Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 6 is live now, with improved smooching, a long-awaited fix for party management, and hangovers

Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 6 is live now, with patch notes promising everything from improved kissing animations to party management.

In the patch notes, Larian shows off more details about patch 6, some of which it had already hinted at. Earlier this week, the developer confirmed that players would finally be able to swap party members around more easily. Elsewhere, there's a long-awaited fix to the Shield Bash skill, which hasn't worked properly for some time.

Another of the headline changes in Patch 6 is a collection of new kissing animations, which Larian has been showing off with abandon over the past couple of days, with a steamy kiss between Shadowheart and Lae'zel and a pretty intense moment between Gale and Astarion.

On the more chaste side, there are plenty of new companion idle animations, which are intended to "help your campsite feel more alive." Also helping with that is a new effect attached to one of the game's achievements - you'll be rewarded for completing a Long Rest with only alcohol, but now you'll also have a hangover for ten turns after you wake up. That's only about 60 seconds, which is personally a skill I'd love to have for myself.

In true Larian fashion, the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 6 notes are extremely long, but the other big changes are likely to be found in combat. Improved AI means that your allies should path around dangerous surfaces more often, while some of the game's higher difficulty settings have also been adjusted; in Honour Mode, the Drider and Dror Ragzlin have new legendary actions, while The Shambling Mound is now a dedicated Honour Mode boss; in Tactician Mode, the Drider gets another boost, and Dror Ragzlin's Leadership Aura will now debuff enemies. That's not great news for players who get too close, but it won't stop you surrounding him with explosive casks before he even enters combat.

There's a huge array of balance changes, far too many to list here, so it's worth checking out the notes for yourself. From what I can see,