Whether you want to experience the story or engage in brutal combat situations, learn about the difficulty settings coming to Baldur's Gate 3.

First Published July 28, 2023, 06:08

With the full game launch of Baldur’s Gate 3 coming soon to PC, developer Larian Studios has provided players ways to experience every core component that meets their playstyle. Whether exploring the narrative-driven gameplay or engaging in extreme combat encounters, a game mode lets them choose how easy or hard their journey will be.

During the recent Panel From Hell showcase livestream, Larian Studios detailed all the game modes players can choose from at launch. We’ve explained these game modes, what to expect, and whether you can change the difficulty in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Can You Change The Game’s Difficulty In Baldur’s Gate 3?

Unfortunately, there isn’t an option available as of writing for players to change their difficulty settings in Baldur’s Gate 3. While it’s not stated if this option will be included at launch or post-launch, players won’t be able to change their difficulty setting once they’ve started their campaign in-game.

It’s, therefore, essential to ensure that the difficulty selected after creating your character is the type of experience you wish to experience in your gameplay. The developer has revealed there will be three various difficulties for players to choose to explore the game’s content and flesh out their journey.

Baldur's Gate 3 Difficulty Settings Detailed

As previously stated, three different difficulties will be available for players in Baldur’s Gate 3. By default, Balanced Mode will be the game’s normal difficulty, crafted for players to experience a mix of engaging story content yet not complicated combat encounters.

Along with Balanced Mode, two other difficulties are included at launch: Explorer and Tactician Modes. Explorer Mode will serve as the game’s Story Mode and is available to players who wish to fully immerse themselves in the story content with little to no combat interactions.

The differences with Explorer Mode are that certain NPCs will become slighter hard to kill, trader prices are discounted by 20%, and when starting your campaign, you’ll gain a proficiency bonus of +2. This mode is more forgiving for players, which may be a good mode to begin if you’re new to Baldur’s Gate or looking to reacquaint yourself with the gameplay mechanics.

The third difficulty setting included in Baldur’s Gate 3 is Tactician Mode, which, as expected, is the game’s hard or hardcore mode. Experienced players looking to involve themselves with a pure combat experience can use this mode to test their mettle.

With “enemy lethality” significantly increased, which ensures that enemies are much harder to defeat by giving them more health (HP), as players are forced to prioritize targeting enemies with a lower or weaker Armor Class (AC). Likewise, enemies will gain additional support when engaged in combat, whether it be buffs, certain consumable items, spells, or reinforcements.

They may also have to prioritize their surroundings to deplete enemy health or eliminate as many enemies as possible. The developer has made changes by adding environment attacks and explosive barrels but don’t forget that you will have to contend with the Brutal AI system that enemies will have.