The grand roster of Baldur's Gate 3 boasts 12 classes and a staggering 46 subclasses, each one playing a distinct yet integral part in the party's four-person ensemble. Even seasoned D&D veterans may find themselves frozen with indecision when faced with the Character Creation screen, let alone those fresh to the world of Faerûn.

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This guide aims to dissect each class and guide you towards the one that aligns best with your desired playstyle and gameplay, ensuring a memorable and epic journey as you explore the Gates.

This guide currently covers the classes and subclasses available during the Early Access version of the game. It will be updated in the future to reflect those in the full game.

Preface And Criteria

Viability

Baldur's Gate 3 is a very well-balanced game. Every class is viable—and can flourish in their given role given the right builds, investment and party.

This tier list aims to highlight those that particularly excel in the game's core mechanics.

Focus

Our focus in judging each class leans towards combat and utility.

Of course, roleplay is a massive part of the game. However, because each player will have a unique approach to it (for instance, a silver-tongued bard who sways with persuasion vs. a gruff soldier who prefers to intimidate), it's challenging to universally evaluate every aspect of roleplay.

That said, we do consider social and knowledge-based skill proficiencies and expertise as a whole, as they can significantly impact gameplay.

In consideration of the well-balanced nature of the classes, we also account for opportunity costs: what potential benefits or options do you forego by choosing a particular class?

Criteria

1. Direct Combat Effectiveness: Damage output, area/single-target capabilities, melee/ranged options.
2. Indirect Combat Effectiveness: Healing, crowd control, conditions, field control/displacement, buffs.
3. Non-Combat/Utility: Mobility, socialization, skill proficiency/expertise.
4. Versatility: Ability to take on various aspects of core gameplay (and do them well)

Our tier list assumes a diverse party composition, targeting each class's intended role, not solo play. These ratings would differ greatly for a solo run.

Itemization will not be significantly factored into the ranking as it is largely dependent on your chosen builds and playstyle, and is too volatile to be consistently taken into account.

Baldur's Gate 3 Class Tier List

S-Tier

These are classes that truly stand out, not only excelling in their given role but also providing sizable contributions in general gameplay that can really shape your team's strategy.

Subclasses marked with this tier enhance the base class considerably, either by mastering its base class role, or introducing a new role that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.

The Wizard's immense flexibility and scaling, the Cleric's versatility and supportive capabilities, and the Sorcerer's unparalleled damage output earn them spots in this tier.

A-Tier

These classes are excellent in their designated roles.

Subclasses marked with this tier closely align with and significantly upgrade its base class role.

The Bard's supportive capabilities and battlefield control, the Fighter's adaptability and consistent damage output, the Barbarian's damage and sturdiness, and the Paladin's wide range of capabilities place them in this tier.

B-Tier

These classes do well in their designated roles, but aren't the very best options when compared to others.

Subclasses marked with this tier offer some improvement to the base class roles.

The Rogue is a great scout and striker, but is outshone by the sustained output of other classes. The Warlock offers considerable consistent damage, but can be a "selfish" class that offers little in the context of a party composition. The Druid pales when compared to the sheer power of other full-casters, but its subclasses expand the class' roles in extremely useful ways.

C-Tier

These classes do fine, but tend to get overshadowed in their designated roles.

Subclasses marked with this tier tend to incur large opportunity costs when picked instead of the other options available.

The Ranger comes with a ton of flavor and customizability, but—due to its situational features—falls shorter than other classes in every role that it tries to fill.

S-Tier: Wizard

Wizards master the arcane by specializing in individual schools of magic, combining ancient spells with modern research.

Overview

• Massive list of strong spell options.
• Prepared spellcasters; able to switch spells as needed.
• Can collect spells from scrolls.
• Fill a vast variety of roles in battle.
• High intelligence-based knowledge checks.
• Extremely fragile.

Analysis

The Wizard deserves their spot in this tier for several reasons, central of which is the sheer volume of their spell repertoire.

Boasting the largest spell list in the game, they're prepared spellcasters who have the flexibility to switch spells on the go. This versatility is further enhanced by the unique ability to collect and learn spells from scrolls they find, allowing their potential to scale exponentially throughout your journey.

The Wizard’s expansive spell library allows them to fill multiple roles during battles. They can output high damage with their spell slots or utilize crowd control to manipulate the battlefield to their advantage. Their arsenal includes some of the most potent control and damage spells in the game, like Sleep and Fireball, providing a range of options that can turn the tide of any encounter—capable of supporting both spellcasting and martial allies.

Their focus on Intelligence also equates to high knowledge checks, making it easier to uncover aspects of the narrative that can be crucial for plot progression.

They are, however, notoriously fragile. Wizards can mitigate some of this risk through defensive spells such as Mage Armor, but they should still certainly avoid the frontlines. Good positioning is vital to keeping your Wizard alive and off the ground.

Subclasses

School of Evocation: B

Evocation Wizards focus on destructive elemental magic—which is one of the Wizard's strongest suits.

The lower ranking on this subclass, however, is because the Evocation subclass' early features do very little to enhance the damage capabilities of the Wizard. Sculpt Spell, the Evocation Wizard's first subclass feature, gives the Wizard the ability to exclude allies from their destructive area-of-effect spells. This can be very useful, but can be somewhat mitigated already with proper positioning from allies.

School of Abjuration: C

Abjuration Wizards focus on defense and support.

Its first subclass feature, Arcane Ward, grants temporary hitpoints upon the casting of an Abjuration spell. Unfortunately, the list of Abjuration spells in the game is very small, and even fewer are on the Wizard spell list. The survivability and supportive capabilities that this subclass grants the Wizard are underwhelming compared to classes dedicated to those roles, and it is difficult for this subclass to flourish without specialized builds or items.

S-Tier: Cleric

Clerics are representatives of the gods they worship, wielding potent divine magic for good or ill.

Overview

• Exceptional supportive capabilities.
• Offers huge buffs to party durability and damage output.
• Excellent support spells, good control spells.
• Subclasses grant further specialization and expanded spell list.
• Lacks great AOE damage options.

Analysis

The Cleric merits their position in this tier due to their exceptional supportive capabilities. They possess an array of spells that can effectively enhance the survivability of the party while simultaneously increasing their damage output.

Their spell list boasts some of the best supportive spells in the game. 'Healing Word' optimizes the otherwise-inefficient in-combat healing by utilizing a Bonus Action instead of an Action, which keeps your allies in battle without sacrificing the Cleric's turn. 'Bless' also significantly improves the performance of the entire team by augmenting hit and saving throw success rates.

Although the primary function of Clerics is to offer support, they also have access to valuable control spells such as 'Hold Person.' Plus, the Cleric's subclasses and patron deities each offer additional specialization in the form of proficiencies and expanded spell lists—this often allows the Cleric to excel in more than just their main party role.

The high Wisdom score inherent to Clerics also leads to improved Perception and Insight checks, which can provide information important to progressing through the game.

The base Cleric class, however, tends to be lacking in area-of-effect damage options—which isn't a huge problem if you're building them as a support.

Subclasses

Light Domain: A

The Light Domain offers Clerics offensive capabilities in battle.

Radiance of Dawn does considerable area-of-effect damage, while Warding Flare imposes disadvantage on enemies at the cost of a reaction. The Cleric has little to no use for their reaction, so this is an excellent use of it. The spell list also includes high-damaging spells such as Burning Hands and Fireball—useful, as the base class lacks in similar areas, as mentioned above.

Life Domain: A

Life Domain Clerics focus entirely on honing their healing capabilities.

Preserve Life and Disciple of Life both significantly boost the cleric's healing, making it the best healer of the game. The potency of these healing features allows the party to play more aggressively, knowing that they'll come out of any skirmish better for it than the opponents.

Trickery Domain: B

Trickery Domain clerics shift their focus to control and utility.

Invoke Duplicity and Blessing of the Trickster are both great features, granting advantage on ally attacks and stealth, respectively. However, these features are hurt by the fact that they compete for concentration with each other, and with the excellent Cleric spell, "Bless". That said, Trickery clerics get access to great defensive spells that significantly boost their durability.

S-Tier: Sorcerer

Sorcerers are natural spellcasters, drawing on inherent magic from a gift or bloodline.

Overview

• High, unmatched damage output.
• Customization of spells.
• Charisma-based, boost to social interactions.
• Relatively fragile.

Analysis

Sorcerers earn their place in this tier by boasting incredible damage potential and impressive customizability over their magic.

Their playstyle is very similar to the Wizard's, though they have a smaller spell list and they do not have the ability to prepare spells. While the Wizard is excellent for their versatility, Sorcerers pick one thing and do it extremely well.

Sorcerers truly stand out thanks to their unique Metamagic feature. This feature, allowing them to customize their spells—such as by extending the duration, reducing the enemies' resistance against them, and doubling the spell output—grants them an unparalleled damage ceiling. Among the Metamagic options, Twinned Spell especially stands out, letting them double-target with a single spell, which can be game-changing in combat scenarios.

The high Charisma score inherent to Sorcerers also leads to improved socialization checks, which can provide information important to progressing through the game.

Also like Wizards, however—base Sorcerers are really squishy and will need to be positioned well to survive long battles.

Subclasses

Draconic Bloodline: A

The Draconic Bloodline subclass grants Sorcerers an added layer of survivability, making them less dependent on Mage Armor and more resilient.

It also opens up a lineage-specific array of great spells, expanding their combat versatility according to their chosen dragon ancestry.

Wild Magic: B

The Wild Magic subclass introduces Wild Magic Surge, which triggers unpredictable magical effects during combat. This unpredictability can lead to unfavorable outcomes, even potentially harming your party. Despite the randomness, however, the Wild Magic subclass provides really fun and chaotic gameplay, and a spectacularly beneficial surge can significantly turn the tide of a battle.

A-Tier: Bard

You know music is more than a fancy - it is power. Through study and adventure, you have mastered song, speech, and the magic within.

Overview

• Enhances party damage output and survivability.
• Great selection of crowd control.
• Lots of skill proficiencies and expertise.
• Charisma-based boost to social interactions.

Analysis

The Bard can prove invaluable to almost any party composition due to its supportive capabilities and well-rounded skillset. They bring a significant boost to the party's damage output and survivability.

Their ability to control the battlefield with Enchantment and Illusion spells is almost unmatched. They have a ton of crowd-control options and can manipulate the dynamics of any encounter to the party's advantage. Their Bardic Inspiration feature is also a solid boon to party performance.

Out of combat, Bards excel with an impressive list of proficiencies and expertise. Their unique 'Jack of All Trades' feature means they can handle a variety of situations effectively, making them a versatile choice for resolving challenges. Of course, their high Charisma and likely proficiency in socialization skills also greatly help in out-of-combat situations.

Subclasses

College of Lore: S

The College of Lore subclass takes the already versatile bard and pushes it to new heights. It leans heavily into the bard's inherent flexibility and greatly enhances Bardic Inspiration with Cutting Words. Cutting Words allows Bardic Inspiration to be used both offensively and defensively, with the ability to turn enemy successes into failures.

College of Valor: C

Valor Bards get a combat upgrade with martial weapons, medium armor, and shields, and tries to make a tougher skirmisher out of the Bard. They can also add their Combat Inspiration to Armor Class for extra resilience, which is quite good. However, this strays from the Bard's core strength: support. Using Combat Inspiration for damage is also almost never as worthwhile as enhancing attack rolls, making this subclass less efficient in its intended role.

A-Tier: Fighter

Fighters have mastered the art of combat, wielding weapons with unmatched skill and wearing armor like a second skin.

Overview

• Notable durability and damage.
• Six Fighting Styles, each with unique and strong bonuses that increase versatility.
• Features are simple, versatile, dependable, and recharge quickly.
• Lack the means to protect squishier allies.
• Limited out-of-combat utility.

Analysis

The Fighters boast impressive durability and damage, making them a solid class choice.

Second Wind is a self-heal that can be used as a bonus action and is restored after a short rest, providing sizable sustainability to Fighters without costing an action in a fight. Action Surge, another short-rest feature, can also significantly boost damage when used in conjunction with crowd-control and party setup.

A Fighter can also specialize in one of six fighting styles, with each providing different bonuses. Most of these styles offer substantial benefits that can either significantly boost your durability or damage output—and all of which add to the versatility of the class.

Their features are straightforward, reliable, versatile, and recharge quickly.

Subclasses

Battlemaster: S

Perhaps no other subclass provides more mastery over its core class role than the Battlemaster. For a little added resource-management, the Battlemaster gets a rechargeable well of combat maneuvers that can add devastating efficiency to your damage output in fights. The combat maneuver Riposte is especially worth a mention because it utilizes the Fighter's reaction, which otherwise sees little use out of Attacks of Opportunity.

Eldritch Knight: C

The Eldritch Knight subclass imbues the Fighter class with limited spellcasting. Unfortunately, casting spells from the backline is as far as it gets from where a Fighter should be—and if they're in the front, the frequent concentration saving throws makes their spellcasting completely counterproductive. Spells that enhance melee attacks (such as Green Flame Blade and Booming Blade) which make the Eldritch Knight so potent in the tabletop version of the game, are also not present.

A-Tier: Paladin

Fuelled by the Oaths you swore to uphold justice and righteousness, you are a beacon of hope in dark times.

Overview

• High offensive, defensive, and support capabilities.
• Features like Lay On Hands and Smites provide potent healing and damage.
• Unique "taunt" mechanic can manage enemy aggression.
• Subclasses impose specific conduct rules on gameplay.
• Breaking these oaths rules results in loss of subclass.
• Charisma-based, boost to social interactions.
• Unreliable due to potential oath conflict but engaging for roleplayers.

Analysis

The Paladin is an absolute powerhouse in offensive, defensive and support capabilities alike. They can heal, buff, output potent damage and are bastions of durability while doing it.

Lay On Hands provides reliable healing, and Smites can be devastatingly brutal against single targets in fights. They also have one of the few "taunt" mechanics in the game and are able to use Compelled Duel to draw enemy aggression.

However, the strength of the Paladin comes with a unique roleplay restriction: choosing an oath means you'll need to commit to a specific code of conduct, and breaking its stringent rules (such as turning down those in need as a Devotion Paladin) will result in the loss of your subclass.

This aspect adds a layer of complexity to the Paladin, making them less reliable in certain circumstances where their Oath could conflict with the group's interests or strategies. Still, this constraint also makes the Paladin especially engaging for those who enjoy the roleplay aspect of the game.

Subclasses

Oath of the Ancients: A

Sharing the same ideals as many Rangers and Druids, Oath of the Ancients Paladins aim to preserve the sanctity of life and nature. The tenets of this oath are significantly more difficult to break than that of Devotion, and its subclass features offer solid crowd-control options as well as exponentially-scaling, radial healing (level multiplied by your Charisma modifier) that especially excels in a party with lots of martials or frontliners.

Oath of Devotion: B

The Oath of Devotion Paladin, encapsulating the quintessential paladin role, is a potent combination of offense, defense, and healing—it does well in all the roles that a Paladin should excel in. However, their strict moral codes, such as refraining from stealth attacks or deception, can severely limit gameplay strategies—and it's exceedingly easy to accidentally break your oath and lose your subclass as a result.

Oathbreaker: B

Oathbreakers are Paladins who broke their oath, losing their original subclass features. Though the process is reversible, it does cost a sizable amount of gold. Oathbreakers come with their own set of features, focusing on doing necrotic damage and controlling the battlefield by pitting foes against each other. Though they lose much of their subclasses' supportive capabilities, they are still powerful in their own right—and without the restrictions of their oaths.

A-Tier: Rogue

With stealth, skill and uncanny reflexes, a rogue's versatility lets them get the upper hand in almost any situation.

Overview

• High burst-damage potential.
• Very high mobility.
• Low durability and consistent damage.
• Relies on getting advantage, and doesn't scale as well.
• Highest number of proficiencies and unique skill expertise.
• High Stealth for sneaking past enemies.

Analysis

A great addition to your party, the Rogue has extremely high burst-damage potential when played correctly. Sneak Attack can provide a substantial damage boost—but is dependent on being able to get advantage over foes or proper ally positioning. On that note, being able to consistently crit (such as in a party with Sleep and other incapacitation spells) will also boost the Rogue's damage significantly due to the Sneak Attack dice being doubled.

Cunning Action gives the Rogue impressive mobility, costing a Bonus Action to be able to dip in and out of combat with increased movement. Unfortunately, their trade-off for mobility when compared to other strikers is durability (with their d8 hit dice), making them more fragile than other strikers and requiring proper positioning to play.

It's worth noting that rogues have the highest amount of proficiencies and are one of the very few who gain expertise in skills, which is significant as skill checks can often progress the story or change the trajectory of the narrative. Their high Stealth also helps with scouting places and sneaking past foes undetected.

Subclasses

Arcane Trickster: B

The Arcane Trickster subclass adds magic to the mix of stealth and damage capabilities of the Rogue. Mage Hand Legerdemain—an invisible mage hand—presently sees very little use in the game, though it may become more useful in the busy, urban environment of Baldur's Gate. The subclass also comes with powerful control spells like Sleep and Tasha's Hideous Laughter, reducing the Rogue's dependency on support and allowing them to amplify their damage exponentially through critical strikes.

Thief: A

Thieves gain resilience to fall damage, which, again, sees little use in the game except in situational circumstances. Fast Hands, however, gives the Thief Rogue an additional bonus action—with the Rogue's expanded list of Bonus Actions, this is an excellent feature. You can also equip your rogue with two weapons to utilize the extra bonus action and make three attacks total per turn. That said, dual-wielding can pale without the boons from the Dual-Wielder Feat, and Rogues do not get access to the Two-Weapon Fighting fighting style that other martials do (meaning they won't add their modifiers to any off-hand attacks), making this extra attack slightly less notable than that of other strikers.

B-Tier: Barbarian

The strong embrace the wild that hides inside - keen instincts, primal physicality, and most of all, an unbridled, unquenchable rage.

Overview

• Emphasis on damage and high durability.
• Calculates armor class using Constitution.
• Rage boosts damage, provides physical damage resistance, and strength advantages.
• Best in their role as a tanky striker.
• Very limited in utility outside of combat.

Analysis

The Barbarian class is comparable to the Fighter, but much more focused on outputting high bursts of damage while being nigh-unkillable.

With the highest hit dice in the game, all the Barbarian's features greatly complement their role. Features include Unarmored Defense, which calculates armor class based on your Constitution, and Rage, a powerful boost providing extra damage, resistance to physical damage, and advantage on strength checks.

Barbarians also gain Danger Sense for improved Dexterity saves (a very common saving throw) and Reckless Attack, which provides advantage to both you and your foe—though chances are, you'll be able to take the hit much better than they can.

In essentia, they are the undisputed best at performing in their base class roles: dealing and taking damage. As a trade-off, however, Barbarians offer little to no utility whatsoever when it comes to anything else.

Subclasses

Berserker: A

Berserker gain Frenzy, an enhanced form of Rage allowing an extra attack per round—and when attacks hit as hard as the Barbarian's, this is really significant. Berserkers can maintain high damage over long fights when considered in combination with the high durability of the Barbarian class, and increases their already-impressive damage to almost unparalleled amounts among the strikers.

Wildheart: S

Wildhearts draw strength from the spirit of a selected animal totem during their rage. Each totem grants a passive and active ability, ranging from increased mobility, damage, healing, jump distance, utility support and area-of-effect damage. Though some of the totems are more situational than others, the expansion of the Barbarian's versatility—one of their biggest weaknesses—makes this subclass excellent.

B-Tier: Druid

Druids channel the elemental forces of nature and share a deep kinship with animals. Mastery of Wild Shape allows them to transform into beasts from all over the Realms.

Overview

• Spellcaster with relatively high durability.
• Spell list is fairly small.
• Includes good supportive spells like Spike Growth and Healing Word.
• Transform into animals with versatile abilities.
• Wildshape provides a lot of extra HP.
• No need for investment into physical stats.

Analysis

The Druid has two main features: spellcasting and Wild Shape.

Although their spell list may not be the largest or most powerful, it includes beneficial control and support spells like Spike Growth and Healing Word. However, their best spells tend to compete with each other for concentration.

The main feature of the Druid class is their Wild Shape, allowing them to transform into various animals twice per short rest. The available animals each offer unique abilities and combat strategies.

When Druids in animal form are reduced to zero hit-points, they revert to their human form with the hit-points they had before transforming. Depending on the Wildshape, this can provide a significant amount of additional hit-points. As a side note, Druids also can largely forego physical ability scores, as they take on the Strength, Constitution and Dexterity of the animals that they Wildshape into.

The high Wisdom score inherent to Druids also leads to improved Perception and Insight checks, which can provide information important to progressing through the game.

Subclasses

Circle of the Moon: B

The Circle of the Moon shifts the subclass' focus onto the Wildshape feature of the Druid, giving it the Polar Bear and Dire Raven wildshapes, exclusive to this subclass. It also receives Combat Wildshape—which allows wildshaping with a Bonus Action, an otherwise underutilized resource for Druids—and Lunar Mend, which further bolsters the Druids' durability with a sizable heal. The Polar Bear's damage is a little underwhelming, but offers a ton of extra hit-points (30 per Wildshape), which is fantastic for lower levels.

The Bear also comes with a goading roar, which is one of very few methods of taunting in the game, making the Druid viable as a Defender. That said, the low variety of extra Wildshapes and locking of the Druid into a tanky "meat-shield" role—since you can't cast while Wildshaped—and the eventual inevitable outscaling of Wildshaped HP by enemies hurts this subclass a little.

Circle of the Land: A

The Circle of the Land provides the Druid with abundant casting capabilities. Its features include Natural Recovery, allowing some spell slots recovery between encounters; a bonus cantrip, which adds to the Druid's existing cantrip options; and Circle Spells, which give Druids bonus spells based on the chosen natural biome.

These features combined grant Land Druids both additional spell choices and improved spell recovery, making them a much more respectable spellcaster. While the choice of biome for Circle Spells is largely a matter of preference, several of them provide an excellent balance of damage and control spells not usually accessible to Druids, reinforcing the Land Druid's role as a controller.

B-Tier: Warlock

Bound by a pact to an all-powerful patron, warlocks trade their loyalty for supernatural abilities and unique magic.

Overview

• Excel in high single-target damage.
• Unique spell casting; effective for short combat bursts.
• Charisma-based, boost to social interactions.
• Focus on Eldritch Blast cantrip; can lead to repetitive combat.
• Lacks in synergy or role specialization.

Analysis

Despite having unique and powerful features, Warlocks are a somewhat selfish class, excelling individually in single-target damage but not contributing significantly to a four-person party's overall synergy. In this way, they are outshone as casters by the Wizard's versatility and supportive capabilities and the Sorcerer's raw damage.

Their spell casting works very differently from all other classes; they get very limited spell slots that refresh on short rests, and their spells are always up-cast at the highest available level. This makes them very effective in short bursts of combat, but can quickly run out of steam on longer days with several encounters.

Due to their limited spell slots, the Eldritch Blast cantrip—combined with the Hex spell—define their class. This can make combat repetitive and monotonous. That said, Eldritch Invocations offer a variety of boosts that enhance the Warlock’s abilities and make it more flexible.

While Warlocks have an array of features, making them flexible and potent individually, they fall short in amplifying the overall party's capabilities or specializing in a particular role.

In terms of out-of-combat utility, Warlocks are Charisma-based, giving them a boost in social situations. Warlock Patrons—generally beings of great power—will also allegedly be active participants of the Warlock's personal story, which can lead to some interesting narrative moments.

Subclasses

Fiend: B

The Fiend subclass signifies a pact with a lower plane entity, enhancing durability and expanding spell options. Dark One’s Blessing provides bonus health upon defeating enemies, compensating for the Warlock's typically low durability.

The subclass also extends the spell list, providing good, though not outstanding, control and damage options. It does offer the excellent Fireball spell, but the Warlock's extremely low spell slots and reliance on Hex make damage from leveled spells unreliable. Overall, the Fiend subclass renders Warlocks more robust but doesn't elevate the base class significantly.

Great Old One: C

The Great Old One subclass signifies a pact with an ancient, eldritch being. This can potentially tie into the heavy presence of aberrations in the main storyline. Mechanically, however, the class offers two notable spells, Dissonant Whispers and Tasha's Hideous Laughter, both of which are excellent spells but benefit very little from the Warlock's "always-upcast" spell scalability. The Mortal Reminder feature inflicts Frightened on enemies that you critically hit, providing formidable crowd control but is unfortunately unusably inconsistent.

C-Tier: Ranger

Rangers are unrivaled scouts and trackers, honing a deep connection with nature in order to hunt their favored prey.

Overview

• Reworked from tabletop for enhanced combat and utility.
• Mix of martial (stereotypically ranged, though melee builds are perfectly fine) and spellcasting.
• Fighting styles to enhance combat prowess.
• Uniquesubclass features.
• Mix of skills underperforms compared to pure classes.
• Situational abilities, limiting overall utility.

Analysis

The Ranger class has undergone significant changes from its tabletop version to boost its utility and combat effectiveness, and this has largely been successful.

The class excels greatly in certain situations, and the Beast Tamer subclass introduces a unique animal companion mechanic.

Unfortunately, while the Ranger possesses a combination of martial striking abilities and spellcasting, it doesn't quite excel in either or blend these aspects well enough to compete with pure martial or casting classes.

The situational applicability of most of its base features (proficiencies in specific skills, resistances to certain damage types, etc) further impacts the subclass negatively.

That said, once again, there are no "unplayable" classes or subclasses in the game, and you'll be able to clear the content with any class provided enough party synergy—plus, you'll have a lot more fun doing so if it's a class whose mechanics and flavor you enjoy.

Subclasses

Beastmaster: S

The Beastmaster subclass greatly enriches the Ranger class by summoning an animal companion to aid in combat.

Each animal has unique abilities; the bear can taunt, the spider can crowd-control, the raven can blind, and the wolf can push foes prone to give allies advantage. The value of these summoned companions is extremely high at early levels, especially considering the weight of action economy in the turn-based gameplay of Baldur's Gate 3, making the Beastmaster a very powerful subclass that skyrockets the Ranger's utility and damage output.

Hunter: B

The Hunter subclass enhances the Ranger class with the Hunter's Prey feature, allowing the Ranger to specialize in enhanced combat ability against certain types of creatures. Three choices are available, including Colossus Slayer for extra damage on wounded foes, Giant Killer for reaction attacks on large enemies, and Horde Breaker for multi-target attacks on creatures that are grouped up. However, most of these features require specific combat situations to be useful.

The most consistent damage boost from Colossus Slayer combined with Hunter's Mark makes it the most reliable choice, but the subclass' overall effectiveness is, unfortunately, situational.

NEXT: Baldur's Gate 3: How To Change Classes And Respec