Creative players continually find ways to become incredibly powerful in Baldur’s Gate 3. The foundation allows for complete freedom – this also includes dealing absurd amounts of damage. This is now demonstrated by a player who can deal up to 130 damage per shot.
How does this work with so much damage?
- In Baldur’s Gate 3 you can stack damage from various sources – meaning the damage dice add up under certain circumstances
- With this mechanic, bombs become extremely powerful, if you wear the right items and use the right throwing techniques.
- The player NnmnsP on Reddit has done something similar with his bow, only his character can deal that much damage by default.
This is how the damage is composed: Okay, from here it gets a bit detailed and nerdy. The different damage sources are specific. Let’s start with the base damage:
- The player uses the bow Gontr Mael, a legendary weapon from Act 3.
- The longbow itself deals 1d8 damage and has an enchantment of +3. Additionally:
- +1 from Elemental Weapon
- +3 from Magical Weapon at level 6
- +6 from Dexterity
- +10 from Sharpshooter, one of the best talents for shooters
This alone already results in a value of 1d8+23. However, that’s still not enough for NnmnsP, so he looks for more ways to increase the damage:
- +2 acid damage from the Corrosive Ring from Act 1
- +2d4+1 fire damage from Minthara’s Soulmark
- +1d4 lightning damage from Elemental Weapon
- +1d4 psychic damage from the Ring of Strange Channeling from the Githyanki cradle (only during concentration)
- +1d6 poison damage from the “Mother’s Wrath” amulet
- +1d4 radiant damage from the Cloak of the Crusader
- +1 damage from the Inquisitor’s Might (dependent on Charisma)
- +1d4 from the bolts of heavenly light, the weapon ability of Gontr Mael
By the way: This is how you find Gontr Mael.
This results in a standard damage of 35 to 65. Now, however, NnmnsP also uses an arrow of undead slaying, which doubles the damage against undead – thus resulting in 70-130 damage. These arrows are available for every enemy type, so you can always benefit from the bonus.
Want more useful tips? This is how you cast multiple times per round:
The damage almost kills all enemies – and it can get even harder
The stacked damage could even be increased further with some optimizations. If a rogue uses the bow, he could add an additional die with a sneak attack.
The user writes in the comments: With the Titan Bow there is even more to gain. This bow adds the strength bonus – especially in conjunction with a potion of cloud giant strength, this is a considerable sum. At some point, it becomes overkill, because for comparison:
- One of Gortaschs guards in his boss room has 93 hit points in normal mode.
- A steel guard has 206 hit points.
- Gortasch himself has 275 hit points.
At the latest, a critical hit that doubles the dice would, in the very best case, be sufficient to kill just about everything in Act 3 with a single shot – even bosses.
These absurd damage numbers are nothing you really need for a run. The community of Baldur’s Gate 3 and generally of Dungeons & Dragons loves to find such combinations.
Especially in Larian’s video games, a real cult has developed around exploiting certain mechanics, and something like its own school of magic, “Barrelmancy,” or “barrel magic.” It specializes in absolutely pulverizing enemies: You can deal the most damage not with fireball – This is how you become a barrel mage
