Larian Studios is extremely quick with their patches and hotfixes for Baldur’s Gate 3. However, accidents do happen here and there: Recently, they gave the hairless cat “His Majesty” a fur coat, and the player community is calling for shaving.
Warning Spoiler: This article contains minor spoilers for Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Who is “His Majesty”? “His Majesty” is the cat in the Last Light Inn in Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3. He lives there under the care of the Harpers under Jaheira’s leadership. The tomcat primarily patrols the great hall in the main building.
If you address His Majesty without being able to speak with animals, he will only hiss at you. However, once you have cast “Speak with Animals,” you can engage him in conversation. If you impress him enough, he will reveal a bit more about the Harper camp.
How you can cast “Speak with Animals” without using a spell slot is explained here:
Baldur’s Gate 3: Casting without a spell slot – These nine spells you can always cast
The hairless cat of Baldur’s Gate 3 that shouldn’t be
What happened in Patch 3? On September 23, Larian Studios released Patch 3 for Baldur’s Gate 3. In addition to bug fixes, there were adjustments to the Shadowheart romance and the magic mirror that allows you to change your appearance. However, “His Majesty” was also adjusted:
We have updated the appearance of His Majesty, who previously looked like Steel Claw. His Majesty’s appearance now fits his name and nature.
Larian Studios, 23.09.2023
Before the patch, His Majesty was a hairless cat. After the patch, he became a Ragdoll cat with white-brown fur. The nudity was probably just a bug.
Steel Claw is another cat that you can meet in Baldur’s Gate 3. He also has no fur. This is probably intentional.
How did the players react? The community reacted with astonishment to confusion: Many had already taken a liking to the eccentric tomcat. On X (formerly Twitter) and reddit, they expressed their displeasure.
Here is an example from X:
On reddit, players are also specifically discussing the patch notes. The most upvoted comment by AlfwinOfFolcgeard points out that the resemblance to Steel Claw was taken as justification. But since Steel Claw addresses players as “Furloose,” they think it would be more appropriate for Steel Claw to have gotten fur – not His Majesty.
Redditor Zazulio, on the other hand, states in the same thread: “I don’t know who Steel Claw is yet, but she has made herself a new enemy today.”
The general sentiment of the community: One should please make His Majesty hairless again.
All’s well that ends well: Larian once again follows the players’ wishes
How do the developers react? Larian Studios initially did not respond to the community’s call. On October 3, they released Hotfix 8, which they commented as follows:
Hotfix #8 for Baldur’s Gate 3 is now live. This update fixes several crashes and issues, including the fact that your party members will transfer all important items to you once they are dismissed.
Even more importantly, we have shaved His Majesty.
Larian Studios via Twitter, 03.10.2023
So once you have patched Hotfix #8, His Majesty is once again a hairless cat. This shows that Larian Studios listens to the community’s feedback and incorporates it into their development.
A frequently mentioned point was that player characters from multiplayer rounds prevented the recruitment of NPC companions. Larian then implemented with Patch 2 the option of locking inactive multiplayer characters in a closet at Lazarus.
Patch 3 brought not only the unwanted fur covering of His Majesty but also a magic mirror that allows you to adjust the appearance of your character. This was also a long-wanted feature by the community.
How do you feel about the shaving of His Majesty? What bug fixes and features would you like to see in Baldur’s Gate 3? Let us know in the comments!
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