Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Noobie question about EA and patches

How do patches work when you are in Early Access, exactly? What I mean is, did the developers say "Okay, so Early Access is going to cover up until this point of the story, and successive patches are going to polish that content and improve the mechanics 'til release"? Or are some patches going to progress the story too, by going further than the Underdark Lake?

In a certain way, the first. But also the second. Think of it less of a lenghtening of content, and more of a broadening. We will be getting more side content and companions, along with QOL and game mechanics stuff. There's a substantial amount of it not yet added, either, so more is to come over EA. However, it is *technically* possible as we will cross the lake, as it is listed as act 1B, and all the stuff we have right now is act 1A. However, wouldn't get your hopes up for that.

Well, we'll find out about Patch 4 next Wednesday, eh?

Aaah, ok -- so there could be some fixing of bugs, deeper interactions with the companions / some cutscenes, improved mechanics, and then, at the end of the list, possibly act 1B? What would that mean, btw? Crossing the Lake and Moonrise Towers, or just "crossing the lake" and exploring the Underdark road right before reaching Moonrise Towers?

It's not so much about managing expectations as it is about managing disk space.

I'd say a bit more than that. The Githyanki creche, at least 3 new companions, the Shadow-Cursed land the rest of the classes, and more subclasses/races are probably going to show up throughout EA

That sounds exciting (yay, baby Githyankis and Ravenlofty Shadowlands!) and also like a lot of work if it's roughly the same length as 1A. Fingers crossed!

Were things like that mentioned in an interview or press release? Sounds great, but what gives you the thought that that's what they're aiming for later down the line?

A couple things.

For the three companions, they've been found through datamining, and it strongly suggests that they are currently in development.

As for the other stuff, it's places that are obviously blocked off/haven't been finished coding yet. You can see where the shadow-cursed lands are, but when you try to enter, it says "The region you're trying to reach is not *yet* available in Early Access", implying that it will be added later down the line. The Githyanki Creche is probably going to be added later as well, as there is data about it in Act 1, and Lae'zel's quest does not progress until you reach the Creche.

As I'm sure you know, under one rather unlikely set of circumstances you can already cross the lake without the EA closing cutscene triggering, but the destination is unfinished, so it is a matter of curiosity only.

The destination ( which you see in the cutscene ) is mostly finished, and I had the impression that at one point Larian probably expected to include it in the initial EA before cutting it. So I would not be surprised to find that location included in a patch fairly soon.