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Tags: Baldur's Gate 3; Larian Studios
The summer gaming festivities are over but Larian have kept Baldur's Gate 3 in the headlines. Last week they launched a murder mystery ARG that will tie in to a final Panel From Hell event on July 7th. However, they decided not to wait until then to announce today's very welcome news. In what seems like an obvious attempt to keep a safer distance from Starfield, Larian have decided that the PC version of Baldur's Gate 3 will be launching earlier on August 3rd. Wow! And that's just the beginning of the new community update, which also confirms that Dragonborn, Half-Orcs, the Duergar dwarven subrace and the ever-popular Monk class will be included in the game. The level cap has been increased to twelve and all classes are getting at least one new subclass. As dataminers have suspected for some time, the tiefling barbarian Karlach from the Early Access build will be featured as a full origin character in the final game, with another origin character to be revealed at the Panel From Hell. Plus there will be new feats, spells and difficulty settings.
Presumably we'll get to see all of this stuff in action in the Panel From Hell stream. I wonder if Larian have any surprises left to reveal other than the final companion.
The summer gaming festivities are over but Larian have kept Baldur's Gate 3 in the headlines. Last week they launched a murder mystery ARG that will tie in to a final Panel From Hell event on July 7th. However, they decided not to wait until then to announce today's very welcome news. In what seems like an obvious attempt to keep a safer distance from Starfield, Larian have decided that the PC version of Baldur's Gate 3 will be launching earlier on August 3rd. Wow! And that's just the beginning of the new community update, which also confirms that Dragonborn, Half-Orcs, the Duergar dwarven subrace and the ever-popular Monk class will be included in the game. The level cap has been increased to twelve and all classes are getting at least one new subclass. As dataminers have suspected for some time, the tiefling barbarian Karlach from the Early Access build will be featured as a full origin character in the final game, with another origin character to be revealed at the Panel From Hell. Plus there will be new feats, spells and difficulty settings.
Where to begin.
This week has seen you take to the streets of the Lower City as amateur sleuths in Blood in Baldur’s Gate, a community murder mystery to uncover the hidden darkness that lurks just beneath the city's surface. Where will the investigation lead? Keep digging, detectives, you’re leading us all to the Panel From Hell, where untold surprises await you: July 7th.
In the meantime, it’s time to talk about Baldur’s Gate 3. But not as you know it. We’re going to go in depth about some of our most-anticipated details: races & classes (we see you Ctrl+F Dragonborn), new Origins and Companion characters, the official level cap, new Difficulty Settings, and much, much more.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a game nearly 6 years in development. When Divinity: Original Sin 2 launched, we were 120 people, across a 3 year development. Now we’re 400. Since releasing in Early Access, we’ve been joined by nearly 2 million of you. Together, with your invaluable support, we’ve created a game that eclipses the depth & breadth of our previous RPGs.
Zen And The Art of Punching: Monk Class Revealed
Monks are masters of manipulating the field of combat - pushing, pulling, and stunning enemies across the battleground using forceful Ki-powered punches. Their combat style is a balance between Fighter and Rogue, allowing them to traverse the map effortlessly - with Step of the Wind - and then strike out with powerful melee blows.
Beginning the game with Unarmoured Defense, Monks receive an AC of 10 + their Dexterity and Wisdom modifiers at Level 1. Monk weapons are neither heavy nor two-handed, with this class opting instead for lighter fare like clubs and quarterstaves - or forgoing weapons altogether in favour of a classic knuckle sandwich, punches that scale up in damage as they level. In combat, they combine light, quick unarmed attacks with weapon attacks - producing beautifully distinctive and stylised combat animations.
And we've got to say, the animation, VFX and SFX for this class are on a whole other level. We've pulled inspiration from the rulebook to create a stunning audio visual experience which lives up to Kung-Fu cinema classics.
We also did a lot of work house-ruling this class, re-balancing Monks and giving them more Ki to ensure they feel powerful next to our other classes. So we're introducing brand new actions to play with.
Baldur’s Gate 3 features a trio of Monastic traditions to choose as your subclass. Monks of the Open Hand excel at close combat, using special unarmed techniques to manipulate the enemies at hand. At mid levels, this subclass can charge their attacks with Psychic, Necrotic or Radiant damage (representing mind, body and soul). At higher levels, we give them Ki Resonating Blast, which infuses punched targets with Ki and can create a chain reaction of explosions across all in-range targets who have also been touched by Ki.
Shadow monks are stealth ninjas who teleport to and from the shadows, a skill that allows them to stealthily strike enemies then return to the safety of darkness. And finally, Monks from the Four Elements subclass are casters who unleash Monk variants of spells followed up with a rapid bonus action punch.
Through Martial Arts, a Monk's attack damage using Monk Weapons and unarmed attacks will scale with their level. This also gives the Monk a bonus unarmed attack after they attack by punch or weapon. And if their Dexterity is higher than their Strength, their Dexterity will be used to determine their Monk Weapon attack rolls and damage.
Should your Monk become the target of ranged attack, Deflect Missiles will allow them to deflect a range weapon or thrown item back at their attacker using the new Interrupt system added in Patch 9.
You'll also soon find new magic items throughout the world designed to further support the Monk's playstyle.
This week has seen you take to the streets of the Lower City as amateur sleuths in Blood in Baldur’s Gate, a community murder mystery to uncover the hidden darkness that lurks just beneath the city's surface. Where will the investigation lead? Keep digging, detectives, you’re leading us all to the Panel From Hell, where untold surprises await you: July 7th.
In the meantime, it’s time to talk about Baldur’s Gate 3. But not as you know it. We’re going to go in depth about some of our most-anticipated details: races & classes (we see you Ctrl+F Dragonborn), new Origins and Companion characters, the official level cap, new Difficulty Settings, and much, much more.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a game nearly 6 years in development. When Divinity: Original Sin 2 launched, we were 120 people, across a 3 year development. Now we’re 400. Since releasing in Early Access, we’ve been joined by nearly 2 million of you. Together, with your invaluable support, we’ve created a game that eclipses the depth & breadth of our previous RPGs.
- We’ve over doubled DOS2’s five races, bringing 11 to life in BG3 with 31 subraces.
- DOS2’s 10 ‘schools of spells’ is eclipsed by the 12 classes & 46 subclasses in BG3.
- You caused chaos with the 225 player spells & actions in DOS2, so just imagine the havoc you’re about to unleash upon Faerûn with the over 600 spells & actions, excluding upcasts, in BG3.
- Characters in DOS2 enjoyed 45 talents, against BG3’s 308 passive features, which are comparable to talents.
Zen And The Art of Punching: Monk Class Revealed
Monks are masters of manipulating the field of combat - pushing, pulling, and stunning enemies across the battleground using forceful Ki-powered punches. Their combat style is a balance between Fighter and Rogue, allowing them to traverse the map effortlessly - with Step of the Wind - and then strike out with powerful melee blows.
Beginning the game with Unarmoured Defense, Monks receive an AC of 10 + their Dexterity and Wisdom modifiers at Level 1. Monk weapons are neither heavy nor two-handed, with this class opting instead for lighter fare like clubs and quarterstaves - or forgoing weapons altogether in favour of a classic knuckle sandwich, punches that scale up in damage as they level. In combat, they combine light, quick unarmed attacks with weapon attacks - producing beautifully distinctive and stylised combat animations.
And we've got to say, the animation, VFX and SFX for this class are on a whole other level. We've pulled inspiration from the rulebook to create a stunning audio visual experience which lives up to Kung-Fu cinema classics.
We also did a lot of work house-ruling this class, re-balancing Monks and giving them more Ki to ensure they feel powerful next to our other classes. So we're introducing brand new actions to play with.
Baldur’s Gate 3 features a trio of Monastic traditions to choose as your subclass. Monks of the Open Hand excel at close combat, using special unarmed techniques to manipulate the enemies at hand. At mid levels, this subclass can charge their attacks with Psychic, Necrotic or Radiant damage (representing mind, body and soul). At higher levels, we give them Ki Resonating Blast, which infuses punched targets with Ki and can create a chain reaction of explosions across all in-range targets who have also been touched by Ki.
Shadow monks are stealth ninjas who teleport to and from the shadows, a skill that allows them to stealthily strike enemies then return to the safety of darkness. And finally, Monks from the Four Elements subclass are casters who unleash Monk variants of spells followed up with a rapid bonus action punch.
Through Martial Arts, a Monk's attack damage using Monk Weapons and unarmed attacks will scale with their level. This also gives the Monk a bonus unarmed attack after they attack by punch or weapon. And if their Dexterity is higher than their Strength, their Dexterity will be used to determine their Monk Weapon attack rolls and damage.
Should your Monk become the target of ranged attack, Deflect Missiles will allow them to deflect a range weapon or thrown item back at their attacker using the new Interrupt system added in Patch 9.
You'll also soon find new magic items throughout the world designed to further support the Monk's playstyle.
Presumably we'll get to see all of this stuff in action in the Panel From Hell stream. I wonder if Larian have any surprises left to reveal other than the final companion.
