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Rest in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a mechanic that can be confusing at first if you’ve never encountered it before, but it quickly becomes second nature after just a few hours of playing. Rests are vital for recovering hit points, spell slots, and other mechanics in the game. Depending on your play style, you may find yourself taking long rests after every few encounters, while other parties may be able to play for hours without having to rest. If you’re confused about rests or interested in learning more, here’s how rest works in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Rest in Baldur’s Gate 3
Resting in Baldur’s Gate 3 is relatively simple. At the bottom of your screen, on the right side of the hotbar, you’ll find a campfire icon. Click it to open the submenu with three more buttons. They are, in order from top to bottom, Short Rest, Long Rest, and Go to Camp. In order to perform any of these actions, you need to be in a safe location and out of combat.
Short Rests in Baldur’s Gate 3
Players have access to two Short Rests, resetting every time they take a Long Rest. Players with a 2nd-level Bard in their party who has access to Song of Rest can technically take three Short Rests between each Long Rest. Regardless of your class, all characters will restore half of their max hit points rounded down and any spent weapon actions like Topple or Flourish.
Some classes benefit more from Short Rests than others, like Warlock. Warlocks refresh their spell slots after a Short Rest, making it more valuable to them than, say, a Rogue, who receives no additional benefits to their class abilities. Some classes also don’t benefit at low levels but can unlock features at higher levels that do benefit. Here’s a full breakdown of each class’s benefits from Short Rests in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Barbarian – Relentless Rage refreshes (11th-level feature).
- Bard – Bardic Inspirations refresh (5th-level feature).
- Cleric – Channel Divinity charges refresh (2nd-level feature).
- Druid – Druids of the Land recover spell slots equal to half their level rounded down on the first Short Rest of the day.
- Fighter – Second Wind and Action Surge charges refresh. Battle Master Fighters refresh their Superiority Die.
- Monk – Ki points refresh.
- Paladin – Channel Oath charges refresh.
- Ranger – Nothing
- Rogue – Nothing
- Sorcerer – Wild Magic Sorcerers refresh their Tides of Chaos
- Warlock – Refresh all spell slots, subclass features, and applicable Eldritch Invocations
- Wizard – Refresh a certain number of spell slots equal to half their level rounded up on the first Short Rest of the day.
Long Rests in Baldur’s Gate 3
Long Rests in BG3 are what seem to be the most confusing for players, especially since so many in-game events are tied to Long Rests. We will discuss when you should take a Short or Long Rest in a minute, but here’s a summary of the benefits and requirements of a Long Rest.
Long Rests restore all of your hitpoints, spell slots, features, etc. It’s a very powerful action that makes your characters feel like an action figure fresh out of the box. Unlike Short Rests, however, Long Rests require 40 Camp Supplies. This is to stop players from abusing Long Rests and treating it like a reset button. Different foods and beverages are worth varying amounts of Camp Supplies. You can check how many Camp Supplies you have by hovering over the Long Rest button on the action bar.
Players who have progressed far enough in the story and reached Baldur’s Gate will have the option to rest at an inn. This doesn’t require Camp Supplies but instead costs gold. You can rent the upper floor of the Elfsong Tavern for 200 gold, which is a steal when you consider the cost of Camp Supplies.
When to Short and Long Rest in Baldur’s Gate 3
Short Rests should be used after encounters where your party has taken a beating, needs to heal, and could do with some action refreshes. If you are a Warlock, you might find yourself taking Short Rests fairly often to refresh your spell slots. Short Rests are a great way to heal up after a fight, allowing you to save your potions or healing spells for another battle.
Long Rests are a little trickier. Obviously, you should try and avoid Long Resting after every encounter or two. Short Rests should be more than enough to heal your party, and you shouldn’t be blasting every goblin in sight with Magic Missiles or your entire spellbook. If you find yourself needing a Long Rest too often, try to use fewer spells or class features and rely more on attacks or abilities that don’t require Long Rests to reset them.
That said, don’t avoid Long Rests like the plague, either. Long Rests help progress certain storylines and companion quests in the game. However, there is a fine line here between doing too many Long Rests and not enough. Too many can result in you skipping crucial quests or companion interactions in the game. Not enough can cause bugs to appear, as the game relies heavily on Long Rests to trigger certain interactions.
It’s best to find a happy medium. You should be able to go several encounters without needing a Long Rest, but some parties may be able to fight hordes of enemies without one. When in doubt, listen to your party members; they’ll often drop a line that they’re tired and could use a rest.
