Baldur’s Gate 3 – Top 10 Beginner Tips

1. Know Your Origin

The first tip, and in my opinion the most important, is to know what character you want to play. This game is called an RPG for a reason, and Larian has put painstaking work into making sure players can roleplay any character they want. While “knowing” your character doesn’t directly affect gameplay, going into a game as if you were playing the pen-and-paper RPG enhances the gameplay tremendously.

But what about players who don’t want to stretch their creative muscles? Or players who want a gaming experience with a centrally defined character? Well, Larian has you covered. Just like their previous title Divinity: Original Sin 2, players have access to Origin characters. Origin characters are essentially premade characters with their own backstories and classes (although their class can be changed to whatever you want). 

The Origin characters are taken from your stock of initial companions, but they can all act as your main character. The best part about this is that they can go through the whole game like a custom character but with a little more history with the world and characters in it. 

With seven options to choose from, there is sure to be at least one you’ll want to play as if you decide not to play your custom character.

2. Choose a Class That Fits

There are twelve classes in Baldur’s Gate 3, and each class has a list of subclasses they can choose from along their leveling path. When it comes to playstyles, you have options. This is why the next Baldur’s Gate 3 tip is to know what class you want to play.

We’re not saying to forgo all experimentation when it comes to respeccing your character. Instead, it’s more about understanding your preferred playstyle and looking at classes that fit said playstyle. Like hitting things in melee? Barbarian or Fighter will probably have what you want. Like mastering the arcane arts? Look at the Wizard or Sorcerer. Want a pet? Ranger is the class for you.

There are a lot of different ways to play this game, and some of them vary wildly from one another. While you can change your class completely after you start, knowing what you want to focus on early will save you some gold in respec fees.

3. Plan Your Build

Every adventurer knows that preparation is the key to success. This is no different in Baldur’s Gate 3. While, as I mentioned above, you can respec yourself at any moment, it doesn’t hurt to have a plan in place. It’ll save you some gold in the future and it will help make roleplaying your character that much easier.

This is also the time to plan whether or not you want to multiclass. Multiclassing can make you an absolute force of destruction, or weaker than your actual class. Planning ahead can help you decide the proper stats needed to make the right choices when choosing classes.

4. Look At Pen-and-Paper Examples

In the same vein of planning your build, I recommend looking at build examples from people who’ve played 5th Edition D&D. I doubly recommend this for people who know nothing about how D&D works.

Luckily, the transfer between 5th Edition and Baldur’s Gate 3 is almost seamless. Many of the builds you see veterans use will work in Baldur’s Gate 3, and it doesn’t hurt to shop around if you don’t know what to play. The D&D community is a creative bunch, and you’ll be surprised by what you find.

5. Know Your Partners

Now that we’ve gone over how to set up your character, we’ll talk about how you fit into your adventuring party. Although going alone is always an option for the brave and the bold, you would be missing out on the excellent storytelling attached to this colorful cast of characters.

Your companions can have their classes changed and reset just like you, but I wouldn’t recommend it to those interested in their story. Each companion’s story will relate to their predetermined class, so it might be weird for characters to mention Gale’s overwhelming magical powers with ten levels in Barbarian. But the choice is ultimately up to you.

While having a “perfect” team composition can make things easier since everyone’s weaknesses are covered, it’s not necessary. Play who you want, with whoever you want, and you should be able to get through the game with no issues.

6. Save Often

The Sword Coast is a dangerous place. Goblins, liches, and dragons are waiting around every corner to end your adventure early. Hence why one of the most crucial tips for Baldur’s Gate 3 is to save often, especially if you’re a beginner to games like this. Nothing feels worse than going through a bad combat and realizing your last save was an hour ago. 

It may seem like an obvious tip, but it’s easy to forget. Larian even implemented a quicksave button so don’t forget to use it. Anyone who’s played the first two Baldur’s Gates games will know how rough it can get sometimes. And while Baldur’s Gate 3 may not be as difficult as its predecessors on the lower difficulties, even the most prepared adventuring crew can fall to bad rolls.

7. Use The Environment 

Veterans of Divinity: Original Sin 2 will already understand this tip, but the environment is your best friend in Baldur’s Gate 3. The first thing you should do in every combat, and sometimes even before, is check your surroundings. Chances are there’s something that may help you tip the scales of the battle in your favor.

Hanging explosives, cliff faces, and combustible substances are all fair game when trying to defeat your enemies. Experiment with spells, play with positioning, and turn the environment into another weapon. Because if you don’t, the enemies will. 

8. Use Turn-Based Mode

Even after hundreds of hours in the early access and a hefty amount of hours in the full release, Turn-Based Mode is an excellent feature of the game that I do not use nearly enough. If you want a Baldur’s Gate 3 tip that will enhance your gameplay, this one is it. 

Turn-Based Mode does exactly what the name suggests. It takes the real-time gameplay out of combat and makes it turn-based. This opens up a lot of options as well as makes your life easier in some situations.

Want to get the first attack on a group of enemies without getting caught? Pop on Turn-Based Mode and get all your characters in position. Want to steal something without getting caught mid-stealth? Throw on Turn-Based and grab whatever your heart desires.

9. Get Advantage Whenever You Can

Anyone who’s played the tabletop knows that advantage is your best friend, and that still holds true for Baldur’s Gate 3.

For those that don’t know, advantage allows you to roll twice and take the better role. I don’t think I need to explain why that’s so helpful. Doubling your chances for success is good. Doubling your chance for a critical is even better.

There are a lot of different ways you can gain advantage, and you’re gonna need to experiment a little to see how your team can attain it, but it’s well worth it.

10. ALT Often

Nothing hurts more than missing that perfect piece of loot that would be perfect for your character. And when you’re traveling through dark dank crypts, there’s a good chance you might miss something. That’s where our ALT button comes in. ALT will highlight the environment and reveal everything you can interact with.

Even if it’s a small room, you lose nothing by hitting ALT and seeing what’s around you. It’s super helpful and is usually the first thing I do when entering a new area. Use it often.