Baldur's Gate 3 Beginner Guide — Classes, Party and Action Economy

The most important concept in Baldur's Gate 3 is action economy: on each turn a character gets one action, one bonus action, and a set amount of movement, and almost every strong tactic is about getting more of these than the enemy. Haste grants an extra action, Bless makes your attacks land more often, and simply positioning so that your whole party acts before the enemy does can decide a fight before it starts. When a battle goes badly, it is usually because you spent turns moving instead of threatening.

For a first playthrough, classes with forgiving, self-sufficient kits make life easy. Paladin brings heavy armour, healing and enormous burst damage; Fighter gets extra attacks and is almost impossible to build badly; Warlock scales elegantly and recovers spell slots on a short rest; Druid's Circle of the Moon turns into an animal form that soaks damage for the whole party. Whatever you pick, build a party that covers damage, healing and control rather than four damage dealers.

A handful of habits carry you through the whole campaign. Shove enemies off ledges for free kills. Fight from high ground, which gives advantage on ranged attacks. Long rest often — it restores everything, advances companion romances and storylines, and there is almost no downside, so never trudge on at half health. And read your spell descriptions: the difference between a spell that requires concentration and one that does not is the difference between losing your best buff on the first hit and keeping it all fight.