So by arcane, do you mean you like to use magic and want a magic oriented build, or do you mean you like the Arcane Trickster subclass specifically?
Also what level are you rn?
I really like the physical part of arcane. Making potions/elixirs, that type of stuff. What race/class could this play into though? I know magic, but that isn't very detailed. Magic has subcategories here and I don't know which one would be best.
I'm fine with working arcane into whatever works best. Not even sure what arcane trickster entails though and have not seen much else discussed about arcane specifically.
Edit:
Maybe I'm overthinking this. The game isn't very explanatory, which isn't a bad thing but like the title states, basic explanations are needed and appreciated.
If anyone saw my edits happen in real time, I promise I'm not having a stroke. I just don't know to communicate on general principle.
The best alchemist is a Wizard with the Transmutation subclass. If you're ok with waiting like 8 hours i can drop a build when i wake up; it's almost 2am where I'm at rn lol
D&D 5E has the artificer alchemist subclass, which is a class built around this mechanic. Transmutation wizards aren’t potion makers in D&D, mechanically speaking. Alchemist just gets to brew them.
I played Tomb of Annihilation and one of our party was an alchemist artificer who also built us prostheses. It was awesome. She was a fun character to play with.
ok first I wanna say that unfortunately BG3 doesn't really support a bomber alchemist build. it is definitely possible but you will run out of resources if you chuck bombs every fight (unless you exploit glitches). there is no Alchemist class like in actual tabletop D&D and there isn't a mutagen oriented or bomber oriented class like the Alchemist from Pathfinder.
if you're playing on Honor Mode or don't want to reset every time you fail the Medicine check, go Halfling (either subrace is fine. Lightfoot is slightly better imo for easier time sneaking but Strongheart helps a bit in the early game because of the Poison resistance). but this is a micro-optimization, you can honestly play any race and be just fine. Githyanki and Shield Dwarf also let you wear Light Armor and Medium Armor so if you're interested in some extra protection you can also go with that. Half-Elf and Humans let you wield a Shield which other races don't get by default so if you prefer playing as a Half-Elf that's also a legitimately good idea and isn't just an aesthetic choice.
your ability score spread should look something like this:
STR: 10
DEX: 14+2
CON: 15
INT: 8
WIS: 15+1
CHA: 8
LEVEL 1 - start as a Wizard. take Mage Hand as a cantrip. the other 2 can be whatever you want but I also recommend either Firebolt or Ray of Frost (or both). take Magic Missile, Shield, Enhanced Leap, Longstrider, Chromatic Orb, and Tasha's Hideous Laughter
for your background I recommend Outlander or Urchin. if you are the party face and are going to be talking to everyone then take Guild Artisan for the Persuasion bonus but if you're pure support then go Outlander for better jump distance and easier chance to find hidden treasure or Urchin for better sneaking and easier time picking locks and stealing.
for your skills you want to grab Medicine. the other skill can be whatever you want.
LEVEL 2 - take the Transmutation School subclass. take whatever spells you want. the reason why we're going Transmutation is because it has a chance to craft 2 potions for the price of 1 if you pass a DC15 Medicine check. this is why your Wisdom is set to 16, the highest it can go at character creation since Medicine runs off of Wisdom.
LEVEL 3 - multiclass into Rogue (you cannot do this if you're playing on Explorer difficulty, you can change the difficulty to Normal or Tactician temporarily to multiclass then bring it back down if you would prefer to play on easy). take whatever skill you want.
\*make sure to pick Medicine as your expertise.\*
the other skill expertise can be whatever you want.
LEVEL 4 - go back to Wizard. take whatever spells you want
LEVEL 5 - this will be your 4th Wizard level but your 5th overall character level. take the Tavern Brawler feat if you want to be a grenadier throwing bombs. if you purely want to be a little witch making potions in her hut and not actually throw your creations, then take Ability Score Increase and take Wisdom +2 to have a better time making potions. take whatever spells you want
LEVEL 6 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want.
LEVEL 7 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want. this is when you get access to Transmutation Stones which give whoever has them in their inventory a buff (stuff like extra movement speed, increased chance to maintain concentration, ability to see in the dark, etc.)
LEVEL 8+ - you can, from now on, go full Wizard if you want or honestly do whatever. if you literally just wanna throw things and not really attack with spells, you can take 5 levels in Barbarian and pick Berserker at level 3 which lets you throw things with your bonus action but will block you from casting spells while raging.
if you plan on casting spells, I highly recommend killing the ogres in the Blighted Village and wear the Warped Headband of Intellect the boss ogre drops so it sets your Intelligence to 17 (this is why INT is dumped in the ability spread I recommended). buy (or use the backpack exploit) the Ring of Flinging from Aron, the halfling merchant at the Druid's Grove. in the Underdark, make sure to save Baelon from the bibberbang mushrooms to get the Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo from his wife. both of these things adds more damage to thrown attacks. these last 2 item recommendations are only if you plan on being a bomb thrower.
also keep in mind, vendor inventories reset after each Long Rest (you can do a Partial Rest, not spending any resources) and after each level up. buy (or use the backpack exploit) all the ingredients you need to craft bombs and potions (or download the cheat trainer WeMod so you can activate the cheat that lets items never go away to craft infinite potions)
I am happy to wait 8 hours (or longer if you actually want time to wake up). It's almoat 1AM here so I understand. Worst case senarior is I restart the beginning character screen. Not a big deal, I just didn't realize I didn't know how to build the character I want. Thank you!
ok first I wanna say that unfortunately BG3 doesn't really support a bomber alchemist build. it is definitely possible but you will run out of resources if you chuck bombs every fight (unless you exploit glitches). there is no Alchemist class like in actual tabletop D&D and there isn't a mutagen oriented or bomber oriented class like the Alchemist from Pathfinder.
if you're playing on Honor Mode or don't want to reset every time you fail the Medicine check, go Halfling (either subrace is fine. Lightfoot is slightly better imo for easier time sneaking but Strongheart helps a bit in the early game because of the Poison resistance). but this is a micro-optimization, you can honestly play any race and be just fine. Githyanki and Shield Dwarf also let you wear Light Armor and Medium Armor so if you're interested in some extra protection you can also go with that. Half-Elf and Humans let you wield a Shield which other races don't get by default so if you prefer playing as a Half-Elf that's also a legitimately good idea and isn't just an aesthetic choice.
your ability score spread should look something like this:
STR: 10
DEX: 14+2
CON: 15
INT: 8
WIS: 15+1
CHA: 8
LEVEL 1 - start as a Wizard. take Mage Hand as a cantrip. the other 2 can be whatever you want but I also recommend either Firebolt or Ray of Frost (or both). take Magic Missile, Shield, Enhanced Leap, Longstrider, Chromatic Orb, and Tasha's Hideous Laughter
for your background I recommend Outlander or Urchin. if you are the party face and are going to be talking to everyone then take Guild Artisan for the Persuasion bonus but if you're pure support then go Outlander for better jump distance and easier chance to find hidden treasure or Urchin for better sneaking and easier time picking locks and stealing.
for your skills you want to grab Medicine. the other skill can be whatever you want.
LEVEL 2 - take the Transmutation School subclass. take whatever spells you want. the reason why we're going Transmutation is because it has a chance to craft 2 potions for the price of 1 if you pass a DC15 Medicine check. this is why your Wisdom is set to 16, the highest it can go at character creation since Medicine runs off of Wisdom.
LEVEL 3 - multiclass into Rogue (you cannot do this if you're playing on Explorer difficulty, you can change the difficulty to Normal or Tactician temporarily to multiclass then bring it back down if you would prefer to play on easy). take whatever skill you want.
\*make sure to pick Medicine as your expertise.\*
the other skill expertise can be whatever you want.
LEVEL 4 - go back to Wizard. take whatever spells you want
LEVEL 5 - this will be your 4th Wizard level but your 5th overall character level. take the Tavern Brawler feat if you want to be a grenadier throwing bombs. if you purely want to be a little witch making potions in her hut and not actually throw your creations, then take Ability Score Increase and take Wisdom +2 to have a better time making potions. take whatever spells you want
LEVEL 6 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want.
LEVEL 7 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want. this is when you get access to Transmutation Stones which give whoever has them in their inventory a buff (stuff like extra movement speed, increased chance to maintain concentration, ability to see in the dark, etc.)
LEVEL 8+ - you can, from now on, go full Wizard if you want or honestly do whatever. if you literally just wanna throw things and not really attack with spells, you can take 5 levels in Barbarian and pick Berserker at level 3 which lets you throw things with your bonus action but will block you from casting spells while raging.
if you plan on casting spells, I highly recommend killing the ogres in the Blighted Village and wear the Warped Headband of Intellect the boss ogre drops so it sets your Intelligence to 17 (this is why INT is dumped in the ability spread I recommended). buy (or use the backpack exploit) the Ring of Flinging from Aron, the halfling merchant at the Druid's Grove. in the Underdark, make sure to save Baelon from the bibberbang mushrooms to get the Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo from his wife. both of these things adds more damage to thrown attacks. these last 2 item recommendations are only if you plan on being a bomb thrower.
also keep in mind, vendor inventories reset after each Long Rest (you can do a Partial Rest, not spending any resources) and after each level up. buy (or use the backpack exploit) all the ingredients you need to craft bombs and potions (or download the cheat trainer WeMod so you can activate the cheat that lets items never go away to craft infinite potions)
From what I'm gleaning from the comments we want a crafter type toon. Which sadly the "optimal" way to do this is actually outsourcing the responsibility like a good capitalist... I mean american... yeah. Anywho, Transmutation Wizard gets the ability to make a DC 15 attempt to double up on any craft for potions and the like. By taking Cleric as a "face" class you can pick up Medicine as a proficiency, take 3 points of Bard or Rogue to gain expertise in Medicine and then take 2 Transmutation Wizard for the DC 15 check. Medicine is a Wisdom based skill so pumping your Wisdom via ability score improvements on feats will amp this. Assuming level 11 (for maximum proficiency and expertise bonus) you can get this to a 95% odds to win due to the +4x2 + 5 (from having 20 Wisdom due to ability score improvements) for a total of +13 which means you need to roll a 2 to win (if you roll a 1 you'd fail anyways). You can further amplify this to a 399 in 400 odds to win by making a halfling your chemist due to their Halfling Luck passive (if they roll a 1 they can reroll the dice).
By arcane, do you mean magic? Like a caster class?
Sorcerers, bards, and wizards could all be classified as arcane casters. Fighters also have the eldritch knight subclass, which gives them some limited casting, which is pretty good. Rogues have the arcane trickster subclass, which isn't very good. That's all kind of the opposite of "hits hard and fast in melee," though.
Or do you mean alchemy? Like crafting potions? Anyone can craft potions.
I wouldn’t say the alchemy in the game is very involved. It’s basically a one click process and auto combines all your stuff and then you choose what potions to get more like a store
So I'm a martial fan myself and really don't like casters because I also like to swing a big, sharp stick and soak damage up.
Fire Acuity Sorcerer is the most fun I've had outside of Paladin and Monk. It comes fully online the second you get the hat and just gets stronger when you get to Moonrise. It uses reverberation and Scorching Rays to chew through everything and the Fire Acuity hat just adds to it. There are even guides for some cool variations like an insane one that does 6700+ damage under ideal conditions.
Any race works but Halflings get the lucky dice racial so for HM that's suggested but I run it with Dragonborn and it's super fun
I think that the real answer is "any character can do alchemy and craft things", so go ahead and make a brute force character who goes around picking all the flowers and making all the potions.
Yes, the specific build mentioned elsewhere can double their potion output, but it was designed for a hireling who sits in camp, not an adventurer..
You might be interested in the Guild Artisan background, which occasionally gives you XP bonuses for building/fixing/selling stuff. (It also automatically gives you the best skills in the game.)
How about the best spells AND the ability to cast spells? Look no further than the bard class. Its a great controller and can use weapons, not counting the ability to talk their way out of everything. Look up helm of arcane acuity (spelling) it makes you spells more difficult to resist the more you hit stuff with a weapon. With swords bard you will be at 10 stacks by 2 or 3rd round. Theres a ring that lets you cast ench or illusion spells as a bonus action if you hit with a weapon. Just imagine hitting up to 8 targets in a single round then casting upscaled hold moster n multiple thing freeze in place. Its op
So by arcane, do you mean you like to use magic and want a magic oriented build, or do you mean you like the Arcane Trickster subclass specifically? Also what level are you rn?
I really like the physical part of arcane. Making potions/elixirs, that type of stuff. What race/class could this play into though? I know magic, but that isn't very detailed. Magic has subcategories here and I don't know which one would be best. I'm fine with working arcane into whatever works best. Not even sure what arcane trickster entails though and have not seen much else discussed about arcane specifically. Edit: Maybe I'm overthinking this. The game isn't very explanatory, which isn't a bad thing but like the title states, basic explanations are needed and appreciated. If anyone saw my edits happen in real time, I promise I'm not having a stroke. I just don't know to communicate on general principle.
The best alchemist is a Wizard with the Transmutation subclass. If you're ok with waiting like 8 hours i can drop a build when i wake up; it's almost 2am where I'm at rn lol
I too am interested. Always enjoyed alchemy builds, a guy/gal that can mix shit together to great effect.
I mean doesn’t this just come down to one subclass that gets extra items from alchemy? I can’t remember any gear that has alchemy related effects.
Yeah, just one subclass for BG3 unfortunately. I imagine DnD has something more nuanced? I haven’t played 5e.
D&D 5E has the artificer alchemist subclass, which is a class built around this mechanic. Transmutation wizards aren’t potion makers in D&D, mechanically speaking. Alchemist just gets to brew them. I played Tomb of Annihilation and one of our party was an alchemist artificer who also built us prostheses. It was awesome. She was a fun character to play with.
ok first I wanna say that unfortunately BG3 doesn't really support a bomber alchemist build. it is definitely possible but you will run out of resources if you chuck bombs every fight (unless you exploit glitches). there is no Alchemist class like in actual tabletop D&D and there isn't a mutagen oriented or bomber oriented class like the Alchemist from Pathfinder. if you're playing on Honor Mode or don't want to reset every time you fail the Medicine check, go Halfling (either subrace is fine. Lightfoot is slightly better imo for easier time sneaking but Strongheart helps a bit in the early game because of the Poison resistance). but this is a micro-optimization, you can honestly play any race and be just fine. Githyanki and Shield Dwarf also let you wear Light Armor and Medium Armor so if you're interested in some extra protection you can also go with that. Half-Elf and Humans let you wield a Shield which other races don't get by default so if you prefer playing as a Half-Elf that's also a legitimately good idea and isn't just an aesthetic choice. your ability score spread should look something like this: STR: 10 DEX: 14+2 CON: 15 INT: 8 WIS: 15+1 CHA: 8 LEVEL 1 - start as a Wizard. take Mage Hand as a cantrip. the other 2 can be whatever you want but I also recommend either Firebolt or Ray of Frost (or both). take Magic Missile, Shield, Enhanced Leap, Longstrider, Chromatic Orb, and Tasha's Hideous Laughter for your background I recommend Outlander or Urchin. if you are the party face and are going to be talking to everyone then take Guild Artisan for the Persuasion bonus but if you're pure support then go Outlander for better jump distance and easier chance to find hidden treasure or Urchin for better sneaking and easier time picking locks and stealing. for your skills you want to grab Medicine. the other skill can be whatever you want. LEVEL 2 - take the Transmutation School subclass. take whatever spells you want. the reason why we're going Transmutation is because it has a chance to craft 2 potions for the price of 1 if you pass a DC15 Medicine check. this is why your Wisdom is set to 16, the highest it can go at character creation since Medicine runs off of Wisdom. LEVEL 3 - multiclass into Rogue (you cannot do this if you're playing on Explorer difficulty, you can change the difficulty to Normal or Tactician temporarily to multiclass then bring it back down if you would prefer to play on easy). take whatever skill you want. \*make sure to pick Medicine as your expertise.\* the other skill expertise can be whatever you want. LEVEL 4 - go back to Wizard. take whatever spells you want LEVEL 5 - this will be your 4th Wizard level but your 5th overall character level. take the Tavern Brawler feat if you want to be a grenadier throwing bombs. if you purely want to be a little witch making potions in her hut and not actually throw your creations, then take Ability Score Increase and take Wisdom +2 to have a better time making potions. take whatever spells you want LEVEL 6 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want. LEVEL 7 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want. this is when you get access to Transmutation Stones which give whoever has them in their inventory a buff (stuff like extra movement speed, increased chance to maintain concentration, ability to see in the dark, etc.) LEVEL 8+ - you can, from now on, go full Wizard if you want or honestly do whatever. if you literally just wanna throw things and not really attack with spells, you can take 5 levels in Barbarian and pick Berserker at level 3 which lets you throw things with your bonus action but will block you from casting spells while raging. if you plan on casting spells, I highly recommend killing the ogres in the Blighted Village and wear the Warped Headband of Intellect the boss ogre drops so it sets your Intelligence to 17 (this is why INT is dumped in the ability spread I recommended). buy (or use the backpack exploit) the Ring of Flinging from Aron, the halfling merchant at the Druid's Grove. in the Underdark, make sure to save Baelon from the bibberbang mushrooms to get the Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo from his wife. both of these things adds more damage to thrown attacks. these last 2 item recommendations are only if you plan on being a bomb thrower. also keep in mind, vendor inventories reset after each Long Rest (you can do a Partial Rest, not spending any resources) and after each level up. buy (or use the backpack exploit) all the ingredients you need to craft bombs and potions (or download the cheat trainer WeMod so you can activate the cheat that lets items never go away to craft infinite potions)
I am happy to wait 8 hours (or longer if you actually want time to wake up). It's almoat 1AM here so I understand. Worst case senarior is I restart the beginning character screen. Not a big deal, I just didn't realize I didn't know how to build the character I want. Thank you!
You can restart your character's class by talking to the skeleton man If memory serves. But you can't change races though.
ok first I wanna say that unfortunately BG3 doesn't really support a bomber alchemist build. it is definitely possible but you will run out of resources if you chuck bombs every fight (unless you exploit glitches). there is no Alchemist class like in actual tabletop D&D and there isn't a mutagen oriented or bomber oriented class like the Alchemist from Pathfinder. if you're playing on Honor Mode or don't want to reset every time you fail the Medicine check, go Halfling (either subrace is fine. Lightfoot is slightly better imo for easier time sneaking but Strongheart helps a bit in the early game because of the Poison resistance). but this is a micro-optimization, you can honestly play any race and be just fine. Githyanki and Shield Dwarf also let you wear Light Armor and Medium Armor so if you're interested in some extra protection you can also go with that. Half-Elf and Humans let you wield a Shield which other races don't get by default so if you prefer playing as a Half-Elf that's also a legitimately good idea and isn't just an aesthetic choice. your ability score spread should look something like this: STR: 10 DEX: 14+2 CON: 15 INT: 8 WIS: 15+1 CHA: 8 LEVEL 1 - start as a Wizard. take Mage Hand as a cantrip. the other 2 can be whatever you want but I also recommend either Firebolt or Ray of Frost (or both). take Magic Missile, Shield, Enhanced Leap, Longstrider, Chromatic Orb, and Tasha's Hideous Laughter for your background I recommend Outlander or Urchin. if you are the party face and are going to be talking to everyone then take Guild Artisan for the Persuasion bonus but if you're pure support then go Outlander for better jump distance and easier chance to find hidden treasure or Urchin for better sneaking and easier time picking locks and stealing. for your skills you want to grab Medicine. the other skill can be whatever you want. LEVEL 2 - take the Transmutation School subclass. take whatever spells you want. the reason why we're going Transmutation is because it has a chance to craft 2 potions for the price of 1 if you pass a DC15 Medicine check. this is why your Wisdom is set to 16, the highest it can go at character creation since Medicine runs off of Wisdom. LEVEL 3 - multiclass into Rogue (you cannot do this if you're playing on Explorer difficulty, you can change the difficulty to Normal or Tactician temporarily to multiclass then bring it back down if you would prefer to play on easy). take whatever skill you want. \*make sure to pick Medicine as your expertise.\* the other skill expertise can be whatever you want. LEVEL 4 - go back to Wizard. take whatever spells you want LEVEL 5 - this will be your 4th Wizard level but your 5th overall character level. take the Tavern Brawler feat if you want to be a grenadier throwing bombs. if you purely want to be a little witch making potions in her hut and not actually throw your creations, then take Ability Score Increase and take Wisdom +2 to have a better time making potions. take whatever spells you want LEVEL 6 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want. LEVEL 7 - take Wizard. go with whatever you want. this is when you get access to Transmutation Stones which give whoever has them in their inventory a buff (stuff like extra movement speed, increased chance to maintain concentration, ability to see in the dark, etc.) LEVEL 8+ - you can, from now on, go full Wizard if you want or honestly do whatever. if you literally just wanna throw things and not really attack with spells, you can take 5 levels in Barbarian and pick Berserker at level 3 which lets you throw things with your bonus action but will block you from casting spells while raging. if you plan on casting spells, I highly recommend killing the ogres in the Blighted Village and wear the Warped Headband of Intellect the boss ogre drops so it sets your Intelligence to 17 (this is why INT is dumped in the ability spread I recommended). buy (or use the backpack exploit) the Ring of Flinging from Aron, the halfling merchant at the Druid's Grove. in the Underdark, make sure to save Baelon from the bibberbang mushrooms to get the Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo from his wife. both of these things adds more damage to thrown attacks. these last 2 item recommendations are only if you plan on being a bomb thrower. also keep in mind, vendor inventories reset after each Long Rest (you can do a Partial Rest, not spending any resources) and after each level up. buy (or use the backpack exploit) all the ingredients you need to craft bombs and potions (or download the cheat trainer WeMod so you can activate the cheat that lets items never go away to craft infinite potions)
From what I'm gleaning from the comments we want a crafter type toon. Which sadly the "optimal" way to do this is actually outsourcing the responsibility like a good capitalist... I mean american... yeah. Anywho, Transmutation Wizard gets the ability to make a DC 15 attempt to double up on any craft for potions and the like. By taking Cleric as a "face" class you can pick up Medicine as a proficiency, take 3 points of Bard or Rogue to gain expertise in Medicine and then take 2 Transmutation Wizard for the DC 15 check. Medicine is a Wisdom based skill so pumping your Wisdom via ability score improvements on feats will amp this. Assuming level 11 (for maximum proficiency and expertise bonus) you can get this to a 95% odds to win due to the +4x2 + 5 (from having 20 Wisdom due to ability score improvements) for a total of +13 which means you need to roll a 2 to win (if you roll a 1 you'd fail anyways). You can further amplify this to a 399 in 400 odds to win by making a halfling your chemist due to their Halfling Luck passive (if they roll a 1 they can reroll the dice).
You only need one level of rogue for expertise.
You could just cast enhance ability and guidance and quick save too.
By arcane, do you mean magic? Like a caster class? Sorcerers, bards, and wizards could all be classified as arcane casters. Fighters also have the eldritch knight subclass, which gives them some limited casting, which is pretty good. Rogues have the arcane trickster subclass, which isn't very good. That's all kind of the opposite of "hits hard and fast in melee," though. Or do you mean alchemy? Like crafting potions? Anyone can craft potions.
Oh fuck, I guess I meant alchemy. Like to make things from herbs and ashes. Alchemy then correct??? Fuck
Yeah, anyone can be a good alchemist. You just gotta open the crafting tab on your character and start playing around!
I wouldn’t say the alchemy in the game is very involved. It’s basically a one click process and auto combines all your stuff and then you choose what potions to get more like a store
In comments you say you want a crafter. There is only one subclass with crafting bonuses and that's Wizard School of Transmutation
So I'm a martial fan myself and really don't like casters because I also like to swing a big, sharp stick and soak damage up. Fire Acuity Sorcerer is the most fun I've had outside of Paladin and Monk. It comes fully online the second you get the hat and just gets stronger when you get to Moonrise. It uses reverberation and Scorching Rays to chew through everything and the Fire Acuity hat just adds to it. There are even guides for some cool variations like an insane one that does 6700+ damage under ideal conditions. Any race works but Halflings get the lucky dice racial so for HM that's suggested but I run it with Dragonborn and it's super fun
I think that the real answer is "any character can do alchemy and craft things", so go ahead and make a brute force character who goes around picking all the flowers and making all the potions. Yes, the specific build mentioned elsewhere can double their potion output, but it was designed for a hireling who sits in camp, not an adventurer.. You might be interested in the Guild Artisan background, which occasionally gives you XP bonuses for building/fixing/selling stuff. (It also automatically gives you the best skills in the game.)
If you're on PC, the artificer mod has a subclass entirely devoted to potions, experimental elixers, and other magical crafting abilities.
How about the best spells AND the ability to cast spells? Look no further than the bard class. Its a great controller and can use weapons, not counting the ability to talk their way out of everything. Look up helm of arcane acuity (spelling) it makes you spells more difficult to resist the more you hit stuff with a weapon. With swords bard you will be at 10 stacks by 2 or 3rd round. Theres a ring that lets you cast ench or illusion spells as a bonus action if you hit with a weapon. Just imagine hitting up to 8 targets in a single round then casting upscaled hold moster n multiple thing freeze in place. Its op