Or the first wolf after Candlekeep in BGTOSC, which ate my character and Imoen in about three bites.

I'm also not used to the combat style. I'm more accustomed to having my entire party unload spells and arrows all at once. My current party is more like: Wyll; 85% -- Hits! Miss. Shadowheart; 90% Casts spell! Miss.

I ran into a bug where inventory items just vanish. I had a stack of Disarm Trap tools that vanished on a reload and nothing seems to get them back, no matter how far back I reload. Those things are expensive!

My son has put about seventy hours into this game so far and hasn't come across any bugs like the one you describe, hagatha. I am sorry to hear about it. Hopefully there won't be any other issues like it.

The more he has played the game, the more he loves it. As soon as he is done, he is thinking about starting over and replaying, which is not something he often does.

I think once I get the hang of it I'll love it, too. I remember struggling with the first BG game and Zanthia came to my rescue, explained how the D$D games worked, and how to win at combat.

My son said that until you gain some levels, notably level five for some classes, the game is really hard, and it expects you to use every tool available to you and there are a lot of them. He said he died a lot in the early stages and the game is slow paced.

He just finished the game for the first time and puts it in the top CRPGs (turn based) that he has played.

I do hope you start to enjoy it more.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Between the effects, the visible dice rolls (I really like that, being an old Tabletop dude), the voice acting and writing, it really is shaping up to be an awesome game. Even with the difficulty of getting used to the mouse clicks and turn-based battle again, I felt very much like I was back playing the old Neverwinter Nights, which is one of my all time favorites. It would be soooooooo cool if Larian picked up the license for that one. It could use a revamp.

I had to take a break from playing around the whole Druid camp thing, but hoping to jump back in this evening and over the weekend. Got all my gamer snacks ready to go, woo hoo!

I hope you have a great weekend playing, Trail!

I'll be doing some wandering around to see if I can get my party to at least Level 4. Unfortunately. the Druid Camp attack is also next up. My first attempts at defending it ended up very badly indeed. I think I need to separate my party members and place them strategically for that one. So far, my Bard has been the most useful in combat, with Astarion second.

That particular encounter didn't go so well for the folks that were locked out. Our party survived, but at their expense. I'm sure we're going to pay for that later. I get this feeling Larian is sneaky that way with the storyline.

I saved everybody in the first encounter at the Druid Camp by attacking from above.

Anyway, I do remember some other areas I can get to now.

Edit:

So, I reloaded an earlier save, and the Disarm Trap items are not there, either.

Also, when did Steam remove the ability to verify the game files?

Hmmm, don't know about the disarm trap items disappearing, but the verify game files option is still there under the game's properties:

-Right click on the game listing in the library
-Select Properties to bring up the Properties Window
-Select "Installed Files" from the menu on the left
-One of options in that section is "Verify integrity of game files"

Right, I found it. Just a bit different from before.

I'm now battling the witch in the underground caves. Finally beat her, only to realize that the woman I was rescuing had died during the fight. Time to reload.

I haven't seen that quest yet. Decided to go back through the Druid Camp and see if there was anything I missed. Had some really poor rolls during dialogues, which was disappointing. My character is a Tiefling, so there was usually a "[Tiefling]" dialogue option during the conversations. Unfortunately, due to the dice rolls that advantage fell away and I'm sure I missed some juicy dialogue and information. I was tempted to reload, but I'm going to slog through and see how I can make up for the disadvantages I'm gaining and bridges I'm burning. It's a good thing they don't use an alignment system, because I'm all over the map (sort of mimics my real life personality, chaotic). Actually, now that I'm writing it out, I almost feel like going back to the crash and starting anew now that I have a better idea what I'm dealing with. Also, lost some gold out of my inventory when attempting to split out an item payment. The remainder after the spit was about 20 gold off, don't know where that went unless I was pickpocketed by one of those nasty little urchins.

My son has started the game for a second playthrough and is saying that in some ways it's even more fun this time around, due to the knowledge he has gained from the first time through it.

I'm still finding the combat far too difficult and the game is all combat, no exploration and very little in the way of party interactions. I'll give it a few more days, but honestly, this hasn't been a lot of fun for me. If I could find an easier area to get through and get to Level 4, it might be a bit better, but so far it's all slog now that I'm through the first few quests and the enemies all seem to have better initiative rolls and far more powerful spells.

EDIT:

Okay, so this is really weird. I just restarted an area because I'd made a critical mistake before I began the sequence and need to replay it.

In one spot, there are clouds of poison gas. In the first time through here, which was maybe two hours ago, I was able to cover the gas vents with large objects and proceed through the area.

This time, there are no vents to cover! Seriously -- no vents. It's bizarre. Can't cover the gas vents, no way to proceed. I'm at a loss...


EDIT: Yep. Stuff is vanishing from my inventory. I restarted this area, as I said, and went to use the Invisibility potion I used in the last try. Guess what? I don't have an Invisibility potion any more. It's just not there in my inventory.

I think that sometimes when I use a resource, the game registers it as being used when I reload. That's the only explanation I can think of. But my whole strategy to beat this big fight coming up was to start with that potion, and it ain't there any more. Very annoying, and exhausting, given that it took me hours to get back to this point.

Hagatha, did your Disarm Trap tools disappear when you were in the Druids Grove? If so, there is a reason for that and some inventory items can disappear there. I do not want to say more for fear of spoilers.

Just so you know, my son played the game for 5 hours yesterday and had 30 minutes of combat total. BG 3 has 170 hours of conversation between characters as well as cutscenes. There is plenty of party interaction overall depending upon what you are doing.

Marian, the items disappeared outside the Druid Grove.

It seems to me that if I use the items and then reload, the game still thinks the items have been used. The only common denominator when this has happened is that scenario; I used the Disarm Trap devices, didn't like the results, reloaded, and Presto! No Disarm Trap devices in my inventory.

Ditto with the Invisibility potion. I used it, didn't like the result of the battle, reloaded and replayed the sequence and again, the potion was simply gone.

Anyway, I did finally finish the difficult area I was in after about 6 hours of trying. Phew!

Now I really must see if I can find an easier area to work through.

Good luck! Glad you got through that difficult area!

Have you checked your other party member's inventory? I've heard that in some cases folks have transferred items over to other members of the party inadvertently. On a somewhat related note, I found my gold that was missing, the little urchins took it while I was splitting it. Apparently that's not uncommon, so watch your pocketses when around sneaky looking individuals.

I know Larian has some really ambitious programming around the game timeline never stopping. So if you divert from a quest after actually seeing the location and you decide to go somewhere else, the previous area will change as will the conditions around it and not always for the better. Not that this helps you, but I wonder if that's also hosing the inventory, because it's not going backwards in time to recover what you used. I did a few searches and found quite a few inventory complaints, several were recent. I guess they still have some patches to pump out. Hopefully they get that sorted out soon, I don't like to lose stuff like that either.

No, the items are simply nowhere to be found in any inventory, sadly. And no matter how far back I reloaded, even hours previously, the items were still not there. I had to brute force my way through the area instead of sneaking in and resolving things easily.

I'm also experiencing trouble with party members just standing around and not following, and at one point Astarion lost the ability to jump -- the icon wasn't even on the bar, plus he was stuck in the Sneakposition because that icon was also missing. In the last quest I tried I gave up because one party member refused to follow the group out of a danger area and she just stood there burning in a patch of fire.

I'm not keen on the timeline continuing if you've seen an area and don't go in and finish the quest right then and there, even if you lack the capability. In my opinion, that kind of penalty stifles exploration. Ambitious, perhaps, but fun? Questionable! The area I'm in is impossible right now so I guess I should go back to a much earlier save and avoid it altogether.

Anyway, I made it to level 4 and with that comes the chance to increase your stats by 2 points, so that's nice. Makes combat a lot easier. I've decided that Astarion and my Bard are essential in any party combo. Between the two of them they can get up to a whole lot of mischief, I rarely miss unlocking or disarming, and any Charisma-based conversation option is a breeze. I found a fifth party member and a doggie, too.

If I had a nickel for every time....

Ironically, the character in question is basically on fire all the time anyway, being a Tiefling with a boiler for a heart...

But I've managed to find some easier areas to get through, allowing me to level up, and the extra 2 attribute points make a big difference, especially with the fighters. I can see a second game being a lot easier, knowing where to avoid at low levels, and knowing which quests not to trigger too soon.

I keep forgetting to review my party's spells before levelling up, though.


EDIT: I finally made it to the Underdark, and that's where the fun really starts. My party is finally able to win most battles so the exploration is more fun. The Underdark area is really quite wonderful, with loads of quests and characters and decisions to make, plus at least a couple of merchants.

Awesome, glad to read that the Underdark is where it's at. Looking forward to it. Ended up getting side-tracked by work (stupid money, stupid food, stupid mortgage ) hoping to start up again this weekend.

I'm a bit lost now, but I've made it to level 5, so have a bit more firepower. Still in the Underdark. Loads of loot.

OK, snacks - check, drinks - check, Baldur's Gate 3 open and ready - check. Flaps up, runway clear, on to gaming, woohoo!

Annnnddd... we have LIFTOFF! Have fun, Trail!