Baldur’s Gate 3: All status effects explained

Baldur’s Gate 3 floods you with all sorts of information during your playthrough, but one of the most important ones you have to look out for are the status effects. Here’s a detailed explanation of every status effect in BG3.

Status effects are a feature common to most RPGs, and Baldur’s Gate 3 is no exception. These let you know if your character is afflicted by a condition or if they’re benefitting from some ability boosts. The status effects in Baldur’s Gate 3 are all taken from DnD, but some of them may have minor changes. Several of these offer some serious advantages to you and your companions, while others can cause harm.

Here is a list of every status effect in Baldur’s Gate 3 along with how they affect your characters’ stats.

• What is a status effect in Baldur’s Gate 3
• List of negative Status effects
• List of positive status effects

What is a status effect in Baldur’s Gate 3?

A status effect is a condition that alters the way your character moves, heals, takes actions, interacts with the environment, or does damage in Baldur’s Gate 3. They can be positive or negative, and learning what they do is key to taking down the hardest late-game challenges.

Status effects have a considerable impact on Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay, even during dialogue phases. So keep that in mind when you traverse through the many locations of the Sword Coast you will explore during your adventures.

These effects can be caused by the environment, spells, abilities, weapons, enemy attacks, or by items equipped or used by your character. They can alter your character, allied NPCs, and enemies so you can use them to your advantage during combat.

List of negative status effects in Baldur’s Gate 3

Negative status effects in Baldur’s Gate 3 cause damage, disadvantage and diminish your character capabilities during combat and outside of it.

Here’s a full list of all negative status effects present in Baldur’s Gate 3 and how they alter your character stats:

BG3 Status Effect	Effect Description
Acid	The unit has its Armor Class reduced by 2
Bane	The unit receives a 1d4 penalty to attack rolls and saving throws
Bleeding	The unit is dead. Can be revived if it’s a companion. Cannot be revived if enemy or allied NPC
Blinded	Ranged attacks and spells have a range of 15 ft, and melee attack rolls suffer Disadvantage.
Bloodless	The unit has -1 to attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks
Burning	The unit takes fire damage per turn over the duration of the condition
Caustic	The unit takes 1d4 acid damage per turn
Charmed	The unit can’t harm the enemy that charmed it, and has CHAR disadvantage against the caster
Chest Trauma	The unit has Disadvantage on CON saving throws, -1 to Actions per turn
Chilled	The unit becomes vulnerable to Cold damage, and Resistant to Fire damage
Crippled	The unit’s movement speed reduced to 0, and has Disadvantage on DEX saving throws
Dazed	The unit has Disadvantage on WIS saving throws, can’t take Reactions, and loses the DEX bonus to their Armour Class
Dead	The unit is dead. Can be revived if its a companion. Cannot be revived if enemy or allied NPC
Difficult Terrain	Halves movement speed of the unit
Downed	Your character has reached 0 HP, and need to take three successful Death saving throws to become stable, if it fails three times, it dies.
Electrocuted	The unit takes 1d4 lightning damage at the start of each turn
Encumbered	The unit’s movement speed is reduced, and Jump distance is halved
Ensnared	The unit cannot move and takes 1d4 piercing damage each turn
Entangled	The unit cannot move and attack rolls against the affected unit have Advantage
Enthralled	Lost control of the unit for the duration of the effect
Enwebbed	The unit cannot move, attack rolls against it have Advantage, attack rolls have Disadvantage. You also have Disadvantage on DEX saving throws.
Feeble	The unit causes half damage with STR based weapons
Flammable	The unit becomes flammable, when taking fire damage, it explodes taking 2d4 extra fire damage and spreading Burning to all units around it
Frightened	The unit has disadvantage on ability checks, runs away from the source of its fear, and can’t willingly move near the unit that caused the fear effect
Frostbite	If the unit takes cold damage when affected by Frostbite take an additional 1 cold damage per turn of Frostbite remaining.
Gaping Wounds	Attacks against this unit deal an additional two piercing damage.
Haemorrage	The unit suffers 1d6 piercing damage at the end of each turn for the duration of the effect
Hamstrung	The unit’s movement speed is reduced by 50%
Heavily Encumbered	The unit’s movement speed reduced by 75%, and can no longer climb or jump. Also has Disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, as well as STR, DEX, and CON saving throws
Incapacitated	The unit becomes stunned and unable to act or react, loses concentration in case it is channeling a spell
Infested	The unit becomes infested with tiny spiderlings that deal 1d4 piercing damage and 1d4 poison damage each round for the duration of the effect, attacks on this unit spread the effect to the attacker. Upon death, the infestation spreads to all nearby units
Lethargic	The unit becomes unable to take actions, reactions or move, and needs to recover for one turn during combat or outside combat
Mud	Causes the unit the same effects as Difficult Terrain, unit moves at half speed
Nauseated	The unit becomes vulnerable to Psychic and Acid damage until next long rest
Noxious Fumes	The unit takes 1d4 Poison damage each turn. It must succeed a CON saving throw or take an additional 2d4 Poison damage on a failed roll, or half damage if the roll is successful
Off Balance	The unit has Disadvantage in DEX and STR saving throws, attacks against this unit have Advantage
Oil(ed)	Unit becomes Flammable
Paralyzed	The unit is unable to act, react, automatically fails DEX and STR saving throws, other units attacking it have Advantage on attack rolls, any attack made to the unit from 10ft distance are an automatic hit and Critical Hit
Pinched	The unit takes 1d4 piercing damage each turn and has its movement speed reduced by 10ft
Poisoned	The unit has a Disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks for the duration of the effect
Prone	The unit has Disadvantage on STR and DEX saving throws, and has to recover at the beginning of next turn, losing all its movement speed
Reeling	The unit has -1 penalty to attack rolls for the duration of the combat phase
Shocked	The unit cannot take reactions and has Disadvantage on DEX ability checks and saving throws
Sickened	The unit becomes vulnerable to most types of damage, except slashing and sacred
Silenced	The unit becomes unable to cast spells or spell-like abilities
Sleeping	The unit cannot move, becomes unable to react, fails automatically every STR and DEX saving throw, attack rolls against it have Advantage, and any enemy hitting the sleeping unit at 5ft range scores an automatic Critical Hit
Stunned	The unit cannot move, take actions, bonus actions, or reactions
Surprised	The unit cannot take actions or reactions, nor move during initial round of the combat
Threatened	The unit is threatened by enemies, cannot move without causing an Opportunity Attack, and has Disadvantage on ranged attacks
Turned	The unit becomes affected by Fear and needs to take every possible action or reaction to move away from the unit causing its Fear
Twisting Vines	The unit becomes affected by Difficult Terrain and takes 1d4 piercing damage each turn until a DEX saving throw ceases the effect. In certain environments, piercing damage is replaced by 1d4 necrotic damage
Weak Grip	The unit has Disadvantage on attack rolls and STR saving throws, must immediately make a DEX save or lose current held weapons
Wet	Prevents the Burning effect, but the unit becomes Vulnerable to cold and lightning damage

List of positive status effects in Baldur’s Gate 3

Positive status effects in Baldur’s Gate 3 boost your character stats and allow you to gain an advantage on most saving throws, skill checks, and during combat.

Here’s a full list of all positive status effects present in Baldur’s Gate 3, and what benefits they grant to your character:

BG3 Status Effect	Effect Description
Arcane Acuity	The unit has a +1 bonus to its spell attack rolls and spell difficulty class per turn until the duration of the effect expires
Arcane Sinergy	The unit adds its spellcasting ability modifier as bonus weapon damage for melee or ranged attacks until the duration of the effect expires
Aura of Leadership	Units around the source cause an additional 1d4 force damage when hitting with a melee or range attack
Aura of Courage	Units around the source are immune to Fear effects, and gain Advantage on their CON, WIS, and INT saving throws
Awakened	The units are able to use Ilithid powers as a Bonus Action each turn
Blessed	The units receive an additional 1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws
Braced	The unit loses half its movement speed, and for the rest of the turn, rolls ranged or melee damages twice, and takes the highest result
Calmed	The unit cannot be affected by Charm or Fear
Guidance	The units receive an additional 1d4 to skill checks
Happy	The unit gains +1 to all attack rolls, saving throws, and most ability checks
Hasted	The unit gains +2 to Armor Class, and takes an additional action or reaction each turn, doubles the movement speed. After the duration of the effect ceases, the unit becomes Lethargic
Heat	The unit takes 1d4 fire damage each turn, but unlocks the ability to use Heat Covergence, dealing 2d4 additional fire damage with melee or ranged attacks
Heavily Obscured	The unit becomes really hard to detect, has Advantage on Stealth skill checks and synergizes with certain items for additional bonuses
Heroism	The unit becomes immune to Fear effects and gain 10 temporary HP each turn during the duration of the effect
Invisible	The unit becomes invisible and has Advantage on attack rolls, units cannot target it unless revealed. The effect ceases when the unit attacks or is revealed. Greater Invisibility allows units to attack without ceasing the effect
Lightning Charges	The unit gains +1 to attack rolls and deals 1 additional lightning damage. Additionally, when reaching 5 charges, the next spell or attack does 1d8 additional lightning damage
Momentum	The unit gains an increase in movement speed by 5ft per charge, the unit loses all charges if Restrained, Incapacitated, Prone, or slowed down by Difficult Terrain
Prepared	The unit gains extra 1d4 slashing damage on the next melee attack
Protection	The unit is protected against energy, or attacks according to the source of the effect, and gains certain immunities to damage, or Advantage against effects caused by damage that comes from designated sources
Rallied	The unit gains +8 to its maximum HP until the duration of the effect ceases
Resistance	The units receive Advantage in CON, WIS, INT, CHAR, and DEX saving throws
Thaumaturgy	The unit gains Advantage on Intimidation and Performance skill checks
True Strike	The unit gains Advantage on attack rolls
Wrath	The unit gains +1 to melee attack damage per turn, per charge of Wrath, until the duration of the effect ceases

That was every status effect in Baldur’s Gate 3, remember to also check our guides for more content:

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