Mark Darrah, a former longtime developer at BioWare who served as executive producer on Dragon Age Origins, 2, and Inquisition, has some words of wisdom for the Baldur's Gate 3 devs Larian Studios. He believes the company's taking a bit of a risk with Divinity, but it's avoiding mistakes his former employer made in the process.

"The question I would have for Larian is did their core shift with Baldur's Gate 3?" he says on The Examined Game podcast. "Did they take a big step, with meaning to or not, to a different place? And is that new place where they actually want to be now?"

He mentions this in light of the Divinity trailer, where the fiery next chapter in Larian's homegrown series is teased in typically dour fashion. "If I'm a Baldur's Gate person and the only Larian game I've ever played is Baldur's Gate 3, I think some people are going to look at that trailer and go 'what, what?' and it's not that it's not true to what Larian was, but it might not be true to what Larian is," he comments.

I think what he's getting at is whether the core audience has shifted. Are there now a bunch of Dungeons & Dragons fans a bit unsure of Divinity? And is Larian alright with that potential dissonance? Fair questions – after putting out a hit like the third Baldur's Gate, you need to tread lightly, to an extent, and figure out who your community is now.

That said, Darrah believes the team has already avoided pitfalls BioWare fell into. "Larian's doing something that BioWare never did, it's very much deciding to be one thing at a time," he muses.

The studio is focusing on one major project at any given time, rather than juggling series like BioWare did, where you had Mass Effect and Dragon Age installments coming out concurrently. "There's a lot of risk involved in that," he adds, but he believes it gives the devs a stronger core.

"The power of that is there's never a moment where your studio is branching into two different things and slowly evolving away from itself," he says. "And then you're trying to force those two things back together again, and it's bouncing off itself along the way."

Certainly, if Larian can avoid the problems of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it'll be doing well.

Baldur's Gate 3 mod adds 6-hour campaign all about Astarion, featuring new companions, 4 different endings, and "a kitty that potentially accepts scritches."

It's the fourth and final meeting of the RPG Club for the month of August, and it's all about to go down in my no weapons playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3. To trust The Emperor, or not to trust him? That is the question most people agonize over in the RPG's twilight hours. But for me, there is no other choice.

Instead of leading Lae'zel down a darker path as Vlaakith's Chosen, I made the mistake of encouraging her to think for herself and challenge her tyrannical "goddess". This is usually seen as Lae'zel's best ending, at least for players who want to see her freed from Vlaakith's reign of terror and not dying at the pointy end of her greatsword.

The only snag is that my self-imposed restrictions forbid the quintessential "good guy" ending most players swear by. Freeing Orpheus, the Githyanki Prince of the Comet, has never been on the table. I need a weapon to do that, and I am expressly barred from using any this time around. Now, Lae'zel has been left in limbo. And I really, really should have seen this one coming.

Quest Log

Duty calls

I mentioned in BG3 RPG Club Part 3 that Lae'zel was snatched by Orin and held prisoner in the Temple of Bhaal for the majority of Act 3. It's something I deeply resented at the time, and I even prioritized slaying Orin earlier in the story than in past playthroughs just to get my beloved tank back.

But I didn't really need her after all. I cleared the House of Grief, killed Cazador and stopped Astarion from ascending, even helping Aylin cut down Lorroakan to install Rolan in charge of Ramazith Towers in his stead – all sans Lae'zel. I even rescued Duke Ravengard from the Iron Throne without her help, despite Mizora doing her darndest to scupper my efforts (thank goodness for Shadowheart's Sanctuary spell). So after freeing Lae'zel and swiping Orin's Netherstone, I only recruited her back to my party to help destroy the Steel Watch. I'd finally settled on my prime squad – Gale, Karlach, Shadowheart – and it got me through everything from Ansur (you don't know pain until you have to sell Balduran's Giantslayer) to Gortash and the final fight against the Netherbrain.

Eagle-eyed readers and fellow dedicated players might notice that I've failed to mention one of the best boss battles in the RPG. That's because I chose to completely ignore Raphael's House of Hope this time around, since I had no need for the Orphic Hammer to begin with.

Lae'zel was oblivious to that, of course. Every time I'd speak to her at camp, she'd remind me of my duty to help her liberate Gith's children from the evils of Vlaakith. Which is when I'd hit the "leave" button and refuse to comment further.

Even if I wanted to bring her with me to the final fight, it would be pointless. She'd have had to watch The Emperor chow down on Orpheus' gray matter, "assimilating" his psionic anti-Netherbrain protection that make him so holy to her people, and immediately threaten to turn on me. It would have been a very risky persuasion check if I wanted to avoid her leaving or turning hostile – not only because I'd been encouraging her to break free from Vlaakith since day one, but because I'd passed the point-of-no-return.

Facing the brain with two companions rather than three, not including The Emperor himself, was too real of a threat to take a chance on it. So Lae'zel cooled her heels at camp until the deed was done.

Brainiacs

The Netherbrain fight is never as bad as I fear it will be. It helps that I've managed to amass a choice array of allies this time around, from Aylin to the Harpers and Rolan's insanely overpowered flame strike. Even with Orpheus' brains still glistening on The Emperor's tentacled maw, I somehow convince Kith'rak Voss to help me out too; his dragon's Wall of Flame is instrumental in getting me through the first wave of near endless enemies.

This might even have been the easiest time I've had in climbing the brain stem. With the Knock spell always coming in clutch, I manage to get through the shortcut door to the left of the brain stem chamber and Misty Step (or Levitate, in The Emperor and part-Illithid Gale's cases) my party to the top in record time. By the time I reach the restoration pod and head up to the crown for the last barrage, I've almost forgotten about the angry Githyanki awaiting me at camp.

The fight against The Netherbrain is brutal, even with all my allies. I have control over Aylin and The Emperor, but without their weapons to aid them, I rely primarily upon their spells or Illithid powers. Next, I teleport Gale and The Emperor with Dimension Door straight to the Crown of Karsus. Here, Gale can protect The Emperor while he compels the brain to let us enter its inner sanctum.

Meanwhile, Shadowheart casts Sanctuary on herself once again to fire off healing spells without being targeted herself. Karlach and a team of Hellriders and Harpers draw aggro long enough for my player character to hop into the portal and help the mindflayer duo weaken the brain, thanks to a powerful spell scroll I'd picked up in Ramazith Towers.

Both she and Gale have access to the turbo-powerful Artistry of War spell, packing a walloping 12d6 + 36 force damage across five bolts of magic. This, paired with a lot of smokepowder bombs, eventually brings the brain to its non-existent knees.

Critical failure

But eventually, the lizard-skinned piper demands to be paid. I have no time to congratulate myself on actually completing Baldur's Gate 3 without any weapons whatsoever before I'm standing on the pier explaining myself to a furious Lae'zel. She reprimands me for dooming her entire people – without the Prince of the Comet, how are the rebels meant to convince the rest of the githyanki of Vlaakith being a false goddess?

A cruelly unfair DC 30 persuasion check greets me. Having wasted all of my inspiration points trying to restrain the brain at the morphic pool (rookie mistake), I fail it miserably. Lae'zel will not stay in Baldur's Gate "for me," she says, as the one who had every opportunity to save Orpheus. Instead, she vows to join the fight against Vlaakith – albeit not as a dragonrider, as she would have if Orpheus was freed instead of brutally slain.

It's a bitter pill to swallow. I'd gone out of my way to secure a true "good guy" playthrough in every other way – God Gale is a good ending for him, right? But I think Lae'zel might have been happier if I'd just left her under Vlaakith's thrall.

I'm pleased to see her hologram attending Withers' epilogue party, and shocked when she admits that she actually missed my Prince-slaying ass while it was chasing demons in Avernus with Wyll and Karlach. It's a small comfort as I wrap up my no weapons run for good – even if, out of all the things I knew the challenge would prevent me from doing, the consequence of not having access to the Orphic Hammer totally slipped by mind.

Cheers to us

So there you have it: I played and finished Baldur's Gate 3 using nothing but fists, magic, and smokepowder, and I never want to do it again – though I'm very glad you joined me (and possibly even participated).

It's been a fun way to test my playstyle adaptability, adding a fresh perspective to an RPG I've played and loved for years now. But if I have to sell off another powerful hammer or greatsword that would absolutely make my battlemage build shine, I'll walk into the Shadow-Curse without a moonlantern and end it all myself.

I can't say I ever outright missed having a weapon unless teased with a particularly juicy one. Everyone has the tools of the trade that they love to pick up time after time, so it was really a matter of trying not to sulk too much and just moving on with my adventure. Early-game is where I felt the loss the hardest. Basic spells and cantrips don't quite hold up to the fake Paladin of Tyr's greatsword after all.

But having to restrict my class and race choices at the very beginning revealed how broad and dynamic BG3's combat system is, feeding right back into the character, worldbuilding, and progression systems too. I'd taken the game's vast intersections for granted up 'til now. But as much as blades and spells are two halves of a whole, I'm proud of myself for daring to separate them and push the game's mechanics even further.

But what do you think? Did I choose the easy way out? I mean, what would a no magic Baldur's Gate 3 run have looked like? Hah. No. No, I couldn't possibly... Could I?

Baldur's Gate 3 is finally seeing Divinity: Original Sin 2-style custom campaigns coming to fruition, as one new mod adds just that: a solid six-hour custom campaign.

Yes, you read that right. A Dream of Silence: ReVamped, as it is oh-so aptly dubbed over on Nexus Mods, adds an alternate campaign to Larian Studios' beloved Dungeons & Dragons RPG.
The mod is an adaptation of a browser-based text adventure by Abigail Corfman (which you can still access over on her official website), starring none other than my favorite of all the Baldur's Gate 3 companions: the ever-beautiful vampire elf Astarion, of course.

The mod's campaign is around six hours long in total, featuring four different endings, six new companions complete with unique dialogue lines and rewards, "more dynamic combat and boss fights," and, perhaps most excitingly, "a kitty that potentially accepts scritches."

Plus, you get to rescue Astarion from a nightmarish take on Cazador's already vile mansion (or choose not to and opt for a different path, I suppose). Sign me up, stat.

Sadly, it's only available for PC players right now, but that doesn't take away how impressive the custom campaign's emergence is.

Early last year, modders said custom Baldur's Gate 3 campaigns with "levels and lands comparable to the Skyrim modding community" could come in 2025 thanks to Patch 7 and its capacity for "level editing, save editing, and more" – but not too much has actually happened in that regard.

Sure, we've got projects like Return to Candlekeep underway, but it's been a long road, and limitations like multiplayer restrictions haven't exactly helped.

A Dream of Silence: ReVamped sparks hope for other custom campaigns later down the line, and I know I'm personally keeping my fingers crossed for even bigger projects in the same vein. Could you just imagine all of the possibilities…?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Clea actor finds it "fascinating" that RPG fans give her character "more grace" than Baldur's Gate 3's Lae'zel.

Welcome back to the GamesRadar+ RPG Club! This third meeting takes place in the earliest reaches of Act 3, with my Baldur's Gate 3 no weapons run getting deadly serious now that I'm in the biggest section of the game. As a result, I've been forced to confront more than just Ketheric Thorm and the Avatar of Myrkul – who was easily dispatched after I freed Aylin on my first turn by Misty Stepping over to her cage. My biggest question now is how my current party will survive one of Act 3's most punishing coded events.

Looking between Lae'zel, Halsin, and Gale, I feel a stone in my gut. My party has grown strong, even with my no weapons run barring us from using anything handheld. I was loath to part ways with any of them, but I know that the Murder God's favorite is about to infiltrate my camp and kidnap someone.

As soon as I claim victory over Myrkul's Chosen – here's how Act 2 went for me – I start planning. That means guessing s who might be on Orin's chopping block and preparing my party accordingly. It's time for a strategic break, so consider this my once-per-act respec being used in one go.

Quest Log

Sneak attacked

The start of Act 3 was a nasty shock during my first playthrough, where I'd finished up at Moonrise Towers at a paltry level six. I'm feeling much better about my chances as a level eight sorcerer now. Which is why I'm almost relishing taking my first Long Rest in Rivington and being interrupted by a Githyanki ambush.

I prepare by going around the camp and reshuffling my active party members. I opt for an even split between spellcasters and unarmed melee specialists: Lae'zel, my open-hand monk, pairs nicely with Karlach the barbarian, and I'll need Shadowheart on hand to dole out the heals. It's a particularly mean fight, albeit one that puts my challenge to the test by reflecting it back at me. All of the Gith are monks, just like Lae'zel, and it's nowhere near as much fun being on the receiving end of a resonating Ki blast.

My first attempt is a write off; my party accidentally jumps into the battle ground one by one instead of all together, leaving Karlach and Lae'zel out of the initiative roll entirely while Shadowheart and I get absolutely bodied. The Emperor is little help, and before long, I'm reloading my save to coordinate entry to the battle properly.

I put a focus on Karlach and Lae'zel reaching higher ground as soon as possible, throwing the Gith across the astral prism while Shadowheart casts Sanctuary on herself and buffs the party from a safe distance. Meanwhile, I'm all about the massive AOE spells. Say hello to my little Fireball, everyone!

But the ambush is only the start of my troubles. As soon as we arrive in Rivington, I do my usual rounds of the lively crossing town – and run into Bhaal's Chosen, Orin, twice. First, masquerading as a snooping journalist, and secondly, as the shopkeeper of an armory. She laughs in my face, waves off my victory against Ketheric by saying something mean and cryptic, before vanishing into a puddle of viscera.

Orin is one of my favorite villains in video game history. She's also the most annoying. As Enver Gortash – the Chosen of Bane, God of Tyranny – later informs me after I bear witness to his grand coronation, Orin has already kidnapped one of my companions and is masquerading as them back at my camp.

Truthfully, I am miffed. I'd forgotten that this happens so early on in Act 3's proceedings, and it sends my nerves into overdrive. Immediately, I pray Orin hasn't taken Lae'zel.

My Gith monk just started getting good after our party leveled up following the astral prism attack. Perhaps Orin, in her infinite magnanimity, might've gone for Halsin instead? Or maybe even Yenna, the orphan child who invited herself to our camp during our second Long Rest in Rivington and now cannot stop going on about having brought her own paring knife (who gave the child a knife? Why are we okay with this?).

Tanked it

I managed to avoid dealing with my little Orin problem until two or three long rests later. Pursuing a maligned quest involving a necromancer mummy, whose goodies I had designs on for Gale, I headed into Baldur's Gate's sewers without thinking twice. Big mistake. "Lae'zel" came hobbling out of a fetid underground tunnel and soon shapeshifted back into Orin the Red.

Well, damn. I don't think I've ever triggered the imposter reveal this early on in any of my Baldur's Gate 3 playthroughs, and now I'm down the most powerful tank in my party. It's especially miserable, since I don't tend to rescue Orin's captive until I'm starting to wrap up my time in the game. If I'm to make it through all that Act 3 has to offer without Lae'zel at my side, it's time to respec my party accordingly.

Instead of fashioning myself another monk – that just feels like cheating, okay? – I leverage some newfound assets. Jaheira is a druid, much like Halsin, and I want to keep her as such for narrative reasons. That said, I respec her subclass into Circle of Spores to complement Gale's own necromantic flair.

Between them, they now can spawn near endless zombies and ghouls anytime I choose. It's also time to make Shadowheart a Light Domain cleric now that she's turned her back on Shar's trickery, while Astarion gets a few warlock levels to beef the bard up a bit with some eldritch blasts for good measure.

With Karlach now my one and only melee tank, it's time to bid farewell to the ways of the Berserker and respec her back to the Giant subclass. I need to prioritize high DPS to compensate for the loss of Lae'zel's fists of fury, so I make sure to stack her strength score up to 20 at a base level and make use of her collection of Cloud Giant Strength potions, which take her up to 27. Then, I turn to my own character – sweet little Zeraphina, the draconic sorcerer who could. And still can. For her, no changes – only vengeance for the loss of Lae'zel.

I really did squander Lae'zel when I had her, and I can't lie and say that she was a staple in my party throughout the journey so far – that honor goes to Karlach, Gale, and Shadowheart for the most part.

But much as her absence is felt, leaning into magical combat has been eye-opening. It's certainly helpful when my whole party can misty step anywhere they like whenever I please, not to mention how keeping my party far from foes means I have no real need for a melee tank anyway. Paired with some fancy new Spore Druid armor for Jaheira and the Robes of the Weave for Gale, I'm cleaning up Act 3 like the most dedicated barmaid at the Elfsong Tavern. A dedicated barmaid with a penchant for summoning zombies, of course.

And yet, there's more to come. Slowly but surely, I'm rebuilding my party for the final battle brick by brick. Hopefully next time I check in with you, I'll have bested that brain for good – with or without Lae'zel.

My Baldur's Gate 3 no weapons challenge is well and truly underway. Having finally inched my way into Act 2, things are starting to get spicy – and oh boy, am I suffering.

If you're new to the RPG Club, welcome. You might want to start with my first entry in this four-part series if this is your first time joining us. For returning adventurers, you'll know the score. I'm going back through one of my favorite games of all time and applying a strict new set of rules: no weapons, ever. The consequences of this restriction are starting to rear their ugly heads in the most unexpected ways – including impacting the areas I choose to explore versus ignoring entirely.

In a regular playthrough, my path of choice to the Shadow-cursed Lands would take me through the Underdark. There are a few cool tools to pick up in the gloomy depths, from sussur bark needed to craft a masterwork weapon to the Phalar Aluve longsword. But weaponry is the farthest thing from my mind this time around.

Quest Log

Monastic crimes in hands-free times

Instead of powerful blades, glaives, and crossbows, I'm opting for scrolls, grease, and tavern brawling. Which means I've made the executive decision to skip the Underdark completely and take the mountain pass shortcut into Act 2, even though it means losing out on more opportunities to level-up.

Since my last post, I've successfully cleared Act 1. The goblin camp was a doozy (dropped Minthara down a hole with a trusty firebolt, poisoned the goblins' beer supply) and I made my way to Rosymorn Trail shortly after. There, I killed Lady Esther for The Graceful Cloth monk robes, successfully broke the zaith'isk at Crèche Y'llek, and managed to slip out of the monastery without succumbing to the siren song of the Blood of Lathander mace lurking beneath it.

I know, I know. It feels close to sacrilege to skip one of the coolest dungeons in the game – if not the coolest. But this is just one of many moments that is rendered completely superfluous when weapons are out of the question.

Instead, I'm all about speed and efficiency. I hit Level 5 right as my party heads up the Mountain Pass toward the Shadow-cursed Lands, and I already know what to expect. Two Death Shepherds will be roaming ahead, alongside a handful of ghast minions, so I have Shadowheart with me to take Spirit Guardians out for a spin. I'm already regretting not doubling back to grab the Luminous Armor from the Selunite temple beneath the goblin camp, but truthfully, I hadn't trusted myself to be able to turn back once making it that far – the entrance to the Underdark is close by after all.

Luckily, a cleric's spells are incredibly powerful with or without that one piece of kit. Spirit Guardians is the kind of spell I refuse to do without in Baldur's Gate 3. Who needs a weapon when I can just have Shadowheart dash into the battlefield while the undead charge dumbly into her personal space, bursting into holy flames one by one? Between being well-prepared with Shadowheart at the ready and pelting any stragglers with Fireball, I manage to decimate these Level 6 nemeses with relative ease.

It reminds me just how simple it is to get to Act 2 when you skip the Underdark and all its fascinating distractions, opting instead for a practical approach I'd usually shy away from.

Dark and dangerous

Contrary to many, Act 2 is my favorite part of Baldur's Gate 3. I love the menacing darkness of The Shadow-cursed Lands, especially when I have a cleric in tow. However, my challenge difficulty goes up quite a few notches very quickly.

Well, the FOMO side of it does. Reaching Last Light Inn and seeing all of Quartermaster Tali's delightful swords and axes on display is just the beginning – Act 2 is going to be hard without the reliable tools I'd ordinarily depend upon.

I regretfully sell a powerful helmet found in the Mason's Guild basement since it buffs weapon attacks I don't have access to. I can't buy a piece of Barbarian armor for Karlach at Moonrise Towers since its main perk is buffing melee weapon damage, so I'm glad I took time to check the tooltip before purchasing. I even hesitate for a moment before letting Shadowheart cut herself with a dagger in the secret Sharran sanctuary, but since she never actually equips it in more than a cutscene, I let it slide.

While there are some things I am missing by skipping the Underdark, there are plenty of workarounds. I take extra care to be thorough in Act 2, seeking out opportunities I'd usually skim past in order to speed things up. The one that stands out the most in the Selunite Resistance.

For the first time ever, I discovered Selunite outposts dotted across the map, from the basement of the Last Light to a forgotten chest nearby those pesky Meazels that ambush you outside the bridge towards the Towers. This side quest leads me to find the Luminous Gauntlets and Coruscation Ring, each applying stacks of damage output-reducing Radiating Orb to all enemies hit by radiant spells.

It immediately makes all the fights against shadow-cursed enemies much snappier – especially the one against Flaming Fist Marcus, where I successfully protect Isobel thanks to the Turn Undead spell, Guiding Bolt, and Karlach throwing the traitor at his Winged Horror minions.

Later, I manage to find the Ring of Spiteful Thunder to pair with the Gloves of Belligerent Skies, creating an excellent Reverberation build for my draconic lightning sorcerer. I've never been so specific in my build-crafting before, and now I don't even feel bad about missing the Boots of Stormy Clamour down in the Underdark.

Throwing down the gauntlet (of Shar)

The finish line is well in sight, folks – at least as far as finishing up in the Shadow-cursed lands. I didn't expect a no weapons run to change up my approach to the story path itself, but taking stock of my journey so far, it's affected far more than just combat encounters.

While I'm feeling good about my choice to take the Mountain Pass to Act 2, I know that the journey to Baldur's Gate itself will be much more straightforward. I don't have to choose my path as wisely this time (there's just the one after all), but I've learned some valuable lessons about choosing my side quests and party makeup more carefully.

I try to keep to the usual structure of balancing spellcasters with melee fighters, and I'm delighted to report that watching Karlach and Lae'zel throw Shadow-cursed Harpers at one another is just as effective as hitting them with a giant hammer. I do, however, find myself wanting to respec my party yet again from time to time, though I've only done so once in Act 2 so far, as per my ruleset.

Gale's our new Necromancer, for no other reason than I was finding very little use for his talents when a sorcerer is so powerful, and as I inch toward the RPG's biggest maps, I'm planning some fairly sweeping respecs for my team very soon. But we'll save that for next time, after my battle against Ketheric.

Despite playing "questionable" characters in both Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, voice actor Devora Wilde says she found it "fascinating" how differently the pair were treated by fans.

Speaking to IGN, Wilde says, "What I've found is that even though Clea is a questionable character, people have been willing to give her more grace - a lot more grace - than people have with Lae'zel. And I find that so fascinating."

Players' comments and reaction across the two games differ substantially, Wilde states, even though she can see a clear comparison between the two characters.

"People's reaction to Clea is like, 'Yeah, but she's justified, she's the only sane member of the family, she does this because of this.'" With her Baldur's Gate 3 character, however, Wilde says the response was far more black and white: "With Lae'zel, people were like, 'No, she's just mean, she's just bad.'"

If I had to guess why that difference has emerged, it comes down to why those characters react as they do. Clea comes across as pretty cold and ruthless, but there's a clear attempt to do the best she can for her family - most of whom have lost themselves to the painted world - even if it makes them unhappy in the short term.

Lae'zel, on the other hand, is primarily out for herself and her creche, and is also quick to let you know how unimpressive she finds you. It's that combination of relative selfishness and a sharp tongue that probably puts a lot of players off the character before they can get to see her soften as the RPG progresses after the first act.

Baldur's Gate 3, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 star didn't believe she was in Space Marine 2 until fan messages sent her sleuthing through receipts.

What are the best ways to replay Baldur's Gate 3? I've spent a lot of time thinking about this very question. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot.

Having played close to 1,000 hours of Larian's sprawling RPG since it first released on PS5, I've created many different Tavs, role-played as various established origin characters, and taken a host of approaches over the years. And that's the beauty of a game like Baldur's Gate 3; it's an experience that's meant to be replayed by design, with so much freedom of choice and room for experimentation. But there are definitely certain playthroughs I've done that have been more rewarding or downright run han others, and after much deliberation, I've finally come to the conclusion that the five ways I've listed below are truly the best ways to replay Baldur's Gate 3.

I will say that many of these aren't suited to your very first try at Larian's RPG. For that, I'd suggest following your heart and seeing where the Sword Coast leads you. But once you've experienced what is without a doubt one of the best RPGs for the first time, then my suggestions are here for you when you're ready to step back into Faerûn. Whether you're looking for something playful to shake up your journey, a challenge, or you want something narratively satisfying as you set out to rid yourself of the Mind Flayer tadpole, there's something here for you. So, read on as I guide you through the best ways to replay Baldur's Gate 3.

5. Everyone's a bard run

As William Shakespeare famously wrote, "all the world's a stage", and now you can transform Faerûn into one, too. How? Why, by playing as a bard and reclassing or multi-classing every companion to be one, too. If you want the party to maintain their signature fighting styles, I'd opt for the latter, but if you want to go all in by turning Baldur's Gate 3 into a musical of your own making, then outfitting everyone with bardic skills and instruments is the way to do it.

All you need to do is create a custom game and enable multiclassing, and then once a character levels up, ensure you select multiclass and opt for bard. Or, alternatively, get Withers in your party after finding him in the Dank Crypt in Act 1, and bring each member of your party to him to change up classes. Personally, I think the Bard is hands down the best Baldur's Gate 3 class. Not only do they have high charisma, which gives them the gift of the gab, but they also have incredibly entertaining and useful skills. From Bardic Inspiration, which gives your allies a hearty buff, to the useful Song of Rest action that acts like a short rest to recover, I'll never tire of using Vicious Mockery to hurl insults at my foes, or casting Dissonant Whispers to cause some good psychic damage.

But you also can't discount the simple joy of having them play a ditty, busk for coins from a nearby crowd, or play out a battle to the beat of your drum or strum of your lute. And when your entire party can do all of those things, well, you can transform every fight into a musical. Having each character deliver their own unique put-downs with Vicious Mockery never gets old, either. Oh, and if you want some added entertainment, make sure everyone has the ability to talk to animals.

4. No weapons run

When it comes to combat in Baldur's Gate 3, Larian offers up the freedom to mess around and find out what happens. With so many classes that have their own unique fighting styles, you can do everything from dual-wielding two sticks of salami to using cantrips and spells to find workarounds against the toughest of foes. But if you want a different kind of challenge, consider this: a no weapons run.

Yes, as our very own senior staff writer Jasmine Gould-Wilson outlines for GamesRadar+'s RPG club subscribers, going fully weapons-free is no cakewalk. In fact, it can get downright tricky, but it's also incredibly satisfying to work out ways to defeat enemies when weapons are no longer part of the equation. Naturally, to pull off this run, you need to ensure you don't equip or use any melee or ranged weapons.

Of course, with no weapons in hand, that leaves room for you to use your arms as veritable throwing machines, and creating a character who's great at lobbing stuff could be an approach. Magic is also still an option, but you can't have a weapon equipped to give yourself extra abilities or buffs. Doing this run really will make you think outside the box during combat, and if you're looking to experiment more when it comes to battles, then this is the one to consider trying out.

3. Honour Mode

When Baldur's Gate 3's patch 5 landed towards the end of 2023, the Honour Mode difficulty was officially introduced to the fold, and as its description reads you can expect a "fraught and deadly campaign" should you choose it. And trust me, that's no exaggeration. If you're after a challenge with real high stakes, then it's got you written all over it. As the toughest difficulty option for Larian's RPG, Honour mode gives you a single save slot, and ups the ante from Tactician difficulty by introducing permadeath if a party member dies in combat.

Should your entire party fall during a combat scenario, then that's it. Game over. No reload for you, bucko. So, this is me giving you a warning. It's unforgiving and not one to take on until you're well-versed in Baldur's Gate 3's turn-based combat and class builds. With just a 10% success rate among players a year after Honour mode was added, it's certainly no small feat to complete the sprawling RPG and its many challenging encounters in this setting. You never know what might spell your ultimate demise, as is evidenced from this poor soul who lost a 50 hour attempt, or this unlucky adventurer whose 60-hour run came to an end in the most unexpected of ways.

But if you manage to overcome Baldur's Gate 3's Honour mode, you'll not only earn yourself the Foehammer achievement, but you'll also get a Golden D20 dice which you can roll in future playthroughs and wear like a badge of, well, honour.

2. Origin run - Gale or Karlach

Once you've experienced the story as your own customizable character, you should absolutely explore the RPG as one of the established companions. With various origins to choose from, you can play as any one of the core party members who travel alongside you, and each one has their own unique interactions, motivations, and narrative arcs that allow you to experience the Sword Coast from other perspectives.

While you'll likely be drawn to your personal favorites, I'd personally recommend replaying Baldur's Gate 3 as either Gale or Karlach. Both characters bring something different to the table, and I really love how enjoyable it is to play as either from a role-playing perspective. I first played as Gale back in 2024, after a poll dropped revealing he was the most popular origin among players. When I decided to try him out for myself, I quickly understood why.

Thanks to his Netherese orb predicament, there are so many unique dialogue options, interactions, and moments when you're playing as Gale that shake up the experience of the adventure throughout all three acts. Plus, as an added bonus, you have the adorable cat-like Tressym Tara at camp with you. Karlach, on the other hand, is the only origin companion who has an inner monologue, which offers so much insight into her character during certain story beats and encounters. While I have a deep attachment to the fiery tiefling, I think anyone could get invested in her personal story, too.

1. Dark Urge resistance run

If you were to ask me what the quintessential way to play Baldur's Gate 3 is, I'd give you the same answer every time: The Dark Urge resistance run. Alongside the many established companion origins you can play, there's also the unique and decidedly dark option to play as The Dark Urge. Awakening on the Mind Flayer ship with a bout of Amnesia, you feel a sinister urge which seemingly sparks the desire to kill in a very bloody fashion.

This origin is a role-playing dream come true from the get-go. As you try to understand these unexplained urges and reclaim the haunted past you can't remember, it's left up to you to decide how you handle it. Do you confide in your companions, or try to hide the bloodthirsty side of yourself? You're also free to choose if you give in to these urges or you resist them, and I'd recommend the latter every day of the week.

Not only do I consider The Dark Urge the true canon storyline for my customizable Tav, but the resistance run is also easily the most fulfilling and satisfying way to play Baldur's Gate 3, let alone replay. And if you really want some extra plot goodness from a role-playing perspective, I actually think Astarion's romance is very fitting for The Dark Urge if you're going down the resistance path. Both can connect over some similarities in their unfortunate circumstances and past experiences, and it just enriches the whole experience. But of course, that's entirely optional, and no matter if you choose to romance someone or not, you won't regret diving back into one of the best story-driven RPGs all over again in this way.

Look ahead to more role-playing goodness with our roundup of upcoming RPGs.

Former Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age dev Mark Darrah says that Baldur's Gate 3 is a great sequel mostly because it's so different to the original games.

Speaking to FRVR, Darrah, who was a programmer on Baldur's Gate and its sequel, says that one of the biggest strengths that Larian has when it came to Baldur's Gate 3 was that the game isn't "super literal in terms of what a sequel should look like." However, there have been plenty of games in the time since Baldur's Gate 2 that have been a bit more spiritual successor in their approach. For example he explains, "Pillars of Eternity feels like an Infinity Engine game. It's not. I played it and I'm like, 'wow, this feels very much like a spiritual successor to a Baldur's Gate or an Icewind Dale or something like that.'"

He adds, "I can't fault anything it does in terms of being true to that inspiration, but the reality is that the industry has moved on so much since then that I was like, oh yeah, this is a really faithful adaptation of that and it turns out that I didn’t actually want that anymore."

Darrah notes, "Larian is, they are, Baldur’s Gate 2 and Baldur’s Gate 1 flavored, but they're also Divine Divinity flavoured." He explains that Larian has been flavored by the CRPGs it worked on and that were released in the huge amount of time between the releases of Baldur's Gate 2 and 3. Darrah adds, "So I think it's a great sequel. I think they did what is the right thing to do given that large of a gap.”

For example, he explains, "If you inject Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age Origins and draw that line, then it leads pretty clearly to a game like Baldur’s Gate 3." With that in mind, he adds, "So the sweep of that arc obviously includes Baldur’s Gate 3, because otherwise we wouldn't be here, but it's not as obvious because the gap is so large."

Larian reveals 10 Baldur's Gate 3 endings and scenes that almost nobody has seen, including the worst fates the RPG can give Lae'zel and Astarion.

Baldur's Gate 3 just celebrated its third anniversary. If you're anything like me, that milestone is enough of an excuse to dive back into Larian Studios' smash hit RPG for another go around the Sword Coast. The challenge is finding a new way to go about it.

Something I've always loved about Baldur's Gate 3 is how flexible its foundations are. Your imagination is the only limit to how you build a character, set up your party, and approach combat, exploration, and story progression – though I'm no stranger to finding clever ways to cheese my way out of sticky situations if plans go awry.

With all those lessons learned, I've settled on something I've never done before: A no-weapons run of Baldur's Gate 3, to see how the world reacts when you aren't approaching all that it has to offer with the sharp edge of a sword (or a quiver of smokepowder arrows). Will it be a joyous way to play, or a disaster that inadvertently gets my character and favorite companions killed?

We're going to figure that out together. Over the next four weeks we'll be exploring a full playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 as part of the GamesRadar+ RPG Club, and I want you to join me on this journey and share your own experiences. As for my own, it begins where it always does: with character creation and some difficult Act One decisions.

Quest Log

Look, ma, empty hands!

If you're joining us on this no-weapons run through Baldur's Gate 3, you have to know that picking a suitable race is paramount. Ignoring any Baldur's Gate 3 race that offers passive melee perks, or seems otherwise overloaded with weapon and armor proficiencies, the list of options is narrowed considerably.

I ultimately decide upon a Halfling for the Lucky and Brave racial bonuses, a decision which will give me a shot at re-rolling critical fail dice rolls later down the line – not to mention an advantage on certain saving throws.

As for my class and subclass, it's draconic-bloodline sorcerer all the way. Sorcs are some of the most powerful beings in the Forgotten Realms and have little to no need for melee action. With elemental magic given a boost per-level in my chosen lineage damage-type (in this case, lightning), I can already tell that having all of these spells at my disposal from the off is going to be a huge boon. Then, it was time to hop out of my pod and into the fire.

The first thing I do is unequip protagonist Zeraphina's melee and ranged weapons. She looks defenseless and squishy without them, poor mite, but I soon run into Lae'zel, who also gets her tools of the trade stripped away. The imps barely make a dent in our ranks (which lacks the presence of Us, the intellect devourer, since Zeraphina lacked the strength or dexterity to extract him from the skull. Oops.)

By the time we free Shadowheart and I do away with her tools as well, I'm feeling confident about this no-weapons run challenge. I've managed to defeat Commander Zhalk on the nautiloid before, but since his loot is a powerful greatsword and I have no use for it on this run, I let Zeraphina and Lae'zel distract the cambion while Shadowheart dashes for the crashing ship's controls.

The lanceboard is set

Landing on the beach, I dust myself off. So far so good: I have full health and a few spell slots intact, and once I link back up with Shadowheart, I set off to gather my buddies.

As I go, I'm already thinking about how I'll need to respec some of them to suit my challenge. Shadowheart, being a cleric, is still useful to me in her current class. Astarion is next on my checklist – a rogue, soon to become a spell-slinging College of Glamor bard since I'll have no use for his devastating weapon sneak attacks this time – followed by evocation wizard Gale and a very sulky Lae'zel (whom I actually bother to track down this time).

Lae'zel is a greatsword-wielding fighter, which also has no place in my current challenge. Gale actually doesn't need an immediate respec, since wizard's don't rely on weapons anyway, so he can thank Mystra for my great benevolence in keeping his wizardly ways untouched (for now).

But before I can actually assign new classes to my new friends, I need to find me a bone man – aka, scribe of the dead Withers. He's the only way I can respec in BG3, and after so many playthroughs, I know exactly where to find him.

Greased lightning

I have Shadowheart, Astarion, and Gale with me for my trip to the Overgrown Ruins, but my strongest allies are grease and candles.

Paired with Gale's ice knife spell to create small patches of frozen, slippery terrain, the hostile looters are left wide open to a host of other attacks. Shadowheart and Gale are very useful already, proving they don't need to be re-classified, but I do find myself at a loss with what to do about arcane trickster Astarion when he's not picking locks or disabling traps.

Here is where I feel the loss of his sneak attacks most. He's got a backpack full of grease bottles already though, and throwing them at looters makes them fall comically prone every so often. I especially enjoy having him extinguish nearby torches, hide in the shadows, and toss firebolt cantrips (or candles) into puddles of grease beneath foes, dealing critical damage to prone enemies.

The fun really starts when we make our way into Withers' crypt. I go around to each of the not-suspiciously-laid-out-at-all entombed skeletons to steal their tools off them in the hopes that it makes the incoming fight a little easier. Alas, they immediately spring to life and dole out the Silence spells as soon as I touch the button to open Wither's chamber.

I prioritize keeping Shadowheart far from the Silence orbs, hitting the skeletons with Sacred Flame in the vain hope that the cantrip actually works and disrupts their concentration. Gale and Zeraphina have some proximity spells they can use, and I send Shadowheart some looted spell scrolls to help dole out some damage from afar. Astarion is still on his grease-hide-firebolt kick, though he is the first to go down, and I ultimately end up using my first precious revivify scroll to bring the vampling back to un-life. It's a slow, agonizing battle, and by the end, my whole party is hanging on by a few HP apiece.

With Withers on-side and having returned to camp to long rest, I have enough coin to respec two characters at this point. Astarion is perfectly suited to bardhood, I decide after hearing his Vicious Mockery quips at the gates to Emerald Grove, and having another healer would be incredibly useful already. Meanwhile, Lae'zel makes a fabulous monk. Her high strength modifier makes unarmed wallops absolutely lethal, and I already have high hopes for her specific gear build.

But before I think that far ahead, I go right on and recruit Wyll Ravengard to the fold. He'll have to rebrand as the Eldritch Blast of Frontiers, though, because that rapier gets yoinked out of his noble hands immediately. I toy around with changing up his warlock subclass, much as it pains me to play around with the game's canon, but I settle on opting for the Pact of the Chain class feature. Who knows, maybe this time I'll remember to actually use his out-of-combat-only summon?

Next, I need my barbarian. On the way to finding Karlach, I pick up the Ring of Flinging from the vendor in Emerald Groves. It applies 1d4 extra damage to all thrown objects, including improvised weapons (aka, goblins, chairs, you name it), so this item has been a non-negotiable early game pickup for me in every BG3 playthrough to-date. I have grand plans for tavern brawler giant Karlach to make good use of it eventually, since the tavern brawler feat boosts Strength and doubles its modifier when dealing unarmed and throwing attacks too.

I've got a long road ahead

My party is really taking shape, with each new battle forcing me to think outside the box when it comes to creative damage dealing. If I'm not hoarding candles, grease bottles, and other throwables, I'm taking the time to reposition companions before battles.

I'm even all-out skipping whole areas I don't think are worth it given my current restriction – saving Counsellor Florrick in Waukeen's Rest would be pointless (unless you're focusing on Wyll's story), as the reward for doing so is a choice of weapons.

I'm also using the ever-flexible rules of D&D to my advantage in finding smart workarounds for incredibly challenging battles. Did you know that casting mage hand in the Hag's lair to lower Mayrina's cage, casting Longstrider on your party, and jumping down to the exit door without triggering the final battle against Auntie Ethel is totally possible? Me neither, but I was able to slip away for a long rest before returning to finish the job with zero problems at all.

Next week, I'll delve into how playing with no weapons impacts my journey to Moonrise Towers, specifically when it comes to choosing my route carefully to pick up specific gear. Until then, stay safe out there, and don't forget to stockpile those candles!

10 extraordinarily rare endings and moments in Baldur's Gate 3 have been uncorked by Larian senior communications dev Aoife Wilson, who's packed some serious narrative whiplash into just a few minutes.

Obviously, there are Baldur's Gate 3 spoilers ahead, though odds are good you'd never normally uncover these details for yourself.

A new video on Larian's side YouTube channel reveals "10 Of The Rarest Scenes In Baldur's Gate 3," many of which cover obscure endings for individual characters.

Not many numbers are shared, and it's unclear how these may have been ranked hierarchically, but from the very first example, which sees Lae'zel use a sword to take her own life in her "saddest fate," we're in the double-digit range for folks who've actually seen these corner cases. "If you got this ending in-game, congrats, you're one of about 50," Wilson says of Lae'zel's demise.

On the niche case of Wulbren Bongle, a gnome first encountered in Act 2, Wilson says, "Have you ever failed a roll so spectacularly that someone would rather stay in Absolute jail? We have, and let me tell you, it stings."

The whole video is a gallery of the unlikely and improbable. For example, Githyanki hero "Orpheus may propose an alliance with your tentacled form," Wilson explains, with a little "help from frog-wife" Lae'zel in negotiations. Given how the Githyanki feel about Mind Flayers, this is no small feat.

Minthara and Astarion appear a few times. In one scene, Minthara offers a rare compliment, and in another, she takes your tentacled hand in hers to "take the sting out of not having your personal Elder Brain to command."

One rare scene sees Astarion smooched by Gale after the wizard's ascendance to arcane godhood. In the next, he's reduced to a forgotten zombie in the lair of Cazador, the vampire lord encountered at the climax of his personal quest, but as a vampire dreg cursed with immortality. Even Cazador finds it cruel of you to kill Astarion in Act 1. And really, how could you?

For Baldur's Gate 3's third anniversary, Larian also recently unveiled a truckload of player data that paints an interesting and concerning picture of the way some people play.

"Baldur's Gate 3 is now canceled": Larian stream smacked down over "violation" for "Body Exposure and Sexualized Behaviors," which feels like high praise for an RPG.

Join the GamesRadar+ RPG Club today.

There are few things in entertainment like getting completely lost in a great role-playing game. One minute you're setting out to save the world, and the next you've spent five hours exploring hidden caverns, romancing unassuming companions, tweaking your character cosmetics, or convincing yourself that the next piece of loot that you find will be worth the encumbrance cost. RPGs are sprawling, surprising, and wonderfully personal – which is exactly why we love them, and we suspect that you do too.

RPGs are also some of the best video games to talk about.

Welcome to the RPG Club, a month-long adventure through one unforgettable role-playing game. Over the next four weeks, we'll be playing Baldur's Gate 3 together, tackling the story in weekly chapters and comparing notes along the way. As we document the trials and tribulations that shape our journey back into Larian Games' iconic adventure, we invite you to jump into the conversation with your own triumphs, mishaps, and the memories forged in the Forgotten Realms.

Below you'll find your Quest Log, which explains the rules for this month's playthrough, should you want to join in this adventure. But even with shared objectives, we know that no two RPG sessions are ever the same. Maybe you solved a quest in a way we never considered, or found a secret that completely changed the way you survived a scenario. That's the magic of the RPG genre: Every choice matters, and every player ends up with a tale worth telling. We want to hear yours.

Whether this is your first time with Baldur's Gate 3 or your eighth with an entirely new build, RPG Club is your place to celebrate everything that makes these games and this genre so special. Gather your party, stock up on supplies, and get ready to share your stories around the RPG Club campfire. After all, the best adventures only get better when you've got people to share them with.

Quest Log

RPG Club: Baldur's Gate 3 (August 2026)

Meet this month's RPG Club host

This week's big question

RPG Masterclass

Get started with Baldur's Gate 3

Submit your best BG3 clip

Grab any great clips during your return to Baldur's Gate 3? Don't forget to submit them to GamesRadar+ Replay. Not only will this give you an opportunity to share your gaming highlights with the GR+ Community, but the best clip of the month wins a $250/£250 Amazon voucher too.

Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian studios – specifically, senior communications developer Aoife Wilson – has been streaming a Dark Urge playthrough of its own RPG for over a year now. On August 5, somebody, or some automated system, finally had enough of the game's stupid, sexy devils and flagged the latest stream as inappropriate, so risque are its characters.

Larian publishing director Michael Douse shared a livestream violation notice sent to Larian, saying, "Baldur's Gate 3 is now cancelled."

The notice appears to have come from YouTube, as the latest episode of the Durge playthrough is perfectly viewable on Twitch but conspicuously absent on Larian's YouTube channel.

The notice reads: "Your LIVE 'Larian's Dark Urge Run: Claws' streamed on 08/05/2026 at 12:46pm has been discontinued because of a violation: Body Exposure and Sexualized Behaviors."

"Getting banned on your birthday is such a cool & edgy thing to do," Douse adds, clocking Baldur's Gate 3's third anniversary.

"Oopsie," replies Wilson.

Obviously I watched the Twitch vod to see what happened, and, well, there is indeed body exposure and sexualized behavior. Wilson reaches the hellish House of Hope in Act 3 and ends up tangled in bed with demonic denizens. An emergency D20 sticker, slapped over the stream like a black bar, can't keep up with all the exposure.

"Good for her. Good for us. Good for everybody," Wilson says of one sexy scene. There's just one problem.

"Why are Haarlep's nipples not censored?" Wilson wonders, referring to her conspicuously nude demon partner. Her custom character's own nipples are decidedly censored, seemingly thanks to the nudity settings used for the run. "Why are the nipples not censored?" she asks again, the D20 censor struggling to keep up with Haarlep.

I doubt this scene was somehow missed by the in-game censor all these years, so maybe one of the mods used in this run interfered or a setting just got borked. Either way, the outcome angered the internet's censor gods, making for a very funny example of a developer getting smacked for streaming its own game.

Larian just released a bunch of Baldur's Gate 3 stats, and 9,122 of you need to be jailed immediately.

PATCH NOTES v05.08.2026 – Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios released some fresh game statistics, showing how modding has kept BG3's playerbase engaged and thriving to the tune of one billion mods downloaded in just three years – encroaching upon a position held fast by Skyrim for years.

What's going on this week with Baldur's Gate 3?

• Larian Studios released a series of infographics on X that give insight into player choice and actions
• Stats reveal 500 million game mods have been downloaded through the Baldur's Gate 3 internal modding client and 509.4 million more through Nexus Mods

Why is this happening now?

• Mods help players make games their own, keeping games like Baldur's Gate 3 relevant for longer
• The infographics were posted in keeping with Larian's trend, releasing statistics to mark milestones in the RPG's life cycle

Community Update

Baldur's Gate 3 has been blinding success since it launched out of Early Access, and after the last of its mammoth post-launch updates was deployed in April 2025, fans have turned to mods to inspire repeat playthroughs. The internal modding client – offering new classes, party size limit removal, and a higher level cap to experiment with – was added to the game as part of September 2024's Patch 7 as Larian started the process of leaving the game in players hands to pursue its next big project (later revealed as a new Divinity game).

According to the latest statistics released by Larian to celebrate BG3's birthday, the game has seen 500 million mods downloaded internally while 13,000 others have been uploaded to the mod library. It's safe to say that the developer's hopes that the community would carry the game's future on its own has paid off, with studio lead Swen Vinke responding with shock to a remark on X that the number of mods downloaded between the game's client and Nexus Mods put together brings us to over "one billion" in total.

Meta Shift

• Freedom to mod is the future of legacy RPGs, but it's also the genre's past

This is a funny one. Baldur's Gate 3 going from strength to strength with such a lively and active player base, evident by over a billion mods being downloaded since the client launched in 2024, sounds jawdropping. But it also echoes the journey of RPGs like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (as well as The Sims and Minecraft) over the years.

Skyrim is still the most heavily-modded game of all time, having racked up six billion downloads on Nexus Mods by the time Larian launched its internal Baldur's Gate 3 modding client in 2024. That's to be expected, since Bethesda's RPG enjoyed a 13-year head start. But with BG3 being a more recent release, we're seeing those numbers stack up in real time – and now, we're actively paying attention to the game that might actually unseat Skyrim.

Games that not only permit community mods but embrace them have a proven track record of success over time. Seeing Baldur's Gate 3 achieving a cool one billion mod downloads in just three years, one of which went by without an internal modding client at all, crystallizes the power of passing the reins on to players. Which was, as it turns out, Swen Vincke's hope for it all along.

Patch Notes summary

Since leaving active development on Baldur's Gate 3, Larian's latest batch of statistics spotlights how popular mods have been and points to one of many reasons why the game has sustained a thriving playerbase. Steam player counts still point to healthy numbers being maintained long past its final major update, with mods being downloaded both internally and via platforms like Nexus Mods speaking to the continued excitement around the three-year-old RPG.

I've yet to see a single week without Baldur's Gate 3 making headlines for one reason or another since 2023, and useful as these stat drops are in keeping that momentum going, it's clear that BG3 fans are the ones keeping this fantasy alive.

Related stories:

Size up every god in all the realms of Baldur's Gate 3 and you'll find no force mightier than the quicksave key, an ancient relic capable of instantly anchoring you in the timestream. In newly released player stats, developer Larian reveals that the most devoted among us have invoked the key's divine power over 1,400 times in a single playthrough.

Once again breaking down Baldur's Gate 3 by the numbers, Larian, in one slide of its report, puts perfectionistic players under the microscope.

"560+ manual saves were made by a handful of players in a single playthrough," the studio explains. "1,400+ quicksaves were made by an even smaller handful of players. You doing okay there?"

I should hope they're doing okay after that many saves. If anything, I'm surprised these figures aren't higher. I was pretty new to the genre, and even I, in the 140 hours I put into Baldur's Gate 3 on my first run, surely racked up a few hundred combined saves. That was me actively trying to limit save scumming, believe it or not. I was just being meticulous about backing up my progress after a few unfortunate crashes, I swear. Generally, I try (not always successfully, I admit) to follow the Slay the Spire rule of save scumming in all games: mistakes are forever, but honest and disastrous misclicks can be undone.

Frankly, few things more reliably dispense relief than slamming the quicksave button after something good happens. That lucky break was just a memory before; now it's recorded history that those explosives that I definitely saw before casting fireball just so happened to kill everyone except my party.

But it's a slippery slope. The key's power can be habit-forming. A lockpicking check here, a stealth check there, and then before you know it, you're min-maxing the whole timeline, flickering in and out of existence in a way that would surely alarm the Faerun pantheon. "What is that mortal doing?" one perplexed deity would ask, checking in on the mortals as you or I would watch birds. "I think they're trying to hit two nat 20s in a row," another would answer.

This is, of course, why Larian saw fit to test humanity with Honor Mode and forbid any and all save scumming. Fortunately, other games have gone all-out with it and built entire combat systems around making the most of your saves.

Larian just released a bunch of Baldur's Gate 3 stats, and 9,122 of you need to be jailed immediately.

Baldur's Gate 3 actors, from Astarion's Neil Newbon to Shadowheart's Jennifer English, are well-known for playing their own characters in Larian's award-winning 2023 RPG, and it's always fascinating to hear how they interact with their virtual fantasy avatars. Lae'zel actor Devora Wilde documented her own playthrough a couple of years back, but she's now revealing some conflicted feelings about the character she played so famously.

"When I'm playing, the experience I'm having with Lae'zel is as if it's somebody else," Wilde tells IGN. "I think it's because the voice is quite different to mine, some of the mannerisms are different to mine, because obviously we created a character. So, I'm just getting to enjoy it, and I don't have that feeling of, 'Oh, that's me.'" Because it doesn't really sound how I sound. I think I'm quite bubbly and quite enthusiastic."

Wilde adds that she "nearly broke up with her the other day," but ultimately, "didn't have the guts to go through with it."

Hearing Wilde talk about Lae'zel is like listening to a loving parent acknowledge their child's, uh, differences compared to other kids. She references a hilarious exchange between famous rivals Shadowheart and Lae'zel in which Shadowheart asks if they've "buried the hatchet," and Lae'zel takes it completely literally. "Shadowheart's like, 'Girl, I'm just trying to get you to bury the hatchet, you know what I'm saying?' But she doesn't get it. She's just a sweet little queen lizard."

Wilde also invokes one of my all-time favorite lines from Baldur's Gate 3, in which Lae'zel drops one of the sickest burns of all time on Tav, who she says has a "large, fleshy nose" that looks "like a mistake."

"You never say that in real life, do you? You shouldn't," Wilde says.

It's true that Lae'zel can be a little tough to get along with, and if you're Shadowheart, specifically, you want to tread very carefully, but she also has one of the most rewarding storylines in the game if you choose your dialogue wisely. Wilde says one of her favorite scenes involves the romance path with Lae'zel and, without spoiling anything you might not have experienced yet, it is genuinely one of the most beautiful, heartfelt scenes in the whole game. Don't judge a Githyanki by the cover, and all that.

After Baldur's Gate 3, Divinity scholar tries to unmask Larian's next big RPG villain by painstakingly translating ancient symbols from behind-the-scenes footage.

Baldur's Gate 3 has dominated the RPG sphere for a good three years now, altering the genre for good with its monumental 2023 release – and, to celebrate, developer Larian Studios is gracing us with the game's biggest sale yet.

Since Baldur's Gate 3 launched some three summers ago, it's only gone on sale a few times – but it's only ever been discounted by about 20-25% max. This week, however, Larian is breaking the mold with a solid 30% price cut for Baldur's Gate 3 on all platforms aside from Xbox: GOG, Steam, and PlayStation 5.

The studio reveals as much in a new online post, celebrating its now-beloved RPG's legacy so far.

"Gather your party and face off against world-ending threats, or end the world with your own two hands," it reads. "Baldur's Gate 3 is now 30% off this week as we celebrate three years of adventure."

In response, the dev also shares an amusing edited screenshot of Withers talking to Shadowheart. The highlighted dialogue jests, "This is the price of having a nice time with your friends." Honestly, it's not wrong – and "nice time" might just be an understatement.

To date, I've managed to rack up nearly 2,000 hours in the RPG – and many of these were spent playing alongside my partner and friends… so, you know, at $41.99 and 30% off, it really might just be the price of having a great time with pals. I'd wager it's worth it at its full price, so it must be doubly so now.

Plus, a quick look over at SteamDB confirms what I said earlier – this is the lowest that Baldur's Gate 3 has ever been priced.

Baldur's Gate 3 boss praises the RPG's most brutal run yet, as 2 players ruin their game to stuff every NPC inside a single crate: "We should've made that an achievement."

Two friends playing Baldur's Gate 3 have been massacring their way through the RPG, and their antics have now been spotted by Larian boss Swen Vincke who seemingly approves of the death and destruction.

A Baldur's Gate 3 player who goes by the name matt on Twitter posted about how he and a friend had been more hostile than helpful in their current playthrough of the Dungeons & Dragons RPG. Rather than trying to complete quests and gather a party of merry men, matt has been murdering everyone he meets and stuffing their bodies into a chest at camp.

Matt attached an image to his tweet that shows hundreds of bodies dumped in the chest, with a disturbingly small scrollbar at the side showing there are many more inside. He even claims that his game lags every time he opens the chest, thanks to the sheer number of corpses entombed there. Worse still, the pair are still in the game's first act.

The friends' antics have caught the eye of Larian Studios' CEO Swen Vincke, who seemingly approves of the needless death and destruction of his game's many lovingly crafted characters. In fact, he thinks their murderous playthrough is worthy of a reward.

The studio's founder writes, "we should've made that an achievement – real funny."

Given the sheer number of characters that would need to be slain in order to claim this achievement, we're pretty glad this wasn't implemented.

Baldur's Gate 4 should just be an "oversized expansion pack for Baldur's Gate 3," BioWare veteran says: "Get Larian to agree to license out the Divinity Engine."

Original Baldur's Gate programmer and former Dragon Age producer at BioWare Mark Darrah has a worthwhile plan for bringing the hypothetical Baldur's Gate 4 into reality. All you need to do is convince 2023's Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian to hand over the keys to its proprietary Divinity Engine.

Darrah tells FRVR in a new interview that he imagines Baldur's Gate 4 as "an oversized expansion pack for Baldur's Gate 3," and he recommends someone "get Larian to agree to license out the Divinity Engine." But that seems unlikely to happen soon.

Larian CEO Swen Vincke wants nothing to do with Baldur's Gate right now. Or, really, ever. He said definitively in 2024, "We're not going to make new expansions which everybody is expecting. We're not going to make Baldur's Gate 4 which everybody is expecting us to do. We're going to move on."

So, Dungeons & Dragons IP parent company Hasbro started steering, asking former BioWare lead James Ohlen to create Baldur's Gate 4. While initially horrified at the prospect, Ohlen wondered if Hasbro could get Larian to license out its recent Divinity Engine 4.0, which Baldur's Gate 3 uses, but he became certain he wouldn't know what to do with it, anyway.

Ohlen said, "Swen's always going to be the master of building those kinds of things. It's really hard to take him off that throne."

Even if a confident knave wanted to knock Vincke off his pedestal, Larian has seemingly grown quite protective of its Divinity Engine. Originally, Larian created the Divinity Engine while working on Divinity: Original Sin in 2014, and the developer soon released a toolkit to the people and even made official tutorials for modders on how to use it. The same is not true for 4.0, which Larian is holding close, though plenty of Baldur's Gate 3 fans wish it wasn't.

Darrah recognizes one possibility: "Someone new comes along and they do not understand that scaffolding, they do not have many, many, many, many years building this kind of RPG, likely. I mean, maybe bring on Owlcat or someone like that… but you're going to get that same kind of thing."

But the Dragon Age vet isn't completely deterred. He still believes in the idea of a Baldur's Gate 3 expansion. To Hasbro, he says, "If you really want to make Baldur’s Gate 4 that's actually probably the way to go."

"The alternative," he continues, "is you go and say, 'Okay, we're going to call it Baldur's Gate 4. We're going to buy everyone asbestos pantsuits and we're going to just put the spurs to it and go way out here and we're going to do something really different."

The other alternative, I think, is that Baldur's Gate 4 won't exist for a long, long time.

"Of course" Baldur's Gate 4 is going to happen, Wizards of the Coast boss says, but that's not the D&D game Star Wars Jedi and God of War 3's director is working on.

There's a new comic set in the world of Baldur's Gate 3 on the way. On the back of the publication being revealed, Larian Studios took the opportunity to remind people this is a licensed venture, and the studio isn't secretly chipping away on anything based on the Forgotten Worlds.

After Dark Horse Comics revealed the upcoming Baldur's Gate 3 book, there was some excitement at Larian's potential involvement, prompting a response quelling any rumors.

"Maximum hijinks are happening right now, but we're not involved in any BG3 related projects," says a post from Larian on Twitter, with an image of founder Swen Vincke getting fitted in armor.

It's not specified why, exactly, he's got a medieval costume on, but it also looks like he's been given some lines to memorise. Perhaps something to do with Divinity? Unlikely, given the wording of the next part – my guess is it's an endorsement of some kind for the comic.

"As soon as we bust outta here, we'll share more about Divinity," the tweet finishes. Larian's been adamant for a while now that it's done working on anything to do with Baldur's Gate in a substantial way.

After the whirlwind of the third, with it being a best-seller and an awards darling, the team has decided to use the boost in recognition and resources to resurrect the Divinity series. The last installment, Divinity Original Sin 2, will be ten years old next year, making it a good time for a fresh entry.

Whether or not we get Baldur's Gate 4 is really a question for Hasbro, who owns the Dungeons and Dragons IP, and it doesn't seem to be a priority for the time-being, although Wizards of the Coast president John Hight previously said "of course" it'll happen eventually. Whenever it does, though, it'll be from a studio other than Larian, even if you see Vincke in a shiny chestplate.

Baldur's Gate 3 player throws 60-hour Honour Mode run with just 2 fights left by falling for one of the D&D RPG's most dishonorable deaths.

Baldur's Gate 3's Honour Mode continues to throw hands, but one player was within sight of the finish line when they threw their 60-hour run in deplorable fashion.

In a post on Reddit, user theyfieri said they were 60 hours into an Honour Mode run, with "Ansur dead" and "just Raphael and the Elder Brain left." That's a seriously late-stage Act 3 run, pushing past what I still maintain is Baldur's Gate 3's most difficult fight and moving into the very final stages of the game - with just one more fight before the final boss, this is an effort that should have gone the distance.

Unfortunately, this player broke the cardinal rule of Honour Mode, which is to not pick roleplaying choices for the first time if you don't know what they do. While sneaking around the House of Hope, they came across Haarlep, the Incubus that 'looks after' Raphael. After making their way through Haarlep's intimate cutscene, they reached the dialogue in which the player is asked whether they'll give themselves to Haarlep in part, in full, or not at all.

The latter option triggers a fight if you succeed on the associated roll, and the first option means you're met with the occasional awkward wave of pleasure as Haarlep borrows your characters' appearance for their delicious deeds.

The second option, however, will instantly kill you as Haarlep snaffles you up - mind, body, and soul. With the main character devoured and nothing left to bring them back, the party wipes - and in this case, the Honour Mode run was over: "Haarlep ended my honor mode run," wailed theyfieri in their post, exclaiming that after all their successes, they "just learned Haarlep can kill you by fucking your brains out."

It's an enticing way to go, but also a pretty embarrassing one.

In a further comment, they say that they're "gutted" by the mistake because they don't have enough time to put into a second attempt. In fact, they didn't even realize they were 60 hours deep in the first place. There's sympathy for their plight among the community, but also several players espousing Baldur's Gate 3's unwritten rule: "I will not try new things in Honour Mode."

Check out our list of the best RPGs you can play in 2026.

Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity boss Swen Vincke says he doesn't expect any of the staff at Larian's Barcelona studio to show up for work following Spain's win at the 2026 World Cup final.

While it wasn't exactly a great match by any means, the final of the FIFA World Cup 2026 took place last night and saw Spain win its second title after going 1-0 against defending champions Argentina. It felt like – as far as social media was concerned – everyone was in Spain's corner, and after an at times agonizing 120 minutes, Spanish fans in the stadium and especially back home got to celebrate the country's win for the first time since the 2010 World Cup.

Given that the final was on a Sunday, it does make the afterparty a bit more of a risk, as many in Spain are likely in the office hungover as we speak. But thankfully for those working at Larian's Barcelona studio, the Divinity developers are getting a bit of time to celebrate.

Over on Twitter, Vincke posted reacting to the final game, saying "The best team in the World Cup won the World Cup," and that he's "Not expecting anyone in the Barcelona studio to show up for work tomorrow. Congratulations!"

In fact, that's not the first time Vincke has given props to the Spanish team, as Vincke's home country Belgium was knocked out by Spain on July 11. He posted, "Thank you for all the good emotions you gave us Red Devils! And congrats to the Spanish team. Larian Barcelona studio [is] going to be partying."

Now I'm a bit of a fair-weather fan; I'll watch any tournament Scotland makes it into (so as you can tell, I'm not watching often). But now I'm just curious if I could've taken a day off for a more important sporting moment… like when John Cena won his record-breaking 17th WWE World Title last year…

Larian offers free Baldur's Gate 3 copy to My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way after he tells a stadium of fans he hasn't played it despite loving classic RPGs

Gerard Way, the frontman of My Chemical Romance and a known multi-hyphenate, made a detrimental confession to his street cred during one of his band's shows at Wembley Stadium. Apparently, he hasn't yet played Baldur's Gate 3, a crime Larian Studios is eager to remedy as soon as is humanly possible.

There are less conspicuous places to announce the gaps in your video game knowledge than to around 90,000 fans in a sold-out concert, but Way has never been one to do things by half. A question emerged from the crowd in between songs asking whether the singer had ever played Baldur's Gate 3.

"No, I only played Baldur's Gate 1," he said in response. "Not that I probably wouldn't have liked two and three. I did play the Icewind Dale expansion; I just ran out of time, y'know?"

I'll give him that - all three Baldur's Gate games are the dictionary definition of timesinks. You can spend hundreds of hours in them, and completing any when you have other responsibilities is an accomplishment.

Way turns his attention to the fan and asks for their opinion on 3. "Is it good?" he says. "I would assume so, the first one was a lot of fun, it was the closest thing at the time to playing Dungeons and Dragons."

This quality is echoed by the sequels, each capturing different aspects of what it feels like to explore the Forgotten Realms in tabletop form. Naturally, once Larian caught wind of this, it immediately offered Way a copy of the threequel on the house.

"Gerard, there's a Baldur's Gate 3 code with your name on it if you fancy trying it, lots of love, Larian," the studio tweeted. It tagged Way's old Twitter account, but it's been disused since 2016. I can tell you Frank Iero, the band's rhythm guitarist, is quite active on Instagram and might be easier to reach on the matter.

Outside of that, you may need to contact their PR and hope the request gets through. I interviewed Way once upon a time, through DC Comics, so getting him on the line isn't impossible. Roll for it, Larian, and see what happens.

Baldur's Gate 4 could've been headed by a Baldur's Gate 2 veteran, but the RPG legend "wouldn't want to compete" against Larian: "That would be insanity"

Although we know that Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios is not going to be heading Baldur's Gate 4, the question of who will work on the sequel remains unanswered.

It's bounced around in discussions on the web for quite some time now, with folks wondering who would take the helm for Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast's IP – but there's still no solid decision there, it seems. As per a new interview with PC Gamer, however, it apparently could have been a Baldur's Gate 2 veteran: James Ohlen, the 2000 RPG's director of writing and design, who was working on sci-fi RPG Exodus at Archetype Entertainment when Hasbro approached him.

"The day [Chris Cox, Hasbro CEO] knew they [Larian Studios] weren't going to do it, he called me," recalls Ohlen. "'Hey James, what do you think about doing Baldur's Gate 4?' And I was like, 'I don't, I would fail, and here's why I would fail.'"

According to Ohlen, he simply wouldn't be able to overcome the hurdles that Larian had and create something that lives up to the reputation that Baldur's Gate 3 has built.

"I wouldn't want to compete against that," he admits. "Doing Exodus is hard enough, but having to compete against Baldur's Gate 3? That would be insanity." It wouldn't be easy in any way, either – Baldur's Gate 3 was built in Larian's own engine, which means he would've had nothing to work with.

"We're talking about at least half a decade of horror, building all that stuff," as he says. He did ask if Hasbro could get Larian to license its engine out. You know, much like Black Isle Studios did back in the day with BioWare's in-house Infinity Engine. Even if that had worked out, though, Ohlen isn't convinced it'd have been enough.

Larian, including lead Swen Vincke, sits as the RPG genre king now. "Swen's always going to be the master of building those kinds of things. It's really hard to take him off that throne, just because of everything – the tools, institutional knowledge, team."

As for who could do it, and how, Ohlen believes they'd need to be original – no abiding by any preconceived rules.

"That was me back in Baldur's Gate. I was like, 'Everyone else sucks, and we're going to crush it.' It was us against all the other game studios, we're going to outdo them. And because none of us had built games before, we were all like, 'We're going to do everything different.' And sometimes you need that." Indeed, you do.

I'd argue that's exactly what Larian did, too – and that it's why it's so difficult to exceed the expectations that Baldur's Gate 3 set. Hopefully, we know who's taking the torch soon.

"Baldur's Gate 3 seems to have done it pretty well," but don't expect Obsidian's next story-based RPG to launch in early access, Grounded 2 lead suggests.

Hindsight is always 20/20, and it's hard to believe now, but once upon a time, funding Baldur's Gate 3 was a big ask. A team led by one of the developers on the first one tried to secure funding for the threequel but couldn't land a pitch, which led Larian Studios to eventually get the gig.

See, the first two Baldur's Gate games were made by BioWare, of Mass Effect fame. For a long time, the series was a duology with expansion packs. After Trent Oster, a co-founder of BioWare, left and started a new company, Beamdog, he started vying to make another installment, getting only incredulity in response.

"All the companies out there were like, 'It's a single-player RPG, it's not going to do that big in numbers, and Wizards owns the IP. So why are we spending our money to increase the value of their IP? Why don't we do our own IP?'" he recalls, to PCGamer.

His team's vision was quite different to what Larian put out, and considerably cheaper overall. "Our Baldur's Gate 3 wasn't as 'big picture' as what Larian pitched. Obviously, we were doing it at a much smaller scope," Oster says. "It wasn't going to be a $100 million game. I think we were pitching it in the $20 million range."

Even having David Gaider, the creator of Dragon Age, on board didn't help things. Beamdog did win the consolation prize of publishing the Enhanced Editions of the original Baldur's Gate games, versions that have become the definitive way to go back to those RPGs. Oster points out that the process hasn't gotten much easier in the wake of Larian's success with Baldur's Gate 3, because the goalposts have simply moved.

"Now everybody's like, 'Oh, well, sure, RPGs will sell a lot, but they have to be huge, and you've got to put a ton of money into them, and you've got to have seven romanceable characters and full fidelity conversations, and it's got to be all performance captured and super high-res.'" he points out. "You're like, 'Yeah, I'm not sure about that.'"

Baldur's Gate 2 is reportedly getting a remake, and Wizards of the Coast likely isn't stopping there either

There aren't many solutions in the replies to a Baldur's Gate 3 player's Reddit thread asking how to fix a bug that causes Shadowheart to repeatedly moan. Instead, thirsty fans of God's favorite princess have shown up to ask for step-by-step instructions on how to recreate something they argue isn't a bug at all.

Reddit user Akereth posted a minute-long clip of their party exploring the game while being interrupted by Shadowheart moaning into what sounds like a loudspeaker. She does it enough that you'd think it's some kind of NSFW mod, but Akereth said it only started happening after receiving an Illithid power in a scene earlier.

About an hour after posting the clip, however, Akereth discovered that simply fast traveling to a new location stops Shadowheart from embarrassing everyone in the party – which happens to be the same fix another Reddit poster figured out a few months ago.

The top reply is from a player demanding a tutorial: "Please detail the exact steps to achieve this 'bug'."

Others are just amused that Akereth considers it a problem. "Steak too juicy, lobster too buttery," RogueShroom writes.

Among the people laughing at the absurdity of it, a few stepped in to say they've also heard more of Shadowheart than they signed up for and suspect it's something to do with accepting and canceling Illithid powers.

One person said they've encountered the same thing with Gale several times, proving that the bug is at least considerate of all types of players. This makes me wonder if the other companions are susceptible to this bug as well, but I'm too modest to find out.

Developer Larian is busy working on Divinity and might not get around to patching Shadowheart's moans out. The studio dropped a small update earlier this year, but has implied that it's pretty much done with Baldur's Gate 3. I guess that's good news for the Reddit user who asked if there was a way to recreate the bug with Karlach.

If this were happening three years ago, we might've even seen it become an official Easter egg. Whether you consider it a bug or not, it seems like this won't be the end of players accidentally causing their companions to sound like they're having too much fun exploring every nook and cranny of the RPG.

"They let me!": Baldur's Gate 3 writer couldn't believe the nonsense Larian allowed in flavor text.

If there's one thing I remember about Baldur's Gate 3, it's the amusement I got out of reading item descriptions and notes – and it turns out that Larian Studios likely had just as much fun while writing them as players like me did going over them.

There's plenty to love about the ridiculous (in a positive way, of course) writing in Baldur's Gate 3, from the creative Vicious Mockery insults to the item descriptions developers likely knew many folks would just glance over – not me, though. Not me.

I still recall reading the note on Astarion's underwear: "If you're reading this, you managed to bed or behead me. Either way, you got lucky." I'll never forget it… and there are plenty more like it.

The devs are well aware of the funny text, too, with writer Jack Fields joking in an online clip about it: "The absolute shite that I was able to write into Baldur's Gate 3 flavor text... and they let me!"

He uses Fleshrender, a rare Shortsword you can get during Act Three, as an example. "The previous owner was going to call this sword Barney," reads its description, "but he got such a bollocking from his friends that he named it Fleshrender instead, and sulked for a whole tenday afterward."

Amazing, truly – and that's not the only one Fields goes over. In another video, he brings up the Shield of Shielding and its own description, which he says is one of his personal favorites. "Named in the style of Extremely Unimaginative Jimmy, the geographer and interior decorator who named the 'waterfall' and the 'fireplace.'"

Yep, that one is pretty good. Still not as good as Astarion's underwear, in my opinion, but good nonetheless.

Fields also notes one that had me nearly rolling: the description of the Horns of the Berserker. "This was created by a designer and an enchanter who were going through a messy divorce at the time. As such, the armour is filled with active-aggressive rage. It also makes you feel like you've wasted the last ten years picking up after a complete tit."

This is the sort of text I live for in video games, honestly – especially as a Dungeons & Dragons fan.

I would suggest keeping an eye on Fields' social media for more description text chaos – it appears he's posting various clips on different platforms, and they're all worth watching, if you ask me. Or, give Baldur's Gate 3 another go… why not, eh?

Baldur's Gate 2 is reportedly getting a remake, and Wizards of the Coast likely isn't stopping there either.

A Baldur's Gate 2 remake is reportedly in the works, with one former lead returning to the dev team.

That's according to PC Gamer, who reports that – according to an anonymous source – original Baldur's Gate 2 lead designer Kevin Martens is working on the remake now. PCG notes that Martens had already been working with Wizards of the Coast recently thanks to contributions on Archetype Entertainment's upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus, which WoTC is publishing.

While Baldur's Gate 2 is the RPG at the heart of this rumor, it's claimed that Baldur's Gate 1 is also likely to be getting its own remake, which makes an awful lot of sense when you consider that, well, 2 is a direct sequel, with its plot continuing straight on from the first. Hell, in the original RPGs, you can even import your character to pick things up right where you left off. With that in mind, it'd be a slightly strange decision to launch a remake of the second game first.

Of course, both Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 have been given remasters before now in the form of their respective Enhanced Editions, so it wouldn't be the first time that they were brought back into the limelight. No indication has been given of when these rumored remake(s) could be released, though, so we could be in the dark for a while yet.

If it's to be believed, fans can expect plenty of Baldur's Gate goodness in the future, at least. Wizards of the Coast president John Hight previously confirmed that "of course, we're going to do a successor" to Baldur's Gate 3, so Baldur's Gate 4 will happen eventually, too, even if Larian won't be the studio making it. For now, the BG3 masterminds are busy working on Divinity, the studio's next big RPG.

Baldur's Gate 3 fans behind OG Baldur's Gate remake mod revamp Candlekeep to give it "the massive visual overhaul it truly deserves."

The Baldur's Gate 3 community remains as creative as ever, three years on from the release of Larian Studios' big RPG – so creative, in fact, there's a team of fans currently bringing the original Baldur's Gate game from 1998 back to life via its threequel.

If you've not heard of the project yet, the idea for the Baldur's Gate remake sprouted when an unlocked version of Baldur's Gate 3's official modding tools showed up over on NexusMods in September of 2024 – so, nearly two years ago now.

Initially, the talented team behind it didn't intend to recreate all of the OG Baldur's Gate, but rather play around with Candlekeep alone. However, it "snowballed" into a full-blown remake: Deathbringer's Reign.

I'm grateful it did, for one, because it looks to be coming along amazingly, if a new post on Reddit from the modders behind it offers anything to go by. It highlights the changes they've made to Candlekeep since their first demo dropped earlier this year, and the screenshots show a beautiful, lush build.

The foliage has expanded tenfold, and I'm obsessed – it reminds me of how I mod my other RPGs, like Skyrim, to look: like a fae druid's dream come true.

"As our team has grown and our mastery of the Baldur's Gate 3 engine has evolved, we decided we needed to go back to the beginning and give your childhood home the massive visual overhaul it truly deserves," reads the creators' thread itself.

"Our level designers have completely reimagined the citadel with a much heavier focus on a lush, overgrown garden vibe." I'd say they aced that goal and then some, honestly.

"We wanted Candlekeep to feel like a truly ancient, peaceful sanctuary that has been softly reclaimed by nature over the centuries," continues the post – and that's precisely the vibe I get from the attached images.

The modders do note, though, "that what you are seeing is still in active development!" They are still "in the process of adding the final layers of polish to this overgrown environment." In fact, their message ends with a call to fellow modders.

So, if you're a seasoned veteran in the modding scene – or even a newbie, as the skilled Deathbringer's Reign team says it shouldn't stop you – and you'd like to help out, you can apply via their Discord. Or, simply join to follow build and release updates like me.

Famed indie dev refuses to uninstall Baldur's Gate 3 even after finding Act 3 "too big" to finish: "I've got all this progress"

If you thought QWOP, the viral browser game that had us all frustrated in the school library over lunch, was overwhelming, you'll love hearing that its creator actually thinks the same of Baldur's Gate 3 – in fact, he has yet to finish the RPG.

Bennett Foddy, the legendary indie developer behind gems like QWOP, Getting Over It, and most recently, Baby Steps, admits as much in a recent interview with PC Gamer.

He explains that he's in a position I'm sure many of us have found ourselves in with Baldur's Gate 3 – the point at which you reach Act 3, but find it to be so massive it's unbearable… so you let the game sit installed in your library, even though you aren't playing it.

I've encountered many a run like this myself, creating countless Tavs only to halt their adventures in the third act – and Foddy apparently has done this same.

"I'm not sentimental about this stuff, but if I look at my actual Steam, I can see a game that should have been uninstalled, but is not uninstalled," admits the dev. "It's Baldur's Gate 3. I liked that game a lot, but here's what happened to me." Basically, Act 3 happened.

"Got a lot of enjoyment out of Acts 1 and 2. Then [in] Act 3, I got daunted. It was too big, and so I stopped." It's been a while since then, according to Foddy, which never helps – but all of the progress (and trust me, you can rack up a good 100 hours just reaching the final act) has him in a bit of a chokehold.

"That was a really long time ago now, but I also don't feel like I can be done with it," as he puts it… And, yeah, I get it.

"I've got all these characters, I've got all this progress, and it doesn't feel good that I'm leaving it there, so it's probably going to stay installed on the computer," Foddy concludes.

Honestly, I understand. It's hard to let go of your Tav and all of the decisions you made in however many hours you've spent on the game… even if you don't plan on touching it again. It doesn't seem as though the dev's mind is fully made up on whether he'll play in the future, however.

I do also wonder, with all these new games coming, what will Foddy do when Divinity releases? Will he similarly hit a bump in his journey to the RPG's finale? I know I likely will – heck, I'm over a thousand hours into Baldur's Gate 3 and it's still installed on my PC.

One Baldur's Gate 3 fan is on a mission to complete the weirdest collection in the RPG, leaving fellow players with one big question

Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to fill your inventory with bones and, if you'd like, you can sell the organic scrap for gold. Or, as one of the RPG's players thought was best, you can just keep collecting bones.

"I always collect every bone," Reddit user Vuthakral shares in a thread with nearly 2,000 upvotes as of writing. According to an accompanying screenshot, just their "most recent playthrough's haul" contains 189 common leg or arm bones, 47 complete human skulls, 19 skulls missing their lower jaw, seven ribcages, and one puddle of miscellaneous little bones. One comment says, "Hey, so my question is : what the fuck is your problem ?"

"I've done probably five different playthroughs doing this and each time I manage to find more bones I miss each time," Vuthakral explains. "Btw it weights 55," they add in another comment.

One person is disappointed to see Vuthakral's collection doesn't include a pelvis. Others worry the Dark Urge that gives your Baldur's Gate 3 protagonist anger management issues had bled into the real world and motivated Vuthakral's fixation on bones both big and small… which I'm eager to push back on as someone who owns a smattering of taxidermy in real life.

I like bones not because I'm Bhaalspawn or anything – I actually grew up in Queens – but because I think pieces of once-living animals are pretty, physical reminders of the delicate nature of life, and that all creatures should be held tenderly, and with respect. By this same logic, I think Vuthakral's bones are a great way to commemorate video game skeletons.

So other players nodded politely in reaction and shared how much they enjoy using ribcages – which are much lighter than a backpack, and still a decent container – to stash their valuables.

"I always use the rib cages as my poison purses," says one such person. "So Astarion has a ribcage filled with poison bottles basically."

"I do the same thing," admits another player. "Now we just need a mod that lets Necromancers craft their own minions. Mine will be a bone centipede."

Mine would be a bone dragon. But whether you feel repulsed or inspired by Vuthakral's bone collection, it must be acknowledged that it also emphasizes the amount of player creativity Baldur's Gate 3 allows. Years out from its release, Baldur's Gate 3 still feels fresh for those willing to take advantage of that flexibility – and what's more flexible than a beautiful, meatless ribcage?

"Our players are going to be pretty psyched": Hasbro CEO talks D&D, video games, and playing to win.

There's no shying away from the fact Baldur's Gate 3 was a big game. The RPG from Larian Studios dominated the games zeitgeist for months, yielding massive sales and more than a few awards. It's a hard game to follow, for other devs and for anyone who's looking for their next fantastical quest, but two of the actors involved believe the benchmark can be reached, if companies have the right attitude.

"Baldur's Gate 3 set a very, very, very high bar," Devora Wilde, who voices Lae'zel in Larian's massive RPG, tells Honest Game Trailers (below). Neil Newbon, the voice of Astarion, expands further.

"It is one of those lightning in a bottle moments," he states. "However, it doesn't mean that other people can't do similar ventures with similar aspirations, as also, the passion has to be the same. That's not impossible at all."

It's probably worth separating the reaction to Baldur's Gate 3 from the game itself. Making a strong, engaging role-playing game with striking characters and lots of memorable motifs and ideas is always feasible. Landing the way the long-awaited sequel did is another challenge altogether. You can't manufacture that kind of reaction; you just have to make art you believe in, know your audience and your goals, and hope for the best.

Or, as Newbon puts it: "I just think Baldur's Gate proved a lot of things in the games industry that maybe some bigger companies who are just really chasing the money need to learn from."

Larian wasn't following trends or worrying about what any other studios were doing. The team made the game they wanted to make, and the sincerity helped it stand-out. One can easily imagine a darker timeline where there was an attempt at making it an MMO, or live-service somehow, and the whole thing falling flat on its face.

Thankfully, that's not where we live. And hopefully companies are learning the right lessons from Larian's approach. I won't hold my breath.

Larian keeps a framed reminder of Baldur's Gate 3 breaking Steam in its office, hopes Divinity will "absolutely demolish" Valve's storefront.

Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director has revealed that Larian keeps a framed article about the RPG crashing Steam when the game launched into Early Access.

Over on Twitter, Michael "Cromwelp" Douse posts a shot of a framed news article about the game, titled "Steam briefly broke when Baldur's Gate 3 hit Early Access" (which was written by current GamesRadar+ news editor Iain Harris).

"Walked past this in the office. Forgot this happened," Douse writes, explaining: "At the time we even fact checked it with Valve. I hope we absolutely demolish it next time. You remember so little when doing so much."

For context, when Baldur's Gate 3 launched into early access in October 2020, the game hit a peak of 73,980 players. Just under three years later when the full release of the game launched in August 2023, it pulled in 875,343 players. Per SteamDB's chart, no month since then has had a peak lower than the early access launch peak. That's not to mention that the game held the number three spot on the Steam charts in February.

So with Baldur's Gate 3 being way bigger than it was back in 2020, Douse's hope to "demolish it next time" with Divinity seems like it has a strong likelihood of happening, especially when the studio is touting that the upcoming RPG is "even larger than Baldur's Gate 3." However, I imagine Valve would very much like to avoid that, especially after Silksong also temporarily killed Steam last year.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 set for a new update "nearly 15 years after the Enhanced Editions" launched, earning an approving nod from BG3 developer Larian itself.

Larian is one of the premier RPG developers active today, with 2023's undisputed GOTY Baldur's Gate 3 cementing its legacy as one of the big genre titans. That's a fact not lost on former Obsidian senior designer Chris Avellone, who attributes much of Larian's reputation for quality to studio founder, CEO, and Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke.

Avellone worked with Vincke on Larian's Divinity: Original Sin 2 as a freelancer, and it seems he learned a thing or two about Vincke's management style during that time. Talking to Fallout content creator TKs-Mantis, Avellone says Vincke accepts nothing less than the very best for the games he makes.

"Swen at Larian, Swen is an unstoppable machine. If a game comes out, it is incredibly important to him that it's at high quality, no matter what sacrifice it takes," says Avellone. "He will have engines re-written to make sure that the quality is there ... That quality reputation builds with every game that you're doing."

Himself a veteran RPG developer, Avellone was a designer on the seminal RPG Planescape: Torment, a lead designer on Fallout 2, and senior designer on Fallout: New Vegas. He left Obsidian in 2015 under contentious terms and continued contributing to various projects, including Prey and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Vincke, meanwhile, is presumably hard at work on Larian's new Divinity game, which was announced at last year's Game Awards. We don't know a whole lot about the upcoming RPG beyond its delightfully gruesome reveal trailer, but it sounds like an absolute beast of a game, with The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley having said it'll be even bigger than Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3 was canceled at OG Fallout studio "because of an accounting error" – "Very suspicious on Interplay's part," says former dev

Although Baldur's Gate 3 is undeniably visually impressive, it isn't quite as graphics-forward as other big RPGs – but that was an intentional decision on Larian Studios' part, according to technical director Bert van Semmertier.

The lead reveals as much in a new issue of Edge, explaining that the developers "deliberately stay a bit behind the curve" with their in-house Divinity Engine – a toolset they've upgraded for Divinity now.

That's because, although Larian could try and outdo other visually stunning games with mind-boggling ray-tracing and the like, the studio opts not to so as to keep its own titles within the scope of its team's size.

After all, we're talking about a team that started with far fewer devs than most. "If the vision was to allow the simulation and rendering of hundreds of characters in a single location," though, "we would sit together with a part of the team and discuss requirements and potential solutions," van Semmertier admits.

"Having ownership over your engine allows you to do anything you want, basically." But, again, limitations just make sense sometimes.

In fact, Baldur's Gate 3 itself suffered quite a big technical restriction: "A longstanding limitation we had in multiplayer is that players could not cross acts individually. You always needed to transition together as a party, and this had an impact on how we built our world and how the story needed to be structured."

I never thought of it this way personally, as my pals and I tend to progress alongside one another regardless, but I get what he means.

Folks can't just dive into Act 2 if others don't agree to do so, too, which impacts the creation of mods as well. That's one of the reasons that custom campaigns – which were largely popular in Larian's past titles like Divinity: Original Sin 2 – are taking so long to come to fruition.

Sure, we've got projects like Return to Candlekeep underway, but it's been a long road, and limitations like the multiplayer restriction van Semmertier mentions haven't helped. Thankfully, however, the technical director says Divinity – Larian's exciting upcoming RPG – won't suffer the same problems.

"In the next iteration of our engine, this is a limitation we have completely removed," as he concludes. "There is no limitation anymore on how big an act can be." That's thrilling, but admittedly also a bit daunting. I've got well over 1,000 hours in Baldur's Gate 3, and I easily spend 60 hours exploring every nook and cranny of Act 1.

It does beg the question, just how massive will Divinity be? There's no telling, I suppose, but seeing as it boasts an "even better character creator" and more, I'm guessing huge.

Baldur's Gate 3 was canceled at OG Fallout studio "because of an accounting error" – "Very suspicious on Interplay's part," says former dev

Update, April 20: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the canceled Baldur's Gate 3 and Fallout 3 projects as having been in development at Obsidian rather than Interplay. While Chris Avellone misspoke on the date of his departure from these projects, that timeline does not line up with previously known facts of either game's development. We regret the error.

Original story, April 18: OG Fallout dev Black Isle Studios was once the developer heading Baldur's Gate 3, but the only reason that timeline didn't come to pass was apparently an accounting error.

That's according to veteran RPG developer Chris Avellone, who recently talked about what could've been with YouTube channel TKs-Mantis.

The Fallout, Planescape: Torment, and Icewind Dale developer had been drafted to create the next entry in the Dungeons and Dragons RPG series in the 2000s when it "got canceled because of an accounting error." Avellone says it was "very suspicious on Interplay's part," Black Isle's parent company and the publisher of the first two Baldur's Gate games.

"I'm pretty sure a payment wasn't made to the right party," Avellone explains. As soon as the project met its end, the entire team was swiftly moved on to Van Buren, Obsidian's also ill-fated version of Fallout 3 that never saw the light of day.

"But the moment that Baldur's Gate 3 got cancelled, I knew that Van Buren wouldn't happen because regardless of the team's intentions, regardless of how much we'd love to get it done, how many hours we put in, it wouldn't matter because executive row would likely do something, which they eventually did," he adds, nodding his head to Van Buren's eventual cancelation.

Black Isle wouldn't be the only legendary RPG studio to take a crack at Baldur's Gate 3. Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart previously lifted the lid on the studio's Baldur's Gate project more than a decade ago. Urquhart apparently told the game's rights holders that if they really wanted Obsidian to tackle such a storied series, they'd "need to give a budget that BioWare would have to do a Mass Effect or whatever.'"

You might not need me to tell you that, yep, we eventually did get a Baldur's Gate 3 - one from Larian Studios that lit the gaming world on fire. While Black Isle is no more, Obsidian soon went on to tackle acclaimed projects in the Fallout and South Park series, and is now working on many of its own franchises: The Outer Worlds, the Pillars of Eternity universe, and Grounded.

"Oh, we're going there" – Baldur's Gate 3 Halsin actor "burst out laughing" when he got the script for the RPG's most infamous scene

The actors behind two of the most beloved Baldur's Gate 3 companions are taking part in an actual-play TV series from Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast.

Astarion actor Neil Newbon and the voice of Lae'zel, Devora Wilde, are set to take part in the actual-play – a form of live tabletop game playing streamed for viewers to watch – series, aptly dubbed Dungeon Masters, alongside Dispatch star Mayanna Berrin and Christian Navarro from 13 Reasons Why.

It's exciting news, seeing as they'll all be playing D&D for real – but no, the Baldur's Gate 3 icons won't be playing their old characters.

This isn't a game run by Larian Studios, after all, but rather Hasbro's own Wizards of the Coast, and it's an entirely separate thing altogether. Think Critical Role or Dimension 20 – two great examples of "actual-play" series, if you ask me.

We don't have to wait very long to see the Newbon and Wilde's new characters come to life, either, as the first two episodes of Dungeon Masters will be released for free on YouTube on April 22.

According to Variety, Wizards of the Coast says Dungeon Masters is meant "to appeal to a wide audience of D&D veterans, newcomers, and everyone in between." So, whether you're a hardened tabletop game and Baldur's Gate 3 stan or a D&D newbie altogether, you're likely to find something you enjoy in Dungeon Masters.

As a fan of it all myself, I personally can't wait to see what direction the series takes. Episodes will launch weekly and include unreleased – but canon – D&D content, which will then be made available to play in D&D Beyond afterward.

As for the pilot, it'll tie into the upcoming Ravenloft: The Horrors Within campaign, which itself is dropping on June 16: "The first campaign arc unfolds within the world of Ravenloft, plunging viewers into a dark and atmospheric setting filled with mystery, suspense, and gothic horror."

In other words, we adventurers are eating good this spring. Especially those of us who yearn for more Ravenloft-based content, as per Wizards of the Coast's description above of Dungeon Masters.

If you're just as thrilled to watch the new series – and see Newbon and Wilde play new characters – then I'd suggest giving the trailer a watch. I'm personally preparing for plenty of chaos, humor, and dice rolling.

Searching for something to do in the meantime? Browse through our roundup of the best tabletop RPGs out there while you wait for more D&D shenanigans.

Verso actor Ben Starr says he's never romanced Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate 3 as it would be a bit weird for him after acting alongside Jennifer English in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

At a panel at Emerald City Comic Con 2026, a fan asked the panel of Starr, English, and Aliona Baranova (who performed motion capture on Baldur's Gate 3) asked the trio if they each tend to play the games starring their co-stars, and capped it off with a question to Starr "have you ever romanced Shadowheart in Baldur's Gate." Starr quickly shot it down with an "I haven't" to which English responded with a somewhat offended "why not!"

Starr explained "If I'm going to be honest, I always see myself as a bit of a Gale girly," which led to English accusing him "Is that because you're a bit of a Gale and you just really love yourself?" However, Starr says it's all down to Gale actor Tim Downie, which in turn leads to him and English swooning over the actor.

After a prerequisite amount of love for Downie, Starr gets back to the question, explaining "no, I haven't romanced you, but I think that that would be weird. It would be so weird." To which English agrees "that would be so weird now, that would be incestuous." Of course, this comes down to the roles Starr and English play opposite each other in Expedition 33, which I won't spoil for you, but they definitely take on a sibling-like role for a majority of the runtime.

Getting back to the original point, Starr adds, "We do, I think there is not just a great love between all of us as people. I think there's a huge respect for the work that we do and I think as actors we wouldn't be doing our due diligence if we weren't playing the games that are out there that you guys are playing."

Personally, I was also a bit of a Gale girly, but he gave me the ick after a moment in act 2 where we had to kill a boy's ghost parents and ghost dog, and in the sombre moments that followed the guy immediately tried to initiate something. And while I let him eat my magic shoes every so often (or whatever he does with them) the relationship was ruined.

Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart actor says Hades is a comfort game, though she's "too bad" to get into Silksong

The Baldur's Gate 3 camp holds a secret: in fact, it holds four secrets, each of them completely invisible but nonetheless shaped exactly like a completely nude Gale. There are four nude clones of the wizard hiding in your camp every time you play, and one fan has gone to extensive lengths to explain why.

These naked Gales were accidentally discovered by YouTuber Proxy Gate Tactician back in January, but it was much more recently that fellow content creator SlimX broke down why they're there in a new video (spotted by PC Gamer). In short? They're waiting there just in case you someday decide to have sex with Gale.

In Baldur's Gate 3, characters default to a state called "on-stage," as SlimX explains. This means they're visible and interactable. When you see something disappear from the game world, it's been set to off-stage, which means that it's technically still there, but completely imperceptible. In some cases, as with these Gale clones, they're just instantly set to off-stage the second you load in.

After the end of Act 2, the devs assumed that you'd never be able to go back to previous areas – so the game deletes the portions of your save file related to the state of the first two major areas. That means that all the off-stage characters and objects revert to their default state of on-stage. As SlimX reveals, you can prevent the cutscene that starts the Githyanki attack that transitions you to Act 3 from starting, take a couple of extra long rests, and find yourself able to fast travel back to old areas with the off-stage characters all suddenly back in the world.

So what's with the four naked Gales – and, also, the other nude guy that seems to be hanging out with them? Well, one of them is just there to stand in for Gale's mirror image, appearing with the character's normal gear when it's relevant. The other three are there for that romance scene where Gale takes you to a world of illusions.

"Those two astral projections that float up into the sky" during the scene, SlimX explains, "are one of the other Gales and that random bald guy transformed to look like your avatar. Those last two Gale copies appear and get in on the action later in the scene. And they're all hiding right here in your camp every time you play."

These are the best RPGs you can play today.

Neil Newbon, the actor behind the devilishly enchanting vampire Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, doesn't want to be typecast in future projects.

Newbon was a well-known actor before playing Astarion, having previously played major roles in Resident Evil 3 Remake, Resident Evil Village, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but you could argue his major breakout role was in Baldur's Gate 3. That seems to be Newbon's perception, anyway, as he says he's been avoiding roles that are too similar to Astarion.

"I've definitely avoided a few roles recently not because they were bad projects or anything, just because they, for me, the character—they kinda want the Astarion thing," he tells FRVR. "And it was just like, 'Well, I don’t really want to do that again. It’s too close to the character I’ve already done, I don’t think I could offer anything necessarily that’s interesting to this particular character.'"

One reason for Newbon's stance is a fondness for the late David Bowie. An early childhood influence, Newbon says "there's definitely a Bowie rhythm in me" that remains to this day. "Bowie is an artist that completely reinvented himself," Newbon shares. "I think he understood that extreme repetition breeds stagnation as an artist."

Of course, like it or not, Newbon will always have the same vocal cords as Astarion; it's when studios are looking for an actor to play a character with a similar personality and mannerisms to Astarion that he declines.

"Not to say that the voice isn’t similar, that’s a different thing, I’m talking about when people say: ‘This character’s just like Astarion!'", he explains, adding that he's since done "a lot of work, and all of the jobs I’ve been doing have been wildly different from that in terms of character work."

Looking at the actor's filmography, he isn't lying. Outside of playing Dracula in Vampire Survivors' Ode to Castlevania DLC, he's since taken on a variety of roles, including Lieutenant Viktor Vodyanoi in Warframe, Lumacchio in Lies of P's Overture DLC, and protagonist Chase Lowry in the psychological horror game Dead Take. They may not all be strictly human roles, but I'm pretty sure none of them drink blood.

Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor says, "there's no f*cking way AI could make" anything like Larian's hit RPG: "It's too interesting, subtle, crazy, off the wall, pathos-filled. It's too human."

A new Baldur's Gate 3 hotfix is here, ironing out a few issues – including "several crashes" – that Larian may have accidentally introduced in its previous update, essentially turning the whole situation into a game of bug fix whack-a-mole.

In the latest patch notes on its site for hotfix 36, Larian admits: "Our last small update, which aimed to resolve corrupted savegames affecting a number of players, seemed to have also introduced some performance issues that triggered crashes."

Seemingly, that'd be from the update that rolled out last month, so it's not been too long of a wait. Even so, Larian says "thank you for your patience" while it took the time to investigate the issues, and announces its latest fix – which is going out across all platforms – and should sort them out for good, alongside "some other crashes and blockers that were still affecting players."

As well as the rather vague descriptor of "several crashes" being fixed, "a framerate drop and eventual crash when loading a savegame" has been ironed out, along with an Xbox-specific bug that saw "tooltips in the Inventory and Trade windows" not display correctly. Meanwhile, a Mac problem that could prevent you from moving past character creation "after starting a character introduction cinematic on Honour Mode" has been banished, too.

Of course, we could never expect any massive new additions to Baldur's Gate 3 at this point considering that Patch 8, which was released almost a full year ago, was set to be the final major update. After all, Larian is hard at work on Divinity, its next RPG.

Baldur's Gate 3 Shadowheart actor was "fully expecting" Larian to cut her "finger-guns" gag about deadly poison, but "it ended up being in the game."

There's quite a lot of humor in Baldur's Gate 3, despite all the doom of gloom of the main quest, and it turns out one of the funnier moments was totally improvised. Jennifer English, the actor behind Shadowheart, took it upon herself to provide a punchline to an otherwise inconspicuous moment, and even she was surprised to see it made the final cut.

The scene in question involves the Night Orchids, and some sagely advice from our favorite Half-Elf. "One of my favorite moments in Baldur's Gate 3 was when Shadowheart says the line, talking about the Night Orchids, 'Huh, you didn't pick those by hand, did you? They're deadly poisonous,'" English recalls to Radio Times.

"Then I, as a joke when recording, went, 'Joking!' with finger-guns," she says, laughing. "Fully expecting that not to go in, and it ended up being in the game." As with a lot of great improv, you wouldn't think that line was totally off the cuff, very much seeming in character for who Shadowheart is.

There isn't often much room for such moments in voice acting and motion capture within game development. Time and budget restrictions necessitate sticking to the script, and getting it all done as quickly and as smoothly as possible. In many cases, the actors won't even get much time with the material beforehand.

Clearly, Larian Studios tries to be different, leaving room for these small inflections that elevate jokes and make the characters more nuanced, and give the performers some room to play around. Since being in Baldur's Gate 3, English played Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and she portrayed Joy in Marathon. If you keep a good ear out, I'm sure you might hear something that might be off-script in those releases, as well.

"GURL IT'S HAPPENING": A Shadowheart Nendoroid figure is on the way, and Baldur's Gate 3 fans are losing it

It looks as though we're getting a Shadowheart Nendoroid figure from Baldur's Gate 3, so fans of the prickly Sharran Cleric should form an orderly queue.

Although it was revealed in silhouette on social media, it took approximately 0.25 seconds for the community to figure out what was coming their way – there's no mistaking that distinctive high ponytail. Although manufacturer Good Smile Company hasn't confirmed which accessories this Shadowheart Nendoroid will drop with, the Mysterious Artefact can be seen in her hands (though as with all figures in the line, the Baldur's Gate 3 character has been given a cute anime makeover). Seeing as Nendoroids are arguably some of the best toys for collectors, and the existing Astarion model was so good, this should be one to watch.

Naturally, the community is reacting with the restraint and decorum you'd expect to this news. I've seen everything from fancam-style posts of everyone's favorite Cleric to fans excitedly tagging each other on the Twitter/X reveal, like Ren Masao Ankoku's "GURL ITS HAPPENING" (honestly, me too). Others are hoping we get a white-haired attachment to represent her later-game transformation.

Meanwhile, a lot of folks in the comments are begging for their favorite BG3 companion to get the Nendoroid treatment – and hoping the gap between this figure and the next one isn't as long as the wait between Astarion and Shadowheart. I'm personally hoping Karlach is next in line, but Gale and Lae'zel are also popular picks. Who would you want to see?

If you're new to the world of Nendos, welcome to your new obsession. These things are an absolute delight. Here, I'll let resident GamesRadar+ Nendoroid fan Rosalie explain:

"These little figures represent some of the best depictions of your favorite characters out there - so long as you're a fan of that cute, chibi aesthetic. As a Good Smile Company product, there's rarely (if ever) a lick of paint out of place, and you won't get those cheap seamlines as you would with cheaper figures.

"The best part? These collectibles come with different expressions and accessories, so you can recreate your favorite in-game poses or come up with your own. A lot of these parts (like the face plates) are interchangeable with each other, too, so you'll likely find that you can swap Shadowheart and Astarion's parts around and let them cosplay one another.

"They're fun to pose, high in quality, and make for wonderful display pieces that often hold their value - what's not to love?"

We don't have any word on when this figure will arrive, but you can currently save it to your wishlist on the Good Smile store.

• See all Nendoroid deals at Amazon

For more cool gear, why not check out the best Lego sets or the best Pokemon merch?

If there's one aspect of Baldur's Gate 3 that players undeniably love, it's the RPG's companion system – one that's arguably quite unique, even when comparing Larian Studios' Dungeons & Dragons game to fellow genre gems.

Part of what makes it so unique is the reputation aspect of it all – not every single one of the Baldur's Gate 3 companions feels the same about any given situation or player response, and that's made clear by the whole "so and so approves" or "disapproves" pop-up that follows certain dialogue choices.

Speaking in a recent edition of Edge, writer Kevin VanOrd explains why Larian chose to implement this reputation system.

"Sometimes the answer is to just let the player break the game," VanOrd says, "but when it comes to party members, usually not." That's precisely why player reputation exists. "If a character trusts you enough, they'll go along with whatever you say," he continues – and, yeah… that's definitely how it feels.

If you do enough questing and proper decision-making to the liking of any particular companion, you'll gain their unwavering trust.

"But if you need to convince them, that's when it becomes a dice roll… Every time you see the 'Lae'zel approves' or 'Lae'zel disapproves' pop up, you learn a little something about that character," he concludes – such a reputation system keeps things simple for developers, too.

"We can't have every character reacting to every situation, otherwise we would be working on the game forever. So this is a way of showing how they feel without writing new dialogue."

That makes sense. Plus, it meshes nicely with the Dungeons & Dragons inspiration behind Baldur's Gate 3 as well, keeping players on their toes with dice rolls where necessary but also allowing fans to build meaningful relationships with companions.

Baldur's Gate 3 writer admits "I wish I could have done more" with the RPG's least-appreciated party member, like a dedicated friendship system and inter-party dates

It's no secret that Baldur's Gate 3 companions Lae'zel and Shadowheart have a bit of a, um, strained relationship straight off the bat, but they do admittedly share a lot of similarities – and Larian Studios writers used these while creating their scripts.

Speaking in a recent edition of Edge magazine, writer Kevin VanOrd and John Corcoran recall as much. "Sometimes I yearn for linear storytelling," VanOrd admits first – the Baldur's Gate 3 world is so big, after all, so it's not surprising to hear that it pulled writers off their path as much as it does players.

While attempting to solidify some limits early on in development, VanOrd sat down with Corcoran to discuss similarities between the characters they were writing.

Which characters were they? The ever-beloved (or hated – take your pick, shippers) Baldur's Gate 3 companions, Lae'zel and Shadowheart.

While initially introduced as opponents of sorts, or perhaps more accurately, party members with an especially unfriendly affinity toward one another, the two adventurers share similar beginnings.

They're both in a constant struggle against their upbringing and the values it taught them.

With Shadowheart, it's the Sharrans. With Lae'zel, it's her githyanki background. These sorts of ties are what helped the two writers create convincing dialogue – and a convincing romance, which I'd argue could not have been easy to do.

"We realized we were writing the same story from different directions, and so that allowed us to reframe their initial clash and inform their later conversations."

Yeah, those later convos offer a very different flavor.

I'm an Astarion truther myself, so I've never explored romance between the two, but I can see how VanOrd and Corcoran might've ironed things out between their two seemingly different – albeit far more similar beneath the surface – companions.

A "simple test" of Baldur's Gate 3's modding tools has "snowballed" into a full-blown remake of the first Baldur's Gate, and you can play the demo now.

When it comes to Baldur's Gate 3, every companion has its audience – but the party member that has arguably managed to accrue the most criticism from fans is Wyll, as many feel he's lacking in content compared to the others.

It's not easy being a Wyll truther, as it often seems like he was forgotten during development – or, at least, when he's compared to the other Baldur's Gate 3 companions, it certainly does.

He does have a compelling storyline, Mizora and all things considered, but there's just not as much going on romance-wise… and Larian Studios knows it, too. Speaking in a recent edition of Edge, writer Kevin VanOrd shares his own thoughts.

"I wish I could have done more with Wyll," he admits. "I would love to have a friendship system in addition to a romance system, where you get special events like dates. And I think it would have been really cool for characters to have romances with each other, outside of the player."

But, alas, there simply wasn't enough time for Larian to pull such feats off. "We had a lot of great ideas that never made it into the game because of time constraints."

VanOrd's echoing what he's said previously here. Earlier this year, he stated, "I wish Wyll had gotten more content and a more fulfilling arc, too" – which sounds a whole lot like his current sentiment on the too-oft forgotten party member. The writer had explained, "Wyll's content is sparser than I'd have liked."

I'd say the community agrees, judging by threads on Reddit and the like. Folks have frequently flagged their disappointment with the character's arc.

It's sad to read, especially as Baldur's Gate 3 received its "final" big update, Patch 8, in 2025. Companions like Wyll (and Karlach, sorry) will have to persevere with what they've already got… but perhaps there's hope in the Baldur's Gate 3 TV show?

A "simple test" of Baldur's Gate 3's modding tools has "snowballed" into a full-blown remake of the first Baldur's Gate, and you can play the demo now

A team of modders is remaking the original Baldur's Gate using the Baldur's Gate 3 engine following the success of a "simple test" of the 2023 RPG's modding tools.

Project lead 786r786 tells Rock Paper Shotgun the idea for a Baldur's Gate remake sprouted when an unlocked version of Baldur's Gate 3's official modding tools showed up on NexusMods in September 2024. 786r786 never intended on remaking the whole game, but they wanted to test the limits of the unlocked toolkit and went forward with creating the Baldur's Gate starting location, Candlekeep, in Baldur's Gate 3.

According to 786r786, interest in that mod, which launched last August, has now "snowballed" to the extent that they've assembled a full team of modders under the banner Deathbringer's Reign to recreate the full game.

"I received a lot of requests from fans of the original games to turn it into a full campaign, along with offers from some incredibly talented modders who volunteered to help," says 786r786. "Making an isolated custom campaign is actually a bit easier than making an extension to the base game; you don't have to account for the incredibly vast amount of scenarios present in vanilla BG3, and you have full control over the player's environment."

The team at Deathbringer's Reign has now repurposed that same Candlekeep mod into a demo for the full remake project, and you can download it via Nexus Mods right here. In an email to GamesRadar+, the mod team says the next step in the plan is a second demo expanding the remake's world to include High Hedge, Beregost, the Friendly Arm Inn, and Shipwreck's Coast, including all of the companions from those regions in the original game.

The team is on the hunt for volunteers with experience using unlocked Baldur's Gate 3 modding tools to help reach that milestone. Specifically, they're looking for level designers, writers, modelers, animators, concept artists, and programmers to help with the mod.

"Without a doubt, the most significant challenge will be translating the city of Baldur's Gate itself into a fully 3D environment," 786r786 tells RPS. "The sheer scale is daunting; the original game has over 100 interiors within the city, whereas BG3 features about 40 buildings in the Lower City. We have to figure out how to capture that content density while adjusting the layout to suit BG3's modern gameplay and presentation."

Sounds like no easy task, but the idea is to give players a new version of Baldur's Gate that benefits from Baldur's Gate 3's mechanics like "enemies throwing objects, destroying the environment, and creating surfaces, to make those encounters feel entirely new and challenging."

As Baldur's Gate 3 devs decide what to do next with Divinity, Larian publishing lead celebrates the D&D RPG's late rise in players on Steam: "We on the upnup."

As work on new RPG Divinity cracks on over at Larian Studios, 2023 Dungeons & Dragons gem Baldur's Gate 3 continues to soar on platforms like Steam – and its continuing popularity is an understandable point of pride for the developers.

In a recent online post, publishing director Michael "Cromwelp" Douse explains how, after checking the Steam "Top Sellers" charts, he noticed that Baldur's Gate 3 was in the third spot, right after the likes of the brand-new, hotly anticipated horror title Resident Evil Requiem and the ever-popular Counter-Strike 2 from Valve.

Seeing as it's been nearly three years now since the Baldur's Gate threequel launched, that's pretty big news.

"A real thrill to see BG3 in the number 3 sales spot this sunny morning as I write up plans for what we do next and how we do it," Douse says. "A little motivation goes a long way."

It sounds like the brilliant reputation that Baldur's Gate 3 continues to carry understandably serves as a bit of inspiration – perhaps while Larian works on Divinity, its upcoming RPG behemoth. Douse takes a moment to go over the numbers, too.

"According to Steam Charts, January 2025 avg PC was 66,434 vs 2026's of 67,683. That's growth, baby!" That's right – not only has Baldur's Gate 3 retained a dedicated fanbase years on, but there are more players exploring the Forgotten Realms than there were last January.

As Douse exclaims, "We on the upnup into the next big blue ocean!" Now if only custom maps could finally properly come to fruition…

Until they do, though, there's still plenty to do in Baldur's Gate 3. As one commenter says, "I have 100+ hours in this game, and I haven't finished it yet" – and, yeah, same, except I've got another 0 at the end of that number and then some.

The effort (and "all the goofs & spoofs, hijinks and doodillying," according to Douse) Larian put into its RPG is more than evident, and I'm just glad to see it receiving its very due recognition.

Here's hoping Divinity proves just as fun and successful, although I'm almost certain that it will. If Baldur's Gate 3 and the community's ongoing love for it highlight anything, it's how talented the devs over at Larian truly are.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 set for a new update "nearly 15 years after the Enhanced Editions" launched, earning an approving nod from BG3 developer Larian itself

While Baldur's Gate 3 has been in the limelight now since its 2023 release, its predecessors have held the hearts of many hardened RPG stans for literal decades now – and a new update is coming to reignite the community's love for the OG games.

The first two Baldur's Gate games have been enjoyed by many a fan globally – especially so thanks to their Beamdog-published Enhanced Editions from 2012 and 2013.

A whopping 14 years have passed since those revamped versions launched on consoles, PC, and mobile platforms, but they appear due for a little freshening up. Beamdog announces a new update for both (as well as its other Dungeons & Dragons gems) in a recent post.

"We're announcing the new Infinity Engine 2.7 beta," the studio exclaims. "Yes, you heard that right, nearly 15 years after the Enhanced Editions – and over 25 years since the originals – we're still dedicated to supporting these legendary RPGs." You love to hear it.

What's more, the exciting 2.7 patch is already live on Steam as Beamdog beta tests it, and is set to roll out fully for mobile users later on.

It's not a massive update by any means, focusing "on long‑term stability, modern platform support, and a few quality‑of‑life improvements" like improved cloud saving, but it's a big deal to RPG lovers as it shows Beamdog's ongoing commitment to the D&D classics.

The news has even reached Larian Studios, the team behind successor Baldur's Gate 3, with publishing director Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse commenting on the patch.

"Based! It is awesome to see people who care about Baldur's Gate doing cool things for its huge and diverse community," Douse writes in his response to Beamdog.

Replies from fans are, unsurprisingly, just as positive, with one person saying they've "been enjoying these games since [their] original release." Other hopeful players ask the publisher if the update might make its way to consoles, too.

Beamdog hasn't confirmed whether or not it will, but it does reassure folks who are worried about 2.7 breaking their mods (a tale as old as time, apparently, and one that's always relevant when Baldur's Gate 3 gets updates as well). Now – time to boot up my PC.

Searching for something else to play? Browse through our roundup of all the best RPGs to date for your next adventure.

Reacting to Sony's floundering push into making live-service games, Larian Studios and Baldur's Gate 3's director of publishing Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse argues that the gap between single-player and multiplayer games has never been smaller, so maybe these companies don't need to make an always-online game to have an online hit.

For context, this week Sony shut down Bluepoint Games, the PlayStation first-party studio behind the gorgeous Demon's Souls PS5 remake and Shadow of the Colossus' PS4 revival. The subsidiary had previously been working on a God of War live service game that eventually went nowhere, which is a trend often repeated elsewhere in the PlayStation Studios roster during its PS5 generation.

"Theory: because of how connected everyone is, pretty much every game and every experience is a shared experience," Douse tweets in response to Sony's multiple live service blunders during the PS5 generation, Concord included. "In other words, the distance between single and multiplayer games is actually shrinking rather than growing. Social resonance doesn't require a game to be MP."

After one commenter points out that big publishers can't monetize single-player games with endless cosmetics, Douse replies that it's "demonstrably true that you can monetize a game by, you know, making sure it's good." Look no further than Baldur's Gate 3, I guess. Though, he also says "nearly 100% of the time," he sees executives wrongly believing that no game can be "objectively good."

Bluepoint Games made a name for itself with a string of quality remasters, remakes, and repackages for classic games. The Texas-based studio was then acquired by Sony in 2021 before helping develop God of War Ragnarok alongside Sony Santa Monica, at which point it was then apparently handed a multiplayer God of War game, a project well outside of its wheelhouse. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reports the team spent the last year pitching other projects.

"Devastating": Game devs send outpouring of love to Sony's latest closed PlayStation studio Bluepoint, saying "the sheer amount of institutional knowledge lost is quite literally staggering"

Now that the "final" Patch 8 for Baldur's Gate 3 has been out for nearly a year, you'd think Larian Studios would be ready to close the book on the beloved Dungeons & Dragons RPG for good – but, much to my delight, the devs are not quite finished cleaning it up.

Larian has plenty to grapple with right now, between Divinity and its other upcoming project (the ever-mysterious title codenamed Excalibur), but the developers aren't done ironing out issues folks have flagged in Baldur's Gate 3.

Just a couple of days ago, the studio announced in an admittedly amusing post that a new update, albeit seemingly quite minor, had gone live, addressing a few more of the "technical problems" in-game.

"Bet you thought you'd seen the last of these," it reads. "As it turns out, a few crashes and technical issues were still knocking about, so if you were getting stuck while loading saves, or trying to progress from Act 2 into Act 3, your corrupted saves should now be fixed!"

The devs also list the most current version of Baldur's Gate 3 on all platforms, with Xbox Series X|S and PS5 being 4.1.1.7143914 while PC is at 4.1.1.7151330.

That's… a lot of numbers. It speaks to all of the effort Larian has poured into its RPG thus far, though, with everything from massive Patch 8-style releases to smaller yet necessary hotfixes dropping along the way.

I'd wager the devs' work isn't over yet, either, judging by comments on their announcement – the community still has plenty of requests, from fixes for Wyll's banter text to tweaks that address the anisotropic bug on PC.

There's plenty of, uh, hopium to be found among the replies, too. One fan asks, "So you are telling me that Gortash romance is still possible?" I'm not sure we'll ever see something like that come to fruition, but a girl can keep on dreaming, eh?

"It was very bad": Baldur's Gate 3 was once heavily teased in Larian's Divinity Original Sin 2, but it was so obvious the devs had to water it down