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Playing with friends inBaldur’s Gate 3brings the roleplaying tabletop game to your console, allowing you to partake in acts of tomfoolery from all corners of the globe. You’ll be able to chuck barrels and chests at each other in person or across oceans. Chaos has never been so accessible.
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With as many as three other friends at a time to share an adventure with, you’ll have your full four-person-party experience at your fingertips. But how do you get them into your game, and what are their limitations? Hold on to your internet connections because we have your answers.
This guide is currently for the PC version of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Multiplayer Overview
Multiplayer can take place inthree main formats:
Online features gameplay withanyone around the world while connected to the internet.Not all lobbies are password locked, giving the option for people to randomly join at any time from anywhere. Public games are for everyone, and private games can be shared between friends with passwords and through invitations.
LAN is specific only tohouseholds and shared internet connections.If you’re hoping to play with someone in your same household or at the same internet cafe, this is for you.
Beyond the standard connection formats, you can choose to either:
If you choose tostart a campaign with a group, you can eachmake your own custom character.You adventure with these characters, andup to four peoplecan be involved in their creation.
If you jump into a pre-existing group, youmust play with one of the companionsin the party. you may choose one of official side companions (like Lae’zel, Astarion, etc.), or you can choose a currently unoccupied custom character. Onlyfour can play at a time, but there is anunlimited number of friends who can join from start to finish.
How To Start And Join An Online Game With Friends (Steam And Password)
To start an online game with friends, the host mustselect the Multiplayer option on the main menu.From there,select “Create"on the bottom left of the menu.
On the right, you can choose the privacy of your game:
If there is someone specific you would like to Invite via Steam, you canpress the + buttonout of the four available slots. On PC, this will open your"Friends” tab on Steamwith those who already have Baldur’s Gate 3 opened listed as priority.
Click the friends you would like to invite.Invitations can be accepted through the Steam messaging system. If you have launched Baldur’s Gate 3, you can accept the invite by:
To do this with a Password, you may press Invitation only and Direct Connections to create a password you can copy and paste to friends.
Once all expected members of the party have arrived, they mustclick they are ready.The host may thenselect “Venture Forth” to begin.
Youdo not need a full partyof four people to play a game. The game can begin when all included members are ready, not when all slots are filled.
If you wish to kick a party member at any time, there is a literalboot for an iconunder a player’s name on the bottom left of the screen. Click that icon to have themremoved from your session.
How To Play Split-Screen Couch Co-Op
You can begin Split Screeningat any point during your adventure, whether from the start or half-way through your story.
Press the Options button(PlayStation)or the Guide button(Xbox) on the controller of the second playerwhile the game is already loaded.You cannot begin Split-Screen from the Main Menu or via the Multiplayer button on the Main Menu.
When the second player’s controller has connected, they will beprompted to create their own characterif a second original character has not already been created.
On thesecond connectionof Split-Screen, Player Two will beautomatically entered into the gamewithout creating a second character. They are reassigned to the second original character who cannot, it seems, at this time, be removed from the party.
Characters created by Player Two will always becreated at the same level as the originally created character of Player Oneto ensure balance in your party. No need to worry about creating a crutch while you’re knee-deep in the Underdark!
Be careful, however, of your party structure when you’re making your second character. When Player Two joins, thecharacter at the bottom of the party(who isn’t Player One)will be removed and placed back in your camp.If you can’t part with that character or need them, ensure they’re above the final party slot.
If Player Two is done for the day, but Player One wants to keep going or play on their own another time, thesave can still be played in single-player, and the second original character will still be playable.
Multiplayer Features
While in multiplayer, each person cancontrol a minimum of one character.If there are less than four people, some people canplay more than one character.
If you do not know who controls which companion, you can see it easily by thecolor outlining the character’s profile. Each person has their own color assigned to their profile.
When recruiting new companions, theperson who spoke to the companion to recruit them will automatically be in control of them.However, if you wish tomove who controls which character, the host can do so by:
If wanted, a host can also change who controls original characters. It is also possible to assign all or no characters to a specific person, allowing someone to watch along without taking any actions.
When playing, yourinventories are default shared(but can be changed in the Session settings). This means that one character can find a key and another can use that key to open a chest without needing to trade.
In a session that hasstarted from scratchwith multiple original characters, those characters can haveindividual story events and their own sayin important decisions.Dialogue instances can go onwithout impeding the play of other players, meaningmultiple can occur at the same time.If you would like to see someone else’s conversation, you only need to click on the character speaking to listen in.
Meanwhile, joining analready begun sessionmeans thatonly the host can make those decisionsand cutscenes are forced for all players.
Romantic cutscenes are automatically set to private and cannot be seen or shared with other players unless changed in the player’s private settings.
Multiplayer Combat
During combat,each player’s characters will have their own initiativeas normal. However, when two or more characters haveinitiative that places them directly adjacentto one another in the turn order, thenthey can move at the same time.
For example, if Lae’zel and the player have a 15 and 14 and no enemies separate them in the turn order, their players can move and act at the same time.
As expected, this function can cause a slight bit of chaos. However, it opens a large amount of co-op opportunities. It is recommended tospeak with your party membersin real-time about how your actions should be taken to avoid double-killing the same enemy or tripping over each other’s feet.
Multiplayer Mods
Mods are not supported by Larianand must come from third-party carriers. If you choose to install mods in Baldur’s Gate 3, unlike many other games,Multiplayer still functions.
It is highly recommended, however, tohave all members of the party installed with the same mod list.Deviating from this is known to cause catastrophic or game-breaking issues that can range from blocking inventory lists to corrupting saves to hard-closing the program.
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