Baldur's Gate 3 Act Two Expansion mod hits beta after nearly two years in development

Modder SquallyDaBeanz has released the Baldur's Gate 3 Act Two Expansion mod in beta after nearly two years of work. The mod slots a brand-new region — The Chionthar Wilds — between the end of Act 2 and the start of Act 3, giving players somewhere new to explore after lifting the Shadow Curse.

The Chionthar Wilds is designed to be comparable in scope to Act 1's Wilderness, targeting parties at level 8 and above. It packs in over 30 new encounters, more than 70 new items, fresh quests, NPCs, cutscenes, and custom creatures. EXP gains in the new zone are artificially reduced so the extra content doesn't trivialise Act 3's difficulty. The mod is available on Nexus Mods in two flavours: a Main Download for players doing a full playthrough, and a Quickstart version that warps you directly to the new region with gear and hirelings ready to go.

Baldur's Gate 3 already has one of the most active modding communities in PC gaming, and a project of this scale — a full custom campaign region with new combat, loot, and story — is a serious undertaking for a solo modder. Larian's official modding tools, released alongside the game's full launch in 2023, made ambitious projects like this more accessible, and the community has been building on them steadily ever since.

SquallyDaBeanz is upfront about the rough edges: new NPCs have subtitled dialogue only with no voice acting planned for now, choices made in the Chionthar Wilds don't carry consequences into Act 3, and speak-with-dead and speak-with-animals interactions aren't supported. There are also known softlock bugs around the finale, particularly if camp events like the Oathbreaker questline are unfinished — the modder recommends saving frequently and having a way to skip to Act 3 as a backup. A full 1.0 release is planned with improved writing, more background-specific dialogue lines, and a mechanical overhaul of boss encounters.