D&D: Five Tips for Surviving Honour Mode in ‘Baldur’s Gate 3
Looking to survive Baldur’s Gate 3’s legendary Honour Mode difficulty? Here’s a helpful guide to arm your party for survival.
Baldur’s Gate 3 does not mess around when it comes to difficulty. The challenge of its Honour Mode, a difficulty beyond even Tactician (the hard one), challenges players to really test their skill and the strength of their character builds. It also, like any good D&D game, relies on a bit of good luck on your side.
In Honour Mode, you’re allowed only one save file. There’s no save scumming. No reloading. There is only another step forward towards those golden dice that, at press time, less than 1% of the millions playing Baldur’s Gate 3 have earned.
Honour Mode can be brutal. You will roll a natural 1 on that critical skill check and be faced with hard decisions, up to and including killing your own companions. Stand too close to the edge of a cliff and you might end up being pushed ignominiously to an early end. But, hopefully, these tips can help you get closer to those golden dice.
Knowledge is Power – Respect the Inspect
Knowledge is power. Especially in Honour Mode, where the game has a laundry list of changes above and beyond what you’ve experienced, even if you’re playing in Tactician Mode. Most notable are the changes to the way damage bonus sources work (which you only really notice if you were getting really “creative” with the builds) and Legendary Actions for many of the boss fights.
Caught off guard, a Legendary Action can end a fight if you’re not prepared. But in this turn-based game, one can always be prepared, so long as you remember to inspect what you’re fighting. Inspecting Auntie Ethel, for instance, reveals that she can create magical clones of herself any time you cast a spell.
This also lets you learn what damage types enemies are resistant and vulnerable to, as well as which saves are likely to be weak. All important information to have when concocting your strategy. Speaking of which…
Have a Plan
In Honour Mode, especially in the big, important fights, you need to have at least a basic plan of what you’re going to do. Because “run up and hit it until it dies” will only work as long as the dice are on your side. And in Honour Mode, the dice are out to get you.
But knowing which enemies you can disarm or Command to drop their weapons, or figuring out which enemies are the important ones to stun, can make all the difference. When initiative is rolled, take your time. Look at the initiative order, take advantage of the fact that you can see what the DMs notes are, basically. And come up with a strategy. That way you have something to jump off from when it all falls apart.
Run Away, and Often
And it will fall apart. Nothing like seeing an enemy make a save vs. that spell that has a 90% chance to work, or getting a Critical Miss two times in a row on the giant, adamantine golem that’s about to curb stomp you into some lava.
When it all falls apart, in most situations, you can run away. Because Honour Mode only ends if your whole party is wiped out. But if your party is either spread out, or if one speedy character (looking at you, Thief Rogue with Misty Step) can get far enough away, they can run back to camp. From there, they can revive the party and you can rest up and try again.
Explore the Map. Especially in Act 1.
One of the best things about Baldur’s Gate 3 is that they’ve baked in experience point rewards for exploration. You can uncover the map and earn XP for doing so. Sometimes, you may have to make a skill check or run away from a fight because you accidentally wandered into a swamp full of Red Caps and Ancient Mud Mephits.
But, you can also earn many of those crucial early levels without having to successfully kill much of anything. Doubly so if you have one character, at least, who is good at Persuasion, Intimidation, and/or Deception.
Stay Alive to Level 5
What you really want to be shooting for is Level 5. That’s a crucial breakpoint for characters, across the board. It’s when most of the martial classes gain their Extra Attack, allowing them to attack twice on a single turn. Level 5 is also when spellcasters start to deal 2dX with their cantrips. It’s a huge spike in power—but don’t let that overconfidence be your downfall.
Level 5 is also when enemy NPCs start to universally attack twice as well. Especially if you’re playing a multiclass combo that doesn’t “come online” until level 7 or 8, it might be worth sticking with a single class until then and respecting your character once you get to the point where you can actually play the way you want.
One last tip. Withers is a total bro, and will never be mad at you if you pickpocket him.
