Baldur's Gate 3: Quicksave is my favourite spell

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, Ser Lany said:

I am regretting my illithad decision, and seriously considering redoing my last 7 hours of play.

I think this song is about me 

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I have a horrible looking face now, with a lot of veins covering it.  ugh.  I hate that this bothers me. I have to agree with Astarion. I wanted power, but not at the cost of my looks

 

In Act II my playthrough was definitely not linear. I got to the Shadow Lands through the Underdark, did a bunch of quests, then went back and found the mountain pass and did the Giythyanki Creche which turns out is a much bigger plotline than expected, then went to the Nightsong only to discover that you do lose a bunch of side quests like rescuing the tieflings, so I re-loaded the game before reaching the Nightsong, did the tiefling and deep gnome rescue quest and ended doing a bunch smaller ones, and then finally completed the main quests.

My current Act III playthrough is like a maze wrapped inside a moebius strip.  Wert is right about its pacing.

[Poobah]

Definitely my game of the year by a mile. 

[Ser Lany]

Just in case anyone is curious, this is what I look like (I mean my character, I get a little wrapped up in this game

Warning, it's a little bit of a spoiler to look.

I will post more pics if things continue 

[Heartofice]

6 minutes ago, Ser Lany said:

Just in case anyone is curious, this is what I look like (I mean my character, I get a little wrapped up in this game

Warning, it's a little bit of a spoiler to look.

I will post more pics if things continue 

Yeah I didn’t realise this would happen to my paladin so I went back a few saves and made sure I passed the charisma check to avoid this hideous visage

[Werthead]

Ending reached, game completed. 103 hours in the end.

Spoiler

Netherbane destroyed by suicide-bombing Gale (who hopefully did ascend to Mystra's right hand, as he does in his own Origin playthrough), absolutely nobody turned into a mindflayer, my MC retired to a farm with Shadowheart; Karlach and Wyll went to Avernus and stole Zariel's blueprints to a new, better heart for Karlach; Jergal took the piss out of the Dead Three; Astarion is now Batman; Minsc remains random; Lae'zel is trying to engineer an alliance between the githyanki and githzera before GRRM's lawyers show up; Scratch is still the bestest boy.

 

[Corvinus85]

Just got done with the Cazador quest. I guess you can't revive someone if they're just a puddle of bones and blood.

Spoiler

Took me a few tries because I kept focusing on the side creatures instead of trying to take out Cazador before completing his ritual. 

Astarion is scary if he does the ritual. It was more sensible to go the other way, let him be as he is and free all the spawn. 

I think I got about 100 hrs on the playthrough and all the other major quests still needed to be finished.

[Werthead]

14 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Just got done with the Cazador quest. I guess you can't revive someone if they're just a puddle of bones and blood.

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Took me a few tries because I kept focusing on the side creatures instead of trying to take out Cazador before completing his ritual. 

Astarion is scary if he does the ritual. It was more sensible to go the other way, let him be as he is and free all the spawn. 

I think I got about 100 hrs on the playthrough and all the other major quests still needed to be finished.

Spoiler

Just don't let Astarion get caught.

Ungroup the party, leave Astarion way back on the stairs, hit Cazadore from range to trigger combat without his tedious cutscene, and Astarion remains free and can then take part in the battle.

Also, Wall of Fire between the two pillars closest to the stairs and keeping your characters spaced to avoid Cazadore's sniping AoE attacks, and most of the enemies kill themselves without you having to do anything else.

 

[Corvinus85]

9 minutes ago, Werthead said:

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Just don't let Astarion get caught.

Ungroup the party, leave Astarion way back on the stairs, hit Cazadore from range to trigger combat without his tedious cutscene, and Astarion remains free and can then take part in the battle.

Also, Wall of Fire between the two pillars closest to the stairs and keeping your characters spaced to avoid Cazadore's sniping AoE attacks, and most of the enemies kill themselves without you having to do anything else.

 

But villains must always be given the chance to monologue.

Spoiler

I didn't know that was an option. Anyway, it's done. Shadowheart with radiant guardian destroys all the bats and severely damages the others. I was already at level 12 with my characters. My Fighter character was dual-wielding longswords and just went to town on Cazador. Once Cazador is beaten, Astarion is freed and he can join the fight against the rest.

 

[Leofric]

1 hour ago, Corvinus85 said:

But villains must always be given the chance to monologue.

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I didn't know that was an option. Anyway, it's done. Shadowheart with radiant guardian destroys all the bats and severely damages the others. I was already at level 12 with my characters. My Fighter character was dual-wielding longswords and just went to town on Cazador. Once Cazador is beaten, Astarion is freed and he can join the fight against the rest.

 

In my 2nd play where Astarion survived until Act III:

Spoiler

Astarion got pulled into the ritual and vaporized as Cazador ascended and then I killed Cazador, thereby removing every vampire from Baldur's Gate. 

 

[Corvinus85]

My next on the list is the House of Grief. That is a ridiculous fight. Didn't realize casting darkness prevents you from shooting through it. The laws of physics must work differently in the D&D world.

I tried it once, but I feel that there must be a better way than taking on so many at the same time with just your party.

[Luzifer's right hand]

So nearly finished act 1 in honour mode.

I'm using everything I got from consumables to stacking bonuses and I found things not that difficult so far.

Tavern Brawler monk with strength potions is insanely strong and I found an item that can make enemies vulnerable to blunt damage while clearing the crèche.

I also a few arrows if many targets and they are freaking crazy with the Titanstring bow and a high strength archer.

Using two bards and my 2nd one buffs and inspires my lore bard Tav(with actor feat) during conversations and I have not really failed yet. I did not max things there though so no halfling Tav because I dislike the small folk animations.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Luzifer's right hand

[Corvinus85]

Has anyone attempted the Ansur quest? What's the deal with the chess lance game? I make genuine chess moves and they are cancelled out, the board is reset.

[Poobah]

From what I recall you're looking for a very specific checkmate in 2 moves, not just any valid moves. 

[Corvinus85]

25 minutes ago, Poobah said:

From what I recall you're looking for a very specific checkmate in 2 moves, not just any valid moves. 

That's silly in a game with so many liberties. Let me play, ref! Let me play! 

[Werthead]

3 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Has anyone attempted the Ansur quest? What's the deal with the chess lance game? I make genuine chess moves and they are cancelled out, the board is reset.

Ha.

Spoiler

You are told to take out the King. You are not told to play Chess to do it. Just nuke him with magic.

 

[Corvinus85]

44 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Ha.

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You are told to take out the King. You are not told to play Chess to do it. Just nuke him with magic.

 

I've read about that. I don't like it.

Edit: It appears only lightning damage works. Or if you have Gale in the party he tells you the moves to make. But the way my board was setup I had checkmate in 1. Oh well.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Corvinus85

[Ser Lany]

I need to talk about this epilogue

Spoiler

I was a female half-elf/drow bard who romanced Gale to the end of the game. I was curious to see what he would do when the time came. We had our last night of "magic" a night or two before the end. He now had something to live for and really didn't want to do it, unlike the very first time I completed the game when he just went off on his own and did it. I had to roll a couple of times to convince him it was the only way (I have avoided looking up any other ways to defeat the Netherbrain. I might eventually, when I get better at it)

After it was all over, I joined Karlach raising hell in the Hells. Six months later we meet up with the old gang.

Spoiler

When I hug Shadowheart she says I seem to have filled out a bit. I ask if she's calling me fat, and she says no, I just look healthy, very healthy.  I talk to Tara the tresseum, (Gale's pet(/friend) and she says she can sense a small part of Gale in our gathering. Tara also suggests that I visit Gale's mother and gives me the family surname, (that last part didn't initially fuel suspicions)

Is it just me, or is there a strong implication my character is pregnant? 

I mean think about it. How does an already trim, very physically fit woman "fill out" while fighting daily for her life in Avernus?

ETA another spoiler tag, just i in case (and then since it was in spoilers, added a little more detail

Edited December 11, 2023 by Ser Lany

[Ser Lany]

On 11/9/2023 at 10:41 AM, Kalbear said:

You can romance everyone with a mod. https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/1529

Either I did something wrong when I downloaded this, or it's not what I expected. I thought it was working because the second Laezel was dead (killed by Shadowheart), both Karlach and Gale were there offering, however I now have a bitter, angry wizard in my camp.   I have a friend coming over this weekend and I will have him check it out and see if I did it right, and fix it if I didn't. 

Darla the slutty Dark Urge is on her 3rd sexual encounter and is working on lining up the fourth. (Laezel, Gale, Karlach, and Karlach is supposedly ok with Halsin) and I haven't even finished Act 2 yet. 

There is a lot of drama in the Dark Urge's camp! (probably closer to how things would really be if this was real or even a LARP)

 

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by Ser Lany

[Corvinus85]

Nearing the end. I got the Orphic Hammer.

Spoiler

The music for the Raphael fight is glorious, though it works better within the moment. I had listened to the soundtrack before getting this far and that song didn't do it for me outside of context.

So about the Netherbrain

Spoiler

Are you supposed to lose those rolls against it? My Fighter didn't really stand much of a chance, only got the first roll with strength to pass, the rest were all failures, and I didn't have many inspiration points. And the last one is a 99, so I imagine that unless you roll a 20, you proceed to the next phase regardless that ends in a big battle.

Did not expect to see a fleet of nautiloids to show up.

 

[Werthead]

6 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Nearing the end. I got the Orphic Hammer.

  Reveal hidden contents

The music for the Raphael fight is glorious, though it works better within the moment. I had listened to the soundtrack before getting this far and that song didn't do it for me outside of context.

So about the Netherbrain

  Hide contents

Are you supposed to lose those rolls against it? My Fighter didn't really stand much of a chance, only got the first roll with strength to pass, the rest were all failures, and I didn't have many inspiration points. And the last one is a 99, so I imagine that unless you roll a 20, you proceed to the next phase regardless that ends in a big battle.

Did not expect to see a fleet of nautiloids to show up.

 

Spoiler

Yes. I think even if you succeed, you have to eventually bail with the Emperor.