Long resting in Baldur’s Gate 3 restores abilities, Hitpoints, and spells. This is important to keep the party healthy and ready for the next fight. While it is possible to adventure for many hours before a long rest, things will become much more difficult without resources.

There are three major types of Rest: short, partial, and long. Short Rest can be done on the fly to restore a few Hitpoints but is limited to only twice per Long rest. Partial Rest doesn’t use up camping supplies but will still showcase cutscenes and forward character personal quests in Baldur’s Gate 3. Long rests provide all the previous benefits but recover even more.

Why You Should Long Rest In Baldur's Gate 3

Companions resting around a campfire in Baldur's Gate 3.

Resting can be done by pressing the campfire icon on the bottom right of the interface. Players can opt to take a short or long rest from the menu. This cannot be done if any party member is currently in a fight. Short rests will restore half of a character’s total Hitpoints. Long Rests will instead transition to a full camp.

Short rests are still very beneficial to certain classes. Martial classes like Fighter and Barbarian tend to refresh their features during just a short rest. Warlock is one of the few spell casters that regains spell slots on a long rest. Others will have to rely on cantrips in Baldur’s Gate 3.

The camp’s composition will adapt to the current location, story act, and party recruited. This is where players can interact with companions to further their quests and possibly start a romance. It is also the quickest means of adjusting equipment and party composition. Other NPCs will also be at the camp, including Scratch, the Dog, the Owl Bear Cub, and the mysterious Withers in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Partial Rest

Once done speaking with companions and any other interactions, a window will open to allocate supplies for the night. This can include raw food, cooked meals, and even random nick knacks found within dungeons. Opting not to use any will instead trigger a “partial rest.” This only restores some hitpoints and not the short rest daily limit.

Some important cutscenes still play during a partial rest. This mechanic can be used to progress various storylines, like the Dark Urge origin custom character in Baldur’s Gate 3. Consider purposely taking partial rests to unlock more quests and social interactions without wasting consumables.

Long Rest

As previously mentioned, food and other goods are used to take a long rest. With 40 items allocated, the team will fully rest up. This will restore all hitpoints, spell slots, and a whole array of abilities in Baldur’s Gate 3 - including the ones that would be restored during a short rest. This can be invaluable for recovering charges of powerful attacks ranging from a Paladin’s Divine Smite, Fighter’s Action Surge, or Monk Ki Points.

To save even more items, use any short rest abilities that recharge before considering a long rest. This can include a Bard’s Song of Rest or Wizard’s Arcane Recovery. Sorcerers can also prolong their adventures by converting Sorcery Points into spell slots, though gaining more points requires a long rest.