The Luminous Armor along with other Radiating Orb condition items and some specific spells can create an incredibly tanky Cleric build in Baldur’s Gate 3. You’ll be dealing sustained damage each round and applying debuff stacks to enemies making you almost unhittable. Here’s my best Luminous Armor BG3 build.
Best Luminous Armor Build in Baldur’s Gate 3
This Cleric build is all about applying Radiating Orb debuff stacks on enemies, as you will be able to when using the Luminous Set. This is an unofficial set of gear that includes Luminous Armor, Luminous Gloves, the Coruscating Ring, and The Blood of Lathander if you choose the melee route. Essentially, the set makes it so that dealing Radiant damage applies stacks of Radiant Orb, which reduce enemy attack rolls by -1 for each stack.
We can easily apply up to 10 stacks of RO using AOE Radiant spells like Spirit Guardians and Flame Strike. Enemies will then always be attacking us with a -10 penalty, effectively increasing our AC by +10. This makes our Cleric incredibly tanky, so here are the details of the build before we discuss them in detail:
- Stats: Start with Constitution 16 (+1) and Wisdom 17 (+2). We can get Wisdom 18 with Auntie Ethel’s Scalp. You can also put some points into Strength if you want to use the Sacred Star, but it’s not crucial for the build.
- Class: Cleric Level 12.
- Subclass: Light Domain for Radiant damage spells and defensive abilities.
- Race: Any but I prefer Githyanki for the extra Misty Step and Jump mobility.
- Feats: Warcaster for Advantage on concentration checks and Ability Score Improvement for Wisdom 20.
- Gear: Luminous Armor, Luminous Gloves, Coruscating Ring, and the Blood of Lathander is core. I also like the Boots of Striding or Disintegrating Nightwalkers so that we’re immune to Prone since that breaks concentration. Ketheric’s Shield increases our spell save DC. The best defensive items in Act 3 are Cloak of Displacement, Amulet of Greater Health, Viconia’s Walking Fortress, and Helm of Balduran.
- Cantrips: Light, Sacred Flame, Guidance.
- Core Spells & Abilities: Spirit Guardians (Radiant), Flame Strike, Guiding Bolt, and Warding Flare.
How to Find Luminous Armor in BG3
Before we dive into strategy, let’s briefly mention where to find each core piece of our Luminous Armor set:
- Luminous Armor: It’s found in the Selunite Outpost as soon as you enter the Underdark. They’re on top of a ledge in an Opulent Chest on the right side of the area. You can also access the chest if you can lockpick the locked door to the right of the stairs where you descended.
- Luminous Gloves: Found in Act 2 on the shadow-cursed Ruined Battlefield. They are in the Potter’s Chest in the pottery house right next to where you meet with Kar’niss. Be careful, though; I would recommend approaching in Stealth mode as the house is full of Meenlocks waiting in ambush.
- Coruscating Ring: Found in the sewers in a chest below the Last Light Inn in Act 2.
- Blood of Lathander (Optional): We want Blood of Lathander for the free Sunbeam spell that works great with the Luminous Set, but at the end of the day, it’s optional. We can get Sunbeam from scrolls. That said, if you want a free cast once per Long Rest, then read this Blood of Lathander guide to find the mace.
Tips on Playing with Luminous Armor in BG3
The core game plan of this build is casting Light on yourself to proc Coruscating Ring before combat and then wading into battle with Spirit Guardians (Radiant) cast at the highest level. The first time an enemy takes Radiant damage, you will apply RO to them and nearby enemies. In fact, everyone standing in your Spirit Guardians AOE will receive a minimum of 6 stacks of RO each turn.
Even though 2 stacks of RO are lost on hit, enemies are always making their first attack in a round with at least a -6 penalty. The best part is that this also benefits your entire party effectively increasing their AC by +6. This gets even stronger on subsequent rounds when you can drop powerful Radiant damage spells like Flame Strike from your Light domain for additional RO stacks.
Your defensive magic items will keep you alive with incredible AC, and you’ll dodge almost every attack. The Light Domain even gets us Warding Flare, which makes it even harder for us to take damage.
If you ended up getting Blood of Lathander and you’re out of spell slots for Spirit Guardian, cast Sunbeam for a similar effect. Just be careful of the fact that Spirit Guardians is a concentration spell, and you can’t have two active spells at the same time. That said, your concentration won’t be broken because of the War Caster feat, our Boots choice, and the Amulet of Greater Health later on.
Improving Luminous Armor Build
Lastly, I would also bring the Pearl of Power and the Spellcrux Amulet to keep a steady supply of spell slots throughout the day. With so many RO stacks being dealt out each round, you’re an unkillable one-(wo)man army. I even soloed the game with this build, so check out my BG3 solo guide if that interests you.
That concludes my best Luminous Armor BG3 build guide. For more tips and tricks, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 hub for guides like the best Cleric gear or my Shadowheart build.
