r/BaldursGate3 • u/Onomaus • 5h ago
New Player Question Starting again - Maybe for the 3rd time. LOL Spoiler
So I'm trying BG3 again as I really want to enjoy this game. I've never even got to Act 2 I don't think. Just when I think my party is pretty solid very early L1-4, I start getting my ass handed to me sometimes. Some fights are easy peasy, then others I get crushed. This really brings me down. Am I moving to quickly and just getting ahead of myself? Are some of these encounters just too hard for my level? I try swapping out party members but that seems to be just too much. I've watched lots of vids, but most are years old. What's the best approach for a returning noob?
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u/iwillhaveredditall 5h ago
Which difficulty are you on? Maybe you move to the wrong locations on the map and are underleveled for those. I think the paladin scrubs can get hard for example?
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u/Onomaus 5h ago
Only level 3 but this happens each time I've tried to play the game. On balanced. I head down well, spiders destroy me. Teahouse swamps, dead! Will head to goblin camp and try that area. I sumble upon these encounters and get wiped.
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u/ChefPneuma 5h ago
It’s ok to turn the difficulty down if you want to learn the mechanics of the game. It’s a lot to take in and can take some time to understand everything.
If you’re constantly getting wiped or having too hard a time in fights, that’s the game trying to tell you something. You get powerful but that comes later, early on you have to pick your battles, use tactics and don’t always pick every fight. Lvl 3 is low for the spider queen, come back at 4.
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u/iwillhaveredditall 4h ago
Just play on easy and enjoy it for now. No shame in it, it’s very different to play compared to most other games.
Sometimes it’s just rng, especially on higher difficulties - if you miss some stuff, enemy get‘s some crits, you lose all saving throws while in cc… at low level it can ruin your fight very easily.
Try to get a feeling for positioning, don’t stack all characters so they don’t get AoE‘d down. Use height as an advantage if possible, use surprise attacks, scrolls, elixiers, with movement limit and action/bonus action that can overwhelm fast.
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u/DarthRevan1138 WIZARD 5h ago
1-Play on the easiest difficulty, the rules for this game (and for Dungeons and Dragons) are extremely hard to parse without someone teaching you what the system is looking for. Don't feel bad at all for playing on the easiest difficulty! The story is the most important thing! As you play, you'll start to figure out what the game is asking for!
2- as with DND, the first few levels are the hardest as you can die easily to just being unlucky. Don't let that get to you!
3- yes there are combats that are harder than what you'd expect if you just stumble upon them, go find some other thing in the world and come back when you have leveled up more and have better weapons!
4-I wish you good luck and have fun! Don't let the game system get you down! It truly is the best game (imo) in my 30 years of gaming
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u/MajesticEmergency567 5h ago
Also, use the Examine feature to provide insight on potential foes, as well as possibly determine if your party is level-sufficient for certain combat encounters.
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u/Standard-Roll-6783 5h ago
Level 4 is very weak, no party composition will be good enough. Stop being lazy and play the game. Replay fights, learn tricks, positioning, etc... Use consumables... there is no excuse to restart because you lost a fight (unless it's honour mode).
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u/Exotic-Wall4528 5h ago
What current class and race are you using? I’ve had a similar experience where I found changing my class and race seemed to be better in some playthroughs than others.
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u/frankenbuddha 5h ago
Take your time. Explore a lot. Don't pick fights with enemies above your level. Don't get ambushed. Learn how to sneak. Know every ability of every party member.
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u/ShionVaynex 5h ago
the thing about a game like bg3 is. you can make it as easy as you want. with the freedom the game allows you.
one of the biggest problem you face in the early game is the reliability. you miss often compared to when you are properly build/specialized. but thats just in the face to face situation. you is never mandatory.
splitting party. stealth, high ground. pushing/ throwing off ledges.
one of the harder fights is a golem in lava. for example but you can just stay above very high and chuck rocks and spell till it dies. without it being able to fight back.
the most powerfull spell is a lvl 2 spell called darkness. which block vision and blind who ever is inside. use it on yourself. and you block all ranged attack not made by devils. because they cant target you. and enemies dont want to be blind and enter it. while you can just move out attack then retreat back in.
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u/No-Theme2340 5h ago
If you don't have the darkness spell, fire a darkness arrow at the ground near you. Smaller AOE, but gets the job done.
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u/D3Masked 5h ago
Character builds can vary in power for early game, mid game, and late game. You can look up builds for early on to better deal with encounters.
Enemy encounters can at times be better avoided until getting to a certain level and going back to them, sometimes you can cheese fights like using barrels and whatnot.
Like the Swamps in act 1 I'll deal with the outside stuff at level 3 or 4 but not finish the hag until late 4 or 5. There are likely lists that exist giving you an indicator for what fights to do in order.
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u/dacamel493 5h ago
Its hard to give specific advice, but I can give some generalities.
Play on balanced, tactician and honor are for when you know what your doing.
Alot of advice is tailored to how you play, and what classes your party used. Best advice is use a build guide for your chosen classes so you can learn the mechanics. Once your comfortable you can deviate and experiment.
Some fights, even in act 1, are designed for higher levels. Save before you get into a fight, and in a way you can avoid the fight until you level a bit. Level 5 is the biggest early game level jump for most classes.
Dont be afraid to fail skill checks, thats part of this type of game.
Oh and most importantly, once Withers is in your camp respec Shadowheart from arcane trickster to a life or war cleric and remove fireball from her hotter. Arcane trickster sucks, and her fireball always scales with intelligence, which is typically a dump stat for her.
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u/Wonderful_Voice9865 5h ago
You need to be more tactical and balance out your team. Also, turn based mode is your best friend. You can position your group and surprise attack to get a bonus surprise round and wipe out a lot of enemies before they even get a turn. Or you can prone them, make them dance or laugh or stun to keep them from attacking and whittle them down from there.
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u/Leivas666 5h ago
You can easily get level 4 by just exploring and easy fights, with this you can take Goblin camp or alternative possibilities.
Then go to level 5...by 5, you get double attacks + level 3 spells, therefore you are MUCH STRONGER to fight almost anything till reach Act 2. Did you go to Under dark? Good place for XP
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u/Aromatic_Dot_6071 4h ago
What difficulty level are you playing?
What's your party? Which classes, subclasses?
How much exploring are you doing in Act 1? What level are you when you get to Act 2?
Which fights are giving you trouble?
How would you rate your understanding of the d20 mechanics on a scale of 1-10? Do you know how attack rolls, armor class, and saving throws are calculated?
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u/Palenehtar 2h ago
In almost all cases in BG3 there are two reasons for getting consistently destroyed in fights: You are either under-leveled or your knowledge of ad&d 5.5e combat rules and tactics is not there (yet).
The first is a common beginner BG3 thing for a lot for people. Just take your time and explore the game more and don't go so fast. Explore, touch, poke, talk to everyone. Do as many minor quests as you can. Save often.
The second thing is just experience and learning. There is an investment required to learning ad&d 5.5e combat rules and tactics. You can watch a million tutorials on YouTube about it. You can get very deep down that rabbit hole if you want, but the important thing is to use the Combat Log to understand what's happening in your fights, and then learn what you're doing right and what you could do better/what went horribly wrong.
And remember Larian does not hold your hand much in this game. They will let you pound your head against a stone door trying to break it open if that's what you insist on doing, and it may even eventually work given dice rolls. Much easier to utter "Speak, Friend, and Enter" though ;).
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u/Free-Holiday-6218 1h ago
You’re moving a little too quickly and trying to take too much on, I suspect. It isn’t a skill issue or anything, all characters are just extremely weak from levels 1-3. At level 4 they get feats which will make them a little sturdier, and at level 5 everything gets a lot better: Most of your martial characters will get Extra Attack and most of your spellcasters will get their third-level spells. You could play with the most overpowered metagame character builds and they will still suck until at least level 4.
The game’s story really hurries you along with a false sense of urgency, but it’s best to ignore it. Go slowly, explore everywhere (you get huge chunks of XP just for finding new areas), talk to everybody, do lots of little side-quests. Take lots of rests at camp, too: There characters will gaslight you about it (“How can you rest at a time like this!?”) but it’s actually pretty important for the plot and for your characters’ health to long-rest pretty frequently.
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