The “Long Rest” is one of the most important features in Baldur’s Gate 3. The problem is: you skip a long time in the game. This can be useful, but it also excludes preferred quest outcomes in some cases. MeinMMO explains when you should rest.
What is the long rest about?
- A long rest restores all hit points and spell slots of characters. This feature is particularly useful for most spell classes in the game.
- However, you need supplies to rest. You can find these in the game almost everywhere and you can even send them directly to the camp. Small tip: why not just rest with alcohol.
- In some cases, a long rest is unavoidable, but you shouldn’t pause for every little thing, otherwise you might miss something.
Here’s why you should be careful with the long rest: At the beginning of the game, a parasite is planted in your head, which is supposedly supposed to “hatch” after 7 days. Don’t let that deceive you: for the story, you can rest as often as you want.
However, the situation is different when it comes to quests. There are some tasks that have a time limit, which in some cases is mentioned very directly. If you rest while trying to complete such a quest, the following might happen:
- that important NPCs are missing or even dead
- something in the world changes that relates to the quest
- you don’t reach the desired ending because of this
SPOILER: 3 examples from Act 1
Early in Act 1, you encounter a dwarf with 2 zealots of the Absolute. Here you learn directly something about the story of the game, but only on day 1 right after landing with the Nautiloid. If you sleep one night, the dwarf is dead and the believers have disappeared.
Later in Act 1, you visit the Underdark. There are at least 2 quests that can basically “fail” or have only a single possible outcome if you wait too long:
- the True Soul Nere is dead if you don’t rescue him from the wreckage on the same day
- the deep gnome among the mushroom beings needs an antidote on the same day, otherwise she dies
If you only want to regenerate hit points and rest a bit, it’s better to use a short rest. While it helps mages very little, they just have to be patient.
You can find the best classes in Baldur’s Gate 3 in our Tier List. In the video, we give you tips on leveling:
When can I rest without issues?
The good news is that there is usually no “hidden” timer, as far as we could check. This means: as long as you don’t have a time-critical quest, you can rest as often as you want. Only once you know about the circumstances, time can run out for the NPCs.
To build relationships with companions, you also need a long rest. Many stories here are only continued when you go to sleep. However, if you only want to swap the group, it is enough to simply visit the camp. You do not need to rest.
Keep in mind that there are some situations where you need to rest. This happens when:
- you change an area
- a quest tells you to wait until the next morning
- a quest triggers a long rest afterwards
If you want to make sure you don’t miss anything, you should rest as little as possible. But don’t make it harder for yourself by completely ignoring the long rest. Read quest texts carefully and consider whether what you might miss could even be possible with a weakened group. Or simply consider the right strategy:
Baldur’s Gate 3: The hardest battle became easy when I eliminated the right goblin
