Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Teleportation, Camp and Companions

I already spent around 25 hours into the game. It's awesome, but thanks to early access together we can make it better, even the best cRPG game in history!

Teleportation:
Apparently in Faerun all companions learned how to teleport across the map. Just like that. Without any special item, statue, skill, anything. Quick travel became a thing after 200 years from Baldur's Gate 2. While being anywhere in the world, you can just open map. Click on discovered location (or even your camp) and just go there! Total magic. In my opinion (and I hope that in opinion of other players as well) this is way too easy. It's good to backtrack, go back through dungeon to the surface yet again (maybe something special will happen when you go back?). Even if mechanics would be changed that you can quick travel only from glowy rune to glowy rune, that would make perfect sense. But teleporting from point to point just like that? It makes none.

Camp:
In Throne of Ball, pocket dimension made perfect sense. You were spawn of Baal. You could go back to your special secret safe place, rest there. Change companions, upgrade weapons etc.
Here, in BG3 at the beginning of the game, your camp is created somewhere in abstract location, which is totally safe and nothing bad can happen there.
As part of the world available in EA is struggling with goblins, it would be awesome to have random bunches of them attacking your party whenever you camp somewhere in the surface.
Underdark is scary and dangerous? No, it doesn't feel like that. You can camp anywhere you want and you will be good. No wild creatures will interrupt your happy dreams about smashing goblin heads with a hammer. (Random encounters on the map on already explored area would be also awesome)
Having a camp is good mechanics, but camp itself should move with the party. As well as it shouldn't be safe, due to possibility of having additional companions, they can keep guard duty, when main party goes to sleep. Camp combats could be really interesting and refreshing. Player should have control over every companion that is available at the camp. As your main party is resting, they should be ungeared, surprised, etc, with need to equip their weapon and put on armour.
Faerun is dangerous world. It's not Disneyland where you are safe everywhere.

Companions:
I hope that declaration from Larian about more companions coming is still valid. But please, don't make them super special Tadpole infected special snowflakes.
BG1 and BG2 let us invite random people, having their own sort of quest (BG2 or not always BG1), but there was only one main protagonist. Companions joined player party, because they wanted to assist him in his quest or just because player was good way to fulfil their needs. I'm hoping for someone as cliche young paladin who is willing to join as he have to fulfil his oath to do X. Some thief that is running from his guild as his stole from wrong person. Outlaw that is running from Flaming Fist members, due to being wanted.

Additional the weird behaviour in BG3 is, that companions sitting at the camp have same experience as main party. Why? How do they gain experience from doing quests and killing monsters, by standing in camp? I think something should be changed here. BG2 had good mechanics regarding that. You could sent all unneeded party members to Copper Coronet to wait for you and be available for you. It was just great! Experience system in BG1 and BG2, let you have smaller party, which leveled a bit faster. Here, every companion gets the same number of experience.

TL DR:

• Teleportation from random map point is bad mechanics
• Camp is too safe
• Camp being abstract place where your companions can go from almost every point on the map doesn't make sense
• Random encounters would make game more realistic and show dangers of Faerun
• Random non-tadpole companions are needed (but please not "design your own mercenary" mechanics), there should be at least one companion for each available class in the game
• Experience system is weird
• Day/Night system is really missing.

Tp system is just copied from dos2. Lets hope it changes, i don't like it either.

I agree that the apparent teleportation is weird and while I personally don't entirely mind suspending my disbelief somewhat around camp and letting it slide as by saying what we're seeing is just an abstraction, I at least would like them to input differing camp aesthetics depending on where you are. As for camp being safe and there being random encounters, that can be cool, but it depends on how difficulty ultimately gets balanced in the game. If the game makes it so by the time you need to rest your party is at the end of its rope then a random encounter could potentially be punishing. Pathfinder Kingmaker managed to pull that off by both having mechanics that let you avoid random encounters based on dice rolls and by making it so that if you're resting it's less likely to be because your party is almost completely beaten down and more because of status effects that lower their combat effectiveness. So while you're handicapped in combat you have a fair shot of winning.

As for xp, I think it's better if all companions level up with you because it's just easier to manage, otherwise you have to be constantly swapping around party members if you want them to keep pace with each other, and given the limitations of the already small party that's going to be an annoying. Especially for people who want to experience every party member's story. Using the current party members as a barometer I think (and honestly hope) that all party members will bee quite in depth in terms of their storylines and backstory (though I agree it would be nice if they weren't all tadpole infested) so having a lot of party members would be unlikely, especially since they're all going to be voiced and that represents automatically a large investment of time and money.

That's what I meant by camp moving together with party.


That's true, that's why I added my opinion about using other companions in such fights as well. Aka second party. As party powerhouse is bruised, with less than half HP, other camp companions are rested, prepared and having guard duty.


Yes you might be right regarding that. I neither would like to swap party members just to level them up a bit and you brought nice topic.
I really missed opportunity to give Gale his beloved magical item while I had him in the camp. He constantly cried about it, but you can give him something only when he is party member.
It would be great just to do companion side quests even if they are camping.


That's true, but we will see how it goes. Most of the motion capture for races must be already done. So whenever you introduce new possible companion, you have to add dialogue options and voices.
Depending on how many classes will be available in final game, one companion per class is more or less likely to be an option

I always find fast travel lame, though it usually stems from bad design that requires a lot of running back and forth across the map.

Yes, camp being in some abstract place is ridiculous. Just use the spot you're in when choose to camp.

+1. I actually did get attacked by camp, by Halsin after killing the rest of the druids. Pretty fun encounter. I like the camping mechanics but they could use some work. And teleportation from anywhere is ridiculous, neuters the difficulty of being in the bottom of a goblin castle and having to fight your way out.

I had same experience. I could long rest just before the doors (while magically teleporting to camp), so everyone was ready for massive goblin battle.