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Baldur's Gate 3: The illithid conspiracy
- Thread starter Nich
- Start date
Yes, although (for anyone who wants some more vague information) it’s on a different map that gives you a message about progressing the plot. Not sure what exactly entering it alone affects.
Regulus
Sir Knightbot
It looks like there's a pretty lame bug in the game right now were almost every terrain effect spell has a fixed DC of 12. I noticed it when reviewing the combat log after around 8 enemies passed what should have been a DC 17 save against Black Tentacles:
Seems to affect spells like Grease, Web, Evard's Black Tentacles, etc.
So, like, I guess be aware that a lot of the control spells kind of suck after midgame. Apparently this has been an issue for over a year at this point. Given how extensive the last patch was, I'm kind of surprised this was overlooked.
Seems to affect spells like Grease, Web, Evard's Black Tentacles, etc.
So, like, I guess be aware that a lot of the control spells kind of suck after midgame. Apparently this has been an issue for over a year at this point. Given how extensive the last patch was, I'm kind of surprised this was overlooked.
It does not move the game to act 2, but also changing acts doesn't block you from returning to previous areas, but also some things do become unavailable due to story progression and the game doesn't tell specifically which things do.
Decided to head into the Underdark today after clearing up as many loose ends as I was aware of. Continuing to have a blast, especially now that I've got a better handle on the game mechanics and my party is feeling more powerful. The most fun thing so far has been (spoilers for mechanics/equipment talk) continuing to follow my heart and turning Karlach into a full-on throwing machine. I took a closer look at the Returning Pike and realized that when it's thrown that counts as an attack, which means she can throw it twice in the same turn -- three times if I'm using Enraged Throw. Combined with the Tavern Brawler feat, Ring of Flinging, and the gloves that basically do the same thing as the ring, I've been able to output an absurd amount of damage. I guess the question now is, do I multi-class into three levels of Thief Rogue to get an extra bonus action so I can throw four times in one turn? It's gonna be a long time before I get to level 8, so I have a while to mull it over.
Appreciate the info!
Halsin is now in my party... Rapidly cycled through all of his new companion dialogue to get some easy approval; some of the audio was weirdly mixed. I don't know really know how druids work yet but I went with Circle of the Spores because it seemed the least fun and maybe I'd want to be one of the more exciting druid kits next run... I will not play a druid next run so this doesn't matter... It probably is great but I really like the idea of shapeshifting into animals which it conflicts with. I haven't touched the subclass specific mechanics in the one battle I had him in yet.
I did have him as a bear in town and people commented on that, but they didn't run away. Maybe that doesn't happen with wild shape. I heard people freak out about animals and undead you can raise, which sounds not fun. Has that been patched? Do they disappear when you go to camp? I know Scratch does and that one spore king left my party in the Underdark whenever I went to camp.
Still think the idea of playing a non-cha based class sounds like a drag with all the dialogue skill check rolls that would render more annoying. (failing them is almost never interesting) I know there are class specific dialogues. The sorcerer specific stuff is kind of amusing ("you wouldn't understand... im really magical...") but no one seems that annoyed or embarrassed by it so the skill check stuff is almost always what I go for.
I did have him as a bear in town and people commented on that, but they didn't run away. Maybe that doesn't happen with wild shape. I heard people freak out about animals and undead you can raise, which sounds not fun. Has that been patched? Do they disappear when you go to camp? I know Scratch does and that one spore king left my party in the Underdark whenever I went to camp.
Still think the idea of playing a non-cha based class sounds like a drag with all the dialogue skill check rolls that would render more annoying. (failing them is almost never interesting) I know there are class specific dialogues. The sorcerer specific stuff is kind of amusing ("you wouldn't understand... im really magical...") but no one seems that annoyed or embarrassed by it so the skill check stuff is almost always what I go for.
Spore Report:
I just pulled some fungus off a woman's corpse before summoning her. (spooky quest guy didn't seem to mind) After the battle (he did not like my choices in a subsequent conversation) I went back to town and Dammon definitely ran from me but did do business once I caught up. It was funny but I have heard some summons can cause problems with aggroing npc's or getting them killed. The fungus went back to camp but disappeared when I went to sleep. I probably don't wander around enough without long-resting to let a druid accumulate many summoned dead things but whatever.
I just pulled some fungus off a woman's corpse before summoning her. (spooky quest guy didn't seem to mind) After the battle (he did not like my choices in a subsequent conversation) I went back to town and Dammon definitely ran from me but did do business once I caught up. It was funny but I have heard some summons can cause problems with aggroing npc's or getting them killed. The fungus went back to camp but disappeared when I went to sleep. I probably don't wander around enough without long-resting to let a druid accumulate many summoned dead things but whatever.
Near the end of act 2. I think I'll take a little break when I get to act 3 to finish some other stuff. I have a lot of complaints about little things in this game but it's nevertheless somewhere around the top of my list for the year.
I've run into this, yeah. I used Animate Dead in a fight where I had NPC helpers, and as soon as the fight was over, my ally said "you've gone too far" and aggroed on me. I was able to go nonlethal and lay her out flat, and she was fully willing to sell me stuff when I encountered her later, so... all's well that ends well I guess?
Summoned beasties disappear at a Long Rest if no other duration is specified, from what I can tell.
Interesting! I'd wondered about that. If I were in their seat I feel like I'd have just made it a thing that attempts to strip buffs from enemies, but I don't get paid big bucks to design games, ha.
Anybody have thoughts about multiclassing? My party is level 5 now and it seems interesting and potentially very powerful, but I feel like I'm just starting to get a handle on their capabilities so maybe I should save it for a future playthrough. There are lots of mechanical synergies to consider that I might not have the clearest picture of yet.
With the removal of attribute prerequisits for classing, multiclassing can lead to some broken builds.
It's not made to be as broken as... PATHFINDER.
For example, monks can't use mage armor for top-tier ac. Barbarian Constitution armor bonuses do not stack with monk wisdom armor bonus, etc.
But...
...
If you had a pact of the blade warlock who has access to heavy armor proficiency, you suddenly have a warrior who can dump str or dex and use charisma as their primary damage/attacking attribute. IDK. Sound Skrong to me.
The *deficiency* that multiclassing seems to create imo is that feats are attached to class level. So a character that gets one level in every class will have no access to any feats. Access to the general feat pool is arguably on the same level as some class features.
It's not made to be as broken as... PATHFINDER.
For example, monks can't use mage armor for top-tier ac. Barbarian Constitution armor bonuses do not stack with monk wisdom armor bonus, etc.
But...
...
If you had a pact of the blade warlock who has access to heavy armor proficiency, you suddenly have a warrior who can dump str or dex and use charisma as their primary damage/attacking attribute. IDK. Sound Skrong to me.
The *deficiency* that multiclassing seems to create imo is that feats are attached to class level. So a character that gets one level in every class will have no access to any feats. Access to the general feat pool is arguably on the same level as some class features.
It definitely explodes the possibility space of an already option-rich system!
I'm doing something very modest with it, dipping into Rogue from Warlock for my solo game, mainly so I can just have the main character do all the clicking-on-things stuff and I rarely have to switch party members while exploring. 😸 Going Pact of the Blade so I can stack up Sneak Attack and Hex for a fun but not gamebreaking lil damage synergy.
I'm doing something very modest with it, dipping into Rogue from Warlock for my solo game, mainly so I can just have the main character do all the clicking-on-things stuff and I rarely have to switch party members while exploring. 😸 Going Pact of the Blade so I can stack up Sneak Attack and Hex for a fun but not gamebreaking lil damage synergy.
I would multiclass into storm cleric but there is a sixth level lightning spell I would miss out on and I believe in having only the biggest and best spells, even if that would probably let me do more damage and safely at that... I will probably respec some characters at 12 just to get everyone's stats in order. I've already given some people some ability ups that I guess aren't doing them any good if they're equipped with the cap at 20 and I got a +2 str potion in Moonrise I'll use on a fighter later. I think I've heard people talk about having stats go above 20. Is there equipment or circumstances that allow that to be persistent? (I know temporary buffs can bring you past 20)
Act backtracking weirdness: after recruiting Halsin, I wanted to go back to the Underdark to get something but he left my party offscreen and dumped all his equipment in my inventory. A quest update said he left as well. When I came back to act 2 and went to camp, he was back, but the quest didn't update. I am holding off on progressing in Act 2 just because I want to murder everyone in Moonrise I can first. (maybe not the zombie dog, she seems sweet... although I may have to kill her anyway) He doesn't have comments about the Shar temple like other companions so I don't know if I've broken his progression. (but that seemed to be blocked by not progressing through act 2, anyway) I guess I'll see.
It's funny that you can murder almost everyone in a room and then go down some stairs and the land goldfish you're fighting just forget about it.
Act backtracking weirdness: after recruiting Halsin, I wanted to go back to the Underdark to get something but he left my party offscreen and dumped all his equipment in my inventory. A quest update said he left as well. When I came back to act 2 and went to camp, he was back, but the quest didn't update. I am holding off on progressing in Act 2 just because I want to murder everyone in Moonrise I can first. (maybe not the zombie dog, she seems sweet... although I may have to kill her anyway) He doesn't have comments about the Shar temple like other companions so I don't know if I've broken his progression. (but that seemed to be blocked by not progressing through act 2, anyway) I guess I'll see.
It's funny that you can murder almost everyone in a room and then go down some stairs and the land goldfish you're fighting just forget about it.
Into act 3… what’s up with all these dead badgers?
Solidly in Act II now, did all of the Underdark, Grymforge, and the Githyanki Creche (but nothing else in the Mountain Pass). Creche stuff: I didn't get to ask the Guardian who they were when given the opportunity (I thought the dialogue tree would go back and let me pick it after the first option) and I'm kinda kicking myself for it, though I suspect I wouldn't have actually gotten that information anyway. Now I'm at the Inn on the way to Moonrise Tower, where I found an ooze who just wanted to pretend to be an ox and dropped a sweet wizard hat when it died. Game of the year.
Tollhouse (Act II location) observations: you know you're rolling well when your sorceror breaks open a large safe and your barbarian talks the spirit of the toll collector into not only leaving you alone, but moving on from the mortal realm altogether and leaving all its money behind.
Just got across some bridge in the city and the video game is crashing every other npc I talk to. Noooooo 😔
This is actually unplayable. I think I have to speak to this Gortash character and the game is consistently crashing. I’m googling this and it may just be this specific area. I’ll try turning on cross save and seeing if I can get through this on the PC but this sucks.
In terms of storytelling I think it would be nice if the act 3 boss battles weren’t designed in such a way that incentivizes just preemptively attacking people and murdering chunks of the 25 adds before the boss aggroes. The voice acting in this game is good! I would like to have a reason to hear it.
We finished it! No major bugs for us throughout the playthrough in Act 3, and we never got the sense it was rushed or unfinished. We immediately started a new tweaked out party to metagame through on Tactician difficulty.
I had heard complaints about the ending being too abrupt, and that is hilarious to me because we both felt like it was bordering on tediously long. They are really obviously trying to satisfy players who want a neat bow tied around everything, for better or for worse. Legnth aside, the ending allows for player choice while still leaving things open ended. I think it strikes a good balance as far as these things go.
I know there's a CRPG tradition of having a slideshow that acknowledges dozens of sidequest individually, but generally I think that's just padding, with a few rare exceptions (Pillars of Eternity games). You complete a sidequest where you side with Faction A in a dispute about grain silos with Faction B, and then in the ending you get a slide that says, "Faction A took control of the grain industry in Fantasy Town, which prospered for generations." But you already knew that, because you already beat the sidequest and are aware that you resolved this problem and you know how you resolved it. The kinds of pat epilogues some people think they are entitled to or an ending is criticized as being obviously unfinished are baffling to me.
I had heard complaints about the ending being too abrupt, and that is hilarious to me because we both felt like it was bordering on tediously long. They are really obviously trying to satisfy players who want a neat bow tied around everything, for better or for worse. Legnth aside, the ending allows for player choice while still leaving things open ended. I think it strikes a good balance as far as these things go.
I know there's a CRPG tradition of having a slideshow that acknowledges dozens of sidequest individually, but generally I think that's just padding, with a few rare exceptions (Pillars of Eternity games). You complete a sidequest where you side with Faction A in a dispute about grain silos with Faction B, and then in the ending you get a slide that says, "Faction A took control of the grain industry in Fantasy Town, which prospered for generations." But you already knew that, because you already beat the sidequest and are aware that you resolved this problem and you know how you resolved it. The kinds of pat epilogues some people think they are entitled to or an ending is criticized as being obviously unfinished are baffling to me.
They talked a bit about it because complainers got so loud at the endings and they said they DID make that sort of epilogue (not necessarily a slideshow but a much bigger thing overall), and cut it for the exact reason you said. Larian themselves felt it was going to be tediously long. And of course almost no one who's happy with the ending ever gets so loud about it because they were already satisfied with it.
I do think the way they scripted the dialogue leading into it could use some work though. Seems like there's no priority focus based on anything so even a character you recruited but didn't care about is just as likely to speak up as the characters you helped through all their personal stuff or romanced. There's a LOT of possible dialogue there and having it be totally random is not the greatest feeling.
I do think the way they scripted the dialogue leading into it could use some work though. Seems like there's no priority focus based on anything so even a character you recruited but didn't care about is just as likely to speak up as the characters you helped through all their personal stuff or romanced. There's a LOT of possible dialogue there and having it be totally random is not the greatest feeling.
I had also been misinformed about an abrupt ending that I was actively anticipating 25 percent of the way through act 3 (the longest act! not what I was expecting) but no, that was not in the cards. I liked the post-boss stuff and exploring the options there but I found the last several battles really overlong and unenjoyable, although I take it you might have liked those. Hard for me as a scrub, too.
I don't think I would have been able to survive the final battle with all of my party alive without one scroll of globe (?) of invulnerability (?) or whatever I randomly had that let me safely collect for a few rounds near the portal.
Recent patch let me get a haircut which was sweet; so I did that a few times. And my statue (purchased just as the circus was leaving...) updated as well... The patch also had party members encumbering me with "important" items that were certainly not every time they left. I was often intentionally keeping the items with them just because inventory management is such a pain. I found it better to keep things with party members as opposed to myself or the camp treasure chest. Alphabetical sorting when
I do think Karlach's quest seems a little weird (just no dialogue after meeting Dammon again in act 3?) but through no action on my part she had one of the more substantial epilogue things. (I let Wyll decide to be a cop in hell because I didn't care what he did so they just went there together...) Also, the fireworks thing! Basically just murdering an entire shop of people after a little dialogue and then if you like to waste your time a dozen fists because they randomly aggo because they can see the top floor. (I just teleported away once I realized this was inevitable...) AFAB but I'm not spending five minutes dealing with this. I will just avoid finishing that next game.
I sided with the Emperor because he was agreeable and never bothered me with all these annoying little HUD notifications that he disapproves of my actions. Yes, he's done evil things but so have most of the companions and what this game has taught me is: that doesn't count. I did not evolve because I thought it made my character less pretty... I know it would've made some act 3 stuff much easier.
Couldn't stop myself from starting a new playthrough. Was considering a half-orc paladin so I could speak with animals and consider going more illithid but I went back to wood elf monk... I don't think I'll see the next one through. I did go The Dark Urge this time and did not change the name so my character is always introducing himself as The Dark Urge and no one reacts. That's the right move, probably.
I don't think I would have been able to survive the final battle with all of my party alive without one scroll of globe (?) of invulnerability (?) or whatever I randomly had that let me safely collect for a few rounds near the portal.
Recent patch let me get a haircut which was sweet; so I did that a few times. And my statue (purchased just as the circus was leaving...) updated as well... The patch also had party members encumbering me with "important" items that were certainly not every time they left. I was often intentionally keeping the items with them just because inventory management is such a pain. I found it better to keep things with party members as opposed to myself or the camp treasure chest. Alphabetical sorting when
I do think Karlach's quest seems a little weird (just no dialogue after meeting Dammon again in act 3?) but through no action on my part she had one of the more substantial epilogue things. (I let Wyll decide to be a cop in hell because I didn't care what he did so they just went there together...) Also, the fireworks thing! Basically just murdering an entire shop of people after a little dialogue and then if you like to waste your time a dozen fists because they randomly aggo because they can see the top floor. (I just teleported away once I realized this was inevitable...) AFAB but I'm not spending five minutes dealing with this. I will just avoid finishing that next game.
I sided with the Emperor because he was agreeable and never bothered me with all these annoying little HUD notifications that he disapproves of my actions. Yes, he's done evil things but so have most of the companions and what this game has taught me is: that doesn't count. I did not evolve because I thought it made my character less pretty... I know it would've made some act 3 stuff much easier.
Couldn't stop myself from starting a new playthrough. Was considering a half-orc paladin so I could speak with animals and consider going more illithid but I went back to wood elf monk... I don't think I'll see the next one through. I did go The Dark Urge this time and did not change the name so my character is always introducing himself as The Dark Urge and no one reacts. That's the right move, probably.
Yeah, this was kind of funny. We barely touched Karlach or Astarion's quests, so when they had something to say it was like, "Why are you getting a big dramatic moment? We don't really know you." I'm not sure how they would deal with that though, because some people probably would be invested in those characters and have just screwed up their quests and would still want to see the scenes, and their character flags would be reasonably similar to ours. I guess if you don't want a character to be involved in the ending, you've basically got to officially part ways with them before the point of no return.
We did like the last few battles, but we're Larian veterans who found the game mostly pretty easy on whatever they call Normal (Basic?). That being said, we also probably only got through the final encounter on our first shot because of a globe of invulnerability scroll, and we beat the final boss with one character left using his last bonus action before he would have died (which was actually kind of awesome and cinematic). In retrospect I think there are a lot of ways to steamroll your way through that to make it easier if you know what you're doing though (which is why Larian games are fun to play and to replay). Also I think we misunderstood the platform gimmick in the final room and had a bunch of characters unnecessarily die, which is probably not that hard to avoid.
I generally used everyone so I didn't mind but I definitely noticed the dialogue changed whenever I reloaded. (once the game crashed, rude) My second ending ( of three - first I just let the Emperor Assume Control because he seemed nice...) had me convincing Lae'zel to stay and then immediately going to hell with Wyll and Karlach but neither her nor any of my three boyfriends which didn't make a lot of sense, but really she should've just left me after the choice I made... I guess... my fault for savescumming on two separate DC 20 checks... wonder what she did after that... got assassinated? sorry...
Would I have been able to replace her if she left? She was an active party member and I couldn't otherwise change my party once I started the final quest.
Would I have been able to replace her if she left? She was an active party member and I couldn't otherwise change my party once I started the final quest.
I'm in Act III, wandering around the Lower City, and it feels different from the other two acts so far. The fact that most (all?) of Act III takes place in the titular city makes me feel like I'm doing less, compared to wandering around the overworld/Underdark in Act I, or the Shadow-Cursed Land in Act II. There were a wide variety of encounters, and while there's clearly a lot to do in the city too, it just feels kind of same-y because the environment is fairly static and there seems to be way less combat so far. I've spent multiple play sessions now just walking around and talking to people, which means a couple of hours go by where I don't really feel like I've done anything. I'm not complaining -- still loving the game -- but it was something both my girlfriend and I noticed independently of each other.
Unrelated to anything, I wish there was a way to cancel Disguise Self besides taking a long rest. You'd think there would be an option to end it in the actions menu, but there doesn't seem to be. (I also cast it from a scroll, which shouldn't make a difference.) I used it to temporarily become a gnome so I could fit through a hole and now I want to be my regular elf self again. I haven't done anything to warrant resting yet!
Oh yeah, I never reported back on how to Throw objects/enemies from the environment around you when you're playing on PS5/controller. Turns out it's easy but not intuitive: after selecting the Throw action, you press Circle (or whatever your back/cancel button is) twice to get out of the radial menu, and then you should be able to select whatever you want to Throw from the environment with your cursor. When you do, your character should show a transparent preview of them holding the thing while you aim at your intended target. If you've never thrown an enemy at another enemy, let me tell you, you've been missing out.
Unrelated to anything, I wish there was a way to cancel Disguise Self besides taking a long rest. You'd think there would be an option to end it in the actions menu, but there doesn't seem to be. (I also cast it from a scroll, which shouldn't make a difference.) I used it to temporarily become a gnome so I could fit through a hole and now I want to be my regular elf self again. I haven't done anything to warrant resting yet!
Oh yeah, I never reported back on how to Throw objects/enemies from the environment around you when you're playing on PS5/controller. Turns out it's easy but not intuitive: after selecting the Throw action, you press Circle (or whatever your back/cancel button is) twice to get out of the radial menu, and then you should be able to select whatever you want to Throw from the environment with your cursor. When you do, your character should show a transparent preview of them holding the thing while you aim at your intended target. If you've never thrown an enemy at another enemy, let me tell you, you've been missing out.
There should be an option to cancel, although maybe it works differently due to using a scroll. (I used some DLC magical item) I do know either due to a patch or getting too many abilities "recast speak with the dead" (as opposed to the initial cast) disappeared from my menu. (I use a controller) I have to add it back in with Set Slot or whatever. But cancel disguise self definitely exists; I've used it.
Did not need to when I was just testing out speak with dead on Astarion in my playthrough, even though I killed him. (I reloaded...) Lore inconsistency!
e: to set a slot with a controller, just highlight a blank space and press... square?
Did not need to when I was just testing out speak with dead on Astarion in my playthrough, even though I killed him. (I reloaded...) Lore inconsistency!
e: to set a slot with a controller, just highlight a blank space and press... square?
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This was not my experience at all!
I wonder if you've been missing some major areas, because I definitely (big list of Act III environments) did a bank heist, did terrorism on an automaton factory, took a submarine for a tense turn limited rescue mission in a flooding undersea prison, went to hell, did a completely different kind of heist in a wizard's vault, explored a vampire's lair, cleared out a hidden Sharran temple with a lot of environmental storytelling even for a party member like ours without the right origin character present, etc. In addition to those varied environments, I also thought the main and side-quests that took place at least in large part in the main city and sewer areas were quite strong, like the hag support group and the follow-up on the artist you can rescue from the Zhents and especially the entire murder mystery.