With the recent Patch 7, Larian has added a great deal more content toBaldur’s Gate 3,despite the game already being massive beforehand. The biggest additions are perhaps mod support, which brings mods to consoles, and the various new endings for Origin Characters looking for a satisfactory but horrifying finale. That doesn’t mean that the Belgium-based studio hasn’t made time for the little things in one of its biggest patches for its golden goose, since many new, minor cutscenes and pieces of dialogue have been added to further flesh out the title.
An example of these small changes involves making Honour Mode even harder by giving bosses in this mode more Legendary Actions to utilize against the player. Another includes added dialogue for Minthara, who will question why the player spared her specifically in a good playthrough while everyone else from the Goblin Camp meets their end. One of the best, small improvementsinvolves one of the optional bosses in the game: Ansur, the Heart of the Gate, who can be fought during the game’s third act beneath Baldur’s Gate.
Patch 7 Improves The Best Optional Boss In Baldur’s Gate 3
Ansur Gets The Introduction He Deserves
Before the big patch,Ansur would remain motionlessduring the introductory cutscene, then awkwardly switch with a moving mesh the second the boss fight started. This did enough to get the point across, especially since the dragon communicates with both Tav and the Emperor telepathically, butthe sudden changing of mesh did make the fight feel like there was a lack of polish. The best part of the prior cutscene was the shot that went through the dragon’s eye to show that it had entered the Avatar Character’s mind.
Ansur was a bronze dragon in life, known for its strong sense of justice.
After Patch 7, there has been added work to Ansur to make the introduction of the fight feel far more polished. Instead of awkwardly lying on the ground for the entire cinematic as a corpse, then suddenly moving as soon as the fight starts, Ansur will zap the player with a lightning bolt to knock them back. Then,the body of the dragon will reform a little, enough for Ansur to stand and loom above the player, showing off its size and how imposing the coming fight is likely to be.
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Shadowheart and Scratch can now be seen interacting in the player’s camp, making the player’s safe haven feel more alive in Patch 7 than ever before.
A lightning storm thunders around the underground cavern as Ansur rises, helping him earn his title as The Waiting Storm before he possesses the player. With a moving body in this cutscene, even if it is undead and decaying,Ansur is able to physically react to some of the comments made during the conversation, and his rage over theEmperor’s actions and prioritiesis displayed even better. There is also a physical tether to the possession, since there is a magical beam coming from the dragon’s mouth that lifts the player character.
What Makes Ansur One Of The Best Bosses In BG3
It Is Based On Dungeons And Dragons, After All
Ansur can only be found late in theBaldur’s Gate 3campaign, and the information surrounding him to access the fight can only be given by a select few people.Duke Ravengard(Wyll’s father), Counsellor Florrick, or Cordula Eltan will tell the player about the legend of the bronze dragon and point them toward the trails necessary to access his resting place. Before the fight even starts, there is a growing aura around the dragon, especially because there aren’t many to interact with in a game based onDungeons & Dragons.
BG3is based onDungeons & Dragons5th edition, but has a few tweaks to make it work better for a CRPG.
Of course,players doing this questline for the first time might not expect to fight Ansur, given that the initial intentions involve asking for his aid. Still, some pretty big revelations come from meeting the undead dragon, which includes revealing the Emperor’s true identity, or rather his previous one. The Emperor was once Balduran, the founder of Baldur’s Gate, and Ansur was his sworn defender and ally, whom he ultimately killed in self-defense due to a disagreement about Balduran’s nature as a Mind Flayer.
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This is a massive revelation in the game, even though the Emperor would argue otherwise,and it is one that is tied to an entirely optional boss fight. This late into the game, players are probably atthe level cap of 12and don’t necessarily need the XP, so they can run straight to the end while missing all of this. Also, this is only one of two dragons that can be fought in the entire game, and Ansur is by far the cooler one, since he is the core focus of the fight.
Ansur’s Additions That Show Larians' Attention To Detail
And Further Shows Why BG3 Won GOTY
Ansur was already an awesome fight before Patch 7, and the entire dungeon beforehand had some creative puzzles to tease the brain. For an optional section, there was already so much to work with, especially with the lore reveals and add-ons to Wyll’s storyline, if the player has taken his quest that far. Now,there is further polish and animation for the beginning of the fight that didn’t need to be there, but certainly improves the terrifying duel with a fearsome dragon.
Another addition, which is very minor but a nice touch,is some added dialogue options during the conversation before the Ansur fight. Before, the player had three options per dialogue interaction, but now there are four options. These don’t add too much, given that Ansur is largely ignoring the player and using them as a proxy to talk to the Emperor. Still, the extra options area are a nice touch that didn’t need to be there and makes the scene feel different to the original version.
These little changes to Ansur, the Heart of the Gate, show Larian’s attention to detail. With all the bigger changes added with Patch 7, the Belgium-based studio didn’t need to do any of the smaller changes to receive praise,yet it chose to improveBaldur’s Gate 3’s finer details anyway. With the mod support and all the new evil endings for every Origin Character, Patch 7 could be the game’s biggest yet, despite Larian wanting to wind down on updates for the title.
