Baldur’s Gate 3 has an enormous stonking new patch on its means, which is at present in stress testing—and it is nearly actually doomed me to a different honour mode playthrough as a result of, effectively, I’ve bought 12 new subclasses to tinker with and I’m a little bit of a construct fiend.
One factor had been regarding me, although: The scourge of Booming Blade had been looming giant over its present stress check. For the uninitiated, with new subclasses comes new spells and cantrips, together with the ever-yearned for ‘Blade’ cantrips from D&D 5e’s TTRPG guidelines. To sum it up, these spells make a whole lot of spellblade builds, such because the terrifying Sorcadin, attainable.
As per stated guidelines, Booming Blade allows you to do a melee assault—triggering issues just like the Rogue’s Sneak Attack, or the Paladin’s Divine Smite—as a part of casting the spell. You additionally get a scaling burst of thunder injury, and additional thunder injury in case your enemy tries to run away from you. It’s actually superb. Only, up till now, the stress check allowed it to work with Extra Attack—which principally made it free injury. An entire and utter no-brainer with zero tradeoff.
Well, that is modified within the stress check patch notes, which learn: “Limited the Booming Blade cantrip so it can’t be used greater than as soon as per flip.” Praise Mystra!
Now, if this has upset any construct aficionados, I’d prefer to reassure you that Booming Blade actually remains to be fairly good. It’s principally free injury on Arcane Trickster Rogues, who can solely actually assault as soon as per flip anyway—and, if I’m studying this proper, it’s going to nonetheless work with Extra Attack, you will simply get one Booming Blade swing in your mix-up in your flip.
Though, making it work this fashion does have some points. For starters, it makes Eldritch Knight’s “War Magic” feat a little bit busted. Essentially, this Fighter Subclass will get to make an Extra Attack, as long as it casts a cantrip with its fundamental motion. Usually this is not a terrific concept, as a result of most cantrips’ll be weaker than simply hitting your enemy together with your weapon twice.
However, these patch notes learn the next: “Fixed War Magic being energetic earlier than Extra Attack, forcing the participant to make use of a bonus motion earlier than having access to different Extra Attacks.” The implication right here is that it is supposed that throwing Booming Blade into your common assault routine will unlock the War Magic bonus assault—in different phrases, Eldritch Knights are going to be very very robust.
Conversely, a multiclass powerbuild I assumed would take off—the Sorcadin—is not directly nerfed. The Sorcadin is a Paladin/Sorcerer multiclass that is the scourge of D&D 5e—see, Divine Smites can be utilized on any spell slot, so in the event you take a 2-level dip in Paladin to unlock it, and get excessive degree spell slots from one other class, you are gravy.
The trick with the Sorcadin is to quicken spell Booming Blade to forged it as a bonus motion, after which hit them with it once more on your fundamental assault—pumping Divine Smites into your foe all of the whereas. With this difficult restriction, the Sorcadin simply bought rather less robust, although I’m in all probability nonetheless going to play one.
Anyway—whereas this nerf has dethroned Booming Blade from being principally obligatory on any character who hits something with a melee weapon (you do not simply flip down a number of d8s of free injury), it is nonetheless actually somewhat good, as a result of Booming Blade has at all times been good, and the methods it diverges from D&D 5e make it even higher nonetheless. Villains ought to reside in concern, for the spellblades are right here—armed with a bunch of thunder injury and an enormous whackin’ stick.
