With Patch 8 Released, Now Is the Perfect Time to Return to Baldur’s Gate 3

Larian Studios released the final major update to smash hit Baldur’s Gate 3 on April 15th, effectively marking the end of an era. While players may understandably be disappointed there won’t be any new adventures or substantial content added to BG3 in the future, the new patch is packed with additions that should make even the most burned out players ready to start a new playthrough.

Notably, Patch 8 introduces new subclasses, meaning you’ll have even more build options for your custom character and party members, like Astarion and Shadowheart (as if the game didn’t have enough options already!). Photo mode, crossplay, and splitscreen for the Xbox Series S all make it so that, whether you’re starting your second or twelfth playthrough, now is the perfect time to enjoy all that Faerun has to offer.

12 New Subclasses

Your Excuse to Create Yet Another Tav

Baldur’s Gate 3, adapting the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons’ rule set, has build options galore in terms of creating your character and dominating its turn-based combat. The game includes 12 classes for your Tav (your customized player character) and each have different subclasses to make them even more unique. Patch 8 introduces even more, and perhaps some of the most fun.

New Subclasses Introduced in Patch 8:

• Path of the Giant Barbarian
• College of Glamour Bard
• Death Domain Cleric
• Circle of Stars Druid
• Arcane Archer Fighter
• Way of the Drunken Master Monk
• Oath of the Crown Paladin
• Swarmkeeper Ranger
• Swashbuckler Rogue
• Shadow Magic Sorcerer
• Hexblade Warlock
• Bladesinging Wizard

The patch notes on the game’s official site encourage you to “roleplay the God of Thunder by using Elemental Cleaver, imbuing your Path of the Giant Barbarian’s hammer with shocking damage and flinging it out for it to come back to you, or as a drunken monk, with truly homebrewed abilities.” With the ability to pay Withers to respec your Tav and companions, you don’t even need to start over to enjoy the new subclasses. Simply pony up 100 gold to Withers and re-level up your party.

Personally, I’m looking forward to turning Shadowheart into a Death Domain Cleric, giving Gale a sword, and starting an Origin playthrough as a Hexblade Warlock Wyll.

Photo Mode

Show Off Your Squad’s Style

Gather your squad and pose for the camera because Baldur’s Gate 3 now has an expansive photo mode for when you’re adventuring, in combat, or enjoying a cutscene. You’ll make “the most of the camera, lens, and scene settings” while also being able to edit characters’ positions, facial expressions, and poses. Over 300 stickers will be included, though expect your options to multiply once modders start getting to work.

Crossplay

Play With Anyone, Anywhere

Baldur’s Gate 3 has included cross saves, the ability to upload your save file to the cloud and play it on another platform from launch. This was an especially appreciated feature for me as a console gamer playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on my PS5 as well as while traveling with my Steam Deck. Now, with Patch 8, Baldur’s Gate 3 takes a multi-system ecosystem even further by implementing crossplay so you can play with friends on any platform.

“Players on PC, Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 will now all be able to enjoy Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer, with full cross-platform progression and cross-play,” Larian wrote in the patch notes. Your cross-platform campaign can even utilize the game’s many mods, but just make sure all players have the same mods installed, and the mods are made for both console and PC if your party is a mixture of PC and console players.

Xbox Series S Split Screen

The Baby Xbox Grows Up

Xbox owners who opted for the cheaper, digital-only Xbox Series S can now enjoy splits creen multiplayer with Patch 8. The feature wasn’t initially available at launch for Series S players. Instead, only their Series X-owning counterparts could play couch co-op, though that’s thankfully no longer the case.

Microsoft’s desire to retain parity between the Xbox Series X and the noticeably weaker Series S means developers have to make sure all features of their games run smoothly on both consoles. This became a problem with Baldur’s Gate 3 as Larian couldn’t get the baby Xbox to smoothly handle split screen multiplayer, delaying the game’s launch on Microsoft’s platforms by three months and effectively creating a timed console exclusive for rival Sony.

Larian eventually struck a deal with Microsoft to allow Baldur’s Gate 3 to launch on both Xbox consoles, even though the Series S was missing a fairly substantial feature. Now, a year and a half later after launch, the Series S is finally ready for your local co-op campaign. Patch 8 also includes plenty of bug fixes across the board and for split screen specifically, allowing you and your couch co-op partner a smooth gameplay experience.

No DLC, but That Doesn’t Mean BG3 Won’t Receive New Content

Modders Have Plenty in Store

In case you haven’t played in some time, Patch 7 (released in fall 2024) updated Baldur’s Gate 3 with an in-game Mod Manager and modding Toolkit. The best thing about it is that even console players can enjoy the various mods BG3’s community makes. Popular mods range from dice designs, hairstyles, and even level cap raises.

Patch 8 steps up the modding capabilities with partial level editing. “[Y]ou’ll now be able to use the Toolkit to add or override certain template types in existing levels,” according to the patch notes, which provide examples like creating a new NPC or your own interactive object. You cannot, however, change dialogue or modify “static” parts of the environment. But when have modders ever listened when told they can’t do something?

While Larian can’t officially allow custom campaigns on its official modding platform, that hasn’t stopped PC players from trying to mod in their own environments and stories. BG3’s modding toolkit was quickly unlocked, giving PC players the ability to play god with the game. It’s unlikely such in-depth custom campaign mods will make their way to consoles, but–barring any legal takedowns–PC players could play essentially whole new, fan-built games, like the volunteer-led Path to Menzoberranzan, within the next few years.

The End of an Era

Patch 8 Will Be the Last Update for Baldur’s Gate 3

Larian Studios is now free to focus on their next project as Patch 8 marks the last major update for Baldur’s Gate 3. “That means we won’t be adding any new narrative content or significant changes to storylines, Origin characters, or companions. We’ve told our stories the way we needed to tell them, and tried our best to make them impactful and engaging,” read the introduction to the patch notes.

It’s bittersweet, in a way, as while we’re certainly sad to see Larian’s work on Baldur’s Gate 3 come to an end, saying goodbye now lets the studio focus on whatever it has in store next, promising “more chaos in the future.”

We don’t know what specifically Larian is cooking up next, but we do know what it’s not going to be. The studio has already cancelled Baldur’s Gate 3 DLC, with director Swen Vincke saying at GDC 2024, “You could see the team was doing [the DLC] because everyone felt like we had to do it, but it wasn’t really coming from the heart, and we’re very much a studio from the heart” (via IGN).

The studio is stepping away from continuing the Baldur’s Gate franchise, as it won’t be making a Baldur’s Gate 4, but hasn’t fully revealed what’s next. Its next two RPG projects promise to be comparable in scope to–perhaps even larger than–Baldur’s Gate 3, with Vincke telling PC Gamer, “We were made for making large, ambitious RPGs and to try new stuff.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to try out the “new stuff” Larian is working on.