D&D veterans are offering Baldur's Gate 3 newbies a crash course in tabletop combat

gamesradar.com:

Baldur's Gate 3 is now just days away, but if you're new to the world of D&D there might be a few unexpected obstacles to overcome. Thankfully, kindhearted fans of the digital and tabletop versions of Dungeons & Dragons are stepping up to help out.

Streamer DansGaming is leading the charge with a thread all about the ways in which Baldur's Gate 3's D&D-shaped combat might differ from what you'd traditionally expect. For instance, he begins with the fact that D&D features no true tanking mechanic - while you might have a few beefier party members, there's nothing to stop enemies from running past them and diving straight onto your weaker wizards and rangers.

1/ There is no true “tank” role or “tanking”. Fighters, Barbarians, Paladins, can be in melee combat since will have higher armor class and hit points but there are very few mechanics to prevent monsters from running away from them and attacking your squishy mage.July 26, 2023

He also points out that death is not the end, thanks to D&D's Death Rolls mechanic - a fallen party member will automatically roll a dice on their turn in the initiative order. If they 'save' three times they'll stabilise, but if they fail they'll be dead for good (or at least until you can find out how to revive dead characters in Baldur's Gate 3). While that's happening, however, you can heal them to get them back in the fight earlier - for what it's worth, our expert suggests using Healing Word to get that done.

While previous versions of D&D have made spellcasters seriously strong, the current edition (5e) makes them a bit more balanced, and DansGaming points out that you'll want to pay attention to things like Concentration - which disrupt your current spell if it's broken - and Spell Slots