What are Legendary Actions in Baldur's Gate 3?

What are Baldur's Gate 3 Legendary Actions? Added as part of the Patch 5 update, Legendary Actions are solely a part of Honour Mode (the new highest Baldur's Gate 3 difficulty), that are conditional actions that all the major boss fights can use against you - and not only that, they can take those actions on other characters’ turns, not their own! It's yet another way to make Honour Mode even deadlier and even the odds between the player and the foes they face - so I'll lay out exactly what that means and what Legendary Actions in BG3 are going to do to ruin your perfect strategy.

Baldur's Gate 3 Legendary Actions in boss fights explained

Legendary Actions are a part of the Baldur's Gate 3 Honour Mode difficulty added as part of Patch 5, that have the following changes on gameplay:

• All major bosses in Baldur's Gate 3 have "Legendary Actions".
• Legendary Actions are unique moves that have a specific trigger that sets them off.
• Because Legendary Actions are usually in some way triggered by the player or their allies, bosses can use Legendary Actions on other characters' turns, as it's a response to behaviour.
• These moves use up a limited pool of "Legendary Actions" that reset on the boss's turn, similar to Reactions. However, they are different and distinct from Reactions and Standard Actions.
• Every boss has their own specific Legendary Actions unique to them, that you can see by examining them. 
• Legendary Actions are only included in Honour Mode - in all other difficulties, they are not present.

Legendary Actions in BG3 are basically an attempt to make the game more difficult in an interesting way, mimicking a rule in D&D wherein powerful monsters can take certain actions on other players' turns too. It's supposed to balance out the whole "one supposedly tough monster getting whaled on by 3-6 people in a row" thing, though Baldur's Gate 3 making Legendary Actions conditional is an interesting change that gives more scope for tactical thinking.

What enemies have Legendary Actions?

All the major boss fights in Baldur's Gate 3 have legendary actions, and as mentioned, you can check to see what those actions are by right-clicking them. However, regular enemies won't have them - these are specifically for powerful entities worthy of being called "Legendary." In the early game, such bosses will include the infamous Baldur's Gate 3 hag Auntie Ethel, the Phase Spider Matriarch, and the Baldur's Gate 3 owlbear - basically any enemy who's worthy of having their own dedicated health bar at the top of the screen or who feels meaningfully unique in some way.

Legendary Actions are also thematically appropriate to the boss in some clear way - for example, the Owlbear summons her mate to aid her in the fight, and the Phase Spider Matriarch wraps up people in webbing before spawning in more baby spiders.

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