What is Advantage and Disadvantage

Advantage and Disadvantage greatly affects the outcome of dice rolls during ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls in Baldur's Gate 3. Learn more about Advantages and Disadvantages, and how to get them!

What is Advantage and Disadvantage

Advantage

When players make a roll while Advantage is in effect, they roll a second d20 and the game will use the higher result of the two rolls to decide the outcome.

As an example, if you roll a 17 and an 8, the 17 will be used to determine the result of the check.

Having an Advantage doesn't necessarily guarantee that you'll succeed in the check, it basically means that the roll will use the higher number of the two, but you would still have to meet the required numerical value of the skill check in order to pass it.

Disadvantage

When players make a roll while Disadvantage is in effect, they roll another d20 and the game will then use the lower result of the two rolls to decide the outcome of the check.

As an example, if you roll a 15 and a 7, the 7 will be used to determine final result of the skill check.

Likewise, using the lowest number during a disadvantage roll doesn't automatically mean failure. If the resulting number used still meets the required numerical value in the check, then you can still pass the skill check even if you're at a disadvantage.

How to Get Advantage and Disadvantage

Ways to Get Advantage

How to Get Advantages
Ambushing a Target While in Stealth Attacking While on Higher Ground Interacting with NPCs Climbing on Stacked Crates

Note: More ways to get Advantage effect will be added soon!

Ambushing a Target While in Stealth

If one of your party members has yet to be spotted during a battle, they can launch a stealth attack which has a higher chance of hitting since the enemy is unaware of their presence.

Don't forget that you can also Sneak (Default key: C) around so you can reposition to different areas without alerting the enemy.

How to Sneak

Attacking While on Higher Ground

If you secured high ground before or during a battle, you get a +2 bonus to Ranged attack rolls when shooting at targets below you.

Interacting with NPCs

Throughout the course of the game, you will interact with NPCs with dialogue options that involve ability checks. If your character is proficient enough in the ability used in the check, the Advantage effect will appear as a bonus to the roll.

Climbing on Stacked Crates

Prior to initiating combat, you can stack three crates and have your best ranged attacker climb on top of it to gain advantage. This tactic proves highly effective, due to how easy it is to set up before the start of a battle.

Ways to Get Disadvantage

How to Get Disadvantages
Performing Attacks in Dark Areas Using Ranged Within Melee Distance of Target

Note: More ways to get Disadvantage effect will be added soon!

Performing Attacks in Dark Areas

Attacking enemies that are in dimly lit areas puts you at a disadvantage as the target will be obscured. When your Attack Rolls have Disadvantage, they are more likely to miss, resulting in a wasted action.

Using Ranged Within Melee Distance of Target

Ranged attackers and spellcasters will get the Threatened condition if an enemy gets to close to them. Any ranged attack they make while Threatened will have Disadvantage and will most likely miss when fired.

Baldur's Gate 3 Related Guides

Baldur's Gate 3 Beginner's Guide