During The Game Awards 2022, the developers from Larian have been on hand with an important announcement: turn-based cRPG Baldur’s Gate 3 will be leaving Steam Early Access and embracing the full release in August 2023! However, those were not the only good news shared by the team. In yesterday’s Panel From Hell, the devs officially revealed the Baldur’s Gate Patch 9, the last major update before the launch, and it is available now!
Up for distributing some Divine Smites? Patch 9 adds a new class to the roster: the righteous Paladin, a hybrid between Cleric and Fighter. Paladins’ powers are channelled through the Oath to which they have sworn — one that they choose at the start of character creation. Players can choose between the following Oaths that act as subclasses:
- Oath of the Ancients – these Paladins vow to preserve the sanctity of life and the beauty of nature, using Healing Radiance to let nature heal all nearby allies;
- Oath of Devotion – Paladins who follow a code of honour and virtue both in and out of battle. Their signature feature, Holy Rebuke, lets them call upon their Oath in combat to envelop an ally in an aura that deals 1d4 Radiant damage to anyone who hits them with a melee attack.
- Paladins are very much a roleplaying class, and those who take this path will have the opportunity to explore their character’s moral code and, depending on the choices they make, discover what it means to be an Oathbreaker.
Additionally, the developers have raised the level cap – now you can reach as high as Level 5 and acquire that big power boost for your characters! Last but definitely not least, the update also includes the revamped Reactions system. Check out the official announcement on Steam to find the full list of changes introduced to the game by Patch 9. The update will be available to Mac users soon but the team still needs to have a bit of time to work on it.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – Patch 9 “Holy Knight” Changes Include:
- Added the Paladin class with the Oath of the Ancients and Oath of Devotion subclasses. Added the hidden Oathbreaker subclass, which triggers if you break your oath.
- Increased the level cap to Level 5.
- Added the Fly spell.
- Revamped the Reactions system.
- Rebalanced combat encounters in late Act 1.
- Added new spells and spell scrolls.
- Added a ping system, usable outside of combat and during your turn in combat.
- Overhauled the tooltips.
- Extended Combat Cams to player and enemy melee Critical Hits, summons, Wild Shapes, and several spells and abilities.
- Added Command spell variants.
- Made Minthara a paladin.
- You can now delete save files by playthrough.
- You can now dismiss summons with a dedicated action.
- Added a new Level Up button and improved visual cues for levelling.
- Added female human and elf heads to Character Creation.
- Characters who attempt to play an instrument they’re not Proficient with now fail spectacularly.
- Removed non-wizard spell scrolls from NPCs except Revivify, Summon Quasit, True Resurrection, and Speak with Dead.
- Added shop triggers. If you try to pick up items owned by certain traders, they will offer to trade.
- Mage Hand no longer prevents you from summoning Ranger’s Companions and familiars.
- Made quarterstaffs Versatile.
- You now accrue dirt and blood more slowly, Prone makes you a bit dirtier, and Wet cleans you.
If you are still waiting for the update to install, check out the TGA trailer that contains over 2 minutes of goodness!
