Baldur’s Gate 3 offers countless stories with various endings, and probably no one has truly discovered everything yet. However, many players likely missed parts of their companions’ stories at least on the first run—because the game puts too much pressure on you.
That’s why you should rest often enough:
- A long rest fully restores your hit points and spell slots. After that, you are completely refreshed. Especially many magic classes need the rest to be operational again.
- Even more importantly, at least for the story: during a Long Rest, cutscenes play that, in most cases, advance the stories of your existing companions.
- Some quests only proceed after a rest because it ends the day. The game forces you to take breaks at some points, but not often enough to see every cutscene.
That’s why many players miss the stories: The problem with Baldur’s Gate 3 is that the game almost deceives you. One piece of information states that you only have a few days to get rid of the mind-flayer larva. However, this is not true.
Your companions also tend to apply pressure. Lae’zel can hardly wait to find her crib and would prefer to be there yesterday. She even disappears at some point if you wait too long. You will find Shadowheart in a different location if you rest before meeting her at the beach.
Otherwise, you can rest as long as you want. The larva has no effect on that. Especially new players often fall for this and avoid a long rest for as long as possible. This limits gameplay as well as story.
Another point: There are certain quests that can fail if you wait too long. However, the game doesn’t tell you which ones they are. Out of fear of missing something, many players skip resting—thus missing something even more.
In a thread on Reddit, a user actually only posts a meme about how much you have to eat when you rest in sequence for the cutscenes. However, many useful tips emerge from it.
If you just want to restore hit points, it’s better to use a short rest. It doesn’t consume any supplies, nor does it advance time:
“If you are resting in sequence, take a partial rest”
Now after Christmas, many players have started with Baldur’s Gate 3 anew or completed their first run. In the second attempt, they really want to experience all the stories. They say: if someone plays for too long in a row, they often have to rest 5 to 6 times in a row to see all the cutscenes.
This quickly depletes the supplies. The tip: Take a partial rest. It consumes no supplies and still advances the story since time passes. If you still want to consume food, be careful not to accidentally eat your cute companion.
Only with the corresponding quests that can fail when you rest should you be cautious. However, our list helps you as an overview of where you are actually under time pressure. In general, though: The game never fails just because you are currently resting.
However, there’s a good side to this. For some players, the missed content is a reason to just play Baldur’s Gate 3 again. There is always so much to discover, so 3 or 4 runs are worth it. The game’s engrossing nature is not only due to its sheer scale, though. One of the leads recently revealed that humor is especially important for its success.
