Continuing my general dislike for Astarion, I’ve kind of decided to play around with reworking her slightly as my locks and traps support when I can’t shoehorn that into my main character (Bard, fine - Warlock, fine - Paladin, not so much). Either her or Gale, really. But I think thematically she works better.
Fireball would face the same issue, no?
No, because the extra spells under Light Domain are treated as clerical magic and key off Wisdom. Shadowheart’s Fire Bolt isn’t from any class, it’s from her half-elven heritage and is treated like a wizard spell.
From the BG3 Wiki:
Subrace Traits
Generally, casting healing spells in combat is not an efficient use of your action or spell slot. Healing Word is ok for an emergency downed ally as a bonus action, but you’ll typically be better off throwing a potion instead. Allies who aren’t down yet are better off using their own bonus action instead of Shadowheart’s full action.
Shadowheart is a capable melee fighter, and her best cantrip is Sacred Flame (I just got to level 5, it now does 2d10 damage and the Competency component of the DC went up - typically I see 70% chance to land). I gave her the Vision of the Absolute (a unique spear) and a +2 shield and she’s a capable secondary melee combatant with good AC (Karlach and Lae’Zel both use two handed polearms).
I save her spells for things with bigger impact. Guiding Bolt is a great level 1 spell (especially if she can get advantage, say with high ground) as is Command. Bless is great before wading into melee. Level 2 has Spiritual Weapon which is an amazing spell, especially because the AI will use actions attacking it. And at level 3 I have mostly been messing around with Animate Dead because it’s fun but Spirit Guardians is the optimal choice.
I haven’t respecced Shadowheart yet. I did modify a companion but only to edit my own choices, I didn’t edit their level 1. And she’s still doing well for me - she’s very plot relevant so I haven’t left her at camp yet.
One significant change between 5e and BG3 – and it’s a rare case of BG3 making it harder – is how “yo-yo healing” works. In 5e, getting up from Prone uses your movement. So, if Barbie the Barbarian gets downed, the cleric can Healing Word her and, next round, Barbie uses her movement to stand up and continues whacking on the foe that downed her.
In BG3, getting up from Prone uses your action so you stand up and then have to wait until your next round to attack, baring a Bonus Action attack. So it’s entirely possible to get to 0hp, get a Healing Word, get back up and then get downed again before you got to really do anything. Healing Word is still a powerful spell but not as powerful as it is in 5e.
I really like this change, inasmuch as it makes battlefield healing more interesting. You can’t just wait until someone’s at 0 before healing them. Instead, it makes sense to keep people up. To this end, 3/4 of my PCs have healing magic: Wyll is now a palalock, and Gale has a magic necklace that lets him cast mass healing word, and my bard main carries healing magic.
Karloch is a freeloader.
Did someone mention playing a dex based barbarian?
I’m thinking about a build for a Dark Urge playthrough, and a ranger/barbarian a la Belkar Bitterleaf sounds awesome.
I was originally thinking of a strength based dwarf, to use these ‘light’ but not ‘finesse’ weapons I keep finding like a flaming handaxe. But a dex based barbarian/ranger/(rogue?) could be fun, tossing daggers and stab stab stabbing.
Is there a dachshund mount in the game?
My character is currently:
Thief Rogue 4/Berserker Barb 4
DEX 20 / CON 18
Dual-Wielder Feat - +1 to AC and weapons don’t have to be Light to use off-hand attacks
Two-Weapon Fighting Style (via magical gloves) - Add prof mod to off-hand attacks like you would main
When raging, I get two main hand attacks (normal attack + Frenzied strike), an off-hand attack and Sneak Attack damage. Next level when the Barb side gets Extra Attack, it’ll be three main hand attacks, one off-hand and Sneak Attack. When not raging, make one of the main hand attacks an off-hand but, with the Two Weapon style, it doesn’t actually matter. My AC is 21 and I have 88hp. Mostly “naked AC” due to my high Dex/Con but there’s a few magic items in there.
I’m doing solid damage and have the advantage of my Thief skills/proficiencies. Going to take Barb to 12 to maximize my ASIs (if I switched out now I’d lose either Extra Attack or an ASI tier). I don’t think it would work as well as a thrown/ranged build since you can’t throw as an off-hand attack. My build doesn’t measure up to some of the meme power builds but I find it fun, flexible and effective.
My biggest gripe is the lack of decent magical rapiers (or even scimitars) which keeps me mainly using short swords. I’d be doing a d8 instead of a d6 if I could find some rapiers with decent enchantments. I got epically trolled at the end of Act II by Mizora giving Wyll a legendary rapier… that uses your spellcasting stat as a modifier in lieu of your Dex so it’s worse than my short swords
I had a pretty nice rapier that can shoot an extra 2d6 fire damage while doing 1d6 to the wielder. I also found a longsword that’s fitnesseable and boosts my bard casting, though I guess that one isn’t very helpful to you.
There’s a magical rapier, I think, in a shop early in Act 3.
So my party is level 4 and I am still in the introductory area but I have hit some fights I just can’t win no matter what combination of characters I try. Two examples (vague to avoid spoilers) are a group of Gnolls and a Hobgoblin. Is that normal and I just need to level up some more or am I just bad at this game?
Without more detail it is hard to say but the game wants you to get used to doing something more than stand there and swing. For example, you have movement (anytime) and action and a bonus action…be sure to use it all for everyone (maybe not movement…depends).
Positioning and range matters. Ranged units benefit from being higher up than what they are shooting at (you can even stack boxes on your own, climb up the stack and get that advantage) and get a penalty if an enemy is standing next to them (so, don’t shoot if an enemy is next to you…use a different weapon or move away…moving away may initiate an Attack of Opportunity on you which can hurt…disengage if you can).
Get used to shoving things. You can end an enemy simply by pushing them off a cliff (or whatever). Or push them into a fire (or whatever).
Use things in the environment. All creatures standing in a puddle are all susceptible to electric shock. Toss some oil at the ground and enemies will slip on it. You can also then set the oil on fire and damage anything in the oil. Throw stuff…anything you can pickup (mostly…and not saying you should but you can and in some cases it might help). Throwing a health potion at the ground next to an ally will heal the ally when the bottle breaks. Or poison will poison whatever is in range of where it was thrown.
You can get really creative. Some spells are kinda OP too. Command Drop will make the creature drop whatever it is holding. Meaning it will drop its weapon. Run over and pick up the weapon. The enemy is now fighting bare handed which (in most cases) makes them complete wimps. So many possibilities. Play around and see what works for you. Part of the fun (I think).
Also, sometimes it is in your interest to help the enemy. Say two big baddies are fighting…let them beat each other up. Even help one (healing or whatever) so it wins the fight…then you have one less to deal with (hint: you have had the opportunity for this already).
All that said, I would not call the game “easy.” There are some real challenges.
Can’t it be both? I kid!
The hobgoblin fight was referenced by multiple people here as a tough one and it was the first fight I think I had issues with. Easy mode on it is to climb up the ladders into the rafters and rain death from above
The gnoll fight is similar in that your best bet is probably to sneak up the hill on the right, shove the archers off and use the high ground to delay melee as long as possible. They have some hard-hitting multi-attacks.
In addition to Whack-A-Mole’s tips, Spiritual Weapon (Level 2 Cleric spell) is a great addition to a fight. It’s fairly tanky at low levels, doesn’t use Concentration (so your cleric can also cast Bless) and gives you a free attack each round it’s up. Use it to distract and damage the enemy. Flaming Sphere (Wizard 2) is similar though that does use your wizard’s Concentration. Cast both and it’s like you have two extra fighters working on your side. The only downside to each is their sluggish 20’ movement so try to cast them into the thick of things. I haven’t played much with Mage Hand but, as I understand it, it can also take a few hits though its only offensive move is to shove people. It also uses Concentration better spent on Flaming Sphere. But, if you’re low on spell slots, it’s an option.
I just know. . . screw Gale! I hate that fucking guy. He’s such a bitch. I don’t like to talk to him even.
I’ve been playing for 60 hours or so. . . It’s not as good as some other games I’ve played recently but it’s OK. Seems to be a little overrated. Like, Skyrim is a little overrated, I love it, but it’s a little overrated. I feel too much like I don’t have any agency. I’ve just being dragged along the story. I don’t like to feel like that when playing an RPG, but Divinity Original Sin 2 is like that too.
I give BG3. . . 6.5/10,
I appreciate the tips, thanks.
What difficulty are you playing on? I don’t want to weigh in on Tactician, but on Balanced I am level 5 and basically done with Act 1 - I did the fights you describe at levels 4 and 3, if they’re the ones I am thinking of. Level 5 is a big power boost with Extra Attack and level 3 spells, but everything should be doable without that.
Some tips: focus fire one monster at a time - action economy is everything, and killing an enemy before it acts is better than almost anything else you can do. Use ranged weapons when needed as they make this easier.
I find this odd since the story absolutely bends to what you are doing. Yes, you are always in the story but what makes BG3 so good is how variable that story can be depending on how you play. You are not being dragged by the story…you ARE the story. Every person will experience a different story playing BG3.
So it seems to me anyway. Maybe load up an older save and try making some dramatically different decisions and see how things differ.
Yeah, but you always start with a parasite in your head and trying to figure out what to do about it. That’s not a result of a decision I made. But, that’s not uncommon. In Divinity OS 2 at the beginning you’re basically wearing a slave collar at the beginning. In both, you start out “up-the-creek.” and are swept along the circumstances you’re forced into. But, this is not uncommon. I just prefer rpg plots that don’t start out that way. And there are many.
I think some people are looking for a “true” open world experience where you can just write your own story from blank canvas. BG3 is more of a “campaign story path” where you’re expected to play the plot presented to you. You have a ton of ways to do it, but you’re still supposed to do it and not create one of those scenarios where the DM gives you a chance to Save the World from Great Evil and you say “Nah, I’m gonna go become a potato farmer in the south hills”. But, yeah, if you’re hankering for a blank canvas of a game, BG3 isn’t the game you want.
But, hey, even a game with 92% upvotes on Steam has disappointed around 200,000 people if it’s sold 2.5mil copies.