Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Torches for the off-hand and flaming weapons

It would be nice if we could auto-hold torches in the off-hand in place of a shield, regardless of the one handed weapon in the main hand. It could be limited to not allow two handed fighting unless the main hand is a light weapon, or the character has Two Weapon Fighting, that allows two melee weapons to be wielded and used. It could also, when not usable / used for two weapon combat, provide only a +1 to AC rather than the +2 a shield would provide.

As for flaming / flame dipped weapons, let us put the weapon away instead of having to constantly carry it unsheathed. Even with a flame dipped weapon, my character is doomed to forever carry his weapon out, even after the weapon no longer is flaming.

We should absolutely be able to use a torch in our off hand while the main hand holds a weapon... however, I would argue that doing so should provide NO bonus at all, aside from providing you with light if you need it; it's not a light/finesse melee weapon, and it's not a shield, it's just a tool.

By the by, in this game you can hit... I think it's Tab... to force sheath/stow your carried weapons at any time. It's a bit clunky, but for now it works... er, except in the cases where it doesn't and needs further patching, I suppose...

I think torches are a bit underwhelming currently. It feels like something that should be more automated and less manual or else made more tactical somehow. I wish there was just a hotkey called "torches" and when selected any party member that has a torch at the ready pulls it out and ignites it with a flint.

I kind of like the idea of torches having some physicality and potential use beyond just generating light in the abstract though. There should be some reason to use a torch, even if a character has dark vision for example.

Perhaps if a combat is initiated while torches are up, the player can drop their torch to the ground where it shines for a little while but then burns out after a round? If they keep a torch equipped in their offhand instead of dropping, I like the idea that it can serve to deflect a blow, basically like an illuminated buckler or whatever. A lit torch can be a pretty effective weapon as well. I'd expect that the player should be able to do something with it if its already up. Like maybe an attack roll for burn damage, but then the torch is doused in the process? Some kind of opening torch attack move, more than dual wielding per se, just to give em some flash? Unless the character has two weapon fighting I guess, in which case it can function more like a flaming club rather than buckler, since that's more or less what it is. Might be a more entertaining way to do torches, or at least something that makes torches more compelling than candles.

I'd imagine if we see a hand lantern, maybe the player can set it on the ground, throw it, or use it in the offhand for some sort of opening flail attack before its spent. I don't know, I understand having such things just as a separate QoL tool, but the game is already missing a lot of the night time atmosphere to begin with. It'd be cool if there were a few more incentives in place to make use of torches, since they do add to the ambiance, but often not enough to offset the benefits of simply not using them and opting for a cantrip or racial vision bonus instead.

There is... So they don't have disadvantage on all of their perception checks when they're in the dark.

Darkvision lets you see in darkness as though it were dim light - dim light means disadvantage on perception checks. You still want a torch, or some other source of light, if you actually want to see properly, darkvision or not.

Yeah I mean in principle I get it, but in terms of the gameplay here it feels like using a torch is putting myself at a general sort of disadvantage to avoid a more specific sort of Disadvantage. One that doesn't really come up as much. Or at least not often enough to make it feel really worth it, when compared to just having someone do a quick cast periodically. I tried a few times to get into the Torch game, because I like that atmosphere, but it just feels unwieldy and annoying. As if they only exist because you can't have a Dungeons and Dragons game without some torches, but the implementation still feels pretty inelegant. I don't know what they can do to make it feel smoother. Perhaps building an attack or defense benefit into the torch itself is going too far, but that was just spitballing on how to give them more of a tactical dimension. Honestly I think I'd prefer it as just a kind of quick toggle that we didn't have to fiddle with as much.

The idea to have the torches drop but still produce some light before going out, just seemed like something that might happen if a battle was joined suddenly and everyone was already holding a torch when it kicked off. That way we could still get some benefit from having had a torch loaded out, as opposed to a weapon or a shield, but without necessarily needing to hold the torch aloft the whole time in battle.

I'd imagine a decent adventurer's torch might even tapper at the bottom, so it could be driven into the ground upright and burn as normal. You know, like if the character was using a bow say and not exactly on the front line. Or if they just didn't want to douse their light source in order to equip a better weapon in the heat of combat. Seems like a relatively quick maneuver. I could suspend enough disbelief for something like that to be more automated, and then after the fight is over, we just pick up the still burning torch again and march on. Not exactly the most thrilling or dynamic approach, but least it would give a more torch friendly vibe. I still think there is a case to be made for the torch used as a weapon or for deflection though. Just because the game is so combat oriented. If they're going to have the torch treated more like a weapon in the equipment loadout, but then it behaves more like an invisible wand once in hand, that's also kind of weird. To me it seems a bit goofy that the party would be all holding back with their flaming torches in close quarters, if they had the chance to say torch a gobbo right in the face real quick hehe. Since there's no active DM here, you almost need them to build in a little torch play to the part of the game that has the most dynamism here (e.g. the combat stuff), just to capture some of that spirit that torches can provide in a table top session with a DM to do narration and check rolls on the fly.

I think my distaste for torches in BG3 has more to do with the UI than the torches or the rules though. It's tough, cause I wouldn't want easy standard Torches to totally supplant spells that improve vision or create light, or make enchanted equipment that does the same seem pointless. But I'm also not super happy with the way torches feel right now and I definitely think they could use some love. Something to make them more convenient, or else somehow more engaging for the effort at least.

One thing I will say that I like quite a lot in BG3, is how dousing individual torches can come into play here. More the wall mounted environmental ones I mean, but it's cool that the game gives some consideration to the other side of the equation. The idea of blowing out a torch strategically to avoid calling down attention just feels like the essence of high fantasy to me. Or dousing torches to go on a sneak offensive or set an ambush, also cool. It's definitely nice to see a game where that figures into the area design. But for the personal torches, I wish they felt easier to whip out and put away, or have a group toggle similar to a "stealth all" but like the inverse where everyone lights up. Just so we can have like that classic "fending off Wolves, or worse" with torches in the dark feel. I hope there will be more night settings at some point, and a Moon too.

Oh and a final thought to add on here, but the game's prologue/tutorial doesn't explain the lighting stuff very well. It would be nice if there was a room on the Nautiloid a bit more pitch, so the game has an excuse to present that info in more practical detail. Like maybe Lae'zel barks a suggestion to light up or leads by example with her own torch use, so the player can see what's up. A character who can sneak or who has vision bonuses might get a quick primer on doing the opposite somewhere, like "kill the lights!" at Shadowheart's suggestion to do some scouting or evasion. If the character has access to a light producing cantrip maybe somone suggests that as an alternarive to torch-light, and the game then points out what the effects are of lighting on the gameplay. I think that might be helpful, but right now the Nautiloid is pretty well lit, and so is the beach right afterwards, so it's sort of a missed torch opportunity there.