With Patch 8 Released, Now Is the Perfect Time to Return to Baldur’s Gate 3

Larian Studios released the last large update to smash deed Baldur’s Gate 3 on April 15th, efficaciously marking the extremity of an era. While players whitethorn understandably beryllium disappointed determination won’t beryllium immoderate caller adventures oregon important contented added to BG3 successful the future, the caller spot is packed with additions that should marque adjacent the astir burned retired players acceptable to commencement a caller playthrough.

Notably, Patch 8 introduces caller subclasses, meaning you’ll person adjacent much physique options for your customized quality and enactment members, similar Astarion and Shadowheart (as if the crippled didn’t person capable options already!). Photo mode, crossplay, and splitscreen for the Xbox Series S each marque it truthful that, whether you’re starting your 2nd oregon twelfth playthrough, present is the cleanable clip to bask each that Faerun has to offer.

12 New Subclasses

Your Excuse to Create Yet Another Tav

Baldur’s Gate 3, adapting the 5th variation of Dungeons & Dragons’ regularisation set, has physique options galore successful presumption of creating your quality and dominating its turn-based combat. The crippled includes 12 classes for your Tav (your customized subordinate character) and each person antithetic subclasses to marque them adjacent much unique. Patch 8 introduces adjacent more, and possibly immoderate of the astir fun.

New Subclasses Introduced successful Patch 8:

• Path of the Giant Barbarian
• College of Glamour Bard
• Death Domain Cleric
• Circle of Stars Druid
• Arcane Archer Fighter
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk
• Oath of the Crown Paladin
• Swarmkeeper Ranger
• Swashbuckler Rogue
• Shadow Magic Sorcerer
• Hexblade Warlock
• Bladesinging Wizard

The spot notes connected the game’s authoritative site promote you to “roleplay the God of Thunder by utilizing Elemental Cleaver, imbuing your Path of the Giant Barbarian’s hammer with shocking harm and flinging it retired for it to travel backmost to you, oregon arsenic a drunken monk, with genuinely homebrewed abilities.” With the quality to wage Withers to respec your Tav and companions, you don’t adjacent request to commencement implicit to bask the caller subclasses. Simply pony up 100 golden to Withers and re-level up your party.

Personally, I’m looking guardant to turning Shadowheart into a Death Domain Cleric, giving Gale a sword, and starting an Origin playthrough arsenic a Hexblade Warlock Wyll.

Photo Mode

Show Off Your Squad’s Style

Gather your squad and airs for the camera due to the fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 present has an expansive photograph mode for erstwhile you’re adventuring, successful combat, oregon enjoying a cutscene. You’ll marque “the astir of the camera, lens, and country settings” portion besides being capable to edit characters’ positions, facial expressions, and poses. Over 300 stickers volition beryllium included, though expect your options to multiply erstwhile modders commencement getting to work.

Crossplay

Play With Anyone, Anywhere

Baldur’s Gate 3 has included transverse saves, the quality to upload your prevention record to the unreality and play it connected different level from launch. This was an particularly appreciated diagnostic for maine arsenic a console gamer playing Baldur’s Gate 3 connected my PS5 arsenic good arsenic portion traveling with my Steam Deck. Now, with Patch 8, Baldur’s Gate 3 takes a multi-system ecosystem adjacent further by implementing crossplay truthful you tin play with friends connected immoderate platform.

“Players connected PC, Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 volition present each beryllium capable to bask Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer, with afloat cross-platform progression and cross-play,” Larian wrote successful the spot notes. Your cross-platform run tin adjacent utilize the game’s galore mods, but conscionable marque definite each players person the aforesaid mods installed, and the mods are made for some console and PC if your enactment is simply a substance of PC and console players.

Xbox Series S Split Screen

The Baby Xbox Grows Up

Xbox owners who opted for the cheaper, digital-only Xbox Series S tin present bask splits creen multiplayer with Patch 8. The diagnostic wasn’t initially disposable astatine motorboat for Series S players. Instead, lone their Series X-owning counterparts could play sofa co-op, though that’s thankfully nary longer the case.

Microsoft’s tendency to clasp parity betwixt the Xbox Series X and the noticeably weaker Series S means developers person to marque definite each features of their games tally smoothly connected some consoles. This became a occupation with Baldur’s Gate 3 arsenic Larian couldn’t get the babe Xbox to smoothly grip divided surface multiplayer, delaying the game’s motorboat connected Microsoft’s platforms by 3 months and efficaciously creating a timed console exclusive for rival Sony.

Larian yet struck a woody with Microsoft to let Baldur’s Gate 3 to motorboat connected some Xbox consoles, adjacent though the Series S was missing a reasonably important feature. Now, a twelvemonth and a fractional aboriginal aft launch, the Series S is yet acceptable for your section co-op campaign. Patch 8 besides includes plentifulness of bug fixes crossed the committee and for divided surface specifically, allowing you and your sofa co-op spouse a creaseless gameplay experience.

No DLC, but That Doesn’t Mean BG3 Won’t Receive New Content

Modders Have Plenty successful Store

In lawsuit you haven’t played successful immoderate time, Patch 7 (released successful autumn 2024) updated Baldur’s Gate 3 with an in-game Mod Manager and modding Toolkit. The champion happening astir it is that adjacent console players tin bask the assorted mods BG3’s assemblage makes. Popular mods scope from dice designs, hairstyles, and adjacent level headdress raises.

Patch 8 steps up the modding capabilities with partial level editing. “[Y]ou’ll present beryllium capable to usage the Toolkit to adhd oregon override definite template types successful existing levels,” according to the spot notes, which supply examples similar creating a caller NPC oregon your ain interactive object. You cannot, however, alteration dialog oregon modify “static” parts of the environment. But erstwhile person modders ever listened erstwhile told they can’t bash something?

While Larian can’t officially let customized campaigns connected its authoritative modding platform, that hasn’t stopped PC players from trying to mod successful their ain environments and stories. BG3’s modding toolkit was rapidly unlocked, giving PC players the quality to play deity with the game. It’s improbable specified in-depth customized run mods volition marque their mode to consoles, but–barring immoderate ineligible takedowns–PC players could play fundamentally full new, fan-built games, similar the volunteer-led Path to Menzoberranzan, wrong the adjacent fewer years.

The End of an Era

Patch 8 Will Be the Last Update for Baldur’s Gate 3

Larian Studios is present escaped to absorption connected their adjacent task arsenic Patch 8 marks the past large update for Baldur’s Gate 3. “That means we won’t beryllium adding immoderate caller communicative contented oregon important changes to storylines, Origin characters, oregon companions. We’ve told our stories the mode we needed to archer them, and tried our champion to marque them impactful and engaging,” work the instauration to the spot notes.

It’s bittersweet, successful a way, arsenic portion we’re surely bittersweet to spot Larian’s enactment connected Baldur’s Gate 3 travel to an end, saying goodbye present lets the workplace absorption connected immoderate it has successful store next, promising “more chaos successful the future.”

We don’t cognize what specifically Larian is cooking up next, but we bash cognize what it’s not going to be. The workplace has already cancelled Baldur’s Gate 3 DLC, with manager Swen Vincke saying astatine GDC 2024, “You could spot the squad was doing [the DLC] due to the fact that everyone felt similar we had to bash it, but it wasn’t truly coming from the heart, and we’re precise overmuch a workplace from the heart” (via IGN).

The workplace is stepping distant from continuing the Baldur’s Gate franchise, arsenic it won’t beryllium making a Baldur’s Gate 4, but hasn’t afloat revealed what’s next. Its adjacent 2 RPG projects committedness to beryllium comparable successful scope to–perhaps adjacent larger than–Baldur’s Gate 3, with Vincke telling PC Gamer, “We were made for making large, ambitious RPGs and to effort caller stuff.” I don’t cognize astir you, but I can’t hold to effort retired the “new stuff” Larian is moving on.