Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Desiderius]

WotC not very good at 4Es, can confirm.

 

[Bah]

So, I blocked the vents in the crypt, but then I get killed by fireballs once I retrieve the sword. What am I doing wrong?

Also did a perception check and saw the gargoyle heads beforehand, but pressing that button on the wall did nothing.

Spoiler

Sounds like a bug. After looting the crypt, I was immediately placed in turn-based mode, and had the nearest character go press the button, and no fireballs activated.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Podcast interview with Swen: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/ax...incke-on-baldurs-gate-3s-early-access-release

The interview starts at 26:19.

When they started hyping up the Michael Bay nature of the tutorial area, I took a moment to dream what it could have been if Obsidian had been allowed the budget to represent Caed Nua's destruction in the beginning of Deadfire, instead of reducing it to a couple of slides in the intro video.

 

[kangaxx]

kangaxx
There's no difference between Thac0 and negative AC and the modern positive AC and attack bonus model. They're the same system, they just look different.

And yes, you can't move as a bonus action in tabletop. You get 1 move, 1 standard and 1 bonus action per turn, and you can't use the bonus action to move.

I liked it better when moving and attacking came from the same action pool in second edition but maybe that's just me.

Thanks for the info!

 

[jackofshadows]

Tried Nalia once and it weirded me out how similar her voice is to Viconia's. Sometimes when I click on her and she asks "how can I help" I have to double check I didn't click on Viccy (even though that's something she would never say).

No shit. Same actress, in case you weren't sarcastic.

Underdark looks pretty neat, except it's quite... dark.

Can't really see what's going on and where is the road.

That's cool actually because you have to rely on something like infra-vision or spells or torches. Drow vision is the best. Correct me if I'm wrong but you're also fucked in combat if you do not have any of those, just like in Pf:K.

 

[Lacrymas]

kangaxx
There's no difference between Thac0 and negative AC and the modern positive AC and attack bonus model. They're the same system, they just look different.

And yes, you can't move as a bonus action in tabletop. You get 1 move, 1 standard and 1 bonus action per turn, and you can't use the bonus action to move.

I liked it better when moving and attacking came from the same action pool in second edition but maybe that's just me.

Thanks for the info!

Also, you can't use the bonus action to jump, dash, disengage, etc. Only rogues can do that. I'm not sure why they made it so everyone can do it in BG3, but I'm very hopeful they are going to change their minds.

 

[Nano]

No shit. Same actress, in case you weren't sarcastic.

? Of course I knew. That's why having them both in the party weirded me out.

 

[Lawntoilet]

I also find the bonus action thing a bit weird. As in why does everyone get to jump around once per turn, even with something like bandmail on? I'm assuming that isn't allowed in the TT version.

And yes, you can't move as a bonus action in tabletop. You get 1 move, 1 standard and 1 bonus action per turn, and you can't use the bonus action to move.

Rogues can use the bonus action as extra movement, but other classes can't (so BG3 allowing this is something of a nerf to Rogues). Other classes get specific abilities or certain spells that can be used as a bonus action.
Solasta implemented this stuff pretty faithfully, judging by the demo.

 

[BarbequeMasta]

So Solasta is more faithfull but has no multiclassing, Divinity 3 has some Larian shitty shenanigans like the bonus actions and surfaces but will have multiclassing. Cant we fuse the games?

 

[jackofshadows]

? Of course I knew. That's why having them both in the party weirded me out.

Yeah, it's bad. Actress while being awesome in general did a relatively poor job to distinct these two characters enough, especially the most basic replies wise.

Speaking of VO, Shadowheart voiced absolutely amazing, it was not that clear to me during presentations, but now I'm just enjoying the shit out of conversations with her.

 

[NJClaw]

GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!

I just learned that when gnomes undergo ceremorphosis, the process can go wrong and, instead of becoming a full-fledged mind flayer, they might transform into a gnome ceremorph, which basically is some sort of mind flayer corgi:

Look at how cute he is! I'm 99% positive that we are going to meet one of these cute little squiggly balls of tentacles in BG3.

If the process goes SUPER wrong, they might also become a gnome squidling:

What the fuck. Look at this duuuuuuuuude.

The wonders of 5E's lore.

 

[Xamenos]

GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!

I just learned that when gnomes undergo ceremorphosis, the process can go wrong and, instead of becoming a full-fledged mind flayer, they might transform into a gnome ceremorph, which basically is some sort of mind flayer corgi:

Look at how cute he is! I'm 99% positive that we are going to meet one of these cute little squiggly balls of tentacles in BG3.

If the process goes SUPER wrong, they might also become a gnome squidling:

What the fuck. Look at this duuuuuuuuude.

The wonders of 5E's lore.

Oh, god, I thought you were trolling but it's true. I hate this gay earth.

 

[Voids]

So help me figure this out - if you reach level 4 relatively early on and the cap is probably in the level 12 area.. does this mean that we'll hit the cap early in the game or that the game is kinda short? I mean if you look at the world map about half of it is just the stuff you see in act 1. I think they'll have to figure this out, especially if they follow people's suggestions and give XP for avoiding combat through dialog like they should.

Spoiler

Also, the part with Auntie Ethel plucking out your eye gave me some Planescape vibes.

 

[Raghar]

Tieflings are greatly affected by structural inequality built into the very fabric of the planes.

Actually considering they were related to certain beings, general population thought. What would happen when their parent ask them to do something against general population, they would agree because it's they parent. Theirs parent would perhaps help them to run by portal, and general population WOULD GET FUCKED.

Of course not every tiefling is automatically ensured disaster in next year, but some are.

 

[Jasede]

Well, I'm usually 2 levels from max level when playing Baldur's Gate 1 2 hours in thanks to killing Ankhegs, so at least that part is faithful.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

So help me figure this out - if you reach level 4 relatively early on and the cap is probably in the level 12 area.. does this mean that we'll hit the cap early in the game or that the game is kinda short? I mean if you look at the world map about half of it is just the stuff you see in act 1. I think they'll have to figure this out, especially if they follow people's suggestions and give XP for avoiding combat through dialog like they should.

Spoiler

Also, the part with Auntie Ethel plucking out your eye gave me some Planescape vibes.

First few levels go by much faster than the rest following DMG XP advice

No idea how well this will translate into video game format(which tends to have a lot more encounters and therefore they generally give less XP)

 

[NJClaw]

So help me figure this out - if you reach level 4 relatively early on and the cap is probably in the level 12 area.. does this mean that we'll hit the cap early in the game or that the game is kinda short? I mean if you look at the world map about half of it is just the stuff you see in act 1. I think they'll have to figure this out, especially if they follow people's suggestions and give XP for avoiding combat through dialog like they should.

Spoiler

Also, the part with Auntie Ethel plucking out your eye gave me some Planescape vibes.

If they stay true to how levels progression works in 5E, it should sensibly slow down after chapter 1. You are supposed to reach very quickly levels 3-4, and then the progression should almost come to a halt, requiring for a single level up almost the same time it took to go up 3 levels in the beginning.

But, seeing how they already bent the rules to suit their needs, I don't think that "faithfulness to how the game plays out at the table" is one of their main goals.

 

[jackofshadows]

This is the first legit impressive thing about this game's content. I wonder if a choice at this level will occur in more than one instance in the campaign.

I'm getting to this as well (spoilered 10 times before anyway) but even before, that druid - refugee conflict was executed decently.

First, you don't have to involve at all and evil companions eagerly approving it, reminded me walking away from Redcliffe hearing Alistairs moaning along the way and seeing thumbs up from Morri with Sten.

Second, you can simply kill archdruid and take the reward from tiefling w/o obligations to help them further.

Third, you can take alternative quest from refugee leader which involving your own interest. Shame that it's got bugged so I dunno how the outcome is different

Spoiler

when I'm talking to Wyll he saying "don't worry, you can thank me later" and the dialogue ends so I cannot even recruit him

But sometimes it's the other way around and reactivity is lacking severely: the most glaring/obvious options are missing. And I doubt that they will bother with additional mocap/recording to fix that.

 

[Jasede]

So help me figure this out - if you reach level 4 relatively early on and the cap is probably in the level 12 area.. does this mean that we'll hit the cap early in the game or that the game is kinda short? I mean if you look at the world map about half of it is just the stuff you see in act 1. I think they'll have to figure this out, especially if they follow people's suggestions and give XP for avoiding combat through dialog like they should.

Spoiler

Also, the part with Auntie Ethel plucking out your eye gave me some Planescape vibes.

If they stay true to how levels progression works in 5E, it should sensibly slow down after chapter 1. You are supposed to reach very quickly levels 3-4, and then the progression should almost come to a halt, requiring for a single level up almost the same time it took to go up 3 levels in the beginning.

But, seeing how they already bent the rules to suit their needs, I don't think that "faithfulness to how the game plays out at the table" is one of their main goals.

Yeah, basically in 5E you're supposed to reach 3rd level fast because that's where most classes get their big specialization.

 

[Raghar]

So help me figure this out - if you reach level 4 relatively early on and the cap is probably in the level 12 area.. does this mean that we'll hit the cap early in the game or that the game is kinda short? I mean if you look at the world map about half of it is just the stuff you see in act 1. I think they'll have to figure this out, especially if they follow people's suggestions and give XP for avoiding combat through dialog like they should.

Spoiler

Also, the part with Auntie Ethel plucking out your eye gave me some Planescape vibes.

If they stay true to how levels progression works in 5E, it should sensibly slow down after chapter 1. You are supposed to reach very quickly levels 3-4, and then the progression should almost come to a halt, requiring for a single level up almost the same time it took to go up 3 levels in the beginning.

But, seeing how they already bent the rules to suit their needs, I don't think that "faithfulness to how the game plays out at the table" is one of their main goals.

Yeah, basically in 5E you're supposed to reach 3rd level fast because that's where most classes get their big specialization.

Depends on what adventure you are playing. If you want relaxing adventure with mostly next to zero danger with one to three DEADLY incidents, you can have enjoyable sessions without rushing to level 4.

 

[Lambach]

the cap is probably in the level 12 area..

I'm curious about this part. I know the cap was initially supposed to be 10, but I think I've read somewhere Sven confirmed that they've increased it. Anyone have any info on this?

 

[ItsChon]

I guess I'll have to look up some videos to see how this game plays. Maybe people talked about how the gameplay feels somewhere in the first 100 pages but I can't be arsed to go look.

 

[NJClaw]

Depends on what adventure you are playing. If you want relaxing adventure with mostly next to zero danger with one to three DEADLY incidents, you can have enjoyable sessions without rushing to level 4.

Sure, but the Dungeon Master's Guide explicitly tells you that characters should almost immediately reach level 3:

I mean, honestly, who gives a fuck about the DMG. But it's still there.

 

[kangaxx]

I guess I'll have to look up some videos to see how this game plays. Maybe people talked about how the gameplay feels somewhere in the first 100 pages but I can't be arsed to go look.

If you played DOS2 then it feels like that but with D&D rules. I'm not finished with the EA content and it's been a reasonably entertaining jaunt so far, without being anything spectacular.

 

[NJClaw]

the cap is probably in the level 12 area..

I'm curious about this part. I know the cap was initially supposed to be 10, but I think I've read somewhere Sven confirmed that they've increased it. Anyone have any info on this?

At 4:14.

He (lead systems designer) basically says that the level cap is not set in stone, and that they are going to decide according to how much content will actually be in the game. He also explains that high-level content is extremely problematic because high-level spells give an incredible amount of freedom and are hard to implement in a videogame adaptation.