Baldur’s Gate 3: 8 Hidden Mechanics Players Might’ve Missed

Highlights

Switch between trading and bartering easily by using the “trade” button at the top of the bartering screen in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Coating weapons with poisons can increase damage until a long rest. Drop the desired coating on the ground at camp and select the “dip” action to apply to weapons.
Force companions to jump by selecting the action to jump in place with your own character, providing them with the extra trigger to catch up.

There are plenty of interesting and useful mechanics in Baldur’s Gate 3 that can aid players on their journey. However, some are rather obscure and not hugely known to the majority of players. This is understandable for new players, as the game does present a lot of information early on that might feel a bit overwhelming. Some mechanics are frighteningly easy to miss.

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However, thanks to the community, these mechanics are becoming more well-known. Some features in Baldur’s Gate 3 even solve the most annoying issues within the game, such as companions not jumping over gaps and having to barter instead of trade with merchants.

8 Switching Between Trading & Bartering

Seamlessly Switch Between Trade/Barter In The Top Center Of The Merchant Screen

Over the course of Baldur’s Gate 3, players will collect lots of valuable loot that they can sell to merchants. However, some merchants specialize in bartering rather than the usual and preferred trading.

Luckily, there’s actually a button at the top of the bartering screen that says ‘trade’, allowing you to switch between trading and bartering easily.

7 Coating Your Weapon

Weapon coating is a mechanic that not enough players take advantage of. It’s understandable; good poisons and toxins can be hard to find, and they don’t last particularly long. There’s a solution for this!

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If players head to camp and throw their desired coating onto the floor, they can then select the ‘dip’ action to dip their weapon in the ground. This gives the weapon all the buffs of the coating, and it lasts until the next long rest. Even better, the coating on the floor will stay there for a few days more.

6 Forcing Companions To Jump

If Tav Jumps, They All Jump

Too many players have had to undergo the frustrations of jumping a gap and having a companion refuse to follow. Instead of switching to that companion and forcing them to jump, there’s actually a much easier solution to this.

Usually, they just need that extra trigger to catch up. Players should select their own character and select the action to jump in place. This should give the companion that little nudge to get them to jump over.

5 Summoning

Create Armies With Summon Spells

Summoning is yet another undervalued mechanic. Summons can be found all throughout the game through various interactions. There is absolutely no limit to the number of summons in your party, meaning players can build a small army if they’d like.

Whilst these extra creatures aren’t always the most powerful, they’re great for evening out the playing field and doing some extra damage. They’re also particularly useful for taking punches, keeping the enemies distracted, and drawing their attacks away from the main companions.

Pick Up Corpses To Add Them To Inventory

A commonly missed mechanic is collecting unlootable items from dead bodies. While players can take all the normal items from the dead, there are still a few more things to take. To get them, players need to pick up a dead body and then check their own character inventory, clicking into their equipment slots. They should be able to see a new item that’s marked as ‘equipped’.

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To get it, they need to unequip any item that’s already in that equipment slot and then select the item from the body. This is a super interesting way to get unique clothing and items that might previously have been unavailable.

3 See Interactive Items

Hold Left Alt/R3 To See Interactive Items

interacting with the world in baldurs gate 3

Players may be aware that a lot of open-world games have a ‘survival sense’ mechanic where they can sense nearby items and creatures. Baldur’s Gate 3 actually has a similar mechanic.

Upon pressing and holding Left Alt on the keyboard or R3 on a controller, players will suddenly see all the nearby interactive items light up. This is a super handy feature that a lot of players don’t know about, especially since it will show where NPCs are looking in red highlights to help with stealth.

2 Send To Camp

Use The Traveler’s Chest In Camp To Avoid Being Encumbered

Feeling encumbered? It’s impractical to carry absolutely everything around as it slows the characters down significantly. That’s where the traveler’s chest comes in handy. When looting chests and pantries, select the ‘send to camp’ option, and it’ll teleport straight to the traveler’s chest at the campsite. There’s plenty of room.

Players may find it useful to send any food items there as it means the camp will always be stocked for long rests. Just remember to take the food out before resting, as it won’t be available until it’s in a character’s inventory.

1 Turn-Based Mode

Avoid Traps And NPCs

Think turn-based mode is just for combat? Think again. While not many players use it, it can actually be rather handy in certain situations. For example, NPCs don’t move around, which means players can take their time when trying to pickpocket them.

It also forces moving platforms to stop, so characters can hop off and on without any difficulty. In some instances, traps will activate, and entering turn-based mode will allow characters to get to safety before being killed.