Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Githyanki Patrol Fight Post Patch 5?!

I haven't fought the Githyanki since last year...and I am trying them on Patch 5 and they are all level 5, have tons more HP, maybe even triple what they had and are just a lot harder than I remember; did Larian make them that much harder or did I miss something?

Wow this whole encounter... how wrong can it go? I'm just there now with a level 4 party.

Why do the dragon and dragonrider flee if you surprise attack them? How out of character can it get just to show off the dragon model early or whatever the motivation is to bring them in. They just killed the flaming fist patrol for fun, but the player actually ATTACKING them doesn't trigger a lethal response? The role of the dragonrider in the scene could just as easily be played by the sub-commander Sarth Baretha. Show some restraint and save the dragon stuff for later or at least explain it better why they don't fight back, i.e. have them leave after the flaming fist are murdered but before the party goes down there. Also, the gith patrol killing the flaming fist would make THEM more badass and also soften them up so the party can take on a higher level party.

Speaking of Sarth Baretha.. a 5th level Fighter with 15 Con has 44HP. With Tough feat it would be 54HP. Why exactly does she need 91HP when they are already higher level than the party and have two attacks etc.? And the rest of them follow this same formula too. It was the toughest fight already and they made it even tougher. Where's the logic? Is this the first step in seeing HP inflated enemies to balance all the cheese available to players? Is this where we finally lose D&D combat and start playing High Ground Barrels and Shove the Game?

But still, the easiest way to win is to cheese them with the considerable high ground available and they might as well have 200HP falling down the from the bridge and dying while trying to get back up there.

edit: and what in the hells is going on with their stats???

https://imgur.com/a/t7rH1zE

In last patch their HP was boosted ... in previous patch, they get their own dedicated weapon (wich all are quite strong) ...
I cant remember any older change. :-/

I think it has been deliberately buffed in HP to be very difficult in order to test something. There is plenty of discussion of viable tactics in the "Patch 5 combat encounter difficulty discussion" thread.

They have improved tactics and they are also now proficient in their own weapons, which I believe they were lacking before, so another +2 to hit.

I manage to beat them after an hour or so of trying, had to sacrafice my main character only to revivify her later but I did beat them; nice loot.

great summary... I hope this gets fixed. How is the player supposed to feel significant and heroic when a random gith fighter level 5 has stats like they are at least 10 levels higher... And the HP bloat is troubling for many reasons that have been disussed numerously in this forum.

I managed to finish the fight on my 1st attempt with a level 4 party that finished everything above the ground and the temple of Selune (no Underdark) and I didn't feel like the fight was that difficult.

Party was:
Warlock Tav
Laezel (battlemaster)
Shadowheart
Astarion (thief)

I started the fight with my entire party on the ground (so no sneak attack cheesing).
I think I had 1 character dying in the fight which was fixed by an healing word.

It was one of the few fights were I used different consumables (haste potions, scrolls, poison,...).
I assume that your party is level 5 when attempting the fight after launch, so I don't feel like the difficulty level is wrong.

Level 5? You can reach level 5?

Nope, but he said "after launch"

Missed that, sorry

After a day and a half I finally defeated the Githyanki Patrol. I started out with a Dual Wielding Ranger, Laezel as an Eldrich Knight, (though she may be better in this battle as a Battle Master), Shadowheart, and Gael. I had 3 potions of Invisibility and 2 hill giant strength potions. My Ranger had Long Sword +1 and Battle Axe +1, Shadowheart and Gaels weapons did not come into play. I think it is essential your party gain suprise. load all the protections you can, and use Bane.

maybe this is off thread but...I read to much on the forums from guys who want to make it harder, more compliant to D&D rules. a case in point is the perpetual whining about being able to rest any time your not in combat. I for one was happy with that, So now the game is harder and I scrounge thru every container looking for food or beverage that I have to send to camp and then fish them out to be able to full rest. I just wish you all who want the game harder because you have mad gaming skills, just hush. I do ok but it is a struggle every step of the way

Congratulations Track! Nice work. It's not an easy fight but its great when you get it.

Hi there

In your "imgur" image, you picked the guy that actually leaves "before" the actual fight start. Try another one and see if the stats are the same. with some strategy + items, this fight can be easy

good luck !

I just don't care, for me they're still easy to beat. Because of the high ground nearby. They are the Anakins.

I am on the team that believe the fight is currently fair.

I could beat it at the third try without cheese(lvl4). Been honest there were like 2-3 combats that was challenge enough to make me open the inventore and: "-Shit, I am on trouble, what can I do to turn the tides of battle in my favor?"

That for me, personally, is pretty important. It feels like the itens that u got matter, like the decisions to help or kill someone that eventually reward you matters, that the potions and itens that you bought matters.
I am really not looking for a walk in the park (not judging who does).

Finally, I think they are currently testing different difficulties simultaneosly. So don't really bother that some fights are to hard for you, or to easy. If am right about this, the fights that u are thinking to "off" will be adapted to the difficult you choose.

I just want to point out that making things more compliant to D&D rules wouldn't blanket make everything harder. For instance if enemies were closer to D&D rules, several of their stats would be lower and some would even have fewer abilities. So it's less that D&D with rules as written is harder, it's just that some rules are interacting with Larian's changes in a way that leads to things being harder.

The screenshot is during combat and that's the Githyanki Gish. Larian has given many NPC's really high stats that players can't reach. That's poor design imo. If they want to make them more powerful they can give them levels rather than make PC's look like commoners compared to enemies. PC's are supposed to be exceptional individuals as adventurers and heroes but it looks like random NPC's you murder along the way are.

edit: here's another screenshot of the Flaming Fist ability scores.

https://imgur.com/a/gveVJXi

So we can see this NPC design is all over the place. The Flaming Fist stats make more sense as a regular John Doe NPC even though they're a bit on the weak side. The stats of these NPC's are polar opposites even though they play a similar role as unnamed "units".

As I mentioned, even this hard fight is easy to cheese with high ground, or just spam powerful consumables or use metagame knowledge and surprise attack them from perfect positions with Void Bulbs and AoE's or whatever. Point is, I'd like to fight without using cheesy exploits or metagame knowledge the characters aren't supposed to have. But Larian's encounter design seems to assume you milk all possible exploits or metagame knowledge and I'm not a fan of that.

When we will be able to level past 4 this fight will be more fair. Right now its normal we find this to be very difficult as we are outleveled and out geared.

its damn tough now - im on attempt three....

I mean, they should get fixed but I will disagree with your statement that the player is supposed to feel significant and heroic. This is the end goal, of course, but it's a journey. If the game put you in a place where you feel confident to beat any enemy since the (relative) start well, there isn't much left for the "hero journey" :P A good ass beat is an amazing propellant for greatness

But yes, I agree the game should beat my ass with consistent enemies. If you want me to face a level 10 fighter don't call it a level 5 (even if I don't like knowing the level of my enemy in a d&d game :P)