The time has come — Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4 has arrived, adding the Druid Class to the game, a number of new spells and abilities for the class, improved dice rolls, and more!
Baldur's Gate 3 is a CRPG based on the Dungeons & Dragons universe. This latest D&D game has been steadily building towards its full release in Steam Early Access and it's just added a new class to the game, finally allowing you to unleash the powers of Druidic magic.
Check out the Baldur's Gate 3 Druid Trailer to get a feel for the latest class added to the game!
What's New in Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4?
Naturally, the big-ticket item added in Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4 is the Druid Class, one of the earliest classes added to Dungeons & Dragons in its long, long history. However, the Druid was not truly solidified as its own class until the third edition of D&D, and many of those classes' spells and powers are demonstrated here.
You'll have the choice between two subclasses for the Druid: Circle of the Moon and Circle of the Land. Circle of the Moon Druids have the power to use the "Wild Shape" spell to transform into various kinds of animals. The Circle of the Land Druids, meanwhile, will have magic powers that depend on where they are and the type of geography they're currently in.
A number of Druid spells have also been added to the game in Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4 — here's a full list of what's new:
- Entangle - Animate vines, weeds[,] and creeping roots to snare and restrain your foes in a specific area.
- Flame Blade - Summon a scimitar of flame, shedding bright light around you and swinging it to scorch enemies.
- Moonbeam - Create a damaging pillar of radiant moonlight.
- Produce Flame - Light dark areas with this flickering flame in your palm, illuminate torches, and immolate patches of flammable liquid.
- Shillelagh - When more powerful spells fail the Druid, this Cantrip imbues a melee weapon like a club or staff with glowing energy and makes it hit much harder.
- Thorn Whip - This prickly vine lasso cuts your enemies and yanks them closer to you.
- Barkskin - The Druid turns their skin, or an ally’s, as hard as the bole of an oak tree.
- Destroy Water - Remove damaging fog or hazardous puddles in your path.
- Enhance Ability - Give an ally or yourself Bear’s Endurance, Bull’s Strength, Cat’s Grace, Eagle’s Splendor, Fox’s Cunning[,] or Owl’s Wisdom.
- Flaming Sphere - A ball of fire that sticks around, [Druids] can keep this blazing orb rolling into the path of their foes.
- Goodberry - These berries grant some healing that can be carried in your inventory or eaten right away.
- Heat Metal - Superheating metal can have harmful - or even deadly - effects, especially if an opponent of yours is wearing that metal.
- Protection From Poison - This spell neutralises toxins in the blood and also acts as a silver bullet against all known forms of poison.
- Spike Growth - Druids can transform nearby terrain into a nest of barbs that slows and damages their foes.
Strictly speaking, these aren't all of the Druid spells that the class has in the pencil & paper edition. That said, a number of iconic abilities such as Goodberry, Barkskin, and Wildshape are here, so I imagine that most Druid players will be content to enjoy what they have to start.
Aside from these new abilities, class-specific dialogue has been added to the game. The NPC Druids that previously existed have also been updated to better reflect the Druid abilities debuting in Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4.
Another key addition in Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4 is weighted dice rolls. This will balance out the randomness a bit and avoid any streaks of success or failure — the days of rolling a bunch of 1s are over, but it's also less likely that you'll have a streak of 20s, too.
Cowards will be happy to hear that there is now a dedicated button for running away from battle. This option can only be used if a character is at least 27 meters away from the nearest enemy.
Finally, the visuals of the game have gotten a bit of an overhaul, too. Cinematics have some more polish and generally look better. The game's UI has also been cleaned up a bit with new skins for character interface screens.
These are just the major additions to the game — there's an absolute mountain of fixes and other changes detailed in the full Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4 notes. You can get started with this great D&D game by buying Baldur's Gate 3 via its official website for $59.99 or your regional equivalent.
What do you think of the addition of the Druid via Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 4? What do you think of the dice roll changes? Let us know in the comments below!
