Baldur's Gate 3 for dummies: Basics for EVERYTHING You Need to Know (But Were Afraid to Ask)

foreign Baldur's Gate 3 has been out for a little while now and I along with a lot of other people have been enjoying it quite a lot we published a bunch of tips and tricks videos too covering everything from combat and quests to multi-classing and making the most of your characters but here's the thing Baldur's Gate 3 is so faithful to The Dungeons and Dragons 5e rule set on which it's based that if you're coming into the series completely new having never played a Baldur's Gate game before or even a DND game before you might struggle even with tips just like a while back when I published an Eldon ring for dummy series for people who had never played a from software game before and needed to really start at the very beginning noi as an actual professional dungeon master I'm doing the same for Baldur's Gate 3 explaining in the very simplest terms the most basic mechanics of the game for people who feel a little lost but still really want to give this incredible experience a fair shot there's absolutely no shame in feeling lost either by the way a lot of even the really basic systems here might seem obvious to a d d player but not so much if you don't have that assumed knowledge so let's strip it right back to the very beginning for anyone who might be struggling still this is Baldur's Gate 3 for dummies that is anyone who just needs a little bit of a helping hand from someone in the know explaining the things that Lorien might not have to explain how Boulders get three works let me first explain a little bit about how Dungeons and Dragons 5e that is the current standard rule set also works at its heart Dungeons and Dragons is collaborative storytelling between a group of players where the outcome of key actions and moments are dictated by the role of a dice one person in the game takes on the role of the dungeon master or DM someone who acts as lead Storyteller and a sort of referee the DM fills the role of everyone else the player characters May encounter on an adventure while describing the world and events as they unfold around the party in a typical d d session the DM May set puzzles or traps for the group to work together to solve they might engage them in combat against other humanoids or Monsters or they might simply allow them to explore the world as they see fit improvising as the players role play their characters interactions with the fantasy world around them the success of all of their interactions is dictated by players individual ability scores skills and attributes recorded on their character sheet these stats vary depending on a player's class level and race as well as any proficiencies they possess and any boosts granted through special weapons spells or Potions all players have six basic stats you've got strength intelligence dexterity wisdom Constitution and Charisma from these different skills derived from those six stats are also listed on the character sheet intimidation and persuasion Branch out from Charisma for example and history and investigation from intelligence now all of these stats and skills have a numerical value attached to them that signifies a player's aptitude in that stat and different classes are more naturally inclined towards certain stats than others because these stats literally Drive their key abilities when the DM presents a party with a problem let's say a door is locked for instance players must use their creativity and tandem with their special skills to overcome it so where a melee fighter could try and smash the door down because they are naturally stronger a rogue might use their Superior dexterity to try and pick the law but then depending on other factors and special items players could always try to find a different way entirely a Bard or another high Charisma class could try and charm someone into unlocking the door for them or a druid might shape-shift into a spider and try to crawl under the frame in any case once the player knows what it is they want to attempt the DM will have them roll an ability check with a 20-sided dice or a D20 every action they attempt will have a number signifying its difficulty attributed to it based on general rules and the DM's own discretion the larger the number the more difficult the action if the player rolls higher than that number they are successful in performing their action but even if they roll lower they can still beat the check by adding their specific modifiers a melee fighter who chooses to roll a strength check will be able to add their naturally higher strength modifier to the number ruled with the dice making a successful role more likely other sided dice are used in d d most often to see what damage is dealt with an attack or spell sometimes the DM will also have players rolled ice to avoid certain outcomes like diving out of the way of a sudden trap these are known as saving throws she's just learned quite sure why you stood up for us like that but I won't say I'm not grateful strange little beast I would have made short work of it anyway all that to say Baldur's Gate 3 plays pretty much exactly the same as an actual game of d d even when you don't see the dice being rolled for example in combat skill checks outside of combat you see under thus easier to understand but this is the underlying system that dictates everything in the game from when you take your turn in combat to whether you notice traps or treasure while exploring the world it's thus important to think about not only your character but who they take with them while on their adventure and who you get to perform certain actions for example unless you've created a new character from scratch under playing as a rogue you should always select and control Astorian when attempting anything like lock picking or disabling traps because dexterity is his primary ability and thus he is far more likely to succeed at dex-based skill checks than you are it's important to know what skills fuel what checks and selecting characters accordingly based on their stats and individual strips in a tabletop game of d d inspiration is usually given in the form of some sort of token or coin awarded at a DM's discretion traditionally for when a player does something that's in keeping with the personality traits of their character but often just when a player does something particularly clever or funny in Baldur's Gate 3 it is indeed granted when you the player choose an action that is thematically in keeping for characters in your party when Lazelle is allowed to be particularly bloodthirsty in battle for example or when historian is at his best deceptive hedonistic self the function of rewarded inspiration is basically the same in both tabletop DND and bg3 at any time you can use your inspiration token as advantage to re-roll any ability check of your choice this is obviously a very useful thing to have in your back pocket for checks that you really really want to succeed on so we'd recommend always having at least one inspirational saved for those big moments that could change the course of your story so the thing that can really throw a lot of neat players when it comes to Baldur's Gate 3 is of course the combat when can you move what can you do how do you spell slots work how do I get better at winning well let's answer that last one first the truth is to improve your chances at winning in a combat encounter in Baldur's Gate 3. you need to start planning for a win before the battle has even begun the type of terrain that you're on where you are in relation to your party members and your enemies whether you're out in the open or behind cover or who actually initiates the fight all of these things can make a huge difference to your chances but let's say you're in an area where you know hostile monsters or animals or Bandits are patrolling you should be looking to move through Higher Ground wherever possible staying stealth if possible to give you the best chance at not being ambushed maybe even getting someone like Shadow heart to cast past without a trace on the party if you haven't as this grants a whopping plus 10 to everyone's stealth checks pressing C when you're trying to stay undetected is is a must not only can you see better where characters will go and what route they'll take you can also see an enemy's Kona vision and avoid accordingly the reason this is all worth trying is making an attack on an unaware enemy grants them the surprise status and enemies that are surprised cannot move take actions or make reactions during the first round of combat in Baldur's Gate 3's turn-based combat this means you'll be much better placed to position your party deal some initial damage and generally set yourself up for Success right off the bat but what if you're suddenly flung into a combat situation you weren't prepared for well there's not tons you can do about that once the battle has begun but if you're in say a conversation with an NPC and you feel like a fight is brewing you can still set some of your characters up for combat by switching to their mid-conversation and moving them to a more opportune location position your casters a bit further back or on higher ground for example small tweaks like that can be all it takes to gain an immediate upper hand and it's smart to take every opportunity that you have to put yourself in as best a position as you can understand that this is a slow paced game there is no need to hurl yourself headlong into encounters without first taking the time to prepare and position yourself for initiative before every battle that you can the weak true soul most curious you heed an overgrown toadstool yet defy a true soul thrin carve out her heart puppet let's talk about combat proper and what you can do in a round because it really can be confusing if you don't know what's what in Dungeons and Dragons when a fight begins everyone player characters enemies and NPCs roll initiative and the number everyone rules from highest to lowest dictates the order in which they're allowed to make their plays cycling through every participant in combat is called ruined and every round of combat lasts for approximately six seconds of in-game real time in that six seconds a character can move take an action and take a bonus action you can also use reactions but we'll get to those shortly generally speaking a medium character's base movement is 30 feet and it's easily shown in bg3 by a white line on the ground and also the blue meter on the right of Your Action bar the line on the ground is also useful as it shows whether your character will walk through anything that will impede their movement difficult terrain for example well huh how far they can move if you need to move further say if you need to reach a lever or a portal in a SAT number of runs you can use Dash as an action Rogues like a Starion can use Dash as a bonus action but what's the difference between an action and a bonus action I hear you say actions are essentially the main thing you want to do on your turn it's your primary resource in combat make a main weapon Attack cast a spell throw something hide disengage from an enemy trying to attack you narratively speaking it's the thing that you want to do that in theory would take the most time and energy to accomplish the handy thing is in Baldur's Gate 3 all your actions are grouped together in the hot bar under the tab with the green circle while bonus actions are under the orange triangle but if you're ever unsure of whether a spell or ability is an action reaction or bonus action you can also find out by hovering over it and reading the description jumping drinking a potion and shoving are all bonus actions for example while helping a doned companion or using a scroll count as an action because those things would typically take longer to do so what you want to do when it comes to your character's turn is identify what the most useful thing they could do in that moment is and remember that very often that won't be dealing damage it could be slowing down an enemy it could be buffing a companion or it could be getting them set up someplace safe to cast a bigger area of effect spell with another character when their turn comes around for melee characters they can be useful just by getting close to long-range enemies a Melee character being right beside a long-range combatant be that a ranger or a canister puts them in a threatened state which means they have disadvantage on ranged Attack rules they are less likely to hit their target be aware of spells and skills that can get you out of trouble fast like Misty step which allows characters to teleport and get out of danger without initiating an attack of opportunity that's another reason positioning is so important mind you if a character on their turn decides to move away from an enemy that's within melee range they will provoke what's called an attack of opportunity you can see whether an opportunity attack will be initiated or Not by going into the movement menu and a red blade appears on the ground next to you if an enemy will try to hit you if you move attacks of opportunity go both ways you'll get to attack enemies if they move away from you too but be aware that attacks of opportunity don't happen if movement is compelled that is if a creature is forced to move against their will anyway spells like Misty step allow you to move away from enemies without risking an attack and without expanding an action by disengaging and items like amulet or Scroll of Misty step allow you to do this without using a spell slot so they're definitely worth keeping an eye out for now reactions are things that you can do but only in response to something an enemy has done first like an attack of opportunity you generally don't have to think about these too much once you accumulate more reactions as your characters level up the game will prompt when they've been triggered and ask if you want to do them but do be aware reactions are not always free things like Shield bash and snake attack are and that's great but some reactions like counterspell will use up one of your spell slots so do be careful that that doesn't leave you short onslaughts for other things that you want to achieve if you're ever unsure of what reactions your characters have access to they appear at the top right corner of your Hotbar spell slots are what a spellcaster draws a pawn to cast magic and for the purposes of this video I will be using a sorcerer as an example different spells require different level spell slots and you only get a finite number of these before they are replenished on a long rest short rests only give characters back a portion of their head points and long rests are essential for spell canisters not including warlocks to regain all of their utility by refreshing loose spell slots note here you can see on my hop bar I have four level one spell slots three level two spell slots three level three spouse Lots three level four spell slots and just one level five spell slot now what this means is I can cast a total of four level one spells three level two spells three level three spells three level four spells and one level five spell before I am completely tapped out and need to have a long rest some spells neutered with a plus in the top right corner of their button can be cast at different levels increasing their potency with each level noise Sorcerers can actually replenish spouse slots by using sorcery points but that's maybe an explanation for another video one major thing you need to know right now is that all spellcasters will have access to something called a camp trip which are essentially spells that you can cast again and again at will with no cost or drain to your resources because of this cantrips are usually less powerful than a full fat spell but they are very handy things to have in your back pocket if you're out of slots Oak cantrips do contest in action too by the way now this video is already rather long and I feel like I have barely scratched the surface in terms of explainers but here are a few more quick ones to help you get started when exploring your character will not jump automatically if there is no straight path to your intended destination you will need to navigate your party there and that includes getting them to jump any gaps in their way some party members are better at jumping than others but some players online have fun very ingenious ways around obstacles including disguising and throwing smaller party members across large gaps hey if it works it works also bear in mind that you can negate fall damage of jumping larger gaps by casting featherful on your party you can get scrolls to help with this if no one has the spell learned rests as we already touched on there is a difference between long and short rests short rests can be taken wherever you currently are and restore fifty percent of all characters hit points they also restore warlock spell slots and they restore things like a clerics channel Divinity resource and a fighter superiority die you can take two before you need to take a long rest to replenish those two slots from Level 2 bards also have something called song of rest which is kind of like an extra short rest on top of the two you already have available then there's long rests you need to make camp for these but you can also just go to your Camp without taking a long rest to do a long rest you need to choose to end the day and use up some camp supplies you need a total of 40 of these to fully replenish all of your character's spell slots abilities short rest slots and hit points you can do a partial long rest but really unless you just starts bothering to pick up supplies or you're resting after every single combat encounter you should never be too low for a full rest you should also definitely take advantage of long rests at Camp to spend time with your companions and get to know them better you can get to know them really well if you wish don't be afraid to take long rests either as sometimes this is the only way to advance companion storylines you should also know that wherever you choose to go to camp that is where you'll return to once you leave Kim so don't worry about finding your way back to a random location to continue your exploring or make your way through an entire dungeon all over again do we I just worry that we're not considering all our options when it comes to our uninvited guests finally death saves so a character being done in battle isn't immediately caused for too much concern when a character gets to zero hit points they begin to roll water cold death saving throws three successful saves and that character is stabilized they aren't able to fight or anything they just aren't dead three fails and yes they are indeed dead and you'll need to cast revivify that's so hard to say revivify to bring them back the thing is you can heal them at any time while they're rolling these death saves to immediately bring them back to life so try not to panic too much the tricky part is of course that the ability to heal is a very finite resource in Baldur's Gate 3 as it is in Dungeons and Dragons but maybe that's an explainer for another time because yeah okay it is becoming very clear to me that we are going to need a second video on breaking down everything a beginner needs to know about Baldur's Gate 3. so what would you like to know and what would you like us to explain if we did do another one of these one of the best classes and spells for a beginner is there a good beginner's class maybe a glossary of key terms maybe what do weapon and armor proficiencies mean let me know in the comments what we should talk about and we will get into it next time renai thanks for watching and do let me know if you're enjoying the game and of course who you're Romancing I want to hear all of the gossip I'll see you next time bye now perhaps we might try a more intimate Style [Music]

Channel: Eurogamer

Views: 79,332

Keywords: baldurs gate 3, baldurs gate 3 gameplay, baldurs gate 3 tips, baldurs gate 3 tricks, baldurs gate 3 explained, dungeons and dragons, dnd

Id: X9MOORXyRtI

Length: 20min 29sec (1229 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 26 2023