The Dungeons & Dragons Aspect of Baldur’s Gate 3
Baldur’s Gate 3, which was released as an Early Access title in 2020, is still awaiting a full release window as of 2023. Like its predecessors, the game is heavily influenced by the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game. In this guide, we will delve into the Early Access version of Baldur’s Gate 3, exploring its challenges, combat features, and how it brings the world of Dungeons & Dragons to the realm of video games.
You Don’t Need to Worry About Mechanics
In Baldur’s Gate 3, the heavy lifting of the game mechanics is done for you, since it is a video game. You don’t need to search for your dice or print character sheets when creating a character. However, if you prefer a more immersive experience, you can still use physical materials.
The game has everything you would expect from a D&D game, including a dice roller, character sheets, and a Dungeon Master (DM). All of these can be activated with a simple click. Your character’s interactions with the world are based on their Abilities and Skills, as well as dice rolls.
The Abilities and Skills in the game are categorized as follows:
- Strength
- Dexterity
- Constitution
- Intelligence
- Wisdom
- Charisma
Abilities can be distributed on a 20-point scale, with 1 being the lowest and 20 being the highest. These Abilities determine the proficiency in certain Skills. For example, a character with high Charisma will excel in Performance, while a character with high Strength will be naturally skilled in Athletics.
Tips to Help You Out
When Push Comes to Shove
One of the interesting aspects of the combat system in Baldur’s Gate 3 is the ability to perform various actions both in and out of combat. One such action is the ability to shove. While the action may seem straightforward, there are different scenarios where it can be advantageous.
Shoving can be used as a defense mechanism, allowing you to disengage from melee enemies without triggering an opportunity attack. It can also be used to reposition your character. Another use of the shove ability is to wake up incapacitated or sleeping NPCs, instantly repositioning them or your allies. Enemies often use this tactic if you try to put them to sleep.
Additionally, shoving can be used to take advantage of the verticality in Baldur’s Gate 3. By shoving an enemy from a tall ledge, you can deal significant fall damage. It’s also an effective way to gain higher ground against ranged combatants.
Put Some Elbow Grease Into It
Grease is a spell in Baldur’s Gate 3 that is incredibly useful. While it may seem simple, causing enemies to fall over, the long-lasting effects can be detrimental to your opponents. Once an enemy is tripped, they need to spend time and resources to get back up, disrupting their action economy.
Although Grease is a spell that Wizards can learn, you can use Grease Bottles to achieve the same effects even if you are not a Wizard. If an enemy walks over the greased area, they will have to make a Dexterity-saving throw or become knock-prone, wasting their turn.
But the utility of Grease doesn’t end there. It creates a flammable surface, allowing you to connect it with sources of fire, set up fire traps, and create explosions using spells like Fire Bolt.
Take Advantage of Your Surroundings
In Baldur’s Gate 3, you can manipulate the environment both in and out of combat. If your character has high Strength, you can move heavy objects such as barrels and crates.
There are also spells and environmental features that can be combined to deal significant damage. Just like with Grease, you can use other spells like water-based or lightning-based spells to take advantage of your surroundings.
Don’t Forget to Save
While Baldur’s Gate 3 has an autosave function, relying solely on it can be risky. Since the game is still in Early Access, there is a possibility of save corruption due to crashes or bugs. Therefore, it is recommended to manually save your game frequently.