Baldur’s Gate 3 Made One Huge Class Change That D&D Needs To Adopt

Summary Baldur's Gate 3 warlocks can use Charisma for attack and damage rolls, making them more powerful.

The game reworked the Hexblade subclass's unique feature for all warlocks, balancing power among subclasses.

One D&D could adopt this change, providing versatility and options for warlocks in combat.

The warlock is an iconic and powerful class from Dungeons & Dragons' fifth edition, and its counterpart in Baldur's Gate 3 lives up to its reputation. The unique spells warlocks gain access to, from eldritch blast to Hunger of Hadar, make them powerful damage dealers and controllers in combat. Baldur's Gate 3's focus on Charisma checks and battlefield control has only made the warlock class feel even stronger.

But one thing missing from Baldur's Gate 3 is a certain subclass that has become synonymous with the warlock for its power and unique mode of play: the Hexblade. Hexblade warlocks in DnD gain a number of features that make them adept melee fighters and close-range damage dealers. They gain access to spells like shield and banishing smite, but the real power of Hexblades lies in their core feature: using their Charisma instead of Strength or Dexterity when they make attack and damage rolls.

Related Baldur's Gate 3: Best Warlock Multiclass Build Tome Warlocks multiclassed with College of Lore Bards are powerful in Baldur’s Gate 3. They have a huge spell selection and fast spell slots.

How Baldur's Gate 3 Reworks The Idea Of The Hexblade

Using Charisma For Attack & Damage Rolls Is Available To All Warlock Subclasses

In DnD, this feature alone makes the Hexblade stand out as one of the most powerful warlock subclass options, as well as the most popular among players by far. Baldur's Gate 3 includes three subclasses for the warlock: the Fiend, the Archfey, and the Great Old One. Each is powerful in its own right, but their tabletop versions pale in comparison to the Hexblade, which is likely the exact reason that the subclass was not included in Baldur's Gate 3, and instead had its key feature made available to all warlocks.

Wyll is, by default, a warlock in Baldur's Gate 3 with the Fiend pact as his subclass.

The ability to use Charisma for melee attacks and damage rolls was added to the Pact of the Blade ability all warlocks have access to. Now, no matter their subclass, this core ability can be gained by any warlock and used to their considerable advantage. This means each of the subclasses are on a more even footing with one another, and each is more powerful than they are in DnD 5e.

One D&D Should Copy BG3's Warlock Changes

Balance Out Hexblade's Dominance In 5e

Wizards of the Coast is getting ready to release the next version of Dungeons & Dragons, known as One D&D, and this would be a great time to update the warlock class to make this mechanic from Baldur's Gate 3 official. It makes sense for the Charisma change to be a part of the Pact of the Blade feature anyway, since without it, the feature can feel fairly weak and ineffective. This change would give warlocks a power boost on the whole, and even the ground between Hexblades and other subclasses.

This could even be used as a reason to give hexblades a more interesting ability at level one, something to augment the damage type of their weapon or maybe have it transform in some way during combat. Warlocks are fairly strong as they are, but they often end up pigeonholed into just casting eldritch blast. This change from Baldur's Gate 3 would provide Dungeons & Dragons warlocks with some extra versatility and at least one more viable option in combat.