There is a difference between regularly resting before hard combat encounters (and to progress the game)... and resting because that one character once again ran out of spell slots well before everyone else. It annoys me to no end. Even worse in the early game when level 2 spell slots are somewhat precious. I'd rather have characters that are actually good at each of their niches and reserve enhance ability for important checks. Saves me hours of backtracking by the time I'm done with a playthrough.
What you describe was not my experience in BG3; there are simply too many scrolls and potions available even on early levels for spell slots to matter all that much. And even for a utility character, I'd take a warlock/bard over a rogue, since you get both the spell and expertise, and eldritch blast to spam for the cost of one level. Though I prefer two levels of warlock for the invocations.
What I have run into in BG3 on the other hand is companion cut scene weirdness. Because it is not a game that rewards limited resting. And I think it can be difficult to tell, on a first playthrough, when exactly you have to hit that camp rest button to progress their stories.
See, I don't use haste potions. I avoid scrolls whenever possible. I don't touch most consumeables. I ignore bombs and I don't even throw healing potions.
I feel all these little things make classes less special and ruin the strategic aspect of combat. This is why I would hate a lot of playthroughs and a lot of people would hate mine.
With scrolls, arguably you don't need caster classes at all. Ever. With healing potions (and haste), you'll never need healing spells, as the right configuration can throw 6x of them per turn. Explosives can kill anything, alive or not, before combat even starts. The enemy will be very happy to watch barrels slowly appear out of thin air.
I've experimented with all of those things. I decided I like none of them. Therefore they're banned in my playthroughs, and spells slots actually matter. Long resting too little will never be an issue (if you keep casters around). Spending all your spells slots too early in the day is still a bad idea, at least if you try to get the most out of 2 short rests. Which I will. Again, personal preference. I despise excessive backtracking, so I will just not.
I also don't play warlocks. No matter how I play them, I feel like another class can do it better, or they're multiclassed to the point that the warlock levels are really only flavour. This is probably how you feel about rogues. I don't think we'll ever agree, so it is what it is.
There are a lot of misconceptions about spellcasters.
My most favorite class is Sorcerer.
= Re: long rests
In this game, all characters eventually need a long rest or lose at least some of their abilities. It's a misconception that warriors don't need much resting and that spellcasters need a lot of resting.
For anyone who doesn't play spellcaster classes a lot, to give you an idea how much resting a caster-heavy party needs:
My "Gnome Durge" (that's her name, a multiclass Sorcerer) with Shadowheart (Trickery Cleric), Karlach (Frenzy thrower/thief) and Astarion (Rogue/Ranger) did all the following without even a short rest (information here is intentionally obscured):
- Explored this game's only vampire lair and wiped out the entire faction via large-scale battles in one go;
- Completed this game's most difficult rescue mission in one go (everyone survived);
- Destroyed the entire faction of those who warship the Wave Mother (their allies included) via several battles.
Not even a short rest was taken! I also rarely use potions (exceptions: used some for that rescue), don't use scrolls in combat (no exception), or stuff like that.
