What are the Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings? Turn-based RPGs, especially ones with as many classes and systems as BG3, are known for being quite challenging experiences. You’ll be pleased to know then that there are Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings and options that can be used to augment your experience.
The Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty levels are great for newcomers and veterans alike, which will hopefully let more players give the magical world of Baldur’s Gate a spin. After all, it’s shaping up to be one of the best games we’ve seen in quite some time, especially for classic RPG fans.
Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings
There are three Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings and levels to choose from:
- Explorer
- Balanced
- Tactician
These cover the basic easy, normal, and hard difficulty options you might expect from other games though, being a CRPG, the settings are crucial to understand, particularly for new players.
Most importantly, the Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty levels don’t simply increase the health and damage of opponents. They will also affect your character’s skills, trading prices, combat encounter environments, and more. For example, Tactician will add more environmental hazards like explosive barrels and even additional enemies in locations that add further challenge to combat.
During the Panel From Hell ahead of release, senior combat designer Matt Holland described the hardest mode as being “like going against a Dungeon Master that’s trying to push you to your limits” in the classic Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game. You’ll have to take advantage of everything you can to succeed in this mode.
Furthermore, you can even change your difficulty settings during a playthrough, so you won’t be locked into your choice if you regret your decision. This is great news, as Holland went on to say that “I know you’re all going to play on Tactician because you can handle it, and then you’re going to start crying”.
To find out more about each of the Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings, read on below.
Explorer
Explorer mode in Baldur’s Gate 3 is for those looking to focus on the story. Combat is tuned down so battles will be easier and your characters will be more proficient in their skills, making skill-checks more consistent. You’ll still have to think carefully about the best Baldur’s Gate 3 class, but it should be a smoother experience for those either less experienced with turn-based combat or who would rather focus on the narrative.
- Trading discounts
- Receive a +2 skill proficiency at level one
- Allies are more resilient
Balanced
As you might expect from the name, Balanced mode is the default BG3 difficulty setting. This option offers more challenging combat, without tuning the difficulty too high. If you’re relatively experienced with turn-based combat, then Balanced is the mode for you. This is where we’d definitely recommend you start thinking about the best Baldur’s Gate 3 party and team composition. Not only are they portrayed by an excellent Baldur’s Gate 3 voice actors list, but they’re vital while exploring, fighting enemies, or conversing with NPCs.
- Enemies and allies are balanced
- Moderate combat difficulty
Tactician
Tactician mode is the hardest difficulty setting in BG3. Combat is significantly more challenging, putting all your skills to the test. As such, you’ll need to think carefully about the best party composition and have the right builds for each of your characters. This mode will certainly extend the Baldur’s Gate 3 length, with combat taking up more time than on the other two modes.
- Opponents are more difficult, with greater health, attack accuracy, and advanced strategies
- Extra enemies in combat
- Combat environments are more hazardous
What Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty level should you choose?
We recommend beginning the game in Balanced mode before changing the difficulty level accordingly. Balanced will give you a fair experience for both newcomers and veterans alike, though if you are finding it too difficult or too hard, then you can change it to Explorer or Tactician respectively.
However, Tactician really is set to be an incredible challenge that will put all your skills to the test. This is only recommended for veterans of turn-based games, and even then you might find yourself wanting to turn the difficulty down.
And that’s all the Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings and options at your disposal. With 12 Baldur’s Gate 3 classes to choose from, picking the right one for you should make the challenge more enjoyable, no matter which level you choose.