Summary

• Warlocks in Baldur's Gate 3 should choose subclasses carefully since early abilities are crucial for maximizing power.
• Archfey subclass is weak compared to Fiend and Great Old One due to lackluster spells and abilities in the game.
• Great Old One warlocks excel at constantly inflicting fear and have more useful later abilities compared to other subclasses.

Warlocks are the third-most-popular class choice for players of Baldur's Gate 3, and for a good reason. They have a focus on charisma, which makes them ideal party leaders and communicators, and they gain access to some truly impressive magical abilities. Core among those are the spells and features that warlocks get from their subclass, whether they choose to be the agent of a dastardly fiend, a sinister fey, or a Lovecraftian great old one.

Each subclass provides some fun abilities, but they are not equal in power level. Players looking to make the strongest warlock possible will need to consider which subclass they want to go with early on since it is decided at level one, and some of the strongest abilities these subclasses get are unlocked in the early levels of the game. While some of the iconic overpowered warlock subclasses from Dungeons & Dragons, such as the Hexblade, are not present, these reworked versions of classic warlock patrons still grant some strong boons.

Comparing The Warlock's Expanded Spell Lists

Adding Spells From Other Classes

Unlike other spellcasters, warlocks don't gain additional spells that remain prepared based on their subclass; rather, they add spells from other class lists to the warlock spell list so players can choose them if they wish. Each subclass grants access to two new spells of spell levels one through five, so comparing their utility and damage is an easy way to gauge the strength of these options. Warlocks don't get that many spells, so the ones they pick have to be good.

The archfey has probably the least useful spells overall. With options like calm emotions, dominate beast, and seeming, there are some real duds on this list. They do get sleep at first level, which can be good early on, but it falls off by mid-game. Their few good options, such as Plant Growth and greater invisibility, can be topped by spells already on the warlock list, like Hunger of Hadar or darkness when paired with devil's sight.

The fiend mostly profits from blasting spells like scorching ray, fireball, and flame strike, but it also has access to some nice control options with command and blindness.

It's a closer race between the fiend and great old one subclasses, which get a few powerful options players will want to take. The fiend mostly profits from blasting spells like scorching ray, fireball, and flame strike, but it also has access to some nice control options with command and blindness. The great old one, meanwhile, starts off strong with dissonant whispers and tasha's hideous laughter, but fumbles with phantasmal force and bestow curse. It still has some really strong stuff at high levels, but overall, the fiend gets more consistently useful options.

Early Abilities Are Most Important For Front-Loaded Classes

Going For Critical Hits

Some classes in Baldur's Gate 3 and in D&D are considered "front-loaded," meaning they get all their best stuff at early levels. This makes them popular choices for multiclassing, and it makes their first-level abilities the most important in determining their usefulness. In this case, the great old one has a clear victory with Mortal Reminder. Mortal Reminder is a ive feature that allows warlocks to frighten enemies upon getting a critical hit.

The frightened condition in BG3 is debilitating, and being able to inflict it constantly is great. Warlocks can easily build their play style around fishing for critical hits, with feats like spell sniper combined with eldritch blast, and the plethora of weapons that extend critical hit chance. What's more is that players have advantage on attacks against frightened creatures, meaning great old one warlocks can easily set up a chain of critical hits against their targets.

It's an ability that offers much more constant use than the archfey alternative, Fey Presence. This ability can also inflict frightened, but it requires close range and an action to use, Act 2 renders it obsolete.

Higher Level Subclass Abilities Aren't As Impactful

Becoming Immune To Being Charmed

The abilities these subclasses grant at higher levels aren't nearly as integral to their play styles as earlier features, making them feel more like icing on an already-baked cake. Still, a few of them stand out as either niche but cool, or exceptionally useless. Starting with the latter, the archfey tenth-level ability is Beguiling Defense, which makes them immune to being charmed. Charm is not a common condition in BG3, and immunity to it is niche at best.

Fiends get Dark One's Own Luck at the same level, which lets warlocks add 1d10 to an ability check once per short rest.

More useful is Misty Escape, which lets archfey warlocks teleport away and turn invisible upon taking damage. Still, an ability that only works when a character takes damage is not ideal. Fiends get Dark One's Own Luck at the same level, which lets warlocks add 1d10 to an ability check once per short rest. This won't always make a difference, but it has use as pseudo-bardic inspiration. Fiends also gain resistance to one damage type of their choice at the 10th level, but given how easy it is to make damage resistance potions by Act 3, this ability is pretty lackluster.

The great old one's later features have the most utility. They can make an attack that is about to hit them have disadvantage and possibly miss, and it gives their next attack roll advantage, providing synergy with their earlier Mortal Reminder ability. Their 10th-level feature grants psychic resistance, which is worse than the Fiend's more adaptable resistance option, but it also gives them the ability to retaliate against creatures that deal psychic damage. This is actually useful in Act 3 with all the mind flayer enemies.

Final Ranking Of The Subclasses

The Fiend, The Great Old One, Or The Archfey

All in all, it is fair to say that the archfey warlock is absolutely the weakest of the three options. Other than a few of its spell choices, it really has nothing to offer that can't be done better by one of the other two subclasses. It's a shame since the archery has neat lore and flavor, but it lacks the power to back it up.

The other two options are both very strong, and the choice of which to use will likely come down to whether players want to be a long-range or short-range warlock. For those who want to take the Pact of the Blade and fight on the front lines, the great old one has more helpful features. The fiend is better as a blaster and long-range spellcaster, given its powerful extended spell list. Either way, warlock is one of the most powerful classes in the game, and taking this class is a deal players shouldn't up in Baldur's Gate 3.