Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General What is your favorite act?

Just loosely completed the first generic-good-guy playthrough. Great 9 out of 10 experience overall, even though act 3 is a little bit buggier but it's not as bad as what I expected (thanks to all the patches I guess), although the low difficulty is more of a immersion-breaking issue for me.

Anyway, wondering what's everyone's favorite act and favorite fights?

To me, act 2>3>1.

It might be an unpopular opinion since everyone thinks how 'polished' act 1 is. (which it is) I find act 1 very similar to the act 1 of DOS 2. Many branching paths, tons of reactivities, the pacing is also really good, but story wise it hasn't fully unfolded and thus it's missing that kick for me. Also gameplay wise the first few levels are just boring, fights (except for a few) are less unique or cool. In terms of world building really love the atmosphere of the underdark and the grymforge area as well as that location where the hag is.

Act 2 you get so much more progression in terms of story. Shadow cursed land also delivers the gloomy vibe so well. Combats are getting more fun. The last few fights in this act are so well executed imo especially the moonrise tower fight felt so epic (and long). You actually felt like a survivor and are finally up to something awesome after that battle where corpses are just all over the hall. (also love that I accidentally killed Wyll for pressing the wrong button in that ship tihngy. call that destiny when you failed 2 key skill checks in a roll.:) )

Act 3 is a mixed bag. On one hand it has sooooo much potential to be the greatest as that's where the story should have climaxed. I was really looking forward to the boss fights but the low difficulty really broke the immersion. Pacing wise, it's also a bit different than the first 2 acts since you have so many key quests to progress all at the same time. I'm getting that 'everyone is waiting for me to save and who should get my attention first?' vibe. So the already week sense of urgency is just completely out of the window by then. But, love the city theme, love the scope, love the House of Hope fight (other boss fights should get the same love as this one). I'd love to do a second playthrough after they introduce a new difficulty.

So, enough rambling from me. what are you favorite act?

1>2>3

Act 1 recieved the most polish because of EA.
Act 2 is too much doom and gloom and doesn't feature much besides fighting.
Act 3 is buggy, has performance issues and the story and narrative breaks down with railroading revelations and questlines that go nowhere.

Act 2 is my favorite so far, although Act 1 is great, too! I love the environmental theme of the shadow curse, the creepy atmosphere of the maps, and getting Halsin and Jaheira as companions! I love most of Act 1, but Grymforge is my least favorite area in the game, so that puts it a bit behind Act 2 for me.

I am not finished with Act 3 yet but am enjoying it so far! I think it would have been great to get out of the city a bit, though, so that puts it behind the other two acts so far.

It's interesting to see such varied opinions.

My pick is easily act1>3>2. Or maybe 3>1>2.

Frankly, I think all of the acts work better by themselves, they just don't glue together into a coherent whole. I didn't like act2 because it disappointed regarding what act1 set up, and didn't contribute much to the story going forward. I probably enjoyed act3 the most in some regard - single, packed with content map finally felt alright here - but I found it difficult to not be annoyed how plot threads from previous act get sideline, abandoned or retconed. At the same time, narrative stuff is troubled throughout the game, so it is difficult for me to put blame on one chapter over the other.

Still act1 is polished to the point, that I was able to overlook a lot of game's flaws and really engage with the title. Later acts have very much disconnect that I had with early access.

Act2 is the only one which I found boring. From the inconsequencial shadowcurse, to most of the act focusing on uninteractive backstory to an underwhelming, boring and uninteractive villain, who becomes irrelevant as soon as the act ends. Aside from gith creche and finale, the act could be cut as far as I am concerned.

Hard to say, but definetely not Act 3 because of cut content etc.

Well, I think Act 1 could be my fav...feels whole, looks great, memorable quests, 3 different zones, diversity is very important, so Act 1 is longer, which is a good thing for me.
Act 2 more focused on main story, but it is short, it's just small chunk of shadow lands and Moonlight tower zone with gauntlet of shar(which is just 3 trials, 2 weak bosses), though I love whole Moonlight tower zone and Act 2 Boss introduction is amazing as well as introduction of main villains.
Act 3 is still good, but could've been epic, so much potential, so much issues...I hope Larian will deliver DLC with polished and expanded Act 3 by bringing back content they had to cut (upper city, hag coven, Avernus, Helia, 17000 endings(I bet they regret saying this), maybe even crafting with unobtainable gear\outfits).

Act 2. Cool atmosphere, consistent story and tone, memorable villains and boss fights, impactful decisions.

In Act 1 I liked the druid-goblin war, but other than that it just feels like a bunch of stuff that doesn't fit glued together.

Act 3 feels haphazard like Act 1, and also a bunch of problems about the whole game culminate in it - like your level and power maxing early on and the difficulty being gone. It ruins the whole gravitas of some villain taunting you when you just know you'll probably obliterate them in one or two rounds.

Surprised to see someone else who enjoys Act 2! Act 2 was my favorite act in my first playthrough, though now I appreciate different acts at different times depending on who I'm playing and what role. Nightsong and the interactions with Shadowheart through the act really struck a chord with the character I was playing and story I was telling. Trying to spoil as little as possible, there were great moments that surprised me in how I was able to act, and there were moments I felt characters on their own acted in a way I didn't expect based on genre tropes.

Also I'm a sucker for music and this is where I really started to fall in love with the soundtrack. Constantly playing it when I'm not playing the game.


Does everyone think the game was too easy? Even in their first playthrough? I struggled from the beginning, and in Act 3 I faced arguably the biggest challenges of the game despite the heightened power. Granted I had an odd party composition of Warlock, Warlock, Cleric, Rogue.

I skipped a good amount of content, by choice or forced by my choices. I was only level 8 or 9 as I recall. I found myself hostile with the first Steel Watcher and Flaming Fist group you engage and I could NOT find a way to overcome it. At least not by walking straight into it as was my first instinct. I was roleplaying a very belligerent and confident party lead who always met people face-to-face, despite partying with a Trickery Cleric and Assassination Rogue and having no real frontliner with just 2 Warlocks to "round" that out. Not meta. Not meta at all. Right away, it put a fear and respect in me that lasted for the whole act and changed the way I approached it. I probably could have overcome it by being sneaky and setting up a proper underhanded fight with none of the starting dialogue, but that would have been aggressively meta and not roleplaying. I thought a number of other encounters were appreciably difficult and had hugely satisfying puzzle-piece-in-place fist pumping moments, as well.

I have developed my skills and knowledge significantly since then and encounter difficulty drops like 80% just in having experienced it once before and knowing what to expect. So to an extent I agree that the game is pretty easy now. Have done things like finish Act 2 at level 6. I suppose the game has to be easy enough if I beat it first time through with the party composition I had, and the terribly straightforward and brute methods I often took with a decidedly not brutish party! Heavy roleplaying, light strategy.

Even for me now, and I imagine the experienced and meta players, aren't certain potential encounters like Gortash in the audience chamber with his full steel watch practically impossible? I'm sure several people have done it, but that's at least one example of preventing most people from being an overconfident, belligerent aggressor, I expect. If nothing else, waiting for all those NPCs to take their turns is a challenge...

Anyway that's all to say that complaints about low difficulty strike me as leveraging large amounts of strategy, experience, meta knowledge, and broken Larian things. Maybe there could be something more for the people running 4 Tavern Brawler Barbarians, or Monks, or Paladins or whatever - plenty of broken stuff - but the game isn't supposed to be a brutally difficult min/max fest. It should be playable even for a first timer or dedicated roleplayer with a mishmash party (just like in tabletop), rather than a meta chaser looking for the highest competitor. Do you really want to fight a Neutronium Golem or something?

Act 1: Felt the most immersive to me. You get the most companion reactions and dialog options, also loads of cutscenes.

Act 2: Was also nice, but it was so dark all the time, I missed being in a more friendly environment after a while.

Act 3: I love how they created the city with cute little side streets, etc.. But I lost the connection to the companions, because they became just empty bodies that had nothing to say anymore. The ending wasn't what I expected either.

Yeah the ending really threw me the first time through. Felt a little railroaded when I imagined my character's story going a wildly different way. There was still a slight out, but I think there really needs to be a few more options and polish to Act 3 in general.

Still enjoy all the acts. Still a great game and probably GotY, probably the best CRPG I've ever played, but I felt like I had my orgasm denied in a few places that it seemed like just a little bit more content, reactivity and player agency would have solidified the game.

Act 3, because I'm sick of Act 1 after years playing it and I usually just try to get past it as fast as possible.

Act 3 means my character reach max level, has good item and some quest to use that full power.