Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Technical & Gameplay Problems Shield Bash no longer works

I play BG3 on my PS5 and I’ve noticed that ever since the newest patch, Shield Bash no longer works. Everytime I try to do it, the dice doesn’t roll. I have heard this occurs from users over on PC as well.

Can confirm PC as well, haven't had it work a single time since the update.

Same issue here, Shield Blow, though animates, does not actually "work". PC and no mods installed.

I also play on console and confirm that after patch 4 it is not working at all. I tested on couple of shields and all provide same result

Can confirm, shield bash does nothing even though the animation plays, PS5

I have also noticed this particular bug on PC. NPCs also cannot use Shield Bash anymore, it seems, as Ketheric played the animation but it didn't work.

Yep, I’m on PC and agree the reaction triggers, the animation plays and then nothing happens to the opponent.

What's happening to the developers? The shield mechanics have been broken since the second half of September - early October, in patch 3. A bunch of hot fixes have already been released, two full patches 4 and 5, and they continue to redraw pictures of potions, musical instruments, etc. and ignore the broken game mechanics of shields. What a shame, god damn it.

u could just start from that lil fact "shields are invisible while on back"
but pls be patient cuz its been only 3 years ea
5 years would do the trick (lol no)

Same issue here, no shieldbashing works on enemies.
PC - no mods.

My guess is that they have more artists employed than programmers, and need to keep them busy. While the new visuals are nice, they can't make up for the constant one step forward, two steps back effect on actual gameplay that these patches seem to produce.

I can confirm that Shield Bash has not had anything other than a visual effect since patch 4.

On a related note, has anyone noticed Pommel strike doing huge damage for enemy NPCs, specifically Anders at the Risen Road?

I've tested 10 times now, and EVERY time he does a minimum of 25 damage. My 22 strength character in late game never does more than 7 damage, even on critical hits. I've got no mods installed.

Shield bash does not work for me either. Looks cool.

Is this working after today's patch? I don't see any mention of it in the notes.....

How is it possible that this hasn't worked for months, hasn't been fixed, and no one seems to care?

Oh we care, not much I can do. I've disabled the reaction to ask in the meantime.

If you've filed a formal bug report about it, (to Larian's actual bug report form, located Here), you'll get a response that will let you know at least that Larian are aware of it, or to what degree they are. An actionable report should contain a save file that will allow the issue to be replicated; a save at the start of a combat where you're likely to get the reaction a few times would be ideal. Make sure to include both files in save folder - both the save file itself, and the thumbnail file next to it; for some reason that's important to their team.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of this situation is that it's an issue they're aware of and it's in their queue to be fixed but, since it neither fucks nor explodes, it's not a priority that they've much interest in allocating any attention to.

You can see here that Larian are aware of the problem.
It is hard to imagine why it takes so long to track down the cause of the problem and fix it.

I've filed several bug reports, but just gotten the stock automatic reply.

It doesn't matter if it fucks or explodes. It's a common, basic gameplay mechanic that literally comes up in every fight (since at least one character usually has a shield), and it's broken. Would it be okay if shooting arrows or using melee attacks didn't work? How can't it get onto the list of hundreds and hundreds of bugs that have been fixed? This was not always a bug. It was introduced in patch 2 or 3.

It's also apparently not a hard fix. A modder at Nexus has fixed it, and it seems that the game is not applying the dice role to see if the attacker goes prone or not. Now, if it's nothing more than that, maybe the company with 400 staff could allocate one of them to fix it, or ask the modder for permission to use his/her work?

Shield bash is deffinetely broken right now.

Would be nice if Larian addressed this as fast as they do kisses and hugs...