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Baldur's Gate 3 is a game defined by its choices. You choose to help the druids of the grove or massacre them with the goblins, and you choose to side with the Absolute or reject his tadpole's powers and so on. Having the game shift its course completely in response to these choices is what makes BG3 such an achievement in the CRPG genre.
One aspect of choice most players are unaware of is having the ability to do non-lethal damage to characters. Knowing how to take an enemy combatant out of the fight without taking their life allows for the option of a peaceful resolution to a misunderstanding.
Updated by Hamza Haq on August 26, 2023: The article has been updated with fresh links to align with the latest articles on Baldur’s Gate 3.
How To Toggle Non-Lethal Damage On/Off
Non-Lethal Attacks can be turned on in the Hotbar at the bottom.
- At the bottom of the player hotbar, find the text box that says "Passives" and click on it.
- Hover over the icons here to identify the one that says "Toggle Non-Lethal Attacks."
- Click on it, and you'll see a white outline marking the icon.
Now, Non-Lethal Attacks are toggled on. They will remain toggled on until you click on the same icon again and remove the white outline. A non-lethal damage icon will also appear next to your party members, making it easy to check at a glance whether or not you have non-lethal damage turned on.
How To Deal Non-Lethal Damage
Only melee weapons like (swords, daggers, glaives, etc.) can be used to deal non-lethal damage. Spells and Ranged Attacks will always deal lethal damage, even if you have the option for non-lethal attacks toggled on.
However, that doesn't mean that you cannot use spells and ranged attacks to reduce a high HP enemy's health. Say you want to take out an enemy paladin in a fight without killing him. But this Paladin has 100 HP, and your melee attackers only deal 5-10 damage each turn.
You can reduce the enemy's health using high-damage spells and ranged attacks before switching to melee. Have your wizard take out his favorite stick, and your cleric shift to his mace. The only thing you need to do to avoid killing an enemy is to make sure not to reduce his health to zero with a spell or ranged attack, but with a melee attack.
When To Use Non-Lethal Damage
Quite a few combat encounters in Baldur's Gate 3 are morally grey. And if you're playing a good character, you might not want to kill a guard just doing his job
or a Ranger who is being mind-controlled
A good example of this is during the Auntie Ethel questline. As you venture deeper down the hag's hideout, you'll encounter four mind-controlled enemies who are being forced to be hostile to you by the hag. If you take these NPCs out with non-lethal damage, they will survive the encounter, and you can save them from the hag's clutches after you kill her.