The Ultimate Guide: Mastering Baldur's Gate 3 - 10 Essential Feats for a Game-Changing Early Gameplay!

Feats in Baldur's Gate 3 are a great way for players to enhance their characters and tailor them to specific playstyles. These special features allow characters to excel in combat, increase their survivability, or improve their overall performance.

However, due to the strategic nature of Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3, it is crucial for players to choose their Feats wisely early on in the game to ensure a smooth progression through the RPG's story. Although most Feats can be beneficial in character development, some Feats in the early stages of the game may not be ideal for lower-level builds.

10 Actor

Playing Baldur's Gate 3 can be greatly improved by employing smooth persuasion techniques in RPG gameplay. This can prove challenging unless a character serves as the designated Face for the group. Fortunately, the Actor Feat offers a solution by not only providing a +1 increase to CHA but also granting Proficiency in Deception (CHA) and Performance (CHA). Additionally, the Baldur's Gate 3 Feat doubles the Proficiency Bonuses for these particular checks.

Nevertheless, acquiring this Feat early in the game is not necessarily essential. A default Bard Custom character is already capable of achieving decent results initially. It is more advantageous to save the 100 Gold and respec later to obtain a base CHA of 17 (+3), and then acquire the Actor Feat at a later stage. This approach is recommended since reaching 18 CHA (+4) will result in a significant Modifier boost.

9 Alert

Being caught off guard in Baldur’s Gate 3 can prove extremely perilous, as ambushing foes gain a complete Surprise Round, granting them a significant advantage. In the most dire circumstances, an ambushed character may even be slain with a single strike. The Alert ability theoretically bestows a +5 Initiative bonus to a character, guaranteeing that they cannot be caught off guard, thus denying enemies the opportunity to surprise them.

However, players can easily revert to their most recent save in order to ensure they have an opportunity to counterattack before their adversaries execute their ambush. Even if players opt not to employ this metagaming tactic, enemies who must draw near to launch melee attacks inadvertently provide the party with an advantage, since it requires less movement on their part to achieve their desired range.

8 Athlete

Thanks to Jump, players have enhanced mobility in Baldur’s Gate 3, allowing them to reach higher areas, navigate through crevices, and even jump down to lower ground without assistance. However, if they lose their balance and fall, they become Prone, temporarily immobilizing them and requiring some Movement Speed to stand up again.

With the Athlete ability, players not only receive a +1 bonus to either Strength or Dexterity, but they also expend less movement when standing up from a Prone position. Additionally, they are able to jump 50% farther than their normal distance. However, it is important to note that the benefits of recovering from being Prone and having increased jumping ability do not have immediate impact in combat, particularly if other members of their party are able to assist them.

7 Crossbow Expert

In Dungeons & Dragons, the typical long-ranged weapon is often portrayed as longbows and shortbows. However, in Baldur's Gate 3 gameplay, players have the opportunity to snipe in a more stylish manner with crossbows. By utilizing the Crossbow Expert skill, players are no longer at a disadvantage when making attack rolls with crossbows in melee combat.

Regrettably, relying on crossbows to land successful shots at close range is not the most advantageous strategy for characters originally specialized in long-range attacks. Building character abilities around long-ranged combat makes it more practical for players to disengage and create distance from their opponents, rather than attempting to engage in close-quarters combat with them.

6 Elemental Adept

Enemy resistances are a vital component of combat in Baldur's Gate 3, significantly reducing the damage taken when attacked with a specific type of damage. This can pose a challenge for players who rely on heavy elemental attacks, as resistance can greatly impact their damage output and deplete their character's spell slots unnecessarily. To mitigate this issue, players may opt for the Elemental Adept Feat, which provides resistance to Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Thunder Damage. However, in the context of Baldur's Gate 3, Elemental Adept may not prove to be a practical choice. This Feat is limited to a single damage type, and encounters featuring these elements are relatively rare.

5 Performer

In Baldur's Gate 3, Bards are often known for using their musical performances to cast spells. However, the D&D adaptation now allows all characters to showcase their proficiency with a musical instrument. Even non-Bards can still put on a show with the Performer Feat, which grants a +1 Charisma bonus in addition to proficiency with a musical instrument.

Despite the increase in Charisma, the Performer Feat doesn't offer many significant advantages compared to other Feats. Furthermore, even the Perform Action doesn't provide much additional benefit. As a result, improving one's Charisma through an Ability Score Improvement may be a more worthwhile option.

4 Resilient

Saving Throws act as a player's ultimate defense against powerful effects or spells in Baldur's Gate 3. A successful save can either halve the damage taken or completely negate the negative status. While the success of these saves often relies on an ability modifier, proficiency provides additional bonuses to assist players in avoiding devastating effects, including those caused by Illithid Powers.

By selecting Resilient, players not only receive a +1 increase in an ability of their choosing, but they also gain proficiency in saving throws associated with that ability. However, the impact of the additional ability score is limited unless it boosts the corresponding ability modifier, making this a more strategic decision.

3 Spell Sniper

Cantrips play a crucial role in the spellcasting abilities of characters in Baldur's Gate 3. They are particularly valuable as they do not require any spell slots and can significantly impact the outcome of battles when used effectively. The Spell Sniper feat presents the opportunity for players to learn an extra Cantrip, but also decreases the damage inflicted by Critical Hits by 1 (typically reducing a roll of 20 to 19). It is worth noting that this reduction is cumulative.

While this advantage may initially appear advantageous for spellcasters, the drawback of the -1 to Critical Hits is only truly beneficial if players have a means of gaining Advantage or possess significant Attack Roll bonuses. Furthermore, the added benefit of gaining an additional Cantrip seems relatively insignificant when compared to the advantages offered by the Magic Initiate feat.

2 Tough

Hit Points are crucial for a character's survival in Baldur's Gate 3, as they can only be shielded by Temporary Hit Points and an Armor Class which enemies must surpass to harm players. Since HP is initially low, it is wise to seek ways to increase it. Nonetheless, choosing the Tough ability, which adds 2 points to Maximum HP when leveling up, may not be the best option in the early stages of the game when allies can easily heal. Instead, players may want to prioritize increasing their damage output for quicker eliminations.

1 Weapon Master

The wide array of weapons available in Baldur’s Gate 3 allows players to easily mix and match armaments for their characters to utilize in combat. However, this specificity restricts players from utilizing their Proficiency Bonus on weapons they are not Proficient in, as well as utilizing Weapon Actions. With the assistance of the Weapon Master, characters can acquire Proficiency in an additional four weapons and receive a +1 boost to Strength or Dexterity.

Despite the allure of the Weapon Master as a Feat, it is not as beneficial compared to other combat options. Essentially, characters who can benefit from extra weapon Proficiencies are likely already Proficient in these weapons, such as martial classes. Similarly, other classes interested in acquiring the Weapon Master Feat are probably already Proficient in the weapons designed for their use.

Baldur's Gate 3 is available for PC. A PS5 version is set to release on September 6, 2023, and a version for Xbox Series X/S is currently in development.