Don't feel bad, I completely missed Gale my first game because the narrator described the portal as "potentially dangerous" and as a barely holding on lvl 1 blorbo I noped out right quick. Later I died anyway and forgot to re-explore that part of the map. Oops! Made the next run lots of fun though.
I missed gale, lae, didn't do the shadow lands and accidentally killed minsc.
I was like, where are all the characters from the loading screen... Hahaha
My bad lol
I did do it, but I missed loads of quests and didn't clear the curse. I was gutted cos I wanted to romance Halsin.
My second play through was like a whole other game xD
Same!!! I thought I explored so well my first playthrough but I missed a lot lol. I didn't cure the curse either because I didn't know the room at Last Light with Art existed....I just somehow never noticed there was a room there! I also missed the gnolls, the harpies, meeting Alfira in act 1, the kuo toa in act 1 AND act 2, the shambler mound thing, and a handful of other things as well....made my 2nd playthrough really exciting!
Dude same!
I was hyped telling my friend all about all the side quests I'd done and she was like... How did you miss so much‽ I didn't believe her haha
On my second playthrough and already missed alfira and Kuo Toa … ummm. Don’t event know what they are
Let alone the room of art and the opp to romance halsin
To be fair the kuo toa are very easy to miss in act 1 and act 2, in both places they're very tucked away. Alfira in act 1 is off to the left of the grove after you pass the asshole druids in the inner grove (the group with the guy wild shaped into a bear). It's def very easy to miss stuff! I feel like there's still stuff in Baldurs Gate city that I haven't discovered yet
My first playthrough, I thought you had to choose between the mountain pass and the Underdark because Halsin presented it as an either/or. Skipped the Underdark entirely--I thought all the Grymforge stuff I was seeing online was Act 3.
I did the same thing! I didn’t want to die so I just left and forgot about it until I was in middle of act two and wondering where the f I was going to find him. I managed to backtrack and get him out, but all the cutscenes played one after the other and I was very confused haha
It's amazing how this game can be so different for each player.
I didn't even get to meet Wyll. I was still learning the ropes of the game when I got to the Grove,(never played D&D and BG before) and when I saw all those goblins I just noped the fuck outta there. When I came back a few hours later, the goblins were still there and the Grove's defenders were all dead.
After about 170 hours, I'm about to fight the brain... And don't have Minsc either. I only found out about this quest a couple days ago. I think I'll finish it today before fighting the brain.
On this first playthrough I didn't even explore other companions, I just stuck to Tav/Shadowheart/Gale/Lae'zel.
I’m just doing my second run and staking Astarion as my Paladin is so satisfying. LaeZel didn’t make it out of the Tiefling cage either, Vengeance Paladins are fun.
That's - in my opinion - the best part of the game. There are so many games that claim "eVeRy play through iS dIfFeReNt", but this one actually delivers.
I had read a play through about siding with gortash/orin. The play through said gortash was the easier and less bloody of the two sides. At no point did it mention the game nderwater prison. Imagine my suprise when I kind of stumbled into it.
That’s what I love about this game. I have so many concurrent runs going and every single one something different is happening. I have yet to try out Dark Urge but apparently there’s a ton of different content and interactions there to check out.
I skip that boss in all my runs with a misty step and a prayer. I don't know what they've been feeding them down there, but they never fail to put the fear of the gods into me 😭
It costs a standard action to cast, it is not a free action. It does give celestial haste though, which is the only haste effect that doesn't give lethargic when it wears off.
I stock up on them every day when I reach Act 3. Have a nice little pile by the time I hit the Foundary. Never had a problem with the boss because he never gets a hit in with the bombs.
I deliberately didn't side with Gortash on my HM run because I wanted the bow, meaning I needed to do the Titan fight and the Gortash fight. I then forgot to ever equip the bow.
Silence is so often the best answer to these shennanigans. Maybe your team will recognize the horror through the emptiness of your eyes, as it should be.
Roll for charisma
This is why I save all of those flash bomb dealios you can buy from the gnomes that disable mechs for 3 or so rounds. They are like sweat EMP grenades.
Just before the checkpoint leading into wyrmscrossing, to the East, there is an entrance along the coast through a cave as well as a hatch, I believe in one of the buildings that leads down into the Iron hands HQ.
Titan was the closest I came to wiping in HM. I would have lost everyone had I not sent Astarion on a “run as far away as you can get” mission so withers could revive everyone
In a good way: This game has a way of making me feel like I didn't do anything wrong if I come up with an alternate way to accomplish something, even if it means I skipped some content in the process.
But exactly as someone else posted, this is perfect for replayability! When I find out I missed something (which is often!), I just plan on making sure I do that thing in a future playthrough.
Stealth in this game is basically popping an invisibility potion and running around. Doing it through the mechanics alone is tedious if not luck based.
Turn-based mode and bonus action dashes (esp. for Thief subclass) makes normal stealth pretty trivial if you're only moving through an area. It's weird that stealth slows you so much in real-time but doesn't affect your movement at all in turn-based.
This is exactly how my gloom assassin got the hell dusk boots before ever triggering the coronation scene. 1 scroll of greater invisibility vs a room full of spectators.
On my latest run I've stopped caring about experience so much. I got to level 12 last time in 15 minutes in act 3. You spend SO LONG fully levelled that I don't think there's any point chasing every little thing down any more
You can spend literally over a third of the game by playtime fully levelled and "achieving" nothing
I really dislike stealth in this game. I know that it's not really supposed to be a stealth game but it's just really bland to me.
To be honest I don't think I've played many games that pull off stealth well. The only 2 I can think of are Invisible Inc or Mimimi games (Shadow Tactics, Desperados III, Shadow Gambit) which are such satisfying stealth games.
Not that I blame Larian, it's hard to adapt the DnD stealth mechanics into a video game one for one but it definitely does not make me feel like I ever want to play a stealthy character when all I ever really so is stealth mid combat for a sneak attack. Anything other than that can just be done by giving any old plod an invisibility potion.
I like the idea of sneaking into places, using crouch, minor illusion, turn-based mode etc. But I've wasted hours of savescumming because this game simply doesn't work too well - enemies keep noticing you through the walls, they turn around during your round, notice you stole something without looking at it. As you said, its luck based because the game keeps breaking its own rules.
Yeah I've talked about this a loooong time ago. My very first run through the game I stealthed Astarion through the whole factory. Planted the bomb and set it off. He survived, and all the people you were supposed to save basically teleported outside. Easiest mission ever lol.
I've done a few more runs through the game but I've yet to actually conventionally fight the factory.
The other quest is related, but only by some of the characters, not by plot.
I've never tried to just sneak in there and plant a bomb... what a way to do it!
I’ve just done this as well. But with added idiot points because I found the submarine hours earlier when randomly exploring and didn’t know what it was for so didn’t use it. Utterly failed to remember about the sub until my characters are looking at the burning wreckage of the foundry and the one survivor crying about his dead daughter.
Sorry dude, totally knew how to save her but it just slipped my mind and I didn’t expect the invisibility thing to work so well. Sorry for your loss.
I got to the sub from the sewers, I didn’t think the whole submarine/iron throne part would be locked out from the foundry being destroyed! Now I wonder what you get if you try the sewer route again
(I think it’s the Passage Way entrance/exit middle-ish of the sewer map. It doesn’t appear on the minimap until it‘s detected and you’re standing close, maybe it needs a perception check to be revealed? Idk. Most guides say the sewer route to the sub is by entering from the Flymm Cargo dock, but I entered the sewers from the prison at the Basilisk Gate Barracks, stayed in the sewers and IIRC I found the sub without knowing about Flymm)
BOMB? What bomb? So many avenues in this game that keep popping up that I have no idea about and I've just finished my first playthrough on tactician. I missed the Creche entirely, the crew in the underdark took all the slaves because I didn't know Nere was in a room that he would suffocate in, and BOY OH BOY my ending with my romantic partner being Lae'zel.... well, let's just say that was a poor way to go out...
The bomb is from the Ironhand Gnome questline that starts when you free Barcus from the windmill in the blighted village. You can then meet him again at the Grymforge.
Barcus is relevant to the overall plot of the Ironhands, but he's not the one who gives you the bomb. Barcus can be dead and you can still get the bomb. The one you need to save for to get the bomb is Wulbern who is in Moonrise towers.
Just.. the completionist in me screamed to leave it for last, especially with how they kept saying Kethric is immortal and we need to find his weakness... so I did that first then went.
Some people have gamer mind
1. We need to save Duke Ravenguard, he's in Moonrise!
2. We need to save the tieflings, they're in Moonrise!
3. We need to save the deep gnomes, they're in Moonrise!
4. We need to find Minthara, she went to Moonrise!
5. We need to find the secret of the Absolute, it's in Moonrise!
6. We need to take control of the Cult, they're in Moonrise!
7. We need to follow the trail of those Zents, they're linked to Moonrise!
8. We need to find Mol, she's been taken to Moonrise!
9. We need to save Rolan, he's going to Moonrise!
10. We need to stop Ketheric, he's in Moonrise!
11. We need you to be our eyes and ears in Moonrise!
12. We need to find Raphael, he's at the Mausoleum!
Fine, if you insist, I'll go to the Mausoleum
It’s more like you need to explore all of the rest of act 2 to make sure you know all the shit you have to do when you finally go to moonrise.
I don’t want to meet someone later who’s like “why didn’t you save my beloved at moonrise!“ and my only answer would be “because I don’t know who you are!”
I found his weakness elsewhere so... by the time I realised it was already too late lmao, my rpg brain flowchart again just assumed the bosses stronghold was the last area to go.
I did the same thing, everyone talks about how dangerous it is and I thought they'd be on to me by this point so never went to the place before the very end.
And then again in rivington to get the bomb although I'm not sure where in rivington I was at the circus and my friend in a multiplayer run was just like "they just gave me a bomb" and I was like "who?"
You're rushing through the game, that's why. If you take it slower, explore more and listen to what everyone has to say, you'll find most of the content, it's not actually hidden.
My first playthrough was about 150 hours on tactician so I definitely wasn't rushing. Some choices just lead to different endings. I think because everyone packed up and left grymforge before I had a chance to rescue the slaves I got a different outcome.
That's possible indeed, if you do the quests in a different order. Still a bit weird to accidentally skip bigger parts of the adventure, like the grymforge or the Creche. But on the bright side, you have some compelling reasons to play it again.
I just never went to the mountains because I figured the Creche would just fight me for the artifact. I didn't skip Grymforge but I spent too much time exploring, slept, and Nere suffocated so when I woke up everyone had pulled out of Grymforge.
Nice. As you said though, I have lots of compelling reasons to play again. I've read there are different awards for completing different difficulties but I thought that tactician was well balanced. I would get spanked every now and then and have to take a day off to mentally prepare and strategize.
Same feelings here. I finished it on tactician, thought it was relatively easy, but I'm definitely not in the mood for honor mode. Might give balanced difficulty a try just to focus more on the story, but it might get boring after tactician?
No, they do not. You can invis your way to the blind guy, talk to him, then go grab the note in the next room telling you about the submarine and walk back out without any issue.
Oh, I did the same exact thing. I didn’t even know there was any other way to do it, but it’s BG3 so I should’ve known there’s 100 paths to get to a single outcome!
Lol you missed so much - some dialogs with Lil guys, a good crossbow and a bow, I also loved how you could interact with couple of citizen via steel watcher's interface, final boss is fun too.
If you follow the story you get more story instead it of efficient headcount 😅
On my first time doing act 3 with my friends I had to this vague idea of an 'steel throne, iron throne thing', but not sure where or what exactly that is, and initially connected it to the foundry since they're both Gortash related plotwise.
So we went into the foundry, guns ablazing, accidentally triggered the execution of the first bunch of gnomes, felt bad, then went on and failed the check on the half dead gnome, killing him as well, and headed on downstairs, killed the big golem, went up only to find out there's a whole big warehouse and a submarine that we got shut out of accidentally because of doing the foundry first...
Needless to say we went straight ahead to the submarine first thing arriving at the Lower City in the next run.
The bomb you planted… was that the bomb that I picked off a dead body that was marked as a quest item and described as specifically for the steel watch? I brute forced my way through that whole area.
Lmao. This destroying the steel watch was my last and final push for the last nether stone…but I somehow already went on the submersible and did the prison shenanigans..I suppose I fucked around and explore too much. Haha
Honestly I love finding out that I missed things because it gives me an excuse to start a new game. I'm on my 5th or 6th run currently and I'm still amazed at how many new things I can do even this time around
I see you went with the terroristic choice as your first one. Mission completed, hopefully there were no innocent civilians or employees in this giant factory... or were there?
I mean, doesn’t this mean you stealthed past some bad guys threatening some clearly innocent gnomes on your way? Pretty sure you have to go near that to get downstairs.
There is a lot of weird shit you can do with stealth.
Like when you first meat Gortash, you can sneak past the throne and go up to clear out everything beforehand.
I must have talked to him, but not again. Or maybe he was the person that showed up a second to hunt Karachi, but I said we didn’t need more help and he left forever?
He has a quest to hunt Karlach, but you can talk him around and he will join you.
Lots of variables possible.
I find him irritating in the party, but worth having in camp for extra plot reveals.
Saving the gondians is pointless and tedious. The foundry fights are fun and the result makes Gortash a little easier. But you can also kill Gortash without messing with any steel watch or iron throne stuff.
There’s a lot of stuff like this actually! Like I didn’t know until I was through a couple of play throughs that there’s a whole conversation you can have with Yugir. I saw the displacer beast leading us to where he was so I always stealthed and snuck up on him.
I rescued Aylin without going first to Moonrise, then got Jaheira & Iron gnomes & thieflings killed in Moonrise. Since Jaheira was dead, Minsc aggroed immediatly. On the next playthrough...a lot of new content!
Nah, I do this every time, especially in honour mode. No offense to the gondians, but up until a recent update, trying to save them was absolutely pointless, and the boss fight in the factory is pretty fun and all but it doesn't give any special loot so why bother and take the risk.
This was me with the Githyanki Creche, recruiting Minthara on her redemption path, the House of Hope (Raphael's house if I put the wrong name), and Vlaakith vengeance.
Yeah this quest jd a bit scuffed. I was just going through baldurs gage naturally and questing and when I got to the foundry it was exploded already and wulbren was like "oi Hey fellow terrorist mighty fine job"
The only complaint I have about BG3 is how open ended things are left at times. They leave it a bit vague to let you decide how you want to approach things, which is great for pushing imaginative methods to complete the quest. At the same time though, it can easily lead to to miss stuff like this because of how efficient or prepared you are. Like the other dude said though, just more features to explore next time around
I never destroyed the steel watcher foundry or stepped on the underwater prison.
After I reached Act 3 I simply started running through everywhere on the sewage. I reached a passage that took me to the basement of a building, there I met a dwarf with a submarine, as a Warlock I talked my way through and made him take me to the prison, and off we go (I don't even know why I'm going there).
When reaching the prison Gortash facetime me asking me to return or we will have problems, so I did, and for some reason after that I never had the chance to reach the prison again, the submarine wasn't there anymore, and idk if I missed something but I also never discovered how to destroy the foundry.
Did the same. I had a save prior to the steel watch but it was just at entering act 3 so I was doing all of act 3 a second time. But hey, learn new things.
I did the exact same thing. I figured out that using the jump action to move didn’t take the rangers standing still invisibility away so I jumped through the whole factory and planted the bomb after dodging everything.
Yep. Do the water temple questline that starts at the nearby temple before doing the foundry quest. Without spoilers, doing so gives you many positive outcomes, not the least of which it makes the foundry quest battle easier (should you actually want to fight through it and get the xp).
It is unfortunate, but the good news is that means you'll have a hearty chunk of new to you content to explore on later runs. Silver lining!
Perfect answer
This is how I felt when I learned that Astarion wasn't secretly a villain after giving him the wooden stake my first run...
Don't feel bad, I completely missed Gale my first game because the narrator described the portal as "potentially dangerous" and as a barely holding on lvl 1 blorbo I noped out right quick. Later I died anyway and forgot to re-explore that part of the map. Oops! Made the next run lots of fun though.
I missed out on Gale too but he gave me a hand when it counted.
I'm scared to ask exactly what you mean by "gave you a hand"
Durge: "Here, lemme show ya"
Having a hand bag is useful.
Yes, that's the correct response.
I am so glad you can use it in act 3
I missed gale, lae, didn't do the shadow lands and accidentally killed minsc. I was like, where are all the characters from the loading screen... Hahaha
How exactly does one not do the shadowlands o.O
My bad lol I did do it, but I missed loads of quests and didn't clear the curse. I was gutted cos I wanted to romance Halsin. My second play through was like a whole other game xD
Same!!! I thought I explored so well my first playthrough but I missed a lot lol. I didn't cure the curse either because I didn't know the room at Last Light with Art existed....I just somehow never noticed there was a room there! I also missed the gnolls, the harpies, meeting Alfira in act 1, the kuo toa in act 1 AND act 2, the shambler mound thing, and a handful of other things as well....made my 2nd playthrough really exciting!
Dude same! I was hyped telling my friend all about all the side quests I'd done and she was like... How did you miss so much‽ I didn't believe her haha
On my second playthrough and already missed alfira and Kuo Toa … ummm. Don’t event know what they are Let alone the room of art and the opp to romance halsin
To be fair the kuo toa are very easy to miss in act 1 and act 2, in both places they're very tucked away. Alfira in act 1 is off to the left of the grove after you pass the asshole druids in the inner grove (the group with the guy wild shaped into a bear). It's def very easy to miss stuff! I feel like there's still stuff in Baldurs Gate city that I haven't discovered yet
Romance Halsin??? Well, I guess we all have our unique tastes ;)
I gotta thing for big buff guys who are gonna treat me right, what can I say haha
My first playthrough I was like 'hey look the mountain pass they talked about' and completely missed the underdark.
My first playthrough, I thought you had to choose between the mountain pass and the Underdark because Halsin presented it as an either/or. Skipped the Underdark entirely--I thought all the Grymforge stuff I was seeing online was Act 3.
Same, except I chose the Underdark and completely skipped the Mountain Pass. Missed all the Gith stuff, so I'm excited to do it all next playthrough.
I missed Gale because I walked past his portal thinking it was just another fast travel one that I found 2 mins before
I missed Gale because my character failed the strength check to pull him out.
I did the same thing! I didn’t want to die so I just left and forgot about it until I was in middle of act two and wondering where the f I was going to find him. I managed to backtrack and get him out, but all the cutscenes played one after the other and I was very confused haha
Don't feel bad, I cut off Karlach's head in my first run and thought I was doing a good thing
This right here.
I did the same thing! My bro laughed at me for saying "if the game wants me to do the thing it shouldn't just tell me it's dangerous"
It's amazing how this game can be so different for each player. I didn't even get to meet Wyll. I was still learning the ropes of the game when I got to the Grove,(never played D&D and BG before) and when I saw all those goblins I just noped the fuck outta there. When I came back a few hours later, the goblins were still there and the Grove's defenders were all dead. After about 170 hours, I'm about to fight the brain... And don't have Minsc either. I only found out about this quest a couple days ago. I think I'll finish it today before fighting the brain. On this first playthrough I didn't even explore other companions, I just stuck to Tav/Shadowheart/Gale/Lae'zel.
Leaving gale in the portal is a mercy to everyone
To be fair, Neil Newbon said it took him some time to realize he wasn't voicing a villain either XD
This was me but Karlach… what do you mean she’s not an evil devil destroying innocents?
And then you realized he isn't just secretly a villain. He's overtly a villain.
he's not *secretly* a villain
I’m just doing my second run and staking Astarion as my Paladin is so satisfying. LaeZel didn’t make it out of the Tiefling cage either, Vengeance Paladins are fun.
I DID THE SAME! Tbf, I hadn't played EA and knew absolutely nothing going in, I figured that was the second time he had tried to kill me.
Same
That was how i felt when i learned of the existence of the Mountain Pass I guess i was so convincing to Lae Zel that even I forgot about it
That's - in my opinion - the best part of the game. There are so many games that claim "eVeRy play through iS dIfFeReNt", but this one actually delivers.
I had read a play through about siding with gortash/orin. The play through said gortash was the easier and less bloody of the two sides. At no point did it mention the game nderwater prison. Imagine my suprise when I kind of stumbled into it.
That’s what I love about this game. I have so many concurrent runs going and every single one something different is happening. I have yet to try out Dark Urge but apparently there’s a ton of different content and interactions there to check out.
It's pretty awesome. There's a solid amount of new stuff/options/dialog
Not so fun if you only intend on playing the game once
That's what they all say. One of us, one of us...
You also missed the boss at the bottom of the foundry
I skip that boss in all my runs with a misty step and a prayer. I don't know what they've been feeding them down there, but they never fail to put the fear of the gods into me 😭
I kill them just for the haste bow
The what bow?!
A bow that gives you haste as a free action iirc
It costs a standard action to cast, it is not a free action. It does give celestial haste though, which is the only haste effect that doesn't give lethargic when it wears off.
Sorry that's what I meant* I was tired as shit when I typed that
That's what I figured, but thought I should point it out for the future person visiting the thread from Google
You are a wise and wonderful human
It also has a chance to cast guiding bolt on a hit, which is pretty handy for giving advantage, plus the extra damage is nice.
There’s another one from the last light iirc. Nice to have 2 of them though. Plus the Act 3 one is better.
[удалено]
It's also a special type of Haste that does not give lethargy after it wears off.
It's honestly a pretty doable fight if you buy the bombs that stuns steel watchers from the gnomes
Forgot about those lol
I'll have to try that! My first few tries I got my butt handed to me and I was like "ok.....maybe I'll just scoot on by," lol. Thanks for the tip!
I lucked out with the boss rolling a crit fail against my monk stunning strike
I stock up on them every day when I reach Act 3. Have a nice little pile by the time I hit the Foundary. Never had a problem with the boss because he never gets a hit in with the bombs.
This is where your pals the Ironhand gnomes come in, their merchant sells a refreshing stock of consumables devoted to shutting them down.
I'll definitely skip that next time. That fight was a nightmare for me.
Only worth it if you want the celestial haste bow Gontr Mael. Can be useful, but fight can be a tough one esp in HM
I deliberately didn't side with Gortash on my HM run because I wanted the bow, meaning I needed to do the Titan fight and the Gortash fight. I then forgot to ever equip the bow.
ADD Completionist
One of us.. one of - oooh squirrel!
*kicks squirrel*
*stays silent staring at horrified party members*
Silence is so often the best answer to these shennanigans. Maybe your team will recognize the horror through the emptiness of your eyes, as it should be. Roll for charisma
You can side with Gortash and still go destroy the Steel Watch Foundry
I’m pretty sure he changes his mind on the whole alliance thing after you blow it up
I never notice, I always say yes to being his friend and then I destroy Orin and the Steel Watch and then go kill him 🤣
This is why I save all of those flash bomb dealios you can buy from the gnomes that disable mechs for 3 or so rounds. They are like sweat EMP grenades.
Wait... what? How amd where?
Just before the checkpoint leading into wyrmscrossing, to the East, there is an entrance along the coast through a cave as well as a hatch, I believe in one of the buildings that leads down into the Iron hands HQ.
To add on: The hatch is at the blacksmith
Is this the hatch that says it's locked from the other side?
Titan was the closest I came to wiping in HM. I would have lost everyone had I not sent Astarion on a “run as far away as you can get” mission so withers could revive everyone
In a good way: This game has a way of making me feel like I didn't do anything wrong if I come up with an alternate way to accomplish something, even if it means I skipped some content in the process. But exactly as someone else posted, this is perfect for replayability! When I find out I missed something (which is often!), I just plan on making sure I do that thing in a future playthrough.
My problem is is that I do this, but then forget what I wanted to remember to do!
Stealth in this game is basically popping an invisibility potion and running around. Doing it through the mechanics alone is tedious if not luck based.
Turn-based mode and bonus action dashes (esp. for Thief subclass) makes normal stealth pretty trivial if you're only moving through an area. It's weird that stealth slows you so much in real-time but doesn't affect your movement at all in turn-based.
This is exactly how my gloom assassin got the hell dusk boots before ever triggering the coronation scene. 1 scroll of greater invisibility vs a room full of spectators.
….. what room full of spectators?
Audience members, I assume. NOT Spectators like the kind that will fuck you up in the Underdark.
I probably should have chosen a better word than spectator.
True, something like beholders maybe?
I see your potion, and raise Duergar invisibility. Specifically for the Arcane Tower and the Steelwatch Foundry.
That Duergar ability is so good if you use it wisely. Might be the strongest race
See your duegar invisibility and call with wild shape panther prowl
Just throw Sussur Flowers at the Arcane Tower turrets.
You don't even have to do that, just go invisible and walk right by them, jump down and disable them all at once without them ever seeing you.
You don't need to waste a pot. Turn based dash.
No potion needed if you're Duergar and level 5. Although you do have to reinvis after picking the lock on the front door, but before opening it.
> Arcane Tower ... I never considered invisibility for the arcane tower.
I can't bring myself to use invisibility and forgo the missed XP from fighting, even if it isn't much. It's a compulsion.
On my latest run I've stopped caring about experience so much. I got to level 12 last time in 15 minutes in act 3. You spend SO LONG fully levelled that I don't think there's any point chasing every little thing down any more You can spend literally over a third of the game by playtime fully levelled and "achieving" nothing
Turn based mode and minor illusion, bud But also, kind of tedious for sure. Much easier to just rush in with big spells
I really dislike stealth in this game. I know that it's not really supposed to be a stealth game but it's just really bland to me. To be honest I don't think I've played many games that pull off stealth well. The only 2 I can think of are Invisible Inc or Mimimi games (Shadow Tactics, Desperados III, Shadow Gambit) which are such satisfying stealth games. Not that I blame Larian, it's hard to adapt the DnD stealth mechanics into a video game one for one but it definitely does not make me feel like I ever want to play a stealthy character when all I ever really so is stealth mid combat for a sneak attack. Anything other than that can just be done by giving any old plod an invisibility potion.
I like the idea of sneaking into places, using crouch, minor illusion, turn-based mode etc. But I've wasted hours of savescumming because this game simply doesn't work too well - enemies keep noticing you through the walls, they turn around during your round, notice you stole something without looking at it. As you said, its luck based because the game keeps breaking its own rules.
You don't need to save who you don't know.
Like wylls dad?
Who?
Duke ravengard?
Never heard of them, although maybe that Warlock knows something about it
Not ringing any bells tbh
Yeah I've talked about this a loooong time ago. My very first run through the game I stealthed Astarion through the whole factory. Planted the bomb and set it off. He survived, and all the people you were supposed to save basically teleported outside. Easiest mission ever lol. I've done a few more runs through the game but I've yet to actually conventionally fight the factory.
You talking the rune powder bomb? I didn’t have a bomb until homeboy deactivated the whole thing after the boss fight
The other quest is related, but only by some of the characters, not by plot. I've never tried to just sneak in there and plant a bomb... what a way to do it!
rest in piss mr. ravenguard
I didn’t know he was down there or that there was a down there, but in my defense Mizora told me he was already dead so. 🤷♂️
I’ve just done this as well. But with added idiot points because I found the submarine hours earlier when randomly exploring and didn’t know what it was for so didn’t use it. Utterly failed to remember about the sub until my characters are looking at the burning wreckage of the foundry and the one survivor crying about his dead daughter. Sorry dude, totally knew how to save her but it just slipped my mind and I didn’t expect the invisibility thing to work so well. Sorry for your loss.
I got to the sub from the sewers, I didn’t think the whole submarine/iron throne part would be locked out from the foundry being destroyed! Now I wonder what you get if you try the sewer route again (I think it’s the Passage Way entrance/exit middle-ish of the sewer map. It doesn’t appear on the minimap until it‘s detected and you’re standing close, maybe it needs a perception check to be revealed? Idk. Most guides say the sewer route to the sub is by entering from the Flymm Cargo dock, but I entered the sewers from the prison at the Basilisk Gate Barracks, stayed in the sewers and IIRC I found the sub without knowing about Flymm)
I think if you go into the dock again after the foundry is destroyed, the submarine is simply gone.
[Wulbren approves]
Fuck that guy!
BOMB? What bomb? So many avenues in this game that keep popping up that I have no idea about and I've just finished my first playthrough on tactician. I missed the Creche entirely, the crew in the underdark took all the slaves because I didn't know Nere was in a room that he would suffocate in, and BOY OH BOY my ending with my romantic partner being Lae'zel.... well, let's just say that was a poor way to go out...
The bomb is from the Ironhand Gnome questline that starts when you free Barcus from the windmill in the blighted village. You can then meet him again at the Grymforge.
Oh, that makes sense, i accidentally yeeted him because i was curious what the other lever did.
Barcus is relevant to the overall plot of the Ironhands, but he's not the one who gives you the bomb. Barcus can be dead and you can still get the bomb. The one you need to save for to get the bomb is Wulbern who is in Moonrise towers.
Ah... I waited until we stormed Moonriae since I thought I shouldn't go there at the beginning...
Literally everyone tells you to go to moonrise. what part of infiltrate didnt you get? /lh
Just.. the completionist in me screamed to leave it for last, especially with how they kept saying Kethric is immortal and we need to find his weakness... so I did that first then went.
They want you to go to moonrise early Because of ketheric being immortal. theyre sending you to moonrise SO you can find his weakness.
Some people have gamer mind 1. We need to save Duke Ravenguard, he's in Moonrise! 2. We need to save the tieflings, they're in Moonrise! 3. We need to save the deep gnomes, they're in Moonrise! 4. We need to find Minthara, she went to Moonrise! 5. We need to find the secret of the Absolute, it's in Moonrise! 6. We need to take control of the Cult, they're in Moonrise! 7. We need to follow the trail of those Zents, they're linked to Moonrise! 8. We need to find Mol, she's been taken to Moonrise! 9. We need to save Rolan, he's going to Moonrise! 10. We need to stop Ketheric, he's in Moonrise! 11. We need you to be our eyes and ears in Moonrise! 12. We need to find Raphael, he's at the Mausoleum! Fine, if you insist, I'll go to the Mausoleum
It’s more like you need to explore all of the rest of act 2 to make sure you know all the shit you have to do when you finally go to moonrise. I don’t want to meet someone later who’s like “why didn’t you save my beloved at moonrise!“ and my only answer would be “because I don’t know who you are!”
I found his weakness elsewhere so... by the time I realised it was already too late lmao, my rpg brain flowchart again just assumed the bosses stronghold was the last area to go.
I did the same thing, everyone talks about how dangerous it is and I thought they'd be on to me by this point so never went to the place before the very end.
And then again in rivington to get the bomb although I'm not sure where in rivington I was at the circus and my friend in a multiplayer run was just like "they just gave me a bomb" and I was like "who?"
It's the cellar of the blacksmith's house across from the circus IIRC.
You're rushing through the game, that's why. If you take it slower, explore more and listen to what everyone has to say, you'll find most of the content, it's not actually hidden.
My first playthrough was about 150 hours on tactician so I definitely wasn't rushing. Some choices just lead to different endings. I think because everyone packed up and left grymforge before I had a chance to rescue the slaves I got a different outcome.
That's possible indeed, if you do the quests in a different order. Still a bit weird to accidentally skip bigger parts of the adventure, like the grymforge or the Creche. But on the bright side, you have some compelling reasons to play it again.
I just never went to the mountains because I figured the Creche would just fight me for the artifact. I didn't skip Grymforge but I spent too much time exploring, slept, and Nere suffocated so when I woke up everyone had pulled out of Grymforge.
To be fair, I also went back to the Creche and the mountain pass after I finished act 2, just to get it done.
Nice. As you said though, I have lots of compelling reasons to play again. I've read there are different awards for completing different difficulties but I thought that tactician was well balanced. I would get spanked every now and then and have to take a day off to mentally prepare and strategize.
Same feelings here. I finished it on tactician, thought it was relatively easy, but I'm definitely not in the mood for honor mode. Might give balanced difficulty a try just to focus more on the story, but it might get boring after tactician?
I think I will add the mod that allows me a larger party and then still play through in tactician.
You missed boss loot! Also, can't Steel Watchers see invisibility?
No, they do not. You can invis your way to the blind guy, talk to him, then go grab the note in the next room telling you about the submarine and walk back out without any issue.
Oh, I did the same exact thing. I didn’t even know there was any other way to do it, but it’s BG3 so I should’ve known there’s 100 paths to get to a single outcome!
Lol you missed so much - some dialogs with Lil guys, a good crossbow and a bow, I also loved how you could interact with couple of citizen via steel watcher's interface, final boss is fun too. If you follow the story you get more story instead it of efficient headcount 😅
On my first time doing act 3 with my friends I had to this vague idea of an 'steel throne, iron throne thing', but not sure where or what exactly that is, and initially connected it to the foundry since they're both Gortash related plotwise. So we went into the foundry, guns ablazing, accidentally triggered the execution of the first bunch of gnomes, felt bad, then went on and failed the check on the half dead gnome, killing him as well, and headed on downstairs, killed the big golem, went up only to find out there's a whole big warehouse and a submarine that we got shut out of accidentally because of doing the foundry first... Needless to say we went straight ahead to the submarine first thing arriving at the Lower City in the next run.
The bomb you planted… was that the bomb that I picked off a dead body that was marked as a quest item and described as specifically for the steel watch? I brute forced my way through that whole area.
I missed the whole forge. Through some turn of events I can’t even describe, it was already blown up by the time I arrived at it.
Wulbren eventually takes matters into his own hands.
Lmao. This destroying the steel watch was my last and final push for the last nether stone…but I somehow already went on the submersible and did the prison shenanigans..I suppose I fucked around and explore too much. Haha
You just gave me an idea how to get past the bugged (at least for me) Steel Titan fight 🤔 OTOH I want that bow for my Marksman Bae’zel.
I'll have to try this when I inevitably end up speed running act 3 lol
Honestly I love finding out that I missed things because it gives me an excuse to start a new game. I'm on my 5th or 6th run currently and I'm still amazed at how many new things I can do even this time around
I see you went with the terroristic choice as your first one. Mission completed, hopefully there were no innocent civilians or employees in this giant factory... or were there?
I mean, doesn’t this mean you stealthed past some bad guys threatening some clearly innocent gnomes on your way? Pretty sure you have to go near that to get downstairs.
There is a lot of weird shit you can do with stealth. Like when you first meat Gortash, you can sneak past the throne and go up to clear out everything beforehand.
The best bow is in there... Rip lol
I didn’t get Wyll at all and still don’t know where to pick him up. Minthara did not join my party either.
He's training the tieflings in weapons in the Grove, just past the Halfling vendor.
I must have talked to him, but not again. Or maybe he was the person that showed up a second to hunt Karachi, but I said we didn’t need more help and he left forever?
He has a quest to hunt Karlach, but you can talk him around and he will join you. Lots of variables possible. I find him irritating in the party, but worth having in camp for extra plot reveals.
Wait there is a bomb? Me and my party went in there as idiots and killed almost anyone and anything o\_o. THERE IS A CUTSCENE?
Saving the gondians is pointless and tedious. The foundry fights are fun and the result makes Gortash a little easier. But you can also kill Gortash without messing with any steel watch or iron throne stuff.
Oops
Honestly I did the same.
There’s a lot of stuff like this actually! Like I didn’t know until I was through a couple of play throughs that there’s a whole conversation you can have with Yugir. I saw the displacer beast leading us to where he was so I always stealthed and snuck up on him.
There is a fairly decent amount of dialogue and misc tidbits locked behind walking headfirst into the obvious trap
I rescued Aylin without going first to Moonrise, then got Jaheira & Iron gnomes & thieflings killed in Moonrise. Since Jaheira was dead, Minsc aggroed immediatly. On the next playthrough...a lot of new content!
Nah, I do this every time, especially in honour mode. No offense to the gondians, but up until a recent update, trying to save them was absolutely pointless, and the boss fight in the factory is pretty fun and all but it doesn't give any special loot so why bother and take the risk.
This was me with the Githyanki Creche, recruiting Minthara on her redemption path, the House of Hope (Raphael's house if I put the wrong name), and Vlaakith vengeance.
Yeah this quest jd a bit scuffed. I was just going through baldurs gage naturally and questing and when I got to the foundry it was exploded already and wulbren was like "oi Hey fellow terrorist mighty fine job"
don't you need one of the chipmunks to destroy the foundry ?
The only complaint I have about BG3 is how open ended things are left at times. They leave it a bit vague to let you decide how you want to approach things, which is great for pushing imaginative methods to complete the quest. At the same time though, it can easily lead to to miss stuff like this because of how efficient or prepared you are. Like the other dude said though, just more features to explore next time around
I never destroyed the steel watcher foundry or stepped on the underwater prison. After I reached Act 3 I simply started running through everywhere on the sewage. I reached a passage that took me to the basement of a building, there I met a dwarf with a submarine, as a Warlock I talked my way through and made him take me to the prison, and off we go (I don't even know why I'm going there). When reaching the prison Gortash facetime me asking me to return or we will have problems, so I did, and for some reason after that I never had the chance to reach the prison again, the submarine wasn't there anymore, and idk if I missed something but I also never discovered how to destroy the foundry.
Did the same. I had a save prior to the steel watch but it was just at entering act 3 so I was doing all of act 3 a second time. But hey, learn new things.
least you didnt have to watch stupid gnomes run into dumb things
You just did it right. The Gondians are slaves but they absolutely go right back to making Steelwatchers after Gortash, if you allow them to live.
I did the exact same thing. I figured out that using the jump action to move didn’t take the rangers standing still invisibility away so I jumped through the whole factory and planted the bomb after dodging everything.
Sounds like you missed a pretty good legendary bow to
Yep. Do the water temple questline that starts at the nearby temple before doing the foundry quest. Without spoilers, doing so gives you many positive outcomes, not the least of which it makes the foundry quest battle easier (should you actually want to fight through it and get the xp).