Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Hotbar Issues

When I went through my second playthrough a constant problem I was having was the hotbar. Every time I picked something up it automatically added it to my hot bar, which would be fine if it didn't ignore the hotbar lock and fuck up my organization. I get that it's a necessary feature in the case of some spells such as hex or produce flame, but I would rather have those temporary icons be permanent. Then if I want to preserve my organization I can have them there but grayed out when they are unusable. It's a small thing, but it would've streamlined certain classes quite a bit in the minute-by-minute gameplay. Especially in combat this could be annoying since I'd have to go searching for where the icons popped up in all other mess that'd been added to my hotbar. I hope I'm not the only one who is having this issue.

Yeah, we're hoping UI is one of the main things they'll be fixing in Patch 5 next week. We've talked this one to death, so hopefully...

Nice to see someone else also pointing it out though. If they haven't fixed it for Patch 5, we'll need more posts like this one.

There was one big discusion about temporary skills ...
The best idea wich came out of it (in my honest opinion) was the idea that temporary icons, or recast icons should have replace the original spell icon ... aka, simply remove the spellslot cost for next use.

Problem here is that back in the old discusion, we had only spells like Hex, or Hunter's Mark, or Speak with Dead ... to recast ... so it was allways single icon.

Im not quite sure how to resolve this issue with (for example) Druids cantrip: Produce flame ...
Since casting that will give you another 2(or 3?) icons to use. :-/
Maybe put them all in one popup-window?

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Also its certainly worth mentioning that you can adjust type of items wich will (or will not ofcourse) be automaticly added to your hotbar in setting (for example i have everything turned off, since i like to sort my hotbar myself).

Can I just add, that it's super, super annoying that If you don't have certain things on your hot bar at all, then the game automatically adds them every time you interact with your skills or the hot bar at all, even if the last thing you JUST did was to drag them all off.

It also resets them when you reload a game, if there's empty space for it to do so, even if you saved with the bars empty.

The few reloads that I've had to do during my recent throwing experiment, you might have noticed that I keep their bars empty. Every time I restart the game for a new play session, as well as any time I've had to reload, I have to go through and drag all of the skills off, again, and again, because it keeps putting them back on... It does this if I level up, it does it if I deselect memorised spells, it does it even if you have literally all of the hot bar options turned off to prevent it from adding anything at all to your bar...

Not to mention that, along with the persistent click bugs, dragging things off your bar creates a UI bug that makes nothing else targetable or selectable, and prevents tooltips from showing up until you come out to the play screen and forcefully deselect (nothing at all) with your right mouse. In the mean time it also lets you drag things around that can't be moved, and see them in full, like a dev world building tool (Like moving the door to the Zhent hideout around and looking at it in full) - though it doesn't let you *actually* do this (You can't 'place' the object you're waving about), just shows the mouse-attached image of it.

I usualy put spells that i dont want to use to second bar ... that way they keep "added" yet they dont take me precious place ...
I keep saying since the begining of EA that i would need bigger bar. -_-

The UI is poor for sure. I really hate how the BG3 UI constantly makes me search for the right buttons.

Playing a higher level Wizard with the hotbar UI will be incredibly annoying when they have a huge ever changing spell selection. And spells change places all the time and disappear into other pages. Spellcasting needs a whole separate UI element. Pillars of Eternity, Solasta, NWN2 all figured this out, it's baffling Larian sticks to such inefficient and annoying UI choice.

Temporary Actions granted by spells or other things need to all go in their own location next to other main actions. Something like Hurl Produce Flame or Activate Witch Bolt going somewhere is inexcusable.

Extra mention for the Wizard spellbook that lists all upcastable versions of spells as new spells and does a great job at hiding your actual level 2 spells when changing selection.

I dont understand what all you people still have with that "casting need separate UI" ...
Didnt that ugly and stupid popup window screwed casting enough? :-/

Why are you defending so hardly against "spells" button that can be placed into that bar, and wich would contain your precious "casting UI" so even people who DO like hotbar and ARE actualy able to use it effectively can be satisfied? :-/

There is a something in the settings I remember allowing you to turn off the auto add to hot bar feature. I never tested it, but I remember it being there in the latest patch. Though I would like Keybinds on the 6 actions (push, stealth, etc..) so I can link them to my keypad controller.

The hotbar feels very much like Larian is saying "well, we don't know how to make a UI - maybe you can figure it out". Admittedly, it might be a bit because people have been talking about mods so much lately, but it really feels like they just gave up, made a big empty space and said "it's customizable!" <jazz hands>. So, instead of having basic actions, class features, spells, and activatable equipment organized in a sensible and consistent fashion (which, yet again, Solasta shows it can be done effectively), we have this big bar of stuff that feels like it's never quite right, requires constant maintenance, and leads to lots of mis-clicks.

Want it organized? Do it yourself. Want it to stay organized? Too bad, we're either going to auto-add things in a way that doesn't make sense, or you're going to get frustrated and turn the auto-add features off and you're still going to have to go hunting for the thing that you want. The entire HUD is awful, but at least they tried to make some of the parts work (albeit, with little success). The hotbar really just looks like resignation to defeat.

Players should be spending our brain cycles trying to figure out what they want to do in the game, but the UI demands that we instead spend them trying to figure out how to do things. That's the sign of a bad interface.

I like the hotbar much more than that ungly nonsence Solasta is calling ui. :-/

Oh no, now you done did it!

I feel bad that SOMEONE is going to fall for this obvious provocation :P


I'll be hiding out somewhere. No doubt essays are being furiously typed at this moment.

I like the idea behind the hotbar controls in Solasta, but agree they don’t suit the fantasy setting all that well. Especially the stopwatch icon for the Ready action. Who thought a stopwatch in a fantasy game was a good idea?

It really shouldn't be that hard to do a better UI than Solasta did. Solasta's UI is simple, functional, with little for aesthetics.

I don't think it'd be too much to ask for an functional, aesthetically-pleasing UI to be in Baldur's Gate 3.
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It also wouldn't be that hard to improve the hotbar, limit carryable items to 6, have a separate hotbar for spells by default, etc.

I think an improved hotbar or functional UI should be obtainable, keyword "should".

I disabled “auto add to hotbar” in the settings and it has never been an issue for me.

What IS an issue is how difficult it is to move a new spell from lower lines to the top if you have the first two rows filled. Why can’t we expand the whole toolbar window for sorting purposes? It is infuriating when I learn a new spell to try to put it on the top row where i like them to be.

(It is possible we can and I just don’t know how to expand the thing vertically)

Personaly i believe that Hotbar needs only few tweaks, and can be completely working for everyone ...

- Firt of all, they certainly should make it bigger ... im not quite sure who in Larian was thinking that reduce size of hotbar to less than half (compared to first build we ever seen) is good idea. O_o
(You can also notice that in that build, UI adressed several other problems like ... unecesary duplicity, or triplicity in combat, of your characters portraits ... the fact that you can easily have 5 members party without any colision with other UI, since party have its own space, etc. ... to put it simply, personaly i find this UI to be bzillion(its not typo) times better in every way.)

- Second, in this order is needed to strictly STOP spells from returning to hotbar ... its anyoning, its have no purpose, and if i throw away some spell from my bar, its bcs i dont want it there! So please, accept that Larian. Everything else can be adjusted in settings, but this problem remains even if you turn everything off. -_-

- Third, its totally needed for spells to SORT! Both in Popup Window, and in Spellbook ...
What game do now its unforgiveable mess. :-/ And i honestly hate it, when you have two persons of same class, you can easily notice that spells in their spellbook are not sorted the same ... i honestly dont quite understand why, but i want to look and see ... not look, search, read tooltips, and then see. :-/
Its especialy anoying if you have two Warlocks, and your Hex types are sorted differently. -_-
Make it alphabetical ffs. :-/

- Fourth(?), it would be nice if spells that can be re-cast would not require additional space on hotbar ...
Perosnaly i love the idea that spells like Hex, Hunter's Mark, or Speak With dead ... would simply replace its usual casting icon with re-casting icon ... since you cast exactly the same spell minus spending spell slot ... there is no reason to create separate icon in another place for that.
For other spells, wich have multiple possible uses, like Witch Bolt, or Produce flame ... pesonaly i would choose option to create popup-window menu, where you would have all possible uses ...
So while you will keep concentration on Witch Bolt, you click on Witch Bolt icon and you see there: Free Wich bolt > level 1 > level 2 ...
So while you will keep concentration(?) on produce flame cantrip, you click on your produce flame icon and you see there: Cancel flame > Throw flame (that is all isnt it? i cant help the feeling i forget some third option)

- Fifth, to please even some people (except the most pure antihotbar extremist) who would like to have dedicated UI ...
I would either suggest allowing casting from Spellbook (wich can be even binded, that is another plus in my opinion) and possibility to add spellbook icon on hotbar ... wich should be quite easy, right now when you click on your spellbook in combat, it opens small version of your specific character spellbook, instead of all of them ... then you can by Left click prepare your spells (except you cant, since you are in combat), and by right click you can do the same ... simply allow us to cast when left clicked, and prepare spells by right click and VOILA! Spellcasting ui with possible binding is done!
Or, bcs some people didnt like this idea in the past ... i would suggest multiple popup windows for them ... you click on spellcasting icon on hotbar > your spells will open, you click on spell > your spell levels will open, you click on spell level > you cast. ... I cant quite understand how can anyone find this effective way, but w/e.

And finaly, bcs this is allready quite long post for just repeating the same that was allready told in the past ...
I would really, really, REALLY wish to have option to put in my hotbar both spells that will give me popup window with all spell levels, and spells that are specific spell level ... personaly i dont quite see the reason, why should i pick between Mage Armor level 1 and Mage Armor level 2, since it both give me litteraly same AC bonus ... therefore all i need in Mage Armor level 1, since i would never spend level 2 slot for it ...
Need to choose spell level before every cast is not gamebreaking i know, but its anoying ... and personaly i find it unnecesary.

//edit:
OH! One more little thing! Its not exactly hotbar related, but its about icons so i iclude it here ...
I would also like to ask Larian to add spell level numbers on EVERY SINGLE SPELL ICON ... and in case of those POP-UP windows, give there lowest possible spell level ... Why?
That is easy, its much easier for new player who dont yet memorized all spell levels (like myself ofcourse) to plan its futher move!
Example:
He can simply look and see that he have 2xLevel1 slots, and 1xLevel2 slots remaining ... then he (i mean i) look at his hotbar and see spells he have at his disposal ... and thinks: Well, i can cast this Level2 Magic Missiles, and if that bastard survives, i can easily use Misty Step to get out of his reach (you guessed right, he thinks that, bcs Misty Step have no spell level indication on his icon ... so he logicaly presumed that its level 1 spell) ... he cast his Magic Missiles, and he is screwed, since he cant use Misty Step anymore ...
BUT (and its a big butt) ... if every single spell would have spell level indication on his icons (and preferable some indication for concentration in other corner) ... he simply look and see, without need to check tooltip of every single spell on his hotbar ... that if he wish to have possibility to run still prepared, he need to attack with level 1 Magic Missiles.
Please let us fight against NPC ... not our own UI. :-/

Well, that is it.
7 relatively easy steppes to make Hotbar much better tool than it is.

Wizards and Clerics change their prepared lists all the time. Because of this, a hotbar is simply the wrong approach for a spell UI.

Neverwinter Nights 1 has one because it's a real time game and as such it needs single click casting. The NWN hotbar UI is much more powerful and fast compared to BG3 (you can switch pages fast with CTRL / SHIFT / ALT) and STILL you run out of slots at higher levels.

It's really poor UI design to force the player to constantly keep organizing their own hotbar instead of just organizing the spells (and other stuff) automatically, sorted by levels and upcast and metamagic options.

The weird container UI for upcasting spells is awful in BG3 too. And the chain movement system is the most awkward I've seen in a party based RPG. UI is definitely a weak link in BG3.

For people who like the hotbar, what is it about the hotbar that you like? I'm not looking for reasons why it is adequate - I'm looking for things that the hotbar does exceptionally well and that you really wish was present in all video games. Why is this better than the alternative?

My thoughts in the spoiler, but I'd like to know what other people like about the hotbar rather than jabs at my opinions.

Mostly that i can sort things however i see fit ... that is HUGE plus for me, since i have a little deviation in this matter, i hate autosort and believe that person who maded is should burn in hells. :-/
Also when i do (and if they stay that way ) its much easier, and faster for me to orient in that UI ... personaly i use hotbar in Heroes of Might and Magic aswell, for the spells i use most often ...
And for the third time (is that the expression in english too?) im used for hotbar, many games i play ses them so ... its more friendly for me, than lear to orient in something entirely new with every single game. :-/