Baldur’s Gate 3 is based on Dungeons & Dragons 5e, but the game takes many liberties in adapting the tabletop game’s rules. Some rules adaptations let players make use of existing options that are rarely utilized in normal 5e, such as jumping. Others, like bonus actions and reactions, are simply adapted to the digital interface to make using them more streamlined.
Every four levels in DnD 5e and Baldur’s Gate 3, characters have the option of choosing an ability score improvement or taking a feat. Instead of increasing in Strength or Intelligence, a player might choose for their ranger to become a Crossbow Expert or their wizard to become a War Caster, gaining additional powers, spells, or benefits outside of basic numerical bonuses. Like other rules, many feats in Baldur’s Gate 3 have been changed to better suit a video game than a tabletop experience, and there are more than a few that are worth taking in Baldur’s Gate 3 even if they’re always overlooked in their original forms.
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10 War Caster
Advantage On Concentration Saves & Shocking Grasp Opportunity Attacks
Taking the War Caster feat makes any magic user even more capable in combat than they already are. A lot of the best spells in the game require concentration, meaning there’s a saving throw whenever the caster takes damage or the spell’s effect is broken. War Caster gives advantage on those saving throws. Additionally, the feat lets casters use the shocking grasp cantrip and use it as an attack of opportunity instead of the typical, almost useless melee attack. While many casters have good options for using their reactions, shocking grasp is a fantastic way to finish off running enemies, or stop them dead in their tracks so actual melee characters can lay into them.
9 Polearm Master
Longer Reach & Better Attacks Of Opportunity
Not only does the Polearm Master feat give the character a bonus action attack to smash enemies with the butt of their spear, but it also lets them take attacks of opportunity for monsters moving into range rather than out. By using a reaction in this way, the martial character can sometimes demolish an enemy on its own turn before it even has a chance to attack or use its action. Considering that some of the strongest weapons in the game are polearms, especially for Shadowheart, taking the polearm master feat is a no-brainer.
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8 Lucky
Luck Points For Gaining Advantage Or Forcing Enemies To Reroll
One of the major faults of DnD 5e, and Baldur’s Gate 3 in turn, is that when a die roll fails, the turn is wasted, and so are resources such as spell slots. With the Lucky feat, however, the character gets a chance to reroll the d20 and attempt to change the outcome up to three times per long rest. Sometimes the new roll will be a failure, too, but having the option is incredibly beneficial. Add this with various inspiration points that work the same way, and there is a much lower chance of anything being wasted.
The game will prompt players to use a Luck Point automatically, so there is never a time when the feat can be used, but is instead forgotten. Best of all, using the Lucky feat does not take a bonus action or reaction. That means players very much do make their own luck in Baldur’s Gate 3.
7 Great Weapon Master
Bonus Attack After Killing An Enemy
The Great Weapon Master feat gives players the option to take a -5 attack roll penalty in order to deal 10 extra damage with tha attack via the All In toggleable passive feature. Depending on the enemy, this can be worth it, or it can be another wasted turn. Barbarians get a little more out of this than others with their Reckless Attack ability, but it’s still an iffy choice to keep toggled on.
The real boon to Great Weapon Master is being able to take another full attack as a bonus action. Whenever the character kills an enemy, they can then target a second enemy as a bonus action. This makes fighters and barbarians incredibly good at cleaving through minions and large waves of attackers.
6 Savage Attacker
Roll Damage Dice Twice & Take The Higher Number
Savage Attacker is simple and straightforward, and an excellent pairing with Great Weapon Master. “When making weapon attacks, you roll your damage dice twice and use the highest result.” It doesn’t matter how many attacks a character gets or if they use ranged or melee weapons; every time they take a shot at an enemy, they roll damage twice, ensuring that every goblin gets a good smashing.
5 Mobile
Increased Movement Speed & Immunity To Certain Opportunity Attacks
Baldur’s Gate 3 characters who take the Mobile feat gain additional movement speed, so they can get in position and out of danger more easily. Additionally, if they take an attack, they can run away from the target without provoking an opportunity attack. Give this feat to Astarion, and he can dash in and out of combat, slaying enemies left and right, and blend back into the shadows before anyone knows what hit them.
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4 Mage Slayer
Attack Anyone Who Casts A Spell Within 5 Feet
If a party is having trouble with spellcasting enemies, then the Mage Slayer feat will give a definite boost. The feat lets a character roll saving throws with advantage as long as the spell is cast within five feet of them. Plus, they can use their reaction to make a free attack against anyone within five feet who casts a spell, regardless of who the target is. Even better, if the caster is concentrating on a spell, they gain disadvantage on saves to maintain concentration.
3 Spell Sniper
Learn A Cantrip & Crit More Often
Spell Sniper has been changed entirely for Baldur’s Gate 3, and it’s incredible in comparison to its tabletop version. Cantrips are a caster’s bread and butter in BG3, and while some of them are better than others, a few cantrips are almost overpowered, like eldritch blast. Typically, only warlocks get access to the spell. However, through feats like Spell Sniper, anyone can learn to deal 1d10 force damage to multiple targets without expending a spell slot.
While warlocks get invocations that enhance the cantrip’s potency and utility, a character who learns it through the Spell Sniper feat gets a boost to it and all their spells because critical hits can occur on a 19 in addition to the usual 20. That’s a full five percent increase in crit rate for one of the least resisted damage types, and each bolt of eldritch blast is a separate attack, so that’s multiple chances to crit instead of just one roll.
The feat does let players choose any cantrip, too. They don’t have to pick eldtrich blast, and they would still get the bonus to critical hits for everything. It’s hard to get better than eldritch blast when looking at damage-dealing cantrip, though.
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2 Tavern Brawler
Better Unarmed Attacks, Improvised Weapons, & Throws
In general, throwing objects in Baldur’s Gate 3 is less than optimal. However, the Tavern Brawler feat adds the character’s strength modifier twice, to both the attack roll and the damage roll. This means that tossing exploding barrels, heavy weapons, and terrain like boulders and tables are far more likely to hit and do massive damage.
The real fun with Tavern Brawler, however, comes from throwing enemies at one another. A high-strength character like Karlach, especially with the Berserker subclass’ Enraged Throw ability, can lift most enemies without a problem and toss them across the battlefield for massive damage. If they hit another character at the end of their flight, both monsters will take damage. Throwing goblins and duergar at each other clears the battlefield by killing the enemies and giving other party members room to maneuver.
1 Athlete
Increased Jump Distance
The Athlete feat grants characters who take it one point in Dexterity, which is a solid bonus. It also makes standing from the prone position take much less of the character’s movement. However, the best reason to take the Athlete feat is because it increases jump distance by 50%. Combine the feat with others like Savage Attacker and Mobile, and martial characters become nearly unstoppable.
Jumping is not used nearly as often in the tabletop version of Dungeons & Dragons as it is in Baldur’s Gate 3. In the video game, though, jumping is a bonus action that helps players maneuver around and over enemies and difficult terrain quickly without expending extra feet of precious movement. With the Athlete feat, characters can literally leap from one side of the battlefield to the other, wiping out enemies like a living, medieval version of Yondu’s arrow.
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Franchise
- Baldur’s Gate
- Platform(s)
- macOS , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 5
- Released
- August 31, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- ESRB
- M
- How Long To Beat
- 50 – 100 hours
- Prequel
- Baldur’s Gate 2
