The latest patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 was supposed to be released in closed beta yesterday, but Larian decided to give it a little more time in the oven due to bugs. Namely, a bug that caused passive throws – like those that detect traps – to stop working.
Luckily, if you haven’t signed up for the beta yet, you now have more time to sign up. Scroll down a bit to RPG Steam Page and click the “Request Access” button.
Another advantage is that they took the opportunity to start a blog dangling the details of tempting changes like a delicious piece of soap on a string. Wait. What? No. Soap is not for eating, say the spoilsport Larians. As such, they’ve made some ablution items more idiot-proof. “We’ve noticed that some of you are hiccupping, so the act of washing yourself with soap and sponges is now called ‘Use’ instead of ‘Consume.’”
All told, Patch 7 offers “over 1,000 fixes and improvements,” and the blog itself details only a select few highlights. The most notable features are additional bad ending cutscenes, split-screen fixes, and a modding toolkit. Beyond that, here are a few personal choices. (I say “choices” — I’d rather Larian quit the game and go to the Milky Way and take a nap so I can start a novel game.)
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Honor Mode Systems – the Ultra-Hard Ox Glove with a single save – will now be available to choose from in Custom Games. As for the details, the hobgobbo boss Dror Ragzlin will now attempt to befriend the spider cave dwellers with a novel spell called Arachnid Compulsion if you happen to KO him.
For your companions, Karlach “will no longer comb the shaved side of his head,” and Astarion can occasionally do something in camp besides read books. If you’re too busy being extremely evil to care about friendship, it’ll be more Dark Urge reactivity dialogue and narrator lines. But I’ve already beaten a Dark Urge game! I groan before realizing I didn’t make a Dark Urge game that turned into a good game. Or Dark Urge, who deliberately tries to make Minsc’s life as miserable as possible. Larian plz.
There’s also some facilitate in the final battle. I can understand if someone might be a little bored with the “alliances you’ve made throughout your adventure, join the big dramatic fight later” approach, but I’m not sure if anyone has yet come up with a better solution that lets you monetize your side trips in a reactive and satisfying way? Either way, I’m a fan. Now the Kuo-Toa fish people can join in (unless they all died in Act I), and the Gondians throw in a solid Steel Watcher.
Some performance optimizations are also coming. “This will have a more noticeable impact on areas with a lot of NPCs (like Lower City) and will reduce peak memory usage when loading levels for the first time,” the blog post reads. “This will also be noticeable when managing large amounts of loot (like moving everything from a camp chest to your character’s inventory).”
Finally, and worst of all, you will no longer be able to cheat Shar’s Leap Of Faith trial by “simply clicking on the last platform and letting your character find his way there.” Boo. Boo…
There’s no word on when the patch will be available for everyone, but as mentioned, you can sign up for the beta on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam page . I’m seriously thinking about Larian calming down so I can finally play the game again, but it’s certainly impressive that the game is still getting such significant updates, especially since they’re currently working on two more games.
