Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Heroic Liberator]

Another thing I found weak was that it was rarely attractive to co-operate with evil characters.

Larian loves giving you fake options to side with the evil people and then be like "just kidding, they immediately betray you"

And even when they don't, plot just kills them off instead. Lame!

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I'm downloading the game in preparation for my first run. I normally play wizards, but I think I might go Lore Bard. I think I want my MC to be a skill monkey and have broad talents so that I don't have to be stuck with any given NPC out of necessity. I have a build in mind that will give me proficiency in lots of skills. As much as 14. Are there any skills in this game that are traps/waste?

 

[cpmartins]

I'm downloading the game in preparation for my first run. I normally play wizards, but I think I might go Lore Bard. I think I want my MC to be a skill monkey and have broad talents so that I don't have to be stuck with any given NPC out of necessity. I have a build in mind that will give me proficiency in lots of skills. As much as 14. Are there any skills in this game that are traps/waste?

I don't think I've used Performance once in the entire game.
Also, go to BasedMods and download some of the cringe removal tools they have there.

 

[Old Hans]

I'm downloading the game in preparation for my first run. I normally play wizards, but I think I might go Lore Bard. I think I want my MC to be a skill monkey and have broad talents so that I don't have to be stuck with any given NPC out of necessity. I have a build in mind that will give me proficiency in lots of skills. As much as 14. Are there any skills in this game that are traps/waste?

Medicine and nature come to mind.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I'm downloading the game in preparation for my first run. I normally play wizards, but I think I might go Lore Bard. I think I want my MC to be a skill monkey and have broad talents so that I don't have to be stuck with any given NPC out of necessity. I have a build in mind that will give me proficiency in lots of skills. As much as 14. Are there any skills in this game that are traps/waste?

Roll barbarian

 

[Yosharian]

I'm downloading the game in preparation for my first run. I normally play wizards, but I think I might go Lore Bard. I think I want my MC to be a skill monkey and have broad talents so that I don't have to be stuck with any given NPC out of necessity. I have a build in mind that will give me proficiency in lots of skills. As much as 14. Are there any skills in this game that are traps/waste?

Medicine and nature come to mind.

Best skills: Perception, Sleight of Hand, Insight, Arcana, Athletics OR Acrobatics, Deception, Persuasion, Intimidation

Survival and Animal Handling are borderline useless.

The rest are situational

 

[Heroic Liberator]

And something tangential to your question, but make a habit out of speaking to the dead and to animals, Mr. Magniloquent. There's a good amount of content for that.

 

[Warlod]

any update on creating completely custom companions?

 

[Infinitron]

Edge Magazine interview: https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ba...d-instead-there-was-not-a-lot-to-choose-from/

Baldur's Gate 3 studio CEO says that if he couldn't make a D&D game, Fallout and Ultima were the only other RPG licenses he would have considered instead : "There was not a lot to choose from"​

"I felt like there was a glass ceiling that we wouldn't be able to break through unless we had triple-A production values"

It's hard to imagine any other studio delivering Baldur's Gate 3, but Larian CEO Swen Vincke says the Wizards of the Coast property was one of just three household RPG names he was angling to work on.

"It would have been Ultima, it would have been Fallout, it would have been Baldur's Gate. There was not a lot to choose from," Vincke tells Edge 400 about the big names he thought Larian needed to elevate it on the industry stage, once upon a time. Larian never did get its hands on the Bethesda franchise, but the rich D&D setting of the Sword Coast proved ample opportunity to further the studio's ambitions.

Following the shutdown of original developer Black Isle Studios, the popular Baldur's Gate license was sitting untouched with D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast. "It's one of those IPs that you know a lot of people will want to work on. So it would be great for attracting other people to the studio," explains Vincke of his reasoning at the time. "I felt like there was a glass ceiling that we wouldn't be able to break through unless we had triple-A production values, budget, marketing, all the triple A things.

Elsewhere in the interview, Vincke discussed the impact of those production values, and how they fitted into the game's pipeline, particularly when it came to cinematics. "From where I was sitting, coming back to my strategic vision for Larian, [cinematics] made perfect sense. If we were going to bring a game like Original Sin 2 to larger crowds, we would need to have triple-A production values, whatever that takes. Because it's only then that we're going to discover if there's a market for this type of game."

If the myriad awards, nominations, and accolades that Baldur's Gate 3 has received in the last year alone are any indication, it would seem that the market for "this type of game" is well and truly thriving.

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ba...-not-just-fans-of-the-original-bioware-games/

Baldur's Gate 3 devs made the RPG for "a modern audience" including D&D newcomers, not just "fans of the original BioWare games"​

Baldur's Gate 3 is for everyone

Larian Studios reveals that while creating Baldur's Gate 3, developers had a far bigger audience in mind for the RPG than only longtime fans of BioWare's original D&D duo.

Speaking in an interview with Edge, Baldur's Gate 3 art director Alena Dubrovna admits that the developers at Larian wanted the game to reach more players - especially newcomers to the RPG series and people unfamiliar with Dungeons & Dragons altogether. "We're making it for a modern audience that are young people like me," Dubrovna explains. "So they probably haven't really played the first or second game."

That same thought process during development extended toward potential fans who may be D&D newbies as well. "We really wanted to make it so that even if you don't know D&D or Baldur's Gate, you would still have exciting choices as a player, visually and narratively, and be able to enjoy the experience." This doesn't mean that Larian didn't consider the dedicated stans of the first two Baldur's Gate games at all, though.

Lead writer Adam Smith expands on this, recounting worries from older fans about the third Baldur's Gate: "During the whole of early access, I remember reading a lot of comments from people like 'it's good, but it's not Baldur's Gate.' And we were like 'just have a bit of faith - we know what we're doing on that front.'" Larian managed it by pulling recognizable elements from the original two games, like the character Jaheira, all while striving to remain "honorable to the canon."

"Jaheira was the one who really tied it together," Smith explains, "and always gives me that warm, tingly Baldur's Gate feeling. To me, there's something very heroic but tragic for Jaheira to be reminded of the worst times in her life." As someone who played the games in reverse order following the third entry myself, I loved seeing Jaheira's evolution and other Forgotten Realms legacy characters' newer selves - especially Volo, of course.

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ba...s-pitch-to-wizards-of-the-coast-was-really-s/

Baldur's Gate 3 dev nearly lost its chance at the D&D license because its previous RPG meant its pitch to Wizards of the Coast was "really s***"​

"We didn't have the brainpower"

Baldur's Gate 3 lead Swen Vincke admits that Larian Studios' beloved Dungeons & Dragons RPG may never have happened - all because of stress surrounding Divinity: Original Sin 2.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 launched in September of 2017, just one month after Larian Studios head Swen Vincke landed the monumental deal with Wizards of the Coast that would result in the Baldur's Gate 3 we now know and love. Not everything was smooth sailing for developers, though - considering the team's focus on the final phase of work on its Divinity sequel, there was hardly any energy left to pitch a Baldur's Gate 3 design document.


Speaking in an interview with Edge, Vincke recounts the stressful time Larian had to present the publisher with a plan. "We need to write something guys," he describes himself as saying. "Or we're going to lose this deal." Both he and a small group of developers then huddled in a hotel room, working quickly to craft a design doc in just a couple of days. "It was really bad," Vincke says, "but we didn't have the brainpower to deal with it because we were trying to do Divinity: Original Sin 2."

The director details Wizards of the West Coast's disappointing reaction and Larian's response: "Wizards then sent it back with the corporate equivalent of 'this is really shit.' And we said, 'We know, but we're releasing a game. Give us an extension.'" Thankfully, Vincke states "Luckily they understood, and so we got another chance." It isn't easy to imagine what the gaming sphere would look like today if the publisher hadn't approved - I know that I'd be down my all-time favorite game at least.

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ba...-should-maybe-chill-out-on-the-spicy-fan-art/

Baldur's Gate 3 lead writer is "really curious" to see the CRPG series' future beyond Larian - but suggests that people should maybe chill out on the "spicy" fan art​

"Some of it's so spicy that it burns my mouth"

If there was somehow any doubt remaining about the future of Baldur's Gate 3, the RPG's lead writer has done his best to finally put those doubts to rest, saying that he's entirely moved on from the game - but that players should continue its legacy any way they like.

Speaking to Edge Magazine, Adam Smith was asked how it feels to acknowledge that the future of the series is no longer in his hands, and that in the years to come he'll be watching other people work with characters he created. In response, he said that "we did that the moment we released it."

"People started doing their own stories, and whether it's [D&D owner] Hasbro or a fan on Tumblr, they belong to other people once you put them into the world." Smith goes on to say that he's "really curious to see" what other people come up with, and while there are a few things he doesn't like - such as "a lot of spicy fan art" - it's otherwise all "fair play. If someone's enjoying it, fantastic. I don't need to love all of it."

"A big part of my heart will be in Baldur's Gate," he says, "but all of my creative focus is on other things now. And it feels fantastic. We told our story, and I think it's a really good story. Sometimes it's really powerful and good to be able to say 'that's done'. We don't need to have DLC and sequels constantly."

If you're wondering where exactly Smith's creative focus is now, it's a pretty safe bet that it's on at least one of the "two very ambitious RPGs" that Larian is now working on. Neither of those are Baldur's Gate 4, however, and neither are they expansion or DLC offerings for the game. In fact, Larian is gearing up to "fully" hand over the game's legacy with the release of Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 7 in September. With the future of this particular game firmly in the hands of the community, it's no surprise that Smith would be looking elsewhere.

 

[0sacred]

Do it then, faggot. Brownnose EA to do an Ultima.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

I found this. Someone enumerated all of the skill checks in the game. Survival, Athletics, and Acrobatics look like total wastes. Religion is low too. This doesn't take into account skills like Stealth or Slight of Hand will get checked as much as you use them.

 

[The Bishop]

Survival is used to find stuff in environment like buried chests. Athletics and acrobatics are used in combat. What you found there is probably just dialogue checks.

 

[Old Hans]

I just hit level 12 and I am the king of baldurs gate. I just wander the streets killing everyone. I killed some begger outside that big bank which started a fight, which resulted in me wiping out everyone inside the bank and no one gives a shit. Gortash is probably peeing his pants right now

 

[Yosharian]

Survival is used to find stuff in environment like buried chests. Athletics and acrobatics are used in combat. What you found there is probably just dialogue checks.

You absolutely do not need Survival for buried chests. Simply use your shovel anywhere you fail a Survival check, it doesn't take long to find the chest. And that's if you care about the shitty low-tier loot that comes in those chests, you never find anything that's actually good unless it's a specific buried chest that contains a unique item, and there's about ... 2 of those? And the only important one is those thievery gloves IIRC which you can just google the location of and you probably would miss it if you didn't because it's in a location that's pretty far from the obvious exploration path.

So yeah Survival is probably the worst skill in the game

 

[The Bishop]

You absolutely do not need Survival for buried chests. Simply use your shovel anywhere you fail a Survival check, it doesn't take long to find the chest. And that's if you care about the shitty low-tier loot that comes in those chests, you never find anything that's actually good unless it's a specific buried chest that contains a unique item, and there's about ... 2 of those? And the only important one is those thievery gloves IIRC which you can just google the location of and you probably would miss it if you didn't because it's in a location that's pretty far from the obvious exploration path.

So yeah Survival is probably the worst skill in the game

My point was that the link in the post above mine does not accurately reflect how often any of the skills is going to be checked. The ones that have uses outside of dialogue appear to be very much off. Doesn't mean I recommend to pick any of those skills.

 

[Yosharian]

Yeah of course, I was commenting on its usability

 

[Hydro]

no one gives a shit

This game in a nutshell

 

[Tyranicon]

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ba...to-send-rotating-teams-of-devs-to-ceremonies/

Okay, that's actually a pretty cool flex.

 

[Desiderius]

Another thing I found weak was that it was rarely attractive to co-operate with evil characters.

Larian loves giving you fake options to side with the evil people and then be like "just kidding, they immediately betray you"

That is what evil means, yes. It’s not just an alternative lifestyle.

“Oft shall evil will evil mar.”

There’s always a bigger asshole. Evil is too much work.

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

evil people

immediately betray you

I'm pretty sure that is what an Evil dude would do.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Another thing I found weak was that it was rarely attractive to co-operate with evil characters.

Larian loves giving you fake options to side with the evil people and then be like "just kidding, they immediately betray you"

Unfortunately the general audience tends not to care about evil playthroughs, so the devs just employ the stupid evil trope so that there's no significant branching that they have to account for (i.e. railroading you back onto the default good path). Still better than nothing I guess, but not by much.

 

[Haplo]

I found this. Someone enumerated all of the skill checks in the game. Survival, Athletics, and Acrobatics look like total wastes. Religion is low too. This doesn't take into account skills like Stealth or Slight of Hand will get checked as much as you use them.

Sure. If you want every random enemy mook to push you down from every elevation / into every water reservoir / out of the map area all the time, then feel free to ignore Athletics / Acrobatics.
Athletics helps pay in kind if you're Str is high, BTW.

 

[Haplo]

I just hit level 12 and I am the king of baldurs gate. I just wander the streets killing everyone. I killed some begger outside that big bank which started a fight, which resulted in me wiping out everyone inside the bank and no one gives a shit. Gortash is probably peeing his pants right now

That'd make you a butcher, not a king.

 

[Haplo]

Survival is used to find stuff in environment like buried chests. Athletics and acrobatics are used in combat. What you found there is probably just dialogue checks.

You absolutely do not need Survival for buried chests. Simply use your shovel anywhere you fail a Survival check, it doesn't take long to find the chest. And that's if you care about the shitty low-tier loot that comes in those chests, you never find anything that's actually good unless it's a specific buried chest that contains a unique item, and there's about ... 2 of those? And the only important one is those thievery gloves IIRC which you can just google the location of and you probably would miss it if you didn't because it's in a location that's pretty far from the obvious exploration path.

So yeah Survival is probably the worst skill in the game

Yeah, sure. Why not do things the legitimate way and have 1 of 4 party members invest in Survival? Let's metagame the hell of the game and play pixel hunting instead!
Gotta maxmin all the way and be winning!

 

[Yosharian]

Survival is used to find stuff in environment like buried chests. Athletics and acrobatics are used in combat. What you found there is probably just dialogue checks.

You absolutely do not need Survival for buried chests. Simply use your shovel anywhere you fail a Survival check, it doesn't take long to find the chest. And that's if you care about the shitty low-tier loot that comes in those chests, you never find anything that's actually good unless it's a specific buried chest that contains a unique item, and there's about ... 2 of those? And the only important one is those thievery gloves IIRC which you can just google the location of and you probably would miss it if you didn't because it's in a location that's pretty far from the obvious exploration path.

So yeah Survival is probably the worst skill in the game

Yeah, sure. Why not do things the legitimate way and have 1 of 4 party members invest in Survival? Let's metagame the hell of the game and play pixel hunting instead!
Gotta maxmin all the way and be winning!

It's hardly pixel hunting, I had a high WIS character with Survival proficiency and half the time she failed the check but it didn't even matter because a trained monkey could figure out where the chest was just looking at the terrain

Considering the skill is not trained-only and proficiency is like +2-3 for most of the game, it's barely worth the point even if you have it spare