General Gaming Baldur's Gate III - Information Thread, update: Larian doesn't plan to release DLC/expansions for BGIII nor develop BGIV

[Kal-El814]

6 hours ago, Bacon said:

NI know there is the advantage system, not really sure how it works, but setting up advantage isn't a thing I care for, and aside from a few moments, I haven't really had an advantage outside of high ground and stealth. At times I wish I could just walk up and hit someone.

 

Also, it's annoying when a fight starts out with very poor rolls. I've restarted once or twice because literally nothing happened on my end due to poor rolls.

 

Advantage: roll twice, take the better result. Disadvantage: roll twice, take the worse result.

[Xbob42]

3 hours ago, Bacon said:

The biggest mistake I made was taking debuffs and utility spells. As I have learned, fuck that shit like 90% of the time. Just take different types of damage.

 

That's how I usually play video games. Just stack up on damage. I thought this game would be different but it sure ain't at the start.

This depends entirely on what you're fighting. You start running into enemies with a lot of health pretty quickly, so advantage and disadvantage rolls start to really be felt and save your life, fire and poison adds up, blind will save you from hard hitting monsters, sleep is a godsend when surrounded by tons of enemies, silence bubbles are insanely OP when facing magical foes, I've found buffs and debuffs to be tremendously useful.

 

Of course, if you're fighting one or two enemies with relatively low HP, you can just beat the shit out of them before they can do any real harm, but I stopped running into those kinds of encounters real quick.

That said I'm also on Tactician difficulty, I have absolutely no idea what changes or how impactful the difficulty option is, but I have had to consider my options in most of my fights. Big damage has a place in every fight of course, but a lot of this shit enables your big damage dealers to deal tremendously more damage while keeping foes at bay. That auto crit from a sleeping enemy is just MMM.

Some of these fights I walk into it and it is immediately clear that I am woefully unprepared, those gnolls beat the everloving shit out of me when I first came upon them.

 

I also don't waste time save scumming trying to get fights to go my way, some turns go awry, some turns the enemy has to run through your grease puddle and they all slip and it's hilarious. Or they'll try to run from you without disengaging and get killed by a critical attack of opportunity, which is always a chef's kiss moment.

 

And that's not even getting into the silly but useful options, like throwing an enemy into another enemy so they both take damage, go prone and you're positioning them where you want (presumably in a bottleneck where they can't access your squishier party members) -- the ability to chuck potions and poisons around for ranged healing on non-mages is great, chucking a weapon because it'll do more damage than your crossbow or whatever, jumping to terrain too far away for the enemy to reach because you used the enhanced jump spell and it turns into a ranged attack contest, leaving party members separated so that when combat starts they can enter combat from a different position that is greatly advantageous to you (or just leaving them there ahead of time if you're redoing a lost fight, so they can get proper initiative), shoving enemies into hazards or off cliffs, soooo many options.

Don't forget you can also cast buffs prior to a fight, if you know one's coming. You can also just get the jump on them by using your strongest abilities before proper combat starts. Combat isn't the only time you can fuck people up!

[Keyser_Soze]

So what's going to happen when this drops on the PlayStation? Do you think Jim Ryan is going to say, "Absolutely no cocks" ?

 

Will BigPhillyStyle say, "Bring us the biggest cocks you have for series S/X"?

[Xbob42]

42 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

So what's going to happen when this drops on the PlayStation? Do you think Jim Ryan is going to say, "Absolutely no cocks" ?

 

Will BigPhillyStyle say, "Bring us the biggest cocks you have for series S/X"?

Jim Ryan will marvel at how massive the cocks are, while Phil just wonders why they can't be bigger.

[Biggie]

4 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

So what's going to happen when this drops on the PlayStation? Do you think Jim Ryan is going to say, "Absolutely no cocks" ?

 

Will BigPhillyStyle say, "Bring us the biggest cocks you have for series S/X"?

 

4 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

Jim Ryan will marvel at how massive the cocks are, while Phil just wonders why they can't be bigger.

So I guess I was correct in calling the game Ball Sacks Gate

[Paperclyp]

Question about your special powers you learn about very very early: 

 

Spoiler

I’m reluctant to use the ithilid powers, like, at all. Does anyone know if I’m being TOO cautious or if it does have some pretty major implications down the line? Probably tough to know with the game only a few days out…

 

[legend]

11 hours ago, atom631 said:

I have no idea what to do

 

  Reveal hidden contents

at the goblin camp, inner sanctum where you have to kill the 3 leaders. 

 

I think its optional, but holy shit. theres so many of them. 

 

Some tips.

Spoiler

Talk your way into the place. Then, on the inside, slowly take out small groups of enemies on the fringes. As long as you don't let any run and play a war drum you can whittle them away. You can also destroy war drums in advance to prevent that.

 

When you get the main big bad level 5 leader in the throne, all I'll say is you can kill him in one move before combat starts...

 

Also, always remember that you can fast travel if you're not in combat... Just putting that out there for later  

 

 

10 hours ago, Brian said:

The e-peen is definitely OP. My rolls are all on point. 
 

I will echo what atom said and wish there were more explanations. It definitely feels like the game expects you to know DnD rules and terms which is not the case for me. I also feel the Wizard class is definitely not the most beginner friendly class. I have no clue what I am doing during leveling. 
 

I am enjoying the game and rolling with the punches and not worrying about outcomes. First game in a long time where I won’t look anything up. I completed the cathedral. Back to exploring. 

 

If you or anyone else is struggling, and you're willing to read, I highly recommend reading through the various rules and class descriptions on DnD Beyond. That will also give you a preview of where things are going for your class.

 

E.g., class page for wizard: 

Wizard

WWW.DNDBEYOND.COM

---

Wizard Class Details Clad in the silver robes that denote her station, an elf closes her eyes to shut out the distractions of the battlef...

 

 

You can also look at the "Game Rules" drop down and select what you want to learn about. And if you want, you can "create a character" and just walk through the level up to whatever level to see what it would be like.

 

 

10 hours ago, Bacon said:

The biggest mistake I made was taking debuffs and utility spells. As I have learned, fuck that shit like 90% of the time. Just take different types of damage.

 

That's how I usually play video games. Just stack up on damage. I thought this game would be different but it sure ain't at the start.

 

Debuffs and buffs are fucking awesome, but when you're low level with few spell slots and enemies die quickly, they're not as good.

 

53 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

Question about your special powers you learn about very very early: 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I’m reluctant to use the ithilid powers, like, at all. Does anyone know if I’m being TOO cautious or if it does have some pretty major implications down the line? Probably tough to know with the game only a few days out…

 

 

This is what I'm struggling with. It's DnD so there is probably a cost  But it's interesting that

Spoiler

your guardian is telling you to use them.

 

Thus far, I haven't

Spoiler

eaten any of the tadpoles

 

but I am holding on to them.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

 

 

[legend]

I really liked the juxtaposition of the dialog option and his face  

 

 

[Paperclyp]

@legend 

Spoiler

the first time I used them it was like “oh you’ve lost a part of you forever” so I’m just like welllllll shit. Don’t feel good about that at all. 

 

[Firewithin]

now im starting to get frustrated and im thinking about re-starting.  i dont know if its my party/class/whatever but im at the goblin camp and it feels like every attack i do i miss and im getting my ass kicked

[TheLeon]

Alright, stretched my budget and got my gaming PC up and going again, downloading now!

[CitizenVectron]

Over 807k concurrent players. It deserves it all. Just skyrocketed to most-preordered game on PSN, as well. Top 9 game of all time on Steam.

[Bacon]

A precious keepsake that will forever rest in my bag.

Spoiler

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

3 hours ago, CitizenVectron said:

Over 807k concurrent players. It deserves it all. Just skyrocketed to most-preordered game on PSN, as well. Top 9 game of all time on Steam.

 

Phil Spencer now taking personal control of MS technical efforts to get the split-screen co-op working on the Series S.

[legend]

3 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

Phil Spencer now taking personal control of MS technical efforts to get the split-screen co-op working on the Series S.

I’d say they should just make an exception on full support for S, but it would look bad and Larian probably wouldn’t roll back on it after pledging to get it working. 
 

The S was such a short sighted decision. 

[Bacon]

1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

Phil Spencer now taking personal control of MS technical efforts to get the split-screen co-op working on the Series S.

MS are fools for not saying "too bad" to Series S owners.

[Xbob42]

Was getting the absolute shit kicked out of me by a certain boss last night. Died again and again and again. Figured out some tricks to get its HP to half before the fight began, but that seemed to be an enrage threshold where it got double attacks each turn, which made it even more dangerous. So I inch my way around pre-combat, getting rid of as many hazards and minions as I could without breaking stealth.

 

Now, prior to this, I'd tried many ways to shortcut my way to victory, from status effects (which got me the closest, burning and poison can do a number over time) to trying to bumrush it with our best attacks while pre-buffed, to attempting to shove it off a cliff, but sadly its weight class was far outside anything any of us were able to actually even budge. And even with its minions, which we could shove, they basically needed to be right at the edge for our strongest member to be able to knock off, so I had to come up with something else. When this boss hit us, any of my team would be lucky to withstand the first attack, and if we didn't, the follow-up would actually outright kill anyone hit by it, rapidly deteriorating the situation.

I keep banging my head against it over and over, and eventually realize I haven't really checked all my items. I've tried various spells and scrolls, but kind of ignored potions, non-spell poisons, etc. Then I notice I have this weird arrow I picked up several hours earlier. I instantly remember its effect: it knocks back enemies 3ish meters on hit. I begin this fight by yeeting that big bitch right off a cliff and instantly leveling up the entire party, and then jumping down a seemingly bottomless pit to find a new area, which I'm now exploring!

[Mercury33]

27 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

Was getting the absolute shit kicked out of me by a certain boss last night. Died again and again and again. Figured out some tricks to get its HP to half before the fight began, but that seemed to be an enrage threshold where it got double attacks each turn, which made it even more dangerous. So I inch my way around pre-combat, getting rid of as many hazards and minions as I could without breaking stealth.

 

Now, prior to this, I'd tried many ways to shortcut my way to victory, from status effects (which got me the closest, burning and poison can do a number over time) to trying to bumrush it with our best attacks while pre-buffed, to attempting to shove it off a cliff, but sadly its weight class was far outside anything any of us were able to actually even budge. And even with its minions, which we could shove, they basically needed to be right at the edge for our strongest member to be able to knock off, so I had to come up with something else. When this boss hit me, any of my team would be lucky to withstand the first attack, and if we didn't, the follow-up would actually outright anyone hit by it, rapidly deteriorating the situation.

I keep banging my head against it over and over, and eventually realize I haven't really checked all my items. I've tried various spells and scrolls, but kind of ignored potions, non-spell poisons, etc. Then I notice I have this weird arrow I picked up several hours earlier. I instantly remember its effect: it knocks back enemies 3ish meters on hit. I begin this fight by yeeting that big bitch right off a cliff and instantly leveling up the entire party, and then jumping down a seemingly bottomless pit to find a new area, which I'm now exploring!

Jesus this story is literally everything I want from this game. My lack of a gaming PC makes me sad. Gonna be a long month of FF XVI side quests while I wait to get my hands on this. 

[CitizenVectron]

The best thing about this game (for both combat and role playing) is that almost any question you throw at it, it just answers back, "yes."

[Bacon]

There is pretty much no real difference between playing on Ultra vs anything else. It's like the game looks worse but runs exactly the same. I wonder if it is a CPU or Memory issue. And at times, it feels like the game starts to chug a little but exiting the game and relaunching seems to make the game run better. CPU and GPU near 100% or at 100% while playing. Temps are fine tho.

[Bacon]

Shame the all-time peak didn't reach 1M. Can't see it going up at this point.

[Xbob42]

37 minutes ago, Bacon said:

Shame the all-time peak didn't reach 1M. Can't see it going up at this point.

The all-time peak was 6 hours ago and it's been climbing every day. I mean it does have to stop somewhere but it could keep going up for a few more days.

[Bacon]

5 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

The all-time peak was 6 hours ago and it's been climbing every day. I mean it does have to stop somewhere but it could keep going up for a few more days.

It could, but the weekend is over which is big game time for many.

[Xbob42]

Best part of this game is I just have Kyle Bosman's stream going on a second monitor and because he plays his games like a madman our playthroughs are completely different. He fuckin' mercs Shadowheart by seeing if he can attack friendlies right at the beginning, has Lae'zel loot the artifact, and after you end up on the shore, he revives her and she's hostile because the artifact is gone and he doesn't have Lae'zel in the group so he has to kill her a second time. 

[Bacon]

I am somewhat disheartened to learn how much romance depends on you being the good guy.

Spoiler

I really want to kill the druids, but not the Tieflings. Is there a way to do that? From what I know, picking the goblins will end up with everyone in emerald grove dead and prevent your from starting a romance with most of your party. Well, it's really not even the romance I'm worried about but I really don't want to kill the cool demon race. I like them.

 

[legend]

1 hour ago, Bacon said:

I am somewhat disheartened to learn how much romance depends on you being the good guy.

  Reveal hidden contents

I really want to kill the druids, but not the Tieflings. Is there a way to do that? From what I know, picking the goblins will end up with everyone in emerald grove dead and prevent your from starting a romance with most of your party. Well, it's really not even the romance I'm worried about but I really don't want to kill the cool demon race. I like them.

 

 

The game's characters aren't aren't a harem and actually respond appropriately to the main character's actions, even though the game very much let's you make those choices? Pretty unforgivable.

[Bacon]

8 minutes ago, legend said:

The game's characters aren't aren't a harem and actually respond appropriately to the main character's actions, even though the game very much let's you make those choices? Pretty unforgivable.

Twist my words harder why don't ya? But yeah, it is a shame that you gotta be a good boy for the vast majority of romantic encounters. I don't really think that is a good choice. Even then the choices are all or nothing. You either kill everyone or you don't. I feel my complaint is valid and undeserving of your mockery thb. It's hardly about the romance as I said in the spoiler.

[legend]

1 minute ago, Bacon said:

Twist my words harder why don't ya? But yeah, it is a shame that you gotta be a good boy for the vast majority of romantic encounters. I don't really think that is a good choice. Even then the choices are all or nothing. You either kill everyone or you don't. I feel my complaint is valid and undeserving of your mockery thb. It's hardly about the romance as I said in the spoiler.

 

"Why can't I only commit selective genocide" sure is a take!

[Bacon]

Just now, legend said:

"Why can't I only commit selective genocide" sure is a take!

I mean, it's just druids. They deserve it.

[legend]

Really puzzling why the only allies you'd find with that attitude are the baddies.  

[legend]

[Bacon]

Just now, legend said:

Really puzzling why the only allies you'd find with that attitude are the baddies.  

I mean if could get rid of both factions, I would. Goblins, orcs, Dragonborn, and druids are all on the chopping block. I am heartbroken I can't just team up with the cool demon race and get rid of both sides.

 

And like, how is getting rid of the druids a bad guy thing? They're druids.

[Bacon]

Also, this wouldn't be the first genocide I have committed in an RPG.

Spoiler

And that man is a hero!

 

And, since it was ignored, I will say it again. It is a shame that you gotta be a good boy for the vast majority of romantic encounters. I don't really think that is a good choice.

 

I just want it

 

[Mr.Vic20]

I think I'm nearing the end of Chapter 1 (unless the intro sequence is consider chap 1, then I'm nearing the end of 2?). My overall impression of the game boils down to the phrase:

 

Unintended consequences! I've laughed aloud, and bark my shocked disapproval as the game frequently responded to my decisions like a tricky D'jinn granting wishes. Of particular note for those playing as a Paladin, I'll just say: "Oathbreaker"!  I love this game. Larian Studios has truly delivered a massive CRPG that surprises and delights. I've not been this contented with an RPG in many years. Choices actually do matter, and I can see myself playing through this grand adventure more than once over the next couple of years. I have lots of little complaints, but those are largely wash away in the endless waves of praise I have for the deep, rich, and rewarding gameplay. That said, what in the hell is up with the frame rate? There are certain areas where my FPS dips as low as 30 when it typical sits at 120. Its a jarring moment when you drop by 90 frames. Its seems to happen most when there are numerous fire effects on screen, but that's just a guess. Overall though, can't wait to delve back in tonight!