Who is this for: Anyone struggling with combat in BG3.
Don't hate the player, hate the game. I.E. I know Larian implemented controversial mechanics in order to make a more tactical game. Until the mechanics are changed, use them to your advantage. I LOVE the tactical combat in this game. IMO its fine as is. In the long runit could be improved to please more people. Instead of a simple difficulty setting (Easy, Medium, Hard), Larian could implement a complex difficulty mechanism allowing for example to individually turn on/off: Dis/Advantage from height, ground effects, cantrip ground effects, hide as a bonus action, etc.
Note: I will try to avoid spoilers and be vague, sorry if I fail.
With over 240 hours (some of them certainly AFK), here are my general tips for combat...
Useables. At the start of the game on the ship...pickup everything. The "usables" available there and nowhere else are AMAZING. For example: Let’s say you are in a battle saving a birdie or against some hyena spawns and you have archers/casters that have the high ground on you. Throw a caustic bulb up there for a nice AoE (Area of Effect) to damage them and make them move. Once they do, throw a void bulb to suck them back into it for more damage. Nautaloid tanks are amazing and act like oil barrels. Pick up as many as you can using Lae'zel as needed for her carrying capacity then once off the ship send them to camp for storage along with any oil barrel. Sneak in and drop one by a group of enemies, sneak out and hit them with a fire dipped arrow, fire bolt cantrip, etc. Big Boom. Later on, you get acid flasks, acid arrows, alchemists' fire, etc. Don’t forget you can move oil barrels. This + sneak/invisibility is VERY useful.
Jump. Use Jump a lot. Jump to the back side of a melee character for advantage. Jump them to cover more distance, etc. Combine with Jump spell/ability to triple the distance. Use Misty Step if/when available.
Be Ranged. All characters need a ranged weapon. Even casters that have cantrips. Shadowheart sucks with a bow, but if you want to save her spells for heals and you get tired of always missing with Sacred Flame cantrip, use a short/long/cross bow. Yes, she will miss with it a lot too, but she will hit sometimes. Other characters like Lae’zel need to do something when they are getting into position.
Shields. All characters that can use a shield, should at the end of their turn. Since there is no cost/penalty (yet? Add to difficulty?) for swapping weapons, take advantage of the +2 AC from the shield. I usually play Lae’zel with a 2-handed weapon. After she attacks, I switch her to a using a shield before ending my turn.
Dip. Dip often/always. Keep a candle/torch on each character. Before they attack, drop the candle/torch, dip, pick it back up, then attack. Extra fire damage is good. If you are standing in/near other sources of fire, poison, etc...use those to dip.
Terrain/cover. Elevation is good and should be obvious. Use it especially with ranged and casters. But there are other ways too. LoS – Line of Sight. If you are on a roof, move back from the edge between shot/spells to break LoS so the enemy can’t return fire. The same applies to rooms with doorways and other choke points. It is very effective to fight from the other side of a doorway. Move less than 1/2 of your move distance into the doorway, shoot/cast, then move back out of LoS. Block a doorway/choke point with one or more characters to keep them from attacking your ranged/casters.
Focus fire. Less enemies attacking you at once is better. Yes the big one hits hard, but frequently it's better to quickly kill the easy/low HP ones first. Focus on one at a time unless you have a low HP one and maybe your wizard hasn’t cast yet, so you knock a 2nd to low HP so your wizard can split his Magic Missile and kill 2.
Scout. Use hide with sneak. Use pets. Use Mage Hand. Use Shadowheart’s Blessing of the Trickster. Use Invisibility spell/potion. Know what is where.
Stealth/Hide. Start combat from stealth. Break your party into individuals and position each before starting combat. Enter turn-based mode manually if needed. (Beware, this mechanism - starting battle from stealth is currently clunky and takes some getting used to. Make sure all your characters enter combat, etc.).
Explore alternate options. Persuasion, intimidation, deception, disguise, etc. Others react differently to Githyanki, Drow, etc. I can think of 4 different ways to enter the temple/crypt as an example. Try others.
COMBOS! Have your cleric cast create water on your target(s) and then have your wizard cast Witchbolt or Ray of Frost at someone standing in the water. Grease then later Fire Bolt. Move a pet next to an enemy so your rogue can sneak attack it from range. Have raven blind so you have advantage and they have disadvantage. Use Ray of Frost to knock someone prone so a melee character gets advantage on their strike.
Buffs/Debuffs. After resting, Wizards should immediately cast Mage Armor. Shadowheart should cast Shield of Faith. First action upon starting a medium/hard battle is to cast defensive spells like Mirror Image. Then cast buffs like Bless. Then Debufs like Bane or Fairey Fire. Pay attention to which require concentration…for example it takes 2 clerics to keep up Bless and Fairey Fire and they lose Shield of Faith, but the combo is so strong that it is worth it. Other spells like True Strike, Hunters Mark, Hex, etc. are important to get up too.
Try other attacks. Different forms of attack have different hit chances. Different spells have different hit chances. If you have multiple ways of attacking, see which one has the best chance of hitting. For example, I know you like to blast away with your warlock, but sometimes other spells or melee attacks have a much better hit chance.
Hope this helps, and I am happy to update with more GENERAL tips. I.e. not race/class/encounter specific.
Good Luck!
Last edited by RumRunner151; 29/10/20 08:28 PM.
