Baldur’s Gate 3 Likely Getting Multiple Highly-Requested Features Soon

Through data mining, Larian’s statements and now an erroneous achievement listing, Baldur’s Gate 3 looks set to get several of its most-requested features soon.

The news currently doing the rounds pertains to an upcoming difficulty level, called Honour Mode. This was discovered when players found an unobtainable achievement on the GOG Storefront. The achievement, called Foehammer, requires the player to complete the game on Honour Mode to unlock it (thanks, IGN). The Foe Hammer (also called Glamdring) was the name of the sword that Gandalf found in The Hobbit and wielded throughout The Lord of the Rings.

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In Divinity: Original Sin 2, Honour Mode was essentially a hardcore mode, meaning you only get one save file and if you die, that save file is deleted. Baldur’s Gate 3’s equivalent will likely have the same hardcore mechanics. There is no timeline for when this additional mode will be made available to players.

Another highly-requested feature is an alternate way to recruit party member Minthara. The current method requires the player to wipe out the Tieflings in the Emerald Grove; quite an evil act even for the darkest of Dark Urge players. Players have remarked that while Minthara is the ‘evil’ character, she’s actually not quite as malevolent as her recruitment requirement would have you believe.

Well, it would appear that Larian is listening to the community because data miners have discovered new dialogue between Halsin and Minthara that suggests you can recruit the Drow Paladin without slaughtering the innocent Tieflings (thanks, TheGamer).

The dialogue is a conversation between Halsin and Minthara where the Druid issues an ultimatum to the player, saying that he will leave if Minthara is to stay. In the text, Halsin says that Minthara would have killed all the Tieflings if not for Kagha’s foolishness. While you can’t keep both in your party, it would appear that you can spare the lives of the Tieflings and still recruit Minthara.

Crucially, it would appear that Larian is adding more ways to hug your companions soon. While there are several hug animations present in the game’s files, data miners have discovered new dialogue with Shadowheart that might mean you can hug the Half-Elf more regularly. These can be romantic or friendly but either way, we may be getting more hugs soon (thanks, Kotaku).

One of the criticisms of Baldur’s Gate 3 at release was the lack of closure at the game’s conclusion. Since then, Larian has stated (in Patch 2) that they’re currently working on additional end-game cutscenes for party members. People have also speculated that Larian is working on a happier ending for Karlach, based on the tweaks that her story has received in consecutive patches.

With all the additional work that Larian is doing patch-by-patch, who’s to know how Baldur’s Gate 3 will look a year from now?

If you need any help traversing Baldur’s Gate, why not check out our complete guide? In our perfect review of Baldur’s Gate 3, we called it “a masterfully crafted RPG that improves on every aspect of Larian’s past work.”

Baldur’s Gate 3

23 years on from the release of the seminal RPG, Baldur’s Gate 2, the third game in the series has been developed by Larian Studios (of Divinity: Original Sin fame). Set over 120 years after the events of the last game, Baldur’s Gate 3 tasks you and your party of heroes to fight off a mind flayer invasion of Faerun, while seeking a way to remove the tadpole in your brain that’s slowly turning you into the enemy…

Franchise

Baldur’s Gate

Platform(s)

PC, Stadia, macOS, PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Genre(s)

RPG

Multiplayer

Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence