Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Please let us set companion ability points

This particular argument sadly doesn't really hold much relevance here. This just means you have a DM that is balancing encounters around your party's limitations, as a DM should.

A video game by default is balanced in a far wider scope, though there absolutely will be some baseline expectations on what a player's stats should be at a particular point in the game. In an environment where the game can't freely add or remove enemies on its own, the baseline will most likely assume that there is going to be at least one or two party members with moderate to high AC.

Though one would hope that Larian has far more reasonable expectations, lest they condition the community to hyper aggressively chase AC like the Pathfinder games.

+1

I think the initial build of a character is part of its background and personality and I think that allowing to modify it is a wrongdoing to the character itself.
Sure, one can say "why does it bother you if I do it in my game?". It doesn't bother me, as it doesn't bother me if someone cheats or bug abuses in its game, but this is not a reason to justify cheats or bugs being present as a game feature.

I think the respect option of Pathfinder, both Kingmaker and WotR, is the optimal one. You can respect everything that comes *after* your first meeting with a character. Everything that came before, is part of the character itself and of its identity, both combat-wise and RP-wise.

I really hate to break this for you man ...
But cheats actualy ARE game feature.

Its not part of the code when if you write something, the game will break in desired way ... creators had to implement them all, from the scratch, and they do that intentionaly.

Especially in BG3, Exploits as intended features are definitely (and unfortunately) a thing... Swen considers cheating and exploiting to be peak game-play (he's verbal to that extent in a few of the panels), and that preference trickles down into many things that end up making it into, or remain in, the game.

I would not see it so tragically ...
As long as those exploits are as easily awoidable as those we allready have.

Personaly i find Swens attitude refreshing and hope more companies will take it in the future ... it seems like "hey sure have fun" instead of "NOOOOO! YOU CANT DO THAT! BCS WE SAID SO!". ugh. :-/

The thing about Pathfinder, however, is that there are many options as you level up and adventure that make it easier to customize a character. You get a +1 to a stat every 4 levels, a feat every odd level PLUS bonus feats from classes, and - perhaps the most important - a plethora of ~guaranteed magic items that give bonuses to stats. Characters can wear ~10 magic items at a time with the head and belt slots being practically reserved for these stat-increasing items, and you're expected to find/buy them in your adventure.

Whereas in 5e, customizing stats and abilities is much more limited. You get a +2 to a stat OR a feat every 4 CLASS (not character) levels, and items that increase stats are fairly rare and take up a valuable attunement slot. Additionally, the more common D&D stat-increasing items Set a score to X, meaning we've either wasted any points invested in that stat or have to suffer with that stat being low until (if) we find that Belt of Giant Strength.

This isn't necessarily an argument for allowing respeccing of BG3 Companions, just that customizing a character through leveling up & magic items is more limited in 5e than in Pathfinder.

p.s. Oh also I almost forgot to mention skills - Pathfinder has skill points as you level up, whereas 5e doesn't. You don't even gain new skill proficiencies when multiclassing.

Eh, I don't really see it as a good argument to encourage even more an attitude that I don't particularly approve of, to begin with.

Swen Vincke being utterly and unabashedly fond of sequence-breaking and exploits as the culmination of game design is something that should be dammed, rather than endorsed.

I was not endorsing it - it's a pretty rotten thing to be influencing a game's direction. I was just commiserating.