Baldur's Gate 3 Gets Another Massive Patch Out of Nowhere

A new update for Baldur's Gate 3 has arrived, kicking off 2024 with a bit of an unexpected bang. Hotfix #16 promises a laundry list of bug fixes, while also making minor improvements to specific mechanics. Chances are, if you happen to be running into a particular or persistent issue, this patch will probably address it.

Fair warning, though, these patch notes are long. Again, this isn't what Larian Studios would call a major update, but there are still so many adjustments to consider — you certainly can't fault the team's dedication.

Baldur's Gate 3 Hotfix #16 Patch Notes

Please note that some character-specific spoilers are included in these patch notes

HIGHLIGHTS

• The cross-save functionality will no longer sync modded saves, as they cannot be accessed by console players.
  
• Added categories to the Waypoints list, grouping Waypoints by location.
  
• You will now be able to access certain quest-related items on the spot, even if they are currently in the camp chest or in the inventory of a companion who is waiting at camp.
  
• Added a couple of Potions of Animal Speaking to the Epilogue.
  
• Karlach will now get her scene in Avernus regardless of whether she's an avatar or a companion.
  
• Wyll will now follow Karlach to Avernus correctly.
  
• Fixed the Hide Helmet option resetting for companions after saving and loading.
  
• Cazador now has 3 variations of his Legendary Action depending on how many Ritual charges he has. The more charges he has, the more dangerous his Vampiric Swarm is.
  
• Fixed several issues with low resolution textures appearing after extended playtimes.
  
• Fixed a visual bug where certain doors would reappear briefly when destroyed.
  
• Fixed Gale's dialogue ending abruptly when asking him for a kiss. Enjoy the moment.
  

CRASHES AND BLOCKERS

• Fixed a potential crash related to quickloading.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur when unloading and then loading a region.
  
• Fixed a crash when changing VSync settings.
  
• Fixed a crash when destroying the spiderweb under the Spider Matriarch.
  
• Fixed the potential cause of not being able to save the game (Error 701, crashing the game).
  
• Fixed a crash that could happen when showing a pop-up message after lockpicking an item.
  
• Fixed an issue that was causing the grenade launchers during Gortash's fight to bypass Turn-Based Mode and deploy grenades in real-time, which could result in a crash. We call that cheating.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur when removing condition-based auras from modded savegames.
  
• Fixed a possible crash when getting the available party gold during a trade.
  
• Fixed some issues that could prevent savegames made under rare conditions from loading up.

COMBAT AND BALANCE

• The Spectral Form passive is no longer hidden.
  
• Fixed Balthazar's Spectral Form not triggering when Balthazar succeeded in a Saving Throw but still got damaged.
  
• Fixed Auntie Ethel not using Weird Magic Surge when struck by Repelling Blast in Honour Mode.
  
• Fixed the scrying eyes' damage mitigation mechanic in Tactician Mode not working the first time they are damaged.
  
• In Tactician difficulty, Cazador now transforms into a unique mist form that threatens his foes with a necrotic aura.
  
• Ability Drain will not be able to reduce a target's ability below 1.
  
• Improved the way Legendary Resistance works, now only triggering when it is actually useful.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed Astarion not being available through the companion menu at camp if you sent him directly to camp during the recruitment dialogue.
  
• In Honour Mode, the Eggbearer condition is now also applied when the mummy owlbear is dead but the daddy owlbear is alive.
  
• Fixed an issue in Honour Mode where the damage from Smite spells wouldn't trigger items that activate when damaged.
  
• You can no longer trade with Grukkoh the bugbear via the dialogue button before you've, uh, caught his attention.
  
• Using a weapon that uses your Spellcasting Ability Modifier instead of the normal Ability Modifier will now choose the Spellcasting Ability with the highest value.
  
• Fixed Group Hide not working properly when a party character is Downed.
  
• Myrmidons' weapons cannot be looted from their bodies after Long Rest anymore.
  
• Fixed the Elemental Weapon, Magic Weapon, Heat Metal, and Daylight conditions persisting on the weapon after a Long Rest.
  
• Fixed an issue that would affect some players controlling more than one avatar, which caused several naked characters to appear over them after the first Dream Visitor dream.
  
• Fixed an issue where reconnecting to a multiplayer session would assign a player an avatar in Withers' Wardrobe without taking said avatar out of the wardrobe. They don't open from the inside!
  
• Stealing a couple hundred items in one go no longer results in the game becoming unresponsive for quite some time afterwards while it deals with your kleptomaniac overindulgence. It may still freeze for a short period while processing the inventory transfer, though.
  
• NPCs on the floor below you, can no longer 'see' you looting corpses up there.
  
• When handing back stackable stolen items (such as healing potions), you will no longer lose all of them, but only the number you stole.

FLOW AND SCRIPTING

• Fixed an issue preventing some players from advancing into Act III, looping them back to Act II.
  
• Barcus Wroot should now show up correctly at Last Light Inn if you have saved him from his previous predicaments.
  
• Fixed avatar Karlach being able to initiate the first romance scene with Lae'zel after proving her worth to Lae'zel, which should not be possible for her due to her engine still not being upgraded.
  
• Tweaked the trigger conditions for Lae'zel's initial romance dialogue after proving your worth to her so that it only triggers if the player controlling her has a single avatar. This is to avoid accidentally triggering the dialogue with an unintended avatar in case you have multiple.
  
• Fixed some wrong character behaviours likely introduced in Patch 4.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing some dialogue options with Alfira and Nadira from showing up.
  
• Fixed Auntie Ethel prematurely teleporting to Act III if you pick up her corpse in Act I.
  
• Gale is now less likely to lie to you about wanting to return the Crown of Karsus when making his decision in the endgame.
  
• Raphael will no longer make a surprise appearance during the Epilogue if you made a deal with him and then decided to kill him.
  
• Wyll will now appear during the initial Epilogue scene if he's the Blade of Avernus and does not have a partner.
  
• Fixed a couple of issues with Mizora's dialogue getting stuck.
  
• Fixed a blocker in the House of Hope in which Raphael wouldn't appear if he was Silenced in Sharess' Caress.
  
• Fixed a blocker where you were able to banish Hope while she's chained, preventing you from saving her.
  
• The avatar dismissal dialogue will now be closed if the user rejoins the session while it is still active.
  
• Duke Ravengard will now correctly hold the bars of his cell door while imprisoned in the Iron Throne instead of staying idle, seemingly unbothered by everything going on.
  
• Characters that are attacked while disappearing out of sight will now resume their disappearing after combat ends. Back to the shadows with you.

PERFORMANCE AND OPTIMISATION

• Fixed an issue where switching between party members would cause performance to drop.

UI

• The proficiency bonuses on Explorer difficulty are now correctly accounted for in Character Creation.
  
• Fixed an issue causing the Level Up screen to display the incorrect HP gain when increasing Constitution.
  
• Fixed some instances where incorrect items would be selected when dragging them in the Trade menu.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented respeccing into a Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer if you chose a spell that was already available from the Draconic Bloodline.
  
• The values in the Skill tooltips on the Level Up screen will now update when you add Expertise.
  
• Fixed the 'Can't control' warning not disappearing under certain circumstances.
  
• Fixed an issue that briefly prevented you from interacting with an item in the inventory if it had been unequipped or equipped previously with the X button.
  
• When a tutorial pop-up refers to an option in the shortcuts radial menu on controller, the option will now be highlighted.
  
• Fixed '(Empty)' sometimes briefly appearing next to an item's name when highlighting it on Xbox.
  
• Added descriptions for the different difficulty levels in the Additional Combat Mechanics options on Custom Mode.
  
• Fixed a caching issue in the radial menus. This could, for instance, cause some Disguise Self options to not appear after cancelling and returning to the spell.
  
• The lovely dark veins you get on your face when you become part-illithid now show up correctly in the Magic Mirror.
  
• Fixed surface names sometimes appearing above characters on controller.
  
• Increased the opacity of certain text boxes in the Reactions UI on controller to improve visibility.
  
• Fixed a blocker where UI pop-ups wouldn't close if the window behind them was closed first. This could happen, for example, when a cinematic dialogue triggered and closed the map while you were still naming a custom marker.
  
• Fixed the loading screen not showing an image when joining a multiplayer session.
  
• Fixed the damage type in the Crushing Fist spell tooltip.
  
• The Legendary Resistance: Incapacitation tooltip now mentions that it can only be used 3 times.
  
• Made sure the grid shown in inventories is correctly drawn if the grid becomes smaller.
  
• Removed a low resolution version of one of the loading screen images.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused some Video Settings like VSync and Refresh Rate to reset back upon starting the game.
  
• Removed the option to confirm or reset options in the Alter Custom Mode menu for players who are not the host of a session.
  
• Total party gold is no longer seen in barter mode.
  
• Fixed an issue with the radial menus on controller causing the same items to get re-added to the same submenu and the Action radial menu to sometimes appear empty.
  

LEVEL DESIGN

• Removed some world labels that were showing up for a pair of dice in Withers' chapel in the Epilogue camp that made it look like they could be picked up. Also swapped out a cutting board.
  

ART

• Optimised the appearance of platforms with chains in Grymforge.
  
• Fixed some minor visual issues with weapons.
  
• Fixed impact VFX/SFX not working for some projectiles.
  

ANIMATION

• Fixed a zombie that would T-pose when dragged from your inventory.
  
• Fixed some destruction animations that weren't working properly.
  

SOUND

• Fixed the wrong ambience sounds playing in the Last Light region and Wyrm's Rock Fortress.

WRITING

• Wyll is now appropriately celebratory upon the Netherbrain's defeat.
  
• Added text to the tooltip for Cazador's Misty Escape ability on Tactician Mode.
  
• Fixed Gerringothe Thorm's Sublimation ability tooltip incorrectly stating that it should kill the target instantly.
  
• Wyll now has a line during the ending scene when realising the tadpoles are gone.
  
• Added an extra dialogue option when talking to Shadowheart in the Epilogue to fix a path that only gave you one choice.
  
• Fixed the Wrathful Spirits condition saying the affected entity is Immune to all damage instead of Vulnerable to all damage.

We told you they were long! Did you spot any improvements or fixes that'll impact your Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough? We dare you to start a new character in the comments section below.