Baldur's Gate 3 News
In the latest Baldur’s Gate 3 News, Swen Vincke in an interview with Dropped Frames, would reveal a myriad of updates on the upcoming Early Access, scheduled for September 30th. It was confirmed that everyone will speak in common language, allowing characters to interact with all other NPC’s, as there would have been too many permutations otherwise.
The EA will have a base party of four, but that does not include followers. Swen would draw reference to some of the differences present in BG3 compared to D&D. For example, a Firebolt will do 1D6 damage instead of 1D10, but in BG3 will also have surface damage.
On the topic of a lone wolf playstyle, somewhat similar to DOS2, it will not be available for EA, but might come later, as it is something currently being worked upon. For completionist players, it was confirmed it will not be possible to do everything in one playthrough.
There will be significant decisions made in the game, that will effectively lock certain paths. Swen commented that due to the nature of early access, its best to try things you might not necessarily do normally. It was also confirmed that the companions available for EA will either by evil or neutral aligned.
Perhaps as encouragement to try an evil playstyle. Originally a level cap of ten was announced, however based on feedback, the consensus was that levelling required greater acceleration. Swen confirmed they intend to increase this. The game definitely will not be reaching the godlike experience of level 20.
Iron Man and permanent death modes are currently under consideration. There will be a mechanic to allow characters to respec. But it will not be available at the beginning of early access. There will be references and returning characters from BG2. Modding support will be available.
For example, while the game currently focuses on a four character party, it can be modded to accommodate 6 characters, similar to the previous BG games. In the P&P game, there is a rule that Dungeon Masters can use to reward you for playing your character in a way that is true to their personality traits, ideals, bond and flaws.
There will be a similar mechanic in BG3, that players can use to allow them to improve their chances during dice rolls. In an interview with pcgamer, it was confirmed by Michael Douse, Larian’s director of publishing, that BG3 EA will be $60. Michael commented that its best to think of Early access as something akin to a playable pre-order.
If people look back at the history of DOS2, there is a lot of reciprocity. Larian enjoy having a transparent, consistent, intelligent conversation with their players, and cites the example of the free Gift Bag DLC’s and Definitive Edition updates that were released for free.
Michael pointed out that Larian support their players long into EA, long after launch, and long into the games life-span. Finally, Larian will be doing Q&A’s with the community in the future. Therefore, if you have any burning questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section, and I will see if I can pass them on for consideration.
