It could be that Wyll is one of the more balanced characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. He’d earned a semi-permanent spot in my party for much of the game’s story, with a heavy emphasis on ‘semi.’ In my experience, he’s never been a concrete party member like Shadowheart or Karlach have been — if I needed to pull in Astarion or Halsin, Wyll was, unfortunately, being benched.
But, that’s not to say he’s a bad character — quite the opposite, actually. I might not have used him to deliver the smackdown on Ketheric Thorm, but that’s OK because he’s earned accolades elsewhere. I think Wyll is best used as a ranged attacker — and I don’t mean that in the sense of bows and arrows — not that a traditional ranged attack isn’t effective — but rather, spells.
Let’s look at my equipment, abilities, and spells for Wyll in Baldur’s Gate 3, and — hopefully — give you some ideas to conquer the challenges before you.
Best Wyll Equipment
So, I actually don’t have a helmet on Wyll. It seemed a shame to cover up those wicked — in more ways than one — horns he rocks as his story unfolds. But, as far as his body attire goes, I have the Armour of Uninhibited Kushigo, which is an uncommon clothing item with an armor class of 10. It comes with a Kushigo Counter, which lets Wyll make an unarmed strike against any attacker who misses so long as the Patient Defence is active.
He’s also wearing the Gloves of Cinder and Sizzle, a rare set of gloves that not only deal an additional 1-4 points of fire damage to all unarmed attacks, but also unlock the Scorching Ray evocation spell, which can come in handy when faced with many enemies.
I don’t have any rings or amulets assigned to Wyll, and based on the previous two items you might think I don’t have a melee weapon assigned, but you’d actually be wrong. Though I would be lying if I said this weapon assignment wasn’t more of an afterthought — I don’t use Wyll for physical attacks unless I absolutely need to, so it doesn’t make much of a difference in my case.
Best Shadowheart Abilities and Spells
I find that the abilities and spells I use the most with Wyll are multi-target moves such as Poison Spray, Scorching Ray, and Eldritch Blast. But, you could also use Wyll for more area-of-effect type moves, such as Hunger of Hadar, which exudes a cloud of black fog that causes all trapped within it to take damage, or Wall of Fire, which does exactly what it sounds like.
Also — AOE abilities like Fireball, Cloud of Daggers, and Burning Hands are also very helpful. I always think back to the mission in the second act where you have to defend Halsin’s portal whilst he rescues Thaniel. Had it not been for Wyll and his ability to use Cloud of Daggers and Scorching Ray, I might not have completed that mission when I did.
But, at the end of the day, this build is but a starting point for you. You may notice weapons and abilities that you think work better than what I’ve listed here. If so, please let me know in the comments so I can try them out!
Baldur’s Gate 3’s character customization is one to be admired, and the fact that I can have a system that works for me, but it can always be improved upon is simply fantastic.
