Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Haplo]

Shadow monk is real good and real fun.

I'm doing a meme build around the shadow blade ring. The only problem with it is losing concentration now and then. But then you are a monk so it is no big deal(just punch and kick for the rest of the fight).

Is this the only class kit with the most powerful ability locked to higher levels? I mean "shadow strike" at level 11.

There's also Hunter Ranger with freely spammable Volley / Whirlwind at level 11.

Shadow Strike is cool in theory, but then you realise you could land 2 normal attacks instead in the time it takes to set it up, do more damage and spend no ki. Plus reap the low hanging multiclassing benefits instead (like Action Surge, Gloomstalker additional Attack on combat start, rogue another Bonus Action or autocrits).

 

[Haplo]

Been playing my honor mode run and the gameplay is very top notch imo (the story and companions mostly suck of course.)

But honor mode dropped the ball on fixing a lot of broken shit. Arcane acuity probably the top one. It makes the martial casters strictly superior to pure casters. Yeah I do good damage with weapons and then have spells that the enemies can't save. Bad mechanic.

Vendors should have a limited number of restocks. 3 total or something like that. Elixirs should lost for 10 turns instead of all day. Those changes would improve honor mode significantly

Does honor mode require heavy minmaxing?

Also I found one save mode to be easily bypassed by mass suicide a party. Does honor mode allow to load game after wipe out?

Arguably single classing is better in most cases, as those builds come online earlier - and the game is hardest early on.

 

[HumanMech]

Baldur’s Gate 3 Wins Big at Gayming Awards 2024

https://gaymingmag.com/awards/

Game of the Year Award​

• WINNER: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
• Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo
• Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
• Spider-Man 2 – Insomniac Studios / Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical – Humble Games / Summerfall Studios

Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award​

• WINNER: Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
• Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
• Goodbye Volcano High – KO_OP
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo
• Tchia – Awaceb / Kepler Interactive
• This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games

Gayming Icon Award​

• Jeremy Crawford – Wizards of the Coast – WINNER

Industry Diversity Award​

• WINNER: Latinx In Gaming
• Humble Games
• Larian Studios
• Qweerty Gamers
• Roll7
• Women in Games International

Authentic Representation Award​

• WINNER: Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
• Coral Island – Stairway Games / Humble Games
• The Sims 4 – Maxis / EA Games
• The Expanse: A Telltale Games – Telltale Games / Deck 9
• This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games

Best LGBTQ+ Character Award​

• WINNER: Shadowheart – Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
• Aloy – Horizon: Forbidden West – Guerilla / Playstation Studios
• Dame Aylin – Baldur’s Gate 3 – Larian Studios
• Dion Lesage – Final Fantasy XVI – Square Enix
• Jala – Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
• Tchia – Tchia – Awaceb / Kepler Interactive

Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game Award​

• WINNER: Thirsty Suitors – Outer Loop Games / Annapurna Interactive
• Coral Island – Stairway Games / Humble Games
• In Stars and Time – insertdisc5
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical – Humble Games / Summerfall Studios
• Tchia – Awaceb / Kepler Interactive
• This Bed We Made – Lowbirth Games

LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year Award​

• WINNER: SpringSims
• Apothicdecay
• Eevoh
• Elix
• EspeSymone
• Halfmoonjoe
• Maisy
• Sheilur

Best LGBTQ+ Contribution to Esports Award​

• WINNER: Emma “Emzii” Rose
• Bailey McCann
• Bethany “Indyburgh” Pyles
• Cora Kennedy
• Slaypex / Kylie Gabor

LGBTQ+ Streamer Rising Star Class of 2024​

• DEVOGLAER
• PearlTeese
• SimplyAretha
• Sinarynn
• Sukar Baba

LGBTQ+ Geek Entertainment Moment of the Year​

• WINNER: The Last of Us: Long, Long Time – HBO
• Doctor Who: The Star Beast – Bad Wolf & BBC Studios
• Harley Quinn – DC Studios & Warner Bros Animation
• Nimona – Netflix & Annapurna Pictures
• Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – Netflix
• The Legend of Vox Machina – Season 2 – Amazon Studios, Critical Role & Titmouse

“2023 and the start of 2024 was an incredibly tough year for the games industry, and we have certainly felt the knock-on effect of that,” said Gayming Magazine and the Gayming Awards founder Robin Gray. “I am delighted we were able to finally celebrate the achievements of the LGBTQ gaming community. Each year I’m thrilled at what new stories of success we unearth.”

 

[Infinitron]

Baldur's Gate 3 BAFTA roundtable:

Join CEO of Larian Studios Swen Vincke, Writing Director Adam Smith, and Lead Writer Chrystal Ding as they share insights into the development of Baldur’s Gate 3; from the importance of launching in early access, leaving room for the players to make their own stories, and what the future holds... No stone is left unturned in this epic masterclass hosted by Jane Douglas.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Been playing my honor mode run and the gameplay is very top notch imo (the story and companions mostly suck of course.)

But honor mode dropped the ball on fixing a lot of broken shit. Arcane acuity probably the top one. It makes the martial casters strictly superior to pure casters. Yeah I do good damage with weapons and then have spells that the enemies can't save. Bad mechanic.

Vendors should have a limited number of restocks. 3 total or something like that. Elixirs should lost for 10 turns instead of all day. Those changes would improve honor mode significantly

Does honor mode require heavy minmaxing?

Also I found one save mode to be easily bypassed by mass suicide a party. Does honor mode allow to load game after wipe out?

Arguably single classing is better in most cases, as those builds come online earlier - and the game is hardest early on.

Pure classes can use arcane acuity. Swords bard. That's why the class is so broken.

Act 1 is fairly easy if you get the ogre horn. That can automatically win you a couple of the hardest fights. But I would recommend taking a couple strong early game builds and a late game carry or two.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/rp...-wall-breaking-karlach-cutscene-without-mods/

Baldur's Gate 3 YouTuber offers $500 bounty to anyone who can find the mystical, fourth-wall-breaking Karlach cutscene without mods​

Let the hunt begin

Nothing gets gamers mobilized quicker than a good old urban myth, but one Baldur's Gate 3 content creator is sweetening the pot by offering $500 to anyone who can organically trigger an elusive, fourth-wall-breaking Karlach cutscene.

YouTuber Chubblot first posted the video below that shows sweetheart Karlach ominously realizing that she's stuck within a video game's hellish, coded walls before staring directly into the camera and talking to players - not the player character, I should emphasize, but the player. Chubblot triggered the scene by modding the game's files, which led to speculation that it was simply cut content.

Things shook up significantly when Karlach's voice actor Samantha Beart tweeted, "perhaps I'll talk about it when someone triggers this organically (rather than yanking the file and then getting confused about context)," implying that the scene remained somewhere in the game proper. The speculation only heightened as players across social media reported they too had seen Karlach's realization, though many of their claims were conflicting, no one could agree on how to trigger it, and most importantly, no one had recorded evidence of how to trigger it without mods.

Baldur's Gate 3 YouTuber Proxy Gate Tactician has now kickstarted a hunt for the missing scene since in-game files supposedly state that it "Currently Can Not Be Triggered." Per their most recent video, Proxy Gate Tactician is offering $500 to anyone who can trigger the scene without mods/cheats, and can also provide a replicable method on how to trigger Karlach's existential collapse.

Baldur's Gate 3's missing Karlach scene joins a long line of gaming's most mysterious urban myths, from the "Cow Dimension" in Diablo 1 that nobody ever managed to find to Shadow of the Colossus' non-existent 17th boss fight that had online forums in a chokehold for years. The former even motivated Diablo 4 sleuths to murder almost 2,000 cows in search of a secret cow level.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/rp...-wall-breaking-karlach-cutscene-without-mods/

Baldur's Gate 3 YouTuber offers $500 bounty to anyone who can find the mystical, fourth-wall-breaking Karlach cutscene without mods​

Let the hunt begin

Nothing gets gamers mobilized quicker than a good old urban myth, but one Baldur's Gate 3 content creator is sweetening the pot by offering $500 to anyone who can organically trigger an elusive, fourth-wall-breaking Karlach cutscene.

YouTuber Chubblot first posted the video below that shows sweetheart Karlach ominously realizing that she's stuck within a video game's hellish, coded walls before staring directly into the camera and talking to players - not the player character, I should emphasize, but the player. Chubblot triggered the scene by modding the game's files, which led to speculation that it was simply cut content.

Things shook up significantly when Karlach's voice actor Samantha Beart tweeted, "perhaps I'll talk about it when someone triggers this organically (rather than yanking the file and then getting confused about context)," implying that the scene remained somewhere in the game proper. The speculation only heightened as players across social media reported they too had seen Karlach's realization, though many of their claims were conflicting, no one could agree on how to trigger it, and most importantly, no one had recorded evidence of how to trigger it without mods.

Baldur's Gate 3 YouTuber Proxy Gate Tactician has now kickstarted a hunt for the missing scene since in-game files supposedly state that it "Currently Can Not Be Triggered." Per their most recent video, Proxy Gate Tactician is offering $500 to anyone who can trigger the scene without mods/cheats, and can also provide a replicable method on how to trigger Karlach's existential collapse.

Baldur's Gate 3's missing Karlach scene joins a long line of gaming's most mysterious urban myths, from the "Cow Dimension" in Diablo 1 that nobody ever managed to find to Shadow of the Colossus' non-existent 17th boss fight that had online forums in a chokehold for years. The former even motivated Diablo 4 sleuths to murder almost 2,000 cows in search of a secret cow level.

Who gives a fuck about this gay karlach shit?

 

[Barbarian]

Shadow Strike is cool in theory, but then you realise you could land 2 normal attacks instead in the time it takes to set it up, do more damage and spend no ki. Plus reap the low hanging multiclassing benefits instead (like Action Surge, Gloomstalker additional Attack on combat start, rogue another Bonus Action or autocrits).

Deathstalker mantle sets it up at no action or bonus action cost when you kill someone. Works quite well. There is also shenanigans with the resonance stone which double psych damage. Hopping around the battle map like Nightcrawler is really nice with shadow step + shadow strike. The class is about having teleportation super-powers basically.

This game is balanced enough that(most) anything build related works. Even the weaker pure classes like Rogue. The final irony being that a simple single class fighter(any of the kits) with maxed out strenght is more powerful than most anything, including the most munchkin and theorycrafted multiclass builds out there.

All that Sven rage about players not picking the exotic races and classes, in the end the game embraced the "human male fighter chad" meme. Specially with strenght being so powerful(shoving and throwing people is extremely effective).

 

[cretin]

The final irony being that a simple single class fighter(any of the kits) with maxed out strenght is more powerful than most anything, including the most munchkin and theorycrafted multiclass builds out there.

All that Sven rage about players not picking the exotic races and classes, in the end the game embraced the "human male fighter chad" meme. Specially with strenght being so powerful(shoving and throwing people is extremely effective).

So it should be. I've always thought was fucking retarded how mage centric BG1 and especially BG2 was, it gets to a point where the class whose entire occupation is BEING GOOD AT COMBAT gets outclassed by nerd faggots in robes. So its nice to finally have a CRPG where fighters are not only fun to play but remain dominant in combat even at higher levels.

 

[Old Hans]

Does honor mode allow to load game after wipe out?

you get the option to continue the game in custom mode, which is actually pretty nice cause the bosses still keep their special honor mode abilities, which you cant get in normal custom mode for some strange reason

 

[Barbarian]

Does honor mode allow to load game after wipe out?

you get the option to continue the game in custom mode, which is actually pretty nice cause the bosses still keep their special honor mode abilities, which you cant get in normal custom mode for some strange reason

If you already beat the game on tactician it won't be a big deal. The combat difficulty I mean. The only extras are the prohibition on save scumming and the boss legendary actions which make(you guessed it) boss fights harder. The mobs/common enemies are exactly the same as in Tactician. It is hard to get a wipe out if you have properly equipped healers. Mass healing word is acessible by several classes and one of the most useful spells in the game. There are items like the hellrider gloves which greatly increase party survivability. Never sleep on resistance elixirs and the few good buffs the game has(barkskin, aid, feast of heroes, etc).

I think it is the difficulty the game should be set by default. This is nothing like owlcuck's "unfair" settings or anything like it. I would describe it as closest to "core rules".

If you are adamant about getting certain outcomes I would advise to always have 3-4 inspiration points and using them only to reroll meaningful checks. It is also quite useful to have a bard(for inspiration) and a cleric or druid with guidance at your party at all times. Bonus if you have a third character with spells like Resistance or Enhance ability. Makes your rolls more likely to succeed.

Game is basically iron man mode so in some particularly sensitive fights where you want a fragile npc to live I would advise you to prepare and plan before hand. In particular

Spoiler

The Lorroakan fight where Rolan is particularly prone to dying, or the Last light fight where if Isobel dies or is knocked out things end in tragedy

 

[Haplo]

Well, Honor also has the needed Haste nerf, so there's also that difference between Honor and Tactician - for martials, that is. Casters can still look 2 spells per round, no problem.

 

[Barbarian]

You are right, I had forgotten about the (good) changes to action economy.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Does honor mode allow to load game after wipe out?

you get the option to continue the game in custom mode, which is actually pretty nice cause the bosses still keep their special honor mode abilities, which you cant get in normal custom mode for some strange reason

If you already beat the game on tactician it won't be a big deal. The combat difficulty I mean. The only extras are the prohibition on save scumming and the boss legendary actions which make(you guessed it) boss fights harder. The mobs/common enemies are exactly the same as in Tactician. It is hard to get a wipe out if you have properly equipped healers. Mass healing word is acessible by several classes and one of the most useful spells in the game. There are items like the hellrider gloves which greatly increase party survivability. Never sleep on resistance elixirs and the few good buffs the game has(barkskin, aid, feast of heroes, etc).

I think it is the difficulty the game should be set by default. This is nothing like owlcuck's "unfair" settings or anything like it. I would describe it as closest to "core rules".

If you are adamant about getting certain outcomes I would advise to always have 3-4 inspiration points and using them only to reroll meaningful checks. It is also quite useful to have a bard(for inspiration) and a cleric or druid with guidance at your party at all times. Bonus if you have a third character with spells like Resistance or Enhance ability. Makes your rolls more likely to succeed.

Game is basically iron man mode so in some particularly sensitive fights where you want a fragile npc to live I would advise you to prepare and plan before hand. In particular

Spoiler

The Lorroakan fight where Rolan is particularly prone to dying, or the Last light fight where if Isobel dies or is knocked out things end in tragedy

You can get guidance from an amulet early act 1 if you're not running a cleric. Lucky feat is also awesome for skill/ability checks.

In honor mode (no save scumming) a bard or a rogue face is pretty much mandatory IF skill checks are important to you

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Shadow Strike is cool in theory, but then you realise you could land 2 normal attacks instead in the time it takes to set it up, do more damage and spend no ki. Plus reap the low hanging multiclassing benefits instead (like Action Surge, Gloomstalker additional Attack on combat start, rogue another Bonus Action or autocrits).

Deathstalker mantle sets it up at no action or bonus action cost when you kill someone. Works quite well. There is also shenanigans with the resonance stone which double psych damage. Hopping around the battle map like Nightcrawler is really nice with shadow step + shadow strike. The class is about having teleportation super-powers basically.

This game is balanced enough that(most) anything build related works. Even the weaker pure classes like Rogue. The final irony being that a simple single class fighter(any of the kits) with maxed out strenght is more powerful than most anything, including the most munchkin and theorycrafted multiclass builds out there.

All that Sven rage about players not picking the exotic races and classes, in the end the game embraced the "human male fighter chad" meme. Specially with strenght being so powerful(shoving and throwing people is extremely effective).

When bg3 put the stats out, paladin was by far the most picked class. Then sorcerer then warlock. People pick charisma classes as their main character, not fighter.

Next two were rogue and Bard, the skill monkeys. Then barb then fighter finally. I'm sure a lot of people use fighter in their party but not so much as their character

 

[Barbarian]

Fighter dominates combat. Obviously for non-combat other classes(specially bard and rogue) are better.

This is not Torment though, there is a lot of combat and trash mobs. Also combat is the best thing in the game entertainment wise.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Fighter dominates combat. Obviously for non-combat other classes(specially bard and rogue) are better.

This is not Torment though, there is a lot of combat and trash mobs. Also combat is the best thing in the game entertainment wise.

That's debatable. In combat effectiveness I would rank Sorcerer as #1 or swords bard (due to arcane acuity.) Then fighter and paladin. Paladin just destroys fighter in pick rate though because it's similar combat effectiveness while also being good at dialogue checks.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Any discussion on the effectiveness of each class is probably subordinate to their build/itemization, to begin with...
That said, the Sorcerer (like every caster in the end game) is extremely resource-dependant and will run out of (high level) spell slots pretty quiickly in the end game, while fighters with their relatively high mobility, high damage and the three attacks per round (SIX if you throw in an Action surge) are fairly consistent meat grinders without requiring much in terms of maintenance.

For example Lae'zel battlemaster or Eldritch Knight (I used to pick always the first but I'm learning to appreciate the virtues of the second option) at level 12 with the right equipment will blast pretty much anything and offer a fair amount of immunities/resistances on top of it.

 

[Barbarian]

Yes, itemization on this game is very good. You can make entire builds based on items or sets of items.

I agree that fighter class gets more attacks and better action economy than all other martials, so it is hard to challenge its effectiveness.

I am on my second honor mode run. First one I finished the game with a pure class assassin. Despite rogue being one of the weaker classes I didn't feel shorthanded because of equipment and strategy.

I'm currently playing a monk and I can say it felt very strong early game. Only martial class that can make 3 attacks per round first level(normal attack + flurry of blows). There are several good monk specific items in the game as well. I'm playing shadow monk but the two other kits read pretty good too.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Any discussion on the effectiveness of each class is probably subordinate to their build/itemization, to begin with...
That said, the Sorcerer (like every caster in the end game) is extremely resource-dependant and will run out of (high level) spell slots pretty quiickly in the end game, while fighters with their relatively high mobility, high damage and the three attacks per round (SIX if you throw in an Action surge) are fairly consistent meat grinders without requiring much in terms of maintenance.

For example Lae'zel battlemaster or Eldritch Knight (I used to pick always the first but I'm learning to appreciate the virtues of the second option) at level 12 with the right equipment will blast pretty much anything and offer a fair amount of immunities/resistances on top of it.

There's usually a hard fight with some easy ones leading up to it. So you can save your spell slots for the hard fights. A warrior will do most of the heavy lifting against mobs while casters will carry the actual hard fights. Especially because haste only applies to casters now.

 

[Barbarian]

Any discussion on the effectiveness of each class is probably subordinate to their build/itemization, to begin with...
That said, the Sorcerer (like every caster in the end game) is extremely resource-dependant and will run out of (high level) spell slots pretty quiickly in the end game, while fighters with their relatively high mobility, high damage and the three attacks per round (SIX if you throw in an Action surge) are fairly consistent meat grinders without requiring much in terms of maintenance.

For example Lae'zel battlemaster or Eldritch Knight (I used to pick always the first but I'm learning to appreciate the virtues of the second option) at level 12 with the right equipment will blast pretty much anything and offer a fair amount of immunities/resistances on top of it.

There's usually a hard fight with some easy ones leading up to it. So you can save your spell slots for the hard fights. A warrior will do most of the heavy lifting against mobs while casters will carry the actual hard fights. Especially because haste only applies to casters now.

"Haste only applies to casters now". What do you mean by that?

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Yeah. No idea of what he means with that, either. If anything the typical user case for Haste is PRECISELY to cast it on your fiercest melee and let him work his magic.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Any discussion on the effectiveness of each class is probably subordinate to their build/itemization, to begin with...
That said, the Sorcerer (like every caster in the end game) is extremely resource-dependant and will run out of (high level) spell slots pretty quiickly in the end game, while fighters with their relatively high mobility, high damage and the three attacks per round (SIX if you throw in an Action surge) are fairly consistent meat grinders without requiring much in terms of maintenance.

For example Lae'zel battlemaster or Eldritch Knight (I used to pick always the first but I'm learning to appreciate the virtues of the second option) at level 12 with the right equipment will blast pretty much anything and offer a fair amount of immunities/resistances on top of it.

There's usually a hard fight with some easy ones leading up to it. So you can save your spell slots for the hard fights. A warrior will do most of the heavy lifting against mobs while casters will carry the actual hard fights. Especially because haste only applies to casters now.

"Haste only applies to casters now". What do you mean by that?

It just gives on extra attack instead of the full action now so it's way better on a caster (in honor mode.)

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Is this game done yet? Any word about when they will release the finished version?

 

[Barbarian]

Is this game done yet? Any word about when they will release the finished version?

It is done. Next(final major patch) will of note only add evil endings. If that is your thing wait for it, otherwise I would say play it.