Patch 5 goes live for Baldur’s Gate 3 today, brings host of improvements and content

Baldur’s Gate 3 players are in for a treat today, as Larian Studios has released Patch 5 for the role-player. Expect a ton of new content and more.

Re-opening the Gate

Oh boy is there a ton and a half of new stuff hitting Baldur’s Gate 3 today. If you’re one of the many D&D fans who’ve been playing, that should come as welcome news, since there are a bunch of fixes and improvements involved in this download as well.

Larian’s turn-based take on the series released last October, but in Early Access form. And as a game that’s not technically finished yet, it’s getting a constant flow of fresh dlc to get it ship-shape for what’ll eventually be a full retail launch.

To that end, scroll down to check out what Patch 5 includes. There’s both a handy little video for you (community update #13), as well as a brief rundown.

The Active Roll System

• Rather than leaving you at the mercy of the RNG gods during skill checks, Patch 5 ensures players have much more agency. Active Roll gives players the ability to swing the odds in their favor by applying spells and bonuses to their rolls. Additionally, players can now see their modifiers and status effects happen directly within the UI, rather than being calculated in the background.

Background Goals

• Players have always been able to select a Background at the Character Creation screen (e.g., Folk Hero, Acolyte, Urchin, and so on). Now every character will have their own series of secret miniquests based on these roles called Background Goals. So when a Folk Hero does something Folksy and Heroic or an Urchin does something Urchiny, they’ll be rewarded. It’s a new way to encourage role-playing, with players directly benefiting from acting as their characters would in any given scenario.

Camp Supplies

• Camp Resources are a new feature that will make you think a little more strategically about when to activate a Long Rest. Know all the food and scraps you find around Baldur’s Gate 3? Well from now on, you’ll need those supplies to make camp and set up for a full rest. Finally, a use for your giant hoard of dead fish!
• Also coming in Patch 5 are Mini Camps, context-dependent environments that offer an alternative to returning to your HQ by the river. From the Chapel near the Ravaged Beach to the Underdark, we’ve recreated every landmark as its own isolated location that can be accessed when you’re ready to hunker down for your Long Rest.

And there’s more!

• We’ve given the AI a serious tune-up, with enemies now being far more intelligent and resourceful than before. Watch as unarmed enemies pick up discarded weapons! Gasp at a group of goblins tossing health potions to each other! Wonder as your NPC companions make sensible, self-preserving decisions!
• There are a huge number of other improvements we’ve made for Patch 5, including Non-Lethal Attack Mode, old-school point-and-click dialogue, and some very intriguing new story content around a certain party member…