Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Grauken]

What even was the point in 3 years of Early Access if the game still came out buggy

A very polished first act

 

[Pizzashoes]

I think Act II's combat was the peak in terms of thrilling combat, and certainly the peak of the base game providing challenge. The last fight of it had me groaning in despair on stage 2 of the boss. My playthrough, my MC raced to free the idiotic lesbo immortal, who then immediately got dominated by the mindflayer and critically missed twice before pushing my MC off the ledge. That led to such a dynamic fight, I won't forget it anytime soon.

 

[Swen]

If it wasn't for the bugs in act 3 the game would be at 98 metacritic score by now...Fuuuuuuuuuarrrrkkkkkkk!!!!

Next mission for Larian: More and better bug fixers, upgrades to the engine.

 

[Orud]

By trying to redeem evil people who you see may have a chance at redemption like a Paladin might instead of just killing them outright.

No, a Paladin does no redeeming himself. A Paladin is only expected to spare people that are displaying honest intent to turn their life around. If there is even an inch of doubt or dishonesty present, a Paladin might actually allow evil to fester a few years down the road by letting them go. What you are talking about is being 'lawful stupid' instead of 'lawful good', Paladins aren't choirboys.

Even though I'm not the biggest fan of 'Wrath of the Righteous', it does contain one of my most favorite conversations in any RPG's. After a local congregation of Shelyn (goddess of art, love, etc...) is wiped out by cultists, you can find the leader of the cultists still at the place of slaughter. One of your party members is a cleric of Shelyn and, once you've cornered him, wants to execute the cultist leader. However this cultist mockingly states that he wants to redeem himself and that Shelyn's teachings dictate that, no matter how small the chance, the goddess requires the cleric to let him repent so that he might create beautiful art. The cleric is livid and has a crisis of faith, but as a Paladin you can comfort him so he will not steer away from his faith and forgives the cultist leader. If you're able to persuade the cleric to do this, you also get the dialogue option as a Paladin to state 'But I'm not of Shelyn, so in the name of my god I sentence you to death, executed by my hand. Immediately'.

Yes, you have 'Paladins of Shelyn', but both Pathfinder games make it a point to show how useless they are. The personification of 'lawful stupid'.

 

[Jaunty]

I don't think clerics have been good as anything other than spellcasters in D&D games. In IWD2 you could exorcise a ghost as a cleric, though.

You haven't played much 3.5 then. Clerics get heavy armor and good BAB in addition to being full casters - meaning they can buff themselves up to the point of making martials completely irrelevant, while still having plenty of utility and save-or-suck spells to rival wizards.

 

[Pizzashoes]

Did Larian Studios really thread this needle of pandering to game journos while creating a real roleplaying game?

Yes. And the butthurt crowd look all the more stupid farting around about how monocled they are by shitting on it. Never thought I'd see such poseurs outside of heavy metal circles.

My brother in Christ, this short rescue quest is more urgent and exciting than the entirety of KOTOR's Manaan.

There's no excuse. This game has real, urgent and exciting roleplaying. And you don't even have to take saving the innocents seriously. You can do whatever the fuck you want. Your selfish character can literally deceive everyone, and then ultimately take everything.

 

[volklore]

There's a bunch of issues with some story triggers in act 1 also :

Spoiler

The saving halsin quest is stuck to unresolved at ''talk to zevlor stage'' while zevlor isn't even on the map anymore and halsin has joined my camp.
It seems that doing the underdark after the rosymoryn monastery fucked up a bunch of triggers of party banters and story event at camp that should have happened waaaaaaaaaayy before. i.e Lae'zel and shadowheart fighting about how the gith are interested in the artifact. Bitches we did that whole quest line ages ago, we know why they wanted it and we left the creche drenched in blood remember ?

Seems like the game wants you to clear the first map including the gith patrol then do underdark then cross to the mountain pass even though it sounds like a either/or you can go wherever you want

 

[Nerevar]

If it wasn't for the bugs in act 3 the game would be at 98 metacritic score by now...Fuuuuuuuuuarrrrkkkkkkk!!!!

Next mission for Larian: More and better bug fixers, upgrades to the engine.

Not just act 3. The henchmen are all fucked I could play Da:O on launch and get every scene with all the characters no problem. There is no way to access 90% of the content with the drow henchman. Last playthrough I got loads of interactions from the party and this time I miss scenes and get different scenes sometimes get the same scenes twice it is a bit of a clusterfuck at the moment.

 

[Lagole Gon]

If it wasn't for the bugs in act 3 the game would be at 98 metacritic score by now...Fuuuuuuuuuarrrrkkkkkkk!!!!

Next mission for Larian: More and better bug fixers, upgrades to the engine.

Oh wow. He finally admitted something is wrong with BG3.
Swen status - buck broken.

 

[ferratilis]

Has anyone played (and completed) the game solo? How viable is it? On balanced at least.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

So, for a single fight, that was about two hours of "gameplay" with at least 6+ reloads just to learn script triggers, gotcha enemies, and unpredictable NPCs, and I barely feel like I've made any progress or had any fun for my gaming time. You're really better off going into this area hard and just killing everyone, but then you won't get to experience the developers' awesome "puzzle".

I'd say some of these things you describe are bugs, but they never happened to me. First off you don't need a barrel to blow up the cave-in, but nice that you solved it this way.

After I cleared the cave-in it became clear I'll have to kill Nere, but I thought I'd kill off the dwarves first. I positioned Gale and Shadoheart on the high platform above the cave-in area. That's the platform you can move up-down and forward-back with two levers. My PC and Laezel remained down. I cleared the dwarves in like 6-7 combat rounds. Then Nere was without buddies when I freed him.

And there are multiple other ways to go through freeing and killing Nere, including winning some of the dwarves over on your side. Look it up back in the thread.

When the cutscene placed me in a fight in an open area surrounded by enemies except for the lava pits, I did reload, sent all my characters up a nearby ladder onto a stone walkway, and threw bombs from there to open the passage to Nere. The same cutscene triggered as though my PC were standing down below holding a conversation with Nere, but the entire party still appeared up on the stone walkway at the start of combat, which permitted me to kill the enemies as they arrived, beginning with Nere himself. I also used ranged attacks to kill two irritating spellcasters who remained below, and finally sent my paladin and barbarian down to elminate the three enemies left (two ranges and one melee who, for whatever reason, never ascended the ladder).

Using cutscene magic against the enemies.

 

[volklore]

So, for a single fight, that was about two hours of "gameplay" with at least 6+ reloads just to learn script triggers, gotcha enemies, and unpredictable NPCs, and I barely feel like I've made any progress or had any fun for my gaming time. You're really better off going into this area hard and just killing everyone, but then you won't get to experience the developers' awesome "puzzle".

I'd say some of these things you describe are bugs, but they never happened to me. First off you don't need a barrel to blow up the cave-in, but nice that you solved it this way.

After I cleared the cave-in it became clear I'll have to kill Nere, but I thought I'd kill off the dwarves first. I positioned Gale and Shadoheart on the high platform above the cave-in area. That's the platform you can move up-down and forward-back with two levers. My PC and Laezel remained down. I cleared the dwarves in like 6-7 combat rounds. Then Nere was without buddies when I freed him.

And there are multiple other ways to go through freeing and killing Nere, including winning some of the dwarves over on your side. Look it up back in the thread.

When the cutscene placed me in a fight in an open area surrounded by enemies except for the lava pits, I did reload, sent all my characters up a nearby ladder onto a stone walkway, and threw bombs from there to open the passage to Nere. The same cutscene triggered as though my PC were standing down below holding a conversation with Nere, but the entire party still appeared up on the stone walkway at the start of combat, which permitted me to kill the enemies as they arrived, beginning with Nere himself. I also used ranged attacks to kill two irritating spellcasters who remained below, and finally sent my paladin and barbarian down to elminate the three enemies left (two ranges and one melee who, for whatever reason, never ascended the ladder).

Using cutscene magic against the enemies.

I just won initiative popped a speed potion and used 2xthunderwave to send 5 of then into the lava. Alert best feat in the game hands on.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Never thought I'd see such poseurs outside of heavy metal circles.

Welcome to the Codex

 

[Pizzashoes]

If it wasn't for the bugs in act 3 the game would be at 98 metacritic score by now...Fuuuuuuuuuarrrrkkkkkkk!!!!

Next mission for Larian: More and better bug fixers, upgrades to the engine.

Not just act 3. The henchmen are all fucked I could play Da:O on launch and get every scene with all the characters no problem. There is no way to access 90% of the content with the drow henchman. Last playthrough I got loads of interactions from the party and this time I miss scenes and get different scenes sometimes get the same scenes twice it is a bit of a clusterfuck at the moment.

Minthara is definitely not a fully developed party member. Her character is pulled in two different directions, almost certainly like two very different people wrote her. I'd like to reflect more on this before giving my take, but my initial impression is her character was given no clear direction on who she is or what she wants. In the game, she exists as a strong drow female, but when dominated, rescued, and subservient to a dominant male, her character collapses into nonsense. She will approve of the MC acting in terms of gathering power unto himself and disapprove of the MC empowering others. But she'll disapprove of your character killing for killing's sake and such. My issue is her character appears schizophrenic in terms of real gameplay. Of course, this may be my own perspective, but you save her literal mind from oblivion. Your character is her savior. To me, as long as your character demonstrates strength, competence, or confidence, she should be on board in every sense. Otherwise, she faces death.

 

[Jermu]

Has anyone played (and completed) the game solo? How viable is it? On balanced at least.

I would expect tactician to be pretty easy to solo after early game with few different builds, 1 abusable item from durge comes to mind for example

durge item

invisibility after each kill cloak

there is 1 guy who has soon finished tactician solo
https://www.twitch.tv/victorcreed_twitch
known from his pathfinder solo runs

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Looking back, I feel like Act II overstays its welcome. I would rather hang out in Baldur's Gate more.

I couldn’t disagree more on this point.Not only I went through the entirety of Act 2 and the very beginning of Act 3 feeling the game kept getting better and better… But the city is exactly where this “feels good vibe” went to a sudden halt.

I’m now 15 hours or so into the “lower city” and growing more and more tired of the urban setting.
I kinda wish the third act was structured more as a “the city is your central hub but you’ll visit plenty of peripheral regions” rather her than being a collection of streets, stores and fucking sewers.

 

[Pizzashoes]

Has anyone played (and completed) the game solo? How viable is it? On balanced at least.

Not me. I think the game is balanced to a tactician party without any exploits or respecs. I have done DOS2 Hardmode Ironman and all the other games with whatever skill that implies, and I think the game would be very doable solo balanced of course. In all the battles, you are given so many ways of conquering the fight, that you shouldn't worry about the viability. The game is balanced towards fun.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Looking back, I feel like Act II overstays its welcome. I would rather hang out in Baldur's Gate more. Or with less bugs.

I can just chill on the streets with shadowcooch...

...and just for a second forget that the BG3 main plot is the worst thing commited by Belgium since Congo.

Abandoning Shar was a mistake.

Spoiler

Mods fixed it.

 

[AwesomeButton]

When the cutscene placed me in a fight in an open area surrounded by enemies except for the lava pits, I did reload, sent all my characters up a nearby ladder onto a stone walkway, and threw bombs from there to open the passage to Nere. The same cutscene triggered as though my PC were standing down below holding a conversation with Nere, but the entire party still appeared up on the stone walkway at the start of combat, which permitted me to kill the enemies as they arrived, beginning with Nere himself. I also used ranged attacks to kill two irritating spellcasters who remained below, and finally sent my paladin and barbarian down to elminate the three enemies left (two ranges and one melee who, for whatever reason, never ascended the ladder).

I think I know the walkway you are talking about, but didn't they try to circle around and come at you from the farther side, i.e. not from via the ladder but by climbing from the collapsed section of the wall?

 

[Pizzashoes]

Looking back, I feel like Act II overstays its welcome. I would rather hang out in Baldur's Gate more.

I couldn’t disagree more on this point.Not only I went through the entirety of Act 2 and the very beginning of Act 3 feeling the game kept getting better and better… But the city is exactly where this “feels good vibe” went to a sudden halt.

I’m now 15 hours or so into the “lower city” and growing more and more tired of the urban setting.
I kinda wish the third act was structured more as a “the city is your central hub but you’ll visit plenty of peripheral regions” rather her than being a collection of streets, stores and fucking sewers.

Lord yes. Act 2 felt like the climax for the game. I had been working my real job while playing the game, and my first weekend felt like the best video game drug I have felt, like hitting my recent binge on Fallout 1. Then, my weekdays of work consisted of anticipating a few hours of Baldur's Gate 3 after work. That was how much I wanted to play. I spent the second weekend in Act 2, racing to accomplish everything. The Act 2 boss, as mentioned, was as exciting as any RPG boss I've ever felt. I was forced to come up with a novel strategy in order to one-shot the boss, and I needed to use my alchemy and consumables to get through. Then, Act 3 felt like a total letdown, as if the high climax were followed by a gentle rubbing of my back. After a few days, I accepted the back massage as normal, but let's not pretend I am not drawn to the primal heat of peak adventures.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Then, my weekdays of work consisted of anticipating a few hours of Baldur's Gate 3 after work. That was how much I wanted to play

I know this. Same way I felt at school in my BG2 days.

 

[Lagole Gon]

Looking back, I feel like Act II overstays its welcome. I would rather hang out in Baldur's Gate more.

“the city is your central hub but you’ll visit plenty of peripheral regions”

Good idea, but that would require Larian to stop being Larian.
I can't imagine them straying away from their story/progress structure.

 

[Swen]

If it wasn't for the bugs in act 3 the game would be at 98 metacritic score by now...Fuuuuuuuuuarrrrkkkkkkk!!!!

Next mission for Larian: More and better bug fixers, upgrades to the engine.

Oh wow. He finally admitted something is wrong with BG3.
Swen status - buck broken.

Yes unlike other gaming devs I strive for perfection. My game is at 97 now on metacritic. I will be done when I make a game that has a 100 score.

 

[Lagole Gon]

If it wasn't for the bugs in act 3 the game would be at 98 metacritic score by now...Fuuuuuuuuuarrrrkkkkkkk!!!!

Next mission for Larian: More and better bug fixers, upgrades to the engine.

Oh wow. He finally admitted something is wrong with BG3.
Swen status - buck broken.

Yes unlike other gaming devs I strive for perfection. My game is at 97 now on metacritic. I will be done when I make a game that has a 100 score.

Deal with the hotfix fiasco first, you chocolate smelling pseudo-french fuck.

 

[Parabalus]

* "Roll with failed checks" gameplay - provided! Show me another RPG that does that, in the last 20 years.

Some examples?

Too many to recount, but I put skill checks for perception and survival here, dialogue skillchecks, etc in this category.

Last Light is such an example, if you take "Failed checks" to include the "death" of an NPC during combat

What do you get when you fail perception and survival checks? You just miss stuff.