So you’ve got your hands on Baldur’s Gate 3, and its numerous mysteries, stories, and hilarious characters could take hundreds of hours to explore. Your first point of call will be to create a character that suits you and your play style while also planning ahead for some of the interesting encounters that you will stumble into on your journey.
During your journey, there will be many different locations, people, and battles that will require all sorts of tactics, weapons, and spells to overcome such difficult situations. Below will be an assortment of tips and tricks that can be used within the first few hours of Baldur’s Gate 3 that will benefit your playthrough in the long run.
Most of these tips and tricks will mainly be aimed at solo players, but they can also be used in multiplayer if done properly. We will attempt to avoid spoilers throughout this guide but be warned as some of these tips and tricks cut very close to being spoiler content.
The Best Character Species and Classes for Each Kind of Player
Within any RPG, there are always 3 main roles that any player can take on depending on the species and classes they pick, and those roles are tank, healer, and damage. Baldur’s Gate 3 is slightly different in that regard, as there are classes that fit within these roles. Traditionally, you would require a selection of these roles to survive within an RPG; luckily, Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t an ordinary RPG.
Depending on your play style, there are a few select species and class combos that will work together incredibly well and will be viable throughout the entire game from start to finish. Whether your a close-range fighter, all about those magic spells, or just looking for a purely fun character, there are plenty of options to choose from that work well together.
For example, if you’re looking for a close-range combatant who can wield any martial weapon you can think of, then a Dragonborn Barbarian should be your first point of contact. Boasting a large health pool to keep you alive for longer and an increased strength stat from the Dragonborn species, which combines with the Barbarian’s strength-based builds that can tear through enemies and creatures alike.
If range and stealth are more your speed, then an Elf Ranger class should be your main focus, as this class is all about using longbows, shortbows, or even crossbows to eliminate threats from a distance. As a bonus, elves also have a proficiency in dexterity, which goes hand in hand with a ranger’s skill set, which improves your ranged abilities.
When it comes to a magic caster, there are a few different directions you can go. There are those who tap into their darkest thoughts and murder their enemies with flames, or there are those who want to make the world better by healing all kinds of wounds.
If you would like to go down the murder and mayhem path of a spellcaster, then a perfect choice would be a Drow Sorcerer. A sorcerer is a unique kind of spellcaster who can utilize all the different elements, use dozens of spells without resting, and even add their charisma to their spells for extra damage, which is even higher as Drow has naturally high charisma.
Finally, one of the main species and class combos you will most likely want is a wood elf cleric, but keep in mind that any species can be substituted in this combination, but wood elf is probably the best, and that is because they are fantastic at stealth and maneuverability. Even though a cleric can be useful in combat as a fighter, they are a lot stronger as healers, as they have plenty of spells that can keep your party alive while also adding buffs to your squad to help survive certain damage types.
Early Gameplay Tips to Help in the Long Run of Baldur’s Gate 3
Throughout Baldur’s Gate 3, there will always be a battle around the corner, a camp to save, or an evil-doer to put into the ground. To help you do that, below are some early-game quests and tips that you can use to make your game a little bit easier while also ensuring you have everything you need for the final acts in the game.
For starters, if you chose to become a spellcaster during your character creation, then good news, as you can shortcut your way to a unique weapon right in the tutorial. At the end of the tutorial, you encounter an enemy who is attempting to kill you, and his weapon of choice is a two-handed flaming greatsword.
There are two ways to gain this sword: for yourself or for your party members. One of these ways is to use the spell known as Command, in which you can command this enemy to drop their weapon, and while the weapon is on the floor, you can just stroll over and pick it up. If you are not a spellcaster, you do have the option to simply kill this enemy, but he does have 150 health points, and at this point in the game, you will mainly hit for roughly 8–10 damage max if you are lucky to hit him at all.
After finishing the tutorial, you will be dropped into an open world with so many different places to explore and see. If you are playing solo, your first point of contact should be to look for the NPC companions who are located around the area you land in. Each of these companions will be very noticeable, as they will share a common disease with you that will become pivotal to the game’s story.
As you explore the glorious open world of Baldur’s Gate 3, you will stumble across a small civilization that lives in a location called The Grove. Within The Grove, there are many NPCs that you can interact with, like shopkeepers, healers, weapon sellers, and even druids.
However, there is one character within The Grove that you may not even think to talk to, and that is a rather peculiar ox. Many players tend to forget that in Baldur’s Gate 3, you are able to use spells and potions to speak with animals, and many of these animals have some very interesting information.
After using the speak with animals spell, there will be one ox within The Grove that you will be able to talk to, who seems to be a lot smarter than the other creatures in the game, as he has many things to say, even though they are all very cryptic. However, once you talk to this Ox, you will begin a questline that, if progressed, will make a major impact in the late game.
Within Baldur’s Gate 3, there is always another way to deal with a situation, whether it be to talk to them or to use their own troops against them. However, there is an extra tactic that players can use within their games, and that is using spells to react to the environment itself. Whether it be to use fire on oil to create an explosion, burning a cobweb to make enemies fall from a giant height, or ice to make them slip and fall,.
Finally, if you’re looking for a challenging quest with many twists and turns, then there is one quest that fairytale fans may find quite familiar. During the first act, players will stumble across a rather beautiful part of the forest that seems to be thriving a lot more than the rest. If players choose to continue on this path, they will eventually encounter a witch who seems to have a few tricks up her sleeve, but if you do continue down this path, your rewards will be gloriously worth it.
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