Nearly every player in Baldur’s Gate 3 has dealt with the internal struggle of deciding whether or not to reload a previous save game as a way to get a do-over when something catastrophic happens during a playthrough.
Living and dying by the roll of the dice can be a tumultuous experience, and one player on social media today shared just how terribly wrong things can go if you take the moral stance to not partake in what’s called a “save scum” during your BG3 playthrough.
For those unaware, a save scum is the act of reloading your game to recent previous save games as a way to get a different outcome than one you’ve already gotten. This tactic can be especially useful when you need to hit a roll that might have a high difficulty class during a dialogue sequence. Many players, however, perceive this act to be dishonorable and against the spirit of the game.
But as one player learned recently, doing a pure run with no save scumming can result in some fairly horrible experiences, despite some of the fail-safes that Larian Studios put in place.
As one player noted on Reddit today, it is indeed possible to just completely miss out on the opportunity to add certain companions to your team. And in this person’s case, that companion was one of the game’s strongest—Gale.
Despite being a fighter with high strength, this person failed to save Gale from his portal at the beginning of the game on two separate rolls, resulting in the player ultimately never getting the powerful wizard to join their team. The failed attempts at saving Gale result in the player missing out on the chance to run through Gale’s sizable story arc as well.
In their post, this person pointed out that this failure to save Gale was felt almost immediately. Having played a campaign prior to this one, they simply assumed that Gale would be a part of their camp, and getting used to his absence has been quite the adjustment period.
Others Asked
What issue did Baldur’s Gate 3 players experience with their saved games?
Players experienced issues with save games being an ‘incompatible version’ of BG3 after Larian Studios reverted its most recent hotfix because of bugs.
What initial steps should players take to fix the 'can't save' bug in Baldur's Gate 3?
Players should exit Baldur's Gate 3, close the Larian Studios Launcher, right-click on Baldur's Gate 3 in their Steam library, select 'Properties,' go to the 'General' tab, and switch off the slider for 'Keep game saves in the Steam Cloud for Baldur’s Gate 3.' Then, they should delete the 'Baldur's Gate 3' folder in the AppData > Local > Larian Studios directory.
Why might players consider save scumming in Baldur's Gate 3?
Players might consider save scumming in Baldur's Gate 3 to avoid unwanted outcomes, such as a companion leaving their camp or damaging their relationship with them, or to ensure they get their preferred results without having to experience the consequences.
Published: Oct 13, 2023 04:21 pm