Difficulty levels in Baldur’s Gate 3: valor, tactics, balance, and more

Choosing the Difficulty Level in Baldur’s Gate 3

When starting a new game in Baldur’s Gate 3, the difficulty level is the very first parameter you need to select. But which one is the best to choose?

The developers have designed this aspect thoughtfully, making BG3 engaging for both newcomers to the genre and veterans alike.

Difficulty Levels in BG3:

• Traveller
• Balance
• Tactician
• Valor
• Customized

Let’s take a look at each option individually to help you choose the difficulty level that best suits your gaming experience.

Traveller

The “Traveller” mode is suitable for players who have either never played or have very little experience in classic RPGs.

Here, you can simply enjoy the storyline and explore the world with relatively easy battles.

Features of “Traveller”:

• Reduced enemy health.
• Party members have increased health.
• +2 skill bonuses.
• All items purchased from merchants are 20% cheaper.
• Multiclass options in character settings are not available.
• In the Iron Throne location, the timer is set to 8 turns instead of 6 as at higher levels.

Balance

In Baldur’s Gate 3, the “Balance” difficulty level is the default setting when you select “New Game”.

This represents, as the name suggests, a balance between exploring the world/story and the challenge of battles.

Compared to other games, this is the “Medium” difficulty level.

Features of “Balance”:

• No merchant discounts.
• Characters have the usual amount of health.
• Battles are not too easy, but not overly exhausting either.

Tactician

The “Tactician” difficulty level in Baldur’s Gate 3 is suitable for those seeking challenges in the game. Enemies not only become stronger but also smarter, forcing you to find creative approaches to combat.

It is best not to choose “Tactician” for your first playthrough, as careful preparation is the key to success here.

Features of “Tactician”:

• Enemies receive significant health boosts.
• Bosses get unique actions or passive abilities.
• More aggressive enemy behavior, such as trying to finish off severely wounded characters.
• Long rest in the camp requires 80 food units instead of 40.
• Goods in stores are significantly more expensive and sell for much cheaper.
• In the Iron Throne location, the timer is set to 5 turns instead of 6.
• Reward — “Critical Hit” achievement, if you are playing on a platform that tracks achievements.

Valor

“Valor” is a new difficulty level added to the game six months later in patch 5. Some players highly requested this mode because “Tactician” felt like a walk in the park to them.

The “Valor” difficulty level in Baldur’s Gate 3 is suitable only for those who are well-versed in the game mechanics and want to experience new unforgettable sensations.

Features of “Valor”:

1. Bosses become stronger and acquire legendary actions and abilities. This looks as follows (example of Bernard):
2. Reduced movement bar and damage bonuses.
3. Only 1 save file, which adds a number of challenges:
   • You cannot save during dialogues, meaning if you fail a stat check, you must deal with the consequences.
   • The file can only be loaded from the main menu.
   • The game cancels the save in several cases:
     • Player returns to the main menu.
     • Exiting the game.
     • Minimizing the game by pressing ALT + F4 and then exiting it.
4. If you die, the game offers two options:
   • Switch to “Tactician”. In this case, the attempt will not count as a playthrough on “Valor”.
   • End the playthrough, in which case the save file is deleted.

Rewards:

• Unique gold d20 die.
• “Hammer of Enemies” achievement, if playing on Steam or any other platform that tracks achievements. Approximately ~0.5% of players have unlocked it.

Customized

A customizable difficulty level where players can adjust certain gameplay elements to their liking.

Before patch 6, after starting a game, you couldn’t adjust these parameters except for the difficulty level, but patch 6 introduced this capability.

How to change

If at any point during the playthrough, the game becomes too easy or too difficult, you can change the difficulty levels in Baldur’s Gate 3 right during the playthrough:

1. Go to the main menu and select the “Difficulty” field.
2. Choose one of the four options: “Traveller”, “Balance”, “Tactician” or “Customized”.
3. Click “Confirm”.

The same can be done on “Valor,” which means lowering the difficulty, but in this case, the playthrough does not count, and you will not receive the unique rewards.