Baldur’s Gate 3‘s fifth full patch is on the way and, like previous patches, you can expect a wealth of tweaks and bug fixes. But according to datamining, it’s also going to feature some heart-warming and druid-friendly changes.
The latest patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 is on the way and, if recent datamining efforts are accurate, the fantasy RPG game is getting some significant, smooch-friendly changes.
Aside from just fixing bugs, each major patch typically includes some significant gameplay tweaks. In the case of the last patch, these ranged from being able to use sponges to clean your party to spider-meat being poisonous if you lick it.
Now, according to one dataminer, Patch 5 is going to introduce some much requested additions. The first of these is more kisses to spice up your romantic endeavors, complete with matching motion capture. And, for platonic relationships, there’ll be more hugs as well. That includes Astarion, who needs an awful lot of hugs. Halsin, too, will be getting new dialogue. All of that is great.
But by far the most interesting thing is you’ll be able to recruit cunning Drow character Minthara without dispatching a whole grove of druids – a curious change on Larian’s part.
On the one hand, Minthara is hugely popular with fans. She starts off working for the Absolute, an in-game faction whose motives I can’t reveal without getting into Act 3 spoilers. But, if you choose to, you can get her onside, undoing her loyalty to the Absolute. Up until now you’d have to kill a whole settlement or, exploiting a bizarre glitch, turn her into a sheep.
But according to the dataminer, Andrea ‘faery_willow,’ that’s changing. There’s going to be a new route whereby you sign her up and skip out on annihilating the druids. That means you can get Halsin on side too but according to faery_willow you can’t romance them both. Sorry.
It’s a curious change and I can see why Larian did it, but I’m not entirely on board. I appreciated that drastic early-game decision. Are you so attached to this bada** Drow that you’re willing to murder a village? That’s what Baldur’s Gate 3 asked, and letting players skip out on the decision seems a bit of a step back.
There’s no absolute (sorry) guarantee that the mined changes will actually be present in the patch, but faery_willow’s findings look to be on the money and they match up with Larian’s tweeted commitment to fix Astarion’s ‘little kisses’.
Larian is aiming to release Patch 5 later this week, alongside a community update explaining what it changes. If you want to make the most of your relationship with the mysterious dark elf, here’s our Baldur’s Gate 3 Minthara guide. And if you’re wonder who else you can kiss, here’s our guide to Baldur’s Gate 3’s romance options.
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