Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Would like an option to dial down spell VFXs

Visuals
Spell buffs need better visual effects. I like most visuals in the game but these have been a sticking point for all of early access. So many of these are just drab. The constant pulse of these are not pleasing to the eye either. I hope these are placeholders, I'm just burnt out on seeing them. I've waited to post this feedback as I wanted to phrase it in the nicest way possible.
Bless reminds me of Warner Bros cartoons where after getting hit on the head a character would see birds or stars. I would be okay if it was only a visual on the portrait. I don't like the the animation for Bless at all.
Hex shows up on the warlock and it's target. The animation is a pulsing red/purple stain that reminds me of when a guest has spilled wine on my carpet. I don't know how else to explain how unappealing the animation for hex is.
Mage Armour & Shield of Faith are just white stains pulsing on the character. Again I'd prefer just a graphic on the character portrait with the animations on the character model removed. I don't want to use Mage Armour because it makes my character look ridiculous.
Armour of Agathys makes your warlock look like there is secretly a freezer underneath their armor. My character looks like they are more concerned with carrying Ben & Jerry's safely across Faerûn instead of getting their tadpole removed. I expected Armour of Agathys to look more like a pair of ice shoulder pads.

Only if it comes with an option to take it up a notch from base. Melee needs flashier combat animations.

Only if it comes with an option to take it up a notch from base. Melee needs flashier combat animations.

Melee needs animations that look more exciting and more accurately reflect what is actually going on in combat.

I.e. a "miss" in D&D is not an incompetent attacker doing a clean miss like BG3 presents it. A "miss" accounts for armor deflection, shield blocking, dodging, magical protections etc. So a miss is actually the defender succeeding in deflecting or dodging. These animations would make combat look more intense while also not making the attacker feel like they suck. And heavy armor tanks need to feel like they just soak the damage, like... tanks.

Knowing whether or not the target is avoiding damage because of armor or dodging could also be relevant in knowing how to best overcome their defense. Like using entangle, hold or other immobilize effects on evasive targets. Not sure if 5e has ways to remove dodge AC like earlier editions but that could actually be a good house rule. Or if someone is tanky and their armor deflects a lot of hits, they probably don't have a lot of Dex so use Grease or something that attacks Dex.

Despite this being slightly tangential to VFX, I'll add my two cents to the discussion on melee combat flair.
I would assume this to mostly be a matter of animation variety and sheer quantity, and not VFX (particle effects and the like). I certainly hope you guys aren't asking for over-the-top melee combat particle effects.
It's not unreasonable to believe that more combat animations will be added further down the production pipeline.

While it is a nice idea, I doubt we will see "blocked by armor".
An important factor in game design is clear player feedback. If you show a character hitting, but not inflicting HP reduction, that muddles the player feedback (did I do damage or not? Will have to check enemy health bar). One could argue this being less important in a tactical game, where player reactions are not being challenged, than say a first-person shooter. Still, I doubt this will make the cut.
I do however agree that melee combat lacks that punchiness to it.
Shield blocking, deflection and dodging would be nice though.

I don't want VFX (particle effects) in melee. Some sparks and motion wooshies are ok but it needs to look real.

Agree about the feedback importance and that how armor works in D&D (soak all or nothing) complicates things. But the main question is "how much damage did I do?" and it's pretty clear with the floaty number.

Whether the enemy avoids damage because of armor AC, dodge AC, or a magical protection is also feedback. Not as relevant in 5e, but it could be house ruled to be more meaningful. If you see a magical barrier block the damage it's a hint to have your caster throw a Dispel Magic in. BG3 showing that as a dodge gives false feedback.

Impact is what I want to feel in melee, especially with heavily armored characters. Or the lack of impact on a Rogue or Monk.