A ton of goodies were added to the 30GB Patch 5 for Baldur’s Gate 3, but there are some key additions worth checking out.
Larian Studios has just consistently knocked it out of the park every time they treat their community with a new Baldur’s Gate 3 update, a game that we gave a perfect 10 when it was released in August, bugs and all. Yesterday, they dropped their fifth update, aptly named Patch 5, and it’s a real doozy.
While the majority of this update’s patch notes pertain to the usual hotfixes, balancing, gameplay, story cohesion, and bug squashing, they gave an easy list of notable highlights from this update.
Here are some worth mentioning, directly from their list of notes (typoes and all):
Epilogue: An entirely new section at the end of the game after the defeat of the the Netherbrain that aims to provide a well-deserved sense of closure with your allies.
Two new play modes: Honour Mode and Custom Mode.
Many performance improvements, particularly in Act III.
Added dynamic resolution for PS5.
Players playing on machines with low VRAM/RAM should see improved performance.
The game is now available in Korean!
While at camp, you can now access and manage the inventories of companions who aren't in your active party.
Added a brand new fight in Ramazith’s Tower if you betray Nightsong there.
Orin’s outfit now drops as loot and is wearable by anyone. We also gave it a suitably disgusting description and name.
They broke the list down with main highlights, other highlights, and then everything else. But, what should we expect from this massive update?
Right off the bat, they mention a new epilogue that takes place “at the end of the game after the defeat of (sic) the Netherbrain that aims to provide a well-deserved sense of closure with your allies.” The ending of the game was good as it was prior, but having actual closure with your companions and allies is a unique touch that is likely to make a large part of their fanbase happy.
Larian Studios had previously added an Honour Mode to Divinity: Original Sin II that amped up the difficulty of the game to near-ridiculous heights. Players adored it and hoped that they would add it to Baldur’s Gate 3. Good news for the masochists: it’s finally here.
Honour Mode (or Honor Mode, if you're on this side of the lake) generally disables functions and ways to do tasks more easily, pushing players to do the hardest version of whatever they are trying to do, even higher than the already included Tactician Mode.
The update also tweaks enemies to be harder than they are in the normal game. In Dungeons and Dragons 5E (the tabletop game that Baldur’s Gate is based on that you should totally try), bosses can often have devastating Legendary Actions that they can use in lieu of a normal attack. Those have now been added to BG3.
By beating Baldur Gate 3 using Honour Mode without dying, players can now earn a coveted digital golden D20, an all-gold 20-sided die that the most badass of players will want. Yes, that’s beating an 80-hour game on a difficulty where anything can kill you by sneezing too hard in your general direction, without dying.
Custom Mode, on the other hand, allows you as the player to choose how easy or difficult you really want the game to be. Where Honour mode is the hardest of the hard, some players just want a relaxing, cozier experience to enjoy the story and take down their enemies without being frustrated.
There is a lot to unpack in Patch 5 for Baldur’s Gate 3. You can read the entirety of the patch notes on their official blog while you wait for it to download. It’s around 30GB on most platforms, but installation can use up to 130GB while it installs.
If you’re holding off getting the game until January due to the physical editions and the Xbox version coming out, all updates will be ready for you at launch.
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