#did i enjoy myself? yes

[alicelufenia]

Conquest and Dominion: A Minthara Build

"Once I have had my vengeance and the Absolute is ours to control, people will pledge an oath to our cause. Conquest, and dominion." —Minthara

I'm back in on bg3 after a break, which means even more mods to play with and delay finishing act 2 enhance my game experience! And since my current Dark Urge is the sort who would totally become the Absolute if not for *vaguely waves hands at character growth from interacting with every other companion*, but since as of act 2 she still thinks it's a good idea, and a duo run of her and Minthara would have that as their end game no question, I figured now is the time for Minthara to take up the Oath of Conquest that is her true calling.

Mods

This build uses just a few mods, MOST of which are available on console, so I'll detail the 100% console-friendly version first. You only need three mods (plus obvious prereqs like ImpUI):

Oath of Conquest Tasha's Feats Mystra's Spells

Technically you could get away with JUST Conquest, but I like the versatility that the other two provide. The addition of several quality "half-feats" that give a +1 ability score means we can do a two-feat multiclass and still can afford to take something other than the mandatory two ASIs.

Onto the build!

Multiclasses

⚔️Conquest⚔️ Paladin / 🧠Great Old One🧠 Warlock (Blade Pact)

That's right we're going lockadin! While any patron could work for gameplay purposes, Great Old One is mandatory for lore reasons. It's literally her lingering connection to the Absolute, the Dominion in the title. Why is she able to have the Absolute as a patron when it's the game's main antagonist? Welllll [REDACTING MASSIVE ACT 3 SPOILERS] suffice to say, it works. Feel free to make use of ALL the Illithid powers on this build too.

Ability Scores

STR: 12* DEX: 14 CON:14 (13+1) INT: 8 WIS: 10 CHA: 17 (15+2)

While we are a bladelock, getting Charisma all the way to 20 isn't strictly mandatory for this build, but certainly an option we'll explore when we get to feats. Minthara is forever cursed to have an 8 Intelligence, sorry I don't make the rules.

*We won't be attacking with Strength, but since we start as Paladin we can grab Athletics and have a semi-decent score to push enemies, and makes us more resistant to being pushed if you go with gear that doesn't prevent movement. If you prefer to dump Strength entirely, you can then bump Constitution to 16, which is what I'd recommend if you're optimizing.

Skills: You'll want to take Intimidation (it's Minthara after all). If you're not taking Athletics, Religion is an appropriate alternative. Otherwise pick what you want, you won't be making lots of skill checks.

Levels 1-2

Paladin 1: Oath of Conquest

We get a really nice violet-themed subclass with this mod, as well as a fantastic level 1 channel oath action in Chosen Adversary. For a bonus action and our channel oath charge, you gain advantage on attack rolls against the target you mark with this ability, and force a Wisdom save when you hit them to make them Frightened. It's just until the end of their next turn, or they take damage again, so it's not the most reliable source of Frightened, but will serve us well until we can get the later features.

Paladin 2: Divine Smite, Spellcasting, Fighting Style

We want to get smites online as early as possible, which is why I recommend taking the 2nd Paladin level before getting into Warlock. You can pick your favorite when it comes to fighting style. I prefer Defense as an always useful option that doesn't care about my current gear. You can be more flexible with your spell preparation since we can actually hit with our spell save DC (we'll get to that) so I'd highly recommend Command and Wrathful Smite, along with old standbys like Bless and Shield of Faith for concentration options.

Levels 3-7

Warlock 1: Great Old One Patron

Right away we're getting the goodies. Mortal Reminder pairs beautifully with our Paladin oath, which loves the Frightened condition, and Minthara, who loves critical hits. Since we are definitely using Illithid powers, Luck of the Far Realms is a guaranteed crit we can use every day, plus our ability to get advantage easily means higher odds for critical rolls.

Our cantrip selection is interesting. It's hard to justify not taking Eldritch Blast to compensate for our lack of a ranged option, however Mystra's Spells means we now have the blade cantrips as options. Both Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade have their uses; to lock down enemies near you (where we want them) or hit adjacent targets before we get Extra Attack. Regardless of what you choose, I highly recommend picking up Mind Sliver either here or at Warlock 4. That -1d4 to saving throws is going to come in handy (unless you use a broken gear option later)

For spells, Armor of Agathys serves us well, but I'd recommend holding off for now as we'll be getting it later. Dissonant Whispers scales nicely with our Warlock spell slots and is a source of Frightened. I'd also suggest picking up Hex, as it's still useful early on, but we'll be replacing it eventually.

Warlock 2: Eldritch Invocations

The usual picks of Agonizing Blast and Devil Sight work great. If you don't plan to exploit Darkness, I'd go with Repelling Blast as a non-Strength based pushing option. For Spells, I like Magnify Gravity as an area speed reduction.

Warlock 3: Pact Boon

Pact of the Blade at last! Our spell selection depends on our general strategy. Minthara gets a once per day cast of Darkness at this level, but if you are heavily using that strategy you can pick it up here. The problem is it feels real bad to use a Warlock spell slot on Darkness. A better choice would be something like Misty Step (which we no longer get from our oath)

Warlock 4: Feat

This is where the Tasha's mod comes into play. We want to pick a half-feat to take care of that odd Charisma score. In my own game I picked Performer because I wanted Minthara to be able to play an instrument alongside my durge, but you can pick a not-terrible feat instead!

Any of them can work: Actor if you want her to be a face, Fey-Touched or Shadow-Touched for the free spells (Fey is an alternate way to get Misty Step, and I like Shadow for Invisibility, as a nod to her time in the Underdark and a way around having heavy armor), Telekinetic grants yet another way to push without Athletics, and Telepathic is just fully in character.

For our spell I really like Cloud of Daggers for the no-save damage, and can make it really suck for our enemies to be stuck near us (just mind you don't catch yourself in the spell when you cast it!)

Warlock 5: Eldritch Invocation, Deepened Pact

Right on time for level 7 when most parties get Minthara, we have our extra attack now! We can pick Sign of Ill Omen to get Bestow Curse, and for our spell we select Fear. Congrats, you have the 9th level Conquest spells 2 levels early! Especially nice as we won't be getting to 9th level Paladin with this build.

We are also opting to replace Hex (you're definitely not using it by now) and picking the direct upgrade Spirit Shroud. Having a choice of adding 1d8 radiant, necrotic, or cold damage is especially nice when we utilize weapon actions like Cleave. Don't forget, the wet condition doubles cold damage!

Levels 8-12

Paladin 3: Conquering Presence, Guided Strike

A big level for us, we get Guided Strike, which is nice to have I guess, but most importantly Conquering Presence to inflict Frightened to every enemy in a massive area around us. While the Fear spell inflicts the much stronger Fearful condition, this has the advantage of not being a cone, and using a channel oath charge instead of one of our precious spell slots that could be used for smiting. Between Conquering Presence and your Warlock slots both coming back on a short rest, this makes Minthara MUCH less likely to run out of steam in a long adventuring day.

We also get Command and Armor of Agathys as oath spells, which both serve our purposes well.

Paladin 4: Feat

We now have a choice: max out our Charisma score, or get a general feat. Personally, I vastly prefer to pick up a feat here; we have so many ways to gain advantage that we're not hurting on accuracy, and getting our spells to land will not be a problem right around this point in Act 2 (you can probably guess, but we'll cover it in depth in the gear section).

Great Weapon Master is always nice, but again, since I'm building to be mostly weapon-agnostic, I think nothing beats Savage Attacker right now. We have so many bonus dice we can stack on each attack, this is going to raise our damage much more I feel, and still let us use a shield.

Paladin 5: Extra Attack

If you're on Tactician or below, the extra attack we get from Paladin and Warlock's deepened pact both stack. Meaning we now are doing 3 attacks a round, 1 level earlier than a Fighter! Since these don't stack on Honor Mode it's obviously less effective there. As I've never actually completed an Honor Mode run I don't feel confident making an Honor Mode-friendly version of this build.

We also are happy for more oath spells, and pick up Hold Person and Spiritual Weapon, which we LOVE to see! It's never worth it to upcast Spiritual Weapon, as it serves more to have a body to draw aggro and occasionally deal bonus damage. We're a bit late in getting Hold Person, but level 10 is around the time we start seeing more humanoids after the endless wave of undead in act 2, so now is a good time to get it anyway.

Paladin 6: Aura of Protection

An already amazing feature is made even better by our higher than usual Charisma! +4 to all saving throws is WILD, making it much less likely we drop concentration on our nasty, nasty Fears.

Paladin 7: Aura of Conquest

The perfect capstone to our build. All the fear mongering pays off, as now every Frightened enemy within our aura will have its movement reduced to zero, AND frightened enemies take half our Paladin level in psychic damage whenever they start their turn in the aura. Which they will. Because they can't move and we can.

But wait Kaylin! You think. Doesn't the Frightened condition already make a creature unable to move? What's the point of reducing its speed to zero?

An excellent question! First, there are actually several conditions that the game considers part of the "Frightened" status group, which includes both the Frightened and Fearful conditions. Very confusing, I know, but it means all the guys you just made drop their weapons can't even escape you.

In addition, while it's true the Frightened condition makes a character unable to move, their movement speed is unaffected. With zero movement, this means anyone who is affected by this aura and is knocked prone cannot stand up. This is the sort of trick a maiming Barbarian gets to play with, and so can we now with Thunderous Smite.

Gear

And now we need to talk about the hollyphant in the room, the obvious gear combo that takes this from strong to potentially game ruiningly broken.

Helmet of Arcane Acuity + Band of the Mystic Scoundrel

These two items are the reason why we didn't cap Charisma, and why we don't need to take any spell save DC gear. The Helmet of Arcane Acuity is available right away in act 2, and grants you 2 turns of Arcane Acuity every time you deal damage with a weapon attack. So right at level 7 Minthara can put this on immediately upon joining the team, hit an enemy twice, and you now have a +4 to all your spell save DCs. Use Chosen Adversary with your bonus action, and whatever target you choose is almost guaranteed to fail their wisdom save, and will immediately be Frightened. Next turn you Acuity drops to +3, but you hit a guy two more times, now you have +7. Drink a speed potion, and use any spell you want (like an upcasted Command) and make 3 enemies of your choice do whatever you want because your save DCs are now astronomical. This bonus caps out at +10.

Remember what I said about Frightened and Prone enemies in your conquest aura being unable to stand up? Yeah, you can upcast Command and make all of them grovel, and take them out of the fight until their Frightened shakes.

Which won't happen because your ridiculously boosted spell save DCs apply to their rolls to shake off Frightened. So unless they're immune to fear they are just out of the fight.

But don't worry, we're not done! You can get the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel as soon as you enter act 3. For the low cost of hitting a creature with a weapon attack, you can cast any Illusion or Enchantment spell with a bonus action. What spells do we have that qualify? I dunno how about Command, Dissonant Whispers, Hold Person, frickin' Fear??

Yes please I'd love to cast Fear as a bonus action with my +10 spell save DC. Now five Baneites just dropped their weapons, and they're stuck where they are unable to do anything for the rest of the combat.

So yeah, these two items are like, so game breakingly busted they actually make the game boring and unfun.

In MY opinion. As with all things, your mileage will vary. I can't say I blame you if you want to see Minthara Crit Smite one fucker, Hold Person on two more, then use her two remaining attacks to ALSO Crit Smite those two fuckers. So if you like, go for it!

The alternate: One little cantrip

If you prefer not to use the incredibly broken Arcane Acuity + Mystic Scoundrel combo, there is a more balanced alternative, and that is to take the Mind Sliver cantrip. Giving one enemy a -1d4 to saving throws isn't much in comparison, but with the Mystic Scoundrel ring it's still just a bonus action, and applies to any saving throw that target makes until the end of your next turn, which could help your companions immensely.

Aside from these two, I can just run through a few gearing recommendations quickly. You'll want the best Heavy Armor you can find (+2 Plate with a shield gives 23 AC, not a bad choice considering you want to be surrounded by as many enemies as possible), a bonus to crit chance like The Dead Shot or even using Knife of the Undermountain King as your main hand, Surgeon's Subjugation Amulet to turn crits into boss killers by paralyzing them for follow up crit smites, and The Killer's Sweetheart pairs with the Mystic Scoundrel ring to round out your accessories.

Conclusion

In case you couldn't tell, I really really Really like this oath! It walks this line where the paladin can be heroic or villainous even better than the vengeance oath, and since it lends itself to spellcasting more than other oaths, it pairs nicely with a full caster. If it weren't for the fact we never get 4th level spell slots, I'd call it a top tier paladin multiclass. And while I recognize why Minthara is vengeance oath by default, it doesn't take much prodding to see how she'd fit better as a conquest paladin. Just look at the oath tenets:

Does this all not sound exactly like how she talks about her plans of conquering and retaking her House, her plans to march on the Sword Coast, even her method of seizing and gathering power in her "stay in Baldur's Gate" ending? For one who has not just renounced Lolth, but pledges to wage war on the Spider Queen and her followers, it feels exceedingly fitting.

It also works for the various evil endings. Should the mc take over the Absolute, this build is primed and ready to slip into power at their side. On the other hand, if the Absolute is destroyed in the end, it is not the end of her ambitions. While I think she'd lose the Warlock levels, no longer having a tadpole or any Illithid powers, I think she'd compensate by becoming a pure Conquest Paladin, and advance to the higher levels beyond the scope of the game.

Alternate Builds

Before I close this post out though, I want to confess that, while the above build is servicable, I personally have gone with something a little different. And it centers around one last mod I didn't mention, one that is (currently) unavailable to console, but I think well worth exploring anyway, especially if it ever does reach console:

Pactbound - A Warlock Overhaul

THIS Warlock variant reworks Warlock from the ground up, using a lot of the new rules introduced in the 2024 player's handbook for 5e. Among those, it expands on Invocations, makes the various Pact Boons Invocations you can take as early as level 1, and moves the patron subclasses to level 3, to match other 2024 phb classes, albeit with a few houserule variants to match the sort of gameplay changes Larian applied to other classes and subclasses in the move from tabletop to video game. This lets us explore some unusual builds, such as:

Conquest Paladin 11 / Blade Pact Warlock 1

With Pact of the Blade obtainable at level 1, we can forgo further levels in warlock altogether, sans subclass, and go the rest of the way in paladin. This is literally Hexadin but better, sacrificing the Hexblade level 1 features for a more useful way to use Charisma for our weapon. This still gets us heavy hitters like the Fear spell, as well as Aura of Courage (it is fitting that the master of fear on the battlefield is fearless herself, as are her allies), and also gets us that delicious Improved Divine Smite. We're a bit weaker on the ranged side, but make up for it by being more durable, harder to debilitate, and just as hard hitting.

More Invocation Options

What I wound up going for in my game is a direct variant on our main build, going 7 Paladin and 5 Warlock, but taking advantage of the new and improved Invocations imported from the 2024 phb. A quick rundown of my favorites: Eldritch Mind (level 2+) - Grants advantage on Constitution saves. Exactly what we want with all our powerful concentration spells, especially as we'll be taking a lot of hits. Otherworldly Leap (level 2+) - Can cast Enhanced Leap and Feather Fall. As they're rituals, no spell slots required. Some handy utility spells we were lacking, and improves our mobility which we are lacking as always, as a paladin. Eldritch Smite (level 5+) - My personal favorite. Once per turn, add 1d8+1d8 per slot level in force damage to hits with our pact weapon, with a chance to knock the target prone. We looove prone, and this is a more effective way to use it, and with the least resisted damage type too! It can also stack with Divine Smite, at least on our first attack in a turn. One With Shadows (level 5+) - The mod lets us select two Invocations at level 5 unlike tabletop, where the extra attack is an Invocation tax, so I picked this up to give Minthy Invisiblity in lieu of taking the Shadow-Touched feat.

Other features from the reworked warlock class:

Magical Cunning - A small bonus, it lets us restore half our warlock spell slots once per long rest. Since they come back on a short rest this is "nice to have" but not vital in any way. Psychic Overflow - Great Old One's level 3 feature in lieu of Mortal Reminder. While we miss the frighten on a crit, this is more reliable, causing a psionic explosion around us, dealing half our warlock level in psychic damage to enemies within 6 meters, when we use a level 1 or higher Enchantment or Illusion spell. Y'know those things we can cast as bonus actions in act 3? Yeah, they just got arguably better.

And that concludes this build post! I'll close with some optional mods you might consider, some obvious recommends, others you may not expect.

Optional Mods

Adjustable Party Limit

Easily the best thing mods have enabled for all platforms. Just take everyone with you! I prefer a 6-character party to prevent things getting too crowded. And if you feel the game got too easy there's:

Tactician Enhanced

As of this writing not currently on console, but it's just come out of beta, so hopefully won't be long before console players can get it too. Can be set to automatically scale enemies based on the current party size. Like the author's other mod, is incredibly well documented in game, intuitive to use, super customizable, and basically idiot proof (only requirement is reading!)

Lighter Half Illithid/Normal Half Illithid

We'll be using advanced illithid powers, so if you don't care for how partial ceremorphosis changes Minthara's appearance (the loss of her beautiful red eyes is the most tragic part) these mods will help. The first one doesn't remove the effect entirely, but does tone it down by 50% and restore the character's eyes (teeth are still a problem). If that's not working for you or you're on console, Normal Half Illithid simply removes the effect entirely.

Cheater's Ring/Cheater's Spell Scroll

Because I DON'T have the time to worry about leveling my characters all the way to 12 when I just want to do the bits I'm interested in. I'm too tired, too depressed and too old for a "do everything" run these days lmao

[greenycrimson]

[inkskinned]

the thing is that they're so fascinated by sex, they love sex, they can't imagine a world without sex - they need sex to sell things, they need sex to be part of their personality, they need sex to prove their power - but they hate sex. they are disgusted by it.

sex is the only thing that holds their attention, and it is also the thing that can never be discussed directly.

you can't tell a child the normal names for parts of their body, that's sexual in nature, because the body isn't a body, it's a vessel of sex. it doesn't matter that it's been proven in studies (over and over) that kids need to know the names of their genitals; that they internalize sexual shame at a very young age and know it's 'dirty' to have a body; that it overwhelmingly protects children for them to have the correct words to communicate with. what matters is that they're sexual organs. what matters is that it freaks them out to think about kids having body parts - which only exist in the context of sex.

it's gross to talk about a period or how to check for cancer in a testicle or breast. that is nasty, illicit. there will be no pain meds for harsh medical procedures, just because they feature a cervix.

but they will put out an ad of you scantily-clad. you will sell their cars for them, because you have abs, a body. you will drip sex. you will ooze it, like a goo. like you were put on this planet to secrete wealth into their open palms.

they will hit you with that same palm. it will be disgusting that you like leather or leashes, but they will put their movie characters in leather and latex. it will be wrong of you to want sexual freedom, but they will mark their success in the number of people they bed.

they will crow that it's inappropriate for children so there will be no lessons on how to properly apply a condom, even to teens. it's teaching them the wrong things. no lessons on the diversity of sexual organ growth, none on how to obtain consent properly, none on how to recognize when you feel unsafe in your body. if you are a teenager, you have probably already been sexualized at some point in your life. you will have seen someone also-your-age who is splashed across a tv screen or a magazine or married to someone three times your age. you will watch people pull their hair into pigtails so they look like you. so that they can be sexy because of youth. one of the most common pornography searches involves newly-18 young women. girls. the words "barely legal," a hiss of glass sand over your skin.

barely legal. there are bills in place that will not allow people to feel safe in their own bodies. there are people working so hard to punish any person for having sex in a way that isn't god-fearing and submissive. heteronormative. the sex has to be at their feet, on your knees, your eyes wet. when was the first time you saw another person crying in pornography and thought - okay but for real. she looks super unhappy. later, when you are unhappy, you will close your eyes and ignore the feeling and act the role you have been taught to keep playing. they will punish the sex workers, remove the places they can practice their trade safely. they will then make casual jokes about how they sexually harass their nanny.

and they love sex but they hate that you're having sex. you need to have their ornamental, perfunctory, dispassionate sex. so you can't kiss your girlfriend in the bible belt because it is gross to have sex with someone of the same gender. so you can't get your tubes tied in new england because you might change your mind. so you can't admit you were sexually assaulted because real men don't get hurt, you should be grateful. you cannot handle your own body, you cannot handle the risks involved, let other people decide that for you. you aren't ready yet.

but they need you to have sex because you need to have kids. at 15, you are old enough to parent. you are not old enough to hear the word fuck too many times on television.

they are horrified by sex and they never stop talking about it, thinking about it, making everything unnecessarily preverted. the saying - a thief thinks everyone steals. they stand up at their podiums and they look out at the crowd and they sign a bill into place that makes sexwork even more unsafe and they stand up and smile and sign a bill that makes gender-affirming care illegal and they get up and they shrug their shoulders and write don't say gay and they get up, and they make the world about sex, but this horrible, plastic vision of it that they have. this wretched, emotionless thing that holds so much weight it's staggering. they put their whole spine behind it and they push and they say it's normal!

this horrible world they live in. disgusted and also obsessed.

[composeregg]

edit (10/23/2024) now that the poll is over: Original version, with 10 questions, from April 2023 here

And, given that the original is from April 2023, that means I can very easily say:

No, this was not an ISAT reference!

Just because I use parentheses and 2nd person pov and love the same concepts of what a time loop can do to a person doesn't mean it's ISAT

(Yes, I like ISAT, the original poll is why I was recommended the game! But if you look at the original, you can see all the origins of the options to choose from, including what spurred me on with the moss option from the replies)

If I were going to make something for ISAT, I would never be so vague, you can simply look at my ao3 for proof of that

[tarufai]

[omaano]

Hi! If you're still accepting requests for the poly poses!! How about IH for Obi-Wan, Cody and Satine? Because yk he has two hands 🫡🥹

He does indeed have two hands, and both of them should be occupied at all times :3 Thank you for asking @lightasthesun 🥰

Polyamorous/platonic poses for sketching

and the other drawings I’ve made for them (I am halfway through all your lovely requests for reals this time!!)

[cyclogenesis]

Every Single Other Universe. Logan/Wade, post-Deadpool & Wolverine, Explicit. 12,470 words.

In which Wade and Logan and their variants are being hunted down by a hater from the Void and are thus tasked with hunting the hater back. Weirdly, all of their other variants are dating each other in their respective timelines. Does that seem meaningful to anybody else?

Read it on AO3!

[meownotgood]

I'm going back to bed the moment I post this but I've been having a super rough and stressful night... so for whatever reason I went back to read some of the kind asks I've received since I saved a lot... some since the first time I started writing... and I got so emotional and just began sobbing haha.... I can't believe how lucky I am...... I love writing so much.........

[loopyarts]

Day 7 free day Aceichiji

For my free day slot, I went insane and made a short scruffy kiss animation for them. :3c

[runefactorynonsense]

Melotober - Day 16 - Explore

It's... fascinating, to see everything from a layman perspective.

[blueskittlesart]

atla live action generally sucks for all the reasons everyone is saying it sucks and i am in no way a live action remake promoter but one thing i will say. they Get the fire siblings. they understand.

[sysig]

Hi there! As a requestober request could you please draw something cute with Mob? I'm planning on rewatching Mob Psycho 100 and it would be great to see fanart of him in your style! :D

Day 17 - She loves me, she loves me not...

[call-me-pup2]

On the train zooming! Might as well have wore a scuba suit with the weather though, going to go charity shop hunting for a cute waterproof trench coat so with me luck!

[leviiackrman]

Might as well have the salt before the sweet; so here is Rin's Finished Timeline!

Tag list (ask to be added or removed): @carrionsflower @statichvm @risingsh0t @simonxriley @tommyarashikage @kanos @confidentandgood @unholymilf @florbelles @thedeadthree @shellibisshe @roofgeese @aezyrraeshh @faerune @tekehu @jackiesarch @minaharkers @sergeiravenov @carlosoliveiraa @rosenfey @greenecreek @queennymeria @heroofpenamstan @tethrras @jamessunderlandgf @d-esmond @solasan @bigbywlf @delzinrowe @fenharel @imogenkol

[slavhew]

i draw myself a lot

[bougiebutchbitch]

every time I see a take that flattens Ed's character into this boring perfect angel who can do no wrong and has 0 agency because literally every choice he makes is determined by the actions of white men, I add another sentence to my stories where he's a sympathetic, complex and multifaceted trauma victim - but also an abuser who made terrible mistakes of his own volition, who seriously hurt people he cares about and left them traumatised, who feels crushed beneath the terrifying hypermasculine persona he built for himself (which he is still figuring out how to escape/incorporate into his new self/define himself around). A desperate, affection-starved, suicidal man who struggles hugely with his mental health, who deserves a loving support system (just not from his victims unless they want to be a part of it), who can grow and change and do better, who can work on himself and explore himself and find love and happiness.

but y'know, maybe I'm the one who 'hates his character' lmaoooo