Larian Studios has teased some of the many, many changes coming in Baldur’s Gate 3 patch 2. While patch 1 squashed more than 1000 bugs just last week, the studio described plans to offer something a bit more substantial than that in its latest Steam post. As the team has finally had some time to address fan feedback, players should expect performance improvements, as well as a more fleshed-out story ending for Karlach, to arrive in patch 2. More bug squashing will come with the patch, of course, but it’s clear that the developer is interested in enhancing the experience with more than just some ironed-out kinks.
For starters, players can look forward to performance enhancements specifically when it comes to how Baldur’s Gate 3 runs during Act 3. More improvements for Act 3 are being worked on through September and will arrive at a later date. In addition to more performance increases, Larian plans to stomp out some of the bugs that have plagued that chapter.
“Our approach is that whenever blockers pop up, we either release a hotfix if a patch is not imminent or include the fix as part of a patch if the patch is imminent,” Larian said. “With Patch 1, your experience should already be a lot better, with most big issues solved by at least a workaround. Patch 2 looks to further eliminate some of the more major issues, including those found in Act 3.”
Discussions about “cut content” have started to come up in the Baldur’s Gate 3 community, with some theorizing that Larian intentionally removed some cutscenes and companion reactions before the game launched. However, the studio says that this is not the case.
“Some things that are currently being associated with ‘cut content’ are actually things like companion reactions to events in the world that didn’t trigger,” Larian said. “These are being solved. Where there seem to be loose ends, we’re tying them up.”
Another example of what fans see as cut content deals with the game’s epilogue. In short, many players felt let down by the story’s conclusion. Larian’s post addresses this, as well as some datamined content that pointed to a lengthier ending for some character’s stories. As far as the datamined content goes, Larian admits that these conclusions were at one point part of the Baldur’s Gate 3 experience but were cut out.
“If it isn’t good – if it isn’t fun to play – it doesn’t make it into the game. One of the reasons why we trimmed the epilogue is because we were afraid the ending cinematics were becoming too long and would detract from the epicness of the experience. But clearly, not everyone agrees with us! So we’re going to do something about it.”
As previously mentioned, the first character set to receive an expanded epilogue is Karlach. The fan-favorite character didn’t receive the conclusion many were hoping for when Baldur’s Gate 3 first launched earlier this month. Larian is promising to make up for this in patch 2: “It’s fiery, poignant, and gives her the ending she deserves.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 patch 2, which is currently without a release date, might somehow contain more for players to enjoy than what we got in patch 1, and there is even more planned for the future. Another major addition coming at an unspecified time is something called Withers’ Wardrobe of Wayward Friends. In short, the feature allows players to remove co-op party members who are picked up during the campaign. Larian also plans to add the ability to change your character’s look after you’ve already started the campaign.
Larian has broken records with Baldur’s Gate 3 and, as a result, has an army of players to please. Still, it’s clear the team is doing its best to make sure its Dungeons & Dragons RPG continues to exceed expectations.
“Baldur’s Gate 3 means so much to a great deal of you, and in turn that means the world to us,” Larian said. “We love this game. We’re not done with it yet. We welcome your feedback, your threads, and also your words of encouragement. We do ask that you phrase your feedback in a way that makes it easier for us to parse, rather than untangle, but that’s a small nuance. We hope that as a group you all feel listened to, and if at any moment you do not, please never hesitate to let us know.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now on PC and will launch on PlayStation 5 on September 6. Xbox Series X | S versions are also planned to release before the end of 2023.
Published: Aug 29, 2023 09:09 pm