Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Adamantine items

I'm really bugged by the adamantine items in this game right now. Admittedly, I don't know if they've changed in patch 7, but I doubt they have.

Something similar to adamantine items was in the previous games. When you went to the underdark and defeated Drow you can take their armor or Shields or whatever and put them on, giving you a huge buff to armor class. However, as soon as you hit the surface, they became like normal armor because magic Drow adamantine is only good in the underdark. This gave you nice bonuses to face seriously difficult under dark enemies, but it rebalanced the game once you hit the surface.

Also, adamantine is supposed to when smelted, be ultra-hard but this was a costly procedure.[1] Adamantine weapons were useful for damaging the weapons and armor of opponents. A set of adamantine armor or a shield was nearly impenetrable to normal weapons.

Instead of these properties we get something like knockback. If an enemy hits your adamantine Shield they might get knocked back. So basically another shove. No real addition to armor class to increase your defense because the stuff is supposed to be practically impenetrable, it just provides another method to send enemies flying.

My suggestion is that instead they give these items a good increase in armor class. I'm not going to get specifics of what I think those boosts should be because then people will nitpick that. I'm just saying there should be a significant armor class boost based on the different protective adamantine item you choose. If you choose a weapon instead, there should be a significant boost to attack and damage, symbolizing that these are superior weapons of incredible design and make, far superior to any other weapons that you might find. This is adamantine we're talking about.

And each of these items regardless of their stat boost should have the ability to destroy other weapons and equipment. I'm not suggesting that every time you hit with it or get hit by an enemy that you automatically break their items, but some sort of DC chance of breaking their items. This would apply to non magical weapons only.

So let's say you choose the armor. An enemy hits you. There is a maybe 10 % chance that their weapon is destroyed instead of doing damage to you. Well let's say you are hitting an enemy with the adamantine scimitar. There's a 10% chance that you not only wound them but also destroy their armor.

We're talking this is a one once-in-a-lifetime item. You will never be able to get another item like it in the whole game because it can only be constructed at this forge. So it should be really special and at least have some of the characteristics of adamantine.

I rather agree with the OP on this. The "reeling" effect is okay at best for something so rare and one of a kind.

The breaking other items idea is pretty cool (though I'd make the chance to break other items higher) but I'd even settle for what is established in 5e.



Another idea would be to give this items the "disarm" effect passively when you strike an opponent you have a chance to disarm them regardless of their weapon is magical or not or in the case of armor when struck same thing.

either option is better than the -1 to attack rolls that the current "reeling" does, especially for how hard the fight to obtain the item is.

Yeah. Helmets negate Crits, so that's not gonna make much difference in BG3. Disarm would at least be better, but still not really adamantine. I still think break normal weapons would be cool and give users +1 at least, if not +2. Keeping the chance of breaking low keeps from overpowering. That's all I was thinking.

Personally I think adamantine armor negating crits as in 5E is fine. Mundane helmets having that property is the real issue.

Well. Can't argue with that.

My solution to this whole problem would be as follows.

1) Make Adamantine armor negate crits and adamantine weapons auto crit

2) make the other helmets simply lower the damage taken on a crit. For example you could make the mundane METAL helms (white) do a -10% (rounded down) to all crits, uncommon Helms do -25% (rounded down) to all crits and in the case of Rare Helms (though the only one in the game atm IS the Grymskull Helm which is made of adamantine) gets -45% (rounded down) to all crits

You and I think very similarly. I made a suggestion like that a long time ago. I think the helmets and other armor pieces make little sense in the game. Why would they provide straight Dex Saving bonuses or Strength Save bonuses or completely negate critical hits as if the head is the only place you can be critically hit?

The point of these pieces of armor is to protect against damage. I could see a leather cap offering a +2 bonus to Save versus something like Cold or Fire or both, or a +2 to Save versus Psychic as well. Something like that would make more sense. A leather cap ain't gonna do much good against all types of damage, though, like bludgeoning. I think that's what's really missing from them. They should only offer bonuses to certain types of attacks based on their material and quality, or they should offer a % chance of negating crits, not a definite, absolute no chance of critting ever.

So, for example, you might find a pair of boots that gives you a +2 Athletics bonus to resist Shove, or a helmet that provides a +2 versus Psychic damage. You might find a non-magical helmet that has a 10% chance of negating Critical Hits, potentially turning a Natural 20 that an enemy rolls into just a regular hit, but not necessarily making it absolute that they can't crit you. Pair that with gauntlets of the same quality and design, and now you have a 20% chance of turning a crit into a normal hit. Add boots to that of the same quality and make it 30%. Now you're adding more value to each article and potentially working them together to increase the value of the whole set, AND it only increases the chance of turning a crit into normal, not absolute.

There's SO many things they could do with that to make helmets, boots, gauntlets meaningful and so much more valuable and diverse even. You get one set of gauntlets, "Gauntlets of the Tank" that offer +2 Armor Class. They are strong and even able to endure weapon blows like a shield. Make them heavier, though, and maybe apply a -2 to Attack while wearing them. What good are they then? If you need a person to tank, equip the gauntlets and a shield for +4 AC boost and add your best armor to that. You might not hit well, but if you can keep enemies' attention, you could have like 22 AC or something, and if you're a cleric, you could boost it with Shield of Faith for a whopping 24 AC. Now THAT would make them super valuable. You might not hit well while wearing them, but these are THICK GAUNTLETS.

Another set of gauntlets could be the reverse. They're magical and give a bonus of +2 to Attack but a -2 to AC. Call them "Gauntlets of Bloodlust" or something similar.

There is SO much they could do. SO much.

And back to the adamantine items, yes. That would make sense, then. The armor completely negates crit altogether because it is super armor. The shield maybe provides a +4 AC bonus instead of the standard shield of +2, and it has a chance of damaging weapons that MISS your character by 4 or less (because that's the bonus it provides). So, an enemy attacks you and needs a 20 or higher to hit? They roll a 16. Their weapon is damaged. Better to now roll low against me than high and miss. Anything from a 16-19 is going to damage the non-magical weapon you used against me. (Or maybe a disarm, as you suggested previously since damage might be too OP and they don't have damaging items in BG3 as of yet).

Weapons do auto-crit every time they hit non-magic armor, because they just slice right through standard armor. Yeah. Now THAT'S some serious - worth fighting a raging adamantine golem for it - gear - but you only get one, so what would you prefer? Always critically hitting enemies? Better defense? No Crits?

Advantage on resisting Shoves, and it should actually work

Auto critting is too powerful. Especially when we get higher level sneak attacks or smites. But breaking nonmagical shields and armor could be cool, it’s too fiddly for tabletop but it could work in a game. There’s a slight downside of less loot but not a big deal by the time this matters. You could maybe make adamantine weapons auto-crit constructs as if they are objects.

Another simple solution would be adamantine weapons are +1 and also increase your crit range to 19-20.

Hmmm. That is true. Good point. Now IM going extreme.

I like both auto-crit constructs and 19-20 crit range with +1 to hit. Makes sense.

That is a tough choice and really depends on the Class I am playing.

Cleric I am definitely taking the armor.

Fighter is a little harder to decide but would depend on type of fighter I am playing

Barbarian (assuming I am not wielding a great weapon that is on par or better than the weapons the forge offers) probably the long sword

Magic users I am getting something for Lazel or Shadow Heart (depending on party make up)

Ranger highly depends on what type of ranger (subclass and features) I am playing

Hmmm, my argument is that in 5e adamantine weapons do auto crit, and the fact is you only get one adamantine weapon, but I see your point... but I want the adamantine weapon to worthy of the risk/fight.

Maybe a combo of your ideas

it's a +1 (maybe a +2) weapon with crit on a 19-20 AND auto crits constructs

though the more I think about it I think each weapon should have a special feature of its own (and they should also include a great weapon in the selection) to make the decision that much harder.

So for example all Adamantine weapons are +1 with crit on a 19 or a 20... then:

Mace- has reeling for 3 turns (I kinda feel like the reeling ability is okay just needs a longer effect)

Longsword- Chance to break nonmagical shields and armor

Scimitar- Chance to disarm (after all it a finesse weapon)

Great Hammer- (as the great weapon addtion) auto crits constructs

though that might be getting too complicated.

All I know is that risk vs reward for the adamantine weapons and armor isn't on par with some other items in game.

First some complaining:

I dont like the sound of "significant armor class boost". :-/
Im sorry, but i just dont want to end in Act III. in armor that will give me 28AC, just bcs i have found some "significantly boosted armor" in first part of Act I ... and the game still need some sense of progression after! :-/

I dont also like the sound of "breaking their items" either, both arms and armor ...
Even tho there is said (and yes i have oversighet it at first) "This would apply to non magical weapons only."
Im sorry again, but even tho my original argument about loosing precious loot crumbled to dust, now when i read it properly ( ) those items are still loot for me, and potentialy could be used by some of my party members ... also, the option (chance?) alone that our enemy will complely loose its weapon without any chance to recover it ... well, it sounds cool, that much is true ... but also ridiculously overpowered. :-/

Im not quite sure if regular helmets needs to provide any damage reduction honestly ...
The reasoning is the same as with crit protection ... if the strike was not aimed for head, how would you like to reduce anything? :-/
Saving throws should be more than enough in my opinion ... i mean come on, we are talking here about "common" items after all. -_-

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Then some praising:

I like the idea with disarming ...
I would even get so far that every subsequent hit to Admantine armor could have higher and higher chance for that disarm ...

I certainly like a lot the idea that regular helmets should not protect against criticals ... and even more that idea that this should be exclusive for Adamantine gear.
This indeed sounds like ridiculously strong atribute for "common" items. :-/

But i think there is some potential in the idea of destroying enemy armor with Adamantine weapons ...
I would just not make it full destruction ... just reduction of AC for enemies ... maybe even stackable with subsequent hits up to *X*

I like a lot the idea with better chance for Critical Strikes ... THAT sounds awesome!

And i would certainly like option to make more differ weapons.

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And a little nuance to the end:

From story perspective this material will allways be Achilles heel ...
As i allready said multiple times, either we get ridiculously strong equipment right at the start ...
Or we get something that will seem ridiculously weak, concidering it is suppose to be Adamantine ...

Therefore i would like to ask Larian to completely rename all forged gear to something really simmilary sounding, but entirely different ... like Adamantite, or Adaminanite ... dunno, i dont have head for names.
And then add some short journal, where either maker or founder of this forge will confess that he was actualy never able to create REAL Adamantine ... but nobody in the underdark ever known the difference anyway, so he only claimed it is it ... and they keep producing this weaker version, since the armor was pretty strong anyway.

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And a question:

Is there any explanation why none of Sharite gear looks even close to that Adamantine medium armor?
I mean we after all find all Moulds by them ... it would make sense (at least to me) that they would make the weapons look a lot more like the armor they are wearing? :-/

+1 to increased crit range for Adamantine Weapons. Expanded crit ranges are a cool perk that aren't seen that often in 5e. Also I'd be in favor of different adamantine weapons having different effects. Weapon differences are also sorely lacking in 5e.
-1 that Adamantine Weapons auto crit. I agree that that'd be too powerful, especially when Paladins are released.

+1 that normal Helmets don't negate crits. That's very powerful for a commonly found item. Personally I'd want them to have tradeoffs: e.g., reduce crit damage by 25% AND impose a -2 penalty to Perception.

+1 that Adamantine Armor has some type of crit negation and/or AC boost and/or Shove resistance.

In 5E adamantine weapons only auto crit objects. Auto critting everything would be insanely OP.

ah, so see I miss read

I would be happy if you could use adamantine weapons to free Nere. Ignoring damage reduction is what adamantine should be about.

Oh, just a note