Combat Explained - Essential Battle Tips - Baldur's Gate III Guide - IGN (2024)

For the Baldur’s Gate 3 players that are new to Dungeons and Dragons or CRPGs in general, the combat system and action economy can be difficult to adjust to. Don’t worry; we’ve got the basics broken down for you, so you’ll be ready the next time a goblin thinks it can pick a fight with a HERO.

Combat Explained - Essential Battle Tips and Tricks

In the Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition ruleset that Baldur’s Gate III emulates, each full round of combat encompasses six real-time seconds. A round being one full rotation through the Initiative Order. Keep that thought in mind when in combat scenarios, as it can help you understand why some of your actions and abilities are limited in the way they are.

The first thing to understand when approaching combat in BG3 is what Initiative, Actions, Bonus Actions, Reactions, and Movement correspond to on your character’s turns. Looking to learn more about something in particular? Click the links below to jump to...

• Roll Initiative
• Actions
• Bonus Actions
• Reactions
• Movement
• Quick Combat Tips and Tricks

Roll Initiative

When combat is initiated, each character and enemy that is involved in the combat will “Roll Initiative”. This is a 20-sided die roll with the Dexterity Bonus applied as a modifier where the highest resulting roll will go first in the round.

There are occasions when you’ll find your characters have the ability to act simultaneously! This can make for interesting strategic combinations, especially when playing multiplayer. When it’s your character's Turn, you’ll be able to perform an Action, Bonus Action, and Movement, completed in any order you wish!

Actions

The big “thing” that you’ll do on a character’s turn; an Action generally encompasses main hand attacks, a majority of spellcasting, and other abilities like Dash, Disengage, Throw, and Hide. Actions are denoted on your hot bar with a green circle, and you can also see in the text of each ability what slot it takes during combat.

Casting Spells is one of the more complex actions; understand that you have a limited amount of Spell Slots per adventuring day to cast your more powerful leveled spells, whereas Cantrips do not require a Spell Slot as a resource. Rely on your Cantrips more heavily if you find yourself running out of Spell Slots too often. Some classes have the ability to regain a few Spell Slots between long rests, and the Warlock regains all of their Spell Slots on a short rest.

Bonus Actions

Bonus Actions are smaller or quicker abilities that your character can accomplish on a turn. There are spells, like Healing Word or Shield of Faith, and class abilities, like Barbarians Rage, that fit this slot. Baldur’s Gate III also includes some movement and interactions in the Bonus Action slot. You can Jump, Shove, and Dip a weapon into an oil, poison, or surface.

Bonus actions are denoted by an orange triangle and can be used in any order with your Action and Movement. Keep in mind, some class abilities will give you more Bonus Action options and you generally cannot cast two Leveled Spells on one turn.

Reactions

Reactions are abilities that take place when it is not specifically your character’s turn. Opportunity Attacks spells such as Hellish Rebuke and Shield, and Class Abilities like the Rogue’s Uncanny Dodge or Fighter’s Riposte all fit this slot.

You’ll only get one of these per full round of combat, and there are some options in the settings that may help give you more control over when these Reactions happen and how you are prompted.

Open your character’s Spellbook, go to the Reactions tab and toggle which reactions you want to have happen automatically, have an in-game action prompt for, or disable completely.

Each enemy also only has one reaction, so if you notice an enemy use their reaction, you can now walk past them without invoking an Opportunity Attack. If you're next to a character and you're not "Threatened," you'll know that you can safely reposition yourself without using Disengage. There is also a red “sword” indicator that appears on the ground when mapping out your movement that indicates when you’ll take an Opportunity Attack.

Movement

Likely the simplest of your options to understand. Your character has a set amount of base movement defined by their race and class, and this can be used to position yourself during your turn. Other actions like Jump do require movement to utilize, and the Dash Action allows you to move again at the cost of your Action. Movement can be split in between other actions, so you can move, perform an Action, move again, or use it in any other order.

Quick Combat Tips and Tricks

Now that we have the basics down, here are some tips to take into your next combat!

• Equip or swap weapons outside of combat. Otherwise, it will take an action during your turn. This includes recovering and equipping a thrown weapon!
• Use shove and your environment to your advantage in combat. It's only a bonus action! If you and an enemy are on a high ledge or near a bottomless abyss, you can shove them off the ledge or into the abyss. This is a contested Strength check, so it may not always be successful. Be warned, any loot will fall with the enemy!

• It's pretty easy to accidentally end your turn, so be wary of your button presses. You can undo an "end turn" if you go to the Character Select menu and select the character you just accidentally skipped. However, if an enemy acts after you, you won't be able to do this.

• If a weapon is light, you can equip two of them and dual wield. This gives you a Bonus Action to attack a second time with the off-hand weapon. It will automatically use your Bonus Action to make this second attack, but you can turn this off in the weapon's options in the equipment menu. This attack won’t have any stat bonuses applied to the damage unless you’ve taken the Dual Wielding Feat.
• Play conservatively! The game's resource system may be very different from the ones you're used to. Many of your best Spells and Abilities are limited to a few uses between Long Rests, and the limited amounts of free HP recovery can stifle your progress if you're Long Resting too often. Use Cantrips often for spellcasters while also trying to conserve your HP where possible. Some classes regain more than others on Short Rests, and some also have abilities to give them more spells! Read your abilities and be aware of what you can afford to use.

• Throw your potions! When you use the Throw action, select a potion, and a splash area will appear on the ground, showing you the effective radius of that potion. So instead of just consuming a potion yourself, you can Throw the potion at your allies, and it will affect all in that splash zone! Healing, Speed, and even Speak With Animals all work in this fashion.

Baldur’s Gate III Combat can be complex and confusing. So, take your time, read your spells and abilities, and no one will judge you for reloading that last save. Probably.