Baldur’s Gate 3: 15 Best Skills [Ranked]

Baldur’s Gate 3 offers a variety of skills that players can use to progress through the gameplay. Some of these skills help directly during combat, while a few help in conversing with NPCs. However, to master the game, you must be picky with these skills and choose only those that will positively affect your gameplay. This is where our guide comes to help.

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Key Takeaways

• Baldur’s Gate 3 focuses on creating an all-encompassing environment rather than focusing only on combat mechanics. Therefore, players get to play with various skills that help in combat and during their usual travels and conversations.
• Each skill derives its potential from one of many Ability Scores in the game. These scores determine players’ proficiency in certain functionalities of their bodies—for example, Intelligence, Dexterity, Strength, etc.
• Although a few skills work best in dedicated classes, most of the skills in Baldur’s Gate 3 don’t have problems adjusting to any class they are selected for.
• Many skills help you in conversing with NPCs in the game to get relevant information or to sneak around them. Similarly, multiple skills help scan the area around them to find valuable items and avoid hostile situations. A few skills also help communicate and control animals in Baldur’s Gate 3.

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Skill	Attribute	Highlight Functions
Perception	Wisdom	Environmental Awareness
History	Intelligence	Unlock elements of the game’s lore
Investigation	Intelligence	Solving Puzzles
Stealth	Dexterity	Sneaking around/ Avoiding confrontation
Persuasion	Charisma	Logical reasoning, Persuasion, Negotiation
Deception	Charisma	Deceiving guards, getting away with crimes
Athletics	Strength	Avoid getting shoved
Intimidation	Charisma	Assert dominance
Sleight of Hand	Dexterity	Perform mischevious acts
Insight	Wisdom	Acts as your character's sixth sense
Acrobatics	Dexterity	Athleticism, avoid getting shoved
Arcana	Intelligence	How magic works
Survival	Wisdom	Scan out resources and hostile species
Animal Handling	Wisdom	Understand and communicate with animals
Nature	Intelligence	Knowledge about your surroundings and resources

Choosing between all the skills in Baldur’s Gate 3 requires proper knowledge about their proficiencies in combat or socializing. If you have played Dragons and Dungeons 5E, this might not be a big problem. However, this will be a tough decision if you are a newbie. Well, not for long, as I have ranked the best skills in Baldur’s Gate 3 below:

Perception

Perception is a must-have skill, no matter what class you choose to play with. You will probably use it more than any other skill in the game. Old players know how this skill used to occupy a permanent slot in their Dragons and Dungeons 5E inventory. And just like there, it derives its functionality from the Wisdom Ability Score. Here is what this all-round skill does in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• Provides Environmental awareness.
• Finds out secrets around the area by noticing changes in the surrounding environment.
• Decodes an NPC’s messages during meaningful interactions and reveals its true aspirations and intentions, failing its every try of thievery or deception.
• It senses unforeseen threats and attacks to notify players beforehand during hostile situations.

History

Knowledge is power; the most tedious and dull things are often the most beneficial. That is the case with this skill in Baldur’s Gate 3. Knowing the history of everything in the game will give you an easy and insightful approach to everything. Moreover, it is an Intelligence-based skill. It will help you in the following ways:

• History will let you unlock elements of the game’s lore.
• You can uncover various Facts using this skill. These Facts help in finding out new things and dialog trees.
• It will inform you about the places you will visit in the game. For example, a ruined temple may appear to you as a previously used shrine to an ancient deity.
• While it is available for multiple classes, equipping it for Wizard class will bring out its full potential.

Investigation

There are many exciting puzzles in Baldur’s Gate 3, each requiring you to find specific clues around the area to win various rewards. After several tries, roaming around looking for these clues may become hectic and time-consuming.

However, the rewards are well worth all the efforts. Investigation is another Intelligence-based skill that will help you quickly scan the area for clues. Here is what else it does:

• It brings in new and relevant information about the surrounding area. 
• You can instantly point out one dedicated item inside a room filled with various items instead of looking through all the items.
• Investigation can look through any text to scan out deciphered text.
• It can also sense dangers and warn you to adopt preventive measures.

Stealth

It is one of the best skills in Baldur’s Gate 3. When going around places or being surrounded by groups of enemies, bypassing them without them realizing it is going can be a huge advantage. Stealth is a Dexterity-based skill that lets you do precisely this in Baldur’s Gate 3. While workable with all classes, Rogue makes the best carrier class for Stealth. Here is how it can help you in the game:

• You can hide yourself even when in front of enemies.
• Bypass unnecessary face-offs by simply sneaking away ahead to your main targets.
• You can sneak inside places that usually require permission from guards. 
• It lets you surprise enemies by occupying a higher ground in a room.

Persuasion

Baldur’s Gate 3 is not focused on bloody fights only. Players can use their wisdom, intelligence, communication skills, and charisma to go wherever they want.

Persuasion is one of the best skills in Baldur’s Gate 3, using the Charisma attribute to help you dominate any situation by manipulating words. This skill has Baldur’s Gate 3’s community in awe with all its usefulness in the game. Here is what it brings to the table:

• It lets you use logical reasoning to make your way through the game.
• You can make new friends and alliances using Persuasion.
• Persuasion can help you negotiate prices.
• You can make NPCS spit out all information without having to give anything in return.

Deception

Persuasion focuses on the art of negotiation. However, going with the truth is not always the way out. Lying becomes more practical in some cases. Deception does exactly this, and players can get away even with the most heinous crimes in Baldur’s Gate 3. While it works well with every class, Rogue, Warlock, and Bard get the best out of it. You can expect to get the following benefits from this skill:

• Deception can help you get inside wherever you want by fooling the guards.
• It can help you in purchasing useful things by deceiving the merchants.
• You can even get away with murder using this skill.

Athletics

Having a flexible body to make complex movements during combats significantly increases your chances of survival. Athletic is one of the best combat skills in Baldur’s Gate 3. It is the only skill based on the Strength attribute and can help you dominate any hostile situation single-handedly. Here is how it will help you in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• Athletics will let you move through any force pushing you behind.
• You can jump on higher locations to have the upper hand on your enemies.
• It lets you deal with an all-in ambush from your enemies.
• You can go for an all-in ambush against multiple enemies with less resistance.

Intimidation

Holding conversations in Baldur’s Gate 3 require special attention, as a slight change in your selection of dialogues or movements can change the course of upcoming scenes. Intimidation is a strange yet valuable skill in Baldur’s Gate 3. It is a social skill based on the Charisma attribute. Being a bully, here is what you can do with this skill in your hands:

• It can induce fear in your opponents, thereby asserting your dominance.
• You can terrify NPCs to collect whatever information you want.
• You can get into buildings by scaring the guards.

Sleight Of Hand

Magicians often abuse the element of manipulation to enforce their tricks. The same goes for Sleight of Hand in this game. It is one of those skills based on the Dexterity Ability Score in Baldur’s Gate 3. It will let you manipulate or distract your targets to perform naughty acts. Those actions might not be legal, but whatever needs to be done should be done. Here is how it will help you in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• You can pick-pocket various useful things from multiple targets.
• Sleight of Hand allows you to hide certain things on your character so that NPCs could not detect them.
• You can place something illegal in your opponents’ pockets and tell the guards about it.
• It opens any door or chest for you without any problem.

Insight

It is another great skill based on Wisdom Ability Score in Baldur’s Gate 3 that will act like your character’s sixth sense. Just like your sixth sense lets you know when someone is lying, hiding something, or if something terrible will happen, Insight does the same. Coupling it with any other social skill, for example, Persuasion can bring out its full potential. Here is what you can use this skill for:

• You can know when an NPC is lying to you.
• It will tell you if the NPC is hiding some information to themselves.
• Insight also warns about upcoming traps.

Acrobatics

Dexterity is essential in Baldur’s Gate 3, and players use its skill more often during their combats. Acrobatics is one of the best combat skills in Baldur’s Gate 3, deriving its potential from Dexterity.

While it is an essential skill for every class, Rangers’ class especially brings the best out of it. Here is how Acrobatics can help you dominate any fighting arena in the game:

• Acrobatics is highly useful during ranged combats.
• You can land on your feet during nimble movements, including athleticism.
• It can save your life in the game by preventing you from getting shoved.

Arcana

Magic can help you overcome many challenging phases in the game. Similarly, knowing how magic works in Baldur’s Gate 3 can help you in combat and during other confusing phases. This is what Arcana does in the game. It is a useful skill based on the Intelligence Ability Score. Here is what you can expect from this skill in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• Arcana can help you deactivate any magical trap.
•  It can help you identify and understand strange artifacts of magical nature.
• You can interact with magical/enchanted items using this skill in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Survival

During your voyage around the map, you will come across many wild places where survival seems more challenging than in other places. One of Wisdom Ability Score’s many skills, Survival, will help you in Baldur’s Gate 3. It is a great skill that goes fine with many classes, including Fighter, Barbarian, Bard, Ranger, and Druid. Here is how it will help you in your gameplay:

• You can detect valuable resources around you.
• Survival will highlight tracks on the ground to make way for you.
• It can help you find eatables, like various fruits.
• You and your group can pass through frozen wastelands using this skill.
• Natural hazards in the game can be avoided by using this skill.

Animal Handling

While there are many skills on this list to deal with humans and how you can manipulate their behavior, there isn’t any such skill related to animals. Similarly, although you can use Nature to look for any animals in the area, having a specified skill can make your work easy. Animal Handling, based on Wisdom’s Ability Score, is one of the best skills in Bladur’s Gate 3 in this regard. Here is what you can expect from this skill:

• It can help you to calm down any domesticated animal.
• You can learn about any animal’s intentions.
• Animal Handling can help you calm your animals down in risky maneuvers.

Nature

Like History, Nature is another one of those boring but useful skills that will give you details about your surroundings in Baldur’s Gate 3. Unfortunately, it is Intelligent’s most overlooked skill in the game. You can select it for any of the available classes. The information provided by this skill will help you throughout the game. Here are some of its uses in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• You can know what kind of animals or plants surround an area.
• A specific area’s weather and natural cycles can be understood using this skill.
• Nature will provide you necessary information about the lands you are traveling through.

It was all for our guide on the best skills in Baldur’s Gate 3. Each of these skills provides something unique and useful that will help you dominate the gameplay in one way or another. Similarly, choosing the right skills for your build should be your ultimate priority, as they a long way with you in the game. What are your favorite skills in Baldur’s Gate 3, and why? Tell us in the comments.

While you are here, don’t forget to read more:

• Baldur’s Gate 3 Best Multiclass Combinations.
• Baldur’s Gate 3 Best Armor.
• Baldurs Gate 3 Best Wizard Subclass.