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Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Pre-Release Thread [EARLY ACCESS RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

Elex

Arbiter
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Oct 17, 2017
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I agree.

In BG1 and especially BG2 the main antagonist was shown as deadly and extremely dangerous.
Sarevok slaying Gorion, Irenicus turning shadow thieves and wizards into bloody gibs like it was nothing, - they commanded respect.
Inevitable confrontation with them loomed ahead as something not to be taken lightly.

And what we have here?
A character, who has barely 5 minutes ago got his ass handed to him by a bunch of lame goblins, goes all chest-puffing "I'll rip out you tongue!" to a fucking devil!
And every branch of the dialog before that had at least one option like "die by my hand, lol".
Have the devils in 5E Forgotten Realms become just as common and dangerous as some snotty street punks?
But instead of teaching the protagonist a lesson of humility and respect, the devil just waves it off.

Of course it's too early to judge, maybe if it actually did get to a combat, the things would be different.
But I hope that the character won't get "I'm the center of the multiverse" attitude right from the beginning of the game.

well consider that the city of Elturel have been teleported in avernus....
Devils are just like call center:
“Hello mr. adventurer can i make you an offer? For the small prime of ONE soul i can give you.....”
Like that 8-9 times a day.
 
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August isn't that far away -- I'm starting to wonder what the minimum/recommended specs will look like.

Also, did they change from Early Access to Final Release for Original Sin?
 

Harthwain

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Hell, even Baldur's Gate 2, when your character's already got some heroics under his belt, only kicks you off in Zed's basement.
Baldur's Gate 2 starts already on the epic note in the intro, by establishing you as a son of a literal god. God of Murder on top of that. And the Hero of Baldur's Gate. Then you fight for a control over a city (more or less), break out from the mage-prison for the strongest known mages, see/fight creatures from other planes (the Githyanki), go through the Underdark, fight dragons along the way...
 

Cryomancer

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Baldur's Gate 2 starts already on the epic note in the intro, by establishing you as a son of a literal god. God of Murder on top of that. And the Hero of Baldur's Gate. Then you fight for a control over a city (more or less), break out from the mage-prison for the strongest known mages, see/fight creatures from other planes (the Githyanki), go through the Underdark, fight dragons along the way...

And BG3 doesn't start epic? Mindflayer spelljammer ship fighting dragon riders army is prety epic IMO.



Anyway, what part of Faerun the chapter 1 happens?

Would be amazing if we can see a little of Thay on BG3
 
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Thac0

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I'm very into cock and ball torture
And BG3 doesn't start epic? Mindflayer spelljammer ship fighting dragon riders army is prety epic IMO.
If BG2 starts epic, then why BG3 starting epic (even more so than BG2, one could say) is suddenly a problem?

Din't said that is a problem. But you go from lv 1 to 10 on BG3, BG2 from 8 to 17~21(depending the class)

Oof Illithids are pretty high to use as a BBEG against a 4 man level 10 party. A single Elder Brain is a deadly challenge (a hard bossfight thats decently winnable with good builds) for 4 lvl 10s, and the colonies have those surrounded by dozens of mooks.
I hope they dont let us fully resolve the Illithid plot at level 10 but not resolving it in the same game would be kind of a dickmove aswell. They have written themselves into a corner by using Illithids and level 10 cap.
 

Cryomancer

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They have written themselves into a corner by using Illithids and level 10 cap.

And putting dragons in the initial cutscene. It creates expectancy. You don't fight dragons on BG1. Probably they will nerf Illithids and probably wrote the history without thinking on the gameplay(is a fault that over 99% of modern game devs commit, they don't care about making game mechanics a good reflection of game lore)

PS : I know that Illithids, liches and dragons aren't deadly as on 3.5e and 2e but still...

PS 2 : Dragons Dogma is one of the few games which did dragon fights right. They have a lot of nasty abilities.
 

J_C

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Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
They have written themselves into a corner by using Illithids and level 10 cap.

And putting dragons in the initial cutscene. It creates expectancy. You don't fight dragons on BG1. Probably they will nerf Illithids and probably wrote the history without thinking on the gameplay(is a fault that over 99% of modern game devs commit, they don't care about making game mechanics a good reflection of game lore)

PS : I know that Illithids, liches and dragons aren't deadly as on 3.5e and 2e but still...

PS 2 : Dragons Dogma is one of the few games which did dragon fights right. They have a lot of nasty abilities.
I blame current gamers. You can't give them a real low level campaign, every game has to be a massive explosionfest, where you are the biggest hero. You have to start with killing a dragon in the first game. And yeah, it sucks.
 
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Thac0

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I'm very into cock and ball torture
They have written themselves into a corner by using Illithids and level 10 cap.

And putting dragons in the initial cutscene. You don't fight dragons on BG1. Probably they will nerf Illithids and probably wrote the history without thinking on the gameplay(is a fault that over 99% of modern game devs commit, they don't care about making game mechanics a good reflection of game lore)

And Adult Black Dragon is in the same danger category as an Elder Brain (both CR 14) in 5e. You could kill a dragon as the final boss of the game, since unlike Illithids dragons fight allone and dont make the fight infinitly harder by using thralls.

But I think the route they will take is that they make the protagonists super overpowered for level 10 due to the influence of the maggots compared to the normal world. A bit like in Planescape:Torment where the Nameless One gets permanent attribute upgrades, armor class upgrades and extra attacks thrown after him at every opportunity because of his background.

I personally dont mind too much since power fantasies are fun as long as the game has a hard difficulty, but i can see why it would turn some people off.
 

Lacrymas

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Sep 23, 2015
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Pathfinder: Wrath
Oof Illithids are pretty high to use as a BBEG against a 4 man level 10 party. A single Elder Brain is a deadly challenge (a hard bossfight thats decently winnable with good builds) for 4 lvl 10s, and the colonies have those surrounded by dozens of mooks.
I hope they dont let us fully resolve the Illithid plot at level 10 but not resolving it in the same game would be kind of a dickmove aswell. They have written themselves into a corner by using Illithids and level 10 cap.
I'm hoping the illithid thing is a red herring. I really have no idea where they are thinking of taking this, but I feel like it's nowhere good or lore-friendly.
 

Cryomancer

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I blame current gamers. You can't give them a real low level campaign, every game has to be a massive explosionfest, where you are the biggest hero. You have to start with killing a dragon in the first game. And yeah, it sucks.

Well, if the game is 100 hours long, you should only have a change to take out a adult dragon at around 75 hours playtime.

Being strong is far more satisfying if you experienced being weak... Gothic 1/2/3 does it amazingly well.

I personally dont mind too much since power fantasies are fun as long as the game has a hard difficulty, but i can see why it would turn some people off.

I love when crazy stuff exists but the player doesn't have monopoly over this crazy stuff. Imagine if only you could use .45-70 brush guns on new vegas and other powerful firearms. The game will be boring...

------------------------------------

For me, they should raise the level cap AT LEAST to 12~15. IS not that crazy high where you can solve 99% of problems with a Wish spell but is a solid pick to have some chance with a lot of help from NPC's against a elder brain.

Also, fighters will probably hit level 5 on chapter 2. From that to the end game, they will only have two attacks per turn.
 
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Thac0

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I'm very into cock and ball torture
I blame current gamers. You can't give them a real low level campaign, every game has to be a massive explosionfest, where you are the biggest hero. You have to start with killing a dragon in the first game. And yeah, it sucks.

Well, if the game is 100 hours long, you should only have a change to take out a adult dragon at around 75 hours playtime.

Being strong is far more satisfying if you experienced being weak... Gothic 1/2/3 does it amazingly well.

I personally dont mind too much since power fantasies are fun as long as the game has a hard difficulty, but i can see why it would turn some people off.

I love when crazy stuff exists but the player doesn't have monopoly over this crazy stuff. Imagine if only you could use .45-70 brush guns on new vegas and other powerful firearms. The game will be boring...

------------------------------------

For me, they should raise the level cap AT LEAST to 12~15. IS not that crazy high where you can solve 99% of problems with a Wish spell but is a solid pick to have some chance with a lot of help from NPC's against a elder brain.

Also, fighters will probably hit level 5 on chapter 2. From that to the end game, they will only have two attacks per turn.

Level 12 would be a really good breakpoint, since at level 13 you get spells like Teleport which start to unravel the game a bit and the gameplay really begins to change. Being restricted to 6th level casting means the meanest spell you will unleash is a Desintegration. Thats fine.
Lets hope they change their mind.
 

Fedora Master

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You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?
 
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Thac0

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I'm very into cock and ball torture
You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?

Yes, Chaotic Command shuts most of their bullshit down.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Chaotic_Commands
Also there are enough magic resistance items to make them annoying but beatable.
 

Cryomancer

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Level 12 would be a really good breakpoint, since at level 13 you get spells like Teleport which start to unravel the game a bit and the gameplay really begins to change. Being restricted to 6th level casting means the meanest spell you will unleash is a Desintegration. Thats fine.

Teleport and other spells are rarely adapted into CRPGs. On DDO, it is just a "cost free" fast travel, it can't save your skin or be used on quests, even dimensional door is just a QoL utility spell... Note that the usage of high tier magic on 5e is far more limtied than 3.5e, a lv 20 wizard can cast a wish. a lv 20 3.5e wizard can cast 4 wishes per long rest.

lvl 10 is a bit weird in the context of D&D, I suggest 9.

Why 9? Dark Sun : Shattered Lands? The final battle of that game was a pain in the ***.

You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?

Stop Time or like i call : ZA WARUDO!!!
 

Lacrymas

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Sep 23, 2015
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Pathfinder: Wrath
Lvl 10 in 5E is an ok breakpoint since basically all classes get something special then. D&D is best played low-level.
 

Fedora Master

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You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?

Yes, Chaotic Command shuts most of their bullshit down.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Chaotic_Commands
Also there are enough magic resistance items to make them annoying but beatable.

That's disabling them directly, but there's no spell that defends against brain sucking directly right?
 

Shadenuat

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You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?
drinking potions of Int/Genius theoretically should slow it down and give you some extra rounds?
 

Cryomancer

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D&D is best played low-level.

Not true. If D&D is kobold/bandit slaying on sword coast, yep. If is epic adventures, like trying to escape the 6th layer of Carceri, then dealing with devils on city of embers and eventually getting involved into the blood war and so on, no, D&D is not best played at low levels. HotU is considered better than NWN1 and is epic level. MoTB is the best expansion to NWN2 and high to epic level too.

Keep in mind that descend to arvenus goes up to lv 13.
 

vonAchdorf

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Sep 20, 2014
Messages
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Lvl 10 in 5E is an ok breakpoint since basically all classes get something special then. D&D is best played low-level.

I prefer low-level play in all RPGs, but especially D&D always had a fan base who liked epic high(est) level gameplay.
 

Lacrymas

Arcane
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Pathfinder: Wrath
Just like I said, best played at low levels.

HotU and MotB aren't good because they are high level, the high levels actually detract from the experience.
 
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Thac0

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I'm very into cock and ball torture
You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?

Yes, Chaotic Command shuts most of their bullshit down.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Chaotic_Commands
Also there are enough magic resistance items to make them annoying but beatable.

That's disabling them directly, but there's no spell that defends against brain sucking directly right?

Chaotic Command despite the strange name is a priest spell that shields you from all of their stuns and stuff. It makes killing them very fast very easy.
I dont think there is a way to counter the draining despite just high defenses and killing them fast. Summons help. I waltzed through them with a hasted and mind shielded Minsk without major problems.
 

Fedora Master

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You know, I thought about my BG2 experience... And I never figured out how to prevent Illithids from brainsucking Minsc to death. Is there even a defense against that attack in BG2 other than summoning hordes of skeletons/cloud spells?

Yes, Chaotic Command shuts most of their bullshit down.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Chaotic_Commands
Also there are enough magic resistance items to make them annoying but beatable.

That's disabling them directly, but there's no spell that defends against brain sucking directly right?

Chaotic Command despite the strange name is a priest spell that shields you from all of their stuns and stuff. It makes killing them very fast very easy.
I dont think there is a way to counter the draining despite just high defenses and killing them fast. Summons help. I waltzed through them with a hasted and mind shielded Minsk without major problems.

Oh right I was thinking of Chaos and Confusion spells, my bad
 

Fedora Master

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Just like I said, best played at low levels.

HotU and MotB aren't good because they are high level, the high levels actually detract from the experience.
Those games also don't turn spellcasters into Literal Gods because the versatility of magic just isn't there.
Still, it's fun to blast assholes with Isaacs Greater Missile Storm
 

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