|
|
Post by salaman on Aug 21, 2023 11:03:24 GMT
I think I'm done with Act 1, some confusion last night as the quicksave I loaded was missing the last 30 minutes or so of progress I made on Saturday.
I think I have everything sorted now. Just hit level 6 as well, so I'll give Act 2 another try whenever I get a chance to play this week.
|
|
|
|
Post by skalpadda on Aug 21, 2023 11:18:46 GMT
Act 3 is somewhat overwhelming, there's a lot going on, and your options are pretty open ended, throw in some bugs and it gets a bit confusing and easy to lose track of what you should be doing. I think the fact some missions don't actually tell you what to do (a good thing for some/confusing for others). I had to check online for a clue about what to do next in one early Act 3 mission as it just sorta...stopped. No insight as to what I was looking for. It was just assumed I knew what needed to search for. Again, some players will enjoy this - I just find it a bit annoying. I've been a bit annoyed at some quests that tell you to do things you can't do yet. For example a quest stage that says "talk to the tieflings" and trying to find Mol in Act 2, neither of which you can actually complete until Act 3. I spent a good while looking for people who weren't there. |
|
|
|
Post by Duffking on Aug 21, 2023 11:44:02 GMT
I thought the latter of those got a quest update. Mine did, it said something like "they must have gotten out and we should look for them in Baldur's Gate". I notice that sometimes those updates are just straight wrong though, in my act 2 ending (seriously, big act 2 spoilers here) Shadowheart spared the nightsong and abandoned shar, but at least some of the quest updates suggest she killed the nightsong |
|
kal
Full Member
Posts: 8,309
|
Post by kal on Aug 21, 2023 11:46:49 GMT
So again, new to this kind of thing so apologies for noobie questions.
The thing I’m really struggling with is the party side of things. There’s enough to be thinking about in terms of skills and attributes and items with my main guy, but am I really supposed to be keeping track of all of them? It just seems SO much to manage. I’m honestly completely overwhelmed.
|
|
ekz
New Member
O_o
Posts: 696
|
Post by ekz on Aug 21, 2023 11:50:02 GMT
I'm new also. I've just been going with whatever sounds good/convenient.
I think the composition has had more of a direct impact than min/maxing (so far..)
|
|
|
|
Post by ryder35 on Aug 21, 2023 12:28:58 GMT
LOL it is funny how I take for granted almost 50 years of immersion in d&d. it must be pretty confusing for someone new to it. Mind you, at least it is only a party of 4 unlike earlier games which had 6
|
|
|
|
Post by skalpadda on Aug 21, 2023 12:36:35 GMT
I thought the latter of those got a quest update. Mine did, it said something like "they must have gotten out and we should look for them in Baldur's Gate". After I had ended the act I was told that, yes. The other rescue quests have to be done either before you do the thing in the Shar temple or in the very last dungeon, so I was worried I'd just missed that one person somewhere. So again, new to this kind of thing so apologies for noobie questions. The thing I’m really struggling with is the party side of things. There’s enough to be thinking about in terms of skills and attributes and items with my main guy, but am I really supposed to be keeping track of all of them? It just seems SO much to manage. I’m honestly completely overwhelmed. It is a lot to manage, but also don't worry too much; You don't have to learn everything and get everything right immediately. The game frankly doesn't do a great job of explaining mechanics if you're not already familiar with DnD (or similar PnP systems). I've played quite a lot of (older versions of) DnD and I'm not always sure how everything works. If it's too much trying to equip and manage all of them just pick three companions and use those all the time. You probably want Shadowheart in your party unless you're a cleric yourself because clerics are stupidly powerful and will make everything easier. If you're not sure if a piece of gear is good or for whom it's best just try it or put it in camp and figure it out later. The only thing you should never do is give characters armour or weapons that they're not proficient with (it will say on the inventory screen if they're not proficient). When it comes to choosing spells and such at level up, just pick things that seem fun or useful and try them out to see if you like them. You can change prepared spells out, so it's not a big deal. Press Tab and go to the spells tab for caster characters and you can change most of them as long as you're out of combat. If you want easy Feat selection (you get one at lvl 4 and a couple more times), just take the one that gives you two ability points and put them in the character's main stat (marked by a star) until they have 20 points. This is either the best or at least a good way of spending every character's first two feats.
A slightly unintuitive thing about DnD is that it's the "modifier" that matters for ability points rather than the points themselves and the modifier goes up every 2 points. So having 17 points isn't better than having 16, but having 18 is.
You can always respec at Withers in your camp if you're not happy with some choice. It's okay to drop the difficulty if you get stuck. |
|
|
|
Post by Chopsen on Aug 21, 2023 12:38:35 GMT
"Keep track" how?
Like inevtory and stuff? You'll find there aren't *that* many options once you've kitted them out once.
Skills also. Most of the time you might not actually get any new skills or spells on levelling up, and it doesn't happen that often.
Combat: yeah you have to control them yourself.
Quests and stories are there if you want them. They're mostly optional.
Having said that, I totally respec'd Gale last night because I ballsed up the build. But I learned that from the fights.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chopsen on Aug 21, 2023 12:40:55 GMT
Ah yeah fuck caring about anybody outside my immediate party. It's me Shadowheart and Gale. That Gethraki pain in the arse as well but half thinking of nmbinning her for one of Withers' mates.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bill in the rain on Aug 21, 2023 12:42:41 GMT
Act 3 is somewhat overwhelming, there's a lot going on, and your options are pretty open ended, throw in some bugs and it gets a bit confusing and easy to lose track of what you should be doing. Seems traditional. Same thing happened to me when I reached Baldur's Gate in BG1, so I never got any further. |
|
|
|
Post by Wrongshui on Aug 21, 2023 12:46:33 GMT
Once you get to Act 3 you should do about 5 long rests, certain events only happen when your napping, and multiple events don't fire in one night and theres a bit of a queue at that point. You can just do them without using supplies to get everything caught up.
|
|
|
|
Post by skalpadda on Aug 21, 2023 13:16:30 GMT
Is anyone getting much use out of alchemy? I have tonnes of ingredients, but there are only have 3 potions and 3 elixirs I can make in the alchemy interface. I'm sure it's said that I've learned more when picking up ingredients and reading recipes but they're not there. Either it's bugged or I'm missing something. Also there was a greater healing potion recipe in Last Light Inn, but I couldn't read it because it was "unreachable". Couldn't even teleport it from where it was. Seems glitched.
Edit: OH NEVERMIND. Turns out you've "learned" the recipe, but then you actually need to break down the ingredients to actually LEARN it and have it show up in the alchemy interface. Goddamnit.
Guess I know what I'll be doing for the next half hour or so...
|
|
|
|
Post by Duffking on Aug 21, 2023 16:57:34 GMT
Is anyone getting much use out of alchemy? I have tonnes of ingredients, but there are only have 3 potions and 3 elixirs I can make in the alchemy interface. I'm sure it's said that I've learned more when picking up ingredients and reading recipes but they're not there. Either it's bugged or I'm missing something. Also there was a greater healing potion recipe in Last Light Inn, but I couldn't read it because it was "unreachable". Couldn't even teleport it from where it was. Seems glitched.
Edit: OH NEVERMIND. Turns out you've "learned" the recipe, but then you actually need to break down the ingredients to actually LEARN it and have it show up in the alchemy interface. Goddamnit.
Guess I know what I'll be doing for the next half hour or so...
There's an "extract all" button on the alchemy screen. That'll turn all your rando ingredients into the "true" ingredient they turn into. |
|
|
|
Post by skalpadda on Aug 21, 2023 17:53:47 GMT
Yeah I've just been throwing all ingredients into a separate bag in my camp stash at regular intervals and not really thought about alchemy until now as it hasn't been needed. The system is way too unnecessarily convoluted and all the faffing about serves no purpose.
I'd have put a separate alchemy stash in camp that you can send things to from the world and the alchemy UI should be able to pull directly out of it when you're there. No messing around with intermediate products either - just let the player craft from raw ingredients.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chopsen on Aug 21, 2023 17:56:39 GMT
That's generally how I feel about crafting systems in all RPGs. Really cannot be arsed.
|
|
zephro
Junior Member
Posts: 3,006
Member is Online
|
Post by zephro on Aug 21, 2023 18:08:48 GMT
I've found min/maxing to basically be pointless, which is a good thing, I've got a special place reserved in hell for tabletop min/maxers. So party composition I've gone entirely vibes based and not worried about synergies between people, I just take my favourite buds out and improv any situation I get myself into. Helps that I'm a bard so can cover quite a lot of bases even if not with the full power of a specialist. Good feats: generally compensate for any issues that are occurring in combat. Mobility = move faster, get stuck in difficult terrain less. Alert = +5 to initiative, if one of your characters always ends up last on initiative and gets creamed. War Caster = better saves on Concentration checks for long running spells, almost a must. Tough = extra hps, good for a tank. Any of the X Master ones for being better with a set of weapons or armour, like dual wielding. Don't take them if they grant proficiency you already have. But getting Karlach some Medium armour proficiency does not harm anything. E.g. your tank isn't lasting as long as you'd like, Tough. You need your lad with the big sword to get up in people's faces faster, Mobility. Etc. ] I've been a bit annoyed at some quests that tell you to do things you can't do yet. For example a quest stage that says "talk to the tieflings" and trying to find Mol in Act 2, neither of which you can actually complete until Act 3. I spent a good while looking for people who weren't there. I've got the hang of this by just leaving stuff to resolve itself or missing things. Hit the level cap a few days ago, still not finished and after the first area I haven't once attempted to clean sweep my journal or a map. I just switched the completionist bit of my brain off. |
|
askew
Full Member
Posts: 6,802
|
Post by askew on Aug 21, 2023 20:00:16 GMT
The VO audio in this is bit shite, isn't it? I met Astarion outdoors and he's bloody reverbing.
|
|
Frog
Full Member
Posts: 7,274
|
Post by Frog on Aug 21, 2023 20:06:58 GMT
It's completely fine on both of mine, do you have Dolby Atmos on?
|
|
|
|
Post by gibroon on Aug 21, 2023 21:32:28 GMT
I think I'm going to sub Astarion out for a particular fight in act 2 as he's just not punchy enough. I've not found a decent bow yet which I find surprising.
|
|
|
|
Post by Chopsen on Aug 21, 2023 21:43:14 GMT
You shut your dirty whore mouth about my boy Astarion
|
|
|
|
Post by skalpadda on Aug 21, 2023 22:29:31 GMT
Being a druid in the city is surprisingly neat. Raven form means you can fly around the rooftops and scout and spy as much as you want. It's also allowed me to bypass some stuff by just flying around and activating a waypoint and then teleport the rest of the party in. Don't think I've seen that kind of thing in an RPG before. I've got the hang of this by just leaving stuff to resolve itself or missing things. Hit the level cap a few days ago, still not finished and after the first area I haven't once attempted to clean sweep my journal or a map. I just switched the completionist bit of my brain off. I'm often too much of a completionist, but in this case it's more that I'm actually invested and don't want to abandon the NPCs in question. |
|
|
|
Post by 😎 on Aug 21, 2023 23:35:37 GMT
Adding the disclaimer that several other companions I managed to miss or get murdered before getting them, Lae’zel is one of my best companions. Her extra attack and high strength makes her quite OP with the right weapon, and combined with her extra action race ability she can easily hit in triple figures per round. I also have her pimped out with some magic missile stuff that can be doubled with extra rounds, so she can wail on a big bad while clearing out crowds, perfect for some of the shadow realm encounters where you get a million 1pt enemies swarming around some powerful bastards.
|
|
|
|
Post by skalpadda on Aug 22, 2023 1:00:31 GMT
perfect for some of the shadow realm encounters where you get a million 1pt enemies swarming around some powerful bastards. Shadowheart with Spirit Guardians out and Dash on goes "brrrrrr" on pesky adds. Even funnier in most of Act 2 if you flip on Turn Undead so they're trying to run away from her at half speed and unable to do anything. She was frequently my top damage dealer in that whole act.
Clerics are silly.  |
|
MolarAm🔵
Full Member
Bad at games
Posts: 6,849
Member is Online
|
Post by MolarAm🔵 on Aug 22, 2023 1:14:59 GMT
I thought I was done with act 1, then I found the forge. ;_;
|
|
ekz
New Member
O_o
Posts: 696
|
Post by ekz on Aug 22, 2023 3:46:01 GMT
Have switched to Vulkan in Act 2 because crashes, a LOT of slowdowns, freezes, hangs etc. Saving and reloading is no longer killing my PC, which is nice as it was tanking it off a cliff every. fucking. time.
Act 1 was smooth on the settings my system defaulted to (everything high/ultra, no dlss etc) but it dove off a fucking cliff towards the end of act 1 and especially in 2, even when I dropped everything to medium + dlss.
It's really been fucking with the experience, which is a shame because I've never been so consumed with a game before. I have no idea really what I'm doing at any point, really, especially in combat BUT... My God it's been enthralling.
Have chucked the gith back in my party for now because I preferred her in combat over Karlach but she's annoying the shit out of me.
|
|
Frog
Full Member
Posts: 7,274
|
Post by Frog on Aug 22, 2023 4:51:43 GMT
|
|
ekz
New Member
O_o
Posts: 696
|
Post by ekz on Aug 22, 2023 5:12:13 GMT
I'm playing as Astarion at the moment so I'm going to give that a whirl Frog. I went thief and it's been pretty underwhelming so far.
I made it to the lighthouse inn at level 5 and bumped into a bit of a bother, so I've gone back to take the mountain pass so I can hopefully gain a level or 2 before I try to proceed through there again.
|
|
MolarAm🔵
Full Member
Bad at games
Posts: 6,849
Member is Online
|
Post by MolarAm🔵 on Aug 22, 2023 6:09:28 GMT
I haven't done anything with Astarion. I think I'll save him for an evil playthrough.
|
|
|
|
Post by gibroon on Aug 22, 2023 7:34:45 GMT
You shut your dirty whore mouth about my boy Astarion I'll maybe respec the lad as he is definitely handy for some things. This is probably my problem as I have not really respecced anyone other than my main. Looking at the those builds, I have missed a trick or two for sure. |
|
MolarAm🔵
Full Member
Bad at games
Posts: 6,849
Member is Online
|
Post by MolarAm🔵 on Aug 22, 2023 7:38:56 GMT
Honesty I'm not even planning to multiclass for the first playthrough. I'm sure there are builds that work better for the various characters, but I want to try it once with their "natural" class and see how it goes.
|
|
