As promised, the happy Belgians from Larian Studios treated us to a Panel From Hell III really special to present the novelties of Patch 5 of the early access of Baldur's Gate III.
A very special live event indeed because, contrary to what we could expect, Larian Studios had concocted a little surprise for us in the grounds of the Gravensteen castle in Ghent, Belgium. Virtually no gameplay was presented during this nearly two-hour live: instead, the developers had fun playing a kind of Escape Game (deadly in every sense of the word) with the Twitch chat at the orders. A wacky idea as only Larian has the secret, but which was nonetheless rich in information on what actually happens in game, if all goes well, on July 13th.
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A Patch 5 focusing on new features
Unsurprisingly, Baldur's Gate III Early Access Patch 5 will not welcome any new classes or races. The Larian Studios team is saving that goodness for future reveals. Some of them may not make their entry during early access, but rather when the game is released, in order to keep a few surprises for the occasion.
During the team's wanderings, we thus discovered the future functionalities planned for this famous Patch 5. First, an active dice roll interface: during a dialogue or an action outside of combat, this new interface will appear in order to clearly know the bonuses or penalties available to us during a die roll. It will thus be possible to cast spells to increase our chances of success, through our character or a companion.
And still on the character side, the choice of his background or his profession during creation will now have a real impact: if an action in game respects it, an inspiration point, which will allow us to re-roll a dice, will be granted to us. If a character already has his maximum inspiration points, experience points will be granted instead, knowing however that the maximum level will still be maintained at 4 for the moment. It will also be possible to acquire points inspiration for our companions when our actions resonate with them in a positive way.
These will also benefit from new lines of dialogue when we control them. Called “point and click reactions”, these will be contextual reactions from our companions to actions such as moving normally or stealthily, or even entering a new, previously unknown place. Over 800 new lines of dialogue have been recorded as a result, and this is of course just the tip of the iceberg, as Early Access only covers the first act of the game.
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Change on the tactical part
Another major novelty presented during this Panel From Hell III: a complete revision of the short and long rest systems. Previously, the first option was almost never used, the long rest being much more effective without any major disadvantage, but breaking the immersion. Unthinkable indeed to go to sleep eight hours after each fight of ten minutes.
Thus, the long rest will now require the use of provisions gathered during exploration in order to determine its effectiveness. If enough rations have been used, a long rest will restore all hit points and, if any, spell slots to the party. On the other hand, if resources are missing during the long rest, it will have a lesser effect and will only restore part of the missing hit points and spell slots. Another element that greatly improves immersion: the setting in which the long rest will be carried out will adapt. Resting in a cave will therefore change the surroundings of the camp and the cutscenes taking place there will change accordingly.
The fights will also be significantly modified on the occasion of this Patch 5: a new action, the Disengagement, will appear, instead of the Jump action which previously had this double role. Those wishing to play a pacifist game can also activate the option of non-lethal attacks in order to only knock out their opponents. The artificial intelligence of the enemies should also be revised upwards.
Finally, to make the fights more readable, the spells of each class will have their own visual effects. It will also be possible at any time to end the concentration of a spell, which previously could only be interrupted by casting another similar spell.
If the new features are legion and very appreciable to make the overall experience even better, Swen Vincke and his fine team have still left us a few surprises that it will be up to us to discover at the launch of Patch 5, expected hopefully on the 13th. July to come.
