Highlights
- Baldur's Gate 3 offers a non-lethal damage option, allowing players to knock out enemies instead of killing them, providing a more pacifist playstyle.
- This feature was praised by players, although some were surprised that others had missed it, as it is introduced early in the game.
- Baldur's Gate 3 has seen massive success, becoming one of Steam's best-selling games, with over 500,000 concurrent players and expected growth in the coming months.
Baldur’s Gate 3, the popular RPG recently released by Larian Studios, features a non-lethal damage option for those who do not want to kill their opponents. This option lets players take a different approach to combat encounters in Baldur’s Gate 3, allowing them to spare enemies for a more pacific playstyle.
Over two decades after the last main installment in the Baldur’s Gate series, Larian Studios brought back this franchise under the spotlight with the release of Baldur’s Gate 3. This RPG, officially released on August 3, takes place 120 years after the events of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, as the forces of darkness threaten the balance of the world once again. Baldur's Gate 3 is in the same universe as the Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition tabletop RPG, with some key rule changes to better suit the gameplay of a video game RPG. While this brings some reference for Dungeons & Dragons players and a steady universe to build upon, players who never played prior Baldur’s Gate games or any tabletop RPG can still enjoy this new installment in the franchise.
While Baldur’s Gate 3 has been out for a few days and players progressively discover everything this new game has to offer, they also stumble upon some unexpected features. A Reddit user known as Raoul97533 shared their surprise discovering that Baldur’s Gate 3 features a non-lethal damage option, allowing players to knock someone unconscious instead of killing them. This feature only works for characters either unarmed or using a melee weapon, as they can stun their enemies without dealing any fatal blow. While these non-lethal attacks let players adopt a more pacific approach to combat, this option doesn’t work on undead and constructs that cannot be knocked unconscious.
In the comments to this Reddit post, many players were surprised to discover this non-lethal damage option in Baldur’s Gate 3. Others wondered how their fellow Baldur’s Gate 3 enjoyers could have missed this feature, as it is introduced at the beginning of the game when the main character first meets Lae’zel. No matter when they discovered this non-lethal damage option, players commended Larian Studios for introducing this feature and letting them conduct their adventure throughout Faerun however they wanted.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the biggest launches of the year, becoming one of the best-selling games on Steam days before its official release. Now that Baldur’s Gate 3 is fully released, Larian Studios’ RPG sees massive success, with the game counting over 500,000 concurrent players on Steam and even causing some technical issues on the platform. Baldur’s Gate 3 is already one of the most popular games in Steam history, with its player count expected to continue growing in the next few months.
Baldur's Gate 3 is out now for PC with a PS5 version releasing on September 6. An Xbox version is also in development.