As Larian Studios prepares to release the long-awaited Patch 8 to the public, select lucky fans are enjoying the massive Baldur's Gate 3 update early via its stress test – but not all will be happy to learn that it's just been patched, nerfing one of the overpowered new subclass cantrips.
The last patch for the stress test saw various bugs resolved, including one that rendered Gale constantly hungry for more magical items, but the new one feels a bit bigger as it tackles the upcoming subclasses and makes their abilities align better with their Dungeons & Dragons counterparts. For instance, as explained in Larian's recent patch notes, the now-infamous Booming Blade cantrip has been "limited" – much to many fans' dismay.
Prior to the update, stress test players learned that Booming Blade was overpowered as it was usable with Extra Attack – essentially allowing for free damage as the cantrip works by letting its caster strike with their melee weapon, dealing further Thunder damage if the hit target moves afterward. D&D fans acquainted with 5e spells know it's strong as is, but with Extra Attack? It'd be a surefire way to steamroll through Honour Mode.
- A new Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 stress test update is here, targeting "several crashes and gameplay fixes" while it "brings us closer to release" of the RPG's big update
- Baldur's Gate 3's unreleased Patch 8 is getting its own patch today, because Mystra forbid Gale goes another day without eating magic shoes
After this update, stress test players will only be able to use Booming Blade once per turn, so it's still a strong choice for Rogue Tavs taking the Arcane Trickster route – plus, playing as a Sorcadin is viable nonetheless. As fans comment on an online thread regarding the patch, "this is still a buffed version of Booming Blade compared to 5e" and "being able to use it on multiple attacks just seemed crazy OP." It's also not the only change.
The patch notes are arguably quite lengthy, detailing everything from such subclass tweaks to sillier quality-of-life adjustments like my personal favorite – the one that's "disabled physics for genitals in Photo Mode to avoid some distressing twisting and contorting when switching between poses." It's so very Larian of them, but as a dedicated photo mode screenshot taker in games myself, I'm grateful – I just can't wait to hop into Patch 8 myself.
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