Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Games

sleevedraw

Revolver Ocelot
<Bronze Donator>
1,801
6,047
Act II Illithid stuff
I've completely avoided using the Illithid powers and I refused the transformation. Did anyone else take that path? I don't want to know if it makes a difference, I'm just curious if any of you made that choice because it was extremely tough for me, but I just didn't want to pay the 'cost' for the power. My gut tells me the end of the game is going to be a bit different, but it's also entirely possible that I ignored some cool stuff for nothing more than preference.

My understanding is as follows:
Consuming the lower-level tadpoles:
  • Causes aesthetic changes to your character (black veins) that start out on your face and spread downward the more tadpoles you consume
  • Most companions will disapprove, but it will not cause any "point-of-no return" type situations assuming your relationship with your party members is positive, and the disapprove penalty can be minimized with Persuade checks
  • Does not have any effect on the ending

Using [Illithid] [Wisdom] checks in dialogue:
  • Occasional, prudent use of the parasite in dialogue is OK
  • If you overuse these options, the narrator will begin to give some ominous dialogue about you "giving up" something important to you, presumably your humanity
  • Eventually [Illithid] [Wisdom] will be replaced with [True Soul]. Unsure how much of an effect this has on later gameplay

I haven't used any of the parasite items, but I (a) occasionally use the tadpole to communicate covertly with other party members either when trying to elicit their opinions on things without drawing attention or when they want to show me something from their past, (b) have worn the Ring of Mind Shielding ever since Omeluum gave it to me. I have not gotten the foreshadowing dialogue from the narrator.

Consuming the astral tadpole:
  • Causes very dramatic visual changes, but like the above, does not permanently lock you out of a romance or an ending by itself
  • Can attempt to persuade other party members to accept use of the astral tadpole if you so desire
In addition to the above, I have romanced the Emperor while making it very clear that I have zero interest in transformation. While he's still stated that transformation improves chances of success against the Netherbrain, he is also respectful of my decision to not transform at least up through the midway point of Act III where I am now (defeated Orin but not Gortash). I have not gotten the foreshadowing dialogue from the narrator.
 
Last edited:

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!
<Gold Donor>
45,475
73,558
I went all out embracing the tadpoles and my head was more tadpole than brain by the end of the game. No regrets. The fly ability is OP AF and probably should've been limited to one use per turn, or even use a bonus action.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

Qhue

Tranny Chaser
7,488
4,438
There needs to be some true transmog Mods made. In our group co-op the Oompa Loompa gnome monk is dual wielding salami and that's just become such a running gag I feel this needs to continue.

Are there any other wieldable foods?
 
  • 1Worf
Reactions: 1 user

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!
<Gold Donor>
45,475
73,558
I'm curious if anyone has seen statistics posted on what were:

* The most popular romance options for a first playthrough
* The most popular romance options for a second playthrough
* The companion who is stuck with the most for multiple playthroughs

I think literally the only companion I like in BG is Minsc and Karlach, because they're the only ones that seem to be having fun except Astorian when he becomes a vamp god or kicks puppies or whatever. Though I fucked over Lae`zel, so I'll probably go the other way with saving her prince. Gotta imagine that no-nose creature has a lot of good lines in romance options
 

k^M

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,705
1,965
There needs to be some true transmog Mods made. In our group co-op the Oompa Loompa gnome monk is dual wielding salami and that's just become such a running gag I feel this needs to continue.

Are there any other wieldable foods?
Salami and bread (?) I think were the only ones I noticed that were bludgeoning weapons.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Rajaah

Honorable Member
<Gold Donor>
11,363
15,033
IMG_20230920_124025.jpg

It just me or is that Randy Couture?
 

Qhue

Tranny Chaser
7,488
4,438
During co-op tonight I realized that the multiplayer join screen includes the player, their location, their level etc. It also lists the 'campaign' as "GustavDev" which would imply, at least to my anticipatory eyes, that there are definite plans for other campaigns.
 

Fadaar

That guy
10,497
11,449
Finally started my co-op with old high school buds. There was much retardation, 10/10 would do again.
 

Harshaw

Throbbing Member
21,655
103,648
I'm curious if anyone has seen statistics posted on what were:

* The most popular romance options for a first playthrough
* The most popular romance options for a second playthrough
* The companion who is stuck with the most for multiple playthroughs

I think literally the only companion I like in BG is Minsc and Karlach, because they're the only ones that seem to be having fun except Astorian when he becomes a vamp god or kicks puppies or whatever. Though I fucked over Lae`zel, so I'll probably go the other way with saving her prince. Gotta imagine that no-nose creature has a lot of good lines in romance options
I did the Lae'zel romance on my playthrough. She actually turns out to be a pretty decent NPC at the end. Then I tell her to kick rocks and go to hell with Karlach.
 
  • 3Worf
Reactions: 2 users

Voyce

Shit Lord Supreme
<Donor>
7,173
23,476
By the way, there is a method of getting the Robe from Miz, by killing Karlach, then picking up her body, taking her to camp, reviving her, turning on non-lethal, knocking her out, going to rest, letting the miz scene playout, then after waking up the day after, talking to a no longer unconscious Karlach (you might need to temporarily kick some people out of your party), Wyll doesn’t get horns, which is imo an improvement.

works without mods, I confirmed, there’s a video on youtube if you need an example, i’ll link later. Incase you want the robe, which is pretty fetching, and Karlach

Edit:

 
Last edited:

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!
<Gold Donor>
45,475
73,558
By the way, there is a method of getting the Robe from Miz, by killing Karlach, then picking up her body, taking her to camp, reviving her, turning on non-lethal, knocking her out, going to rest, letting the miz scene playout, then after waking up the day after, talking to a no longer unconscious Karlach (you might need to temporarily kick some people out of your party), Wyll doesn’t get horns, which is imo an improvement.

works without mods, I confirmed, there’s a video on youtube if you need an example, i’ll link later. Incase you want the robe, which is pretty fetching, and Karlach
Thematically I think it's more appropriate for Wyll to grow horns AND renew his contract with Myzora. His entire story is

just-when-i-thought-i-was-out-they-pull-me-back-in.gif


Where he's sort of an "anti-hero" in that he's a warlock who choses to condemn himself for the greater good. It'd be interesting if there were more choices like this that he was able to to actively do evil things to purify himself. Ex: in Act 3 he could get rid of his horns if he let an innocent take the fall for something, essentially "purifying" his body by corrupting his morals.


edit: lol @ blurred gifs
 
  • 2Worf
Reactions: 1 users

Blazin

Creative Title
<Nazi Janitors>
6,413
33,667
Finally beat Act 2 boss fight solo, I had come close a couple times. Had originally tried to free whatshername right away but it ended up being more productive to sneak to the side and take out adds. Seems impossible to get all the adds without it triggering the fight but it still let me get through stage 1 with the least amount of used resources, then just needing some good rolls on bone guy who is actually a good bit easier to hit than the general, which seemed kind of backward.

It's been fun so far with my wife playing through normal ahead of me and she declares "you aren't getting past this fight solo" over and over. So heading to act 3 for the first time for me.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Tuco

I got Tuco'd!
<Gold Donor>
45,475
73,558
Finally beat Act 2 boss fight solo, I had come close a couple times. Had originally tried to free whatshername right away but it ended up being more productive to sneak to the side and take out adds. Seems impossible to get all the adds without it triggering the fight but it still let me get through stage 1 with the least amount of used resources, then just needing some good rolls on bone guy who is actually a good bit easier to hit than the general, which seemed kind of backward.

It's been fun so far with my wife playing through normal ahead of me and she declares "you aren't getting past this fight solo" over and over. So heading to act 3 for the first time for me.
What's been the hardest fight so far?
 

Blazin

Creative Title
<Nazi Janitors>
6,413
33,667
What's been the hardest fight so far?

the hag, so far I havent had to switch builds. That fight could have been easy as a caster. BUt at low lvl not a lot of tools in the bag and mirror versions was really leaving me chasing my tail. I ended up using a silence dagger. So once I came up with a working strategy I had spent a good bit of time on it. I don't look things up, I don't even know what items exist etc. I like trying to problem solve it. I have kept every single magical item/consumable and scroll and I had tried a few different strategies of grenade chucking with her that just werent working.

I'm horrible with names but the neero (i think that was his name) guy at the end of grymforge is another fight that took a long time. I ended up beating that through what seemed like a few hours of cat and mouse of having the blue dwarves follow me all over the zone in one long combat. I have my first turn move distance at like 90ft so some of it is just cheese of hit and run hit and run just over and over. Any fight where you can retreat to camp is ultimately killable, the boss fights where you can't have been the only thing that requires some planning or just straight tedium.

Biggest tedium fight so far was the mech at the forge, only way I came up with that worked was a repeated process of hitting from a ledge he couldnt get to, which would trigger lava to retreat. So had to trigger lava hit him for 3pts and hide rinse and repeat for at least 100 rounds of combat. It could have been hundreds I didn't keep track but the fight took about an hour and a half of just turn clicking through a repeated sequence.

I'm at 63hrs played on solo play through and the end of act 2 not sure how that squares with someone doing it in a more straightforward manner.
 
Last edited:

Harshaw

Throbbing Member
21,655
103,648
the hag, so far I havent had to switch builds. That fight could have been easy as a caster. BUt at low lvl not a lot of tools in the bag and mirror versions was really leaving me chasing my tail. I ended up using a silence dagger. So once I came up with a working strategy I had spent a good bit of time on it. I don't look things up, I don't even know what items exist etc. I like trying to problem solve it. I have kept every single magical item/consumable and scroll and I had tried a few different strategies of grenade chucking with her that just werent working.
Yeah, that fight can be a pain, but is trivial with magic missles.
 

k^M

Blackwing Lair Raider
2,705
1,965
Yeah, that fight can be a pain, but is trivial with magic missles.
Start the fight by silencing her spawn point and unload on that bitch. Doing that with 4 people and no missiles on tactician with little prep was rage inducing. 6 back to back 13-15 dmg acid sprays? Eat a dick
 
  • 3Like
Reactions: 2 users