# Baldur's Gate 3! {finally Released August 3rd, 2023} **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [February 28, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681 "2020-02-28T23:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 58
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1141 "2023-10-10T13:05:33Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > As previously mentioned I see a fair amount of dialog that references things I haven’t done. In three games I haven’t really experienced this to any notable degree (not saying it doesn’t happen; just hasn’t to me) _except_ for this last game when Gale started randomly berating me for making a deal with someone I hadn’t even met with yet in Act III. Shadowheart’s romance is a slow burn. You share a bottle of wine and a kiss in Act I then that’s about it until Act III when you confront the House of Loss and eventually have your naked canoodling scene. At least that was the point when we moved forward; can’t speak for everyone’s game. She even says that she needs to resolve all that before she can fully find space for us though so I assume it’s intentional. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1142 "2023-10-11T03:28:34Z")
Meanwhile with Minthara… ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1143 "2023-10-11T17:31:32Z")
Throws torch into dark cave…“Phase spiders, why did it have to be phase spiders…” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1144 "2023-10-12T16:17:38Z")
Something I love about this game is how, so far, I have talked myself out of multiple what I imagine were really hard boss fights and my Charisma is a 12 so it isn’t like I am a wheeling and dealing type character. To wit: I drank a giant steampunk cursed demon thing under the table. Convinced a creepy evil doctor to allow his students to murder him in the name of science. Convinced Kethric Thorm that he was an asshole and should just kill himself for what he did. Honorable Mention: convinced a Devil to have most of his minions kill each other but I couldn’t convince him to kill his pet Displacer Beast so I still had to fight that along with him. Stuff like this makes this really feel like an RPG vs a video game. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1145 "2023-10-12T16:56:37Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Stuff like this makes this really feel like an RPG vs a video game. Yep! One of my all-time favorite moments in a tabletop game was when I as a halfling challenged a hill giant to a drinking contest and sleight-of-handed alchemist’s fires into his drinks until he keeled over from the damage. It made me feel like I was Jack from Seven At One Blow, and I haven’t ever felt that in a CRPG until Baldur’s Gate 3. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1146 "2023-10-13T15:54:42Z")
Well, now it feels like a true heart-and-soul sequel to BG1&2… My character (a monk) had spilt off my character from the group and stealthed into a building where the suspected baddies were holed up (I won’t spoiler the specific encounter). Wyll, Shadowheart, and Karlach are outside waiting to ambush. A perfect rope-a-dope kiting ensued, and a glorious battle, ending with Karlach and Shadowheart knocked out, and me and Wyll with only a few health remaining. Some quick assist got the others back on their feet with 1 hp. To the spoils! I clicked to rejoin the whole party and…I should have learned from my vast years of prior BG experience. I, standing slightly on the other side of the doorway threshold, was apparently too imposing a barrier for my party to simply ask “excuse me” and step through the door. No, they turned an hightailed it the other way, down ladders, off a roof ledge, up more ladders, scattering to the winds within the building complex. I soon heard cries of pain and wails of woe as their portraits filled with red mist. I dashed into the building, down a ladder to a lower floor. There, I see Shadowheart passed out in a small patch of flames, herself on fire, with Wyll running through another fire in the hallway, succumbing to the blaze and collapsing. I see Karlach in the next room and click on the floor for her to get over here, now! Ever the good barbarian, her fire resistance protects her from the embers, but she chooses the road less traveled and opts for the doorway with the large pool of acid and runs through, thinks otherwise, and stands in the acid pool in indecision. “Nooooo!” I yell, trying to get to her and toss a potion…and Wyll and Shadowheart gasp their last breath, skulls appearing on their portraits. Karlach smiles, salutes, and crumples to a heap in the acid. Did I save game before clicking “group party”? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1147 "2023-10-13T16:03:53Z")
Still in chapter 1 but now I’m able to get further. Thanks for all the help. Learned quickly to use the save feature. A lot. It’s definitely old school thinking. Most modern video games save seamlessly so I have gotten out of the habit of manually saving much. ---
**Author:** ![vislor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vislor/32/5933_2.png) [@vislor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vislor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1148 "2023-10-16T18:38:41Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Did I save game before clicking “group party”? What do you think? I’m going with yes! The game has a lot of subtle things that have to be learned to play it “well.” - Throwing healing potions. - Jumping and then moving costs your bonus action but lets you move further. - How to Group and UnGroup, when to do it, and how to make sure I Group back up. - Concentration spells and how to make sure I don’t cast another one before the first one is done. - Making sure to cast spells that last until Long Rest. - Making sure to check that characters have the best equipment for them. I’m sure there is more but that is what I have at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1149 "2023-10-16T20:10:17Z")
> [@vislor](#): > > Throwing healing potions. Even better, missing with thrown healing potions because actually hitting people damages them before the potion breaks and heals them, but throwing them nearby still heals them from the splash without doing damage. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1150 "2023-10-20T04:53:52Z")
I’m not sure what happened. I went to play the game and Wyll now has no armor or weapons. I can either lose hours of time and load an old game or I might just quit. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1151 "2023-10-20T13:51:40Z")
Did Wyll have boots that granted misty step? There are a pair that drop your gear when you teleport. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1152 "2023-10-20T16:05:08Z")
Definitely don’t have those. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1153 "2023-10-20T19:37:25Z")
Just finished, and I came around to this viewpoint. I think there was only 1 fight that I went into and had to replay more than 2 times. The Viconia fight. Eventually I just backed up the stairs and forced everyone to run through stacked tentacles, and darkness of hadar, which trivialized it. Overall I really enjoyed it. Not sure about a replay, I tend to over-explore and think . The thing I’m most interested in is actually having a romance. I still don’t know why Karlach and Shadowheart never showed interest even though I had them maxed on liking me basically the entire game. While I never even had Halsin in my party and he just throws himself at me. Romancing Karlach would be pretty tough with an evil playthrough too, so bah. My playthough was super heavy physical focused (barb/fighter/thief man and respecced Karlach into Paladin/fighter). I suppose if I play again a sorcerer would be most different. How “pacifist” can you be at this game? And by that I mean not having the turn-based fighting. If you can convince someone to kill themselves through dialogue or something I’d allow it. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1154 "2023-10-20T19:39:57Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > If you can convince someone to kill themselves through dialogue or something I’d allow it. You can do this A LOT. Not every fight mind you, but a significant enough number. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1155 "2023-10-20T20:20:46Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I still don’t know why Karlach and Shadowheart never showed interest even though I had them maxed on liking me basically the entire game. There are a lot of blockers, especially sleeping with the wrong character. I think you kind of have to commit early and be consistent. Sleeping around early (easy to do, because your party is crawling all over you) definitely kills many romances dead. Polyamory is possible, but only with very specific combos. Sleep with Lae’zel at any point and Shadowheart will never advance a romance all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1156 "2023-10-20T20:30:46Z")
That could be it. For Karlach too? I specifically googled that before agreeing to sleep with Laezel (I broke up with her the next morning too!) and apparently got bad advice. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1157 "2023-10-20T20:35:19Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > For Karlach too? I think so. What I read somewhere is that all of the normal starting party members (Astarion, Shadowheart, Wyll, Lae’zel, Gale and Karlach) are mostly mutually exclusive. Minthara and Halsin on the other hand are apparently polyamorous targets. I’ve seen mixed opinions on whether Astarion/Shadowheart works. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1158 "2023-10-20T20:37:28Z")
Gale, Wyll, and Astarion gave me romance options after I slept with Lae’zel, so that can’t be it. I read that the origin characters were “one at a time” not that they shut doors. Looks like it’s in between? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1159 "2023-10-20T20:39:37Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > How “pacifist” can you be at this game? And by that I mean not having the turn-based fighting. I feel like you could skip a lot of content in Act I, and thus avoid much combat. Just go right to the goblins, skip the Grove (to avoid fighting the goblins outside), then go into the Underdark. Make for the boats then make for the Lift? But you’d also go into Act II with very little experience and much of Act II is unavoidable combat. Come Act III, in theory you could rush killing one of the bosses, align with the other boss and go off to fight the Brain but, again, I think you’d have a difficult time of it as you’d be severely underleveled. > [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Gale, Wyll, and Astarion gave me romance options after I slept with Lae’zel, so that can’t be it. Each Companion has their own flags and limits. I think you HAVE to speak to Karlach at the party to start her romance path. And Shadowheart is opposed enough to Lae’zel at the romance start points that a fling with her will possibly cut you off. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1160 "2023-10-20T20:51:56Z")
Yeah, that wouldn’t be fun. I was curious about building a character that’s pure non-combat. If you could experience all the content by being clever, using lore, sneaking around, etc. > [@Jophiel](#): > > Each Companion has their own flags and limits. I think you HAVE to speak to Karlach at the party to start her romance path That’s probably it. I don’t recall if I even had her in my party when I beat the goblin camp. Definitely no memorable interaction with her. IIRC she’s a bit out of the way? Like if you don’t do explore on your own you’ll miss her romance flag just by following the story? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681.md?page=59)