What's the best way to play through Baldur's Gate 3 for the story?

The Game Room
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When BG3 first came out, I did a murdery physics-based playthrough in which I threw every character off a cliff without talking to them, including most of the companions. I had a ton of fun (see my review if you wanna know how that turned out…), but I don’t really know what happened in the story. Everyone died before they had a chance to speak.

Now with the latest and final major patch out, I’m interested in playing through it again, more seriously this time, and actually paying attention to the dialogue, characters, and story.

Is there anything I should know beforehand, like mechanically/party-composition-wise? For example:

  • Will having a too-low charisma make me miss more of the story, for example?
  • Does it matter if I play one of the premade characters/companions with their own storylines, vs playing as the Dark Urge or a completely custom character?
  • Will the party have a “lead” character that NPCs talk to, and will the story change based on that? Can I have one of the companions or hirelings be the “face” of the party and juice their social skills instead of the main character’s?
  • Does it matter what race/class my companions are, or can I respec them at will without affecting the storyline?
  • Does my main character’s main race/class/background affect the main story too, or just some side quests? (Like I imagine the druid’s grove in Act 1 will play out differently if I’m a druid, or the Underdark will be different if I’m drow… that’s to be expected, but what about the main story?)
  • Does good or evil matter? Is there any sort of karma / deeds / reputation system in the game that changes the story as your character becomes more good or more evil? (And as for evil: I know there’s something about a Bhaal cult later on, but that’s just a side quest too, right? I also killed all of them in my first playthrough without knowing what they were about.)

Mostly, I’m just wondering if I have to worry about any fussy little implementation details like that, or if I can just do whatever I want and still have a good time and be able to see a worthwhile amount of the story. I probably won’t play through this again more than once (just don’t have time). I’m don’t care about getting 100% completion, I just want to make sure I don’t miss entire major chunks of the story.

I did play through most of Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 back in the day, so have a basic understanding of the lore and some of the cameo characters and such (like Boo! though I didn’t see him in my first playthrough).

2

Stealthily following along as I have BG3, and installed it, but was putting off my first playthrough while waiting for it to be “for reals” complete, so this serves my interests as well!

3

The main story is, for all its branching paths, sort of an All Roads Lead To Rome situation. You need to stop the big bad guy, however you get there. So you can’t really break the story only change the path you take.

I haven’t played a Companion character so can’t answer there. Dark Urge is sort of custom + extra side storyline. In my opinion, it felt a little pinned on in that it wouldn’t matter for much of the game except for when it mattered a lot.

Yes, you can have a high charisma companion do the talking for you. Conversation starts one of two ways: Either you actively select someone to talk to and whatever character you’re controlling at that time will start chatting or, sometime, an NPC will just initiate conversation with whoever is nearest.

That said, you don’t need a max charisma score to do well and it can be amusing to fail some of the rolls. I prefer to be my own voice of the party but that’s just me.

It doesn’t really matter mechanically. Thematically, some options might feel a bit discordant. For example, Shadowheart’s storyline revolves around her being a cleric. You can make her a wizard but the storyline will still treat her like she’s a priestess. Likewise with Gale, the wizard. You can make him a paladin without breaking the game but he’ll still prattle on about Mystra, the Goddess of Magic. You can’t change the race/gender of the major companions.

It only really affects some dialogue options and might give an extra option or opportunity. Like being a rogue might allow you to call out a detail in someone’s story.

Again, all roads lead to Rome so you’ll ultimately have to fight the Bad Guy either way. Being evil tends to eliminate a decent portion of game content since the Bad Guys in the story aren’t really interested in giving you missions or teaming up like the Good Guys are. I’ve played an evil run and it was amusing but I’d recommend someone do a normal “good” run first for maximum story.

You don’t want an evil run then as you will miss out on decent chunks of the story. The major plot beats will be there but you’ll lose a good amount of side content.

4

Awesome. Thank you, @Jophiel, for the detailed response! I’ll go ahead and try a “good” playthrough this time, then. The clifftosser playthrough satisfied my “chaotic evil” urges, though if there’s an option for a sort of “lawful evil”, calculated organized crime lord kinda playthrough (like in Tyranny), that might be an interesting option too… but doesn’t sound like there is? Evil in BG3 = you just kill the good guys and skip their stories?

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There’s plenty of chances to be a less than stellar person on an individual basis without going wholesale slaughter. Options to lie, cheat, steal and work with unsavory characters. You’ll just want to avoid straight on agreeing to work with the Bad Guys to kill the Good Guys.

Likewise, some Companions have storylines with an option to do evil or embrace power. You can generally allow or encourage this without breaking anything.

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Will having a too-low charisma make me miss more of the story, for example?

Probably not, but you will fail a lot of persuasion checks and such, which leads to different outcomes. I don’t think you can lock off any parts of the story though, you just have to go through things a bit differently to get there.

Does it matter if I play one of the premade characters/companions with their own storylines, vs playing as the Dark Urge or a completely custom character?

The main story is the same, but the origin characters each get additional back stories and additional dialog options, as well as some additional cut scenes. It’s not going to completely change your game, but it will give you a somewhat different experience.

I’ve never played the Dark Urge option so I can’t comment on that.

Will the party have a “lead” character that NPCs talk to, and will the story change based on that? Can I have one of the companions or hirelings be the “face” of the party and juice their social skills instead of the main character’s?

I believe you always end up being the “lead” no matter what. Every time I have tried to select another character to do the talking, once you get into cut scenes and main dialog options the game always reverts to the player to talk. Any character in your party can be used to lead you around the map though, so if you want to have one of your NPCs be the main fighting “tank” you can have them always lead into combat situations.

Does it matter what race/class my companions are, or can I respec them at will without affecting the storyline?

I’m not sure how much you can customize them, but their stories depend on them being basically who they are. You can mod their appearances slightly and not change that, but if you make any major changes to them you’ll end up with some really weird things in your game.

There are mods that allow you to make a custom companion, though that companion does end up being rather generic and you obviously don’t get any additional backstory with them. I put one custom companion in my game just because I didn’t like many of the origin NPCs.

Does my main character’s main race/class/background affect the main story too, or just some side quests? (Like I imagine the druid’s grove in Act 1 will play out differently if I’m a druid, or the Underdark will be different if I’m drow… that’s to be expected, but what about the main story?)

Different races don’t lock you out of any parts of the main story, but you will get many different dialog options that are race-specific. A drow character, for example, won’t be trusted in some situations, so you’ll have to use other dialog options to get to where you need to go. Since the Gith play a large role in the main story, Gith characters do end up with a fair amount of dialog options that are not open to other races.

Different classes also give you some different options, but again, you can still get to all parts of the main quest. You just get some additional dialog options here and there.

Does good or evil matter? Is there any sort of karma / deeds / reputation system in the game that changes the story as your character becomes more good or more evil?

You get different options for good vs. evil characters, but I believe you lose more story if you play evil than if you play as good. I read somewhere that if you want to play both sides, they recommended your first playthrough being an evil character because you won’t be familiar with the game yet and won’t realize what you are missing, where if you play a good character first and then go back and play an evil one later, many areas will feel empty and you’ll feel like a lot more is missing.

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Conversely, I liked playing Evil as my second go because I had just put a bajillion hours into my Good play through so a somewhat abbreviated second run was nice. But if you’re only gonna play once, go for Good.

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One thing about BG3 is that it sets out to tell a very specific story and then goes about doing that. You have a ton of freedom but it mostly translates to pulling at a very bouncy leash that always snaps you back into place.

This isn’t a criticism at all, mind you. I respect the hell out of a game that doesn’t sacrifice its goals on the altar of player agency. Limiting freedom gives more room for storytelling and BG3 is a really excellent story.

But it does mean that you’ll get the very most out of the game if you don’t try to fight it. You can respec the companions, for example, but their characterization makes the most sense if you keep them in their original classes (subclasses are fair game).

Generally speaking, the game “wants” you to be a good guy who gives everyone a chance to step onto the stage and give their little speeches. Alternate approaches are possible but mainly snip content away from that baseline.

So approach the game from a POV of interacting with everyone and letting them have their moments, and you’ll have as close to a “complete” run as you can get. Though of course a complete run is completely impossible because the game has so much dialogue and so many branching options.

9

Just go interact with people how you want to. It’s a role-playing game.

Maxing cha as a bard face might be best for “winning” dialogue options, but no reason to think that’s the most fun. It’s also unlikely / impossible that you’ll see everything in a single playthrough so don’t worry about shutting off a path.

I do think a Durge playthrough is maybe closest to canonical, but I really don’t think there’s much of a difference. Haven’t done an origin run so can’t comment much.

10

All the advice above is great. There really is no wrong way to play Baldur’s Gate 3, unless you’re not having fun.

My recommendation for the most repeatability: play as the Dark Urge or one of the Origin characters. Then pick at most one other Origin companion to recruit. Ignore or kill all the others, and fill out your party with recruits from Withers as needed. Focus on your personal story line and the personal story of your one companion. The main story line is not urgent, don’t rush it. Take plenty of long rests to give time for the plot to fully develop.

For me, the reason for having one or fewer Origin companions is that having more tends to make the game a jumbled mess of storylines. Just because the game has lots of storylines doesn’t you mean you need to experience them all at once. Sure, some people love herding cats and trying to see all the points of interest in the theme park, but it’s not for me. Also, by focusing on just your character and one other, it really lets you feel the consequences and impacts on those characters.

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Counterpoint: the personal quests don’t stack up that much and companion interactions are fun.

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The OP is only planning to play once more so, conversely, is best of getting all the companion quests in that he can if he wants to experience maximum game.

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Yes!, and BG3 does a great job with interactions among the companions.

BG3 is a once per generation game that redefines a genre. It really deserves to be played multiple times. If nothing else, everyone needs to do at least one Dark Urge playthrough.

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Yeah, but some people just don’t enjoy doing that. Which to quote an…interesting co-worker from years ago “I can accept intellectually, but not emotionally.” That’s not me - I love replaying favorite games and re-watching favorite TV and film, re-reading favorite books :slightly_smiling_face:. But I’ve run across people that simply dislike doing those things, particularly including games with a narrative arc. It’s more or less one and done for them.

15

It’s a fair mindset. Many of us own a bajillion games already and new games are coming out all the time. Spending 400 hours on BG3 might be worth it for some people but an over-expenditure of 300+ hours to someone else.

I’m in the probable minority for who the Dark Urge arc was kinda “meh”. I’d actually recommend someone play a normal ole Tav run first as they might be annoyed by how the DU plot takes away your agency in some places.

FWIW (nothing!) Sven over at Larian is on the record as saying he doesn’t recommend Dark Urge (or an Origin character) as someone’s first play through.

16

Exactly. It’s not necessarily a conscious decision either; it’s usually just a mixture of not having enough time and/or attention span. I struggle to finish a movie or book even the first time through, falling asleep through most of them, much less a 100+ hour video game. And in the case of BG3, that’s more like 300-500+ hours.

That I managed to play through it once (albeit skipping most of the story) is already testament to its quality. That I’m doing it once more is even more extraordinary, at least for someone like me.

I’m a genre fan, someone who’s played 70-100% of the way through BG 1/2, Icewind Dale, NWN1/2, Planescape, KotoR 1/2, ToEE, Solasta, Pillars, Tyranny, D:OS1/2, and too many other D&D or CRPG games to count. Despite that, I’ve never replayed any of them. Not because those games don’t deserve another playthrough (they certainly do), there are just so many other games and new things to try! I’m that way with board games, old photos, etc. too… novelty-seeking behavior is just an ingrained part of my personality, I suppose.

Part of the reason I did a fast murdery playthrough of BG3 the first time around is because I already knew I’d be drawn in more by the combat mechanics, which would in turn tempt me to bypass most of the story in order to test my abilities and skills against the major characters (which it did… strength-buffing and cliff-tossing works way too well in that game…). I had to purposely resist paying attention to the dialogue so as to prevent spoilers for an eventual second playthrough. Now that the final patch is here, that moment has finally come!

Last week I started a custom playthrough on Honour Mode, then died to the first boss on the spaceship, lol… I really wanted that flaming sword for my Hexblade. Any tips for that? If not, oh well, guess it’s time for a third attempt…

17

Classic shenanigans is to have Shadowheart cast Command: Drop on the Cambion. Then you yoink the sword off the ground and hustle to the exit. No reason to defeat the bad guy. It might take a couple of tries for the Cambion to fail his saving throw but fewer tries than beating it out of him.

18

My strategy is to buff and heal the Mind Flayer while attacking the Cambion. Then it’s almost like squidhead is part of my party.

By the time the Cambion is dead, Don Calamari should be close to being dead too (if it even survived the fight) and it’s trivial to finish it off.

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Absolutely. There really is no wrong way to the play, as long as you’re having fun.

There’s your problem: honor mode. Don’t try hard stuff in honor mode, because the dice will punish you. Maybe not this time or that time, but you won’t get through the entire game in honor mode if you take unnecessary risks.

20

This is the one time in the game I sometimes very tediously save-scum ad nauseum. Not every time I’ve played, but often enough because I like the early game experience/loot boost which is when it has the most impact. You want to grab those heavy purple tanks you find scattered around the ship as you’re exploring - there should be a total of four, including two in the control room. Also grab up any of those mindflayer repelling force balls you can find. Then when you get engaged in the final battle have one character arrange them in a diamond near the top of the stairs to the right of the fight between the Commander Zhalk and the squid. Then yoink the sword with Shadowheart’s command spell as above and give it to whoever who can best make use of it short term, as it will bypass the devil’s damage resistance. Help the squid kill the captain however you choose, but make sure the squid gets chopped up enough that he’ll go down in one round after the fiend falls. You have to do all of this before the two junior cambions come to join the battle.

Then fall back and spread out your characters to either side, with at least one high on either flanking staircase and a little back of that diamond you formed on the stairs in the middle and leave Us the Intellect Devourer forward there as bait. The devils should converge on Us (who may or may not make it out in this scenario). Pull back Us if you can/want, but regardless when the devils are in position, have Shadowheart or someone snipe one of the tanks with a firebolt. They will all detonate, variably and heavily damaging the two devils, leaving them in a pool of fire. Then you can use those repelling balls to try and keep knocking them back into the fire as they advance out of it. Then fight and kill them now that they are weakened.

Easier said than done. It’s a tedious-ass way to play the opening battle, takes forever and you WILL have to save and re-load A LOT. Proper positioning and timing is key and very favorable rolls absolutely necessary. The reward as noted is a noticeable early game experience bump and all the cambions will be carrying random piles of cash and loot like arrows. Feel free to not pull your hair out trying this :slightly_smiling_face:.

Best thing really is to just try and yoink the sword with the command spell and flee.