They tweaked it. Yes. It used to consume a Superiority dice even if you missed. It doesn't now. You select the maneuver you want to do, and if you hit you use the die. Otherwise you don't. I've tested it out multiple times. It works pretty well.
And you do get them back with a short rest.
One thing BG3 does better than Solasta, in my opinion, is that Solasta does have too many pauses in combat to have popup windows ask you if you want to apply something. Examples: Barbarian Frenzy and Paladin Smite. If I hit, a popup asks me, "Do you want to apply XYZ special ability, and at what level?"
I do like how maneuvers work in BG3. I'd rather select the maneuver as if it's an attack, and if I hit the damage is automatically applies. Same with Sneak Attack and so forth. It's annoying after awhile in Solasta because EVERY time my paladin hits, I get the window asking if I want to apply smite damage. That gets REAL old. Is much rather have a separate button I click to activate the ability before attacking at what level I want and if it hits it applies. SO much less clunky.
That said, I think they could still make it better in BG3. Like they could be 1 button, not 1 for ranged and 1 for melee. Just one button that applies to whatever weapon you have in hand. That way, they wouldn't clutter up the hotbars. Want to do Disarm maneuver? If you have your sword in hand and hit the Disarm button, it automatically applies to your sword if you hit. We don't need so many dang buttons for every ability in the game.
Oh, and I might want to apply Sneak Attack to off hand, not main. I should be able to select Sneak Attack and then Off Hand Attack and have it apply. This could be done by having main hand vs. off hand be a toggle (replacing Single/ Duel toggle). So, it is set to Main by default. All Sneak Attacks, etc. Apply to main. However, of you want to switch Sneak Attack to off hand, flip the toggle.
When equipped with 2 weapons, game should default to attacking with main, and if you click on the enemy again you immediately attack with off hand so you don't have to hit an extra button to attack with off hand. Only if you hit the toggle and flip it to off hand would it attack with that hand first. Afterwards it would default back to main.
But anyway, the point is that I like BG3's implementation of maneuvers. I want more options now, and maybe have it cleaned up a bit without so many buttons.
I disagree. I personally prefer the popups for Maneuvers and Smites due to the versatility of choice I have. Its different from initiating it yourself ala a button because when it comes to smites, what if I crit? You are damn right I want to smite then and there with my highest level smite slot! If I don't crit, well, unless the enemy is low on HP, I'm gonna save my spell slots.
When it comes to Maneuvers its almost the same thing. When it comes to Precision attack, maybe I have Great Weapon Master with that -5, and I'll wait to use it after I rolled my attack to see what I rolled to hit. If its low, I'd rather not waste it. If its middling, I might choose to use it to get that hit. If I crit, well I'll use that dice for damage.
Having the Smites, Maneuvers and Sneak attack being a button I have to press feels wrong. Especially Sneak attack. Just have it be automatic!
