Baldur's Gate 3: How Using D&D 5e Changes The Game From BG 2 (2024)

Baldur's Gate 3 uses the rules from the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons, which are drastically different from the ones used in Baldur's Gate 2. This is because the two games were released decades apart, and DnD changed a great deal over that period of time. Baldur's Gate 2 used the second edition rules of DnD, while its successor uses the 5e rules. The implementation of DnD elements into the game also differs drastically, resulting in a gameplay style that is completely new in certain ways. 3D visuals and a combat overhaul change up the Baldur’s Gate franchise while maintaining certain essentials of the experience.

Along with the rules changes, the lore of Baldur's Gate 3 is different than that of Baldur's Gate 2. This is because the timeline has skipped ahead by a century. Baldur's Gate 2 was all about stopping the return of Bhaal, the God of Murder. It turns out that this quest was fruitless, as Bhaal managed to return in the lore of DnD, and is even one of the patron deities that can be chosen by the main character in Baldur's Gate 3. The tiefling race is now far more commonplace than it was in the days of Baldur's Gate 2, and the new dragonborn race has appeared in Faerun.

Related: 10 Baldur’s Gate 3 Questions For Beginners, Answered

D&D 5e Is Easier To Understand Than AD&D

Baldur's Gate 2 is one of the greatest RPGs of all time, but not everything about it has aged perfectly. The game was well worthy of receiving an Enhanced Edition, and going back to play the game for the first or fifth time today can still result in an excellent experience. The problem with playing Baldur's Gate 2 or its predecessor is that it uses the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, which was the second edition of the game. AD&D is notable for having a number of baffling design choices, most of which were removed in third edition.

AD&D was the system that had of all time, THAC0. This meant that in Baldur's Gate 2, a character's Armor Class score lowered whenever they put on stronger armor, a strange and potentially disorienting concept. AD&D is also the system where clerics couldn't use bladed weapons, thief class skills were determined by percentages, the classes level up at different rates, and there were race/class combos that weren't allowed. The rules in AD&D were confusing for newcomers, which bled into the Baldur's Gate games. Baldur's Gate 3 uses the 5e rules of D&D, which are easier to jump into for the first time and have fewer restrictions.

Baldur's Gate 3 Shifts To Turn-Based Combat

In the old Baldur's Gate games, the combat played out in real time, though the action could be paused by pressing the space bar. This allowed for the selection of individual commands for each character. It was possible to set up custom A.I.s for the party members, in order to let them perform basic actions on their own. The lack of a turn-based option available in Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 was always a strange disconnect from ADnD, which had a turn-based combat system. In Baldur's Gate 3, the action is turn-based, which is much closer to how the combat in DnD works.

The turn-based mode in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a step up from the chaotic combat of Baldur's Gate 2, where it could be difficult to optimize strategy and tell how long an action was going to take. The lack of an option for real-time combat might be frustrating for some veterans of the older game. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a game that bridged the combat divide, with a turn-based mode is great for most combat encounters, but disabling it will make the game run a lot faster in instances where there are loads of enemies on the screen.

Considering how the action economy in Baldur’s Gate 3 works, a mode like this would be difficult to implement. The turn-based system still manages to keep the momentum up with responsive movement and controls, and a focus on versatility and positioning allows for overpowered Baldur's Gate 3 combat tricks that reward creativity. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a shockingly close video game experience to playing an actual game of DnD 5E, carrying over the best features of tabletop encounters while expediting the execution.

Baldur's Gate 3 Characters Are Stronger At Low Levels

One of the complaints regarding Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 is how deadly they can be, especially to low-level characters. The thieves and spellcasters in ADnD had few hit points at level one, to the point where pretty much everything could one-shot them. Being killed by a critical hit from a kobold's arrow is a classic Baldur’s Gate 3 experience that proved particularly annoying if it happened repeatedly. What made this even more frustrating is that the death of the main character resulted in a game over, even if the other party members had access to resurrection magic.

In Baldur's Gate 3, the rules are a lot kinder to low-level characters. In DnD 5e, everyone starts with maximum hit points at level one. It's now possible to restore some hit points naturally, by taking short rests, without needing to burn through potions or spells. Along with being more durable, the characters are also more effective in combat. The cantrips used by spellcasters can ensure that they never have to resort to darts or slings like in ADnD, and the Sneak Attack feature of the rogue class is a lot easier to use than the Backstab feature of the thief class.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 also provides some tweaks of its own that help DnD 5e combat feel more empowered in-game. Paladin subclasses in Baldur's Gate 3 have original features, for example, and bonus actions are generally more powerful, with the inclusion of Shove and increased versatility of offhand attacks making for some major improvements. These additions and the general ease of entry help the 5E changes made in Baldur’s Gate 3 follow up on Baldur’s Gate 3 in a strong way.