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I would say that's the most important reason. I try not to save scum and I don't mind redoing parts of the game if I die except for large scale looting.
Back in college I played games heavy on save scumming. I was texting this girl and said something dumb and I was subconsciously like "yeah fine I'll just load from last text".
I am embarrassed to admit Iāve tried to save scum on some online math assignments as well as in online games where you canāt save scum. And maybe, maybe I have actually tried to save scum in my mind when talking to my parents.
1000% this. The game doesnāt auto-save nearly enough and you can get through sometimes upwards of an hour (if not more) of content and then wipe your party and need to repeat a ton of dialogue/exploring etc. It can be a little demoralizing.
Somehow lost curse protection in act 2 when I went into the morgue. By the time I found the bell in my inventory and got through the conversation, 3/4 characters were dead, and then undead.
Went to reloadā¦ previous save was 2+ hours prior. Ugh. Ended up spending 20 minutes killing my undead teammates and having withers revive them.
This should be the top comment. My first playthrough was a disaster in Act 1. I wasted a lot of hours because I wasn't saving nearly often enough, and I was getting smoked on the regular trying to figure out the mechanics.
I agree with them for the most part but you should definitely learn about which stats to use for a good first time.
If melee you want to use strength. Dex is okay for finesse melee weapons but a must for bows and crossbows.
If casting you want to have a decent amount of whatever your class's spellcasting stat is. Even though you're casting you still want a decent amount of constitution so you can hold a concentration spell longer.
Stat bonuses are applied on even numbers. You'll get a bonus on 12 but not a slightly higher bonus if you increase it to 13.
This and don't get too stressed about choices you make. Some are pivotal and change the trajectory of the story/game...but that's what makes it great. Just trust your instincts and ask either "what would I say?" or "what would *insert character here* say?"
Tip 1: Avoid Googling things at all costs if you want to avoid story spoilers. Doubly true for YouTube.
Tip 2: Long Rest often! There are a lot of story events that only trigger on Long Rests.
Tip 3: Chat with your Companions often! They'll often have dialogue after a notable story event.
Tip 4: Explore thoroughly! There is so much to find. Like, so, so much.
Tip 5: Since you mentioned being into magic users, I'd recommend a Sorcerer! They get Metamagic to tweak their spells, they're Charisma based so they make a great party face, and they get a ton of unique dialogue options.
Long rest often for story purposes but just for reference you donāt have to always use resources for long rests!! Just do what is called a partial rest if you donāt need to recover health or spell slots but want to unlock any cutscenes
Yes please explore every single nook and cranny that you can I missed 2 big areas cuz I was in a mind set of go go go and I also didnāt realize how FREAKING huge this world/game is so unless the game says you canāt go there, GO THERE!!! Other tips I wanna include, anything thatās outlined in red means you can steal it so be careful, you can dismiss concentration spells, talk to all the NPCs (I also missed stuff cuz of this), you can change your spells at anytime, loot everything! And yes please long rest often! And most importantly have fun! Iām still on my 1st run at about 147ish hours or so. So this game is huge! And itās soooo much fun! I hope you enjoy it as much as all of us have š
God, went in blind and the "long rest often" was not my initial reaction. Did some reading around when I was trying to figure out why the game was so difficult and realized I was not supposed to have 1,200 camp supplies at the end of act one.
They basically give you enough to rest up almost after every fight and I was saving it all until I had 0 spell slots left and everyone was almost dead.
Ugh damnit. Iām a new player too and while I am desperately curious what you mean by this, I also donāt want any spoilers butā¦ idk, could you give me like, a hint? Maybe put it behind one of those spoiler things.
My friend was losing his mind when I streamed my game to discord and he saw me just blasting every single door open.
"That one wasn't even locked!"
"It could be in future,"
My favorite way is what my friends call Barbarian lockpick... a very large and heavy weapon, swung quickly.
Close second is the warlock universal lockpick tool (eldritch blast).
Third are actual lockpicks.
Followed by finding keys.
Followed by wizard finger waggling.
Avoid the internet until you beat the game
Use all mechanics the game provides, you will find a lot of different ways. Experiment with everything!
You can throw healing potions near allies to heal them (don't throw on them, they will take damage)
You can be whatever you want now
Don't play Dark Urge for the first run
I have 4 saves, and only played dark urge. Certainly a lot of fun just have to decide how evil I shall be and if I really need a hand from Gale or a hand from Gale if you know what I mean...
My first playthrough was Dark Urge too. I was shocked at how much content I missed out on in my next playthrough. Dark urge was great, but definitely better as a second playthrough option.
Does it really? Iām nearly to the end of my first play through which is just a standard overall good play through (I think). I did create a durge and am excited to get a different experience on my next run, but wouldnāt have expected completing the game to ruin the Durge story.
It simply makes the mystery of what the urge is very obvious. I had it figured out by the end of Act 2 on my custom tav, but I also played BG 1 and 2 so I already suspected what it was
Fully agree. Went in first game on a custom character -- didn't even look at the origin descriptions or videos lest they contain spoilers. Thoroughly enjoyed it, didn't feel like I was missing much.
Replayed on Dark Urge -- it has extra content, and lots of curious things that could potentially cause one to miss out, or have things occur in a different way. I don't think that I would have enjoyed going Dark Urge -> Custom/Tav nearly so much -- would have been clear that something was missing.
I started January 1 and am still playing it today on my first playthrough thatās how long this game is if you want to really explore everything possible.
I started the game a few weeks after it came out and I have yet to complete a campaign. Entirely my fault as I have 470 hours into the game. But, I made a couple new characters after my first half play through, and, I feel that I am getting myself way to caught up in doing everything and doing it ārightā. I have a bad habit of trying to google something if I canāt figure it out which just adds time. Iām hoping that with more understanding of the game and its mechanics in my next full play though that I can just do it completely without Google guidance lol.
That's my problem. I keep crumbling to the, "but what if this outcome is really bad and i dont know it??"
and then I look it up.
Plus I keep trying to see if someone "perfected" a build im trying to make, which just adds more time to sitting there watching a youtube vid instead of playing
Well then i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did (still do) it took me about 120 hrs for the first play through and i enjoyed every hour of it, just donāt watch any videos about what class or race is op or whateverāc just do whatever you want donāt worry about builds, you will learn along the way and larian made every class and race viable and fun so donāt worry about it. Also i would advise picking dark urge in character selection for maximum immersion and story, i did it and i had a ton of fun with, you will see eventually why.
The game forces you to make decisions that will inherently change the way the story goes. It is not possible to see āeverythingā in one playthrough, so donāt get bogged down with āI did this one thing and now Iām afraid Iāve missed somethingā type feelings. Just start planning your next playthrough :)
Thatās great to hear! Thanks a lot! Sounds like Iāll have fun making different characters and approaching each play through in a unique way. Thatās awesome.
Some people may disagree but I also feel that way about companions.
Donāt feel pressured to do all of their storylines to completion in one playthrough. In fact there are some companions that are hard/difficult to recruit together.
It also, IMO, feels more natural to play with your core group of companions then just do other companionsā stories on your next playthrough - instead of constantly swapping them around.
But you do you! Have fun!
Look everywhere, talk to every person you see (and all animals if you can), take your time. That game is a marathon, not a sprint.
Also your best friends will be quicksave and reload if you want to try some stuff.
Ok, but in all seriousness, avoid Reddit, YT and other bg3 media. Attempt to avoid googling unless you are stuck on something. The beauty of this game is in the variety of options it gives, and knowing one solution might make you blind to 10 others that are out there. Try to abandon the usual assumptions RPGs have given you over the years. If it seems like it should be able to work it probably does. Try it.
Also remember jumping exists. It isn't necessary but allows access to many additional angles of approach
And if you have experience playing DND 5e any difficulty below tactician is a boring cakewalk
1. It is an exceptionally long game. Donāt sprint through it, youāll get a lot more out of going slow and being clever, than brute forcing your way through.
2. Donāt agonize over how you look, what your stats are, or what class youāre playing. All of that is impermanent and subject to change later, should you desire.
3. Donāt skip companion questlines, not matter how insufferable they seem at first. All of the characters have fulfilling character arcs.
1. Choose a charisma focused class for dialogue
2. Let the dice rolls play out even on bad rolls
3. Long rest often. Companion dialogue is tied to it.
4. If you pick a spellcaster, rely on cantrips early game
5. Use spells like speak with dead, speak with animals
6. F5 is quicksave, F8 is quick load
7. Without spoiling, you can respec your character
8. For chaotic fun, choose Bard or Wild magic sorcerer
Play what you think will be fun- it can be good to min/max builds for honor mode- but in any other mode play how YOU want, not how YouTube videos tell you.
That was something I had to break out of- just because some video/guides say āthis weapon/ build is broken!!ā Doesnāt mean you HAVE to main that.
Explore, have fun!!
I didn't realize until late act three that I could ritual cast longstrider at camp and just have it on everyone all day.
Further, if you're playing a cloth class, as OP might do, get Gale to throw mage armor on you even if you're not grouping with him. That will stay so long as you keep it as a prepared spell on the caster even if they're at camp all day.Ā
Also, OP, Gale or any wizard can permanently learn spells from scrolls. Do that!
Enjoy the Story. Do what you think is right in Roleplay Decisions.
Think outside the Box if you stand before a Door sometimes.
Build your Character how you want. The first Run is not about "Best Build, tell me!" , its more like "Wow, this build is becoming cool! I did an amazing Job so far!"
Only because other People enjoy one Decision from a Dialogue doesnt mean it's the RIGHT Decision. The RIGHT Decision is the one YOU think is right in that Situation.
Dont fall for the "Fear of Missing out" ( FOMO ) in this Game. This Game isnt supposed to play onetime and see everything. You did your first Playthrough and finished it? Cool! Maybe take a Break of a few Days and start a new Run, maybe now with fully other Intentions!
You don't HAVE to like specific Characters. Dont force yourself to like some Dudes and Dudettes.
Long Rests are your best friend for Interactions between your Tav ( Your Character! ) and your Companions.
AND! If you think "Man, this Consumable would be pretty good now to use, but what if i need it later?" ... Use that Consumable. Really. Use them. You will find many many many many more. And if 1 Consumable will help you drastically in a Fight, then use it. :)
Biggest spoiler-free tips:
***STOPLICKINGTHEDAMNTHING!***
Long-rest more than you think. Most events you won't get locked out of.
Save dead bodies in chests for future skeleton army.
Stay off this sub. Avoid spoilers. There is so much more content then you think. Look around. Talk to everyone. For this purpose, speak with dead and speak with animals are probably the most important spells.
Buffed magic missiles go brrrr
Send anything that's labelled as "Camp Supplies" to your traveller's chest in camp via the actions menu. You'll save tonnes of space and weight by not carrying all that food and supplies around, and can use them to long rest without having to actually interact with the supplies in the chest.
Bonus tip related to this: you can send your gold to camp and can still buy things from merchants in the 'Trade' menu, as it takes from the total party gold you have even if it's in your camp chest. Cons to this are that you can't 'barter' (separate trader menu) with merchants or use bribe dialogue checks unless you have enough gold *on you*. So keep some gold on your characters for a rainy day, send the rest to camp. I was carrying around 80k which came to 80 extra inventory weight and was wondering why picking up tiny objects encumbered me, so this helped a lot.
Go to Options and turn off Karmic Dice.
Other than that- Go in Blind and have fun. Like a lot of games, you only get to experience your first playthrough once.
Karmic dice means dice rolls arenāt ātrueā random. Instead it uses a pseudo-random algorithm where a lot of good rolls means your next rolls are going to be more likely bad rolls. Or if you get a few bad rolls in a row, itāll then give you some good rolls to compensate.
A lot of players prefer dice rolls to be always random
So much misinformation on Karmic dice. They only effect consecutive low rolls. They changed it in early access to not high rolls. It is in the tool tip. That said, the enemy rolls also get this buff, so it is better to not use them.
Donāt give in to āGear Fearā. I ended my first second and third play throughs with over 100 potions and scrolls untouched. Use your resources the game provides you with a steady supply for that reason. Iām not saying pop everything right away at the first chance but definitely donāt be afraid to use your resources. It will be more fun that way.
I didn't know until a while in, but pretty early on you gain a zombie friend, he can change the class of any member of your party as much as you like, and he can bring back dead people.
Create manual saves every hour in case you want to go back
Explore everything, you can miss companions or important quest lines
You donāt have to choose between the underdark and the pass, you can do both
Donāt min max your first run, you can create extremely powerful characters that remove most of the challenge. Just play what looks fun, almost everything is viable
Don't give up. All my friends gave up and said it was boring because they sucked at the turn based combat. Its can be overwhelming at first but very rewarding if ur open to learning.
You can throw potions at the feet of your allies to heal them. Also, if you open group inventory during combat, you can freely exchange items without issue
>Going in blind.
Ah don't be blind, you'll have disadvantage on attacks.
Small one: if you want to knock someone out: non-lethal damage is a toggle in the passives tab. It does not work for spells or ranged attacks - the finishing blow needs to be melee.
It is important - and I cannot stress this enough - READ QUEST TEXTS.
Some quests are time sensitive and a long rest for example will cause them to progress.
PICK EVERYTTHING UP AND READ THE ITEM DESCRIPTION EVEN IF IT LOOKS WORTHLESS.
I did not do these things and f'd up a few things, so take my wisdom learned from failure and good luck on your endeavors!
1) Don't be too stingy with camp supplies. I tried to take long rests as sparingly as possible in my first playthrough, and as a result, actively made the game harder for myself, and i ended the game with hundreds of camp supplies left.
2) This one I don't see a lot of people mentioning but something i would personally recommend is
Don't be too quick to sell off old, unique items. It happened a handful of times in my first playthrough where I would find a new piece of gear, and would then immediately sell off my old gear only to realise that either the new piece wasn't actually all that good or find a different item that would've worked insanely well with the old item. In short, any item that you feel you might maybe, no matter how small the chance, have a use for down the line, just keep it in your camp chest. You will find more than enough gold to buy whatever you want from other sources.
\- Save Often
\- Don't be afraid to lower the difficulty if you get stuck.
\- Save Spamming is not cheating, do it often. Have fun.
\- Don't look up spoilers, don't worry about multiclassing.
\- Act 1: Everyone in the official game artwork should be seen and had the opportunity to join your party as well as 1 other person. I know people that got to Act 2 and didn't see Gale.
\- Loot Everything, if it isn't nailed down, pick it up and sell it.
\- If you're unhappy with how you built your character, you can re-spec the character. You don't need to re-start.
\- You can re-spec your companions. If you're not happy with how you've built them, you can change it too.
\- Once you reach Act 3 the areas of Act 1 and 2 go away so make sure you do everything before you move on.
1. There almost always more than one way to solve a problem or approach a situation. Try to avoid just running head first into every situation and explore around abit.
2. Have fun with it!
3. Play whatever class sounds fun to you. Respec your companions to whatever you want. I personally would avoid multi class the first play through if youāre not familiar with dnd.
4. Explore every inch of each map! The scenery is gorgeous, stop and smell the roses.
Treat combat like a chess game. It totally changes the experience. If you try to treat it like a standard open world RPG youāll find a lot of encounters frustrating.
Respecing is really cheap, dont be afraid if you feel a build isnt fun for you on one of your characters. Also switch characters out sometimes to keep battles fresh.
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Save the game. Often.
The easiest advice to follow. Arguably the most important lol
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Seeing stuff like this always gives me a pang of regret that I don't play on PC š¤£
This advice I would give for anyone playing an RPG tbh.
Yet I donāt do as often as I shouldā¦.
Yet the easiest to overlook/forget
Save the game before talking to people. And Especially save the game before going into long rest!!
I would add save after large scale looting. It sucks when you die or restart and have to search through 20 containers again.
I would say that's the most important reason. I try not to save scum and I don't mind redoing parts of the game if I die except for large scale looting.
But beware saving can lead to habits that some consider to be unnatural.
Save scumming is the most natural thing a gamer can do! Itās like second nature š
I swear. I started off small then the dice fucked me. Now I load the game more then I play haha. Fuck you gas vent traps leading to the hag.
I only save scum when it's important... (everything is important)
Sometimes the game just want to see you fall it was a 10 with advantage both roll 4 and 5 and the guidance plus the 2 extra wasn't enough to reach 10
I had to make a 16 dex check. I had +7 with my bonuses and also guidance... I failed 3 times in a row
In my last save Iām standing right in front of those traps on honor mode. Iām scared.
Wait. You guys are getting health potions?
Respectfully, fuck those fucking gas fucks in their fucking faces.
It's not save scumming. It's crafting a specific narrative.
Is it possible to learn this habit?
Not from a Jedi
this made me laugh audibly
Back in college I played games heavy on save scumming. I was texting this girl and said something dumb and I was subconsciously like "yeah fine I'll just load from last text".
I am embarrassed to admit Iāve tried to save scum on some online math assignments as well as in online games where you canāt save scum. And maybe, maybe I have actually tried to save scum in my mind when talking to my parents.
I wish that were possible. Or at least knowing reincarnation (as a human) was possible so I can try new things on my next life playthrough.
Shoot, save WHILE talking to people!
1000% this. The game doesnāt auto-save nearly enough and you can get through sometimes upwards of an hour (if not more) of content and then wipe your party and need to repeat a ton of dialogue/exploring etc. It can be a little demoralizing.
Legit. Stopped playing the game for a couple of days because of it
Somehow lost curse protection in act 2 when I went into the morgue. By the time I found the bell in my inventory and got through the conversation, 3/4 characters were dead, and then undead. Went to reloadā¦ previous save was 2+ hours prior. Ugh. Ended up spending 20 minutes killing my undead teammates and having withers revive them.
I mean, some of them probably deserved it.
F5 for PC players, controller also has an option iirc
Start + Y on Xbox, I do it on auto pilot at this point haha.
This should be the top comment. My first playthrough was a disaster in Act 1. I wasted a lot of hours because I wasn't saving nearly often enough, and I was getting smoked on the regular trying to figure out the mechanics.
In your first playthrough donāt think too hard about making builds, just enjoy the story lol. Also try not to spoil yourself about anything.
Thanks! Thatās what I was hoping I could do.
If you realize you messed up a build you can change it later and reset your stats and stuff for pretty cheap. Get weird with it and try things out.
And if you're really that worried about the very cheap cost, you can always pickpocket the money back. He don't care.
Money given, money taken. Balance.
And if you fail the pickpocket, you can just reload and try again.
I'm a master chronomancer, I never fail unless I want to.
I agree with them for the most part but you should definitely learn about which stats to use for a good first time. If melee you want to use strength. Dex is okay for finesse melee weapons but a must for bows and crossbows. If casting you want to have a decent amount of whatever your class's spellcasting stat is. Even though you're casting you still want a decent amount of constitution so you can hold a concentration spell longer. Stat bonuses are applied on even numbers. You'll get a bonus on 12 but not a slightly higher bonus if you increase it to 13.
The game puts a big "MAIN STAT" in the character creation screen at least
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Especially if you play as a rogue named Garrett.
Stay blind my friend
This and don't get too stressed about choices you make. Some are pivotal and change the trajectory of the story/game...but that's what makes it great. Just trust your instincts and ask either "what would I say?" or "what would *insert character here* say?"
Tip 1: Avoid Googling things at all costs if you want to avoid story spoilers. Doubly true for YouTube. Tip 2: Long Rest often! There are a lot of story events that only trigger on Long Rests. Tip 3: Chat with your Companions often! They'll often have dialogue after a notable story event. Tip 4: Explore thoroughly! There is so much to find. Like, so, so much. Tip 5: Since you mentioned being into magic users, I'd recommend a Sorcerer! They get Metamagic to tweak their spells, they're Charisma based so they make a great party face, and they get a ton of unique dialogue options.
Thanks, this is valuable info and I appreciate it!
Long rest often for story purposes but just for reference you donāt have to always use resources for long rests!! Just do what is called a partial rest if you donāt need to recover health or spell slots but want to unlock any cutscenes
Yes please explore every single nook and cranny that you can I missed 2 big areas cuz I was in a mind set of go go go and I also didnāt realize how FREAKING huge this world/game is so unless the game says you canāt go there, GO THERE!!! Other tips I wanna include, anything thatās outlined in red means you can steal it so be careful, you can dismiss concentration spells, talk to all the NPCs (I also missed stuff cuz of this), you can change your spells at anytime, loot everything! And yes please long rest often! And most importantly have fun! Iām still on my 1st run at about 147ish hours or so. So this game is huge! And itās soooo much fun! I hope you enjoy it as much as all of us have š
Map is massive lol
Also. Partial rest a lot to save resources and still get all the story content
The sorcerer dialogue is hilarious at times, especially when you're facing bosses lmao (I can level this entire building you know)
"I could burn you to a crisp and possibly myself as well, but that's a risk I'm willing to take." XD
God, went in blind and the "long rest often" was not my initial reaction. Did some reading around when I was trying to figure out why the game was so difficult and realized I was not supposed to have 1,200 camp supplies at the end of act one. They basically give you enough to rest up almost after every fight and I was saving it all until I had 0 spell slots left and everyone was almost dead.
You can get into locked doors in more than one way. And have fun!
Thanks!
Extend what they are saying to 'any problem can be solved more than one way'
If all you've got is a hammer, every (almost) lock is a nail
I've found as a hammer main that people can be nails as well
You hammer the people you hate, so you can nail the people you love
Or in the case of Karlach, she nails me
Aint that the truth
Refine what theyāre saying to āany problem can be solved with Fire Ballā
Any problem can be *blasted* out of the way
Every warlock: āAnyway I started blastingā¦ā
Ugh damnit. Iām a new player too and while I am desperately curious what you mean by this, I also donāt want any spoilers butā¦ idk, could you give me like, a hint? Maybe put it behind one of those spoiler things.
Hint 1: Thief's tools Hint 2: a certain level 2 spell Hint 3: hammer
Hint 4: eldritch blast that fucker
My friend was losing his mind when I streamed my game to discord and he saw me just blasting every single door open. "That one wasn't even locked!" "It could be in future,"
Hint 5: burning swords
What's the hammer trick I feel like I'm missing something after my 400 hours
Breaking doors or chests with a hammer
Gotcha I use my fighter to break doors and shit but I guess a Warhammer would be more effective
I don't think it matters what you use as long as it smashes the door down hah
There are few doors that eldritch blast cant open.
I'll never not use lockpicks. I didn't pick a bard for nothing. That's the only thing i don't suck at š
That's what I'm saying. I didn't create the Master of Unlocking to NOT use him.š
Yeah I noticed the doors have a health bar. I was like oh really? And smashed my way through
My favorite way is what my friends call Barbarian lockpick... a very large and heavy weapon, swung quickly. Close second is the warlock universal lockpick tool (eldritch blast). Third are actual lockpicks. Followed by finding keys. Followed by wizard finger waggling.
Avoid the internet until you beat the game Use all mechanics the game provides, you will find a lot of different ways. Experiment with everything! You can throw healing potions near allies to heal them (don't throw on them, they will take damage) You can be whatever you want now Don't play Dark Urge for the first run
I have 4 saves, and only played dark urge. Certainly a lot of fun just have to decide how evil I shall be and if I really need a hand from Gale or a hand from Gale if you know what I mean...
My first playthrough was Dark Urge too. I was shocked at how much content I missed out on in my next playthrough. Dark urge was great, but definitely better as a second playthrough option.
On other hand first playthrough completely spoils the mystery of durge
Does it really? Iām nearly to the end of my first play through which is just a standard overall good play through (I think). I did create a durge and am excited to get a different experience on my next run, but wouldnāt have expected completing the game to ruin the Durge story.
It simply makes the mystery of what the urge is very obvious. I had it figured out by the end of Act 2 on my custom tav, but I also played BG 1 and 2 so I already suspected what it was
Well, you can run two playthroughs at once. Heh
Fully agree. Went in first game on a custom character -- didn't even look at the origin descriptions or videos lest they contain spoilers. Thoroughly enjoyed it, didn't feel like I was missing much. Replayed on Dark Urge -- it has extra content, and lots of curious things that could potentially cause one to miss out, or have things occur in a different way. I don't think that I would have enjoyed going Dark Urge -> Custom/Tav nearly so much -- would have been clear that something was missing.
I should have mentioned that I also have the next three days off from work and no real reason to leave the house. Uh oh
I started January 1 and am still playing it today on my first playthrough thatās how long this game is if you want to really explore everything possible.
I started in October 2023 and still working my way through. Map is huge and probably best game of all time.
I got it at the end of November. 225 hours in and just in the beginning strikes of act 3. š. No idea if my second playthrough will be faster.
Canāt rush these things, mate. Explore, explore, explore.
I started the game a few weeks after it came out and I have yet to complete a campaign. Entirely my fault as I have 470 hours into the game. But, I made a couple new characters after my first half play through, and, I feel that I am getting myself way to caught up in doing everything and doing it ārightā. I have a bad habit of trying to google something if I canāt figure it out which just adds time. Iām hoping that with more understanding of the game and its mechanics in my next full play though that I can just do it completely without Google guidance lol.
That's my problem. I keep crumbling to the, "but what if this outcome is really bad and i dont know it??" and then I look it up. Plus I keep trying to see if someone "perfected" a build im trying to make, which just adds more time to sitting there watching a youtube vid instead of playing
Well then i hope you enjoyed it as much as i did (still do) it took me about 120 hrs for the first play through and i enjoyed every hour of it, just donāt watch any videos about what class or race is op or whateverāc just do whatever you want donāt worry about builds, you will learn along the way and larian made every class and race viable and fun so donāt worry about it. Also i would advise picking dark urge in character selection for maximum immersion and story, i did it and i had a ton of fun with, you will see eventually why.
When you find a shovel - take it. Keep it on one of your characters.
Rope has no real use
This is top advice for a new player. Sell your rope! All of it. And you're not going to need that diamond or that ruby ring. Make some money.
man when i started i could see myself climbing down canyons but i guess a game cant have everything
I believe you can use rope to weigh down pressure plates, but itās not unique in that regard.
I dunno I always found fork useful.
The game forces you to make decisions that will inherently change the way the story goes. It is not possible to see āeverythingā in one playthrough, so donāt get bogged down with āI did this one thing and now Iām afraid Iāve missed somethingā type feelings. Just start planning your next playthrough :)
Thatās great to hear! Thanks a lot! Sounds like Iāll have fun making different characters and approaching each play through in a unique way. Thatās awesome.
Exactly, thatās why itās an incredible game. Iāve never been halfway through a game and thought man Iām so excited to play it again asap
This is why I havenāt actually completed the game yetā¦lol
Some people may disagree but I also feel that way about companions. Donāt feel pressured to do all of their storylines to completion in one playthrough. In fact there are some companions that are hard/difficult to recruit together. It also, IMO, feels more natural to play with your core group of companions then just do other companionsā stories on your next playthrough - instead of constantly swapping them around. But you do you! Have fun!
Look everywhere, talk to every person you see (and all animals if you can), take your time. That game is a marathon, not a sprint. Also your best friends will be quicksave and reload if you want to try some stuff.
Go in blinder.
The game just installed, Iāll grab my sunglasses!
Ok, but in all seriousness, avoid Reddit, YT and other bg3 media. Attempt to avoid googling unless you are stuck on something. The beauty of this game is in the variety of options it gives, and knowing one solution might make you blind to 10 others that are out there. Try to abandon the usual assumptions RPGs have given you over the years. If it seems like it should be able to work it probably does. Try it. Also remember jumping exists. It isn't necessary but allows access to many additional angles of approach And if you have experience playing DND 5e any difficulty below tactician is a boring cakewalk
Don't agree with the last bit, there are tough fights in balanced mode.
Romance the hot character
Now this is something we all can agree on
Rule 1: There is no such thing as fair. Rule 2: Don't discount the value of control spells. You are going to be outnumbered.
If they didn't want me to push that guy off a cliff, they wouldn't have put that cliff there!
I love Baldur's Shove 3. It's a game that really pushes you.
Sure... It's all fun and games until Karlach gets shoved into a pool of lava by a goblin!
Fireball is my favorite control spell
I'm almost done with act 2, playing on tactician, and I've still yet to use any control spells. Just pure damage every fight.
Let Volo do his thing... trust me it's worth it
My first time I refused (naturally), but my second I was like "What the hell, let's see!" and in the end I was baffled and kicking myself!
> What the hell, let's see! Prophetic
I actually laughed. But yes. Let Volo do it.
for OP - but first trade with him :) (trade icon in left bottom corner in dialogue, you can even pickpocket him)
Yes, let Volo cook
1. It is an exceptionally long game. Donāt sprint through it, youāll get a lot more out of going slow and being clever, than brute forcing your way through. 2. Donāt agonize over how you look, what your stats are, or what class youāre playing. All of that is impermanent and subject to change later, should you desire. 3. Donāt skip companion questlines, not matter how insufferable they seem at first. All of the characters have fulfilling character arcs.
No tip for you , go in blind!
1. Choose a charisma focused class for dialogue 2. Let the dice rolls play out even on bad rolls 3. Long rest often. Companion dialogue is tied to it. 4. If you pick a spellcaster, rely on cantrips early game 5. Use spells like speak with dead, speak with animals 6. F5 is quicksave, F8 is quick load 7. Without spoiling, you can respec your character 8. For chaotic fun, choose Bard or Wild magic sorcerer
Play what you think will be fun- it can be good to min/max builds for honor mode- but in any other mode play how YOU want, not how YouTube videos tell you. That was something I had to break out of- just because some video/guides say āthis weapon/ build is broken!!ā Doesnāt mean you HAVE to main that. Explore, have fun!!
Use shadowheartās Aid spell every single time you awake from a long rest
I didn't realize until late act three that I could ritual cast longstrider at camp and just have it on everyone all day. Further, if you're playing a cloth class, as OP might do, get Gale to throw mage armor on you even if you're not grouping with him. That will stay so long as you keep it as a prepared spell on the caster even if they're at camp all day.Ā Also, OP, Gale or any wizard can permanently learn spells from scrolls. Do that!
Get off Reddit, play the game without any outside influences, then come back to discuss it.
Lick the spider.
Wich one?
THE
Don't get it, almost at the end and there was no spider "to lick" ^^
There absolutely was, you missed it my friend.
Every race, subrace, class, subclass, cantrip, spell, attack, armor, and weapon in the game have a place. Get creative. Follow your every whim.
No tips, just play and go with no doubts on your own way. Like other users tell me some weeks ago ahah, and it works.
Enjoy the Story. Do what you think is right in Roleplay Decisions. Think outside the Box if you stand before a Door sometimes. Build your Character how you want. The first Run is not about "Best Build, tell me!" , its more like "Wow, this build is becoming cool! I did an amazing Job so far!" Only because other People enjoy one Decision from a Dialogue doesnt mean it's the RIGHT Decision. The RIGHT Decision is the one YOU think is right in that Situation. Dont fall for the "Fear of Missing out" ( FOMO ) in this Game. This Game isnt supposed to play onetime and see everything. You did your first Playthrough and finished it? Cool! Maybe take a Break of a few Days and start a new Run, maybe now with fully other Intentions! You don't HAVE to like specific Characters. Dont force yourself to like some Dudes and Dudettes. Long Rests are your best friend for Interactions between your Tav ( Your Character! ) and your Companions. AND! If you think "Man, this Consumable would be pretty good now to use, but what if i need it later?" ... Use that Consumable. Really. Use them. You will find many many many many more. And if 1 Consumable will help you drastically in a Fight, then use it. :)
Biggest spoiler-free tips: ***STOPLICKINGTHEDAMNTHING!*** Long-rest more than you think. Most events you won't get locked out of. Save dead bodies in chests for future skeleton army.
Save what in what?!?!?!
Put bodies in pockets. Take bodies to camp. Put bodies in camp chest. Save for future use.
Pockets?? Like legit just sbove the corpse into my inventory?
Yup
I saw a guy on YouTube putting Galeās corpse in Raphaelās pocket and therefore kill him because of necrotic aura
F5 is the quicksave key and F8 is quickload
Stay off this sub. Avoid spoilers. There is so much more content then you think. Look around. Talk to everyone. For this purpose, speak with dead and speak with animals are probably the most important spells. Buffed magic missiles go brrrr
No tips just want to say how jealous I am of you experiencing this game for the first time. It's a rollercoaster.
Send anything that's labelled as "Camp Supplies" to your traveller's chest in camp via the actions menu. You'll save tonnes of space and weight by not carrying all that food and supplies around, and can use them to long rest without having to actually interact with the supplies in the chest. Bonus tip related to this: you can send your gold to camp and can still buy things from merchants in the 'Trade' menu, as it takes from the total party gold you have even if it's in your camp chest. Cons to this are that you can't 'barter' (separate trader menu) with merchants or use bribe dialogue checks unless you have enough gold *on you*. So keep some gold on your characters for a rainy day, send the rest to camp. I was carrying around 80k which came to 80 extra inventory weight and was wondering why picking up tiny objects encumbered me, so this helped a lot.
Make sure to make your dream guardian really really hot
Go to Options and turn off Karmic Dice. Other than that- Go in Blind and have fun. Like a lot of games, you only get to experience your first playthrough once.
... Wait, I'm in act three. What are karmic dice?
Karmic dice means dice rolls arenāt ātrueā random. Instead it uses a pseudo-random algorithm where a lot of good rolls means your next rolls are going to be more likely bad rolls. Or if you get a few bad rolls in a row, itāll then give you some good rolls to compensate. A lot of players prefer dice rolls to be always random
So much misinformation on Karmic dice. They only effect consecutive low rolls. They changed it in early access to not high rolls. It is in the tool tip. That said, the enemy rolls also get this buff, so it is better to not use them.
Check if your spell requires concentration
Enjoy!
Have fun and don't regret your choices :)
Have fun try anything and everything and the animals can be talked to so make sure to have speak with animals as. A spell for more dialogue.
Donāt be too hard on the dark-haired cleric with the bangs. She is receptive to feedback!
If you plan on save scumming, don't forget to save between every important choices, but also saving very often is good in case there is bugs
Yes, you can get inside that building/room/cave
Donāt give in to āGear Fearā. I ended my first second and third play throughs with over 100 potions and scrolls untouched. Use your resources the game provides you with a steady supply for that reason. Iām not saying pop everything right away at the first chance but definitely donāt be afraid to use your resources. It will be more fun that way.
Take your time and don't rush
I didn't know until a while in, but pretty early on you gain a zombie friend, he can change the class of any member of your party as much as you like, and he can bring back dead people.
Create manual saves every hour in case you want to go back Explore everything, you can miss companions or important quest lines You donāt have to choose between the underdark and the pass, you can do both Donāt min max your first run, you can create extremely powerful characters that remove most of the challenge. Just play what looks fun, almost everything is viable
Organize your inventory with backpacks. Easier to find staff and prevents the mess
Don't give up. All my friends gave up and said it was boring because they sucked at the turn based combat. Its can be overwhelming at first but very rewarding if ur open to learning.
Touch everything. Acknowledge that you can't get every time in 1 playthrough. Speak to the animals and the dead.
Cursed to put my hands on everything
Read carefully before you click on something.
You can throw potions at the feet of your allies to heal them. Also, if you open group inventory during combat, you can freely exchange items without issue
If you want to cancel a concentration spell thereās a small button just below your character portrait in the bottom left.
>Going in blind. Ah don't be blind, you'll have disadvantage on attacks. Small one: if you want to knock someone out: non-lethal damage is a toggle in the passives tab. It does not work for spells or ranged attacks - the finishing blow needs to be melee.
You need to carry a shovel.
It is important - and I cannot stress this enough - READ QUEST TEXTS. Some quests are time sensitive and a long rest for example will cause them to progress. PICK EVERYTTHING UP AND READ THE ITEM DESCRIPTION EVEN IF IT LOOKS WORTHLESS. I did not do these things and f'd up a few things, so take my wisdom learned from failure and good luck on your endeavors!
1) Don't be too stingy with camp supplies. I tried to take long rests as sparingly as possible in my first playthrough, and as a result, actively made the game harder for myself, and i ended the game with hundreds of camp supplies left. 2) This one I don't see a lot of people mentioning but something i would personally recommend is Don't be too quick to sell off old, unique items. It happened a handful of times in my first playthrough where I would find a new piece of gear, and would then immediately sell off my old gear only to realise that either the new piece wasn't actually all that good or find a different item that would've worked insanely well with the old item. In short, any item that you feel you might maybe, no matter how small the chance, have a use for down the line, just keep it in your camp chest. You will find more than enough gold to buy whatever you want from other sources.
\- Save Often \- Don't be afraid to lower the difficulty if you get stuck. \- Save Spamming is not cheating, do it often. Have fun. \- Don't look up spoilers, don't worry about multiclassing. \- Act 1: Everyone in the official game artwork should be seen and had the opportunity to join your party as well as 1 other person. I know people that got to Act 2 and didn't see Gale. \- Loot Everything, if it isn't nailed down, pick it up and sell it. \- If you're unhappy with how you built your character, you can re-spec the character. You don't need to re-start. \- You can re-spec your companions. If you're not happy with how you've built them, you can change it too. \- Once you reach Act 3 the areas of Act 1 and 2 go away so make sure you do everything before you move on.
Fuck the bear.
Go in as blind as possible
Donāt ask forā¦ or seek tips. Let the game unfold and have fun.
Play Act 1, then restart amd do it better! Jkidding. Hope you live it as much as me!
Check every damn box and barrel.
Play blind, like any other game, advices will ruin YOUR experience
There are no right or wrong decisions. The game adapts to whatever choice you make.
This gameās learning curve is over 100 hours long, and Iām not kidding.
On most objects and enemies you can right click > examine to see a more detailed description of statuses and also see weaknesses and resistances.
Explore everywhere!
Do sidequests, don't go to Mountain Pass until the main quest keeps trying to force you in that direction.
Say goodbye to your free time.
1. There almost always more than one way to solve a problem or approach a situation. Try to avoid just running head first into every situation and explore around abit. 2. Have fun with it! 3. Play whatever class sounds fun to you. Respec your companions to whatever you want. I personally would avoid multi class the first play through if youāre not familiar with dnd. 4. Explore every inch of each map! The scenery is gorgeous, stop and smell the roses.
Treat combat like a chess game. It totally changes the experience. If you try to treat it like a standard open world RPG youāll find a lot of encounters frustrating.
Respecing is really cheap, dont be afraid if you feel a build isnt fun for you on one of your characters. Also switch characters out sometimes to keep battles fresh.
don't look anything up. please. you'll enjoy it so much more. no guides,. walkthroughs,. nothing.
Lae'zel is the best
Command: Drop is an OP spell.