Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Best way to combine multiple runs?

If I read the signs correctly, this game will be very well suited for multiple playthroughs, or attempts at playthrough. Based on what is known, and your previous CRPG experiences, what do you think is the best way to combine multiple runs?
Some of the ways the game can be played multiple times (presumably with different characters) that I can think of are:

1) Do a complete run, from start to finish, then repeat with another character and/or another party, possibly at a higher difficulty level.
2) Try out different characters until you find one that you are really satisfied with and complete the game with that character.
3) Start with multiple characters and play them in parallel to the end. For example, take each one to the end of act I, then to the end of act II, etc.

Do you have an approach that is recommendable for getting the most rewarding experience?

Thanks in advance!

I suspect what I'll do (though reserve my right to change my mind ) is start off with one character and play the game all the way through. I'll then use the info I gather on that playthrough to fine-tune my character concepts for other playthroughs. I'll probably then create a few of them that I think are most promising and perhaps run them through the prologue and see which one grabs me most for my next playthrough.

I might jump around characters and have them progressing in parallel after my first run, but I'd not try to do that systematically by taking them all to end of act 1 and so on. I'd just play one character for as long as that was what I most wanted to do, then skip to another if I were in a different mood one day. I find that the trouble with replaying the same bit with lots of different characters is that it can start feeling like a chore as I see similar content again and again in quick succession.

I haven't decided on my character for my first playthrough yet, though. I want to pick one who I think would naturally talk to everyone and explore everywhere, so I can see as much of the game as possible without sacrificing roleplay, but beyond that I'm still dithering!

Best advice I can give you is to have as little overlap of races and classes as possible, it will maximize the amount of content you will be able to experience in the game.

I'd go for the full playthrough first, because this experience will help you to envision your next playthrough and guess what can be different about it. For example, if githyanki become even more of a central point of the story, I'll go with a Gith Cleric of Vlaakith for my second run. If Underdark is further expanded, I'd try one of the subterranean races. And so on.

I admit content maximation is on my mind. I don't want to miss out on experiences! But from reading experiences in the forum, I got the idea that different branches of the story are mostly traversed by choosing between good and evil, not so much race or class. But I might be mistaken...
Race and class will certainly influence combat, so at least for the full martial/magic experience I will try to try for very different races and classes.

Yes, a difficult choice. And I can see the appeal of having a very explorative first playthrough. But wouldn't that leave less to be experienced in subsequent playthroughs? Perhaps it is possible to have several truly unique playthroughs, if one walks a narrow path (and abstains from spending time on forums).

My impression from BG3 EA that at best there will be two distinct paths player can follow - including it seems exclusive party members.

Than there is a lot of minor reactivity, which responds to what player did, but don't have much narrative weight or impact - so you can pickpocket a key item, and than see how the character will react if he reaches the point in the script where he is suppose to hand you this item. Stuff like that.

It is difficult how far reaching consequences will some minor action have - I suspect who lives and who dies will be the main difference between playthroughs.

I think it would be a totally valid choice to go for a number of differently incomplete playthroughs, and I suspect that’s what I’ll mainly be doing after the first. But while playing and replaying early access has largely cured me of the completionist tendency I’ve typically displayed playing cRPGs previously I can’t quite let go of it entirely! I certainly won’t be forcing myself to do everything but I want to get a good idea of what’s there and find as much as I can for myself before I see it talked about. Abstaining from the forum probably isn’t an option for me .

Judging by EA there’ll be plenty of stuff to still discover in subsequent runs as a result of choosing different ways of approaching tasks, how we interact with NPCs and so on. Quite apart from the random element introduced by passing/failing dice rolls on different playthroughs! It’s all this minor reactivity (as well as experiencing different classes and races) that is going to add to replayability for me. Obviously there’ll be some bigger choices, too, but I personally don’t really need (or particularly want) massively branching paths … though that’s another topic that we’ve definitely discussed elsewhere.

While certainly there are major plot points where important decisions shape the story's future, there are a lot of dialog reactions and options unique to races and classes. Every now and then, one of these unique-to-the-class/race is a real gem.

The early game experience of a tiefling is entirely different than that of a gith, even if the decisions are substantially similar. Especially from a role playing perspective, you might be looking at the same events unfolding, but from behind entirely different eyes.

For myself, I usually just start playing with some idea, and maybe I'll play all the way through and maybe I won't. If I reach a point where I think a different idea would be more fun or more interesting, I'll scrap the current idea and start again with the new one.

What's rewarding for one person can be completely different for another. There's one particular puzzle in EA that I'm sure many, many people love (though I don't recall seeing any forum posts about it, so I might be wrong). But for me, when I encountered that puzzle, my immediate response was "fuck that, this is what I do at work," and I immediately googled a solution without even making an attempt, because I'm not playing to solve puzzles like that.

So in terms of what's "the most rewarding experience," I'd recommend just taking a wild stab at the game from whatever direction piques your fancy, and you'll start getting a feel for the gameplay, the vibe, etc. Some people have no interest in using speak with animals at every possible opportunity, and think the results are cartoonish and silly. For me, even though I know exactly what the result will be, I still do it because I love how it gives the flavor of playing tabletop with a whimsical DM. There's a festive scene where with a particular dialog choice, a character makes a cheesy phallic pun, and I always choose that dialog option for the same reason, it reminds me of playing tabletop with my friends. Some people hate that and don't find it rewarding at all.

But unless you just hate computer games, or hate role playing games, there's a lot for every taste and play style. Just start playing, and you'll get a sense of what works for you and what doesn't.


100%!! typically, I approach games like this with an attitude of "I'm going to solve everybody's situation, I'm going bash this world into shape and get everybody their best outcome possible! And woe betide whatever stands in my way!" And after all the replaying I've been enjoying in EA, I'm starting to get more into the role part of roleplaying, and while it still pains my soul to just let bad consequences happen, I've become more accepting of that from a role playing perspective

I have so many player types I want to try. I am considering having (if possible) one merc of my creation, my main “Tav” and two other Origin characters. Would be great if party size is atleast 5 but we will see. (Mods Coughing Mods)