The most powerful ability in Baldur's Gate 3 isn't a Level 6 spell. It's not a legendary weapon art. It's Shove. This simple bonus action, available to every character from the moment you wake up on the Nautiloid, can be a one-shot kill button if you use it correctly. The same goes for its humble brethren: Dip, Hide, and Throw. These common actions are the secret grammar of Larian's combat system. Mastering them is the difference between scraping through encounters and orchestrating tactical masterpieces. They don't cost spell slots and are always available, forming the foundation upon which every spectacular, high-level play is built.
Forget hoarding spell slots for the perfect moment. Your most consistent and creative tools are already on your hotbar. Learning to leverage your Action and Bonus Action every single turn with these core abilities is the single most important skill you can develop. It's time to look beyond glowing swords and fireballs and appreciate the profound tactical elegance of a well-timed push.
Are these actions or bonus actions?
Understanding the action economy is everything. In each turn of combat, a character gets one 'Action' and one 'Bonus Action'. Think of the Action as your main move—casting a big spell, making a full weapon attack, or using a special skill. The Bonus Action is a smaller, quicker move you can make in addition to your main Action. Many of the most powerful universal abilities are Bonus Actions, meaning you can attack an enemy and shove another one off a cliff in the same turn. Hovering over any ability on your hotbar tells you what it costs. Efficiently using both your Action and Bonus Action every turn is key to maximizing your impact.
Shove: The Gravity Hammer
Shove is, without exaggeration, one of the best abilities in the game. As a Bonus Action, it costs very little to use and its potential is enormous. Its primary function is repositioning enemies, but its true power lies in environmental kills. See an enemy standing near a cliff, a chasm, or a pool of lava? Shove them. The fall damage is often enough to kill them outright, making it a 'one-shot' that costs no resources. This is especially potent in the game's early hours when your damage output is low.
But it's not just for murder. You can shove allies to move them out of a spreading fire or an incoming AoE spell. If a companion is put to sleep, a quick shove will wake them up. The success of a shove is determined by a Strength check between you and the target. Be warned, though: enemies you push into an inaccessible abyss take their loot with them. Sometimes, that fancy magic ring is worth more than a quick kill.
Jump: More Than Getting Around
Like Shove, Jump is a Bonus Action that's all about positioning. Its most obvious use is navigating the world, letting you reach high ground for an accuracy bonus or find secret paths. The distance you can jump is determined by your Strength score. In combat, its utility shines. You can use Jump to disengage from an enemy without provoking an Opportunity Attack, leap over dangerous surfaces like grease or ice to avoid falling prone, or position yourself perfectly for a backstab. It's a mobility tool that keeps your characters safe and aggressive.
Dip: A Free Damage Boost
This is another Bonus Action that players frequently forget. If there is an elemental surface nearby, you can use Dip to coat your equipped melee weapon in that element. The most common source is fire. See a lit torch or a burning patch of ground? Dip your sword in it. For the next three turns, your weapon will deal an extra 1-4 fire damage with every hit. It's free, extra damage. You can even create your own surface. Drop a candle from your inventory, light it with a fire cantrip, and you have a personal dipping station before every fight. You can also dip into poison or acid surfaces to gain their properties, making this a versatile tool for exploiting enemy weaknesses.
Baldur's Gate 3 in-game screenshot
How do I control the flow of battle?
Winning in Baldur's Gate 3 is about control. You need to dictate who acts when and from where. The key to this is manipulating stealth and movement to ensure you always have the upper hand, striking from the shadows and escaping before the enemy can properly retaliate.
Hide: Setting the Perfect Ambush
Hide is an Action that allows you to attempt to become hidden from enemies. Its power is twofold. First, it enables Sneak Attacks for Rogues and Rangers, which deal massive bonus damage. Second, and more importantly for any class, attacking from a hidden state initiates a 'Surprise' round. When enemies are Surprised, they cannot take any actions or move on their first turn of combat. This means your entire party gets a full round of attacks before the enemy can react. It is a staggering advantage that can decide a difficult fight before it even begins.
When you're hidden, you'll see red cones representing enemy lines of sight. Your cursor will also show an icon indicating the light level: a full sun for well-lit areas (hard to hide), a half sun for shadows (easier), and an empty circle for darkness (easiest). Use the environment to your advantage, sticking to the shadows to set up devastating opening volleys.
Baldur's Gate 3 in-game screenshot
Dash and Disengage: Mastering Your Movement
Dash and Disengage are both Actions that manage your character's movement, but they serve opposite purposes. Dash doubles your total movement speed for the turn. It's for closing long distances to get into the fight, or for retreating to a safe position far from the front lines. If you need to get your fragile wizard away from a charging barbarian, Dash is your best friend.
Disengage is more subtle. When you move away from an enemy that is within melee range, they normally get a free 'Opportunity Attack' against you. Using the Disengage action allows you to move away without provoking this attack. It doesn't give you extra movement distance like Dash, so it's a tactical choice: do you need to get away safely, or do you need to get away far? You can't do both in the same turn, as they both cost your main Action.
What about other utility actions?
Beyond movement and bonus actions, your hotbar has a few other tricks that can solve unique problems in and out of combat. These are the creative tools for when a simple sword swing won't cut it.
Throw: The Universal Problem-Solver
Throw is an incredibly versatile Action. Its most common use is to hurl items from your inventory. You can throw a healing potion at a downed ally's feet to revive them from a distance. You can throw a bottle of grease to create a slippery surface and knock enemies prone. You can throw water on fire to extinguish it. Some weapons, like daggers and javelins, have the 'Thrown' property, meaning they do their full weapon damage when thrown.
Furthermore, you can throw environmental objects. Pick up an explosive barrel and hurl it into a group of enemies for massive damage. The higher up you are, the more 'impact damage' a thrown object will do when it lands. A crate dropped from a high ledge can be surprisingly lethal.
Baldur's Gate 3 in-game screenshot
Help: A Hand Up
When a companion's HP reaches zero, they enter a 'Downed' state. They aren't dead yet, but they are incapacitated and must make death saving throws each turn. The Help action allows an adjacent character to get them back on their feet with 1 HP. This is your primary method for keeping your party in the fight. It's an Action, so it comes at the cost of an attack or spell, but it's always better than letting a companion die. Help can also be used to remove certain conditions from an ally, such as being put to sleep or getting caught in webs.
Improvised Melee Weapon: Desperate Times
This Action allows you to grab a nearby object—a skull, a chair, a dead goblin—and use it to attack an enemy. The damage is usually minimal, but it's a lifesaver in a few key situations. If your character gets Disarmed and their weapon is on the other side of the room, you can still fight back. If you're fighting an enemy resistant to your weapon's damage type, sometimes whacking them with a random shovel is just the trick you need.
The Takeaway
Spells fizzle and swords can miss, but the environment is eternal. The universal actions available to every character are your most reliable and creative tools for bending the battlefield to your will. A Shove that sends three goblins into a chasm is more effective than any Fireball. A well-timed Dip adds up to more damage over a fight than a single critical hit. Learn the rhythm of your Actions and Bonus Actions, and start thinking about every encounter not just in terms of who to hit, but who to push, where to jump, and what to throw. This is how you stop playing Baldur's Gate 3 and start mastering it.