# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 78
**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:** [August 21, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1541 "2025-08-21T15:35:23Z")
Did you have a particular group you used? I’ve done 4 playthroughs and I’ve mostly used Tav / Astarion / Shadowheart + swapping out the 4th as I see fit / fill gap depending on my Tav’s class (berzerker, paladin, fighter, sorcerer). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1542 "2025-08-21T15:36:17Z")
How could you forget [Minsc and Boo](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Minsc)?! They were the only things I remembered from the old games, lol (aside from the terrible real-time with pause 2nd Ed combat). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1543 "2025-08-21T15:41:31Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Should be some great undiscovered content waiting for me 🙂 Fer sure. It is amazing how much there is that you do not find on a single run of the game. Even a second or third play through will not show it all. This game keeps giving! Truly fantastic. Glad you had fun. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1544 "2025-08-21T16:01:50Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > They were the only things I remembered from the old games, lol (aside from the terrible real-time with pause 2nd Ed combat). Same here. “Go for the eyes!” Though it helps that they had other cameos in other games and media, since they were fan favorites. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1545 "2025-08-21T16:40:49Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Did you have a particular group you used? Yes, I settled pretty quickly on Gale, Karlach and Shadowheart and I decided to stick with them through the whole game without swapping anyone. I opted to romance Shadowheart and we had a happy ending (so to speak) 🤣 Because of that I’ll probably try my next run without her in the party. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1546 "2025-08-21T16:43:05Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > I opted to romance Shadowheart Does she get less annoying as the game progresses? She’s kinda a whiny pain at first… (I ended up swapping out all the companions for storyless hirelings in my first playthrough. For a future one I might have to check out their stories…) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1547 "2025-08-21T16:51:09Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Does she get less annoying as the game progresses? She’s kinda a whiny pain at first… I found myself weirdly attached to her, honestly - trying not to hurt her feelings, etc. Maybe I’m a sucker for a love story 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1548 "2025-08-21T16:54:58Z")
It’s very worthwhile to play _as_ an origin character. You get a first-person view of their story. In particular, I recommend playing as Wyll and romancing Karlach. Very rewarding. Wyll as an NPC annoys me, but he’s a lot of fun as a Warlock with an in-game patron. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1549 "2025-08-21T18:14:09Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I ended up swapping out all the companions for storyless hirelings in my first playthrough Why? If it was for class reasons, you can respec characters. > [@Pleonast](#): > > It’s very worthwhile to play _as_ an origin character. You get a first-person view of their story. In particular, I recommend playing as Wyll and romancing Karlach. Very rewarding. Wyll as an NPC annoys me, but he’s a lot of fun as a Warlock with an in-game patron. Hmm, that’s an interesting idea. I haven’t done any origin characters and I hate Wyll (last playthrough I yelled at him until he left permanently) so might be a way to make it palatable. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1550 "2025-08-21T19:45:34Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Why? If it was for class reasons, you can respec characters. I was doing a [storyless playthrough](https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561199138390397/recommended/1086940?snr=1_5_9__402) where I just tossed everyone off the nearest cliff. I min-maxed the heck out of my fighter such that he could pick up most enemies and toss them, then nudge them, then the warlock would Eldritch Blast them into the abyss. One of my favorite games I’ve ever played, but I have no idea what the story is or who the characters are, lol. Didn’t talk to anyone. I plan to do another playthrough at some point, but every time I’m halfway through Act 1, I start getting impatient and wanting to toss again… An excerpt… > In my younger days, I used to spend weeks and weeks on these deep, story-driven RPGs, like Baldur’s other gates (exactly how many does a man need, really?). These days I’m not so young, and through my long life, I’ve come to realize that most epic story arcs can be summarized as “people meet people, people talk to people, then everyone dies”. I decided to skip to the “then everyone dies” part. > > Fresh off the boat – some sort of octopus spaceship, apparently – I crash-landed straight into a Divinity reference, with debris and survivors scattered along a beach. I met a few heroic-looking companions and I pushed “skip” as quickly as I could. Some of them had more than two lines of dialogue, which bothered me, so I made them jump off a cliff and die. Others had the good sense to stay quiet after our initial encounter, so I let them stay in the party and be cannon fodder. The wizard guy kept wanting to eat my weapons, so I decided to let him tank. He wasn’t a very good tank, but he was cheaper than buying another health potion. Another guy apparently wandered off the Twilight set and tried to tell me his sob story, but I was already plenty traumatized by Twilight and wanted to hear none of it. He was ambushed one night in camp, and that was the perfect opportunity for me to join the ambushers and kill him. He whined less after that. Eventually I got sick of all my companions, so I replaced them with generic story-less hirelings, who had inferior personalities but a superior respect for silence. This is a single-player RPG, after all. I don’t need other NPCs trying to pretend to be players. > > […] ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1551 "2025-08-21T21:59:39Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > > Another guy apparently wandered off the Twilight set and tried to tell me his sob story, but I was already plenty traumatized by Twilight and wanted to hear none of it. I just realized that Astarion is Jasper Cullen. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/f8/7f/9a/f87f9ab8e1e2ae14e5a6376b859c5807.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/f8/7f/9a/f87f9ab8e1e2ae14e5a6376b859c5807.jpg) [![](https://cdn.staticneo.com/w/twilight/thumb/JasperHale.jpg/200px-JasperHale.jpg) ](https://cdn.staticneo.com/w/twilight/thumb/JasperHale.jpg/200px-JasperHale.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1552 "2025-09-29T13:05:57Z")
My copy is going a 12 gig patch right now. I don’t see anything but a hot fix posted recently. I was on top of my updates so this must be something newer. Anyone know what it is? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1553 "2025-09-29T13:36:40Z")
The most recent hot fix included a native Steam Deck build, so it’s probably that. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1554 "2025-09-29T13:54:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > The most recent hot fix included a native Steam Deck build Oooh!!! Very very very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1555 "2025-10-01T13:23:53Z")
It’s working really well on the deck for me as well, even in act 3. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1556 "2026-05-16T16:51:39Z")
I only every played these isometric games with mouse and key, but would probably play this on the Deck using a controller, like an Xbox one. How does the game work with controller control? I presume they designed it with that in mind? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2026, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1557 "2026-05-17T20:38:41Z")
I don’t have any first-hand experience, but I was interested in the question. Seems like controller has very good comments on Reddit. I didn’t expect that. I thought it would be hard to adapt, but it sounds like they put the effort into creating a controller UI. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2026, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1558 "2026-05-19T01:00:02Z")
I am currently playing a 4-player online game with 3 buddies. 2 of them are playing on Xbox, and they don’t seem to have that much trouble with the controller. ---
**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, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/1559 "2026-10-10T21:22:14Z")
Bumped for dumb BG3 story and I figured better here among people familiar with the game: I’m playing an Honor run, having last tried years ago. I decided that my halfling bard would roll with Shadowheart, Gale and Karlach (as Paladin) and I’d avoid everyone else. Unfortunately, having Karlach means Wyll shows up in your camp even if you avoided talking to him in the Grove. Then he just stuck around (I didn’t want to murder him during the confrontation) so I invited him into my party, had him toss himself off a cliff, stuck his corpse in a box and forgot about him. Wrapping up the Act 1 overland stuff (managed to get Ethel’s hair and save Mayrina!), I went to the overland pass. Lae’zel popped up at the Gith search party and helpfully got herself one-shotted so that’s it for her. We enter the Pass and it forced me into a camp scene for Mizora to confront and change Wyll except, since he was dead and in a box, Mizora just stood there like a dork. Last game, I amused myself in the Act 3 camp by shooting Mizora whenever I ran past her, she would poof out and reappear a moment later. So, naturally, I shot her. She took damage. I shot her again. She took damage AND turned hostile. As did Halsin, Wyll (who poofed in ass-naked), two Hireling NPCs, and Scratch. So now I had a mess but I couldn’t reload anyway and, if I was going down, I was taking Mizora with me. Karlach smited her into oblivion as Mizora obviously wasn’t built for battle: 130ish hp but negligible AC. I noticed that Gale’s bedroll was far enough away from all this that he wasn’t in the fray. The rest of us carved up Mizora while Halsin shot us with lightning and Wyll Eldritch blasted us and Scratch gnawed on us. Once Mizora was dead, I let the rest kill us. Then, as I hoped, Gale was able to hit up Withers to resurrect us. Now I have untransformed Wyll in camp though I threw him into a chasm again. Halsin refuses to speak to me because of the -65 rep hit for going hostile. No big loss. Scratch also took the hit but doesn’t seem to mind… good boy! From what I’ve read, this removes Mizora from the story, which also means I lost out on the magic rapier in Act 2 from saving Mizora which kinda sucks (Sword Bard) but whatever. Worth it for the wackiness of it all and finally turning Mizora into pulp. Besides, Bard generally means a high Dex score anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681.md?page=77)