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Baldur's Gate 3 developer has a peculiar pick for the RPG's 'canon experience,' a character/class combo that I certainly would have never considered

A Baldur's Gate 3 developer suggests the Dark Urge, the game's compelling origin character, should be played as a Bard, challenging the typical portrayal of a Dragonborn Sorcerer and sparking debate within the gaming community.

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A Baldur's Gate 3 developer has a peculiar pitch for the game's "canon experience" - a character/class combo that I have to admit I never considered.

The answer to which of Baldur's Gate 3's Origin Characters is most closely tied to the game's story has been a hotly contested debate topic since launch. Publishing director Micheal Douse, however, has an unlikely pitch.

Playing BG3 as a durge bard is the canon experience imho happy to debate thisSeptember 27, 2024

Now, the Dark Urge is as reasonable a pick as any - their attachment to Act 3 characters like Orin and Gortash means the character is pretty wrapped up in the narrative, and there's plenty of Durge-specific cutscene and dialogue action that certainly makes them just as sensible a pitch as Astarion or Shadowheart.

But where Douse goes off-piste, for me at least, is in his choice of class. The Dark Urge is fully customizable, meaning you can pick whatever race and class you like for your version of the character. Bard, therefore, might be an entirely worthy suggestion if it weren't for one key detail: The default Dark Urge is a Dragonborn Sorcerer, which is why you see the character so often portrayed as a white lizard in long, flowing robes.

Choice of class is also a matter of personal opinion more than anything else, and while my Bard was at the heart of perhaps the best-possible Baldur's Gate 3 party, (and I also acknowledge the validity of Paladin, which appears to be everyone's else's most popular class), the idea of a Bard being the default Urge is a peculiar one. Douse does suggest that he's happy to debate anyone on his choice, though his cowardly decision to lock his replies suggests otherwise.

Baldur's Gate 3 studio wanted to make 2 RPGs at once, but its devs "got swallowed by the ambitions of the one we want to release first."