Although PvP is not actually intended in Larian’s role-playing game, players have long since discovered ways to make it work. Now there is even an unofficial competition underway.
The first PvP tournament for Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently underway. Players compete against each other in 1-on-1 battles – even though the game is actually only designed for PvE and co-op play.
With a few adjustments, however, it also works wonderfully as a competition. The only downside to the broadcasts is that the videos are only available in Russian. We’ll explain the most important rules, and maybe someone will feel like organizing a similar event?
How the BG3 tournament works
To fight each other in the role-playing game, you start in co-op mode.
Your fellow player is not marked as an enemy NPC, but can be targeted and attacked – that’s enough for a competition. You can’t make yourself invisible to each other, so spells like that are not allowed.
The battles take place first at level 4, then at level 8, and finally at level 12. In the final round, items of legendary rarity are also allowed. The winner is the player who eliminates their opponent within a maximum of 12 moves. In the event of a tie, a jury decides. Players who win at least two out of three matches advance to the next round of the tournament.
The battle location is chosen at random from a selection of possible arenas, such as the lava lake of the Grym Forge or the Sussur Tree, where magic cannot be used in some places.
You also choose your own equipment from a selection of items after you find out where the battle will take place. Healing is only allowed using the healing potions provided. However, you can cast ritual spells at your leisure during the preparation phase. You can create multi-classes between rounds, but you cannot reset the levels you have chosen so far with the Withered.
Here you can see part of the tournament on YouTube. As mentioned, it is in Russian, but YouTube’s auto-translation for subtitles works pretty well:
And then, of course, there are the rebalancing measures, as Baldur’s Gate 3 allows quite a few nasty moves, such as pushing someone off the edge of the map. In the tournament, this does not lead to death as it does in the game, but the person who is thrown off is teleported back into the arena. If you’re interested in all the rules, you can find them here: original document in Russian or alternatively here Reddit thread with almost complete English translations in the comments.
The winner of the current tournament will receive prize money equivalent to US$1,250. Will this idea catch on and will we soon see Baldur’s Gate 3 more often as an e-sport category? Who knows! With the advanced modding tools, a lot is possible. We’d definitely be there (and would always bet on the drunk monk if in doubt).