How Scoring & Recommendations Work

Weapon Proficiency Gate

No proficiency = zero score. It doesn't matter how amazing the Halberd is if your Wizard can't use it without disadvantage on every attack.

Base Weapon Damage

The weapon's base damage dice and enchantment bonus form the foundation. Classes with Extra Attack get a 1.5× multiplier here since they swing twice.

Ability Score Affinity

A +2 STR item scores higher on a STR-based Fighter than on a CHA-based Sorcerer. Items that override an ability to a set value (like Gauntlets of Hill Giant Strength setting STR to 23) are heavily discounted if the class doesn't use that ability.

Effective Armour Class

Armour isn't just AC — the engine accounts for DEX caps (light armour uses full DEX, medium caps at +2, heavy ignores DEX entirely) when computing how much AC a piece really gives your character.

Crit Synergy

Items that lower your critical hit threshold or add crit bonuses get a 1.5× boost for classes that specifically benefit from crits — like Champion Fighters and Assassin Rogues (Sneak Attack dice double on a crit).

Initiative Bonus

First-turn-kill builds like Assassin and Gloom Stalker get 1.5× value from initiative bonuses. Every other class still gets a small bonus — going first is always useful.

Use-Frequency Discounting

An effect you can trigger every attack is worth more than one you can use once per long rest. The engine applies diminishing coefficients: always-on (100%) > per-attack (95%) > per-turn (90%) > per-short-rest (75%) > per-long-rest (55%).

Level Gating

Legendary items get penalised at low levels (below 9) and Very Rare items below level 7 — matching the game's intended power curve.

Condition Stacking

Multiple items that apply the same condition (Radiating Orb, Reverberation, etc.) make each other stronger — more sources mean the condition stacks higher and becomes harder to shake. The bonus increases with each additional source, but with diminishing returns so the fourth Orb item isn't as impactful as the second.

Crit Clusters

Items that reduce the critical hit threshold pair naturally with items that add bonus effects on crit. Stacking three crit-related items creates a cluster bonus.

Cross-Mechanic Combos

Curated rules for well-known BG3 interactions:

• Wet + Lightning — items that apply Wet paired with Lightning damage for vulnerability exploitation
• Darkness + Devil's Sight — Darkness casters plus items that benefit from Obscured
• Reverberation + Radiating Orb — these conditions cascade into each other, compounding debuffs
• Arcane Acuity + Spell Save DC — stacking Acuity makes your Spell Save DC boosters even more effective

Trigger → Payoff

The engine auto-detects "provide and need" relationships. For example, if one item deals Fire damage (trigger) and another item has a passive that activates "when you deal Fire damage" (payoff), both items get a synergy bonus. This also works with class abilities — a Paladin inherently provides Radiant damage, so items that trigger "on Radiant damage" get synergy credit immediately.

Vulnerability Chains

Items that apply a condition paired with items that exploit that condition. Think: an item that makes enemies Wet combined with a weapon that deals bonus damage to Wet targets.

Themed Clusters

Groups of items that share a mechanic (Momentum, Poison, etc.) receive a cluster bonus with diminishing returns. Two Momentum items together are better than either alone, but a fifth Momentum item barely moves the needle.

Slot-Based Optimisation

For each character, the solver picks the highest-scoring item for each equipment slot (helmet, armour, gloves, boots, amulet, cloak, two ring slots, melee weapon, ranged weapon, shield). It considers slot constraints — a two-handed weapon blocks the shield slot, and you can't wear a ring in your helmet slot.

Three Loadout Variants

You get three recommended builds per character:

• Best Overall — balanced scoring using the default class weights
• Defensive — defense weight doubled, offense halved. Best when you need to survive tough fights.
• Offensive — offense weight doubled, defense halved. Maximum damage output.

What You See in the Report

Each character section shows:

• Current loadout — what you have equipped right now, with AC and estimated damage-per-round
• Recommended swaps — which items to equip in each slot, with the score delta. Items already equipped are marked so you know what to leave alone.
• Synergy guide — named clusters showing why certain items were grouped (e.g., "Radiating Orb synergy", "Fire Trigger→Payoff")
• Wiki links — every recommended item links to the BG3 Wiki so you can verify the pick

Why does my Paladin get recommended a Spell Save DC ring?

Paladins have a moderate spellcasting weight (they do cast support spells and debuffs) plus their class profile provides Radiant damage. If you have other items that trigger on spellcasting or condition application, the synergy bonus may push a Spell Save DC ring above a purely offensive alternative.

Why is a "once per short rest" item scored lower than a "per turn" one?

An effect that fires every turn might trigger 4–6 times per encounter. A once-per-short-rest effect fires once per 2–3 encounters. The engine's frequency discounting models this: an always-on effect keeps full value, while a once-per-long-rest effect is valued at roughly half. This prevents the engine from overrating flashy but infrequent abilities.

Why does my Monk get a higher score for the same damage ring as my Wizard?

A ring that adds 1d4 Fire per hit fires once on a Wizard's Firebolt but 3–4 times during a Monk's Flurry of Blows. The engine's multi-hit scaling detects Extra Attack and Flurry, multiplying per-hit effects accordingly. The same ring might score 1.5× on a Fighter and 2× on a Monk compared to a single-attack caster.

What's the deal with Radiating Orb and Reverberation everywhere?

These two conditions are among the strongest in BG3 because they stack, debuff enemies persistently, and cascade into each other. The engine's condition-stacking and cross-mechanic synergy dimensions specifically recognise this. If your inventory has several Orb/Reverb items, the engine will cluster them onto one character for maximum stacking, rather than spreading them thin across the party.