Larian Studios has rolled out Patch 5 for Baldur’s Gate 3, another massive update for its critically acclaimed RPG that not only adds the usual performance tweaks and bug fixes, but also new game modes, epilogue gameplay, and much more.
Here are some of the highlights of the new patch that Larian shared, while the full release notes for Patch 5 can be found on the official Baldur’s Gate 3 site:
- Epilogue: An entirely new section at the end of the game after the defeat of the the Netherbrain that aims to provide a well-deserved sense of closure with your allies.
- Two new play modes: Honour Mode and Custom Mode.
- Many performance improvements, particularly in Act III.
- Added dynamic resolution for PS5.
- Players playing on machines with low VRAM/RAM should see improved performance.
- The game is now available in Korean!
- While at camp, you can now access and manage the inventories of companions who aren’t in your active party.
- Added a brand new fight in Ramazith’s Tower if you betray Nightsong there.
- Orin’s outfit now drops as loot and is wearable by anyone. We also gave it a suitably disgusting description and name.
In a separate post, Larian has offered more specifics as to what Baldur’s Gate 3 players should find after installing the new patch, with Epilogues, in particular, offering what appears to be quite a bit of new content, including what is said to be 3,589 lines of extra dialog:
You’ll experience new cinematics that reflect the arc of your story, reunite with your companions to reminisce and trade tales, read letters sent by old friends, and keep abreast of the latest Baldur’s Gate news with updates in the Baldur’s Mouth Gazette. Not sure where you put Scratch’s ball? You can play a game of fetch using the Astral Prism instead – the Forbidden Squeaky.
…there’s new music from Bobby, brand new faces at camp, and a special cinematic ending for Gale and Lae’zel depending on your choices along the way.
And as for Baldur Gate 3’s newest game modes, Honour Mode is an even higher, hardcore difficulty mode that changes up boss fights and more, with the chance to score a special item, while Custom Mode exists for those who want to tweak their experience at an even finer level:
Honour Mode
Honour Mode ups the intensity of what was previously our most challenging mode – Tactician – and not only makes the game more difficult in and out of combat, but also introduces over 30 new tweaks to all of Baldur’s Gate 3’s boss-fights, with a new Legendary Action system designed to catch players off-guard and increase the challenge. Now, bosses can perform new actions, adding twists and turns to all major fights throughout the game.
When you inevitably die in Honour Mode, you’ll be presented with statistics from your journey, including how long and how far you survived. Should you so choose, you can continue your adventure, which will then disable Honour Mode. But players who do manage to complete the entire game with Honour Mode enabled without dying will be awarded the coveted Golden D20.
The Golden D20 stands as a testament to your gaming skill, earning you such admiration that people may willingly kneel before you, offering to serve as a footrest while you continue your awesome pursuits of being a hardcore gamer.
Custom Mode
Those of you who aren’t gluttons for punishment (or perhaps want to push gameplay to its limits) may enjoy Custom Mode, a new game mode that allows you to pick and choose the type of experience best for you. With many options to pick from, a few favourites include the option to hide the required roll to succeed dice checks, which gives a more realistic D&D experience, as well as the ability to hide enemy HP in battle, again more closely simulating the tabletop style.
Other options in Custom Mode include Short Rests fully healing the party, as well as disabling Death Saving Throws, or even the ability to hide failed Perception Checks, which means you’ll never know there was even a roll to begin with!
Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now on PS5 and PC via Steam, while an Xbox version should be out by the end of 2023.
📜Performance Improvements And Much More!
— Larian Studios (@larianstudios) November 30, 2023
❤️🔥We’ve had a look under the hood and reduced memory leaks, RAM/VRAM use, and other optimizations.
📃There's a lot more in Patch 5 than in this thread. For more information, check out the patch notes here: https://t.co/OVNeIzfpZd pic.twitter.com/tBphywRMmK