Tell us, are YOU playing BG3 the way you wish it could be played?
Thanks for asking!
Short answer, no.
Long (winded) answer:
My previous answer to this question was number 3: I was resting as little as possible for fun but the game punished me by depriving me of camp content.
In those low-rest, low-loot runs I was having a lot of fun. I wasn’t using the common bonus actions, though. I didn’t like shove and had never really used hide or jump in combat.
I didn’t realize the impact these bonus actions have until patch 8. After a bard run mercifully ended in a game ending bug (pre hotfix), I decided to spice up the deep gnome wizard run by trying to explore common bonus actions more.
[What follows is a summary of points made a million times. Tl;dr I don’t like ‘em.]
They’re so powerful it’s crazy. Jump adds movement, hide gives advantage, shove situationally deals damage and gives high ground or instakills.
It’s been pointed out that shoving into pits/lava deprives the player of loot. No one’s mentioned it can deprive the player of an encounter. Instakilling Minthara or the duergar necromancer by the beach had me feeling smart for half a second, then disapointed at missing out on a neat fight. I got 2 inspiration points from the Duergar! (Pentakill and Strategist). I guess it’s my consolation prize for not getting to play.
Dip aint bad either. Like push and, to a lesser extent, hide, it’s situational. This doesn’t make using common bonus actions more interesting; it turns using them into a checklist.
Your turn starts by seeing if you can hide, shove or dip. If you can’t, you need to jump immediately to gain the extra movement speed. (If you move before jumping, you might not have enough movement left to jump). All of this happens before anything else because turns usually start with movement to get into position.
There is some opportunity cost. In (subjective) decreasing order of frequency: Off-hand Attack, (Reapply) Hex, potions, Healing Word, Misty Step, Shield of Faith, Featherfall. (I think the ‘healing’ battle master maneuver uses a BA as well). This Wyll matter (pun) so the first thing you need to do on your turn is think about how to use your bonus action.
Because everyone has the same common bonus actions, this happens every turn. Not only does it make player turns repetitive and stretches out battles, it overemphasizes bonus actions compared to actions. I’m a wizard! I want to start my turn thinking about Magic Missile, not jump.
I don’t
have to use any of them, just like I don’t have to rest as often as the game wants me to. At some point, though, I’ve got to wonder how much this game is doing it for me if I have to write all the rules myself. And if trying to use common abilities to their full potential isn’t fun, that might be a sign for me to move on.
To robertthebard’s point, I’m not trying to take a deuce on anyone’s happiness. I know there are a million ways to have fun; none are any less valid than mine.
I think I’m a little sour because I’ve played BG3 to death. Anything new I find now lasts a few minutes at best across dozens of hours of gameplay, so I’m left with dialogue (95% skipped) and combat (with its issues).
The implementation of Bardic Inspiration also really sapped my confidence in Larian’s ability to present interesting decisions. That initial College of Lore bard run was torture (but for the perform action, which is really neat). I still can’t believe how Cutting Words works.
Funny story before I wrap up (actual spoilers ahead).
After telling Minthara where the druid grove is, Tav betrays her and defends the grove. On the first turn, Tav casts Feather Fall on as many people atop the wall as possible for shove protection, whereupon Zevlor decides to jump down off the wall, right next to the barrel-throwing ogre. Tav uses Cutting Words on the ogre in an attempt to save Zevlor for a turn. The ogre crits. Tav sheds a tear for Zevlor and her bardic die.
Unlike many on this forum, I don’t actually play CRPGs. Maybe I don’t get the codes of the genre. In my book, something simple, repetitive, and effective in achieving victory is called a gameplay loop. Common bonus actions are at the core of BG3’s gameplay loop, and I really wish they weren’t. Which is why the game won’t let me play the way I wish it could be played.
I need to learn how to install mods…
