What Is Heat In BG3?

There are many conditions and effects in Baldur’s Gate 3 that can impact the party. Some will benefit you and others will harm you. Some, like Heat, are unique conditions that do both. It might appear similar to the burning condition, but the two are not the same and are activated in different ways.

The Heat condition can be confusing at first, as it doesn’t specifically tell you what it does or how you can use it to your advantage. With a little help, you’ll be able to navigate the condition and bring the heat to the battlefield, leading the charge with fire damage.

Updated January 4, 2024, by Sean Murray: It helps to bring the heat in BG3, so check out this guide with everything you could ever need to know about heat. We’ve given this guide improved formatting and more links to other helpful BG3 topics too.

What Is Heat?

Whether you stumble across an item that grants you this condition or you encounter it in combat first, you’re likely to question what Heat is and what it does. Heat is a condition that deals one to four damage per turn to the character, but the affected character can use Heat Convergence.

Certain items, like the Fireheart necklace, are known to glitch when registering the condition. In this case, the Heat condition gets stuck in a loop and does not end. This can prove useful in battle, but outside of combat, you’ll need to remove the enchanted item to let the timer run out.

It may seem odd to want a condition that causes harm to characters, especially in combat where health points are precious, but there are perks. For example, certain enchanted items have bonuses in addition to the Heat condition, making it worth the inconvenience.

For some, this condition will be a flavorful addition to gameplay with characters like Karlach the tiefling.

What Is Heat Convergence?

When affected by the condition Heat, the character gains the passive feature Heat Convergence. This allows the character to deal an additional one fire damage for every remaining turn of heat left. This can be an incredible boon in combat, especially for characters that tend to favor fiery spells or enchantments.

Taking on tough enemies can be a cinch with the right equipment and effects, including Heat. Next time you’re strategizing, see if you can use Heat to your advantage.

Remember, you can always press T on your keyboard to inspect items. Hovering over highlighted words can help you gain a better understanding of the game mechanics and how to use them.