Larian has released Baldur’s Gate 3’s hotly anticipated Patch 5, which adds loads of new content to the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.
Patch 5 fixes slowdown issues caused by Patch 4, adds a brand-new epilogue providing closure to each player’s journey, and even new game modes.
The new playable epilogue gameplay, accessible to all players loading the game prior to the final fight, takes place before the credits. Players find themselves in camp, six months after the events of Baldur’s Gate 3’s story, where they “meet new friends and old, taking all the time they need to say their final goodbyes to the party.”
Larian called this epilogue a “final goodbye”. “For the writers of Larian, this ‘final goodbye’ has been some of the most complex writing in the game so far, as it takes advantage of the game’s reactivity across the entire adventure,” the developer said. “A gigantic tree of permutations defines the content, with new writing (3,589 lines to be exact), cinematics, and even characters joining the get-together at camp, organized by Withers.”
Elsewhere, Patch 5 adds two new game modes: Honour Mode and Custom Mode. Honour Mode makes the game more difficult in and out of combat and introduces over 30 new tweaks to all of the game’s boss fights, with a new Legendary Action system designed to catch players off-guard and increase the challenge. Now bosses can perform new actions, adding twists and turns to all major fights throughout the game, Larian said.
Inspiration points become more valuable in Honour Mode, Larian explained, because loading previous games - or ‘save scumming’ - is disabled, meaning players need to keep count. Some of the more powerful ‘unintended exploits’ have been removed for players who embark on an Honour Mode adventure, though have been kept open for players to exploit in other difficulty settings.
When a player dies, they will be presented with statistics of their journey, including how long and how far they survived for. Should players choose, they can continue their adventure, which will then disable Honour mode. Players who do manage to complete the entire game with Honour Mode enabled (without dying) will be awarded the coveted Golden D20.
Custom Mode, on the other hand, lets players pick and choose a type of experience best for them. Options include the ability to hide the required roll to succeed dice checks, which gives a more realistic D&D experience, as well as the ability to hide enemy HP in battle, again more closely simulating the tabletop style. Other options include short rests fully healing the party, disabling death-saving throws, and hiding failed perception checks, which means you’ll never know there was even a roll to begin with.
Patch 5 also improves inventory access, letting players manage the inventory of all companions from one single UI, regardless of whether or not they’re currently in your party. Larian also mentioned performance improvements engineered as a consequence of the Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3, which benefits all platforms.
Patch 5 weighs in at 30GB, but needs 130GB of free space to install. Larian suggested those without the space to install the update uninstall Baldur’s Gate 3 and then re-download the patched version.
Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 follow!
Here are the Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 5 notes in full:
HIGHLIGHTS
Main Highlights
● Epilogue: An entirely new section at the end of the game after the defeat of the Netherbrain that aims to provide a well-deserved sense of closure with your allies.
● Two new play modes: Honour Mode and Custom Mode.
● Many performance improvements, particularly in Act III.
● Added dynamic resolution for PS5.
● Players playing on machines with low VRAM/RAM should see improved performance.
● The game is now available in Korean!
● While at camp, you can now access and manage the inventories of companions who aren't in your active party.
● Added a brand new fight in Ramazith’s Tower if you betray Nightsong there.
● Orin’s outfit now drops as loot and is wearable by anyone. We also gave it a suitably disgusting description and name.
Other Highlights
● Shadowheart will always be the owner of the artefact during the tutorial if she is a follower.
● Becoming half-illithid will now also visually affect your eyes.
● Basic Action variations (e.g. a free version of Dash that you can perform because of a class feature) that share a hotkey by default will now gain a hotkey according to a certain priority order.
● A romanced Minthara can now refer to her bond with you using a drow word for deep, unbreakable love.
● Fixed a bug where party members would sometimes not change back into the armour set they were displaying before entering camp.
● You can now talk to Mol more about her contract with Raphael in the Guildhall.
● Withers will sneakily resurrect any dead companions that fell before the final battle so they can join the ending cinematics. What a helpful skeleton.
● Gave Jaheira her own scene with Danthelon if she approaches him alone.
● Improved the physics of characters and walls to prevent NPCs being able to shoot through ceilings inside houses.
● Fixed an issue where Gale's scene with Mystra after the final combat of the game only played if you had no one else in your party.
● Made cinematic tweaks to restore sections of Astarion's Act III Ascendant sex scene.
● Improved companion reactivity when making the decision before the Netherbrain.
● The loading screen art now unlocks gradually as you progress through the game.
● Boo will no longer take damage when thrown.
● Fixed the puzzle in Cazador's Palace.
● Fixed the screen going black during Astarion's endgame romance scene.
● Added some additional audio and cinematic work to the intimate scene with the drow in Sharess' Caress.
● Wild Shapes that do not have weapons will now benefit from having the Tavern Brawler feat.
CRASHES AND BLOCKERS
● Fixed crashes that could occur while loading a savegame.
● Fixed a crash for some players upon entering Nine-Fingers' Guildhall.
● Fixed a crash when dragging an item out of your inventory while your character is dead in another inventory.
● Fixed a texture-related crash and leak.
● Fixed a crash and blocker when interacting with Auntie Ethel in Act III.
● Fixed an issue preventing you from levelling up when there were more slots than spells to choose from.
● Fixed a crash that could occur when entities that don't support passives join a combat.
● Fixed a possible crash related to dealing damage when the game can't detect a source for that damage.
● Added fixes for certain random crashes.
● Fixed a rare crash caused by clothing physics in the Level Up screen.
● Fixed a DLSS crash.
COMBAT AND BALANCE
● Fixed the combat AI sometimes not checking if it can use items.
● Fixed the hag sometimes skipping turns.
● Improved a confusing message in the High Hall combat that suggested the nautiloid was targeting itself.
● Fixed the Netherbrain sometimes only being able to cast one spell per round instead of several.
● In Tactician Mode, the hag can no longer be killed by being Shoved into chasms. She can cast magic, after all.
● Fixed Assassin's Alacrity - assassins get their Action back on the first turn of combat.
● Fixed summon durations starting to tick down too soon while summoned in combat.
● Attacks against a Paralysed or Unconscious target no longer automatically hit - but any hits that do land deal critical damage.
● Flesh to Stone is now considered a harmful spell.
● Fixed the Slowed condition applying a -2 penalty to all Saving Throws instead of just Dexterity.
● Hope from the House of Hope now carries half-plate armour and a light crossbow. She also now carries a more powerful shield.
● Battle Master manoeuvres now correctly add your Proficiency Bonus to the Difficulty Class.
● Raphael's Inevitable Resolve passive now triggers correctly.
● Half-orcs' Savage Attacks passive now also applies to off-hand weapons.
● Gave Primal Stampede a Saving Throw to save against being Prone.
● Casting Blade Barrier while under the effects of Sanctuary will cause Sanctuary to end.
● All gathered allies that can be summoned for the final battle in the Upper City will have their resources restored if they've used them elsewhere in the adventure.
● In the combat with Raphael, when he transforms into the Ascended Fiend, all surrounding fires will turn into Hellfire.
● No such thing as a free lunch. Consuming the noblestalk mushroom during combat now costs an Action.
● Increased the rarity value of the Elixir of Cloud Giant Strength.
● Karsite Grip now correctly bounces to additional targets and its visual effects should trigger correctly on distant enemies.
● Fixed an issue with the Tavern Brawler feat where damage bonuses were being incorrectly applied multiple times while making a throwing attack.
● Raphael's Soul Pillar Proximity condition will now activate at the start of combat, rather than on his first turn.
● The Potion of Angelic Slumber now restores War Priests clerics' Extra Attack charges.
● Dark Urge players should now always have the option to kill the Netherbrain in the game's final combat.
● Gortash's Incineration Casters no longer display a danger area once they are destroyed.
● When players start a combat inside the Elfsong Tavern, all the patrons will now cower instead of continuing to drink.
● Fixed an issue where Beorn Wunterbread wouldn't become hostile towards you if you attacked your allies in High Hall.
● Bernard's Static Discharge condition now lasts 2 turns instead of 3.
● Fixed Grym's Reverberating condition clearing at the start of his turn instead of the end, causing the movement speed buff to not work.
GAMEPLAY
● You can now use Luck of the Far Realms while Disguised.
● The reaction pop-up, which shows multiple possible reactions for multiple party members, now allows you to change your mind after picking a reaction for a party member.
● You can no longer use the awesome force of bombs to flip the switch behind the final door in the Gauntlet of Shar to force the door to open.
● Tweaked some code to simplify and improve the camera system.
● Fixed being unable to switch characters if a reaction pop-up opens for a split-screen player that is far away.
● Fixed occasional T-poses and frozen animations related to the Incapacitated condition.
● Fixed combat information (such as Advantage and Disadvantage) not displaying when targeting a specific body part of a larger creature.
● When it's possible to change the use cost of an item, the modification will now depend on the user of the item rather than its owner.
● Loading a game that was saved on the roll result screen will now keep the results of that roll.
● Dousing a fire will now also extinguish that fire's ambient light.
● Fixed a bug causing the game to sometimes turn allies (green border) into companions (blue border) when loading a savegame during combat.
● Reduced character animation popping when loading a game that was saved during a dialogue.
● Fixed the combat UI not automatically skipping to the next available party member after a controlled character dies.
● You can no longer loot the entire inventory of unconscious traders - instead you have access to a limited selection, as with dead traders. Nice try, pacifists.
● While using a controller while in camp, camp characters will appear in your Character Sheet for easier swapping in inventories.
● Fixed the Surprised condition being added twice by a Stealth attack.
● Improved the visuals for dropping a dead body out of your inventory (keep your friends close and your enemies closer, we guess?) and for moving living bodies out of Withers' Wardrobe.
● Dismissing to the Wardrobe an avatar who is carrying the dead body of another avatar will now correctly remove both from the active party.
● Added the intensely satisfying 'Ahhh' sound for players who Short Rest using a keybind rather than a UI button.
● Fixed goblins beating the war drums even after getting stopped with the Sentinel feat.
● Fixed an issue with characters wildshaped into Dilophosauruses appearing below the ground upon exiting Wyrm's Rock Prison via the secret exit.
● Most traps should now crumble on being disarmed.
● Fixed the bodies of characters sometimes floating in the middle of the Underdark entrance pit after being Shoved in.
● Fixed bibberbangs not reacting to summons. Now bibberbangs only ignore creatures that have different weights to Air and Fire Elementals, Mage Hands, Shadows, etc.
● Summoning the flesh golem in the Gauntlet of Shar will now cost one Action and he won't join if he is already in combat.
● Shadowstep is no longer blocked by Silence.
● Shar is now aware of Shadowheart's actions even if she is using Disguise Self.
● Aspect of the Chimpanzee will now only blind the target on a failed Dexterity Saving Throw.
● Fixed area spells like Thunderwave revealing invisible cubes.
● Knocking out Auntie Ethel no longer prevents her from changing into hag form.
● Jumping to view the character whose turn it is in combat no longer requires shared initiative.
● DippIng weapons in toxin puddles makes attacks toxic for 10 turns rather than until Long Rest.
● The bandits in the Dank Crypt will have more loot and Trap Disarm Toolkits.
● Tieflings Amek, Rechel, and Xeph will now have loot.
● Akabi in the Circus of the Last Days now has more gold when trading.
● Auntie Ethel's Charm is now more valuable and has a higher rarity rating.
● Fixed Heat Metal expiring too early.
● Applying Chilled or Wet to a character will no longer cause them to freeze without warning. Very seasonal.
● Poisons and toxins now have the correct gold costs.
● Interacting with Stelmane's ring at the Elfsong Tavern will no longer immediately equip it.
● Removed a persistent overhead exclamation mark from Wyll.
● Fixed companions losing their custom positions at camp after loading a savegame.
● Fixed DLC rewards not being immediately granted when a new player joins an existing game.
● Spell Rot now updates when changing difficulty.
● Using the lift in the House of Healing when in Turn-Based Mode no longer causes it to loop between floors indefinitely upon exiting Turn-Based Mode.
● Fixed a rare bug where Halsin would decide to turn into a bear whenever you went to talk to him at camp in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
● Donating gold to Manip Nestor now correctly deducts the money from your inventory.
● Lifting the rocks from the dead Flaming Fist at Last Light now requires a Strength check rather than Athletics.
● Flaming Fist reinforcements can now be summoned to deal with criminal activity on the bridge leading to Wyrm's Rock Fortress.
● The skeleton on the beach outside Wyrm's Rock Prison no longer triggers a Perception check. Only a skeleton, after all.
● Quartermaster Talli will no longer offer additional supply packs to the same character disguised as another character.
● The creatures summoned with the spell Conjure Woodland Being - the Dryad and Wood Woad - are now capable of jumping.
● Casting Eyebite: Asleep or Eyebite: Sickened on a neutral target should now trigger combat.
● Non-damaging spells no longer remove the Turned condition from characters.
● Outlanders won't receive an Inspiration point anymore for giving Thulla a noblestalk if they give her an antitoxin. She also won't keep the potion you give her.
● The Sharrans' Shadow Ambush ability will now only trigger on Weapon Attacks.
● Lifts and moving platforms are now set in motion immediately upon being activated in Turn-Based Mode.
● Shadow-Cursed Undead companions are no longer able to leave the Shadow-Cursed Lands if you click too rapidly on the region exit.
● Nightsinger's Favour no longer replaces conditions applied by elixirs.
● Effects that cure poison will now also remove Drow Poison and Crawler Mucus.
● Perma-burning weapons can no longer be coated in other substances. In short: no double-dipping.
● The Emperor can no longer use the Extract Brain ability on Prone creatures. He prefers his food to be fighting fit.
● The Lucky feat now works even while players are polymorphed or wildshaped.
● Fixed Conjure Minor Elemental at Level 6 - it will now correctly summon Ice Mephits instead of making you settle for lowly Mud Mephits.
● The secret button behind the still life painting in Candulhallow's Tombstones is now uninteractable until the painting is moved.
● Fixed an issue causing valid spellcasting positions to not be allowed when spellcasting.
● Fixed the combat log sometimes showing the incorrect text for rolls and Saving Throws.
● Animated Armours are now immune to Sleep.
● The hag no longer has her passives while disguised as Mayrina.
● Starting combat by spending resources while in Turn-Based Mode will now properly subtract the resources, like in real-time.
● Fixed a bug causing you to get stuck in an animation if you're in the middle of a lockpicking active roll when Valeria's chains are destroyed.
● Addressed a bug that prevented you from casting a spell variant when selecting fewer than the maximum number of possible targets.
● Fixed the Resonance Stone losing its aura when you Long Rest with it in your inventory.
FLOW AND SCRIPTING
Act-Agnostic● Mizora should appear for her judgement of Wyll only when Karlach is actually dead. (Resurrecting her will cancel the moment.)
● If Wyll somehow managed to avoid Mizora's punishment for keeping Karlach alive, he'll be punished retroactively.
● The Dark Urge should now be able to attempt to deflect Sceleritas Fel's suggestion of killing a companion to Karlach or Lae'zel if they have a bad relationship.
● If you connect with Gale during the spell-teaching scene but do not wish to pursue romance with him, you are now able to talk to him about Tara.
● Fixed Astarion accidentally telling the Dark Urge's future.
● Fixed companions sometimes confusing you for the Dark Urge or Gale.
● Fixed the romance scene with Astarion triggering two Long Rests in a row in certain conditions.
● Fixed the night where Astarion tries to bite you triggering even if you learned about him being a vampire spawn beforehand.
● Shadowheart's artefact-tinkering scene will now only play once you have been introduced to the artefact.
● Fixed speaker prioritisation in the Magic Mirror and Underdark raft dialogues.
● If you choose to help Yurgir in Act II then you will no longer need to persuade him to help you in the fight against Raphael in the House of Hope.
● Astarion no longer asks the Dark Urge about killing Isobel even if they didn't.
● You no longer comment on Mol if you haven't met her before.
● Locke no longer blames Zevlor for his death if Zevlor died in Act I.
● If you are romancing Lae'zel or are in good standing with her, she'll be less abrasive if you suggest she hang out at camp.
● Fixed a multiplayer issue where the client's companion would react to the host Astarion avatar's vampirism instead of the host's own companion.
● Gale will no longer repeatedly say the same line about dying in the follow-up to rescuing him with the magic flute's protocol.
● Karlach will no longer disapprove when the player resurrects a companion with Withers' help.
● Karlach's camp reflection upon leaving Act II will also trigger, if needed, during the transition into Act III.
● Lae'zel will no longer become uninteractive after you dismiss her to camp if the romance duel at camp failed to resolve properly. She will also now be fixed if she was stuck in this state.
Act I● Wyll should now trigger a proper dialogue when spotting avatar Karlach after the goblin raid on the Grove.
● Your character will now make a comment when using the secret lever in the Arcane Tower in the Underdark.
● Fixed Crusher sometimes making a comment at the same time as he enters the 'fist fight' with you.
● Fixed a bug where knocking out Crusher during the 'fist fight' causes his friends to treat him as dead and causes him to lose his dialogue till you take a Long Rest.
● Fixed a bug where knocking out one of Crusher's friends counts as killing them and causes them to lose their dialogue permanently.
● Fixed Gekh Coal repeating himself and ending his dialogue early.
● Fixed several instances of sleeping goblins waking up wanting a chat when they should have been hostile.
● Fixed an issue where Baelen could sprint away and disappear if you tried to hit him while he was in the bibberbang field.
● Removed some lines from Maggran that were lacking bear form lip sync - who needs to chat when you can roar?
Act II● You can no longer tell Barcus about Wulbren at Last Light if they've already reunited.
● Cerys will now remember you in Act II if you met her in Act I.
● Fixed an issue in Moonrise Towers docks where you'd be stopped by guards several times despite having permission to go about your business.
● Made sure the Moonrise Towers waypoint unlocks when you enter the main floor.
● Fixed an issue where your allies would get angry if you committed crimes against your enemies during the Moonrise Towers raid.
● Halsin will no longer forget about saving Thaniel if you travel back to Act I while he's waiting at the lakeside. Focus, Halsin.
● Dame Aylin won't mention that she wants to talk to Shadowheart anymore when she knows Shadowheart has permanently left the party for any reason.
● Fixed a flow where a background goal regarding recounting Ketheric's past to him was not triggering.
● Latecomers to the Ketheric showdown fight (on the rooftop and in the mind flayer colony) will now have their summons and followers teleported into the boss room.
● Players who arrive to the Ketheric showdown shape-shifted will have to face him person-to-person, not apostle-to-badger.
● Your Dream Visitor will now pipe up at the correct time (not a little late) while exploring Moonrise Towers.
● Halsin now deigns to pitch in against the Absolute's ghouls if they attack the Last Light Inn.
● Warlocks can now tell Yurgir to kill himself to be freed from his contract. Diabolical.
● You should no longer be able to refer to Nightsong when talking to Gale as if you haven't yet met her.
● Minthara now dies when left alive in the prison after Ketheric has been killed.
● The guards at Moonrise only question you about Minthara once now.
● If Nightsong is Downed when the Apostle of Myrkul is defeated, she will get up in time to participate in the ensuing cinematic.
● Minthara now cannot be stuck as a 'follower' rather than a recruitable companion at Moonrise Towers.
● Minthara will still appear at Moonrise Towers if she was knocked out in Act I.
● Squire the skeletal hound in Moonrise will no longer try to call for guards once the assault has started.
● If Isobel is thrown off her balcony, she'll make more of an effort to get back upstairs again.
● Kressa Bonedaughter will now recognise the Dark Urge even if she spots another party member first.
Act III● Players will no longer be able to join an active game where the characters have reached the Morphic Pool or beyond.
● Fixed Ravengard repeatedly asking you to help free Florrick.
● Fixed Voss sometimes not moving to the taproom when he says he will.
● The wine festival attendants will now be in the right position after the crime.
● The Flaming Fist will appear at the wine festival crime scene if Cora and Roger were killed during a Long Rest.
● The mind flayer at the Wyrm's Crossing windmill will now take the body you offer it.
● Fixed a barricaded door in the Lower City causing player characters to comment about it not working when opening it.
● Yurgir should correctly react in the House of Hope to the fact that he was tricked and killed himself in the Gauntlet of Shar.
● Removed Victoria's Speak with Dead dialogue in Cazador's Palace as it didn't match the story that you can learn about her from different diaries within the palace.
● Fixed a bug where the ghost of the murder victim in the Murder Tribunal would not fade out and join combat if you rush through the trial.
● Fixed some beggars in the Brampton District facing the wrong way when asking for coin.
● Fixed the Emperor sometimes saying the wrong lines during combat in High Hall.
● Dame Aylin no longer waits tendays to bring up the time she killed Ketheric Thorm.
● We have convinced Shadowheart not to join the final nautiloid combat if she is already dead.
● The party will no longer talk about Astarion choosing to remain a vampire spawn if Cazador's ritual was interrupted before he could choose.
● Players can now start the Solve the Open Hand Temple Murders quest after finding the murderer's dagger and room key underneath the Open Hand Temple.
● Refugee Khathi of the Lower City sewers is now willing to engage in conversation.
● Umberlee's worshippers are now considerably more security-conscious about the donations in the Water Queen's House.
● After intimidating or persuading Nubaldin, the dialogue will now let you choose from the list of initial questions.
● Fixed a state where the Chamber of Insight trial could be both succeeded and failed.
● Fixed Dame Aylin becoming hostile in Ramazith's Tower after the combat with Lorroakan if a player summon was killed.
● Fixed an issue where Steel Watchers would interrogate and attack avatars who were already in prison.
● Minthara no longer repeats herself in support of Astarion becoming a Vampire Ascendant.
● Sarevok calling you an interloper no longer causes all your allies to attack you.
● The owlbear no longer shows up as an ally if Dammon is dead.
● Edited the Gazette headline about Ravengard to mention his disappearance rather than his death.
● Minthara is talkative again after the scene with 'Dribbles'.
● The Bhaal cultists in the sewers will now react in dialogue if an Unholy Assassin avatar kills the refugees they were tormenting.
● Apprentice Laridda will no longer assume you to be the bearer of bad (break-up) news if you didn't bring her the break-up message.
● Ravengard should now use the correct pronouns when addressing you during the ceremony in Wyrm's Rock.
● If you use the pixie's bell after leaving Act II, the Pixie Blessing effect will now be cleared after you Long Rest.
● Karlach no longer thinks she's left the Hells when you explore the rocky outcrop near Hope's prison.
● If Honk appeared during the date with Karlach in Baldur's Gate, he will appear at the tavern the day after.
● The vampire spawn Yousen's dialogue should now trigger correctly.
● It is now possible to tell Thrumbo that Carrion's heart has been given to him instead of destroyed.
● Fixed some in-game events not correctly reacting to Long Rests in the Lower City.
● Added further correspondence between Mystic Carrion and his clients, giving you additional opportunities to learn how to access his mansion.
Journal● Learning about the true nature of Astarion in Crèche Y'llek or the Shadow-Cursed Lands now results in a journal entry.
● Reaching Wyrm's Crossing without knowing that Astarion is a vampire spawn now updates the journal with an entry that reveals this information.
● Fixed an unclear journal entry in the 'Solve the Open Hand Temple Murders' quest.
● Destroying the Sussur Bark now closes the 'Finish the Masterwork Weapon' quest.
● The journal entries for the 'Investigate Cazador's Palace' quest no longer refer to Ulma's promise of help if she didn't make you that promise.
PERFORMANCE AND OPTIMISATION
● Fixed a memory leak if a visual is unloaded while a facial animation is playing, for example when exiting a game region.
● Improved performance drops when opening a radial menu while casting a spell.
● Optimised level of detail for various assets.
● Reduced the memory footprint of game objects.
● Optimised certain behind-the-scenes protocols to stop frame spikes while teleporting in Act III.
● Added reduced triangle-count versions of the hierarchical levels of detail, visible in the Low Model Quality settings.
● Improved VRAM usage by optimising some lighting and textures.
● Improved performance loading objects in the Lower City by tweaking the light and decal loading system.
● Improved the performance of water physics.
● Improved system memory function by removing unused fallback fonts.
● Fixed some VATs leaking after cinematics with destruction.
● Fixed some parts of virtual textures infinitely loading.
● Lowered the UI memory footprint at Full HD or lower resolutions.
● Increased the crispness of UI textures at lower than Full HD resolutions.
● Many, many other fixes for leaks, RAM/VRAM reduction and performance optimisations.
UI
● Added a profanity filter for custom map markers. You'll have to find more creative ways to label the kennel master.
● Stopped the 'Examine' button occasionally disappearing.
● Added a message in the combat log about being spotted in stealth due to environmental light or Darkvision.
● Improved the connection between combat log messages about you losing stealth and the reason for losing it.
● You can now sell and barter items inside containers when trading.
● Improved grouping and sorting of items in containers while trading.
● Blocked trade and attack options for players listening in on someone else's dialogue.
● Fixed some issues with loot containers not closing when you take all the items.
● Fixed the active spell sometimes not glowing on the hotbar.
● Fixed internal parameters in dialogue lines sometimes being displayed instead of the correct values (like names and gold amounts) after loading savegames.
● Information about damage dealt using gold is now displayed in a condensed form in the combat log.
● The combat log will now display the relevant weapon name when applying a weapon damage bonus.
● Pressing 'Extract' on an alchemical ingredient in the inventory now correctly opens the Alchemy menu.
● Withers' Wardrobe of Wayward Friends now has a map icon.
● Fixed broken mouseover text warning you that you can't use Sneak Attack again until your next turn.
● Improved cycling between targets.
● Splitting a green dye stack in the Traveller's Chest at camp will no longer change the dye's rarity from Uncommon to Very Rare.
Tooltips, Icons and Portraits● The tooltip text for alchemical ingredients will no longer get cropped.
● Fixed the text on some tooltips being cut off.
● Fixed item descriptions overlapping with icons in tooltips.
● Fixed the Mass Healing Word tooltip incorrectly indicating a target limit.
● Fixed the Action Resource tooltip clipping in French.
● Fixed several pairs of gloves displaying the wrong name and icon.
● Swapped the Insight and Perception icons. (Ironic that we didn't spot this one sooner.)
● Oathbreakers can now see their armour in the character portrait after levelling up.
● Fixed the Steam icons that appear in the Reactions UI and Multiplayer Settings being zoomed in.
● The combat log will now name wall-based spells in the mouse-over tooltip, as with other spells.
Character Creation and Level Up● The 'No Chin Attachment' icon when customising dragonborn characters will now update according to the head you've chosen.
● The sliders in Character Creation now update to their new value after you randomise your appearance.
● Updated the Character Creation Abilities screen on controller.
● Fixed a controller UI issue where switching to a race with only two body types in the guardian Character Creation UI prevented more than two body types displaying for every other race.
● Updated the Character Creation camera control icon on controller.
Controller and Split-Screen● Prevented the controller's right stick from navigating radial menus.
● Improved the radial UX for actions that use items, such as Throw and Improvised Melee Weapon.
● Customising radial menu slots in the controller UI now triggers audio feedback. Added other missing audio feedback when making certain selections on controller.
● Updated the visuals of the sliders in the Gamma and HDR Calibration settings on controller.
● Fixed missing audio feedback in various UIs, along with spamming sounds using shortcuts on controller.
● The button to jump to the character whose turn it is in combat is no longer hidden on controller.
● Updated the hold button prompt animation on controller.
● Fixed UI clipping issues on the Examine panel.
● Removed an element from the controller Options menu that only works on PC.
● The Active Search UI will no longer reveal that a container is empty before you've opened it.
● Added an option to adjust controller stick sensitivity.
● Optimised the radial menus for the controller UI.
● Fixed 'Show Pings' being hidden in the controller Option Menu.
● Added a 'Group All' button for the party on controller.
● Made grouping and ungrouping summoned creatures a toggle.
● Added the ability to toggle between melee and ranged weapon sets on the controller UI.
● Fixed corpses in your inventory on the controller UI having a purple 'equipped' icon.
LEVEL DESIGN
● Fixed some navigation issues in The Glitter Gala and The Chromatic Scale in the Lower City.
● Increased the navigation space in the Mausoleum doorways behind the mural.
● Fixed textures disappearing by tweaking the fade settings on the roof behind the Teahouse fireplace.
● You can no longer wander into Cragged Rocks meant for climbing.
● Added some planks and rubble in a spot in Waukeen's Rest to clarify that you have to jump to get from one spot to another.
● You can now target the crumbling wall in Heapside Prison regardless of whether the adjacent door is open or not.
● Made a couple of balustrades around Malus Thorm see-through so they don't block the camera.
● The hanging cages in Cazador's dungeon will no longer tell you they're safe to step on, only to drop you to your death in the chasm below.
● Fixed Mirkon sometimes cowering in fairly deep water when you talk to him while he's running away from the harpies.
● Adjusted some troublesome vents in Cazador's Palace.
● Improved Cazador's home security by locking a chest and a door.
● Fixed and decorated some pressure plates in Cazador's Palace.
● Locked one of the Caza-doors.
● Added additional treasure to a chest in Cazador's Palace.
● The Reithwin Tollhouse safe now has better loot.
● Added more loot to the library in Rosymorn Monastery.
● A lava texture in the Adamantine Forge no longer overflows onto the crucible.
● Fixed the raft at the duergar camp sometimes being displaced.
● Fixed a chest in Cazador's Palace having two copies of 'Dawsen Kiltmaker's Confession' diary.
● Improved the treasure available in Reithwin and the Silent Library.
● Replaced a crate in the Shadow-Cursed Lands with a chest of loot.
● The githyanki portals in the Elfsong basement no longer remain partially interactive once the combat with the githyanki has ended.
● Enemies will no longer get stuck when flying from the upper floor of Ramazith's Tower to the floor below.
● Added more containers with loot to the Dock Warehouse basement.
● A chest in Wyrm's Rock Prison now has improved loot.
● The torturers in Moonrise Towers now have more loot.
● The berry bush in Rosymorn Monastery can now be reached without jumping.
● Fixed an unreachable desk in the Counting House vaults.
● The 'Sinister Door' in Cazador's Palace now locks and unlocks correctly.
● Improved the quality of loot available in the Hidden Vault in the Emerald Grove.
● The central stone slab in the druids' chambers will no longer obstruct your view.
ART
● Fixed a flashing white square sometimes appearing by Karlach's tent at camp after the Dark Urge's urgin'.
● An Eternal Debtor's hair no longer floats when the camera is zoomed out.
● Fixed a spot in Bloomridge Park that allowed you to walk on water. Who do you think you are?
● Made sure previews for certain camp gear (like the Anarchic Blue Outfit) now display the correct colours.
● Fixed a missing texture on the lower body of male halflings when wearing a half plate.
● Improved the lining-up of wall segments in the Lower City Sewers.
● Improved the hitbox of a door variant in the Lower City, so projectiles cannot go through it when closed.
● Heterochromatic eye colours can now be applied to the correct eyes for the preset elven character in Character Creation.
● Improved the model for shirtless Cazador.
● Added some shiny new condition icons!
● Dalyria's character portrait now displays correctly in the controller UI.
● Updated Maghtew Budj's portrait.
● Fixed an empty space in the Lower City vista.
● Fixed padded armour sometimes appearing as underwear on bigger body types.
● Improved the texture resolution of the Wyrmway dragon door.
ANIMATION
● Fixed cleric arms clipping through cloth when casting some spells. Holy smokes.
● Polished animations on the Steel Watcher who invites you to Gortash's inauguration.
● Polished the jumping and hook attack animations for hook horrors.
● Fixed an issue related to the duration of a myconid idle animation.
● Fixed some animation issues with Lorroakan's robe.
● Adjusted the animations for Mystic Carrion's Torrential Undeath and Wayward Undead.
● Fixed a level-of-detail issue causing skeletons in the Dank Crypt to lose their robes and appear nakey (well, boney) when zoomed out.
● Fixed clipping around Doctor Moorcombe’s neck when he moves his head.
● Fixed missing leg textures on female githyanki while wearing the default barbarian clothes.
● The Gondian gnomes no longer have stretched or bendy fingers due to the gloves they wear.
● Polished the appearance of some robes when worn by male gnomes.
● Improved the appearance of zombie clothes on male humans.
● Fixed clipping on Shadowheart's chainshirt when worn by female halflings.
● Polished motion and cloth simulation for Queen Rhol's dancing in Sharess's Caress.
● Characters no longer twitch slightly after picking up or dropping an item from their inventory.
● Fixed a clipping issue in a custom animation of Astarion reading a book.
● Added an animation for looting while playing fetch.
● Added cloth simulation to magic monk armour for all races.
● Wyll's camp clothes can now be equipped by half-orcs without clipping.
● Added some animation flair for when you dismiss avatars to Withers' Wardrobe.
● When dragging and dropping a dead character from an inventory, they'll no longer replay their death animation.
LIGHTING
● Polished the lighting for the Netherbrain confrontation.
● Polished lighting in the scene where Mizora tells Wyll about his next mission in Moonrise Towers.
● Polished lighting in the scene between Minsc and Boss Friol.
SOUND
● Improved the sound mixing for the Absolute speaking to you and Shadowheart for the first time.
● Fixed a duplicated sound when interacting with goodberries.
● Improved the sound design for the Chosen Three controlling the elder brain in Act II.
● Added a sound effect for characters dismissed to Withers' Wardrobe of Wayward Friends.
● Fixed the Magic Mirror background ambiance persisting after you exit the UI.
● Added SFX to kissing Shadowheart in her default dialogue.
● Fixed an issue that was preventing some NPCs from fully playing their overhead dialogues.
● Added vocalisations to the unfortunate duergar during the ambush at the Ebonlake.
● Balanced controller vibration feedback - removed from several events throughout the game.
● Added footstep and pickup sound effects to players picking up items with controller. Looting's never sounded this good.
● Learning a new alchemy recipe now triggers the correct audio feedback.
VFX
● Spirit Guardians now correctly cast light in the direction they are travelling.
● Added some cinematic polish to Minthara's dialogue in the Goblin Camp.
● Added glowy VFX to tattoos, chests, hand orbs, and shots involving mind flayer players in the endgame dialogue with Gale.
● Fixed a candle in Moonrise Towers missing its flame.
● The Silk Tomb condition and visual effects (as seen in the Phase Spider Matriarch fight) now apply correctly.
WRITING
● A dead fisherman on the beach will no longer hint that you can find Shadowheart just ahead if you are, in fact, Shadowheart.
● Updated the Elemental Adept tooltip to clarify that it aids with attacks as well as spells.
● Named the tattoos in Character Creation.
● Added an extra line for Halsin so he acknowledges an outcome where you resolved the grove situation but the goblin leaders weren't necessarily killed.
● Companions can now make additional comments when learning about Gale's orb.
● Added overhead dialogues for player characters about the purpose of the pentagrams in Cazador's ritual at the start of combat.
● Divine Strike: Weapon now shows the correct damage in its tooltip description.
● Fixed a missing subtitle for one of Ghustil Stornugoss' lines.
● Improved clarity in the 'Rescue the Tieflings' quest journal when opening the tiefling cells.
● Adjusted the text in the 'Get Help from Healer Nettie' subquest to point you towards your own crafting menu, not the central cauldron.
CINEMATICS
● Improved camera shots, mocap animations, character staging, and facial expressions in many dialogues across the game.
● Fixed pops, jitters, and clipping in many dialogues across the game.
● Added custom touches and polishes to many dialogues across the game.
● Fixed some animation issues caused by dragonborn armour in dialogues with duergar.
● Adjusted some camera shots when talking to Isobel and Nightsong at camp after defeating Lorroakan.
● Players will no longer rudely stare above Zaki's head in their dialogue in the tiefling kids' hideout.
● Fixed the Dark Urge's jittery writhing animation while tied up by a companion.
● Minthara's haughty stare will now correctly look at players she's talking to towards the end of the game.
● Fixed a pop on Mol and adjusted some camera shots and animations.
● Fixed a pop when talking to Araj in Moonrise Towers and hid Astarion's helmet for when he bites you.
● Fixed a quirky stair-climbing animation during Dribbles' on-stage show.
● Fixed Redhammer's hand clipping through his face.
● Amended the animations for female humans, male githyanki, female gnomes, and male and female dwarves when talking to Astarion while romancing him.
● Improved Astarion's Ascendant route at-will gnome kiss for masculine body types.
● Fixed the player character not looking at Barcus correctly.
● Cleaned up some mocap in several scenes.
● Fixed Shadowheart not correctly looking at you when talking to her before the Upper City final battle. How rude.
● Improved lip contact and mocap for large and tall players when smooching Wyll.
● Reduced the blue glare effect on the Displacer Beast in the Gauntlet of Shar.
● Improved camera angles between Raphael and Lae'zel in Raphael's Sharess' Caress ultimatum scene.
● Fixed the visual effects in Lorroakan's Speak with Dead dialogue.
● Companion interjections will now correctly play during the spider meat scene in the Gauntlet of Shar.
● Polished the cinematics in Gale's default dialogues.
● Adjusted and improved some animations when talking to Shadowheart.
● The animation for the pig in the Wyrm's Crossing refugee camp no longer pops when he starts speaking a new line.
● We fixed the long, awkward pauses that followed each line of one of the ghouls outside Moonrise Towers.
● The knife no longer disappears from the cinematic when removed from the mystery meat by a short character.
● Polished a dialogue with Mizora for male dragonborn characters.
● Fixed lines cutting off early in Aelis' dialogue.
● Added some missing VFX on Thisobald Thorm's tankard.
● Fixed an animation looping issue that caused a pop on a dog's butt.
● Improved camera angles after the combat with the bear and the goblins in the Goblin Camp.
● Improved the lip contact when kissing Minthara in the endgame for large male humans and female dragonborns.
● Fixed some bugs in the intimate scene with the drow in Sharess' Caress.
● Fixed some bugs when talking to Kled.
● Fixed the camera clipping beneath the ground in the scene after defeating Cazador without Astarion there.
● Fixed small jumps in animation in the 'NPC caught you trespassing' dialog.
● Polished the looping idle animation for dogs.
● Fixed a cinematic issue that showed Cazador's prisoners walking through a closed door if you freed them.
● Fixed a rare issue where party members appeared in cinematic cutscenes in place of the expected NPCs.
Larian is currently on a victory lap following the breakout success of Baldur's Gate 3, with seven wins at the recent Golden Joysticks and eight nominations at the upcoming Game Awards. Larian is set to announce Baldur’s Gate 3’s long-awaited Xbox release date at the awards show on December 7, and has even started to tease its "next big game".
Baldur's Gate 3, of course, has been a massive commercial and critical success since its official release on PC in August. IGN gave it a 10/10, praising its "crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity."
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
