Thank the divines for save scumming in Baldur’s Gate 3, the game has no shortage of choices players are likely to regret. Whether you happen to give the wrong person the wrong item, encourage horrible behavior from your companions, or side with the most heinous of people in the game, you’ll probably feel the sting of regret at some point due to how emotional the game is.
Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Quest Order In Act 3
Act 3 is the final act of Baldur’s Gate 3, and this is the recommended order to complete all of the Act 3 related quests in.
There are a few choices that are pretty tough to make in the game, and are notorious for turning us into regretful adventurers. There won’t be any exact naming of these choices and quests ahead of time, but just know that if you haven’t finished a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 yet, then tread very carefully. There will be spoilers ahead. Major ones.
WARNING! Major story spoilers ahead for Baldur’s Gate 3!
Giving The Githyanki Egg To The Society Of Brilliance
Say Goodbye To Blurg
By the time you get to the Underdark, you’ll meet Omeluum and Blurg, members of a group called The Society of Brilliance. Then, as you arrive at the Rosymorn Monastery map, you might run into Lady Esther, also from this very same group. She requests that you find her a githyanki egg from the nearby Creche and give it to her in hopes of the Society raising a truly good githyanki.
If you choose to do this, a gruesome sight awaits you later down the line in Act 3 when you arrive at the Society’s Lodge in Baldur’s Gate. Everyone has been brutally murdered by a single surviving character, a githyanki called Ptaris, who has been brainwashed into thinking he is the embodiment of absolute good. As a result, he destroyed everyone else in the Lodge after deeming them to be misaligned with his personal values. And yes, that includes Blurg. Omeluum will be the last surviving member if you end up finding him, and you can imagine the kind of interaction that follows.
Turning Karlach Into An Illithid
It’s A Burden No One Should Carry
One of the final big choices made in Baldur’s Gate 3 involves having someone turn into an illithid to confront the Netherbrain. One of the options you might have is having Karlach turn illithid, and there’s absolutely no worse option for this.
You could argue that at least she gets to live, her engine finally dealt with since she’s in a new body, but the narration that follows after her gruesome turning is one that implies only a sliver of her is still, well, her. Considering her boisterous, wonderful personality, there’s nothing more heartbreaking than seeing one of the most beloved companions take on the burden and then proceed to feed on Orpheus, who would have easily been the better choice all along.
Letting Alfira Into Your Camp As The Dark Urge
Careful Who You Allow In Your Company
Another terribly sweet and memorable character is Alfira. A side character, for sure, but still one of the most beloved NPCs in the entire game. Players were elated when they found out that while playing the Dark Urge, they were approached by her and asked to be invited to camp.
However, what started off as hope for a new companion turns out to be a nightmare when players wake up covered in blood. Alfira’s fate is sealed the moment they are allowed to camp, and what follows is the player’s struggle to try and figure out what to do with her body and the kind of story to tell their other companions. Unfortunately, there’s no way for this event to take place once she’s in camp, so choose carefully, and save scum if needed.
Killing US
A Grotesquely Adorable Companion, Gone
When you first wake up on the nautiloid ship, you’ll encounter an elven body with a creature speaking from it. With the right checks, you can free a being called Us, who becomes your best buddy for the nautiloid section of the game. He’s quite handy, able to attack enemies with his claws. But Us isn’t just there for this intro part; he also comes back in Act 2, when you enter the Mind Flayer Colony, where he can be released again and unlocked as a creature you can summon once per Short Rest.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
If you kill Us early on in the game, you’re basically denying yourself a gross, slightly creepy, yet weirdly adorable companion and missing out on some stellar side content. Next time you start a new playthrough, make sure to have Us join you on their adventures.
Giving Baelen The Noblestalk
An Abusive Husband Returns
Derryth Bonecloak is met in the Underdark in the Myconid Colony, and is searching for a rare kind of ingredient known as the Noblestalk. Her rather strange husband has been sent out looking for it, and she’s insistent on the players finding him and the Noblestalk. It turns out that the Noblestalk is a powerful antidote for any negative conditions—including Baelen’s, Derryth’s husband, who doesn’t seem like the sharpest tool in the box.
Should you attempt to cure Baelen’s disposition with the Noblestalk, you’ll reveal the real reason Derryth has turned him so docile: Baelen is, in fact, highly abusive, and Derryth has had enough of his horrible ways. You’ll run into them again in Act 3, as the couple owns a shop in Baldur’s Gate. If you cured Baelen, he will be manning it alone, with Derryth gone. If you left Baelen as he is, he’ll still be working under Derryth’s orders in the shop. Best not disrupt the situation the couple is going through, especially when Derryth is clearly the victim in the situation.
Letting Astarion Ascend
You’re Nothing But A Servant To Him
Astarion’s past is riddled with tragedy. His greatest aspiration is to deal with Cazador, the vampire who turned him and tortured him endlessly, treating him as nothing but an object. But Astarion’s ambitions aren’t quite as just either, because he wants to do the exact thing Cazador desires: to ascend and become a vampire lord of truly great power. Essentially, he wants to turn into the evil that he’s been fighting and seeking vengeance against all along.
Baldur’s Gate 3: All Romances, Ranked
Every romance option in Baldur’s Gate 3 offers unique stories and companion quests that can further the journey and emotional growth of the game.
To allow him to ascend turns him into quite a personality. He will look down upon others, and depending on relationships, he will even insist on turning the main character into one of his spawns. It’s not exactly the kind of ending you’d hope for someone like him to embrace the very evil that tormented him, and being in a relationship with him when he ascends and after can feel seriously icky with how abusive he gets.
Using Gale’s Magical Nuke
There Is Always Another (Better) Way
Gale’s story is one of hubris. He dared to believe he could be equal to a god, and paid the price by now holding a literal, magical nuke lodged inside his chest. One that requires him to initially consume magical items to stabilize it. When he’s called by Elminster and Mystra to sacrifice himself for the greater good by using his nuke against the Netherbrain, players have an option on how to deal with the game’s final boss.
Sure, you can have Gale sacrifice himself, thus killing him in the process, but it seems so excessive, especially if players have made him understand that his obsession with the magical world instead of the present is unhealthy. Like Karlach, he deserves a future, one where he can reflect on the mistakes of his past and properly learn from them.
Killing Auntie Ethel In Act 1
You’ll Miss Out On An Incredibly Powerful Item
No matter how insufferable Auntie Ethel might be in Act 1, and how horrible and evil her ways might seem, it’s actually best to hold off on killing her outright in her den while trying to save Mayrina. You can still rescue her during the fight, but make sure you don’t somehow destroy Auntie while she’s in her Teahouse (it’s possible). While in the arena with Mayrina, make her low enough and wait for her turn, and she will plead for mercy.
At this stage, you can strike a bargain with her for a piece of hag hair, which will permanently boost an attribute of your choice. This is one of the most powerful items in the game, as the boost is permanent, so missing out on it is a big deal. Plus, you get to meet Auntie again once you get to Baldur’s Gate in Act 3, and although the reunion isn’t quite as epic, you’ll eventually manage to get her back for what she did to Mayrina and so many others.
Letting Shadowheart Embrace Her Faith
Shar Is Not The Way
Shadowheart’s faith will be greatly tested around Act 2 and again in Act 3, and depending on what way you push her and how much she likes you, the outcome might be drastic. She could end up killing the Nightsong and robbing Aelin and Isabelle of a future (and, you also lose out on a valuable ally for Act 3). In Act 3, when faced with the Mirror of Loss, you have yet another chance to push her further by making her abandon her parents and her past once and for all. It’s truly a terrifying moment, and you can see the hesitation in her.
After killing her parents, her memory is reset, and her next priority is to rebuild the Dark Justiciars as their new superior. Sure, you get a powerful ally, but there are no mysteries or questions on whether or not the choice is just plain wrong. It’s brutal and cruel for her, given how long she’s struggled with her memories and her faith, and the fact that she used to be a Selune worshiper makes it even worse of an end to grant her.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
