Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Patch 7 Closed Beta Feedback

Hello!

Dice are once again rolling, and the Patch 7 Closed Beta has gone live on Steam!

If you’re one of the randomly selected players to take part, you should now have an entry in your Steam Library called Baldur’s Gate 3 Playtest (with Gale’s handsome face staring at you).
If you haven’t, don’t worry! We will continue to add players throughout the Closed Beta, so keep an eye on your Steam Library.

❗Spoilers ❗
As not everyone will have the opportunity to participate in the Closed Beta, we would appreciate it if you could keep any spoilers about the new evil ending cinematics to a minimum, so players can enjoy these themselves once Patch 7 releases in September!

I have set up this thread so you can share your feedback about Patch 7 and its content. You are free to start your own threads but please make it clear on the title that they are about Patch 7 and spoiler text when necessary.

You can also find a general discussion thread on this link: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=945765#Post945765

Thank you all!


[As stated above, please expect Patch 7 spoilers underneath this post]

Not 100% sure this is where I should be posting my feedback, but here goes... I literally just got the beta downloaded, did my first search filter for the mods, and I expected the filter to show me everything that fell under any of the categories that I had selected. Instead, it seems the filters show you only mods that contain ALL of the filters selected (I'm assuming. Only because with the filters I selected there were no mods to display). It would be nice to be able to browse a bunch of mods in a variety of categories that interest me. I don't always know what mods I want until I see them, so keeping a broad search is kinda a necessity. (even just a box to tick to "contain ONLY these filters" or "contain some/any of these filters") Thanks!

when you spend the night with minthara in act 1 her animation is different and is more suited for a tav with a penis.
however, this animation triggered when my tav does not have a penis.

is this a glitch or has the old animation been completely replaced? has anybody else had this issue?

edit: i attempted to replicate this on another save but it triggered the old animation. however when i encountered the issue my tav was set as nonbinary/other while this new save is set as female, which i believe may be the issue

I really like the new Ansur animation/scene.

The character that comes up to Ansur now floats much higher up from the ground, which feels more natural as they're coming up to his height and the scene feels a bit more dramatic.
I like the fact that you're no longer able to see your other companions during the moments when the PC is suspended in the air. It feels more appropriate to me that when our character is roughly brought back down to the ground at the end of this scene, that's when you can see your companions in the background, already in fight-mode and ready to jump in and help you. This new version feels more approriate to me.

I'm also glad that we now have dialogue options that come up with Minthara's "Talk to you about a private matter," but these responses from Minthara are still bugged. I did send a bug report via the online form as I'm sure others did as well, so hopefully those issues will be fixed by the time it goes live.

Having seen the new full AA kisses now, I have to say, I think Larian has gone too far in the opposite direction now. I think it's particularly bad with the kneeling kiss, the other two are okay (except for the smile after AA pushes Tav away when they try to kiss him again, that was a bit unnerving).
I understand there has been a lot of backlash, and the OG expressions were also this level of goofy, but I truly think a neutral expression (or, at least, neutral-er than this) was the solution for people's different RP. I think because Astarion's animations haven't been changed at all but now Tav reacts to some of his more questionable (not really very negotiated, if BDSM) gestures so gladly it's kind of somehow creepier than the previous version, and I like horror but I'm not sure that was the intention with this fix.
The gif Larian posted to their highlights where Tav has a mildly coquettish raised brow looked much, much better and more fitting. That gif was promising but then the scene itself was disappointing.

I am aware this has been a recent issue on the forums, so please mods let me know if I should edit my post and remove it, and I'm also going to ask users if they can avoid turning it into the debates we've seen, as I believe opinions regarding on the kiss' expressions have already been tread at length here these past few days.

On a more positive note, (mild spoilers for the evil endings)
EDIT: I'm going to keep my post up because I don't think it's fair I don't get to express feedback I care about if I don't want this kind of debate to happen, but please, I believe it's been made clear a good chunk of AA romancers prefer the new set of animations already. Let's not go down this road again : (

Yay!!! Thank you, Larian! <3 Really looking forward to seeing this! I can only imagine it so far, in your words, thank you so much for this post! It's clear that the animations have stayed the same, yes, I had some issues with accepting some of Astarion's actions, but if the Happy Faces mod was able to alleviate that, I'm sure Larian made Tav's facial expressions even better. The way you described it is beautiful, it's perfect for me, now I will be able to see that Astarion likes to dabble and dominate and my Tav loves him, expresses her love and lets Astarion express himself and have as much fun as he wants! It's true love and total acceptance. It fits my game perfectly, hopefully the Nightingale mod will also work with the new kisses so that the mod's kisses will randomize with the kisses in the original game - and it will be an awesome romance! Perfect!

After seeing the changed expressions on my Tav's face, I didn't get the impression that she looked *too* happy. I don't think the new expressions look too goofy or over-the-top. But maybe that has something to do with it looking different on some faces than on others.

My thoughts on the new facial expressions:
- For the kneeling kiss, my character still has a furrowed brow and a look of some apprehension, although a playful smirk IS there, and all the fear and sadness is thankfully gone now. She never has a huge smile on her face... in fact, the only time she shows a lot of joy/pleasure during the kiss is when he first places his hand on her throat (she closes her eyes and smiles with pleasure), and during the actual kissing itself.
When he gives her the little push, she has a slight playful smile, but still with a furrowed brow.
- For the bite kiss, I actually think not very much has been changed, except she smiles when he places his hand on her cheek before the kiss, and she smiles after the little slap (but still has that furrowed brow while she's smiling - like she thinks he's being mischievous and cheeky).
- During the face-grab kiss, my character looks surprised at first but then has a slight smile after he grabs her and looks at her face/neck. But afterwards, there's still a look of some confusion on her face that he ends the kiss abruptly.

Overall, the facial animations of the kisses make it seem more like there's a playfulness there now, and that our character enjoys the way he touches her. It looks like a more playful/consensual dynamic between the two of them, which I am happy about.
As you mentioned, there are no changes to the actual kiss animations (so far). Only some adjustments to Tav/Durge's face. In my opinion I don't think they went too far with them, they are much better than before.

Thank you Larian for hearing all the feedback about the return of happy kisses.

The last thing I want to create in the game in a single romance with an evil man is frightened, worried by kissing characters (woman).
Seeing the new kisses AA, I experienced that is fun to play again.

Honestly Astarion pushes on in his two intimate scenes, not in the kissing but yes still intimate so it's nothing but a playfulness. My character loved it, finally again.

I choose to kiss consented to see something intimate. Like my character in this context.

These playful, spicy things have always been Astarion's thing.


Maybe the knees are too much, it's a special moment that's not for randoms, but it's already Larian who chose this fanservice. Not surprising, considering Astarion's VA has been requested to autograph "On Your Knees" countless times.

Thanks Larian, that's about what I expected from kisses, I especially like Tav/Urge face when Lord grabs her, orgasmic face/playful face is what I'd like to see on Feb 16th.
The tone of the kisses is really playful, like Astarion and I are playing together, it fits my RP almost perfectly.
Apparently there's a different set and spectrum of emotions in the kisses, and that's pretty cool, and most importantly there's no fear/pain/horror there.
I can't wait to play again and now without the mod, thanks again for listening to us. It really means a lot.

I completely agree. The new expressions are the furthest thing from neutral or open to interpretation, they completely invalidate one half of the narrative. They are entirely unfitting for any kind of character but a very particular one that I have no interest in playing. Not to mention that I find Tav's expression during the kneeling kiss extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. If these will be the only expressions available after patch 7, I don't think I can play this romance anymore. Not in a way that feels comfortable to me, or makes even the least bit sense for my Tav.

I don't want to get too deep into it here, but to me these new faces are incredibly triggering, as it feels too much like they are turning a serious situation into something simply kinky and making light of it, in a way. Seeing Tav be forced to react in those ways felt horrible to me. I had a similar kind of visceral reaction to seeing them as other players had to Patch 6.

Ok guys let’s please not turn this into another thread getting into fights over astarion kisses. There have already been two threads locked because of that discussion getting out of hand, so people should just let it rest. It’s such a minor detail that is ultimately not a huge problem in the game, and people are getting far too up in arms over it. The kisses from now on will be happy and match up with all the other relationships having happy kiss scenes, because that’s the tone the game wants to convey here, end of story. If you want a story where your character is outright being abused and is upset about it, it is not to be found in this game.

Could you elaborate on what you’re referring to here about new minthara dialogue? I’m curious about how much she has to say in Patch 7, given that most of her dialogue has been in various states of broken since the game came out. I’m always going to be bothered seeing people praise little changes to things like Astarion and Shadowheart, meanwhile people who care about Minthara just have to wonder if she’ll even talk to you in any given update. Absolutely unfair treatment of her character on the part of the developers to make the work of the actor and the writers barely functional and so hard to see.

P.S. Larian please give Minthara a romance scene in Act 3, it’s so unfulfilling for her to be the only character without even an intimate conversation cutscene at camp.

I don't want to get into a fight with anyone. Only to express my feedback while there is still a chance of changes being made, because this is very important issue for me and I don’t appreciate people constantly downplaying how strongly I feel about it. The "tone the game wants to convey here, end of story" doesn't feel like a fair argument to me, considering Tav's Patch 6 reactions have been part of the story for half a year now, and the players who were bothered by them didn't want to simply accept that either. Sorry.

I think who have played this romance since release loved this romance with the happy tone dynamic that fits the majority of narrative lines, and the kissing, the intimacy the character asks for is logical just for a game like this.


Yes, you're right, HenryDoughnut

I'll post threads here where it's been actively discussed why neutral, especially scared faces for romance breaks many things on many levels.

Here
And here


Astarion didn't get a new chair, by the way. He already has a nice one, though.
I would like new items for Astarion, after the Asc, the golden goblet, wine, or the food he likes, is interesting. Spawn could have a Cazador skull. Fella wanted one in act 1 don't know how now, but I want one.

Sorry about that paragraph ХD, it's half-joking, I know disproportionate content for companions is frustrating.

Every time I see a request for Minthara my heart bleeds, it's true, she deserves it, it's also true that I worry a bit when it comes to new content that might be inconsistent. Hopefully that won't happen with Minathra.
I think many who like the fantasy side that Minthara shows are interested and deserve more. Overall the drow lore is unique and vast to explore.

This is the Minthara dialogue I was talking about, where you can say, "I need to talk to you about a private matter."
You get a couple of options for responses now, but for one of them, Minthara's mouth barely moves while she's talking (the animation needs to be fixed), and for the other one she doesn't respond at all.


I'd love it if Minthara would get another romance scene in Act 3. Personally I feel that she should. She deserves more!


Agree. Everyone will have access to mods in Patch 7 for those who want to see more sadness in their character's face within the story somewhere or with whichever companions.

It's really funny watching you all post "oh I can't play anymore because they changed the tone of the character".

I'm an early access player. I've also been playing the game since release. They've changed AA's intonations, animations and facial expressions at least 10 times since then, with all sorts of patches and fixes. Now you say "patch 6 is canon", but actually six months before that we had completely different, smiling kissing animations. And we quietly played with them for six months. There was no need for patch 6 at all, it's a banal fanservice for the 14th of February.

Of course, many AA fans were upset because they had already been playing with different character tones for half a year. Now you're telling them that "patch 6 is canon". Is that something you just made up yourself now? All they did in patch 7 was bring back the character tone they stole from us in patch 6. I hope that's clear.

But it’s not the tone the game wants to convey, that’s bullshit. At no point was the narrative “kinky bdsm uwu”.


FFS, this is the same route where Astarion will use every attempt to gaslight you into becoming a spawn, even going so far as to call you a humorless little wretch for trying to put up boundaries after ascension when he starts treating you like a pet.

We are given numerous options to express discomfort and hesitancy with going along with it. For instance, during the turning scene, initially saying no when he asks you to kneel will set your character’s facial expressions to uncomfortable / reluctant for the rest of the scene.

This is a route where the break up backpedal option literally has the description “abusively” written into the script. Our companions literally call out Astarion, With Wyll going so far as to say he’s a degenerate, while Halsin and Gale point out Tav is a slave. We can’t break up in the epilogue with him like you can with EVERY other character.

And sorry, the expressions were relatively neutral before. Tav looked rightly confused by Astarion’s sudden aggressiveness. He bites them without consent, he pushes them, he makes them kneel as a sign of humiliation. The old expressions had you react appropriately with surprise, confusion, or slight annoyance at being forced to do degrading things. This is a master and slave relationship based on everything the narrative has been building toward and once you’ve become a spawn, there is NOTHING to imply you will be safe for breaking up with him.

And finally, this is changing something that has been in the game for nearly half of its release. If this wasn’t the artistic vision, then it should have been updated months ago.

Tl;Dr: My character should not be smiling for things I’d be breaking up with my partner IRL for doing to me without my express consent. The fact that these facial expressions just decide my Tav is ok with it is gross and triggering.

LARIAN IS ROMANTICIZING ABUSE.

Let's you also say they romanticise serial killers because that's what durge is. And why don't you factor in a new epilogue for the evil ending where we get two happy villains? We also have the worm, so Astarion can't control us and no we are not slaves. In fact, even the regular epilogue has a branch of dialogue that confirms their wonderful lives. I realise that some players really want to play the victim, but not everyone. It's not about Astarion, it's about you and your play style. This is a roleplaying game and you choose how to react to a particular event. Stop bringing reality into the role-playing game.

They changed this in the seventh patch because they got a lot of complaints. A lot of players didn't like it because 6 months later their game was changed. If they did that, then there were more complaints than praise. So most people prefer not to play a victim in this route.

I only agree that Astarion didn't have bdsm dynamic and they added it for nothing. We used to just have cute kisses, they could have kept them. I mean that's exactly what we had on release.

I can’t choose how to react to the event because Larian is deciding that for me by forcing my Tav to enjoy being pushed around and made to do embarrassing things.


Right, which is why we’re complaining now because those of us who were mostly fine or neutral with the old kisses are now upset because the needle has been swung a full 180 degrees into the “I want to be a vampire like you!” character that ignores red flags.

If this is how they want to do things, then there should be a choice where we can express how we feel about the relationship, otherwise the facial expressions need to be made a lot more toned down. I’m watching to me what looks like domineering and mildly abusive body language and my Tav is smiling and enjoying it. The implications are gross.

You can. Just break up with him. Say no. That's exactly what you want to do. If you're saying that all these signs are "scary" and "offensive" to your character, then why does your character continue a relationship with him???? There's no logic to it. You can break up with him even 300 times before the epilogue, he has no power over it. So you're still left with the same reaction. Players who stay with him must be happy with their situation, otherwise they would have dumped him.

Honestly this script is in the game since release, if the player does not agree to intimacy with AA, on eternal bond - they does not agree. If they agrees - they enjoys it.
So patch 6 was a mistake, which will be corrected in the 7 patch and hopefully no more ruin.



And here part too

Except that’s not true at all. Narratively, there is nothing to suggest that doing so is safe for our character if we’ve already become his spawn. As soon as the tadpole is gone, he could hunt Tav down and use compulsions just like Cazador did to his spawn. And if the narrative doesn’t agree with me, then why the hell do we have an actual abuse dialogue chain where Tav can be intimidated into not breaking up with him?

Also, you’re saying some really problematic things here. Victims stay with abusers they’re afraid of all the time and this is without vampire mind control magic being in the mix. Like, sorry, but you’re kinda coming across here as victim blaming.

Edit: And more importantly, you’re distracting from the real issue here, which is the lack of character agency, which was the complaint by people who wanted to see their Tav happy during the kiss no? So then Larian needs to meet in the middle and solve this either by toning things down to neutral, or giving us a choice. Stop trying to discredit my game choices and my perception of the new facial expressions.

Please give a clear example of what kind of abuse dialogue (quotations preferred) you are talking about? I think it would be helpful

But you already know from the epilogue that he doesn't do that if you break up with him. And that he responds quite appropriately in the end. So what you're saying is headcanon. An afterthought. His threats could be empty words, resentment, aggression. Nowhere in the game does it say otherwise.

Like you want to play the victim yourself, so yeah it's your fault. Where am I wrong? In this case there is no logic to his romance. Since you can dump him.

Personally in my game there was no violent dialogue, everyone was happy. And the new evil epilogue just reinforces that. All "violence" dialogues lead to a break up, which is what you should use before the epilogue. You can even stay human and dump him before the epilogue. He won't have any control.

You're bringing reality into this again, the game has nothing to do with that. It's a fantasy, you don't need to play out real life domestic drama with a drunk husband. There are also victims left for financial reasons, there are a lot of nuances in real life. But none of that in game.

So no, he won't go after your character. Not unless you want him to. Like in a fanfic.

edit: YOUR Choice was added to the game half a year after release. IT NEVER EXISTED.

I won’t because you know damn well what I’m referring to and I won’t buy into your disingenuous attempts to bait people into arguments.

The issue is some of us find the new facial expressions problematic and take away our agency, so we would like them adjusted or be provided an option to choose how our Tav feels about the situation so they can react accordingly.

>disingenuous attempts to bait people into arguments.
That's an accusation. Get ahold of yourself, please.

What I want to see are concrete examples of what you're talking about doesn't make me disingenuous or wanting an argument, (I generally like things to happen with examples and screenshots), but let's be honest it's a big argument and has been, for a very long time.
Maybe I'll see something new.
The other thing is that you don't want to, okay.

I'm sure you're also well aware that no one goes for a kiss when they're afraid or hateful.
You have the option and gency - to break up, or mod an abuse-victim story where that option-break up is erased.

Funny thing is, I don’t need to because that’s literally what happens in the epilogue. <3


Ok, but if this is literally the first time you kiss him and then you find yourself being shoved, grabbed, bitten without consent, etc., that might very well be something that you find triggering and don’t expect to see your character smiling playfully during.

Hence why, again, I am asking for the ability to express that in the dialogue through facial expressions that match those feelings because I find the old ones to be more fitting. I’m not saying we can’t have both. I just don’t expect MY character to be ok with what I see as abuse.

Some people will never see it, which I find deeply concerning, but at this point, the mods will lock the thread. It's getting out of hand and being derailed.

Yup, I fully expect it will at this point. *sigh*

I just hope Larian is listening to our feedback because there are those of us who are really unhappy with these changes and want a way to keep things closer to what was being presented in patch 6.

My suggestion is to offer some dialogue during the first conversation you have the day after being turned where we can clearly communicate to Astarion that we’re feeling uncomfortable or maybe even a bit regretful over the night before. Maybe even provide an option to insist on our autonomy and desire to be seen as an equal. If you choose that dialogue, then you get the old expressions when he inevitably dismisses those concerns and pushes those boundaries during the kisses.

There, everybody wins.

O, and the kneel kiss and stuff should not be happening until after we become a spawn. He should stick with the default spawn kisses.

In the epilogue, it goes.
"Truly, we are flourishing," "Yes we are a spectacle, after all," "No one dares touch us, my love".
The game, and the epilogue is how you play the game.


If you consider something to be abuse, I think it's best to avoid it. People who don't think it's abuse, and felt Tav enjoying on their knees in the night scene from having their throat squeezed, seeing the fear opition didn't ask the question "why is that?", it was about enjoyment, it all with the consent, and didn't feel what they felt in patch 6: guilt, trigger, PTSD, shame.

The game did a very good job of giving multiple times to break up, to refuse, to keep the consensual romance, that's how it was on release, that's how it was originally written, as you can see above.

I hope Larian keeps the consistency and tone of the game that people paid for on release.

My suggestion would be to let everyone experience and judge the new animations for themselves, not just the testers. It is something that is so dependent on personal opinion (looking away from the story and dialog). Let everyone voice their opinion not just a select few. I will also point to the fact that we who have left feedback since spring have done so in dedicated Astarion threads to show respect for other posters. I will not respond to any arguments so as to not derail the thread further.

Regarding Astarion, this is one of those things where Larian shouldn't have listened to the handful of people who couldn't stop talking about it.

Some feedback is good. Some ruins the game by inserting personal kinks into the narrative. The story, including the cycle of abuse, should come first. Unfortunately...

Cycle of abuse that never happened on game release, woah. The power of imagination is so strong. How good is that my emotional state is being protected by Marazhai from RT, hehe.

I'm sorry if you can't appreciate the power of the cycle of abuse story. Storytelling isn't for everyone.

I'm sorry you don't know the concept of role-playing. Games aren't for everyone. Read a book where you can't influence the story.

Larian has opened the Pandora Box with patch 6. That doesn't surprise me.
Depictions of (s..) abuse, especially in the way it was done, always pose a risk. I will not go on further in this. I haven't seen the changes of the facial expressions yet (can't say whether they look well or bad), but it seems to look consensual, and that's the right thing. I can only suggest Larian to keep inconsistent non-con out of their game now respectively handle non-con or dub-con with a lot of care.



You're free to suggest whatever you desire, at the end, it is Larian's decision. But can you please refrain from trivializing real victims of PTSD episodes? You've already called for adding negative traits for Spawn Tav and a bad ending for the romance in the Discord suggestion channel several months ago. I would assume that the majority of players of a romance (it doesn't matter the companion) don't agree with changes in a negative way. Such subsequent changes always involve risk.



O thanks for kink shaming! (not)
I am grateful for the scenes (loviatar, kneeling, etc.) and would appreciate it, if we could refrain from posting these provocative posts in the patch 7 closed beta Feedback thread. Please let also players post about patch 7 beta issues, bugs, etc.

Beside of that, some of the new evil endings seem to look pretty good. One scene I've seen I love it - well done Larian! Thank you so much! If I get a chance to test the beta by myself, I'll come back to this thread. In any case, I am looking forward to this patch.

Ok, something totally unrelated before this thread gets closed down and hopefully stirring the discussion away from the topic that is not to be named (I swear, I will call it the Voldemort topic from now on ) and towards the whole of Patch 7 again:

Can someone playing this patch say something about reactivity towards a certain Durge scene in act 3? And is poor Wyll now able to make his own decisions? And are there any other cool story stuff, you want to share?
I'm ok with getting spoiled, I'm just curious.

In order to move the thread back on track - I request some spoiler-free feedback from the CB participants:

- Are new legendary actions significant enough in terms of raising the game difficulty?
- Are there any significant changes to Durge cutscenes/cinematics in the first act of the game?

I didn't get a chance to participate (yet..) and I try to figure out whether I should start a Durge PT now and jump into the patch mid-game or wait till September when I won't have that much time for playing. Thanks in advance!

That's exactly what is being done to people who are triggered by the new animations, over and over again, on this very thread.

1. Is it a kink? yes
2. Was it inserted into the narrative? yes

Where's the shaming?

My position is that it's bad storytelling. Good storytelling would showcase the obvious cycle of abuse from vampire master to vampire master. Suggesting that the cycle of abuse can't be talked about in relation to this in the game is simply a way of trying to hamstring opposing opinions.

"Why don't you like it? For this reason? Oh, but you can't talk about that reason."

A truly weird take tbh, great storytelling in games is adaptable storytelling, when making an action causes an appropriate reaction. I can't see how banning the player agency can ever be a good thing, unless the whole idea of losing agency serves the plot. Here it doesn't, because you can still murder Astarion afterwards or ditch him to eat dirt at camp, you are not being held captive or something.

As others have said this is not the right thread to relitigate previous discussions about kisses with Ascended Astarion, and no thread is the right one to criticise others for their preferences. It's of course relevant for people to comment on the changes in animations, but please let them do that without getting into an argument. Everyone is entitled to their view and (as long as it's in line with forum rules) to express them without being attacked for it.

I won't be locking this thread as it's here for closed beta feedback, but anyone derailing it will find themselves warned and potentially suspended. Don't do it folks!

So you agree we should have the player agency to decide how our character would react to Ascended Astarion’s kisses?

Ahem ...


I am guessing Yharmeru was typing their post as I was publishing mine above, but I'm afraid the next forum member not clearly posting feedback on patch 7 will get warned, as I'm concerned this thread will become unusable for its intended purpose.

Alfira probably shouldn't have a parasite specimen, as it implies she is a True Soul, unless I'm missing something. I also think it's incredibly underwhelming that you can't dress her up or loot her unique outfit for your own bard; I can't imagine what anyone would want out of a one-camp-scene temporary companion but to do one of those two things, or why this little adjustment was made in the first place if it amounts to absolutely nothing at all. Because you can't do anything with her equipment or even level her up (despite the level up jingle playing when you get her), the illusion that she really is joining you is completely ruined, so it's even more obvious something happens to her in the next scene. I'm really confused by this implementation.

100% agreed, that makes me so sad.

The only reason why I was excited about her part of the patch notes was to take her unique clothes, hoping Larian would go all out into making her act as an actual companion for that one night to truly drive the deception forward for newer players. Imagine the shock after spending 10-15 minutes in customizing her build and giving her gear, thinking she's the next party member and then being smacked with the sudden realization out of nowhere.

Hearing it's that lazily implemented with so many limitations is disappointing. As for the parasite specimen; I presume she's been given the vial to act as meta-compensation for losing out on her unique robes from ACT II, but story-wise it makes zero sense for her to carry it and roleplay-wise it's useless to players who don't consume tadpoles. Would've been better if she just dropped her ACT II unique clothes instead.

I hope it's ok to ask something even though I don't have access to the beta. A while back, there was a video on yt with datamined companion reactions to Spawn-Astarion burning up at the dock. I wonder if anyone can tell me if those are the ones now included because Minthara's very emphatic reaction seemed odd to me.

Many of my saves are with Avatar-Spawn-Astarion, so I am most familiar with the comments he gets when the sun starts burning him, and I think those are pretty much perfect. They are worried and caring but in a way that is reflective of the companions' personalities - Shadowheart and Wyll are mostly worried, while Gale is more chill and emphasises the community aspect of finding a safe spot together. From what I have seen on yt, the new remarks the gang makes about Companion-Astarion in his time of distress are a bit more over the top but that's ok I guess.

Minthara threw me off though. She absolutely roasts you, when you have to run from the sun as Avatar-Astarion because she thinks staying a spawn was stupid and so she makes fun of you, both while you burn up and during the epilogue party - and I think that is great because it's very in line with her character. Hearing her relate to Companion-Astarion with compassion and without an element of the situation being his own (or the PC's) fault, was just a bit weird. But maybe that's just my impression.

@Anska Minthara's reaction isn't here, but the rest are. It's pretty bad except for Jaheira's, which is good. I didn't say anything here both because it's Astarion related, as posts often are, and because there's no way they're putting resources into fixing these again so found it pointless to comment on, but honestly they're baffling. No one speaks like a human being, much less like themselves (save for Jaheehee, of course). Karlach's also isn't here, and from what I remember, her line is fine (something like Oh, that's fucking cruel)

Or the potent robe, as the Durge cape might still be completely dysfunctional and not fixed. Neither the old issue of some damage riders on kill not working (famously including sneak attack damage) nor the new one, where I find it incompatible with most passives in the game in honor mode (does trigger, but effects are competing and Durge cape always loses. It's like taking no-check AoE damage from bless, arcane synergy, selune's blessing, etc.).

I am involved in testing. I want to say that the corrected animations of Tav when kissing Astarion are now good, and I can imagine them both in a happy couple and in a couple where Tav is unhappy. I don't think you should worry about it. Tav is smiling, but you can also see a little fear on Tav's face, discontent. This will satisfy all the players. you can perfectly imagine the right path for this story. I really hope everything stays the same as it is now in patch 7 beta. Everything is fixed correctly, thanks Larian.

Hello, can someone please tell me about Halsin-Mintara. (Act 2 of the dark lands). Now can only one of them be chosen? Since I saw information that Halsin gets hysterical and leaves if you leave Mintara in the squad. Or it's possible to recruit both of them?

That sounds promising

Thank you for the link @jinetemoranco, I also don't think the lines will be changed again but I think the underlying issue is maybe worth mentioning because things being too sweet for me is just as bad as them being too callous. In both extremes the dialogue looses that flavour that makes characters and their relationships special and interesting.

I had Halsin in the party when I rescued Minthara from Moonrise, and it was entirely possible. I did a long rest afterwards and he doesn't object to it. I have both of them at camp and both are able to travel with me in the party.
Sidenote, I was wrong about the portrait. Halsin still doesn't get his own tent.

Alfira having a tadpole and not being able to level up are known issues and the team is currently looking into them along with some of the issues related to her temporary recruitment, thanks for the reports!

imo the the entire recruit Mintara needs a story prompt along the lines of
1 kill this evil bitch for good people everywhere or
2 just knock her out so she can crawl back to her masters in shame

such a fix is simple to code and saves a lot of uncertainly waiting for act 2

as a side note i'm getting sick of Larian picking good or evil story like thats the only possible path... at release we could do some evil choices that ending up with good results and some good choices that went horribly wrong but it didn't make our Tav good or evil just unlucky or fed up with whomever needed saving/ killing

In what way did it change? I remember as it was yesterday, my first playthrough: a burdened hero who never asked for this, killing his gith friend, swallowing his grief and siding with a mindflayer in order to save the city he spent years in. Then getting out of the godforsaken city.

I've recently finished the story once again. All the choices were still there, I just took a different approach, is all. What choices exactly do you have in mind here?

g lets see, no you can't kill those kids now because they have a forcefield around them... wow that added 1/2 doz new bugs
you don't find fishermen digging out a squid anymore because a pally can fall because of it... the fact a pally can fall 5 mins later doesn't matter but this quest needs to be ripped out
wyll didn't lose his eye to spike because now he has a new bullshit backstory that makes even less sense than his hating spike back story but at keast he tries to dance with you now... even thou you have a parter standing right there and told wyll to pissoff
Shadowheart died on the bridge of the ship before you reached the transpondor now equals no wait she is only knocked out and apparently changed out of Lazels armour into a new set of special green leathers on the way down while being dead/ knocked out because [plot people says this makes it better] apparently

halsin and minthara needs dozens of untested changes because people started to work out how to get them together in the same tent and this upset Larian or whatever... thats easy another 2 dozen game ending bugs that pop up at random

[Speech]★You trying to convince Larian to believe that the new Ansur animation looks foolish and the old one is better★ :3

Hello,
Unfortunately I don't have the opportunity to take part in the closed beta. I have the following question: Will Minthara be revised again or is this already the final version? I finished playing God Gale Origin a few minutes ago because I wanted to know if I could make Minthara a goddess. I find it kind of illogical that Minthara doesn't want to become a god or doesn't even mention it, considering she wants to have power, e.g. rule the Absolute or conquer lands. Does anyone know if this has changed or can I give up my hopes? I'm sorry if this post is out of place here.
Thank you for all the answers.

no we don't know yet if this is the last change to Minthara

Larian have stated they are walking away after this patch but its pretty clear the patch will break the game again and even if it does somehow release in an unbusted state Larian still needs to fix multiplayer across different platforms at some point so you can expect a small hand full of people will keep working on it

p.s, yes i know Minthara has bugger all to do with multiplayer but that start working on one thing and end up release something else is how Larian likes to do games

Thank you for your answer, yeah i read that too. To bad but somehow understandable,

You can't turn anyone into a god if play as Gale, same as you can't turn your LI into a vampire if you play as Astarion (despite Minthara actually wanting to be bitten as evidenced in a banter with Ascended Astarion who transformed Tav). I would really love that addition but I doubt it changed in patch 7. Can someone with beta access pitch in?

Uhm, so... any luck adding some proper Karlach ending?

Hello everyone. Just wanted to pop in here and ask for those in the know --

Thank you very much for Patch 7, the changes are good and nice, but there are some wishes and not quite clear points.

1) Alfira. It's good that you can now take her in a pack, and as I said above (if you can insert a link), it would be great if you could run with her for a day, until the next long rest, so that the disappointment and loading the previous save, a new player, did not happen immediately XD.

2) The end for the dark Urge (rejection of Baal)\ Tav and the ascended Astarion (another companion)

Option 1: Conquest of worlds.
Shouldn't the conquest of worlds be done together? The focus is on Dark Urge. Astarion also has ambitions and desires, so he'll step aside and that's it, he'll get lost in the crowd.

Option 2: The city becomes a monument to your glory.
Astarion and (Tav/Dark Urge), agreed that they would rule together now, but then Astarion (and other companions) sit on their knees on the scaffold. This is the one I don't get. This option is more like when Tav/Dark Urge (refusal of Baal) forced a companion to kneel.

Option 3: There can be no future for such sheep.
Why kill romantic interests (Astarion being an example) when they agreed to rule together? And for some reason, Shadowheart reached out to me before breaking everyone's necks, not the romantic interest.

Option 4: Create chaos.
Astarion (other companions) where are you?!
I would add to the above that it is also possible to add the ending and our companions holed up in the camp as they submit or die.

3) The end of Dark Urge submitted to the Baal.
Rather, it's just resentment that romantic interest dies all at once, and our protagonist shamelessly does so.
Dark Urge is given a choice, to go against his father or to become an Absolute in his name. So still the protagonist has his own will, so we can give the option of resistance to Baal, (when faced with the choice to kill the romantic interest or let him escape) and destroy the Absolute
In the conduct that Baal gives us about the red destiny, you can add the corpse of the romantic interest, provided you let him escape.

But and so in general, in the third act unfortunately few interactions with companions, especially when you do not miss not a single corner of the game. Halfway through the third act, silence in the camp.

Thank you so much for the tremendous work, patch 7 was great! You have done a great job!

Please delete astarion

Okay, I'll do it, just give me a sec.

That option is already in the game.

Thank you, I will pray for you!

j'ai eu plusieurs bugs que je n'avais pas avant (j'ai 900h de jeu) :

L'impression que la troisième nuit un dialogue ne s'est pas lancé avec dark urge au moment de s'endormir, la nuit est passé mais ça a planté sur "dialogue".

Par moment certains de mes personnages arrêtent de bouger et restent immobiles, pour les débloquer il faut entrer en conversation avec eux, c'est pénible.

La cinématique dans le nautiloïde de shadowheart qui sort de sa boîte a disparue.