Topic: Baldur's Gate 3

I would love to play this game and it looks like it'd be a lot of fun, but I've never played D&D...so I'm worried on how hard it would be to pick up.

@MidnightDragonDX Snap...!
I am no stranger to gaming intricacies.... and learning how to play Monster Hunter Rise/Sunbreak was probably one of the biggest learning curves I've ever had with a game. Eventually grew to love it and poured in 800+ hours. Have also worked through Souls titles and other games where a diploma in Fextralife is somewhat of a necessity (!)

I played through Disco Elyisum earlier this year, loved it, but that is probably the closest I've come to playing anything even remotely similar to D&D (Disco has choice driven dialogue, dice rolls, semi-CRPG style)

I don't mind doing some homework/background work for BG3... but I'd be keen to know if it is feasible for an 'newcomer' to the series (and D&D) to pick up? It just looks so good

@MidnightDragonDX & @CJD87 It is doable for a D&D noob. I"m also not that experienced with D&D. Only played Solasta as a game that was close to it. The basics will be explained with the Tutorial. And besides that it's a lot of trial and error. Read what skills do and try them out in combat. I also restarted battles a lot to just test and see what my spell arsenal was and how it would help me. It doesn't take very long to get the hang of some of the basic tactics while experimenting.

I did use a guide while making my character though. Looked up which class would fit me best, which stats to use etc. But outside of that I didn't have to use a guide anymore. Just click on everything, explore every nook and cranny and talk to everyone. That way you won't miss out on quests or items you might need later on.

Besides that it's a lot about luck. There are a lot of Die checks in the game. For persuasion efforts, for hit or miss on spells. What I'm doing is saving a lot for those chances that I miss a check which i dont want to haha, but I can understand not everyone wants that.

@MidnightDragonDX I’ve never played DnD and I’m managing just fine! The combat and a few other things take a little while to get used to but they’re not that bad.

@MidnightDragonDX @CJD87 I are also a noob. There is a learning curve, but once you get your head around it, boy does it reward you endlessly for doing so.

Just start on easy, look up the classes and choose which you think would be most fun for you, and stick with combat when it gets tough and then all of a sudden it clicks, and a world of experimentation opens up to you tactically.

I was already multiclassing and using the regular difficulty part way through Act 1, so it will definitely click for you at some point, if you are happy to learn by trial and error and the odd bit of research if there's anything that you don't pick up from just playing it.

The most challenging part is because everything is a new term, and theres just a lot to choose from, and it's all termed in a certain way, because it's using DnD5e rules, but you will start to understand and translate that after some time playing, and realise things like 1d6 just means potential to deal a 6 sided dice roll worth of damage, or 1-6 damage. And then all variants of that. The game does all the math for you, so you don't really have to worry about stuff like that. The real click moment is when you realise what causes attacks to hit or miss, as there is a separate automatic and unseen roll of a dice to determine if your attacks will hit, or if you will get hit by an attack, but it actually puts that as a % for you when you hover over an enemy anyway. You just have to find the elements that will make that % higher for you, and the best way to do that is playing the game and checking specific tips based on your build. And keeping an eye out for the word proficiency.

And in simple terms it's just making sure your weapon or attacks actually match your highest attribute. So a strength based weapon and attack if your character has 16 or 18 strength, or use a dexterity weapon if your dexterity is the highest attribute. It's quite simple, it's just there's that much of it, it can be overwhelming at first, and there's very little tutorial help. But at the end of the day, it's quite logical, just the sheer mass of character choices and new terms and hidden mechanics, but just trust that you will understand it after some time playing, and until then, the RPG elements are so good you will want to play the game more anyway.

I feel like the game doesn’t have the best tutorials, even if it’s doable. I’m still confused about how stealth works, but I picked the game very quickly due to playing DnD 5e and having played Divinity: OS2. I felt that did more than the in-game tutorials, which I broadly didn’t need and felt kinda buggy to me.,

@Jaz007 which bit of stealth? I think the general feeling is you are out of sight/hidden in non red areas, and if you stray into the red area there is a dice roll, which I think takes into account your stealth proficiency, armour, your hiding status, enemy perception, the conditions (fully exposed, dull light and total darkness) and then you fail or succeed a stealth check based on that. Best to do it with your one stealthy character separated from the group. And in combat use cunning action hide, move out of the red, and then sneak attack ranged etc, and repeat.

And yeah, it's tutorial light, I feel like I've seen 4 tutorials in total since getting into the world lol, and most of it is stuff I've worked out myself by doing the thing at some point before then.

@Lavalera @Ravix - thanks both, I plan to order in the next couple of weeks... might come knocking with questions!

Can anyone confirm that combo co-op works? Playing split-screen and online at the same time?

@CJD87 PC or did you get another PS5? I know you sold your PS5 almost a year ago, but figured I'd ask since I never deleted you from my friends list. Yet at least.

@Th3solution Yes, there are two options. You can turn off nudity with one, and the sexual content with the other (independent of each other). None of it effects the choices or outcomes you get in the game.
I mean, it hasn't been copious in my time, but there a number of options.
I wouldn't play the game without the nudity filter, so I wouldn't worry about that part of it.

On my latest adventure I had to temporarily put the difficulty back down to easy, as I'd not long rested in ages, but was locked into a long sequence from which I could not fast travel or camp, which ended in a big battle where I'm surrounded by some proper c*nts trying to murder me from all angles because of reasons...

Which meant I had a Gale with one spell slot who could basically do nothing but melee and throw potions, as his cantrips weren't worth the effort in the dire situation I was in vs high HP enemies who were absolutely wrecking my party with chained attacks. And the battle started with all 4 of us bunched together surrounded on all sides at disadvantage too 😂 I gave it a good couple of goes, but it was clearly an impossible situation unless I had full HP and spells slots for all. I will be more careful in the future and make sure to long rest just in case a large event happens. I just wasn't expecting the need to fight, so i was happy not resting until i'd talked to some people and explored, as I thought I was casually doing a safe quest, and didn't plan on upsetting anyone myself, but it just so happens it's a bit where upsetting everybody is an actual part of the quest lol.

I'm actually quite surprised I managed to get out alive on easy mode, the way things were stacked against me. Praise Lae'zel and her 4 or 5 chained attacks I can sometimes land per turn, and some crafty buffing, debuffing, and of course using Gale as a fleshy decoy 🤡

@KilloWertz Hey man! Long time, hope all is well?
I did indeed sell my PS5, which was a difficult but justified decision due to work. Now that pandemic restrictions have largely been lifted, my work/travel is back to around 75% .... so essentially hardly any time at home.
So I've been playing a lot of Switch and really enjoying it! Getting major FOMO though regarding BG3, as it sounds really up my street.

Steam had a large sale this last week, so I took the plunge on a Deck (256GB version). I appreciate the performance is a bit iffy on BG3, especially act 3, but it will probably be the only way I get to play it. Additionally, CP77 / RE4 / Armored Core all seem to work pretty well on Deck so it'll give me a chance to catch up on everything I've missed.

Switch has been great, but the library definitely lacks the 'latest' titles (by design, I think TOTK pushed the machine to its limits - fair play to Nintendo for making that work, even with minor FPS stutters)

What you playing at the moment?

@CJD87 I'm doing fine, thanks. I'm basically the opposite where I've stopped playing my Switch at all and have been gaming exclusively on my PS5 for a while now.

Makes sense to get a Steam Deck then since you are on the go a lot. Playing games with a bit of issues is definitely better than not at all. I don't have a need for one, but it is something to be able to play a lot of games pretty decently on a handheld.

I'm playing Mass Effect: Andromeda at the moment. I'm a big Mass Effect fan, but never played it over the years. I'm guessing largely because of it having a very troubled release, but I am enjoying it. It helps to treat it as a spin-off rather than comparing it to the original trilogy.

Then I'll be waiting for Spider-Man 2. I'm also really looking forward to replaying Cyberpunk 2077 with the 2.0 update, and obviously the Phantom Liberty expansion, but it will all have to wait until after Spider-Man 2 as I doubt I will have time to do my second playthrough before.

@KilloWertz Ah grand, and glad to hear you're all good man!

In some ways I am relieved to have got rid of the PS5... due to the overwhelming number of amazing releases this year, and needing a GANTT Chart to work out how/when to play them all!
2023 - hell of a year for games right, and still more to come...

Yes you're right, I'm very conscious that the SD will need to make compromises for each game, and won't be the same as playing at home on console - but I'm still keen to play the likes of BG3, even with framerate/graphical concessions.

I'll be getting CyberPunk on the deck for sure... shame that Spiderman will be a PS exclusive - looks deadly eh, hope you enjoy it

@CJD87 True, there will be quite a few games from this year that will be a part of my backlog going into next year, along with a handful of games from before (like Dead Space). It's good though and only very slightly bad to have so many games to choose from.

I'm sure you'll still highly enjoy whatever you play on it, and I doubt it's the huge drop-off in graphics and performance like playing a lot of games on Switch is. Having the Xenoblade Chronicles series designed for the Steam Deck instead would have been interesting, as you can kind of tell what could have been through all the blurriness and such.

Thanks. I think Spider-Man 2 is one of those games that is almost impossible to be a failure for me. I can't remember Insomniac disappointing me much (besides the Ratchet & Clank remake from the PS4).

@KilloWertz @CJD87 Great Baldur’s Gate 3 conversation there, gents. 😏

@KAIRU Want me to go back and edit in the words Baldur's Gate 3 in any of my posts that don't have them in it?

@KAIRU I thought so too!

@KilloWertz Nah, I’m just joshin’! 😏

I need to get back into this game though!