Baldur's Gate 3

[neon junco]

For spells yes but the ground effects

Like throwing an ice grenade on water

[hexed inlet]

I believe that still rolls vs your spell dc

[neon junco]

Interesting, so if you don't have spell DC does it just go to minimum like 8?

[hexed inlet]

I would expect it to use whatever is your highest spellcasting stat to generate a dc

it also might just take int

but everyone has a spell dc

[neon junco]

In 5e iirc it's 8 plus profiency plus spell mod, which if you don't have a modifier it's just 8 plus proficiency, no clue on bg3 they do things different

Scrolls can be used by anyone regardless of spellslots or spellcasting abilities and potions are bonus actions is a big change from 5e

[rich plover]

Bg3 gives every class a default difficulty class based on some stat, but I think it's kind of hidden for non-casters

[simple spire]

It is

It’s Int for Fighters and Rogues

[neon junco]

Martial classes it's based on the STR or DEX of your weapon depending on type for class DC

[simple spire]

And iirc Cha for the rest?

[neon junco]

I don't think class DC is used for spells if you're not arcane subclasses though.

[simple spire]

Wis for Monk maybe?

[neon junco]

4 elements monk use wisdom as their spellcasting modifier, but the other monk skills I believe are class DC

Which would basically be the same

But open hand your spellcasting DC and class DC for monk actions would be different

[simple spire]

I’m specifically referring to item DCs and whatnot

[neon junco]

Like arrows? Those have static DCs regardless of the stat of the user

[simple spire]

Scrolls

Or spells cast through items

Or etc

It’s based on the last class you took a level in

All mental scores

[neon junco]

That one is tricky, it's generally spellcasting DC of the last class, but some specific ones are static or use class DC

Class or subclass specific items that let you cast a spell on a non caster usually uses class DC specifically

[simple spire]

Right, what I’m saying is that non-casting classes have a spellcasting DC

Secretly

[neon junco]

Isn't it 8 + proficiency + spellcasting mod (being 0)

Or is that 5e only

[simple spire]

In BG3 non-casting classes have a spellcasting mod that varies based on class

Int for fighters and rogues

Charisma for barbarians

Wisdom for monks

Int for fighters and rogues matches their spellcasting subclasses

[dusky bear]

ahhh sorry forgot to answer

thanks everyone for the feedback!

imma try tactician

[simple spire]

The hardest part will be early on

[dusky bear]

The thing i liked the most in dnd was to make builds

Sadly the dm i had really hated it so they punished me for it

[dusky bear]

@simple spire help me pick class friend

i dont know what to pick...

i dont know if i wanna do a cleric again or a melee class

i think im going half orc if i go melee

maybe i could go ranger ?

what's the potential like on ranger?

[simple spire]

Ranger is way better than in tabletop

I had a lot of fun with a paladin/bard

[dusky bear]

right....is it possible to change classes mid game btw?

[simple spire]

Yes

Respec is extremely inexpensive

100 gold

[dusky bear]

yay

now for the race i imagine it doesnt matter a WHOLE lot but we min maxing here which one of the races matches best with ranger on your opinion?

i think i like wood elf

[simple spire]

So bearing in mind that you can't respec race

Wood elf is good for basically everything due to higher movement speed

[dusky bear]

right right.....which stats should i focus? i imagine dexterity is one of the most important

[soft tundra]

Wood Elf is nice for movement, High Elf is nice for grabbing Light/Ray of Frost/Firebolt, half-orc is nice for the ability to take a beating, and tiefling/dragonborns grant nice resistances that come up a lot in game

[simple spire]

Githyanki is Human But Better

[soft tundra]

Ranger also gets some elemental resistances as you level up, so you can really mix/match some funny options

[simple spire]

Wait sorry wrong reply

Yeah ranger can have cold and fire resistance from class

[dusky bear]

from here yeah, pretty self explanatory

[simple spire]

For stats it's going to depend on what weapons you want to use

I question the utility of high elf cantrips on anyone who isn't already a caster

[soft tundra]

blue/bronze dragonborn ranger my beloved <3

[simple spire]

Because of the way DCs work

[soft tundra]

putting out a fire with Ray of Frost or just having Light always is really nice

[dusky bear]

i was thinking of going ranged...just because there's a lot of melee buddies at the start

[simple spire]

When does light even matter aside from ||the first ten minutes of act 2||?

[dusky bear]

almost read the spoiler

[soft tundra]

I feel like im in dark caves all the time

[severe robin]

If you have a human or githyanki in the party

[soft tundra]

I was always blasting Light

i cant imagine not using light sources in bg3

[severe robin]

Or dragonborn

[soft tundra]

i wanted to be able to see what was in my video game and pass checks lol

[simple spire]

I'm pretty sure it doesn't help you pass checks

[dusky bear]

i think i'll go wood elf....i like the idea of being a quick ranged lad

[soft tundra]

I just go by tabletop rules since thats rewarded me thus far in bg3

[dusky bear]

also how's this for stats? i wanna use bows and other ranged weapons

[soft tundra]

I do know it affects your penalties to hit in the dark

[simple spire]

It's fine, but you could drop Int or Charisma to bump Con to 14

I would recommend it, even

[dusky bear]

will do

is str fine at 12? i imagine i wont use it a whole lot either

[simple spire]

Int probably

12 will be fine

[soft tundra]

Strength helps with your parkour, which will help your archery-ing

[simple spire]

Honestly like ... strictly speaking as an archer you kind of only need two stats

Dex and Con

But strength has some miscellaneous benefits

[soft tundra]

Jumping in bg3 is really good

[simple spire]

Carrying more stuff and jumping are both of value for out-of-combat OH WAIT

ACTUALLY

[dusky bear]

that's a really good point

[simple spire]

Okay one of the best bows in the game

Which is available in Act 1

Adds your Strength mod to damage

Which incentivizes having a good Strength

[soft tundra]

you can always mess with your stats later

[simple spire]

Yeah

That's the big thing like

Respec is extremely trivial

[soft tundra]

The game will also, over the course of 3 acts, give you a lot of stat-changing/enhancing items!

so dont feel trapped with your stats

[dusky bear]

True

Maybe i start with dex until i get said bow?

[simple spire]

You'll want Dex primary, strength secondary for said bow, most likely

Since you still want to be able to like ... hit

And dex also adds to damage

The big thing is that you get both

[dusky bear]

Got it

[simple spire]

Also there are definitely other bows worth using eventually

[soft tundra]

even without bows, theres so many neat arrows

being an archer with a nice inventory of arrows feels cool

[dusky bear]

I'll go with this for now

not playing gam today tho i wanna go eep

and for natural explorer idk i can respec that too i think so no big deal

i`ll go poison dmg i guess

and bounty hunter for favoured enemy

[neon junco]

Half elf is also human but better

[neon junco]

The dark vision outcast problem, everyone seess fine besides the human.

Which is wild Dragonborn don't either, dragons have great dark vision and they got none.

[soft tundra]

yeah, 5e dragonborn are an odd bunch

[dusky bear]

cant think of a name

[soft tundra]

Jarnathan

[dusky bear]

almost naming myself Tosspot

[dusky bear]

where that from?

[soft tundra]

the latest D&D movie haha

[dusky bear]

oooh

[soft tundra]

Tosspot is a nice one

[dusky bear]

i'm terrible with names

[soft tundra]

Tosspot Twinkletoes

[dusky bear]

Tosspot is just a British word for stupid

Tosspot Twinkletoes it is lmao

[simple spire]

Githyanki gets a bunch of useful spells (Jump and Misty Step), better vision, and uh ... the ability to choose an ability score, and suddenly be proficient in all its associated skills

Also sword and medium armor proficiencies

Also a bunch of items that get upgraded for being gith

[dusky bear]

insane

too late now tho

already a wood elf

[simple spire]

Wood elf is really good though

[dusky bear]

yay

[simple spire]

3 extra meters of speed is great

Oh, as a reminder: there are certain long-duration spells (like longstrider, speak with animals, and ... I swear there are others) that you can cast out of combat a rituals, meaning they don't cost spell slots

Longstrider in particular is notable because

3 more meters of speed

2?

Anyway more

[dusky bear]

i see

[neon junco]

Medium armor is big for casters

[simple spire]

Yep

[neon junco]

Very strong proficiency made better by bg3 having good easily available magic gear

[simple spire]

And good medium armor

It's really good for rogues, for instance, since there's medium armor that Dex-heavy characters will want as of Act 2

[neon junco]

The no dex limit med armor is wild

But I always found STR and heavy armor stronger

A lot of STR based weapons just have strong damage options and the effects on the armor are stronger for damage

I appreciate Larian for buffing STR via equipment so DEX wasn't the god stat, it still is a god stat but STR is now one too doing different things

[simple spire]

The big thing is GWM, really

Which you can't make up the difference for until Act 3

[neon junco]

Martial classes get quite a few options for items that provide advantage

Which offsets the penalty quite a bit combined with early access to like +1 and +2 magic weapons

[simple spire]

Yep

So many ways to have advantage at all times

And really, an atypically high attack bonus for 5e

BG3's accuracy is bounded, but it's less bounded

[neon junco]

It's sort of balanced by the encounters being more intense.

Like fighting the outside of ||the goblin camp|| is way over a normal 5e party that only has basic non magical gear and class features at level 4

Which is a bonus to me, I always felt 5e enemies were too much HP sponges

[simple spire]

Agreed

[dawn valley]

didn't start the stress test of patch 8 yet but like... swarmkeeper with jellyfish goes ahrd

[rich plover]

Flavor fail. Jellyfish should go squishy

[dusky bear]

I've decided to try out the gams without any mods for my first playthrough

Specially since updates break them

[dusky bear]

I dont wanna feel like im cheating

[soft tundra]

just go have fun!

[dusky bear]

u make a good argument maybe i add mods back in again

[hexed inlet]

I think the game works perfectly well without mods so you're probably best not thinking about them for a first run

[soft tundra]

yeah, ive never modded bg3 so i cant speak for it

[neon junco]

I have extensively to great degrees

I reccommend vanilla or a few QoL mods at most for a 1st play

[dusky bear]

right

[dusky bear]

i'm collecting every single explosive i can find

i'm planning to blow up the ||goblins at the temple's courtyard||

[austere hinge]

Haha, the big boom

[dusky bear]

i stole everything from the ilithid ship at the beggining of the game if it wasnt nailed to the ground i took it

combat is tough btw almost couldnt do the owlbear

i hope to find demon lady soon

not sure as to what would be an optimal party composition for me yet

[soft tundra]

owlbear can be rough if you beeline it

theres a few spikes in act 1 that'll catch you with your pants down if you arent getting a lot of your little side quests in

[neon junco]

Game doesn't scale encounters, whatever level they are is whatever they are

If you run into one above your level

[dusky bear]

got it

anyways i took down the owl bear

now i need to find me some poison to also poison the ||goblins||

i'm killing all of them

[simple spire]

There are some solid QoL mods but

I don’t think any content changes are necessary

[dusky bear]

alright

[dusky bear]

what do you want from me

@simple spire give me a hint

[simple spire]

What, with the question?

[dusky bear]

yeah "through knowledge comes atonement"

it`s telling me to investigate it but idk what to do really, tried putting stuff inside of it but it didnt give me nothing

[simple spire]

Wait where is this?

I’m not remembering this I thought it was the box with Withers in it

[dusky bear]

you know those catacombs near the grove in act 1?

[simple spire]

The ones where there’s a bunch of skellingtons that shoot ray of frost at you?

[dusky bear]

yeh

[simple spire]

Have you tried opening the sarcophagus? If it's the one I think it is, just do that

[dusky bear]

I did, there was some loot

[simple spire]

Oh then it's not the one I'm thinking of

[hexed inlet]

did you already meet withers

[dusky bear]

I think not

[soft tundra]

Opening it should have triggered a cutscene.

[neon junco]

iirc he disappears from the crypt if you progress enough without getting to him

He should pop up randomly

[simple spire]

Ah okay

[dusky bear]

so....i just wait for an event to trigger? @neon junco

[hexed inlet]

yeah he'll just show up on his own at some point

you don't need to go back to the sarcophagus

[dusky bear]

right

there's still an objective thingy marked there so that's why i thought i needed something there

[neon junco]

If you rest at camp enough he should show up randomly and the quest resolve

[dusky bear]

Aight

[rich plover]

is it based on # of rests or resolving the Grove quest?

[dusky bear]

@simple spire just to be safe...the bow you mentioned is not being sold by thre ||paladins of tyr|| is it? cause they dead

[hexed inlet]

nah it ain't

[dusky bear]

ok good

[simple spire]

The ||Zhents in the big cave|| sell it

[dusky bear]

hmm...dunno where that is

it`s not the one with the big mean ||gnolls|| is it?

[simple spire]

Nah

[dusky bear]

aight

i just stole a bunch of money

[hexed inlet]

fox thief emote please

[dusky bear]

[hexed inlet]

[dusky bear]

do i take this?

i took it

i have some fancy boots to go with it i`ll give it to githyanki lady

[simple spire]

For reference, spellsparkler is insanely top-tier

[dusky bear]

well lets see if i have a save that takes me back there

we min maxing in here

yes i do have a save

[simple spire]

Hence why I mentioned it

[dusky bear]

spellsparkler it is is it for gale btw? who uses this?

[simple spire]

Casters will get a kick out of it, and warlocks in particular can use it with Eldritch Blast

Very potent with magic missile as well

Oh and scorching ray

Anything multi-hit loves Spellsparkler

[dusky bear]

got it

[simple spire]

Scorching ray can be heavily optimized

[dusky bear]

I think im over prepared for the goblins

[simple spire]

Probably!

[dusky bear]

i hope to kill off the ogers so i can take that ||fancy artifact|| of theirs i hoping to have the goblins soften them up for me and then go in for the kill

i imagine that would go great with gale...even tho i imagine having him around must be quite expensive

what do you think of that idea gk?

@simple spire also for eldritch invocations....i was just thinking of putting all of em into eldritch blast....got anything to say regarding that idea?

devil sight does feel tempting tho even if situational

[simple spire]

You 100% want agonizing blast for the Charisma bonus on absolutely every warlock

Devil Sight is also a strong pick

The one that makes the blast do knockback is pretty wild

[dusky bear]

hmmmm.....yall did say i can just respec whenever so maybe for the start i'll go with agonizing and the knockback since i'll be clearing out the goblins soon

[simple spire]

Yeah, once the skeleton guy shows up at your camp you can give him 100 gold to respec

[dusky bear]

Gonna be great there, i'll climb onto those thingies that sustain the roof on knock them to their deaths

[dusky bear]

I got so much loot hehe

[dusky bear]

many kaboom boom

[dusky bear]

@simple spire there's a way to make her my friend is there not? i imagine i would have to be evil tho

[neon junco]

Yes there's 2 ways

One way is the one you guessed where you join her the other is knocking her out with a nonlethal Melee attack and she'll show later later on

[dusky bear]

Ok

[safe jungle]

I also stole her armor and clothes when I knocked her out which had some probably unintentional visual effect later on

Kinda hilarious though

[dusky bear]

Ya saying i should let her keep her stuff? lol

[neon junco]

She really made a journey that the padty either had to go through 2 very dangerous paths naked

I can respect that

[safe jungle]

listen it was good light armor

[neon junco]

Wasn't just regular unenchanted armor

Her camp clothes however

Peak design always stealing

[safe jungle]

yes but its +1 ac compared to most light armor available at the time

[neon junco]

Laezel casually starting with the best mundane medium armor possible

PCs just have to take the +1 breastplate until later on in act 1

If you find it, I think PCs start with chain so it's 13 AC one less than breastplate

[dusky bear]

I have multiple ideas on how to clear out the courtyard....

Im lvl 4 already so i think im strong enough

But i really wanted to kill thos ogers that u can summon so i can take their special magic item

So here's plan a: poison them and spread a couple of wine barrels around to blow everybody up (flame arrow)

[soft tundra]

I am a fan of the circlet of intelligence

[dusky bear]

Plan b: poison them and summon the ogers, have the goblins dmg them a bit and kill em

[neon junco]

You can kill the after summoning iirc

[dusky bear]

yeah but they beeg and scary

[safe jungle]

nah they are just big friendlies

size has no intrinsic merit

unless inordinate exsanguination be considered a virtue

[cedar thicket]

Gosh, People are able to finish Honor mode within 50 hours? And I'm only just on the outskirts of the Goblin camp with almost 40 hours, and I'm not on Honor mode (Though I have all the settings of one).

[hexed inlet]

you're getting your money's worth

[cedar thicket]

The most challenging encounter so far has to be the ||Silk Sheep. Or the many legs. But I just have a mod to replace them as phobia goes hecks.||

This is what my area map looks like so far.

[safe jungle]

there appears to be a large COID

Void

[cedar thicket]

I'm really not very good at video games. And I utterly prefer to play characters that don't deal damage. So encounter I can't social through are hecks.

[safe jungle]

at the southern coastland

i did warlock for some reason

i'm good at talking

and also at shoving people off of high places

[cedar thicket]

I'm currently 1 Druid, 3 Lore Bard. My next level will be 2nd level Druid. Because I Wildshape to go into small places.
I'm planning to go 2 Land Druid. 10 Lore Bard.

[safe jungle]

wildshape into a small owlbear

no

wildshape into a rat

[cedar thicket]

I'm only going to turn into a little kittie!

[safe jungle]

and then drink the POTION OF ENLARGING

and turn into BIG CAT

[cedar thicket]

This is currently the furthest I've gotten in a playthrough. After 3 multiplayer games stopped.

I already have 200+ hours in BG3. And this is as far as I've gotten.

203.2 hours. Gosh, so much time.

[safe jungle]

as a warlock I just enjoy punching people to death

with my mind

[charred niche]

Game has a real satisfying impact for Eldritch Blast, too

[simple spire]

Did you enjoy yourself?

Because if so: time well spent

[cedar thicket]

I've been a little aaaah, when I've had to restart, due to different patches.
That said, I'm sooo much happier with my character design now than I was before. I think I've spent about 50+ hours just in the character creation screen.

[soft tundra]

enjoy and have fun!

[cedar thicket]

Hairstyle go brrr

I took my character I have, who I've played from level 1 to level 20, and currently about to start an Epic quest, where she's level 30. So I tried to match the best I could. Though BG3 doesn't have Fairy.

[dusky bear]

any feats worth having for the main characters we have in act 1?

was thinking of getting spell sniper for the warlock and sharpshooter for my ranger

[safe jungle]

For warlock grab something that will improve your odds of sustaining a concentration spell

You have very limited spell slots so you gotta make every cast count

[dusky bear]

ok

also

is there any real consequence from stealing from merchants if you dont get caught?

like am i going to rerget it later in any way?

@hexed inlet is there?

[safe jungle]

as long as you don't get caught no, i don't think so

[dusky bear]

i love stealin

i love takin things

[safe jungle]

i love taking

lives

too

[dusky bear]

Scary

I got so many special arrows

[safe jungle]

some people save the grove because they love tieflings

i save the grove because i love killing goblins

[dusky bear]

Ya know

we are actually on the same page here

[simple spire]

So for mages, the only feat worth considering over bumping your spellcasting stat is dual wielder

[dusky bear]

anything i should do before i kill the goblins in the courtyard? i killed the ones who were sleeping already

[simple spire]

Because dual-wielding staffs can be really strong

[dusky bear]

i see....

[simple spire]

Which is weird, because if you actually want to fight with two weapons, you just use light weapons and skip dual wielder >_>

Lot of good staffs is the point tho

For other characters, Savage Attacker is very nice, especially if you roll lots of dice

And Great Weapon Master is game-defining

Tavern Brawler is great for specific builds

Uh ... not a ton else that's super attractive

Resilience can be good

[dusky bear]

i see

well

time to wipe out the goblins

[neon junco]

Some people destroy the Grove because they love evil
I destroy the Grove because I love Minthara

[safe jungle]

fascinating

i never even considered this

[neon junco]

You get effects of both staffs

Some bows passive apply even if you don't have them out

[safe jungle]

do warlocks even count as a spellcaster though

i'm sounding like gale

ignore me

[neon junco]

Like the bow that grants advantage on a be rations will grant it to you Melee weapon and spells

[simple spire]

And unlike 5e, BG3 is full of staffs that apply flat bonuses to spell attacks and to spell DCs

[safe jungle]

Yes….

[neon junco]

Also many just grant free cast of a spell

[simple spire]

So like, between a +2 Int, and a staff, the staff probably wins by a landslide

Now

The flipside of this is

(Act 2) ||Ketheric's shield||

[neon junco]

Being able to put spellsparkler with another staff g is pretty nice

[simple spire]

||Which doesn't cost you a feat and is as good as any staff||

||But there's only one Ketheric's shield in the game||

[neon junco]

Act 2 shields are good in general with the reaction

[simple spire]

Does Spellsparkler + Lightning Markoheshkir work the way I think it does?

[dusky bear]

i had a whole plan of making a bunch of explosives and taking out all of the goblins but i just ended up going to the high ground and shot at them till they died

[neon junco]

I think on honor mode it doesn't, damage riders basically can't be buffed in honor mode rules. As for tactician and below? Im not sure

The draconic sorcerer buff damage rider build I had completed a game isn't a thing anymore.

[dusky bear]

time to clear the inside of the goblin place i shall sabotage the drums first

[dusky bear]

[simple spire]

I just meant "can you get twice as many lightning charges?"

[safe jungle]

I just did the tried and true tactic of converging all the goblins into a single location with a flute song and then trapping them all in the cold dark shadow mist creepy spell that warlocks get

[dusky bear]

i dont know how to play the flute

i do have a shit ton of barrels tho

[dusky bear]

Wow

This was a hell of a lot easier with the barrels

[dusky bear]

Spoiling cause idk act 1 stuff I did it

do i ||take her armor or nah||

[simple spire]

That depends, how funny do you want her reappearance to be

[dusky bear]

how much does she deserve it?

i feel like a lot

for funny thing to happen to her that is

[dusky bear]

oh shit ||Halsin went anakin skywalker on the goblins||

[dusky bear]

@simple spire any reason to keep lump alive?

[hexed inlet]

kill

[dusky bear]

imma make em fight the gnolls for me and double cross them

well he ded

i didnt even double cross him the gnolls just fucked them up

[dusky bear]

@simple spire is this worth it? i got boots that give these charges as well it sounds super expensive so idk if i should it will be most of my money gone like that...

[safe jungle]

I don’t know

I think I always got the robes or staff or whatever it is

Wait huh

What even is it I don’t recognize it

Where can you find this?

[dusky bear]

You know those ||shady merchants who hide in a cave under that burning house|| in Act 1?

[dusky bear]

Oh i also cheesed ||the hag||

[safe jungle]

Oh those guys

I think I killed them all last time

[dusky bear]

i needed them for me bow since i'm planning on min maxing as much as possible

[safe jungle]

To be fair they tried to kill me first

Anyways I’m guessing you threw explosives at the hag from a hidden location outside her detection range

[dusky bear]

not really

[charred niche]

Big Push?

[dusky bear]

she usually walks around doing "shores" at her house, what i did was wait till she went into the corner and trapped her there with barrels, after that i had Lae'zel hit her with trip attack and spammed scorching ray

she died before even going into her lil cave

[hexed inlet]

I killed her before she could get to the cave in my honor run and then immediately was like "wait. why did I do that"

[dusky bear]

is that a bad thing to do?

[hexed inlet]

it would have been useful to get the stat increase

[safe jungle]

Eh depends on your min maxing Strat

She gives you a free stat increase if you agree to spare her

[hexed inlet]

I was on vc with my friends and was just like "yknow I think I can kill her before she goes into the cave"

[dusky bear]

there's a stat increase?

[safe jungle]

Yes

[dusky bear]

i was min maxing nooooooooo

[safe jungle]

1 permanent stat increase for a stat of your choice

For one character

[dusky bear]

well i'm kind of glad she's dead tho i can live without it

maybe next game

[safe jungle]

Killing her is probably the better outcome morally speaking

If you are an amoral person like me though it’s power

[dusky bear]

true

i might have spared her if i knew beforehand

but oh well

[dusky bear]

@hexed inlet can i explore both the underdark and mountain pass paths?

[hexed inlet]

yep

[dusky bear]

Yay

Do i lose any content if i pick one before the other?

I imagine so

[hexed inlet]

nah

I think as long as you don't go into act 2 before doing both of them it's fine

[dusky bear]

oh ok

i thought i was done with act 1 already good to know there's more

[simple spire]

You’ll only start Act 2 once you go into the shadowlands, which will be pretty signposted

[dusky bear]

yay

what`s up with the spooky stuff? why are they so fricking scary and strong?!

i should have taken the stat up

Wait i have an idea

[safe jungle]

Oh yeah those are pretty strong

I dealt with them by karlach throwing them around so they were constantly prone

[dusky bear]

i was considering cheesing them by going invisible and placing explosive barrels

[tiny flint]

They’re the “do not pass into act 2 until X levels” checkpoint

[dusky bear]

they scary and mean

[tiny flint]

Trying to discuss party members online

[dusky bear]

i only kill baddies

[soft tundra]

the second person needs to be more gleeful and use all caps and interject this into every single conversation

then its more accurate

[tiny flint]

True actually!

[safe jungle]

I killed Veronica immediately in fallout NV

To be fair to me I thought she was a random encounter with weird opinion about the brotherhood

[soft tundra]

😭 not my lesbian daughter

[safe jungle]

Seriously though you blow up one bunker and all the brotherhood are like “You killed my family!” Or some nonsense

[dusky bear]

The brotherhood sucks but i like veronica

[soft tundra]

it was her family LOL so totally fair

id also shoot at you if you did that without doing my questline

[dusky bear]

for sure!

also

i've been stealing way too much, it sort of made the game boring

i'll stop doing it

[safe jungle]

It was my first time playing nv lmao

I blew up the brotherhood before I knew Veronica was in the game

[soft tundra]

oh i see how it happens naturally, thats no big deal

[safe jungle]

So from my perspective it really was a random encounter haha

[soft tundra]

such is the joy of gaming

[gleaming pivot]

https://tenor.com/view/jack-horner-im-gonna-bust-you-up-plumb-thumb-and-then-im-gonna-wear-your-clothes-that-was-weird-baby-bear-gif-27517482

[safe jungle]

Fallout 3 is brotherhood propaganda

[neon junco]

But giant robit

I didn't like the Boomers in FNV but damn if seeing a bomber fly over the dam and blowing up my enemies made me she'd a tear

[dusky bear]

i killed the undead

made a trap with explosives

[hexed inlet]

evil smh

[safe jungle]

I also don’t like boomers

But

At least they are truly isolationists

And are somehow slightly more welcoming than the brotherhood

[neon junco]

That is fair, they really do just want to be left alone and if you make it through the minefield they think you're neat and could be useful and they do hold up their bargain

Brotherhood is "isolationist" but also actively taking territory to steal technology so only they can have it

Technology for me but not for thee

[safe jungle]

BOS are basically glorified bandits

[neon junco]

takes your gaming computer
*says you're welcome you're better off without advanced tech"
*refuses to explain *
leaves

[safe jungle]

Worse than bandits

They are organized bandits

[neon junco]

Both the Legion and Brotherhood believe others shouldn't have advanced technology, the legion also applies that to themselves though

[dusky bear]

with power armor

[safe jungle]

Just look at the east coast chapter to see why they are dangerous and must be destroyed

[safe jungle]

Unless you are Caesar

[neon junco]

The west coast one seemed more mild

[safe jungle]

Who gets to have autodocs

West coast one seems mild only because the last chapter leader was a insane megalomaniac who wasted most of their forces on hyper aggressive wars

And they are now licking their wounds in their bunker

[neon junco]

All the dlcs were like, Elijah is a bad person with dead money revealing he is an awful person.

[safe jungle]

All the dlc is basically “it’s all the brotherhood’s fault” (joking but still)

Anyways I do agree largely with mr house’s rant about the brotherhood

As seen in fallout 4, organized banditry is largely indistinguishable from a feudal power structure

Which is why BoS in 4 and the Tv show gallivant around as if they are actual nobles ruling over the serfs

Complete with paternalistic attitude about how people of the wasteland need firm guidance

Max, bless his heart, due to his idiot savant nature seems to truly believe in the brotherhood self image of being chivalric knights

[dusky bear]

i got gloves that giv 18 dex

[safe jungle]

Give it to karlach

And spec her into thief

So that you get two bonus actions

Which means you can attack THREE TIMES PER TURB

And since gloves forcefully set her dex stat to be 18

(Which is enough to qualify her for thief class)

You can just set dex as your dump stat

And pour all of it into str

[dusky bear]

i suppose i could do something like that....

i also stole the armor from that lady who wants a gith egg

the one that increases dex by 2

but i'm using that one on myself

since i do use dex

[simple spire]

There are no stat requirements for multiclass in BG3

[safe jungle]

Ah is that so

[simple spire]

Yes

[dusky bear]

could i just pump myself full of strength and just equip these dex items for stupid damage on titan string bow?

sounds like an exaggeration but a fun one

[neon junco]

Yea you could multiclassing into a paladin with 8 CHA and 8 STR

It makes certain multiclasses much less MAD

Wizard is a weird one, if you take a level in wizard you can learn all spell scrolls of spell level you can cast, not limited by wizard level

[dusky bear]

sounds neat

[simple spire]

The problem of course being that your spells memorized is still pretty minuscule if you don’t take a decent number of Wizard levels + Int

But it does open up a lot of wizard builds by not making 11 levels obligatory

[neon junco]

You'd probably only want to memorize spells with the highest slots you want

Like spells that don't use saves or attacks

[soft tundra]

dont even need to multiclass Karlach for the 18 dex gloves, barbarian loves that as-is

i loved my demon beast karlach from my first run with like 23 strength, 18 dex, 20 con, int save proficiency, etc it ruled

[neon junco]

23 con with the amulet from the same house

[soft tundra]

thats a good one too i was just using it on my pc to not explode

[neon junco]

Barbarian karlach is living good

[soft tundra]

bear totem karlach the undying with like 300 hp

[dusky bear]

imma make shadowheart into a storm cleric storm sorcerer for bonkers dmg

also were there any spoilers in the conversation above?

[neon junco]

Her default trickster is definitely one of the weaker options

[dusky bear]

it sucks ass

[neon junco]

Storm got mega buffed cause of wet condition makes cold/lightning deal double damage

So throw vial of water or have someone else cast create water for a puddle they'll instantly be wet with no save

[soft tundra]

Trickster has cool uses but requires you to already know how to sort of make the best of it, which is hard on a first run

I think Light Cleric is really good if you dont mind the reaction prompts.

[charred niche]

My Shadowheart became a bard cause we had 2x wisdoms already and it was fun listening to her VA shout insults midcombat

[neon junco]

I think trickster is one that kind of suffered from the video game aspect not being as flexible as ttrpg

Light cleric, Abjuration Wizard, divination wizard, and bard for the every action has 4 reaction prompt party and each turn takes 20 minutes

[soft tundra]

Trickster's Blessing is really good if you plan on stealth archering people or stealing a fuckton; Invoke Duplicity is useful on certain combats but not all; Dimension Door is crazy but comes online much later

moreso than other clerics Trickster just isnt self-sufficient, you have to have a Rogue/Paladin to enable

[dusky bear]

also i love how many magic items we have around this game

back when i played dnd our gm would never give us magic stuff

[neon junco]

The blessing being concentration is rough

Cause cleric have many strong concentration spells

[dusky bear]

yes

[safe jungle]

You can also eventually find a ||amulet that gives you 20+ con||

Which is very good for any spellcaster

[simple spire]

Light Cleric and Tempest Cleric are both extremely strong

War is ... okay, Life is pretty strong but I'd rather have offense, Trickster is whatever, uh

What else even is there

[neon junco]

Life with certain magic items is strong

And a lot of them are act 1

Like granting b/s/p damage resist, healing yourself, healing them extra, providing 1d4 dice to attack roll just from healing them

Including your channel divinity

You can actually out heal some encounters for as long as you have spellslots

[simple spire]

Yeah, it's legit given all the buffs to healing effects you can find

[wise mango]

So... Turns out giving every enemy 3xHP and 3 actions, was a bad idea

[charred niche]

By gods, the economy.. shattered

[wise mango]

exceptionally fun, but it got so bad I had to break the economy with three backpacks and a dream, thank you Auntie for always having 3 hill giant elixers for me every time I staggered a level up

terribly sorry for robbing you several times, but Faerun needed me

[charred niche]

I love how stores have all this magic weaponry nonsense and then the guards are using a thriftstore crossbow they found on the floor

[wise mango]

let me tell you ||Helldusk in act one is basically mandatory||

[tiny flint]

Being a flaming fist pays like shit

[dawn valley]

On one hand i'm like "i love rp and will play the game as intended" on the other i'm like "how to i break this mf to be broken ?"

[simple spire]

These two are not mutually exclusive

Tactician and honor mode exist for a reason

[simple spire]

I mean hell there's whole boss mechanics that only exist in honor mode or custom difficulty

[neon junco]

The average baldurs gate bank guard being stronger than the bosses of previous acts

The video games ism

Yea they do now allow you to start a game with honor mode features but no iron man aspects

Or you could start honor mode and when wipe happens continue the save but not Ironman mode

[hexed inlet]

when do the new subclasses come out again

[safe jungle]

Probably around April

[neon junco]

They're in stress test beta now

[safe jungle]

Yeah and based on past betas it seems like test period is about three months

So April probably

[simple spire]

Oh wait what are they putting out?

[soft tundra]

College of Glamour, Path of Giants, Death Domain, Circle of Stars, Oath of Crown, Arcane Archer, Drunken Master, Swarmkeeper, Swashbuckler, Shadow Magic, Hexblade, Bladesinger

As well as cross play, photo mode, etc

Lots of little things like new cantrip Toll the Dead

And ofc bg3 original buffs; death domain can explode corpses, drunken master can make enemies drunk...

Swashbuckler can blind people:)

[simple spire]

Oh, that's quite a bit

Looking forward to Hexblade and Bladesinger in particular

[safe jungle]

whats hexblade like anyways

[rich plover]

swordier sword pact

[simple spire]

So the BG3 thing of charisma-to-attack-and-damage with a bound weapon is from Hexblade

[rich plover]

oh, did that make it into base blade pact?

[simple spire]

Beyond that it gets a fun curse effect which acts as a damage rider

[simple spire]

Yep

Huge QoL improvement for blade pact

[rich plover]

huh, neat. I wonder if they'll give it some extra juice to make up for that, or if that just brings it in line with the other patrons

[simple spire]

I dunno, but Fiend Stay Winning was starting to bore me tbh

So hopefully Hexblade is good

[rich plover]

hopefully they picked subclasses to add based on what they thought they could do well + fun

since they have plenty of options they're skipping

[simple spire]

Do we know if they're adding any melee cantrips?

Greenflame Blade, Booming Blade, etc?

Bladesinger without those could be rough

Unless they give it an extra attack

In which case Paladin 2/Wizard 10 will compete with Paladin 2/Bard 10 for my true heart

[safe jungle]

i'd like to give hexblade to wyll but wyll as anything but a devil warlock seems wronng

smh

[simple spire]

FWIW Fiend is really, really strong for melee warlocks

[dusky bear]

hexblade gon be fun

[simple spire]

... you know what would work

Bard 6/Wizard 6

Swords and Bladesinger

... wait Bladesinger normally gets Extra Attack

I'm a fool

Wizardin here I come

[dusky bear]

this is u

U old otter wizard

[simple spire]

No this is a foks

[dusky bear]

Ur not wrong

[soft tundra]

from what ive read of their little patch teases, Hexblade's level 6 Accursed Spectre is pretty useful and a big focus outside of getting all the weapon bonding and crit bonuses

[rich plover]

Larian loves their summons

[soft tundra]

im hoping this will be the patch i can convince some friends to do a MP run with me, ive only ever done solo runs 😭

[simple spire]

I feel like the game is so centered on the origin characters that you'd want to do All Origin Characters if you were doing multiplayer

[soft tundra]

i really enjoy playing as the origins too, so thats fine by me

they get fun little goodies and such

playing as gale so i can get free extra spell slots

[dusky bear]

@simple spire wanna hear my silly idea?

[simple spire]

Sure

[dusky bear]

ok

so

i have these gloves that give me 18 dex

i also have this armor that gives me 2 extra dex

so what if

i respec my character throw all my dex into str and then use these items for massive dmg on titanstring bow?

[simple spire]

FWIW those won't stack

[dusky bear]

what a load of bollocks!

[simple spire]

Yeah, the gloves set your dex, so that won't stack with a bonus

That said, that'll work fine with just the gloves, with Archery combat style ranged is ahead of the curve on attack bonus already so losing a point isn't that painful

Not too far further in you'll find armor just like the dex armor but it gives you +2 strength

Which between the two of them can give you some points to spare all around

That said Gloves of Archery are also a solid bet here

+2 damage with ranged attacks

And just use your native scores

I can't remember if having the club of hill giant strength in your melee weapon slot gives you 19 Str with your ranged weapon ...

But if so that'd also be an easy option

[dusky bear]

right

[simple spire]

Thinking about it, that'd probably be the best way to do it

Dump strength, grab the club and a shield (fun fact: a shield in your melee slot will apply its AC bonus while using your ranged weapon), grab the gloves of archery

Assuming Dex 20 at that point you're shooting with, what, 1d8+11 damage plus whatever you squeeze out of other magic items? More if you can squeeze in sharpshooter?

Hm, and you could plausibly have all this online by level 4 or so

1d8+21 damage per shot at level 4 isn't bad at all

Are there any ways to consistently get bonus-action attacks with a main-hand ranged weapon that I'm not thinking of?

[dusky bear]

idk but as a ranger my subclass allows me to get an extra attack through a bonus action on my first turn in a combat

[simple spire]

Oh gloomstalker!

True, gloomstalker is good for that

[dusky bear]

ur kidding me

the other place had like funky skeletons and down here this is the first thing i run into?

[safe jungle]

I advise you to turn and run the other direction lmao

[dusky bear]

i shall return

revenge shall be mine

[simple spire]

KILL

[dusky bear]

i`ll say tho

i think i can do this

[simple spire]

I love going in and beating the (underdark spoilers) ||bullette at level 3 on its first appearance|| to be tbh

[dusky bear]

i just pulled off some good damage even on a failed attempt

i have a fuck ton of potions i never use

[simple spire]

Yeah

That's everybody

Especially if you long rest a lot (and there's very little reason not to)

[dusky bear]

i rarely long rest maybe it's time

[simple spire]

There's camp events that only happen on long rest

[dusky bear]

sad tho cause i feel like i end up easting my short rests

[simple spire]

"Do a short rest after any significant fight, do a long rest if you can't" became my go-to after a while

[wise mango]

honestly ||Jump that fucker, they ain't that tough if you aren't on honour mode||

[dusky bear]

i shall feast on it after i take it down!

anyways, do i long rest? i have like 982 food thingies

[hexed inlet]

this is intended afaik

one fight per short rest

[neon junco]

It's what I do, mostly cause you can skip long rest encounters if you do too few before moving on

[neon junco]

It is balanced around this

At least tacticians food level is, but they give you generous supplies anyways to long rest more than the original intent.

My first playthrougj I didn't know and thought time was actually more important than it was so I did like 4 to 6 fights before long resta

[simple spire]

Likewise

[safe jungle]

Fun fact

Damage bonus to throwing also applies to your thrown potions

[simple spire]

Throwing is strong

I wish the top throwing weapon in the game weren't kinda group-unfriendly

It's extremely strong in general but the AoE on throws hurts

[safe jungle]

That’s why you have crowd control abilities

Like the tentacles

[simple spire]

Yeah, but realistically if you have a melee in the party you cannot throw nyrulna at an enemy they are engaged with

Which is irritating

[rich plover]

I lowkey hate that rest spam is intended, because you absolutely need to rest a lot to trigger companion dialogue, but it reminds me of bad play patterns in my physical D&D games. (and like those games, it feels like it kind of makes things too easy)

[charred niche]

That and it's so jarring with the You Have Worm Brain story

[pure steppe]

Do short rests just refill HP or do they do extra?

[charred niche]

I think the short rest mechanic works well but it's just 'any story beats have to happen at a slumber party' can make pacing awkward

also feels silly to set up a tent and take a big nap every 60 yards in a goblindungeon

[dusky bear]

IT`S DEAD

had to retry a couple times tho

[charred niche]

Wow got the Beholder first thing, I had to level up a bunch first

[rich plover]

varies. a lot of classes get a resource back on short rest, but not every class and not every resource

like a monk will always get back ki from a SR, but bards don't get their inspiration back from SR until they get a few levels under their belts, and only warlocks ever get their spell slots back

[dusky bear]

I'm level 5

also question

||should i try to save this Dhourn guy?||

[simple spire]

To some degree I assume long rests are only occasionally diegetic

[charred niche]

Thing absolutely snapped me in half around that level

Though it's also a 'hope you pass this save' kind of fight

[simple spire]

A lot depends on the raw DPS output of every individual party member for that brawl

Every time the beholder acts you should assume at least one party member will go down

[dusky bear]

i had to retry a couple of times

[simple spire]

So it becomes a question of getting through the health bar fast enough

[dusky bear]

i was pretty lucky also the npcs became it's target for a couple of rounds

which resulted in the named fella dying hence why i asked if i should have tried saving them

[simple spire]

Oh he's not important

[dusky bear]

also ||wtf i just got past a beholder and i have to fight a bullete?||

[simple spire]

Underdark!

[dusky bear]

it's dead

[simple spire]

Got it on the first encounter?

[dusky bear]

yes

my dps is pretty decent

[simple spire]

If you're not quick the Bullette burrows again and harasses you at a couple of other spots in the underdark

Eventually it does square up and fight

[dusky bear]

[charred niche]

Bullette failed his first stun check against my monk and never recovered

[dusky bear]

Looking like i'll have to perform a long rest already tho

[simple spire]

Two miniboss fights in a row, though

[charred niche]

You can take a nap after fighting eight tons of monster

[dusky bear]

What game.me the upper hand was that it while it did knock everyody to the ground it also dive straight into the low ground and as a ranger that did wonders for my turn

[dusky bear]

indeed!

I like fighting stuff

[safe jungle]

Owl bear from the top ropes

[dusky bear]

I still feel bad about that one

[simple spire]

Gloomstalker alpha strikes are good, yeah

You adopted the cub, right?

[dusky bear]

Yes

Tried to at least

I made it smell me hand so it could track my scent back to camp

[charred niche]

it's one of the more awkward interactions in the game that early

[dusky bear]

It never did show up tho

[simple spire]

Gotta do more long rests

[dusky bear]

i think i did 2 real long rests since i started the game

1 forced by the game

[simple spire]

A lot of story stuff happens during them

[dusky bear]

That makes 3

Well then

Long rest time

I think my darkest dungeon brain just makes me want to make the most out of every moment between rests

[wise mango]

Update: Karlach Sweeps

just nuked for over 200 damage in act 2 thanks to Soul Coin Tav Brawl Monk

[dusky bear]

so anyway i started blasting

[wise mango]

Lol

[dusky bear]

i feel like astario is going to stab me in the back

he said something to me and now i feel like killing him

[safe jungle]

You should do it

Give in to your intrusive thoughts

[dusky bear]

imma push him down some stairs

[dusky bear]

new friend!

[simple spire]

A friend indeed

[safe jungle]

You should throw him off the cliff

He can’t jump

It’s hilarious

[simple spire]

Thanks Dark Urge :D

[dusky bear]

friend wants me to do bad thing

NOT FRIEND

i felt bad about this one

[hexed inlet]

what did you do?

[dusky bear]

What had to be done

[dusky bear]

Also hoooooly, ranger deals a ton of damage

I'm dipping into rogue to get sneak attack

[rich plover]

If you dip harder into Thief rogue, you can get an extra bonus action every turn.

[dusky bear]

That does sound interesting

[simple spire]

The question is if you have enough things to do with your bonus actions

Which you might!

Thief is a huge power buff for a lot of builds

[dusky bear]

Like rogue lvl 3 is interesting for me cause i could also go assasin for even more damage

I shall check out thief

does gloomstaker benefit with the extra bonus action? I suppose i could then dash every turn

And that does give me a good way to get into position and stay away from melee fighters

[simple spire]

Rogue also gets you bonus action disengage for if the melee fighters do get you

[dusky bear]

that IS a good use of a bonus action...

[neon junco]

He turns on you if you don't help him kill the other sovereign

Which to me is kind of petty

If I remember the reason was spaw didn't help his colony against the dueregar

And I don't believe he mentioned spaw had any alliances or agreement to do so.

[safe jungle]

They were never allied, no

I think also Spaw wasn’t aware that Sovereign was under attack until he came as a refugee

[neon junco]

I would understand it more if the situation was like, they were allied and he helped protect spaws colony from certain doom and he just ignored him

[neon junco]

That's even funnier

[safe jungle]

I think principly it’s because he’s setting up his colony really really really close to Spaw’s

So needs Spaw removed

[dusky bear]

Yes || thats why i took him out||

He could have just...moved back to his old land

[safe jungle]

It’s infested with duergar

[neon junco]

I believe he wanted to take spaws colony

[safe jungle]

Yeah

[dusky bear]

I thought they were the same ones we killed

[safe jungle]

Take spaw’s colony take all of its resources

[neon junco]

That was just some of them

[safe jungle]

Duergars are like skaven

[dusky bear]

Sucks how he turned out to be a jerk

[safe jungle]

They infest a lot of places in the underdark

Enslaving people and stealing cheese and stuff

[dusky bear]

Skaven but more mean than crazy ?

[neon junco]

Glut is like, why would you side with him besides just cause. Spaw is helpful and offers you a reward already so like helping out Glut for greed isn't even a factor

[safe jungle]

Honestly some of them are about as insane

[dusky bear]

I allied with the Duergar that werent in with the absolute stuff and took out the cultists

[neon junco]

Glut has nothing, all is has to offer if he takes over is whatever Spaw was going to give you

[safe jungle]

You get to kill mushroom people

And some would say that’s just enough cause

[neon junco]

Surge logic

Side with the myconoids for kill, them betray the dueregar

[dusky bear]

i thought Glut was my friend....that made me sad

[safe jungle]

Anyways you should also kill the rest of the duergars nearby

[dusky bear]

I'll think about it

[safe jungle]

But make sure to take a long rest before you board that boat

Get all the supplies and equipment you need and ensure you are at topmost condition

[dusky bear]

I kind of like duergar too bad they are jerks

Anyways let skully make his decisions

[safe jungle]

I assure you killing them is fun

And also moral

[neon junco]

Yes it's certainly an encounter

Enemies can shove you

[safe jungle]

Yeeeep

Duergars are pretty strong

As in they have high str score

[dusky bear]

I had next to no issue taking out the cultists i think im well equipped to take out the rest if i decide on it

[safe jungle]

Which means you should always account for possibility of being instantly owned

Oh you already killed them all?

[neon junco]

The bar for bad guy in the underdark is low below the floor with dueregrar and the dark elves being slavers. Almost everything else sentient is straight up supremacists or loves murder except for myconoids

[dusky bear]

All the cultists

[safe jungle]

That’s pretty quick

[dusky bear]

[safe jungle]

Is this after or before the boat

[dusky bear]

I've been spending a lot of time on this game...

After the boat, i already saved the gnomes

[safe jungle]

Ahhh

[dusky bear]

I kill

[safe jungle]

There’s also places in the underdark I’ve missed on the first time around

That you might want to check out

[dusky bear]

i've been making sure to explore!

[safe jungle]

Like ||the wizard’s tower|| and ||the merman village||

[dusky bear]

Im going to check out the ||funny adamantine forge|| now

I hope there's a big mean monster there for me to kill

Dont tell me

[neon junco]

The ||koatua was one I don't think I would have ever found without accidentally stumbling upon it on the wiki after my 1st 2 playthroughs||

[safe jungle]

Yeah it’s really out of the way

[dusky bear]

I suppose i shouldnt read that

[neon junco]

No it is a spoiler for the area with the mushrooms

[dusky bear]

Ok

Im loving the game

[neon junco]

A more minor one but one still

[dusky bear]

Also i should probably explore builds for my other party members, i've been mostly focusing on just mine

[neon junco]

Like I would never think to ||explore near a death hole and like jump down a hole or use the vines to go down it thinking it'll lead to the next area.||

[dusky bear]

Vivi tell me a fun build i could try for the other characters

One u liked using for example

[neon junco]

Fun, throwbarian is good. Many act 1 items that boost throwing with tavern brawler.

There's a meta pike of returning build but I like the 20 STR throw people at people I think that's more fun

Killing a guy with another guy is great fun and being to yeet most any humanoid or smaller anywhere is fun.

Berserker barbarian is the subclass for that

Another one is eagle/stallion totem barbarian and dashing a ton.

Bonus action dash and many items buff you when you dash and you get like at least 12 temp HP each time with your barbarian resistances

Goes hard at level 9 if you multiclasses thief rogue for extra bonus action and change to bear/stallion you're basically immortal but also the fastest thing alive.

And there's also finesse 2 handed weapons so you can get sneak attack while being STR based

Spore druid 6/necromancy wizard 6. Summoning with some items that buff or grant extra summons is really good as meat shields. Since it's a game handling like 6 summons is quicker than ttrpg

Those are my top 3 for fun.

[dusky bear]

I see i see

[simple spire]

He just wants Spaw's colony as a replacement for his own

[simple spire]

You can also just be dex-based

There's precious little reason not to

Dex-based Great Weapon Mastery with a bit of sneak attack is great

[neon junco]

I'm a fan of STR for jumping farther, I did use the eagle dive part when I could which was often cause having dash you can usually always run to high ground.

[simple spire]

I found that the advantages of better AC, better initiative, and better Dex saves were pretty potent, especially in concert with Bear

[simple spire]

I'm not Vivi but I really like White Dragon Sorcerer 1 /Tempest Cleric 1/Abjuration Wizard 10 (very fitting for Gale imo). You go Int/Con > everything else, pick up magic missile and shield with sorcerer since those don't care about charisma, get heavy armor proficiency and Create Water and Sanctuary and Bless and stuff with cleric, and then add those on to a very generally tanky wizard. White Dragon Sorc in particular gets you Armor of Agathys, which works well in concert with Abjuration's defensive stuff and other retaliatory damage effects from wizard. You can frequently do significant damage to stuff just by running past it and provoking an opportunity attack

Because you start with sorcerer you have constitution save proficiency for concentration spells, too

[dusky bear]

[simple spire]

You could also swap Tempest with any other Cleric domain that gives you heavy armor

The spells won't matter much so it's basically down to what you like for that level 1 benefit

[dusky bear]

true

[simple spire]

Probably not War

Nature could be nice for the extra skill

Life is solid for obvious reasons

Since you have no Wisdom, you can't really use offensive cleric spells, but cleric has a lot of other good stuff at level 1

[dusky bear]

@simple spire what ||mithral|| thing should i make?

[simple spire]

Do not make the weapons, they will go out of style fast

The shield is good, and either suit of armor is good depending on whether you want medium or heavy armor

The shield in combination with either suit of armor is quite nice

Since you should be able to make two things

But it depends on party needs

[deft crypt]

I'm considering baldur's gate 3, since newish laptop, is battlemaster fighter/ college of swords bard something

[simple spire]

It'll work but if you plan to take both about evenly, there's not a ton of synergy

Fighter 2-3 can be decent with bard for Action Surge, armor and weapon proficiencies, and the subclass benefit

[deft crypt]

can't you use bard stuff on the same attacks you use battlemaster dice?

[simple spire]

Conversely, bard ... 3? Will get you the cool multitarget attacks from college of swords

And a few bard rituals/other tricks

Fighter 4/Bard 8 would get full feats but no 5th-level spells

[deft crypt]

how good is the game for balancing martials and spellcasters?

[simple spire]

Pretty good, martials can do some crazy stuff

[deft crypt]

and are there any good rapiers, I love a good rapier

[simple spire]

Spellcasters are of course spellcasters

There are some good rapiers! There's one late-game one in particular that rewards doing the classic rapier + empty hand setup quite nicely

If you do martial/caster, you probably want to consider paladin 2 for smites, but it's not necessary by any means

[dusky bear]

yay reggie gonna join us

[simple spire]

Oh, if you do fighter/bard, you probably want to start with fighter for proficiency in constitution saves

[deft crypt]

I assume this is only if you're one of the cha casters

[simple spire]

Bizarrely, if you don't care about paladin casting, it will work for anyone. The big reason bard is more favorable than the other casters is that only bard can get Extra Attack

But like, paladin 6/sorcerer 6 or whatever is pretty strong

[deft crypt]

what's level cap, 12?

[simple spire]

Yeah

[deft crypt]

I know it's not full 20

surprised the game never got any dlc

or more subclasses

[simple spire]

They are going to add more subclasses in the next patch

Bunch of new stuff like Bladesinger

[deft crypt]

huh, cool

[simple spire]

Yeah, it's neat

They said there will be no DLC

[deft crypt]

tbh I thought the game was not updating anymore

[simple spire]

They don't want to be stuck improving BG3 for a long time

Which, good on them

[dusky bear]

torn between making both armors or one of the armors and the shield....

[simple spire]

Depends on whether you have someone who would use both armors

You can also create two of the same item

If that would be useful

[deft crypt]

dual wield shields

[dusky bear]

i have fighter lady who can wear heavy armor

and bunch of folks who can wear medium

[simple spire]

I will note that if you're not playing on Tactician+ difficulty you probably don't need to optimize all that much

[dusky bear]

im playing on tactician, and i just like to optimize

i have fun doing that

[simple spire]

But optimization is fun for me, yeah

Also note that gear in BG3 is not like gear in 5e: you get to put on all sorts of crazy stuff

Which, again, very fun for me

[deft crypt]

there's also honour mode right?

[simple spire]

Yes

[deft crypt]

which is like harder tactician and if you lose you lose?

[dusky bear]

im trying to convince a friend to do that one with me

[simple spire]

And you can customize the difficulty if you like

[deft crypt]

oh the game is multiplayer?

[dusky bear]

it can be

[simple spire]

So you can do honour mode difficulty without ironman

If I play again, that's what I'm doing

Because honour mode adds whole new boss mechanics

[dusky bear]

ironman?

[simple spire]

One save, deleted if you die

[dusky bear]

ooooooh

[simple spire]

Yeah, BG3 does the whole customizable difficulty thing if achievements don't matter to you :D

[dusky bear]

i feel like that would be part of the fun if doing it with friends hehe would add a whole new layer of tension

[deft crypt]

the only achievement that matters to me is achieving my fun

[dusky bear]

then customize the heck out of it!

[simple spire]

One thing I'll say about this game is that it's very centered on the companion characters, so doing a multiplayer run where they're all off to the side is a very different experience than a single player run where you interact heavily with them

Also: you can choose to play a companion character yourself

[deft crypt]

do you know how demanding the game is on a computer? like do you think I'd be able to run it on a laptop?

[dusky bear]

thats why im playing by myself first