After the adventure: Baldur's Gate 3 update introduces post-endgame celebrations

Conquered the campaign? Time to command the dance floor...

Baldur's Gate 3 fans, get ready! The game's latest patch (#5), is now live and brings a treasure trove of new features, enhancements, and fixes. Touted as the most feature-filled update so far, this patch promises a richer and more immersive gaming experience. There's so much to cover in this 30gb update, but I'll try and keep it brief and spoiler-free and just explore the main highlights!

Main Features

New epilogue: At the heart of Patch #5 is the epilogue, a brand-new section at the end of the game crafted to provide a sense of closure with your allies after the epic showdown of Act III. This epilogue captures the choices and consequences of all your actions across your adventure and features new cinematics, letters, new dialogue and more. The epilogue is supposed to be a tender moment of reflection with your companions, and a chance to bask in the aftermath of your journey before the credits gracefully usher in the end.

Play modes: Additionally, two play modes - Honour mode and Custom mode - have been added with the former upping the intensity of the entire game even outside of combat. Expect fights to be a little more interesting than just stat increases. It's also worth noting you will not be able to save-scum on this mode, but if you complete the game on Honor mode you'll be rewarded by a golden D20. The new custom mode allows you to tailor the advernture to be easier, harder, or just a little bit closer to the D&D tabletop experience. Some examples include; disabling death saving throws, hiding perception checks, and only allowing a single save.

Fresh garms: Yup, new clothing choices for you fashionistas. 

Performance improvements: Players on PS5 can now enjoy dynamic resolution, ensuring smoother gameplay. This update also brings numerous performance enhancements, particularly noticeable in Act III​​. VRAM and RAM usage will be better utilised especially with those who have lower capacities. 

Inventory access at camp: YES FINALLY. Apologies for the outburst. Now, you can access and manage the inventories of all your companions even those who aren't in your active party while at camp in one single interface.

Other highlights: This update is like an overflowing cauldron of fixes and gameplay enhancements, and covering every bit in this brief article would be a quest in itself! I highly recommend taking a look at the official patch notes here and the Steam community notes here to get all the nitty gritty detail. A word to the wise – these notes are filled with spoilers. Read carefully or avoid them completely if you prefer surprises.

Author thoughts

Currently I'm downloading this update, hoping to get chance to play this weekend. My cleric, ever the busybody, is gallivanting through Act III, ticking off side quests like there’s no tomorrow before I progressing to the end game. I live for party moments in RPGs, and I'm hoping this epilogue is somewhat like the house party in the Mass Effect Citadel DLC - both hilarious and heartwarming. Whilst I've loved Baulders Gate 3, I've definitely found it more difficult to get through Act III and found the Act itself quite overwhelming. Fortunately, a few missions in between sessions on Darktide has helped!