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Post by Davrin's boobs on Mar 13, 2024 22:03:07 GMT
I would totally fuck the evil out of Sarevok til he would be of neutral alignment again, he would not need Bhaal anymore, just Bussy  |
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Post by mediocreogre on Mar 14, 2024 21:17:19 GMT
Githyanki are in theory so cool (spacefaring immortals originally created by George RR Martin basically lol) and this game is the closest to making them cool in representation but I still don’t really find them hot. Especially the men lol. It’s weird cause in theory I should like them. Maybe it’s the idea of laying eggs. Their mushroom gnome acid trip troll doll hair cuts are also kinda not helpful.
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Post by farferello on Mar 14, 2024 22:48:25 GMT
I'm working my way through Act 3 on my new character, doing companion quests before I continue. I just did Gale's and, not gonna lie, there's something very hot about seeing him be so aggressive on the War path against Mystra. It's morally wrong for sure, but working towards God!Gale definitely has its moments. 👀 This run I decided to do a 'let the companions make whatever choice they want' path.
After my Tiefling freed himself from Bhaal, I knew I was going have him support Gale in his quest for Godhood so I decided he'd be very much in favour in supporting everyone else in their companion quest decisions with letting them choose for themselves (hello Ascended!Astarion.) I supported Shadowheart and she spared the Nightsong, I did what I could with Lae'zel in letting her pick. The only real problem has been Wyll. He won't pick a choice himself when it comes to choosing between his pact and his father you have to do it for him which is annoying. But, considering I'm freeing everyone else of their God, or Master, I had him break his pact. At least later once you rescue Ravengard/deal with the Dragon you can let Wyll pick between Blade/Duke but it's still annoying that something as important as breaking his pact or saving his father is only player choice.
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Post by Lee on Mar 15, 2024 2:41:19 GMT
it's still annoying that something as important as breaking his pact or saving his father is only player choice. Ugh yeah, and it's the one choice in the game that I hate making the most! That should be his choice, and I don't want to pick for him.  |
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Post by farferello on Mar 15, 2024 10:34:54 GMT
Continuing to let companions make their choices and Shadowheart just straight up yeets her parents huh. Well, I've at least now seen both with and without parents.
As for the above about Gith. IDK what Larian did with them. The female Gith aren't too bad but I find the guys straight up hideous face wise. (The bodies ick me a little though I do understand why they look that way lore wise and everything.) But the guys just... idk, they definitely look off compared to the female heads. Though, that said, even with mods that add new heads (that are still Gith looking, not just elf heads with normal noses but spikey ears) I still struggle to try and make one I like. I think even if I did make one I liked I'd probably still struggle to play as one considering their dialogue options are mostly antagonistic. I'd likely end up skipping most [Githyanki] options just because I can't play an asshole like that. (Lolth Drow get a surprising amount of non asshole lines which is nice and makes one much easier for me to play.)
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Post by farferello on Mar 15, 2024 22:06:39 GMT
Another update, getting close to finishing the game. (I paused at the allies tower thing at end game after being sad that Gale's kiss there is apparently bugged and doesn't play.) So, in my 'let the companions do as they please' run, I let Astarion Ascend. Gale tried twice to stop him which was pretty funny considering he's on the God path and has no moral standing to bitch about what Astarion does. Wyll chose to become Blade of Avernus when I let him pick. Lae'zel I kind of ignored (she was on the Orpheus path) because I don't do the Orpheus ending (idk if they changed it since I first tried it but I am still salty that the game acted like I was the Mindflayer instead of Karlach and so I refuse to do that ending on sheer principle.) I also did some quest order shenanigans. I was rather upset to find that the Gortash Insight narration involving DUrge when you ally with him that was added in patch 6 was apparently removed in hotfix 19 because I got the boring basic bitch old narration. I'm happy I discovered that now instead of when I play my (head canon) DUrge who allies with him. I also found that allying with him and moving the quest along to meet him at the Morphic Pool completely negates anything bad when it comes to the Foundry/Iron Throne. I was able to free the Gondion's/Wyll's father, and blow up the factory and he was still totally chill with me when we met at the Morphic Pool.  This will probably be the way I do future runs honestly. I know trash husbando is gonna die regardless but at least I don't have to be the one to do it anymore. |
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Post by Davrin's boobs on Mar 16, 2024 4:59:02 GMT
I posted this in bg3 reddit, a guide to max Minthara's approval in a good/neutral run, posting it here just in case you guys want it! My future me is going to need it when I play my canon character again in preparations for BG4 haha Guide to max Minthara's approval in a good/neutral run, NO ROMANCE!
First if you are roleplaying a Paladin or some righteous by the book character, I dont think some dialogue choices of this guide or even Minthara will fit that kind of character, but it’s all about you and your headcanon so why not? My canon character was neutral good sarcastic warlock so there’s room for some flexibility (Saying that you will take over the Absolute with Minthara was my warlock’s way of being a real neutral sarcastic bastard lol also lots of approval points!). Of course this is my take to max her approval choosing good/neutral options, opinions can vary of course! I just went through a lot of metagaming headache and I thought I could do this for other people that are in the situation I was with this character (I dont like playing evil so this is the only way I could see her content properly)
There are several good/neutral approval points you can get early in Act 2 but that would imply taking the evil path to get them such killing the tieflings or doing the drider patrol first, some points: refusing Jaheira’s drink, helping the hyena, convince the drider to leave without the lantern, saying Isobel that Marcus is a true soul, etc. But in a Good run those moments already happened once you save Minthara in Moonrise Towers. This guide is only for those who chose the good path and join the harpers patrol after saving Isobel.
ACT 2
+5 At camp, when she remembers what she did while serving the Absolute choose “To Lose your free will and be forced to kill. That must be horrible.”
+1 Defeating Gerringothe Thorm through dialogue.
+5 Succeeding all the checks with Thisobald Thorm (three drinks, two stories)
+2 Persuade Malus Thorm to have the Sisters kill each other and then persuade Malus kill himself.
+1 Helping the gnolls in the kitchen of Moonrise Towers.
+1 When talking to Zrell after Minthara's trial, pass a check if you chose to spare the goblins.
+1 Persuade Balthazar to give you the bell to summon Flesh (According to wikia, I didn't do this) or steal Mother Dearest and with her in your inventory say: "What happened to your mother?" -> "Actually, I have your mother." -> "No, I think I'll keep her." (sorry this is just the most chaotic neutral trolling ever I HAD to do it, fuck Balthazar)
+1 Convince Nessa to help you against Yurgir, saying her meat is magically dosed.
+1 Agree to help Shadowheart with her trials when interacting with the Pedestal of Reckoning.
+1 Tell Ketheric Thorm that seeing your enemies cowed never gets old.
Now you need to bring Minthara with you to Act 2 boss fight, this is mandatory to get a big chunk of approval with her after the fight. In the Mind Flayer Colony there will be a -1 if you save the people in the pods (I havent tried it but if she is far away in another room maybe she wont notice, I took the -1 point for this guide) you can gain that point back if you tell the hard truth to the “Fresh Mind” that she is not going to wake up. EDIT. I just tested it and it worked, no point lost!
+20 When she is in Ketheric’s throne choose the following dialogues: We make a good team -> Once she's dead, the cult will need new leadership, perhaps we can take her place -> i'm with you -> I want revenge on those who did this to me. Approval should be at 49.
+1 Ask "You respected him?" when discussing Ketheric's death.
+6 When talking about the time she invaded Moonrise, choose: "Pride can be a great weakness" or ""Understanding. Ketheric gave you the welcome you felt you deserved." (same points, it's your choice)" and "You'll have your revenge".
+1 When talking to Jaheira after killing Ketheric, ask her if she is having fun, then tell her that you're "having the time of your life."
+6 At camp, when she asks you to see your thoughts (this is a romance conversation) say yes without questioning why "Only if I can see your thoughts as well" -> then "I'm flattered". Tell her you see her as friend (This guide is only for a non-romance good/neutral path, if you romance her it will be a lot of easier to max her out)
ACT 3
(You should have 63 approval points by this time)
+5 Tell her that you will let her use the Astral-Touched Tadpole. (It's her choice after all)
+1 Tell to the strange ox “It takes worse than a bit of gore to turn my gullet” IMPORTANT: If you go to the city before talking to the ox, he will disappear.
+2 Offer Yenna help to find a guard and then giving food or some money to her.
+3 Choose “It's only fair thar they should earn their keep.” after helping Yenna. (True neutral dialogue choice in my opinion).
+1 Telling Nestor that you will take a donation. (Dismiss Minthara and make the donation after being a sarcastic jester lol).
+1 Use persuasion to extort the postmaster in the “finding the missing letters” quest. (He has shady business with the Zhentarim, fuck him!)
+3 Getting in jail in Rivington and talk with the talking skull, use persuasion "You talk like a drunk poet" and then choose the correct answers: shadow and anvil. (Minthara needs to be near, as well as other companions)
+2 In the Circus of the Last Days, you can get several points in different ways, I got 2 by letting Minsc getting to the stage (I needed Minsc points at that time and I got +2 with Minthara so it was a win win for me), the combination is up to you.
+1 Reject helping Manip Falcäo.
+1 Getting access to Wyrm's Rock Fortress gives you 1 point, no matter how you do it as far I know.
+1 Convince Arkleia Oloril to trade with you.
+1 Say that you should not trust the Steel Watchers because they will turn on everyone while talking to Lord Amber's Bodyguard, Lady Durinbold's Attendant and Lord Shattershield's Attendant.
+1 When asking her if she has seen anything like the Steel Watchers before, tell her you wish you had such devices of your own. (They would be so handy, at least until you find out how they are made yikes!)
+1 Successfully lie to Aradin when he asks you about the Nightsong in Sorcerous Sundries. Or fail the check and say at camp that you are going to enjoy chopping his head off for an extra point!
+1 Telling Scratch he is where he belongs, if you didnt let Mar'hyah take him. (there's +1 if you let her and then open his cage but I wouldnt do that even if someone pays me lol)
+2 Resist the madness when accepting the monk's curse after delivering his amulet, she will disapprove but if you pass the checks she will approve again.
+1 When talking about Menzoberranzan, tell her that her upbringing made her strong.
+3 Buy a Baldur's Mouth Gazette copy and ask her what she would do if she ran the paper.
+1 Intimidate Helsik to keep the gauntlets of hill giant strength (Fuck you Helsik!)
+5 +1 Let Orin kidnaps her and then after the battle at camp choose: “You sound disheartened” and “You're nothing like Orin”. If she is not kidnapped she only gives +3. Your choice!
There are like 2 or 3 points in different parts of the game that I dont remember now how I got them (I didnt do Helsik’s gauntlets or convinced Arkleia with Minthara in the party, thats for sure) but with all the above you have about 100 approval points without need to be evil.
Sorry for the rough guide, english is not even my language and sometimes I copy'd and paste'd text from the wikia haha (aint nobody have time for that!) |
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Post by farferello on Mar 16, 2024 12:54:04 GMT
I finished my God!Gale romance run. I think it's going to be very hard for me to ever do his romance on a different character/path to this one. I should have done a Professor!Gale run first to see the proposal cutscene because I really rather enjoy the romance this way quite a lot. It was also my first time seeing Ascended!Astarion at the epilogue party outside of a romance and he's definitely scarier on a non romance run. The other companions all seemed pretty happy though regardless. I might take a little break and then try to decide which character to play next as I have a few planned. |
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Post by mediocreogre on Mar 18, 2024 3:44:17 GMT
I’ve been working on reverse engineering special effects for spells. I can copy what is in the game fine but if I want something a bit more unique I can’t even really Frankenstein something together reliably. But then I needed to do a bunch of spring cleaning now that I am not buried in snow so basically all I accomplished is a bunch of mess extracted files on my desktop lol
But I did make a green swirly toggleable light spell.
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Post by farferello on Mar 21, 2024 18:44:24 GMT
GDC PanelLooks like we're not getting dlc, or a BG4, at least not from Larian. Kind of expected as I keep hearing they're working on some sort of space game but still a shame.
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Post by Davrin's boobs on Mar 21, 2024 21:14:20 GMT
that is literally so scary  wtf speaks volumes of Larian though, they must be so fed up of WotC's bullshit lol I hope DOS3 is in the same vibe of BG3 but without licensing limitations. But I'm so scared about BG4, no way WotC is not going to milk more games, and I'm so scared about future gay content siiigh, well no need to be worried about it now but man IS SCARY |
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Post by mediocreogre on Mar 21, 2024 23:04:45 GMT
The DnD bubble is kinda bursting too with Critical Roll moving away toward its own game (and most of its audience probably). Probably a good thing not to deal with that IP anymore though it is a shame. It would be better for Larian to not fall into the early BW trap and get stuck licensing IP.
WoTC and Hasboro are notoriously terrible to work with.
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Post by farferello on Mar 24, 2024 16:29:08 GMT
I've started a new Cleric run for Halsin, but I was playing around on the Astarion run I'd started before. At a friends advice I let him kill me when he was having his midnight snack and I did have to cackle in the following cutscene having a black screen and just hearing his 'oh no, someone's been hurt' shout was funnier than it should have been. I purposefully made him resurrect my ass. I didn't punch him but I was tempted just for his sass lol. I did however like that I could confront him during his proposition scene when he tried to make it sound transactional essentially 'I killed you so let's have sex so I can make it up to you.' Which my DUrge called him out on because wtf bro.
Obviously his attitude about it will make sense in act 2 with the confession scene but ooof it made my heart hurt. I still went ahead with it obviously as idk if rejecting the night together will block the romance - but I did let him bite during the scene as a sort of 'I'm trusting you to not kill me. Again.' Moment.
I have always passed the dialogue rolls before so never got to see what happens if you fail them (I mean, I knew he'd kill you I just didn't know how the following morning, and the propositioning romance scene would go.) I need to go back to my Cleric though. He's my first non DUrge in forever but his background wouldn't work for a DUrge and Halsin doesn't get the extra content for a resist one in Act 2 anyway. Which is a shame because I can only imagine how sweet and kind he would have been during it. We were robbed in him not becoming a romance until act 3. |
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Post by farferello on Mar 26, 2024 19:40:20 GMT
IGN ArticleAstarion was originally a Tiefling in the early days, and Ketheric was supposed to be a companion, or at least sit in camp as a sort of advisor. Though that was likely before they changed the whole Nightsong and Isobel plot. It is probably why it still feels weird when you play and can start to talk him down and then Aylin rushes in to ruin everything. You were supposed to have an entire visit to Hell. Vlaakith’s Palace, and I keep on forgetting, Tu'narath, the Gith plane. We were going to go to the city, Candlekeep, where the original Baldur's Gate 1 started.It's an interesting read. Though Wizards now owning the characters makes me very nervous about how they could bastardize them if we ever got a BG4 created by someone else.
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Post by mediocreogre on Mar 28, 2024 13:15:11 GMT
Plus Wizards is not the same Wizards that Sven worked with/liked. They fired all their staff that were responsible for narrative and story dev, thanks to Hasboro, so Sven/Larian’s contacts/support in Wizards during bg3 dev are gone and maybe they’ll never return. Wizards in general has not done a lot of story content for 5e (which ends in 2025 for 6e) and that’s cause that’s the first full Hasboro edition and basically they’ve done a few things in Faerun of consequence but it’s mostly side settings or small stories with no development.
If bg3 hadn’t happened then basically 5E would have been a dead edition with no memorable stories (Critical Role seasons 1-3 are in an alternate world loosely based off pathfinder world lol cause that’s what they played not 5e until that recorded so Taldor from Pathfinder became… wait for it…. Taldorei, Wow Matt Mercer).
So if Hasboro demands a bg4 it would be awful. All the talent is gone, Larian won’t do it, and even Matt Mercer will be gone. I knew a few wizards hires who got culled as well. It was brutal.
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Post by farferello on Apr 1, 2024 18:07:24 GMT
Has anyone recently done a run where either Karlach, or Orpheus become the Mindflayer? If so, does the game (like the Fist guards you meet and can get to help, or when you give the speech to your allies) still treat it as if your character is the Mindflayer instead of either of them? The one time I did the Orpheus option with mindflayer Karlach, the game treated it as if my DUrge was the Mindflayer in dialogue, and that really put me off ever making that decision again.
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Post by Lee on Apr 2, 2024 2:07:45 GMT
Has anyone recently done a run where either Karlach, or Orpheus become the Mindflayer? If so, does the game (like the Fist guards you meet and can get to help, or when you give the speech to your allies) still treat it as if your character is the Mindflayer instead of either of them? The one time I did the Orpheus option with mindflayer Karlach, the game treated it as if my DUrge was the Mindflayer in dialogue, and that really put me off ever making that decision again. I wasn't playing a durge when I made Karlach a mindflayer, but there was no oddities for me. |
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Post by farferello on Apr 2, 2024 14:05:19 GMT
Instead of playing my other planned characters I ended up replaying my Astarionmance run now I've found a modded head I really like for my DUrge and replaying through, I can really notice the differences in the romance since I first did it on full release. I'm really not sure why Larian decided they needed to tweak the cutscenes and facial expressions 6+ months post release. Even with them slightly unnerfing the changes, the Ascended romance scene is still censored compared to how it originally was and now I'm doing a full run I really don't get the idea behind the kiss changes. Everything Astarion does/says before and after the kiss is exactly the same. Same with Tav/DUrge. You happily ask for a kiss with a big smile and then a second later you're looking terrified. Astarion is all happy to kiss you and a second later he's gripping your throat. As soon as the kiss ends you're both back to being happy and smiling and it just gives me massive whiplash. For one thing, if Astarion really is this abusive now, then why the hell would he show his hand this early? Why terrify your character with abusive kisses when he has zero control over them yet because of the tadpole. Why would Tav/DUrge keep going back for the kisses. I only ever do the kisses at camp because it feels awkward to do them publicly so like... Gale is stood right next to you and witnessing Astarion biting/slapping and telling you to get on your knees (same with Karlach) and they do nothing about it?  It feels even more random because before they changed the kisses they added the Epilogue where Ascended!Astarion is thrilled for everyone to see you thriving together and he mentions how you share power and your palace and you're both clearly happy and in love so it makes the kiss change even more questionable. Honestly, if they wanted him to be abusive then they should have gone the distance with it, make everything abusive and cruel, instead, as it is, there's just this weird tonal disconnect with what we're shown. Also, idk why they did it this way anyway because if you never do the kisses then you never see this abusive content so we're back to square one of the two of you being a happy vampire power couple in the epilogue and it's baffling. It's also baffling because Minthara is still there and still evil. Hell, in the epilogue she suggests poisoning everyone at the party - this is fine. You can help Gale become a God and this is rewarded by him ascending you to be at his side. I really don't get why you're only punished if you decide to go this route with Astarion. (I mean yeah, Justicar!Shadowheart breaks up with you, but that's... still healthier than it could have been.) Most of all I still don't understand why they decided to do this several months after the game released. Like, I get him enjoying the power and dominance, and the kisses would mostly be fine (still cringe at pulling Gale into the kink with the kneeling kiss right next to him) if they hadn't forced Tav/DUrge to have a terrified face during the kiss. I just can't help but question it as them trying to force some weird abuse narrative onto the player. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer Spawn!Astarion but for this character it made more sense to let him Ascend. Not for power but because he loves him and naively did what he thought was best for him. (That and it makes me sad thinking about Spawn!Astarion eventually losing Tav/DUrge because of the life span difference. Especially if you're not playing an Elf that at least has a longer life span.) Rant over. I'm gonna go back to ignoring the dumb kisses and finish this run before Larian does anything else to make it worse. Edit: I've now finished the game/party and the epilogue just makes the kiss change even dumber. 'We share power, our palace, and live eternal in each others arms. What more could anyone want.' Is the gist of what he says at the party - so why the shit is he abusive in the kisses prior to this, and nowhere else. It's either poorly implemented, half done, or done randomly for the sake of it whilst everything else is ignored. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Edit 2: A reject Bhaal DUrge does indeed keep Ascended!Ast uncontrolled (though to be fair, when I was testing this reload, Gale, and Shadowheart didn't exactly look mind controlled either ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) but knowing this will making my au Gortash simp run even better.  I'mma put that bastard hobo man on the Throne with my DUrge at his side and the carnage will be glorious. Though I will do the achievements for the Unholy Assassin/Bhaal ending first and then reload back to reject Bhaal instead. One day I will use my mod shenanigans and character swaps for good rather than evil. |
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Post by mediocreogre on Apr 3, 2024 14:01:42 GMT
They’ve felt free to explore a lot with Astarion they weren’t comfortable with for other characters, like how they bent over backward to make Lae’Zel and Shart nicer in EA.
And as much as I like Larian I do think keeping in mind that for whatever reason Astarion they felt freer to be more contentious with (in some ways making him arguably the face of the game but also the single character I think a huge number of people personally kill). I also think he’s the only character that has a truly complex end state system. For the others it’s kinda flat, I.e. thing happens and everything is the same toward our PC (Wyll, Good Lae’Zel, good Shart, Gale, etc) or something happens and the character dies or becomes a disconnected from our character (ascended Kae’zel, bad shart).
So I’ll be keeping in mind that for their next games.
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Post by farferello on Apr 3, 2024 14:11:42 GMT
It's just baffling still, more so that they felt the need to make this change several months later. It feels like they're just slapping you on the hand with a 'you made the wrong choice now suffer for it' when it comes to Ascending Astarion, only they decided to punish you for said decision several months too late. You can have a fully supportive evil romance with Minthara, but if you want an evil (or even just naively in love and making bad decisions) romance with Astarion, you're punished for it. I know a lot of people who did full on evil playthroughs have had their romance of choice somewhat ruined whilst others still get to have the evil female romance just fine. Mostly I just question them deciding to make such big changes post release. Like sure, re-write Gale, and Wyll during early access, make Lae'zel, and Shadowheart less frosty in early access - it's early access, things change. But to do so 6+ months after the game has fully released is questionable. I mostly feel sorry for those who did his romance, had the kisses changed on them, and are now being triggered by the kisses because it reminds them of their own past abuse in real life. I've seen so many distraught people who have been messed up by these kiss changes. It's astounding that Larian decided this was a good change and worse, had one of these kisses for their Valentine celebration post.  |
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This will probably be the way I do future runs honestly. 
wtf
