10 Baldur’s Gate 3 Tips and Tricks I Wish I Knew

Main points

• Don’t worry too much about character creation – choose a character you find interesting and rely on teammates to cover weaknesses.
• Consider turning off the karma dice setting for a truly random experience during dice rolls.
• Save often, even in mundane encounters, to avoid accidents or bad decisions, and reload as needed.

With Baldur’s Gate 3 being voted the best game of the year by many, it’s only natural that many players would flock to check out a game that’s been hyped as one of the best games in recent history. However, for those who have never played a tabletop role-playing game or an older CRPG (such as either of the first two Baldur’s Gate games), the game may have some learning curve.

Now, the game is finally available on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, as well as PlayStation 5 and PC, making it more accessible than ever. If you find yourself one of the players who decided to give Baldur’s Gate 3 a try amid all the hype over the past year, there are a few things you might want to know. Likewise, if you’ve been into the game for a while, you probably still have some tips and tricks to make your experience more fun.

1 Quickly create your character

Don’t sweat

The first decision you have to make in Baldur’s Gate 3 is what character you want to play. If you’re familiar with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition or have played some D&D-based CRPGs, the options presented to you may not seem so daunting. However, if you’re completely new to the way the game presents you with character creation, it can be intimidating.

The important thing to remember is not to worry too much. Do what you want to do and don’t spend too much time thinking about what’s best. Think about a character you think would be interesting to play, decide what kind of person they are, and then stick with your decision. All skills and classes are presented to you, remember that throughout the game you will have a large number of teammates around you, which will help cover your weaknesses and play to your strengths.

2 Karma dice bad luck

Consider closing them

In Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll participate in a number of manual and automated dice-rolling activities. Just like the actual rolling of physical dice, there’s nothing to prevent you from having the worst luck. Still, there’s nothing to prevent the exact opposite from happening. At least that would be the case without the karma dice setup.

What Karmic Dice does is minimize your chances of having a huge hit or miss in a row while still keeping the rolling of the dice mostly random, and the setting is enabled by default. For those who like a truly random experience and are willing to find humor in missing 10 80% chance attacks in a row, it might be worth turning off the karma dice.

3 Save your progress

again and again

A deep RPG like Baldur’s Gate 3 lets you do almost anything. Sometimes these things are absolutely horrific and may even be accidental. Did you accidentally cast the wrong spell and hit your teammates with an area of ​​effect spell? Or maybe you tried something you thought was smart and now suddenly find yourself in the worst possible situation? Regardless, there will definitely be times in Baldur’s Gate 3 when you’ll want to reload.

There’s nothing to be ashamed of, and unless you want to do a hardcore role play, there’s no need to punish yourself too much for an accident or a bad decision. So whenever you enter unknown territory, save. Even if you’re going into a fairly mundane fight, save. You never know when you’ll accidentally kill Astarion and immediately have to load for an hour.

4 Queuing ability

and keep an eye on them

Your character, as well as members of your party, will all have different tools, including greater proficiency with certain types of weapons and armor. Throughout the game, you always want to make sure that your proficiencies match what you have equipped.

Weapon proficiency is particularly noteworthy. During combat in Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll be able to perform both main actions and bonus actions. When using a weapon you’re familiar with, you’ll be able to perform additional primary actions with your weapon. These attacks usually deal roughly the same amount of damage, but have additional effects on the enemy.

5 Start pushing people

go try it

In Baldur’s Gate 3’s dynamic combat system, one of the bonus moves you can use is pushing. Pushover does exactly what it says on the tin, a quick roll of the dice to determine if you can push someone over. The worst offender when successful is that you might just end up pushing someone back a bit, which is very helpful for disrupting any potential attacks of opportunity.

However, with the most efficient push, you may find a very powerful NPC near a very high ledge. Whether you can successfully push someone will depend on your and the target’s movement stats, and how far you push someone will depend on your strength stat. The best part of the equation is that pushing is a bonus action, meaning if you’ve already taken the main action, you can still push someone aside for better effect. While your party will soon have all the potential bonus moves you could want, shoving is a great bonus move for an early-game blast.

6 Use non-damaging spells

don’t discount them

If you play as an entirely magical character, they may know a few spells that don’t do any damage at all. Two of the most prominent examples of this type of spell are “Disguise Self” and “Talk to Animals.” What these two spells have in common is that they are very powerful if you are willing to use them.

These two spells do exactly what they say, one lets you disguise yourself as any race in the game, and the other lets you talk to animals. Disguising yourself is especially a physical transformation, so keep in mind all the physical attributes that might benefit you by pretending to be a different race. At the same time, the biggest limitation of “Conversations with Animals” is your own imagination. Any particular animal you encounter, friendly or not, is worth talking to.

7 Soak your weapons

Huge gain in combat

Another bonus move you can use that has great potential is the drop. Dip allows you to dip your weapon into something nearby. While it sounds simple, there are many situations where dipping your weapon into a nearby object can give you huge benefits in combat.

Is there a fire nearby? Try igniting your weapon to add some fire damage to your attacks. Are there any poisons around? Don’t be afraid to dip your blade into it to make your attacks sting even more. These are just two examples of many potential situations where you can add something extra to your weapon in combat.

8 Pay attention to your long breaks

Don’t sleep too long

Heading to camp to rest is something you do regularly throughout the game. Long breaks, especially at the end of the day, allow you to fully recover and regain your abilities. Yet despite you and your companions’ well-organized sleep schedules, time keeps ticking.

If you find yourself dealing with an urgent matter, your sleep will be affected for a few days. So while it’s good to return to camp and keep your health and abilities replenished, don’t be too harsh or you can accidentally fail a time-sensitive mission.

9 Pay attention to the door

Useful in combat

Doors are a very useful tool for you in combat scenarios. Opening and closing a door is a free action in combat, so it doesn’t completely prevent enemies from using melee weapons in their path. However, doors are very useful against enemies with ranged attacks.

If you find a door between your team and the enemy, closing it before ending your turn may prevent mages or archers from attacking you. While this isn’t the situation you’ll encounter most often, doors can be your best friend when dealing with enemies who can’t seem to miss a ranged attack.

10 try anything

Do not be afraid

If there was only one pithy, succinct piece of advice to offer, it would be this: If you have an idea, give it a try. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a dizzyingly dynamic game that’s absolutely bursting with possibility. Whatever ridiculous idea comes to you during your trip to Faerûn, give it a try. Worst case scenario, you die and reload. Or maybe your absolutely crazy idea will work and you’ll get a crazy story out of it.

Once you’re truly familiar with the rules of the game, the sky is truly the limit. One of the most fun things about Baldur’s Gate 3 is discovering an absolutely ridiculous solution to a problem that, no matter what role you play, will one day fit perfectly into a hyper-specific scenario. So whatever you want to try, give it a try and see what happens.