Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Mega-threads and Guides Party Size Discussion

At this point I honestly feel like one of these threads should be stickied so that people can just add their +1. Currently there are a ton of separate threads so its hard to see how much support this suggestion actually has.

As I said when i made a thread suggesting it though, to make it a 5 man party you would really need about twice as many companions as there currently is in game.

I totally agree with that
even 5 Player Party would be good

4 Players is just lacking and locking us into specific roles

Gonna be the evil guy for this thread.

I like the 4 man party. The limitation makes you think of more creative solutions to problems and perhaps your own unique character. Want to fill that rogue role but like rangers too? Play an urban ranger. It's flavourful as well. Wizards can open locks too.

In battle, you have to use your classes to their full extent. No party member is just there as a skill monkey. Makes you chosen companions matter more since you really depend on them for success. The cleric is not a healbot, it is a Cleric with a capital C.

I would definitely like at least 5 party members.

However, Larian seems to believe that more than four people would be too cumbersome and create excessively long combat. I unfortunately don't think they're going to budge on that one. But you can try.

+1
It'd be good to have options besides Tank, Mage, Rogue, Healer.
5 or 6 man allows for bards, rangers, etc.

I've been seeing threads like this since the game was first announced and the party size was confirmed, but not many, if any explained the writers view point on why it was something they wanted, so I have tried to approach this in a constructive manor, explain why I think the larger party can be a benefit and offer up a solution, As for adding more companions I know more are planned but I'm not sure how many more are coming.
While five people in the party would be better than four I still believe that six is kind of the perfect number. My favourite memory from BG1 is the end dungeon on the way to fight Saravok, I had 2 front line fighters and a cleric holding the line against a hoard of enemies while my rouge archer and two mages attacked from behind the front line, it felt so epic to set up a formation and use tactics to face of against overwhelming odds and I just don't see that sort of scenario happening with only four party members.

I really really want this suggestion to go through. I want a party of 1 Tank (fighter or paladin), 1 cleric, 1 charisma caster(bard, sorc or warlock), 1 int caster, 1 rogue and 1 fun character (druid, barb, ranger).

4 just has too many limitation and I feel like I am forced into tank, healer caster and a rogue that kind of has to be arcane trickster at that point.This leaves no room for fun party compositions.

Please please please reconsider the 4 man limit.

It's round based combat, so against more then say, 5 enemies, combat will be cumbersome/long no matter what...

Please do, the more oppions the better, just because I prefer a six man party I'm not arrogant enough to say it's the only way to play. I appreciate that a lot of people like the challenge and limits that a reduced party size can bring, solo BG runs have been a thing since it was first released. For those that like doing solo runs that function ability will be built into the game by default since you won't have to recute anyone to your party if you so choose and player like you who like a four player party are covered as well, but people like me who like a bigger party size will be at the mercy of mods and modders and there ability to keep it up to date and compatible with elements of the game that may conflict with it, whereas something built into the game by Larian themselves will bee much more reliable.
I do want them to make the game the way that they want to and balance it around their vision, all I ask is that they give players the option even if it comes with warnings that it will reduce difficulty and potentially break the ballance of the game and therefore achievements will be disabled.

+1 !

I wanna be able to play with most of my friends, especially if DM mode becomes a thing.

Agreed, while not exactly comparable in Dragon Age: Origins I often found myself wanting to take a couple of extra companions along with me and feeling pigeonholed into taking certain party members along rather than playing with the team I want to take.

+1

I do understand this is not possible right now, espeially given there are only 5 companions available in single-player mode at the moment. But I do hope that as Larian adds more companions to the roster, the party size in later EA versions (or even just the completed game) can be bumped up to 5 or 6 members. Even if this is not implemented in multi-player mode, or even if it is left as an option that can be chosen at the start of the campaign.

Edit: double post, removed.

With the player created character and the five companions they actually have a full party of six ready to go, but I would prefer that they focus on finishing and balancing the game for now and add the option closer to a full release.

+1

Minsc and Boo disapprove of 4 people in a party. They consider it evil and they will kick your butt @Larian.

I disagree completely.


Six players would slow down combat.
Not only would you be adding 2 more bodies on the players side you would need to add additional monsters to make combats challenging.
Six players could mean as many as 6 more turns for combats and that's just too much.

You really need to explore the backgrounds in 5E. A dedicated thief is no longer necessary. With the Urchin background you gain proficiency in both stealth and Sleight of hand which allows any Dex character to sneak and pick locks/remove traps.

There are lots of options, and the smaller the party the more re-playable the game and the more strategy you have to employ.

There has been no combat in Early Access that I've thought that I needed two more characters to be more effective


Six players would slow down combat, decrease re-playablity, and lessen the strategy required to succeed.
That's a hard no from me.

(If it's something you folks truly want you can Mod it in after full release.)

It's round based combat, it will be slow anyhow... just saying.

I would like it too, but Larian seems adamant on this. They stated in some interview or panel that they left room for more for modders to add more like it was for OS2, so I doubt they themselves are going to change.

Turn based combat is fine, it only starts to slow down when there are too many participants.

+1

I want my 6 slot full custom party.
And please don't make me run 6 game clients to achieve that again.

There would be nothing stopping anyone from making a 4 slot (or solo) run. I definitely approve and endorse challenge runs.
But right now we are being stopped from having a proper party and it does affect the complexity of encounters and gameplay negatively. I am already bored of random NPCs acting as hit point buffers. Why can't i bring my own ?

Look at it this way: If you removed 2 pieces from a chess board you would remove millions of possible moves. If you remove 1/3 of the pieces the game becomes trivial.
I don't want to play tic-tac-toe. I want there to be serious strategy involved in a TURN BASED GAME mind you.
You should take a page out of the book of the Sword Coast Stratagems mod for BG2 which increased the difficulty by adding missing spells and ability (and thereby moves and strategies) instead of cranking up the damage by 200% Bethesda style.

If you wanna take the crown from BG2 there is no way around a 6 slot party. Period.