The new mode will allow you to have a “more realistic D&D Experience”
Baldur’s Gate 3 patch 5 is upon us, with a host of major additions including a super-tough hardcore difficulty mode – but it also adds a way to make the RPG just as easy or difficult as you want it to be.
Larian describes the new custom mode as “a new game mode that allows players to pick and choose the type of experience best for them. With many options to pick from, a few favourites include the option to hide the required roll to succeed dice checks, which gives a more realistic D&D experience, as well as the ability to hide enemy HP in battle, again more closely simulating the tabletop style.”
There are many more examples of the choices available in Custom Mode in the screenshot below. What’s grabbing my interest the most is the proficiency bonus slider, which seems to let you apply a fixed boost (or penalty) to your die rolls. To completely heal the party, you can take short breaks or increase the price of products at traders to your desired amount.
All of this is in addition to the recently added Honour Mode feature, which prevents save-scrolling by acting as a kind of hardcore mode. Although Custom Mode appears to be sufficiently flexible to allow you to make the game way, way harder for the true masochists among you, it also appears to have a lot of advantages for players who want an easier way to play.
In addition, the much-anticipated inventory fix, a substantial new epilogue with “some of the most complex writing in the game,” and a number of platform-specific performance enhancements and other fixes are included in Baldur’s Gate 3 patch 5.