Baldur's Gate 3's biggest hotfix yet addresses more than 200 issues and makes your dog a better digger

The subject of one big change is Scratch, a dog (an actual dog, not a disguised demon from the Nine Hells) who can be recruited into your party as a loyal and trustworthy pet. You can pet Scratch and play fetch with him, and following the update he'll also be able to sniff out good spots to dig for treasure himself, which will hopefully lead him to discover more and better things to bring to you.

The update also fixes a problem with spell slots that was preventing multiclassed players from leveling up, a cross-save issue that was causing games to become stuck while syncing, a crash that could occur "when selecting a summon without a hotbar while a deck in the hotbar was maximised" (I'm guessing that one didn't affect a whole lot of people), and another "edge case issue" that was preventing people from taking a Long Rest.

As with the previous hotfix, this one contains a number of spoilers, which are covered up in the full patch notes on Steam, and let me emphasize even more than last time that Larian is not kidding. As a dutiful news guy, I went through all the patch notes including the spoiler bits, and one immediately caught my eye as a legitimate "holy cow!" moment. I will say no more for fear of spoiling it for anyone else (even though I desperately want to at least drop a clever hint), but suffice it to say: Holy cow!

One thing absent from the hotfix patch notes is any mention of an update to the Baldur's Gate 3 credits to add Brazilian localizers who had been left out. The missing credits came to light earlier this week and prompted an apology from Altagram Group, which took full responsibility for the omission. Larian said at the time that the missing credits would be added in the next hotfix (which would be this one) but Altagram Group was less specific, saying in its apology that the credits will be added "in an upcoming patch."

Larian also said today that it is continuing to work on the first "serious patch" for Baldur's Gate 3, although there's no word on when that will be live at this point. The patch notes for Baldur's Gate 3 hotfix 3 (minus the spoilers, because holy cow) are below.

CRASHES AND BLOCKERS

• Fixed an issue with spell slots that would prevent you from levelling up while multiclassing.
  
• Fixed an edge case issue preventing you from initiating a Long Rest.
  
• Fixed a cross-save issue causing you to get stuck syncing indefinitely, which prevented saving and loading.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur when selecting a summon without a hotbar while a deck in the hotbar was maximised.

MULTIPLAYER

• Fixed the Hireling UI from being split in half on each monitor in splitscreen.
  
• Fixed some visual artefacts appearing on split-screen when using Vulkan.
  
• Wyll now correctly recognises and confronts Karlach when you speak to him with a Karlach avatar after another avatar has already spoken to him.

COMBAT

• The guards in the Counting House will now continue pursuing you through the vault room.
• Fixed a bug that would let you use the Hide action outside of your turn in combat.
  
• Increased Isobel's AC to restore the intended balance.
  
• Increased Glitterbeard's HP and Dexterity and gave him the Shield spell.
• Added the NPCs in the drider's convoy to the same combat group.
• Fixed an issue where gnolls took too much time to react during the start of their turn after their pack leader attacked them.

CHARACTER CREATION

• Fixed mismatches between colours in Character Creation and in game, mainly affecting horns.

AUDIO

• When things go south in Crèche Y'llek, the music now goes from mellow to metal.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed an issue preventing you from talking to Withers in Act 3.
  
• Companions can now also trigger various tutorial pop-ups.
  
• Scratch can now find digging spots by himself.
  
• Fixed a hatch in the Emerald Grove not unlocking after a successful check.
  
• The Devil's in the Details achievement can now be achieved by all party members, including followers.
  
• Fixed an issue with crimes that meant you wouldn't get caught committing a crime if another party member had already committed a more severe crime and resolved it peacefully.
  
• You now consistently get the Bloodless condition the morning after Astarion bites you.
  
• Fixed a bug allowing you to spam party members' voiced lines near the log where you can recruit Karlach.
  
• Wyll no longer says you should find and slay Karlach after you've recruited her.
  
• If Jatlo is still disguised after the shadow curse has been lifted, he will now drop his disguise when attacked.
  
• Made sure Youth Vis'kiir looks like he's cleaning before you talk to him in Crèche Y'llek.
  
• Fixed the hatchery and infirmary map markers in Crèche Y'llek.
• Removed ownership from the portraits of Lohse and Sebille so that taking them is not a crime.
  
• Increased the bounds of the Inquisitor's room in Crèche Y'llek so that the game doesn't think you've left if you enter one of the side rooms.
  
• When playing as Shadowheart, telling Astarion about your affiliation with Shar now affects his approval rating.
  
• Astarion will now be better at remembering whether you've seen his back.
  
• You can no longer loot the items belonging to the Inquisitor in Crèche Y'llek without consequence.
  
• Fixed the range indicators on the orthon's quickly ticking mines.
• Fixed the explosion VFX for the toy chest in the barn in Wyrm's Crossing.
  
• Added a proper name to a note in Sharess' Caress.
• Interacting with certain rune slates on the nautiloid now correctly triggers the narrator's line.
• Removed duplicated furniture in the Elfsong Tavern.
  
• Made a door in the Elfsong Tavern indestructible.
  
• Fixed edge cases where characters would not correctly attach to the game grid, causing knock-on issues.

JOURNAL

• Fixed the journal not updating after you meet the pale individuals at Fraygo's Flophouse.
  
• The journal now updates correctly for the Rescue the Trapped Man quest.
  
• Dame Guisarme now reacts more accurately to your progress in the Investigate the Murders quest.
  
• Fixed an inaccurate line in the Help the Hag Survivors quest.
  
• Fixed a misleading journal update in the Find the Mushroom Picker quest.
  
• Updated Wyll's map marker to make a quest objective more precise.
  
• Made it easier to resolve the Wake Up Art Cullagh quest if you follow up with Art.
  
• Fixed a confusing map marker and added an extra step for clarity in the Find the Nightsong quest.
  
• Improved the journal entry flow for the Solve the Open Hand Temple Murders quest.

FLOW AND SCRIPTING

• Removed a dialogue option that's no longer relevant when talking to Karlach.
• Fixed Astarion mentioning things that haven't happened yet if you romance him early on.
  
• Fixed Avatar Gale's hunger not progressing if doesn't meet Tara before leaving the nautiloid crash site.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented Brakkal from triggering the correct dialogue when he's being released if his goblin guards left with Minthara for the raid.
  
• Minthara now reacts more appropriately if you kill all the tieflings.
  
• Removed unnecessary VFX in a dialogue with Raphael at Last Light.
  
• Fixed Glut saying the wrong line when he reanimates a spore servant.
  
• Made the dialogue options with Therezzyn more relevant if you've already been to the hatchery.
• Fixed the same dialogue option appearing twice when interacting with the Mirror of Loss.
  
• Kled will now play the correct dialogues in Old Garlow's Place.
  
• Made sure Lakrissa and Alfira don't appear in the Elfsong Tavern if you didn't save them.
• Fixed some wrong lines playing when you reach a late stage of the game.
  
• Fixed Toobin thinking you have a runepowder bomb when you don't.
• Fixed Havkelaag accepting the gith egg via dialogue when he doesn't have enough gold for it, and made it impossible to pickpocket back if you sold it to him.
  
• Korrilla is now better at recognising how you responded to Raphael's deal.
  
• Swapped two couples in the Elfsong Tavern so that they sit at the right tables.
• Fixed Jaheira not returning to her human form once she leaves your party. 
• Fixed some incorrect options showing up in dialogue with Halsin about a particular drow couple.

UI

• Made Blue Behir Dice permanently available on all platforms with just the base game.
  
• Fixed the UI seemingly disappearing because the game thinks a character is still in a dialogue, which could happen when going into a dialogue in the middle of combat.
  
• Fixed the Attack button disappearing from the dialogue UI after loading a savegame made during a dialogue.

CINEMATICS

• Made sure that you get a certain dialogue with Voss at camp.
  
• Fixed a repeating dialogue when talking to Gale while Wild Shaped.
  
• Fixed Astarion repeating information about his master if you speak to him twice in a row.
  
• Fixed Astarion oversharing about his master a little too early.
  
• Fixed a leg twitch in a conversation between Shadowheart and a certain dame.
  
• Moved the Dark Urge to a different pod on the nautiloid to prevent the wrong dialogue from playing.
  
• Fixed Astarion's knife not being held against dragonborn throats correctly during his recruitment dialogue at the beach.
  
• Made general improvements to a dialogue at camp with Astarion.
  
• Added a missing animation for Karlach in Astarion's recruitment dialogue.
  
• Gale's head now rests correctly on his bedroll pillow.
  
• Cleaned up pops and mocap issues in the dialogue where Gale teaches you a spell.
  
• Fixed Gale's arms clipping with his thigh.
  
• Fixed where characters are looking and facing in the dialogue where Gale reveals his history.
  
• Fixed Wyll's head jitters and strange turns during his recruitment dialogue.
  
• Made general improvements to cameras, facial reactions, and movements in a dialogue at camp with Wyll.
  
• Cleaned up the mocap in the scene where Lae'zel is suspended in a cage.
  
• Tall characters' hands no longer clip with their face when interacting with Karlach in a romantic moment.
  
• Adjusted Edowin's pose in the dialogue with him and his siblings in the forest.
  
• Fixed a corpse in the Goblin Camp from standing back up when you use Speak with Dead on it.
  
• Tweaked the cameras and facial expressions in the dialogue with Halsin during the celebration at camp.
  
• Fixed clipping with a statue in a camp dialogue at night with Gale.
  
• Fixed animation issues if you turn down Gale in the dialogue where he teaches you a spell.
  
• Adjusted some hand positions when interacting with the console on the nautiloid.
  
• Shadowheart is now sitting in a better pose when fiddling with her mysterious artefact during her camp scene.
  
• Fixed emotions and facial expressions in dialogues with Shadowheart, Omotola, and Minthara.
  
• Fixed a camera shot when talking to the mind flayer on the beach.
  
• Fixed an irrelevant line playing in a camp dialogue with Shadowheart.
  
• Fixed dragonborn players turning in the wrong direction after Astarion's bitey scene at camp.
  
• Fixed Roland and Lia looking in the wrong direction in their dialogue in the Emerald Grove.
  
• Fixed a camera issue in a dialogue with Silfy in the Emerald Grove.
  
• Fixed characters' legs clipping into the ground when looking through the telescope in the Emerald Grove.
  
• Fixed some mocap-related pops in a dialogue with Cerys in the Emerald Grove.
  
• Fixed a pop for one of the ogres in the Blighted Village.
  
• Fixed some camera issues and removed a ring from the background in the dialogue where Crusher asks you to kiss his foot.
  
• Improved facial expressions, camera shots and other issues in Shadowheart's recruitment dialogue at the Goblin Camp.
  
• Fixed a twisting forearm in a dialogue between Lae'zel and Voss at camp.
  
• Fixed characters clipping into each other when they're feeling ill at camp.
  
• Characters now appear correctly in the dialogue with the bugbear in the forest. The ogre's weapon is also now hidden.
  
• Fixed the camera clipping into the ground when speaking with your Dream Visitor at camp.
  
• Cleaned up the animations when Sceleritas Fel tells the Dark Urge to commit a certain misdeed.
  
• Fixed halflings' thumbs clipping through the Soul Coin when speaking to Nadira.
  
• Made general improvements to cameras, facial expressions, and animations for a romance dialogue with Wyll.
  
• Fixed some camera issues in the dialogue with Oskar in the Zhent hideout.
  
• Lae'zel is no longer invisible during Shadowheart's recruitment dialogue by the Chapel.
  
• Cleaned up some mocap and made general improvements in the dialogue with Glut.
  
• Removed an incorrect animation during the dialogue with The Necromancy of Thay.
  
• Fixed a minor clip when speaking to Sovereign Spaw in the Underdark.
  
• Fixed feet not making contact with the ground when using Feather Fall to leap into the Underdark.
  
• Fixed an animation issue when exchanging noblestalk with Derryth in the Underdark.
  
• Fixed a head pop in the scene on the raft in the Underdark.
  
• Fixed Lae'zel's crossed eyes in the dialogue with Lady Esther near Rosymorn Monastery.
  
• Fixed a couple of lines related to Zorru and Crèche Y'llek playing at the wrong moment.
  
• Fixed the position of characters' feet to prevent clipping, and moved Lae'zel to prevent her looking the wrong way in Crèche Y'llek.
  
• Added fade-ins and -outs and tweaked the facial expressions in the dialogue with Kansif in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
  
• Hid a goblin floating in the background when talking to the drider in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
  
• Fixed paddle hands in the scene where Harpers ambush the drider's convoy in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
  
• Fixed the drider jittering and cameras looking the wrong way when you examine the Harpers' bodies after the ambush in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
  
• Fixed some animations and camera issues in the dialogue with Harper Skywin in the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
  
• Fixed one of Jaheira's lines getting cut off in the dialogue with her at Last Light.
  
• Fixed the timing of Marcus' wing flap animation when he flies away from Last Light.
  
• Fixed a dagger appearing beneath the Strange Ox at Last Light if you use Speak with Animals on it.
  
• Fixed Jaheira looking like she sinks into the ground on certain lines.
  
• Fixed a barrel clipping with Thisobald Thorm's pipes.
  
• Thisobald Thorm's tubes no longer twitch and twist.
  
• Fixed head angles and pops in a dialogue with Araj and Astarion at Moonrise.
  
• Fixed camera and character placement issues in a dialogue with Jaheira at Moonrise.
  
• Fixed some camera angles in a dialogue with Araj at Moonrise.
  
• Fixed the lipsyncing for a rat in the Gauntlet of Shar.
• Removed certain pale individuals from the background of a camp dialogue.
  
• Fixed a duplicate line in dialogue with Gortash in Wyrm's Crossing.
  
• Cleaned up the animations for Izzy, the girl trying to sneak into the circus.
  
• Fixed hirelings clipping into whoever's talking in the dialogue with Zethino in the circus.
  
• Fixed character placement and clipping issues in a camp scene at the Elfsong Tavern.
  
• Cleaned up the mocap in the dialogue with Allandra Grey in the Water Queen's House.
  
• Fixed the pacing of how a certain character in the House of Grief is revealed.
  
• Fixed where companions and Shadowheart are looking when meeting a particular character in the House of Grief.
  
• Fixed some facial expressions and camera issues in the dialogue that plays after Gortash is defeated.
  
• Fixed several snaps and twitches in the dialogue with the pale individuals at Fraygo's Flophouse.
  
• Improved the facial expressions and timing when talking to Lady Flux in the Guildhall.
  
• Fixed an issue with where characters are looking in the dialogue with Aradin at Sorcerous Sundries.
• Added new camera shots in a romance dialogue with Halsin and in dialogues in the Stormshore Tabernacle.
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• Fixed Astarion jittering in a dialogue by a particular pool.
  
• Made sure characters don't stay in their Wild Shape in an endgame cinematic dialogue.
  
• Fixed excessive neck twisting in an endgame dialogue.
  
• Fixed some mocap-related pops in an endgame dialogue with Wyll.
  
• Fixed an issue in one of Karlach's final dialogues, causing it to end too early.
• Fixed a line being cut off in a game over dialogue.
  
• Fixed some issues with Wyll's mocap in an endgame dialogue.
  
• Fixed pops in an endgame dialogue with Gale.
  
• Fixed an issue preventing one of Karlach's final scenes from triggering and made sure she's wearing her camp clothing in romance dialogues.
  
• Fixed the wrong characters appearing in a cinematic shot near the end of the game.