Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Help Tips & Tricks Lot of "little" questions

Hi all.

Coming from D:OS 2 the game is very opaque to me, and I asked myself a lot of questions, hopefully some of you can help me.

1/ I have a cleric in my party, who can cast Sacred Flame. The text says there's a attack/saving throw on Dexterity, does that mean that my dexterity comes into play when casting it? It seem to never ever land whereas the mage pretty much always hit with its basic fire bolt (even the cleric seems to be better off using a bow... meh). Is there a way to have the math behind the hits?

2/ All actions seem very linked to resting in a camp. Although I tried to not "camp" too much, is there something keeping me from going to camp after each fight? I don't feel like camping whilst exploring but then again when you've "used" all your spell slot and so on the fights are not as fun.

3/ All the weapons I found so far is exactly the same weapons that I have. Same goes for the armor and everything else. Although I do get there is less variety here than D:OS 2, I don't really understand the point of having swords and armors everywhere if they only serve the purpose of being sold. Am I missing something?

4/ What does the percentage stands for when you're targeting? It seems like a chance to hit, but then another dice roll seem to happen afterwards.

Is there a way to have a condensed vision of the DnD rules somewhere because although I do understand most of what happens, the fights feels very weird to me, having pretty much 1 hit out of 4 that actually deals damage, and that deals around 25 to 50% of HP of the target. At this point it feels more like a lottery than an actual strategic game. I won't even go on the fire surface on damage, although I do get that walking through fire shouldn't be a breeze, it's a bit more punitive than D:OS 2.

So again, am I missing something or is it just the way DnD is intended to play?

1. Attacks are always made using contributing stat, depending of the weapon or classe's main stat for spells : for example using a melee weapon will use your STR modifier (so +2 on your roll for a 14-15 str), while ranged weaponry usually use your DEX modifier instead ("finesse" weapons too).
Spells are always cast using the main stat contribution, depending of the class : INT for wizards, CHA for Warlocks and WIS for Clerics.

Your attacks are 1D20 + Your "gobal"proficiency bonus (+2 at lv 1-4, then +3 and so on) + You main stat modifier (the one with a star on it).

To resist some spells (the ones with "attack/save" line), targets have to make a saving throw, based on the listed stat, using their own stat (for example Sacred Flame use the opponent DEX modifier + their proficiency added to their D20).

Your spells DC (difficulty class) is equal to 8 + proficiency + main stat modifier. so with a 16 WIS, giving you a +3 bonus, it's 8 + 2 + 3 = 13.
To resist (if able), target have to roll equal or more on a D20 + proficiency + their stat modifier.

So sacred flame is not very efficient against targets with high DEX (for instance, 14-15 DEX means they have to roll a 9+ to cancel the effect. Many spells can be reduced by a saving throw like this, using written stat.


2. There is currently no limits on long rests, I'm not even sure there is like a "timer" for the main quest (like after X long rests - days - your tadpole kill you) or anything - yet. :p

3. Mostly for roleplay purposes, like finding only food in cellars or dishes in cupboards. Magic weapons and armors are very rare and costly in D&D lore, and pretty much all weapons are somehow "standardized".
You will never find "quality" levels for gear unless said gear is enchanted or specially crafted (like Laez'el starting armor).
Keep stuff you find and sell them early on to avoid being burdened (you can only carry double your max weight).

4. Percentage is chance to hit, yes, and as explained on 1., you have a hit, then the saving throw of targets (is able to resist or halve damage/effect on most spells).


D&D is like that yes. Dont neglect helping/preparation spells like Guidance, Bless and Bane for instance.
Having higher position or other effects (hiding, hitting sleeping target) can nets you great benefits : advantage on roll (by higher position for instance) means you roll twice and keep the better result.
Disadvantage works exactly the opposite (like when in close combat you have disadvantage on ranged attacks/spells).

others seem to be answered really well.

In order to hit a target you have to match their AC or get higher then it. The percent throws off alot of people, what happens basically is you roll a d20 add your modifiers if that equals or is greater then your targets AC you hit, if not you 'miss' basically it's like the above dex saving throwing.

so if your target has an AC of 15 your using a strength weapon (one that doesn't have finesse in it's description those use dex) and your strength modifier is +3 and your proficiency is +2 you only need to roll a 10 in order to hit. At times this can be a real pain in the ass, if for some reason the computer is rolling low. or if your playing pnp your rolling shit. Add to this if you have advantage your rolling 2d20 and taking the higher number. With disadvantage your rolling 2d20 and taking the lower number. You can usually tell if you have advantage or disadvantage if you hover over the enemy and a box shows up on the left side of the screen with an arrow pointing up with like backstab next to it indicates advantage, if the arrow is pointing down it's disadvantage.

Also they are color coded as my roomie pointed out green is advantage, red is disadvantage. Oh yeah way to help us color blind people out!!! Whoooohooooo! most common form of color blindness is red/green and yet devs still making shit red/green. How about green blue? red, blue? You know for us people whose brain mistakes one for the other, or can't seperate them!! RAWR!!! okay most of that was a joke, since there are games with supposed color blind assist, not for sure if this one has it though.

Thanks a lot for the kind answers.

It's a bit of a bummer though, as I don't like the current system as much as the previous D:OS.