Whether you play on the easiest or hardest difficulty of Baldur’s Gate 3, knowing how to surprise enemies is crucial. While it might seem like something irrelevant, this is a tactic that can win you a battle from the get-go. However, there are a few things you need to do to surprise enemies in BG3, and even by doing so, you need other things to take advantage of this mechanic. Still, once you dominate it, the battlefield will be yours.
How Does ‘Surprise Enemies’ Work in Baldur’s Gate 3? Answered
In truth, this is a straightforward thing to pull off in certain fights, especially those you can approach. If it begins due to story reasons, you won’t be able to do this. To surprise enemies in BG3, you must attack any enemy first before they spot you. There’s a catch, though. Enemies should already be hostile toward you. If they aren’t, chances are you’ll get a small cutscene of them becoming hostile and noticing your actions, removing any opportunity you have to surprise them. Although, if they are hostile to you, you can do any of the following to get a surprise attack:
- Put your characters on stealth mode
- Click or press “Hide” on your hotbar or action wheel, depending on the platform.
- Approach enemies from behind without them spotting you. Watch out for the cones of vision.
- When you are in position, cast a spell or just do a normal attack to surprise the enemy.
What this does is essentially stun the enemies for one turn. This is great because it allows you to do a lot of damage in one round and even take down one or two enemies before they act. Some classes that take advantage of this mechanic are the Gloom Stalker Ranger and the Assassin Rogue, with the latter getting a huge critical buff against enemies with this condition.
While this technique is fantastic, it is very situational, and you must position your characters first before you do it. We recommend sending the sneaky character in to scout, positioning other characters for an ambush, and having the stealthy party member attack. Doing so will let you get in and out of combat in seconds.
