Baldur’s Gate 3: Huge Patch Live!

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 1 Highlights

Larian Studios has released Patch 1 for Baldur’s Gate 3, boasting over 1,000 improvements addressing bugs, balancing issues, and overall game flow. The extensive patch notes highlight numerous fixes across various areas of the game, from story flow and character interactions to combat mechanics and visual glitches.

Showstoppers

• Fixed a bug that prevented players from interacting with anything after prematurely exiting a dialogue as Player 1.
• Resolved an issue where the Reaction UI malfunctioned, potentially hindering combat progression.
• Loot in corpses now consistently appears in multiplayer, eliminating the need to drag items onto the corpse.
• Fixed a bug causing a Game Over screen after assisting downed party members.
• The Helm of Arcane Acuity no longer crashes the game, with its stack limit now capped at 7.
• Attacking an NPC during dialogue after being downed will now result in arrest instead of a Game Over screen.
• Fixed an issue that could cause characters to get stuck in an infinite falling loop.
• Marcus can no longer be resurrected by a dual-wield attack, preventing him from reviving after the second hit.

Story Flow and Logic

• Wyll can now guide players on the next steps if killed and has an exclamation mark above his head.
• Shadowheart’s romance moments in Act III have been improved for smoother progression.
• Fixed an issue where game conditions were updated before savegame loading, causing issues like zero HP on loading an autosave created upon entering the Lower City.
• Jaheira and Minsc’s paths are now connected after saving Minsc, ensuring Jaheira follows after him if Minsc has been forsaken.
• Removed a bug that allowed accidental breakups with Astarion.
• The drider now recognizes players as his companions when reaching Moonrise Towers even if they start following him midway through his route.
• Art Cullagh and Fist J’ehlar no longer become excessively scared of bears and spiders, preventing their quest from breaking.
• The Zhentarim now consistently use the mines after their allies retreat and stop actively trying to blow themselves up.
• Minthara’s dialogue has been refined to eliminate irrelevant topics and repeated judgments on companions.
• The dialogue flow during romance with Minthara has been improved.
• Halsin and Minthara can no longer be recruited to camp in the same playthrough.
• Clarified the initiation of a romance with Gale when choosing specific dialogue options.
• Players can now choose between kissing and kicking Gale in the head during his spell-teaching scene.
• Non-lethal attacks on Auntie Ethel no longer result in her death.
• Players can now respect the privacy of the bugbear and ogre outside the Blighted Village, allowing for a more respectful approach to their relationship.
• Fixed a level design flaw that allowed players to skip part of the main quest sequence in Act II using spells like Misty Step or Dimension Door.
• The Baldur’s Mouth headline about a cute cat will no longer be overwritten accidentally.
• Wyll now recognizes Avatar Karlach and initiates dialogue if he is not recruited.
• Throwing a single coin at beggars no longer damages them.
• Dolly Dolly Dolly will now paint players’ faces if they anger her with the “A Clown in Town” condition, providing a more fitting consequence.
• The Zhentarim at the Goblin Camp are now more tolerant towards players who approach them.

Balance

• Gold bounties have been made more generous in various containers throughout the game.
• Players’ HP bonus in Explorer Mode has been increased from +50% to +100%.
• The Freecast tadpole power now correctly resets on Long Rest, preventing infinite spell slots and Sorcery Points for sorcerers.
• Arcane Tricksters’ Mage Hand Legerdemain now persists until destroyed and retains Invisibility after Long Rest.
• Multiple Mage Hands can no longer be active simultaneously.
• The Shield reaction can no longer be used while Silenced.
• Fixed an issue preventing players from creating 5th Level spell slots from Sorcery Points.
• College of Lore bards now have the option to choose their additional skill proficiency. Existing bards need to respec to make this choice.
• Ensured proper spell DC is applied during multiclassing.
• Added spells to bards’ Magical Secrets feature: Banishing Smite, Animate Dead, Crusader’s Mantle, Hunger of Hadar, Revivify, Sleet Storm, Rage of Enfeeblement, Web, Entangle, Hunter’s Mark, Sanctuary, Thunderous Smite, Bone Chill, Eldritch Morphic Blast, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Sacred Flame.
• The Club of Hill Giant Strength now increases Strength to 19, providing a significant power boost.
• Fixed a bug that caused ranged enemies to constantly reapply Hunter’s Mark, even when unnecessary.
• Warlocks’ Pact of the Chain summons can now utilize their Extra Attack more than once.
• Fixed NPCs spotting players even when they shouldn’t be able to, enhancing stealth mechanics.
• Fixed an issue where multiple rolls were triggered when walking along the edge of a cone of vision, improving the accuracy of perception checks.
• Danse Macabre ghouls no longer kill players during Long Rest, preventing unwanted deaths during rest periods.
• Successfully saving against poison now grants immunity to that specific poison for two turns, adding a new layer of tactical gameplay.
• Meenlocks are now immune to the shadow curse, creating a more balanced encounter.
• Improved Minthara’s weapon usage, ensuring she effectively utilizes her abilities in combat.
• Enabled trespass warnings for additional characters trespassing after the first, preventing immediate combat triggers and allowing for more diplomatic approaches.
• Fixed NPCs attacking outside their turn when combat starts during forced Turn-Based Mode, improving combat flow and fairness.

Usability

• Fixed dialogue notifications, like approval ratings and roll results, from disappearing too quickly, enhancing player awareness.
• The Launcher now remembers the chosen graphics setting (DX11 or Vulkan) for convenience.
• Resolved an issue where incorrect gold amounts were displayed in UI menus when dealing with large sums.
• Fixed spells like Hex from randomly shifting in order, preventing misclicks due to intuitive clicking movements.
• Players who are simply listening to a dialogue can no longer skip lines, ensuring a smoother and more focused dialogue experience.
• Camp Supply values for the second local player in multiplayer now function correctly, even if they join mid-game. Long Rests will no longer be free.
• Players can no longer interact with another player’s locked inventory, preventing unwanted inventory access.
• Fixed critical hit text from sometimes not appearing, improving player feedback.
• Improved the performance of the minimap when new markers appear or old ones disappear, enhancing visual clarity and responsiveness.
• Dyed armor now accurately displays the correct color in the Level Up screen.
• Halsin’s Wild Shape tooltip now correctly identifies him as a cave bear, eliminating confusion.

Visuals

• Fixed the modesty filter from not functioning on dragonborns, ensuring consistent visual settings.
• Resolved an issue with earrings on female tiefling strong character models.
• Added a Controller Style option to override displayed controller icons, allowing for personalized preferences.
• Fixed a bug that prevented clown makeup from appearing on Lae’zel’s face and removed her tattoos and makeup, preserving her unique appearance.
• Invoke Duplicity now creates an identical copy of the player character, eliminating nudity issues.
• Fixed floating leather and metal helmets, along with the Helmet of Smiting, on certain character models, enhancing visual realism.
• Lae’zel’s underwear now accurately reflects the color of applied dyes, maintaining visual consistency.

Cinematic Scenes

• Made fixes to kissing scenes with Origin characters, including proper physical contact, adjustments for shorter races, and considerations for uneven ground, enhancing the cinematic quality and immersion.
• Fixed floating items like mugs and newspapers in dialogues by correctly hiding the characters holding them, creating a more polished visual experience.
• Adjusted Scratch’s position, making it easier to try and remove the ball from his mouth, adding a playful element to the interaction.
• Resolved an issue where Lae’zel floated up and down during dialogue about dating, improving visual stability.
• Fixed camera positions in dialogues with Astarion at night, along with adjustments to facial expressions, enhancing the visual storytelling.
• Fixed a camera position during Karlach’s first hug after getting her upgrade, creating a more impactful and emotional moment.
• Resolved an issue where the mind flayer didn’t appear in the cinematic dialogue with Dror Ragzlin when manually triggering the dialogue, ensuring the scene’s integrity.

Loot and Trade

• Traders who stock dyes now also sell dye remover, providing a more comprehensive option for players.
• Lady Esther is now available to trade with after completing her quests, enhancing her role in the game.
• Fish vendors now have an increased selection of fish to sell, providing more options for players.
• Popper the kobold at the circus now sells more oddities, adding variety to the available items.
• Lady Jannath now offers artsy items for trade, adding new and unique items for players to collect.
• Skeletons around the Selûnite Outpost no longer have fresh food in their inventory, creating a more realistic and immersive experience.
• Lohse’s portrait is now reachable, enhancing the accessibility of her character.

Misc

• Updated the credits and reformatted them into two columns for easier reading.
• The Digital Deluxe DLC’s D:OS2 bard songs are now available to companions as well, enhancing their versatility and adding new options for player customization.
• All the extra bard songs from the Deluxe Edition are now available even when using Lohse’s Lute of the Merryweather Bard, expanding musical options for players.
• DLC rewards will no longer be removed when loading a save without the DLC installed, preserving player progress and customization.
• Steel Watcher idle sounds no longer consume streaming bandwidth, optimizing gameplay for players with limited internet connections.
• Players can no longer climb the Shambling Mound, preventing unintended gameplay and streamlining interactions with this creature.
• Optimized Glut’s walking bounds, enhancing its navigation of the world and the battlefield, creating a more fluid and engaging experience.

This massive patch demonstrates Larian Studios’ commitment to delivering a polished and enjoyable experience for Baldur’s Gate 3 players. With Patch 2 already on the horizon, promising significant performance improvements, the game is set to become even more immersive and engaging.