How hard should the battles be?

[TTC]

I am up to level 4 and am struggling in many of the larger battles (the Duergar, the Goblin castle, etc.). It often takes 4, 5, or even more attempts to win these battles.

Do I need to refocus my gameplay? Did I skip some early content and am not as powerful as I should be?

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Encounters in BG3 are overtuned to be Deadly+ so that that every one has the possibility of a TPK.

This ultimately points back to the resource system.

You see, in D&D 5e, encounters are designed to drain your resources. 6-9 fights in a typical adventuring "day" does not mean that each and every one of them could possibly wipe your entire party.

Instead, they are designed to use up some resources (spell slots, potions, etc.) and then test your ability to get through them while using the minimum possible resources.

This is how short/long rests are balanced.

However, in BG3, most encounters are designed around the idea that you will have your full resources, i.e. be fully rested, so you have to use everything at your disposal just to survive.

This is supported by the idea that long resting doesn't cost you anything. Even though they implemented camp supplies in the last patch, there is so much food in the game that it doesn't actually matter at all. You can still long rest as often as you like without consequence, and thus you can approach every single fight in the game at your full power - hp, spell slots, and the rest - therefore every fight is balanced around the idea that you'll be at full power.

I.e., every encounter is Deadly+.

[SnarkOne]

Most fights can be won by having a bigger advantage than your enemy, i.e better positioning. The fights are designed as Pandarius described, make sure you have all your resources and don't shy away from using them. As a general rule, the more resources you make the enemy use to reach you, the better your chances of survival are.

Duergar - Get on the wooden platform and push them off, or back away on the hill before you enter the camp, then shoot.

Goblin castle/camp - climb the ladders and shoot the goblins with advantage

Bulette - drop a candle on the side & create an acid surface beneath the the Bulette. Whack it with ALL melee attacks to discourage it from jumping.

etc... I have a few videos on my channel about the mechanics for some of the fights. You might learn some general strategies if you watch.

I'll make a full beginner mechanical combat guide once Patch 6 drops, since Larian doesn't explain things properly. I believe the patch will change a lot of things...

Ultimately it's a game ruled by the roll of the dice. You can rarely make the chance of success a 100%, but there are ways to skew the dice heavily in your favor.

[BenRichards843]

Learn how to use all of your character's abilities. Don't ignore them. The sneak attack from a rogue should be used over 3/4 of the time. Push enemies back. Push them off of ledges. If they survive, they are easier to hit, can't fight as well, and need to spend a turn or so to get back in melee range. Use your bonus actions. Once the rogue has dual wield, there are two or so bonus attacks. Magic should always be used from an elevated spot.

Use your environment. Blowing up goblins works well at their camp. A weak fire spell to a web might do more damage than your magic missile.

Hover over you enemy and look at the lower left of the screen. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages.

Let one of your characters get mind controlled. Watch how the computer fights with them.

This game doesn't just let you hack'n'slash.

[♚︎ Alex]

It depends. It's hard to tell what's going wrong in these battles without some footage of your gameplay, but generally speaking most fights are puzzle-like, in that there are certain strategies or tactics that make fights significantly easier to deal with.

For example in the Goblin Camp, just having a character that can cast Sleep on multiple Goblins can end most of the fights present there. Just have Lae'zel or Shadowheart follow up with a Battlemaster maneuver or an Inflict Wounds and the mobs have no chance of surviving. This strategy combined with starting fights inside the Camp on the rafters basically trivializes every fight in there.

Once you understand what's dangerous (Numbers in the case of the Goblin Camp, the undead in the case of the Duergar fight, the Drow adds in the Spectator fight etc...) and how to mitigate that danger (CCing the Goblins to mitigate their superior action economy, getting to high ground and breaking the nets so the undead can't get to you, and killing the petrified Drow before engaging the Spectator respectively), the fights change from oppressively difficult to very manageable. A lot of this stuff comes from experience, but it should "click" eventually, kind of like Dark Souls combat (at least for me it did).

[Vixziค็็็็็n]

Originally posted by pandariuskairos:

You see, in D&D 5e, encounters are designed to drain your resources. 6-9 fights in a typical adventuring "day" does not mean that each and every one of them could possibly wipe your entire party.

Which is what makes 5e boring. Of all the things to do to make an encounter seem difficult...they chose resource drain...smdh. How about just make it feel difficult? Resources should really be an afterthought...specifically in a video game. Table top..sure especially if you're going to use such things to limit what would normally be overly powerful classes (I see you mages.)

Again, currently I feel BG3 is just right in terms of how difficult it feels. That said, it should feel much more difficult given our level, number of party members, etc.

[dolby]

Originally posted by pandariuskairos:

Encounters in BG3 are overtuned to be Deadly+ so that that every one has the possibility of a TPK.

This ultimately points back to the resource system.


I.e., every encounter is Deadly+.

at this point we can just report this as bait...:))

Op ignore this guy his is copy pasting the same thing over and over for months.

Those fights are not hard there is only one fight that's harder on the scale, best thing you can do is look at videos on youtube people playing or post your preferred class and stats and location and we can help you with details.

if nothing else you should use high ground that should give you an edge over the enemy.

[TheBlueFox]

Originally posted by dolby:

Originally posted by pandariuskairos:

Encounters in BG3 are overtuned to be Deadly+ so that that every one has the possibility of a TPK.

This ultimately points back to the resource system.


I.e., every encounter is Deadly+.

at this point we can just report this as bait...:))

Op ignore this guy his is copy pasting the same thing over and over for months.

Those fights are not hard there is only one fight that's harder on the scale, best thing you can do is look at videos on youtube people playing or post your preferred class and stats and location and we can help you with details.

if nothing else you should use high ground that should give you an edge over the enemy.

In panda's Defense, he is not saying that the fights are "hard".

He is saying that, In the Dungeon master's guide that explains how to "rate" a combat encounter, the combat encounters in BG3 are rated as "Deadly" to your group.



Here's a tool I LOVE to use, Kobold Fight Club: https://koboldplus.club/#/encounter-builder

Using the KFC, If you select you have a party of 4 at level 3, And set them up against 3 ogres, you'll find this fight is labled as "Deadly" due to how much Ogres are worth vs How much the party is expected to go up against.

Against a party of 4 level 3 characters, 2 phase spiders is "Deadly"

Against a party of 4 level 4 characters, 2 "Githyanki Warriors" is Deadly. Now of course these aren't the SAME gith, but they're comparable

1 gnoll Pack lord (kinda like the flind) with 4 gnolls is Hard/Deadly

See what he means?


EDIT: I do not, however, support the idea that the combat encounters in BG3 require you to use up ALL your resources, Nor expect you to. They simply require more thought than "Select man, Click sword". You should be able to comfortably go through 5 fights without a long rest

[Death Deathington]

I'm enjoying the difficulty. I find the battles quite challenging which I think encourages improvisation and experimentation. Not every player will have the same strategy. For example, the Goblin camp. I sent one guy on the bridge to shoot one goblin and got the whole camp to chase me towards the blighted village where the rest of my party waited on high ground using grease traps and fire spells. The bridge is a great choke point. Other people itt have pointed out ways to kill the goblins I never even thought of.
It is an interesting topic though. I'm sure they'll have difficulty settings on release, but who knows? they might make this difficulty the easiest one.

[Amix]

Larian's combat design is perfect.

Moderately challenging combat really makes Baldur's Gate 3 interesting.
If you win any battle on first or second try, then it will not be fun & rewarding!
Where is adrenaline rush?

Remember, developers gave you lot of tools & freedom. There are multiple ways to win battles which makes combat walk in the park. Use surprise mechanic. 90% of battles in game are designed in such a way that players will always have upper hand.
However, I am unable to find out your exact problem.


Everyone who claimed that combat encounters are overly tuned...They are completely false.

Here is my guide which will help you. Also be sure to take help anytime. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrEgWxY8LAY

[Hex]

It's only hard if you're too lazy to figure out how the game works. Go watch a youtube video of the story instead.

[dulany67]

At this point it's just a question of git gud. And I don't mean that to be negative. There is a learning curve and you need to work through it.

The biggest pitfall I see is trying to do a battle over in the same way it was previously failed. If you don't succeed, try something different- positioning, spells, who to focus on, approach.

[FloatingToadThing]

Originally posted by Amix:

Larian's combat design is perfect.
Everyone who claimed that combat encounters are overly tuned...They are completely false. :dos2skull:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrEgWxY8LAY

Wow, that is an incredibly reductive take on the matter. I imagine you never experienced the hag fight when she summons her masked thralls to her side, each of whom has mechanics which completely deviate from D&D 5E norm.

[N/A]

Generally fights are way easier if you have a tall enough ledge to hunker on and rain cantrips or crossbow bolts from
You get advantage on ranged attacks when you do this for some reason
Enemies shoot back with disadvantage when you do this for some reason
Even if they didn't they won't have a window to shoot you from if you just peek over the ledge to shoot since held actions aren't added yet

Try the stone wall behind Crusher for the outside, the overhangs and beams over Gut and Minthara for the inside, and that cliffside near the hook horrors for the duergar unless they've changed the layouts since I last played

Balance isn't in a great spot at the moment, it's true

[Amix]

Originally posted by INTERPLANETARYNINJAASSASSIN:

Originally posted by Amix:

Larian's combat design is perfect.
Everyone who claimed that combat encounters are overly tuned...They are completely false.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrEgWxY8LAY

Wow, that is an incredibly reductive take on the matter. I imagine you never experienced the hag fight when she summons her masked thralls to her side, each of whom has mechanics which completely deviate from D&D 5E norm.

Greetings.

I played game with every possible outcome. Players do not need to try their best to make game difficult.

OP is asking for help so I thought why not give some confidence & show other possibilities.

"Surprise mechanic in D&D 5e makes players really powerful, it is only fair to give AI some small perks."

So you have a problem with hag fight.

Hag battle happens only after that NPC has revealed herself. In game, you find written article which clearly mentions that one must avoid any fight with hag. Such is the lore.

First of all If Hag summons her thralls then you evaded them & must prepare for that in next part.

Option 1. Game still gives you a chance to defeat hag in house before entering her lair.

Option 2. If you are in hag's lair then Surprise her before starting combat.

If you do not use either of above mentioned options then prepare for difficult encounter. Even then there are still several ways to win this battle but you must find that yourself.

[Marriorqq]

I do find it difficult to fight. Many times I don’t want to fight directly with the enemy. Or I have to LOAD/SAVE.
Of course, sometimes I just want to challenge and pass the first chapter without taking a break.
https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=2954&snA=2274&tnum=1