Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 9 will introduce a new class to Larian’s Early Access RPG game, the Paladin. Paladin characters will get to delve into the strength of their oath to stand on the side of good, and every character will be able to advance to level five – a significant milestone in every D&D character’s development. Great news ahead of the Baldur’s Gate 3 release date.
On the surface, the Paladin is the familiar archetype we all know and love: a ferocious melee fighter with strong support and healing abilities. They’re devoted to the good, and start out with two subclasses: the Oath of Devotion, which allows the Paladin to give an ally a vengeful aura that sends 1d4 radiant damage back at any melee attacks; and the Oath of the Ancients, which creates a healing area of effect around the Paladin.
Paladins can also use the Divine Smite ability during a melee attack by spending a spell slot to add a dose of radiant damage to their normal melee damage.
Not all Paladins can keep their promises, however, and there’s a hidden ‘Oathbreaker’ subclass that becomes available to characters like this. Being an oathbreaker comes with a unique set of advantages and disadvantages, and you’ll be able to either try to earn redemption or embrace the dark side should you choose to head down this path.
Patch 9 also opens up character level five, which provides a major power bump for every Baldur’s Gate 3 class. This is the level where mages learn fireball, for example, and if you’ve played Divinity: Original Sin 2, you’ll have a sense for how much Larian loves fireballs.
During the Panel From Hell December 14, Larian also announced that Critical Role’s Matthew Mercer performs the voice of Minsc, a character from the original Baldur’s Gate whose return to the series was revealed in the trailer that debuted at The Game Awards.
The update will also include a revamp for the reactions system – these are sometimes called attacks of opportunity in pen-and-paper roleplaying systems. The revamp allows Baldur’s Gate 3 characters to choose whether to use these reactions or not, rather than having them trigger automatically every time.
You’ll also be able to use the ‘Fly’ spell in and out of combat, and Larian says it’ll work just like it ought to – you can reach treasures or clues that are out of reach, or lift yourself above the fray to avoid enemy melee attacks.
The Baldur’s Gate 3 release date window is set for August 2023.