Baldur’s Gate may be in early access but there’s still plenty of game to play. This compendium of tips should help you get started if you’re unfamiliar with the genre and give you some useful hints while we’re at it.
Baldur's Gate 3 Looting
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It can get tedious at times, but its definitely worth looking inside everything you can - as long as you don’t get caught for stealing. Most contain fairly worthless junk but here and there you’ll find potions, scrolls, and the occasional weapon. The most valuable loot you could find though is a key. Keys are - unless you’ve got a very good thief - the main way you’ll progress into hidden areas containing a wealth of story and experience.
The one exception to this might be vases. Currently they are mostly empty but you may still get a few things if you consider the time worth it or are just a completionist hoarder…
Note: If you’ve discovered a hidden door but can’t find the lever, try moving some boxes around as things can be hidden behind them.
Baldur's Gate 3 Perception
Traps and other hidden discoveries await around the map and finding these are important. Before opening that obviously important sarcophagus, maybe walk a circuit of the room to find out what you’ll be triggering. If you can, either disarm or block them - like Divinity, placing items on top of vents will stop them from releasing their contents.
Aside from traps, secret rooms and doorways can be revealed by those perceptive enough to notice so always be on the lookout for these as there’s plenty of treasure hidden away.
Baldur's Gate 3 Battlefield Control
In battle you are limited in the actions you can use each turn and healing can get expensive. While the elemental effects pale in comparison to Divinity Original Sin, laying down cover in its various forms is key to your survival and a good use of early actions. Magic can create blinding smoke and floor hazards like ice or fire with archers able to do the same if you can find the arrows.
No matter how you do it, making sure the enemy can’t see or reach you is the best way to maintain the upper hand.
Baldur's Gate 3 Companions
There’s five companions to choose from but you can only drag three along in your party. Try to aim for a balanced group in this early access build as Larian has designed a lot of encounters to make the most of the variety.
One companion we would always recommend you bring with you is Shadowheart as her healing spells are literally life savers. She also gets good prices with traders and can carry a lot of weight making her useful as a bit of a pack mule.
Baldur's Gate 3 High Ground
Ranged attacks benefit massively from having the upper hand, and in this case we mean the high ground. Being above your target will give you a large bonus to hit chance and most battlegrounds have at least some raised areas to work with.
Bear in mind the AI will make use of these areas as well, meaning that you pretty much have to take them yourself or suffer the consequences of hard to hit archers raining death from above. Even if you win the fight in these situations, you’ll often spend way more time that necessary dispatching that last stubborn unit.
Baldur's Gate 3 Light Level
Without light you can’t see. That makes sense, right? In Baldur’s Gate this means you have a lower chance to hit. If you’re not insistent on roleplay, we’d recommend choosing a character with good night vision for yourself.
There is also magic available to grant better night vision or illuminate parts of the map but both these things will cost extra actions and spell slots so become more of a trade-off. Either way, you’ll spend plenty of time fighting in dungeons so make sure you’re prepared.
Baldur's Gate 3 Environmental Destruction
Without giving spoilers away, certain battlefields will have various pieces of destructible terrain that can cause damage to friend and foe alike. The barrels are the obvious ones and you should avoid standing near them during a fight but others are less obvious. However, in true Larian fashion, if it looks like it could fall down, it probably can, so keep your eyes peeled.
The barrels provide interesting additional options too. You can pick these up and carry them with you, placing them down to create your own hazards. Water barrels can help you make an ice field, oil for fire, explosive for a big boom. At 10 weight per barrel, you can usually carry a handful with you for those big battles you would otherwise struggle with.
Baldur's Gate 3 Bonus Action
Each turn a character gets movement, action, and bonus action. Many a time you will forget to use your bonus, too eager to move on. This is a mistake and often the bonus can provide excellent utility.
Bonus actions include using potions, jumping, shoving, and helping up downed allies so there’s plenty you can accomplish with them. Take the jump for example, you can use it to get on higher ground or to hop into cover after leaving cover to take a shot. Shoving is also useful against melee combatants as you can knock them to the floor before delivering your strike.
Baldur's Gate 3 Rolls
Dice rolls determine most outcomes and this random chance can help or hurt in equal measure. There are spells that you can use to increase your chances or decrease your opponents but this tip is more about conversation rolls.
When talking to an NPC you will often get a choice between different responses. When these rely on a roll, the dialogue tag will tell you what attribute you will require. Try to choose the one your character is good at instead of what you ‘want’ to say. This will reduce the number you need to beat to be successful.
Baldur's Gate 3 Save, Save, Save
We’re not talking about saving throws here but instead that wonderful little F5 key. Mostly because it’s still an early access game with plenty of quirks, the Quicksave helps make sure progress isn’t entirely lost.
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