Baldur's Gate 3 News

Welcome back for the latest Baldur’s Gate 3 News! The date for Early Access has been confirmed as September 30th. Early access will allow players to go through Act 1 of the game, and it is anticipated the game will be in EA for around one year. It will be approximately 25 hours of self-contained content, with 6 player classes, although more races and subraces will be added in due course.

5 origin characters will be available to recruit but not play although custom characters will be present. System requirements are currently on screen. Features will be added to Early Access throughout its duration, so expect a myriad of updates over the next year.

The level cap for EA will be level 4, so effectively apprentice adventurers, which for the uninitiated, is very decent for D&D 5E, although the threats they face will be relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Typically, in D&D, the max level is 20, which is almost godlike, where the order of the multiverse might hang in the balance depending on what the characters do.

Many interesting details were revealed in the Panel from Hell, including that the game will start in Avernus. Avernus is the first level of the Nine Hells of Baator, and serves as the front line of the great clash between the forces of chaos and law known as the Blood War.

Demons from the Abyss use the River Styx to enter Avernus, where they hurl themselves against infernal legions of devils. It was confirmed that the city Elturel was saved and returned to the Material Plane. This will influence events the party could potentially face.

It was mentioned that the players will encounter a landshark, also known as a Bulette, . Such creatures are considered to be very dangerous. Described as irascible and rapacious, bulettes fear no other creature, and will attack with no regard for superior numbers or strength.

Swen commented that the number of options available to the player via D&D mechanics, will mean the amount of freedom will be on another level compared to DOS2. In most RPG’s and even the previous BG games, the Evil path was not as rewarding as the Hero path so to speak.

This will not be the case in BG3. Alternate playstyles will not only be viable, but actively encouraged. Swen would comment that one of the main themes of the game is trust, so he believes players should try out betraying everyone, for some unique outcomes and possibilities.

The game can become very Dark, if you wish to embrace it. On the topic of items, Swen revealed that the game will have a mix of new items as well as some classics from the D&D books. Regular items will be randomized, while unique items will have specific locations.

If you watched my gameplay of Lae’zel interacting with the Intellect Devourer, the narrators voice might sound familiar. Voice Actress, Amelia Tyler, who was the VA for Malady in Divinity Original Sin 2, dropped a very nice hint that its probably her.