The opportunity attack makes its presence known in Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons and Dragons fans are all too familiar with this mechanic. This is a reactionary attack that both players and their opponents can use to their advantage.
Those new to Baldur's Gate 3 and this set of game rules may find themselves giving up opportunity attacks left and right. Giving enemies free attacks is a recipe for disaster in a battle where a single attack can take out half of a character's health bar. Learning to avoid them can also help players use them to their advantage.
Avoiding Opportunity Attacks
- Look for a red arrow indicating an opportunity attack will occur when moving.
- Do not leave melee range of an enemy once in melee range.
- Use the disengage action before moving away.
- Creatures who have ranged weapons equipped will not provoke opportunity attacks.
- A creature who has made an opportunity attack can't make another until its next turn.
- Using Misty Step or another teleport spell to get away does not provoke opportunity attacks.
- Creatures who can't take reactions can't make opportunity attacks.
When players are moving in combat, be wary of a red arrow that alerts gamers that doing the movement will result in an opportunity attack. Players can move around such a creature once in melee range but they cannot leave the range without provoking an attack. Players who do this often will find themselves needing to reload recent save files and redo encounters.
There are a few exceptions to this rule. The disengage action takes a whole action but it will allow the player to move without getting attacked. If gamers change party members to use a Rogue, this class can disengage as a bonus action. Using teleport spells and disabling the enemy's reactions with negative effects will also prevent these opportunity attacks from occurring.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now for PC. The PlayStation 5 version will be available on September 6th, 2023. A version for Xbox Series X/S is still in development.