Topic: Baldur's Gate 3

I’m enjoying reading about everyone’s experiences with the game. General consensus is overwhelmingly positive but the steep learning curve is concerning. Not that I haven’t played plenty of games over the years they require a lot of time and internet research to learn and get the most from. Lately my busy life has hampered some gaming experiences, since I have irregular free time. Therefore, long games can be tough to invest in, especially if they are skill based. But if a game is easy to drop in and out of then this might be good to have running alongside other games. Given its turn based nature does this seem like a game that can be managed as a second game? Or are the systems complex enough that one needs to devote fully to it because of losing one’s way if you take a break for a couple weeks?

And second question, how’s the co-op? Compared to playing solo does it add a more enjoyable experience?

@Th3solution It's complex enough in terms of both plot and control scheme that long breaks between sessions (particularly to spend time on other games) are probably not ideal - although to be perfectly honest the game has its hooks in me so completely that just the thought of playing anything else at the moment is pretty much anathema. The hype is real.

@LN78 Makes sense. Even without the reaction-time, muscle-memory aspects, there’s the plot and systems navigation which could be forgotten. Since this game is so long, I think I would like to have this playing on the side where I could not get bogged down on one game for months, but chances are I’d either end up obsessed with it and eschew all else or I’d fall off of it by being lost each time I tried to pick it back up.

@Th3solution

other... games? 👀

I say go for it. It's a game that you can think about whilst you aren't playing it, using the old back of the mind processing to absorb stuff you've done, or semi plan for your next time out. And once you have it down, I don't think it will be that easy to forget. And if you RP your character a bit, you will probably be familiar with the types of choices you've made

I started on explorer, just to get a sense of the combat, and I might up it to the regular mode in a session or two's time when I'm familiar with my preferred parties strengths and weaknesses. As (other than accidentally on purpose kamikazeing Gale into oblivion with fire and oil barrels 😎) I've not been too badly threatened as yet or had to redo any battles. And that was all while keeping my first level up on hold, as a weird habit I have of only upgrading when I really need to was at play (I've since levelled up, because in this game I think its silly to gate myself out of cool abilities to try out, and I'm nearly at enough xp for lvl3 anyway, so dont want to have to add too many skills in one go)

Also, it seems like a game where you just decide what you want to do. After the prologue I kind of just wandered around with some party members I gathered from the first area, talked my way out of a fight before falling down a hole and forcing myself into a battle I wasn't expecting 😅 exploring some ruins, pondering whether to try and clear the entire ruin before wandering off too far, and then clearing that entire ruin. Then finally setting up a camp to see what happens with the camping mechanic.

I'd actually say it's a game that requires taking a little time off from, to reset and stop oneself falling into the traps of RPG "goalongwitheverything-itus" my character and the group I have, clearly has no place for a raging githyanki, yet because its a game I end up thinking, oh, I'll try them out for a while, as I don't have a tank yet. But the dynamic of the group suffers. So I've decided next time I play, I'll just send them back to the camp to basically be a headcanon guard for my loot chest and bed while we adventure without her 😁

So my party will be me, a half elf, roguey-duelist, face of the group, bard. A moody mysterious Cleric who I've turned into a part support Cleric part spartan sheild warrior, just because it looks cool and I found a nice spear for her. A full on rogue and charlaton & a very cheeky sod, who just fits in for banter despite his skills kind of being sinilar to my own, and a silly Wizard for crowd control and reading books. The Gith is so far removed from their personalities so I'll just have to make do with no tank for now 😅

But if i'd have kept playing, I'd not have come to that realisation as I'd be too taken in with playing it

@Ravix Is your profile picture of your character? If so, out characters have the same hairstyle with a very similar colour! 😅

On topic, I've worked my way onto Act II. I managed to deceive a few particular NPCs into doing what I asked of them and now they've disposed of themselves. Also the amount of lockpicks and trap disarm kits I have on me currently is bonkers. I won't be running out of those anytime soon, especially since my sleight of hand is so high right now, even with the random rolls I'm still succeeding the skill checks.

Also attacking enemies from above whilst outside of combat in a place where they can't reach me is quite amusing because I almost always pass the stealth check so it keeps me out of combat. Really having a blast with it.

I have made a few errors and bad choices throughout the game so far but it is what it is. Regret killing a few people that, in hindsight, would be nice to have alive but, like I said, it is what it is.

Really enjoying the game so far. Didn't expect to get so involved with it but it's been a fun experience up to this point and I'm sure that'll continue!

@KAIRU haha. It is indeed. That's the trap of RPG's like this, you create a unique character that about 100,000 other people will have also made 😎 (I'll probably get some clearer shots at some point, this was just chatting with old mopey Gale at the fireside, and it seemed like good atmosphere for a selfie lol)

Also, I edited my last comment with some more detail of my current party make up. Does that ring any bells too? 😆 hopefully we're not having the exact same playthrough lol.

And also, as I literally cant stop talking about this game... My biggest RPG moment so far came last session, when someone had perished in the act of defending a community, and I noticed their worldly possessions just sitting there in a corner, unguarded. And even though my instinct is to loot everything and try not to get caught becuase I might need coin or items later on, and I'm basically duty bound to do so in 99% of games... The site of the tragedy, the reactions of the people, and my character not being a total d***, I did manage to stop myself from looting them and instead make myself feel like a part of the game world without the usual disconnect that you can get. TW3 for example, Geralt isn't a d***, and you don't play the game thinking "I'm being a d***", but by god we must loot any peasants humble home that we see to further our own progress 😅

In case anyone is interested, you can play your character absolutely, totally stark naked. My female wood elf is showing a lot during conversations!

@Th3solution co-op is quite fun. I'm playing with my daughter. She is a complete novice to these types of games yet she is also having fun. Like DOS 2, the second player is free to act on their own as long as they are not in the battle atm. Also it is easy to decide who controls who in the party and go at the same time if it's a group members turn back to back. They can choose to listen in to cut scenes making it the whole screen or go off and do there own thing while that is going on. The freedom for co-op is great. This is all couch co-op mind you. I'm not sure on Lan or with more than 2 people. So far so good though.

@Throb haha oh dear. One thing I did consider was selling Shadowheart's underwear to the first merchant I see, see if there is any grumpy dialogue 🤣

It seems like there should be a prank mechanic built in to the game 😁

Also, as learnt from item description, Gale has enchanted his underpants, so maybe they'd demand a fair price too 😆

I like that you can use a salami as both camp supplies and a bludgeoning weapon.

There's no selling companion underwear dialogue

Love the well thought out way you can pick up quests though. I just talked to some kn*bhead mercenaries who were having a good moan, but I just acted like they were in the right for the sake of polite conversation, as you would irl. And I got a tonne of info about one quest I'd kind of picked up already by talking to a mourning guard. And I also got the official contract for a relic hunt from a Baldur's Gate wizard, as the mercenaries had given up trying to find it.

I expect this relic won't be particularly legal, or moral somehow. And I expect this wizard has nefarious plans, but if that is the case perhaps a chance for some Deception. I guess I'll find out what it's all about in 150 hours or so 😁😁😁

@kyleforrester87 🤣thats fantastic. It reminded me of my long ago high school days. We had a team building day and had to come up with a slogan. Some how we settled on " oo sa sa, oo sa sa, hit 'em in the head with a kielbasa."

@Elodin haha nice

@Throb I guess your wood-elf has a bit of a naturist background then, eh? 😏

@KAIRU @throb

If your wizard casts grease on her, she wont take a hit for 10 turns, thanks to the 'slicker than a greased pig' condition, right? 😁😁😁

@KAIRU Wood-elf by name, Wood-elf by nature.

@JohnnyShoulder 🤣 @Ravix 🤣. @KAIRU 🤣 Loving the comedy. I would have joined in, but I rolled a 1. Even guidance won't help that.

@Elodin Oof. Critical Failure! Draws Weapon.

I’m completely new to the series and started the game yesterday. Do I know what I’m doing? No. Am I having a blast? Yes. I’m a Rogue Half-Elf, and I have about six party members, one of which a dog.

I haven’t done much of the main quest. I’ve been exploring and talking to characters, gaining side quests, some I’ve stumbled onto and completed unexpectedly, and just getting a sense of the world.

A part of me is surprised that I’m not entirely overwhelmed in the beginning hours. I find the onboarding to be quite decent, though there are many things I had to experiment with the somewhat grasp. As of right now, the combat is what I’m trying to get a firm hold on, particularly with positioning and how to tackle combat encounters. I read someone’s story on here about a town of Goblins and they snuck on the rafters and vanquished the area purely by stealth. I know exactly what part they are referring to, and I had a completely different experience even while trying to “hide”. I also just saved a gnome from being tied to a windmill blade and swinging around which was fun.

My only complaint so far, which again, won’t be much of an issue (I hope) once I get more comfortable with the game and its various systems, is how dense the game is. I feel like I haven’t really had a chance to breath and focus on a specific task because I find a new character to speak to, or a random location that can lead to a dungeon, or what-have-you. Aside from that, this game is amazing so far.

Wow @Kraven you're literally up to where I'm up to, but I've had it since Saturday/Sunday 😆

What I did for that town (technically I'm just a little behind as I've yet to do the windmill bit) was:

Casually walk in and convince the goblins I'm totally safe. They then send a message so you don't get attacked in other parts of the village. I then split my party and stood behind each of them on the rooftops, totally unsuspicious like, and then tried to push them all off the roof 😆 this then led to them being temporarily hostile ha ha. I finished them off, working out the party split mechanics as I went. (You can enter battle with one, then switch manually to another and join the battle after, still not quite got the hang of how to best utilise that, as I assumed all 4 would enter battle at once as I was next to each goblin anyway) I kind of want to be able to queue up actions out of combat so I can perform tactical manoeuvres like this a bit better. I.e. attack them all at once to begin combat.

I then had a wander free from prying eyes, looted a bit, killed a sleeping bugbear, took out the ones in the back garden who were digging.

I spoiler tagged some of these next bits, but on my page it just shows everything? So beware of mild encounter spoilers, I guess. It's nothing plot based

I then casually walked in on a bugbear f*cking an Ogre over the corpse of a mangled fellow. I then proceeded to bardically spoil the mood by saying how people would pay good money in Baldur's Gate for this type of smut. The Ogre was upset with the bugbears virility, and I was trying to lighten the mood, but they left in a huff anyway. I hope they move to Baldur's Gate to become performers of lurid acts because of my suggestion ha ha

I then had a nice chat to some Ogres, one of whom was a well educated chap, on account of the fact he absorbs the wits of the people he eats (I think that's what his deal was lol) they were hired by the goblins to check people for the mark of the absolute, and it turns out they are happy to sell their services to the highest bidder, so I said if they help me they can eat whoever they like from anything we have to kill

These reminded me quite a lot of the kind of thing you'd find in TW3 😁

Now I just need to sort out the windmill situation next time I'm on. And explore some more 😄