Can I Beat Baldurs Gate 3 [Honor Mode] with these 9 restrictions? | Ep 5

[@Sotales07]

In character reason for knocking the bard out again: Your Dark Urge Bard is just a really harsh critic.

[@Melth]

Or maybe I thought it was great and I took 'head banging' too literally

[@LustyLichKing]

I love the lore explanations and discussions, Melth. Also, RIP Mongolian throat singing lizard lady. If only she had made a 100 gold deposit with Withers in advance for contingency revives.

[@Melth]

If only Withers let me just pay to revive her instead of handwave refusing that!

[@Noctua07]

Man this is just so clean. I don't even want to know how a normal run would look like when you can just use all your resources. Really impressive.

[@Melth]

Thanks! I had to start adding more and more restrictions to my previous runs since they were getting too easy when I used resources. So this run is kind of the result of piling on limitations until I'm no longer sure whether or not I can manage it.

[@Noctua07]

@@Melth Real madlad. :D Haha :D the face when you just kinda figured out the game x) Well, I'm learning a lot from just watching you and definitely incorporating some things into my current play through (tactician not honour). Looking forward to the next videos in this run.

[@GMtheTurtle]

Regarding the mind flayer parasite plot holes, I’m pretty sure that the reason Astarion can walk in the sun is bc the parasite was imbued with netherese magic that’s too powerful for Halsin, the hag, omeluum, or the zaithisk to deal with. I imagine the magic of the parasite would similarly prevent its removal postmortem for the trick you mentioned. It’s a pretty convenient plot device but necessary for any of the story and stakes to make sense.

[@Melth]

As for Astarion- the thing is that that's not really an answer. There's just no particular reason that netherese magic would confer sun immunity. Heck, Gale has even more netherese magic and he's not getting immunity to anything. They just didn't really bother coming up with an explanation as far as I'm aware. Likewise with the parasite not being removable post mortem. The thing is that we repeatedly see in game that not only are parasites indeed easily removable port mortem, they voluntarily remove themselves immediately in most cases! We keep finding true souls whose parasites come right out. We're even told that the one Halsin found had his parasite come out after he died. Our parasites are apparently the only exceptions. Lazy and inconsistent plot devices in an otherwise well-written story.

[@Probroscis]

@@Melth Could be that the Visitor is explicitly forcing your parasites to stay intact/inside as you (and the Origins) are 'needed' by them for their plans against the Absolute. Whether you could do everything the plot requires without being infected is another thing entirely.

[@cashmoneybanks8442]

I feel so bad for Alfira man. I just can't get the bard cutscene to trigger in camp so I've been beating her unconscious every day for like 4 days now. There's so much blood in her little nook in the grove. The poor girl just wants to sing and play her lute

[@Melth]

What cutscenes have you had instead of hers? I only knew of two that supercede her

[@cashmoneybanks8442]

@@Melth First night was the relic coming to me because I was doing a solo run and killed Shadowheart and Laezel right off the bat Second and third nights were the dream guardian because I guess I explored a little too far. I just knocked her out a 4th time so I'm crossing my fingers I'll get the cutscene tonight

[@JamesBailey-po7iu]

You *can* avoid killing any bards as the Dark Urge - in my run after the dragonborn bard showed up, I went and spoke to Lae'zel that night and confessed my murderous desires: she was very accepting and helped me out by killing me and immediately long-resting, using Withers to resurrect me in the morning. The bard still dies: she gets killed by Fel and you don't get any reward, unless you count a clear conscience and the lack of a ritual murder circle in camp.

[@Melth]

Yeah I tried something similar after I first discovered the murder was going to happen, reloading and trying various things. I blew myself up with smoke powder bombs and was annoyed to find that Sceleritas killed the bard anyway

[@Melth]

Just thought of something. Even if I do that, I still can't avoid killing any bards, because I'M a bard!

[@paulsilagi4783]

But you get revived, so does that really count the same?

[@alexitariah9831]

This is the most flawless run I’ve ever seen! You have perfect skill and attention to detail. I’m praying u make it thru the entire game

[@Melth]

Thanks, me too! We'll see if I can make it all the way through like this.

[@RhysJ88]

Thoroughly enjoying the content dude. Keep up the good work 👌

[@Melth]

Thanks a lot! Always glad to hear people enjoy these

[@laviard]

cant stress this enough, fav series on bg3 so far

[@Melth]

Thank you very much! That's nice to hear.

[@Dragooncore]

34:34 "And, regret it pretty much immediately" lol. If I wasn't trying to gather my merry band, I would've just killed this dude, can't trust a word he says (Astarion).

[@Melth]

Absolutely! There's no way I'd trust this guy with the fate of the world! I wouldn't trust him not to randomly kill an ally every time I look away just to see what happens

[@stephanematis]

Man, these 5 episodes have taught me more then I expected. I was sure I was not being efficient in my first attempts, the play felt sluggish, the cohesion wrong. Your min/max style showed plenty of improvements I can make to my playstyle.

[@Lowkeyvain]

Your knowledge of the game is so infectious and fun to watch

[@Melth]

Thanks, glad to hear it!

[@smdb5874]

yoooo lets gooo!. i've been waiting for this!

[@Melth]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@ceasec]

I'm hooked, subscribed, and along for the entire ride.

[@Melth]

Welcome aboard!

[@Dragonking3787]

I always liked Scelaritus Fel. He's silly and I like silly. Being more mysterious is nice, but theres plenty of serious stories in the game. And also since this my (and probably many) first time playing any Baldur's Gate game, (And for that matter, i haven't really played D&D) the reused Bhaal plotpoint doesn't really effect me as it does more experienced players such as yourself. Impressive gameplay nevertheless 😊

[@Melth]

Enjoying a silly character is certainly quite subjective and will vary a lot person by person. I don't normally like silly characters in games where I'm trying to get into the story, but I did actually like Minsc I suppose. Sceleritas though just showed me that all the mysterious dark urge stuff I'd been excited about was going to be trite and silly Glad you're enjoying the series!

[@unwise6518]

Loving this series, especially the first fight on the Nautaloid.

[@Melth]

Thanks! That's an epic fight alright. There'll be some more good ones coming as I get out of this introductory portion where I'm mostly gathering characters, re-speccing them, and taking care of camp scenes.

[@holidaycomplex]

i love this series bc i completely disagree with you about almost every criticism of the story but your gameplay is great and it’s fun hearing your thoughts pls keep going

[@Melth]

Thank you, glad you're enjoying it!

[@alexcollier2787]

Favourite series on KZbin right now

[@Melth]

That's very gratifying to hear!

[@halo_582]

I usually hate watching dialogue in bg3 KZbin videos but your input is always really entertaining

[@Melth]

I'm happy to hear that! It's also useful feedback to know that you're enjoying the dialogue + commentary. When starting this run I'd been unsure whether people would want me to just skip over that

[@guilhermeredtfox]

Nice video, I found it very creative. Wishing your channel success!

[@Melth]

Thank you!

[@janezjabolko4819]

Damm 1+ hour episode ! Cant wai tto watch it. Keep up the good work!

[@Melth]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@YESCARLYES]

New to the community just wanted to say thank you so much for all you do!

[@Melth]

I appreciate that! Knowing people enjoy these videos is what makes all the work worthwhile

[@bigchungus7050]

How are you planning on using these spells with no long rest?

[@Melth]

Very carefully!

[@edielungreen]

I decided the same thing for Astarion-5 levels in Ranger (Gloomstalker) and the rest in Rogue. I’m on Balanced and still in Act 2 (party is at Level 8), but so far he’s been dealing crazy amounts of damage, especially on his first turn with Dread Ambusher

[@Melth]

Yeah, it's a very strong and straightforward build. And it gets better the quicker you can make combat be. If every fight ends on round 1, he has an extra attack every round for example

[@afxtal]

Another high quality episode Tip: Upcasting Longstrider makes the buff distribution a little faster.

[@Melth]

Yeah, I do that at least some of the time. Depending on whether the number of party members is an even multiple of my highest spell slot usually since I hate when it comes out uneven 😅

[@RoryDavidWatts]

Another great video, keep it up man!

[@Melth]

Thank you!

[@sauracifer3557]

I beat honour mode this weekend Thank god i watched a vid of the last fight Those orbs of negation and the 4 mindflayers casting magic missile are brutal

[@Melth]

I remember the 4 mindflayers being surprisingly rough on my no rest tactician mode. I felt pretty good about one-rounding the dragon and the emperor and his 4 clones of us, but that meant I couldn't get to the mind flayers who spammed high damage magic missiles.

[@sauracifer3557]

@@Melth my strat was going over to the portal using what movement options i had available to me (fly haste potion of vaulting) and sitting in a globe of invulnerability until the portal was open) are you planning to kill all enemies in that fight even the tentacles etc?

[@Melth]

@@sauracifer3557 I'm not sure I'll bother with the tentacles again. They were just kind of a boring waste of time since they're effortless for ranged attackers. But I do plan to kill everything else at least.

[@Bman6464]

Enjoying your take on making the game appropriately difficult. I love the game, but it certainly took the wind out of my sails when I realized I was going to not take damage after KT lol. I started just messing around in the boss battles (i.e. killing raphael with hope 😂)

[@Melth]

It certainly did start to get easier as the game went on- though I think the hardest and best fight in the whole game is in Act 3: if you try to kill Gortash during his coronation with all thr Steel Watch and the grenade launchers and the guards and Ulder Ravenguard, thats a pretty awesome and challenging battle. In general I was pleasantly surprised that the Steel Watch did pose a decent threat of dealing some damage in act 3

[@KudzuHaiku]

With a spore druid, you can use a reaction to heal your whole party. Drop a potion on the ground and hit it with some spores.

[@Melth]

Yep! You can use that for speed potions or the like too. I start doing that around episode 40 or so I think

[@mouday_]

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR PART 5!! TYBALT APPROVES 😺

[@Melth]

We'll see when Tybalt next puts in an appearance! I think he was napping through most of this one. Or playing with jingling cat toys in the next room.

[@CristianMalaquias]

I'm also doing a honour mode run and it's been funny to see how much better you prepare for battles. I haven't died yet but Act 1 is almost done. I'm also playing as Dark Urge, but my character is not resisting the urge at all. Evil run has plenty of downsides but boy is it fun.

[@Melth]

Good luck! I haven't done an evil run yet. It just seems like one misses out on too much content and too many quests that way. I'll try it eventually I guess.

[@paulsilagi4783]

Ah, the classic "the best status debuff in the game is 'dead'"

[@Melth]

Can't make actions, bonus actions, reactions, OR move! And only Ketheric and Aylin are immune

[@paulsilagi4783]

@@Melth And most enemies have no way to recover from it. And even those that do are very limited.

[@Melth]

@@paulsilagi4783 a good point!

[@Greatmaw-72]

Loving the series so far 👏👏

[@Melth]

My thanks! It's nice to hear people enjoy it.

[@justinmoseley6440]

Aha, got the treasure this round.

[@ShandrensCorner]

Slightly higher game sound (if for nothing else then for conversations) would be awesome. It is still really hard to follow the conversations in between your comments. At least on a phone where the subtitles are small

[@Melth]

Hm. When I listen to it, I think it's getting to the point where I can't always distinguish what I'm saying while NPCs are talking at the same time.

[@ShandrensCorner]

@@Melth Ohh, I had the opposite problem. I could hear your commentary perfectly clear, but had trouble hearing the game-stuff you were commenting on. In certain situations that was no problem (since i sort of knew the conversation), but having never done the Dark urge stuff it was rather hard to follow your commentary as I didn't really know what was going on in the game at that moment. The opposite problem would be just as bad obviously, and it may very well depend on type or quality of my headset, etc. Just wanted you to have the feedback 🙂

[@darthimperious1594]

I do appreciate that someone else found the whole "Oh, I'm a Bhaalspawn. Again." thing a bit trite. By the end of Throne of Bhaal, all the Bhaalspawn were supposed to have been killed off. That was the entire point: uniting all the Bhaal essense so that you would either rise as the new God of Murder, or put an end to the essence of Bhaal, once and for all. When I started playing Dark Urge, I, too, figured it out fairly early on. After all, it's a mirror of the battle the main character had in Shadows of Amn, to keep control of his Slayer self, or give in and use the power. Overall, I really like Baldur's Gate 3, and it opened me up to enjoy some aspects of 5th Edition, which was good, because before it, I was a 3.5 purist, especially after the abject failure of 4th edition. I also think the overall story is good, I just hate what I call the "Force Awakens Effect", aka the retelling of a story that's already been told well enough.

[@orionstokesweiss2344]

Dear god this is depressing. Even in a run you aren't long resting and with all of the vast improvements bg3 made to martials over base 5e, only 1 of the party is a martial. Though I am still confused how you plan to restore spell slots or druid wild shape, can't wait to see what low-resource shenanigans you get up to. Really tempted to try some of these or similar restrictions on my own run because they force you to interact with game systems rather than having a bag of 683 random potions

[@Melth]

I plan to NOT restore spell slots basically, and to try to budget this limited number over the course of the entire act. Mind you, a party of all martials would be viable too in this challenge as long as they're all Gloomstalkers or something super strong like that which doesn't need resources. Or I bet I could do it with like 4 swords bards because every bard gives you an additional short rest/act, so suddenly I'd have almost unlimited short rests to restore all our bardic inspirations with, allowing almost endless spam of Slashing Flourish Ranged. That just sounded boring! So I went with what I thought would be an interesting party with a lot of different options instead.

[@orionstokesweiss2344]

@@Melth Your party is definitely interesting. I don't know where you are in the challenge overall, but as a next level of challenge a melee-only version would be awesome. It would be a set of strategies that so far seem entirely unexplored in this run. This game has so may avenues for cool challenge runs though, DOS2 was the same way

[@Melth]

@@orionstokesweiss2344 the idea of a melee only party makes me shudder! Melee is so bad in this game and there would be so many wasted turns

[@Sk4llik]

1:11:58 Well, Lae'zel, it's time to put those words to the test.

[@SimonGrandell]

You can use disguise self drow for auto sucess on diplomacy for the goblin ambush to get the xp. And then ambush them for the fight xp.

[@Melth]

@@SimonGrandell I think they've patched it and you can't get double XP for most things anymore

[@SimonGrandell]

@@Melth Oh okay.

[@Melth]

@@SimonGrandell it might be worth checking if this particular fight is possible to get double XP for! But a lot of places that used to be aren't anymore

[@SimonGrandell]

@@Melth I'll check it in my current game. It's worth checking if it's the same amount of xp if nothing else.

[@SimonGrandell]

@@Melth I just checked it the same xp and you can't doubble dip. But astarion gets inspiration which is abit more xp for astarion. And your main character if you have the charlatan background.

[@bi_smth]

I have one word to describe your gameplay: masterful. Do you use utility mods? I kinda wanna see how you play w mod classes as well like artificer, vessel, and sentinel on another time.

[@Melth]

I haven't tried any mods yet, other than the one to apply honor mode to this run. I'm familiar with the artificer class (in 5E I would rate it low to medium usefulness probably) but not the vessel and sentinel.

[@mariomotley8395]

the no long rest part will be tough

[@Melth]

Yeah, especially combined with the other restrictions to make it so I can't avoid the dangers of not long resting

[@rheiagreenland4714]

BORKBORKBORKBORKBORK

[@Melth]

You're supposed to resist the bark urge! Otherwise squeakybhaal gets your soul or something!

[@sgt391]

so they made a secret growl dragon song for psycopath players. nice

[@Melth]

Yeah, it's a fun, weird thing to include

[@theowl1735]

I feel like the protection from Sun may actually be from the Emperor as opposed to the parasite…

[@Melth]

@@theowl1735 we keep it even if the Emperor is killed- until the parasite dies. It's probably from the vague netherese magic of the parasites, but there's no particular reason netherese magic would confer any protection from sunlight at all

[@justawarlord]

you know what y ou should have done for the lore behind your bard? he was a warlock until he met alfira and got inspired to start a life as a bard

[@Melth]

@@justawarlord inspired to be better than her?

[@brianwright794]

I hear you, I do, but I think part of the reason this is “Bauldur’s Gate 3” and not “DnD Game 3” is because of the Bhaalspawn connection, and… yeah, the bad guys should kind of be totally, cartoonishly, unabashedly evil. A god of murder shouldn’t try to be a sympathetic villain…

[@N7Ronin]

Very good videos, just watched all 5 episodes. I am playing in honor mode as well with an assassin dark urge character, however, like you said, melees are rarely worth it in this mode, i hate that you have to go ranged with basically every character if you want a chance, almost finished act 1 and the more i go forward, the harder it gets to even try stealth melee attacks and then run away... Is it just me or it's that unviable? I really wanted to keep it true to the lore of my character and be an assassin with daggers/shortswords, and rarely use ranged weapons, but seems pretty bad

[@Melth]

That's kind of a 5E thing in general. Melee is always just worse than range in every way except for certain characters that are forced to be melee to use any of their abilities, like paladins. BG3 increased the problem even further by ruining the most important melee feat (polearm master) and giving every single character the benefits of the most important ranged feat (crossbow expert) for free. On my first run, I happened to get an absurdly lucky act 1 drop of the endgame legendary greatsword Silver Sword of the Astral Plane. I spent an act and a half working really hard to make melee viable.. But even with that endgame super weapon melee was STILL just worse than firing away with hand crossbows.

[@N7Ronin]

@@Melth Ouch that hurts lol. Looking forward to the next episodes by the way

[@HiddenDreams08]

37:00 its the netherese magic protecting him from the sun

[@AskZch]

1:08:19 Another Sacrilege! Not taking (altho bugged) named item buried (Fleetfingers) just 20 meters to the right.... Maybe they will "fix it next hotfix"™

[@Melth]

I've never liked the Fleetfingers much. I see every dash I do as representing a small tactical failure, since it's wasting a valuable action just to move around instead of destroying enemies. They have their uses, but I really don't want to waste the valuable glove slot on an item I hope to almost never activate.

[@AskZch]

@@Melth you mean they fixed the item, I didn't try it in latest patch/hotfixes, didn't knew they finally fixed it, for me it didn't function last time I tried it. (It's just the filthy minmaxer in me who collects every named item in the game even if it's useless :P)

[@Melth]

@@AskZch I didn't try it lately either

[@AskZch]

@@Melth wasn't lazy, just tested it, not fixed....

[@marklewis1457]

Are the cutscenes super laggy for everyone else?

[@Melth]

Some of them have lagged for me, especially since the new patch. I've had so many problems with lag and screen tearing since patch 5 came out... I keep turning down my video settings, but it doesn't seem to help

[@Cocaine441]

Amazing series so far. Hope you can fix the laggy parts though

[@Melth]

Me too. I've tried everything I can think of and turned down every setting, but it's no use so far. I didn't have this problem until patch 5

[@tillsen]

You could also Long Rest without putting any food in. I think this will give you no benefits, but advance the plot.

[@Melth]

That's correct as long as my HP and spell slots are above half

[@Koralsz]

Is there any specific reason why didi you choose the dark urge?

[@Melth]

More story mostly. There's a ton of unique dialogue and background information you only find out as the Dark Urge. Downsides include a pretty bad background giving bad skills, and also there'll be a couple of points when you must succeed at a high save DC or skill check or basically ruin your entire run. I think the one mechanical upside is the cloak of invisibility you get here. That's decent. Or it can be really good if you exploit it on a solo run, but I certainly won't be doing that

[@dodoking4]

Out of interest, are you playing with karmic dice on or off?

[@Melth]

Off. I think they're a very bad idea in general, and especially bad for a run like this. They tend to negate the effects of your build choices like good armor or high hit chances. Forcing you to sometimes miss or get hit regardless of probability

[@PillowOfEvil]

Does the primary damage dealer have to be Astarion? I just hate his character so much.

[@Melth]

I hate him too! But he's objectively the best, and no party without him is optimized, because that Happy bonus of +1 to everything all the time is matchlessly good.

[@PillowOfEvil]

@@Melth luckily I'm just playing honour without all your restrictions, so I'll take my chances with someone else. Lucky me, gahahaha!

[@Dima666Air]

Hi Why larian still don't fix bug When you chose spells in lvl up screen description dont show save throw type So I play sorcerer Cant change spells freely like wizard or cleric On lvl up game says me "choose one of this spells but you just dont know how they work. Have fun" Its like 5 big patches and bug still here

[@Melth]

I agree, it would be better if they showed what saving throw various spells targeted!

[@Dima666Air]

​@@MelthI'm pretty confident in my dnd mechanics knowledge but it's just to much to remember which spell works with which save throw characteristics so I literaly cant lvl up my character because I cant decide which spell better or worse without knowing type or save or attack roll. So every lvl up I open wiki and read about every spell. I still dont know why this bug exists and how it still not fixed

[@RevanLegend]

Please stop bullying that poor lady :(

[@Melth]

Someone has to protect the squirrels (and the local music scene)!

[@nerdtron3332]

Is it just me or is the games dislodge super quite compared to everything else

[@Melth]

Hm. To me it sounds pretty loud. Loud enough to make it hard to hear me when I'm speaking at the same time as a character.

[@0ABA0]

did he not loot the withers own tomb

[@chancehine56]

i like the content but really wish i could hear the characters better

[@Melth]

I've increased the game volume a few db per episode, so I think by EP 7 it'll probably be where you want it. (And then by EP 20 or so it'll be deafening and you'll have to watch on mute of course )

[@chancehine56]

@@Melth 😂😂😏

[@glaziumtck8593]

I can barely hear the NPC's speak so i basicaly skip those parts of the video. And doesn't using the camp members for Astarion to bite count as breaking the 6th rule ? I assume your logic to do it is it is technicaly Astarion buffing himself and not the Camp members buffing Astarion. But still... Loving this playthrough though.

[@Melth]

Hm. I hadn't really thought of that as using the camp followed to buff Astarion, especially since it's trivial to just have him bite a goblin or an NPC or something anyway. Just seems like saving time. But I guess I can avoid that in act 2 and just bite the first NPC I meet or whatever instead

[@Chronische]

Real shame they didn't have Cespenar be the Bhaal-Dark Urge liason - much more helpful fellow, him! Also, feel like they should have dumped the Bhaalspawn thing entirely. WotC really ruined it by having 'the Bhaalspawn' get ganked by some loser nobody in one of their adventures, and it being followed up here could never have been anything but disappointing! Throne of Bhaal's endings easily should have led to Bhaal never being returned at all, since even an evil maniac PC would still be less stupid than Bhaal himself and a lawful good person taking up the mantle of Murder and Killing could change the tone of the faith! Honestly confused why they even called it Baldur's Gate with how little it has to do with the prior games. Well.. not THAT confused. Brandname recognition is all too addicting to marketing teams, even when it makes no sense. Too bad; they really could have, until they cut basically everyone working at WotC it seems, kicked off a new Gold Box era - a ton of games set not only in FR but in other settings to keep interest up!

[@Melth]

I'd certainly be happier to have an imp like Cespenar instead of a *goblin*. Indeed, I would take just about anything over a goblin. Even a kobold is better! But yeah, I definitely agree. I am annoyed that they felt the need to put Bhaal in the game again and make it revolve around Bhaalspawn again. I will say in their defense, I've seen lots of (in my opinion) *asinine* comments on old forum threads about the early version of this game, saying that it's bad because it's NOT all about Bhaalspawn, and all true Baldur's Gate games must (for some reason) be all about Bhaalspawn. I absolutely cannot understand why someone would think that or want that, but apparently a decent chunk of the community really, really wanted yet another game that was all about Bhaal.

[@Chronische]

@@Melth Well it is called Bhaaldur's Gate, right? :)

[@Melth]

@@Chronische that might have been a better twist than Balduran somehow becoming a special mindflayer

[@samsdragonportfolio1309]

What happened to no long rest? Wtf

[@Melth]

Well, as I said, this way 1) I get no benefits of a long rest. No hitpoints back, no spell slots restored. 2) I get all the story scenes people asked me to do. Several commenters had requested a method like this on previous videos, so we don't miss like 90% of the story.