Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix #17 patch notes: Gale is less of a diva now

Originally posted on Video Games on SI | By Marco Wutz | Last updated Jan 16, 2024 3:24 AM ET

Developer Larian Studios has published another Baldur’s Gate 3 patch in the form of Hotfix #17. It’s not a large update, but one that may solve a few headaches players of the CRPG have been complaining about. One of them has to do with everyone’s favorite wizard, Gale. He was a bit of a diva recently, permanently leaving the party whenever players talked to him for reasons other than to feed him a magic item. Larian gave him a stern talk, teaching him that not everything has to be about food all the time, and that should be that. If Gale leaves the party, you can't break the game with his dead body and that would be sad.

Less glamorous, but very useful, are changes made to the game’s save files: They’ll be more compressed now, which should hopefully help out players that are having trouble due to large save file sizes. In addition, Larian was able to further reduce the required storage space by optimizing how the game is saved.

You can check out the full Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix #17 patch notes below.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix #17 patch notes

Fixed black and colorful visual artifacts sometimes appearing for 1 frame on PS5 when switching scenes or opening and closing UI windows.
Increased the compression of savegames, which should fix several issues caused by large save game files.
Reduced the size of save files by removing summons that don't exist in the game anymore.
Guarded against crashes caused when certain character resources (Actions, Bonus Actions, Superiority Dice, etc.) were added and later removed by a mod or cheat engine.
In Honour Mode, the aura of Cazador's Potent Mist Form now properly dissipates after he's no longer in Mist Form.
Fixed the camera sometimes zooming in while jumping or casting projectile spells.
Fixed the ability to walk through open doors when you click beyond them from far away.
Fixed Thieves' Tools in the camp chest or inventory of a companion who is waiting at camp not being accessible when lockpicking.
Safeguard Shield's Saving Throw modifier is now correctly reflected on the Character Sheet.
Gale will no longer permanently leave the party if you don't offer him any magic items while talking to him – unless you're abundantly clear that you don't plan on ever doing so.
Fixed characters getting stuck 'in a story event', preventing you from controlling them, after getting killed in the fight with Grym.