Combat used to be a mostly two-dimensional activity in the original Baldur’s Gate games, but in Baldur’s Gate 3 you’ll have to consider factors like the terrain - particularly elevation - both in and out of combat. That being the case, this page will help you elevate your strategic understanding of the game by covering climbing and jumping, fall damage in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to Climb in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

Climbing is a pretty simple mechanic in Baldur’s Gate 3 - if some terrain isn’t sufficiently elevated to preclude it being easily mounted, your character will automatically climb it when instructed to make their way to high ground. This occurs both in and out of combat, but you need to be wary in combat, as clicking on some high ground may send your character off on an unexpected detour, so keep an eye on their movement trail (white line when a movement is selected) so you know exactly where your characters will be going. Also keep in mind that they might not take the most expedient path to reach their destination - sometimes a Jump command will spare you a significant detour.

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(1 of 3) You can jump to extend your range or reach enemies on high ground,

How to Jump in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

Every character can Jump in Baldur’s Gate 3, and quite far, too! The exact distance depends on the character’s Strength score, but generally a character in Baldur’s Gate 3 can jump at peak human levels (3m+ standing long jump, even with 8 Strength!) to cartoonish superhuman levels (7.5m or so with 16+ Strength). To jump, just pick the Jump command icon or press the key and you’ll get an area radial showing how far, exactly, you can jump.

Jumping is a good way to cross gaps, bypass environmental hazards, and change elevation quickly - oftentimes it’s much more expedient to jump up to an elevated position than it is to work your way around and climb via a more accessible approach. Keep in mind, however, that you need an unobstructed path to jump, and if your Strength is too low to sufficiently make a jump, you cannot even attempt it. Probably a good thing, that. Jumping in combat can be done as a Bonus Action, and you can both jump and move in a single combat round, potentially greatly expanding the range of high-Strength Characters (our 16 Strength Wood Half Elf Paladin was able to jump 7.5m, then move an additional 7.5m in a single combat round - far better than the standard 10m move). You can jump before or after a move, but keep in mind that jumping requires you to expend 3m from your movement range, regardless of how far you can actually jump. Whether this is done before or after you move doesn’t matter, but if afterwards, remember to keep 3m of movement unspent if you want to jump afterwards.

Jumping is a good way to earn extra treasure by snagging otherwise out-of-reach treasure, gain the high ground, jump over traps or fires (something you’ll be introduced to early in the game), or generally expand your movement range. It’s something every Strength-based warrior should be exploiting nearly every turn of the game. Just keep in mind that jumping counts as movement in most gameplay terms - if you attempt to jump out of melee range, you’ll provoke an Attack of Opportunity, so don’t view it as a means of egress.