Best Halsin companion build in BG3

Baldur’s Gate 3 presents players with the chance to recruit a number of different companions along their adventures, and while most of them are found relatively quickly, a few, including the Druid Halsin and his powerful builds, will take a little bit of time and effort to add to your camp. 

Nevertheless, while Halsin might not be the first companion to join your team, he might be the most pivotal one, depending on what playstyle you enjoy. There are a few ways of developing Halsin once he joins our party, and here’s the build we like the most, with a thourough explanation why.

How to use Halsin in BG3

As a Druid, Halsin provides some of the best utility you can find, filling in whatever role you might need. Figuring out the best build for him can largely be up to personal preference, making a guide for his best builds a little bit tricky. Depending on what classes you have in your composition, you might want Halsin to be melee, a caster, or even a support.

Deciding how best to use Halsin can depend on what other companions you have in your group composition. This can vary based on how you choose to interact with other potential companions, but the most notable roles that Halsin can fill will likely be as a support or as a tank.

Getting Halsin at the beginning of Act Two, it is likely that you’ve already had an opportunity to add the Cleric Shadowheart and the Barbarian Karlach to your team. Each of those characters are exceptionally good at healing and tanking respectively, but there’s a chance that maybe you chose not to let them join your camp, in which case Halsin can fill either of those roles for you.

While Halsin can be used in other capacities, there are ample caster and melee damage options to choose from, making it so that his utility is likely best served as a tank or support.

How to find Halsin in BG3

To use Halsin, you must first save him from the goblin camp in Act One, and in the process, you have to choose against siding with the Drow Minthara, who has teamed up with the goblins.

In my current campaigns, I chose against siding with Minthara, but I went about saving Halsin in slightly different ways.

After you’ve taken out the goblin camp and its leaders, including Dror Ragzlin, you can find Halsin back at Emerald Grove where you can ultimately team up with him by choosing the appropriate dialogue cues, all of which are relatively straightforward. Don’t worry—the game isn’t trying to trick you. They really want you to add him to your camp, if that’s what you want.

I initially made the mistake of thinking that once he was hanging around my camp that he was a playable companion, so I do have to warn you: he’s not immediately playable as soon as you add him to your camp. In order to make him a playable character, you will first need to complete a questline in Act Two that ends with you rescuing Thaniel and Oliver from the Shadow-Cursed Lands. He could be playable earlier or later in Act Two depending on how you prioritize your questing.

All of Halsin’s class features explained

When you add Halsin to your group composition, he will be downgraded to level one, and you’ll be prompted to level him up to match your other characters’ levels. He is a Wood Elf with an Outlander background, and his Subclass is Circle of the Moon. Here is what his base stats look like:

• Strength: 10
• Dexterity: 14
• Constitution: 14
• Intelligence: 8
• Wisdom: 17
• Charisma: 12

If you’re looking to use him the way he is flavorfully intended, your build will revolve around the class action Wild Shape, and we learn prior to meeting him that his go-to Wild Shape is a bear. That form turns Halsin into a large bear with a chunky HP base to match.

Best cantrips for Halsin in BG3

Halsin will start out with Thorn Whip and Shillelagh as his cantrips. Thorn Whip will deal damage to enemies and pull them toward him, making him ideal for being a frontliner. Meanwhile, Shillelagh will buff specific weapons to add to their damage roll to make your melee damage attacks add an extra punch.

Best spells for Halsin in BG3

Halsin is a bear at heart, but he’s got a number of spell options that can help heal the team a little bit and do some crowd control too. When you pick him up, his initial prepared spells will veer toward that support utility role:

• Goodberry: conjures a consumable that you can share with allies. The berries provide a few HP. While it’s not a ton of added health, it adds up and can save you from having to drink a ton of health potions.
• Entangle: This does what the name says. If you’ve gotten this far in the game, you’ve been entangled once or twice and know how frustrating that crowd control can be for a melee character. It’ll help you control the battlefield and pick apart your enemies.
• Healing Word: This is a ranged heal. It’s not as powerful as Cure Wounds, but you can do it from 18 meters away making it significantly more flexible.

By the time you get Halsin, you’ll need to pick out some level two and three spells. Here are some solid choices that you might want to consider:

• Moonbeam: My friend who plays a Druid in my co-op campaign is convinced this is overpowered. Anytime he casts it, it almost always hits multiple targets, and enemies almost always walk through it dealing more damage. It can effectively be a crowd control ability that keeps enemies out of a certain location, or it can just kill them if they’re dumb enough to walk through it anyway.
• Barksin: If you’re trying to use Halsin as tank, this will do the trick. It ups the armor class of a target. He can cast it on himself and transform into a bear for the ultimate beefy tank body.
• Spike Growth: Similar to Entangle, this can be an effective crowd control tool that can manipulate the battlefield in your favor if used properly. It can also damage enemies that don’t respect its zoning power.
• Call Lightning: This is another AoE damage option. It won’t stay in the same spot for multiple turns like Moonbeam, but you can call down lightning repeatedly throughout a combat to continue the fun, and damage.

Best feats for Halsin in BG3

Just like other companions, Halsin will earn a feat at levels four, eight, and 12. Getting Halsin’s Wisdom up to 20 as quickly as possible is optimal, so Ability Improvement is probably your best option out of the gate, and it will likely also be the best option at level eight. 

Later on, you can use a feat like Elemental Adept to make sure that your spells don’t get resisted. You can also go with Resilient and up your Constitution to make Halsin the beefiest, tankiest boy possible if you’re really into the whole bear vibes.

• Level four: Ability Improvement
• Level eight: Ability Improvement
• Level 12: Elemental Adept or Resilient (Constitution)

Best multiclass options for Halsin in BG3

Thanks to one of the NPCs we meet during our BG3 adventure, Withers, we can reassign the classes of our character and our companions. The case is no different with Halsin, who will always be a Druid, but can also take another class in a multiclass combination.

With practically no limits, players can choose almost any combination they want when taking another class for their characters. However, when your primary one is a Druid, which is the case for Halsin, then it’s a bit tricky. Druids use Wisdom as their main stats to then calculate the damage and so on of their abilities. Others that also rely on Wisdom are also Cleric and Monk, which could be an option. Though, Cleric’s abilities worked somehow when mashed together with Druid’s, which can’t be said about the others.

There’s also a choice to go for Barbarian Druid, with three levels in the former. It will grant you access to Rage, which works with Druid’s Wild Shape ability. Therefore, if you want to enhance damage and tankiness in Halsin’s bear form, Barbarian Druid multiclass is likely the wisest path.

Best items and consumables to use for Halsin in BG3

With hundreds of different items in BG3 and multiple combinations for each companion, finding the best item build seems almost impossible. However, we selected a couple of items that work well with our suggested Halsin build, both in terms of early and late game.

Best early game items for Halsin

• Haste Helm: A great option for Halsin because it gives him Momentum at the start of each combat for three turns. Found in a chest in Blighted Village.
• Adamantine Scale Mail: Arguably the best item you can craft at the Adamantine Forge, this Scale Mail reduces incoming damage, deals some of it back, and shields you from critical hits.
• Gloves of Missile Snaring: One of our favorite gloves in BG3 which reduces the damage from ranged attacks. Sold by Arron in the Druid Grove.
• Disintegrating Night Walkers: These boots give a free Misty Step ability, pivotal for every character in BG3. They are looted from True Soul Nere in Grymforge.
• Amulet of Misty Step: If you can’t find Disintegrating Night Walkers, Amulet of Misty Step will do just fine. It’s located in a chest in Defiled Temple.
• Staff of Arcane Blessing: Halsin has a lot of early game Staffs he can use. In our experience, though, Staff of Arcane Blessing works best. It grants the wearer a Bless spell, that enhances their defensive qualities. It can be found in the Arcane Tower Basement in the Underdark.
• Glowing Shield: A shield that restores hit points in combat, an ability that is restored every Short Rest. Found in a chest behind the Goblin Camp.
• Shapeshifter’s Boon Ring: Gives a bonus to all Ability Checks when shapeshifting. Can be looted from Strange Ox or given as a reward for completing Help the Devilish Ox.

Best endgame items for Halsin

• Shapeshifter Hat: Increases the charge of Halsin’s Wild Shape charge by one. Sold by Helsik in the Devil’s Fee in act three.
• Mantle of the Holy Warrior: Grants a level three Evocation spell, Crusader’s Mantle, which is incredibly powerful for all tank-like characters. Sold by Vicar Humbletoes in Stormshore Tabernacle.
• Armour of Moonbasking: The best late game Druid armor. Gives 22 temporary hit points after casting Wild Shape, and reduces incoming damage in the meantime. Also adds a handful of other bonuses. Sold by Voiceless Penitent Bareki in Baldur’s Gate City Sewers.
• Amulet of Greater Health: Increases the wearer’s Constitution score to 23. Found in the Archives at the House of Hope.
• Gloves of Dexterity: Increases the wearer’s Dexterity score to 18. Sold by A’jak’nir Jeera in Creche Y’llek in the Mountain Pass Area.
• Helldusk Boots: Forbids enemies to forcibly move the wearer with spells and actions, while also allowing them to ignore Difficult Terrain. Also gives additional reactions when the wearer fails a Saving Throw. Found in a chest in Gortash Chambers in Wyrm’s Rock Fortress.
• Viconia’s Walking Fortress: Our favorite shield in the entire game. It comes with a unique reaction, a passive ability, and two active abilities which are all perfect for a tank. Can be acquired by defeating Viconia DeVir in the House of Grief storyline.
• Darkfire Shortbow: While the bow itself will rarely be used, it comes alongside valuable statistics for Halsin, including resistance to Fire and Cold damage. Sold by Dammon in the second act.

Many of these items were also recommended in our best Jaheira build, who is also a Druid.

Best consumables and elixirs for Halsin

While having the bets possible gear is one part of success, empowering yourself with potions and other consumables before important fights is also important. When it comes to Halsin, it’s good for him to use the following ones.

• Elixir of Vigilance: Gives five bonus Initiative and makes the user not susceptible to a Surprise.
• Elixir of Universal Resistance: Boosts Halsin’s resistances to all damage.
• Potion of Speed: Increases Halsin’s speed for three turns by giving him more Action Points.
• Potion of Angelic Slumber: For lengthy fights, it makes the user fall asleep for two turns, then restores all his spell slots, hit points, and abilities.
• Elixir of Bloodlust: Gives the user five hit points and additional action every time they kill a foe.

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