Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Games

Loser Araysar

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Rajaah Rajaah recently first-timed BG1 and posted a bunch on it. I'd recommend just reading his blog thread and instead playing BG3 with us. But he goes into class choice in the second post of this thread: Rajaah's CRPG Blog He went paladin which is a solid choice.

i wanna do them in order. i figure by the time im done with either, it will be a year or two and i can pick up the 3rd one on steam sale
 

Tuco

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i wanna do them in order. i figure by the time im done with either, it will be a year or two and i can pick up the 3rd one on steam sale
be sure to update Rajaah's CRPG Blog thread for our entertainment with your journey.
 
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Angerz

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I also read 122 gigs, 8am PST 8/3 and no preload.

It's been a long time since I was excited for a game release.

The size and no preload is why its not a midnight/early euro release, which Larian wanted (being a Belgian studio). Steam is afraid its going to absolutely destroy their servers and want it to have all hands on deck for that.
 
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Tuco

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Steam is afraid its going to absolutely destroy their servers and want it to have all hands on deck for that.
Why do you think this?

I sometimes wonder how big releases impact absurdly massive servers. I wonder how much of a blip Steam gets every week from big game releases and how much it changes bandwidth compared to say, EST 6PM when Americans get home from work and power up their PCs and get updates in whatever game they're actively playing.
 

j00t

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dual wielding isn't TOTALLY trash in 5e. it flips flops back and forth between great weaponmaster for top damage. early game, dual wielding is better just due to action economy and low attack bonuses. i THINK at lvl 11 when fighters get their 3rd attack is when great weaponmaster pretty solidly takes the lead.

fighters will be the best dual wielders specifically because they get more attacks and feats than any other class. rangers are the only other class that gets the two weapon fighting style (which adds ability damage to your off hand damage). rogues thematically dual wield, but swashbuckler rogues (not in bg3) are the only ones that have any kind of mechanics for dual wielding. other than that any class can dual wield right out of the gate, there's just not much reason to. paladins could dual wield, for example, and do pretty well at it with dual smiting, but it doesn't normally fit the theme so no one does it.
 
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Hateyou

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Why do you think this?

I sometimes wonder how big releases impact absurdly massive servers. I wonder how much of a blip Steam gets every week from big game releases and how much it changes bandwidth compared to say, EST 6PM when Americans get home from work and power up their PCs and get updates in whatever game they're actively playing.
Well all major releases blast steams servers…so I’m guessing he’s using…history of all major releases?

Millions of people DLing a 122gb game at the same minute upon release is a much bigger strain than joe blows across the country with staggered time zones and staggered work release times updating their 12mb update to whatever game they play may or may not have had an update that day.
 
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Burns

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Why do you think this?

I sometimes wonder how big releases impact absurdly massive servers. I wonder how much of a blip Steam gets every week from big game releases and how much it changes bandwidth compared to say, EST 6PM when Americans get home from work and power up their PCs and get updates in whatever game they're actively playing.
The EA release of BG3 supposedly crashed Steam's servers, so... be prepared, if you are talking off work.
 
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TJT

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Not being able to preload it is gay AF.

Luckily I WFH and can at least just let it run.
 
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TJT

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dual wielding isn't TOTALLY trash in 5e. it flips flops back and forth between great weaponmaster for top damage. early game, dual wielding is better just due to action economy and low attack bonuses. i THINK at lvl 11 when fighters get their 3rd attack is when great weaponmaster pretty solidly takes the lead.

fighters will be the best dual wielders specifically because they get more attacks and feats than any other class. rangers are the only other class that gets the two weapon fighting style (which adds ability damage to your off hand damage). rogues thematically dual wield, but swashbuckler rogues (not in bg3) are the only ones that have any kind of mechanics for dual wielding. other than that any class can dual wield right out of the gate, there's just not much reason to. paladins could dual wield, for example, and do pretty well at it with dual smiting, but it doesn't normally fit the theme so no one does it.
Rogue wandering around with 1 dagger is just gayboy stuff though.
 

Tuco

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Between the bears and the pink twitch drops I think this is the gayest game I'll have ever played since the Ballad of Gay Tony.
 
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Vorph

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whats the best class for newbs in BG1?
Warlock, when in doubt Eldritch Blast!

Oh BG1, mage for sure.
BG1 caps at 161k xp (Sword Coast, not base game) so the real question to ask is 'what's the best class in BG2 that doesn't make playing through BG1 and TOTSC hell?'

Obvious answer is fighter/mage (multiclass). As a newb I'd definitely avoid anything that involves dual-classing like Berserker Mage or Kensai Mage, and you probably don't want to mess with triple class setups like cleric/fighter/mage or fighter/mage/thief even though they are also top tier choices. Dual classing makes BG1 easy, but ends up making a big chunk of BG2 a slog.

Edit: I tend to forget Siege of Dragonspear exists, but if you decide to play through it you'll actually have 500k xp which is enough to get a L9 dual back on its feet before starting BG2. Still probably not something for a newb to worry about though unless you intend to follow a detailed build guide to do it.
 
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Loser Araysar

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BG1 caps at 161k xp so the real question to ask is 'what's the best class in BG2 that doesn't make playing through BG1 and TOTSC hell?'

Obvious answer is fighter/mage (multiclass). As a newb I'd definitely avoid anything that involves dual-classing like Berserker Mage or Kensai Mage, and you probably don't want to mess with triple class setups like cleric/fighter/mage or fighter/mage/thief even though they are also top tier choices. Dual classing makes BG1 easy, but ends up making a big chunk of BG2 a slog.

Edit: I tend to forget Siege of Dragonspear exists, but if you decide to play through it you'll actually have 500k xp which is enough to get a L9 dual back on its feet before starting BG2. Still probably not something for a newb to worry about though unless you intend to follow a detailed build guide to do it.

how bad of a spot am i in for playing a Dwarven berserker who specializes in maces, flails, axes and 2 handed weapons?
 
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Seananigans

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BG1 caps at 161k xp (Sword Coast, not base game) so the real question to ask is 'what's the best class in BG2 that doesn't make playing through BG1 and TOTSC hell?'

Obvious answer is fighter/mage (multiclass). As a newb I'd definitely avoid anything that involves dual-classing like Berserker Mage or Kensai Mage, and you probably don't want to mess with triple class setups like cleric/fighter/mage or fighter/mage/thief even though they are also top tier choices. Dual classing makes BG1 easy, but ends up making a big chunk of BG2 a slog.

Edit: I tend to forget Siege of Dragonspear exists, but if you decide to play through it you'll actually have 500k xp which is enough to get a L9 dual back on its feet before starting BG2. Still probably not something for a newb to worry about though unless you intend to follow a detailed build guide to do it.

Aren't the caps in BG1 and BG2 actually experience point caps? This matters since in 2e different classes require different total exp values to level up. For instance I think wizards end up lower than thieves, clerics and paladins get screwed pretty hard, etc.
 
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Vorph

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how bad of a spot am i in for playing a Dwarven berserker who specializes in maces, flails, axes and 2 handed weapons?
I've only ever played a human berserker that I dualled to mage. Flails are the best weapon choice because you get an extremely powerful one very early on in BG2. Dual wield > 2H because of a certain scimitar you'll normally find pretty early in BG2 as well. IMO you really want your character to be a caster of some sort, pure melee just can't compete later on.
Aren't the caps in BG1 and BG2 actually experience point caps? This matters since in 2e different classes require different total exp values to level up. For instance I think wizards end up lower than thieves, clerics and paladins get screwed pretty hard, etc.
Yeah, I edited that after realizing I'd had a brain fart.
 

Tuco

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how bad of a spot am i in for playing a Dwarven berserker who specializes in maces, flails, axes and 2 handed weapons?
It'd be fine for the reasons Vorph stated. There's good itemization in BG for a large variety of weapons. Maces/flails are very powerful in particular.

IMO you really want your character to be a caster of some sort, pure melee just can't compete later on.
I don't really agree with this. Going through BG1/2 on normal mode and without the stupid mods I play with you can pretty much set your party up to be the support around a big dick swinging berserker and do very well and with satisfying gameplay.
 
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