I’m in Act III and having a dickens of a time with some of the fights. I suppose I’ll either have to lower the difficulty or start over and hope for the best.
When it comes to scripted cut scene boss fights, they’re almost always easier if you open with an arrow to the face from range without letting the cut scene happen.
I can’t even get into Wyrm’s Gate Prison, or whatever it’s called, for a side mission without having to fight everything in the place.
Patch 3 is available now. No posted notes yet but it does provide a Magic Mirror to your camp that allows you to change your appearance (not Race or Origin however, just your look).
HOT DAMN. That’s a massive QoL improvement.
Also Mac support for our friends here who are on a Mac.
While there are probably not a lot of Mac users who look at this I think this should be noted if you want to play BG3 on a Mac (and maybe someone has a friend with a Mac who would like to play):
As with the PC release in August, saves made in previous versions of BG3 on Mac will not be compatible with the full release. To prepare your Mac for the full version of Baldur’s Gate 3 and minimise potential compatibility issues, we recommend you fully uninstall the game and remove any mods before installing the latest version.
The minimum and recommended specs for Mac users have also been updated: we recommend an M1 Pro processor and FSR enabled to run the game at high or ultra settings on a Retina display. Check the Steam store page for more details.
Mac players, thank you for your patience – now, gather your party and venture forth. - SOURCE
Yeah, I’m complaining too much but it’s this, having too much to do. As you say, it’s tough to get it right for everyone. I also think there are times when the game leads me to a point but then I fail some skill check and now I’m done. I can’t go any further.
I’m in Act 2 and in the shadow lands, I had three places marked before I got there, then talked with people and got two more markers. I go to one and search around and it’s nothing. Is it on a higher level? Lower level? Do I have to read every book, check every vase? Did how I interacted with people there change it? Did I miss a skill check?
I don’t know if this makes the next playthrough more interesting, with different characters and skills, or just makes this one that much more frustrating. I’m still enjoying it! Please don’t misunderstand! I nit pick when I like something and I like this a lot.
Thanks for the discussion!
Remember, you can re-spec pretty easily if you think you have a build that is not working.
I’d also suggest trying to cheese the game. By that I mean use the rules to your advantage. No need to walk up and go mano-y-mano with something and fight fair. Be tricky, be sneaky, be underhanded, play dirty (something like Command:Drop, a first level spell I think, can turn a badass opponent into a wimp as you make him drop his weapon and you run in and snatch it up…now he is fighting unarmed and probably sucks at it)…lots of options (like blowing up all the goblins in one go linked much earlier in this thread). Remember to see what other spells you have you can use. Change things up for each fight as needed.
I just saw some reviewer (sorry, no cite) say that a given playthrough might show you about 33% of the content. Start again, take some different path and you will get another 33% you never saw. Of course, there is lots of overlap but plenty of new things to see too. YMMV of course.
I don’t see how a voice actor would be aware of what content has been seen or not.
I am wondering how many people played through with some of the darker outcomes that were possible. I don’t mean evil but events that can turn out bad but the game lets you continue with the consequences (so far, I am getting close to the end of Act II). Three specific ones I am thinking of (Act I and II spoilers):
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Letting Ethel take your eye.
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Isobel being captured and the Last Light Inn being over run.
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Losing Halsin because the Portal is destroyed.
I just read about the first item being possible but for the other two I saved until I was able to succeed in both cases rather than play with the consequences of losing but I am curious if anyone just took the L and kept playing since the game clearly lets you (which is neat).
I’m the same way, 100%.
I am playing with #2. It was frustrating that it happened, but it was a good story so I stuck it out. I also went to Moonrise Tower last which closed off a few sub-quests.
#3 wasn’t even available to me because of #2. Same for Karlach’s questline. Halsin does show up in a cut-scene at the end of Act 2 to complain about the shadow curse, then promptly disappears. Thanks for nothing, druid.
Once I accepted that there is so much to do in the game, that there isn’t a ‘correct’ path I appreciated the storyline even more.
However it is funny the things I will reload. I opened the iron flask in camp and it killed Scratch – of course I reloaded.
#2 & #3 (sort of - Halsin died in Act I) are part and parcel of an evil run. Of course that means I didn’t feel bad about them when it happened. It was Mission Accomplished.
I have been avoiding Moonrise because I assumed it was the finale of the act. Is that a “mistake”? Should I not hesitate to check it out even though I still have open stuff in the Shadowlands?
I think either is fine. I thought Moonrise was the finale and held it until the end and maybe missed out on saving the gnomes and something else small. My son said he was able to walk around and talk to some NPCs. On the other hand when I did eventually go there, the fight was a bit easier.
It’s an interesting approach to game development. There’s way more content than a lot of players will ever see. Not to mention how long it was in early access. Some companies would have squeezed 2 or 3 releases out of it.
It reminds me of the board game, Gloomhaven. There’s so much content, all of it thoroughly play-tested. Both are clearly labors of love.
Lore and in game spoilers
One of the things I didn’t like about the Time of Troubles was Cyric. I didn’t like his addition to the pantheon. So the fact that my first playthrough saw no mention of him and the sneaky end credit I got, which who knows if everyone gets that one, made me very happy. I didn’t like anything about ToT, from Midnight, Kelemvor, Cyric, or AO. I really despise AO.
In my second playthrough, though, Cyric has been mentioned but it’s so passive that it could be confusing who that even is.
My own ttrpg games but game spoilers.
In my own FR game, ToT never happened, Myrkul is neutral and more a shepherd than an evil god. Bane and Bhaal are untouched and around.
I do this and am in awe of people who don’t even need short rests. My resources slowly get worn down such that I need to rest.
I did respec in my second game but I did it too much. I changed what the characters were too much and my tactics didn’t work anymore! I went back to a previous game and kept going.
I do your idea of using command to drop but when I can’t get a character close to grab the dropped weapon, it just ties up the cleric doing the same thing. Further, it doesn’t take anything away as picking it up is a free action. I also try and do a lot of scouting by having them in separate groups and learning where things are and what to get ready before a fight. Or what can I drop on them before the fight even starts.
I’m not surprised that I don’t see everything. I’m not a completionist. If I enjoy a game, I play it a lot but even then, I don’t see it all. I play for the story and how I see that character’s story going. I can also easily stop when I think that character’s story is done.
Thank, @CaveMike! Nice to know I’m not the only one!
I’m definitely getting to Moonrise a very different way around this time.
I did two plays up thru Last Light, first with my Drow Druid, then with my Human Paladin.
In my first play I missed stuff that came up later. I don’t like when someone you just met asks you to kill someone else. And this happens frequently in BG3. So, I didn’t kill the Drauger, or whatever, in the Old Village before I took the boat to The Drauger, old Justiciar location. . . so when I got to the cave-in, I had no idea who they were talking about. But, they all acted like I knew the guy. There were a couple of things like that throughout Act 1.
That’s not too surprising. The only people traveling to Grymforge are those who have some sort of business being there and/or are aware of the power structure. Which means you’re assumed by the inhabitants to either be part of the dwarf group working for Nere or part of the True Souls/Moonrise contingent working with Nere.
Going to moonrise is fine, you in fact need to go there BEFORE doing certain other things in the shadowlands or some quests will fail.
I finished a playthrough! End result: I was cured. All mind flayers were killed–the ones allied with the Netherbrain including the Emperor, and Orpheus by his own request. I was rather surprised by the Emperor’s betrayal; I was wondering if I’d have to attack him like the dragon did. But no, he made it easy.
I think that’s a reasonable explanation for that example, but there are definitely bugs in the game’s scripting. For example, after I killed a particular villain (Orin) in Act 3, the quest log indicated I could fulfill an agreement with another villain (Gortash). But I had never spoken with the latter. And never did, since I snuck up to him and killed him in cold blood.