Baldur's Gate 3: On the Highway to the Nine Hells

[IlyaP]

I am really perplexed by the localised world map, which looks like a pen and paper gamesheet, and doesn't really give me any sense of Faerun's geography. 

Also, this Absolute whatever god/deity thing, this looks to be like something brought in with 5th Edition? It's the first I've ever heard of it, having last played Edition 3.5 - with Neverwinter Nights 2 (...when I can get it to stop crashing on me. Did that ever get fan-patched?) 

Will I need to be more aware of/familiar with this Absolute thing further on in the game? Or is it just something that's a background detail? 

A friend has also found out that players can arm themselves with...salami. Which, uh...sure. Why not.

[karaddin]

13 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

Also, this Absolute whatever god/deity thing, this looks to be like something brought in with 5th Edition? It's the first I've ever heard of it, having last played Edition 3.5 - with Neverwinter Nights 2 (...when I can get it to stop crashing on me. Did that ever get fan-patched?) 

Will I need to be more aware of/familiar with this Absolute thing further on in the game? Or is it just something that's a background detail? 

A friend has also found out that players can arm themselves with...salami. Which, uh...sure. Why not.

It's explained later in the game, it's not an entity that has been known under that name in the setting prior to this. 

[IlyaP]

9 minutes ago, karaddin said:

It's explained later in the game, it's not an entity that has been known under that name in the setting prior to this. 

Thanks! 

I'm also perplexed by the fact that the game doesn't technically seem to "pause" when I hit Escape? And I can't seem to figure out what the screencap option is in GoG. Everything I've read suggests it should be F12, but pressing that does...nothing.

 

[Fez]

Been continuing my Act 1 exploration. I'm still wrapping up quests and getting XP, but I'm kinda getting the sense that maybe I should push the main story forward. The map is starting to feel pretty depopulated (not that everyone is dead of course, there's been an awful lot of "oh, i'll see you in Baldur's Gate!" lines from NPCs too) and most of the companions haven't had much to say in a while.

But at the same time, I've been reading some general non-spoilery things and am starting to wonder if I should start over as The Dark Urge. It really does sound cool and some people are saying it doesn't need to wait until a second playthrough.

[Corvinus85]

The game certainly is large. I still haven't found the druid because I got diverted by a dried well which took me into a spider-infested cave system than then took me to the back of a blacksmith shop. I pretty much emptied the place of stuff. 

[IlyaP]

28 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

The game certainly is large. I still haven't found the druid because I got diverted by a dried well which took me into a spider-infested cave system than then took me to the back of a blacksmith shop. I pretty much emptied the place of stuff. 

There is one particular druid, down in the Emerald Glade, who has some severe corporal punishment problems that are unpleasant to witness. She also turns into a bear, because of course she does. 

[karaddin]

41 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

Thanks! 

I'm also perplexed by the fact that the game doesn't technically seem to "pause" when I hit Escape? And I can't seem to figure out what the screencap option is in GoG. Everything I've read suggests it should be F12, but pressing that does...nothing.

Yeah I was thrown by the lack of pausing too. I either put it into turn based mode (lol) or just go to camp if I need to pause or afk.

F12 is screenshot for Steam which I assume most people are playing on, which is why the ones you're seeing say to use that. No idea for GoG or the game itself.

1 minute ago, IlyaP said:

There is one particular druid, down in the Emerald Glade, who has some severe corporal punishment problems that are unpleasant to witness. She also turns into a bear, because of course she does. 

You just made me realize that Russia the bear is a druid.

[Corvinus85]

5 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

There is one particular druid, down in the Emerald Glade, who has some severe corporal punishment problems that are unpleasant to witness. She also turns into a bear, because of course she does. 

I stumbled upon a bugbear fucking a female ogre. They didn't let my party leave without a fight. This game is something else.

[karaddin]

3 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

I stumbled upon a bugbear fucking a female ogre. They didn't let my party leave without a fight. This game is something else.

That was actually something I'd managed to miss in EA and first play lol, seen a lot of comments about it though

[IlyaP]

40 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

I stumbled upon a bugbear fucking a female ogre. They didn't let my party leave without a fight. This game is something else.

Had that encounter too, and quietly reloaded and skipped that doorway, as I just don't need those kinds of nightmares.

[AndrewJ]

15 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I've no idea how the inspiration mechanic works other than every time I managed to trick someone, the vampire elf guy got inspired, even though I did the action with my character. And then sometimes I get additional rolls for an action as a result.

 

I haven't played yet, for a bunch of completely uninteresting reasons (my pc is less powerful than console, Starfield in looming, limited play time).

But from what I've read and watched, while trying to resist hitting the "buy" button on Steam - you earn Inspiration points for taking actions that are in line with your "background. Eg Folk Hero will earn points for defending the weak etc, And I believe you are capped at 4 points at a time - so use it or lose it.

[Heartofice]

3 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

The game certainly is large. I still haven't found the druid because I got diverted by a dried well which took me into a spider-infested cave system than then took me to the back of a blacksmith shop. I pretty much emptied the place of stuff. 

I went down there last night, thought I was going to need to go back to an old save because I confidently thought I could sneak past the spiders, got stuck in a web and half my party died. Even on the third go I needed to revive one member and everyone else was poisoned to the point of collapse.

One of those things where I’m either just not very good at combat yet or I wasn’t prepared at all

[IlyaP]

59 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

One of those things where I’m either just not very good at combat yet or I wasn’t prepared at all

That's what I'm wondering too! Granted, I hate (and probably suck at) turn-based combat, but am gritting my teeth and pushing through 'cause it's Baldur's Gate. It's a bit frustrating how the initial first act of the game doesn't lead players as well as, say, Solasta, which I am playing concurrently and find has a slightly more straightfoward narrative that leads to less confusion around where one ought to go at what level/stage of development.

I've managed to get to the underdark by level 3 and...then a beholder stomped all over me and I noped out of visiting that area till later. 

And trying to go west to get this Illithidpod removed results in the game saying "you are not yet powerful enough to go here", which, kinda kills the narrative sense of urgency a bit.

[Heartofice]

14 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

That's what I'm wondering too! Granted, I hate (and probably suck at) turn-based combat, but am gritting my teeth and pushing through 'cause it's Baldur's Gate. It's a bit frustrating how the initial first act of the game doesn't lead players as well as, say, Solasta, which I am playing concurrently and find has a slightly more straightfoward narrative that leads to less confusion around where one ought to go at what level/stage of development.

I've managed to get to the underdark by level 3 and...then a beholder stomped all over me and I noped out of visiting that area till later. 

And trying to go west to get this Illithidpod removed results in the game saying "you are not yet powerful enough to go here", which, kinda kills the narrative sense of urgency a bit.

The level of freedom is great, but maybe as a newer player I do need far more hand holding, because I feel like a lot of stuff is going on I don't understand and haven't really understood all the systems happening at once.

[IlyaP]

And all the assumptions about what everything is! The contextualisation could be a wee bit better.

[IlyaP]

Tyanny managed to make it work by having text that had lore boxes, which I thought was a clever approach for us Planescape fans who enjoy reading.

[karaddin]

1 hour ago, IlyaP said:

That's what I'm wondering too! Granted, I hate (and probably suck at) turn-based combat, but am gritting my teeth and pushing through 'cause it's Baldur's Gate. It's a bit frustrating how the initial first act of the game doesn't lead players as well as, say, Solasta, which I am playing concurrently and find has a slightly more straightfoward narrative that leads to less confusion around where one ought to go at what level/stage of development.

I've managed to get to the underdark by level 3 and...then a beholder stomped all over me and I noped out of visiting that area till later. 

And trying to go west to get this Illithidpod removed results in the game saying "you are not yet powerful enough to go here", which, kinda kills the narrative sense of urgency a bit.

Lol I didn't run into that until the end of that section of the underdark. Apparently I go counter clockwise 

[Relic]

1 hour ago, IlyaP said:

I hate (and probably suck at) turn-based combat - as well as, say, Solasta,

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Relic

[IlyaP]

1 hour ago, Relic said:

 

Your honour, he took me out of context! 

[IlyaP]

*sigh*

I wish I'd known that rescuing Halsin would take several hours. Apparently every single goblin has met him, knows how he looks, and attacks him on sight. Even though he was captured while in bear form? So, uh...did I miss a plot point there?