Baldur’s Gate 3 dropped Hotfix #17 today, yet again proving that you can always polish a game further (take notes, other developers). This Hotfix optimizes the game and solves some minor bugs and inconveniences, as well as making it so that Gale no longer storms off in a hissy fit if he doesn’t get a shoe immediately (so long as you let him know you’ll give him one later).
The full list of changes in Baldur’s Gate 3’s Hotfix #17 are as follows:
Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix #17
PERFORMANCE AND CODE
- [Fixed] Black and colourful visual artefacts sometimes appearing for 1 frame on PS5 when switching scenes or opening and closing UI windows.
- [Fix Submitted] Error 544
We have increased the compression of savegames, which should fix several issues caused by large savegame files, including some instances of the Error 544 message. We have also reduced the size of save files by removing summons that don’t exist in the game anymore.
- Guarded against crashes caused when certain character resources (Actions, Bonus Actions, Superiority Dice, etc.) were added and later removed by a mod or cheat engine.
GAMEPLAY AND COMBAT
- [Fixed] In Honour Mode, the aura of Cazador’s Potent Mist Form now properly dissipates after he’s no longer in Mist Form. Sorry!
- [Fixed] The camera sometimes zooming in while jumping or casting projectile spells.
- [Fixed] The ability to walk through open doors when you click beyond them from far away.
- [Fixed] Thieves’ Tools in the camp chest or inventory of a companion who is waiting at camp not being accessible when lockpicking.
UI
- [Fixed] Safeguard Shield’s Saving Throw modifier is now correctly reflected on the Character Sheet.
FLOW AND SCRIPTING
- [Fixed] Gale will no longer permanently leave the party if you don’t offer him any magic items while talking to him – unless you’re abundantly clear that you don’t plan on ever doing so.
This is a temporary bug fix that aims to avoid Gale immediately leaving the party when players are unable to hand over an item. In Hotfix #16, we began the process of updating a player’s ability to access certain quest-related items, even if they were in the camp chest, or in the inventory of a companion waiting at camp.
However, the UI through which items can be donated to Gale has not yet been updated, which meant that the dialogue could be triggered if the items were available elsewhere, but would not show in the UI to be donated. This risked placing players in a situation where Gale expected an item from them, and they were unable to provide one.
With this initial fix, closing the UI or using any line other than “I’m not giving you anything. Not now, not ever” will prevent Gale from immediately abandoning your party, until the UI logic has been updated.
If you’re keen to give Gale the boot, and don’t have an actual shoe to share in your inventory, selecting “I’m not giving you anything. Not now, not ever”, will still cause Gale to leave your party, permanently!
- [Fixed] characters getting stuck ‘in a story event’, preventing you from controlling them, after getting killed in the fight with Grym.
We are now officially in the “fixing graphical issues that appear for 1 frame on consoles” level of polish. Keep up the good work, Larian.
