Summary
Baldur’s Gate 3features an action economy, which makes maximizing what you may do each turn essential to victory. That’s where Bonus Actions come in to play. Outside your Action (or Actions), a Bonus Action allows you to supplement your turn with a range of helpful magical and physical actions that, if used correctly, can give your turn a winning edge.
Different classes, different pieces of equipment, and different storyline perks are going to influence which Bonus Actions your Tav will have access to. Whether you’re beefing up the turn you’re taking or preparing to help your next turn, these Bonus Actions are going to come in handy more than once.
10Jump
Everyone in the game has access to Jump, even if the distance your character will be able to jump varies by build as it’s determined by Strength. With Jump, you can get clear of dangerous terrain, avoid AOE damage, and get to enemies faster and without wasting movement. There are a number of ways to increase your jump distance:
There are also a number of items that do the same:
Even though it’s a Bonus Action, jumping still counts as movement. If you try and use it after running your full distance, you won’t be able to. So ensure you’re using it before you run out of movement.
9Shove
Another universal Bonus Action is Shove. With it, you may knock a target back varying distances.
You can push enemies away from you to prevent them from taking an Opportunity Attack, knock them back onto elemental surfaces, or, ideally, even kill them outright if you’re near an edge. (It’s this last one that really puts Shove above other Bonus Actions.) To succeed, you have to pass an Athletics check, and the distance you can shove a target depends on its weight and your Strength.
8Drink A Potion
Potions are a large part of the game, with an entire subset of consumablesdedicated to crafting them,so it’s no surprise that their use can make or break a fight. It’s helpful to know what potions you have on hand before you approach an enemy.
After all, potions can do everything from granting immunity to terrain and elemental damage to briefly altering your Abilities. Since they can be consumed as a Bonus Action, you have the chance to quickly heal, make your next attack stronger, or boost your armor class, among other useful things.
Potion of Speed is especially useful as it grants you an extra Action, which can be incredibly beneficial if you come within one Action of a goal and need a quick way to achieve it before giving up your turn, and it isn’t difficult to make.
7Dip Weapon
Alongside the many potions available, Baldur’s Gate 3 also offers a range of poisons and weapon coatings that you can apply as a Bonus Action. Before you hit someone, you can use Dip to give your next hit an extra effect, depending on what you dip it in.
This works for any weapon, including arrows, and it can tip your attacks over into being fatal, or it can help you interact with items around you like exploding barrels. If you don’t have anything on hand, Dip can also be used on anything with the Burning Condition to add fire damage.
6Attack
There are a number of ways to use your Bonus Action to attack a second time:
Barbarian
1
The key to any good Barbarian build is knowing how to use Rage. At the start of every fight, the Barbarian should go ahead and activate this condition, which gives an advantage on Strength Checks and Saving throws, increases attack damage, and grants resistance to all physical damage.
For Barbarians with the Wildheart Subclass, Rage comes with different abilities based on the animal heart chosen.
Remember that Rage can only be used while in combat, and that Heavy Armor and the condition Calmed can cancel it.
Bard
1 (with increases at 5 and 10)
A Class Feature of the Bard, as the name indicates, Bardic Inspiration is a bonus that you may give your allies. It adds a 1d6 to the castee’s next Attack Roll, Saving Throw, and Ability Check. Since this bonus lasts until a Long Rest while only requiring one point of Bardic Inspiration, it’s one of the most useful buffs in the game.
Clothing that interacts with Bardic Inspiration includes:
If you want to gain Improved Bardic Inspiration (which is a 1d12 bonus), make sure that you keep Alfira alive through Act 2.
Palidin (Oath of Devotion)
3
Bard (College of Lore/ via Magical Secrets)
6/10
When used correctly, Sanctuary can be a powerful support tool. The spell protects the character it’s cast on from enemy attacks as long as they don’t cause damage to anyone. Plus, it can be applied to multiple characters at a time.
Its best uses come from protecting your weaker, support-based characters (for example,the Cleric of the partycan protect themselves while acting as a healer) or issuing a round of protection to an ally who’s become vulnerable (for example, if someone is on the verge of death, you may cast Sanctuary to protect them, so they can get away or heal).
This one gets a little complex. You are immune from attacks but not AOE spells.
Actions that count towards doing harm include opponents taking damage from elemental surfaces you created or conditions you inflicted. Shove, and hitting someone with a potion (yes, even it heals them) also break Sanctuary.
Rogue
2
The Rogue may be the best class in the game for Bonus Actions, as their Cunning Actions turn Actions into Bonus Actions. These include Dash, Disengage, and Hide. With Cunning Action: Dash, you may get across the battlefield more quickly without sacrificing your Action.
With Cunning Action: Disengage you can now more easily get away from an opponent but still deal damage to another. With Cunning Action: Hide, you can take greater advantage of the rogue’s use of Sneak Attack. Each of these make the Rogue more flexible in battle than their teammates, and, when paired with their high Dexterity, will make their turn at the beginning of a round formidable.
Palidin (Oath of the Ancients/Oath of Vengance), Ranger (Gloom Stalker)
5
Bard (College of Lore or Magical Secrets)
Rouge (Arcane Trickster), Fighter (Eldritch Knight)
8
Incredibly useful, this Bonus Action allows you to instantly transport to any empty space you may see. Once you’ve used it, you still have all of your remaining movement left. Or, conversely, you can still use it to get out of a situation if you’ve run out of movement.
If you don’t have access to the spell, the following pieces of equipment will also allow you to use Misty Step:
If you’re a Monk (Way of the Shadow), then you’ll have access to a similar Bonus Action called Shadow Step.
