“Restart-itis” has plagued gamers for years, and it seems especially prevalent amongBaldur’s Gate 3players. Despite there being no “wrong” way to play, countless fans find themselves endlessly fine-tuning their Tavs or jumping ship before ever reaching the end of Act Two - let alone Act Three.
If you’re one of the players finding themselves stuck inBG3purgatory, don’t worry.There are plenty of fun ways to spice up your ongoing campaignswithout the need for an entirely new save file.
10Make Custom Hirelings
You Don’t Need To Start A New Campaign To Play Around In The Customizer
The main thing that makesBaldur’s Gate 3so tempting to restart is the character creator- especially with mods, it’s common for players to sink hours into customizing their next Tav. Something that I’d like to propose for powering through this urge is to start customizing your hirelings instead.
A mod on Nexus byadriant1978allows you to bypass the hireling restrictions and make fully custom ones, including duplicates of NPCs.
You can’t change their race or body type, but you can customize everything else upon recruitment or by taking them to the magic mirror - including their name. You can alsotake them to Withers to respec. This meansyou can take along more than one custom character in your party,or you can just keep them in camp.
You could create characters from your Tav’s backstory- perhaps any parents, friends, or siblings that you may want to bring with you on your adventure. Though you can’t interact with hirelings, several mods that you may want to consider adding allow you to do things such as hug other characters.
9Flesh Out Your Protagonist
Don’t Let Your Tav Bore You
This requires a bit of imagination, but I always find that I’m a lot more discouraged from starting a new playthrough when I’m attached to my current character.
If you haven’t already, adding more ofa roleplay aspect toBG3and developing your Tav further than just a concept, race, and class can really help you feel more engaged in dialogue and become more invested in seeing them achieve their goals. There are plenty of resources and prompts out there to help you build a more comprehensive identity and backstory for your protagonist.
Those playing as a non-custom origin character could also look into their past and pre-existing personality, and spend some time trying to get into their shoes. If you want to deviate from how they normally act as companions,consider what would change their actions and motivations.
8Visit The Circus Of The Last Days
Lots Of Fun Activities You Can’t Get Elsewhere
Unfortunately,you can’t return to Acts 1 and 2 after reaching Act 3,but one area that you’ll always be able to visit in the late game with lots of different activities is the Circus of the Last Days in Rivington. You can test your devotion to your closest companion withZethino’s love test, use Zara’s face-painting kits, commission a statue of yourself or one of your party members, or take a trip to the Chult Jungle.
If you fancy a challenge, you can also go on a scavenger huntto returnall of Dribbles' lost body partsto Lucretious. This is quite a tedious task for such a little reward, but it’s still a fun side-quest that will take you all around the third act, and grants inspiration to any Dark Urge character.
7Achievement Hunt
Some Achievements Can Be Obtained At Any Point In A Campaign
There are 54 achievements inBaldur’s Gate 3, and there are plenty that you can accomplish at any point within a campaign. Giving yourself a small side task to collect some of the following achievements will help you reach 100% completion if it’s something you’re interested in - but if not, it’s still a fun token of your adventure and gives you bragging rights to other players.
Description
Bookworm
Read 100 different books in a single playthrough. Adventuring isn’t just daring quests, you know.
Long Rest using only alcohol - a time-honoured dwarven tradition.
Busker
Earn a hundred gold from playing sweet, sweet music in a single playthrough.
Fetch Quest
Play fetch with Scratch - the best boy in the Realms.
Homebrewer
Create three unique alchemical solutions in a single playthrough - bottoms up!
Jack-of-all-Trades
Multiclass into every class in one playthrough without asking Withers to change your character.
Successfully use Detect Thoughts to pry into someone’s thoughts.
Outsourcing
Recruit a hireling. you’re able to befriend them or use them as cannon-fodder - we won’t judge.
The “Jack-of-all-Trades” achievement may appear ludicrous at first,but you can do it with any hireling or origin character. Oddly enough, theBusker Achievement is actually extremely rareand has only been earned by 2% of players, despite being relatively easy to accomplish.
6Dress Up Your Camp
Customize All Your Companions
Either by downloading lots of outfit mods or going on a shopping spree around Baldur’s Gate City,it’s very easy to sink a few hours into finding the best, perfectly dyed outfits for your entire camp.You could dress up all your companions with a matching theme, or simply pick out whichever clothes you think look best on them individually.
5Relive Your Favorite Moments
Reminisce On Old Cutscenes, Or See Where Different Choices Could’ve Landed You
Unless you’replaying in Honor Mode,your old save files aren’t going anywhere. So if there’s a cutscene, battle, puzzle, or conversation you particularly enjoyed, you may always revisit it without touching your most recent save.
If you’re not in the mood to start a whole new campaign just to explore a handful of alternative choices,you’re able to easily test out different dialogue options to see what you missed the first time around.
4Use Photo Mode
Create A Memento of Your Favorite Characters
To go along with your shiny new outfits and possible custom party members, why not have a photoshoot across Faerûn?Photo Mode is surprisingly easy to useonce you get the hang of it, and there are endless possibilities for the scenarios you’re able to put together.
you may activate Photo Mode at any point throughout your playthrough,so whether you want to see your companions in wacky situations or capture the beauty of one of your favorite areas, it’s the perfect way to preserve the memories you make on your journey.
3Decorate Your Camp
Utilize Some Useless Items In A Creative Way
Although the camps are temporary, if you’re late in the game, have a room in the Elfsong Tavern, or are not planning to move to another area for a while,you can collect different items throughout your travels and arrange them in your campto make it feel more homely. If you do move to another area, these items should return to your camp chest.
It’s a shame that Tav doesn’t get their own tent like their companions,so this can fill the void a lot of players have when it comes to the lack of camp personalization. If you’re hanging ontolots of useless itemsthat you don’t intend to sell, you can make clearing out your inventory a lot more enjoyable.
2Talk To As Many NPCs As You Can
You’ve Probably Missed A Hidden Gem Somewhere
There are hundreds ofNPCS throughoutBaldur’s Gate 3, andyou’ve more than likely missed at least a couple of interesting interactionsthroughout your playthroughs. I’ve personally only just discovered that you can uncover an affair by talking to Clovia and Blarson Throaks in the Elfsong Tavern - two characters who are very easy to overlook as background filler.
“I guess it’s time to tell you… I’m leaving you. I’m starting a new life with Tamia.” - Clovia Throaks
I’d recommend talking to as many NPCs as possible,especially around Rivington and the Lower City. TheSpeak with Animalsspell is also a must, as if you’re not travelling with a character who has it readily available, you risk missing out on an incredible amount of unique dialogue.
1Finish The Game
Put That Playthrough To Rest
Instead of stalling,the most obvious thing you can do instead of starting a new campaign is to lock into one of your current playthroughsand focus on finishing the game. Lots ofBG3players think Act Three is the worstact due to the overwhelming amount of content, but as long as you focus on obtaining the Netherstones, a great portion of it is avoidable.
It’s a lot easier to stay motivated through a full campaign when you’re not aiming for the same ending every time. Try shaking things up - betray the Emperor or Orpheus, side with Gortash (or double-cross him), or take control of the Netherbrain yourself, whether as a benevolent ruler or a full-blown tyrant.
It can be daunting to commit to a newBaldur’s Gate 3run after spending 100+ hours on your previous one, but it’ll always be more satisfying not to leave a story unfinished.
