Struggling with Gearing– Looking for Advice!

[Ghost]

I absolutely love Baldur’s Gate 3, but if I’m being honest, the part of the game I enjoy the least is gearing up. Specifically, trying to pair the right gear with specific characters and classes feels tedious and, frankly, kind of repulsive to me. I also dislike how easy it is to cheese every mechanic to the point that its obviously busted wide open, like robbing merchants and how easy it is to farm incredible strong potions etc. I feel like it just breaks the game.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice or tips to make this aspect of the game more manageable or enjoyable. I’d really appreciate any guidance!

[Mike Garrison]

So ... don't rob merchants? That's an easy one.

The game is actually pretty forgiving about gear, even at the higher levels. Yes, you have lots and lots of choices, but they all can be made to work. So I suggest not obsessing over the perfect gear. Just play the game.

[Mike Garrison]

Your main issue with gear is:

1) heavy, medium, light, or no armor?
2) dual wielding v. two-handed weapon v. one-handed + shield

The armor question is tied to your dexterity and your class. A simple (but not always optimal) rule is to wear the heaviest armor you have proficiency for. But once you know the mechanics of Armor Class, you will find that most characters can be made to top out at 20+ AC regardless of what style of armor (or non-armor) that they use.

Most people would likely agree that two-handed weapons are for melee damage dealers. One-handed plus shield is for those that want to trade damage for protection (or other magical benefits some shields offer). And dual wielding is quite specialized, so I would limit it to rogues at first until you learn how to make use of it.

[Ghost]

No like how titan string bow is bis for act for most bow using builds. I don't want to have to use specific magical items, or how hill giant strength is crazy op and easy as heck to farm. ruins the game for me.

[RollerPig]

Originally posted by Ghost:

No like how titan string bow is bis for act for most bow using builds. I don't want to have to use specific magical items, or how hill giant strength is crazy op and easy as heck to farm. ruins the game for me.

there are several ranged builds that do NOT rely on abusing titan string bow/str pots.

dual weild Hand crossbow "killer bard" build is hands down the highest nova damage in game and S tier. Theres 2 bows in act 3 that are also VERY strong and can be used with ranger/rogue builds depending if you want to stack crit and or vulnerability or burst dmg (ranged fighter builds).

The titan string bow with Str pots only adds 5 dmg. it is only when stacked with vulnerability and auto crits and sharpshooter does it really start to get broken.

I mean you must've looked up a video and watched someone play that build because its not intuitive , ie: i doubt you would've thought of it yourself

Also in the harder difficulties pick pocketing is a HUGE risk, especially in the grove. I NEVER do it until later acts

if your talking about hacking the traders either using bags or gold exploits well, that's really not intended in the game and most that do this have multiple play through's and are just looking to avoid the laborious task of picking up and selling everything

As far as builds there are some that have almost ZERO reliance on gear like open hand monk, multiple cleric builds,paladin builds. theres a ton where gear selection is basically up to you

If your looking for broken "best in slot" builds then yes I guess there isnt much selection..

you'd have to give me more info for class to make suggestions

[⎛⎝ Kupo ⎠⎞]

Like Mike said the easiest answer is to not min max, I hate min maxing in these games it ruins my fun too and it usually feels too silly.
You don't need the best gear to beat the game too even on Honor mode.

Generally speaking I tend to prioritize items for my player characters, so for instance if I play a Warlock or Sorcerer I'll want to get the Potent Robe that adds CHA to Cantrip damage.

The shortsword from the Gith Monastery in act 1 is an easy pick too I pretty much always get that and the Lathander mace for whoever needs it in the party.
The armor from the forge in act 1 too I skipped last time because I skipped that whole area and never really felt like it made much of a difference.
Don't feel bad about skipping or missing items, especially in act 1 and 2.

Edit: I really agree on the tedious part, hence why I skipped the Underdark altogether last time.
The biggest problem for me in this regard tho isn't the gear, it's the exp.
On replay it feels like a big checklist you have to go through to not be underleveled.

[Renlish]

I usually try to match up the gear I find/buy/am gifted with what I want specific characters to do and what will complement each one. I don't go looking for complete or specific gear sets or anything though. I've followed a guide to max a character once and I just found that waaaaaaay too tedious. The only thing I really pay attention is whether they can actually use the gear or not... though I have done a short non-proficiency run which is HILARIOUS.

The roleplaying part of me is like "Hey Gale, you hungry or can we use this?" And "Shart, how shiny do you wanna be?"

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by Ghost:

No like how titan string bow is bis for act for most bow using builds. I don't want to have to use specific magical items, or how hill giant strength is crazy op and easy as heck to farm. ruins the game for me.

So don't use it?

You can play the game on the hardest difficulty, have fun, and win while never using an elixir of any kind.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by ⎛⎝ Kupo ⎠⎞:

On replay it feels like a big checklist you have to go through to not be underleveled.

There is some of that, yes. Or to not miss later content. Like, if you don't kill the hag in Act 1, you don't get any hag content in Act 3.

There is still plenty of EXP in Act 3, so you can skip some in Act 1 and Act 2 and still reach Level 12 if you want, but it does make it harder to get past the Act 3 gatekeeper battles (Ketheric, Ketheric again, Myrkul, and the fight in the prism).

[Psychotic_Frog]

Stop metagaming and don't min-max. It's a roleplay game, you have control on what you do, instead of picking that OP bow just tell yourself "Oh, but this Tav actually prefer crossbows even if they're less good, because of X story reason in his past" and don't abuse it.

Even in tabletop D&D you can absolutely wreck any game if you want, but you don't go and make black holes with 2 bags of holding every big encounters because you respect the game and avoid metagaming and abusing it.

[StrayBullet]

Pretty much anything works. Even the basic Fighter, Two Hander/Sword and Board. The Cleric with healing focused gear. The dex ranged focused rogue. The elemental evocation wizard. You can honor mode with that even. No need to spend your time theory crafting on what makes what. Some stuff is just very obvious ... radiant orb with radiant damage ... hrm looks like that's gonna go to a Paladin or Cleric ...

[Metallicus]

Play an open hand monk and you don't need gear.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Ghost:

Struggling with Gearing– Looking for Advice!
I absolutely love Baldur’s Gate 3, but if I’m being honest, the part of the game I enjoy the least is gearing up. Specifically, trying to pair the right gear with specific characters and classes feels tedious and, frankly, kind of repulsive to me. I also dislike how easy it is to cheese every mechanic to the point that its obviously busted wide open, like robbing merchants and how easy it is to farm incredible strong potions etc. I feel like it just breaks the game.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice or tips to make this aspect of the game more manageable or enjoyable. I’d really appreciate any guidance!

Play Honour Mode.

[paulxiep]

My suggestion, which I also do, is simply to not farm and to not use consumables at all.

Then gearing is restricted to permanent items that only have to be obtained once, and you can decide if a particular one is worth getting for builds.

(Shar spear in particular forces you down a path you may not like in story. Bhaalist items may be off limit if you care about certain hollyphant. Certain armour in Act 3 may be too expensive, etc.)

[Ghost]

I wish the game was centered more around, none magical items that didn't have xyz effects and instead focused on class building. I don't like that its ideal for me to read guides and figure out whats complicated magic ability is the best for the class or build im playing, it would be so much cooler to me if this game wasn't so focused on gear.

Just posting this for further clarification.

[Ghost]

I appreciate all the advice everyone is giving, thank you.