It's weird for me to say this, but the impulse to write up on Baldur's Gate 3 actually originated from a piece of recent news involving a suicide case. I don't want to elaborate on it beyond two points:
1. The ones who caused the death used logic to kick the dead.
2. Apart from The Online Citizen, aka the media outlet famous for picking a fight with the PAP government, no local media has picked up the story. Not even Independent SG, although it covered the story of how Calvin Cheng is going to butt heads with the two individuals responsible for the tragedy. Close enough? No.
What is the relationship between two seemingly unrelated things? As a Christian, I admit to playing fast and loose with my liberty when I decided to play this game. Ryan and Frontline Bro are currently playing Black Myth: Wukong, but would they play Baldur's Gate 3? Comparing them to me is like comparing Shazam to John Constantine. Writing up on BG3 is my way of responding to the coldhearted aspect of human nature on display, no thanks to the suicide case. Should this be interpreted as a Stone Cold Steve Austin against Vince MacMahon moment? It depends on whether the Vince MacMahon in question refers to the two individuals or the dark side of human nature.
Speaking of Black Myth: Wukong, I feel happy for its success, damn what the leftist press says. To the devs, this song is for them.
Where it all happened
It began far earlier than one may expect. Unlike many others, my experience in playing BG3 started from early access. The starting part in the nautiloid ship took me untold hours. The reason is that BG3 was my first DnD CRPG. As a result, I was messing around with things like a stereotypical Catalan minus the baldness instead of a typical Singaporean (note to self: Pep Guardiola is definitely not a Singaporean). I still remember the character I was using: a Seldarine drow rogue. Liking what I was dealing with, I decided to purchase it. That was during the early access period. Then came a problem: I didn't realise romantic scenes were an euphemism for sex scenes. That temporarily broke the deal for me. It wasn't until much later that lingering curiosity made me realise I could turn off the nudity. So there I am now, writing up a post on a game that hit 10/10 before Black Myth: Wukong did the same.
Red lines
Needless to say, there would be red lines not meant to be crossed. The nature of the game requires me to set guardrails. So, below are the rules I set for myself.
1. No nudity. Thank Larian Studios for the no-nudity option.
2. No same-sex relationship.
3. Due to a particular media coverage involving Astarion and a bear (if I remember correctly), the animal sex option is clearly a bear-sized red line.
4. No evil playthroughs. I don't know whether it should be interpreted as a personal choice, but this is an option I'm not about to take.
5. No creation of non-binary characters. I don't mind creating a female one, though.
6. I don't know how to two-time companions, but even if I did, I'm not about to do it. I like that CDPR clearly said no to players two-timing Yennefer and Triss.
7. I don't mind doing the Sharess' Caress quest. But taking the reward? No.
Current progress
I'm taking this game slow instead of trying to clear it as soon as possible while exploring as much as possible. The fact is, I'm no streamer. I have a day job and am not interested in something I'm not meant to do. The only reason I write a blog is to do something I want to do. Numbers? That's pointless. As a casual player, I explore Reddit, guides, and videos on getting things done. More often, videos on YouTube. This was how I took down the House of Grief fight. One thing I noticed about the game is that it's very preparation-heavy. Quite often, consumables are optional. But there are moments when using suitable consumables can make your life much easier. It's all about adopting the right strategy. Get it correct, and you can clear the game easily in Balanced mode. Get it wrong... well, I don't want to elaborate on it. Ultimately, it's either you search for guides and videos or you trial and error. House of Grief can be a significant source of grief if you don't know the correct strategy.
I have only three fights/quests left before entering the final brain fight: Free the Artist, fighting Ansur, and dealing with Gortash. At the same time, I've started a new character playthrough as well.
Lessons in playing a ranger
In my main playthrough, I'm running a Seldarine drow ranger. In my alternate playthrough, I'm starting with a wood elf ranger. One thing I've learned about using a ranger is that there's not much point in going the whole 12 level unless you're running a Beastmaster due to the pet upgrades. Ranger class progression beyond level 5 focuses more on the spells than physical attacks. This is not to say you shouldn't try a pure level 12 ranger build because BG3 is all about theory-crafting. With that said, the ranger is an excellent main class to multiclass. My Seldarine drow is running a level 5 Hunter ranger with a level 5 Thief rogue and level 2 fighter. Fighting style-wise, it's a combination of Two-Weapon Fighting and Archery. During my main playthrough, I learnt a few things:
1. Ranger Knight is a good feature if you plan to run a melee build with Hunter's Mark as your primary concentration spell. This is because melee builds require better survivability than ranged. But you won't need heavy armour once you get a Yuant-Ti Scale Mail or Adamantine Scale Mail unless you're running a tank build. Ideally, I would prefer to get a Hide Armour+2 as a replacement before that.
2. Bounty Hunter is an excellent option to go ranged, as you can ensnare and shoot from a distance. That plus Ensnaring Strike counts as a weapon attack. This means you can attack the second time with it. Combine this with Gontr Mael for some massive punch.
3. Hunter is a suitable subclass for melee DPS builds if you choose the Colossus Slayer option. Giant Killer and Horde Breaker are good for ranger tank builds, although I'm not a fan of melee AoE attacks. Colossus Slayer stacks very well with Crimson Mischief as the main hand weapon choice. Run this with Cold Snap in your off-hand slot for the fun. I plan to do this for my alternate wood elf run, as my Seldarine drow is running with Knife of the Undermountain King in the off-hand slot.
4. I prefer Uncanny Dodge to Charm.
5. Ranger spells are mainly for utility purposes. Hail of Thorns is a good choice if you want to use post-level 1 spells in combat. Otherwise, I use Hunter's Mark only on a level 1 basis. Conjure Barrage suits ranger tank builds if you have one cleric and two ranged DPS. Otherwise, I don't like the idea of friendly fire.
6. Try to get Armour of Agility as soon as possible once you enter Act 3. Unless you run a tank build, this is the default BiS body armour for rangers.
7. Fog Cloud is handy in Act 3, as you'll use it to make your life easier at certain moments. Steal two runepowder barrels from the Ironhand Gnomes' hideout for the final brain fight? Check. Use it to lockpick the office door at Sorcerous Sundries so that you can enter the vault? You got it. How about looting random chests in Lower City without getting caught? You'll need it. Then there's lockpicking the gate at Steel Watch Foundry.
8. Speak With Animals. Make sure you have that to free up gold and alchemical resources for other uses.
9. Strange Conduit Ring is useful if you're using either Hunter's Mark or Ensnaring Strike (i.e. very likely you'd be doing that). The damage can stack, especially if you're running a Hunter melee build with Crimson Mischief.
10. Get the Sussur weapon. You'll need it for fights like Lorroakan and Farslayer of Bhaal. It's next to useless against Raphael, though.
11. Are Gloves of Dexterity worth it? After all, you can't use ASI on your Dex if you pick this option. It depends on your confidence in getting Bonespike Gloves in Act 3. You can do so without issues if you have a spell level 6 minion that can fly and Lae'zel (provided her Misty Step isn't on cooldown). An alternative is using Gale to cast Misty Step.
12. Alert and ASI should be at the top of your feats list. Depending on how you spec your build, you may end up having only 2 feats instead of 3. If you're using Gloves of Dexterity, you can replace ASI with Savage Attacker because certain enemies have physical damage resistance.
13. Items granting Misty Step is my pet favourite. You can get them in Act 1. Depending on your party setup, everyone can Misty Step.
14. Try to get your Charisma to 12. This is for two purposes: Dialogue checks and Persuasion bonus when buying from vendors. Most of the gear they sell is meh, but some are very good.
15. Speaking of the Persuasion bonus, one level of rogue can give you expertise in Persuasion. For my main playthrough, the discount percentage is at 47%.
More things to say, but...
As I've said, I have a day job. So I'm going to leave things here. However, there are other things that I'll be talking about in the next part.
