Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback mountain pass OR underdark

Suggestion:

Make the player choose between going through the underdark or taking the mountain pass. One or the other.

Let there be a warning when you transition. "Tie up loose ends. You will not be able to go back." Then remove the old waypoints and thus starts Act II.

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The mountain pass is currently lacking. It's no more difficult a way to go than through the underdark, despite Halsin's commentary.

As such, I suggest adding another map. One between the mountain pass and the current shadow cursed lands. Something to make the overland route more difficult. That way going through the underdark actually skips a part of the shadow curse, as is the point.

Both areas are essential to the story, Mountainpass being somewhat more important. While I like the idea doing something akin to Witcher 2, I don't think that's acutally possible.

I'm not sure they're both essential. I can see the benefit of both, but essential?

I disagree. You can play through the entire story without one or the other.

While I can see merit in having it either/or, I'd prefer keeping both.

For play throughs 3+, I'm going to speed it up by doing either/or. Narratively it does seem weird to back track without level gatekeepers.

I remember fondly going only so far in BG2 and then hitting some vampires and retracing steps to do another quest. It's quite cool pepper-potting between quests.

But BG3 doesn't have many level gatekeepers apart from the Githyanki patrol.

Yes! The start of the cursed lands don't play out how I thought they would. I was expecting more shadow/wraith attacks with deadly strength and max-hp drains. Instead, no level gatekeepers. The Underdark plays correctly, but mountain pass route is too easy.

That's actually a really good point. Not only was Halsin wrong about the underdark skipping part of the shadow curse and being the better choice... it's actually the opposite. The mountain pass is *FAR* easier. Especially if you skip the monastery.

I feel like the Mountain pass is easier, but is the Underdark perhaps geared towards lower level characters? I haven't checked, but I remember trying to do Mountain pass in my first playthrough and I got a warning when trying to enter that it would be very difficult with my current level. So I turned back and went to the Underdark instead, didn't get any warnings upon entering. So I just figured that Mountain pass, despite appearing easier, perhaps has higher level foes and such?

Or, maybe Halsin is just lying about the difficulty because he has ulterior motives for wanting to go to the Underdark? (I mean, he does make a point of letting you know he's been to the Underdark "many times" when you ask him about lovers and what not.)

No, sorry, but I like both - teh Mountain Pass is important for Lae'zels story to continue and the Underdark has so many nice stuff to do. Besides, you can go to the Underdark any time from different places in act 1 - it is just another area.
Plus Grymforge is important for the later story too.
Making you choose makes you loose story elements and I don't want that.

Counterpoint: it's actually wack to cut you off from any area at any point. No reason for it is given and no reason would be given in your proposed scenario. I'm all for choice and consequence, but you have to tell me why I have to make a choice first. The fast travel system is based on magic runes, not actually traveling places, so there's no reason you couldn't hop back and forth from waypoint to waypoint. Like there are plenty of ways in which the game already "makes you lose story elements" based on choices you make. You lose several companions if you play Act 1 a certain way, and you lose a different companion if you play it the other way. So I'm not opposed to that kind of thing, but you have to tell me why, and it needs to make sense. Someone brought up the way it was done in The Witcher 2, but I actually didn't like that. There's not a real reason for Roche to demand that you do his thing right now, and that demand is ultimately the only thing forcing you into a decision. Otherwise, you could either persuade Roche and Iorveth to play nice, or use Axii and force them to play nice. And the game ends up hedging on the whole thing and having you go to the same place anyway, just on different sides and with less agency in the overarching story if you take the Roche path.

I can see where you're coming from. It's frustrating how choosing one path over the other doesn't seem to have any real consequences in the long run. Whether you go through the Underdark or the Mountain Pass, it all leads to a similar outcome with no significant differences.

They should definitely amp up the challenge in the Mountain Pass right from the start. And the idea of using the Underdark to avoid the shadow curse? It's misleading; you end up in the middle of the curse regardless of your choice. I'm not saying they should lock off the Mountain Pass, but they should make our choice about which way to go in the Shadow-Cursed Land matter more and have a real impact, or at least ensure that Halsin's advice aligns with the actual situation.