Baldur’s Gate 3 is not your typical run-of-the-mill RPG. Whilst not the first game to use pen-and-paper roleplaying as its base, it is certainly one of the few modern games to be made in that style. This gives the game an extra layer of depth and mechanical intrigue, which in turn, makes it a tangibly rich experience.
It’s also quite a dense one that doesn’t outwardly tell you how to do everything. Sure, it will teach you how to play the game, but it won’t give you all the juicy shortcuts and hidden quality-of-life controls. This guide aims to amend that with 10 things you can do, that you didn’t know you could do.
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Quick Crouch
Crouching and sneaking around is a powerful mechanic in Baldur’s Gate 3. It allows your party to move unseen, and if you are controlling a Rogue, you can do it even easier. Being low to the ground also lets you get to locations and vantage points before combat, giving you a leg up before the battle even starts.
Crouching is traditionally done by pressing the Crouch button on your hotbar, but you can also hit ‘C’ for the same effect. If you want to get extra fruity, you can command your entire party to crouch by pressing ‘Shift+C’. Never again will have you to manually tell each party member to duck.
Select A Party Member
CRPGs are notorious for having a lot of things bound to your mouse. There is a lot of clicking involved, whether that be for movement, attacking, or even selecting a different party member to control. This can be a bit awkward, but thankfully, there is a way to quickly jump between your party.
Simply press ‘F1-4’ on your keyboard and you will instantly take control over a different party member. This is great for when you are in combat and you have a bunch of characters in sequential Initiative Order as it lets you quickly hop around and use them in whatever order you want, without the risk of input error and misclicking.
Quick Group/Ungroup
Your party, by default, likes to stick together. For the most part, this is fine. Sometimes, however, you need a party member to operate alone. Heck, sometimes you want to have every party member doing something different to maximise an ambushes effect. To ungroup your selected character from the party simply press ‘G’.
If you want to quickly unlink your entire party, then press ‘Shift+G’. You can even regroup your team by pressing ‘Shift+G’ a second time, allowing you to reunite effortlessly.
Make Multiple Groups
Very rarely do you want your close-combat fighters brawling near your elevated ranged characters. Separating your party into groups of two can help you manage your positions pre-fight. All you have to do is ungroup your party (‘Shift+G’) and then click and drag the portrait of a character and attach it to another portrait.
This will visually link them together, and now where one goes, the other will follow.
Group Select Items
Speaking of groups, did you know you can select multiple items at once from your inventory? Because you can. If you want more control over your selection, hold ‘Ctrl’ and then click on any items you want to group. Once you are done, you can send the group to your stash, sell them, or even transfer them to a different character.
If you want to go even quicker, hold ‘Ctrl+Shift’. This will let you select everything between the first item you click and the second. Ideal for quick inventory management.
See Enemy Sight Cones
If you want to operate unseen, the best thing you can do is check for enemy sight cones. These will automatically display when you are crouched, however, you can access this information at any time by pressing ‘Shift’. Very handy.
Activate Turn-based Mode
Baldur’s Gate 3 has real-time exploration mixed with turn-based combat. The game will also force you into turn-based mode whenever there is danger. For example, when you trigger a trap or enter the Shadow-Cursed Lands in Act II.
You can also manually enter Turn-based Mode at any time by pressing ‘Shift+Space’. This has a myriad of uses, but the one we like to use it for the most is navigating traps. Pressure plates can be avoided by jumping over them, so manually taking turns to get your party past them is a solid plan. Especially if you don’t have a rogue.
Reunite Missing Party Members With Fast Travel
Sometimes your party gets separated and you can’t find a way to reunite them. Maybe they’ve gotten caught in the scenery and can’t move, for example. A great way to quickly get your party back together is to just Fast Travel. This will warp everyone to the same place, and then you are free to go about your day. Gone are the days of “You must gather your party before venturing forth”.
Open Locks With Force
Rogues are handy for opening doors and chests, but they aren’t necessarily needed for ALL doors and chests. Instead of painstakingly burning through resources and rolling dice, you can just force these locks open. More accurately, you can just blow them up. This bypasses the need for keys, lockpicks, and stealth.
Spells are your best, and of all the spells in Baldur’s Gate 3, our favourite was Eldritch Blast courtesy of the Warlock. This is a very powerful Cantrip that destroyed most doors and chests in one or two casts. Since it’s a Cantrip, you can cast it infinitely and not worry about wasting valuable Spell Charges.
Easier Throwing
The world of Baldur’s Gate 3 is very interactive. Just about everything can be manipulated in some way, and this is often used to hide things. If there is a suspicious pile of boxes, then consider moving them with ‘Throw’ (or just blowing them up).
Throwing can be done very easily by clicking on an object and dragging it. You don’t have to navigate menus at all, and this will save a lot of time. It’s also very intuitive once you realise you can do it that way.
That’s all we have for Baldur’s Gate 3 for now. Be sure to check out our other guides and lists for more Baldur’s Gate content.
