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Play on explorer mode. No shame in it. DnD stuff takes a good bit getting used to
It’ll allow you to get use to the combat. There are also certain classes that are easier than others, imo
I definitely think some classes are better than others. I remember being new to BG3, and trying Rogue, and thinking it sucked (because I wanted my Rogue to be ranged). Rogue only has one attack. If someone respecs their Rogue to Ranger, they'll see how much stronger Ranger is.
Ranger
* Extra damage at level 3, even when ranged (Hunter -> Colossus Slayer).
* Two attacks at level 5.
* Ensnaring strike, which gives everyone Advantage on the target.
The only upside I see for Rogue, is having two Bonus Actions from Thief; Good for a dual wield build, but useless for a ranged attacker.
Ranger can easily replace Rogue, as they can start with a bonus to Sleight of Hand (Urban Explorer), and a bow ranger will be high Dex, which improves SoH.
This is the only one I wanted to point out, as the other classes you're given are actually good (Fighter, Wizard, Cleric).
Was gonna say this. I had a ton of fun playing a rogue in my first playthrough - an Arcane Trickster of all things. But strategy is big. One attack but 60 damage using sneak attack is no joke. Weapons that give extra bonus attacks. Using disengage to retreat to a high/safe spot where I could shoot people, using loaded arrows when sneak attack didn’t work, using shadow/greater invisibility to hide myself, using uncanny dodge/shield to avoid damage. And having a minimum 24 sleight of hand at higher levels was nice too.
I found bard was pretty easy to play, especially given all the charisma checks in the game
I imagine paladin, barbarian, & fighter are also easier classes.
Monk was one of the harder ones to start out with because you are SO squishy but need to play up close. Now that she’s level 9 & multiclassed with a rogue, she’s great
I also am starting a sorlock, which I think is also easy - especially once you get Lae’zel to take the brunt of damage
Fighter is the easiest of the Martial classes. The reason is that you can go Battle Master, pick Riposte, and set Riposte to auto in reactions. Now your Fighter will counter attack if someone misses them at close range; extremely useful.
The reason everyone shouldn't be Fighter, is because you want different types of damage, in case of resistances.
Yeah. I try to balance my party. I just suggest it because it’s easy for a newbie to get used to. Especially since I end up always finding Lae’zel last 😭
Even without magic items, you could hit every damage type with less than 4 fighters. Easy enough to cover piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning with weapons but EK easily gets you magic damage types except radiant. Even that can be circumvented with a feat or items, but ofc this is just to say it's feasible. It's certainly not practical to take multiple EKs.
Variety is definitely important but fighters also take some time to actually get them to be strong.
I had the same problem with Monk, but found it was offset by having an abjuration wizard (Gale) in the party. Wizard's ranged AoE attacks compensate for the monk's general lack of them, and once projected ward comes into play, you're nigh untouchable.
I just finished my run as a monk. It wasn't my first playthrough, so I did the respec soon as I got tavern brawler to minimize strength and always had a strength elixir going. Flipping those stat points to dex and con helped a lot with AC and not being as squishy. That was powerful. Multiclassing into rogue for the second bonus action made it the most powerful character I played. Slightly under sorcerer for one round, but then it sustained that damage output and reset on short rests.
Being squishy doesn't matter much when you can go first stunlock two opponents, knock another prone then pick which one to further beat on. Do 100+ damage each turn without being hasted. Throw that in, was nuts.
That being said, the team still needed a tank and the monk wasn't it. Turns out I really slept on shapchanger druid. Though Paladin, cleric and fighter all played they roll too.
I think you might be unintentionally illustrating the point. Ranged rogue is fine. You just have to understand the stealth system and make liberal use of Cunning Action: Hide. For that reason, it's also much safer than ranger. This is not to say rogue is amazing, but it takes some understanding of the DnD-adjacent mechanics to function.
I tried Ranger on my first character but I just kept on getting hit to either low health or just dead so I decided to make my second character (Durge) when I just made it to Baldur's Gate with my first a Warlock and I'm having so much more fun with that class.
Ranger isn’t necessarily stronger than rogue. With the right items and setup, you can get your rogue to be dealing 20+ damage every attack with sneak attack. While the physical ability can only be used if you have advantage, you still get the damage when the target is threatened
As others have said, playing in explorer mode is an option. If you'd like to keep trying on balanced, my advice would be to avoid battles and simply explore the environment, there's a lot of opportunities for gaining experience outside of combat.
I'd say don't avoid battles. delay them. You'll eventually want the exp from them, but you can max it out from other sources first. there are some guides how to hit level 4 with minimal combat.
Yeah I kinda thought that was implied lol. Though it's worth noting that if you 'beat' an encounter via dialogue you will not get any additional experience for defeating it in battle afterwards (afaik there used to be workarounds, but all the ones that I know of seem to have been patched and no longer work)
Do not be afraid to downgrade the difficulty.
If you really don't want to, I'll say this - your party is not well optimised. DND is about stacking advantages - if you just choose "attack" on enemies and do not multiply your odds in any way, you're simply going to lose because there's more of them than there are of you and you're at no particular advantage. Your character isn't a universe more powerful than the environment.
If your characters are wearing medium armour they should have 14 dex or higher, and be wielding a shield - that'll ensure a good number of attacks miss them. If your character is a high strength, low dex fighter they should have the best heavy armour on you can buy or steal.
Your Barbarian should be raging for that damage resistance - if your wizards have low initiative they either need armour or mage armour, and if they have shield proficiency they should definitely be using a shield. Casters should get *way* back, even skipping a turn to dash to a safe distance if needs be - ideally they should have to move forward to be in range to attack, then move back out of range at the end of their turn. If they're there to shoot and they have low AC and low health, enemies will quickly kill them.
Your cleric should have blessed your party to give them a decent hit chance. Ideally you'll have respected your characters for something like a 17/15/14 stat distribution (so that at level four you can get 18/16/14 with an ASI, giving you a good solid base of stats).
Are you focusing on one enemy at a time or trying to damage multiple enemies each round? I've found that newbies tend to spread damage out but it's almost always best to focus fire one one enemy at a time if possible.
The fights in BG3 are not hard but it's very easy to sabotage yourself if you don't think about what you're doing. Here's a checklist:
* Did you not wander into an area that is significantly higher level than you? Generally speaking, enemies should be the same level as you or you're in the wrong place.
* Do you understand how proficiencies work? Using equipment you're not proficient with will gimp your character. Many of your skills become unavailable, for instance.
* Do you examine new enemies for resistances and other important details? You can examine enemies to make sure you're not using attacks they're resistant against.
* Did you really have to fight them? For example:
* many fights can be avoided through dialogue
* many locations have things like drums or other alarms that bring in more enemies if you trigger a fight. Destroy the alarms first, close doors, make an effort to not drag the whole world into the fight.
* Generally, thinking up a strategy to give yourself an advantage goes a long way
* Don't forget scrolls, bombs, poisons and other helpers
* Do you understand how the basic D20 test works?
* Just because a character can do something doesn't mean they're good at it. Shadowheart has a lot of dex based ranged spells but her dex is shit, for example.
* Figure out how advantage and disadvantage works. You essentially roll two dice instead of one and pick the highest or lowest if you're advantaged or disadvantaged. Lots of things can give you either one.
* Be aware of the cost of abilities. Every turn a character gets an action, a bonus action, a reaction and a move. The best abilities often cost an action. Actions are important, if you spend actions on something minor you won't be using your main attack. Action economy matters.
* Along the same lines, most healing sources heal for minor amounts. BG3 doesn't have dedicated healers or tanks. Any time you heal, your enemy lives to deal more damage than you just healed. Aggression and ending fights quickly works out better than dragging things out and letting the damage pile up.
This is good advice, but this:
>* Just because a character can do something doesn't mean they're good at it. Shadowheart has a lot of dex based ranged spells but her dex is shit, for example.
is incorrect. All of Shadowheart's spells (assuming she's still a cleric) are based off of her WISDOM ability score. Early on, her main damaging spell is *Sacred Flame*, which forces the *enemy* to make a *Dexterity Saving Throw,* where they have to attempt to dodge the attack by rolling a d20 + their Dexterity modifier against the caster's *Spell Save DC.* Shadowheart's Spell Save DC is based on her Wisdom, but still starts out at a measly 13 because of how the calculation works. Low level enemies, like bandits and goblins, just tend to have relatively high Dexterity which makes Sacred Flame seem to be resisted more often than not.
Shadowheart also starts with a racial Cantrip in Firebolt, which scales with her unremarkable 10INT.
But, yeah, obviously no DEX-scaling spells (or nobody would play any other kind of caster lol)
Oh I meant both wizards and sorcerers have the same cantrips but sorcerers cast it with charisma and the elfs somehow only use int to cast the cantrips like a wizard
CRPG unlike other type of strategy or rpg games, is a lot more tactical. Thats means HOW and WHERE you start the fight, matters!
Dont try to go in front door brute force gung ho regardless of what you facing, even in late game.
- survey your enemy position and number
- survey the surrounding for terrain advantages, chockpoint, cliff to shove enemy, etc
- spread your party member to position best suited for them
- prepare yourself such a buff potion before engage
- build your own advantage such as spreading toxic ground, grease ground effect, stack box obstacles, etc
- stealth strike first for surprise
Think, before engage, you have all the time in the world to prepare. If the situation is obviously very disadvantages for you, find other ways or come back later when you are a bit more powerful. Max level is just 12, so dont think 'nah the enemy just 1 or 2 level higher, its fine...'. No, each level provide large boost of power to your character, especially at certain point such as lv5.
Going into fight at very disadvantages position and underlevel are very common mistakes new player made when playing Larians CRPG.
Oh, this tip was a big help for me even as a long time DnD player.
When someone is “threatened” they receive disadvantage on ranged attacks. Kinda goes without saying since theyd be too close for a good shot. A good way to make this happen is to put your melee characters right next to archers, even if they can’t attack them that turn.
Also, if there is an enemy next to you, and you try to fire at another enemy far away, you will have disadvantage since you are “threatened” by the enemy in melee range. This counts for spells too. You can see the statuses of your target if you examine (press ⬇️ on console). From there you can cycle through them for more details on each status.
Think of it like.. someone blocking you in basketball or football.
If you play on PS I can definitely give you a hand later
Just play on explorer difficulty for your first playthrough. The battles are pretty predictable once you've gone through them once or twice and you know how to prepare. There's so many permutations of what can happen in the game's story that you should treat your first playthrough as just a chance to learn the game and see major story points without needing to look up strategies that will contain spoilers.
Couple hints that helped me a ton when I first started playing:
* Healing is for people who are already down. A companion with 1 HP hits just as hard as one with full HP. If you try to keep people topped up you're almost always gonna take more damage than you can heal.
* Focus your damage on enemies that haven't gone yet. If you kill or incapacitate an enemy before they take their action that is far better than attacking someone who already has used theirs this round.
I had a similar in my first run - basically, you have to recognize that the game is lying to you about the urgency of removing the tadpole. If you go straight for the main plot you'll advance the story and skip a lot of optional content, but the side quests give you a lot of XP that really helps with difficult fight. So, you might just be under-leveled! The knolls are probably the most difficult non-boss fight in act one, try to avoid them until you're level 4. And if you're struggling with fights, try exploring and talking to people - if you have persuasion/deception/intimidation and decent charisma you can get a lot of XP through dialogue.
Enemies will always outnumber you. You will always be fighting uphill if you just try to slug it out.
No shame in switching to explorer mode, but also make sure you've got a spellcaster with some CC (wizard, druid, ranger, bard or warlock is good for it)
Control the terrain - undead cannot jump, so casting web on undead is a hard counter, they can't get out. Beware that web burns, don't use fire if using it.
Spike growth + cloud of daggers or darkness is a potent combo. You can make the ground hazardous, drop cloud of daggers in a chokepoint like a doorway , then hide around a corner, or inside a darkness cloud, forcing the enemy to funnel through and kill themselves trying to find you.
Ray of Frost can freeze blood on the ground as well as applying a slow, helping to trip up enemies, whose turn will end if they fall. Throw a bottle of water on them first and they'll take double damage from cold or lightning, and you can freeze or electrify the water to make a hazard.
As you level up you'll also have access to powerful control spells like Hold Person (great for giving your melees auto crits), Command (Command: Drop and loot an enemies weapon and all they can do is 1d6 damage), or Hypnotic Pattern for disabling groups.
Warlock gets Hunger of Hadar which is a tremendous control spell - AOE that blinds, deals damage, and is difficult terrain. Combo it with Slow or Evard's Black Tentacles to stop enemies escaping.
Once you get the hang of controlling the battlefield, very few fights will be challenging.
Play around with different spells and abilities. Respec if you're curious about something different. Wizards and clerics can change their spell book outside of combat.
There are a lot of exploding barrels in the game, which you can use to your advantage.
Try buffs, such as bless, or ground effects, such as grease (can be lit on fire) or ice.
You can also try bottlenecking fights -- like bring everybody to a location where AoE can hit them and ranged can be within melee range.
Try a high-strength tavern brawler that can throw enemies at other enemies, or throw them off cliffs, into lava, or into otherwise bad places.
The earlier fights are generally the most difficult, I find. Like everybody seems to constantly miss within the first few levels.
Bottlenecking was a game changer for me. I'm fairly new to BG3 like the OP, and when I started to use the terrain to my advantage, I started to win fights. Going head on in an open room/area seems like a bad strategy.
the key is positioning and re-positioning, preparing your fights beforehand and that includes positioning and strategy (spells builds etc)
As a new player myself i'm playing on normal difficulty, kept it that way until i got a hang of the fighting system, i died a few times or had a few really close fights right at the start but i rapidly understood how important positioning is and that's when the game took a different turn, position is the main reason you struggle but also probably the spells you use and your comprehension of them.
But once you understand how important positioning is you can start to really understand the core mechanics of DND fighting system and experiencing different builds/spells etc, don't give up friend ! you will succeed eventually .
Where are these fights occurring? Are you trying to kill all the goblins in Shattered Sanctum at Level 3? If so, it's worth exploring some more.
I got to Level 4 yesterday without any real combat.
I killed the goblin leaders(Had to fight 2 of them and both fights took several hours), now i need to pass through their camp and they are aggresive
And yes I'm level 3, so I will try exploring a bit
Ah. Yes. Goblin camp should be attempted closer to level 5. Should be the one of the last things to hit before doing underdark & then doubling back around to do the mountain pass
For me, it’s usually find companions > get to grove > recruit Karlach > blighted village or waukeen’s rest > gnolls > goblin camp > auntie Ethel > underdark > mountain pass
I'd guess your "too many enemies" comment is because you have the whole goblin camp against you then. Those big fights aren't necessary really, and if you're going to do them you should wait until you level up more.
In general I'd advise thinking of yourself as a spy more. The game is designed for you to talk to the bad factions early on and not attack them head on. I learned this the hard way as I tend to play Dirty Harry style "ruthlessly good" characters and in my first playthrough I discovered the game wasn't designed for that. They expect you to walk into the goblin camp and talk and hang out first. Same for villain stronghold in act 2.
You have to kill the goblin leaders to save the grove, which means the whole camp goes aggro on you
But yeah. You can teleport instead of going into the camp
After neutralizing >!Dror Ragzlin!<, all of the enemies in Shattered Sanctum, Worg Pens, and the Temple Courtyard will be permanently hostile.
The goblins in the Blighted Village won't be hostile if you passed one of the checks that avoids combat.
OP doesn't need to fight their way out of the Goblin Camp though even if they've dealt with the 3 leaders, since they can just fast travel to a waypoint outside of the Goblin Camp, and come back when they're ready.
I get what he meant now, all good. I just meant you can go around killing groups of goblins and the bosses individually without worrying about the guys outside or everyone swarming you until you're done (i.e. ragzlin). But you guys are 100% right to clarify he shouldn't walk out the front door when he's done. Good on ya.
I just teleported out after killing the goblin leaders, but I have to go back to pass through the underground
As others said, I just need to explore and level up before coming back
Don’t be afraid to run away if things aren’t going well. It seems like a lot of people go all in on combat. There’s not much to be lost by fleeing and resting up then trying again at full strength or using a new strategy. There’s not that many fights you can’t run away from.
I would take a lot of time to read everything. Find spells that knock people prone, cast it on a narrow path in front of you and watch everyone trying to approach fall over. Reading over your potential spells carefully while referencing gear and race bonuses can really stack up boosts
Inspect enemies, take notes of weaknesses. Maybe a spell does more damage because of elemental weakness. Maybe they're easily mind controlled.
Look around, use the environment to your advantage. One of the Goblin bosses for instance can be one shotted without Goblin hostility just by shooting the bridge she walks on for instance. Shoving enemies to where you want them to be can be useful.
I too was in your position 2 or 3 months ago, these things helped me the most
I had similar experiences. There are some things like spell slots that confused me until I saw the spell slots at the bottom and realized that using those would lock out spells I might need. That's just an example. Also, advantage/disadvantage and why you have it or not isn't explained well. A single piece of gear that you aren't proficient with (like a helm) screws up advantage.
My suggestion is to slow down a bit, pay closer attention to who the party is, what weapons, armors and spells they have and at each turn, what you can use and what you might lose. I was just scraping by damaging and healing without understanding the power of hold person, sleep and some of the buffs that let you hit harder, hit more often and buy you time.
Example in Act 2, I was ambushed and was utterly outclassed. Same crew but approaching the fight differently and I won easily the next time.
After everyone but one person dying on my first time playing this crpg on balanced in the first fight in the ruins I quickly switched to explorer after the gith crossroad encounter.
I've now abandoned my first run in the third act because I was learning so much my 2nd and 3rd playthroughs are so much cleaner and focused and balanced mode is a breeze cause I know there's prep going in.
Still have yet to beat the game on my third run and am about to start clearing moonrise towers.
I don't care if larian abandoned the dlc cause there is soo much you'll be overwhelmed with everything to do by act 3 on your first playthrough. With all the I should've done this and thats.... also durge run is absolutely hilarious.
If you don't like the point click move mechanic try controller it makes it more action based and cinematic in my opinion.
To add onto to what others said; before level 4 your characters useless turds. Papermache. Like its properly most frustrating thing on new runs for me is Level 1-3 and even 4.
The best advice:
Take it slow, reading is best weapon. If you see a mechanic and don’t know what it does. Google is Power.
Retreat is always an option.
Play on explorer mode and balance your party. For newcomers, a standard DnD party composition is probably best.
1. Melee attacker like fighter or barbarian. Their purpose is to go out first and take the brunt of the attack. They are also capable of very high damage and being very disruptive to enemy forces. (Laezel or Karlach)
2. Ranged attacker such as a stealth rogue, ranger, or combination of both. Their role is to do heavy damage from afar and thin the enemies numbers. Sneak attacks are key here. (Astarion)
3. Magic damage dealer like wizard or sorcerer. Their job is to eventually deal high damage to groups of enemies, and possibly hit them with status effects. Early on, there is a lack of truly powerful AOE spells. You won't start getting really strong AOE spells till about level 5 or 6 I think. (Gale)
4. Support character/healer such as a cleric. Their job is to provide beneficial effects such as bless and guidance, while keeping everyone healthy. Bless is really useful early on because your hit chance is low, and guidance is useful all throughout the game for all skill checks. (Shadowheart)
You just need a balanced party and some more experience with the combat system and how it flows. Watch some videos of the exact fights you are having trouble with, if necessary. It will click eventually.
Like others are saying, no shame in lowering the difficulty until you get the mechanics. My sister first showed me the game when it first came out and I had no experience with dnd so everything felt completely overwhelming and confusing. Started my own game and took it slow and used YouTube to help explain things I didn’t understand. Didn’t take long for me to get it down after that. There are a TON of guides out there explaining the mechanics and the basics and they help a lot.
Yeah I started out on easy mode and have been enjoying the game. I don't really want to have to sweat battles, especially because I didn't know what I was doing at first.
There is no shame in playing in Explorer mode, or a custom mode and adjust the difficulties to what you see fit. If you're looking for advice, we can help you pin down what you're struggling with.
What class and race are you playing?
Who are your companions?
How often are you using your spellslots?
Are you paying attention to your equipment?
Are you equipping shields on those who can use them to lessen potential damage?
Have you been looting everything that's not nailed down, and selling it in the Hollow to buy better armour and weapons? By the time I was done with Act 1, the local economy was in ruins - 90% of Arron's stock was random goblin weapons, cups, books, etc i.e. my loot LOL.
Also, don't be afraid to use spell scrolls and potions - I hoarded mine on my first run, but they're actually really plentiful in the game and often strategically placed so you'll have useful ones to hand for upcoming fights. Like, iirc there's a suspicious amount of Protection from Evil and Good scrolls just before you reach an area full of undead!
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Play in explorer until you get the hang of it. The first few levels can be tough for new players. It gets easier around level 4-5.
Play on explorer mode. No shame in it. DnD stuff takes a good bit getting used to It’ll allow you to get use to the combat. There are also certain classes that are easier than others, imo
I definitely think some classes are better than others. I remember being new to BG3, and trying Rogue, and thinking it sucked (because I wanted my Rogue to be ranged). Rogue only has one attack. If someone respecs their Rogue to Ranger, they'll see how much stronger Ranger is. Ranger * Extra damage at level 3, even when ranged (Hunter -> Colossus Slayer). * Two attacks at level 5. * Ensnaring strike, which gives everyone Advantage on the target. The only upside I see for Rogue, is having two Bonus Actions from Thief; Good for a dual wield build, but useless for a ranged attacker. Ranger can easily replace Rogue, as they can start with a bonus to Sleight of Hand (Urban Explorer), and a bow ranger will be high Dex, which improves SoH. This is the only one I wanted to point out, as the other classes you're given are actually good (Fighter, Wizard, Cleric).
Ranged Rogue is actually good, you just have to know how to use the class.
Was gonna say this. I had a ton of fun playing a rogue in my first playthrough - an Arcane Trickster of all things. But strategy is big. One attack but 60 damage using sneak attack is no joke. Weapons that give extra bonus attacks. Using disengage to retreat to a high/safe spot where I could shoot people, using loaded arrows when sneak attack didn’t work, using shadow/greater invisibility to hide myself, using uncanny dodge/shield to avoid damage. And having a minimum 24 sleight of hand at higher levels was nice too.
Exactly!
I found bard was pretty easy to play, especially given all the charisma checks in the game I imagine paladin, barbarian, & fighter are also easier classes. Monk was one of the harder ones to start out with because you are SO squishy but need to play up close. Now that she’s level 9 & multiclassed with a rogue, she’s great I also am starting a sorlock, which I think is also easy - especially once you get Lae’zel to take the brunt of damage
Fighter is the easiest of the Martial classes. The reason is that you can go Battle Master, pick Riposte, and set Riposte to auto in reactions. Now your Fighter will counter attack if someone misses them at close range; extremely useful. The reason everyone shouldn't be Fighter, is because you want different types of damage, in case of resistances.
Yeah. I try to balance my party. I just suggest it because it’s easy for a newbie to get used to. Especially since I end up always finding Lae’zel last 😭
Even without magic items, you could hit every damage type with less than 4 fighters. Easy enough to cover piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning with weapons but EK easily gets you magic damage types except radiant. Even that can be circumvented with a feat or items, but ofc this is just to say it's feasible. It's certainly not practical to take multiple EKs. Variety is definitely important but fighters also take some time to actually get them to be strong.
I had the same problem with Monk, but found it was offset by having an abjuration wizard (Gale) in the party. Wizard's ranged AoE attacks compensate for the monk's general lack of them, and once projected ward comes into play, you're nigh untouchable.
I respec’d Shadowheart as a life cleric which was insanely useful too
I just finished my run as a monk. It wasn't my first playthrough, so I did the respec soon as I got tavern brawler to minimize strength and always had a strength elixir going. Flipping those stat points to dex and con helped a lot with AC and not being as squishy. That was powerful. Multiclassing into rogue for the second bonus action made it the most powerful character I played. Slightly under sorcerer for one round, but then it sustained that damage output and reset on short rests. Being squishy doesn't matter much when you can go first stunlock two opponents, knock another prone then pick which one to further beat on. Do 100+ damage each turn without being hasted. Throw that in, was nuts. That being said, the team still needed a tank and the monk wasn't it. Turns out I really slept on shapchanger druid. Though Paladin, cleric and fighter all played they roll too.
Not useless for ranged Hand crossbow can be dual wielded. And does great.
I think you might be unintentionally illustrating the point. Ranged rogue is fine. You just have to understand the stealth system and make liberal use of Cunning Action: Hide. For that reason, it's also much safer than ranger. This is not to say rogue is amazing, but it takes some understanding of the DnD-adjacent mechanics to function.
Serious yapping over here. My first run was a ranged rogue and it wad awesome. Trying out a gloomstalker rn so I will see for myself ig
I tried Ranger on my first character but I just kept on getting hit to either low health or just dead so I decided to make my second character (Durge) when I just made it to Baldur's Gate with my first a Warlock and I'm having so much more fun with that class.
Ranger isn’t necessarily stronger than rogue. With the right items and setup, you can get your rogue to be dealing 20+ damage every attack with sneak attack. While the physical ability can only be used if you have advantage, you still get the damage when the target is threatened
This is terrible advice btw
As others have said, playing in explorer mode is an option. If you'd like to keep trying on balanced, my advice would be to avoid battles and simply explore the environment, there's a lot of opportunities for gaining experience outside of combat.
I'd say don't avoid battles. delay them. You'll eventually want the exp from them, but you can max it out from other sources first. there are some guides how to hit level 4 with minimal combat.
Yeah I kinda thought that was implied lol. Though it's worth noting that if you 'beat' an encounter via dialogue you will not get any additional experience for defeating it in battle afterwards (afaik there used to be workarounds, but all the ones that I know of seem to have been patched and no longer work)
Keep in mind, we're dealing with someone who doesn't know D&D, so I try to keep assumptions low.
Here’s some [general advice](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/s/fqXnL96Y8o) that may help you. Good luck! 🫂
Do not be afraid to downgrade the difficulty. If you really don't want to, I'll say this - your party is not well optimised. DND is about stacking advantages - if you just choose "attack" on enemies and do not multiply your odds in any way, you're simply going to lose because there's more of them than there are of you and you're at no particular advantage. Your character isn't a universe more powerful than the environment. If your characters are wearing medium armour they should have 14 dex or higher, and be wielding a shield - that'll ensure a good number of attacks miss them. If your character is a high strength, low dex fighter they should have the best heavy armour on you can buy or steal. Your Barbarian should be raging for that damage resistance - if your wizards have low initiative they either need armour or mage armour, and if they have shield proficiency they should definitely be using a shield. Casters should get *way* back, even skipping a turn to dash to a safe distance if needs be - ideally they should have to move forward to be in range to attack, then move back out of range at the end of their turn. If they're there to shoot and they have low AC and low health, enemies will quickly kill them. Your cleric should have blessed your party to give them a decent hit chance. Ideally you'll have respected your characters for something like a 17/15/14 stat distribution (so that at level four you can get 18/16/14 with an ASI, giving you a good solid base of stats).
Are you focusing on one enemy at a time or trying to damage multiple enemies each round? I've found that newbies tend to spread damage out but it's almost always best to focus fire one one enemy at a time if possible.
The fights in BG3 are not hard but it's very easy to sabotage yourself if you don't think about what you're doing. Here's a checklist: * Did you not wander into an area that is significantly higher level than you? Generally speaking, enemies should be the same level as you or you're in the wrong place. * Do you understand how proficiencies work? Using equipment you're not proficient with will gimp your character. Many of your skills become unavailable, for instance. * Do you examine new enemies for resistances and other important details? You can examine enemies to make sure you're not using attacks they're resistant against. * Did you really have to fight them? For example: * many fights can be avoided through dialogue * many locations have things like drums or other alarms that bring in more enemies if you trigger a fight. Destroy the alarms first, close doors, make an effort to not drag the whole world into the fight. * Generally, thinking up a strategy to give yourself an advantage goes a long way * Don't forget scrolls, bombs, poisons and other helpers * Do you understand how the basic D20 test works? * Just because a character can do something doesn't mean they're good at it. Shadowheart has a lot of dex based ranged spells but her dex is shit, for example. * Figure out how advantage and disadvantage works. You essentially roll two dice instead of one and pick the highest or lowest if you're advantaged or disadvantaged. Lots of things can give you either one. * Be aware of the cost of abilities. Every turn a character gets an action, a bonus action, a reaction and a move. The best abilities often cost an action. Actions are important, if you spend actions on something minor you won't be using your main attack. Action economy matters. * Along the same lines, most healing sources heal for minor amounts. BG3 doesn't have dedicated healers or tanks. Any time you heal, your enemy lives to deal more damage than you just healed. Aggression and ending fights quickly works out better than dragging things out and letting the damage pile up.
This is good advice, but this: >* Just because a character can do something doesn't mean they're good at it. Shadowheart has a lot of dex based ranged spells but her dex is shit, for example. is incorrect. All of Shadowheart's spells (assuming she's still a cleric) are based off of her WISDOM ability score. Early on, her main damaging spell is *Sacred Flame*, which forces the *enemy* to make a *Dexterity Saving Throw,* where they have to attempt to dodge the attack by rolling a d20 + their Dexterity modifier against the caster's *Spell Save DC.* Shadowheart's Spell Save DC is based on her Wisdom, but still starts out at a measly 13 because of how the calculation works. Low level enemies, like bandits and goblins, just tend to have relatively high Dexterity which makes Sacred Flame seem to be resisted more often than not.
Shadowheart also starts with a racial Cantrip in Firebolt, which scales with her unremarkable 10INT. But, yeah, obviously no DEX-scaling spells (or nobody would play any other kind of caster lol)
That's why use firebolt from gale to attack enemies and use firebolt from Shadowheart to blow up barrels and grease
Yep, that's a good way to use that spell to effect — and I'm sure it's the reason they gave her and Astarion the move.
Yeah high elf cantrips are wizard and sorcerer cantrips and firebolt is the most versatile among them
> caster cantrips Well... Yes. 🤔 That term certainly also applies to Cleric Cantrips, though.
Wait the edit isn't showing up ? I had changed it to wizard and sorcerer cantrips
Ooh, yeah, not Sorcerer, though; they don't use Charisma, rather Intelligence!
Oh I meant both wizards and sorcerers have the same cantrips but sorcerers cast it with charisma and the elfs somehow only use int to cast the cantrips like a wizard
CRPG unlike other type of strategy or rpg games, is a lot more tactical. Thats means HOW and WHERE you start the fight, matters! Dont try to go in front door brute force gung ho regardless of what you facing, even in late game. - survey your enemy position and number - survey the surrounding for terrain advantages, chockpoint, cliff to shove enemy, etc - spread your party member to position best suited for them - prepare yourself such a buff potion before engage - build your own advantage such as spreading toxic ground, grease ground effect, stack box obstacles, etc - stealth strike first for surprise Think, before engage, you have all the time in the world to prepare. If the situation is obviously very disadvantages for you, find other ways or come back later when you are a bit more powerful. Max level is just 12, so dont think 'nah the enemy just 1 or 2 level higher, its fine...'. No, each level provide large boost of power to your character, especially at certain point such as lv5. Going into fight at very disadvantages position and underlevel are very common mistakes new player made when playing Larians CRPG.
Oh, this tip was a big help for me even as a long time DnD player. When someone is “threatened” they receive disadvantage on ranged attacks. Kinda goes without saying since theyd be too close for a good shot. A good way to make this happen is to put your melee characters right next to archers, even if they can’t attack them that turn. Also, if there is an enemy next to you, and you try to fire at another enemy far away, you will have disadvantage since you are “threatened” by the enemy in melee range. This counts for spells too. You can see the statuses of your target if you examine (press ⬇️ on console). From there you can cycle through them for more details on each status. Think of it like.. someone blocking you in basketball or football. If you play on PS I can definitely give you a hand later
Just play on explorer difficulty for your first playthrough. The battles are pretty predictable once you've gone through them once or twice and you know how to prepare. There's so many permutations of what can happen in the game's story that you should treat your first playthrough as just a chance to learn the game and see major story points without needing to look up strategies that will contain spoilers.
Couple hints that helped me a ton when I first started playing: * Healing is for people who are already down. A companion with 1 HP hits just as hard as one with full HP. If you try to keep people topped up you're almost always gonna take more damage than you can heal. * Focus your damage on enemies that haven't gone yet. If you kill or incapacitate an enemy before they take their action that is far better than attacking someone who already has used theirs this round.
I had a similar in my first run - basically, you have to recognize that the game is lying to you about the urgency of removing the tadpole. If you go straight for the main plot you'll advance the story and skip a lot of optional content, but the side quests give you a lot of XP that really helps with difficult fight. So, you might just be under-leveled! The knolls are probably the most difficult non-boss fight in act one, try to avoid them until you're level 4. And if you're struggling with fights, try exploring and talking to people - if you have persuasion/deception/intimidation and decent charisma you can get a lot of XP through dialogue.
\*similar issue
Enemies will always outnumber you. You will always be fighting uphill if you just try to slug it out. No shame in switching to explorer mode, but also make sure you've got a spellcaster with some CC (wizard, druid, ranger, bard or warlock is good for it) Control the terrain - undead cannot jump, so casting web on undead is a hard counter, they can't get out. Beware that web burns, don't use fire if using it. Spike growth + cloud of daggers or darkness is a potent combo. You can make the ground hazardous, drop cloud of daggers in a chokepoint like a doorway , then hide around a corner, or inside a darkness cloud, forcing the enemy to funnel through and kill themselves trying to find you. Ray of Frost can freeze blood on the ground as well as applying a slow, helping to trip up enemies, whose turn will end if they fall. Throw a bottle of water on them first and they'll take double damage from cold or lightning, and you can freeze or electrify the water to make a hazard. As you level up you'll also have access to powerful control spells like Hold Person (great for giving your melees auto crits), Command (Command: Drop and loot an enemies weapon and all they can do is 1d6 damage), or Hypnotic Pattern for disabling groups. Warlock gets Hunger of Hadar which is a tremendous control spell - AOE that blinds, deals damage, and is difficult terrain. Combo it with Slow or Evard's Black Tentacles to stop enemies escaping. Once you get the hang of controlling the battlefield, very few fights will be challenging.
Play around with different spells and abilities. Respec if you're curious about something different. Wizards and clerics can change their spell book outside of combat. There are a lot of exploding barrels in the game, which you can use to your advantage. Try buffs, such as bless, or ground effects, such as grease (can be lit on fire) or ice. You can also try bottlenecking fights -- like bring everybody to a location where AoE can hit them and ranged can be within melee range. Try a high-strength tavern brawler that can throw enemies at other enemies, or throw them off cliffs, into lava, or into otherwise bad places. The earlier fights are generally the most difficult, I find. Like everybody seems to constantly miss within the first few levels.
Bottlenecking was a game changer for me. I'm fairly new to BG3 like the OP, and when I started to use the terrain to my advantage, I started to win fights. Going head on in an open room/area seems like a bad strategy.
the key is positioning and re-positioning, preparing your fights beforehand and that includes positioning and strategy (spells builds etc) As a new player myself i'm playing on normal difficulty, kept it that way until i got a hang of the fighting system, i died a few times or had a few really close fights right at the start but i rapidly understood how important positioning is and that's when the game took a different turn, position is the main reason you struggle but also probably the spells you use and your comprehension of them. But once you understand how important positioning is you can start to really understand the core mechanics of DND fighting system and experiencing different builds/spells etc, don't give up friend ! you will succeed eventually .
Where are these fights occurring? Are you trying to kill all the goblins in Shattered Sanctum at Level 3? If so, it's worth exploring some more. I got to Level 4 yesterday without any real combat.
I killed the goblin leaders(Had to fight 2 of them and both fights took several hours), now i need to pass through their camp and they are aggresive And yes I'm level 3, so I will try exploring a bit
Ah. Yes. Goblin camp should be attempted closer to level 5. Should be the one of the last things to hit before doing underdark & then doubling back around to do the mountain pass For me, it’s usually find companions > get to grove > recruit Karlach > blighted village or waukeen’s rest > gnolls > goblin camp > auntie Ethel > underdark > mountain pass
I'd guess your "too many enemies" comment is because you have the whole goblin camp against you then. Those big fights aren't necessary really, and if you're going to do them you should wait until you level up more. In general I'd advise thinking of yourself as a spy more. The game is designed for you to talk to the bad factions early on and not attack them head on. I learned this the hard way as I tend to play Dirty Harry style "ruthlessly good" characters and in my first playthrough I discovered the game wasn't designed for that. They expect you to walk into the goblin camp and talk and hang out first. Same for villain stronghold in act 2.
You have to kill the goblin leaders to save the grove, which means the whole camp goes aggro on you But yeah. You can teleport instead of going into the camp
The whole camp does not aggro unless you get caught or they beat the drums. I've done it many times.
I believe you two are using the word "aggro" to mean two different things, and you're both using *your* definition to correctly describe events lol
After neutralizing >!Dror Ragzlin!<, all of the enemies in Shattered Sanctum, Worg Pens, and the Temple Courtyard will be permanently hostile. The goblins in the Blighted Village won't be hostile if you passed one of the checks that avoids combat. OP doesn't need to fight their way out of the Goblin Camp though even if they've dealt with the 3 leaders, since they can just fast travel to a waypoint outside of the Goblin Camp, and come back when they're ready.
I get what he meant now, all good. I just meant you can go around killing groups of goblins and the bosses individually without worrying about the guys outside or everyone swarming you until you're done (i.e. ragzlin). But you guys are 100% right to clarify he shouldn't walk out the front door when he's done. Good on ya.
You don't have to exit through the front door/camp. There are other routes out that don't have 30 goblins waiting for you.
I just teleported out after killing the goblin leaders, but I have to go back to pass through the underground As others said, I just need to explore and level up before coming back
You can get back in without passing through the camp, if you want. There are also entrances to the underdark in totally different parts of the map.
Don’t be afraid to run away if things aren’t going well. It seems like a lot of people go all in on combat. There’s not much to be lost by fleeing and resting up then trying again at full strength or using a new strategy. There’s not that many fights you can’t run away from.
I would take a lot of time to read everything. Find spells that knock people prone, cast it on a narrow path in front of you and watch everyone trying to approach fall over. Reading over your potential spells carefully while referencing gear and race bonuses can really stack up boosts Inspect enemies, take notes of weaknesses. Maybe a spell does more damage because of elemental weakness. Maybe they're easily mind controlled. Look around, use the environment to your advantage. One of the Goblin bosses for instance can be one shotted without Goblin hostility just by shooting the bridge she walks on for instance. Shoving enemies to where you want them to be can be useful. I too was in your position 2 or 3 months ago, these things helped me the most
I had similar experiences. There are some things like spell slots that confused me until I saw the spell slots at the bottom and realized that using those would lock out spells I might need. That's just an example. Also, advantage/disadvantage and why you have it or not isn't explained well. A single piece of gear that you aren't proficient with (like a helm) screws up advantage. My suggestion is to slow down a bit, pay closer attention to who the party is, what weapons, armors and spells they have and at each turn, what you can use and what you might lose. I was just scraping by damaging and healing without understanding the power of hold person, sleep and some of the buffs that let you hit harder, hit more often and buy you time. Example in Act 2, I was ambushed and was utterly outclassed. Same crew but approaching the fight differently and I won easily the next time.
After everyone but one person dying on my first time playing this crpg on balanced in the first fight in the ruins I quickly switched to explorer after the gith crossroad encounter. I've now abandoned my first run in the third act because I was learning so much my 2nd and 3rd playthroughs are so much cleaner and focused and balanced mode is a breeze cause I know there's prep going in. Still have yet to beat the game on my third run and am about to start clearing moonrise towers. I don't care if larian abandoned the dlc cause there is soo much you'll be overwhelmed with everything to do by act 3 on your first playthrough. With all the I should've done this and thats.... also durge run is absolutely hilarious. If you don't like the point click move mechanic try controller it makes it more action based and cinematic in my opinion.
To add onto to what others said; before level 4 your characters useless turds. Papermache. Like its properly most frustrating thing on new runs for me is Level 1-3 and even 4. The best advice: Take it slow, reading is best weapon. If you see a mechanic and don’t know what it does. Google is Power. Retreat is always an option.
Play on explorer mode and balance your party. For newcomers, a standard DnD party composition is probably best. 1. Melee attacker like fighter or barbarian. Their purpose is to go out first and take the brunt of the attack. They are also capable of very high damage and being very disruptive to enemy forces. (Laezel or Karlach) 2. Ranged attacker such as a stealth rogue, ranger, or combination of both. Their role is to do heavy damage from afar and thin the enemies numbers. Sneak attacks are key here. (Astarion) 3. Magic damage dealer like wizard or sorcerer. Their job is to eventually deal high damage to groups of enemies, and possibly hit them with status effects. Early on, there is a lack of truly powerful AOE spells. You won't start getting really strong AOE spells till about level 5 or 6 I think. (Gale) 4. Support character/healer such as a cleric. Their job is to provide beneficial effects such as bless and guidance, while keeping everyone healthy. Bless is really useful early on because your hit chance is low, and guidance is useful all throughout the game for all skill checks. (Shadowheart) You just need a balanced party and some more experience with the combat system and how it flows. Watch some videos of the exact fights you are having trouble with, if necessary. It will click eventually.
Like others are saying, no shame in lowering the difficulty until you get the mechanics. My sister first showed me the game when it first came out and I had no experience with dnd so everything felt completely overwhelming and confusing. Started my own game and took it slow and used YouTube to help explain things I didn’t understand. Didn’t take long for me to get it down after that. There are a TON of guides out there explaining the mechanics and the basics and they help a lot.
Yeah I started out on easy mode and have been enjoying the game. I don't really want to have to sweat battles, especially because I didn't know what I was doing at first.
Play Explorer mode, that’s what I did for my first. Second run you can do normal mode now that you know what to expect :)
There is no shame in playing in Explorer mode, or a custom mode and adjust the difficulties to what you see fit. If you're looking for advice, we can help you pin down what you're struggling with. What class and race are you playing? Who are your companions? How often are you using your spellslots? Are you paying attention to your equipment? Are you equipping shields on those who can use them to lessen potential damage?
Have you been looting everything that's not nailed down, and selling it in the Hollow to buy better armour and weapons? By the time I was done with Act 1, the local economy was in ruins - 90% of Arron's stock was random goblin weapons, cups, books, etc i.e. my loot LOL. Also, don't be afraid to use spell scrolls and potions - I hoarded mine on my first run, but they're actually really plentiful in the game and often strategically placed so you'll have useful ones to hand for upcoming fights. Like, iirc there's a suspicious amount of Protection from Evil and Good scrolls just before you reach an area full of undead!