How to dual wield in Baldur’s Gate 3 – Effectively use two weapons

Are you wondering how to dual wield in Baldur’s Gate 3? Dual-wielding offers many advantages such as taking an extra attack as a bonus action and striking with two weapons; one in your main hand and one in your off-hand.

Multiple classes in the game are designed to dual-wield weapons effectively. Because of this, you should check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 Rogue Build or our Baldur’s Gate 3 Ranger Build. There are multiple prerequisites you must meet before you can wield two weapons.

If you want to wield multiple melee weapons in Baldur’s Gate 3, you can do so very effectively but you must do a few things first. Here is how to dual-wield effectively in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to dual wield in Baldur’s Gate 3

If you want to dual-wield in Baldur’s Gate 3, you simply need to equip two one-hand weapons onto your character. This can be done by choosing a weapon for your main hand and one for your off-hand and equipping them in your inventory.

To wield two weapons, you must meet the following prerequisites:

• Both weapons must be considered light

That’s all. As long as you are wielding two light weapons, you can dual wield, though it won’t be very effective other than giving you a main-hand attack and an off-hand attack. Remember, non-light weapons cannot be dual-wielded. For instance, you won’t be able to wield two greatswords because they are heavy weapons. Great weapons are better used for single-weapon fighting.

Most RPGs have some form of two-weapon fighting in them. If you want to be effective with multiple-weapon fighting in Baldur’s Gate 3, you will want to focus mainly on Dexterity (DEX) instead of Strength (STR). This is because most of the weapons in the game focus on Dexterity and Strength weapons tend to not be able to be dual-wielded.

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Did you know?

The Thief subclass of Rogue allows you to take more bonus actions, granting you the ability to attack up to three times in a turn using both your main-hand and off-hand weapons.

Taking the two-weapon fighting style that the Fighter, Rogue, and Ranger classes offer can give you extra damage.

Best Classes for Dual-Wielding in Baldur’s Gate 3

The following classes make great choices for dual-wielding in Baldur’s Gate 3:

• Rogue (Thief, Assassin subclasses)
• Ranger (Beast Master subclass)
• Warlock
• Barbarian
• Fighter

Best Feats for Dual-Wielding in Baldur’s Gate 3

The following Feats will allow you to dual-wield more effectively:

Feat	Description
Dual Wielder Feat	You can use two-weapon fighting even if your weapons aren’t Light, and you gain a +1 bonus to Armour Class while wielding a melee weapon in each hand. You cannot dual-wield Heavy Weapons.
Defensive Duelist Feat	When attacked while wielding a Finesse Weapon you’re Proficient with, you can use a reaction to add your Proficiency Bonus to your Armour Class, possibly causing the attack to miss.
Savage Attacker Feat	When making weapon attacks, you roll your damage dice twice and use the highest result.

Best Weapons for Dual-Wielding in Baldur’s Gate 3

The following weapons are good for dual-wielding in Baldur’s Gate 3 and are useful in combat:

• Short swords
• Long swords
• Rapiers
• Hand Crossbows

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Stop automatic attacks

One of the downsides of a dual-wielding build is that your character will automatically attack with the off-hand weapon. You can change this in the settings or by selecting the toggle near your character portrait on PC. Turning off automatic off-hand attacks will allow you to choose which bonus action is best for you at any given time.

You can use ranged weapons for dual-wielding as well if you want to go the route of the sharpshooter. Now that you know how to dual-wield effectively in Baldur’s Gate 3, you may be wondering about status effects. For instance, what is Wrath in Baldur’s Gate 3? Also, what is Heat in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Baldur’s Gate 3 Dual Wielding – FAQ

What types of weapons can you dual-wield in Baldur’s Gate 3?

You can start by dual-wielding small weapons such as daggers, shortswords, and sickles. After taking the Dual-Wielder Feat, you can wield larger weapons like longswords.

What benefits does dual-wielding have in BG3?

Dual-wielding allows you to deal more damage by using two weapons. Each turn, you can attack with your off-hand weapon as a bonus action.