Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty options explored: Which is the right difficulty setting for you?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally gearing up for its PC release in a couple of days, and fans of Larian Studios are quite curious about some of the features the RPG will drop, including difficulty options. While many will look to enjoy the story on base difficulty, some Divinity veterans would love to make things harder for themselves as they make their way through the narrative and side quests.

It’s important to know more about the various difficulty options in the game, as the level you are in will affect not only the health and the damage that enemies do but also your character’s skills and the environment.

Hence, today’s Baldur’s Gate 3 guide will go over everything that you need to know about the various difficulty levels in the game.

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All difficulty options in Baldur’s Gate 3

Like the previous games, Larian Studios has stuck to three difficulty settings for Baldur’s Gate 3. The three levels are:

• Explorer
• Balanced
• Tactician

These translate into Easy, Medium, and Hard in the game, and listed below is everything that you need to know about these options:

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1) Explorer difficulty setting

The Explorer setting is the easiest difficulty in Baldur’s Gate 3, where much of the gameplay will allow you to focus more on the story than min-maxing your characters to get the most of their attributes. It will not stress much on combat, and if you have a basic grasp of the game, you can breeze through most of the content.

It’s the best setting for players new to Larian’s table-top design and will help them ease into some of the various mechanics in the turn-based RPG.

Explorer difficulty in Baldur’s Gate 3 will also offer the following perks:

• Trading discounts
• Receive a +2 skill proficiency at level one
• Allies are more resilient

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2) Balanced difficulty setting

Balanced difficulty is the normal difficulty in the game and is best set for those looking for a challenge while simultaneously enjoying the story. While the combat will be a bit more challenging than Explorer, it will not be too difficult. However, you will be required to have a firmer grasp of how you will be able to use all the abilities and the environment to your advantage.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Balanced difficulty has the following features:

• Enemies and allies are balanced
• Moderate combat difficulty

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3) Tactician difficulty setting

The Tactician difficulty is where encounters become incredibly challenging in the RPG. Your combat skills will be tested from level 1 itself, and you will only be given a very small margin of error.

You might want to save often in this mode as you will die quite a bit. However, the mode is much more rewarding in terms of the gameplay experience and is recommended for those who are veterans of Larian titles.

The Tactician difficulty in Baldur’s Gate 3 has the following features:

• Opponents are more difficult, with greater health, attack accuracy, and advanced strategies
• Extra enemies in combat
• Combat environments are more hazardous

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What is the right difficulty for you in Baldur’s Gate 3?

The difficulty that you should be going for in the RPG will depend on quite a bit on the type of experience you are looking for. If you are new to Larian games and just looking to play the title for the story, then the Explorer option will be the right one for you.

However, if you want a better challenge, then Balanced and Tactician will best fit you. Fortunately, after your initial choice, you will not be locked into the difficulty that you have chosen.

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Can you freely change the difficulty options in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Larian Studio’s latest title will let you freely switch between difficulty levels after when in the game. Unlike in their previous titles, which locked you into the option you first chose, it will not be the case this time, making it one of the best quality-of-life features in the RPG.