Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback The Dark Urge needs to be fixed

"Light on my feet...Pave my path with corpses! Build my castle with bones!"

Me: WOAH there!

I do agree it's immersion breaking to be praising Father when in Act 1, or getting some of the really violent ones after resisting. I'm wondering if this is fixable if someone makes a mod for it, though? Like I think the ones that are like "UGH I have such a headache" are fine in the beginning, more violent ones can be unlocked if you succumb to your urges, accepting Bhaal you get the ones praising him, ect.

would like to leave my support here as well. i wouldve loved some more reactivity in general, but especially in the temple. like what do you mean "it was very twee", durge died. i think it could have been a very powerful scene if the romance partner fell to their knees or something.

Made an account just to add my support to this. Resist/Redeem Durge is a playthrough I've wanted to do for a long time, but I always saw people say that the companions didn't react as much as they probably should have, and that upset me. Was hoping Patch 7 would fix that, and seeing that it hasn't has made me more upset. Here's hoping this gets noticed so that something gets changed for the better.

Off topic, but still, for DU, can get the ending of the Absolute, and not Baal?

I also wish that after the Bhaalspawn dream that we could have an extended conversation with our romance. I get why Astarion had more to say about it since it was the same writer during crunch time, but this is a big deal and our characters should really sit down with their partner to discuss it, instead of them having only one or two lines.

Also I wish Jahiera wasn't so buggy. Because I didn't have her in my party at the time of the dream, I never got the cool scene of her watching over my character and never had the extended dialogue about being a Bhaalspawn when initiating dialogue with her. I couldn't even tell her I was one like with the rest of my companions. The scene should trigger after the dream as long as she's in your camp. Other companion camp scenes do. Why not this one?

hoping the next patch fixes this problem as it's making me hold off on my resist durge playthrough

Yes please, the fact that no one reacts to everyone KNOWING you in Moonrise is even worse than the death stuff tbh, atleast they somewhat react to that even if it is weak.

So, thinking on this more, my wishlist (SPOILERS AHEAD I don't feel like blacking out pretty much everything here.):

Major:
-Better reactivity during resist Durge's death from Bhaal is the biggest one. I think right after the screen blacks out when Bhaal takes his blood back, is when it should cut to your companions standing there in shock. When they come to their senses they slowly walk up, while your romance/closest companion runs over and falls to their knees, tries to shake you awake and then tries to revive you when they realise you're dead, and basically goes through the denial phase when it doesn't work. Maybe other companions present can say something too. And that's when Withers can appear to do his speech, and your companion backs away to give him space to do his thing.

-The lines after the resurrection need to be better. The "twee" line and "worm food" line from Astarion and Shadowheart are especially bad. If your Durge went the resist route all the way through, was a good person to their companions and helped them become better people through their own personal quests, it feels so bad when the best they have to say is "I would have been worm food without you, thanks." Especially from your romance, They should have WAY more to say. More emotional lines. The way it is now, despite the really cool Withers scene, it leaves you feeling quite...empty.

-Act II Moonrise reveals. Kressa, the Warden and Ketheric all say right in front of you that they knew your character. These need to set off major alarm bells in your companions and they should confront Durge about it. The Kressa thing is such a cool (and tragic) reveal about Durge and it would be nice to have a cutscene after that where your companions confront Durge about this and even comfort them, Durge was tortured!

-Act III Gortash reveal where you find out you started the Absolute, stole the Crown of Karsus, crowned the Elder Brain, ect. Your companions do sound pissed if you talk to them but they go back to being fine immediately after. They should be MORE pissed, and if you try to click on them you get the "not right now" or "I don't want to talk to you" overworld lines. I want all your companions to have to need a long rest to think on it. A camp scene that night with all of them present without you (though you can maybe choose to eavesdrop) talking about it would be SUPER nice. If you've been a good person, they can decide that you're pretty much a different person now, one that has come to care about them, and they care about you, and it's obvious you want to fix and stop what you started. There just needs to be more camp/long rest scenes in Act III in general.

-Astarion has the most Durge content but Shadowheart has a lot in common with Durge, with Lae-zel having some familiarities too. Either way, the other companions need more love in this regard.

Minor:
-More reactivity revolving around Orin when she keeps appearing as a doppelganger.

-Fix the Shadowheart hair change line not triggering (where she says she was inspired to go against Shar because Durge was been resisting Bhaal's influence).

-I think Durge should have an option to beat Kressa's skull in with their boot after defeating her, like Aylin did to Ketheric. Go full feral. This person tortured Durge, let Durge rage!

-In Act I in an early camp scene, Astarion sees Durge after a bad night sleeping and remarks to them they look "twitchy, feral and sick." I think in the cutscene animation, your Durge should have the twitchy animations that they do if you have a "bad" ending to the game (in the prison or when your feral Durge character stumbles into the epilogue camp) Not a big deal but would be cool. Right now though they stand there in the default pose. I want more twitchy Durge when they're trying to hold back on their urges.

-Overworld lines when you click and move your character can be spoilerly and immersion breaking. Your character shouldn't mention Father in Act I and II, and the Durge lines should cease if you reject Bhaal.

-Jahiera should have the camp scene when she watches over Durge after their reveal dream in Act III whether she's in your party of not. As long as she's in your camp, she should get this scene. It not triggering can bug out her dialogue where you can reveal you're a Bhaalspawn to the rest of your companions, but not her. I couldn't talk to her more about Bhaalspawn and being one because of it.

-More resist/embrace interactions with things in the world would be nice, they start to fall off after Act I.

-Some dialogue line trees with your romance along the lines of "I love you, but I'm so afraid of hurting/killing you."

-Companions should react to Scheleritas Fel in a resist playthrough when he's at the door to the Temple of Bhaal. I think this is the first (and only) time they actually see him if you play resist. He calls you Master, companions should have something to say about it.

-Companions should react more in general to the Temple of Bhaal. This was your character's home. It's full of rotting bodies, heads on pikes, ect. Say something! Just in general the lead up to the duel with Orin feels empty from your companions. We should also have a dialogue tree with our romance along the lines of "About the duel, in case I don't make it..." and have a "last kiss" like you do before the battle with the Netherbrain.

-When approaching Isobel and saying telling her you want to kill her, but won't, should result in your companions getting ready to grapple and hold you back lol.

I think, this thread is not enough, and everyone who wants to see at least Durge's climax scene get fixed should send personal feedback to Larian through their form:

https://larian.com/support/baldur-s-gate-3#modal

We really need to get their attention and remind them that this is the most essential Durge's scene in the entire game, and also, how a lot of people now just can't play normal Tavs after playing Durge.
So it is at the most importance that they fix this scene before they walk away from this game. We really need to get this messasge through, because apparently they didn't notice people complaining about it during the whole year since release. Otherwise, it will once again end with: "We know you want Gortash/Durge kiss, but it's not happening!"

I'll do that! I've found threads mentioning problems with Durge from over a year ago and nothing has changed. Seems like things like Astarion kisses get the most attention

With the new evil cinematics I hope they can also add more content for Durge.

@Beetle Thank you so much for this detailed feedback, these are great ideas. I wish they could at least fix the major ones. If all these aspects had been taken care of from the beginning, Durge's story would have been absolutely amazing and very rewarding to play.

I also agree with @Rote90, and I encourage everyone who feels the same way to send feedback directly from the Larian form, so the chances of some of this issues being addressed will be higher. Thank you all!

agreed. I'm not sure how the support for BG3 works though I'm hoping one of the team can come back with some sort of answer or even that they're taking it into consideration

This is one of my all time favorite games but I whole heartedly agree. Please add redemption dark urge reactivity. I cannot embrace evil, I'm compulsively the hero. For those of us that refuse to give in to the dark and must fight for good, please give us some love before you shut the door on this incredible franchise.

I'm thinking even a camp scene after resisting Bhaal, with all the characters, would be so nice. The companions get long rest scenes after their personal quests.

Yes, this is something that would have been great. For me a special conversation that night at camp with your love would be ideal, just like you also have one with them when their personal quest is completed. Durge also deserves that special moment after having overcome something like that :')

@Beetle Now that you mention it, it does seem odd that there is no long rest scene with Durge after what happens and I think that lack of a followup conversation (and I mean a proper conversation) contributes to the general feeling of incompleteness with resist Durge's story.

Every companion after their personal quest has some sort of cutscene with the player where they can talk about what they experienced and how they feel. Durge is as much an origin character and should get one too. I get that death in Faerun doesn't really have the same weight and finality to it that it otherwise would irl because of all the various means of resurrection that exists in this universe, but I feel like dying would still be incredibly traumatic, no? Hell, this would've been a perfect opportunity for Durge and Isobel to bond, because here's two people who have died before, was resurrected by a god, and nobody else in the room understands that experience more than them. Aylin too, to some extent.

I don't think a lack of a romance scene is the end of the world, but if every romanceable companion gets a romance scene after they 'dealt with their problem', I wouldn't be opposed to Durge getting their very own either. And if you're not romancing anyone, they can have a companion with the highest approval come in to comfort Durge.

I sometimes hear people say Durge is just a Tav with some extra spice thrown in and I think part of the reason is because at times Durge feels almost detached in their own story. The lack of companion reactions to their predicament is so unnatural it breaks the illusion that you're playing as a pre-established character. Which I think actually speaks to how well written the rest of the game is, so it sticks out like a sore thumb when you get moments like these where the quality is noticeably lower.

One change I would also like for the Urge/Shadowheart romance.

During the date, Urge basically lies and makes up some story. Since Shadowheart already knows you're an amnesiac, it doesn't make much sense to lie about it.

I actually like that touch, bc it shows you are still amnesiac, you can't remember anything but for her sake, you are telling her something to make her feel better or something along those lines.

I would much rather them keep it but keep the amnesia throughout the whole game. For instance, in Act 3 when you're at Baldur's Gate, she says she will need to rely on your knowledge to get around the city but I wish her dialogue was different saying like "We may have to ask others to help us around" bc durge more than likely has no clue where anything is either. It would make no sense for her to rely on durge and their knowledge of the city when they are just as lost lol.

There definitely are some conversation flags that need to be fixed, not a huge deal compared to the big story reveal scenes, but I think they should be easy to fix anyways.

1. Talking to Devella Fountainhead at the barracks you can say "I killed my sister" before you even have the duel with Orin.

2. On one playthrough I was nice and helped Alfria, the next playthrough I was kind of a jerk to her. She still came to my camp all "You inspired me by helping me!" even though my character didn't help her with her song.

3. All the dialogue options that say "I'm a child of Bhaal" or anything similar before you have the Bhaalspawn reveal.

4. And yeah I agree with the Baldurian dialogue options, they make no sense if you have amnesia. Your character doesn't even remember where the Temple of Bhaal is at first.

I agree with most of this, but I actually like that durge gets the baldurian tag. We know that their amnesia is inconsistent and incomplete--for example they still remember basic facts of life that any adult would be expected to know, they remember how to fight with weapons they're proficient with, and they even get occasional small flashes of memory about their murderous past actions. So I find it fitting and kind of charming that some of the things they remember, without knowing the context of why they remember, are also facts about life in baldur's gate. To me, it doesn't seem any more out of place than remembering other facts about religion, history, etc. like you can through various dialogue checks.