Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Mega-threads and Guides Early Access gameplay feedback compendium

Game mechanics:
This game should have combat in real time, like ALL other RPG games have including this very series. Imagine they announce Elder scrolls 6 beeing turnbase, like WHAT? There should be combat action in an RPG, not this over the top tactical gamestyle, at least let us choose which to use like other games ( like Dragon age). It worked for DOS1 and 2, but doesnt feel at home here. In DOS2 you also could do alot more each turn, I remember I could take two turns even, and get extra actions on killing stuff.

Camera:
Camera is very bad. I cant look around freely?? I imagine Larian getting alot of feedback on this in DOS2, and they have done nothing to it. In DOS2 there was not so much verticality as BG3 so it was not as bad maybe.
I want to also be able to play my character with movement control, not just this click and point thing.

Classes:
I get that this game follows D&D5 rules, but seriously. take the warrior for instance. All he can do is run up and hit each turn. My warrior is Eldrich knight, congrats you are now a bad mage aswell as you can hit with your sword. Why doesnt it give you warrior-like spells? Like self buffing, magic weapon or something?
And where are the warrior abilities? What about charge, jumping strike, whirlwind, stomp, pummel, taunt, shouts, are there nothing in this d&d5 rule? It sucks compared to most other games including DOS warriors, (Maybe this is something you get with Battlemaster?)
The mage and cleric has tons of different spells to use, while the warrior can move up and hit once, unless ofcourse you want to be a mage (eldrich knight) instead and cast spells rather than hit.

In my opinion Larian should look more to Dragon age Origins and Inquisition for game design and gameplay. Origins for the combat and Inquisition for the movement control, immersion and exploring the world.

Alteast this early access makes me want to replay Dragon Age Origins..

The answer to most of your questions is already in your own comment honestlly, "because it's a D&D 5e ruleset game".

Hello
I play solo 60 hours and no bugs for me,
My thoughts to improve the game:
-« push »action is too strong and i think need to be adjust with the strenght of the charachter(a mage pushing a troll 20 feet away not really RP,but it’s fun😚)
-the fact that the player can see behind a door never open before not RP too.
-Character creation tools:possibility to create old or fat characters can be a good thing.
-Need one clic button to manage inventories and skill bar.
-Need a little more Stuff variety(weapons,armour,accessories).
-Need XP gain for finding pacific solutions in dialogs(today we level up faster when we choose to kill everybody)
-Adjust all damages(potatoe in the face can make more damage than an arrow,barils too OP....)
-camera fixes in the little rooms
-Mini map and quest mark improvements.
These are my wishes,
Keep doing a great job 😉

Obvious solution to the tadpole problem. Spoiler. Killing a party member, waiting for tadpole to come out then revive. (it doesn't work in game) thread: : http://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=695934&page=1

Yeah a group of players would do that quite fast if the DM presented them with the situation we have in the game.

Putting something I recently found in a different thread which I forgot to add in my original post and is honestly one of the biggest problems with the game so far.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere for the game is wrong. The entire time playing through EA, it felt like I was taking a stroll with my characters through Barbie Pony Island. Everything is so shiny, round and cartoony. Even the UI interactions and the cursor are way too "childish" for Baldur's Gate. That style worked for DOS because it was a light-hearted jolly goofy game, not so much for Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate should have a more mysterious and dark theme about it.

Overall visibility and camera action: Too many things are revealed that shouldn't. Example: One of the first battle encounters you find in EA, in the ruins, after you beat the guys outside and get inside the building, you are greeted with a dungeon. You find yourself in what looks to be an old and abandoned building made of stone, poor lighting and close quarters. The room you enter is empty (or can have that one dude in there if you successfully deceive him, but that's beside the point here) and you feel the urge to explore this new and exciting place. What could lie ahead? Look, there's a door there after some steps... I say we light a torch and go see what we can find behind it "OH CRAP! We just walked into a bandit camp we're screwed!". Right? NO. Because as soon as you enter the building, the f*cking camera shows you everything, including the 5 guys behind a closed door... Well, there goes the whole fun about exploring this place.
The game is not mysterious or exciting. It's predictable and sucks the fun out of exploring, which should be one of the most important things to do right in a game like this. Even *hidden* passages... Walking about in a cellar and "oh look, the camera is showing me an entire cave network behind this wall...

Even the underdark feels like I walked into a candy shop with the lights turned out during christmas. It's dark but you have all the lovely pink and purple sparkly decorations that an 8 year old girl decorated. The spider/ettercap cave was done much better than the underdark for example.

This was done right over 20 years ago in the originals. If the character cannot see something, it should not be revealed.

Rolling for stats(roll 4d6 drop lowest) and being able to change stat spread for origin characters

My complete feedback

EVIL CHARACTER PLAYTHROUGH FEEDBACK

First of all, I want to express my gratitude to the Larian team for the great job so far. Every minute from the 24h play trough of the early access I enjoyed immensely! I am excited to see what the game will be on release!

The character I created was a female drow, a cleric of Lolth with a random non elven name Loreia. I decided to adhere to a canonical depiction of drows as chaotic evil and use every dialogue option that would representative to a lifestyle and principles of the drow society. I was amazed that the game not only allowed me to kill neutral NPC and even potential companion (Shadowheart was murdered cold heartedly just after my char met her), but also that in many dialogues there was an option that had a drow specific tag - either [drow], [evil cleric], [Lolth-sworn]. But even more than that, a lot of NPCs acknowledged that they are talking with a drow and were scared, like goblins, or full of hate, like elves. Destroying the druid grove was totally an option, as well as killing Minthara for betraying Lolth!

Animation bugs/Graphics
* Corpse glitching (probably was already fixed)
* The dude on the torture rack in the goblin fortress - what's wrong with his legs!
* Sometimes it is hard to control the camera during fights in interior areas with verticallity, such as goblin fortress.
* Fog and smoke are a bit glitchy, which is spottable in dialogue cinematics.

Game mechanics
* Battles that have more than 5-7 enemies are painfully slow. AI often can't decide what to do, then do nothing. Party members sometimes glitch - not possible to move or select ability to use, even though it is their turn.
* When Gale consumes a magical item it does not disappear. For example - the Sword of Justice was equipped by Laezel, but when I selected in the dialogue option to give it to Gale, the sword was still equipped by the githyanki.
* After entering auntie's lair the second time, she was not seen around. But after a while she spawned, but it was not possible to even talk with her.
* The battle with the auntie that ended with choosing to get the power and leave the girl to the hag, resulted in hard crashes, when trying to select the main character.
* Bringing the blue flower from Underdark (the one that blocks all magic) did not stop auntie from creating copies. Not sure if it is a bug, yet it was possible to bring the flower from the Underdark using a pouch.
* After killing BOOOOAL and being accepted as a goddess it was not possible to give orders in the dialogue.

Requests
* Slightly better visibility of caves and other areas of interest. Sometimes hard to spot.
* More race/class/alignment specific tags in dialogues.
* Swtiching between party members in dialogues, and party members expressing opinions during dialogue.
* More companions if possible. Gales seems to be higher moral standard than a drow, thus need an evil mage in the party.

Ooh, got another one.

Flanking rather than backstabbing. Flanking advantage is a result of an opponent being attacked from multiple directions making defending difficult. Backstabbing is a result of the turn based combat and does not make sense in a cinema of the mind type of context and thus breaks immersion. Also flanking is in the rules while backstabb(mid combat is not)

Hi guys,

I play for 50 hours (roughly), and I have no new bugs to report (I saw problems with lips sync, tentacles, wings, some cinematics are broken, but it's already fixed if I'm correct).
My ideas in order to improve the game :


CHARACTER CREATION :

- If possible, I want some gnome (and their subraces, including Deep Gnomes), dragonborn, duergars (Laduguer <3), variant human and aasimar. Maybe I'm too greedy, but, hey, I have to try ! I don't know if it's already planned to add them (gnomes are immune to ceremorphosis, so maybe it's not possible...).
- Background should be chosen at the end of the creation process, with the name of your character.
- Background should have an impact in the game. A noble, a sailor, an urchin or an ermit have unique life experiences, and may react differently at some occasions.
- The possibility to chose a patron deity even if you are not a cleric?
- More gods, if possible. At least Gond and Umberlee (they have big temples in Baldur's Gate), and Cyric (the archnemesis of Bhaal and Baine). I suppose you will add them when you will add new cleric domains?
- maybe some scars? More beards? More mustaches?
- maybe the possibility to chose your "attitude" : a timid dwarf, a wild halfling, that kind of stuff.
- maybe, in the future, the possibility to being proficient with tools or games. I don't know, it could be useful for craft or roleplay? That's not urgent or vital, that's just an idea. Gwent was a cool addition to The Witcher 3 (or The Witcher 3 a cool addition to Gwent? I'm not sure).


CLASS

- You have to distingish Jump and Disengage (it's not the same thing, right?)
- Hide, Disengage and stuff like that must be a bonus action only for rogues (like "Dash")
- Scrolls = skills check (Arcana or Religion) if you are not from the "right" spellcaster class
- More feats, more maneuvers, more pacts, more magic schools, more classes, I want more ! MOOOORE !
Yeah, I know, it's planned. But, man, I can't wait. I want my archfey warlock with its pact of the blade (or pact of the tome?...mmm) !
- Uncanny dodge for Rogues, that's good shit. Or do you fear they become too much powerful that way?


GAMEPLAY

- Party size : 5, I think, is quite good. In your team, you will need a rogue, a healer, a spellcaster and a tank. In a party of 4, If you must chose between a warlock and a wizard, or a warlock and a warrior, you will chose the "pure" class, you have no room for improvisation or "extra" role. With 5, you can chose an extra companion because he's cool or interesting, and try to create synergies.
- Automatic Jump. When a character jump, and your companions can follow, well, let them follow automatically. Select each one of the character manually in order to Jump is a little bit tedious.
- More automatic saves. This game is hard, be kind with us, please.
- A voiced main character. Currently, the main character reminds me Bernardo, the Zorro's sidekick.
- I want to move pass people. At least, dying people. It's frustrating as hell to have one of my teammates dead or dying on the floor in the middle of a door, and be stuck like a moron in the other room because my characters don't know how to step over their dead friends (Lae'zel or Astarion are maybe too soft for such a rude behaviour?).
- XP when we avoid (cleverly) a fight?
- Fog of war. Currently, an ambush cannot surprise the player : I see where my foes await my party.
- Height ; I don't know, it's not balanced when your foes are above you (or you above them). I don't have an idea to fix it, sadly.
- Perception and traps : maybe I'm dumb, but my characters "see" traps only a second before walking right into them. That's sad. For them, at least.
- Flanking : it's a good option, it would be cool to have the possibility to "activate" such a tactical option in the game, right?
- Less AoE for enemies. An example : phase spiders have done horrible things to my party, I don't want to describe it.
I understand why there is so much alchemical bomb, grenads and stuff (warriors are dull and boring without those kind of options, I guess), but there is a balance problem with some enemies because of the large number of AoE attacks.
- An Ironman Mode would be Ãœber Kool.

User Interface

- I think there is a lot of room for improvement here. Management inventory and "bar management" are a little bit tedious, right now.
- That's just me, but I have to try : maybe you can rework the UI in order to give us a "darker" vibe?


I had some minor problems with quests (SPOILERS) :

After finishing early access (great game even in the current state, I enjoyed my play through, gg larian) I noticed 5 points to absolutely change (imo) :
- remove most of the scrolls, throwing objects, potions of all kinds, with simple ammunitions (arrows, crossbow bolts, small stones, some poisoned ammunition) and make the scrolls and bombs rare.
- prevent magicians from learning spells from other classes (especially clerics)
- jumping and disengagement cost 1 action (NOT bonus action, except for rogue) and are 2 separate actions, jumping action leading to an opportunity attack. The jump has a maximum range. Moreover, camouflage should not make the character leave the fight (a lot of abuse), and the enemies move to the last known location (stalking).
- Choice of the character during a conversation, or at least the possibility to use skills of any character taking part in the discussion.
- The "simple" bestiary must not have scrolls, potion, elementary arrows, bombs etc (unless there is a logical explanation) and consequently increase the threat (more hp, more numerous, better weapons for the most dangerous etc.)

No difficult changes in my opinion to make the game almost perfect ^^

- Let's axe the create your dream boy/girl, that feels weird to me, or give an option to dream about cheese (asexuals exist)

- No more hobokilling, let's get some XP for peaceful solutions

- Make pick pocketing more difficult, you can nab some gold and a potion, but lifting an enchanted halberd off someone is weird and OP, even more so when you can steal their entire inventory of weapons

- Ranger beast companions, need balanced, bear and spider should be able to climb, let us name them and get immersive ways to heal them rather then resummoning them

- UI warning for when you're going to break your own concentration with casting a new spell

- More voiced lines for player character

- I'd like to see what higher elevated characters are walking on

- Should only be able to see enemies in character's LOS. Make like a another sight cone similar to stealth, but bigger? Maybe a stealth check to peek on other side of door?

- Easier DCs for casting spells please

- Make Intelligence a more useful ability. How about +1 to identify green items, +2 for blue, etc

*Travel*
Being able to travel with area transitions while one or many party members are on the other side of the map is very immersion breaking and incredibly cheesy (no the good kind of cheese).

*Trade*
- Why have a "mark as wares" option if you can't sell all/set balance with wares (hopefully I just missed where the button is).
- I need to be able to split items when in sell mode. Preferably also make it so that you can toggle other party members inventories and open containers (you keep in your inventory) to sell the stuff you got inside.

*Companions*
- Should be possible to manage them a bit better. Tell them to follow, stay, turn AI off entirely. Alternative lock party order for easier disconnects/reconnect + dis-/reconnect full party for tactical situations or trap areas.

*Combat*
- There is no way to force quit combat despite enemies being very far away. Should be a way to try and force quite combat (shift+space?) and let the game check if it's reasonable.

*Gear/lore*
- Finding surface gear on all live drows is super weird. Also teh fact that drow gear doesn't disintegrate (no idea about 5e rules affecting, but weird due to how it worked in BG2).

*Quest log*
- Why can I not scroll down using my mouse wheel?

Flanking is an optional rule in the DMG. It makes totem barbarians and rogues overpowered because they can claim advantage just by setting up a flank. You also get a really silly conga line fight that looks nothing like a real fight. I tried this rule whilst DMing tabletop and it ruined the game.

Flanking works in Pathfinder and 3.5 D&D because there are other rules that interact with it and balance it out. When you just slap it on top of D&D5 you ignore the fact that lots of classes have abilities that get a green light only when they get advantage.

Listen, I understand that there is a huge difference between how you, the DM, or you, the Player, interpret the Rules As Written. I understand that the game revolves around the fact that there are Rules As Written (RAW) and rules that have been modified, or homebrewed, or whatever name you want to give it. Since you brought up surface areas, lets work with that. Lets take Firebolt, a cantrip available to sorcerers and wizards.

Firebolt BG3
Cast Time 1 Action
Range 18m
Damage 1d6
Surface Damage 1d4
Total damage 2-10

Firebolt 5e
Cast Time 1 Action
Range 120m
Damage 1d10 @ lvl1
2d10 @ lvl 5
3d10 @ lvl 11
4d10 @ lvl 17

Why such a big change? Is range truly that powerful? is a 1d10 cantrip too OP? I don't understand the reasons behind the changes, which makes them feel arbitrary and irritating. The thing is, this IS and early alpha, and we are here TO give our feedback. That's what we're going to do, and the fact that we could create a mod that does this, while true, misses the point of participation in an Early Alpha. If all you want to do is play the game, I would really say come back in a few months. We want to help shape the game to be the experience we all truly want out of it.

It's perfectly fine if you don't care for rules lawyers, and if that is the case, I invite you to stop playing video games as a whole. I guarantee that the MOST ANAL rules lawyer I've ever run into, the most power mad, seemingly arbitrary rules lawyers I've ever had the pleasure of interacting with is a computer. It doesn't even give you the option to fight it's decision, it just happens. That's why we're here, to expand on issues we find in the game, to make the experience as a whole better, WITHOUT needing to download mods in a game to insure it's in a state that we want.

Hey, I've created a list on things I think should be improved, I played DOS2 for like 600hrs and found some things that are annoying in this game too, so maybe developers can take a look at it. I apologize before hand if i make any mistake, english is not my main language.

Now, to the recommendations:


—Let weapons and other items stack stack, on my personal experience the inventory was a complete disaster, having 10 of each weapon, herbs, mugs and plates taking 1 inventory space each and going crazy trying to find something in particular.

—Also, some kind of indicator towards what items are usefull for crafting and what not would be a nice feature. I have serious problems and i pick up every thing i see, never knowing what to dump and what to sell or save.

—Character bodies turning into tents and flying around when killed. This is kinda obvious and hilarious but it's nice to include.

—Companions follow distance and path taking, specially when switching between them. I had some issues while switching between characters and one or two of them started running around like crazy, sometimes stepping on fire, vines or triggering some combat/event.

—Equipping from looting is not currently working, you just pick up the weapon/armor withouth equipping it if you are already using something that takes the same slot.

—I have experienced dice rolls where i needed to get a 13 to success and got a 14 and failed. Some other times i needed an 11, got a 10 and passed, idk what was wrong but maybe some weird interaction going between dice rolls, guidance, friends and thaumaturgy. Or simply some weird programmation

—While talking to an NPC you attacked you can switch characters and start attacking it until it's dead and he will not react. you could have 3 people starting conversation at the same time getting everyone to 1-3 hp with a 4th character and then killing one of them to start combat. So... yeah, DOS2 had this very similar problem where you would speak to the boss and kill his minions while he was stuck on conversation to cheese some of the most hard encounters.

—NPC dialog is character based, so if you failed a skill check that doesn't trigger a combat you can switch character and retry. This feels kinda weird, like... Didn't we have this conversation already?

—Magic users feel weak compared to non-magical, I was using a full magical party until i switched gale for lae'zel to be surprised by the crazy amount of hits she landed and the damage she dealt with a simple greatsword compared to what Gale did.

— Also it feels like every NPC is super boosted while doing salvations, I found it incredibly frustrating to cast 5 spells that required salvation and every time 4 of them got saved. This was specially unfun when casting lvl 2 spells.

—Shared trading prices between characters plz. It's annoying to switch 100 items between character just so the one with high charisma can sell at a higher price.

—Improve loading screens; and general loading. Sadly I don't use an SDD, but i have an entire HDD dedicated for games and still my game stutters a lot and takes way too long to load games. But curiously loads between maps work very nicely.

It's like no one has played actual RPGs or Baldur's Gate before. It really sounds like you should just play WoW or something by the rest of your post too lol

I haven't had a chance to re-read through the thread. Has anyone brought up the lack of impact our decisions make? There was a lot of talk leading up to the game about how much our decisions would impact the game, but so far it seems like our decisions really mean very little. In the end, it all comes back to the same result more or less. We need more ramifications for our decisions.

Current biggest gripe - tiefling hair. Other races get like, 26 options. Why are tiefling girls so mistreated? Horns don't stop you having glorious locks. Let that hair LOOSE.

And while you're at it, why not give us coloured horns. I mean, it's stylish, right? Maybe get it to match the tattoo colour if there aren't enough slider fields?