The Attack Roll in Baldur’s Gate 3 is essential to combat as it will determine if you will be able to land a blow on the enemy or not. The amount of damage you deal will be based on the type of weapon you are wielding and the corresponding Damage roll.
This is a hidden feature in BG3 that the game performs in the background. You must roll a D20 number greater than the opponent’s armor class for an attack to connect. Once your roll is successful, the game rolls another D20 to determine the amount of damage via the damage roll.
How Attack Rolls work in BG3
Attack Rolls in Baldur’s Gate 3 are vital to the combat. Not everything can be resolved with peace talks in a tense environment. You must defeat foes and take down forces of evil.
Whenever you start a fight and make an attack on the enemy, the game rolls a 20-sided dice (D20) in the background and determines if your attack will hit the enemy or miss. Armor class comes into play here, and if the rolled number is equal to or greater than the AC, then the attack hits. However, it is not as simple as that. Baldur’s Gate 3 adds your modifiers to the mix, too.
- Successful Chance to Attack = 1d20 + Any modifier >= Enemy’s Armor Class
- Unsuccessful Chance to Attack = 1d20 + Any modifier < Enemy’s Armor Class
Any roll below the enemy’s AC will be considered a miss. The action will be spent, and there is not much the character can do other than that. If the character has an extra action, then they can try to attack again. Otherwise, that is about it for them.
Attack rolls work for both weapons and spells in Baldur’s Gate 3. The principle is the same for both. However, a lot of other modifiers come into play for each.
Weapons attacks
If you try to hit an enemy with a specific weapon in BG3, the chance to attack is then calculated by the game with a different formula.
- Successful Weapon Attack = 1d20 + Weapon’s special modifier + Proficiency bonus with that weapon + Bonuses obtained from feats >= Enemy’s Armor Class
- Unsuccessful Weapon Attack = 1d20 + Weapon’s special modifier + Proficiency bonus with that weapon + Bonuses obtained from feats < Enemy’s Armor Class
Proficiency bonus from a weapon can be both positive and negative depending on your class selection. So, make sure that you have a proper weapon equipped to maximize the chances of a successful attack roll in BG3.
Spells attacks
Magic spells are different from weapon attacks because of their peculiar nature. There are two ways in which magic spells attack the enemies in BG3.
- Saving Throws
- Attack Rolls
For a magic spell depending on Saving throw, the game calculates the Save Roll of your opponent and checks it against the Difficulty Class of your magic spell. If the Saving Throw of the enemy is greater than our spell’s DC, our magic spell won’t hurt them.
For the spells that use attack rolls, the scenario is a bit different. The possibility of such spell attacks to connect is calculated by the following formulas by the game.
- Successful Spell Attack = 1d20 + spell proficiency bonus + any modifier for spellcasting + any bonus from feats >= Enemy’s Armor Class
- Unsuccessful Spell Attack = 1d20 + spell proficiency bonus + any modifier for spellcasting + any bonus from feats < Enemy’s Armor Class
Intelligence is the primary spellcaster modifier. So, we recommend investing in this ability as much as you can.
How damage rolls work in BG3
Damage rolls determine the amount of damage you are going to deal to an opponent. However, a damage roll is only initiated once a successful attack roll is performed. In case you miss the attack on the enemy, the game will ignore the damage roll.
It is usually calculated by the following formula in the background.
Total damage from an attack = Weapon/spell total damage + any weapon or spellcasting modifier + any bonus from feats.
Vulnerabilities, Resistances and Immunities
The game also grants characters some Resistance and Immunity to certain types of damage. That means the character will take half damage or none in case of being immune. Vulnerabilities work opposite to resistance and make a character more susceptible to certain types of damage.
Vulnerability is a debuff that you can impose on your enemies to double any damage they receive from a specific attack. Vulnerability can also be applied to your character or team members by the enemies, so you must be mindful.
For example, undead are more vulnerable to Radiant damage. You can use this to your advantage and damage them with radiant spells. The bosses in the game are resistant to certain damage types and will take reduced damage from them. These factors affect the result of your attack rolls and can either make them succeed or fail.
