D&D: Five Tips For Getting Started In Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate is big, almost overwhelmingly so. But with these tips, you’ll be ready to set out into the most expansive adventure with Advantage.
When you load up Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re setting foot into a grand adventure that will take you across epic locales. You’ll go from Faerun to Hell and back before you’re even done with the first few minutes of the game. But, though Baldur’s Gate 3 uses D&D as the core for its rules, there are a few small changes, borrowed and iterated on from Divinity that can make a world of difference when you play. With all that in mind, here are five tips for getting started in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Know Your (Bonus) Actions
In Baldur’s Gate 3, your characters can do more than the average 5th Edition character. To start with, each character has a suite of bonus actions, on the top right of the bar in the picture of the above. You can jump/disengage, shove, hide–and a new one, “dip” which lets you dunk a weapon or piece of ammunition in a nearby substance (like grease or blood or the like).
But that’s just the start. Underneath your bonus actions are your action options: throw, which lets you throw an item–any item, even a cup or a random bone–at something; dash, which lets you move further; knock out, which is how you deal non-lethal damage (which matters more than you’d think), and the final one is help, which is an automatic, non-magic revive that gets someone up from being at 0 hp.
Make The Rogue Dual Wield Right Now
Why would you shoot a bow when you could be attacking three times instead?
Rogues are damage dealers extraordinaire in BG3 right now, and a big part of it comes from the extra bonus they get to their cunning action–if you’re dual-wielding, you get a free attack with your offhand weapon, in addition to the normal attack you get for dual-wielding. That’s three attacks, which means you’ll shred low-level targets, as you effectively hit for twice the sneak attack.
Playing With Weapons? Use Them
Another thing D&D players might not notice initially is that every weapon gives you a special attack. Ranged weapons have a “pinning shot” ability, while slashing weapons can deal a bleeding attack, bludgeoning weapons can knock prone, and piercing weapons can all deal extra effects on the attack. And this seems to come natively to each weapon.
That Spell’s Trouble
Fire Bolt is no longer the best Cantrip in Baldur’s Gate 3 (at least right now). It presently does 1d6 damage, but it sets things on fire. Ray of Frost does 1d8 and has a chance to knock your enemies prone in an area. All of the cantrips do something a little different, so it pays to know what you’ve got. Because you never know when you’re going to need to get something out of the environment.
Use Your Surroundings
One of the single best pieces of advice we can recommend though, is to spend some time mousing around whatever area you’re in. Especially when you’re in a fight. Larian Studios have positively littered the environment with movable, stackable objects. If you find yourself in a fight that feels too tough for your party, just look around. Is there something you can set on fire? Is there a high cliff you can push someone off of? You’d be surprised at how often the answer to this is yes.
From explosive containers, to volatile chemicals you can throw yourself, the world is full of mayhem just waiting for you to come along and give it a push.
These are some of the best bets for hitting the ground running. We don’t want to spoiler too much of the game, but there’s a ton of interesting stuff in every corner. The first act is so big, there’s so much to get lost in. Just, keep these in mind as you go,
Happy Adventuring!
