Skills in Baldur’s Gate 3 determine how well you are able to perform certain activities. They can be Active Skills, which help during battle, or Passive Skills that boost stats. In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Skills guide, we will go over each and every one in detail.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Skills
The five main categories of Skills are:
Intelligence Skills
Arcana
As the name implies, this Skill is all about your ability to engage in magic. This includes spells, magic items, eldritch symbols, magical traditions, and planes of existence.
You can select Arcana if you’re a Bard, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard.
History
History covers the lore behind Faeriin’s past. This includes historical events, important individuals, kingdoms, wars, and buried civilizations.
You can select History if you’re a Bard, Fighter, Cleric, Monk, Warlock, or Wizard.
Religion
This Skill gives you knowledge regarding the deities in the world of Abeir-Toril. This includes their domains, clergy, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and the practices of secret cults.
You can select History if you’re a Bard, Druid, Cleric, Monk, Warlock, Paladin, Sorcerer or Wizard.
Investigation
This Skill allows you to investigate for clues and then make deductions based on your findings. You will be able to find hidden objects, check structural weaknesses and examine bodies.
You can access Investigation if you are a Bard, Druid, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock or Wizard.
Nature
This lets you learn lore regarding the geography of an area. This includes the different animal and plant life, weather and terrain of the area.
The following classes can select Nature as a class skill:
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Druid
- Ranger
- Warlock
Strength Skills
Athletics
This Skill has to do with your ability to maneuver and platform. It determines your movement when climbing, jumping, or swimming.
For example, when you try jumping across a huge gap, you may end up performing a stunt in the air.
You avoid obstacles that may knock you down while scaling a wall. Even fighting against sea creatures trying to slow you down in the middle of your swim comes under this.
The following classes can select Athletics as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Monk
- Paladin
- Ranger
- Rogue
Dexterity Skills
Acrobatics
This determines your athletic prowess when trying to stay balanced. You’ll find yourself using this Skill when standing on slippery ice or on tightrope.
Basically, this Skill will help you keep from tripping over and making a fool of yourself.
The following classes can select Acrobatics as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Bard
- Monk
- Rogue
Sleight Of Hand
This Skill helps you hide any backhanded move that you make. This includes stealing or planting an object.
You’ll be able to pull off this maneuver much more efficiently. You can make use of this Skill if you’re a Bard or Rogue.
Stealth
As the name implies, this Skill helps you conceal yourself. You can sneak in and out of areas, get past guards and get the drop on enemies by being as quite as a mouse.
The following classes can select Stealth as a class skill:
- Bard
- Monk
- Ranger
- Rogue
Wisdom Skills
Animal Handling
This Skill will make you a certified animal whisperer. You will know how to calm down a panicked domesticated animal or mount, find out an animal’s intentions, and maintain control of the mount you currently have.
The following classes can select Animal Handling as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Druid
- Ranger
Insight
This helps you deduce someone’s intentions. You can observe a creature’s body language, speech, and behavior to get a feel for what they really want.
This will allow you to see straight through lies.
The following classes can select Insight as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Bard
- Cleric
- Druid
- Monk
- Paladin
- Ranger
- Rogue
- Sorcerer
- Wizard
Medicine
This Skill gives you medical proficiency. This means you can check and diagnose and illness or wound before treating it. You can use this to potentially save an ally’s life.
The following classes can select Medicine as a class skill:
- Bard
- Cleric
- Druid
- Paladin
- Wizard
Perception
This Skill improves you intuition and alertness. This means you will be able to spot any creature within your general vicinity.
You can use this to listen in on conversations and enemy noises. This whole Skill is basically a buff to your senses.
The following classes can select Perception as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Druid
- Ranger
- Rogue
Survival
This Skill is about tracking, foraging, and hunting. You will be tested when exploring the wilderness so you’ll have better odds with this Skill.
You will be able to identify horrible weather hazards, environmental dangers and even dangerous animals.
The following classes can select Survival as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Druid
- Ranger
Charisma Skills
Deception
This Skill determines how good of a liar you are. You can be two-faced and mislead people with great ease.
This is useful for talking your way out of situations—E.g. dealing with a guard or conning a merchant. You can use your mastery of deception to take what you want.
The following classes can select Deception as a class skill:
- Bard
- Rogue
- Sorcerer
- Warlock
Persuasion
You can use your on charm and loveable personality to convince people to take your side. This includes forming friendships that will later allow you to get a favor from the person.
You can find this useful when you need to bring up the hopes of the townfolk or negotiate a peace between two opposing parties.
The following classes can select Persuasion as a class skill:
- Bard
- Cleric
- Paladin
- Rogue
- Sorcerer
Intimidation
You can threaten or hit people until you get what you want. This is particularly useful during interrogations, dealings with enemies and when you need someone to change their mind…or else.
The following classes can select Intimidation as a class skill:
- Fighter
- Barbarian
- Bard
- Paladin
- Rogue
- Sorcerer
- Warlock
Performance
This Skill is all about showmanship. Your ability to wow and ensnare people through acting, music, dancing and other theatrical methods is determined by this Skill.
You can select Performance as a class skill if you are either a Bard or a Rogue.
