Baldur's Gate 3: There's a ghaik in my loot! (Now out on Xbox!)

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Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

Basic Chunnel posted:

Not looking promising, OP

Welcome to the Baldur�s Gate 3 thread!
WINNER OF THE SA 2023 GAME AWARDS

Baldur�s Gate 3 Community Wiki
_{(Do not use the Fextralife BG3 wiki. It�s poo poo.)}

Current Patch: Patch #6
_{Mac users are currently on Patch #5, Hotfix #17.}

:siren:

MODS ARE CURRENTLY BROKEN DUE TO NEW PATCH, WAIT A FEW DAYS IF YOU'RE PLAYING MODDED :siren:

_____________________________________

Alright, give me the pitch.

Released in Early Access in October 2020 and fully launching for PC in August 2023, Baldur�s Gate 3 is the revival of the widely beloved old-school CRPG franchise of the same name(the last numbered entry having come out more than twenty years prior) developed by Larian Studios, the team behind Divinity: Original Sin.

Based in the Dungeons & Dragons setting of the Forgotten Realms (aka Faer�n), you are an escaped prisoner of the Illithids - tentacle-faced psychics hell-bent on interplanar conquest. Accompanied by both an unwelcome passenger in your skull and a colorful cast of characters, you hope to expunge yourself of your tadpoles before you succumb to the rather gruesomely-described �ceremorphosis�, and in the process uncover a much wider and alarming conspiracy in the making.

As of December 8th, 2023, BG3 has been released for Windows, MacOS, GeForce Now, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Please note Mac users tend to lag behind slightly on patches.

So the system is based off the Dungeons and Dragons ruleset, then?

Yes, for the most part. Baldur�s Gate 3 uses the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Ruleset. If you�re unfamiliar (or coming from a different system/edition), what you need to know is that just about everything worth doing is done by rolling a 20-sided dice (Commonly referred to as a �d20�), adding one of six Ability Scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) and usually adding a static value that increases as you level (�Proficiency�). In some circumstances you�ll roll two d20 and take either the higher value (�Advantage�) or the lower value (�Disadvantage�). You have a pool of rerolls ('Inspiration') that you get for achieving miscellaneous objectives that align with character backgrounds.

You don�t really need to know more than that, the game does a good job generally of keeping the math behind the curtain, and onboarding you to the more complex concepts.

For those familiar with the 5e Ruleset, Larian has made an exhaustive number of changes for the sake of balance, speed, ease of play, or making the game more engaging overall: Jumping and quaffing potions is a bonus action, almost all weapons have a 1/Rest special ability, Short Rests are limited, and various other tweaks. A full list is available here.

So who/what can I play as?

There are 8 Origins you can play as. The default is "Custom Origin", which lets you create a character from scratch (usually referred to in-community as �Tav�, after the default name for the Custom Origin).
You can also play through the game as any one of the six "main" companions you'll find through the base game:

Astarion: A somewhat hedonistic minor noble from Baldur�s Gate, Astarion sees you as an ally of convenience in his schemes for greater strength. He seems more than willing to commit to any path to stay one step ahead, and not just from the Illithids. (High Elf Rogue)
Gale: Originally from the city of Waterdeep and far from home, Gale�s propensity for magic is matched only by his hubris, and he reckons with a mighty price for indulging the latter, while attempting to find a way to resume the ambitions that started him on this path. (Human Wizard)
Karlach: A frontline participant in the Blood War - the eternal struggle between lawful devils and chaotic demons. Karlach is a towering giant of a woman whose capacity for roiling, burning fury in battle is only eclipsed by her tender heart outside it. (Tiefling Barbarian)
Lae�zel: A member of the militant and fanatical Githyanki, trained from birth in the stars above to combat the Illithid menace. Lae�zel knows better than anyone the danger you and your companions are in, and is single-mindedly devoted to prove this is merely a setback on her way to glory for Vlaakith. (Githyanki Fighter)
Shadowheart: A secretive cleric on a mission of great importance, which saw her run afoul of the Illithids. Shadowheart keeps her cards - and a mysterious artifact - close to her chest, trusting few with the finer details of the mission meant to establish her as one of her goddess� inner circle. (High Half-Elf Cleric)
Wyll: The self-styled �Blade of Frontiers�, Wyll presents himself as a swashbuckling hero of the people, kindhearted to a fault. Though as a Warlock, he finds himself playing tug of war with the devil who grants him his powers - a pact which estranged him from his family, and may yet further endanger him still. (Human Warlock)

Finally, there is �The Dark Urge�, which works similarly to the Custom Origin, but instead of a blank slate character, you are an amnesiac, with no memories before your awakening in the Illithids� captivity. The only leads to go on to help you rediscover your past is an near-unquenchable desire for bloodshed and violence. To be extremely clear: The Dark Urge is an opt-in storyline that has significantly more violent and dark content than the base game. You will not get any Dark Urge content if you do not specifically select this origin.

Both Custom Origin and Dark Urge can be completely customized, including Starting Race and Starting Class.

Do people recommend a starting class/race?

Play whatever race speaks to you most, but if you're looking for recommendations for a first time playthrough, the thread inevitably will circle back around to the fact that as a CRPG the game has a lot of dialogue options, and as such classes that have at least some focus on Charisma (Bard, Paladin, Sorcerer, Warlock) tend to have more options for dealing with things in a non-murderous way. All classes will have unique options so if you play a non-Charisma class you aren't entirely out of luck, but if you're looking for a 'first-time' experience it's hard to go wrong with one of those four. Bard in particular comes highly recommended by goons for this.
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What difficulties are available?

The three standard difficulties are Explorer, Balanced, and Tactician, which are Easy/Medium/Hard respectively. You can change between these three difficulties at any time during the game.

As of Patch #5, there is now also a 'Custom' difficulty, allowing you to more finely tailor your gameplay experience, and 'Honor Mode', a Very Hard difficulty which locks you to a single save file similar to XCOM's Ironman Mode. Enemies are even more lethal than Tactician, and many base assumptions of the game change drastically.

Note that Custom Difficulty cannot be changed to after the game starts.

Typical recommendation is that those who are more deeply familiar with 5e's rules (or other CRPGs) should start on Tactician, or switch to it shortly after 5th level. Balanced is tuned slightly towards the "easy" side.

I heard there was multiplayer?

Baldur's Gate 3 supports up to 4-player co-op. This co-op is not drop-in drop-out, and the Host can puppet any co-op characters' in players' absence (or store them at camp). Multiplayer is a valid way to experience the game but opinions are split on whether you should commit to it before playing the game solo first.

How long is the game?

The game is astoundingly massive, depending on how much you're willing to do, and as such playtimes run the gamut, but HowLongToBeat has it marked down at somewhere between 100 and 140 hours if you're doing most everything available to you in a single run, which sounds about right.

I'm playing on PC, what mods do people recommend?

There is an absolute glut of official 5e content that didn't make it into the game, so I'm only going to list what I (or others in the previous thread) consider either essential or massive QoL upgrades:

WASD Character Movement: Allows you to move characters with the keyboard (similar to Dragon Age Origins or other more modern CRPGs) instead of clicking.
Native Camera Tweaks: Unlocks many of the camera limits and makes the camera itself easier to wrangle.
Bags Bags Bags: Includes a bunch of new containers that help keep your inventory from turning into a disaster as quickly.
Better Containers: Improves the container UI considerably, which is important because probably a fifth of your playtime is gonna be looking in chests and barrels.
Concentration Failsafe: Keeps you from popping another Concentration spell and thus immediately overwriting your Hex/Bless/Spirit Guardians/Call Lightning/Hunter's Mark with another spell like the tadpoled moron you are.
If you're a hardcore 5e grog who considers the changes Larian has made to 5e to be a breaking of some sacrosanct canon, you might also consider Rules As Written. This one is highly optional, however.
Party Limit Begone: Increase your party size for more interactions. In multiplayer each player character is treated as a separate party so take this into consideration for things like approval.
Sit This One Out: Paired with Party Limit Begone, this allows you to make your extra party members vanish so you don't steamroll the game. Certain story situations will require a party member to not be sitting out.
Dynamic Sidebar: So you don't have to scroll through portraits of all your party members.
Camp Event Notifications: Lets you know if you have a camp event that will fire if you go to take a Long Rest. Not very immersive but given the number of events you can accidentally skip by not Long Resting enough, vital.
SPOILER ALERT, I'M SERIOUS'Instagram Filter': For undoing the appearance changes if you commit to a certain Act 3 story decision.

Do mods break when the game is patched?

Hotfixes break things on a case-by-case basis but usually mod updates for hotfixes are pretty quick since they're usually pretty small. The big numbered patches consistently break everything across the board. If you're playing modded on PC you might want to wait a few days for modders to catch up if a big patch has just hit.

Monathin fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Feb 17, 2024

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:11

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 13:37

Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

#1 PRO TIP: Save early, save often. Baldur�s Gate 3 is extremely stingy with autosaves and relying on them can mean you lose hours of progress. Quicksave is F5 in the menu (so ESC+F5). If you haven�t cultivated aggressive quicksave habits before, you will here.

I just started and the game seems to imply I�m under some sort of time crunch. Am I?

No. Neither the main objective (getting de-tadpoled) nor the first major quest (Resolving the Druid�s Grove) will fail after a certain amount of time has passed. In general the things that will auto-complete after taking a Long Rest are few and far between, and the time crunch will only start after you discover it (and you�ll typically know ahead of time because the game will autosave when you get close).

If you want to be spoilered for some Act 1 points where Long Resting matters: Waukeem�s Rest, the smugglers in the cave, and the Absolute member trapped in a cave-in in Grymforge are all timed. The first two of those resolve after a single Long Rest.

Hey, using my Illithid stuff makes it sound like I�m being corrupted and that if I use them I�ll get a bad ending.

Nope! Illithid Powers and using Illithid options in dialogue is totally safe. The latter is also required to do twice in order to unlock more Illithid powers. If you want to use those powers, feel free. They certainly make the game easier, and you can get any ending regardless of how many worms you plug into your brain. The only consequence of Illithid Powers is to change the difficulty of some checks later in the game.

People are mentioning XYZ cutscene but I haven�t gotten that, is my game broken!?

No. A lot of cutscene events, especially early on, are linked to Long Resting for the evening. There�s a reason why the previous thread title said to make sure you Long Rest often - the sooner you clear those out, the better.

A popup is telling me the story will progress if I venture into this new area! What do I do!?

In general, heed these warnings. They�re there for a reason. That said, the first one (which pops up when you advance to either Grymforge or the Mountain Pass) is extremely lax - the only thing it will auto-advance is the Druid�s Grove plot. There is one in Act 2 (inside the Gauntlet of Shar) that is much more strict and you should not activate unless you are 100% sure you�re done with Act 2.

The inventory seems uh� unintuitive.

A little. There�s a lot of QoL baked into it but it�s hard to navigate, never tells you most of these tips, and people learn new things about it all the time, so here�s some helpful ways to wrangle it.

The game tells you this, but you can select multiple items using either shift-click (highlights everything between the first and second thing you clicked) and ctrl-click (adds what you clicked to the selection).
You can send all Camp Supplies to your Camp Chest (Right Click > Send to Camp) and it will allow you to use them when you go to Long Rest. Useful if you find yourself loaded down with too many pork loins.
With very few exceptions, all party members can fish something out of another party member�s pockets if they need it. This includes pretty much all consumables (potions, scrolls, etc), keys (which will happen automatically), but does not include throwable items, which needs to be in the pocket of the person throwing them.
Bespoke bags (Camp Supplies sack, Alchemy Pouch) will automatically vacuum up things that go in their bag if you move them to various party members inventories, making it mildly easier to clean up.
As of Patch #5 you can micromanage everyone�s inventory while at camp without the tedium of having to switch them in and out of the party.

I have no idea what feats are good and what feats are bad, has anyone written a guide?

In fact I wrote a guide in the last thread! Below is an updated version of it so people have easy access to it.

quote:

In -general-, you should use Ability Score Increase to get your primary stat for your class (Strength for most martials, Dex for Rogues/non-Strength Monks/Finesse weapon users, Wis for Clerics/Druids, Int for Wizards, Cha for Sorcs/Warlocks/Bards) to 18 at minimum before you branch out unless a specific feat is build-defining. Some classes may want 20 in their primary stat due to a lack of useful magic items that give bonuses to hit (Monks, most spellcasters), but in general 18 is fine.

Actor: Gives you both Proficiency AND Expertise in Deception and Performance, and a +1 in Charisma. Extremely good for any of the Charisma classes since they usually want to do the talking anyway.

Alert: Initiative in BG3 uses 1d4+DEX, rather than 1d20+DEX in 5e. Which means +5 to Initiative is obscenely good and pretty much guarantees you'll go first. Immunity to Surprised is a good counter to a few nasty encounters, too.

Athlete: Jumping is a massively useful way for martials to maneuver around the battlefield, and being able to stand from Prone for less movement is very useful as Prone is one of the most common statuses.

Charger: Unless your melee weapon is VASTLY better than your ranged weapon, you should probably just be trying to make a ranged weapon attack. Alternatively, get Athlete and jump your way into the fray instead.

Crossbow Expert: Wayyyyy less useful than it is in 5e because it doesn't give the bonus action attack for single-hand Crossbows. Still occasionally useful, but not remotely build-defining. Not having disadvantage on point-blank shots is nice.

Defensive Duelist: If you�re using a Finesse weapon and not dual-wielding, you should probably take this. Getting +Proficiency to your AC on a reaction is really good, especially since you can see the number an enemy rolled before you commit to using it.

Dual Wielder: Lets you dual-wield Rapiers, which is typically endgame Rogue/Ranger pickups, but there's a decent number of good shortsword/dagger weapons in this game, and conditional damage riders are plentiful so the main attraction (bigger damage dice) isn�t as useful. This is mostly used for dual-wielding Quarterstaff cheese on casters which I don't like because it can break the game over its knee. Whether you agree is a matter of taste.

Dungeon Delver: I think I can count on one hand the number of times I missed spotting a hidden object/trap. Get someone Expertise on Perception and skip this.

Durable: Short Rests are limited to 2/Full Rest, and Short Resting for HP rather than to refresh your limited-use abilities is something that happens less and less as you get access to better healing options. Just take a Long Rest unless you have a specific reason you can't.

Elemental Adept: Really good. Won't bypass immunity but ignoring resistance is fantastic. Makes Acid pretty useful. Elemental Adept (Fire) is basically required on Light Domain Clerics.

Great Weapon Master: Build-Defining. Basically unchanged from 5e which means that any martial going hard in two-handed melee weapons wants this at some point.

Heavily Armored: All the feats that grant you a higher-tier armor proficiency are a trap. If you don�t already get Heavy Armor you probably will be better served finding a magical armor in your weight class.

Heavy Armor Master: Often overlooked, but I like it. -3 nonmagical weapon damage isn't going to help with a lot of humans (who will all be wielding +1 weapons after a certain point) but will pull its weight versus monster attacks. Stacks with your armors built-in damage resistance.

Lightly Armored: If you don't get any armor proficiency, you're either a caster or a monk, and thus should skip this because the robes you find will synergize better.

Lucky: Not as busted as it is in tabletop, but still good. But if you get annoyed by reaction pop-ups this is going to get aggravating fast because it triggers on EVERYTHING.

Mage Slayer: It's alright, but not as good as the Sussur Weapon you get. But you could probably make it work really well. Solid maybe for martials that can get to the backline quickly.

Magic Initiate: Absolutely none of the Magic Initiate feats are better than a 1-level multiclass dip in this game. Either way you lose a feat, but multiclassing is basically free and might give you something other than spells.

Martial Adept: Good for Battle Masters to get some extra oomph from their list, situationally useful on other martials who lack access to good crowd control/defender options.

Medium Armor Master: Effectively gives you +1 AC if you have higher than 14 Dex. You can accomplish that in other meaningful ways. Ignoring Disadvantage in Stealth is wasted when the game mostly uses vision lines and the like.

Mobile: Mobile makes Disengaging obsolete so long as you have at least one attack. If you're not optimizing for pure damage it's pretty good on martials. Would probably not take it on Barbarian/Monk since they already get to be disgustingly mobile and Monk already has disengage on tap.

Moderately Armored: Again, going up the next armor tier is a trap in a significant number of cases. Shield Proficiency is nice, but if you need that you can multiclass.

Performer: Basically worse than Actor in every regard except Musical Instrument proficiency.

Polearm Master: Typically Build-Defining, giving you extra options for Opportunity Attacks and being able to attack people who enter your threat range, rather than leave it. However, this was not fixed until Patch 6, and damage on the off-hand attack is (according to the wiki) still bugged to not add additional damage riders beyond your Ability Modifier. Still, it's now actually (mostly) working!

Resilient: The three most common saves called for are Dexterity, Wisdom, and Constitution (which align to previous editions� Reflex, Will and Fortitude saves). Every caster except Sorcerer needs to pick up Resilient (Constitution) to help with Concentration. Picking up Dexterity or Wisdom are situational but not bad choices. The others are used somewhere between infrequently to never.

Ritual Caster: The abundance of magic items and potions that allow you to cast some of the picks on Ritual Caster means its very rarely worth it as long as you properly hoard your goods. Skip.

Savage Attacker: Way better than the Tabletop version. Rerolls all damage dice, instead of a single die. Very useful if you're making a lot of attacks or throwing a huge pile of dice at someone (or both).

Sentinel: Extremely good, but enemies can still invalidate your feat with Disengage, unlike in tabletop. Whether they will is a gamble on the AI, but it�s a solid Defender feat.

Sharpshooter: Build-Defining. No longer lets you make long-range shots for free compared to the tabletop but is still "Great Weapon Master for bow/crossbow users�. The cornerstone of the Dual Hand Crossbow build. Don't pick this up unless you pick up Archery Fighting Style from somewhere, though.

Shield Master: Pretty solid once area-of-effect damage enters the fray. I'd take this on any serious sword-and-board build because it basically lets you choose to have Evasion for one effect.

Skilled: If you really, really want more skills, this is fine. But you probably don't need it.

Spell Sniper: Spell Sniper doesn�t increase your spell range like in tabletop, and instead increases your crit rate while giving you a cantrip. That�s not enough to justify the feat even if Eldritch Blast is on this list.

Tavern Brawler: Build-Defining. Cornerstone of the Strength Monk, the Berserker Barbarian, and various Thrown Weapon Builds.

Tough: Unglamorous but sometimes you just need more HP. People hate on this a lot but because of how the numbers work it turns a d8 HP class into a d12 HP class. If you're already comfortable with your stats as-is, this is numerically better than adding more CON.

War Caster: Look how they massacred my boy. Everyone gets to spellcast with both hands occupied in BG3, so that part gets nixed, but also they only let you cast Shocking Grasp as a reaction to Opportunity Attacks, instead of any spell. I would still consider this on a frontline cleric who likes to get in the mix because Shocking Grasp will be better than weapon attacks, and on a Sorcerer who already has Con Save proficiency, but 90% of the time Resilient (Con) will be the better pick.

Weapon Master: If you don't get proficiency with a weapon, you probably don't need it. Unique magical weapons you're proficient in will typically have better odds of giving you something that synergizes with your build.

Hey, the thread is talking about multiclassing, how do I multiclass? Should I multiclass?

To be explicit about it, you never ever need to multiclass to beat the game. Explorer difficulty straight up forbids you from multiclassing, and it�s very easy to screw up your build without meaning to if you don�t know how things interact with each other. I had a big guide for it in the previous thread but the BG3 Community Wiki has a decent guide to the ins and outs of multiclassing here. The guide is somewhat out of date but is still good for understanding best practices. Read that before multiclassing, and follow the following tips:

In general, do not multiclass until after Level 5. Level 5 is a huge power spike for every class, whether its martials getting Extra Attack or casters getting 3rd-Level spells. Delaying this power spike for even a 2-level dip is really punishing, since the early game is generally harder than the late game.
Try not to add an additional ability dependency (e.g.: Intelligence on a martial class) unless it�s very, very worth it.
Warlock operates completely differently from any other class when it comes to multiclassing. Pact of the Blade�s Deepened Pact stacks with Extra Attack (except on Honor Mode) and their spell slots don�t add to another spellcaster�s slots.

Okay, is there any other tips I should know?

Tons, but a non-exhaustive list:

Always always ALWAYS Examine your enemies while fighting them. This will allow you to see damage resistances/vulnerabilities and special buffs that may significantly change how you approach a fight. It doesn�t take an action, so Examining an enemy should be literally the first thing you do any time you need to fight something.
DO NOT CARRY EXCESS GOLD AROUND! Gold has weight in this game, and sending gold to your camp chest allows you to use it to buy from merchants!
You can throw healing potions at allies, restoring their health from a distance. Try to throw them at their feet because if you bean them with the glass it�ll still do damage.
You don�t have to be next to fast travel points to use them, you can just use them straight from the map.
The ruined chapel on the beach where you first show up has some decent loot while also giving you an option to respec your characters for a nominal fee, so you should go do that as soon as you feel comfortable - Level 3 is a solid time to do it. Respeccing various companions is useful to optimize their stats a little bit more - people usually recommend respeccing Shadowheart ASAP as her Domain is hard to use for little gain and her stat spread is kind of terrible. You might also consider respeccing Gale but his spread is less dire.
You can find almost every Origin character around the crash site, before you hit the Grove, assuming you don�t Long Rest immediately after the prologue. Filling out your party makes several early combats much, much easier.
Don�t sleep on consumables, they can make or break a fight. If you aren�t hoarding scrolls for your Wizard to add spells to their spellbook you should use them. (You did know Wizards can learn spells from scrolls, right?)
Be cautious about using the Friends cantrip on Tactician and Honor Mode, as doing so can easily aggravate NPCs to attack you and result in unforeseen consequences.
The �Before I Play� page for BG3 has a ton more. It�s slightly outdated but it should cover most of the important things I didn�t cover here.

Monathin fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Feb 16, 2024

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:15

Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

3rd post reserved for funny bits or other miscellanea.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:16

I said come in!: Jun 22, 2004

Are we wanting to use this thread for console talk? Cause there is already a Baldur's Gate 3 thread.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:16

Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

I said come in! posted:

Are we wanting to use this thread for console talk? Cause there is already a Baldur's Gate 3 thread.

Starting a new thread for folks since the old thread is encroaching 1400 pages and the OP is pretty outdated.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:17

Black Noise: Jan 23, 2008; WHAT UP

At the end of Divinity Original Sin 2 Tarquin makes a whole deal about going to another reality with mind flayers considering the portraits of the original cast you can find does this guy ever show up?

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:31

Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

Black Noise posted:

At the end of Divinity Original Sin 2 Tarquin makes a whole deal about going to another reality with mind flayers considering the portraits of the original cast you can find does this guy ever show up?

Doesn't seem like it but there's apparently a note in the Sorcerous Sundries vault that references him.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:40

Tosk: Feb 22, 2013; I am sorry. I have no vices for you to exploit.

Link to the previous thread in case it's handy to have a reference to it on the first page of this one at some point. I'm playing through the game now and reading some of the backlog. Nice new OP

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:47

QuantaStarFire: May 18, 2006; Grimey Drawer

quote:

I just started and the game seems to imply I’m under some sort of time crunch. Am I?

No. Neither the main objective (getting de-tadpoled) nor the first major quest (Resolving the Druid’s Grove) will fail after a certain amount of time has passed. In general the things that will auto-complete after taking a Long Rest are few and far between, and the time crunch will only start after you discover it (and you’ll typically know ahead of time because the game will autosave when you get close).

This makes me less anxious, tbh. Thank you for this info.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 16:48

Pellisworth: Jun 20, 2005

fwiw way back I read somewhere that the game's AI will prioritize low AC allies and breaking Concentration. This seems to play out in practice, especially on higher difficulties. Among other things it's a point in favor of War Caster as a feat imo, since the AI seems to recognize it's less likely to break Concentration on a character that has advantage from War Caster and picks other targets. If you have high-priority Concentration spells on a caster then War Caster is very worth it as it makes them less likely to drop the spell and also the AI is less likely to target them.

In a current multiplayer game I'm running a Tempest Cleric with heavy armor, shield, and War Caster and the AI basically ignores me and lets me do whatever (Tactician difficulty). So I end up using Warding Bond on a buddy to soak damage because the AI doesn't target my cleric directly most of the time.

edit: Tempest Cleric is so, so much fun. There are a pair of gloves toward the end of Act 1 (Mountain Pass subzone) that are basically custom made for them. The gloves allow you to inflict Reverberation whenever you deal Thunder, Lightning, or Radiant damage (almost all your damage). Reverberation reduces enemy physical (strength/dex/con) saving throws by 1 per each stack. So you can nuke as well or better than any other caster, debuff, heal, buff. It's a very well-rounded and powerful build.

I really like the itemization Larian's done and I hope they take it further in DLC.

Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Dec 9, 2023

# ? Dec 9, 2023 17:36

ChronoReverse: Oct 1, 2009

I guess we should be careful about spoilers again in the new thread. Xbox players will never know about the relatively poor ending at launch!

I'm already itching for a new honor run but forcing myself to fight all the bosses. I think I'll load some quality of life mods this time though.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 17:53

Pellisworth: Jun 20, 2005

I've been slowly working on an Honour mode playthrough and I strongly recommend you keep up a backup save in case something stupid happens with NPCs randomly aggro'ing you in town.

I had this happen basically immediately after stepping into the Druid Grove. Talked to Zevlor and then he took a few steps, turned and started doing the "search for a thief" script and the whole town aggro'd on me. I had not stolen anything.

Also had Kagha and the druids aggro after the first time you meet with them. Might be related to Shadowheart as she reacts to the wolf.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 17:57

Lawman 0: Aug 17, 2010

*sniff* I love the new thread smell.
Been continuing my honor mode Wyll origin run, just picked up karlach and kicked the paladins butts. Thinking about tackling the owlbear cave next.
Edit: are the honor mode saves marked?

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:00

Phlegmish: Jul 2, 2011

Good OP. I'm just glad the Basic Chunnel post was preserved for posterity

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:09

Black Noise: Jan 23, 2008; WHAT UP

Console players if you worm up your character turns gross. PC players have been living in a world of instagram filters.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:11

George H.W. Cunt: Oct 6, 2010

Game good

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:14

Network42: Oct 23, 2002

Good OP, good game.

Currently honor running through Act I trying to vacuum up as much XP as I can without hitting any of the tough fights, the ironman mode really changes the approach to things.

For anyone else thinking about doing an honor mode run I will say that it's worth it to put the effort into cheesing the first commander fight to kill him and the mindflayer and get the everburn blade, you can hit level 2 at the nautiliod crash and it smooths out the early game tremendously.

Network42 fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Dec 9, 2023

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:15

Moon Slayer: Jun 19, 2007

Looking promising, OP.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:16

pmchem: Jan 22, 2010

game is indeed good, like the thread shall be

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:18

ChronoReverse: Oct 1, 2009

Network42 posted:

Good OP, good game.

Currently honor running through Act I trying to vacuum up as much XP as I can without hitting any of the tough fights, the ironman mode really changes the approach to things.

For anyone else thinking about doing an honor mode run I will say that it's worth it to put the effort into cheesing the first commander fight to kill him and the mindflayer and get the everburn blade, you can hit level 2 at the nautiliod crash and it smooths out the early game tremendously.

You don't need to kill the Commander to get to level 2 at the crash and you can use Command:Drop from Shadowheart to get the sword.

Some people recommend going around the intellect devourers you meet early on with only two party members because that's a common early TPK in honor mode.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:22

HopperUK: Apr 29, 2007; Why would an ambulance be leaving the hospital?

Amazing OP, thank you!

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:29

unattended spaghetti: May 10, 2013

I asked this last thread but am still wondering. Is say tempest cleric 5 vengeance paladin 7 okay for multi? Not planning to use wisdom. More wanting to supplement paladin melee with cool lightning abilities. But didn't know if lower wisdom would hobble it or not.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:36

Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

unattended spaghetti posted:

I asked this last thread but am still wondering. Is say tempest cleric 5 vengeance paladin 7 okay for multi? Not planning to use wisdom. More wanting to supplement paladin melee with cool lightning abilities. But didn't know if lower wisdom would hobble it or not.

If you're only in it for cool lightning abilities that don't scale off Wisdom, 5 seems like a steep overinvestment. You can probably make it work but a significant amount of your spells are going to be less useful due to having subpar Wisdom, unless you specifically pick spells that don't scale off it (so buff/utility spells).

that said, Tempest Cleric + Smite does sound kind of hilarious, so I really wanna see if it works. Maybe Cleric 2 / Paladin 10? Unless there's something you're very specifically shooting for at Level 5.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:41

Network42: Oct 23, 2002

unattended spaghetti posted:

I asked this last thread but am still wondering. Is say tempest cleric 5 vengeance paladin 7 okay for multi? Not planning to use wisdom. More wanting to supplement paladin melee with cool lightning abilities. But didn't know if lower wisdom would hobble it or not.

If you don't care about the cleric flavor, bard or warlock would be way better spellcasting multi classes as they allow you to largely focus on Chariama without needing too many other stats.
Warlock/paladin is a strong melee machine and literally only needs charisma in fact.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:42

rojay: Sep 2, 2000

Is this where we complain about Astarion's name not being lore-correct for an elf?

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:43

unattended spaghetti: May 10, 2013

Monathin posted:

If you're only in it for cool lightning abilities that don't scale off Wisdom, 5 seems like a steep overinvestment. You can probably make it work but a significant amount of your spells are going to be less useful due to having subpar Wisdom, unless you specifically pick spells that don't scale off it (so buff/utility spells).

that said, Tempest Cleric + Smite does sound kind of hilarious, so I really wanna see if it works. Maybe Cleric 2 / Paladin 10? Unless there's something you're very specifically shooting for at Level 5.

Yeah having more slots for smite, plus the retaliation and Max lightning damage just seemed pretty cool to me. It sounds like it would be functional if not strictly optimal. I just like the theme of it.

Network42 posted:

If you don't care about the cleric flavor, bard or warlock would be way better spellcasting multi classes as they allow you to largely focus on Chariama without needing too many other stats.
Warlock/paladin is a strong melee machine and literally only needs charisma in fact.

The flavor is the main reason I'm interested in it. You can get paladin of x tags for doing it. Also cool lightning abilities, some of which seem to supplement melee pretty well.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:48

Lawman 0: Aug 17, 2010

On my dick around with durge paladin tactician run [backup for when I die horribly in honor mode] I respecced to life cleric 1 since that seems to have synergy with oath of the ancients.
Primarily I'm doing it to troll shadowheart constantly since I haven't seen those interactions yet. Not romancing her though, since I have lae'zel scheduled for this run and enemies to lovers is cringeworthy.

Lawman 0 fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Dec 9, 2023

# ? Dec 9, 2023 18:53

Pellisworth: Jun 20, 2005

re: tempest cleric, I should mention the slightly cheesy way to inflict Wet with a bonus action

In Larian's homebrew, the Wet condition doubles Lightning and Cold damage (but halves Fire). With tempest's ability to maximize their lightning damage this lets you chaos dunk small areas with 30-60+ damage Call Lightning starting at level 5 and things get even sillier with Chain Lightning in the late game.

Dual wield hand crossbows. Hoard bottles of water (Auntie Ethel sells a stack of 5 in the druid grove, they restock on party member level up or long rest so buy a bunch). Drag a bottle of water from your inventory and drop it at the feet of an enemy which doesn't require an action. Then, use your offhand crossbow to break the bottle (bonus action) and inflict Wet. Now drop your Lightning nukes with Channel Divinity and you get maximized, double-damage spells.

You can also combo Wet + Cold damage to inflict Freeze on an enemy which is a hard CC. Blunt, Force, or Thunder damage is doubled against Frozen targets but it removes the Frozen condition. Frozen is a constitution saving throw and it's kinda rare to see it actually land on Tactician in my experience.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:03

Professor Beetus: Apr 12, 2007; They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

Monathin posted:

If you're only in it for cool lightning abilities that don't scale off Wisdom, 5 seems like a steep overinvestment. You can probably make it work but a significant amount of your spells are going to be less useful due to having subpar Wisdom, unless you specifically pick spells that don't scale off it (so buff/utility spells).

that said, Tempest Cleric + Smite does sound kind of hilarious, so I really wanna see if it works. Maybe Cleric 2 / Paladin 10? Unless there's something you're very specifically shooting for at Level 5.

I forget the class break but you can do a lighting smite/radiant smite combo using destructive wrath and the guaranteed crit from luck of the far realms and get over 200+ damage in a single turn

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:04

veni veni veni: Jun 5, 2005

Has larian ever stated how many copies they expected to sell? It must be loving wild to sell 22 million plus copies and counting in a few months when your previous game sold 7.5 million over 6 years and was considered a huge success.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:05

Professor Beetus: Apr 12, 2007; They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

veni veni veni posted:

Has larian ever stated how many copies they planned to sell? It must be loving wild to sell 22 million plus copies and counting in a few months when your previous game sold 7.5 million over 6 years and was considered a huge success.

They don't even have a physical version out yet lmao

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:05

jaete: Jun 21, 2009; Nap Ghost

rojay posted:

Is this where we complain about Astarion's name not being lore-correct for an elf?

Hmm, what would his name be if it were lore-correct?

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:06

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Nice reboot kid

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:06

Monathin: Sep 1, 2011; ?????????
?

All we really know about in that vein is that Larian did not intend to do Epilogues or DLC and BG3 was going to be a one-and-done release, but they pretty quickly pivoted once the money started rolling in, so I have to assume it widely outpaced even their most pie-in-the-sky expectations.

MacheteZombie posted:

Nice reboot kid

Thanks, MZ, see you in a couple hours.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:07

veni veni veni: Jun 5, 2005

jaete posted:

Hmm, what would his name be if it were lore-correct?

Bobby Keebler

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:09

Jack Trades: Nov 30, 2010

Monathin posted:

All we really know about in that vein is that Larian did not intend to do Epilogues or DLC and BG3 was going to be a one-and-done release, but they pretty quickly pivoted once the money started rolling in, so I have to assume it widely outpaced even their most pie-in-the-sky expectations.

The current peak is almost 900k concurrent players.
So yeah, seems like it's been almost 10 times as popular as they expected.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:10

ChronoReverse: Oct 1, 2009

Today, several months after release, there's 150k steam players right now and they expected max 100k.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:12

BrianWilly: Apr 24, 2007; There is no homosexual terrorist Johnny Silverhand

Tbh no elves in this game are lore-correct for elves. They all just feel like regular humans with pointy ears.
v :v:

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:12

Professor Beetus: Apr 12, 2007; They can fight us
But they'll never Beetus

BrianWilly posted:

Tbh no elves in this game are lore-correct for elves. They all just feel like regular humans with pointy ears.
vv

FWIW I think part of that is the melting pot nature of Baldur's Gate the city and likely its surrounding area. If you were to go to an Elven city you'd probably have a lot more elfy elves.

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:14

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# ? Apr 28, 2024 13:37

jaete: Jun 21, 2009; Nap Ghost

BrianWilly posted:

Tbh no elves in this game are lore-correct for elves. They all just feel like regular humans with pointy ears.
vv

Actually, my high elf wizard is completely lore-correct :colbert:

# ? Dec 9, 2023 19:16

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Baldur's Gate 3: There's a ghaik in my loot! (Now out on Xbox!)

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