Thanks to Larian and some dedicated modders, Baldur’s Gate 3 just keeps expanding, as if the already massive original game wasn’t enough to occupy every free moment of devoted DnD enthusiasts.
Last year, players were already up to some impressive things with BG3, both before and after the game officially supported mods in the summer. Among the standout creations was the ‘Trials of Tav’. The modder known as Hippo0o crafted a fully-fledged roguelike mode for the game, offering a thrilling adventure through endless enemy waves. They explained it to us when it first launched, and it sounded like a true broadening of the game’s horizons.
With updates for the original mod slowing, however, other modders have taken the reins to inject their own creativity into Trials of Tav, tweaking and adding new elements. Enter ‘Trials of Tav – Reloaded’, a fresh take by modder Celerev.
Celerev’s iteration of the roguelike mode aims to deliver an experience packed with “bug fixes, revamped monsters, novel scaling, and entirely new foes adapted directly from tabletop gaming.” Curious about these new enemies? One particularly fascinating creation is a “veritable ‘superboss’, level 27, intended to challenge you in true RPG style.”
As Celerev reveals, “He’s the last boss to factor into the scaling, and if you can manage to beat him, you might as well consider the run ‘won.'” That’s your cue to say ‘challenge accepted,’ provided you managed not to fall prey to the rats in the basement of the Elfsong Tavern.
Moreover, Celerev has introduced over 60 challengers from the base game, like the notorious Nine-Fingers Keene and what appears to be a malevolent sheep. They’ve also thrown in a few custom bosses and ironed out bugs plaguing existing ones. As for gameplay mechanics, they’ve adjusted scaling rates to ensure creatures with thematic, potent abilities are reasonably integrated without rendering the player’s saving throws futile, and reworked shop balances too.
Celerev wraps up with high praise for Hippo0o’s original modding genius, saying, “The work Hippo0o put into crafting the original mod is nothing short of amazing. While I leverage the toolkit and my deep dive into the game mechanics, the lua scripting Hippo0o utilized to birth an entire game mode from scratch shows genuine passion, immense effort, and real skill. For those like me who wish BG3’s tactical combat reached higher echelons, I trust you will enjoy my contributions.”
Of course, you might decide to stick with the initial Trials of Tav if Celerev’s modifications aren’t to your liking. Nevertheless, it’s exciting to witness such modding ideas evolve with time. At the very least, it could serve as an intriguing diversion while you anticipate news on whether you’ll be part of the Patch 8 testing, which is slated to start this month.
