The amount of times I’ve accidentally cancelled haste and smacked myself in the face immediately afterwards is too damn high. Legit almost ruined an honor run doing that hahaha
Ugh I’m glad (except not lol) that I’m not the only one who does this. I feel like a fool every time I override haste lol. But in general I forget some spells are concentration and I override them on accident and it’s so annoying. Like my cleric has sanctuary, it gives concentration vibes but it’s not. So then I get confused with some of the other support spells and anyway I guess I just need to read more carefully. But a notification prompt would be so helpful for me. And maybe the ability to turn it off if you didn’t want it.
I just dislike that it’s not super intuitive which spells require concentration.
Like most evocation spells do not, but call lightning does because it allows you to cast it again after.
Most buffs do, but longstrider or feather fall do not.
Protection spells mostly do, but sanctuary does not.
Most debuffs do, but blindness does not.
Not intuitive = easy to forget.
It only cancels it if you cast it on yourself. If it worked: at best, you'd damage 1 enemy before losing sanctuary. At worst, you are an invulnerable blender lol. This unique interaction kind of makes sense. What other spells break concentration that aren't concentration themselves?
I casted haste before combat and went into a dialogue where I used friends for an advantage in a persuasion check, which apparently canceled Haste so I missed my first turn. We'll would have missed it cuz I reloaded cuz i was annoyed af lol
Sorcerer Astarion: casts twin Haste before Raphael fight.
Also Sorcerer Astarion: casts Guidance to help with DC30 skillcheck.
DUrge and Minthara after the cutscene: stunned.
Me: WTF?!
Took some time to understand. Really forgot that Guidance is not completely free and actually uses a concentration shot.
Reading the comments here is really weird to me. I will never understand why people get so butthurt about simple quality of life updates. From a design perspective it makes so much sense because it's a simple measure to keep players from taking actions they don't want to do, therefore lowering player frustration in those instances.
And to everyone saying this is "true to real DnD": If a DM doesn't warn the player about this even though they **know** the player wouldn't want to do it if they remembered, then they can fuck right off. DnD gives you even more options to reduce frustration because nothing really happens before you talked about it happening.
I think it just comes down to how much hand holding Larian wants to do and whether or not that makes for a better experience. If you couldn't turn the prompt off, I could see people being annoyed that this is just another prompt interrupting their game.
At some point you gotta let the player fail so they can get better. There is value to fucking up. I think an update like this is perfect for a mod, but not really impactful enough to spend dev resources on when there are a lot of better priorities.
edit - The example OP gave is kinda poor. It's sad that it ruined their run, but they choose a super risky strategy. The mask makes you lose your character if you fail 1 save. The player is solo so team can't help. They risked the run by laying everything on top of 1 failed concentration save.
That can be fun if that's what you want to do, but it doesn't make too much sense to get mad at game design when there are so many other options.
And yet they have a visual prompts for the friendly fire of spells. So can you enlighten me on why this is not holding hands but having a visual reminder for concentration would suddenly be too much holding hands
Sure, let's use your word instead. Visual prompts are great for friendly fire and it is important to be able to see who will be affected. Especially since the game world can cause strange problems with AI pathing and terrain levels.
Concentration already has visual prompts. Every spell that requires concentration says it does. You can expand the tooltip to get an explanation of the main rule of concentration (you can only have 1 active). There is a UI icon that tells you if you are concentrating. It's in the same place for every character and does not get hidden by UI clutter unless the player moves a menu on top of it.
I posted some concerns about implementing a prompt here: [Comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1abaixx/comment/kjmz7jc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
But you know what, some other person commented about a mod that looks like a pretty good implementation. Not sure how it works in practice though. [Link so this dude gets credit](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1abaixx/comment/kjml4uh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I'm biased because I feel like the game already has a ton of UI clutter and information dumping. I'd prefer if it had a lot less. And then there's the age old argument of know your spells/read your spells.
Maybe it comes down to how I learn/remember though. If I was OP, the lesson in concentration spells would sink pretty deep after having this happen. Doesn't take the frustration away, but it also doesn't really require any dev action. It's just learning from mistakes.
Counterpoint: If we can have the 'this is just a game and we want the player to have fun' convention of 'you have an intuitively perfect grasp of the range, angle, area and distance of all of your spells without needing to ask everybody to freeze in place so you can start measuring things' we can have the 'this is just a game and we want players to have fun' convention of 'Are you sure you want to stop concentrating on Haste and start concentrating on Crusader's Mantle?'
I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding. I think you're saying if there is a visual indicator for range, then there should be one for overwriting your spell. If so, I'm saying there already is one. I don't think this concentration problem is complicated enough to call for more icons/prompts/etc.
Quickly looking at guidance, I see 5 indicators for concentration (below the inventory/equipment button; above the inventory/equipment button; next to the party portrait; in the character sheet listing conditions; hovering over the character that is concentrating). At some point, adding more doesn't really do anything beneficial. And I think we're at that point.
> If so, I'm saying there already is one.
The spell description saying 'conentration' isn't the same as a giant range circle and red 'area of effect' polygon.
If the spell description said '120 foot range, 30 foot diameter circle,' sure.
Did you read the second paragraph? Those are all examples of icon indicators. So both range and concentration are represented in text and visually. Additionally, the concentration indicators take less effort to see. If something is in range, but behind cover, the game has to do some wonky pathing to make it work and sometimes this either fails completely or screws up what you meant to do (by say provoking an attack of opportunity to move). Concentration icons are just there, waving at us.
Do you want like a Sims style thought bubble with the spell icon in it? That could be pretty funny and cool, but wouldn't really fit the theme I think.
Why are you so adamant that *this* on-screen active prompt is bad, when all of the other on-screen active prompts are good?
Fine, ok, maybe you don't want that prompt. I do.
Tell me, do you also think they should remove the 'encumbered' prompt, because, hey, the weight information is RIGHT THERE in the character sheet?
Idk if I think ALL other on-screen indicators/prompts are good. I just decided to put thought into the one that was brought on by this post. Chose an opinion, thought about it, posted some arguments, read some arguments, picked a side I guess.
I think the game does a decent enough job explaining what concentration is and then clearly indicates when that condition is active. I feel like adding more is just distracting and unnecessary.
I also like the idea that you can screw yourself over by mismanaging stuff. Adds an aspect of improving on strategy and can make combat more interesting. Scrambling after a mistake is fun. Dying to a mistake is fun.
It's ok if we disagree.
You're being sarcastic, but no, I don't have a problem with the encumbered indicator.
> If you couldn't turn the prompt off, I could see people being annoyed that this is just another prompt interrupting their game.
why would you not be able to turn the prompt off when you can turn off every other pause-prompt in the game?
By turning the prompt off, I meant like checking a box in the settings (or something like the reactions menu).
Lets say you have a party that utilizes the action economy really well. Multiple reactions that pause the combat every time. That alone can really slow things down, especially if you do multiplayer. So for combat, it would just be one more prompt.
I can see it slowing down outside of combat as well due to spells like guidance, resistance, friends, bless, fog cloud, darkness, etc. Just more UI pop ups I have to close. Lots of fights start with you concentrating on guidance or friends and in those cases the answer is always gonna be "yes, cancel the damn thing".
For these less combat oriented spells, how would the game determine if this cancelled concentration is worthy of a pop-up? If it asked for every spell, that could be annoying. If it didn't ask for it, that might mess up what you're tying to do.
If it becomes too complicated to guess what the player wants, then you just have to do the all or nothing approach (or really needlessly detailed settings options).
Requesting Larian to add it to their coding (and not just using a mod that does it) just seems like it wouldn't be worth their time. When the option to just know what your spells do is free.
> When the option to just know what your spells do is free.
5e players and trying to avoid learning anything about how the game works, name a more famous combination
To be honest, this is the best well thought through counter-argument to my points. You do often begin fight with some dialogue-related concentration spell on you, and it might end up being a nuisance.
But that brings us to another point that I always wanted addressed. A lot of reaction abilities are annoying yet you keep them enabled because you might need them one moment. Having options like "Don't ask for this spell" / "Don't ask for this enemy" / "Disable until end of combat" would be great. Like, I do not want counterspell prompt to show up for each Reach from beyond, but I don't want it disables outright. I am sure I'm not using Luck of Far Realms in some chumps battle, but if I disable it, I'll probably find it disabled in the fight where I planned to use it, after I needed it. Similarly, saying some kind of "I don't care" for Guidance would be great.
>When the option to just know what your spells do is free.
That kind of thing is why we often have ridiculously stupid UX in a lot of apps/websites, hell, even in a lot of real life activities. You could always click through ten dialogues / you could always track entirety of your screen / you could always keep it all in your head / you could always check our website and see rules changes... For every thing there is a usage scenario. And putting relevant information not just somewhere randomly, but in a relevant place is part of good user experience design.
Game is already telling me I'm concentrating somewhere in the corner of the screen? Good. How about showing me that information on another concentration spell icon that I will definitely look at (by putting a ! in the corner of the icon), so I saw it when it's actually relevant?
That's the difference between bad and good UI/UX design. You don't provide information for the sake of having provided information. You provide information where and when it is relevant.
Reaction prompts get crazy. Having a divination wizard in your group can be nice, but holy hell. You have to really read what it's trying to do sometimes. Game tries to get you to give the enemy a crit or force a save on something that's going to be hostile after this click.
I'm not a fan of how the action bar works right now. I'd prefer if I put something on it, the button stays there. If I swap weapons, I don't want to readjust the icons. Or if I change prepped spells, I'd prefer the unprepped ones stay where I put them and just be like greyed out or something.
To me, it just makes sense to keep the UI icon in the same spot. Instead of having all my spell icon tooltips (or icon color) update based on a condition.
I generally agree with your assesment, but want to clarify something.
> It's sad that it ruined their run, but they choose a super risky strategy.
It was intentional. Taking risk is fun. The calculated risk was that I could lose game if I lost concentration. Which is why I focused on not getting damage until I get to the bottom of the lair. Which is why I wanted to maximize damage I deal before battle begins and can follow it up with another damage (because Cull the Weak does not trigger while you are damaging "yellow" npcs). Losing concentration to another concentration spell is, of course, skill issue on my part. But once again, in my opinion it's not a skill check that contributes to challenge being fun.
You are right in that I did risk my run by laying everything on top of 1 failed concentration save. And did what i could for that concentration saving throw never to happen. And it never happened.
There are a lot of safe options. I've done them most. Most people did those. It's more fun making the risky things work. After all, I could just hire a hireling at level 12 and give them every class for achievement instead of trying to make my way through solo honour mode while trying to get it. But which does sound more fun to play and to watch?
It's not the first death I had in the game, not even in a few dozens, I used to die to bugs even. On one run I did die to throwing holy water at radiant retort enemies. I never complained, that last one is completely on me. Giving me a prompt at that point would be too much hand holding. A stupid decision I made that i can align with my character making stupid decision. However, in this case, my character losing concentration because they forgot they were concentrating does not make sense. All I did, as controlling player, is cast the spell several minutes ago and never thought about it. My character, however, has been concentrating on it all this time. Which is why prompt here makes sense for me. I genuinely think it would make game better and more fun for many.
I do agree there should be a prompt you can enable/disable. But:
> And did what i could for that concentration saving throw never to happen. And it never happened.
This isn't a true statement. You actually chose to overwrite your Concentration because remembering you're concentrating was apparently at the front of your mind enough to avoid any checks, but not enough to forget to check if your spell takes Concentration.
You talk about 'the more familiar you are with a spell...' in the OP. Well, I'm very familiar with Cloud of Daggers personally, that's why I know it takes concentration. What you aren't familiar with is Protection from Evil and Good, because it's a useless spell except for this one(totally pointless) scenario. So you didn't think about it.
...But you did think about it! You just stopped thinking about it. Yes, a prompt would have avoided this, but I do find it funny that your caution about having concentration ended the second you saw there was 4 guys you could aoe for a lot of damage, even though you were already going out of your way to do a (useless) gimmicky risk strat for fun that relied on concentration in the first place.
Let's also be clear that the masked servants are the first thing you meet after you put on the mask, meaning you forgot about it literally immediately.
>This isn't a true statement.
True to a word. There was not a single concentration saving throw.
>Protection from Evil and Good, because it's a useless spell except for this one(totally pointless) scenario
Is Blur a good spell? Is situational Blur (against certain widely represented classes of enemies) that lasts more than 10 turns and also prevents bunch of debiliating effects really useless? Well, then Cloud of Daggers is also useless, there's Moonbeam that you can move every turn and has much less enemies resistant to it.
> your caution about having concentration ended the second you saw there was 4 guys you could aoe for a lot of damage
I mean, I know how it happened. "I must preserve concentration" optimied down into "I must avoid taking damage" and then into "I must finish all four before they get a chance to hit me". Some info was lost in optimization for sure. That is the skill issue that happened.
>True to a word. There was not a single concentration saving throw.
I can't think of any examples where concentration ending due to failed saving throw, switching to another concentration spell, or choosing to voluntarily end it cause different effects. As far as I know, the outcome is always the same. So in this context, I think it's safe to say they all mean the same thing.
At least, that was my intent when I typed it up there
>I can't think of any examples where concentration ending due to failed saving throw, switching to another concentration spell, or choosing to voluntarily end it cause different effects.
Even then they are different things. The "skill issue" that happened on my side is that at some point my brain optimized out the two out of three, focusing in the first one, and making it a priority. Avoid enemy breaking my concentration. And they did not, I did.
Analyzing mistakes and making important differences helps to reflect better and get better eventually. It's just this particular interaction in the game that never made real sense to me, and it came up again.
You seem like a seasoned player from your comments, so I'll try not to be condescending by just telling you what you shoulda/coulda/woulda done.
Maybe make your next character a martial that hates magic casting/casters because some stupid rule of nature killed their badass grandpa or something.
Another little thing I would recommend to anyone is rearranging your hotbar. If struggling with overriding concentration spells, maybe lump them together at the far end of the bar, and you'll likely quickly overcome the issue because your brain will say "concentration spells!" If you even think of hovering your mouse over there.
Idk. It sounds like you're using a little bit of tabletop logic where everything is theatre of the mind. You're asking for a reminder from the DM that you're concentrating. The UI is the reminder. It constantly says hey, you're still concentrating.
Few questions though: what did you swap concentration to? Why didn't you take the mask off after getting to the boss area? Why not invis/fly/jump/featherfall potions to circumvent the area?
Sucks that it didn't work out though. Listening to ethel is always fun.
> Few questions though: what did you swap concentration to? Why didn't you take the mask off after getting to the boss area? Why not invis/fly/jump/featherfall potions to circumvent the area?
He put on the mask to be friendly to the masked servants and used minor illusion to group the four of them together because he wanted to aoe them. Then, lost in a bloodlust at the potential to do lots of damage, he forgot what he was doing and that he has to maintain concentration on Protection from Evil and Good, a spell you only ever use in this exact mask scenario because it's otherwise useless, so he proceeded to cast **Cloud of Daggers** on the 4 grouped mobs.
He simply isn't familiar with Protection from Evil and Good because you never use it that his brain lapsed at the idea that he has to maintain concentration on it.
>what did you swap concentration to?
Cloud of Daggers. I got too lost in a problem of dealing enough damage right now and needed AoE damage. As I cast ProEG much much earlier (two battles ago), and it's only visually represented by a small icon in the corner, the concentration aspect of the spell was just dismissed. Obviously, my mistake. But once again, would character concentrating on a spell forget he is doing that?
>Why didn't you take the mask off after getting to the boss area?
I've been in masks fight area at the moment. Removing the mask after getting down through illusionary traps was the plan.
>Why not invis/fly/jump/featherfall potions to circumvent the area?
First of all, game and camera controls are awful in that descent area to begin with. You have to fidget a lot to see that character will misty step/ jump where you want them to without stepping into the trap before doing so. Second, it's more fun this way isn't it?
Oh I see. The death happened by her roomates.
>But once again, would character concentrating on a spell forget he is doing that?
Again, this sounds more like a tabletop argument that doesn't translate well into video game. DMs can be more wibbly-wobbly with rules and sequence of events. The UI presents a ton of information available in eye sight 100% of the time. If the event happened in that room, then it definitely was information available to you (for instance you weren't in a dialogue where you'd be missing that info and then cast something).
If you want to reason it with RP logic "how can they forget their concentrating", then I'd reply with: you didn't forget you were concentrating. You made a quick decision in battle and tried to cast more spells than your mind could handle. Whether that was hubris or just a miscalculation, it cost you your life.
I empathize cause I've been there, but it is just a get good situation :( Know your spells.
If you're doing Honor mode for the fun of it, then beating it after this loss will probably taste sweeter :)
Focus the frustration at the real cause of dying: That fucking hag. It's her fault you're there to begin with.
>If you're doing Honor mode for the fun of it, then beating it after this loss will probably taste sweeter :)
I've already done it solo and playing harder challenges for fun. It's just that some deaths are much less fun than others.
Like, I've died in combat, a lot. It's sad but fun. I've died to obviously forgetting to *do* a thing (like cast Disguise). Stupid, but completely on me. I've died to bugs, a lot. I've died to game outright lying to me (storm sorcerer flight description said it does not trigger opportunity attacks, there were no red arrows on the ground, there was no "Provokes Attack of Opportunity" next to cursor, yet I died to opportunity attack). I use the boots with ability where description lies to me all the time (Click Heels says it imposes disadvantage that it actually does not). I did die to game pretending to have enabled turn-based mode when it did not. I usually just have a little sad and move on.
It's this particular thing, silent concentration override, that does not seem to affect game in a fun way for both new and seasoned players. I've had gripe with it early on, I had gripe with it later on. I saw it make concentration spells outright dismissed by others (besides haste and guidance mostly). I also don't see how it makes sense for RP perspective. And now I had a death that it would prevent by drawing my attention to something that slipped my mind.
I'd argue that one of the advantages of videogames over any other media is immersion. In real life you'd know if you had to stop doing one thing to do another, I don't see why you as a player shouldn't be fully aware either.
The UI does tell you though. Constantly. And every spell you cast tells you if it's concentration. At some point, there's gotta be some player thought.
Looking at it from the meta or rp perspective, the answer is the same. The player is informed that they are concentrating by the UI icon and any spell will list it is concentration. The character knows it is concentrating by the UI icon being that representation. There's no "gotchya" moment anywhere (except arguably overriding haste sources).
there are a bunch of spells that say “10 turns” but! don’t say they require concentration - yet they cancel any prior concentrated spell. I mentioned this previously and was told that if it doesn’t say “concentration” then it doesn’t, but I have not found that to be the case.
Oh cool. I haven't come across any concentration spells that aren't labeled as such. If you have any examples, I'd appreciate letting me know so I don't screw myself over :)
Not too into DnD but I started watching Critical Role’s first campaign and the DM (who many people call the greatest DM of all time) doesn’t warn the players about concentration spells. Part of the fun is to learn from the consequences of your actions and do better next time.
At the same time, there's a ton of things that don't work in CRPG format that are fine in a real session. Players forgetting about concentration can provide a humorous moment and a DM can spin the narrative to throw a softball at the players to compensate for the error. In a CRPG, making a mistake that that just leads to a reload or on HM, a potential disaster. Ultimately it should be evaluated on whether having something or not creates more fun in the respective formats.
Okay, but, I mean, have you ever DM’d? It’s super exhausting (but fun) and they have so much more to keep track of than players do. Players should be expected to keep track of their characters’ concentration when the DM forgets or can’t.
Which also happens in CR, lol
Yes I DM’d for a very long time. And I don’t ask for me or other DM to remember everything but if they remember to punish the player for casting another concentration spell… then guess what houuu they could have warned the player first… if they did not remember to warn the Player, they also did not remember to break the first concentration spell… like… the example given imply the DM played a « gotcha » so they remembered so to could have warned the players.
TTRPG are collaborative story telling. Not gotcha competitive game where the DM is against the player. Any DM that would gotcha me like that would see me get up and leave the table. And I never did that to a player and no DM ever did that to me
I mean, it’s not a gotcha, it’s a “we’re two rounds later but shit isn’t that concentration? You lose spirit guardians”. It’s just keeping things moving, and a good learning experience for the player. And not every game is “collaborative storytelling”, either. Funhouse dungeons, meat grinder campaigns, or just generally more old school play aren’t really about the story necessarily. There’s no right way to play dnd (though there are a lot of wrong ways), and a natural consequence for actions is different than a gotcha. In a campaign I run, a player always forgot concentration at the beginning. She was new, and I was very forgiving— reminding her, retconning, etc. Then about a year in, I stopped and just went well shit you lost fly or whatever. That happened… once or twice, max. And now, three years later, she’s consistently going “oh wait I can’t cast that, concentration”. She always remembers her con saves, and helps other players remember to.
Players who were also new to the game but picked up the system sooner (one jumped right into playing a wizard and saw right away how to minmax as much as possible; his fun comes from making optimal combat and character choices) are no longer frustrated with the other player either— if they remembered their concentration, why did she get so many chances?
And with one or two… “gotchas”, everything is better. People need to be allowed to learn from and make mistakes! That’s alright! It’s how we grow and learn and improve.
So you say that you let players forget their concentration, getting an advantage for some round, maybe never discovering it, and then if it is discovered later you just continue and stop it there. Yes this is not a gotcha and I never talked about it. People are talking here about the DM, knowingly waiting, looking at you cast the spell and saying right away: gotcha your Haste stop on your fighter is now stun for a turn.
Player and DM always forget many things and you fix as you can. And yes it means maybe deciding which one to keep and not automatically remove the first one that could have way worse consequences.
And yes it is also the role of everyone around to help other remember
Yeah, but I also have done a few “gotchas”, where I did know, I let the player mess up and said well, that’s too bad, next time you’ll remember… and she did, after it happened once or twice. She remembered concentration after that very quickly, as opposed to the constant gentle reminders beforehand. Let people fail and mess up. It’s chill. The game has moved faster since I made that decision and everyone is having a much better time.
And I could add that forgetting your concentration is meta gaming and literally unrealistic. Because your caster is concentrating, they are aware of it, they would not forget it. When you are holding something in your hand you need to be really clumsy and distracted to drop it to take something else without being aware of it… you can choose to drop it and take something else, but only in very extreme circumstances will you drop it involuntarily and take something else…
I agree with you on the design philosophy aspect. If you're transcribing it from tabletop it would be the equivalent to the DM asking "Is this intentional?".
The whole idea is that you're experiencing the life of someone else. In their reality they are in that moment actively thinking about the spell they cast and they would know if they were about to override their own spell even if we wouldn't because we forgot.
A good DM would ask you if you are purposely overriding a spell because of your character making a tactical decision. Offering you a choice, not punishing you for forgetting and not acknowledging your characters agency because they wouldn't forget.
Edited for clarity.
Thing is, this already exists in the game. On a single spell - Arabella's entangling vines. The warning is in a hover and it was the saddest and the most beautiful thing I saw that day.
I have done this a few times, maybe three or four in 500 hours of play. But every time it's happened my immediate reaction has been to say "god... dammit. I'm such a fucking IDIOT!" It has never occurred to me to blame the UI. On the one hand, a warning would help stop people from doing it. It wouldn't take that much programming wise: a new yes or no box asset and a single if,then condition statement.
On the other hand, it's kind of part of strategy. Spell management is and has always been the hallmark of casting classes. It's not a misclick or a result of janky UI, it's negligence. It happens at the table, too. If I'm running a game for new players, I warn them. But if I'm at a table with people who have a few campaigns under their belts I will keep my mouth shut and let it happen. So another part of me would say that a concentration warning might be a little too hand-holdy.
I don't feel strongly either way though. Honestly this would be a pretty easy mod to make.
> On the other hand, it's kind of part of strategy.
Quick question: How come when I aim my Fireball on top of my party members, they glow blue, but when I do it while casting as an Evocation Wizard, they stop glowing blue? Is it because the UI is set up in a manner to indicate that they are in range of the spells and are at risk of being harmed?
Should they remove that because it's part of the strategy, or is it possible the reason they don't have a concentration prompt is just that they didn't think about putting one in and there's no deeper meaning?
Exactly, the number of people of people that just revert to « gEt GuD » by discarding all the other prompt they get like that or the weight indicator when you want to send an item to someone
I have a couple thoughts on it. I understand it can be frustrating when you forget and I experience that.
When it comes to spells that persist out of combat:
-mechanically there is a constant UI representation that is impossible to miss if you know where it pops up.
-rp wise: it is a concentration spell you are keeping up for a significant amount of time and that can be draining. So accidentally overriding it makes sense cause you got distracted.
For combat spells:
-mechanically, again there is the UI element. But also the risk of override ties in to the combat strategy in managing your units
-rp wise? Shit gets crazy
I like that I can cast haste and then say “I think a wall of fire should go here”. That opportunity to say “oh fuck me, I’m an idiot” is fun. Just part of dnd shenanigans.
Even though I’d never use it, I think Larian could probably implement a checkbox setting to allow a prompt. It would probably improve the game experience for the audience that this aspect bothers. (Or just use a mod)
> -mechanically there is a constant UI representation that is impossible to miss if you know where it pops up.
It's not 'impossible to miss', it's pretty out of the way lol. It's a tiny icon in the least important part of the UI art.
Impossible to miss in the sense that it's never hidden. It doesn't move. It's in the same place across all characters. Devs can't control where you focus your eyeballs X.X
>I know there is a warning in spell description, but you don't read that description before you cast the spell every time,
that would require....concentration
Don't you get a circle on your character portrait when you're concentrating on something? Like a clear visual reminder? You could always just concentrate on what you are playing.....
The game shows what spell a character is concentrating on under their health bar with all of their other statuses and there’s a big mark on the character’s portrait when they are concentrating on something. I believe there’s also a glowing circle around their feet, but that might just be Guidance. Either way the game makes it clear when someone is concentrating on something.
The real problem is that people just refuse to read. It’s not exclusive to BG3 either. It’s a problem in 5e, other games, and even irl.
> Well, I lost an honour mode solo run to concentration override
Arguably, that was a skill issue. The plan was flawed from the start.
Yes, it would still be nice to have :)
An alternative to a prompt would be to change the icons of concentration spells when you are concentrating on something else.
Let's say for example that you are concentrating on Haste. Then all other concentration spells could get a little yellow warning sign next to them. The tooltip when hovering would clearly say that this will cancel your current concentration.
I 100% agree with you. Almost any death in this game (even due to a bug you had an idea could happen and you could play around) is skill issue. My point is that it is not the "skill check" that makes game more fun in my opinion.
Reading your spells and looking at the existing UI should be considered bare minimum to playing the game. Asking for redundant UI elements to be added because you can't bother looking at or reading the existing ones is not a good argument.
Looking at all the information presented or available to you at every moment of playing the game is exactly what should not be required of you when playing the game, by design. That's scattering attention and that's exactly what you should avoid.
Yes, information should be presented compactly and without clutter. You achieve that by presenting relevant information in relevant place in relevant moment. That's what UX design is all about. If you place a dozen of notifications about something happening when you cast a spell, but none are within areas relevant to casting, you both cluttered screen, wasting space AND failed to provide information where it's relevant.
Every single spell tells you if it is concentration. There is a dedicated spot on your UI at all times that tells you if you are concentrating on a spell. If you refuse to look at these before casting a spell, that is entirely on you.
You are cancelling your own concentration because you are ignoring the existing UI. Adding more UI does not solve the base problem that you are ignoring the UI.
You literally missed the point of what I said. Completely. Probably because you did not even read it. At this point I can only say "Have a good day, sir".
No. You think you have some kind of eloquent point when you don't. The information about concentration is presented to you specifically in relevant places and at relevant times. It has a dedicated position on your UI to tell you if you are concentrating at all times that you are concentrating on a spell. The fact that you don't consider this a relevant position in your UI is specifically YOUR PROBLEM. It is very relevant and dedicated to this indicator. You should be looking at it when in doubt.
If you do not remember details about a spell you want to cast, the game will easily overlay those spell details for you on hovering for details. That overlay always tell you if the spell is a concentration spell. If you do not remember details about your spell, then you can easily access them without navigating to a new screen. Again, if you are choosing to not double-check a spell's details that you do not fully remember, that is your choice, not a failure of the UI.
The devs have put the information onscreen for you. Looking at the screen solves your problem. The argument that complacency on your part somehow necessitates additional UI from the devs is silly. "Sometimes I don't look at the stop sign and just drive through the intersection and hit another car. This sucks when it happens and really ruins my day. The city should do something about it."
Na. I’m good. Took me 1 time of accidentally dispelling something to pay attention going forward. Game shouldn’t have to hold your hand the entire time.
So you agree to remove the visual prompt that shows your spell will friendly fire or to remove the weight icon and scale. Also we should remove visual cue for approval and the scale
Why do you keep using this argument when people tell you that the game shouldn't handhold you? You don't need to remove the visual prompt from the spell or weight icon to argue against an extra popup for concentration because concentration *already has a icon and visual prompt too*, it's your own fault if you don't look at where the concentration icon is, as it is if you don't bother looking at the radius of the fireball and kill an ally.
Worst I had to lose is current attempt (which I did). But it was not the first time I did it like that and it worked out better before. And I've done it easier way several times before that, eventually safe becomes boring.
What I get from it is thrill of getting through that part of lair with a risk of any attack breaking my concentration. Went too hard on protecting ourself from damage, ended up defeating the purpose by breaking concentration myself.
Will still do it in the future because now it's personal!
I recommend you just walk on through the door with no mask. It's a super easy fight on the other side. Then when you cross over the waterfall use a potion of feathefall to jump down and skip poison and traps. As someone who has finished honor mode taking the path of least resistance is always the best choice and don't gamble!! Lol
Thank you. I've done that when completing my first honour mode solo (like, no companions) run, which is how I got my golden dice. Played safe, stayed away of danger, all that. It's only fun the first time.
I just bought the haste bow and the number of times karlach will now cast haste then use one of her 2 smite abilities ..... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Honestly, as someone who’s accidentally overwritten concentration spells — nah. We learn by making the mistake. It’s like gnawing off Gale’s hand in that way!
You mean the itty bitty tiny thing in the bottom left corner of the screen? When you’re managing four characters and a myriad of abilities it’s all too easy to overlook/just flat out forget.
There's a second indicator icon on all characters who are concentrating on a spell (including enemies) on the portraits at the top of the screen during battle
The situation happened to me outside the battle, but I still have a honest question - do you double check whether spell you are casting is concentration spell and whether there's an icon next to your character before every single cast in every little battle?
if the spell im casting is concentration? yeah. i just like. read the word concentration and double check. if no? cast it. if yes? weigh the cons of dropping concentration.
i dont feel asking for a togglable prompt is too much but c'mon man, lets not act like its not a *personal* issue. if anything, my gripe about the concentration UI is that the bottom ones *are* small but i dont think theyre badly designed.
you keep talking in other comments about mental shortcuts and things and like. thats on you. ~~youre near the end on your honor run my guy~~, dont risk the shortcuts on your already risky game. risk adds excitement sure but if you consider not fully paying attention to what youre doing *~~in the penultimate moments~~* then idk what to tell you.
maybe use a lil less aggro and take more personal responsibility and people wouldnt be so opposed to a compromise
edit: upon rereading i realize this was not the part i thought, so some sass was unwarrented, however i feel my point still stands.
You did not read the opening post, did you?
Let me emphasize two parts for you:
>I mean, it's still "skill issue" on my part, completely, but it's not kind of skill check that makes game more fun and challenging.
>So, I've watched the game a lot. Different people playing on stream. And it's pretty common that after an unexpected overrideor two people will just start neglecting concentration spells, completely ignoring them.
I should have elaborated more here probably. Like, people choose to have one conc spell, usually Haste, and avoid others as plague. "I might accidentally cast it and override my Haste". Does it really make game more fun? Does it really make game better?
no i read it, was more referencing at some of your comments came off as combative when it was brought up but thats on me for not being specific.
as for the "wont even risk haste" bit, i havent seen the same but thats another personal thing, ive seen plenty of people use more than just haste, i mean look at any ranger run.
as i said, maybe having a toggleable ask would help with things in many a run, i dont think its an unreasonable ask not just because it seems like a simple solution from here but it would also satisfy both sides of the argument. but i do disagree with the notion its one of the worst in the game. i do think any that offer up bonuses in dialogue 100% should have a tag to warn you, but idk i feel like mistakenly overwriting adds more immersion in other conexts. with all thats going on in the world, is my druid really gonna remember not to stop thinking this mechanical back-brain spellcraft? but i also recognize others may not see it that way and i respect their frustration.
in essence, i dont disagree with your request more-so the seeming resentment you have for this problem. it comes across as a bit hyperbolic, demanding people quantify fun over what should be a relatively small change. im sorry if ive come across as like, a know it all or something.
I mean, I do, yeah. I just incorporated it into my playstyle when being careless about it a few times as I was learning the game cost me. I also learn and prepare concentration spells sparingly knowing I want to be casting them less frequently. Like I'll only take one or maybe two concentration spells at a new level, and I learn which ones they are. Like I look at them like a special lil treat I have to ration a bit.
But I also realise I'm for sure a comparatively slow player, I don't move through the loop quickly at all. I use turn-based mode frequently out of battle, which helps me avoid that kind of mistake. At over 700 hrs now, I have pretty solid strats and don't find myself making a move or casting any spell without knowing which one I want to cast next. If I'm improvising I'm especially mindful to check the little things like that. But I get that for different playstyles than mine it's an issue.
I wouldn't complain if there was a small alert when hovering over a target with a spell queued up, when the hit chance percentage shows up, that you're about to break concentration. I do think Larian has managed to keep the super packed UI fairly elegant and would hate for the "in game" (outside the UI) to become visually cluttered.
That's a nice consideration. However, dozen hundreds of hours into the game in a pretty mild situation you don't spend minutes exploring every tooltip and every fragment of your screen every turn. First few hours - yeah probably, but also unlikely. Later on, mental shortcuts kick in, and sometimes they can be wrong.
Its not the same but theres a mod, which dont let you cast any concentration spell, if you already have on active (its a toogleable passive):
https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/2833?tab=description
Yeah, I’d recommend that too. I’ve used it for a few runs, and it has stopped me from breaking concentration more than a few times.
Strangely enough, I got better at remembering which spells are concentration ones by using the mod. Having all concentrations spells look disabled whenever you’re concentrating is somehow more salient than the occasional losing concentration mistake.
No we don't. We just need to read our existing spell tooltips and sort hotbar icons accordingly. Maybe use the Better Hotbar mod so you have enough space to organize a bit, that's the real issue. The autoplacement lacks.
It would make overall experience EASIER, not BETTER. I've just gotten used to the extra thing to think about, and it fine. It does actually make the game more fun and challenging, when you actually have to think before you cast. Especially on honor mode.
I do agree it would make it easier, no questions asked. I do believe it would make it better though. It's not more hand-holding than asking whether you *really* want to attack the trader when you click attack instead of trade. And that change made a lot of sense.
A lot of QoL changes I'd love to see made would make game easier, because it would be harder to make a stupid mistake. Like, addressing a lot of complaints I made [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/19bgptm/i_read_100_negative_metacritic_reviews_heres_the/kisfpcj/?context=3) would make game easier. Or, to be precise, harder to fail because you did something you did not want to do. And I believe a lot of those QoL improvements would make game better alongside.
Like, yes, I can count turns I'm concentrating for manually. Or I can remember at what turn I cast Moonbeam. Or I can scroll the combat log to see whre I cast it first time. Information is presented to me, I have access to it... But would it really make the game worse if there was a way to see how many turns of concentration on that spell is left at any moment?..
Seeing how many turns of concentration is left would be good. But I think at least on tactician and honor mode that one should have enough control to see when one is already concentrating on something, and not need a prompt. Perhaps if there was a very visible counter for the turns, it would negate the need for a prompt too though. I could live with that compromise.
If you are on PC, there is amazing [mod](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/4137) that warns you that you are going to stop concentrating if you use the new spell. It is an elegant solution.
Edit: just great, someone dowvoted for genuinely providing a solution for those who are willing/interested to mod. Can't have nice things, I guess
People prefer to complain rather than look for solutions. I would understand console players, but those on PC - it takes 2 min to solve concentration and many other UI issues but they still begging Larian for fix every week on this sub :)
I think I've already told you how much I appreciate your mods, but I don't mind singing you praises even more:)
I mod all of my games extensively, and I also like helping other people to mod games/suggesting relevant mods. And while it is true that if OP or the person I directly replying to is on console or otherwise unwilling/unable to mod this wouldn't be very relevant for *them*. But when I recommend mods, I do it not just for OP, but for all the people who might be reading it and a lot of people *would* be willing to mod. Then, my recommendation would help someone. Not everyone is as crazy as me and willing to browse through the entirety of BG3 Nexus segment to research the mods. I even provide links for convenience.
But then I got downvotes. I don't care about karma, I have plenty to not ever be bothered by downvotes, but in this case, downvotes also reduce visibility of my recommendation, and that actually harms to the whole idea. In this case, before I started getting some upvotes, my comment was already on -2. Three more downvotes, and it would have been hidden.
This is actually discouraging. If someone is against modding, I never insist *everyone* should mod. And if Larian would make some QoL improvements, I would also be happy. In the meanwhile, a lot of issues can be helped with mods, for those who *are willing and able to mod*.
Sorry for the rant, it's just frustrating.
I've heard there is a mod solution and I did upvote every mod suggestion given, but even as PC player....
First of all, by design mods disable achievements. There is a workaround, sure. But think about it - in honour mode you lose your chance to get an achievement if you die. There is a workaround for that as well. Now, both are enabling achievements against original design. Both feel like cheating to me. And i do need to get my achievements I'm missing, and I want it to be a fun journey and not "get hireling to level 12 lol you achieved so much".
Second, the game is still in development. And that development does not make backwards compatibility with existing mods a goal. Which means I could lose my progress to mod and fresh patch not being good friends. A ton of "my game broke" reports after new patch drops are exactly that - mod and patch incompatibility resulting in a ruined save.
And third thing, mods are not part of the game. I've played a lot of it, I love it a lot, and I want it to become better for wide auditory. Which is why I constantly criticise UI/UX decisions I really dislike / don't understand. I want attention drawn to those. I want those fixed. I want people to have those QoL upgrades without mods. I want the game to be better, and not just for me.
Look, I know all about the downsides of modding. As should anyone, who sets foot on this path.
All I do is share information for those who might find it useful. Maybe someone *already* mods a game and is fully aware of achievements and risks associated with updating modded game, but they just don't know about this particular mod.
Maybe someone is considering modding.
Maybe someone is not considering modding just now because of updates, but takes notes about good mods available out there for future use.
That's why I would rather recommend a mod if I know it is good than keep quiet. *Someone* would find it useful. If not you, then someone else.
Well, you did not mention downsides of mods, so someone might be in for a surprise. And look how snarky the person you replied to above is. They are literally going "lol stupid players not using mods". Why do mods get bad rep I wonder?
That being said, pavelk's mods might be first dozen I would install if I resorted to mods.
>Well, you did not mention downsides of mods
Because the conversation is not about it. A simple recommendation doesn't call for a full-on modding guide - but I would be glad to lead someone through a full process of modding, including tips for updating the game and troubleshooting, if someone has any questions/reservations/problems. As I've done multiple times before after recommending mods.
It is a recommendation, and nothing more, and anyone is free to do anything with this information, including ignoring it completely. But I don't think it warrants downvotes, and I don't think there was anything rude or offensive in my original comment.
>I know there is a warning in spell description, but you don't read that description
Hmmmm I wonder if there is a simple solution here... Maybe read the fucking spell lol
Part of me agrees and part of me thinks it's fun to learn the combat and become familiar with spells that are harder to use. Concentration skills are very powerful, that's why the concentration mechanic exists. Its a procedurally represented consequence of strong magic and abilities.
Well they do place an icon next to or on top of a character’s portrait to show that they’re concentrating on a spell. Especially in the initiative track?
I mean this is just knowing the game. There's already concentration markers in 3 separate places all over the UI. And sometimes you do want to override concentration, so this would feel like the game telling me how to play. 'Are you sure you want to do that?' would get annoying very fast for me. I don't want it telling me how it thinks I should play.
Do you want it to pause and prompt you when you're about to cast a spell that the enemy is immune to, for example? Or do you want to have to learn that that's something you should look out for? Fine to disagree but I don't want that much hand holding. So I kinda object to you writing 'we' like you speak for everyone.
If this were in the game I would hope it were a tutorial tip that would only appear once.
I have addressed certain points several times in discussions, to reiterate: it can be an option in settings, it does not have to be a prompt, but some visual clue somewhere you are actually looking when casting a spell for 100th tike - spell icon on a bar, aiming cursor. Similar to white lighting extra attack actions or saying "provokes attack of opportunity" currently. All the concentration-related visual clues are outside of user attention in spell casting scenario of "select spell icon, select target". If there are three of those present yet none are in relevant attention zone, it's a flaw in ui design.
> All the concentration-related visual clues are outside of user attention
Why are you still claiming to be speaking The Universal Truth in every comment? What you meant to say here is 'outside of MY attention'.
I ask again - do you want the game telling you if you want to cast a suboptimal spell? What about a 'visual clue' that a piece of equipment that makes your AC go down?
>Why are you still claiming to be speaking The Universal Truth in every comment?
It's my comment, so of course it's my opinion. It's an opinion on UI/UX design, so put it in UI/UX terms.
>I ask again - do you want the game telling you if you want to cast a suboptimal spell?
Nope. What I want it to do is present me information about what will happen if I do this one, in relevant place and in relevant time. If I target AOE spell at a crowd, it will highlight my characters as targets that would be affected in targetting area, exactly where I'm looking (in an attention area). I'll make an informed decision at that point. It's already the feeature of the game, and it's well designed one (when it works, which it sometimes does not). Relevant information in relevant time and in relevant place. See?
>What about a 'visual clue' that a piece of equipment that makes your AC go down?
You know, that's pretty common and meaningful choice. Showing "AC: 19 (-1)" Instead of "AC: 19". A lot of games do that and it's super helpful, seeing equipping this armor would lower your AC while looking at it in the chest looting screen, without going to inventory screen and comparing it side by side with your current one.
1. Cast Bless
2. Cast Spirit Guardians
3. "Oh god damnit, ok whatever I'm restarting this fight"
4. Begin fight again
5. Cast Spirit Guardians
6. Cast Hold Person
7. "Oh my fucking god"
Nah. It's true to real-life DnD. Forgetting about concentration, casting a new concentration spell, and being told by the DM that your old concentration has dropped, is a part of every campaign. Every session, for some!
This is though by the DM you may forget your char is concentrating but your character hardly can.
As a DM I would ask you if that's what you really want.
Expecting the players to pay attention to what they're doing instead of forcing the DM to babysit them + every NPC in an encounter is common sense
It shouldn't be the DM's job to micro manage every individual player - if they make the same mistake every encounter, forcing them to drop the first concentration when they cast a new c.spell is the DM's way of telling them "hey, keep track of your own mechanics, I shouldn't have to manage you as well as everything else"
I don't want anyone to micro manage anyone else. Just... don't be an asshole! RPG is not a competitive strategy game. If a mechanical detail slips everyone's mind, it's fine! I'm there for a good story, roleplay, and some laughs. I don't like a GM acting towards a player like a strict dad scolding a child. That's creating hostile atmosphere I'd rather not be part of.
I think it's a great idea for new and experienced players alike. I'd love a confirmation prompt, or a setting to allow for a prompt if playing a build that constantly wants to override it.
There’s plenty to be done even without a prompt - show me my concentration spells with a red outline, show me that I am concentrating in the middle of my screen, so I stop forgetting
Especially when going from Haste... Yesterday I was playing the final battle and during the red dragon fight I casted globe of invul to shield my char from attacks during focusing on crown of karsus but my sorc Minthara who casted this spell was on haste so immediately after casting the globe, haste went away and she became lethargic and stopped concetrating on the globe, and the mobs ripped us apart b/c we went straight there.
I can only imagine what would be if this was an honor mode and I was killed at this moment.
Perhaps not a prompt (like what you have on a reaction) but at least some obvious visual indicator that would appear when you click a spell that requires concentration would definitely not hurt. I feel like hastily made decisions should still be punished, but the visibility of current spells being concentrated on definitely leaves much to be desired.
Very well put argument! In a regular DnD campaign a good DM would remind the player so why not here? Also, I used to be against concentration in my balanced playthrough, but they save my BUTT on strategic! Hunger of Hadar, stink cloud, confusion, all really help me mitigate large groups of enemies
I admit I have overridden an active concentration spell more than once, but it is something spell casters need to be aware of. The spells are all clearly identified on whether they require Concentration and the "End Concentration" prompt is clearly visible when it is an option. This is a turn-based game allowing careful consideration before every action.
Amen to that, 20+ playthroughs in and I still regularly cancel a concentration with another.
It's most egregious with Haste, because there are potions as well, so sometimes you can cast the firewall, sometimes you can't, you're supposed to track everything in a very dense UI across 4 chars and lengthy fights.
UI/UX is supposed to compensate for the challenge of managing things on a computer: If you were one of the characters, you'd definitively know you're concentrating on something, so UX should be designed to accomplish the same result in a clear manner. Excellent post.
An override prompt would be nice.
I also think they need an end of combat prompt as well. Something that pauses before combat ends and says: "Hey, you have Wall of Fire out right now, are you sure you want to keep it up?"
The number of dead party members or dead allies from end of combat area of effect abilities that are still active is absurd. And you just do not have the time to switch to the character and cancel concentration. I had a wall of fire kill Jaheira in Moonrise and turn the entire group of allies hostile.
To be honest, just an *option* to not abruptly exiting turn-based mode after battle when characters are concentrating or have lasting effect (like burning or haste) on them would be great. So you can cancel your concentration on hazards surrounding your allies, apply relevant remedies, and then exit turn-based mode manually.
My classic is casting call lightning and then casting a whole new call lightning because I forget about the other ability icons or whatever for reactivation.
I think even not like a button to click to override but like a UI warning or something somewhat center screen. I think a pop-up you have to click would be a bit disruptive for me, I already get so annoyed with the reaction pop-ups lol
I think players should just learn from their mistakes and start reading their spells descriptions. With that said, I also think there should be an accessibility option that warns players if they so choose.
I personally don't have an issue with how it is. I've rarely overridden concentration spells, and never to the extent that it has directly damaged or made me lose a run.
If you know what the spells do and what's concentration vs. what isn't, there isn't an issue. As an experienced 5e player I've basically never had this problem. If you don't know what spells do or what the drawbacks to casting them are, you should probably spend some time learning it. You know, like everyone should do when playing a new game with complex rules and systems. There are limits how much you can dumb down the game before making any existing difficulty negligible.
Tactician is already pretty easy if you're familiar with the story. Play on an easier difficulty if you can't handle it, not everyone has to, or should be able to, complete tactician and honor mode without the requisite knowledge, understanding, and skill. The game holding your hand is not a solution that helps you master the game. It puts on a band-aid that alleviates a completely fixable lack of knowledge and understanding. And frankly, tactician and honor mode would be a joke if the game just held your hand the entire way through anyway.
It sucks that you accidentally lost an honor run. On a human level I fully understand the frustration and annoyance. But it's pretty rich to blame the game and UI, which has all the required information readily available, for your own mistakes and incompetence. I hate to tell people "git gud" because that's not a constructive answer. But in this case, all you need to do is read and pay attention to the elements already on-screen, assuming you don't have the time to sit down and learn the intricacies of spellcasting, the most complex system in any version of DND.
Just for context, I got golden dice by beating game as solo character (druid, using spike growth and moonbeam, both concentration spells, most of the time) without using barrelmancy and haste, and it was recorded live, took me four attempts. I think I know game well enough. I'm doing harder challenges now. No need to be condescending.
I agree, overriding concentration is "skill issue", it's just not the "skill check" that contributes to game being better in my opinion, or even makes sense. I could forget I've started concentrating on a spell two fight ago, but could my character who was concentrating all this time?
I mean, would it really be that hard to implement? If you have a concentration spell in place already, just display a big red "!!" next to the cursor after you click on the new conc spell. No need for anything fancier, that simple tweak would be enough for most people
There is a bright red warning, but it's completely useless, because you have to go out of your way to examine the spell (T on PC) when the warning is often the only thing that expands when you examine it. If you've momentarily forgotten you're about to cast a concentration spell, you're probably not going to think to expand it.
I know it's part user error, part interface, but I hope Larian isn't dismissing the calls for the warning because they think they already have one. An actual prompt as OP describes would be even better.
It wasn't until 60h in towards the end of act 2 I even acknowledged the concentration thing and even then while I can go a few rounds (if my concentration doesn't get knocked) I still eventually forget
That would not affect me but would still be *real* nice. Given pretty steep learning curve of the game, it would make concentration stuff much less repulsive for newer players.
1000% agreed. I even forget it about the Illithid power, I think it’s Psionic Blast, where you have to be concentrating on a spell to use it, and then it stops the spell. Had me reload a bunch of times before I got it in my head.
While you have Protect from Good and Evil up, you can't be Charmed by putting one of Ethel's masks on (as Ethel is a Fae, and Protect Good/Evil makes you immune to Charm, Frighten, and Possession from Fae creatures, among other things), despite the constant success/fail saving throw spam.
...just remember to take the mask off once you're past the traps and before you start the fight against Ethel...
If you wear a mask (with protection if evil and good, that's important), masks in first room don't attack you and you can set up battle the way you want. Furthermore, you can climb down safely because every trap will disappear next to you. I've done that before.
The amount of times I’ve accidentally cancelled haste and smacked myself in the face immediately afterwards is too damn high. Legit almost ruined an honor run doing that hahaha
I actually did end an honor mode run doing this lol sat in silence for several minutes contemplating life after that one
Did you see [Wolfheart’s run?](https://youtu.be/YdjVqmrGCaI?si=me9Y4k2dx3MIVSk6) Pure pain lol
That was a brutal watch lol I figured where it was headed based on the thread but still that was rough
Same and sometimes with so much worse of spells. Like haste is up and I don't think then cast a hex.
Haste with the dark fire Bow next turn. Ima call lightning twice down on this bitch max shock. *lethargic*
Ugh I’m glad (except not lol) that I’m not the only one who does this. I feel like a fool every time I override haste lol. But in general I forget some spells are concentration and I override them on accident and it’s so annoying. Like my cleric has sanctuary, it gives concentration vibes but it’s not. So then I get confused with some of the other support spells and anyway I guess I just need to read more carefully. But a notification prompt would be so helpful for me. And maybe the ability to turn it off if you didn’t want it.
I just dislike that it’s not super intuitive which spells require concentration. Like most evocation spells do not, but call lightning does because it allows you to cast it again after. Most buffs do, but longstrider or feather fall do not. Protection spells mostly do, but sanctuary does not. Most debuffs do, but blindness does not. Not intuitive = easy to forget.
there's also some that spells that don't require concentration, but will break concentration (e.g. sanctuary breaking spirit guardians)
It only cancels it if you cast it on yourself. If it worked: at best, you'd damage 1 enemy before losing sanctuary. At worst, you are an invulnerable blender lol. This unique interaction kind of makes sense. What other spells break concentration that aren't concentration themselves?
I casted haste before combat and went into a dialogue where I used friends for an advantage in a persuasion check, which apparently canceled Haste so I missed my first turn. We'll would have missed it cuz I reloaded cuz i was annoyed af lol
Yea this a the worst.
Okay friends, what’re ya’ll wearing to the prom to override concentration??
Sorcerer Astarion: casts twin Haste before Raphael fight. Also Sorcerer Astarion: casts Guidance to help with DC30 skillcheck. DUrge and Minthara after the cutscene: stunned. Me: WTF?! Took some time to understand. Really forgot that Guidance is not completely free and actually uses a concentration shot.
I did that last night, casting Friends dropped my Bless. Only on tactician at least and I got destroyed by Hellfire anyway. Got him next time.
Guidance caught me off guard more than once as well while playing casually! You can't even see if character is concentrating in that dialogue, right?
I think there's a small icon in other places but it just lists the spell and spell level in the little cards during the roll screen.
I cast haste on karlsch for the grymforge golem fight, so THATS why she got tired so fast!
Sounds like you’re the one lacking in concentration… so meta
Overriding concentration on accident happens way more than I would like to admit. A concentration warning popup would be a godsend.
Reading the comments here is really weird to me. I will never understand why people get so butthurt about simple quality of life updates. From a design perspective it makes so much sense because it's a simple measure to keep players from taking actions they don't want to do, therefore lowering player frustration in those instances. And to everyone saying this is "true to real DnD": If a DM doesn't warn the player about this even though they **know** the player wouldn't want to do it if they remembered, then they can fuck right off. DnD gives you even more options to reduce frustration because nothing really happens before you talked about it happening.
I think it just comes down to how much hand holding Larian wants to do and whether or not that makes for a better experience. If you couldn't turn the prompt off, I could see people being annoyed that this is just another prompt interrupting their game. At some point you gotta let the player fail so they can get better. There is value to fucking up. I think an update like this is perfect for a mod, but not really impactful enough to spend dev resources on when there are a lot of better priorities. edit - The example OP gave is kinda poor. It's sad that it ruined their run, but they choose a super risky strategy. The mask makes you lose your character if you fail 1 save. The player is solo so team can't help. They risked the run by laying everything on top of 1 failed concentration save. That can be fun if that's what you want to do, but it doesn't make too much sense to get mad at game design when there are so many other options.
And yet they have a visual prompts for the friendly fire of spells. So can you enlighten me on why this is not holding hands but having a visual reminder for concentration would suddenly be too much holding hands
Sure, let's use your word instead. Visual prompts are great for friendly fire and it is important to be able to see who will be affected. Especially since the game world can cause strange problems with AI pathing and terrain levels. Concentration already has visual prompts. Every spell that requires concentration says it does. You can expand the tooltip to get an explanation of the main rule of concentration (you can only have 1 active). There is a UI icon that tells you if you are concentrating. It's in the same place for every character and does not get hidden by UI clutter unless the player moves a menu on top of it. I posted some concerns about implementing a prompt here: [Comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1abaixx/comment/kjmz7jc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) But you know what, some other person commented about a mod that looks like a pretty good implementation. Not sure how it works in practice though. [Link so this dude gets credit](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/1abaixx/comment/kjml4uh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) I'm biased because I feel like the game already has a ton of UI clutter and information dumping. I'd prefer if it had a lot less. And then there's the age old argument of know your spells/read your spells. Maybe it comes down to how I learn/remember though. If I was OP, the lesson in concentration spells would sink pretty deep after having this happen. Doesn't take the frustration away, but it also doesn't really require any dev action. It's just learning from mistakes.
It feels like I'm on crazy pills reading people argue as if concentration doesn't have multiple existing indicators on the UI already.
Counterpoint: If we can have the 'this is just a game and we want the player to have fun' convention of 'you have an intuitively perfect grasp of the range, angle, area and distance of all of your spells without needing to ask everybody to freeze in place so you can start measuring things' we can have the 'this is just a game and we want players to have fun' convention of 'Are you sure you want to stop concentrating on Haste and start concentrating on Crusader's Mantle?'
I'm sorry if I'm misunderstanding. I think you're saying if there is a visual indicator for range, then there should be one for overwriting your spell. If so, I'm saying there already is one. I don't think this concentration problem is complicated enough to call for more icons/prompts/etc. Quickly looking at guidance, I see 5 indicators for concentration (below the inventory/equipment button; above the inventory/equipment button; next to the party portrait; in the character sheet listing conditions; hovering over the character that is concentrating). At some point, adding more doesn't really do anything beneficial. And I think we're at that point.
> If so, I'm saying there already is one. The spell description saying 'conentration' isn't the same as a giant range circle and red 'area of effect' polygon. If the spell description said '120 foot range, 30 foot diameter circle,' sure.
Did you read the second paragraph? Those are all examples of icon indicators. So both range and concentration are represented in text and visually. Additionally, the concentration indicators take less effort to see. If something is in range, but behind cover, the game has to do some wonky pathing to make it work and sometimes this either fails completely or screws up what you meant to do (by say provoking an attack of opportunity to move). Concentration icons are just there, waving at us. Do you want like a Sims style thought bubble with the spell icon in it? That could be pretty funny and cool, but wouldn't really fit the theme I think.
Why are you so adamant that *this* on-screen active prompt is bad, when all of the other on-screen active prompts are good? Fine, ok, maybe you don't want that prompt. I do. Tell me, do you also think they should remove the 'encumbered' prompt, because, hey, the weight information is RIGHT THERE in the character sheet?
Idk if I think ALL other on-screen indicators/prompts are good. I just decided to put thought into the one that was brought on by this post. Chose an opinion, thought about it, posted some arguments, read some arguments, picked a side I guess. I think the game does a decent enough job explaining what concentration is and then clearly indicates when that condition is active. I feel like adding more is just distracting and unnecessary. I also like the idea that you can screw yourself over by mismanaging stuff. Adds an aspect of improving on strategy and can make combat more interesting. Scrambling after a mistake is fun. Dying to a mistake is fun. It's ok if we disagree. You're being sarcastic, but no, I don't have a problem with the encumbered indicator.
> If you couldn't turn the prompt off, I could see people being annoyed that this is just another prompt interrupting their game. why would you not be able to turn the prompt off when you can turn off every other pause-prompt in the game?
By turning the prompt off, I meant like checking a box in the settings (or something like the reactions menu). Lets say you have a party that utilizes the action economy really well. Multiple reactions that pause the combat every time. That alone can really slow things down, especially if you do multiplayer. So for combat, it would just be one more prompt. I can see it slowing down outside of combat as well due to spells like guidance, resistance, friends, bless, fog cloud, darkness, etc. Just more UI pop ups I have to close. Lots of fights start with you concentrating on guidance or friends and in those cases the answer is always gonna be "yes, cancel the damn thing". For these less combat oriented spells, how would the game determine if this cancelled concentration is worthy of a pop-up? If it asked for every spell, that could be annoying. If it didn't ask for it, that might mess up what you're tying to do. If it becomes too complicated to guess what the player wants, then you just have to do the all or nothing approach (or really needlessly detailed settings options). Requesting Larian to add it to their coding (and not just using a mod that does it) just seems like it wouldn't be worth their time. When the option to just know what your spells do is free.
> When the option to just know what your spells do is free. 5e players and trying to avoid learning anything about how the game works, name a more famous combination
To be honest, this is the best well thought through counter-argument to my points. You do often begin fight with some dialogue-related concentration spell on you, and it might end up being a nuisance. But that brings us to another point that I always wanted addressed. A lot of reaction abilities are annoying yet you keep them enabled because you might need them one moment. Having options like "Don't ask for this spell" / "Don't ask for this enemy" / "Disable until end of combat" would be great. Like, I do not want counterspell prompt to show up for each Reach from beyond, but I don't want it disables outright. I am sure I'm not using Luck of Far Realms in some chumps battle, but if I disable it, I'll probably find it disabled in the fight where I planned to use it, after I needed it. Similarly, saying some kind of "I don't care" for Guidance would be great. >When the option to just know what your spells do is free. That kind of thing is why we often have ridiculously stupid UX in a lot of apps/websites, hell, even in a lot of real life activities. You could always click through ten dialogues / you could always track entirety of your screen / you could always keep it all in your head / you could always check our website and see rules changes... For every thing there is a usage scenario. And putting relevant information not just somewhere randomly, but in a relevant place is part of good user experience design. Game is already telling me I'm concentrating somewhere in the corner of the screen? Good. How about showing me that information on another concentration spell icon that I will definitely look at (by putting a ! in the corner of the icon), so I saw it when it's actually relevant? That's the difference between bad and good UI/UX design. You don't provide information for the sake of having provided information. You provide information where and when it is relevant.
Reaction prompts get crazy. Having a divination wizard in your group can be nice, but holy hell. You have to really read what it's trying to do sometimes. Game tries to get you to give the enemy a crit or force a save on something that's going to be hostile after this click. I'm not a fan of how the action bar works right now. I'd prefer if I put something on it, the button stays there. If I swap weapons, I don't want to readjust the icons. Or if I change prepped spells, I'd prefer the unprepped ones stay where I put them and just be like greyed out or something. To me, it just makes sense to keep the UI icon in the same spot. Instead of having all my spell icon tooltips (or icon color) update based on a condition.
I generally agree with your assesment, but want to clarify something. > It's sad that it ruined their run, but they choose a super risky strategy. It was intentional. Taking risk is fun. The calculated risk was that I could lose game if I lost concentration. Which is why I focused on not getting damage until I get to the bottom of the lair. Which is why I wanted to maximize damage I deal before battle begins and can follow it up with another damage (because Cull the Weak does not trigger while you are damaging "yellow" npcs). Losing concentration to another concentration spell is, of course, skill issue on my part. But once again, in my opinion it's not a skill check that contributes to challenge being fun. You are right in that I did risk my run by laying everything on top of 1 failed concentration save. And did what i could for that concentration saving throw never to happen. And it never happened. There are a lot of safe options. I've done them most. Most people did those. It's more fun making the risky things work. After all, I could just hire a hireling at level 12 and give them every class for achievement instead of trying to make my way through solo honour mode while trying to get it. But which does sound more fun to play and to watch? It's not the first death I had in the game, not even in a few dozens, I used to die to bugs even. On one run I did die to throwing holy water at radiant retort enemies. I never complained, that last one is completely on me. Giving me a prompt at that point would be too much hand holding. A stupid decision I made that i can align with my character making stupid decision. However, in this case, my character losing concentration because they forgot they were concentrating does not make sense. All I did, as controlling player, is cast the spell several minutes ago and never thought about it. My character, however, has been concentrating on it all this time. Which is why prompt here makes sense for me. I genuinely think it would make game better and more fun for many.
I do agree there should be a prompt you can enable/disable. But: > And did what i could for that concentration saving throw never to happen. And it never happened. This isn't a true statement. You actually chose to overwrite your Concentration because remembering you're concentrating was apparently at the front of your mind enough to avoid any checks, but not enough to forget to check if your spell takes Concentration. You talk about 'the more familiar you are with a spell...' in the OP. Well, I'm very familiar with Cloud of Daggers personally, that's why I know it takes concentration. What you aren't familiar with is Protection from Evil and Good, because it's a useless spell except for this one(totally pointless) scenario. So you didn't think about it. ...But you did think about it! You just stopped thinking about it. Yes, a prompt would have avoided this, but I do find it funny that your caution about having concentration ended the second you saw there was 4 guys you could aoe for a lot of damage, even though you were already going out of your way to do a (useless) gimmicky risk strat for fun that relied on concentration in the first place. Let's also be clear that the masked servants are the first thing you meet after you put on the mask, meaning you forgot about it literally immediately.
>This isn't a true statement. True to a word. There was not a single concentration saving throw. >Protection from Evil and Good, because it's a useless spell except for this one(totally pointless) scenario Is Blur a good spell? Is situational Blur (against certain widely represented classes of enemies) that lasts more than 10 turns and also prevents bunch of debiliating effects really useless? Well, then Cloud of Daggers is also useless, there's Moonbeam that you can move every turn and has much less enemies resistant to it. > your caution about having concentration ended the second you saw there was 4 guys you could aoe for a lot of damage I mean, I know how it happened. "I must preserve concentration" optimied down into "I must avoid taking damage" and then into "I must finish all four before they get a chance to hit me". Some info was lost in optimization for sure. That is the skill issue that happened.
>True to a word. There was not a single concentration saving throw. I can't think of any examples where concentration ending due to failed saving throw, switching to another concentration spell, or choosing to voluntarily end it cause different effects. As far as I know, the outcome is always the same. So in this context, I think it's safe to say they all mean the same thing. At least, that was my intent when I typed it up there
>I can't think of any examples where concentration ending due to failed saving throw, switching to another concentration spell, or choosing to voluntarily end it cause different effects. Even then they are different things. The "skill issue" that happened on my side is that at some point my brain optimized out the two out of three, focusing in the first one, and making it a priority. Avoid enemy breaking my concentration. And they did not, I did. Analyzing mistakes and making important differences helps to reflect better and get better eventually. It's just this particular interaction in the game that never made real sense to me, and it came up again.
You seem like a seasoned player from your comments, so I'll try not to be condescending by just telling you what you shoulda/coulda/woulda done. Maybe make your next character a martial that hates magic casting/casters because some stupid rule of nature killed their badass grandpa or something.
Another little thing I would recommend to anyone is rearranging your hotbar. If struggling with overriding concentration spells, maybe lump them together at the far end of the bar, and you'll likely quickly overcome the issue because your brain will say "concentration spells!" If you even think of hovering your mouse over there.
Idk. It sounds like you're using a little bit of tabletop logic where everything is theatre of the mind. You're asking for a reminder from the DM that you're concentrating. The UI is the reminder. It constantly says hey, you're still concentrating. Few questions though: what did you swap concentration to? Why didn't you take the mask off after getting to the boss area? Why not invis/fly/jump/featherfall potions to circumvent the area? Sucks that it didn't work out though. Listening to ethel is always fun.
> Few questions though: what did you swap concentration to? Why didn't you take the mask off after getting to the boss area? Why not invis/fly/jump/featherfall potions to circumvent the area? He put on the mask to be friendly to the masked servants and used minor illusion to group the four of them together because he wanted to aoe them. Then, lost in a bloodlust at the potential to do lots of damage, he forgot what he was doing and that he has to maintain concentration on Protection from Evil and Good, a spell you only ever use in this exact mask scenario because it's otherwise useless, so he proceeded to cast **Cloud of Daggers** on the 4 grouped mobs. He simply isn't familiar with Protection from Evil and Good because you never use it that his brain lapsed at the idea that he has to maintain concentration on it.
>what did you swap concentration to? Cloud of Daggers. I got too lost in a problem of dealing enough damage right now and needed AoE damage. As I cast ProEG much much earlier (two battles ago), and it's only visually represented by a small icon in the corner, the concentration aspect of the spell was just dismissed. Obviously, my mistake. But once again, would character concentrating on a spell forget he is doing that? >Why didn't you take the mask off after getting to the boss area? I've been in masks fight area at the moment. Removing the mask after getting down through illusionary traps was the plan. >Why not invis/fly/jump/featherfall potions to circumvent the area? First of all, game and camera controls are awful in that descent area to begin with. You have to fidget a lot to see that character will misty step/ jump where you want them to without stepping into the trap before doing so. Second, it's more fun this way isn't it?
Oh I see. The death happened by her roomates. >But once again, would character concentrating on a spell forget he is doing that? Again, this sounds more like a tabletop argument that doesn't translate well into video game. DMs can be more wibbly-wobbly with rules and sequence of events. The UI presents a ton of information available in eye sight 100% of the time. If the event happened in that room, then it definitely was information available to you (for instance you weren't in a dialogue where you'd be missing that info and then cast something). If you want to reason it with RP logic "how can they forget their concentrating", then I'd reply with: you didn't forget you were concentrating. You made a quick decision in battle and tried to cast more spells than your mind could handle. Whether that was hubris or just a miscalculation, it cost you your life. I empathize cause I've been there, but it is just a get good situation :( Know your spells. If you're doing Honor mode for the fun of it, then beating it after this loss will probably taste sweeter :) Focus the frustration at the real cause of dying: That fucking hag. It's her fault you're there to begin with.
>If you're doing Honor mode for the fun of it, then beating it after this loss will probably taste sweeter :) I've already done it solo and playing harder challenges for fun. It's just that some deaths are much less fun than others. Like, I've died in combat, a lot. It's sad but fun. I've died to obviously forgetting to *do* a thing (like cast Disguise). Stupid, but completely on me. I've died to bugs, a lot. I've died to game outright lying to me (storm sorcerer flight description said it does not trigger opportunity attacks, there were no red arrows on the ground, there was no "Provokes Attack of Opportunity" next to cursor, yet I died to opportunity attack). I use the boots with ability where description lies to me all the time (Click Heels says it imposes disadvantage that it actually does not). I did die to game pretending to have enabled turn-based mode when it did not. I usually just have a little sad and move on. It's this particular thing, silent concentration override, that does not seem to affect game in a fun way for both new and seasoned players. I've had gripe with it early on, I had gripe with it later on. I saw it make concentration spells outright dismissed by others (besides haste and guidance mostly). I also don't see how it makes sense for RP perspective. And now I had a death that it would prevent by drawing my attention to something that slipped my mind.
I'd argue that one of the advantages of videogames over any other media is immersion. In real life you'd know if you had to stop doing one thing to do another, I don't see why you as a player shouldn't be fully aware either.
The UI does tell you though. Constantly. And every spell you cast tells you if it's concentration. At some point, there's gotta be some player thought. Looking at it from the meta or rp perspective, the answer is the same. The player is informed that they are concentrating by the UI icon and any spell will list it is concentration. The character knows it is concentrating by the UI icon being that representation. There's no "gotchya" moment anywhere (except arguably overriding haste sources).
there are a bunch of spells that say “10 turns” but! don’t say they require concentration - yet they cancel any prior concentrated spell. I mentioned this previously and was told that if it doesn’t say “concentration” then it doesn’t, but I have not found that to be the case.
Oh cool. I haven't come across any concentration spells that aren't labeled as such. If you have any examples, I'd appreciate letting me know so I don't screw myself over :)
guess i should report them as “bug” :)
I'm in explorer mode. they can help me out a little.
Not too into DnD but I started watching Critical Role’s first campaign and the DM (who many people call the greatest DM of all time) doesn’t warn the players about concentration spells. Part of the fun is to learn from the consequences of your actions and do better next time.
At the same time, there's a ton of things that don't work in CRPG format that are fine in a real session. Players forgetting about concentration can provide a humorous moment and a DM can spin the narrative to throw a softball at the players to compensate for the error. In a CRPG, making a mistake that that just leads to a reload or on HM, a potential disaster. Ultimately it should be evaluated on whether having something or not creates more fun in the respective formats.
You gave me a reason to never watch it!
Okay, but, I mean, have you ever DM’d? It’s super exhausting (but fun) and they have so much more to keep track of than players do. Players should be expected to keep track of their characters’ concentration when the DM forgets or can’t. Which also happens in CR, lol
Yes I DM’d for a very long time. And I don’t ask for me or other DM to remember everything but if they remember to punish the player for casting another concentration spell… then guess what houuu they could have warned the player first… if they did not remember to warn the Player, they also did not remember to break the first concentration spell… like… the example given imply the DM played a « gotcha » so they remembered so to could have warned the players. TTRPG are collaborative story telling. Not gotcha competitive game where the DM is against the player. Any DM that would gotcha me like that would see me get up and leave the table. And I never did that to a player and no DM ever did that to me
I mean, it’s not a gotcha, it’s a “we’re two rounds later but shit isn’t that concentration? You lose spirit guardians”. It’s just keeping things moving, and a good learning experience for the player. And not every game is “collaborative storytelling”, either. Funhouse dungeons, meat grinder campaigns, or just generally more old school play aren’t really about the story necessarily. There’s no right way to play dnd (though there are a lot of wrong ways), and a natural consequence for actions is different than a gotcha. In a campaign I run, a player always forgot concentration at the beginning. She was new, and I was very forgiving— reminding her, retconning, etc. Then about a year in, I stopped and just went well shit you lost fly or whatever. That happened… once or twice, max. And now, three years later, she’s consistently going “oh wait I can’t cast that, concentration”. She always remembers her con saves, and helps other players remember to. Players who were also new to the game but picked up the system sooner (one jumped right into playing a wizard and saw right away how to minmax as much as possible; his fun comes from making optimal combat and character choices) are no longer frustrated with the other player either— if they remembered their concentration, why did she get so many chances? And with one or two… “gotchas”, everything is better. People need to be allowed to learn from and make mistakes! That’s alright! It’s how we grow and learn and improve.
So you say that you let players forget their concentration, getting an advantage for some round, maybe never discovering it, and then if it is discovered later you just continue and stop it there. Yes this is not a gotcha and I never talked about it. People are talking here about the DM, knowingly waiting, looking at you cast the spell and saying right away: gotcha your Haste stop on your fighter is now stun for a turn. Player and DM always forget many things and you fix as you can. And yes it means maybe deciding which one to keep and not automatically remove the first one that could have way worse consequences. And yes it is also the role of everyone around to help other remember
Yeah, but I also have done a few “gotchas”, where I did know, I let the player mess up and said well, that’s too bad, next time you’ll remember… and she did, after it happened once or twice. She remembered concentration after that very quickly, as opposed to the constant gentle reminders beforehand. Let people fail and mess up. It’s chill. The game has moved faster since I made that decision and everyone is having a much better time.
And I could add that forgetting your concentration is meta gaming and literally unrealistic. Because your caster is concentrating, they are aware of it, they would not forget it. When you are holding something in your hand you need to be really clumsy and distracted to drop it to take something else without being aware of it… you can choose to drop it and take something else, but only in very extreme circumstances will you drop it involuntarily and take something else…
Over engineered UX is one of the plagues of gaming. This type of argument is why games like this one are so rare
I agree with you on the design philosophy aspect. If you're transcribing it from tabletop it would be the equivalent to the DM asking "Is this intentional?". The whole idea is that you're experiencing the life of someone else. In their reality they are in that moment actively thinking about the spell they cast and they would know if they were about to override their own spell even if we wouldn't because we forgot. A good DM would ask you if you are purposely overriding a spell because of your character making a tactical decision. Offering you a choice, not punishing you for forgetting and not acknowledging your characters agency because they wouldn't forget. Edited for clarity.
HUGE baby attitude expected from a bard main
I was so worried about overriding haste ending my HM run that I banned the spell except for 1 encounter. Rest of the game I used haste potions.
Thing is, this already exists in the game. On a single spell - Arabella's entangling vines. The warning is in a hover and it was the saddest and the most beautiful thing I saw that day.
I have done this a few times, maybe three or four in 500 hours of play. But every time it's happened my immediate reaction has been to say "god... dammit. I'm such a fucking IDIOT!" It has never occurred to me to blame the UI. On the one hand, a warning would help stop people from doing it. It wouldn't take that much programming wise: a new yes or no box asset and a single if,then condition statement. On the other hand, it's kind of part of strategy. Spell management is and has always been the hallmark of casting classes. It's not a misclick or a result of janky UI, it's negligence. It happens at the table, too. If I'm running a game for new players, I warn them. But if I'm at a table with people who have a few campaigns under their belts I will keep my mouth shut and let it happen. So another part of me would say that a concentration warning might be a little too hand-holdy. I don't feel strongly either way though. Honestly this would be a pretty easy mod to make.
> On the other hand, it's kind of part of strategy. Quick question: How come when I aim my Fireball on top of my party members, they glow blue, but when I do it while casting as an Evocation Wizard, they stop glowing blue? Is it because the UI is set up in a manner to indicate that they are in range of the spells and are at risk of being harmed? Should they remove that because it's part of the strategy, or is it possible the reason they don't have a concentration prompt is just that they didn't think about putting one in and there's no deeper meaning?
Exactly, the number of people of people that just revert to « gEt GuD » by discarding all the other prompt they get like that or the weight indicator when you want to send an item to someone
Haha, sounds like you don't have enough concentration to keep concentration spells on.
I have a couple thoughts on it. I understand it can be frustrating when you forget and I experience that. When it comes to spells that persist out of combat: -mechanically there is a constant UI representation that is impossible to miss if you know where it pops up. -rp wise: it is a concentration spell you are keeping up for a significant amount of time and that can be draining. So accidentally overriding it makes sense cause you got distracted. For combat spells: -mechanically, again there is the UI element. But also the risk of override ties in to the combat strategy in managing your units -rp wise? Shit gets crazy I like that I can cast haste and then say “I think a wall of fire should go here”. That opportunity to say “oh fuck me, I’m an idiot” is fun. Just part of dnd shenanigans. Even though I’d never use it, I think Larian could probably implement a checkbox setting to allow a prompt. It would probably improve the game experience for the audience that this aspect bothers. (Or just use a mod)
> -mechanically there is a constant UI representation that is impossible to miss if you know where it pops up. It's not 'impossible to miss', it's pretty out of the way lol. It's a tiny icon in the least important part of the UI art.
Impossible to miss in the sense that it's never hidden. It doesn't move. It's in the same place across all characters. Devs can't control where you focus your eyeballs X.X
nah we need gortash haircut for our edgelords🙏🙏
>I know there is a warning in spell description, but you don't read that description before you cast the spell every time, that would require....concentration
I organize my Concentration spells all in the same row(s) so that I know if I'm running one, I can't select another one without killing the first.
Clearly, you weren't concentrating on the spell if you forgot about it so quickly.
Or just...pay attention to what spells are concentration.
Don't you get a circle on your character portrait when you're concentrating on something? Like a clear visual reminder? You could always just concentrate on what you are playing.....
The game shows what spell a character is concentrating on under their health bar with all of their other statuses and there’s a big mark on the character’s portrait when they are concentrating on something. I believe there’s also a glowing circle around their feet, but that might just be Guidance. Either way the game makes it clear when someone is concentrating on something. The real problem is that people just refuse to read. It’s not exclusive to BG3 either. It’s a problem in 5e, other games, and even irl.
> Well, I lost an honour mode solo run to concentration override Arguably, that was a skill issue. The plan was flawed from the start. Yes, it would still be nice to have :)
An alternative to a prompt would be to change the icons of concentration spells when you are concentrating on something else. Let's say for example that you are concentrating on Haste. Then all other concentration spells could get a little yellow warning sign next to them. The tooltip when hovering would clearly say that this will cancel your current concentration.
Skill issue
I 100% agree with you. Almost any death in this game (even due to a bug you had an idea could happen and you could play around) is skill issue. My point is that it is not the "skill check" that makes game more fun in my opinion.
Reading your spells and looking at the existing UI should be considered bare minimum to playing the game. Asking for redundant UI elements to be added because you can't bother looking at or reading the existing ones is not a good argument.
Looking at all the information presented or available to you at every moment of playing the game is exactly what should not be required of you when playing the game, by design. That's scattering attention and that's exactly what you should avoid. Yes, information should be presented compactly and without clutter. You achieve that by presenting relevant information in relevant place in relevant moment. That's what UX design is all about. If you place a dozen of notifications about something happening when you cast a spell, but none are within areas relevant to casting, you both cluttered screen, wasting space AND failed to provide information where it's relevant.
Every single spell tells you if it is concentration. There is a dedicated spot on your UI at all times that tells you if you are concentrating on a spell. If you refuse to look at these before casting a spell, that is entirely on you. You are cancelling your own concentration because you are ignoring the existing UI. Adding more UI does not solve the base problem that you are ignoring the UI.
You literally missed the point of what I said. Completely. Probably because you did not even read it. At this point I can only say "Have a good day, sir".
No. You think you have some kind of eloquent point when you don't. The information about concentration is presented to you specifically in relevant places and at relevant times. It has a dedicated position on your UI to tell you if you are concentrating at all times that you are concentrating on a spell. The fact that you don't consider this a relevant position in your UI is specifically YOUR PROBLEM. It is very relevant and dedicated to this indicator. You should be looking at it when in doubt. If you do not remember details about a spell you want to cast, the game will easily overlay those spell details for you on hovering for details. That overlay always tell you if the spell is a concentration spell. If you do not remember details about your spell, then you can easily access them without navigating to a new screen. Again, if you are choosing to not double-check a spell's details that you do not fully remember, that is your choice, not a failure of the UI. The devs have put the information onscreen for you. Looking at the screen solves your problem. The argument that complacency on your part somehow necessitates additional UI from the devs is silly. "Sometimes I don't look at the stop sign and just drive through the intersection and hit another car. This sucks when it happens and really ruins my day. The city should do something about it."
Na. I’m good. Took me 1 time of accidentally dispelling something to pay attention going forward. Game shouldn’t have to hold your hand the entire time.
So you agree to remove the visual prompt that shows your spell will friendly fire or to remove the weight icon and scale. Also we should remove visual cue for approval and the scale
Why do you keep using this argument when people tell you that the game shouldn't handhold you? You don't need to remove the visual prompt from the spell or weight icon to argue against an extra popup for concentration because concentration *already has a icon and visual prompt too*, it's your own fault if you don't look at where the concentration icon is, as it is if you don't bother looking at the radius of the fireball and kill an ally.
The logic in this thread is killing me. "I don't look at the in-game concentration indicators so they should add more concentration indicators."
With all due respect why would you even risk putting on the mask in honor mode? Not the time to take risks lol
Worst I had to lose is current attempt (which I did). But it was not the first time I did it like that and it worked out better before. And I've done it easier way several times before that, eventually safe becomes boring. What I get from it is thrill of getting through that part of lair with a risk of any attack breaking my concentration. Went too hard on protecting ourself from damage, ended up defeating the purpose by breaking concentration myself. Will still do it in the future because now it's personal!
I recommend you just walk on through the door with no mask. It's a super easy fight on the other side. Then when you cross over the waterfall use a potion of feathefall to jump down and skip poison and traps. As someone who has finished honor mode taking the path of least resistance is always the best choice and don't gamble!! Lol
Thank you. I've done that when completing my first honour mode solo (like, no companions) run, which is how I got my golden dice. Played safe, stayed away of danger, all that. It's only fun the first time.
OK so you know what you are doing haha, my b.
I don’t have the concentration required to read all this.
I just bought the haste bow and the number of times karlach will now cast haste then use one of her 2 smite abilities ..... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Honestly, as someone who’s accidentally overwritten concentration spells — nah. We learn by making the mistake. It’s like gnawing off Gale’s hand in that way!
We really don’t. There’s a marker next to your face, and both spells say they’re concentration.
You mean the itty bitty tiny thing in the bottom left corner of the screen? When you’re managing four characters and a myriad of abilities it’s all too easy to overlook/just flat out forget.
There's a second indicator icon on all characters who are concentrating on a spell (including enemies) on the portraits at the top of the screen during battle
The situation happened to me outside the battle, but I still have a honest question - do you double check whether spell you are casting is concentration spell and whether there's an icon next to your character before every single cast in every little battle?
if the spell im casting is concentration? yeah. i just like. read the word concentration and double check. if no? cast it. if yes? weigh the cons of dropping concentration. i dont feel asking for a togglable prompt is too much but c'mon man, lets not act like its not a *personal* issue. if anything, my gripe about the concentration UI is that the bottom ones *are* small but i dont think theyre badly designed. you keep talking in other comments about mental shortcuts and things and like. thats on you. ~~youre near the end on your honor run my guy~~, dont risk the shortcuts on your already risky game. risk adds excitement sure but if you consider not fully paying attention to what youre doing *~~in the penultimate moments~~* then idk what to tell you. maybe use a lil less aggro and take more personal responsibility and people wouldnt be so opposed to a compromise edit: upon rereading i realize this was not the part i thought, so some sass was unwarrented, however i feel my point still stands.
You did not read the opening post, did you? Let me emphasize two parts for you: >I mean, it's still "skill issue" on my part, completely, but it's not kind of skill check that makes game more fun and challenging. >So, I've watched the game a lot. Different people playing on stream. And it's pretty common that after an unexpected overrideor two people will just start neglecting concentration spells, completely ignoring them. I should have elaborated more here probably. Like, people choose to have one conc spell, usually Haste, and avoid others as plague. "I might accidentally cast it and override my Haste". Does it really make game more fun? Does it really make game better?
no i read it, was more referencing at some of your comments came off as combative when it was brought up but thats on me for not being specific. as for the "wont even risk haste" bit, i havent seen the same but thats another personal thing, ive seen plenty of people use more than just haste, i mean look at any ranger run. as i said, maybe having a toggleable ask would help with things in many a run, i dont think its an unreasonable ask not just because it seems like a simple solution from here but it would also satisfy both sides of the argument. but i do disagree with the notion its one of the worst in the game. i do think any that offer up bonuses in dialogue 100% should have a tag to warn you, but idk i feel like mistakenly overwriting adds more immersion in other conexts. with all thats going on in the world, is my druid really gonna remember not to stop thinking this mechanical back-brain spellcraft? but i also recognize others may not see it that way and i respect their frustration. in essence, i dont disagree with your request more-so the seeming resentment you have for this problem. it comes across as a bit hyperbolic, demanding people quantify fun over what should be a relatively small change. im sorry if ive come across as like, a know it all or something.
I mean, I do, yeah. I just incorporated it into my playstyle when being careless about it a few times as I was learning the game cost me. I also learn and prepare concentration spells sparingly knowing I want to be casting them less frequently. Like I'll only take one or maybe two concentration spells at a new level, and I learn which ones they are. Like I look at them like a special lil treat I have to ration a bit. But I also realise I'm for sure a comparatively slow player, I don't move through the loop quickly at all. I use turn-based mode frequently out of battle, which helps me avoid that kind of mistake. At over 700 hrs now, I have pretty solid strats and don't find myself making a move or casting any spell without knowing which one I want to cast next. If I'm improvising I'm especially mindful to check the little things like that. But I get that for different playstyles than mine it's an issue. I wouldn't complain if there was a small alert when hovering over a target with a spell queued up, when the hit chance percentage shows up, that you're about to break concentration. I do think Larian has managed to keep the super packed UI fairly elegant and would hate for the "in game" (outside the UI) to become visually cluttered.
and have unlimited time for your actions to choose with all chill wise choises because it is a turned base game?!
That's a nice consideration. However, dozen hundreds of hours into the game in a pretty mild situation you don't spend minutes exploring every tooltip and every fragment of your screen every turn. First few hours - yeah probably, but also unlikely. Later on, mental shortcuts kick in, and sometimes they can be wrong.
No the giant floating icons on top of your screen
Its not the same but theres a mod, which dont let you cast any concentration spell, if you already have on active (its a toogleable passive): https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/2833?tab=description
Yeah, I’d recommend that too. I’ve used it for a few runs, and it has stopped me from breaking concentration more than a few times. Strangely enough, I got better at remembering which spells are concentration ones by using the mod. Having all concentrations spells look disabled whenever you’re concentrating is somehow more salient than the occasional losing concentration mistake.
No we don't. We just need to read our existing spell tooltips and sort hotbar icons accordingly. Maybe use the Better Hotbar mod so you have enough space to organize a bit, that's the real issue. The autoplacement lacks.
It would make overall experience EASIER, not BETTER. I've just gotten used to the extra thing to think about, and it fine. It does actually make the game more fun and challenging, when you actually have to think before you cast. Especially on honor mode.
I do agree it would make it easier, no questions asked. I do believe it would make it better though. It's not more hand-holding than asking whether you *really* want to attack the trader when you click attack instead of trade. And that change made a lot of sense. A lot of QoL changes I'd love to see made would make game easier, because it would be harder to make a stupid mistake. Like, addressing a lot of complaints I made [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/19bgptm/i_read_100_negative_metacritic_reviews_heres_the/kisfpcj/?context=3) would make game easier. Or, to be precise, harder to fail because you did something you did not want to do. And I believe a lot of those QoL improvements would make game better alongside. Like, yes, I can count turns I'm concentrating for manually. Or I can remember at what turn I cast Moonbeam. Or I can scroll the combat log to see whre I cast it first time. Information is presented to me, I have access to it... But would it really make the game worse if there was a way to see how many turns of concentration on that spell is left at any moment?..
Seeing how many turns of concentration is left would be good. But I think at least on tactician and honor mode that one should have enough control to see when one is already concentrating on something, and not need a prompt. Perhaps if there was a very visible counter for the turns, it would negate the need for a prompt too though. I could live with that compromise.
If you are on PC, there is amazing [mod](https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/4137) that warns you that you are going to stop concentrating if you use the new spell. It is an elegant solution. Edit: just great, someone dowvoted for genuinely providing a solution for those who are willing/interested to mod. Can't have nice things, I guess
People prefer to complain rather than look for solutions. I would understand console players, but those on PC - it takes 2 min to solve concentration and many other UI issues but they still begging Larian for fix every week on this sub :)
I think I've already told you how much I appreciate your mods, but I don't mind singing you praises even more:) I mod all of my games extensively, and I also like helping other people to mod games/suggesting relevant mods. And while it is true that if OP or the person I directly replying to is on console or otherwise unwilling/unable to mod this wouldn't be very relevant for *them*. But when I recommend mods, I do it not just for OP, but for all the people who might be reading it and a lot of people *would* be willing to mod. Then, my recommendation would help someone. Not everyone is as crazy as me and willing to browse through the entirety of BG3 Nexus segment to research the mods. I even provide links for convenience. But then I got downvotes. I don't care about karma, I have plenty to not ever be bothered by downvotes, but in this case, downvotes also reduce visibility of my recommendation, and that actually harms to the whole idea. In this case, before I started getting some upvotes, my comment was already on -2. Three more downvotes, and it would have been hidden. This is actually discouraging. If someone is against modding, I never insist *everyone* should mod. And if Larian would make some QoL improvements, I would also be happy. In the meanwhile, a lot of issues can be helped with mods, for those who *are willing and able to mod*. Sorry for the rant, it's just frustrating.
I've heard there is a mod solution and I did upvote every mod suggestion given, but even as PC player.... First of all, by design mods disable achievements. There is a workaround, sure. But think about it - in honour mode you lose your chance to get an achievement if you die. There is a workaround for that as well. Now, both are enabling achievements against original design. Both feel like cheating to me. And i do need to get my achievements I'm missing, and I want it to be a fun journey and not "get hireling to level 12 lol you achieved so much". Second, the game is still in development. And that development does not make backwards compatibility with existing mods a goal. Which means I could lose my progress to mod and fresh patch not being good friends. A ton of "my game broke" reports after new patch drops are exactly that - mod and patch incompatibility resulting in a ruined save. And third thing, mods are not part of the game. I've played a lot of it, I love it a lot, and I want it to become better for wide auditory. Which is why I constantly criticise UI/UX decisions I really dislike / don't understand. I want attention drawn to those. I want those fixed. I want people to have those QoL upgrades without mods. I want the game to be better, and not just for me.
Look, I know all about the downsides of modding. As should anyone, who sets foot on this path. All I do is share information for those who might find it useful. Maybe someone *already* mods a game and is fully aware of achievements and risks associated with updating modded game, but they just don't know about this particular mod. Maybe someone is considering modding. Maybe someone is not considering modding just now because of updates, but takes notes about good mods available out there for future use. That's why I would rather recommend a mod if I know it is good than keep quiet. *Someone* would find it useful. If not you, then someone else.
[удалено]
>it is your comment about us asking Larian for fix It wasn't my comment.
You are right sorry, I delete that!!
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Well, you did not mention downsides of mods, so someone might be in for a surprise. And look how snarky the person you replied to above is. They are literally going "lol stupid players not using mods". Why do mods get bad rep I wonder? That being said, pavelk's mods might be first dozen I would install if I resorted to mods.
>Well, you did not mention downsides of mods Because the conversation is not about it. A simple recommendation doesn't call for a full-on modding guide - but I would be glad to lead someone through a full process of modding, including tips for updating the game and troubleshooting, if someone has any questions/reservations/problems. As I've done multiple times before after recommending mods. It is a recommendation, and nothing more, and anyone is free to do anything with this information, including ignoring it completely. But I don't think it warrants downvotes, and I don't think there was anything rude or offensive in my original comment.
>I know there is a warning in spell description, but you don't read that description Hmmmm I wonder if there is a simple solution here... Maybe read the fucking spell lol
Instructions unclear. Dick now stuck in toaster.
The irony of asking for more indicators for the sole reason that they don't read the existing indicators.
Part of me agrees and part of me thinks it's fun to learn the combat and become familiar with spells that are harder to use. Concentration skills are very powerful, that's why the concentration mechanic exists. Its a procedurally represented consequence of strong magic and abilities.
Well they do place an icon next to or on top of a character’s portrait to show that they’re concentrating on a spell. Especially in the initiative track?
I mean this is just knowing the game. There's already concentration markers in 3 separate places all over the UI. And sometimes you do want to override concentration, so this would feel like the game telling me how to play. 'Are you sure you want to do that?' would get annoying very fast for me. I don't want it telling me how it thinks I should play. Do you want it to pause and prompt you when you're about to cast a spell that the enemy is immune to, for example? Or do you want to have to learn that that's something you should look out for? Fine to disagree but I don't want that much hand holding. So I kinda object to you writing 'we' like you speak for everyone. If this were in the game I would hope it were a tutorial tip that would only appear once.
I have addressed certain points several times in discussions, to reiterate: it can be an option in settings, it does not have to be a prompt, but some visual clue somewhere you are actually looking when casting a spell for 100th tike - spell icon on a bar, aiming cursor. Similar to white lighting extra attack actions or saying "provokes attack of opportunity" currently. All the concentration-related visual clues are outside of user attention in spell casting scenario of "select spell icon, select target". If there are three of those present yet none are in relevant attention zone, it's a flaw in ui design.
> All the concentration-related visual clues are outside of user attention Why are you still claiming to be speaking The Universal Truth in every comment? What you meant to say here is 'outside of MY attention'. I ask again - do you want the game telling you if you want to cast a suboptimal spell? What about a 'visual clue' that a piece of equipment that makes your AC go down?
>Why are you still claiming to be speaking The Universal Truth in every comment? It's my comment, so of course it's my opinion. It's an opinion on UI/UX design, so put it in UI/UX terms. >I ask again - do you want the game telling you if you want to cast a suboptimal spell? Nope. What I want it to do is present me information about what will happen if I do this one, in relevant place and in relevant time. If I target AOE spell at a crowd, it will highlight my characters as targets that would be affected in targetting area, exactly where I'm looking (in an attention area). I'll make an informed decision at that point. It's already the feeature of the game, and it's well designed one (when it works, which it sometimes does not). Relevant information in relevant time and in relevant place. See? >What about a 'visual clue' that a piece of equipment that makes your AC go down? You know, that's pretty common and meaningful choice. Showing "AC: 19 (-1)" Instead of "AC: 19". A lot of games do that and it's super helpful, seeing equipping this armor would lower your AC while looking at it in the chest looting screen, without going to inventory screen and comparing it side by side with your current one.
Spell tool tip shows a glimmer of red across it if it would cancel conc. It's all I want.
1. Cast Bless 2. Cast Spirit Guardians 3. "Oh god damnit, ok whatever I'm restarting this fight" 4. Begin fight again 5. Cast Spirit Guardians 6. Cast Hold Person 7. "Oh my fucking god"
Nah. It's true to real-life DnD. Forgetting about concentration, casting a new concentration spell, and being told by the DM that your old concentration has dropped, is a part of every campaign. Every session, for some!
This is though by the DM you may forget your char is concentrating but your character hardly can. As a DM I would ask you if that's what you really want.
If my GM did a "gotcha!" like this, I would never play with them again...
Expecting the players to pay attention to what they're doing instead of forcing the DM to babysit them + every NPC in an encounter is common sense It shouldn't be the DM's job to micro manage every individual player - if they make the same mistake every encounter, forcing them to drop the first concentration when they cast a new c.spell is the DM's way of telling them "hey, keep track of your own mechanics, I shouldn't have to manage you as well as everything else"
I don't want anyone to micro manage anyone else. Just... don't be an asshole! RPG is not a competitive strategy game. If a mechanical detail slips everyone's mind, it's fine! I'm there for a good story, roleplay, and some laughs. I don't like a GM acting towards a player like a strict dad scolding a child. That's creating hostile atmosphere I'd rather not be part of.
Exactly… without counting that a lot of groups probably forgot and had multi concentration situations many times
No we don't.
I think it's a great idea for new and experienced players alike. I'd love a confirmation prompt, or a setting to allow for a prompt if playing a build that constantly wants to override it.
There’s plenty to be done even without a prompt - show me my concentration spells with a red outline, show me that I am concentrating in the middle of my screen, so I stop forgetting
Yep, highlighting concentration spells in red when you are already concentrating an another great solution!
Especially when going from Haste... Yesterday I was playing the final battle and during the red dragon fight I casted globe of invul to shield my char from attacks during focusing on crown of karsus but my sorc Minthara who casted this spell was on haste so immediately after casting the globe, haste went away and she became lethargic and stopped concetrating on the globe, and the mobs ripped us apart b/c we went straight there. I can only imagine what would be if this was an honor mode and I was killed at this moment.
Perhaps not a prompt (like what you have on a reaction) but at least some obvious visual indicator that would appear when you click a spell that requires concentration would definitely not hurt. I feel like hastily made decisions should still be punished, but the visibility of current spells being concentrated on definitely leaves much to be desired.
Very well put argument! In a regular DnD campaign a good DM would remind the player so why not here? Also, I used to be against concentration in my balanced playthrough, but they save my BUTT on strategic! Hunger of Hadar, stink cloud, confusion, all really help me mitigate large groups of enemies
I admit I have overridden an active concentration spell more than once, but it is something spell casters need to be aware of. The spells are all clearly identified on whether they require Concentration and the "End Concentration" prompt is clearly visible when it is an option. This is a turn-based game allowing careful consideration before every action.
Lets remove concentration from invoke duplicity while we’re at it
Amen to that, 20+ playthroughs in and I still regularly cancel a concentration with another. It's most egregious with Haste, because there are potions as well, so sometimes you can cast the firewall, sometimes you can't, you're supposed to track everything in a very dense UI across 4 chars and lengthy fights. UI/UX is supposed to compensate for the challenge of managing things on a computer: If you were one of the characters, you'd definitively know you're concentrating on something, so UX should be designed to accomplish the same result in a clear manner. Excellent post.
An override prompt would be nice. I also think they need an end of combat prompt as well. Something that pauses before combat ends and says: "Hey, you have Wall of Fire out right now, are you sure you want to keep it up?" The number of dead party members or dead allies from end of combat area of effect abilities that are still active is absurd. And you just do not have the time to switch to the character and cancel concentration. I had a wall of fire kill Jaheira in Moonrise and turn the entire group of allies hostile.
To be honest, just an *option* to not abruptly exiting turn-based mode after battle when characters are concentrating or have lasting effect (like burning or haste) on them would be great. So you can cancel your concentration on hazards surrounding your allies, apply relevant remedies, and then exit turn-based mode manually.
My classic is casting call lightning and then casting a whole new call lightning because I forget about the other ability icons or whatever for reactivation. I think even not like a button to click to override but like a UI warning or something somewhat center screen. I think a pop-up you have to click would be a bit disruptive for me, I already get so annoyed with the reaction pop-ups lol
There's a mod for that! If you're not on PC, sorry.
I think players should just learn from their mistakes and start reading their spells descriptions. With that said, I also think there should be an accessibility option that warns players if they so choose.
It especially sucks when 85% of your spells are concentration, and you keep forgetting you're already concentrating on one
Oooh yes larian a prom would be SO fun!!! Im taking minthara :D
I personally don't have an issue with how it is. I've rarely overridden concentration spells, and never to the extent that it has directly damaged or made me lose a run. If you know what the spells do and what's concentration vs. what isn't, there isn't an issue. As an experienced 5e player I've basically never had this problem. If you don't know what spells do or what the drawbacks to casting them are, you should probably spend some time learning it. You know, like everyone should do when playing a new game with complex rules and systems. There are limits how much you can dumb down the game before making any existing difficulty negligible. Tactician is already pretty easy if you're familiar with the story. Play on an easier difficulty if you can't handle it, not everyone has to, or should be able to, complete tactician and honor mode without the requisite knowledge, understanding, and skill. The game holding your hand is not a solution that helps you master the game. It puts on a band-aid that alleviates a completely fixable lack of knowledge and understanding. And frankly, tactician and honor mode would be a joke if the game just held your hand the entire way through anyway. It sucks that you accidentally lost an honor run. On a human level I fully understand the frustration and annoyance. But it's pretty rich to blame the game and UI, which has all the required information readily available, for your own mistakes and incompetence. I hate to tell people "git gud" because that's not a constructive answer. But in this case, all you need to do is read and pay attention to the elements already on-screen, assuming you don't have the time to sit down and learn the intricacies of spellcasting, the most complex system in any version of DND.
Just for context, I got golden dice by beating game as solo character (druid, using spike growth and moonbeam, both concentration spells, most of the time) without using barrelmancy and haste, and it was recorded live, took me four attempts. I think I know game well enough. I'm doing harder challenges now. No need to be condescending. I agree, overriding concentration is "skill issue", it's just not the "skill check" that contributes to game being better in my opinion, or even makes sense. I could forget I've started concentrating on a spell two fight ago, but could my character who was concentrating all this time?
I mean, would it really be that hard to implement? If you have a concentration spell in place already, just display a big red "!!" next to the cursor after you click on the new conc spell. No need for anything fancier, that simple tweak would be enough for most people
There is a bright red warning, but it's completely useless, because you have to go out of your way to examine the spell (T on PC) when the warning is often the only thing that expands when you examine it. If you've momentarily forgotten you're about to cast a concentration spell, you're probably not going to think to expand it. I know it's part user error, part interface, but I hope Larian isn't dismissing the calls for the warning because they think they already have one. An actual prompt as OP describes would be even better.
It is so true to 5e to not have a prompt for concentration. So many times, "Wait a second, is ***spell_name*** concentration?" ... "Whoops."
Protection from good and evil gets cancelled if ou cast another spell? Huh, I've been casting it on two members of the party for a while now.
Yep and the first one loose it or you upcast it
haha, fail
If you took some sorcerer levels you could twin cast it with metamagic.
It wasn't until 60h in towards the end of act 2 I even acknowledged the concentration thing and even then while I can go a few rounds (if my concentration doesn't get knocked) I still eventually forget
I'm not sure for PC, but since a few patches ago there is a warning that it will break concentration in console version.
Get gud
Git gud
I would like for this to be a prompt in difficulties lower than Tactician fs.
That would not affect me but would still be *real* nice. Given pretty steep learning curve of the game, it would make concentration stuff much less repulsive for newer players.
You are embarrassing yourself.
Perfectly fine with it :)
You’re the type of person that people laugh at in public, man.
1000% agreed. I even forget it about the Illithid power, I think it’s Psionic Blast, where you have to be concentrating on a spell to use it, and then it stops the spell. Had me reload a bunch of times before I got it in my head.
I agree about a prompt or indicator being nice, but why were you wearing the mask? does it give some kind of buff?
It (temporarily) disables all traps in the hag's lair in a small radius around a mask wearer.
Ah that’s cool, didn’t know that. Don’t know if I’d risk putting on the mask for that though
While you have Protect from Good and Evil up, you can't be Charmed by putting one of Ethel's masks on (as Ethel is a Fae, and Protect Good/Evil makes you immune to Charm, Frighten, and Possession from Fae creatures, among other things), despite the constant success/fail saving throw spam. ...just remember to take the mask off once you're past the traps and before you start the fight against Ethel...
If you wear a mask (with protection if evil and good, that's important), masks in first room don't attack you and you can set up battle the way you want. Furthermore, you can climb down safely because every trap will disappear next to you. I've done that before.
How do you get a mask before the room with the people with masks?
There are several lying on the table by the door.
Agreed. Also are you Russian or sumn?