Top 5 mistakes to avoid early in Baldur's Gate 3

The full version of Baldur's Gate 3 has been launched just recently, and although the early access went around for three years, much has been changed in terms of its gameplay and mechanics. It's easy to overwhelm yourself with the huge amount of content this game offers, and it is unlikely that you will understand the title, with all its intricacies, on the get-go.

While it is perfectly normal for you to commit mistakes the first time you play Baldur's Gate 3, there are some things that you better understand before diving head-first into the game.

Listed below are five mistakes to avoid when playing Baldur's Gate 3.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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Baldur's Gate 3 guide: Top 5 things to avoid early in the game

5) Neglecting your companions

Your companions are important in Baldur's Gate 3 (Image via Larian Studios)

In your journey to determine the fate of Faerun, you are going to take on a lot of intense battles and grueling challenges. Your companions are going to be your lifeline throughout these adventures, not only as sidekicks in combat but also as key persons in unlocking storylines and quests in the Forgotten Realms.

For this reason, you should establish a solid relationship with your companions by engaging in conversations and making an effort to know about their character backgrounds. You'll be surprised at how companion relationships can affect your overall progress. You can even use them to save you so much time and resources in the game.

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4) Relying solely on character skills in combat

Set your enemies on fire during combat (Image via Larian Studios)

One great thing about Baldur's Gate 3 is its unique combat system. Skills and abilities are not the only things you can use in combat. In fact, relying on them solely isn't going to win you a lot of battles. You can utilize your environment to gain a tactical advantage and even use items and consumables to create favorable situations.

In this game, you are encouraged to interact with your surroundings and get creative as much as you want. You can push your enemies off the cliff, create a fire to burn your opponents, or even throw your companion's corpse at your foes. You will never run out of things to do in this game with all its seriousness and hilarity.

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3) Taking minimal rests

If you are the type to grind for hours without taking a break, this might be a bummer for you. Baldur's Gate 3 is a type of game that encourages you to take rests to recharge spell slots and health. It's a rookie mistake to head on to battles without proper rest, as it will just cost you a lot of resources, especially when reviving your allies.

You can also take this opportunity to learn more about your companions. Engage in conversations and gain their approval. To take a rest, hover to the bottom-right corner of your screen and select one of the three rest types.

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2) Not using the high ground

In Baldur's Gate 3, you will often find yourself in battles where you are outnumbered. While these fights may seem unwinnable at first glance, you will come to know that they are actually very easy to win if you battle them from the high ground. This is especially useful when dealing with melee monsters incapable of reaching elevated heights.

You can manually shove your enemies off the elevated terrain or simply use movement spells to quickly reposition and gain a battle advantage.

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1) Forgetting to save

Manually save the game to protect your progress (Image via Larian Studios)

Unfortunately for Baldur's Gate 3, the most common mistake is the most crucial one. No matter how far you have progressed in an entire day, you will have to kiss your efforts goodbye if you are not able to save your progress manually. While the game has an auto-save option, it isn't very reliable as it only activates in limited checkpoints.

Protect your progress by manually saving it. Simply press F5, and a prompt that says your game has been saved should appear on your screen.