Baldur's Gate 3 is an adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons' fifth edition rules, emphasizing dice rolls and combat dynamics.
Baldur's Gate 3 offers numerous methods to enhance party performance, providing several ways to influence the outcome of dice rolls. These adjustments are built into the game's mechanics, reflecting the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons.
Buffs in Baldur's Gate 3 are diverse and varied, encompassing spells and equipment to class features and quest rewards. Among the most intriguing is a hidden quest where players must volunteer for a flagellation session with a sadistic NPC. This quest offers powerful buffs, but players can easily bypass it by completing the main quest line.
Protection from energy grants a target resistance to one of five types of damage. The caster can choose when targeting themselves or an ally to give resistance to cold, acid, fire, lightning, or thunder damage. This is great when protecting front line party members or healers to keep them up for a little longer in a fight. While protection from energy doesn't directly influence the party's dice rolls, it does tip any enemy rolls in the party's favor, ensuring that even crits are minimized.
Invisible is a status condition bestowed upon a character who has been rendered invisible through various means. This status grants the affected character an advantage on attack rolls, but it also imposes disadvantage on attack rolls made against invisible targets. This ability can be quite useful in certain situations, but it is important to be mindful of its limitations.Happy is a status condition in BG3 that only affects Astarion. Whenever Astarion takes a bite out of a target in battle, he will gain plus one on all his attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks. In order to unlock Astarion's bite attack, he must first bite the player character, which is the first step in his personal quest.
Dame Aylin also has an attack that gives the same condition as guiding bolt called lunar flare. With this attack, Aylin deals 5d6 radiant damage immediately and 1–4 radiant damage for each turn when the guiding bolt condition is present.
Making friends in BG3 can be a challenge, and persuading NPCs to agree with the player character's desires can sometimes be difficult. Friends is an incredibly powerful cantrip that provides significant Charisma check advantages for 10 turns against the target. This spell can be beneficial when facing tough checks, but it's important to be mindful of how it's used. Using Friends too frequently on the same character or at a higher difficulty setting can potentially trigger an NPC's hostility, especially if used repeatedly.
For those social situations where diplomacy and persuasion have failed, a character might switch to intimidation tactics using Thaumaturgy. This versatile cantrip allows the caster to intimidate or carry a performance check for 10 turns, making it effective in various social interactions. While not as powerful as the DnD version, it still provides a means of exerting dominance and control through vocal prowess.Bless is a classic cleric spell that grants a 1d4 bonus to any attack rolls and saving throws. At first-level, bless can affect up to six targets but can be cast at higher levels to cover additional targets. Bless lasts for 10 turns but requires concentration, meaning that any character casting it will need to stay back unless they have high Constitution for making concentration checks.
Guidance is a popular buff in Baldur's Gate 3, increasing the success rate of checks for persuasion, investigation, and sleight of hand for 10 turns.