Patch 5 for Baldur's Gate 3 is finally here, and once again Larian Studios doesn't disappoint. With the addition of a post-game epilogue, new game modes, new clothing styles, and more, there's plenty to unpack in the latest update.
Showcased by Larian Studios on X, formerly Twitter, players will now receive a final goodbye to their companions, with the addition of an epilogue at the end of the game. This will see Faerun's favourite spooky boy Withers host a "get-together" at camp in High Hall, overlooking the city of Baldur's Gate. Here, players will have a chance to catch up with their companions and find out what happened in the six months following their adventure. That is, of course, if you have any companions left to come back to.
Meanwhile, a new Ironman game mode called Honour Mode is coming to Baldur's Gate 3. Larian says that players attempting Honour Mode will only be allowed one save file, meaning that you'll have no choice but to live with the consequences of your actions. Honour Mode will also cause enemies to hit even harder than in Tactician Mode, and you may find that some of Baldur's Gate 3's bosses have some new tricks up their sleeves.
Baldur's Gate 3's Honour Mode won't be for the faint-hearted, and Larian has chosen to 'honour' players who complete an Honour Mode campaign with a unique Golden D20 in-game, which makes the potential 100-hour-long struggle completely worth it. Also within Patch 5 is the new Custom Mode, which will allow players to micromanage a range of parameters to custom-build a Baldur's Gate 3 campaign tailored to their needs.
If you're wondering if the new Baldur's Gate 3 epilogues are worth experiencing, Larian believes that they feature "some of the most complex writing in the game thus far". This arguably comes as no surprise, with the game boasting many thousands of subtly different endings. With so many different outcomes available, it will be interesting to see how substantially epilogues will vary from campaign to campaign.
If this isn't enough new content for players, Patch 5 also adds special cinematic endings for Gale and Lae'zel, which can only unlocked if certain decisions are made. Plus, Patch 5 brings with it a wealth of performance optimisations, particularly in Act III, with Larian claiming to have resolved several issues regarding memory leaks.
Finally, Patch 5 also introduces some new clothing for players, which will come as a welcome addition to those who felt like there wasn't enough variety and choice available to players, particularly when it came to selecting camp clothes. As part of this expansion, players will also now be able to pick up and equip Orin the Red's clothes, adding a whole new layer of meaning to "slay".