the headpiece from the corpse of Lump the Enlightened.

Find this build fun and looking for more to sink your teeth into for Baldur's Gate? Check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 Shadowheart Build Guide – Best Stats and Spells right here on Pro Game Guides.