Baldur's Gate III

Mike Litoris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121524286#Comment_121524286

I avoided the main quest as much as possible until I had all the side quests done. I think that helped somewhat with the direction if the main quest by uncovering locations and interactions. That said I found it all a bit messy until about 2/3 of the way through the act. Some missions just didn't seem logical and I checked a walkthrough, which I hate having to do, more than once.

Mr.Fantastic

Just started playing this after christmas on PS5 think I am near the act of end 1, 30 hours down phenomenal game reminds me of KOTOR and how much I loved that game.

brady12

With all my talk I finally bought this on steam . 110gb download 🥲. Must download it on deck too. I've last two weeks month off so will really dig into it then . Any tips for a fella who has never player a crpg, larian game or d & d😅😁

DarkJager21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121573888#Comment_121573888

Never played D&D myself but got this over Xmas and it's absolutely brilliant. Will take you a couple of hours for things to click and at level 1, you might get your ass kicked in a few fights. Can't really give you any tips of worth as I'm still learning myself but start off on Exploration difficulty to make it slightly easier on yourself. In combat Oils/grease puddles can be ignited, water can be electrified etc And if you see a hand reaching out of a portal somewhere don't chop it off 🤣

J. Marston

I'm coming towards the end now.

If there isn't a way to save Karlach I will be utterly crushed. I'm actually panicking now.

brady12

3 or 4 hours in loving it so far . Dropped it down to easy until i figure out battle system . I thought I would hate dice rolls but actually enjoy it. Using controller when I am just running around settlement chatting to people but wouldn't be fan using it for battles .

Sudden Valley

Is act 3 a but of mess? Seems quests are confusingly laid out and not well signposted what you are supposed to do. I did enjoy the first two acts but a few hours into act 3 and finding it a slog

Glebee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121616682#Comment_121616682

Im feeling the same, Act 3 is all over the shop for me anyway, ive stopped playing as I cant figure out what mission I have to do next.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121616682#Comment_121616682

Act 3 is a lot messier than the others - it’s more sprawling, chaotic and where things are more likely to go wrong (for your character and, alas, with the game). BUT it’s also home to lots and lots of amazing stuff - wild quests, epic battles and wonderful payoffs to stuff that was established much earlier.

Best way to approach it is to not hurry anything, and just take things as they come. It was maybe 50% or more of my entire playthrough in the end, being as thorough as I could. Pursue quests that sound interesting - the city rewards digging up as much as you can. And honestly don’t be reluctant to check a guide for some of more poorly signposted quests - while some are very straightforward, others are more obtuse and on rare occasions somewhat glitchy. The character specific quests are IMO particularly worth chasing - that’s where you’ll find some of the super interesting encounters. The main quests will wait… unless someone explicitly tells you to do something quickly, in which case you probably should 😂

J. Marston

I would also encourage not hurrying. The game can tend to put a false sense of urgency on you for some quests.

There isn't urgency and when there is, it'll be clearly signposted for you. You can go about your business for the most part.

Anyway, I finished it with what is probably the standard good ending. Definitely one of the best games ever for me.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617630#Comment_121617630

I think i have to hurry now as I believe I have been prompted to by the game but not sure how I got to this stage so quickly in Act 3. I think the only way I can get a good ending is to review a walkthru guide which is a pity.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617670#Comment_121617670

The game will say something is really urgent, but as the devs said, unless you see a building on fire and someone asking you to help immediately, everything is able to wait for as long as you want. It's only when there's an immediate danger that you can clearly see and has been activated that you have to hurry. Other quests typically won't activate the next stage until you actually go there and begin interacting.

I wouldn't bother looking up guides for a good ending though. Honestly it's far better when it's your ending. The ending which is the result of your actions, choices and failures/successes.

johnny_ultimate

Spoiler Warning

Without going into too many specifics, the most critical time sensitive quest is involving Orin and a kidnapping victim. There’s a timer on that that kicks in if you solve the Murder Tribunal quest I believe, but it’s not timed before that AFAIK.

The newspaper and Florrick quests also have a timer attached once you find out about them, but they’re much more minor quests in the general scheme of things and should be more easily resolved.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617715#Comment_121617715

Ah thanks that was the point I reached but I hadn't completed the subsequent quest. It seemed urgent but I had no timer yet.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617849#Comment_121617849

Don’t hold me to this as there might be an exception or two, but I think whenever there is a specific time limit - e.g. three days (ie three long rests) - the game tells you so. That’s definitely the case in the quest mentioned above. Unless they tell you that… you’re good to do the quest at your own pace, even if it seems urgent. Aspects of the world state will occasionally change if you progress a particular quest but nothing that should be a concern.

Obviously there are a couple of encounters that must be resolved immediately when you encounter them due to urgency, but you’ll usually see why that’s the case due to some imminent catastrophe, explosion or other threat to life 😅

brady12

I never play games on easiest difficulty usually the middling ' Normal ' one but being my first larian / crpg game and having never played D & D there isn't a hope i'd be still playing it if I wasn't playing on easy it's just too complex . The long and short of it is I love this game 15 hours in . Just took out the 3 goblin leaders and even taking out couple them took a bit trial and error on easy . Starting grasp all the game mechanics now I just can't believe the breadth of the options you do have . The dialogue options & the facial expressions are unreal . Using controller for just strolling around chatting but be painful use it for combat mouse and keyboard all the way . Played a small bit on deck too was fine .

Atlas_IRL

Think i may have to go back a good few hrs. I am at the second thorm fight without nightsong and even changing it to lowest difficulty i keep getting thrashed. i am level 8, is there any way to cheese this fight or any tips to make it easier as i cant get out of the area i am in, (i know i can heal thats not the problem.)

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121660480#Comment_121660480

There's separate parts of that fight, which part are you on.

In general stealth into rooms to see what's what and start the fight on your terms. Splitting party up and moving them separately to take 4 sperate actions, when 1 attacks that character get's pulled into the fight but the other 3 will still be out of combat and able to move freely but can join by attacking.

Dave_The_Sheep

Spoiler Warning

Astarion's voice actor (Neil Newbon) knocked it out of the park all game, but the conclusion to his Cazador arc he really nails it. Didn't complete the ritual, but watching him go ham with the dagger, you can feel the catharsis.

Astarion spoilers.

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121669536#Comment_121669536

His voice is like honey poured into your ear.

All the voice acting is fantastic. Gale is one of the most charming fellas in any game/show/movie I've played/watched.

I've finished and I'm currently playing Dead Space but even when I'm playing that I'm still thinking; "I could do another playthrough. How would being a sorcerer/wizard/warlock be? What race would I be? What decisions would I change?"

I can't go back to it though. I'll be engrossed in it for another half a year.

Atlas_IRL

The second part of it so I'm stuck in the area and can't leave, he's quite hard to hit with his resistance then for the next one I don't really have anything to throw at it and spells are normally gone fighting all the others. I've seen ppl use nightsong to tank it but I don't have her.

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678226#Comment_121678226

What's your party?

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678226#Comment_121678226

As above what party.

Stealth into the room and split the party so they don't get pulled into the fight together but only after they've attacked first.

AOE the small fries with something that slows and lingers, and kill the mindflayers. Getting close in stealth means you've to use less turns moving in the battle.

Atlas_IRL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121678417#Comment_121678417

Party is poor tbh as i dont have a tank, your one that was in the cage at the start disappeared and couldn't get her again. (She is later on the ground near the mountain page but the people surrounding her are too strong.)

Astorian Gale Shadowheart and i am a rogue, so my problem is 2 rogues which is not great. All level 8.

Is it possible to AOE anyone without triggering the whole fight?

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121688597#Comment_121688597

You can do some tank esq stuff but there's not really tanks in D&D. Enemies targets the ones with the lowest armour or health, so having a barbarian who's got generally no armour you can kind of play that as tank as they're tough but also get targeted a lot.

Once a character attacks or uses an spell or attack near by then the fight starts but if you've your party split up and separated by a bit of distance then only those near by get pulled in, you can then swap out to other characters outside the fight ( since they aren't in the fight they won't take a turn so you've o manually swap to them) and stealth into the area and position again.

Do you have Karlach or Wyll, it's not just the 2 rouges it's the 2 casters too. You might have to reload a save to swap out.

There's one of those blue glowing rest station things near the start of that fight so that's the same as a long rest for recharging everything.

Gale and magic missile is good for targets that are hard to hit as it can't miss. shadow heart a with shield casting and aoe like one of the glphs to get rid of some small enemeis and then spirit guardian or just going with spirit guardian from the start. The 2 rouges take out the mind flayer first and just have magic missiles hitting throne.

What subclass is everyone.

Dave_The_Sheep

Finished it tonight. Very enjoyable end fight. Jammed a double nat 20 in the final encounter (or the prior "final" encounter) so the last part was a bit easier but still. I lost an entire to party to the negation mechanic and the second load I finished it off.

The party was good fun after. Good to talk to everyone, even those who I didn't take on many missions.

It's up there with the ME series with the companion aspects. Obviously ME has three games to get you invested so it matters more but even so. Fantastic stuff.

Easily game of the year, Nintendo can get fucked, as can their fanboys. To even claim with a straight face that TOT-whatever comes close is just silly.

Varik

Comparing it to Mass effect/Dragon age and the companions I'd say I dislike the fact that just being friends isn't a more straight forward route, you've some harsh rejections to become friends with someone and leave it at that.

Retr0gamer

So apparently the manga artist of Delicious in Dungeon ended the run (possibly suspended) the manga so she could use the time to play Baldur's Gate.

Wish I could do that with my job.

J. Marston

Much prefer the companions in BG3 over Mass Effect. The voice acting and motion capture make them much more natural and charming.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697299#Comment_121697299

[bitterpilltoswallow] Mass effect is incredibly mid in the field of western RPGs and only has acclaim because we were starved of them when it was released[/bitterpilltoswallow]