There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

The direct answer is above the fold; the reasoning underneath is there for when the direct answer does not fit your situation.

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

What to do instead

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have.

Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Baldur's Gate 3. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests.

When the usual advice fails

Everything below is framed around the current state of Baldur's Gate 3 rather than a launch-week impression. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Prefer the in-game option over an external tool when both exist.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.

Worth knowing alongside this

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

Why it works this way

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Baldur's Gate 3 is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

The practical answer

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

Where people go wrong

  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.

BG3 FAQ

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

Is there a faster method?

Sometimes, at the cost of reliability. Where that trade exists it is described rather than recommended blindly.

Work through it in the order above and game of the year stops being a question you have to look up again.