Baldur's Gate 3: The illithid conspiracy

[Regulus]

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!

There is - there should be a "dispel disguise" action available in the same place that "re-cast speak with dead" and special passive abilities appear. It's the far right of the general hotbar on keyboard/mouse. On controller you can just reselect Disguise Self and the dispel option will appear there... which may explain why you can't find it if you cast it from a scroll.

 

[Oathbreaker]

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...)

This is all but confirmed to have been unfinished content. Karlach was made quite late in development and there are signs all over Act 3 that her quest was supposed to have at least another step to it than what it has between Dammon's jarring lack of interaction, the other NPCs who just so happen to be specialists in the exact same field of interest, and what is clearly the next tier of infernal metal you would've needed to turn in (which I believe you actually CAN give to Dammon, but nothing happens). Very unfortunate but also given Larian's penchant for changing/adding content later, and that Karlach has by far the most requests to flesh out her act 3/ending stuff, and that they rushed to alter her "best" ending to be less tragic, this is perhaps THE most likely thing that will be addressed.

 

[Adrenaline]

I'm a few hours into Act 3 and still liking it. It's a bit weird how the game doesn't directly point you towards what you need to do to progress the story at times, but I guess it's fine if you're curious. I had no idea how to enter the city itself until after I started the murder mystery quest. Since the game didn't automatically force me into a conversation when I approached a starting point for it, I didn't know it was necessary, or if it's not, how else to get into the city (besides getting captured I guess).

 

[lincolnic]

I wonder if you've been missing some major areas

Or maybe I just haven't found them yet? I've only been in the Lower City for two play sessions, which is where I think basically everything you're mentioning is (I didn't look too hard because spoilers). Haven't even seen all of its map yet. But also, you have to go through two other maps to even get there in the first place. There's a lot of game!

There is - there should be a "dispel disguise" action available in the same place that "re-cast speak with dead" and special passive abilities appear. It's the far right of the general hotbar on keyboard/mouse. On controller you can just reselect Disguise Self and the dispel option will appear there... which may explain why you can't find it if you cast it from a scroll.

I don't have a hotbar because I'm playing on PS5, and there's no dispel option in my Actions radial menu. You would think that it wouldn't matter if you cast it from a scroll, but who can honestly tell if it's a bug or just something they overlooked in a game this big.

 

[lincolnic]

Okay, for some reason I had to manually add the "dispel disguise" option to my radial menu, but that worked!

 

[estragon]

Breaking news, big discovery from our metagaming murder hobo playthrough:

Astarion is a lot of fun!

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Yes, he is!

I am doing a Dark Urge playthrough and I don't think I'll do much different plotwise, because I never do when I play these. Everybody's getting different subclasses aside from Wyll but maybe I should change that. It just seems like weird for him to be anything but Pact of the Blade for plot reasons... Anyway, the combat is so far a lot easier because I know more about the systems and because Way of the Open Hand Monk is probably just a lot better than Storm Sorcerer... I killed Grym before his second round came up and he cooled down. Just playing on balanced, though.

Ultimately I do like this game more if I am not wasting my life making the combat more difficult so I do think I'll take three boring-ass rogue levels so I can get an extra bonus action. And hey, my main character will be better at lockpicking, too. I'll still probably almost always have Astarion in the party (Arcane Trickster this time) and he'll be wearing the Graceful Cloth and doing most of that shit anyway. I'm having Karlach be a Wild Magic Barbarian and unfortunately it is not as fun as I'd like. Combat is mostly over before she can use any cool powers if she gets them instead of something uselessly defensive. I'll probably have her go thief as well... monoclasses only for everyone else, though! That's just what I believe, except when I don't.

I made one potion in my first playthrough for a sidequest and then otherwise never touched alchemy. I decide to press the crafting buttons more this time for animal speaking potions and it seems weird that you can't choose what the second component is. It does seem to default to the most disposable ingredients (health potions, poison resistance) but it's still a bit strange. Unless I'm missing something?

 

[estragon]

Everybody's getting different subclasses aside from Wyll but maybe I should change that. It just seems like weird for him to be anything but Pact of the Blade for plot reasons...

If you want to switch things up but stick to the story, you could keep Pact of the Blade but play with multiclassing. This is probably too obvious to even say, but Paladin seems like a good fit for his personality and backstory and mixes well with Warlock. Also there is apparently currently a bug or a feature (no one is quite sure) where Pact of the Blade's extra attack stacks with Paladin's extra attack, so it's a route to three attacks without doing 11 levels of fighter.

 

[lincolnic]

I'm having Karlach be a Wild Magic Barbarian and unfortunately it is not as fun as I'd like.

I was a Wild Magic sorceror at first, but I found it to be more of a hindrance than a help, so I switched to Draconic Origin and never looked back. I'm guessing it's the same Wild Magic results for Barbarian. I'm still finishing my first playthrough, but I can't imagine ever doing anything for Karlach other than Berserker and specializing in throwing. Tavern Brawler feat + Ring of Throwing + Gloves of Uninhibited Kushigo set you up for absolutely absurd damage. Get one of the returning weapons and you're good for the entire game. I also multiclassed her into three levels of Thief Rogue to get an extra bonus action for four throws per turn -- depending on if she's had an elixer, that's something like 120-200 damage every turn just from Karlach alone. I used her final level to get to level 4 Thief for Alert as an extra feat, meaning she almost always goes first. Enemies just get deleted.

For my second playthrough I definitely want to do more of a min/max-y, metagame-y party to see what other fun and busted builds are out there. I still probably have at least a week or two of this first playthrough to enjoy before I get there, though.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

“Killed” Elminster just to see if I could which yes with haste I could eventually stun him with my monk. I got a nice chunk of xp so I almost want to… continue on in having done that… I’m sure he’s fine… Negative plot consequences? Does he still like show up at camp later? I know I’ll hit the level cap like theee dozen hours before the game is over so I guess I’ll just do things normally…

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

His Majesty has fur now! Doesn’t matter, but why?

 

[estragon]

“Killed” Elminster just to see if I could which yes with haste I could eventually stun him with my monk. I got a nice chunk of xp so I almost want to… continue on in having done that… I’m sure he’s fine… Negative plot consequences? Does he still like show up at camp later? I know I’ll hit the level cap like theee dozen hours before the game is over so I guess I’ll just do things normally…

I think unless you have Gale in your party he doesn't really do anything of note.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

I did have Gale in my party but just preemptively attacked him before the cutscene. Gale did not react to this and there was no cutscene at camp when I tried resting just to test this out. I just proceeded on from my save where I just invited him to camp in case this did anything negative to his quest progression. I’ll hit level 12 soon enough (relatively…) anyway. Also I do think I’m going to do that Paladin thing with Wyll. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[estragon]

I did have Gale in my party but just preemptively attacked him before the cutscene. Gale did not react to this and there was no cutscene at camp when I tried resting just to test this out. I just proceeded on from my save where I just invited him to camp in case this did anything negative to his quest progression.

I think the issue is more that that character is what triggers Gale's quest progression, so not seeing anything in particular happen would be the problem. It's possible that there are other backup triggers if he's gone, or maybe if you just go to the right places or do the right things he'll figure it out on his own, but as someone with Gale in my main party for our first playthrough, that was who pushed the story forward multiple times.

If you've already done Gale's quest and/or just don't care about it, then I don't think it should matter, though... I guess it depends whether or not Gale will stop demanding more objects from you or not if you don't have him talk with that guy. Could potentially be annoying if Gale stays hungry forever. But maybe the trigger for that to stop is just giving him enough, or moving onto the Shadowlands, in which case his quest might stall out but it won't really matter at all.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

He only ever asks for three items and I think the character is relaying information that that’s already been paused so I don’t think he would ask for more. Long past that point anyway.

They patched His Majesty’s fur back out, apparently. Haven’t been back to check. I did accidentally k*ll his sister in Moonrise with a unique Dark Urge interaction (never ponder things as a Dark Urge…) but I reloaded.

 

[estragon]

He only ever asks for three items

Okay that is hilarious because that was my experience as well but judging by comments online it sounded like many felt he was a huge burden to keep around I thought maybe I just got really lucky or something. The early game is full of not-that-great or extremely build specific things to use for this purpose that you would never miss...

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Yeah, it’s not a big deal. I heard they used to be more selective about what you could give him in EA and some of these items were tagged as plot items now seemingly for no reason, like the Staff of Crones. Downstream consequence: characters have recently been unequipping these and encumbering the protagonist with whenever they’re dismissed…) A newer patch reversed that behavior thank g*d.
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I apparently forgot to pick up the Necromancy of Thay in the Blighted Village. Glad I picked it uo before locking myself out but I already got the only thing I really wanted. (Speak with Dead without using a magical item) I hope they change it back so its recast is automatically assigned like it used to be.
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My third or fourth unprovoked killing spree in Moonrise did trigger an Oathbreak in Wyll even though he was never the initial attacker. I will always do this because I’d rather the actual final assault be a relaxing cakewalk. I’ll probably buy my way back in but who knows.
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I did not know until now that if all four of your characters fail that nature check to uncover some hidden garbage you can still just dig it up manually…

 

[lincolnic]

I did not know until now that if all four of your characters fail that nature check to uncover some hidden garbage you can still just dig it up manually…

You can also summon the best boy, Scratch, to get pointed at the location where you should dig.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

I was initially worried he would permadie if I pulled him out, but no! He does not.

I do find summons tend to block my characters in combat a lot so I have to blow a bonus action jumping through them because you can't just squeeze around them, which is kind of cute but not ideal...

 

[lincolnic]

Finally rolled credits on my first playthrough tonight! Game of the year, hands down. Just an incredible experience all around, even through the bugs and the occasionally frustrating controls. I feel pretty satisfied with the story choices and ending I got, the only thing I wish the game had done differently is (massive late act III spoilers) if they would've let you save Karlach in some way without turning her into a mind flayer. If Gale can get out of being a living time bomb, why not Karlach? In any case, again, I had an amazing time. I would love to play it again eventually and maybe check out some of the classes that aren't really represented in the party characters.

 

[lincolnic]

My girlfriend wrapped up her own playthrough last night. This morning I got up and thought "Huh, now I guess we get to try and remember what we used to do before Baldur's Gate." Then I walked into the living room to see that she'd just started a new game.

 

[Adrenaline]

When I started the game I took the Dark Urge option, and I regretted it at first because of a thing it made me do. But that only really happened one time, and over time it added depth to my character that otherwise wouldn't have been there, and by the end of the game it ties interestingly into the main plot. I reached a conclusion last night that was very satisfying. Now to wrap up all the companion quests and finish the game.

 

[Adrenaline]

Finished it. Did pretty much everything I could, I'm Baldur's Gate'd out at this point but what a great game.

 

[Yimothy]

I’ve made a start on this game. I have very little direct D&D experience (I played Neverwinter Nights I guess 20 years ago and barely remember it, that’s about it), so diving right in like this game seems to do is a bit overwhelming. I spent a long time on character creation, and am now I think three or four hours in and have just had my first party wipe to a bunch of harpies that are twice my level. I’ve seen a lot more party member disapproval messages than approval so far.

Aside from not really knowing how D&D works, I’m also trying to figure out how this game works. I’m playing on PC but with a controller, and I feel like I don’t have a full grasp on the controls yet. I’m also not sure how urgency goes. Like, if I decide those harpies are too tough for me at the moment, will the kid on the beach have been taken by them when I come back later, or is he perfectly safe until I start talking to him? I’m trying to just play the game and let what happens happen, so hopefully I’ll figure it out over time. My guy doesn’t have a great Int stat, so I’ve sort of decided my ineptitude is just him also not understanding his world.

 

[Oathbreaker]

I'll put this in spoilers in case you do just want to figure things out on your own. But with regard to urgency:

I don't know specifically for that kid, but I do know for certain other events you can come across like that will resolve themselves if you long rest after walking into their space. Your characters commenting about it on approach or the game pulling you into dialogue is a good sign that you are in that space. It's typically stuff that when you find it already looks like something in-progress like with the kid. So there IS a degree of urgency to it, but using a long rest so it becomes 'the next day' is when the game then determines if you skipped an urgent event that you found. You can freely walk away and come back to it otherwise afaik.

 

[lincolnic]

I agree that the game doesn't do a particularly good job of explaining the controls (or most of the systems, frankly), but I played the whole thing on controller so if you've got any questions about that I can help!

Or really, if you've got any questions, I'm sure everyone in this thread will be happy to get you up to speed. I think the early game is probably the toughest part for a lot of people (certainly was for me), so you're definitely not alone.

 

[Yimothy]

I’m trying to let go of my completionist habits and just accept what happens in the game as it happens. I’ve failed to do this in many games before, but maybe this one will be the one. By which standard I guess I’d have to say my party’s adventure ended with everyone dying at the beach.

 

[YangusKhan]

I think the early game is probably the toughest part for a lot of people (certainly was for me), so you're definitely not alone.

I haven't played BG3 yet, but this is certainly the case for its predecessors too (and basically all the Infinity Engine games).

 

[lincolnic]

I’m trying to let go of my completionist habits and just accept what happens in the game as it happens. I’ve failed to do this in many games before, but maybe this one will be the one. By which standard I guess I’d have to say my party’s adventure ended with everyone dying at the beach.

Eh, I say there's no harm in savescumming if that makes the game more enjoyable for you. It's a hard game to get into, no reason to punish yourself for not knowing all the rules and interactions yet.

 

[Yimothy]

Yeah I wound up beating the harpies after two more attempts, the first of which went abysmally and the second of which I think went pretty well even though my PC was dead at the end of it. He got better. I’m generally falling into my usual goody two shoes thing, helping everyone, not asking for anything in return. I’m planning to try to save the head druid rather than convincing the refugees to flee or assassinating the substitute head druid, for example. Though in terms of the main plot I’m more interested in finding the crèche rather than the healer. I let Lae'zel terrorise the tiefling in the druid grove for information, which I think got some approval from her that I then lost by criticising her for being too rough. Anyway, plenty of time left to make/lose friends.

Beating the harpies got me to level three, which opened up a bewildering array of options for most characters in how to level up. For now, I just took whatever seemed ok and I’ll roll with it. Definitely a lot of systems I have not engaged with yet.