Why are BG3 martials so good

[Cikomyr2]

Thing is, Haste doesn't make the martial better, they get to do the same thing as before. Their options are just as limited or flexible, they just get to do what they already do more often.

Martials are already good at stabbing things, stabbing them more isn't really an improvement on their class (3e and 5e Fighter are shafted bc they get extra attacks).

Even spells like fly is just the spellcaster, or magic item, being good and the martial is along for the ride.

The class itself need

Haste potions
Fly potions
Haste scrolls

All of these are in abundance in BG3 that allow martial character not to rely on a crutch caster for buffs.

[Frozenstep]

Thing is, Haste doesn't make the martial better, they get to do the same thing as before. Their options are just as limited or flexible, they just get to do what they already do more often.

Martials are already good at stabbing things, stabbing them more isn't really an improvement on their class (3e and 5e Fighter are shafted bc they get extra attacks).

Even spells like fly is just the spellcaster, or magic item, being good and the martial is along for the ride.

The class itself need

Even without the fact that potions of speed are very common and only cost a bonus action to drink, being able to better take advantage of party members buffing you is an improvement. Better to get value through the actions of another party member than for them to think it's not even worth spending the action and spell slot on you and instead just throwing another fireball.

But anyway, speaking of other actions, Elixirs are another huge help for martial classes. Of course, there's stuff that helps everyone (elixir of vigilance is insane), and the ones that give back spell slots are okay if you can't rest (although there's potions for that, too). But there are some real winners that really help martials. Cloud giant strength (27 strength), viciousness (increased crit range), and my party's favorite and always in too-short supply: Bloodlust (1/turn kill a foe to get an action and 5 temp hp). Insane stuff, and they all last till long rest.

[Mindflayer_Inc]

Even without the fact that potions of speed are very common and only cost a bonus action to drink, being able to better take advantage of party members buffing you is an improvement. Better to get value through the actions of another party member than for them to think it's not even worth spending the action and spell slot on you and instead just throwing another fireball.

But anyway, speaking of other actions, Elixirs are another huge help for martial classes. Of course, there's stuff that helps everyone (elixir of vigilance is insane), and the ones that give back spell slots are okay if you can't rest (although there's potions for that, too). But there are some real winners that really help martials. Cloud giant strength (27 strength), viciousness (increased crit range), and my party's favorite and always in too-short supply: Bloodlust (1/turn kill a foe to get an action and 5 temp hp). Insane stuff, and they all last till long rest.

Improvement for the one buffing you, the martial is basically the spellcaster's minion if said martial is that reliant on the spellcaster.

This is a whole thing in 3e and to a lesser extent 5e (since non-magicals can be at least good at one thing in 5e w/o help).

It just shows the failings of martials that they have to rely on outside sources to be "better". It's not the class being better but the loot drops/item system and spellcasters.

Trickle down vancianomics actually happens in D&D. But the non-magicals are still the have nots.

[tokek]

Thing is, Haste doesn't make the martial better, they get to do the same thing as before. Their options are just as limited or flexible, they just get to do what they already do more often.

Martials are already good at stabbing things, stabbing them more isn't really an improvement on their class (3e and 5e Fighter are shafted bc they get extra attacks).

Even spells like fly is just the spellcaster, or magic item, being good and the martial is along for the ride.

The class itself need

There are all sorts of subclasses that add juice. The problem with these discussions is that at some point they are declared not sufficiently pure martial. So we get to a couple of points

1. We are now discussing a limited subset of subclasses of only 4 classes in the game. Very few choices, even fewer multiclass combinations as a proportion of the whole
2. These subclasses have a role and appeal to some players - I don't think its worth taking these very few options out of the game just because someone can point to them as a balance problem. Because mostly the players who like them don't care about that stuff
3. It ignores the whole rest of the game; magic items, alliances, race choice etc. It assumes that you play only your character sheet and even then only what you can derive from the PHB ignoring the rest of the game.

The class itself generally has all sorts of fruity options. Its a player decision not to choose to take them. Plus of course there are feats and a couple of the martial classes get more of those.

[Zevox]

I think a more pertinent point about Haste in BG3 would be that it also benefits casters just as much, since it now allows them to cast two action spells in a single turn.

For that matter, casters also had the restriction against casting an action and bonus action spell above cantrip level in the same turn removed in BG3. The game is just a lot more permissive on action economy in general than ordinary 5e, which makes everyone more powerful.

[Frozenstep]

Improvement for the one buffing you, the martial is basically the spellcaster's minion if said martial is that reliant on the spellcaster.

This is a whole thing in 3e and to a lesser extent 5e (since non-magicals can be at least good at one thing in 5e w/o help).

It just shows the failings of martials that they have to rely on outside sources to be "better". It's not the class being better but the loot drops/item system and spellcasters.

Trickle down vancianomics actually happens in D&D. But the non-magicals are still the have nots.

If you just want to look at martials on their own in some sort of vacuum, then feel free. BG3 didn't change too much about how the class itself works. But in the context of bg3, Larian has added a lot of things that just make picking a martial class for a playthrough a perfectly good and fun choice. The items, the kinds of enemies, the challenges thrown at the player, they all combine to make things work out better then it does in tabletop. There's no need for a fly spell to get over a river or valley, there's no need for pass without trace to sneak, there's easy access to ranged healing via throwing potions, and there's no need for long range teleportation spells. The "one thing they're good at" is 90% of the challenge the game throws at you.

And if they buffed some teamwork options, then its to the benefit of both caster and martial. Lot of classes support one another, but none of it makes classes reliant or minions.

I think a more pertinent point about Haste in BG3 would be that it also benefits casters just as much, since it now allows them to cast two action spells in a single turn.

It is a good point that haste also benefits casters, but in turn it also means doubling your resource expenditure, unless you're just going to be using the extra actions to cast cantrips, at which point you may as well have given it to a martial for the damage that would deal. There's plenty of exceptions, of course, there's some ways to really juice cantrip damage, as well as spell combos that are efficient like rain+cold/lightning, but it depends on how they're built and their items, same with martials. It's just very easy to see huge value without extra resource expenditure on a martial.

Of course, you can rest as much as you can steal food in BG3, so you can just get the spell slots back. But in the games I've played, I found people surprisingly incentivized to try and avoid long resting too often, to the point where in many games we've had to do some extra long rests at the end of an act just to get certain story events to happen. Elixirs and a lot of unique until-long-rest buffs just seem to make people try and stretch things out.

[Pex]

I think controlling a whole team has a large effect on this as well. Martials have always been really good at combat, but when you only have one character and you feel useless as everyone else takes the stage the other 50% of the time while also contributing in combat,that's when you see the difference. When you're controlling a team, you don't care if your fighter can't open a chest or cant fly up to get the thing or teleport etc. You have someone else that can.

This. No one is yelling Astarion is disarming all the traps and opening all the locked chests and doors. The one game where I didn't play with Astarion on purpose just to play with different characters I regretted it at every locked chest and door. No one complains Shadowheart is not healing because everyone is Shadowheart, everyone's hit points are inflated, you can drink a healing potion as a bonus action, and short rest whenever you want at no cost in time.

Baldur's Gate plays with 5E rules, but the dynamics of the game are significantly different than table top. It is apples & oranges. Lucky you I guess if your DM will physically roleplay an NPC like Halsin's love scene.

[LudicSavant]

This. No one is yelling Astarion is disarming all the traps and opening all the locked chests and doors. The one game where I didn't play with Astarion on purpose just to play with different characters I regretted it at every locked chest and door.

I never played with Astarion and doors and traps were basically a non-obstacle on the highest difficulty.

[Winthur]

Historically, most party-based cRPGs based on Dungeons & Dragons generally favor a martial-heavy party. About the only exception I can think of is Icewind Dale 2, and that's because you are encouraged to run multiple Clerics in lieu of any Fighter class, since Clerics can do everything and are the premier "whack things" class. (In turn, Icewind Dale 1 is the opposite and the game really wants you to run a bruiser company with token spellcaster support).

Multiple reasons have been touched on in this thread. I would add that a lot of items possess strong on-hit spell like effects that might be unheard of in a standard tabletop loot table, and any notion of balanced wealth goes out of the window when you can tackle any place whenever you want and all the sidequests have preplaced goodies.

Most of the encounters are really just about opening a can and dealing a lot of damage to it, and if you want to do that without asking a lot of questions, then cRPGs just don't ask any. Any situations you might have read about in tier lists about how a dragon may fly and render your fighter useless just don't apply.

[Mastikator]

I never played with Astarion and doors and traps were basically a non-obstacle on the highest difficulty.

Lockpickable doors can be bashed or cut down, and items inside chests survive when you destroy the trapped chest. It's one of the things I like about BG3 that I wish was more common in tabletop: give objects hit points so I can destroy them (or know what it would take).

[Amnestic]

Lockpickable doors can be bashed or cut down, and items inside chests survive when you destroy the trapped chest. It's one of the things I like about BG3 that I wish was more common in tabletop: give objects hit points so I can destroy them (or know what it would take).

In fairness, they do all have HP in tabletop, but in my experience players are loathe to risk breaking down doors (it's noisy!) or smashing open treasure chests (for risk of destroying valuable items inside - coinage might be fine, but if a potion gets smashed and leaks on your scrolls...)

[Bundin]

In 5e, martials have few toys. In BG3, there are many, and most can be used by any class. Toss a bottle of grease, then an alchemists fire as a martial: stuff happens! Use the (excellent) weapon abilities, only available when proficient: stuff happens! Lots of scrolls (anyone can use!), potions, elixirs, and magic items that generally do more for martials than for casters and the gap is bridged.

A caster can still do more damage with leveled spells, or apply conditions for longer periods of time, but the fighter can also grease up the floor and set some enemies on fire. Or daze the big bad thing for a round. Not with 8d6 damage attached to the action, but still: stuff happens :) The martial may use that scroll of X, but it's one use only. No scroll, no magic. But the option is there, so it breaks the monotony of 'I hit it with my polearm 3x'.

And it's all fine, because it's a single player game. I am happy with my bard rocking a shortbow that allows him to cast hunter's mark. At the table, I'd be one miffed ranger if my class specific feature got spread around like that.

[Ignimortis]

I think that explains part of it, but I'm not sure it explains all of it. Any theories? Why do martials kicks so much butt?

1) No attunement slots and LOTS of great magic items, sometimes highly busted by 5e standards. You can get a +3 set of armor with several amazing extra properties...at level 10 or so. Same for weapons. My level 11 BG3 Paladin was equipped better than any character I've played on the tabletop, perhaps only one guy came on par - a level 20 character with 5 attunement slots, a couple of epic boons and several artefact-level items.
2) CRPG = combat. Combat = stuff needs killing. Stuff needs killing = playing a stuff-killing character feels good.
3) No high level spells which really distort the world around themselves. Quick reminder - BG3 doesn't even have a real Raise Dead, because it's a videogame and therefore things that died can't be brought back unless planned for. There's no Teleport, no Plane Shift, and certainly no Wish or any of the 7th+ level spells that can break open several situations. Hell, the central plotline of the crawly in your skull could be resolved with ease at level 13 - crack open your skull, drag the maggot out, Resurrect you without the thing. This being Forgotten Realms, you could even get that done without all that much fuss.
4) You're running the whole 4 person team, and turn resolution takes seconds. Suddenly the spellcasters are cooperative enough to spend their turns and concentrations to give Fighter a Haste and a defensive buff while staying back for safety.

A minor 5) Some combat spells are noticeably nerfed for some reason. See Fireball getting cut down to 12-ft radius, which makes it...much less impressive than a full 20-ft one.

[Amechra]

Something to consider:

The people on these forums are heavily biased towards being the kind of player who wants a ton of options to play with in combat, so they're going to have a heavy subconscious bias towards spellcasters. On top of that, a lot of online discussion about setting up combat in D&D is geared towards making fights that are biased towards what spellcasters are good at (setpiece fights with lots of flashy extra problems to solve) and away from what they're less good at (close-up slugfests).

Then you sit down and play BG3 and suddenly you get to control a whole party (so there isn't as much of a push towards playing a spellcaster if you want tactical depth) and the game gives you more straight-up fights than you'd normally get at the tabletop. Add on the fact that the "DM" actually bothered to add the kinds of set-dressing that martials can interact with in order to expand their tactical options, and no wonder martials feel good — they're in an environment that they're well suited for and the attitude is different.

[LudicSavant]

Lockpickable doors can be bashed or cut down, and items inside chests survive when you destroy the trapped chest. It's one of the things I like about BG3 that I wish was more common in tabletop: give objects hit points so I can destroy them (or know what it would take).

Definitely. But in addition to this, I feel it's important to note that I was also using a lot of skill checks. The thing is, I didn't need a Rogue for it.

Expertise is just a +2-4 bonus, and only to a small handful of the party's skills. But I was getting a considerably bigger bonus than that just from having my casters buff whoever was making checks. Guidance is worth about as much as Expertise, and features like Enhance Ability or Bardic Inspiration or Thaumaturgy are worth more than it. Not to mention all the equipment bonuses flying around.

I actually had Lae'zel (my Eldritch Knight Fighter) doing my sleight of hand checks, and she was good enough at it to completely rob traders blind. By comparison, opening doors was trivial.

[AvatarVecna]

As far as lockpicking goes, you don't really need Expertise for like 99% of the stuff in the game. Early on, it's potentially useful, because bonuses are low and advantage is rare and spare lockpicks are rare, so you have to make every one count. And there's some really tough locks scattered through the game that you basically can't pick unless you have expertise.

But once you hit like...lvl 5, you've got someone in the party with at least +6 without expertise, probably the gloves of thievery for constant advantage on Sleight Of Hand checks, possibly the Graceful Cloth that gives Dex +2/adv on all Dex checks, you're just drowning in spare lockpicks, and somebody is going to have guidance (if nothing else, from an at-will Guidance amulet you find early Act 1).

There's benefit to be gained from someone with expertise in SoH, mostly because traps are finicky about failure, and pickpocket is such an easy path to wealth. But if you're willing to spend an extra tool per lock, even basic proficiency is optional as long as you reliably have advantage. DCs rarely climb higher than 20, and 4d20b1+1d4 unlocks DC 20 locks about half the time, no bonus required. A single attempt with advantage/guidance/+0 has a 90% chance of unlocking DC 10 locks.

EDIT: This isn't me recommending you have someone with +0 SoH do your lockpicking, it's better if you get someone with at least a touch of Dex, and probably basic proficiency. Adv+guidance+0 gives 50% chance of unlocking in two tries, but adv+guidance+6 gives 72% chance of unlocking in one try (and has much better odds unlocking the occasional DC 25 too). I'm more just saying that if you wanted to, you could just buy every lockpick you find and throw money at the problem until you roll a nat 20 for auto-success, even if the best SoH in your party is -1. It's helpful to be good at the skill, but it's not strictly speaking necessary. The game certainly drowns you in enough money to do that, if you wanted.

[Pex]

Definitely. But in addition to this, I feel it's important to note that I was also using a lot of skill checks. The thing is, I didn't need a Rogue for it.

Expertise is just a +2-4 bonus, and only to a small handful of the party's skills. But I was getting a considerably bigger bonus than that just from having my casters buff whoever was making checks. Guidance is worth about as much as Expertise, and features like Enhance Ability or Bardic Inspiration or Thaumaturgy are worth more than it. Not to mention all the equipment bonuses flying around.

I actually had Lae'zel (my Eldritch Knight Fighter) doing my sleight of hand checks, and she was good enough at it to completely rob traders blind. By comparison, opening doors was trivial.

Using up how many resources to do it instead of play with Astarion? It's great for the game you don't absolutely need Astarion. Shadowheart and Halsin were my lockpickers when Astarion wasn't available. That doesn't change the fact when I did have Astarion all locks and traps were trivial.

[LudicSavant]

That doesn't change the fact when I did have Astarion all locks and traps were trivial.

Yes, and I did not have Astarion/Rogue, and all locks and traps were trivial anyway.

Using up how many resources to do it

Few enough that I rested so little in my playthrough that I actually had to go back and rest more, because I was missing scenes that trigger off of resting.

For fully 1/3rd of the game's levels (1-4), Guidance is just straight up a bigger bonus than Expertise. For the rest of the game, it's nearly as big of a bonus, and applies to every skill, not just 4 of them.

Enhance Ability is just a 2nd level slot that lasts until long rest.

A Smuggler's Ring is a +2 bonus that's just on whenever you want it and you find it near the start of the game. And you can get another +2 from gloves (for a total of +4).

Shapeshifter's Boon is a Guidance-sized bonus that's just on whenever you use a level 1 ritual (which is free).

This isn't expensive stuff. I can do this (and more) all day.

[Goobahfish]

Also, the number of jumping, pouncing and teleporting enemies makes martials essential.

I think the main thing is however, that because there are so many encounters, martials begin to shine. I generally do at least 2-3 fights per short rest. That is not how I play TT. The combats in TT tend to skew deadly and few rather than numerous and easy.

[Zevox]

I never played with Astarion and doors and traps were basically a non-obstacle on the highest difficulty.

From experience, I'd say that traps and doors are basically a non-obstacle in the game throughout acts 1 and 2, where most are DC 10, only occasionally harder, and very rarely 20+ (and these tend to be ones you can handle in other ways). In Act 3 ones with DC 20 or above are common enough that you'll at least want someone with proficiency in sleight of hand, decent dex, and preferably a source of Guidance; but that's easy to do. My second time through I did all of Act 3 with Gale as my sleight of hand character as a Knowledge Cleric. He had +2 dex, gave himself proficiency via his Channel Divinity, and of course he had Guidance; combined with a good supply of lockpicks built up throughout the game, that was plenty to get through with no trouble.

[Witty Username]

Yes, and I did not have Astarion/Rogue, and all locks and traps were trivial anyway.

Few enough that I rested so little in my playthrough that I actually had to go back and rest more, because I was missing scenes that trigger off of resting.

For fully 1/3rd of the game's levels (1-4), Guidance is just straight up a bigger bonus than Expertise. For the rest of the game, it's nearly as big of a bonus, and applies to every skill, not just 4 of them.

Enhance Ability is just a 2nd level slot that lasts until long rest.

A Smuggler's Ring is a +2 bonus that's just on whenever you want it and you find it near the start of the game. And you can get another +2 from gloves (for a total of +4).

Shapeshifter's Boon is a Guidance-sized bonus that's just on whenever you use a level 1 ritual (which is free).

This isn't expensive stuff. I can do this (and more) all day.

A rogue without most of this straight up can't fail a Sleight of Hand check (well 5% which most of this won't help with) for a majority of the game, about level 4+, and before that it is rarely higher than 10%. I don't even bother to guidance my Astarion anymore because it just wastes time.

Doors aren't worth spell or item slots.

[LudicSavant]

I don't even bother to guidance my Astarion anymore because it just wastes time.

And Guidance is about the same size bonus as Expertise.

Doors aren't worth spell or item slots.

It costs you spell slots to replace a Bard or Cleric or Wizard in your party with a Rogue.

[OldTrees1]

A rogue without most of this straight up can't fail a Sleight of Hand check (well 5% which most of this won't help with) for a majority of the game, about level 4+, and before that it is rarely higher than 10%. I don't even bother to guidance my Astarion anymore because it just wastes time.

Doors aren't worth spell or item slots.

The item slots might only be occupied during the lockpicking check.

Also since Enhance Ability (the only spell with a cost mentioned) is only a single 2nd level slot and lasts until Long Rest (or concentration breaks), it is not a big cost. Whether Enhance Ability is worth it might depend on the doors in question, I assume it would be used for the DC 30 doors in Act 2 and Act 3.

And Guidance is about the same size bonus as Expertise.

If you make one of your characters a Rogue for the sake of doors, then you lost an entire character's worth of spell slots for doors.

It is unlikely they are talking about converting a character into a single classed Rogue and doing so solely for the sake of doors.
A) For example some use Astarion as a Rogue for XYZ reason and get doors as a side effect. This example is borrowed from further up the quote chain.
B) Alternatively they could take 1 level of Rogue. Most of my Warlock 9 characters are Rogue 1 / Warlock 9. They lose no spell slots but get the spell levels delayed by a level (which is relevant for 5th and 9th).
Edit (you clarified Bard/Cleric/Wizard)
C) Oddly Cleric 11 Rogue 1 does not miss spell slots compared to Cleric 12. However until then they would lose out on between 4 and 9 spell levels of spells.

PS: I am a bit curious at the Advantage + Prof + 2d4 + Dex + 4 vs the DC 25 & 30 doors in Act 2 and DC 30 doors in Act 3. How many lockpicks did each take on average? I assume your lockpick stockpile was lower than mine* (since you would lose more lockpicks). However we all should be considering how the characters can just spend those lockpicks for rerolls.

* Advantage + Prof + Expertise + 2d4 + Dex + 2 (I missed the +2 gloves but found the adv gloves).
Edit: Oh the Act 3 Unlucky Thief's Gloves.

[Witty Username]

It costs you spell slots to replace a Bard or Cleric or Wizard in your party with a Rogue.

No more than it costs to replace a Bard or Cleric or Wizard with a Fighter.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

The points have all been made, but one I didn't see, or maybe just missed over.

Have we covered Haste working BETTER than it's supposed to? Not the Caster casts twice but the Martials literally get double their attacks instead of just one extra?

Let's be clear, the thing that made me decide "wow, martials are broken" Was a battle against a full sized Red Dragon with 400 HP.

A level 12 Eldritch Knight had haste cast on them by the bard. BA Misty Step to the Dragon across the entire battlefield. With Action Surge made 6 attacks with a 23 Strength, Great Weapon Master and a GreatSword +3 that doubled my strength damage. So each swing hit for 2d6+25. You drop the second strongest monster in the game in 2 rounds...

[LudicSavant]

The item slots might only be occupied during the lockpicking check.

Also since Enhance Ability (the only spell with a cost mentioned) is only a single 2nd level slot and lasts until Long Rest (or concentration breaks), it is not a big cost. Whether Enhance Ability is worth it might depend on the doors in question, I assume it would be used for the DC 30 doors in Act 2 and Act 3.

That's correct!

PS: I am a bit curious at the Advantage + Prof + 2d4 + Dex + 4 vs the DC 25 & 30 doors in Act 2 and DC 30 doors in Act 3. How many lockpicks did each take on average?

Between 0 and 1 for a DC30.

Edit:

* Advantage + Prof + Expertise + 2d4 + Dex + 2 (I missed the +2 gloves but found the adv gloves). Edit: Oh the Act 3 Unlucky Thief's Gloves.

You can get a bonus from armor too, from the merchant in the very first town. The Shapeshifter's Boon and Smuggler's Ring I likewise found early in Act 1.

However we all should be considering how the characters can just spend those lockpicks for rerolls.

Yep!

It is unlikely they are talking about converting a character into a single classed Rogue and doing so solely for the sake of doors.

Indeed. However, Pex said they regretted not being a Rogue at every lock and door. I'm saying that there's no need for such lock/door-based regrets.

The points have all been made, but one I didn't see, or maybe just missed over.

Have we covered Haste working BETTER than it's supposed to? Not the Caster casts twice but the Martials literally get double their attacks instead of just one extra?

Let's be clear, the thing that made me decide "wow, martials are broken" Was a battle against a full sized Red Dragon with 400 HP.

A level 12 Eldritch Knight had haste cast on them by the bard. BA Misty Step to the Dragon across the entire battlefield. With Action Surge made 6 attacks with a 23 Strength, Great Weapon Master and a GreatSword +3 that doubled my strength damage. So each swing hit for 2d6+25. You drop the second strongest monster in the game in 2 rounds...

Eldritch Knights are also bananas with throwing weapons in BG3, because...

- Any weapon in their hands is a Returning Weapon (due to a buff to Weapon Bond in BG3).
- Thrown weapons have considerably better range than in base 5e.
- Thrown weapons get a hidden damage bonus based on their weight and distance they fall from BG3's weird physics system (making their damage considerably better than in base 5e).
- Thrown weapons work with Tavern Brawler, which is like a +7/+7 to attack and damage.
- High ground is incredibly easy to get (you can just drop a crate from your inventory and walk on it, for example), and gives yet another +2 to hit.
- Thrown weapons benefit from multiple magic items that each give +1d4 damage per attack. They stack.
- There was a glitch that made these bonuses apply multiple times per hit.

The end result is that you are throwing weapons at enemies anywhere on the field for like 40 damage per attack really early in the game, with 95% accuracy (or more if you grab Advantage), and hitting enemies anywhere on the field.

And you still get to hold a shield. And have the Shield spell, too. And the Defense style. While being ranged. And moving fast as heck because your bonus action is free and you've got Longstrider and Jump as rituals.

Wanna know why martials are strong in BG3? This is why. This is leagues above anything that an Eldritch Knight has in base 5e.

From experience, I'd say that traps and doors are basically a non-obstacle in the game throughout acts 1 and 2, where most are DC 10, only occasionally harder, and very rarely 20+ (and these tend to be ones you can handle in other ways). In Act 3 ones with DC 20 or above are common enough that you'll at least want someone with proficiency in sleight of hand, decent dex, and preferably a source of Guidance; but that's easy to do. My second time through I did all of Act 3 with Gale as my sleight of hand character as a Knowledge Cleric. He had +2 dex, gave himself proficiency via his Channel Divinity, and of course he had Guidance; combined with a good supply of lockpicks built up throughout the game, that was plenty to get through with no trouble.

Pretty much!

[Witty Username]

However we all should be considering how the characters can just spend those lockpicks for rerolls.

A quick caviot is we can only do this for doors, since this is also about traps. And traps will trigger automatically on failure.

[Dr.Samurai]

It sounds like martials in BG3 do not need spellcasting to use scrolls; is that the case?

[Blatant Beast]

I do think it is interesting to note, that increase in power is mainly on the Strength based side.

I think it is fair to say, that BG3 is ample proof that systemically:

1)D&D Weapon damage can be increased as a whole, as the effects of BG3 Tavern Brawler and BG3’s physics systems is a damage die increase for strength builds. Increased base weapon damage also means less pressure to take option like Sharpshooter or GWM.

2) The notion that 5e does not need Magic items in order to be balanced is just incorrect. Martials need Magic items, including (and possibly especially), consumable items. Give Martials good things, and suddenly they are fun…what a shocking revelation! (🥳)

3) Creative use of Terrain,(read non flat grids of whiteboard), and Environmental interactivity increase options. As has been pointed out, the rules exist in Pen and Paper D&D regarding item destructibility, and there are charts for ad hoc damage calculations that could be applied to environmental interactions..like throwing a barrel of oil on a fire to make big booms. The problem is much of this is spread throughout the 5e DMG and not consolidated in a single chapter.

4) Increasing PC Mobility across the board through the Bonus Action Jump, is popular, and fun, and improves game play.

The really sad part, is One D&D is so far along on it’s design schedule that any insights that could be gleaned and used by Crawford et all, probably will not be used as there is no time to test them.

[Amnestic]

It sounds like martials in BG3 do not need spellcasting to use scrolls; is that the case?

This is correct. Some features (Rage, Wild Shape) still prevent it but you don't need to be a spellcaster otherwise to use scrolls, and there's no 'scroll failure' check like in tabletop. First level fighter can cast from a 6th level spell scroll just fine, without issues.

Additional scroll stuff:-

The Attack roll and the Difficulty Class of the Saving throw from scrolls always benefit from your current Proficiency Bonus and your class's Spellcasting Ability Modifier, even if your class cannot normally cast spells. In case of multiclassing, the spellcasting ability is determined by the class the character most recently took a first level in.

Scrolls used in combat will not be consumed if successfully countered by an enemy's Counterspell.