Baldur's Gate III

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121136976#Comment_121136976

There are definitely great things to discover in Act 2, some really strange but unique side things that are really well designed. But I'm definitely loving Act 3 being in a bustling (aka framerate-reducing) city with tonnes of areas to explore and people to talk to. The sidequests have a lot more flavour to them.

I did have an unfortunate situation last night where when fighting some tough enemies in a particular place, one teleported into an area I couldn't get to (not outside the map or anything, just a sort of locked area), and I couldn't attack it. The only way to get into the area was to activate certain things outside of combat, but because I was already in combat and couldn't change off turn-based mode it was too frustrating to try and figure out so had to restart.

Ended up working out for the best in most ways though as I then approached the whole situation differently, but man that was an annoying fight. The enemy wasn't even able to attack me either, we were just completely stalemated and it had been a long, tough fight with all the other enemies before that.

Penn

New patch also due out today, including a mirror in your camp which will allow you to change your appearance (not things like race or origins though). Not sure what else is included.

McFly85

Currently a bit into Act 2 and still loving it.

The only thing I’m wondering is if I’ve gotten too comfortable with my current team! Currently all level 6 and not too much issues so far with battles(apart from one I was clearly under levelled for!).

Maybe I’ll spend some proper time closer to act 3 levelling and respeccing.

Mike Litoris

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121141903#Comment_121141903

Sweet. My character looks like this dude.

I can finally change his face. :p

J. Marston

Anyone playing on console? Looking for inventory management tips.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121144056#Comment_121144056

If you pick up backpacks and pouches, you can store things in them, like a backpack for books, one for scrolls, a pouch for potion ingredients, a backpack for arrows etc. Stuff you don't think you'll use that often.

Or a lot of things you can just Send To Camp and it'll be in the Travellers Chest in your camp.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121146307#Comment_121146307

Also something I just realised within the last hour; if you're trying to pick multiple things in your inventory (ie. All your books/notes), you can hold down R2 and use the dpad to select multiple things. I was previously pressing R2 on each item to select multiple items).

johnny_ultimate

A fair bit into Act 2 now, and I love how Larian has dialled up the combat complexity and depth. There’s a lot of things this game does that puts others to shame, but the fact that virtually every encounter is a bespoke, significant event is remarkable. As chaotic and dice/luck-dependent as the fighting can be, there’s nothing like the experience of putting a plan into place and executing it, and adapting when a bad roll puts you on the back foot.

A perfect example of that was a challenging fight to keep a portal open for five turns. The fight is designed to overwhelm you by weighting the action economy heavily in the enemies’ favour, even if most of them go down easy. Easy to simply get overwhelmed by the amount of enemies crowding the screen. Two or three attempts and I was narrowly missing out. But just learning to optimise the fight, placing characters in just the right spot to hit hard with ongoing abilities, and knowing when to throw out the hard-hitting AoE spells / action surges really made for a thrilling encounter. And in my last (successful) attempt I even managed to eke through despite a very inconvenient concentration interruption!

Even smaller, non-narrative fights in the field can turn into epic, unexpected wars of attrition, with unique mechanics and abilities coming into play.

So many RPGs where I’ve lost count of the amount of identical fights against generic enemy types. Very much a treat being able to play a game where every encounter is memorable and distinctive, and for the complexity to so satisfyingly ramp up as the game progresses and the player’s skill base diversifies. But also an endless delight seeing how the game also embraces the possibility of non-combat - have chuckled aloud at how ludicrous situations can become with persuasion checks, such as a truly wonderful, ridiculous no-combat encounter with some roaming monsters and a special lantern.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153123#Comment_121153123

That's definitely where I find Gale to be nearly indespensible. A lot of fights that come up, because some of them are so unique or different, require particular skills you may not have. Gale's ability to learn from scrolls and prepare spells without having to rebuild your character has been key for me in so many situations. He's almost always the first man downed by the enemies, but his AOEs and circumstantial spells can set the tone of the fight.

I'm stuck in a really tough fight in Act 3, one with tough fights before it which has used up my short rests and a lot of my spell slots, and I can't fast travel or long rest out. Have used a few potions for Angelic Slumber to give half my team the effect of a long rest, but even then the fight itself is really challenging. My last attempt yesterday was going okay but game ended up crashing, so will have to try again tonight.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153321#Comment_121153321

I haven’t really used Gale actually, but my main character is a Sorcerer so so far has a fairly robust arsenal of spells. And Shadowheart provides capable back-up with the likes of Guardian Spirits.

Lae’zel is another constant but I’ve started swapping in Karlach for Asterion for some big fights. The latter is extremely handy in the field as a lockpicker and trap disarmer, but a bit too situational in combat - useful if he can lurk in the shadows, but fairly difficult to use effectively in the thick of it.

McFly85

It’s actually crazy how permanent even the most innocuous of actions can be, this happened to me yesterday:

Spoiler Warning

Going through the Gauntlet of Shar and the fight in the Silenced Library.

Had quickly destroyed the orb that was causing silence and there was a few enemies huddled together to the side of a bookcase. Had Gale cast Fireball to catch all 3.

Fight finished without issue, opened the door and tried to solve the puzzle. Eventually realised it was looking for a book. Gathered all the books, nothing worked, wasn’t sure if it was bugged, reloaded a few times, nothing.

When I went to look up to see if I had missed anything, I eventually realised casting fireball had burned the f*cking book I needed!

Moral of the story, be incredibly aware of who or what you’re casting a spell on!

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153391#Comment_121153391

My character is a sorcerer too, but I find having multiple can really synergise their attacks; using one for AOE then one for maybe direct damage or picking off the stragglers. Mostly then have Shadowheart for heals and support attacks, then Karlach as main tank/damage.

Asterion was great in Act 1 but after that yeah I found his usefulness dwindled compared to others. Laezel I wanted to use more but just never found the right way to use her effectively.

Wyll has been relegated to "bring along only if I know there's a specific NPC he needs to talk to". He seems too much like a jack of all trades, master of none.

McFly85

My character is a fighter, so generally it’s me, Gale and Shadowheart for Spells/Buffs, and whoever else needs to be there for the story or situation. Mostly Wyll though as he can speak to animals which can be useful and has some decent ranged/AoE spells.

Astarion is by far the one I use least, always seemed more useful outside of battle than in it. There is a side quest I need him for though so will have to bring him in pretty soon.

Varik

Other than the main character Asteron is the only one who's always in party, some of that is for lockpicks and traps but for assassin he's got advantage over anyone who's not taken a turn yet who sneak attack applies to and can use that with normal bonus attacks and regains move at start of combat. So 2 sneak attacks and 2 bonus attack to start.

Wyll has decent melee as he can use his charisma for that rather than strength or dexterity. He's got a very decent long range catnip which if you upgrade it knocks enemies and has 2 shots, and for warlocks even if he's only got 2 main spell slots they cast at max level and the 2 slots refill after a short rest. If you've a bard in party that's 6 lvl X spells per long rest and he's concentration spells don't have time limits just need to hold concentration.

If I'm really going to get swamped by numbers I cast darkness and then have wyll with devil sight and usually Karlach who I've given a blind proof ring to and they hold that while the other 2 jump in and out when opportune. All the act 2 undead fights were very easy from this as I'd a cleric with spirits who just needed to stand there as they charged or do a little loop and since he's got pole arm that was swinging all the time with advantage and ally reaction from sentinel.

My mains is a cleric so only have Shadowheart when I'm dealing with extra amounts of undead, should probably try to get more out of Gale, and barbarian for karlach seems better than the battlemast I made Laezel

Glebee

I think im going to have to play through again at some stage, just started Act 3 and have only used Asteron, Shadowheart and Lae'zel.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153641#Comment_121153641

Just following on from this, I think I'm going to swap out Glass Cannon Gale for Laezel. As useful as he is for AOEs and general ranged and elemental damage, a lot of my fights lately have ended up with Gale down first, then Shadowheart, my character clinging on for dear life because I always forget to share out healing potions or let Gale/Shadowheart use them before they die, and Karlach bombing around the place with 90% of her health left doing huge damage. Maybe a second fighter wouldn't be a bad idea at this stage.

I'm sure there'll be fights I have to go back and tag him back in for, but for now he can weave his way back to camp.

Finally beat that boss I was stuck on last night too. Have to say though, I never minded starting that fight over and over again, because the music for it is just so damn good!

Penn

Also saw that the cast of BG3 are playing a DnD campaign as their characters

https://youtube.com/shorts/Rd2oCex3-_o?si=r98IRsZpBMNRTMeF

BKtje

I actually use all the characters. Rather than Long rest once my initial 4 are low on whatever, I swap them out for others and only once they too are low will I long rest. Still only Act 1 as I don't have a lot of time but I am really enjoying it. In the beginning I wanted to play an "Iron Man" but since Im playing it on the hardest setting I quickly abandoned that idea and only reload when all my guys die :p

Next playthrough when I understand the mechanics better I might try dead is dead again.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121157999#Comment_121157999

Damn, that's hardcore!

Don't know if I could do a dead is dead kind of run. Have to admit, I've often had to offer up a character or two as sacrificial lambs.

johnny_ultimate

Like all RPGs, I like the comfort of knowing a couple of characters very well, rather than trying to keep a grasp on all the possible party members. Definitely means I miss out on some tactical options, but also just like the feeling of having a well-oiled combat machine in place.

Spoiler Warning

Very keen to give Halsin a go now that he's a full party member though!

To Larian's credit, though, it's very easy to swap people in and out, and shared levelling means there's never going to be a party member left behind if you decide to leave them on the bench. And thankfully a lot of the stories progress regardless of whether the companion involved is in your party or not.

Spoiler Warning

Completed The Gauntlet of Shar last night, but haven't ventured over to Moonrise Towers yet. So in the back half of Act 2, but still a bit to do before I finally move on. Definitely a shorter chapter all-in-all, but really enjoying the increased variety of combat.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121157999#Comment_121157999

Can you play it like a real d&d campaign where if you die you rip up the character sheet and start with a new character?

BKtje

What I mean by dead is dead is that if it's game over, I wouldn't load a saved game. I've no problem using resurrection scrolls, withers or anything that is in game. I used to love Iron Man mode in Xcom where after every move your game was saved so you couldn't save scum. Think i put in around 200 hours into the game before I finally beat it on hard. Love that game.

No idea about ripping up character sheets but I'd simply restart the game. BG3 is way too unforgiving to do it this way without knowing all the mechanics which is why I stopped, I do plan to try it again though whenever I finish the game :)

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158250#Comment_121158250

Ah that makes more sense. I went from pretty much never talking to Withers in Act 1 and 2 bar the first introduction, to wondering if there's a way I can just open a debit account with him so he can resurrect people automatically for me, such is the rate they start dying in Act 3.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158174#Comment_121158174

No. I'm not even sure how far you can continue without your main character if they die. Technically you don't need to create a character as you can pick one of the main group and play as them from the start, but I presume the game is still contingent around your selected character (chosen or created) being the main character in the story. You can also replace some of the main group with hired characters but they'll have no impact on the story like the main group.

From what I've heard there are definitely big differences in those regards between a normal DnD campaign and this game, as the game is definitely pushing you into one main quest line as one character, with variances of how that quest line plays out, but you still can't stray too far from the path. But I also know f*ck all about DnD so I don't know.

Varik

Dead main character makes a blue orb that you can interact with even if the body is gone.

This was new and before you'd just have to reload a save.

companions can't revive main character from whitiers they've to use the blue orb.

Blue orb also applies to companions if their bodies are gone, apparently they didn't like players putting dead companions into container and then yeeting them off cliffs.

Also in most cases you're "downed" and not "dead", you've to fail a dice roll 3 times or get attacked on the ground 3 times to die fully. The icon changes when the battle is over as the turns are no longer ticking by but you can still just help them up for free or any healing spell will also help them up. Healing word is a level 1 ranged spell and a lot of class have it and it's enough to get someone up.

If they died fully a scroll of Revivify can get them up or spell.

johnny_ultimate

Thought I was finally going to make it to Moonrise Towers last night after wrapping up a few side quests, but accidentally stumbled across a morgue and several associated areas that ended up being another hour plus of gameplay 😅

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153588#Comment_121153588

Had similar tonight, where I tried looting something but it wasn't working, so I figured there was nothing there. Continued on past it, picked up a few other items around the area etc, and was about to leave before I decided to try loot the big thing one more time. Approaching it from another angle worked, and also resulted in a huge story moment/revelation.

Almost completely missed it just because I was at slightly the wrong angle.

McFly85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121166871#Comment_121166871

Had a couple of situations like that too, where I couldn’t interact with something it really looked like I should be able to!

Holding down X to scan and list all of the intractable items that you’re close to does the trick too if you can’t find an angle that works.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121167487#Comment_121167487

It's insane knowing that as much as I've tried scouring every nook and cranny in every area I could possibly find, there's undoubtedly still a huge amount of content I've missed by just not connecting some dots, not looting/reading everything, not having the right person in my party, or not winning an invisible skill check. Some stuff you'll miss naturally due to decisions you have to make, but so much you can miss by just not walking close enough to a wall for a skill check that reveals it's a secret door.

I'm definitely in the endgame at this stage, doesn't seem to be much left for me to do in Act 3 other than finish it, but I'll definitely be giving this another playthrough maybe around Xmas.

Also I was too harsh on Laezel. I still don't like her character, but man she can get so many attacks off in one go.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah Lae’Zel can stack an insane number of attacks in a row, it gets preposterous 😂

Loving the weirdo random bosses you encounter in the field during Act 2. Also where Larian has gone really wild and let you skip fights or make them trivially easy with mad, ludicrous dialogue options. The sense of fun and humour in the game makes a real difference.