Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix stops honour mode runs from ending in a frustratingly dumb softlock

Hotfix 16 for Baldur's Gate 3 has arrived, and it brings a pretty beefy bunch of tweaks and revisions as per usual, one of which will be music to the ears of those who’ve had their honour mode runs fall at the dumbest final hurdle possible.

For those who haven’t been grinding their way through the uber-tough difficulty setting added to Larian’s RPG alongside the epilogue by the humongous patch five or reading about others endeavours to do so on Reddit, some players have managed to softlock themselves right at the game’s climax. How, you ask? Well, by accidentally leaving the hammer they need to bring along in order not to get stuck in the Astral Realm back at camp.

Thankfully for these forgetful BG3 masters, one of this latest hotfix’s headline changes answers their prayers. “You will now be able to access certain quest-related items on the spot,” reads one bullet point of the update’s patch notes, “even if they are currently in the camp chest or in the inventory of a companion who is waiting at camp.”

So there you go, no more will offering The Orphic Hammer to Shadowheart as a romantic gift she definitely appreciates and then giving her the week off backfire on you.

That’s far from it when it comes to the hotfix’s key tweaks though. A number of the fixes it’s issued are related to the game’s end, with one making it so that: “Karlach will now get her scene in Avernus regardless of whether she's an avatar or a companion”, while another ensures that Wyll will (haha) manage to follow her there if that’s how his tale plays out.

In wackier news, having a wee chat with Scratch and the Owlbear Cub once you reach the game’s epilogue just got a lot easier, thanks to the addition of some extra Potions of Animal Speaking and Gale should no longer randomly break off dialogue with you if you start pestering him to give you a kiss.

Meanwhile, battle-hardened Baldur’s Gaters will be happy to learn that a fresh challenge awaits them on their next tactician difficulty run, with Cazador now being able to turn “into a unique mist form that threatens his foes with a necrotic aura” while the setting is engaged. Gortash’s fight, on the other hand, should now be free of bugged grenade launchers that were raining down real-time hellfire on people.

Those are the big headlines, but be sure to check out the hotfix’s full notes via the link above.

In other Baldur’s Gate 3-related news, Xbox has issued some guidance to help people avoid getting banned for recording lewd in-game footage and director Swen Vincke has been busy working on the first act of his next project, but sadly he won’t let slip what it is.