After two decades, eager fans can finally get hands-on with Baldur's Gate III. Developed and published by Larian Studios, creators of the Divinity series, this marks the studio's first attempt at a RPG set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. BioWare and Black Isle Studios developed previous Baldur's Gate entries.
Baldur's Gate III is an expansive game with tons of detail players can lose themselves in. Before jumping into a fresh adventure, here are some tips, tricks and strategies for new and returning Baldur's Gate players.
Spend Time In Character Creation
TTRPG fans rejoice: There is a LOT to character creation in Baldur's Gate III. There's the standard affair, like appearance, races and classes, but there are also essential options for determining how the character will play.
Players can choose what spells, abilities, talents and features their character will have at the start of their adventure. If they are unhappy with the spread of attributes, a player can redistribute those here as well.
Keep in mind: This is still an early version of the game. More will come in time, but it's still worth grasping what's possible in the character creator. At its core, Baldur's Gate III is built from Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition foundations. Anyone who's played the tabletop version of D&D 5e should be familiar with the rules in Baldur's Gate III. This is most apparent when the player makes a skill check to solve a problem. The game rolls a 20-sided die and adds any character modifiers. Have a favorite skill or character build? Chances are, it can work here.
Good Buttons
There are a number of features in Baldur's Gate III that are less than obvious. Chief among these are which keys access some of the most helpful features in the game.
For instance, a tap on the tilde key (~) toggles a colored aura around all characters that denotes if they're friend, foe or can be reasoned with. Enemies' cone of vision can be shown by holding the shift key. The alt key will highlight bodies that can be looted and holding ctrl readies the character to attack.
Just like in classic RPGs, it'll pay to save often. The game does feature an auto-save function, but it's still a good habit to save after any significant accomplishment, inventory management or if it feels like things got a little too quiet. Plus, the developers acknowledge there may be bugs in Early Access. It can't hurt to have backup saves.
Party Make-Up Or Break-Up?
The characters that form a player's party can make or break their Baldur's Gate III experience. Players should goo for those who can support the type of character they want to play.
In other words, make sure for every fast-talking ranger in the group, there's a burly character who can tank some of the hits. It's also worth a mention that spellcasters bring something unique to the table. Spells allow characters to interact with the world in a way no martial class can, so be sure to include at least one spellcaster in the group.
Jump, Jump, Jump
Any selected character can jump. It's part of the group of tools just to the left of the central character portrait at the bottom of the screen. A jump can take the character to new and unexplored areas, sometimes beholden to secrets. Jumps are also fantastic when used to disengage from a fight to avoid damage.
The jump distance is also quite far. Most players shouldn't have a problem placing themselves behind a foe if they're a melee fighter, or in a perch with a height advantage as a ranged fighter.
Mind Your Surroundings
There are many opportunities to use the environment to the player's favor in Baldur's Gate III. Drop the floor out from under enemies or drop boulders on them. Interact with the environment using the button panel just left of the portrait at the center of the screen's bottom. The big ones here are Jump/Disengage, Throw, Dip and Push. Grab a small enemy or friend and give them a well-needed toss. Keep an eye out for other, more elemental cues to cause some damage. See some water? Make it electric water.
Larian Studios provides tons of opportunities for players to use the Baldur's Gate III environment to gain an edge. Toss a Grease Bottle into some flames to spread the inferno or throw a healing potion so it lands between a couple of characters. A plentiful inventory will make a difference in how often the characters are equipped to interact -- stock up on small, throwable items like potions or objects with the "Throw" keyword.
There are plenty of adventures to be had in Larian Studios' newest RPG, but Baldur's Gate III is still in Early Access. Expect lots of updates and fixes along the way, as well as new content. Until then, these tips and tricks will help even the odds against those Mind Flayers.