Larian Studios continues to move forward with Baldur's Gate 3's development. Currently available in Early Access, Larian previously predicted that Baldur's Gate 3 will launch no earlier than late 2021. Wasting no time, the studio has already plotted out a substantial Patch 4 for Baldur's Gate 3 and is starting to reveal what content it will include. The biggest addition is one of Dungeons and Dragons' most iconic classes: the Druid.
The Druid will be Baldur's Gate 3's seventh playable class. As described in the Dungeons and Dragons Player Handbook, Druids revere nature above all and so wield spells and abilities that draw from the force of nature itself. The spells and abilities often involve nature-based spiritual elements like the sun and moon, physical elements like fire and lightning, or direct connections with animals that can result in transformations or familiar relationships.
In more mechanical terms, Baldur's Gate 3 will be adding over 30 new spells and abilities to accompany the Druid class. A list of abilities hasn't been provided yet, but Dungeons and Dragons fans can likely expect all of the well-known ones. Whether it's Cantrips like Poison Spray, 1st Level spells like Thunderweave, or 2nd Level Druid abilities like Wild Shape, Baldur's Gate 3 will try to ensure the class is well-represented.
Considering every class has to have its own unique book of spells and abilities which all interact with the game, its characters, its environment, and all of the other spells and abilities, each new class makes Baldur's Gate 3 increasingly complex. Other available classes include Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock, and Wizard.
So far, all of Baldur's Gate 3's classes are some of Dungeons and Dragons' "principled base classes," in other words these are the classes listed in Dungeons and Dragons' core books. Of these principled base classes, five will remain after the addition of Druid. Barbarian, Bard, Monk, Paladin, and Sorcerer will hopefully be revealed over the remaining months of development. Then, Larian can start considering alternate Dungeons and Dragons classes.
Patch 4 for Baldur's Gate 3 will also feature a variety of other content beyond just Druids, of course. Key additions include improved cinematics, optional rerolls for bad luck, shared inventories in multiplayer, and a variety of other bug fixes and quality of life changes. Larian's frequent Baldur's Gate 3 updates continue to improve on the already dramatically changed Early Access version of the game. For fans, it seems it's only going to get better from here.
Baldur's Gate 3 is available now in Early Access on PC and Stadia.