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For those of you looking for an introduction to using mods, head over to Larian: Channel From Hell where Aoife will break things down and shine a spotlight on a few choice recommendations. While we’ll be wrapping up our feature-heavy updates for Baldur’s Gate 3 soon, this is not yet the end for our mod tools. With the continued support of mod authors in the community testing out new features, we have big updates still to come - including adding even more functionality to let you tell your own stories.
But before we bid Faerûn adieu in search of stranger shores, we have one more major patch waiting around the corner. Arriving next year, this update will introduce some of the most eagerly awaited features to BG3: cross-play, and photo mode, along with 12 new subclasses.
Let’s take a look at what you can expect to see in Patch 8!
Cross-Play
Whether you’re joining PS5 players from your PC, or jumping into a game with Mac users from your Xbox, Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer will soon feature full cross-platform progression, including cross-play - just as the gaming gods intended.Once the update is live you’ll be able to invite your friends to join your cross-play lobby directly, regardless of platform and find available multiplayer lobbies with friends on other systems using the Larian Network.
On that note, Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently 20% off on Steam, GOG, and PlayStation!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1086940/Baldurs_Gate_3/
Subclasses
Patch 8 will introduce a new way to play your favourite class, adding one new subclass for each of the existing Bard, Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Fighter, Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard classes in the game.Expect new abilities, animations, VFX, summons and cantrips, and unique voiced dialogue lines for the Oathbreaker Knight with written reactivity for Oathbreakers, along with a touch of homebrewing on certain actions to enhance your role-playing experience.
Bard - College of Glamour
As a College of Glamour Bard, you’ll find you have the power to heal friends and command enemies in equal measure. Cast Mantle of Inspiration to bestow your allies with 5 temporary hit points. And should an enemy attack while it is cast, they’ll find themselves Charmed. Play your hand correctly and you’ll be able to use this to your advantage with Mantle of Majesty. Target Charmed enemies and you can command them to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or drop their weapon.
Barbarian - Path of Giants
Opt for the Path of Giants, and your newfound giant strength will make it easier for you to yeet friend and foe alike. Forget chugging potions to pump those muscles, these Barbarians benefit from the Giant’s Rage passive that grants both strength and size - allowing you to deal additional damage with Throw attacks. Pockets weighing you down? Not for you and your increased carry capacity!
Cleric - Death Domain
As a cleric of death, you’ll find a few dark new tricks up your sleeves - from spells that specialise in necrotic damage to three new necromancy cantrips. This includes Toll The Dead, a cantrip that causes 1~8 damage when your cleric rings the bell of impending doom - a number that scales if your target has already been damaged. We’ve also added the homebrewed ability to explode nearby corpses, damaging enemies.
Druid - Circle of Stars
These Druids look to the stars for answers, accessing powers beyond those offered through the classic wildshapes. Taking on one of three Starry Forms for their power - the constellations of the Archer, Chalice, and Dragon. Each one favours a different play style and strategy - the Archer dealing radiant damage with astral arrows, the life-giving Chalice restoring hitpoints to you and others nearby, and the wise Dragon, allowing you to deal damage with an added bonus to constitution rolls. The Starry Forms offer not just a celestial aesthetic, but practical, powerful options to enhance your role as a healer, fighter, or strategist.
Paladin - Oath of the Crown
You’ve been sworn to uphold the principles of law. Stay true to your oath and you'll be rewarded with the power to aid your allies and disrupt your foes. Guide your companions in battle with Righteous Clarity, taunt enemies with strategic interrupts, and keep your party standing strong with Divine Allegiance, absorbing their damage while restoring their health.
Fighter - Arcane Archer
Mastering the dual arts of magic and marksmanship, the Arcane Archer subclass offers unique skills on top of new shooting animations. Banish foes to the Feywild, removing them from the battlefield for a turn, or unleash Psychic damage that forces enemies to make a Wisdom saving throw or be blinded until the start of their next turn.
Monk - Drunken Master
Putting the brew in homebrew, as the Drunken Master, you have the ability to consume alcohol straight from your inventory, as well as drink from bottles you see around the Sword Coast, in order to recover Ki. By sharing the bottle with your enemies using Intoxicating Strike, you’ll generate a buff towards your Armour Class and your Chance to hit Drunk targets. Drunk enemies are also susceptible to the Drunken Masters' other abilities, like Sobering Realisation - which sobers up drunk targets, dealing physical and Psychic damage.
Ranger - Swarmkeeper
The Swarmkeeper subclass provides Rangers with three kinds of deadly swarms to assist them in combat. The Cloud of Jellyfish deals extra lightning damage - potentially shocking your enemy. The Flurry of Moths deals Psychic damage, giving you the potential to Blind your enemy. The Legion of Bees deals piercing damage and forces the enemy to make a strength-saving throw or be knocked back 15ft. Each swarm also has the ability to provide you with teleportation capabilities!
Rogue - Swashbuckler
This Rogue subclass introduces a range of new actions fit for the piratical life. Play dirty by tossing sand at enemies to Blind them. Flick your weapon at a target to Disarm them. Or use your new Fancy Footwork passive while meleeing your enemy to ensure they can’t make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.
Sorcerer - Shadow Magic
As a Shadow Magic Sorcerer, you deal in a form of magic that makes you deadliest in darkness. This subclass gives its sorcerer Superior Darkvision, as well as the ability to Shadow Walk between places of dim light or darkness. It also lets you call forth the perfectly homebrewed Hound of Ill Omen to harass your foes, and use Strength of the Grave to prevent you from being downed - ideal for those attempting Honour Mode runs.
Warlock - Hexblade
Hexblade Warlocks make a pact with an entity from the Shadowfell that manifests in the form of magical weapons. Curse your enemies and force their souls to do your bidding. Slay any enemy that isn’t generally an element of nature, construct, giant blob, or already dead, and you’ll be able to raise their spirit from their corpse for ten turns. This new summon can deal necrotic damage and will rip away a chunk of your enemy’s soul to provide your Hexblade Warlock with healing.
Wizard - Bladesinging
The Bladesinging subclass merges swordplay with wizardry. Expect new spellcasting animations when casting spells with your weapon, a new Bladesong ability to grant you supernatural speed, agility, and focus, plus gives you a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make.
Photo Mode
Finally, you can stop using pictures of fish you’ve caught on your dating profile and start snapping photos with your Hound of Ill Omen. Photo Mode is coming to Baldur’s Gate 3 in Patch 8!Baldur’s Gate 3’s Photo Mode is a little like a photo booth that lets you set up pretty much any shot you’d like. This new feature introduces a whole slew of options to let you customise and edit your in-game photography, with various levels of freedom depending on whether you’re using it while adventuring, or during combat, dialogue, and cinematic scenes.
Camera Settings
Toggleable from the HUD, located near the minimap, or by using the hotkey binding (F9 on PC, and by pressing both analog sticks at the same time on console), you’ll get to choose which character you want to take centre stage, determine their best side, and adjust the camera position to suit.
As long as they’re in your party while you’re adventuring, you’ll be able to line up your scene perfectly - including summons and those in a Wild Shape! For all budding virtual photographers, you can also turn on the camera reticle and composition grid to make sure you’re lining up the perfect shot.
Lens Settings
Determined the angle and sorted the positioning? You’ll be able to jump over to the Lens Settings where you can play around with the Field of View, Exposure, Depth of Field, and Focus.
Scene Settings
NPC ruining your shot? Toggle off either Playing, Party, NPC or Enemy characters.
Now you’re ready for your close-up! Or, if you’re feeling creative, set the scene for a full-on Faerûn musical - choose a set facial expression, plus a range of over 40 static and animated poses, each with multiple variations to help give you the perfect layout.
Internal playtesting for Patch 8 is already well underway, and we wanted to highlight just a couple of the great shots our playtesters have been grabbing using photo mode, and how they’ve chosen to edit them!
Post Processing Effects
While you won’t be able to adjust your party or play around with lens and camera settings during cinematic scenes and dialogues, you’ll be able to colour-grade your shot and experiment with contrast, saturation, highlights, brightness and vignette.
Morphic Pool, by Celia Medvescig, Playtester
Frames
Add flair to your scene with a range of different frames and letterboxing to nail those cinematic shots.
Crèche, by Michael Simard, Playtester
Stickers
Choose from over 300 stickers and add up to 30 to your scene, including emojis, icons, blood splatters, textures, objects and items, and of course, cat ears.
In your hands soon, you’ll be able to take role-play to the next level with unique combinations of poses, stickers, and frames. We can’t wait to see what absolute nightmare fuel you come up with.
A romantic moment between custom characters, by Helena Van de Veire, Playtester
Patch 8 Stress Test
With your feedback and support, our last patch brought some big changes to the game with just two bug-fixing hotfixes post-release. That’s a win in our books, and we’re looking to do the same again for Patch 8. So let’s talk stress testing!What are we stress-testing?
This time, you’re invited to join us for a period of stress testing, where you can jump in and try out the new subclasses, explore Tav’s best angles in photo mode, and play with friends together on other platforms. Yep, this stress test will be available to those on Xbox and PlayStation, as well as PC!
Why do we need to stress test Patch 8?
The goal is to go beyond our internal testing and help us catch things before they can become an issue once a patch has been released.
Along with all of the newness coming in Patch 8, we’ll also be integrating a large selection of bug fixes and polishing up cinematics, including ensuring Shadowheart’s hair dye no longer washes away when she takes a dip with her romantic partner. We’ll be sharing more on what’s been fixed in a future update!
When does the stress test begin?
We’re looking to begin testing in early January, and you’ll have the opportunity to register your interest before then. Things will be done a little differently this time ‘round, so we’ll be back with Community Update #31 to take you through what’s being tested and how you can take part!
Don’t wait up pookie, we’ll chat with you soon.
Best Community Support Nomination At The Game Awards 2024
We are deeply honoured by all of the awards that Baldur’s Gate 3 has been nominated for, and it goes without saying that our latest nomination for Best Community Support once again at The Game Awards 2024 has our hearts squeezing.
You’ve fuelled us with your questionably horny fanart, delusional tyrant fanfiction, and delightful array of mods, and we can’t wait to see how you bring this passion to our future games.
If you would like to support us at this year’s The Game Awards, you can vote for Baldur’s Gate 3 as Best Community Support before December 11th by clicking here[www.thegameawards.com]. Watch the awards ceremony live on December 12 at 7:30pm EST on The Game Awards YouTube and Twitch channels.
A Very Larian Christmas
With December on our doorstep, we’re once again bringing back a little advent surprise, featuring a series of little treats for both the naughty and nice.
Keep an eye out later in December, for puzzles to earn rewards you'll cherish and remember!