Baldur’s Gate 3’s OP trick involves stacking crates

The game is so dense that it can feel overwhelming. Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s helpful to have a few go-to tricks up your sleeve. As I’m nearing the end of the massive CRPG’s first act, I’ve found mine: the crate stacking trick.

The many wooden boxes of Faerûn are jam-packed with potions, weapons, camping supplies, and thieving tools, making it well worth your time to rummage through them in each new area. Crates are useful as building blocks, too. By stacking them one on top of the other you can reach previously inaccessible areas. One such tower in an early game cavern put me on the same level as a high platform. By right-clicking on each successive crate, selecting “Climb On” from the dropdown menu, and then using my Jump action from the uppermost box, I reached the ledge, deactivated a booby-trapped statue, and secured a magical item for my party. No, I didn’t feed it to Gale.

What’s the best thing? This impromptu staircase can be created anywhere. By right-clicking a crate and selecting “Pick Up,” you can shove dozens of enormous boxes into your characters’ clown-car-esque pockets. (I rely on Lae’Zel to carry my larger items: Her high strength stat gives her a larger carrying capacity.) From there, simply open the character’s inventory and drag the crates into the game world. I solved Act 1’s “Rescue the Gnome” quest by doing just that:

Image: Larian Studios via Polygon

This trick can also be used in combat, as holding high ground allows your rangers and sorcerers to make more effective ranged attacks. In especially tough fights (read: after I’ve save-scummed and restarted an encounter that had just kicked my ass) I’ve spent upward of 10 minutes sneaking around groups of enemies to set up sniper towers, all but ensuring advantageous early attacks once the fight begins.

In a stream last week with Larian Studios’ Swen Vincke, Matthew Mercer, the Dungeon Master of Critical RoleThe voice of Minsc the Ranger is a well-known actor. Baldur’s Gate 3, stacked dozens of crates outside of the Baldur’s Gate city walls, allowing him to shoot an Arrow of Transportation onto the roof of a building on the other side, bypassing the moat and ramparts in the process:

Like the “long bridge” trick in Tears of the Kingdom – The Legend of ZeldaIt is helpful to find a solution that’s simple and elegant. Baldur’s Gate 3’s tougher puzzles and emergent scenarios. Larian’s world is a deceptively deep possibility space, so having an ace up your sleeve might keep you from feeling overwhelmed. If, like me, you’d prefer to focus on the role-playing side of things, the crate trick is a great tool to keep in mind.