Baldur’s Gate III adds druids, a natural choice for its next class

Nature is healing on the Sword Coast in a beary good update for Baldur’s Gate III.

During its “Panel From Hell 2” livestream today, Larian Studios said the Druids will be in the Nature’s Power patch (that’s also coming today). The company also said it’s adding new outposts in Malaysia and England. The druid is the first new class added to Baldur’s Gate III since its Early Access launch last fall, though these nature-loving spellcasters are a major faction in the story’s first act (one even joins you party). So since druid nonplayer characters are already in the game, it makes sense to make them the next player class.

Druids are a spellcasting class in Dungeons & Dragons, and they can also use their Wild Shape ability to transform into animals. Larian says the druid is getting 30 spells and abilities, along with new dialogue and voice-overs so your PC doesn’t sound like a fighter, a warlock, or one of the other existing classes.

This will also make the Druid’s Grove a more interesting place for druids, and Larian said it’s also adding new story moments, interactions, rewards, and so on to the existing first act. Larian didn’t say when the second act is coming, though.

Wild thing

Above: Sorry for badgering you.

Image Credit: Larian Studios

Druids can use Wild Shape to turn into a dire wolf (that’s a big-ass doggie), a polar bear, a spider, a raven, a cat, or a badger (this one suits my personality). Larian has found an intriguing way to fit the mind flayer tadpole in your brain into this ability — you can turn into an aberrant shape. I don’t know what this actually means, but I’ll be damned disappointed if this doesn’t include tentacles.

You can also transform into a deep rothé, the Underdark’s equivalent of a cow. I’m not quite as excited about this one.

But Larian also notes that you can communicate with others creatures that share your shape. It said you can talk to a bear in your path if you assume the Polar Bear shape. So maybe you’ll find a situation when mooing to a bunch of other deep rothé is useful.

Circle time

Above: Paladins hate this one trick.

Image Credit: Larian Studios

In D&D, druids belong to circles. These are groups that focus on certain aspects of nature and the balance. It’s how druids organize themselves in the world around their beliefs. Where clerics have gods and church hierarchies, druids have circles.

Larian is adding two circles to Baldur’s Gate III:

• The Circle of the Land is a group of druids connected to the Faerun. It could be a forest, a desert, an arctic waste, or even the Underdark. They can have more power depending on the geography they’re in.
• The Circle of the Moon focuses on the deeper parts of the wilderness, Larian said. It also offers wild shapes that are more powerful in combat than the Circle of the Land (like the polar bear).

Some of the new spells include druids standards like Goodberry, Entangle, Flame Blade, Moonbeam, Barkskin, and Shillelagh

Expanding frontier and other notes

Above: Creepy-crawlie!

Image Credit: Larian Studios

Larian is adding studios in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Guildford in England.

Kuala Lumpar is the company’s first outpost in Asia. With studios now in Canada and Europe, Larian now has the greater capability to hand off work from one studio to another as one group clocks into work and another clocks out.

Other changes coming in the Nature’s Power patch include:

• Loaded dice option: This will prevent players from encountering too many good or bad d20 rolls. It’s still random, but the idea here is to smooth out the curve between a series of awful or sensational results. This doesn’t apply to rolls involving damage, but it does include narrative and combat d20s.
• Better cinematcs: Improvements to lighting and animation should make these better in story sequences. This will also apply to when you use Speak with Dead that lead to cinematics (same with talking to animals, too). Larian is also improving the animations of druids in the Grove.
• Multiplayer now enables you to see other player’s equipment, spells, inventory, and character sheets. You can take and place items into them, too. A lock function for your inventory is coming in a future patch, so choose your Baldur’s Gate III companions wisely, least they steal from you.
• Quality of life improvements include being able to target party members and enemies with spells and gear by clicking on their portraits. You’ll also get an option for fleeing combat and a torch button.