It's finally coming folks!
BG3 came out for early access some long time ago and has been receiving patch updates here and there ever since.
They (semi)recently announced that the official launch date is August 31.

So in just under a month we get to (finally) play the full game.

I've played quite a bit of the early access already.
The gameplay itself is fairly fun and seems to hold pretty well to the D&D roots.
I really hope they improve on the character creation for the full release.
Currently you can only make some pretty fugly-ass characters.

The multi-player aspect could also use some work.
Last time I tried the MP, joining a game with someone else had some pretty absurd rules.

If you (the host) were starting a brand new game, then anyone could make their own new character and join you.
However if someone was trying to join a game you had already in progress, they could only take control of one of the NPCs you have in your party already.
Similarly, a person could not join a pre-existing character to your new game - they'd have to make a brand new one.

Anyone else try this thing out yet?

Ugh...
I just fired up the game for the first time in a bit.
They did indeed change character creation.

Now they have slots for:

Appearance: Male/Female
Identity: Male/Female/Non-binary;Other

For fucks sake.

So I can play a non binary female half orc that identifies as a gnome that believes they are actually a horse? Cool.

So I assume they also added a crazy stat as well.

Sigh.

I was all pumped for BG3. BG2 is my favorite video game of all time, with BG1 and the related Icewind Dale series being in my Top 10 as well.

But then they indefinitely delayed the Xbox release. Apparently, they're having issues getting it to run correctly on the less powerful Series S, and Xbox won't let them release it on just the Series X alone.

So unless I want to buy a new gaming PC, I'm stuck waiting for either Larien or Xbox to solve the issue.

I bought this 2 years ago and it's finally here.

Now I feel like it's way too much. I don't want to invest the time to fully explore this thing. I actually wish it was easier.

I’m about 5 hours in and still figuring things out. I’m EXTREMELY impressed so far.

I'm geeked for this also, I loved Larian's Divinity series.

Its a bummer the Xbox version is delayed. I wonder if they will have to somehow lessen it to work on the Series S.

I've been on the fence about a PS5 for a while, I may get one for this. Diablo 4 has been a major disappointment so glad to hear the early feedback on this one is good.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are coming to Game Pass

Larian said they are going to make an announcement before the end of the year about whether the Xbox release will be possible or not. The holdup is apparently that they're struggling to get the co-op multiplayer to work on the weaker Xbox Series S, and Microsoft so far won't allow them to release it just for the more powerful Series X (which I have) or just release it without the co-op multiplayer component. Maybe that will change.

I guess I'll wait on that announcement, and use that as my decision point about whether I should invest in a newer gaming PC, or wait for the eventual Xbox release.

My current laptop is ~9 years old, and is juuuust under the minimum specs for BG3. (For example, my GTX960 video card is one step below the minimum GTX970.)

Plus, it'll give them a few more months to work out the initial bugs.

I haven’t had much time to play this week (major project at work) but I’m almost to the end of the first act. I’m incredibly impressed. I’ve had one significant bug so far and worked around it by quicksaving and restoring. Lost no progress. It’s beautiful, and the amount of thought they put into different approaches you might take is stunning. You can chunk furniture during combat if you want. Toss a healing potion at another character. Use water spells to put out fires. Use fire spells to ignite the area after you toss down grease. And you can get a pet owl bear.

It’s on my short list of most epic games if all time and not even a third of the way through it.

I just started act 3.

This is the Best RPG I have played in a long time.

The early fights are pretty tough but once you level up around level 5 they get a lot more manageable without super careful planning beforehand.

Well, I'm already planning to hunt the Black Friday sales for a decent deal on a gaming laptop, to give BG3 a try towards the end of the year. Even if they proceed with the potential Xbox release, I think I'd prefer mouse and keyboard anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by daikyu:
The early fights are pretty tough but once you level up around level 5 they get a lot more manageable without super careful planning beforehand.

That's true of D&D 5E in general. "Tier 1 play" (Levels 1-4) tends to be a meatgrinder, due to low AC/HP and limited resources. Battles are super swingy, with one big hit or nasty spell being able to put a character down.

With "Tier 2 play", starting at Level 5, PCs get a big bump in power and damage output due to gaining Extra Attack and 3rd level spells. Then things start getting a bit easier/more heroic, without the PCs getting too overpowered. This is also generally where characters start gaining access to the best types of armor and to magic items.

In "Tier 3 play" starting at Level 11, things start getting a bit wacky, with both the PCs and enemies beginning to gain major power. This is where characters begin being able to handle major classic enemies like beholders, dragons, etc.

And "Tier 4 play" (Levels 17-20) is kingdom-destroying/universe-changing/god-killing/super-powerful stuff.

That's why Larian capped BG3's leveling at early Tier 3... They didn't want to have to deal with incorporating or balancing the really powerful high level abilities and spells in 5E.

Most 5E play takes place between Level 3-12ish anyway. Those are the primary "high heroic fantasy" levels.

I've been playing... Let's just say a lot.

Definitely a contender for best game I've ever played.

I also appreciate the view it's given me into classes I've never played before but been interested in. I'm definitely playing a barbarian in my next 5e game. half damage while raging? Yes please. Druids are definitely as OP as I've heard, especially early levels. Fighters feel incredibly underpowered compared to Paladins and Barbarians.

I started out as an Eldritch Knight and noticed around level 7 that I was long resting every time with almost all of my spell slots unexpended. I considered switching to battle master but I switched to paladin instead and my god it's amazing. Paladins get more spell levels faster, as well as lay on hands AND channel oath, compared to fighters getting... action surge? Night and day difference. Very disappointing, but there are several other classes that outshine the fighter and are more fun to play.

I like most of the companions and even the ones I don't like seem to have interesting stories.

And I will forever be laughing at the people with BG3 was first announced claiming that it would have no connection to the first two, just to see the giant symbol of Bhaal on the starting screen.

Woohoo! They just announced that the Xbox version will be released this year.

Microsoft finally relented, and agreed to let them release a full Series X version, along with a scaled down Series S version without the troublesome co-op that was holding up release.

Now I won't have to buy a whole new computer just to play it.

quote:

Originally posted by Jester814:
I'm definitely playing a barbarian in my next 5e game. half damage while raging? Yes please.

Note that this only applies to Bear Totem Barbarians specifically. Other 5E Barbarians only halve standard weapon bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage while raging, though they get other useful abilities to make up for not halving everything.

quote:

Druids are definitely as OP as I've heard, especially early levels.

Yep. Moon Druids especially dominate from Levels 2-4 in particular, with their ability to cast a nice Concentration spell and then Wild Shape into a Multiattacking bear, allowing them to be a better fighter than the Fighter during that window. But their combat power begins to taper off beginning at Level 5, before eventually getting another big power bump when Elemental Wild Shape comes online at Level 10. They remain powerful, but not overwhelmingly so like they appear to be during that period in mid/late Tier 1.

quote:

Fighters feel incredibly underpowered compared to Paladins and Barbarians.

I started out as an Eldritch Knight and noticed around level 7 that I was long resting every time with almost all of my spell slots unexpended. I considered switching to battle master but I switched to paladin instead and my god it's amazing. Paladins get more spell levels faster, as well as lay on hands AND channel oath, compared to fighters getting... action surge?

Part of that is a limitation of the character levels of BG3, only going through early Tier 3 play and primarily focusing on Tier 1 and 2. Paladins and Barbarians are more front-loaded classes, gaining basically all of their best abilities between Levels 1 and 6/7ish, with Paladins in particular absolutely dominating in Tier 2 play with their Smite damage output and their Aura of Protection save bonus. (Paladins are easily the strongest martial class in 5E.)

Whereas Fighters are more backloaded, being the only class to eventually get 3x and 4x attacks in a turn at higher levels. Combined with Action Surge, this means they can pump out a huge number of attacks per turn, especially at later levels. Plus they get access to more feats/ASIs than other martials, so get a power bump there too. But yes, if you only played through Level 7, it's easy for them to be seen as underwhelming compared to some of the other martial classes, when everyone is making the same 2x attacks per turn and other classes have already gained most of their best abilities at early levels.

Also, it's not really fair to compare the spellcasting prowess of a 1/3 caster like an Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster to a 1/2 caster like a Paladin, Artificer, or Ranger (or especially a full spellcaster class). They're not intended to be primarily spellcasters.

Eldritch Knights are Fighters first and foremost, with a very small side of primarily defensive spellcasting. Defensive spells like Shield, Absorb Elements, Mirror Image, etc. should be your bread and butter in most combats, and what you spend your daily slots on, while you're primarily attacking just like a non-EK fighter.

(I find the Eldritch Knight subclass in particular to be a bit underwhelming in 5E anyway, with them not being quite as strong as some of the other 5E Fighter subclasses, and not making for as good of a "gish"/fighter-caster as several other build options in 5E.)