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I feel kind of meh about classes.

There was some amount of appeal in DOS2's flexibility, with points providing both inherent stat effects, as well as access to skills. Allowing for builds to be made around various different aspects (Do you want certain stat effects? Do you want certain skills?)

I think the only major drawback to DOS2's system was how shallow it was. With certain stats just being optimal and there being very few skills overall (Which then also become more limited when you factor in the armour system it had) so often builds ended up feeling very same-y (Even more so with Divinity Unleashed mod whereby maxing out Aerothurge for the 50% skill cooldown was super important)

5e (And Larian's homebrew on it for BG3) has a lot of pigeonholeing involved in what otherwise should not be a cornerstone of character development. For example, races and backgrounds - I don't want to have to play a certain race or background just because it offers benefits to my build, I want to ROLEPLAY as a character of my choosing.

Multiclassing is cool and all, though 5e does have a bunch of limitations on it, such as accessing the mandatory Extra Attacks for martials, Feat selection, Spell Slots, having to manage casting stats... While DOS2's "Multiclassing" had none of these silly restrictions.

Meanwhile, there's also plenty of other ways to do character development. For example, Kingdom of Amalur had its standard skill tree that was populated enough where you could go pure Warrior/Mage/Rogue or you could make hybrids. Or you have things like FFX's Sphere Grid (Which is similar to Path of Exile's skill tree) which offers a lot of choice about how you build a character. You could also look at something like Grim Dawn's Devotion system, while it's only a supplementary progression system it could be tweaked into something fit for a full on character building format.

None of these require set "Classes" but will naturally flow into a class like build, while offering someone complete freedom if they desire.


Well... Combat systems are up in the air right now. There's some question about whether this new game is an ARPG or CRPG.

But yeah, hopefully that god(woken) awful armour system has been retired permanently.

As far as surfaces go... I think there's still a lot of potential in them. I think the best way to go about them is to provide a lot more complexity into what they can do, with a bunch more combinations and effects that can be created. BUT to move away from the whole "Literally EVERYTHING makes/interacts with a surface". That way they're an optional part of combat that one has to actively seek out and utilize, that can reward strategic usage and creative character builds. While people who aren't specifically messing with them will have to deal with them less often.

Honestly, magic in BG3 is absolutely busted. The only way it feels weak is when put alongside Larian's ultra-giga-busted Martial homebrew (Double standard action Haste, Tavern Brawler being cracked af, Elixirs of Strength out the wazoo, Fast Hands for extra bonus action...) but even then you've got the busted "Wet" abuse and damage riders per projectile...

DOS2 had by far the weakest magic, thanks to that atrocious armour system as it made you want to stack either physical or magical damage, which tended to end up with favouring physical because that's what your weapon users do (Also, enemies could be immune to certain magical elements further pushing you towards physical)

I can't comment too much on DOS1's magic as I didn't use it much, I quickly found the most effective strategy being just having everyone dual wield wands and regular attack everything...


As far as attributes go... I think Pillars of Eternity has done them best. At least when it comes to character building (World interaction... Not so much)

Every attribute is useful for every build. It's simply up to the player to decide how much they value each aspect.

Where it went wrong was world interactions, that were based on the standard idea of each stat... Meaning my Mage was punching down walls because she prioritized Might (Increased Damage and Healing). While my Barbarian was making all the insightful comments and solving puzzles because he had high Intellect (Increased AoE sizes for his cleave effects and increased durations improving his Rage uptime).

Which is not particularly great for role playing... (Whilst also bringing up the idea that perhaps "Stats" and "Character ability" should be 2 separate systems. So that you can allocate your stats to best supplement your combat effectivness, whilst also choosing particular characteristics for your character)

Taril.... that genre switch was never desired by Larian. They've ALWAYS wanted to make turn-based crpgs (always), but industry pressures forced them to go the route of ARPGs. And it was NEVER successful. In fact, it wasn't until Original Sin, when they achieved their first tru, incontrovertible Hit.

And the overwhelming majority of Larian's fanbase would want an evolution of DOS2 and BG3, not an overhaul.

So, I think you're being unrealistic in what you think is possible, that's all. And again, I have to mention the huge risk factor involved in an overhaul as massive as the one you suggest..... especially when they're at the top like this.

Lemme ask you: if you were in their shoes, would YOU take that kind of risk?

Again.... that is not what larian does or what BG3 was like. Did you play the game all the way through? Because that's a very small part of the game. It may have helped the marketing.... but that's not why the game is successful, or why it sold well.... it's maybe 20% of the reason at best.

Ooooooooh! I like the way you think!! And thank you for taking the time to write all that.

Also, "Bernie"? LOL Genius.

Having shadowheart 3 zombies (lvl 3 spell which is then cast as a lvl 4 for 3 zombies) and a Cambion with ~86 - 120hp
Astarion with 1 crow and the circlet of bones for undead blade ward(sometimes switching to better hat) ;; 1 skeleton archer
Dark urge has Cheeky Quasit, 4 ghouls

all the summons add up to roughly 700hp with 2 mercenary clerics in camp casting Aid / Warding Bond / Heroes Feast from Shadowheart

Slayer form+ Displacer beast 153 HP + ~85hp
Original form has 176 HP(+20 armour of agathys) and 24 AC (27 with mirror image which can also transfer unto the slayer form)

I think its a easy win for honor mode with this build.
You get full worms 24/25 ; so with Cull the weak, every enemies with less than 24 hp will instantly die

Illithid spells as bonus action

Also a nice little pre-buff is casting Shield of Faith from Shadowheart, unto Dark urge , wearing Viconia's Priestess Robe +2 saving throws ;
as long as the Shield of faith spell is active ; you can switch armor (Helldusk Armor proficient with heavy armor) and still retain the saving throws

+ AC from shield of faith = 27 AC
and reduced damage by 3 from helldusk armor
Adamantine Shield keeps you from having critical hits landed on you

+ mirror image 30 AC,
AC from mirror image is transfered unto slayer/displacer beast forms + BLUR as well

saving throws of
+ 12 STR + 8 DEX + 10 CON +4 INT + 12 WIS + 14 CHA

176 HP + 20 armour of agathys (Heroes Feast , Aid from mercenary cleric at camp , warding bond)
+153 HP slayer
+85 HP displacer beast
+ Roasted Dwarf leg meat from the goblin camp in act 1 ; which can heal you instantly , as much as 4-16 hp each in 1 turn , ~12 of them , only for dark urge

Hex + Eldritch blast + Agonizing blast(add CHA modifier) + Repelling Blast with Illithid Psychic damage from fall
Hex necrotic damage 1d6 on each Eldritch blast (3)

With Action Surge from fighter that's 6 eldritch blast of 7-16 dmg with 1d6 necrotifc damage

And the Hexblade Curse which reduce number needed to roll for critical hit by 1
(up to 5 in total ,
only need 14 and above to roll a critical hit , (20 being critical hit)
Knife of the undermountain king, Deadshot Bow, Fighter Champion, Spell Sniper , Hexblade Curse
And the Adamantine Shield keeps you from being critical hit yourself

The lens is interesting and clearly well thought out, but it’s doing a lot at once, so I’m going to focus on one issue:

You spoke about the Emperor as "incomplete writing" while rejecting the fact that it is an illithid at its core.

Partialism explains how the Emperor exists in its current form, not who it is. I can only suggest looking more closely at the following trinity:

- "On the Inevitability of Moral Decay and its Benefits" which mirrors both the Emperor’s personal story and the way it ruled the KotS.
These principles condense everything essential about its world-view and how it operates.

- Emperor’s dialogue in Gortash’s coronation event. (WYR_KillDirectorGortash_Ceremony, WYR_KillDirectorGortash_NetherbrainMindmeld)
The Moral Decay in practice, and the dynamic with Gortash is a meaningful indicator.

- External lore: "Lords of Madness" that is missing from your sources (Unhuman, Inimical to nature, and Relations With Other Races)
These texts align closely with its behavior and psychological state in-game.

Thanks! thats what fixed it lol

If there will be pyramids of teleporting in this game, please be kind.
In Divinity Original Sin 2, I had a playthrough with 3 friends. I was the last to get a pyramid.
For nearly the entirety of the game, I was constantly trying to catch up to the group, while they simply teleported to each other. I arrived to every fight late, and it ended up being miserable.
By the time I got my pyramid, I couldn't wait for our game to be over. I missed out on everything.
If you add something that lets 3/4 people stay grouped and have fun together, please consider how that will affect the 4th player!
Thank you for considering this, as no matter what I will be playing every game Larian Studios makes. For many, many hours

I would like to play this game again. I would choose Nintendo Switch version. Game price in eShop: 44.99 £44.99/$49.99 - Is the Switch version worth buying? Graphics aren't important to me, optimization is important to me. Nintendo hasn't offered a discount on DOS2 for a long time.

I'm sad... </3

Hello!

I've decided to replay all the games after the reveal (looking forward!). Problem is, I've been learning German, so my Steam was set to that language the first time I installed the game on this new pc. I found the game language too difficult atm so I uninstalled it, deleted all files from local files and changed Steam to English. Unfortunately, it keeps installing the game in German. The localization files are always downloaded in German.

Can anyone help me? Perhaps just having the English localization files is enough (D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\divine_divinity\localizations)?

Thank you!

I made the Patriarch artwork used for the game showing him in his lair. I'm not that skilled at photo editing so it's not perfect.

Hello,

i advocated for a similar to SWTOR-based dialogue system in the past but i wanted to start the discussion again and hopefully reach someone at Larian to give it a thought.

Baldur’s Gate 3 set a new standard for cinematic storytelling in RPGs. However, in multiplayer, dialogue often feels one‑sided: the first player to trigger a cutscene becomes the sole speaker, while others watch passively. This limits roleplay opportunities and reduces narrative engagement for the whole party.

To enhance immersion and cooperative storytelling, I propose a Shared Dialogue Roll System, inspired by SWTOR.


SWTOR:

For people who did not play SWTOR: When you play in multiplayer you enter a cutscene together and chose to answer for yourself. A dice roll decides then which you of the member in the party gets to answer.

There are also light and dark side options and even if for example the light side options get picked the one who chooses the dark side options get dark side points. They also have a hidden system to increase your roll chance if you didnt get to speak in a longer period.

With this they try to give a fair equalization for each player. Also you have to option to not chose an answer during the cutscene the other players chose to roll or their answer gets picked. The benefit of that is that you as a group can decide if you want a certain person to handle the dialogue.


Core Mechanics:

When a dialogue begins, all players can select a response.

The game performs a random roll (or vote) to determine which line is spoken aloud.

Even if a player’s choice doesn’t win, their character still receives approval/disapproval, alignment, or narrative flags tied to their selection.

Players have the option to not chose an answer at all in order to give other players the spotlight / let them handle the dialogue / reflecting their character.

This means every player has a voice and is engaged into the game at all times. It also creates fun situations and a certain kind of unpredictability. Additionally, it feels very immersive because all people participate at all times.


You could also have different variants for the system. For example the option to give charisma / persuation a bonus to dialogue selection or instead of a dice roll system just a vote system. There should be also an option just to select "shared rolls" or "first speaker gets to talk" if you want to have it like BG3 is at the moment.

This would be a huge step from a "spectator mode" into a collaborative roleplay game which closely aligns with a basic DND encounter.

This would make games like Divinity and Baldur’s Gate feel even more refined than they already do.

I’m having a similar issue in Act 3, my loads to 83% then crashes. I’ve emailed Larian with only one response so far asking me to confirm I haven’t used any mods in the campaign.

Update: Chapter 8 is now published.

BG3.5 - Hellraisers (Fanfiction)
Baldur's Gate 3.5: Hellraisers - an original fanfic story that is a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3 Fanfic: The Afflicted. It picks up immediately after the events of Baldur's Gate 3 as characters from the previous fanfic - Fiovay, Kai, Aelun, Vlyn, and the other members of their party - travel to Avernus. Their quest is to save Karlach but also to hopefully find and rescue Darson, Aelun's father, from the clutches of Demogorgon.

Here is the link to the blog site: https://baldursgate3hellraisers.blogspot.com/2025/10/baldurs-gate-35-hellraisers.html

Running MacOS 26.1 on an M2 Pro Mac, I am unable to start a new game. After finishing character creation the cc screen says waiting and eventually pinwheels into application not responding, never advancing to the opening cinematic. The same game files work fine if copied to an Intel mac, and saves created on the Intel mac work fine on the m-series Mac. The files pass steam verification in both places, and the cinematic at the end of the boat tutorial section works fine. Any ideas?

Just a small update,
adding two preview images here so you can get a quick idea of the style.
The full set is in the link above if you want to see more. Hope you enjoy!