In Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll encounter walls, objects, and structures with varying levels of toughness. Some will be easy enough to break, and others will require the toughest of weapons or even a weapon that deals a specific type of damage to break it.
Here’s how we deal with toughness and sturdiness in BG3, the differences between the two, and what it will take for you to break through the structure and overcome the roadblock.
Toughness and Sturdiness levels in BG3, explained
Toughness and sturdiness in BG3 determine how much damage, and what type of damage, is required to destroy an object, wall, or structure. BG3 has four toughness and sturdiness levels: No Toughness, Sturdy, Medium Toughness, and Greater Toughness.
Breaking the wall, object, or structure becomes more challenging at every level. This is because the damage you need to break through the toughness and sturdiness levels increases, and the object in question can also be resistant or immune to certain types of damage. You can check this by right-clicking on the object, and a list of their resistances and immunities will be shown.
But, with some effort and careful planning, there are ways to destroy them.
| Toughness Level | Resistances | Minimum Damage Requirement | Recommended Weapons or damage types |
|---|---|---|---|
| No Toughness | None | Zero damage | Any |
| Sturdy | – Piercing – Necrotic – Radiant – Poison – Psychic | Damage of 10 or more | – Bludgeoning (Mace, Quarterstaff, Warhammer) – Fire – Force |
| Medium Toughness | – Necrotic – Piercing – Radiant – Fire – Poison – Psychic | Damage of 22 or more | – Acid – Bludgeoning |
| Greater Toughness | – Force – Piercing – Acid – Cold – Fire – Lightning – Necrotic – Poison – Psychic – Radiant – Slashing | Damage of 50 or more | None |
How to destroy something with a Greater Toughness effect in BG3
Destroying a Greater Toughness object is honestly one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in BG3. These objects are practically resistant to everything, and there’s no one-hit-destroy-all weapon you can equip that will bust them down because you need to do a minimum of 50 damage.
So, if you can find another way to destroy the object or get through, it will be quicker. But if not, and from my experience, Fire and Force damage may be good options against Greater Toughness objects.
The problem is that you need one hell of a spell to get the 50 damage to pull it off. Thankfully, I chose to be a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer with a Draconic Ancestry: Red because it meant my fire damage increased. So, getting this minimum damage requirement was much easier than I expected. But it was still a slog to pull off.
Is it impossible? No. But will you want to give up multiple times and question why you play BG3? 100 percent.
However, as long as you’re using the right spells and weapons with the minimum damage threshold, you should be able to destroy any sturdy or tough object, wall, or structure in BG3. I’d also hold onto a lucky charm, especially against those with the Greater Toughness effect.
