|
| Thread: Baldur's Gate III |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 · «PREV / NEXT» |
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
posted February 22, 2025 07:57 AM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 23:41, 22 Feb 2025.
|
I just completed honor mode.
I didn't use overly lame tactics for it or look up any of the legendary abilities in advance. Just a fairly standard D&D party. I do use multiclassing because it brightens the game up roleplaying-wise. I finally did romance Shadowheart for this run of the game.
My first game with my tiefling I romanced Karlach. Second game on tactician I romanced Halsin with a female dragonborn. That was back in 2023.
1st game was bard of lore 11/cleric of life 1
2nd game was cleric of knowledge 9/eldritch knight 3
Final game with my half wood elf was draconic sorceror 9/evoker 2/warlock 1.
I picked up Minthara the 3rd game when I heard you can also recruit her by knocking her out when she's temporarily hostile in act 1. Her character has by far the least writing, but it's still nice to have her around.
Now that I have the golden d20 (ooooo ahhhh) from completing honor mode, I'm going to do one more game where I romance Laezel, but it is going to be a fairly minimalist run. Not picking up a big party or ****ing around with all the character quests that take forever. We are going promptly to the elder brain, punching it in the dick, and then riding off into the sunset on a red dragon. S'va! Clean and efficient. One must not delay in destroying the ghaik. Tch!
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted February 22, 2025 11:44 PM |
|
Edited by Galaad at 23:52, 22 Feb 2025.
|
Blizzard said:
I just completed honor mode.
Congratulations! 
Shadowheart is the best romance I think, she actually makes you work for it, unlike the other characters who seem to throw themselves at me unprompted, or maybe I’m just that irresistible. 
Despite our cozy future in the mountains surrounded by nature and animals, she had no problem with me messing around with Mizora. Oh, and we even had a foursome with the drows at Sharess’s Caress. 
I finally respected my Abjuration Wizard to a Sorcerer/Wizard/Cleric instead. Strat is really straightforward, cast Rain/Quick spell Lightning bolt with Destructive Wrath and the damage is pretty bonkers. Gale cleans up whatever my main character doesn’t finish. Abjuration Wizard was fun, watching enemies die just by attacking me felt broken, but it was a bit too defensive for my taste. Also gave two levels of Monk to Karlach so now she's Barbarian/Figher/Monk. Man, monk seems a really nice class. Karlach's an absolute beast now.
With my current party, Tactician is pretty easy so I think I'm already ready for honor mode, but I'll finish this playthrough just to get the achievement. For HM I already have some ideas for some other party comps I want to try out.
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted February 22, 2025 11:58 PM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 00:05, 23 Feb 2025.
|
Laezel's story really shines at the end in act 3. She started off as probably my least favorite character but she really grows on me.
Shadowheart is the star of the show in act 2, as you already know.
For the romance options, yeah, Laezel kind of hops on you right away like a meat popsicle, but it makes sense with her character and it does still develop as the game goes on, especially if you go down the route to defy Vlaakith and side with the Prince of the Comet. It's a pretty badass character arc.
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted February 23, 2025 03:10 AM |
|
Edited by Galaad at 03:11, 23 Feb 2025.
|
I felt the same, Laezel has a really nice character development, and I went down the same route as you. 
About the hopping, for me that applies just as much with Gale, the Emperor, Astarion even though he is not even in my party this time! ... I'm telling ya, they all want to get in my pants 
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted February 23, 2025 09:31 PM |
|
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted February 23, 2025 11:14 PM |
|
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted February 25, 2025 03:41 PM |
|
|
Dang I just beat Ansur, missed that in my first playthrough. Prolly the thoughest battle in the game, I had only my main left with like 3HP at last turn.
Got the crash landing achievement without even aiming for it.
____________
|
|
gnollking
Supreme Hero
|
|
posted February 25, 2025 08:33 PM |
|
|
|
It's a great fight, and the reveals about the Emperor just make it better.
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted February 25, 2025 09:37 PM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 21:47, 25 Feb 2025.
|
I had something similar happen lol. On my honor mode run I had a string of super successful fights and I was feeling invincible. Then I get to Ansur and he deploys a friggin Godzilla breath weapon on everything in a 360 degree radius. One character was still standing and everybody else was zapped to a crisp, and the dragon still had a lot of HP left. I was saved by my air elementals and the elixir of lightning resistance that I drank. On honor mode the dragon is basically Godzilla.
Enjoy the legendary sword. Best two-hander in the game for a strength based character. The helm is also one of the best.
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted February 26, 2025 03:19 AM |
|
Edited by Galaad at 03:20, 26 Feb 2025.
|
Alright, Tactician mode completed!
Now I'm gonna prepare my honor mode strategy party comp as if I were doing a thesis or something, lol.
gnollking said:
It's a great fight, and the reveals about the Emperor just make it better.
Yep, that nasty old Emperor...
Blizzard said:
Enjoy the legendary sword. Best two-hander in the game for a strength based character. The helm is also one of the best.
I... actually didn't, as it didn't fit in my party build at that point, my melee being a tavern Nyrulna-thrower. Gave the helm to Shadowheart though, but that's mostly because I found her even cuter wearing it.
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted February 27, 2025 04:46 AM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 04:51, 27 Feb 2025.
|
Nyulna is great.
My first playthrough with my bard of lore (when I was noobish) I equipped it on my main just for the speed buff. I also had him with longstrider, the speed buff ring, and Karlach had aspect of elk. I would cast or upcast guardian spirits and use my enhanced speed to run around the battlefield and hit as many people as possible. It worked lol.
Now I realize upping spell DC would have been better.
____________
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted February 28, 2025 02:43 AM |
|
|
Damn, Honor Mode is intense. Gonna try to stick to the main quest because I’m sinking way too much time into battle prep and strategy. Also did a ton of respecs while testing new classes. I think I’ve settled on Custom Warlock (planning to multiclass with Sorc later), Shadowheart as a Paladin/Cleric, Astarion as a Ranger (adding Bard later), and keeping my Sorc/Cleric/Wizard setup for Gale, though I might respec him to Abjuration Wizard for late game if needed.
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted February 28, 2025 08:35 PM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 01:21, 01 Mar 2025.
|
The game really, really makes you agonize over character development lol. So many choices.
So yeah, for honor mode, I don’t want to spoil anything, but just some tips in case you aren’t doing them already.
It’s a good idea to have a hireling with maxed out persuasion (with skill expertise) for selling your equipment for the best price. I use a human that also has high strength, that way they can hold a lot in their inventory. You also want a hireling that is a transmuter with maxed out medicine. You can use them for brewing stuff (like potions of speed).
And yeah, if a fight starts going really poorly, don’t hesitate to misty step/dash out of the fight and flee so that you can start again. You don’t get any reloads. There’s no point in taking any chances.
There’s 3 fights in the game where you don’t have the option to flee (end of Act 2, Raphael, and the end of the game). To be safe, you’ll want to make sure you are fully loaded. Scrolls like summon elemental or animate dead can give you some extra firepower. Don’t be afraid to purchase one-time-use high-level scrolls near the end of the game that you can use, just in case a certain netherbrain has some extremely annoying abilities waiting for you.
____________
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 02:16 AM |
|
Edited by Galaad at 02:16, 01 Mar 2025.
|
Thanks for the tips!
I’ve never hired any hirelings before, hadn’t even thought about it, lol. I’ll give it a shot!
For bartering, I found this trick where you actually give them gold to get the max discount, and you get so much more back by selling your junk. I only did it with Dammon, though, since he’s around until the end of Act 3 (unless I screw up, of course). Can’t remember if anyone else sticks around that long. As for loot, I just send everything to camp, then grab it all at once while heavily encumbered. Fast travel back, and I only need one step to talk to the vendor. One click to sell wares, not too tedious.
By the way, I nearly died fighting Minthara in the Sanctum (screwed up the dialogue, and I wasn’t leveled up enough for the Raid fight, and didn't want to go that route anyway). Barely managed to escape with just one character left and had everyone resurrected by Withers (without forgetting to pickpocket him back lol). But when I went back, I didn’t want to risk it again, so I ended up killing her. Kind of bummed about that, but if I die again, I’ll try to do it better.
That experience got me thinking: now, when I’m really worried, I keep one party member out of the fight. It makes things harder with only three people, but it’s a guarantee to avoid a game over. Plus, that fourth party member eventually steps in, with a Misty Step ready to use indeed. Works pretty well.
Learned all this the hard way. I’ve died twice already and had to restart, but luckily, I’m still only in Act 1. Honor mode is definitely making me better at the game. I’m doing a lot of things I wasn’t doing in Tactician, like more stealth, better party positioning, and way more use of utility and low-level spells...
I’m definitely going to be a lot more nervous facing the Netherbrain, or Ansur, lol.
____________
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 05:05 PM |
|
|
F!
While arriving at Waukeen's rest, I shot some ray of colds on the door to free Florrick which resulted in the whole guards turning against me. I was trying to save you for **** sake! Managed to flee, but when I got back everyone disappeared. **** it sucks that I can't get the XP and rewards. Serioulsy considering starting all over since I'm not too far in the game yet.
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 05:08 PM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 17:10, 01 Mar 2025.
|
Pickpocketing Withers (Jergal} is new for me. I was not aware 
I like for each of my characters to have some kind of escape mechanism that they can use to quickly get out of a fight if need be. Things are easier on this 2nd run I am doing, but the bullete still likes to show up and crash the party when I am not prepared. I just immediately leave.
I also learned that knocking out the owlbear cub means it doesn't show up later. I guess Scratch is going to be alone this game.
edit: That happened to me in a previous game. For some reason you have to physically bash the door down. It doesn't really make sense for it to be intended that way. I'm assuming it's a bug.
____________
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 05:23 PM |
|
|
Yeah how do you think I could abuse trying out builds so much
Yeah, the issue was not about not escaping, but about completly missing the quest, not having her later on, missing out on the artifact...
I will restart now, plus this time I'll try to keep Minthara alive. Still not 100% sure about my builds even though it worked quite well, lol.
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 06:23 PM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 18:25, 01 Mar 2025.
|
Well that's one way to do it.
I have a file saved from my first game right before the end of the game. I can just load it up and then play around with builds as much as I want up to level 12. I don't save it afterwards.
____________
|
|
Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 06:45 PM |
|
|
But how are you trying the builds out without actually fighting?
____________
|
|
Blizzard
Known Hero
Urban Legend
|
|
posted March 01, 2025 07:33 PM |
|
Edited by Blizzard at 20:59, 01 Mar 2025.
|
I look stuff up on the BG3 Wiki, and I change things around in game if I really want to. I don't do it too much, though I haven't been pickpocketing the gold back from Withers lol. I just assumed it vanished once you paid him.
Right now I'm pretty much set on what I want to do and what main equipment items I want each character to have. I'm actually not planning on doing too much multiclassing in the game I'm in right now.
My main is an Asmodeus Tiefling. He'll be Bard of Valor 11/Fiend Warlock 1.
Lae'zel will be Great Old One Warlock 12 with a polearm build.
Karlach will be Fist of the Open Hand Monk 12 (I might also have her do Wildheart 9/Hunter 3. I'm not quite sure yet. She is going to be the one to transform into an illithid for the final fight, which also saves her from death and it keeps Orpheus from needing to transform. He can just enter the final fight as himself)
Wyll will be Cleric of Light 11 /Ranger 1. Yeah, he's not actually a warlock lol.
This is my first playthrough on custom. It's nice to see that Alfira is going to survive for once.
|
| |
|
|
