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

[Larianshill]

Is it out yet?

August.

 

[Tyranicon]

There is only one reasonable compromise: the Barbarian class shall henceforth be renamed Conan.

On a sidenote, I knew Robert E. Howard died young, but only recently did I discover that he died at 30. The dude barely made it out of his 20s.

The world would've been a better place if he lived longer. RIP.

 

[Harthwain]

The world would've been a better place if he lived longer. RIP.

Who knows? It may be one of the cases "You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain".

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I think that tying classes to the lore is bad idea in general. Your standard fighter is pretty much perfect. You roll a character and he can be a bouncer, knight, barbarian, crusader, pirate, bouncer, soldier, monster hunter etc. Same with wizards and rogues. The problems starts with clerics. If you want to cast healing spells you need to join a church and limit your weapon choices. Which later leads to silly solution when the requires characters to not worship good gods but still be able to cast clerical spells. So you have Planescape Athars which are atheists, but their clerics are able to get power from "the great unknown", Darkuns's Templars which receive clerical spells from sorcerer-kings despite the facts that many of them can't cast them and of course your standard clerics of no god who can cast spells by believing in their philosophy. There's no good explanation why I can't fill all my level 3 spellslots with lightning bolt despite being a cleric of Zeus or why arcane magic allows me to transform into a dragon but not heal simple wounds. It's even worse in games like Pathfinder where bards get access to healing magic for no good reason. So in the end frontline warriors are free to chose whoever they want to be but healers need to be clergymen.

Then you get overly specific classes that even further limit your choices. Your fighter can't become knighted if a knight is a separate class. He can't just be a pirate if you have swashbucklers. And some classes don't even make sense to be available to lvl 1 characters. You can be a lvl 1 Paladin? A holy knight, champion of the church starts at level one? It would make more sense for fighters to become knights and then for pious knights to be promoted to Paladins.

 

[Delterius]

There is only one reasonable compromise: the Barbarian class shall henceforth be renamed Conan.

female version conina

 

[Tyranicon]

Revert all non-rogue martials back to Fighting Man, which is a much better and prestigious term anyways.

 

[Faarbaute]

Something like Dragon Age: Origin's prestige class system offers a good compromise IMO. You have the basic bitch classes, but classes that are tied up with particular lore and story elements take the form of prestige classes.

Even something as simple as finding the right manual to become a smuf slayer, goes a long way in tying the systems together into a greater whole.

 

[Delterius]

rogue martials

those shall be called Connors

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

On a sidenote, I knew Robert E. Howard died young, but only recently did I discover that he died at 30. The dude barely made it out of his 20s.

The world would've been a better place if he lived longer. RIP.

All fled—all done, so lift me on the pyre;
The feast is over, and the lamps expire.

And some classes don't even make sense to be available to lvl 1 characters. You can be a lvl 1 Paladin? A holy knight, champion of the church starts at level one? It would make more sense for fighters to become knights and then for pious knights to be promoted to Paladins.

In BECMI D&D, name-level fighters have the option of becoming a paladin (if lawful), a knight, or an avenger (if chaotic).

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

I'm kinda starting to miss Victor ranting about high lethality necromancy at this point.

 

[Nano]

There is only one reasonable compromise: the Barbarian class shall henceforth be renamed Conan.

female version conina

Who has no fighting ability and only exists as a sperm receptacle who also cooks.

 

[Delterius]

There is only one reasonable compromise: the Barbarian class shall henceforth be renamed Conan.

female version conina

Who has no fighting ability and only exists as a sperm receptacle who also cooks.

he doesn't know what he doesn't know

 

[Gargaune]

Hey guys, is point & click in yet?

 

[Harthwain]

The armor is a bit slippery.
Since 3e barbarians can use medium armor so archetype of the savage with light armor (or even without any) never really fit.

You literally have Unarmoured Defense class feature for not wearing any armour.

 

[Rhobar121]

The armor is a bit slippery.
Since 3e barbarians can use medium armor so archetype of the savage with light armor (or even without any) never really fit.

You literally have Unarmoured Defense class feature for not wearing any armour.

Except it's useless because to get the same AC as with any medium armor you need an obscenely high dex and con.
This is doable if you don't mind a character with 10 strength.

 

[Harthwain]

Except it's useless because to get the same AC as with any medium armor you need an obscenely high dex and con.
This is doable if you don't mind a character with 10 strength.

Maybe so, but it does suit the archetype we discussed before.

 

[FreeKaner]

I think that tying classes to the lore is bad idea in general. Your standard fighter is pretty much perfect. You roll a character and he can be a bouncer, knight, barbarian, crusader, pirate, bouncer, soldier, monster hunter etc. Same with wizards and rogues. The problems starts with clerics. If you want to cast healing spells you need to join a church and limit your weapon choices. Which later leads to silly solution when the requires characters to not worship good gods but still be able to cast clerical spells. So you have Planescape Athars which are atheists, but their clerics are able to get power from "the great unknown", Darkuns's Templars which receive clerical spells from sorcerer-kings despite the facts that many of them can't cast them and of course your standard clerics of no god who can cast spells by believing in their philosophy. There's no good explanation why I can't fill all my level 3 spellslots with lightning bolt despite being a cleric of Zeus or why arcane magic allows me to transform into a dragon but not heal simple wounds. It's even worse in games like Pathfinder where bards get access to healing magic for no good reason. So in the end frontline warriors are free to chose whoever they want to be but healers need to be clergymen.

Then you get overly specific classes that even further limit your choices. Your fighter can't become knighted if a knight is a separate class. He can't just be a pirate if you have swashbucklers. And some classes don't even make sense to be available to lvl 1 characters. You can be a lvl 1 Paladin? A holy knight, champion of the church starts at level one? It would make more sense for fighters to become knights and then for pious knights to be promoted to Paladins.

Issue with that is this works if you have a classless system, where you can opt-in to abilities and stats. Otherwise you would have to include all the breadth of abilities a fighter would potentially be capable of across all the archetypes within the class of fighter itself, which leads to minmax munchkin haven and a bloated system in itself.

Plus I disagree with the statement that a cleric should be able to heal regardless of church. That is just degeneracy of game design at best or fedora tipping at worst. These type of characterizations of order & institution adds much more flavor and gameplay elements to class in question. That is why Paladins are popular. Clerics which are not ordained by an appropriate church within their setting should not have same set of abilities, they should just be different type of clerics, this would work perfectly well with any caster class that has access to all their spells, since you could just mute certain spells.

Overall what you say belongs to a classless system, I love classless systems myself but a class-system is not bettered by making it more classless then you create worst of both worlds. A class system is at its best when it navigates constraints not deconstructs them.

 

[NecroLord]

I think that tying classes to the lore is bad idea in general. Your standard fighter is pretty much perfect. You roll a character and he can be a bouncer, knight, barbarian, crusader, pirate, bouncer, soldier, monster hunter etc. Same with wizards and rogues. The problems starts with clerics. If you want to cast healing spells you need to join a church and limit your weapon choices. Which later leads to silly solution when the requires characters to not worship good gods but still be able to cast clerical spells. So you have Planescape Athars which are atheists, but their clerics are able to get power from "the great unknown", Darkuns's Templars which receive clerical spells from sorcerer-kings despite the facts that many of them can't cast them and of course your standard clerics of no god who can cast spells by believing in their philosophy. There's no good explanation why I can't fill all my level 3 spellslots with lightning bolt despite being a cleric of Zeus or why arcane magic allows me to transform into a dragon but not heal simple wounds. It's even worse in games like Pathfinder where bards get access to healing magic for no good reason. So in the end frontline warriors are free to chose whoever they want to be but healers need to be clergymen.

Then you get overly specific classes that even further limit your choices. Your fighter can't become knighted if a knight is a separate class. He can't just be a pirate if you have swashbucklers. And some classes don't even make sense to be available to lvl 1 characters. You can be a lvl 1 Paladin? A holy knight, champion of the church starts at level one? It would make more sense for fighters to become knights and then for pious knights to be promoted to Paladins.

Issue with that is this works if you have a classless system, where you can opt-in to abilities and stats. Otherwise you would have to include all the breadth of abilities a fighter would potentially be capable of across all the archetypes within the class of fighter itself, which leads to minmax munchkin haven and a bloated system in itself.

Plus I disagree with the statement that a cleric should be able to heal regardless of church. That is just degeneracy of game design at best or fedora tipping at worst. These type of characterizations of order & institution adds much more flavor and gameplay elements to class in question. That is why Paladins are popular. Clerics which are not ordained by an appropriate church within their setting should not have same set of abilities, they should just be different type of clerics, this would work perfectly well with any caster class that has access to all their spells, since you could just mute certain spells.

Overall what you say belongs to a classless system, I love classless systems myself but a class-system is not bettered by making it more classless then you create worst of both worlds. A class system is at its best when it navigates constraints not deconstructs them.

D&D is all about classes. Paladin. Fighter. Mage. Thief.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

AD&D fags BTFOd by this one red-haired lad - Fafhrd was multiclassing as a Barbarian/Skald/Rogue as far back as the 1930s and was giving no shits about it. And if you take his stint as Issek of the Jug into account, you can throw in a few levels of Favored Soul on top of it too.

Basically, you too can be a barbarian if you put your mind to it and believe in yourself.

I mean, he started as a barbarian and got skald levels next. All at a very young age, but still.

 

[Abu Antar]

Coming to PlayStation.

 

[conan_edw]

The new trailer:

 

[Tyranicon]

I haven't been following this game much, but it feel like this is gonna have some super obvious twist relating it back to the events of the originals.

 

[Infinitron]

J.K. Simmons!



https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1086940/view/3640634026230039737

Community Update #18: Baldur's Date
Baldur’s Gate 3 releases on August 31, 2023 for PC, Mac, and PS5.

Hello and howdy, dear readers!
What’s it called when the long-awaited third installment in a beloved RPG series finally gets a proper release day announcement? That’s Baldur’s Date.

Baldur’s Gate 3 releases on August 31, 2023 for PC, Mac, and PS5.

Earlier today we unveiled a brand new gameplay and story trailer during Sony’s State of Play livestream. Fret not, our PC-focused friends, as you will still want to see this trailer:

Meet General Ketheric Thorm, a seemingly invincible necromancer leading an army of the dead towards the city of Baldur’s Gate. Ketheric isn’t the antagonist, but one of three main antagonists that your party will need to contend with if you ever want to get those tadpoles out of your head (maybe even if you decide you don’t ).

Ketheric’s plans for the people of Faerûn are as complex as his motivations, and so we knew his role would benefit from the kind of depth and gravitas that renowned character actor J.K. Simmons could provide. One take at the recording booth and we knew we’d made the right call. Take a look behind the scenes:

We’ll introduce you to two more antagonists over the coming months, so keep an eye out (but close them if someone approaches with anything… wiggly).

Those of you who prefer to navigate the world using analogue sticks and buttons may have caught a glimpse at what full controller support for Baldur’s Gate 3 will look like for launch. With split-screen co-op, too, you’ll be able to experience the entirety of your adventures in Faerûn with another player on the same device!

Baldur’s Gate 3 will also support cross-progression between PC, Mac and PS5, allowing you to transfer your saves between platforms and continue your adventure wherever you purchase the game. Personally, we’ll be taking our experience on the road with the Steam Deck, and then venturing home to enjoy the cinematic experience of interrupting an ogre’s horizontal tango from the comfort of our sofa. Don’t forget the popcorn!

There’s more: Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting a Digital Deluxe Edition on launch. Here’s what you can expect to find within:

• Divinity Bard Song Pack
  - Astound audiences by performing this special set of new songs from the Divinity series
• Paintings from Rivellon
  - Discover a new collection of paintings across the Forgotten Realms
• Adventurer's Pouch
  - Receive a collection of camp supplies and potions to help get your journey started
• Digital OST
  - Enjoy the music of Baldur's Gate 3 from composer Borislav Slavov
• Digital Artbook
  - Explore the art and design of Baldur's Gate 3 in this digital artbook, written by Larian
• Digital Character Sheets
  - Peruse a set of four-page D&D character sheets for each Baldur's Gate 3 origin character

Bring a little bit of Rivellon to the Forgotten Realms with these Divinity-inspired artefacts:

• Mask of the Shapeshifter:
  Allows you to change race and appearance on the fly, inspired by Fane
• Cape of the Red Prince:
  Cloak inspired by the Red Prince
• Lute of the Merryweather Bard:
  Playable instrument inspired by Lohse
• Needle of the Outlaw Rogue:
  Dagger inspired by Sebille
• Bicorne of the Sea Beast:
  Headgear inspired by Beast

We’ll have more to share later, but here’s a little peek at the Mask of the Shapeshifter in-game. No faces were ripped in the creation of this mask! (Technology really has come a long way since DOS2.)

Do you already own Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC? Are you planning to purchase it in Early Access before launch? You’re going to get a free upgrade to the Digital Deluxe edition on launch day! Same goes for owners of our Collector’s Edition (available to pre-order via our website for both PC & PS5 while stocks last!) – here’s a reminder of all that’s inside:

Filled with tangible treasures we’re sure you’re going to love, and now it comes with the Digital Deluxe Edition – so even more value in that rather large box. If you want the full run-down of what you’re going to get with each edition, check out this handy chart.

With today’s news, we’re just over 6 months away from Baldur’s Gate 3’s release day. It's been quite the journey so far, and we still have plenty of surprises to talk about before we get there. Including [Redacted], [Redacted] being able to [Redacted] into a [Redacted]. Wow, it feels good to say those ones out loud, they’ve really been eating away at us!

A note on Minimum System Requirements
One last thing: Baldur's Gate 3's graphical fidelity and complexity has improved quite a bit as it's grown throughout Early Access. We've been keeping an eye on its minimum system requirements, and as the game nears release we've raised the minimum system requirements listed on Steam to better reflect the realities of the launch version.

Baldur's Gate 3 may be playable on systems below these minimum suggested specifications, but we believe this may hinder the player experience. Check our store page for the latest specs.

That's all from us, until next time!

 

[Shrimp]

Do you already own Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC? Are you planning to purchase it in Early Access before launch? You’re going to get a free upgrade to the Digital Deluxe edition on launch day!

That's nice at least, even if I don't care too much about the stuff that comes along with it.

 

[covr]

What a terrible trailer. It looks disgusting, sounds even worse. That music piece does not fit anything we see on screen and has no resemblance to original BG music. This whole trailer does not make sense.