Best Baldur's Gate 3 Gale build

Gale is possibly the most divisive companion in Baldur's Gate 3: he's either your main party's hilarious go-to spellslinger with a lighthearted quip to diffuse any situation… or he's an annoying hanger-on you need to keep supplied with costly snacks alongside everything else you already have to worry about. Interestingly though, he is or was the game's most-romanced companion, which just goes to show that there's a loveable heart in him alongside the magical nuke he's just barely keeping contained.

There are a ridiculous number of options when it comes to Gale's build, so to help you pick the best way to play him, we've put together this Baldur's Gate 3 Gale build that covers his best spells, equipment, weapons, ability score spreads, and more.

Baldur's Gate 3 best Gale build

Gale is a Wizard, which as anyone familiar with D&D will know means that he's inclined to be a bit of a glass cannon, able to dish out incredible amounts of damage with the right spells but a bit easily squished once enemies start landing hits on him in turn. Nevertheless, high-level Wizards are among some of the most powerful characters in the game, so keeping Gale alive and on-side will absolutely pay dividends down the line.

Gale ability priorities

Gale's default ability scores at the start of the game are as follows:

• Strength - 8
• Dexterity - 13
• Constitution - 14
• Intelligence - 17
• Wisdom - 10
• Charisma - 13

Despite fitting the archetype of the squishy wizard compared to some of the tanks on your team, aside from his low Strength score, Gale actually isn't doing too badly in his physical stats. You can respec him to even out his scores a little if you like, but your main priority should be building up his Intelligence as high as possible, while plugging extra points into his Dexterity in order to increase his initiative and armour class to help keep him safe in combat.

Gale best subclass

By default, Gale will be aligned with Evocation, a Wizard subclass suited for a magical DPS build. Wizards have an embarrassment of options when it comes to subclasses, with eight in total to choose from, and which you want to pick will depend largely on the exact role you want Gale to play within your party. However, we consider Evocation to be the best Wizard subclass as it is, and we recommend keeping Gale aligned with it.

Evocation spells tend to focus on AoE damage, which as an added subclass bonus won't harm allies if they accidentally get caught up in Gale's range. Removing the friendly fire risk from a damage-dealing spellcaster is a top-tier option as it allows you to play without worrying constantly about character placement, without actually locking Gale out of any spells you want him to learn (picking a subclass allows you to learn its associated spells at a lower resource cost, but all spells are still available).

Multiclassing Gale

When building Gale as an Evocation Wizard you want him to reach at least Level 10 for its considerable spell damage bonus, so this build doesn't require any multiclassing to get the most out of it. As with most BG3 characters, however, a couple of levels of the Fighter class wouldn't go amiss if you want to improve his melee and/or defence, but it's far from essential.

Gale best equipment

Gale's proficiency ends with Light Armour, and it's often better to equip him only with regular clothing to allow him to stay maximally mobile. Luckily, most non-armour equipment doesn't require proficiency, so you can kit Gale out well with boots, headware, cloaks, and jewellery. For example, although their item description associates them with Rogues, the Evasive Boots (purchasable at the Last Light Inn) give small boosts to Acrobatics and Armour Class, both of which can be helpful for Gale.

As a general rule, you'll want Gale's equipped items to provide bonuses to either his AC or to spellcasting. With magical items, it's a good idea to focus on the damage types that you want Gale to be primarily dealing. I'm also partial to the Necklace of Elemental Augmentation (first picked up in the Githyanki Creche) since it adds Gale's spellcasting modifier to Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, and Thunder cantrip damage, allowing you to experiment with different elemental attacks quite freely.

While Gale is very unlikely to be making many melee attacks with this build, there are a number of Quarterstaves available that increase his Spell Save DC when he has them equipped. You can also find many Quarterstaves that add extra spells or elemental damage types as passive effects, if you prefer.

Gale best skills and spells

Spells that deal fire damage are among some of the best in the game, and you can focus Gale around dealing fire damage to great effect if you take spells like Burning Hands, Scorching Ray, and Fireball at the appropriate levels.

Misty Step is also a top-tier choice for Gale as it can be used either offensively or defensively depending on the situation he finds himself in. Counterspell is also a good defensive/support spell, allowing Gale to nullify another character's spell as a reaction. If you like adding supportive capabilities to Gale's build, consider taking Dancing Lights too: it's a fairly simple choice, but practical for freeing up hands when exploring areas of the game where characters would otherwise need to carry a torch.

It's no secret that, statistically, you're more likely to partner up with Gale than anyone else in Baldur's Gate 3; and sure, that's because he's really very keen on you almost regardless of anything you do or say. But nevertheless, if you want to make absolutely sure you're getting it right, you might like our Baldur's Gate 3 Gale romance and approval guide.