Yeah, ooo, you can have your cleric (and maybe paladin?) cast Bless. This will allow you to roll a 1d4 on you attack rolls and saving throws for 10 rounds. This could potentially help with some of that.

Hang on Snoopy

The other passengers leave much to be desired

Blood Raven catches up on a good book

Giant Miniature Space Hamsters you say?

The temple of Jergal, where you find Withers (the undead guy who respecs your characters)

Started over! Whatcha playing this time?

I am playing Blood Raven this time. So a Sorcerer/Fighter. At first I was alternating between the two. Then I respeced and went pure Sorcerer for the first 5 levels, to get level 3 spells, like Fireball and Counterspell. Now I am working on the Fighter levels.

Kewl!

This is too much. Laughing so hard I about woke the house up.

So now that I am on the second time around playing I tried a different route from Act I to Act II. The first time I took the overland mountain pass route, which takes you through a smallish area with an abandoned monastery and Gith creche beneath it. From there you reached the Shadowlands.

This time I took the Underdark route, where you take an elevator up from the Grymforge area. It is a whole lot shorter. I back-tracked into this area the first time I played. It is just as small as it was that time. It is really just a tiny, couple room ruined Sharran temple with nothing really in it. Then you go straight into the Shadowlands, and it puts you very close to the Inn of Last Light.

So if you want the easy route go this way. If you don't want to miss out on more loot like the Lathandar Mace, and a pretty important part of Lae'zel's quest, go the overland route instead. You can still go back and reach these areas from the Shadowlands. But I know from previous experience that you have to do it early, before you go too far into the quests in the Shadowlands. Because at some point they will lock you out of all the lands you previously went through, including the monastery and creche, along with all of the Act I region.

I don't want to miss any of it. So I schlepped through the Shadowlands to the monastery region. I'll tackle that before going back to the Shadowlands and dealing with them. In the future, I'll just do the overland route all the time.

Thanks for this advice. I feel like Saryn’s time in the Act 1 area is coming to an end, and we’ll be heading that way soon.

I have been quite pleased with my retooling of Astarion. I did him as a Rogue for the first 3 or 4 levels, enough to take the Thief Sublcass and get the extra bonus action. Then I switched him over to the Fighter (with the better Critical Hit sublcass) up to about 5th level - enough to get the first Fighter extra attack. That makes him a beast. I typically equip him with a pair of hand crossbows and use him as an archer. He is really good at that. But I also gave him the Phalar Aluve longsword and a rapier for dual-wielding in melee. He works really good either way.

I stopped Blood Raven's playthrough just before the end of Act II. The Fighter/Sorcerer multiclass just does not have the same synergy that it does in the older versions of D&D.

Ironically, I think it is because the newer rules that make armored spellcasting possible. Now in 5.0 you just need a proficiency in the armor you are wearing, and you can cast spells in it just fine. But in the older versions it was flat impossible to be an arcane spellcaster and wear armor. So the classic Fighter/Mage of D&D 2.0 and 3.x had to use their magic as buff spells to make up for their inability to wear armor. But at the same time they had all the offensive strength of being a Fighter, which was a lot in those days. So you were in essence a Fighter that used magic to improve their abilities.

But now you don't need most of the buffing spells the arcane spellcasters have. And as it turns out, the Clerics are better at it, with their Shield of Faith, Protection from Poison, Protection from Good/Evil, Freedom of Movement, etc... spells.

The Fighters themselves now feel kind of bland. They don't have the really big, splashy attacks like the Paladin and Barbarian have. Those two are the real powerhouses in melee. But the Fighter is not a wimp. They get more powerful the later you go in the game. Because they get extra attacks as they level up. In the late game, they will be making four full attacks or so. Much more than anyone else.

But to get there you need to concentrate on your Fighter levels. Not split them between another class. Likewise, the Sorcerer really gets amazing when you single class them to a high level. So you wind up missing out on the best of both worlds by going the Fighter/Mage.

Which is ironic because the Paladin/Sorcerer is probably the most powerful combo in the game. But that is because the spell slots you get as a Sorcerer can be used to power your Paladin Smite attacks, and a higher levels that normal for a straight Paladin. Sadly, there is nothing similar for the Fighter/Sorcerer.

One of the reasons I gave up on Blood Raven was I got inspired to try out Silverlight. She is a Light Domain Cleric/Sorcerer. So far it is working out really well. The Light Domain gets a lot of offensive spells, like Fireball. And the Sorcerer can bring her some more varied defense and utility spells, like Shield, Misty Step, etc... And they both use the same Spell Slots.

Silverlight likes a good book

Especially when it is about obscure arcana

This time I tried something new, doing the game without Shadowheart at all. She kind of annoys me for the first two acts, with her constant negative comments about Selune and her followers. She gets better after Act II, when she rejects Shar and becomes a Selunite (if you go that route). But since I am playing a Cleric already, it felt redundant to have her in the party.

So I got her killed in the tutorial section in the Nautiloid. I left her behind to face the two Cambions that come in to reinforce the first Devil. She did not last long against them. I read up some on this. I know you can do the game without her. With her dead in the Nautiloid, you find her dead on the beach where you normally find her alive. You get the artefect from her body there. So the game goes on as normal.

So far as I can tell you can do the Gauntlet of Shar with any character later in the game, and still free Dame Aylin there to finish Act II. I am not sure about the Shar enclave in Act III. It might be off limits, or you might still be able to go in and clear it out. If I get that far I will find out.

I also discovered something else in the final battle in the Nautiloid. You can use the Command spell on the devil Commander Zhalk, and make him drop his sword. It is a magic Greatsword called the Everburn Blade, with a fire enchantment. You can pick it up, and start out with a strong magic weapon. I got it the hard way with Blood Raven, by slugging it out with him and killing him. This was a lot easier.

Sorry Blood Raven didn’t work out like you wanted, but hey, new character!

Saryn, Lazzy, and Shady managed to kill Zhalk to get the sword. The Illithid became hostile because we didn’t do what it wanted but by that time, Zhalks minions were on him to keep him from coming after us as we made a mad dash for the controls. Of course, we didn’t use the sword until we met Karlach, but that sword is just so much her!

Killing Zhalk seemed impossible my first time playing. Now that I understand how to play the game, it has become pretty much standard.

While I was playing Blood Raven I was able to confirm when the Act I areas become impossible to go back to. It is at the very end of the Gauntlet of Shar. When you use the portal at the end of the Gauntlet to go to Shar's realm of Shadowfell, that is when all the Act I and Rosymorn maps become unavailable.

So when you are doing Act II, my advice is to make sure you clear out everything in Act I, including the Underdark and Grymforge, Rosymorn and the Lathander temple, and all the Act II side quests. You can leave the save Thaniel side-quest for last, I accidentally did so with January, and it still worked.

As far as the Act II main quests, rescue the Tiefling and Gnome prisoners first. Don't do the rest of Moonrise Tower and go after Ketheric yet. You can sneak around the base of the tower to the back side of it, which has a dock. Go in there and it will take you down into the dungeons. Even there, be careful. I freed the prisoners, got the message that they escaped and were safe, then went down into the Oubilette through the caves behind the cells, and found them all dead there. I have no idea why. So make a hard save before going down there.

Then once the prisoners are back in the Inn of Last Light, talk to them to wrap up their quests. Then go and do the Gauntlet of Shar, by going through the Grand Mausoleum at the north end of the destroyed town. Finish it. That sets up the final attack on Moonrise Tower and killing Ketheric.

If you go straight in after Ketheric, all the prisoners die. So its important.

I have no idea what Saryn and crew are doing. We went to the Grove after helping fight off the initial goblin attack, sold some stuff, saved the Tiefling child from that heifer Kohga, recruited Wyll, then left. We’ve since been exploring around and getting into fights with gnolls, and saving people from a burning inn. Most recently, we have explored the goblin camp, chatted with Minthara and made her think we are on her side, found the Underdark, and now we are about to start a big battle against Minthara outside of the Grove. Figured it would lighten the resistance at the goblin camp when we assault it in earnest. Will probably reload a previous save and see if we can’t find the powder kegs Minthara’s subordinate was talking about. If we can remove those from the field, the gates should last a lot longer.

I never even tried to talk to Minthara. I go into the goblin camp and take this guy's advice.

If you have a paladin the game will punish you by making you an oathbreaker for just attacking the goblins right out. Even after they regale you of how they tortured, murdered, and ate someone, and offered you leftovers. In that case you have to talk your way in, and then go through dialogue to get the Attack option. Then you won't break your oath by killing the clearly Chaotic Evil monsters.

If you don't have a paladin however, you can just start slaying. It makes for a great fight. My last time with Blood Raven I had the party sneak up around the cliffs to one side of the ruin temple. Then I attacked them from above. It was a really fun battle. Because we were high up, the goblins had to run across the courtyards and climb up after us. There was a lot of long range fighting, and movement on both sides.

I really like the verticality in this game. Really makes you think about how you want to deploy your party.

I like that the verticality makes a difference, by giving you advantage or disadvantage depending on how high you are compared to your opponent. Like you said, it adds a new element to strategy. I like games that reward you for thinking.

This time around I am focusing Wyll on the Paladin levels, rather than Warlock. I've been finding several magic items that give bonuses to Radiant damage and Paladin stuff, so he's getting kitted out pretty good. I gave him the sword Justice for example, from the people hunting Karlach. He is working out pretty good.

I have also had Lazzy in the party more too this time. With Shadowheart not in the mix, that opens up another spot. I am using a mod that allows you to have more party members. So I typically run with 6 characters, rather than four. That gives me all the Origin companions in my group at once, which works best story-wise at least. I never like leaving them at camp. I always worry that I am going to miss something without them present that might pertain to them.

This time I made Laz'ael the Battle Master subclass of Fighter. I am finally getting the hang of this. I took the Precision Strike and Menacing Attack maneuvers for her. The first gives you a bonus to hit for your next attack. Which works well to offset the penalty to hit for using the Great Weapon Fighting damage bonus. Menacing Attack adds an extra 1d8 to damage. She is using a +1 Great Axe right now, until I can get her a Githyanki Greatsword, and she reliably does about 30 points per attack. I expect that by the endgame with all of her extra attacks, she will be doing well over 100 points of damage every turn.

I am wondering something about using Dual Weapons and Sneak Attack for Astarion. Namely if I do a sneak attack it is only with the main hand. I am wondering if that is really better than making a standard two attacks instead? I should probably check out the BG3 Reddit forum, I am sure some min/maxing math nerd has run the numbers to get the exact statistical breakdown.

And someone did!

There is a YouTuber that runs a channel called D4 Deep Dive who normally does builds for D&D 5E. Since BG3 came out, he has done a whole series devoted to fun player character builds and another series for optimizing your companions. I think his work is really interesting and that any fan of the game should check out his vids! I’ll include some links below to get you started should you choose to check them out.

Optimizing Companions
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YOgipqWEUV0&a...GdhdGUgMw%3D%3D

Builds for Player Characters
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4iw6MPxSDg&a...GdhdGUgMw%3D%3D

Wow, what he is saying about Shadowheart is exactly how I have run her in January and Blood Raven's games.

My first time playing I was unimpressed with the Trickery domain, and so I respecced her to Life Domain for the extra healing. This was before I had learned the ins and outs of the game, so my characters were taking a lot more damage more often than they usually do now, and those healing buffs mattered.

Then after the end of Act II when something spoilery happens, I respecced her to Light domain, and that just rocked.

Then in Blood Raven's game I wanted to do something different, so I went with the Storm domain, as that seemed to be the most potent of those left.

This time out playing Silverlight I went Light domain.

Speaking of which Silverlight just hit character level 5. She was an even split of Cleric level 2, and Sorcerer level 2. So I was not sure where to take the next level. I went with Cleric to get the Lesser Restoration. But I found something else out by accident. Since the Cleric and Sorcerer share spell slots, Silverlight can now cast level 3 Sorcerer spells! I am using a mod that allows Sorcerers to learn spells from scrolls, so she just learned Fireball, Counterspell, and Lightning Bolt. Technically she is a 2nd level Sorcerer, but I think since her two classes share the same spell slots, the game treats her as a Level 5 Sorcerer.

Ironically, the same does not work for her Cleric spells. As a 3rd level cleric, she only just got access to level 2 cleric spells.

I just did a Google search and this also works if you multiclass your Sorcerer with a Wizard. Just taking 1 level in Wizard allows you to learn any spell from a scroll. The example given was a Sorcerer 11/Wizard 1. It allowed them to learn spells of all levels from scrolls.

The only caveat I see is that spells learned from scrolls use your Intelligence bonus, not your Charisma. So if you are using something like the Choose Your Stats mod, be sure to make your INT and CHA the same. (From what I gather, the Spellcasting Ability only affects 2 things. You get your attribute bonus on your "To Hit" roll with a spell, and the enemy's saving throw target number is also increased by your attribute bonus.)

I also wonder what happens if I take a single level of Sorcerer for Gale? Will he be able to cast all of his spells as a Sorcerer, without having to prepare them first? Or will the ones he learned as a Wizard (through leveling up as a Wizard that is), still be restricted to the need to memorize them first?


Edit: Ok, I just did a test with Gale. I respecced him as a Wizard 4/Sorcerer 1. The only spells I could cast without preparation were those I took on leveling up as a Sorcerer. Everything I learned from leveling up as a Wizard, and everything I learned from a scroll, had to be memorized first (the standard way Wizards work).

So basically if you want to be a Wizard, don't take a single level in Sorcerer. It won't let you insta-cast all your spells.

I was just in camp, and decided to see how the Hireling system works. You do not create a new character from scratch for your hirelings, as I thought. Instead they have a list of about a dozen pre-made characters to chose from, I think one for each class. So that is disappointing. I won't be able to bring in Okami and Gadget and others in for a future playthrough.

I also noticed a magic mirror nearby Withers. I clicked on it to see what it does, and it gives you the option of changing your appearance! So yay! It is nice to have that. You can fix things you did not notice when you first created your character.

I guess it’s nice that the hireling system is there in case you make a decision/decisions that eliminates a full companion.

Didn’t know that about the mirror. That is handy indeed!

My guess is that the mirror was added by the latest patch. So make sure your game is up to date. It was not there earlier.

I did a little experimenting and you can take control of your hirelings the same as any other companion, go to Withers, and respec their class. However, you cannot change their name, race, or appearance with the mirror. I also tried the mirror with a regular companion, and they cannot use it either.

So only the PC can use the mirror. You can change your head, hair, voice, etc... All the appearance stuff. But you cannot change your race or name.

Holy crap. I just let Volo try to remove the parasite from Saryn’s head with an frickin’ ice pick. What the hell was I thinking? I’m traumatized.

Saryn

Did it work? I'm assuming that it didn't.

Wow, Saryn looks really cool. Is she a Half Elf? Or a Dark Elf?

Thanks, she is Half-Elf in BG3 since her original subrace of Elf was not included in the vanilla game. Saryn is my favorite character that I have invented for tabletop, and there have been a few different versions of her for different campaigns and one shots. In all versions she is/was a Shadar-kai Elf, which are a group of Elves that dwell in the plane of the Shadowfell and serve their goddess, The Raven Queen, whose domain in D&D 5E lore is the shepherding (and, occasionally, the collecting) of souls to the afterlife.

Her original version was that she was captured by an evil biomancer (a mage who specializes in creating new creatures from combining features of two or more creatures) named Jarvas Arborghast, and turned into a part Shadar-kai, part fish, part crustacean hybrid (the race used for this was called a Simic Hybrid, a really neat race that lets you give your character certain animalistic adaptations) as part of Arborghast’s twisted experiments. During her captivity, she prayed to the Raven Queen to end her torment, through either salvation, or death. The RQ answered by gifting her the powers of a Hexblade Warlock, with the condition that she send her the souls of Arborghast and his associates. She used her new powers to break free from her captivity, kill Arborghast, burn his mansion to the ground, and then escape, thereafter traveling the world hunting down Arborghast’s associates. We didn’t actually get very far into the game that version was created for, but I’m currently playing an Oath of Vengeance Paladin version of that exact same character in a campaign, and it’s been a blast.

In BG3, this Saryn is a multiclass of OoV Paladin and Archfey Warlock.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I just love her so much, lol

Saryn’s new eye (and some ugly chain mail +1)

That is a very cool backstory! And I like the mail armor. I don't think it's ugly. The leather armor is what I find blah in this game.

I thought the Shadowfell was Shar's domain? Are there more than one deity that lives there and calls it home? I have not kept up on D&D for some time. Ok, I did some Googling, and I see it is the Shadow Plane. This was in one of the expansions for Neverwinter Nights 2, that had a lot of going back and forth between it and the Prime Material Plane.

So Shar added some negative energy during one of their big events, and made those parts with it a life-devouring place. That matches what we see in the Shadowlands in BG3. Now that makes a lot more sense. But it sounds like the entire plane is not that way. Just the parts she tainted.

There is a Shadar-Kai in Act II of BG3. Now I understand what is up with him. He's some sort of necromancer/inquisitor. He's part of a side quest. So far I have always ended up having to kill him, because I won't torture the person he wants me to.

Saryn's story is similar to my backstory for Persephone, who started out at as a Skyrim character. She was a human slave who was alive during Alessia's revolution during the First Age, and fought in the rebellion. A necromancer discovered a way to create a sort of artificial Lich, that did not involve the usual methods of having to become a powerful magician first in order to do it to yourself. Instead he created a magical artificial heart, that absorbed magicka from the world around you and in turn used that as fuel to run a person's undead body. The best part was it was simply a matter of surgery to implant this into someone. So everyone could have this. The necromancer's idea was to use this to create an undead army to fight the Ayleids. People who would never tire, never need to eat, or drink, or sleep. People who could literally just fight forever if need be, and would still be around thousands of years later. Super soldiers basically.

Persephone was his prototype. She was killed in the battle that took the Imperial City. The Necromancer took her body and did his thing, raising her as a new type of undead. He then took her to Alessia to show off. Needless to say Alessia was thrilled, and ordered them both to be destroyed. They fled to Skyrim. Eventually the Necromancer was killed (by Persephone, she strangled him). And she went on to travel Tamriel.

Yeah I don’t like the leather armor either. The padded armor looks pretty cool and has about the same AC. The Druid leather armor definitely looks cooler than the standard variety.

I recently discovered that the Grymforge and the Gauntlet of Shar are actually both different sections of a single Sharran enclave. It was created long in the past and abandoned, only to be reoccupied by Ketheric Thorm a century ago, when he turned from Selune to Shar.

There was a resistance movement against him, led by one of the mason's guild in Moonrise. The mason made a deal with the devil Raphael to overthrow Ketheric. Raphael sent a devil - Yurgir - to destroy the place. That is why there is all that damage done to the Grymforge. Yurgir did it with his bombs. All the damage also separated the two halves from each other, so you can't go directly between the two.

Yurgir is still in the Gauntlet. His contract said he had to kill all the Justiciars of Shar. But the last one made another deal - with Raphael I think - that transformed him into the horde of rats that lives in the place. So Yurgir could never complete his contract, and thusly could never leave the Gauntlet. It was all a trap laid by Raphael.

You find Yurgir in the Gauntlet. So far I have always killed him. But this time out I also killed the rats too. Just start by killing the ones you see. Then travel down to the very base of the giant Shar statue in the center of the place. There are a couple ways to get down there. You will be deluged by massive hordes of rats. But the Spirit Guardians spell takes care of them all quite handily. Just keep all your companions within its range. When they are dead, the final Justiciar reforms, and you can kill him too. That releases Yurgir from his contract, if instead of killing him you made a deal with him. If you did kill him, the Justiciar still drops some magic items you can loot. Plus there is the XP of course.

The Baldur's Gate 3 Script Extender has the option to add a console to the game. You can find it here on GitHub Just click on the green Code button, and then in the drop down box click on Download zip. I started using it a while ago because there are a handful of mods that require it.

Enable the console by going to the Baldurs Gate 3\bin\ folder, and opening the ScriptExtenderSettings.json file

Change the contents to this:

{
"LogFailedCompile": false,
"EnableAchievements": false,
"SendCrashReports": false,
"CreateConsole": true
}

There is a list of console commands here, along with a list of Item UUIDs that you can use to spawn items in the game. The latter is one way you can give mod-added items to your characters. Or you could use it at the start of the game, to give your character the base starting items you want (like a greatsword, or longbow, or hand crossbows, whatever you feel is right for the character).


There is also a way to spawn items using the Cheat Engine Table that is out there. But this seems a lot simpler.

^ That's good to know. If I ever play BG3, I'll certainly want to tweak things and the ability to spawn in gear.

Between the script extender console and the Choose Your Stats mod, you can now customize your Tav (the default name of the PC) in pretty much any way possible. The newer versions of the latter allow you do a lot of cross-class stuff, like adding paladin abilities to anyone, changing the number of spell slots you have, adding fighting styles, etc...

But looking at the comments in the Script Extender Console page, there are more commands than they have listed. You can add feats or spells with the console as well.

Wow cool! Thanks for this info SR! When I get into modding this game, I’ll be sure to activate that!

Hey SR, does the console include a free camera?

Sadly, not that I can tell. I really wish someone would come up with a mod for that.

Supposedly “Photo Mode” is on the list of things the devs want to add but who knows if they will or not.

Just finished Grymforge, killed the boss baddie there (felt good, guy was a jerk), and saved the gnomes I could. Now I can either use the elevator in the Grymforge to head to Moonrise Towers or check out the mountain pass. I think I’ll do the later to find the Gith. I guess I’ll take Lazy along.

Definitely take Lazy along. It is a critical part of her story.

Just be sure you have finished everything in Act 1 first. Because pretty soon it will become impossible to go back there.

I feel like we’ve done a lot, lol

Well, I beat the game like a red-haired Tiefling stephchild once more. This time with Silverlight I went a slightly different route. I chose to free Orpheus instead of side with the Emperor. This is one of the things that really annoys me about the game. This choice to betray one of the other feels so contrived. If you side with the Emperor, it means killing Orpheus. If you free Orpheus, the Emperor switches sides, even though it means becoming a slave to the Absolute again, and literally losing his own mind.

I went with the Emperor my first time out. I went with Orpheus to see what was different. The game plays out mostly the same. La'zel gets a happier ending for one. She even smiled. Shocking, I know. The basic flow the endgame remains the same. Fight through the city streets. Fight up the stairs of the tower. Finally fight on top of the Elder Brain. Fight inside the Crown of Karsus.



This time out there was an extra little cinematic of Silverlight, Wyll, and Karlach going to Avernus, which was nice. It ends on a positive note. My guess is this was added by one of the many patches, because of people like me grousing over how they really screwed Karlach over.



Silverlight is now the Spider Queen

Open the book

Things have definitely changed

Minsc resembles that remark

Jaheria agrees

Speaking of which, Jaheria can turn into an Owlbear

Hey SR, have you bothered with any of the romance options?

I did with Karlach. She is my lesbian gamer girl crush. So that was a no-brainer when playing January, who is also attracted to women. It was ok. Romances in video games make me feel kind of awkward and weird. But I rolled with it, because I love the character of Karlach so much.

I meant to this last time around with Silverlight. She's hetero, so no Karlach for her. Gale was the one she most set her sights on. But it never really went anywhere.

I think the romances are specifically timed for things to happen by the Act. For example I think the end of Act 1 is the first time you can have sex with anyone, and it is set for when you camp and do a Long Rest to move between Acts. Silverlight tried to initiate it with Gale before then and he turned her down, even though his approval rating with her was pretty high. I think it just had not hit that end of Act 1 threshold.

After that it just never happened. Silverlight was too busy saving the world. Gale did mention toward the end that their chance had come and gone. Which was a nice recognition of it by the game.

I also noticed at some point that one of the patches made it so sex was only possible at the end of Act 1. Where before that it could be much sooner. Here a story on it I am not sure exactly how much this patch changed. But I know my January/Karlach romance was before it, and at least some of my Silverlight/Gale one was after it.

Interesting. I’ve been avoiding the romantic dialogue options like the plague in Saryn’s game. That party after saving the Grove was a frickin’ minefield! It’s like most of the main companions suddenly wanted to get in her pants! It was kinda ridiculous. I had pretty low approval from Lazy, and she was all like “I want to lick the sweat off of you.”

Gale, Wyll, and Karlach have been properly respectful and haven’t voiced any unfortunate “feelings”. Halsin had been behaving, but he tried some corny line about forgetting himself when around one of nature’s beautiful creatures or some such crap.

I’m not sure if she’s going to go for any of that yet, but I will say Shady’s has felt the most organic. Even though she did try to trick Saryn into spending the night with her after the party.

“Share a bottle with me?”, she asked nonchalantly, as images of the two of them writhing together in passion’s throes danced through her mind.

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in.

I rolled two new toons for Baldur's Gate 3 a few days ago.

Harper is a Tiefling College of Swords Bard

Kaelin is a Half-Wood Elf Druid of the Spore Circle

To reflect their fictional counterparts from the Stormcrow-verse, I made each the other's Guardian.

I have played each a bit, to get a feel for the two classes. I know a little bit of the Druid class from having Jaheria as a companion in past playthroughs. But she's a late game character, so you only get her at high level. You never get the early game play of a Druid with her. I also never made her or Halsin a Spore subclass, since it felt out of character for each.

The Spore sublclass is interesting in that they get extra Necrotic damage to all their weapon attacks, apparently ranged or melee. They also get a weird reaction attack that does Necrotic damage. It confused me to no end, because it is listed as a reaction. But it does not work like one (like Counterspell or Sentinel). It does not trigger due to an enemy doing something. Instead unlike all other reactions you have to activate it during your character's turn, the same as any other ability. The thing is that instead of using a regular action or bonus action, it takes a reaction. So you can't counterspell or attack someone trying to disengage in the same turn you use it). Basically it gives you a free attack during your turn in addition to your action and bonus action.

Because of the extra Necro damage on every attack, I built Kaelin as a dual-wielder, using a scimitar and the flame blade spell. Once I can get them, I plan to use dual hand crossbows as well. I also have Astarion in this playthrough, so right now he has the only pair of those in the party.

Harper is my first time playing a Bard. I am enjoying her game more, as her class makes her much more predisposed to be the front-facing member of the party. She's got the chops to persuade people into pretty much anything. Also a major skill beast. So she subs in for a rogue really well when it comes to traps and lockpicking. So I did not get Astarion for her run through. I just left him by the crashed nautiloid.

I went Swords subclass because I read about the Flourish ability they get. It is actually 6 specific attacks you can use, half with melee, half with ranged weapons. There is a Defensive, Mobile, and Slashing version of each. Defensive gives you an AC bonus. Mobile is neat, as it does knockback in addition to the damage. Then it gives you the option of teleporting to the side of your victim where they land. So you can continue attacking them if you have more actions. Also, really good for hurling people off cliffs!

That was confusing for me, as I could not find the button to click for the teleport to target after making the flourish. It turns out it is over on the far right side of the HUD, where things like recasting ritual spells are normally shown. It only shows up there when you can use it. Otherwise it disappears.

Finally the Slashing version gives you the option of attack two targets. I think the early game versions are broken, and allow you to use both attacks on the same target. But I believe they fixed that in the most recent patch.

I also went the dual-wielding route with Harper, giving her dual rapiers in melee, and dual hand-crossbows at range. So far at low level she is quite striking. Not as tough as a pure Fighter or Barbarian or Paladin of course. But impressive.

I also kept Shadowheart around for both their playthroughs. For each I made her the War subclass, which I have never done before. I am liking it. The War Priest gives her an extra weapon attack even at low levels. It also allows you to use your Channel Divinity charges to give you a bonus to your attacks. I dipped into 1 level of a Fighter for her to give her the Duelling fighting style, which adds +2 damage to one-handed weapons. It works even if you are using a shield. So she is using a Rapier and Shield, and has been pretty effective in melee, especially at the start of the game.

It reminds me of the old days in BG2 when I would give Viconia the Flail of Ages, tank her up in plate, and she would be a beast in melee.

I also left Lae'zel behind in both games. I am curious to see how things work out without her.

Also the console commands are coming in really handy in these playthroughs. I have been using them to respec characters and tweak their appearances. It is a lot more convenient than going to the camp to do so. Especially at the very start of the game before that's even an option.

I tried a little experiment, and started a new game as an Origin character for once to see how it goes. I went with Karlach, since she is my favorite companion by far. I played the entire tutorial on the Nautioloid with her. Then I tried one more playing Lae'zel, but only to see where she starts out.

The opening cinematics are the same. Although that is not really accurate when playing an Origin. Karlach and Wyll don't go on board the Nautiloid until it gets to Avernus after all. But the first cinematic - before you create your character, has a first person segment showing you watch Lae'zel get infected by a tadpole, then yourself.

Once the cinematics are done, there are subtle differences. You still start in the same place as a custom character. Which I expected. But instead of coming out of a pod, you wake up laying on the floor. There is some character specific dialogue. For example Karlach remarks on how that Mind Flayer scrambled her fucking brain. Lae'zel just swears in Gith.

When you get to where Shadowheart is trapped in her pod, you get a new option to free her with a Barbarian. You can rip the lid of her pod right off with a Strength test! So I did that with Karlach. It was most satisfying.

Playing as Karlach, I deliberately got Lae'zel killed in the fight with the Cambions at the end. Then after the tutorial when you wake up on the beach. Lae'zel's body is there. It was in the same place you find Shadowheart's body if she dies in the tutorial. Right past where you find the living Shadowheart passed out.

That was all I did. But it was fun. Some day I am tempted to play the entire game as Karlach and Shadowheart to see how it goes. I have already played a Cleric with Silverlight. But making Shadowheart a War Cleric/Paladin sounds interesting. Playing Lae'zel might be interesting too.

Thinking about it did make me realize that most of the Origin characters really are not "the face of the party" style characters. In that they are not really persuasive, outgoing, diplomatic, or the type to really talk their way through things. Shadowheart is too busy being the brooding goth chick with a chip on her shoulder. Lae'zel has a personality that is just plain repulsive. Astarion was a honey trap, but he is too much of a misanthrope to really reach out to others without some very clear self-interest on his part. Karlach is a genuinely good person, but she is mostly a solve things with her fists person as she is written. Gale is also a good person and certainly pleasant enough. But he's kind of wrapped up in himself. Finally there is Wyll. Now he's the one I would pick for the party Face and nominal team leader without a custom made player character in the mix. He has real charisma, a drive to do what is right, a cheerful personality, and is an out-going people-person. That's probably why I usually multi-class him as a Paladin.

Very cool. Glad you're still enjoying BG3.

Kaelin especially looks a lot like she's described in the story.

Finally took the plunge... I have not been gaming much since retirement, which seems odd. Perhaps I have not felt the need for "escape" as much?

Anyway, BG3 feels at once familiar to my tabletop D&D past and yet new with the "Illithid Menace" storyline. Without doing a whole plot summary, which no one needs, Tav is my half wood elf ranger, now adventuring with Shadowheart, Gale, and Karlach- who he has just met. (He also decided that Karlach is a better companion than La-zael, despite the whole "catching on fire" thing. La-zael just... annoys... Tav. Frequently.)

Hardware and Settings Notes:

Upgraded RAM (which I have been needing to do anyway) from 8GB to 32GB. Wow did that improve loading times and rendering.

i5-7400 CPU is a bit underpowered, but MOSTLY manages the game well, as does the AMD Radeon RX580 GPU (except see below).

Hit first major crash last night, which is apparently a widespread issue with AMD graphics. First Raphael encounter- when he teleports your avatar to his "place." System black-screens... EVERY time.

Found a fix which worked to get past that scene load (all of these can be changed back after):

Lower resolution to something you can live with to get through the scene. (1080 suggested)
Cap frame rate at 30 FPS
Turn OFF Anti-aliasing

Once that was done, I went back to highest res my card supports, 60FPS, and TAA. A few other suggested tweaks to lighten GPU load without seriously affecting visuals- and the game looks (and plays) quite nicely.

I love the Spores subclass! It has a very different feel than the other Druids. In one of my tabletop games, I play a Spores Druid and it’s a lot of fun!



I’ve often wondered how it would work playing as one of the origins. I would never do this since I prefer to play my own characters.


I’m glad you got it working! I think the game is really run and a must play for folks who like RPGs.

Welcome to Baldur's Gate treydog. I have never had trouble with crashing once I am in the game. But I have an Nvidia card, not an AMD. I do get CTDs when starting it. Often it will get to 50%, and then crash. Sometimes I have to start it 3-4 times before I can get past that. Once it goes over the 50% point, it works fine though.

In my first few playthroughs I kept every companion in the party, because I wanted to see where their stories went. Now I am getting more choosy, and am deliberately not recruiting some people. My first was with Shadowheart, when I played a Cleric of my own. It was just redundant having her around.

Now I usually don't include Lae'zel in my adventuring parties either. She is just entirely repellent in personality. Even vinegar would say she is too astringent. Now I usually find myself just deliberately killing her in the final battle in the Nautiloid. She can usually keep those two Cambion reinforcements busy for a couple of rounds before they kill her. Once I just left her in the cage where the two Tieflings have her trapped before you reach the Druid Grove.

Speaking of which I did experiment with playing as Shadowheart last night. I recruited Karlach with her, but not Wyll. However, my first time doing a Long Rest there is a cutscene where Wyll shows up in camp, coming to kill Karlach. Then you get the same scene you do if you already have Wyll in the party when you first meet Wyll.

I also found that playing as Shadowheart is kind of like playing on hard mode at the very start of the game. In the Nautiloid you are basically down one party member, as it is usually you, Lae'zel, and Shadowheart. Now it was just Shady and Lazy. Plus Us of course. Then when you wake up on the beach you are all alone. Though there is only one real fight with intellect devourers before you can start recruiting Astarion and Gale, and Lazy is not too far off from them.

Yeah, that encounter with the Intellect Devourers can be won with a minimum of fuss if you sneak before triggering the encounter and make your way up to the little “mezzanine” area to the right. From there you can blast them with firebolt as they scramble to get up there. One of them is even hanging out in some flammable material so if you start with that one it will only need to be attacked once and the fire will do the rest.