Highlights
Baldur's Gate 3 gives players the freedom to make choices, focusing on character creation and skill proficiency, which greatly impacts gameplay.
Perception, one of the Wisdom Skills, offers players the most utility as it enables them to identify concealed threats, analyze intricacies, and acquire critical information that significantly influences the narrative and gameplay experience.
Baldur's Gate 3 offers players unparalleled freedom of choice, pushing boundaries in the RPG genre. With a multitude of decisions to make, one of the most crucial is the creation of their character and the selection of their Skills. These Skills, tied to abilities, determine their proficiency in specific tasks and have a lasting impact on their gameplay. As such, players must carefully consider their choices.
While Baldur's Gate 3 values a wide range of aptitudes, it places particular emphasis on Wisdom Skills. These skills, including Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival, prove invaluable in various situations. They provide players with enhanced intuition and perception, enhancing their abilities in dialogue, combat, and exploring the world. Understanding the significance of each Wisdom Skill is essential for players who wish to maximize their potential.
5 Medicine
How To Gain Proficiency
Classes | Backgrounds | Feats |
---|---|---|
Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Wizard | Hermit | Skilled |
The field of medicine involves understanding the human body and how it functions, as well as the ability to evaluate and treat injuries and illnesses in order to minimize their severity or save lives. It is also useful for determining the cause of death, which can be helpful when players want to anticipate potential dangers and distinguish between natural and unnatural deaths. Proficiency in medicine is advantageous for adventurers, as injuries and illnesses are common occurrences.
While medicine may seem essential, its effectiveness is often overshadowed by the availability of restorative magic and potions. The main appeal of this skill lies in the ability to assess and diagnose one's condition, but players will find that opportunities to do so are limited, and they are often unable to go beyond making a prognosis. Therefore, although it adds a nice touch to a character, medicine does not compare to other skills that have greater long-term utility.
4 Animal Handling
How To Gain Proficiency
Classes | Backgrounds | Feats |
---|---|---|
Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Ranger | Folk Hero | Skilled |
Animal Handling is a skill that allows players to effectively communicate with and manage both wild and domesticated animals. By intuiting their intentions, players can calm aggressive creatures, persuade animals to assist them, or even gain a new animal ally for their adventures. This skill enhances the bond between players and animals, offering various opportunities involving our furry friends.
Although Animal Handling proves to be a valuable talent in handling animals, its utility is limited to such interactions only. Consequently, it serves as a niche skill that players may not frequently employ and does not greatly impact other aspects of the game. Additionally, for those who possess abilities like Speak With Animals or similar means of communication, Animal Handling may seem redundant. Although it has its uses, this skill is more enjoyable than impactful, providing a pleasant but ultimately inconsequential addition to the game.
3 Survival
How To Gain Proficiency
Classes | Backgrounds | Feats |
---|---|---|
Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Ranger | Folk Hero, Outlander | Skilled |
Survival encompasses knowledge of the wilderness and its inhabitants, as well as the ability to survive in harsh environments. It encompasses a wide range of skills, such as tracking and hunting, making it a versatile and expansive skill. This skill is particularly suited for adventurers who frequently navigate treacherous wilderness areas.
Having proficiency in Survival can prove invaluable, as it offers various benefits and can help players avoid dangerous situations or encounters, particularly in the perilous landscapes of Baldur's Gate 3. However, it often provides information that players could gather through alternative means. Given the numerous hostile environments adventurers will encounter, Survival is a valuable skill to possess.
2 Insight
How To Gain Proficiency
Classes | Backgrounds | Feats |
---|---|---|
Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Wizard | Acolyte, Guild Artisan | Skilled |
Insight refers to the ability to accurately interpret the true intentions and emotional state of others. This can be achieved by observing their body language, facial expressions, speech patterns, or changes in their behavior. By analyzing these subtle cues, players can ascertain whether someone is being truthful, comprehend another person's emotional state, or anticipate the next move of a creature. This skill empowers players to gain a deeper understanding of individuals and their intentions through conversation or mere presence.
In the realm of dialogue, Insight is an indispensable asset. It uncovers valuable information that aids players in effectively navigating conversations. Armed with this knowledge, players can carefully select their words, avoiding statements or actions that may engender mistrust, anger, violence, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, Insight grants players a heightened comprehension of the overall character of others. With its myriad benefits, Insight emerges as an exceptional skill that will prove advantageous to players throughout their journey.
1 Perception
How To Gain Proficiency
Classes | Backgrounds | Feats |
---|---|---|
Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue | None |
Perception is the ability to be aware of, and have a sharp sense of, one's surroundings. It allows individuals to detect things through visual, auditory, olfactory, or similar means. By honing this skill, players can spot objects and creatures that are far away or concealed, hear the movements of a stealthy being, or even eavesdrop on conversations from a distance. Perception is particularly valuable for adventurers as it enables them to uncover things that would typically go unnoticed by their ordinary senses.
The significance of Perception as a skill cannot be overstated - it should always be a priority for players to develop. This skill finds its greatest utility in the game, as it passively alerts players to hidden dangers, invisible entities, and whispered conversations. Furthermore, it allows players to actively examine structures, creatures, and individuals in greater detail, providing them with crucial information or uncovering obscure details. This knowledge can have a profound impact on the overall story or specific encounters, making Perception the ultimate Wisdom Skill.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now on PC, with a PS5 release on September 6 and an Xbox launch to follow.