I recently uninstalled Baldur’s Gate 3 for the first time since its release, but news about its patch has convinced me to play it one more time. I first started playing Baldur’s Gate 3 when it entered Early Access in October 2020, though I didn’t really get into it until its full release three years later. After that, it became my most-played game by a wide margin for close to a year. After so much time spent on it, there is one thing that ultimately made me decide I’d had my fill: the game’s first act.

Don’t get me wrong, the BG3's Patch 8.

I've Started Far Too Many BG3 Campaigns With Friends

Starting Over With Multiple Groups Has Led To Playing The Opening Many Times

One of the main reasons I’ve played the beginning of Baldur’s Gate 3 so many times is because I’ve found myself starting an absurd amount of games with friends. When the game first came out, all my Dungeons & Dragons friends wanted to play together, but since BG3 is limited to four players, we split into several distinct groups. On top of that, if I started a campaign with three friends, then one stopped being able to play for some time, the rest of us would just start a new campaign so as not to exclude them from our first playthrough.

As word of mouth grew about Baldur’s Gate 3, more people wanted to try it out. This meant even more new game invites, since new players didn’t want to hop into a story-heavy campaign midway through. This resulted in me playing the first few hours of Baldur’s Gate 3 ad nauseam for the first couple of months after the game’s release. Eventually, this calmed down, and I was actually able to finish a few playthroughs. Just when I finally thought I’d put the Emerald Grove behind me, a new reason to go back to the beginning came out: Honour Mode.

Honour Mode Forced Me To Repeat Act 1 Multiple Times

Dying In Honour Mode Sends Players Back To The Start Of The Game

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Honour Mode challenges players to make it through the entire game on the hardest difficulty level without ever experiencing a total party kill (TPK). I’m someone who typically likes to try challenging game modes like this, even if I’m not always successful in finishing them. I had hoped that my intimate knowledge of Baldur’s Gate 3’s earlier areas would give me a leg up when starting Honour Mode and that I would be able to coast through the first few hours without difficulty. I was wrong.

Because most of the games I had started were with different playgroups, often including at least one player who was new to the game, I hadn’t spent a lot of time playing in Tactician mode, the hardest Baldur's Gate 3 difficulty setting that doesn't feature permadeath like Honour Mode. I quickly learned that the increased difficulty in combat encounters was nothing to scoff at, even for an experienced DnD player. Just when I had finally thought I was done with Baldur’s Gate 3’s opening areas, I quickly found myself traipsing through them again and again as the Phase Spiders or Grymforge guardian put several Honour Mode runs to rest.

Baldur's Gate's Patch Is Adding My Favorite D&D Subclass

The New Swashbuckler Subclass Is A D&D Favorite

With several other RPGs like Metaphor: ReFantazio and the PC release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demanding so much hard drive space, I recently decided the time had finally come to take a break from Baldur’s Gate 3. However, news of the new subclass inclusions in Patch 8 quickly made me change my tune. This is largely due to the addition of the Swashbuckler subclass, my favorite from Dungeons & Dragons.

It’s difficult for me to play a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 and not give my character a high Charisma score. While I greatly enjoy the game’s turn-based combat, the main attraction for me is its narrative and dialogue sections. I hate feeling locked out of story options simply because I’m playing a character who isn’t charming enough to hit certain Charisma checks. Because Swashbucklers in Dungeons & Dragons gain combat bonuses for having a high Charisma score, I can finally feel a little better about treating my rogue’s Intelligence score as a dump stat.

Swashbucklers also get some unique combat abilities that will spice up how I play a rogue in Baldur’s Gate 3. Perhaps my favorite of their attributes is the ability to avoid opportunity attacks. This allows them to be highly mobile, weaving in and out of dangerous situations and delivering massive sneak attack damage without leaving themselves open to attack. Not only will I enjoy getting to test this class in Baldur’s Gate 3’s polished combat engine, but this added protection will hopefully help me get past the House of Grief in Honour Mode.

Crossplay Is A Chance To Play With A New Group

PC Players Will Be Able To Play With Console Players With BG3’s Patch

New subclasses aren’t the only exciting addition coming in the eighth major patch for Baldur’s Gate 3. At long last, the game will be adding crossplay functionality, meaning I can finally team up with my friends who only own the game on console even though I play on PC. While this will inevitably mean at least one more trek through the opening hours of the game, it will feel a lot fresher with a group I’ve been waiting to play with since the game originally came out.

Playing with a new group can also mean making new choices, and seeing parts of the game I may have missed on previous playthroughs. Despite visiting multiple times, I’ve still yet to blow up Rosymorn Monastery with the Solar Lance. I’ve also still never chosen to raid the Emerald Grove and recruit Minthara the easy way, so crossplay may be the perfect chance for an evil playthrough with a new group.

Having so recently decided to shelve Baldur’s Gate 3 for a while, I was surprised just how excited I got at the prospect of the new content coming in Patch Eight. It’s a testament to the strength of the game that, despite being pretty sick of its opening, I’m willing to spend another few days’ worth of playtime going through it with a new class and a new group of players. This new patch combined with the new modding tools added in 2024 have me excited about the game’s future.