Baldur's Gate 3: 8 Tips For Playing Solo

Summary

• Choose a summoning class for your solo run to have built-in companions that can aid you in fights against larger groups of enemies.
• Use grenades strategically to eliminate large groups of enemies and balance the battlefield.
• Prioritize high armor class to avoid attacks landing and survive battles as the target of every attack.

Baldur's Gate 3 offers an intense challenge with Honour Mode that deletes your save after death, but another way you can increase the stakes is by playing solo, with only your main character and the gods between you and the Cult of the Absolute.

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Larian Studio's previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2, introduced this mechanically with Lone Wolf mode, which Baldur's Gate 3 players have found to be even more challenging and rewarding while exploring Faerûn. Which even leads to unique dialogue choices as you prove yourself the strongest hero.

8 Choose A Summoning Class

Although a solo run doesn't include inviting companions and Origin characters into your party, some classes have built-in companions that can aid you in a fight. This is important in fights against larger groups of enemies so that you aren't so vastly outnumbered.

The best classes for summoning are Beast Master Ranger, Conjuration Wizard, Circle of the Spores Druid, and Warlock with Pact of the Chain.

You can also experiment with magic items that boost summoned creatures, like the Abyss Beckoners, which is ideal for solo runs, as the maddened summon will always attack an enemy. As a necromancer, you can even literally raise your army and become the true villain of Baldur's Gate.

7 Hoard Grenades

One of the smartest ways to eliminate large groups of enemies is with effects and items that deal massive damage in a wide area. This can be done with grenade items that can be found almost everywhere or even crafted and will help you balance the battlefield.

You can also drop these items in strategic locations and fire away, causing a chain explosion that starts the battle off with a bang. The best explosives are the Runepowder Vial and Orthonic Handbombs, which are difficult to acquire but will save you in the most dire straits.

6 Talk Your Way Out

One of the most effective ways to get around some notably difficult encounters is to pass speech checks that avoid rolling for initiative while still gaining experience. Although this doesn't mean you'll have to play a Bard, you will want to at least have a positive Charisma modifier.

The Actor feat and Jannath's Hat provide strong buffs for dialogue checks.

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This is especially important in Act Two talking to the Thorms, as they can each be talked into defeat and otherwise provide a very tough fight. If you want additional help, play as Astarion to get the Happy bonus and have the Guidance spell ready.

5 Ambush Enemies

Since you can't talk your way out of every encounter, sometimes you need more extreme methods to ensure you don't have to reload your most recent saves. Combined with a handful of grenades, your best bet to survive encounters is to strike while in stealth and give your enemies a Surprised condition.

Assassin Rogues have built-in mechanics that make them the best for this strategy if you want to commit, but any class can pull it off with the right amount of finessing. Make sure you are in stealth mode often to catch enemy sight cones that you might not have noticed otherwise.

4 Prioritize High Armour Class

When you are one character in a battle of 20, you will be the target of every attack. To make sure you don't suffer from an early death before you even get to your turn, prioritize having as high of an armor class as possible to avoid attacks landing.

This can be difficult for certain classes, like Wizards, who don't even have armor proficiency, but there are other ways to squeeze every last point. Feats like Defensive Duelist and Dual Wielder can let you maintain your preferred fighting style without having to pick up a shield, as well as the Bracers of Defense.

3 Choose An Origin Character

Not only because it will be a better narrative experience while playing solo, but origin characters will have access to unique abilities, and even gifts, that allow them to have even the slightest edge against a standard Tav.

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Astarion has a fang attack that provides the Happy buff, Karlach can use Soul Coins to give her the Infernal Fury buff, and Gale can be visited by Tara who provides magic items. These perks are also not locked by class, meaning you can visit Withers to change it whenever you need.

2 Be Extra Careful Of Traps

Something you will find out the hard way when playing solo is that a single trap can instantly kill your character and force you to load back who knows how far back to try again. Keeping an eye out for everyone will be necessary to reach crucial areas or have access to the strongest items.

The best ways to increase your odds of avoiding them are with a high Perception score or by taking the Dungeon Delver feat to specifically find traps and secrets. You can also more easily avoid some timed traps by entering turn-based mode and just walking past.

1 Beware Of Ledges

The second-biggest danger for solo runs, but easily the most annoying, is being pushed off a ledge by a goblin and either taking too much fall damage or descending into the abyss and automatically dying.

Ammunition like Arrows of Roaring Thunder can also do this from miles away and there is almost nothing you can do to avoid it other than watch where your character is standing. A frequent amount of quicksaving can also save you from chronic headaches induced by failed saving throws.

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