HIGHLIGHTS
Gameplay
Larian has made significant improvements to gameplay, including refined fetch behavior for Scratch, who now retrieves almost anything. Archfey warlocks now have the intended choice of cantrip at Level 4. The mechanics of Speak with Dead have been updated, allowing players to recast the spell if no questions were asked the first time. Furthermore, at Level 6, Knowledge Domain clerics, Nature Domain clerics, and Trickery Domain clerics will now correctly gain their respective Channel Divinity abilities. Players can now customize statue appearances purchased from Boney, choosing between their equipped look, camp clothes, or naked. Scratch’s ball is now harder to lose, and those who did lose it can retrieve it from him at camp.
Combat
Cazador has regained his ability to turn into mist and fly, preventing him from dying if he falls into a chasm. Inconsistent enemy behavior during combat has been addressed, where they would only Dash and move. Additionally, NPCs have been stopped from shooting through floors and ceilings.
Flow
Larian has made numerous changes to improve the game’s flow and scripting. Mol has been instructed to be more polite and thank players for saving Mirkon from the harpies. Multiplayer support has been enhanced for the post-celebration night in Act I, allowing all avatars to choose their desired companion. Lae’zel’s dialogue in Act III has been adjusted to avoid comments that suggest the adventure is in earlier stages. Quest updates for Jaheira’s quest have been blocked when certain parts are skipped to avoid spoilers.
Art
The color of the Potion of Mind Reading has been tweaked to differentiate it from Potions of Healing.
Animation
New idle animations and behaviors have been added for Minthara, Halsin, Shadowheart, and Lae’zel at camp. Karlach’s idle animation in camp has been improved to make her appear more alive.
UI
Players can now customize which solution is selected in the second slot of the Alchemy panel. Map markers have been added to indicate characters who want to talk to the player. Unique map icons have been introduced for the Magic Mirror and Withers’ Wardrobe. The Skills section of the Character Sheet has been enhanced with icons for individual skills, stars indicating Proficiency and Expertise, and improved tooltips. Combat rounds are now displayed under separate headings in the Combat Log for easier comprehension.
CRASHES AND BLOCKERS
Larian has addressed a range of crashes and blockers. A crash related to checking for falling items while the player is not fully loaded into a level or region has been resolved. An infinite loop of entering and leaving combat has been fixed, occurring when the only player character is in combat and has a condition affecting their targetability. Additionally, a bug preventing the second split-screen player from moving until they open a UI after disconnecting and reconnecting has been fixed.
COMBAT AND BALANCE
Across Acts
When a character uses an off-hand ranged attack, Dexterity is no longer added to the damage, aligning with off-hand melee attacks. Rage can no longer be used while under the effects of Calm Emotions. The Spellmight Gloves now only work with spells that have Attack Rolls. Wearing the Yuan-Ti Scale Mail while having the Medium Armour Master feat no longer caps the AC Dexterity bonus to 3.
Act I
Goblins have been fixed to consistently use portals during combat. Lump’s Intelligence has been lowered to its intended value. Polma will now properly use her Throw Stone spell against characters on high ground. The combat with Bernard in Tactician Mode has been enhanced with the addition of two Animated Armours.
Act II
The barbarian in the Self-Same Trial can now use Rage and has gained the intended passives. The Visages will now join combat if the player attacks Gerringothe Thorm. Flesh’s Corpulent Rage now correctly causes him to go Berserk in the appropriate situations.
Act III
Cazador now has Legendary Resistance in Tactician Mode, but not in Explorer or Balanced mode. The Attuned Crystals now provide cover from Ansur’s Stormheart Nova. The Slayer’s Saving Throws are now dynamic, and the Slayer gains Extra Attack(s) as part of its form. Several changes have been made to the Orin boss fight, including the stacking limit for ‘Unstoppable’, increased strength and HP for Blood Skeletons, and an increase in the Dexterity of Orin’s Slayer form.
GAMEPLAY
Controller
Combat cameras in certain endgame and boss encounters are now shown to both split-screen players. The ping system on controller has been improved to prevent automatic disabling, allowing for multiple pings. Quick-targeting on controller has been made more intuitive when selecting items. Haptic feedback on PS5 has been fixed to prevent random turning on and off.
FLOW AND SCRIPTING
Across Acts
Companions will consistently have something to say when the player breaks up with them. A lingering exclamation mark over Tara at camp has been removed. Larian has clarified flow issues related to Lae’zel’s romance path, ensuring that players must prove themselves worthy through their actions for her to reciprocate.
Act 1
The githyanki in the Crèche Y’llek dormitories now engage in more interesting activities. Guex now puts away his weapon before drinking. Karlach now mentions her infernal engine during her recruitment dialogue if the Paladins of Tyr were already killed. Auntie Ethel will now leave the Emerald Grove if the player fails to pickpocket her during a conversation.
Act 2
Characters who disappeared but are otherwise fine will now appear in Moonrise Towers after the player defeats Ketheric. Larian has addressed inconsistencies in how Last Light residents react to the player being aggressive, and Jaheira will now distinguish between friendly and hostile targets. Karlach’s scene about facing death will now also trigger at camp in Act II.
Act 3
Halsin will no longer spawn on the top floor of Sharess’ Caress after the player tells him to join the party while in the Sharess’ Caress foyer. Players can now inform Adrielle or Mayrina about their deal with the hag in Baldur’s Gate. The scene where Vlaakith visits Lae’zel at camp in Act III can now trigger before the player speaks to Lae’zel about meeting Orpheus in the Astral Plane.
Journal
The Gather Your Allies quest will now only be prompted by the player’s Dream Visitor. Journal updates for the ‘Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse’ quest have been improved when the player finds the drider’s Moonlantern. Additional quest entries have been added for Ravengard’s questlines, and a new subquest has been added for the questline related to the Wyrmway.
PERFORMANCE AND OPTIONS
Larian has made continued performance improvements and optimizations across the game. HDR sliders have been fixed to properly update their values. The lighting in the Lower City has been optimized. General UI performance has been improved by having it execute in parallel with other tasks when possible. Loading times have been improved after choosing to ‘Venture Forth’.
UI
A bug preventing players from skipping cinematics or choosing dialogue options has been resolved. The minimap now appears correctly when loading a savegame created on the nautiloid. Larian has addressed a missing display name for Oliver’s Nightdome. Keybinds options have been streamlined by removing outdated keybinds, hiding controller-exclusive keybinds, and renaming ‘Crafting’ to ‘Alchemy’.
Panels
Character models in the Character Sheet no longer flicker when zooming in and out on controller. The Inventory, Spellbook, and Reactions panels can no longer be opened for followers and summons.
Tooltips
Resource indicators in tooltip footers have been fixed to show up on only one line, and their positions have been adjusted. Incorrect warnings about resource availability in spell scroll tooltips have been fixed. The Combustion Belly Spiderlings’ ‘Extreme Measures’ tooltip now displays accurate information.
Icons and Portraits
Origin characters’ hair no longer blends into the background of their portraits. A missing icon for Reaper’s Rigidity has been added. Icons for Ansur’s Fly and Gather Power spells have been added. Characters wearing head gear will not have this reflected in their portraits.
Character Creation and Level Up
The ‘Clear’ button on the Ability Points panel while respeccing now correctly clears values. Panels in Character Creation no longer scroll when the mouse is not over them. The Battle Master Manoeuvres panel now appears when levelling up under the effect of Disguise Self or Seeming.
Controller and Split-Screen
Improved messaging when disconnecting a controller on PC allows players to resume their adventure using keyboard and mouse instead of being forced back to the main menu. Players can now experience their split-screen partner’s private moments on fullscreen. Split-screen players can now see which Illithid Powers are available to them in the skill tree UI.
LEVEL DESIGN
The Magic Mirror’s positions in the Shadow-Cursed Lands camp and the Elfsong Tavern camp have been moved. Several floating assets and flickering textures have been fixed across the game. Ketheric’s mimic now has more loot. Walkable areas have been adjusted to improve movement in cinematics. Larian has fixed several unreachable items and areas.
MAP
Map markers have been added for Barcus’ pack when he mentions it. The minimap radius for the safe zone has been increased when the crèche destruction sequence begins. Infernal Iron now appears on the map as a broader area marker. The minimap has been fixed in various locations to correct missing roofs, flickering, and other rendering issues.
ART
One of the female gith heads has been fixed to have teeth. Issues with hiding gloves with certain robes have been resolved. The environment in the Mind Flayer Colony has been polished to fix minimap issues. Isobel’s portrait has been updated. New icons for paintings have been added, and the appearance of some citizens’ clothing has been improved.
ANIMATION
Issues with the bat animations during the Cazador boss fight have been fixed. Indoor decorative cloths now look more natural. The animations for preparing Stunning Gaze have been fixed. Several creature animations have been polished, including ettercaps, oozes, scrying eyes, and worgs.
LIGHTING
Larian has improved the appearance of shadows cast by the sun. Cinematic lighting VFX on one side of the split-screen no longer affect the other side when one player is in a dialogue and the other is not. Lighting issues have been fixed in various dialogues and locations, including the Mind Flayer Colony, the Elfsong Tavern camp, and the Act I scene at night when Lae’zel ambushes the player.
SOUND
Some of Halsin’s breathing sounds have been fixed. Missing Active Roll UI sounds have been added on split-screen. Mind flayer Karlach now consistently sounds like a mind flayer. Biting and clawing sounds have been added for the squirrel in the Emerald Grove. SFX have been added for opening and closing Withers’ Wardrobe, and updated for its dismiss function. The volume of hellboar hooves has been increased. SFX have been added for the Dark Urge’s howl after Ketheric’s death, and for when Gale’s double poofs away at camp.
VFX
Missing VFX have been added for using tadpole powers on certain characters. The Spell Rot condition no longer applies its damage VFX when taking actions that aren’t spells. The explosion VFX for Combustion Belly Spiderlings at the Iron Throne has been fixed to be in line with the actual area of damage. Several VFX have been polished throughout the game.
WRITING
Larian has updated tooltip descriptions for greater clarity and consistency. Ravengard now reacts properly in camp and does not offer Wyll a final choice if Ansur has been defeated. A few tutorial pop-ups have been added, including ‘Ranged Attacks in Darkness’, ‘Ranged Attack Disadvantage’, ‘Removing Dyes’, and ‘Elixirs’. The Enemy Sightlines tutorial has been rewritten to better explain stealth mechanics.
CINEMATICS
General improvements have been made to cameras, mocap, staging, and facial expressions in numerous dialogues. Pops, jitters, and clipping have been fixed in various dialogues. Several dialogues have received custom touches and polishes, and mocap has been cleaned up in many instances.
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