Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Has anyone actually heard a good reason for the CC nerfs?

Yes, I know that a lot of these rules come from 5e, but it's baffling that they've been doubled-down on by Larian. I just can't quite fathom it, outside of a personal distaste from them for CC.

A spell like Crown of Madness already offers targets a save every single turn (let's call it what it is: a save with an increasing number of Advantages to resist), and takes up a casters concentration slot to maintain AND can only be used on Humanoids. There are so many impositions already in place (which only amplify the mantra that 'Death is the best CC', because on enemies that has a duration of permanent!) that when I see that it's been reduced to just 3 turns (or 2 in the case of hypnotic pattern) it begs the question of why spells like this are even in the game, except to waste people's time. It's just always better to cast Hold Person... so why even include it?

What about the Enchanter's Hypnotic Gaze? Once per long rest? What's the point when Diviners get two portent dice that are infinitely more useful and they get two of them!

CC can be very powerful in CRPGs. People say it can 'break encounters'. There's already so many ways to 'break' an encounter though, that in this style of game it comes down to 'Ok, you're going to have fun with this, so what way do you want to break the encounter?'. That's part of the fun of the choice.

Ultimately though, if you over-nerf something that's already been heavily nerfed, it goes from being a choice to just a trap for players with a certain playstyle. It's like WOTR with it's eight million class choices when only a handful are actually worth it. The illusion is simply a source of frustration, rather than a real choice.

I really wanted to play an Illusionist. But Color Spray and Hypnotic Pattern suck so much it's not fun. Sleep sucks because of HP bloat and bonus action Shove to wake them. Web and Grease get fire spammed instantly and can never do their jobs properly. Because it's more "fun" to always turn them into a fancy explosion that deals a whopping 1d4 damage? Entangle and even Plant Growth get incinerated instantly with any fire contact. Any excuse, really. And it means these spells can't do what they are meant to do.

They nerfed CC, and buffed already good spells like Haste to broken heights. The game is all about metagaming encounters and alpha striking bosses in melee before they get a turn, yet somehow fair and square CC can't be allowed to exist.

They're included because they're in PHB.

Larian chose to remain very close to PHB in terms of content, which is why Acid Sorcerer is gimped with its 1 spell and 1 cantrip that can deal Acid damage (With the plethora of good Acid spells from Tasha's Cauldron that make Acid Sorcerer actually useful being omitted).

It's also why we're capped at level 12, since later level PHB spells wouldn't function properly in the game and instead of simply omitting problem spells or homebrewing them into something more suitable, they just left us with what we have.


To be fair, this is Larian. They're have a special attention to making sure surfaces react to elements, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise.

Larian's obsession with surfaces and reactivity is harming more than helping the game. When I cast a 2nd or 3rd level spell to slow down enemies, that's what it needs to do. Not turn into negligible damage every time. Hazards burning away instantly just renders them useless.