In a few days Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released. With its many features, classes, and spells, it is a complex game. We will tell you 3 things about the combat system that the game doesn’t explain well, but are still important.
How does the combat system work? The combat system in Baldur’s Gate 3 is turn-based, and it is important to make the best use of your actions to win the fight. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with the battles.
- It starts with the combat action. With this, you can perform an attack or a spell, but also revive a companion or remove a condition. Retreating from a fight also counts as an action.
- After the combat action, there is the bonus action. This includes quick spells, certain class abilities, and maneuvers like jumping or pushing. The rogue also has the option to perform an additional attack with two one-handed weapons.
- Additionally, there is the movement action, which allows the character to cover a certain distance on foot.
But that’s not all. In this article, we present three special features of the combat system that the game doesn’t really explain well. This involves reactions, throwing, and improvised weapons.
If you want to delve deeper into the level system, you can find a separate article about it here: Why you may only play up to level 12 in Baldur’s Gate 3 and why that is good.
Reactions in combat
What are reactions? Reactions are an action that can only occur when a certain situation arises. This can also happen when it is actually not your turn.
You can find your reactions in a corresponding window in the character menu. There you can set two checkmarks. The first ensures that the reaction is triggered automatically when the conditions are met, and the second checkmark ensures that you are asked beforehand whether the effect should really be triggered. However, only one effect can be triggered per round of combat.
Moreover, most effects or spells are tied to a class and require an additional resource. Only the “Attack of Opportunity,” where you attack an opponent who is fleeing from you, is available to all classes. However, this is not found in the menu but is activated automatically.
Examples of reactions include:
- If you take damage, you create a flame effect around you that causes fire damage – Only Oathbreakers
- A bonus effect when you land a critical hit – Oath of Devotion and Oath of the Ancients
- A counter effect when an opponent misses you with their attack – Only Battlemaster
Does every class have a reaction? Not yet in Early Access. Most reactions have the paladins with two different variants per specialization. The berserker, however, only has access to the automatic “Attack of Opportunity.”
However, the number of reactions is likely to increase with the full release of Baldur’s Gate 3.
The action “Throw”
What is throwing? Throwing can be used as a melee action both during exploration and in combat. The exact action depends on the strength attribute. The more strength you have, the heavier things you can throw.
In principle, everything can be thrown in the game. You can take objects from the environment, but also enemy creatures and transport them to another location. When you throw, both the hit and the thrown enemy take damage – however, the latter takes less. The heavier the selected object is, the more damage it causes when thrown.
As a melee fighter, you can also throw your weapon to perform a ranged attack. The chance to hit and the damage amount are based on your strength and not on your dexterity value. But pay attention to the weapons that have the note “Thrown.” Weapons without this marking only cause one point of damage.
To perform the action, you can select the option “Throw.” After that, a menu will open in which you see a list of objects you can throw. After you select an object, you will see a field on the screen showing how far you can throw.
The Berserker’s special feature: The berserker also has the bonus action “Enraged Throw.” With this, he can take items or creatures from the environment and throw them across the battlefield without having to sacrifice his actual action for it.
Is it worth it? Sort of. Throwing random things is not very effective. Throwing enemies can result in two enemies being hurt, and one also being placed in another location on the battlefield. However, there is a weight limit due to scaling with strength. Really heavy enemies cannot be thrown.
However, throwing weapons is effective. The damage in ranged combat is significant for melee fighters.
Improvised Weapons
What are these weapons? All melee fighters have the action “Improvised Melee Weapon.” With this, you can pick up items or even enemies from the surroundings and use them as a weapon. This includes stones or chairs, but also gnomes who then deliver slaps to the opposing enemies.
Here, the strength value is also used to calculate how heavy the object can be that you use as a weapon. Otherwise, the functions are similar to those of throwing.
Here you can also learn more about a hidden skill tree that makes you strong but also evil: There is a hidden super skill tree in Baldur’s Gate 3, but it makes you evil.
