Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion Anyone else just doesn't want to play the game past Act 2?

Folks who have played through Act 3 multiple times, does it get better the more you play it? Like, do you have a better sense of what you need to do when, and you don’t feel so rudderless? Who are the best companions for reactivity in Act 3? I normally keep Shadowheart, Lae’zel, and one other person who changes, but maybe that’s not the most interesting?

Basically, I’m looking for insights from experts to make Act 3 more enjoyable than I found it at first, or reassurance that it gets better the more you play it.

I've found that it gets... easier to bulldoze my way through. I know where everything is, I know which quests need to be done before which other quests, and I know which quests are "important" (by my standards) and which can be ignored.

I have a standard party of Gale + Astarion + Halsin + (via mod) whoever else might be relevant to whatever I'm doing. It's nice to have Jaheira and Minsc around, they've got a lot to say.

Thanks! Good to know that Jaheira is more reactive. Maybe I need to learn how to play a Druid… or respec her. But. I guess what I’m looking for above all is, does it get more fun? “Fun” is the key.

Eh. The fun parts for me are the companion stuff and a few sidequests. Everything else is just something to get through in order to reach the epilogue. So in a way it gets more fun, since I can spend less time on the unfun stuff, but half of it is still a drag no matter what, because I just don't care about the Orin/Gortash/Emperor/Netherbrain shenanigans.

Act 3 size is like the total of act 1 + act 2. It can definitely exhaust you on the first run. However if you really care about your companions, then you definitely should finish it, or up to the final fight. Because besides Shadowheart, all other companion quest conclude in act 3. IMHO, Asterion and Karlach quest closing are really epic! Wyll's only a little better than Gale and Lae'zel.

On 2nd and later play through, it get easier as you know what can be skipped, what and where to get gear you want. And properly know quest sequence to get the outcome for your companions. Completing the main quest line in act 3 is more than enough to level 12, so experience is not a concern at all.

For the final fight, if you are not into D&D fighting, just barrel the last two fight. We have access to cloud giant strength potion starting act 1, carrying 2 pack is not an issue.

Shadowheart’s companion quest concludes in Act 3 also, right? Thanks for the input that some of the companion quests are good… I am going to play through all of those to see what I think. I have actually played Shadowheart’s quest in Act 3 and

The lack of reactivity at companion quest endings is also a pet peeve of mine. It's not just Shadowheart's. I'm going to just stand here with my arms crossed
Regarding playing Act 3 multiple times: Do everything the first time? Absolutely. After that there are certainly things that are just skippable. You know the lore, you know what actually drops loot you need/want. There are certainly discoverable surprises in Act 3 that are out of the way, but Act 3 is just so enormous it's hard to have the energy to comb through every house, mailbox and random book to find them.

Act 1 felt magical to me, you had a lot of interesting things to discover, leads to follow, fun camp interactions, you were finding yourself in this new world, etc.

In act 2 the plot started to thicken and we were beginning to understand what we were standing up against. It was much shorter but more concise, the relationships with the characters were deepening, new characters were making an appearance, we met the villains for the first time, and so on.

Then act 3 is when the game lost its steam. You have this big city to explore, but then in the back of your mind you know you need to hurry, so you have to willingly ignore the main quest to immerse yourself in the game world. There's quite a lot of stuff to do, yet it all feels like it's underdeveloped and cut short. Cazador's palace is placed in a ridiculous location, the temple of Umberlee feels like it needed more content, you cannot decide what to do with Shar's temple if you kill everyone in there, Gortash has not enough content and the alliance with him has no substance and is disappointing, the relationships don't have any new content once you finish the companions' quests, there's no camp event before going to the point of no return where you can enjoy last bonding moments, the companions are chiling at camp instead of greeting you in the High Hall, you don't get to say final goodbyes in case things go wrong, there's no cutscene of everyone celebrating in the tavern and of course the obnoxious Astral Prism railroad... A lot of things just seem empty, unfocused, unfinished. I just didn't feel satisfied with it. Funnily enough to me Raphael fight was much more climactic and he felt more like the final boss rather than the actual one. When that music started playing it gave me chills and made me wonder if maybe I had bitten more than I could chew. I had no such uncertainty in the final battle, it was all easy and even fun with a MF helping you out. Zero doubts that I might not succeed.

It was also in act 3 when I started feeling like starting a new playthrough because I felt like I was playing an early access game. I really hope they rework it, and give us the cut content.

Someone should make a compilation of Tav/Durge just standing there with their arms crossed while someone is dying or crying right in front of them, with the last scene being our companions doing exactly the same as Bhaal does his thing with Durge.

LOL! That would be awesome! Somebody should make that. Because that’s exactly how it is with Durge.

They're just letting you know how they felt lol.

Though with Astarion it's fine, it's his moment, he needs space, we shouldn't interfere. But there are missed opportunities to be a little more caring later. With SH there's no excuse at all in her scene.

Funny thing is, there are some reactive moments. For example, if you choose to at the end, your companions all look horrified. Same for a certain "romantic" moment in the Astral Prism.

The correct word to describe Act III would be rushed.
Act III just screams at you that it was done as fast as possible to release the game. Some I had with the ending were resolved with the added epilogue, but a lot of them still persist. When I played the game for the first time, I genuinely expected some twist with Omeluum. He seemed so suspicious to me, especially after knowing the whole lore behind the Emperor, but in the end he didn't even make an appearance.
I do hope that eventually there will be a Director's Cut of Baldur's Gate 3, which will have a reworked Act III.

Yeah...
I absolutely LOVED this game but the 3rd act was seriously hobbled and gimped.
The final battle was an absolute dumpster fire(at least for a multiplayer party).
It is REALLY obvious how super rushed Act 3 is. I hate to say it but it really throws a pall over the entire rest of the game it's so badly done as it is now. I REALLY hope there is a big patch addressing some of these things.

I agree, Act 3 is nowhere near as good quality as acts 1 and 2. I see it more, the more I continue to play through it. Is it true that folks from Larian said in a recent interview that there won’t be a definitive edition? I feel like I heard that somewhere, but maybe I’m wrong. In any event, I’m desperately hoping for some patches polishing act 3, even if they don’t do a definitive edition like DOS2.

Yes, for me it was much easier after the first complete playthough because I knew which battles were easy and which were difficult. The first playthrough felt overwhelming because there were too many things all vying for your attention. I didn't know where to go or what quests to do first. The later playthroughs, I go from easy battles to hard battles, saving Gortash and Orin for last.

I normally keep Shadowheart, Astarion and Gale in my party. If I switch someone out, I switch out Shadowheart for Wyll.

I know you mentioned you wanted to give Shadowheart a hug. Motivating factor: in the epilogue, you finally get to hug everyone! I hugged Astarion, Gale, Shadowheart, Karlach, and Halsin. The others didn't give me the option to hug them, or I would have

I've reached Act 3 for the 3rd time now and I think I'm able to articulate how I feel about it. Having done it already I know the sheer amount of content involved but at the same time I still have that feeling of urgency pushing me to the final battle. Meanwhile all the decisions and companion quests pending are overwhelming. It's like "alright it's time we do X, kill Y, retrieve Z, go solve this thing and on top of that we're having a huge ass battle''

The one thing motivating me was getting to know Minthara because I recruited her with the new method and I really liked her. But I've lost my motivation with her broken romance. I'd like to get to experience the ending and epilogue with her but I don't know if it's worth doing it now or waiting until she's eventually functional. I already had the bug with the skipped scene at the end of Act 2 and it was a downer.
I think I would prefer if it was spread into 2 different Acts or 1 interlude and a final Act and the content was more organized and easier to follow. Every time I get to Lower City and see the 546 quest markers it feels like trying to clean a really messy house and not knowing where to start. Also, and this is more subjective, from a roleplaying perspective I feel alone in Act 3. Everyone is focused on their own thing or not responsive at all after dealing with their own quests. I just wish I could sit and talk to somebody about what's happening and get some kind of comfort or friendly word. But I just get the Emperor trying to manipulate me instead.

I think I'll take a break and wait until there's news about a dlc, definitive edition or patch that shakes things up a little.