Larian Studios has announced a delay for the closed beta of Baldur's Gate 3's seventh patch, blaming a peculiar bug that has left passive dice rolls, a fundamental game mechanic, non-functional.
The issue, likened to a Dungeon Master abruptly tossing dice out the window during a tabletop game, has led to a temporary halt in the beta testing. Larian is working diligently to unravel the cause of this unexpected malfunction, with the beta now anticipated to resume later this week.
Despite the setback, Larian has shared a sneak peek into the patch notes on Steam, offering reassurance that players can expect highly anticipated features like evil endings and a much-requested mod manager. The mod manager allows players to explore, install, and use community-created mods, opening a whole new world of customization and gameplay possibilities.
Patch 7 also brings significant improvements to split-screen gameplay. The screen will now dynamically merge or split based on the distance between player characters, offering a more seamless and immersive experience for co-op players.
Beyond the major features, the patch includes numerous tweaks and fixes across various aspects of the game. These include:
Honour Mode Enhancements:
Dror Ragzlin: Gains the "Arachnid Compulsion" spell, allowing him to control spiders in the spider pit, turning a potential threat into an unexpected ally.
Bulette: Receives a new condition "Diamond Scales" and a Legendary Action "Shredding Scales," enhancing its combat prowess.
Malus Thorm: Gets a new Legendary Action, "Grasping Appendage," bolstering its offensive capabilities.
Spectators: Introduced with a new aura "Panicked Sentinel" and a spell "Ocular Nightmare."
Githyanki: Multiple githyanki leaders, including Ch'r'ai Tska'an, Ch'r'ai Har'rak, and Ptaris, gain new Legendary Actions, making them more challenging adversaries.
UI Improvements:
Video Options: Reorganized and revamped for better clarity and accessibility.
Reactions UI: Simplified to streamline the selection and confirmation process.
Equipment Options Menu: Added to the Character Sheet for controller users.
Donation Panel: Updated to show items in the Traveler's Chest and indicate equipped items.
Action Renamed: The "Consume" action for soap and sponges is now called "Use," addressing a potential point of confusion.
Character Creation Fix: Player character name no longer reverts to "Custom" when editing after creating a Dream Guardian.
Level Up Fix: The wrong spell Ability no longer appears when selecting a Feat during Level Up.
Art and Visual Enhancements:
Loading Screen: A new loading screen depicting the bustling streets of Baldur's Gate has been added for Act III.
Armor Fixes: Issues with missing skirt parts for female dwarves wearing Adamantine Splint Armour and clipping problems for large male characters wearing Adamantine Scale Mail have been addressed.
Gameplay Tweaks and Fixes:
Custom Mode: Players can now start Custom Mode games with Honour Mode mechanics.
Kuo-toa Support: The Kuo-toa that promised to build an army will now actively assist in the final battle.
Gondian Support: Gondian support in the final battle will now arrive in the form of a Steel Watcher.
Character Creation: Hair color options remain accessible after choosing the bald hairstyle.
Overhead Dialogue: Now supports multiple player characters assigned to different players, enabling more banter in multiplayer games.
Group Hide: No longer affects summons not linked to the party.
Long Rest Supplies: The game now takes only what's needed from stacked supplies when selecting them for a Long Rest.
Leap of Faith Trial: Players can no longer exploit the trial by simply clicking the final platform.
Lae'zel Resurrect Bug: Fixed a bug where resurrecting Lae'zel on the beach in Act I would prevent players from leaving the act.
Gale's Necrotic Aura: Fixed a bug that caused Gale to retain his Necrotic Aura in some save games.
Minthara's Invisible Body: Fixed an issue that caused Minthara's body to disappear in the Level Up screen.
Animation Improvements:
Astarion Idle Animations: Astarion now has more diverse idle animations at camp.
Minsc Idle Animations: A new idle animation for Minsc at camp, possibly involving tai chi, has been added.
Karlach Animation: Karlach no longer brushes the shaved side of her head.
Shadowheart Kiss Animations: Polished neck kiss animations in scenes with Shadowheart for large body types and dragonborn characters.
Writing and Flow Adjustments:
Dialogue Reactivity: Added more dialogue options and voiced lines to improve reactivity and address edge cases.
Dark Urge Reactivity: Added more Dark Urge reactivity in dialogue options and Narrator lines.
Romance Banter: Resolved an issue that made some romance party banters inaccessible.
Avatar Lae'zel Choice: Lae'zel can now decide on her actions at the end of the game even if she wasn't the avatar making choices in the main dialogue.
Wyll's Epilogue Dialogue: Added a dialogue option asking for a kiss and improved Wyll's greeting for romance partners.
Companions' Sympathy: Companions are now more sympathetic to Astarion fleeing from the sun.
Karlach's Reaction: Added a new dialogue where Karlach reacts to Dammon if she finds him dead.
Minthara's Reaction: Minthara now reacts if the player knocks her out in Act I.
Scripting Fixes:
Eternal Slumber: Fixed multiple issues that caused characters to be trapped in an eternal slumber.
Shadowheart Dialogue Loop: Fixed a bug that caused Shadowheart to repeat the same line when resurrected.
Gale's Last Name: Fixed an issue that prevented the player from commenting on Gale's last name.
Wyll's Exclamation Mark: Fixed an issue where Wyll continued to have an exclamation mark above his head after revealing all his information.
Minthara's Bhaal Acceptance: Minthara no longer acts as if the player accepted Bhaal when they didn't.
Shadowheart Romance Scene: Fixed a broken kissing scene after giving Shadowheart the Idol of Shar.
Jaheira's Following: Fixed an issue that caused Jaheira to stop following the party after spending a night outside the party.
Nautiloid Rune Tablets: Fixed an issue where rune tablets on the nautiloid sometimes didn't trigger Narrator lines.
Lathanderian Recognition: Clerics of Lathander now recognize his symbol on a Lathanderian amulet.
Hag's Surrender: Ensured the avatar is the prioritized speaker in dialogues regarding the hag's surrender.
Minthara's Post-Death Dialogue: Minthara now has a dialogue after the player kills her.
Wyll Romance Scene: Made the romance scene with Wyll in Act III unskippable.
Wyll and Karlach Partnership: Wyll now acts accordingly in the epilogue if he and Karlach are partners.
Karlach Scene: Fixed an issue that prevented Karlach's scene from playing when the player chose to go with her as Wyll.
Wyll's Title: Wyll now talks to his father if the pact with Mizora is broken but Ravengard is saved, to decide on his title.
Lae'zel's Recruitment: Lae'zel now waits longer at the site of her recruitment if the player promises to return.
Lae'zel's Idle Behaviors: Improved Lae'zel's idle camp behaviors.
Karlach Scene Fade: Fixed a fade-to-black after Karlach's end-game scene that briefly revealed Game Developer Land.
Karlach Breakup: Breaking up with Karlach by dating another companion won't block her dialogue anymore.
Gale's Ceremorphosis Explanation: Reinstated Gale's last line in his explanation of ceremorphosis.
Gale Leaving: Gale now leaves if the player refuses to give him magic items from the Traveler's Chest.
Gale's End-Game Dialogue: Fixed a bug that prevented Gale's end-game dialogue with from triggering.
Gale Kiss Bug: Fixed a bug that allowed the player to kiss Gale even if he was disguised.
Character Busy Script: Reworked the script that determines if a character is too busy to talk, preventing bugs like Minthara's dialogue not triggering at Moonrise Towers.
Performance Optimizations:
Performance and Stability: Continued improvements and code fixes.
Performance Optimizations: Enhanced performance in areas with large numbers of NPCs, reduced peak memory usage, and optimized performance for managing large amounts of loot.
Cinematic Enhancements:
Ansur's Bones Cutscene: Reworked and improved the cutscene that plays when the player interacts with Ansur's bones.
Facial Animations: Polished facial expressions and emotions in companion dialogues, including animations for kissing cinematics with Astarion.
Patch 7 will be released to all players in September after the closed beta testing is complete. Larian Studios has emphasized that these are just highlights from the patch and the full notes will be available once the patch is officially live. Players are advised to be cautious as some of the content may contain spoilers.