D&D General BG3 Massive Spoiler Thread

[Paul Farquhar]

The creche can net you one of the best weapons in the game, especially for clerics.

I think its a bit wasted on clerics, at least until the late-game. You don't have to be a cleric to use a mace.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I took a break for 2-3 weeks. Still in late Act 1. After removing the cave in with a smoke powder barrel and killing Nere, I was annoyed that the gnome Philomene somehow knew I did that already and disappeared.

It makes less sense that she hangs about waiting for you if you don't.

So I replayed: tell the Myconids I bumped off the near Duergar already (didn’t think they needed handholding about that), find Philomene and get runepowder sample, then re-kill Nere with duergar allies.

Next up is I suppose the wizard tower, though it seems pointless and side quest-y. And the crèche, though same. I’m quite sure nothing is removing the tadpoles in Act 1. After those two likely pointless Side Treks, back to Grymforge to finish up real Act 1 stuff and on to Act 2, I guess.

Don't forget the kua-toa!

Frankly, you don't seem to have "got" this game yet. It's designed to make a completionist approach impossible. There is no single perfect playthrough. There are lots of sidequests that you can safely ignore or easily miss. If you play through again things happen differently. You don't need to go to Grimforge at all. That too could be considered a pointless sidequest. Different NPCS live and die, they are found in different places, some quests are cut off, etc. If you get upset because an insignificant gnome has moved, you might be better not playing at all, because there will be a lot more of that sort of thing.

 

[haakon1]

It makes less sense that she hangs about waiting for you if you don't.

It was literally the first place I went after killing Nere, without even a short rest and on a direct path. I already knew where she was and how to get there, but chose to rescue & then kill Nere first, rather than doing what I thought was an inevitable fight with the ochre jellies first. I got there about 4 minutes after the explosion.

The illogic of that disappearance annoys me. I get it that they didn’t program for Philomeen needs to walk some path to leave, or to have a timer on how long before she’s gone. I guess I could have assumed she must have a teleport scroll.

 

[MarkB]

The illogic of that disappearance annoys me. I get it that they didn’t program for Philomeen needs to walk some path to leave, or to have a timer on how long before she’s gone. I guess I could have assumed she must have a teleport scroll.

Or that she uses the waypoint runes the same as you do.

 

[Seramus]

I think its a bit wasted on clerics, at least until the late-game. You don't have to be a cleric to use a mace.

It has nice synergy with Spirit Guardians, letting your Cleric carry the blindess with them while they dash around the battlefield. And the res is cute on the few occasions your Cleric gets punished for being deep in enemy lines.

But otherwise I agree.

 

[haakon1]

you might be better not playing at all

That sounds pretty rude, but I suppose in context that’s not how you meant it.

Take my word for it that though we engage differently with this game, I like it.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I have had a long habit of pushing off resting as long as possible to the point of continuing to explore and even go into combats depleted of spell slots and casters having to rely on cantrips, potions, thrown grenades.

Has anyone found there were issue by casually taking abundant long rests? In my first play through I am certain I didn’t take nearly enough because there were some cut scenes that never happened but were seemingly implied to be coming up at an evening rest but never did, while a backlog of other story advancing occurred.

In the first play through when I would hear a character gripe about needing to rest, I pushed on until every character’s slots were out. But now when I hear a character looking forward to a rest asap, I’m prioritizing getting a rest in.

 

[Seramus]

I have had a long habit of pushing off resting as long as possible to the point of continuing to explore and even go into combats depleted of spell slots and casters having to rely on cantrips, potions, thrown grenades.

Has anyone found there were issue by casually taking abundant long rests? In my first play through I am certain I didn’t take nearly enough because there were some cut scenes that never happened but were seemingly implied to be coming up at an evening rest but never did, while a backlog of other story advancing occurred.

In the first play through when I would hear a character gripe about needing to rest, I pushed on until every character’s slots were out. But now when I hear a character looking forward to a rest asap, I’m prioritizing getting a rest in.

There are no issues with taking abundant rests, as long as you haven't started a timed event. Timed events are uncommon and fairly obvious, like a town in flames, a bunch of gnolls threatening lives, or a prophetic dream telling you to hurry up or poison will kill people.

Timed events generally happen when you approach new places. So a good rule of thumb is sleeping before you approach a new place.

Otherwise, sleep as much as you want. In fact, it's good to sleep after every major story beat or you may even miss camp commentary.

Don't worry about supplies either. I had thousands on Tactician, and you get spells to straight up make supplies ex nihilo.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It was literally the first place I went after killing Nere, without even a short rest and on a direct path. I already knew where she was

You knew where she was in a different playthrough. There is an element of quantum ogre-ism here. If you didn't need the explosive she could have escaped hours before your party even arrived at Grimforge. And she escapes by climbing down a rope into the chasm. You can track her escape route if you are observant (and make a few skill checks).

That sounds pretty rude, but I suppose in context that’s not how you meant it.

Take my word for it that though we engage differently with this game, I like it.

I was just trying to warn you. I gather you haven't started Act 2 yet. I have a feeling you will find it massively frustrating, since there are a lot more things that happen differently depending on minor decisions, such as where you enter the region, and what order you visit locations. Not to mention what you did in Act 1.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Timed events are uncommon and fairly obvious

Disagree with the latter. Your descriptions of timed events are rather disingenuous - there are a whole bunch of timed events that can kick off without you having any real indication (particularly where you got into some degree of proximity but went in a different direction, and others which you can blunder into very easily.

The fact that BG3 is not great at signposting them or noting them in the journal (BG3's adventure journal is very bad generally, one of the few inarguable weaknesses of the game) should not be papered over. By the time you've found a timed event exists, it's often too late for a long rest, and if you need one, you need to reload further back. Yet other timed events are only really long timers so it doesn't matter. It's very inconsistent.