Baldur’s Gate 3 players demand change to “tedious” encumbrance system
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 players are sick of dealing with the game’s encumbrance system, as it can grind gameplay to a halt, thanks to all of the inventory management it creates.
As Baldur’s Gate 3 adapts D&D 5E rules into the video game form, the developers could cut anything that didn’t work. This includes managing non-magical ammunition for ranged weapons, which is present in D&D but not Baldur’s Gate 3.
Unfortunately, one of the least popular aspects of D&D made it into Baldur’s Gate 3, as encumbrance and item weight were included. This is despite most D&D groups scrapping encumbrance rules, except when players want to carry large items.
As Baldur’s Gate 3 gives the party lots of items they need for battle, such as weapons, potions, magic arrows, scrolls, and barrels, the player needs to manage them in each character’s inventory. This means they’ll soon be running into the encumbrance system, and not everyone is happy about it.
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 players are sick of dealing with the encumbrance system
A user on the Baldur’s Gate 3 subreddit has shared their biggest complaint about the game, as they think encumbrance adds nothing to the experience. Other users quickly flocked to the thread to share their issues with the system.
“I’m going to be 100% honest – I use cheats to get rid of it. Inventory management sucks already. I don’t need stupid weight limits slowing me down,” one user writes, while another says, “Inventory is the worst part of the game, closely followed by the camera,”
A lot of players use mods to deal with Baldur’s Gate 3’s encumbrance system, as it can be used to give every party member unlimited inventory weight. Unfortunately, this is restricted to the PC platform, so PlayStation 5 players are out of luck.
What’s frustrating about this system is that there’s a D&D item that could fix the problem: the Bag of Holding. This TARDIS-style item is bigger on the inside than the outside, so it could have been included to reduce inventory management. It’s not in the game, though.
Having to swap items around to stop characters from becoming encumbered in Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most tedious aspects of the game, and fans are hoping that an option will be included to get rid of it. Hopefully, a future patch will give players a choice to switch it off and end the tyranny of encumbrance forever.
