User:Majorminor50

Basics of Combat

Goal of combat. Reduce your enemies HP (Health Points) to zero.

When combat begins, your characters and the enemy will roll Initiative. This is a d20 (1-20) with a characters Dexterity acting as the modifier to this. Based on how characters rolled, they will take turns based on where they fell in that order.

Combat in Baldur's Gate 3 runs on Actions. Every class/enemy/character has at minimum 1 Full Action and 1 Bonus Action during their turn. Certain actions, abilities, items and spells can will cost either a Full Action or a Bonus Action (occasionally alongside a class specific resource like a spell slot).

Certain classes, abilities, potions, items or spells and increase or decrease the amount of actions and bonus actions any given character may get to utilize on their turn.

Actions

Full Action - A costs a character 1 full action resource. These actions typically do damage, or allow the character some level of benefit or buff. You only get 1 per turn (unless under the affects of Haste).

Notable Actions

Action	Description
Main hand Attack	Attack with the weapon in your main hand
Dash	Double your movement speed
Help	Assist a party member
Throw	Throw an item

Bonus Actions - Costs a character 1 bonus action resource. These are typically "less" impactful than full actions, but still powerful. You only get 1 per turn (unless you are a Thief who gets 2, or under the effect of the Helmet of Grit).

Notable Bonus Actions

Action	Description
Jump	Jump a distance based on your strength.
Hide	Attempt to hide.
Dip	Dip your weapon in a surface.
Potions	Drink a potion

Action Economy

In game systems, players and the enemy run on what is known as the Action Economy. This is the relationship between how many actions the player gets to take on their turn in contrast to the number of actions that the enemy gets to take on their turn. The goal of any given encounter is to incapacitate or reduce your enemies HP to zero. In order to do so, characters take turns using actions and bonus actions to attack, buff party members, and debilitate their opponents.

The economy is how many actions and bonus actions the characters and enemies have at their disposal on any given turn. For example:

Player's Party

Character	Class	# of Full Actions (per turn)	# of Bonus Actions (per turn)
Shadowheart	Cleric	1	1
Astarion	Rogue (Thief)	1	2
Lae'Zel	Fighter	1	1
Tav	Warlock	1	1
Total		4	5

Whilst engaged in combat with the enemy goblins below, our party has at their disposal, 4 Full actions, and 5 Bonus actions between them.

Enemy -

Character	# of Full Actions (per turn)	# of Bonus Actions (per turn)
Goblin 1	1	1
Goblin 2	1	1
Goblin 3	1	1
Goblin 4	1	1
Goblin 5	1	1
Total	5	5

In contrast, there are 5 Goblins, meaning that at the start of combat the enemy has access to 5 Full Actions and 5 Bonus Actions

As combat proceeds, you and the enemy will expend actions to attack one another.