One of my favorite parts of deep, character-driven RPGs such as Baldur’s Gate 3 is they give you actual room for roleplaying. This often comes in the form of moral decisions, where you’re trying to stay on a path (good, neutral, or evil) as you work your way through interactions with NPCs. One good example of this in BG3 is combat. Sometimes a fight is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean you have to kill your enemy. If you want to learn how to perform non-lethal attacks in BG3, read on.
How to deal non-lethal damage in Baldur’s Gate 3
To inflict non-lethal damage, all you need to do is complete the following steps:
- Select the character you wish to do non-lethal damage on the left of the screen. Once selected, their profile picture will have a silver (not gold) border.
- On their skills bar, click the Passives button.
- Click the Toggle Non-Lethal Attacks icon.
You’ll know it has worked because the icon will get a spinning white circle around it, and a Non-Lethal Damage Icon will appear above their Inventory and Equipment button.
Reasons to inflict non-lethal damage aren’t always good, either. You may want to knock out an enemy so that you can rob them for wares, interrogate them, or hand them over to someone who is looking for them.
Whatever the reason, non-lethal attacks can be a very useful part of your armory. Just remember to switch back once you’re done, though, to avoid an embarrassing situation in your next battle! This will toggle all of your characters to do non-lethal damage, so if you’re battling multiple enemies, one of which you want to preserve, you may need to keep switching during battle.
We have loads more on Baldur's Gate 3 at Pro Game Guides! Find Baldur’s Gate 3: Should you let Astarion Drink Your Blood?, How to Find Gale in Baldur’s Gate 3 (Location), and more right here.
Chris Marling is a writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience across newspapers, magazines, and websites. Based in the UK, he has written professionally on everything from tech to tearooms. But his real passion is gaming, going right back to the Atari 2600 - and especially RPGs and MMOs. He cut his teeth on games such as The Realm and Anarchy Online. But 20 years on still gets excited about exploring each new world. When not online, you'll find him gaming analog-style around the table. Chris has had five of his own board games published, including Pioneer Days and Armageddon.