Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion [Ending Spoilers] Questions Regarding my Ending

Hello,

I've just finished the game for the first time, and I have a few questions regarding the ending. Note that I don't discuss a game, read guides, or even watch promo videos if I haven't finished the game at all - so I might know less than usual; I only have 24 of the 54 achievements.

What surprised me a little was that the game threw me back onto the starting screen after the end titles rolled through. I hadn't finished Astarion's storyline - maybe i just missed a cue - because that would have been in the Upper City and the Emperor warned me from going there.

Or is it because of the ending I chose? I opted to free prince Orpheus, so he could challenge Vlaakith, and thus sided against the Emperor. That, in consequence meant that my character had to undergo ceremorphosis, because there would have been little point in saving Prince Orpheus if I then turned him into a mindflayer. Thus, in the ending sequence my character committed suicide, which might have made it unsurprising that the game ended there, yet there was another sequence immediately before the ending titles in which Withers meets my mindflayer-character between the worlds and sends her back...

Another thing that remained a bit open-ended was Gale's story arc. He needs to destroy Karsus crown, but he wasn't even there during my final approach. I saw the crown breaking apart and falling in the final cut scene, but I have no idea whether that counted.

Finally, I was curious what happens if you make the deal with Raphael - he gives me the Orphic Hammer and gets Karsus Crown. However, nobody could be as stupid as to give him the crown, deal or not... Raphael was curious as far as he's the single one enemy with the most hit points I defeated in game - 666.

Hey,

if you want to help Astarion defeat Cazador, you have to do it - like with all things - before approaching the brain. The entrance to Cazador's palace is extremely well hidden and I think I had to look it up the first time too.

And because Gale's quest only got a proper ending with the new epilogue - which you didn't get to see because your character died - it is very open ended in the actual game unless you romance him. Destroying the crown is also only one of his options, which requires him to explode. I am not sure how much of his quest you did (did you get him the book and visit the shrine with him for example?) so I don't want to spoil anything by going too in depth.

I wouldn't worry about Raphael too much. There is no way a cambion, even with the crown, would be able to become ruler of the 9 hells. If it were that simple, Mephisto had done it himself.

As for the rest, try letting Orpheus becoem a mindlfayer next time, no problem relly with that .
And Astarions quest you can reach from an entrance in the city wall in teh middle of the lower city map.

Yes, I did get the Book for Ghale and he did speak with... "his contact" in the temple.

What's so confusing about the death scene is that Withers announces the character back to life... but that's the final scene in which I ever saw "my character" (well, in so far as a mindflayer is my character). Whithers appears in the post-credit scene having a monologue with a depiction of the dead three.

However, I had Shadowheart, Astarion, and Lae'zel with me on the final approach. My main character was a Warlock, while I like having Gale around, it wasn't particularly efficient; I can neither swap myself out, I need somebody to open locks and disarm traps and I need a healer, so I'd have to swap Lae'zel to take Gale into the group.

Shadowheart got the final shot in; I have a final save in which the Will of the Netherbrain is down to 4HP, it's Shadowheart's turn, and she has 99% hit chance on a Guiding Light. I had two options, destroy the Netherbrain or dominate it. I chose the prior. In the cut scene is a shot in which the crown breaks in two pieces and falls out of the sky - at least I think that's what it's supposed to mean.

There is a point to that, however, I thoroughly enjoyed playing through the House of Hope.

Oh, that is interesting. Didn't he tell you whom he was meeting or did you just not want to be spoilery? You don't have to have him with you for him to finish his quest. (Only if you want to blow him up, you'll obviously need him to be present.) It is implied he just fishes the crown out of the river. But you'll only learn what actually happens if your character is alive long enough to find out.

Edit: To clarify my confusion "destroying the crown" usually isn't the objective in act 3 anymore - at least it wasn't for me - it's more about what to do with it, once he gets his hands on it.

I did get to play the scene as Gale, I know whom he met. I didn't notice him picking up the crown... maybe I missed it.

There are two possible endings with Raphael where you sign the agreement and he gets the crown. One where you give it to him as promised and the other where he collects it after Gale's tragic end.

Deal honoured:



Alternative acquisition:

House of Hope is my favourite questline - no question. Still regarding Raphael, you can go either way.

The second one: poor Gale. I always try to protect our favourite wizard from his own ambitions.

Correction - there are actually 4 endings. This is what happens if Mystra gets the crown.



And the last one with God Gale.




It's painful.

Well, looking around it turns out that I missed a lot of things. I failed to recruit three characters: Minthara, Halsin and Karlach.

Karlach is my own fault, shouldn't have killed her, I suppose.
Minthara... I cannot remember ever meeting her.

Halsin is the most annoying of these. I saved him from the goblins, had a number of conversations with him... and then nothing until I left Act II: The Narrator guilted me for not helping Halsin overcome the Shadow Curse, displaying Halsin pouting. Didn't realise that was an option, nobody ever asked me to do that.

I even reloaded the game before leaving Act II and tried to find that quest after that, but I couldn't find it. From conversations with my brother during the Christmas holidays I know that I did most of the stuff that it would take to overcome the shadow curse - the little shadow boy, his parents and apparently the leaders down in that freaky nightmare village... According to my brother I somehow missed Halsin in the Harper enclave, though. Which is weird, since he came with me, so I naturally looked in my camp where he wasn't.

Even after completing the Moonrise Towers I spent hours trying to find a way to lift the curse, but never figured it out.I was so annoyed with that that it caused me to Baldur's Gate III on hold for a couple of months.

I think you have to do that before killing Ketheric, before finishing the Gauntlet of Shar even. (Edit: There is a point at which you will be reminded to tie all loose ends before proceeding in the Gauntlet. You need to reload before that one. It's right before you enter into the Shadowfell.) In oder to find Halsin at Last Light you have to do something else first.

Wasn't Hapsin in your camp, after the tiefling party? He gives you the quest to lift the Shadowcurse after a while.
Though that quest is currently very bugged. I can not finish it on my honour run, because of that bug.
Minthara you should have encountered in the goblin camp. She is one of the three leaders,you gave to kill. You can knock her down or ride with ger instead.

Hm.... well, Halsin was in my camp after the party. Based on what I read, my mistake was that I never talked to him in the Last Light. I noticed the warning before completing Shar's Gauntlet and completed the quests that I had first, but I didn't go around looking for quests that I might have missed.

As for Minthara... yeah, in hindsight, I killed her. I did in fact use her clothes for my character up until act 3 - looked good on a grey skinned tiefling. I'll consider her offer on the next play-through. Knocking her out seems too meta-gamy to me - she would wake up during the next few hours, retain control over the goblins and remember exactly what happened. It doesn't make sense.


Aside from the fact that I only noticed the knock-out mechanic when I really needed it (unrelated tangent)