Baldur's Gate 3- What does fried Nautiloid taste like?

[Rynjin]

Been surprised so far by how much I like this game. I'm pretty outspoken about the fact that I do no enjoy playing 5e but...Larian, man. They're damn good.

Like yeah, the game has all the issues I'd expect a game based on 5e to have. Character customization is ridiculously shallow, and I've gawked on multiple occasions when I get a level up, hit the button, and it just says "yeah you gained some HP, anyway complete?". Like why bother even asking me since I don't get the option to multiclass anyway apparently?

But aside from that? This is easily one of the best games I've played in a while. I haven't had this voracious interest to play more of a game since Elden Ring came out, and I find myself thinking about it when I'm doing other things.

Once you get past all the 5e-imposed flaws on the game, it's an exceptionally good RPG experience. I'm playing Dark Urge, and having a lot of fun with the "good person beset by ultraviolent intrusive thoughts that occasionally become reality" line. I've already lost out on two companions because of it, the second of which made me...surprisingly sad, but it's still very, very good. I like that you get rewarded both for giving in to your urges AND for fighting against them, making it feel like a legitimate roleplaying choice instead of one being painted as the "superior" option in terms of rewards. You are not "playing it wrong" if your Dark Urges are frequently passed over (though I do always save and view the option; there's some really ****ed up ones in there, the worst of which I've come across so far involving the arrangement of a "tragic accident" to befall a CHILD).

One thing that really helped cement this game for me - my party was exploring a ruin early in the game, and we came across a door that had no keyhole or any other obvious opening mechanism. There was an oil barrel nearby. I idly thought "gee, I wonder what would happen if I just put this barrel next to that door and shot a firebolt at it." Presto, we got through the door. No idea if that was the intended or only way through, but the fact is that Larian really think like tabletop gamers when they develop challenges and I adore that.

As far as I can tell there are three ways to enter that room (and multiple sub-ways).

Spoiler

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1.) Destroy the door (fire barrel, just attacking, blasting it with spells; I just Eldritch Blasted it open once before reloading).
2.) Shoot the stone block in the courtyard out back, which breaks the ceiling (and likely also kills a couple of bandits) and lets you drop down through the hole (enemies inside instantly aggro of course).
3.) Go through the back door in the same courtyard mentioned above. You can lockpick it, destroy it, or bluff/persuade your way inside after the doorman answers you when you knock on the door.

If the rest of the game maintains this level of multiple tactical approaches to any scenario (which so far it has, though I'm only partway through act 1) I'll be happy all the way through.

I've been impressed by the level of RP related solutions to issues as well. I specced as a GOOlock and wasn't sure how useful the whole mind whammy enchanter schtick would be, but Friends is probably my most used spell after Eldritch Blast lol. I've been pleasantly surprised by how often you can just talk to people, even ones you might assume to be immediate hostiles (like a pack of goblins).

I've even come across a non-combat, non-social challenge that took place in Initiative, involving saving people from a burning building. I found this to be AMAZING, and something games like this often shy away from including.

[Jophiel]

Like why bother even asking me since I don't get the option to multiclass anyway apparently?

As far as I know, you can multiclass from your second level onward. It's in the upper left corner. If your last level was in Fighter, it'll say something like "Level 2 Fighter" but can be changed to another class.

[Rynjin]

As far as I know, you can multiclass from your second level onward. It's in the upper left corner. If your last level was in Fighter, it'll say something like "Level 2 Fighter" but can be changed to another class.

Ahhh, is that how it works? Bit of an odd way to do it.

Thankfully I haven't wanted to multiclass in anything yet, though with the way 5e works I'll probably be doing so (another thing I'm not a fan of Pathfinder's approach of encouraging 1-20 leveling is my preference). Do you know if you can respec companions or just your main character?

[thethird]

The game wouldn't run well on my PC :( so I am dusting the divinity original sin 2 while I wait for the console version.

The thing is though, this game is a master class for exactly the sorts of things your 5e DM should be doing with regards to checks. Rogues are demonstrably good at roguish things not just due to their proficiencies/expertise, but also by having unique dialogue options that mean they either get Advantage, or don't even need to roll, purely because of their class.

An early example of this is the interaction with the con artist kid in the Tiefling camp towards the beginning of the game; my rogue has the ability to simply point out which con they're trying and failing to use on us, and I believe you also get access to at least some of these options with the Criminal background if you're not a rogue. You can even pocket the ring they were trying to fool you with as a "lesson," or return it, or go along with the con as much as you want. It's absolutely fantastic design, and is the sort of thing 5e does better than any edition of D&D before it.

Curious why do you believe that 5e does that better than any other edition. It seems based on not rolling or giving circumstantial options or bonus based on the character's background and how they relate to the situation. So this seems to fall under the things that not only a 5e DM should do, but everyone interested in DMing. Is it because by codifying character backgrounds it has forced people to acknowledge them?

[Zombimode]

Do you know if you can respec companions or just your main character?

I have not tried it but from what I've heard the camp follower Withers can respec any character.

[Rynjin]

I have not tried it but from what I've heard the camp follower Withers can respec any character.

Gotcha. When you talk to him it just says "Can you respec my character?" and I wasn't sure if it would open a character select menu first. The game doing things by dialogue trees which should be menu functions (like swapping party members) is odd to me.

Curious why do you believe that 5e does that better than any other edition. It seems based on not rolling or giving circumstantial options or bonus based on the character's background and how they relate to the situation. So this seems to fall under the things that not only a 5e DM should do, but everyone interested in DMing. Is it because by codifying character backgrounds it has forced people to acknowledge them?

Pretty much. Background elements being "tagged" explicitly makes people more aware of them. it's a very good feature for the tabletop, and dovetails nicely with the background tags that Larian used in D:OS 2 for the same effect; tagging your character with things like "Soldier" or "Arcanist" on charop would unlock new dialogue options.

Or, for a particular character, simply BEING Fane, and everything that comes with it, utterly recontextualizes the story. Fane knows things partway through act 1 that normal characters don't learn until the end of the game just because he's Fane.

[LaZodiac]

So, I do have a question for everyone.

I had Astarion steal an obnoxious ****er's pendant who hit a kid, but despite the Sleight of Hand being successful he noticed he was stolen from eventually, and narrowed in on Astarion as the one who did it. What's the deal there?

[Rynjin]

So, I do have a question for everyone.

I had Astarion steal an obnoxious ****er's pendant who hit a kid, but despite the Sleight of Hand being successful he noticed he was stolen from eventually, and narrowed in on Astarion as the one who did it. What's the deal there?

I talked that guy out of hitting the kid (and the kid into giving it back), so unsure.

The guy seemed really attached to that pendant for some reason, so it may be magical and he can track it? He homes in on the kid who steals it the same way.

[Psyren]

Curious why do you believe that 5e does that better than any other edition. It seems based on not rolling or giving circumstantial options or bonus based on the character's background and how they relate to the situation. So this seems to fall under the things that not only a 5e DM should do, but everyone interested in DMing. Is it because by codifying character backgrounds it has forced people to acknowledge them?

Spoiler: Why 5e does this better

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You can certainly do things like automatic success in other editions of D&D or other games, I'm not saying you can't. But 5e actively encourages that style of DMing by not having pages and pages of tables and circumstantial bonuses for each flag or hanging chad in a character's build.

In PF1 for example, rather than a Criminal Background, you might be encouraged to pick up, say, the Criminal and Fast-Talker Traits, and/or maybe Friends in Low Places. Those would each give you a +1 bonus to a couple of skills, which you can then boost further with feats, items, and racials. The assumption there is that you should always be rolling and applying those bonuses, with autosuccess only occurring if and when you have no mathematical chance of failing whatever DC is listed for the activity in the core rulebook.

In 3.5 it's even worse, because you have all that and synergy bonuses to track too (e.g. those 5 ranks in Bluff mean you get another +2 to Diplomacy), cross-class skill ranks and caps etc. And I'm not even going to bother touching anything prior to 3e with its nonweapon proficiencies, racial caps/progression and the like.

Spoiler

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1.) Destroy the door (fire barrel, just attacking, blasting it with spells; I just Eldritch Blasted it open once before reloading).
2.) Shoot the stone block in the courtyard out back, which breaks the ceiling (and likely also kills a couple of bandits) and lets you drop down through the hole (enemies inside instantly aggro of course).
3.) Go through the back door in the same courtyard mentioned above. You can lockpick it, destroy it, or bluff/persuade your way inside after the doorman answers you when you knock on the door.

Oh I know about that door (the outside one leading into the ruin.) I was talking about the other door further inside (sarcophagus chamber), rather than the door leading into the complex proper. (For posterity, I used your option #3 to get past the outside door.) Though it may very well be possible to enter the complex entire from the direction closer to the door I was thinking of, however, once I detected my 5th trap in that room I stopped exploring and retreated.

If the rest of the game maintains this level of multiple tactical approaches to any scenario (which so far it has, though I'm only partway through act 1) I'll be happy all the way through.

I've been impressed by the level of RP related solutions to issues as well. I specced as a GOOlock and wasn't sure how useful the whole mind whammy enchanter schtick would be, but Friends is probably my most used spell after Eldritch Blast lol. I've been pleasantly surprised by how often you can just talk to people, even ones you might assume to be immediate hostiles (like a pack of goblins).

I've even come across a non-combat, non-social challenge that took place in Initiative, involving saving people from a burning building. I found this to be AMAZING, and something games like this often shy away from including.

I expect you will be impressed - Larian is really, really good at this sort of thing. Best of all, not only do lateral solutions still reward the same amount of XP as going in swords blazing, depending on who you have with you you have a good chance of scoring Inspiration as well. It's just a masterclass in DMing 5e all around, albeit one that is still necessarily limited by the medium in some ways.

[Jophiel]

Gotcha. When you talk to him it just says "Can you respec my character?" and I wasn't sure if it would open a character select menu first. The game doing things by dialogue trees which should be menu functions (like swapping party members) is odd to me.

There's no menu. You select a different character off the mini-portraits while you're in camp and jog them over to Withers for some respec'ing.

[Dienekes]

Been surprised so far by how much I like this game. I'm pretty outspoken about the fact that I do no enjoy playing 5e but...Larian, man. They're damn good.

5e does seem to work better as a streamlined tactical squad game than when I'm stuck with only a Fighter who doesn't even get Larian's cool weapon abilities.

Regardless, I'll just chime in I'm enjoying the game thus far. But I'm relatively early on. Still haven't found all the starter companions.

[Rynjin]

Oh I know about that door (the outside one leading into the ruin.) I was talking about the other door further inside (sarcophagus chamber), rather than the door leading into the complex proper. (For posterity, I used your option #3 to get past the outside door.) Though it may very well be possible to enter the complex entire from the direction closer to the door I was thinking of, however, once I detected my 5th trap in that room I stopped exploring and retreated.

We're talking about the same door; there are two entrances into the crypt in general. One is just right up the beach from where you crash land (I had Astarion pick the lock and proceeded from there) and a rear entrance with some bandits meandering about outside, which leads to some kind of living quarters area.

Between the two areas is a door that is locked, and "impossible" to pick. The bandits in the living quarters area can be heard form the sarcophagus chamber area arguing on how to pry it open. You can bust through the door with brute force (initiating a fight), drop through the hole after dropping the rock (ditto), or sneak in past the doorman (the quiet option).

Opening the door the "proper" way requires passing a Perception check to notice a small switch in the room with the statue over in the living quarters area.

[Psyren]

We're talking about the same door; there are two entrances into the crypt in general.

Got it - I think I was talking about the second entrance when I mentioned the barrel then. The first entrance is the one I persuaded the guy to open for me.

I'm away from the game due to being at work but I can load an earlier save and take a screenshot later.

There's no menu. You select a different character off the mini-portraits while you're in camp and jog them over to Withers for some respec'ing.

I just want to reiterate the importance of this - Larian is very context-sensitive in terms of actions being taken by whoever you have selected. So in camp you'll want to swap to the person whose spell loadout you want to change, whoever you might want to respec, making sure you have the right person selected before initiating a conversation or interacting with something in the environment etc.

[Eldonauran]

Oh I know about that door (the outside one leading into the ruin.) I was talking about the other door further inside (sarcophagus chamber), rather than the door leading into the complex proper. (For posterity, I used your option #3 to get past the outside door.) Though it may very well be possible to enter the complex entire from the direction closer to the door I was thinking of, however, once I detected my 5th trap in that room I stopped exploring and retreated.

There is a way to get around that door, though you need to succeed at a locking picking challenge. Head east past the ruins and explore the cliffside after climbing down a little. You'll find a hatch that leads down. Its the other 'back exit' from the inner part of the tomb. ((EDIT: Dang it. Ninja'd))


I adore this game. I am biased though, since I have been supporting it since Early Access first went live and played the first chapter about a dozen times. 5e D&D is not my favorite system but it just works for the game. My only real nitpick is that the information tabs on many things are not as clear and concise as I would like, from the (lack of) in game class progression to the (lack of) displayed information on wildshape benefits/drawbacks that have to be observed in the combat log rather than upfront. Nothing I can't figure out though, so its only a mild issue.

The changes they've put into the first chapter from the early access version have me enjoying it like its my first time through. My last fight was with a Flind and really powerful Gnolls that I cheesed the hell out of by bottle-necking them on a broken bridge over a deep chasm, and chucking oil barrels at them. Had to retreat once all the minions were killed (and the boss 'healed' to full as I made my way back around to get high ground. I then proceeded to web him every turn (spider wildshape) and pepper him with ranged attack rolls from the high cliff. It took everything we had (already two short rests for the day), with someone going down twice before we got him down to 4 HP and then shoved him off the cliff to finish him off. Great loot. Word of advice... Do NOT open the flask.

[Jophiel]

So, I do have a question for everyone.

I had Astarion steal an obnoxious ****er's pendant who hit a kid, but despite the Sleight of Hand being successful he noticed he was stolen from eventually, and narrowed in on Astarion as the one who did it. What's the deal there?

The theft mechanics in this game are sort of obnoxious. You can successfully stealth and yoink stuff out of someone's pocket or off their table (Stealth & Sleight of Hand) but they'll still almost immediately notice that the item is missing and start looking for the thief. If you're in the area, they'll accuse you and you'll need to Social your way out via standard dialogue or possibly Persuasion/Deception. The most successful way is to go Turn-based, steal their stuff, move away then Dash away before turning off Turn-Based and continue to scoot out of the area. You'd think someone running away from you making Zoidburg "Whoop whoop" noises would look MORE suspicious

It's annoying and doesn't feel very rogue-like that a "successful" theft still immediately pins suspicion on you if you're in the area but so it goes.

[Varen_Tai]

HA! Pro tip -

If you have the Mask of the Shapeshifter from the Digital Deluxe, it 1) doesn't just make you LOOK different, it actually transforms you, and 2) you can transform someone, pass it on to the next party member, have them transform and maintain your same shape, so the ENTIRE PARTY can transform.

Why is this important? Well, because there are places that only gnomes, halflings, and shapeshifted druids can get to. You know, unless you transform your entire Big Person party into halflings and gnomes and then you duck in.

I can only IMAGINE the fun this will be as time goes on...

[LCP]

Lip sync thing is fixed - not sure if it was the patch or verifying my game files that did it. The bug was really getting in the way before, but now I'm blown away by the quality of the dialogue. Having even minor NPCs visually emote at you with proper voice acting really makes me interact with them much more as people than as puzzles.

I may have shot myself in the foot a bit in that I staked Astarion and probably locked myself out of a lot of fun dialogue that way.

[Eldonauran]

Why is this important? Well, because there are places that only gnomes, halflings, and shapeshifted druids can get to. You know, unless you transform your entire Big Person party into halflings and gnomes and then you duck in.

Yep. I have a gnome druid I am running around with and found a few burrows too small to fit into unless I was in cat shape.

Brings a new meaning to the phrase "cat burglar". I looted everything that wasn't nailed down.

[Psyren]

I may have shot myself in the foot a bit in that I _____ and probably locked myself out of a lot of fun dialogue that way.

Protip for CRPGs, if you want as much dialogue as possible, keep as many party members alive as you can

[Jophiel]

Bright side: Now you have a reason to play again!

I skipped Astarion because I left'd where I should have right'd but decided not to head back since another rogue would be redundant and it gives me something fresh for next time.

Spoiler: Astarion Spoiler

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Though maybe I should go back and stake him just to see what the downstream implications are!

[LCP]

Protip for CRPGs, if you want as much dialogue as possible, keep as many party members alive as you can

Yeah, it was purely a roleplaying choice. Plus, it's a dice roll and my STR wasn't so high so I was curious what might happen if I failed!

Spoiler

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He introduces himself by holding a knife to your throat, and then something like 2 days later I wake up to him trying to suck my blood, having already found a very dead pig that he sucked dry. I've been playing my character with the Criminal background and a very do-what-you-have-to-do-to-survive attitude - not making the obvious choice felt like breaking character.

[Spore]

I almost killed Laezeal or how she is called, because she is a huge [female dog]. But I attacked her captors instead. This is the first very wonky decision where you can just go "murder person I knew for 10 minutes but she saved my ass" or "murder some randos who are very hostile".

This feels like the choice in the Skyrim tutorial. Sure both factions have their reasons but who in their RIGHT mind goes with the choice that kills the person that either worked for their active death or the choice that did not just save you from a giant teleporting flying molusk?

[Dragonus45]

It doesn't help that they went full Larian on the origin characters, who mostly a pack of duplicitous *******s unpleasant to be around or talk too until you get deep enough into conversation to find the soft inner core. I read to many romance novels so I'm more susceptible to this approach than I want to admit but I wish that they had put in at least one straight forward good person in that group. I'm aware that the later companions are what I'm looking for but I'm not there yet for certain.

[LCP]

I don't mind that myself - I think they came up with a good contrivance to force the party together with 'we've all got squids in our brains and if we don't find a cure we're going to turn into bigger squids'. IMO that works better for why people would drop everything and follow you around on adventures than it just being the power of friendship, particularly when the main character they're trying to befriend has so much possible variation in background and personality.

I do wish Volo could stay as a companion though. His eye surgery scene was the first time I've laughed out loud at a video game for a while. I guess my ideal party isn't full of heroes or antiheroes, it's 100% clowns.

[Dragonus45]

I don't mind that myself - I think they came up with a good contrivance to force the party together with 'we've all got squids in our brains and if we don't find a cure we're going to turn into bigger squids'. IMO that works better for why people would drop everything and follow you around on adventures than it just being the power of friendship, particularly when the main character they're trying to befriend has so much possible variation in background and personality.

I do wish Volo could stay as a companion though. His eye surgery scene was the first time I've laughed out loud at a video game for a while. I guess my ideal party isn't full of heroes or antiheroes, it's 100% clowns.

Yea I don't think it feels forced to have to work with the party I just wish I didn't dislike so many people in the party as people.

And I was happy to see Volo leave but he is also my favorite NPC in every AL mod he gets randomly name dropped into to make serious fun of. I tend to run him like a more transparent Gilderoy Lockhart. Man is seriously overexposed, but I may have brain poisoning from running too many convention games and public AL games locally. I feel like very 5e party goes full clown and I just want an escape from that.

[LaZodiac]

It doesn't help that they went full Larian on the origin characters, who mostly a pack of duplicitous *******s unpleasant to be around or talk too until you get deep enough into conversation to find the soft inner core. I read to many romance novels so I'm more susceptible to this approach than I want to admit but I wish that they had put in at least one straight forward good person in that group. I'm aware that the later companions are what I'm looking for but I'm not there yet for certain.

... in what world is Wyll and Gale unpleasant to be around until you get to know them? Maybe we've just got different tolerances for some of this stuff.

[Keltest]

... in what world is Wyll and Gale unpleasant to be around until you get to know them? Maybe we've just got different tolerances for some of this stuff.

I can understand Gale being annoying if you don't take his eloquence at more or less face value, since it kind of sounds like he's mocking you.

[Rising Phoenix]

It doesn't help that they went full Larian on the origin characters, who mostly a pack of duplicitous *******s unpleasant to be around or talk too until you get deep enough into conversation to find the soft inner core. I read to many romance novels so I'm more susceptible to this approach than I want to admit but I wish that they had put in at least one straight forward good person in that group. I'm aware that the later companions are what I'm looking for but I'm not there yet for certain.

I am guessing that you have missed Wyl, Gale and Karlach then? They are very nice to hang around.

[LaZodiac]

I can understand Gale being annoying if you don't take his eloquence at more or less face value, since it kind of sounds like he's mocking you.

Okay yeah that makes sense, but he's a wizard. That sort of eloquence isn't mockery they're just like this! It's difficult to be a wizard and not be like this.

[Jophiel]

The only Companions I took a dislike to was Vae'zel (who I still don't like much) and Astarion, who eff'd around and found out when we met. His shirt looks better on me anyway.

I could do without Gale's gimmick but I have enough junk that it's not onerous, just annoying. I don't need MORE resource management.

Spoiler

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Gale: I could explode into a thermonuclear magical blast! But don't worry, if that's happening I'll go down into the Underdark first
My Deep Gnome: Uhh... thanks, dude