Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Swen]

Well, well people really like my game huh

 

[ferratilis]

Well, well people really like my game huh

Yes, but they like some other games even more. How do you feel about that?

 

[Orud]

Yes, but they like some other games even more. How do you feel about that?

Rounding errors.

 

[Hagashager]

Not for nothing but Pizza Tower and RE4 Remake are both pretty good.

No idea what Holocure is though, weeb trash by the looks of it

 

[Swen]

Well, well people really like my game huh

Yes, but they like some other games even more. How do you feel about that?

Yeah but at the scale of 300k+ reviews, that's more impressive.

Anyway, how hard will the codex cry when I win GOTY?

 

[DeepOcean]

Yeah the last thing game's balance need is to allow player to do even more damage. What tactician difficulty needs instead is more mobs per encounter, it's not enough. Possibly some nerfs to action buffs like haste, bloodlust elixir. Bosses should have legendary actions. Not to mention overall xp gain decrease and some gear tweaks. It's all pretty obvious but I imagine Larian won't implement any of that and I can't trust modders either so.

I gave up long ago on expecting mainstream RPG studios like Larian, Obsidian or Inxile to properly escalate encounters to match player power, the easy open to abuse content is designed intentionaly to be that way, reasons being:
a) Butthurt retards tend to blame developers to protect their ego.
b) Very easy content is appealing because people like their ego massaged even if they didnt earn the massaging.

There is a question of work load as well, there is a very simple reason why the bigger the RPG is, the greatest is the chance that later content sucks, the bigger the game is, the harder is to playtest it, so you playtest the first act well, assume the player is an imbecile for the other 50% and call it a day. Tough luck to you if you arent an imbecile.

Just look around, most normies are jerking off that BG 3 has hundreds of hours of content, it works very well to sell a game, not necessarily to make the best encounters ever, the only way to achieve what you want is to severily reduce the scope of the game but Larian wont get the budget for AAA graphix and animation for a game like that.

So, on normie focused RPGs or it is playing 50% while you are still learning and dumping it 50% through once it becomes repetitive and boring once you reach the no playtest treshold or hoping someone that doesn't like to sniff glue to mod it (a rarity, I know).

 

[Fedora Master]

Well, well people really like my game huh

>Steamniggers

 

[Strange Fellow]

Still plodding through the campaign in co-op. I'm amazed that all three of us are still on board after more than 50 hours. Just now we killed Sarevok for no particular reason. At level 9 he was pretty darn tough, and we actually had to reload a couple of times and employ some milder cheeses for once, which was refreshing.

 

[Anthedon]

Still plodding through the campaign in co-op. I'm amazed that all three of us are still on board after more than 50 hours. Just now we killed Sarevok for no particular reason. At level 9 he was pretty darn tough, and we actually had to reload a couple of times and employ some milder cheeses for once, which was refreshing.

Damn, how are you only level 9 at that point?

 

[Strange Fellow]

Still plodding through the campaign in co-op. I'm amazed that all three of us are still on board after more than 50 hours. Just now we killed Sarevok for no particular reason. At level 9 he was pretty darn tough, and we actually had to reload a couple of times and employ some milder cheeses for once, which was refreshing.

Damn, how are you only level 9 at that point?

We haven't been in act 3 very long. Following the red dorf murder quest was the first thing we did once we reached Baldur's Gate proper, and then we attacked Sarevok directly after he made us Assassins of Bhaal. In a way I think he would approve.

 

[Hagashager]

Fuck me, why are Githyanki so god-damned hard? I'm fighting that group under Elfsong and like the previous four Gith battles, this one absolutely blasts past The Avatar of fucking Myrkul or the Storming of Moonrise or the Construct in the Forge.

They're not meaningfully hard either. They don't use more clever spells or tactics, they just wail on you with 3-4 attacks each round. It's obnoxious that four pissant fighters are *magnitudes more diffuclt* than eldritch creatures from another dimension and avatars of gods.

 

[jackofshadows]

Just use hold person for Bane's sake. Or any control spells for that matter.

 

[Terra]

I was planning on finishing the game first before starting to type up my thoughts on BG3 as a whole but my slow as molasses progression through Act 3 over the past few days has seemingly grated my last nerve and I feel a need to preemptively rant about aspects of this game. I'm genuinely baffled at how this game enjoys near universal praise when it is replete with so many issues.

The inventory system; it made more sense and was at least more tolerable in DOS1/2 as iirc there was more crafting there to justify/support dragging things about on a grid. Here, it's basically BG3: Revenge of the Xuarip Spear. That is to say, how the fuck is the inventory system and the process of offloading garbage loot still so fucking cumbersome after 2 (3) DOS titles. The amount of times I end up encumbered due to picking up piles of crap is crazy. So then I have to send it all back to the camp chest(s), then when I finally get around to taking it to a vendor they don't have enough gold to buy it, so back to the chests it goes. There's got to be a better way of handling garbage loot + gear once you're past certain humps in the game.

Onto Act3, the focus of my annoyance, this slog of an Act is exemplifying poor design across the board. Firstly now we've been graced with the rotating camera Larian have gifted us with many multi-floor buildings and towers scattered throughout the city and they just make navigation and the overall process of "sweeping" an area for content/quests even more laborious. When I look at say the BG2 Docks map, I can clearly see where I have/haven't explored, thanks to the 2D look everything is nice and readable, not so in BG3. As I sit here looking at the Lower City minimap, there are so many NPCs milling about, represented by the little circle markers on the minimap, some of them have quests, but a majority are just one liners. Waiting for the game to switch to its cinematic camera so the random dwarf you clicked on can deliver his one liner is such a waste of time given the number of NPCs in this place and given the "brisk jog" that is your party's movement speed, these three factors really start to add up over the course of the game. There's so many of these throwaway NPCs that are indiscernable from NPCs that *might* have something useful to say that I'm getting PTSD flashbacks to the Golden Backer PoE NPCs. I spent hours wandering around the Lower City today resolving minor quests, listening to dialogue and I ended the session looking at the map and wondering what I actually acoomplished during the session. It's crazy to me that they thought introducing the city in Act 3 like a warhammer to face in terms of pacing and compressed content, was a good idea. I'm honestly bored senseless by most of the content in Act 3, it's that poorly paced + distributed.

I'm hoping (praying) that I've crossed off 2/3rds of the Lower City content now and I really hope the end is on the horizon soon because Act3 (after hitting Baldurs Gate) has truly been a low point for this game with only scant few redeeming moments to counterbalance it across the act so far. It's not alone in this either, I found the Druid Grove opening area quite dull honestly, with only the Act1>2 joining section and conclusion of Act 2 to be the standout parts of the game. Companions too have been a disappointment, Lae'zel is alright, but the bi/trans/pansexual nonsense they all have going really just undermines them all in terms of believability and it's frankly embarrassing, making a mockery of past games with how idiotically it is handled.

Lastly, the game's other problem is BG has become beholden to what is now the "Larian Formula". So upon starting the game, you will quickly meet at least 3 other Origin characters (who may/may not be co-op controlled) and they will all share the exact same short-term backstory/problem you do (Source Collars/Tadpoles). So solo players are basically punished by having essentially 4 characters with short-term identical backstories (boo hoo, muh tadpole) all introduced within the opening 5 minutes, eschewing any possibility of more interesting/varied introductions for them just to support Swen's co-op hoodwinking strategy. Straight after this you are locked into a very large initial hub area (Fort Joy/Act 1), and you will then proceed through to subsequent hubs. Its something i noticed early on is the sense of scale in BG3 is so woeful compared to BG1/2. BG3 feels like 3 big areas; Druid Grove area, the shadow cursed lands & the city iself. Breaking it down thus seems a bit diminutive sure, but it seems crazy to me that you barely seem to move around the geographic region, relative to past games, yet the game still manages to be 100+ hours (padded considerably by inventory management woes and slow overall movement speed). Even having a world map to "fake" the feeling of moving around the Sword Coast region might help to give the game world traversal a better sense of scale, I think and without it, it really underlines the "reskinned D:OS" argument, which is extremely accurate to be fair. The Larian formula gives the whole thing a very linear feel, which is ironic given the side of the explorable area in Act1, but it all feels far more railroaded that prior games. To top it all off, its blatantly also an unfinished game, but with how I'm feeling now, if I were facing another area akin to Lower City after finishing it, I'd likely be fastening the noose around my neck right now.

I'm pressing on over the next few days and I hope it ends soon because Act 3 is killing me. For all the claims that BG3 in the best CRPG in years and other developers need to step up their game to this new level... eh, honestly, I've yet to see it. The DOS2 armour system aside (and the obvious graphical step up in BG3) I'm finding DOS2 to be better than BG3. I'll try and wrap up my thoughts in a more coherent fashion when I finish it. Doesn't help that Act 3 has been crash-city relative to the rest of the game either, the crash reporter resets your game config settings if you submit a crash and the Gog overlay is now seemingly causing the game to become non-responsive for 5 minutes before reaching the main menu...

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

They're not meaningfully hard either. They don't use more clever spells or tactics, they just wail on you with 3-4 attacks each round. It's obnoxious that four pissant fighters are *magnitudes more diffuclt* than eldritch creatures from another dimension and avatars of gods.

Use summoned creatures to create distractions, and area of effect spells for enemy clusters.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

BG3 in the best CRPG in years and other developers need to step up their game to this new level..

A lot of CPRG out there just lack the presentation tbh. Shadowrun Dragonfall with BG3 level of presentation would be a hit. Make Gloria romanceable and people would be down. Just need to be pretty to hook people.

 

[Axel_am]

I'm genuinely baffled at how this game enjoys near universal praise when it is replete with so many issues.

BG3 is the McDonalds and Coca-Cola of CRPGs. Colorful packaging, easy to get into and everybody likes it. But when you get down to it it's easy to see something is lacking.

A lot of CPRG out there just lack the presentation tbh. Shadowrun Dragonfall with BG3 level of presentation would be a hit. Make Gloria romanceable and people would be down. Just need to be pretty to hook people.

Replace presentation with money. Can you imagine Wrath with this level of presentation?

 

[Swen]

I'm genuinely baffled at how this game enjoys near universal praise when it is replete with so many issues.

BG3 is the McDonalds and Coca-Cola of CRPGs. Colorful packaging, easy to get into and everybody likes it. But when you get down to it it's easy to see something is lacking.

Lol keep coping haters, it's objectively one of the best CRPG's ever made.

And ACT3 is great

 

[Cryomancer]

casters are meh as nukers

TBH in 5e, casters are good as ""controllers"". For example, a lv 9 warlock with banishment can remove 2 terrifying foes from the encounter with a single spell slot which he gets back. At lv 1, tasha laughter or grease can help a lot your frontlines.

But there is an exception. Necromancer. At lv 7, a necromancer + 4 skeletons can dish each one 1d6+3 piercing(6.5 avg) + d10 necrotic damage(5.5 avg) + 3 for proficiency bonus or 15 damage each. If all 4 hit, that is 60 damage without spending any spell slot. If the necromancer also casts blight(8d8 or 36 avg), that is 96 damage in a single turn. Obviously, there is unlikely that all 4 skeletons will gonna hit and the enemy must fail the save vs blight. Necrotic resistance in some enemies is also very common, but the damage of a necromancer + his minions is now that low.

The act 2 boss I killed in tactician in about 3 rounds.

But that still nothing compared to BG2. Where was possible to kill the Firkraag in 2 rounds with about 60.8% of success as an necro. By putting in a sequencer/contingency two lower resist + a greater malison, you can reduce up to 60% of enemy MR and make him deal a save vs spell at -8 penalty(-4 from malison + -2 from necromancer specialization + -2 from FoD spell itself), so, against Firkraag, the Red Dragon, great malison has a 95% chance of sticking. 65% chance of Firkraag failing his save against the FoD if the malison is on, 45% if it isn't. Combined, that's a 64% chance of failing his save. Then it's 95% to beat the remaining magic resistance with the FoD, for an overall 60.8% chance of the two-round kill vs the dragon.

Anyway, how hard will the codex cry when I win GOTY?

Very few people hate Baizuo's Gate 3. Most people have the opinion that is a good game with its flaws but much better than most shit from bioware after DA : O and even better than DA : O.

I would say that I liked Baizuo's Gate 3 more than PF:WoTR but less than PF:KM.

And ACT3 is great

Not as ACT 2. Which is imo the best act.

Act 3 I felt lost in many occasions and had a bit of problem with camera but I still prefer it over "flatness". Larian explored verticality a bit more in act 3.

. It's obnoxious that four pissant fighters are *magnitudes more diffuclt* than eldritch creatures from another dimension and avatars of gods.

Yep. Destroying a avatar of Myrkul at lv 8/9 was a bit ridiculous.

But just use CC on them.

Replace presentation with money. Can you imagine Wrath with this level of presentation?

I would prefer Kingmaker with this level of presentation.

Wrath is too bloated.

And no, the problem is not being high and epic level.

Look to Mephistopheles in NWN1 - HOrdes of the Underdark. You send a entire chapter trying to get ways to weaken him before fighting him. He is a random enemy for Azata/Aeon in Wrath.

And he dies quickly, din't lasted 3 rounds in "hard" difficulty.

 

[jackofshadows]

The inventory system; it made more sense and was at least more tolerable in DOS1/2 as iirc there was more crafting there to justify/support dragging things about on a grid. Here, it's basically BG3: Revenge of the Xuarip Spear. That is to say, how the fuck is the inventory system and the process of offloading garbage loot still so fucking cumbersome after 2 (3) DOS titles. The amount of times I end up encumbered due to picking up piles of crap is crazy. So then I have to send it all back to the camp chest(s), then when I finally get around to taking it to a vendor they don't have enough gold to buy it, so back to the chests it goes. There's got to be a better way of handling garbage loot + gear once you're past certain humps in the game.

The system is indeed clunky, tedious and kinda shitty overall but apparently you didn't realize you could use shift and ctrl to move items around. The big problem is that it doesn't work at least in 1 of the vendors "mode" or in both of them, don't remember already. So, selling shit is still a pita. But looting isn't. Just send it by packs to the "chest" and then via the same way back when the time comes to buy something expensive.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Does it include an illithid dildo?

 

[Desiderius]

Fuck me, why are Githyanki so god-damned hard? I'm fighting that group under Elfsong and like the previous four Gith battles, this one absolutely blasts past The Avatar of fucking Myrkul or the Storming of Moonrise or the Construct in the Forge.

They're not meaningfully hard either. They don't use more clever spells or tactics, they just wail on you with 3-4 attacks each round. It's obnoxious that four pissant fighters are *magnitudes more diffuclt* than eldritch creatures from another dimension and avatars of gods.

Wasn’t someone saying Storm Sorc sux?

I guess they don’t get that ability until level 11. Enchanter gets something similar earlier. There are other ways to punish/prevent multiple attacks.

(Ray of Enfeeblement is no save on application)

 

[Hagashager]

I keep getting the same advice over and over here so let me clarify:

I dealt with them already, took about 4 tries. They kept making their saves on my Black Tentacles, Hold Persons, Blinds, sleet storm etc. Crowd Control doesn't mean shit if they brute force those too.

In Act 3 right now, got jumped by Orin and I find myself feeling similarly to how I did in Elden Ring.

There is no logic to most of these quests. It's really stupid easy to just break shit. I can positively **feel** the scripting corrupting the deeper into the city I go. I keep having to look at the wiki to make sure I didn't soft-lock or shatter some quest like glass because I went into the wrong room, or said the wrong thing or waited five minutes too long or asked one too-many questions.

 

[jackofshadows]

I dealt with them already, took about 4 tries. They kept making their saves on my Black Tentacles, Hold Persons, Blinds, sleet storm etc. Crowd Control doesn't mean shit if they brute force those too.

I remember casting hold person on gith inquisitor something like 5 turns in a row (total of like 7-8 times via scrolls etc) and only then succeeded and therefore instawin even though things were starting to look ugly by then. That said, usually it was really easy to hold people with my sorc and his max CHA and more importantly advantage on such spells.

 

[Desiderius]

Look to Mephistopheles in NWN1 - HOrdes of the Underdark. You send a entire chapter trying to get ways to weaken him before fighting him. He is a random enemy for Azata/Aeon in Wrath.

And he dies quickly, din't lasted 3 rounds in "hard" difficulty.

If you let him ambush you (instead of going to his location) it's one of the few truly difficult fights at that part of the game.

If Hard is too easy for you there's always Unfair.