Skip to main content

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 5 adds new modes that can make the game easier or harder

The fifth major patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 just dropped. It’s a literal game-changing patch, as it adds a new (extremely difficult) Honour Mode and a Custom Mode that will allow players to customize the difficulty of their adventure.

Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3.
Larian Studios

Honour Mode is essentially a hardcore version for Baldur’s Gate 3. It disables save scumming, removes some exploits, increases the difficulty in combat and conversation, and implements a new Legendary Action system to the game’s boss fights. Players technically only have one life to beat Honour Mode with, as they’ll be presented with stats from their perilous journey and forced to disable the Honour Mode difficulty additions if they die at any point. Those who make it all the way through will get a Golden D20 in-game.

Recommended Videos

That extraordinarily difficult mode might sound extremely appealing to Baldur’s Gate 3’s most die-hard players, but those who are looking to modify the game’s difficulty even further will want to look to Custom Mode. As its name suggests, this mode allows players to tweak various difficulty settings, making their adventure significantly easier or tougher in the process. On top of all this, Patch 5 also adds some significant new narrative content to the game.

It expands the game’s epilogue content by adding a segment taking place in the player’s base camp six months after the events of the game. There, they can speak with and say goodbye to various party members. Overall, Larian Studios says this added epilogue brings over 3,589 new lines of dialogue to the game. All of these new features Patch 5 brings certainly make it very enticing to hop back into Baldur’s Gate 3 before the end of the year.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now for PC and PlayStation 5. An Xbox version of the game will launch before the end of the year, with a specific date being revealed at The Game Awards 2023. Patch 5 is around 30 GB in size.

Tomas Franzese
As a Gaming Staff Writer on Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Staff picks: How Baldur’s Gate 3 beat the odds to become our 2023 Game of the Year
Baldur's Gate 3's Karlach appears on an image that says Game of the Year 2023.

When I first started playing Baldur’s Gate 3, I was immediately hooked by its engrossing (and gross) story, meaty CRPG systems, and the most personable cast of companions I’ve seen in the genre in quite some time. I knew I was about to sink months of my life into the 100-hour adventure. Things didn’t go according to plan.

The nature of my job meant that I had to move on to Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon at the height of my obsession. Though I wouldn’t have much time to put in long play sessions, I resolved to pick away at it throughout the year on Steam Deck. It was a critical error on my part, as I’d quickly learn that the enormous RPG is perhaps the worst commute game on the planet. It felt like I could barely accomplish anything in 30 minutes. Long, turn-based battles would often take up an entire train ride and sometimes I’d simply lose any progress I made to an untimely death. I grew frustrated, wondering why I was having so much trouble finding my way back to a game I loved.

Read more
One of the best games of the year is finally coming to Xbox next month
Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios confirmed that the Xbox version of Baldur's Gate 3 will still be coming out this year by announcing its December release window.

"Xbox players, we hear you’re looking for more news on Baldur’s Gate 3. The game is on track for a December release," Larian Studios stated on X (formerly Twitter). There's no specific release date yet, but Larian's tweet reveals when we'll learn more. "We’ll see you at The Game Awards for the World Premiere of the exact release date," the developer teased. Geoff Keighley's video game award show takes place every December and is always full of announcements in addition to awards. The show is shaping up to be a big one for Baldur's Gate 3, as it's nominated in nine categories -- including Game of the Year and Best RPG -- and will have its December release date revealed there.

Read more
Where to find Benryn and Mirileth’s dowry in Baldur’s Gate 3
A man trapped under a wooden beam in a burning house.

Fetch quests are quite played out in RPGs, but Baldur's Gate 3 manages to put a unique spin on the tired old formula in the "Rescue the Trapped Man" quest. Starting the quest is easy enough, but the goal of finding the lost dowry itself can feel as daunting as finding a needle in a haystack. There are several ways you can go about getting clues to help you find the missing valuables, however, not all of them will be obvious or available to your character depending on their class and abilities. To finally put this mystery to bed and recover the lost treasure for a troubled man -- or keep it for yourself -- here's where to find Mirileth's Dowry in Baldur's Gate 3.
How to find Benryn and Mirileth's dowry

This quest begins by finding the man named Benryn in Waukeen's Rest, which is notably ablaze when you arrive. He is inside the house closest to the fast travel point, and trapped under a large wooden log. Pass either an Intelligence or Strength check to lead him out of the fire and save his life. Even though you saved him, Benryn will have another favor to ask you, which is to locate his wife, Mirileth. The two had an argument about the dowry and he doesn't know where it is. Unfortunately, finding Mirileth won't help much as she has passed away, so you now have to find the dowry yourself.

Read more