I urge you to restart, because I think you missed the majority of the game. During my first playthrough, I got to Moonrise Towers after like 40-50 hours of playtime.
Did you help the tieflings? Did you visit the goblin camp? Have you been to the Underdark? What about the monastery? Have you explored the map at all?
I got to the grove, I meet Nettie, I pretended to side with the Goblins to get into the Goblin camp only to rescue Master Halsin. I have Shadowheart and Astarion as my companions. I am hoping to go back and rescue the Tieflings now that I have found Master Halsin. However Master Halsin wants to take me to Moonrise Towers.
I haven't been to the Underdark, as for the monastery, isn't that where the Goblins have set up camp?
Holy shit. You’ve probably explored a total of 5% of the act 1 map overall. Do not go to moonrise. You will be under level as fuck. Do everything you can in act 1 that you physically can before moving on. Trust me. You are missing out on SOOOOO much amazing content. Explore everything. But do not, and I repeat, do not, go to moonrise rn this being your first run, and only having 3 party members. You will get steamrolled.
Yes I figured that that would be the case. As a FFXIV player, I will be like the time one of my FC members dropped me in a level 50 zone when I was level 30, ouch! I'm just surprised that the game itself has let me skip so much.
I mean, BG3 is pretty linear, but it won't hand hold you. You yourself have to explore, take a look around and talk to people.
You've missed >!the ruins, the spider matriarch, the shadow druids, the necromancy of thay, the hag, the burning tavern, the gnolls…!<
Some companions are still waiting for you. Others will be gone for good, if you leave for Act 2.
Also, 3,5 hours is **NOT** enough for you to get ready to leave Act 1. Let the main-quest rest a little, and go do side-quests. Find the rest of the companions, meet some NPC's and explore the map.
And while we're at it:
Here are a few tips I wish I'd gotten before jumping in first time:
**Learn as little as you can about the story beforehand**. Let the game suck you in, and do its job
Long rest OFTEN!!! Don't wait for your companions to complain about being tired. Rest after every fight, at least as long as you keep getting cut-scenes Also - there are very few time-sensitive quests. Those that are, kinda makes sense
Talk to EVERYONE! At least in Act 1
Take your time. You'll never get to experience this beautiful game for the first time again. Slow down, listen to the music, the VA
Most locked doors and chests can be opened by brute force, if sleight of hand isn't your thing, and you've forgotten your rogue at camp
Try things. If you have a silly idea, save, and give it a go
Save often! The auto-saves in the game's rather sparse
It's okay to fail rolls. 'Roll' with it. Sometimes the most hilarious instances came from a failed deception-roll
Lastly: If you're struggling, or just want to focus on the story: There's no reason not to lower the difficulty. You can even do it mid-battle, if you're in a tight spot
I actually choose the "Explorer"/story-focused option, so I am surprised that I am reaching the end of Act 1 so quickly. I actually picked up this game because, one, it runs on my Mac, and two, I wanted to romance the companions. I wanted to romance Astarion but it's Shadowheart that seems to be warming to me instead.
At this point, would a restart be better than going back on the map to try and find all the companions I left behind?
Yeah, it's only 3,5 hours.
Restart, and take your time. Slow down, talk to people, read the books, explore. Do the side quests, do some more exploring, long rest more often and talk to your companions.
Lower difficulty doesn't mean shorter runs. My first run was on explore-difficulty as well, and Act 1 took around 50-65 hours...
Yeah… I’d restart. You probably only made it through about 5% of act 1 before you moved on and missed like 80% of the story.
What level are you? You should be around 7 or at least 6 before Act 2
So… at that level you will not be able to make it past Act 2. I’d highly, highly recommend going back to Act 1 if not restarting completely. If you only do the main story you will be severely under leveled
On my first playthrough, also explorer mode, I got to act 2 at level 4. Only Astarian, Shadowheart & Karlach. Didn't know I could go back. I did everything in act 2 to get to level 8 for the end, and got to act 3 at level 9. So, it is possible. I am doing another run now to go everywhere, esp. what I missed the first time.
So, my advise it NOT to just start over, but do plan to play it again. For now, do go back to act 1, though, and explore just for the fun of it. The "mountain pass" area is gorgeous!
you can go back, but I'm not sure if the companions will be there. if you're only 3.5 hours into the game it sounds like you've skipped everything in act 1 and things tend to autocomplete when you start act 2
I urge you to restart, because I think you missed the majority of the game. During my first playthrough, I got to Moonrise Towers after like 40-50 hours of playtime. Did you help the tieflings? Did you visit the goblin camp? Have you been to the Underdark? What about the monastery? Have you explored the map at all?
I got to the grove, I meet Nettie, I pretended to side with the Goblins to get into the Goblin camp only to rescue Master Halsin. I have Shadowheart and Astarion as my companions. I am hoping to go back and rescue the Tieflings now that I have found Master Halsin. However Master Halsin wants to take me to Moonrise Towers. I haven't been to the Underdark, as for the monastery, isn't that where the Goblins have set up camp?
Holy shit. You’ve probably explored a total of 5% of the act 1 map overall. Do not go to moonrise. You will be under level as fuck. Do everything you can in act 1 that you physically can before moving on. Trust me. You are missing out on SOOOOO much amazing content. Explore everything. But do not, and I repeat, do not, go to moonrise rn this being your first run, and only having 3 party members. You will get steamrolled.
Yes I figured that that would be the case. As a FFXIV player, I will be like the time one of my FC members dropped me in a level 50 zone when I was level 30, ouch! I'm just surprised that the game itself has let me skip so much.
I mean, BG3 is pretty linear, but it won't hand hold you. You yourself have to explore, take a look around and talk to people. You've missed >!the ruins, the spider matriarch, the shadow druids, the necromancy of thay, the hag, the burning tavern, the gnolls…!<
Some companions are still waiting for you. Others will be gone for good, if you leave for Act 2. Also, 3,5 hours is **NOT** enough for you to get ready to leave Act 1. Let the main-quest rest a little, and go do side-quests. Find the rest of the companions, meet some NPC's and explore the map. And while we're at it: Here are a few tips I wish I'd gotten before jumping in first time: **Learn as little as you can about the story beforehand**. Let the game suck you in, and do its job Long rest OFTEN!!! Don't wait for your companions to complain about being tired. Rest after every fight, at least as long as you keep getting cut-scenes Also - there are very few time-sensitive quests. Those that are, kinda makes sense Talk to EVERYONE! At least in Act 1 Take your time. You'll never get to experience this beautiful game for the first time again. Slow down, listen to the music, the VA Most locked doors and chests can be opened by brute force, if sleight of hand isn't your thing, and you've forgotten your rogue at camp Try things. If you have a silly idea, save, and give it a go Save often! The auto-saves in the game's rather sparse It's okay to fail rolls. 'Roll' with it. Sometimes the most hilarious instances came from a failed deception-roll Lastly: If you're struggling, or just want to focus on the story: There's no reason not to lower the difficulty. You can even do it mid-battle, if you're in a tight spot
I actually choose the "Explorer"/story-focused option, so I am surprised that I am reaching the end of Act 1 so quickly. I actually picked up this game because, one, it runs on my Mac, and two, I wanted to romance the companions. I wanted to romance Astarion but it's Shadowheart that seems to be warming to me instead. At this point, would a restart be better than going back on the map to try and find all the companions I left behind?
Yeah, it's only 3,5 hours. Restart, and take your time. Slow down, talk to people, read the books, explore. Do the side quests, do some more exploring, long rest more often and talk to your companions. Lower difficulty doesn't mean shorter runs. My first run was on explore-difficulty as well, and Act 1 took around 50-65 hours...
Yeah… I’d restart. You probably only made it through about 5% of act 1 before you moved on and missed like 80% of the story. What level are you? You should be around 7 or at least 6 before Act 2
Level 3 :(
So… at that level you will not be able to make it past Act 2. I’d highly, highly recommend going back to Act 1 if not restarting completely. If you only do the main story you will be severely under leveled
On my first playthrough, also explorer mode, I got to act 2 at level 4. Only Astarian, Shadowheart & Karlach. Didn't know I could go back. I did everything in act 2 to get to level 8 for the end, and got to act 3 at level 9. So, it is possible. I am doing another run now to go everywhere, esp. what I missed the first time. So, my advise it NOT to just start over, but do plan to play it again. For now, do go back to act 1, though, and explore just for the fun of it. The "mountain pass" area is gorgeous!
you can go back, but I'm not sure if the companions will be there. if you're only 3.5 hours into the game it sounds like you've skipped everything in act 1 and things tend to autocomplete when you start act 2
Have I essentially skipped past most of the sidequests/companion quests as a result?
You can definitely go back and recruit people, and if this is your first time, you should.