These choices range in scale from large to small, but each one of them is objectively a bad idea. Either they result in some permanent penalty to the party, they unnecessarily kill off allies, or they are universally disliked by every character that can join the player’s camp. These ten choices are among the absolute worst in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Everyone Hates When You Lick The Spider Corpse
A Nasty And Completely Unhinged Thing To Do
Within the gauntlet of Shar, many dangers await, including a devil named Yurgir and his party of merregons. How one deals with Yurgir is another matter entirely, but the decision in question here has to do with an object found near his camp: a large spider carcass, decaying and yet emanating an enticing smell. Players who speak with Yurgir’s group may discover that the carcass is covered in a potion meant to keep Yurgir’s pet displacer beast, Nessa, charmed and docile.
For this particular decision, there is one follower who strangely approves of interacting with the spider corpse: Karlach. She is definitely an anomaly in this instance, since everyone else is left disgusted.
It’s a neat story detail which can yield one method of defeating Yurgir using his own pet, but players who get close to the corpse itself have another option: to smell the corpse, and eventually, to lick it. Doing so has no positive effect, save giving the player a taste of the charming potion, but it is a decision hated by every party member, and doing so will cause each of them to lose approval and respect for the player character. Players can even choose to do this twice, a funny but ultimately terrible idea.
Having Sex With Mizora Will Polarize Many Party Members
A Costly Exchange For A Night Of Devilish Debauchery
Mizora is Wyll’s warlock patron, an arrogant fiend and an underling of the archdevil Zariel. She shows up multiple times across the game to chide and chastise Wyll, and may eventually join the party’s camp to hang around and see what happens at the game’s conclusion. During this time, she may even offer the player the chance to become more familiar.
Players should be wary of this offer, as Mizora is not only entirely self-serving, but also someone who relishes in the suffering of others. The scene after her tryst with the player implies that she only did what she did to mess with them, and worse than that, if the player is in a romantic relationship already, this may cause their partner to break things off. Wyll is especially hurt by this action, and while Astarion and Shadowheart won’t immediately break up with the player, they are certainly hurt by their affair.
Haarlep The Succubus Should Not Be Indulged
Stay Chaste In The House Of Hope
While searching through the House of Hope to find the Orphic Hammer, players will likely stumble upon a boudoir, where a succubus named Haarlep reclines. They have taken the form of Raphael, the very devil the players are robbing, but has no particular allegiances to him. Haarlep will even offer help in stealing the Hammer, on one condition: the player character has sex with them. As passive as the devil is, it is typically in a player’s best interest to immediately attack and kill Haarlep rather than take this deal, for two reasons.
One is that the help Haarlep offers can be taken just as easily from the boudoir once the devil is dead, in addition to a powerful piece of loot Haarlep is carrying. The other reason is that sharing relations with Haarlep will give the succubus the use of their body, cursing them to feel whenever the devil uses their form. Sleeping with Haarlep will not end relationships as it does with Mizora, but most companions will disapprove, another reason to just destroy the fiend.
Insulting Vlaakith Will Ensure Your Quick Death
Avoid Incurring The Lich Queen’s Wrath
Vlaakith is a secondary villain in the story of Baldur’s Gate 3, but that does not make her any less powerful. She is not quite a god, but still has the ability to end one’s life on a whim, and will use it if she feels particularly insulted. During the player’s first interaction with the queen of the githyanki in the deepest part of Creche Y’llek, she will demand that they venture inside the astral prism and kill the one protecting them.
Players cannot actually kill the resident of the prism at this time, and attempting to do so will only drive a wedge between them and their protector. Besides, Vlaakith still intends on killing the party after they complete this objective, meaning there would be no point in doing so anyway.
Of course, one should not actually complete Vlaakith’s command, but it is best to cooperate with the lich as long as she is still engaging in conversation. Doing otherwise will anger Vlaakith, as well as Lae’zel if she is present, and enough taunting may cause her to showcase her godly power. She can end the lives of the party members with a thought, cutting their adventure short and causing a game over. As funny as this can be, it is definitely a mistake, and one that is particularly disastrous in Honour Mode.
Attacking Omeluum Will Lose You A Potential Ally
One Good Illithid In The Game
During the party’s time in the Underdark, they will likely find the peaceful Myconid colony, where several vendors and adventurers are currently taking shelter. Among them is Blurg, a hobgoblin member of the Society of Brilliance, a group dedicated to studying the Underdark and other mysterious parts of Faerun. He possesses some knowledge of the mind flayer parasite the party is afflicted with, and may even call over a friend with a bit more insight into the problem: Omeluum, a mind flayer with a mind of his own.
Omeluum is a peaceful and kindhearted illithid, a rarity among the mind flayers in Baldur’s Gate 3, and will be able to offer the party advice on dealing with their tadpole problem. He even sells a few useful magic items. But some players may be tempted to attack the mind flayer on sight, a choice which will cause them to lose out on certain quests and the trade of both Omeluum and Blurg. It also has some consequences in the third act of the game, as Omeluum is crucial to achieving a good outcome on a later quest.
Sending Barcus Flying Is Funny, But Not Helpful
Be Careful With The Windmill Levers
Early in act one, players will find the Blighted Village, a ruined little town now home to several marauding goblins. Several of them have captured a deep gnome and tied him to a windmill sails, where he spins around and around unless the player decides to intervene. Dispersing the goblins is easy enough, but afterward, players are faced with two levels at the back of the windmill: a brake, and a release brake.
This deep gnome is actually Barcus Wroot, an impatient but good-hearted fellow who relates to several Ironhand Gnome quests later on. But his journey can be ended early here if players pull the release brake, which will speed up the windmill to a dangerous level and send Barcus flying off of the sail. As comical as it is to witness, Barcus is a good ally to have later down the line, and does not deserve to die for a joke. Be a good soul and pull the brake lever instead.
Sending Back Scratch Is Among The Most Monstrous Acts One Can Commit
Why Would Anyone Do This To The Loyal Hound?
Pretty much every player of Baldur’s Gate 3 loves Scratch, the loyal hound who can join the player’s camp and act as a familiar later on. He’s a good boy and a helpful dog to have around, as he discovers hidden treasure by sniffing the environment. But upon reaching Rivington in the game’s third act, players have the option to do something truly despicable: return Scratch to his former abusive owner.
Scratch’s primary caretaker before the party found him was Gomwick, a delivery man for the Sword Coast Couriers mail company. Their office is located in Rivington, and the kennelmaster, Mar’hyah, will demand his return if she learns the party has Scratch. Mar’hyah is cruel and physically abusive to her animals and employees, and players have the option to scare her off from the kennels forever. Or, if they are terrible people, players can return Scratch to Mar’hyah, something even the Dark Urge would deem overly cruel.
Killing Mizora In The Oubliette Will Doom The Blade Of Frontiers
Resist The Temptation To Delete This Smarmy Devil
Going back to Mizora, there is actually a chance to kill the devil before she ever offers sex to the player character. She is captured by the Absolute’s forces back in act two, and tasks Wyll with freeing her to maintain his side of the contract. She can be found trapped in a pod down in the illithid oubliette below Moonrise Towers, where players can either let her out– or destroy her.
It may seem like a good idea at first; vanquishing the devil while she is powerless, but doing this will damn Wyll to the Hells, since he technically failed to uphold his contract. As Wyll explains earlier in the game, violating his contract will make him into a lemure on the front lines of the Blood War, so this choice dooms the blade of frontiers to become a shambling mound of flesh on Avernus forever. Other members of the party will naturally dislike this choice, and it will kill off a member of the group, so players should resist the temptation and just free Mizora from her pod.
Letting Orin Kill Her Hostage Will Leave You With One Less Companion
This Changeling Does Not Make Empty Threats
Towards the beginning of act three, players will discover that the changeling, Orin the Red, has kidnapped a member of their camp. This changes depending on who is in the player’s party at the time, but can be Gale, Lae’zel, Mizora, Halsin, or Yenna, the little girl who seeks refuge in the party’s camp. Orin will demand that the player kill Gortash, the chosen of Bane; otherwise, she will murder her hostage.
Even if the party kills Gortash first, Orin may be angered if they attacked and defeated Sarevok Anchev as well, her grandfather/father, and kill the hostage because of that.
While Gortash offers a deal of his own, most players will likely go for him first and take him out to ensure Orin’s victim survives. Otherwise, there is a good chance that, upon reaching temple of Bhaal to challenge Orin, she will kill the hostage then and there. There are skill checks one can make to avoid Orin doing this, whether Gortash is dead or not, but failure has dire consequences in these cases. Party members killed in this way cannot be resurrected, and will be gone from the party forever.
Letting Ethel Take Your Eye Is Super Not Worth It
A Permanent Debuff And The Potential Loss Of A Good Power Later On
As players explore early options to cure their tadpole, one especially risky choice will come up: to let Auntie Ethel, a vile hag, kiss their eye in exchange for removing the illithid parasite. Ethel claims this will have no negative repercussions, but that is not true: Ethel will permanently debuff the player’s eyeball, giving them disadvantage on perception checks and on attacks against her specifically.
Not only that, but this doesn’t even cure the tadpole, since Ethel cannot get past its Netherese magic. She gives the player a small reward in compensation, but leaves their eye permanently scarred, which may prevent them from getting Volo’s Erstaz Eye later on. This eyeball is a prosthetic that can see invisible objects and creatures, a powerful buff in Baldur’s Gate 3 which is locked out if players have already lost one of their peepers.
