Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Is Patch 8 easier?

I have the strange feeling that everything is easier this time around. All the combats.

It might be because I'm playing an optimized character. It might be because I've gotten better after hundreds of hours. It might be that I'm getting a string of good rolls.

But it definitely feels easier. Noticeably so.

Is anyone else getting this feeling?

Maybe they're testing difficulty settings. I've wondered that for the last several patches now.

But yes. Seems easier every patch. This game was freaking hard before patch, say, 2 or 3.

If anything the combat should theoretically be more consistent because there are always improvements and new features being made with fixes being rolled out for things that didn't work as they should be. But as someone who plays extensively... no, I can't say there is any difference in combat.

The only combat scenario that has always been a bit challenging for me is the Githyanki patrol, where the fight can either go completely your way or completely opposite. I really hate that Greatsword Gith that spams Sleep 4 times in a row.

My to hit chances seem to be higher, I am seeing a lot of 90% or higher. I *feels* easier…

Playing the exact same fights over and over again has that effect. It's why Dark Souls players keep saying that every new game is easier than the last.

Yeah, I feel like my "to hit" chances are higher also.

That said, some of my experience may be coming down to my character. I just took out the hag immediately with my sorcerer.

My sorcerer was first in initiative. He used hex. Then he used scorching ray. Then he used another scorching ray via quickened spell because he had an extra bonus action.

The hag died. Not even one round. Just one character taking his turn at the start of the initiative order.

I saw someone on the forum mention that the weighted dice are on by default in patch 8. I haven't checked in the settings yet, but it might contribute to that feeling of ease. Also, I noticed xp goes up way faster than before. I used to have to clear the ruins, the grove and most or all of the goblin camp to get to level 4. This time I got there before meeting Minthara.

Larian dev 1 : Let's have the sorcerer deal up to 18d6 damage in a single turn.
Larian dev 2 : For balance, let's make sure Bardic Inspiration is almost always wasted
Larian dev 1 : Huzzah!

Not sure if there have been any tweaks worth mentioning, but I feel that more than anything it's the typical issue of the "well-trodden path".

The more you play, the more familiar you get with everything, the more prepared you are to deal with everything the game throws at you.
As a consequence everything is perceived as significantly easier even with little or no practical difference.

well the Wizard can't learn healing spells any more so I guess but yes playing the same game parts until you can do it in your sleep feels easier to me as well

i am hitting much more often - yes its easier

i think the difficulty setting of the first patch 2020 was perfect.

This

A lots of hope when I read that so I just tried. And this isn't true...
Wizards can still learn any spells through the new specific menu in the spellbook.

Turned off the weighted dice (which were on by default) and the game became quite nasty, to the point where it can take two or three turns for a party of 4 plus a summon to make a 60% hit.

Maybe the weighted dice are on by default to counteract something broken in the randomizer. Maybe it’s to help players get to the late game faster and lessen the feeling of burn out. In any case, weighted dice patch 8 far easier than before.

This is true. Back in patch 3 or 4 it was proven (using a sample of >500 dice rolls) that Larian's unweighted rng implementation was broken. You were statistically more likely to roll a value close to the one you rolled previously, and Larian introduced the "weighted dice" to fix it, essentially by making it much more likely that the next roll would be the opposite of the previous (high if the previous roll was low and vice-versa).

Not sure what Larian has done in the intervening 5 patches, if anything, but I don't think anything has been mentioned in the patch notes. Though I have a vague recollection that Weighted Dice was maybe changed to only work in the player's favor, changing low rolls to high...?

I'm not using weighted dice.

Since I'm on Stadia, I can't check out previous patches. But I'm almost sure the 'to hit' chance is higher in some cases now.

For instance, the first couple of intellect devourers on the beach. One has ten hit points, one has twelve. Are the hit chances on those two not higher now than they were before?

Yeah, that fight is definitely easier than it used to be, with the intellect devourers having something like 12 hp when they used to have 18, iirc. I think they’ve been nerfed twice now.