Baldur's Gate 3 trailer expands upon how classes and races matter in upcoming ambitious RPG

Baldur's Gate 3 is just around the corner, and its hype is at an all-time high. Aside from being the latest entry in the long-dormant CRPG series, its massive scope has commanded a lot of attention. The marketing and developer interviews for the game thus far have spared no expense in elaborating upon how it's set to transform the RPG scene.

Developer Larian Studios recently released a new trailer. It touches upon how character creation will drastically change each player's gameplay experience. Here are the details.

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How do races and classes in character creation affect gameplay in Baldur's Gate 3?

Half-Orcs are one of the two new races to ever grace a Baldur's Gate game (Image via Larian Studios)

It all begins with character creation. There are 11 races to peruse, ranging from human and Half-Orc to Githyanki and the brand-new Dragonborn. Regarding the latter, picking the scale's color affects the element of the dragon powers possessed by the character.

Coming to a more personal kind of customization, players can also pick body type, hairstyles, and more. In fact, users can also pick their pronouns and genitalia, echoing the tenets of Cyberpunk 2077.

This is, after all, a massive role-playing experience, so ensuring the player's identity is well-represented is essential.

The attention to detail is impressive (Image via Lariain Studios)

Players have 12 unique classes to choose from. As their playable character levels up, they will be able to pick a subclass as well. While some classes have only three subclasses, others, like the Cleric, have up to seven. This way, there are a total of 46 subclasses in Baldur's Gate 3.

That's not even touching on over 600 spells to choose from. Throw in multi-classing, allowing players to pick a second class over the course of the game, and it is simply staggering. Furthermore, all of these factors will affect gameplay, including outside of combat. Expected design choices like unique dialogue based on the character's race are accounted for.

Each class allows problem-solving in a distinct manner (Image via Lariain Studios)

Players will also witness unique factors for each race. The Animal Speak ability of the Druids allows them to converse with dozens of animals found around the game world. These seemingly minor NPCs have their own personalities, questlines, and more. Users may miss out on them if they lack a character with this spell in their party.

Or how about Warlock's Patrons being summonable from other realms for conversations? These curious entities whom this class' characters are bound to can be summoned to learn about mysteries of the world or gain insight into quests. All of these tie into the puzzle that is Baldur's Gate 3 with its immersive-sim-like design, sandbox maps, and more.

Pick the right spell for the occasion to emerge victorious

In fact, the game's massive ambition has sparked controversy in the past few weeks. From debates over how its scope will affect the industry, to the eyebrow-raising bear romance scene. But that hasn't stopped Baldur's Gate 3 from receiving positive attention.

Baldur's Gate 3 is currently in early access. This means players can buy the game right now on Steam and experience the content available thus far - which includes much of Act 1. August 3, 2023, however, marks the 1.0 launch for the game on PC. In short, expect a massive patch that adds the rest of the game while tweaking and overhauling existing aspects, including the character creator.