High-level class ability

High-level class abilities, or High level abilities (HLAs) are epic powers gained through long time pursuit of one’s career. They were first introduced in the original Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. Mastering these epic abilities is crucial for survival when battling God-like creatures that appear in the finale of the Bhaalspawn saga.

Requirements

HLAs are available to characters with more than 3,000,000 XP in total for multi and single-class characters, or the same 3,000,000 XP in the current class for dualed-class characters (i.e., the XP of the original class doesn't count). These characters get one point to spend on their HLA pool every time they level up.

Note that:

• Single-class characters gain access to their class's pool of HLAs.
• Multi-class characters will gain access to HLAs from each of their classes' pools, regardless of which class has leveled up.
  • For example, a Fighter/Mage/Thief will level its Fighter class from 11 to 12 when it reaches 3,000,000 XP, but upon leveling they may choose any HLA from the Fighter, Mage and Thief pools, even though it was the Fighter class leveling.
  • This allows multi-class characters to gain more HLAs than a single-class character.
  • Some HLAs require a certain number of levels in a specific class, and these constraints still apply. In other words, even if a multi-class character has access to multiple pools of HLAs they still must meet HLA prerequisites, which means classes like Fighter/Mage/Thief or Fighter/Mage/Cleric can never access many HLAs a two-class multi-classed character could select.

• Dual-class characters get access to HLAs only when their current active class has at least 3,000,000 XP, and unlike Multi-class characters, these HLAs may only ever be chosen from the current active class.
  • For example, a Berserker dual-classed into Mage may only ever take Mage HLAs (unless the character first reaches 3,000,000 XP with the Berserker before dualing).
• Moreover, any HLAs that aren't tied to spellcasting (so something like Use Any Item or Whirlwind, not something like Improved Alacrity or Storm of Vengeance) remain accessible after dualing - even before the dualing process is completed (or even if it may never be completed).
  • For example, a Fighter that reaches 3,000,000 XP and picks Deathblow as theirs HLA can dual-class into a Thief and will be able to continue using Deathblow as a level 1 Thief, and when the Thief reaches 3,080,000 XP they'll be able to start picking Thief HLAs exclusively (so no extra Fighter HLAs).

Some HLAs may be picked only once when leveling and accordingly only used one time per rest. Others are combat skills which can be selected multiple times when leveling and used that same number of times per rest.

Gallery - level up HLA menu

Screenshot of a Half Elven Fighter/Mage that just accumulated 3M XP. Note the lower right "Abilities" button is now enabled, allowing the player to go to the HLA selection menu.

The Half Elf F/M can make its first two HLA selections from either the Warrior or Mage menus.

Scolling down shows a limited available choice for the mage HLA at this stage of the character's development.

Party F/M selects an extra level 6 spell HLA while in the middle of an adventure.

Quick chart

Legend:

Req.: Requirements. F(20): Fighter (level 20). R: Ranger. P: Paladin. Bl: Blackguard. Mo: Monk. C: Cleric. D: Druid. Sh: Shaman. Ma:Mage. So: Sorcerer. T:Thief. Sw: Swashbuckler. Sd: Shadowdancer. Ba: Bard.

¹ May only be selected once.

² May only be selected once, except for Paladins who can select it multiple times.

HLA	Req.	F(20)	R(18)	P(18)	Bl(18)	Mo(22)	C(22)	D(15)	Sh(18)	Ma,So(18)	T(24)	Sw(24)	Sd(24)	Ba(24)
Power Attack		o	o	o	o	o
Critical Strike	Power Attack	o	o	o	o	o
Smite1	Critical Strike	o	o	o	o	o
Deathblow		o	o	o	o	o
Greater Deathblow	Deathblow	o	o	o	o	o
Whirlwind		o	o	o	o	o						o
Greater Whirlwind	Whirlwind	o	o	o	o	o
War Cry		o	o	o	o	o
Hardiness		o	o	o	o	o
Resist Magic		o	o	o	o
Tracking1			o
Summon Deva2	Neutral or good alignment No Summon Fallen Deva			o			o	o
Summon Fallen Deva2	Neutral or evil alignment No Summon Deva				o		o	o
Aura of Flaming Death1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Energy Blades1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Globe of Blades1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Implosion1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Mass Raise Dead1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Storm of Vengeance1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Elemental Summoning1	Priestbook lv 7 slots						o	o	o
Greater Elemental Summoning1	Priestbook lv 7 slots, Elemental Summoning							o
Elemental Transformation (Fire)1								o
Elemental Transformation (Earth)1								o
Ethereal Retribution1	Priestbook lv 7 slots								o
Spirit Form									o
Favored of the Spirits1	Spirit Form								o
Comet1	Wizardbook lv 9 slots									o
Dragon's Breath1	Wizardbook lv 9 slots									o
Energy Blades1	Wizardbook lv 9 slots									o
Improved Alacrity1	Wizardbook lv 9 slots									o
Summon Planetar1	Neutral or good alignment Wizardbook lv 9 slots No Summon Dark Planetar									o
Summon Dark Planetar1	Neutral or evil alignment Wizardbook lv 9 slots No Summon Planetar									o
Extra lv 6,7,8 wizard spell slots1	Previous slot									o
Alchemy											o	o	o	o
Avoid Death											o	o	o	o
Evasion											o	o	o	o
Greater Evasion	Evasion										o	o	o	o
Set Spike Trap											o	o		o
Set Exploding Trap											o	o		o
Set Time Trap											o	o		o
Use Any Item1											o	o	o	o
Scribe Scrolls	Use Any Item										o	o	o	o
Assassination1											o		o
Shadow Form													o
Shadow Maze													o
Shadow Twin													o
Enhanced Bard Song1														o
Magic Flute1														o

Mod gallery

This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.

Screenshot with Rogue Rebalancing mod's Thief HLA level-up ability menu.

And the RR menu scrolled down to show all the choices.