BG minus the R: A post on Baldur's Gate 3 Pt 2

Before I start this post, I have to point out that after the suicide case I mentioned in the previous post, I've had to contend with yet another regrettable episode involving my fellow Singaporeans. This reminds me of my past in school, where I had no friends. As a social reject, I was either shunned or bullied. It started in Primary 5, although my first bully appeared in Primary 4. From that point onwards, it's ostracisation and bullying after ostracisation and bullying from secondary school to ITE. Did the teachers do anything? No. I wondered whether most of them were ignorant, but there were two of them who knew what went on. One did nothing, and the other (my Secondary 2 form teacher) did not come down hard on the perpetrators. One of the bullies punched me in the stomach, while another one (either that or it's the same person) stepped on my hand. One of them believed it'd be cool to take my school bag and hide it somewhere. Then another one broke me by making me hate him and curse his name as a dog in my heart. As a result, I had to deal with apathy in my adulthood. I wish I could feel remorse whenever I did wrong. But something just broke inside.

So, how did I deal with it? By trying my best to live an upright life. The fact that I was a victim of unrighteousness doesn't mean I have to embrace a victim's mentality. One is a fact. The other can and will create a monster in anyone. I will utilise my rationality if I cannot feel remorse for my actions. If emotions don't work for me, I still have my mind. If one part of myself is broken, I'll use the parts which are not. I will not roll over and die as a human being by living as a monster. There are too many such people out there, and I don't want to be like them. Years ago, despite all that had happened, I decided to friend request some of my ex-classmates on Facebook. The reason was that I decided to make peace with my past. And that includes forgiving those who did me wrong, whether through actions or inactions.

If I were asked whether I feel anything for my fellow Singaporeans regarding artistic creativity, my answer would be no. But do I feel something for Japanese dark fiction? Works like Berserk, Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul, and Vinland Saga resonate with me far more than the likes of Crazy Rich Asians and The Fraud Squad for a reason. They allowed me to think in depth about human nature. To the likes of Miura Kentaro, Isayama "Hametsu no Hajime" Hajime, Ishida Sui, and Yukimura Makoto, I have to offer my thanks to them.

Note: If my past sounds like that of Astarion, that's because there's probably some semblance of truth in it. The interesting question is whether the proverbial Cazador are those who did me wrong or a toxic educational environment making the prolonged torture possible.

Speaking of monsters...

Perhaps monstrosity is a focal theme of the Baldur's Gate series. In BG1 and 2, we have Gorion's Ward, who happened to be a Bhaalspawn. In BG3, we have a team of potential mind flayers. If we include the Dark Urge, that'd be a Bhaalspawn Mk II. If you're doing a good run (something I'd always do), it's all about not becoming the monster others believe you to be.

I made a mistake here...

In my previous post, I stated that choosing Ranger Knight for ranger players is the way to go because the ring mail armour is readily available early in the game. Well, that was wrong for a reason. I failed to consider the AC bonus from Dexterity. At a score of 16 (the highest possible number you can get at the start of the game), you would have a +3 AC bonus. Add it to the default armour, and the AC should reach 14. That's the same number you get for ring mail armour. So yeah, that was a big mistake on my part.

Does that mean Ranger Knight isn't a good choice for rangers? It depends on whether your ranger would want a Grymskull Helm, as it is under the heavy armour category. The good thing about Grymskull Helm is that it makes the wearer immune to critical hits. Assuming your party setup includes a fighter and a cleric, you can have three members out of four having crit immunity if you craft an Adamantine Shield and an Adamantine Splint Armour, as I prefer Yuan-Ti Scale Mail to Adamantine Scale Mail. If your ranger runs on a multiclass, a lack of spell slots may make this option viable.

Do you need to steal to get the good stuff?

At first glance, this may seem true. After all, pickpocketing the vendors is the best way to get the good stuff, right? But what if you don't want to steal, be it for personal reasons or skill issues? I noticed that having a high enough Charisma can sell specific stuff for more gold. Not all of them, but certain ones. I may be wrong, though. But my impression is that selling with a high enough Persuasion bonus seemed to increase my gold count. Currently, my alternate playthrough has 3K+ gold, while my main playthrough has 60K+.

One thing of note is that in Act 2, you can earn quite a lot of gold. The reason is that plate armour drops from Act 2 onwards. In fact, Act 2 does have quite a bit of plate armour drops, which are the most expensive armour type you can buy or sell from vendors. You have quite a bit of them by killing the adds in Halsin's portal quest. In the final Moonrise Tower fight (provided the Last Light Inn didn't go bust), you can loot the dead enemies for plenty of plate armour and sell them to the Harper vendor after finishing the fight against Ketheric Thorm. I managed to purchase an Armour of Agility by the time I reached Act 3 straightaway in this manner.

If Act 2 is about getting the gold, then Act 1 is about getting camp supplies. In fact, the camp supplies I got from Act 1 were enough for me to last through Act 2. Blighted Village is a good spot for farming camp supplies. Another place to farm camp supplies is Waukeen's Rest and the barrels in Risen Road. If you camp in the blacksmith's forge, there are also camp supplies to be looted. I've already racked up around 1500 camp supplies in my alternate playthrough and am still in Act 1. In my main playthrough, it's more than 4000. Combat in BG3 doesn't function like FF14, where there are plenty of fights. In fact, combat in BG3 doesn't happen that often. It's more about exploration than fighting. As a result, using camp supplies for long rests doesn't happen that often. Do you need to partial rest? The answer is yes. More often than not, I'd use it for the vendors restocking the healing potions. Gear-wise for uncommon and above, partial or long resting doesn't affect the stock.

Duellist's Prerogative=You're probably gonna use this for most of Act 3

After Act 2, I geared Lae'zel with Selûne's Spear of Night for the fun of it. Looking back, maybe I should have stuck with Phalar Aluve until I got Duellist's Prerogative. Now, one can be deceptively good despite the fact that one must not wield anything in the off-hand slot to make it work. I ran it with Lae'zel, and it was bonkers. Two reactions instead of one means running a Battle Master with this can be very good so long you have Riposte. At the same time, you can go all in by using both reactions to score the additional necrotic damage. The latter is suitable for non-undead enemies (apparently, even devils are not immune to it), while the former can be used against undead foes. Until you get the legendary Gith greatsword from Voss, your Lae'zel will probably run with this. Before that moment comes, stick with Phalar Aluve. Sing is an excellent action to use. Just pop it in and use Action Surge afterwards.

1 level of rogue=universal logic?

Dialogue is a vital part of the game. There are moments when passing a dialogue check would make a fight easier. An example of this is the Dror Ragzlin fight. For some reason, my main playthrough pushed me straight to the dialogue where Dror Ragzlin forced me to interrogate the mind flayer. As a result, I have to pass a dialogue check.

Is 1 level of rogue a universal logic. The reality is that your main character will probably do the bulk of the talking unless Wyll is in your party. 1 level of rogue can do wonders for dialogue checks, as it'd give you expertise in any two skills of your choosing. However, it also depends on how you want to build your main character. For example, fighters. Investing in 1 level of cleric under the Tempest or War domain is arguably better. As for paladins, two fighter levels may be better due to Action Surge.

Will there be a part 3?

It depends on whether I have enough to write. I got some ideas swimming in my head, but whether they're enough remains to be seen.