With Patch 6 now live, there’s never been a time to revisit Baldur’s Gate 3. This is the first major update the game has gotten since BG3‘s Patch 5 last November, most infamous for introducing the ultra-hard Honour difficulty mode. But where Patch 5 sought to find cruel and unusual ways to punish players, Patch 6 is all about love – apropos of its just-after-Valentine’s release date. Still, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing in it for those who prefer to spend their nights at camp alone.
But now, six months after its initial release, many players have already finished Baldur’s Gate 3. Some have even beaten it many times over. Still, considering how reactive BG3 is and how many choices it presents, there’s always something new to experience on a repeat run. As of Patch 6, there’s even more for returning players to enjoy. Here are the highlights.
Everything Added To Baldur’s Gate 3 This Week (Patch 6)
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 6 has released, bringing a number of changes to everything from romance to combat and fixing some long-time complaints.
10 BG3 Patch 6 Makes Bosses Harder
Honour Mode Changes & General Tweaks
Per Larian’s patch notes on the official Baldur’s Gate 3 website, the hardest boss fights in BG3 just got harder in Patch 6. In particular, several bosses now have new and improved Legendary Actions in Honour Mode, including Dror Ragzlin, Kar’niss the drider, and the Shambling Mound.
But even at lesser difficulty levels, bosses throughout the game have received balance tweaks that make them tougher than ever before. Ketheric is much stronger even in Tactician Mode, Auntie Ethel’s summoned hags have more powerful spells in Act Three, and Cazador now casts call lightning at level five. Those who have already beaten the game on Balanced are due for a replay on Tactician or Honour Mode, where they’ll find a wholly changed experience.
9 Players Can Now Fight Vlaakith Alongside Lae’zel
New Options For Romancing Lae’zel
Lae’zel’s storyline is incredibly variable: depending on how Tav interacts with her, and how the story progresses, she can take multiple paths leading up to the final conflict. In one of these paths, Lae’zel turns on the githyanki queen Vlaakith, fighting for her people’s liberation astride a red dragon. In previous versions of the game, this was a githyanki-only affair; however, as of Patch 6, any character who’s romanced Lae’zel in Baldur’s Gate 3 can fight alongside her. This is a thrilling addition to Lae’zel’s subplot, and a rewarding goal for repeat players to set.
8 Minthara Is Easier To Recruit In Patch 6
Recruiting Minthara & Halsin Is Easier Than Ever
Although it was once believed they were mutually exclusive, creative players found ways to recruit Minthara and Halsin simultaneously in BG3. This requires a complicated sequence of events, the most important step of which is defeating Minthara non-lethally in the Shattered Sanctum. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t explain non-lethal damage completely: it only applies to melee attacks, while arrows and spells are always lethal. Killing Minthara accidentally was all too common, but Patch 6 gives players more options when it comes to knocking her out.
7 Jaheira Is Easier To Recruit In Patch 6
Jaheira Is More Likely To Survive Moonrise Towers
The climax of Act Two in Baldur’s Gate 3 consists of a sustained series of battles, ideally with the Harpers of Last Light Inn by the party’s side. No matter how the battle progresses, most of the Harpers usually give their lives in the effort to liberate the Shadow-Cursed Lands. If it’s a player’s first experience with Baldur’s Gate, they may not recognize that the Harpers’ leader, Jaheira, is a recurring character from earlier in the series – and is recruitable in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Since Jaheira didn’t heal herself in previous versions, she would often die before the battle was complete. As a result, many players missed out on recruiting Jaheira the first time around. However, in Patch 6, Jaheira heals herself before the battle of Moonrise Towers, and more readily uses her Wild Shape for extra HP. She’s more easily recruited in Patch 6, giving those who weren’t able to save her an opportunity to experience a whole new companion with her very own quest.
6 Patch 6 Adds New Dialogue & Cinematics To BG3
New Voice Lines For Shadowheart, Halsin, Dame Aylin, & More
Players revisiting Baldur’s Gate 3 after Patch 6 may find their companions chattier than ever before. The update adds new voice lines for almost every recruitable character, both in and out of dialogue. BG3 players who romance Shadowheart will hear lovey-dovey banter as they roam the wilderness. Lae’zel has more lines and more reactivity in the Crèche. During the “Investigate Kagha” quest, players can finally ask for Halsin’s take. Gale, Karlach, Wyll, and Minthara all have new dialogue, too.
In addition, Patch 6 includes a new cinematic that plays out at the Sorcerous Sundries magic shop in the Lower City. After the player decides whether to take the Nightsong’s side in Baldur’s Gate 3, they’ll be treated to a special scene before combat begins.
5 Companions Feel More Alive In Patch 6
New Idle Animations, Dialogue Options, & More
And companions continue to surprise in Patch 6, primarily with an all-new assortment of idle animations they’ll perform at camp. Lae’zel ponders a githyanki disc, Minthara tries to keep cool, Shadowheart polishes a spear, Minsc shaves his head, and Halsin whittles. Karlach will still hit the same sweet dance moves as always.
4 Patch 6 Brings Quality-Of-Life Improvements To BG3
Bug Fixes, Fewer Crashes, & Working Attacks
Baldur’s Gate 3 has always had its share of bugs, and at times, they can be incredibly frustrating. From broken quests to unusable attacks to obfuscating interfaces, many things may have driven first-time players to set the game down entirely. As any good update should, Patch 6 includes sweeping bug fixes across the board. Wyll can now turn his Repelling Blast on or off, Rebuke of the Mighty triggers the proper Saving Throw, and Shield Bash actually works.
Merchants’ menus are also easier to read, and items can be bought or sold from any character’s inventory without having to switch. Important items will be moved out of dismissed characters’ inventories as needed, and quests like “The High Harper” and “Find the missing shipment” have undergone more specific repairs. If a player quit BG3 because of an annoying bug, it’s worth checking back in to see if Patch 6 fixed it.
3 Patch 6 Adds New Ending Dialogue To BG3
New Options For Gale, Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Karlach, & More
Completing BG3 for the umpteenth time inevitably requires an impressive time commitment. It’s a long game, and, even when an expert player knows what to avoid, it could easily take 50 hours or more to complete the entire story. But there’s something special in it for those who beat the game: Baldur’s Gate 3 now includes new ending dialogue for multiple characters. Minthara, Gale, Shadowheart, Lae’zel, Karlach, and Withers all have new lines in the final scenes and epilogue, so it’s worth seeing things through. Non-romantic ending scenes have also been altered to reflect a deeper, if still platonic, connection.
2 Patch 6 Makes It Easier To Try Different BG3 Party Comps
Dismissal & Hireling Changes
It’s easy to get attached to a particular party composition in Baldur’s Gate 3. Whether a player just likes how they work together, or has a special affinity for certain characters, they may come to prefer a certain inner circle, and be reluctant to mix things up. Others play regularly with large multiplayer groups, and rarely have the opportunity to test out combinations of Origin companions.
Patch 6 of Baldur’s Gate 3 encourages more frequent experimentation with party comps: firstly, it adds the ability to dismiss one companion while adding another to the party, which makes swapping members in and out much faster. As of Patch 6, players can also let their hirelings hang around camp, giving them access to a bottomless pool of class combinations.
1 Patch 6 Makes BG3’s Romances Better
New Kiss Scenes & More
Things just got a lot more intimate in Baldur’s Gate 3: each and every romanceable character now has a variety of different kiss animations that better reflect their personality. Astarion’s are more demanding, Gale’s are more elegant, and Lae’zel’s are more passionate – so on, and so forth. Each time a player character asks their romantic partner for a kiss, one of these animations will be chosen at random.
Players also have additional options for interacting with their romantic partners: they can hug Shadowheart when she’s crying, or let Gale kiss their hand when he’s proposing. Kiss animations for couples with height differences have been fixed, so there won’t be any more annoying delays while Karlach kneels down to embrace her halfling partner. There’s even an extra kissing scene for Astarion that’s only unlocked after his ascension. Steamy as they may be, these animations can also create some awkward situations. No one wants to shove their tongue down Wyll’s throat just inches from his father.
Those are some of the most prominent reasons to revisit BG3 after Patch 6 – but in a fandom infamous for restarting the game at the slightest provocation, does anyone really need an excuse? Whether they’ve beat the game one time, a thousand times, or never at all, players will find something to love in Patch 6 of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Baldur’s Gate 3
- Franchise
- Baldur’s Gate
- Platform(s)
- macOS , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 5
- Released
- August 31, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- ESRB
- M
- How Long To Beat
- 50 – 100 hours
