In Baldur’s Gate 3, some of the simplest skills are the...

I am new to Baldur’s Gate, so the concept of video games is based on Dungeons Mechanics are completely alien to me. As I navigated through the game, I came across a number of occasions where my tiefling’s well-made ass was turned over to me in battles because I was too undervalued or unhappy with my throws. Years of playing video games have led me to use my offensive spells and skills to get myself through combat. Only when I hit things or spelled things until they died did I know how to win a fight.

It took a while to register, but as my search progressed Baldur’s Gate 3 showed me a better, much funnier way to fight.

Take “Shove” for example. Shove is a bonus promotion that anyone can take. “Push a target up to 4 meters away. Pushing unsuspecting targets is always successful. “I was in a fight, attacked by some goblins on the roofs above me. They cushioned my group with their rain of arrows until I finally managed to get my villain upstairs for some backstabby action. He missed it because with my luck, of course, he did. So, frustrated and upset and out of motion or basic actions, I did the only thing I could do: I pushed the goblin. When I saw this green-skinned son of a bitch sail weird off the roof and fly through the air, I laughed so damn hard that I didn’t immediately realize he had died. This shock was fatal. A well-placed bonus action and a confused enemy went from full health to dead.

Now when I get into fights, I push everything. ABS: Always push – especially when enemies are on a raised platform. The pushing also helps position enemies to take advantage of another divine spell, fat.

Fat is a great two-of-a-kind: you can hit opponents in the prone position and give you an advantage over them (which increases the chances of you hitting), and you can ignite fat enemies on fire. I don’t care about the wizard companion Gale. He’s very much the talkative archetype who tries to be overly charming and I just don’t like him. But he’s an integral part of my group because he can fling fat anywhere and set the entire battlefield (sometimes my own group) on fire. Triggering the fat / fire combo is my second most popular way of fighting Baldur’s GateIt literally brings joy. My face illuminated If I set fire to my enemies and … all right, I’ll be done with the puns, but you get the picture. I knocked down high-ranking enemies that I couldn’t even meet by trapping them in my flames.

Light it up, light it up! (Screenshot: Larian Studios)

The fat spell is great, but it’s not the only way to napalm your enemies. I also take barrels of fire wine with me to achieve the same effect. (Did you know you can pick this up? If you run into one, pick it up and toss it at a group of enemies – works just like fat, just without the ability to hit enemies vulnerable.) Use a flammable one Liquid, be it fat or fire wine, is one of your most powerful combinations because it’s an easy way to do a lot of damage to many enemies at the same time.

Jump is not so much an offensive skill as it is an extremely useful skill. At first glance, Baldur’s Gate 3 seemed to me to be a visually impressive game that lacked environmental depth. It’s an isometric CRPG, and I’m used to these types of games that explicitly tell me, “This is where you can jump” or “This is where you can climb” to indicate that there is something there to climb into or worth jumping. Again, Baldur’s Gate 3 proved me wrong. While you can’t really climb without an interactive surface like grapevines, you can jump pretty much anywhere, provided you have space to land and enough speed to move. You will use the ability for worldly purposes, such as trying to reach the goblin camp, but it is also extremely useful for finding secrets or accessing otherwise inaccessible places without shaking 50 million enemies at once.

[Note: Light spoilers for a nifty secret in the goblin camp. If you want to find it on your own, don’t go any further.]

Given my penchant for keeping people from doing things and the advantage of attack from above, I want to be as far above the ground as possible. When I see a ladder, I climb it. In the goblin ruins I saw one such ladder that led to the rafters that crossed most of the dungeon. I came across a half-broken wall. I couldn’t walk over the rubble so I thought it was inaccessible, just environmental taste. But on a whim: “Can I jump that?”

I could.

Here is a treasure. (Screenshot: Larian Stuidos)

I followed more rafters until they led into a room where I could see a locked chest. Since I had my villain with me, I sent him down to crack my chest. He found 3,000 gold! It’s hard to make enough money Baldur’s Gate 3Therefore, you often have the choice of buying the healing potion or the resurrection scroll, but never both. Three G’s meant I would never make that choice again.

One problem: The door from the treasury was guarded and would trigger a fight. Not a problem if not the fact that the room also held 50 barrels of fire wine. A faulty spark and everyone dies. How could I get out without starting a fight that would blow everyone up?

I jumped out of there, completely undiscovered and 3,000 gold richer.

Then I had Gale toss a fireball to the guards as a parting gift as an extra piece of * cooking kiss * brilliance. I literally ran away as my enemies explodedbecause cool wizards don’t look back on explosions.

Im Baldur’s Gate 3 It feels like you can do almost anything. Regardless of your chosen class, you will have a number of spells and skills that can turn your character into a living god. You can shoot light from your fingertips, talk to animals, heal any wound, heal any disease. They can spit corrosive acid on your enemies or create such fear that they will turn away from you and flee. They can even summon demons from hell pits to do your dirty work for you. Yet I shot enemies with one simple blow or burned them with burning fat. Baldur’s Gate 3 is the Occam razor for video games because, despite all the skills you can learn, the most powerful skills you will ever use in the game are often the easiest.