D&D General Baldur's Gate 3 will now be releasing August 3rd on PC and September 6th on PS5, increased level cap, race & class details and more

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

PC Gamer just gave it a 97 in its full review, its highest score in over a decade, and one of its highest scores ever:

Baldur's Gate 3 review

The new pinnacle of the genre.

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Baldur's Gate 3 is PC Gamer's highest scoring game in 16 years. Here's why

It's been a long time since we've been this excited by a new PC release.

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It is pretty bananas fun. Turn-based combat with tons of outside-the-box options. Exploration that leads to massive rabbit holes when you least expect it. Fun rewards for taking the time to see where that path or ledge might lead you to. Some areas that are meant for you to handle at your current level. Some not, but you can come back later. Some that you can come back to later, but you better bring your A game. Companions with rich backgrounds. Side quests and background characters: the right balance of intricate vs. straightforward.

The amount of time that I've put into this game and I'm still in Act 1... crazy.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

I've reloaded a lot of fights, and early on especially it can come down to initiative and a roll of the dice. If you get the jump a fight can be over before it really starts.

But this particular fight was not one of the toughest ones for me. Are you playing on Normal difficulty?

With the tougher fights, a bit of tactics planning and positioning makes a massive difference. I'm not above a little save scumming to work out those kinks...

Strategic use of potions and scrolls can help (although I haven't found many fights where this is necessary, but they happen).

 

[Scribe]

But this particular fight was not one of the toughest ones for me. Are you playing on Normal difficulty?

With the tougher fights, a bit of tactics planning and positioning makes a massive difference. I'm not above a little save scumming to work out those kinks...

Strategic use of potions and scrolls can help (although I haven't found many fights where this is necessary, but they happen).

This one wasnt bad no. My first time on it, I did have 2 of my party drop pretty much instantly, on a reload it went better and I didnt really change anything in my approach, my big hitters just got to go first.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Ive been buying anything to get my AC up. Using spells like Shield on the Barb or Sorcerer. 13 AC just isn't cutting it. Could give the Barb a shield but that tasty magical 2-hander is so nice...

I need to go repick spells or something since my plan to use Charm was a flawed one. Which even when cast it fails most of the time anyways. Man, do I long for 3rd level spells.... Maybe I'll change classes from Sorc to Wiz.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

This one wasnt bad no. My first time on it, I did have 2 of my party drop pretty much instantly, on a reload it went better and I didnt really change anything in my approach, my big hitters just got to go first.

With that fight, my biggest issue was

Spoiler

Karlach burning the place down post-fight whilst I scrambled to move my party out of the way

. I had a friend complain about the

Spoiler

Spider Matriarch

fight as one of the spikes in Act 1. I had to struggle to remember it. Again, I'm no tactician. My party composition is:

Spoiler

archery Ranger with a Raven beast companion. Caustic Ring + Harold crossbow + Hunter's Mark to eyebrow raising effect. Wyll on Eldritch Blast (boosted by Agonizing Blast/Hex) with Pact of the Blade providing occasional front line support. Karlach going full Berserker... stupefying amounts of damage. Shadowheart rarely hits, but provides meat shield utility, along with occasional heal/other spell.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Ive been buying anything to get my AC up. Using spells like Shield on the Barb or Sorcerer. 13 AC just isn't cutting it. Could give the Barb a shield but that tasty magical 2-hander is so nice...

I need to go repick spells or something since my plan to use Charm was a flawed one. Which even when cast it fails most of the time anyways. Man, do I long for 3rd level spells.... Maybe I'll change classes from Sorc to Wiz.

13 AC??? My Karlach has 17 AC without a shield.

 

[Ondath]

Yeah this game is definitely leaning more into AD&D's "use tactics" form of battles over 5E's "just charge in and you will kill them 90% of the time" form of battles.

Larian is surely famous for its difficult fights, so it's possible the fights in the game are tougher than the 5E baseline, but I disagree with your assesment. Despite all the talk about it being impossible to kill your players in 5E, the first four levels (and especially the first two) are very lethal. It's only after Level 5, when you get the proficiency bonus increase, build up a healthy pool of hit points, get powerful spells etc., that PC death becomes more difficult. I think a lot of the difficulty people attribute to Larian also comes from the swinginess of early levels in 5E.

 

[DarkCrisis]

13 AC??? My Karlach has 17 AC without a shield.

10 base +1 from Dex, +2 from Con. 13.

 

[MarkB]

10 base +1 from Dex, +2 from Con. 13.

Yeah, the whole Unarmoured Defense thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Get her some medium armour.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Yeah, the whole Unarmoured Defense thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Get her some medium armour.

If you've

Spoiler

picked up Lae'zel as a companion

, just give Karlach that armour. But there are tons of reasonable Medium armour options.