While six of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s seven origin characters are present in the game as beloved companions, one, the Dark Urge, is a custom protagonist, similar to the default “Tav.” Unlike Tav, this character has a predetermined backstory and plays a very different role in the narrative. One of the most defining traits of the Dark Urge is their amnesia — it’s up to the player to piece together who they once were, and either atone for their past sins or add to them.

This article contains spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3.

There are several instances where a Dark Urge player can uncover old memories throughout their journey. Though some of them are very hard to bypass, others can only be triggered in specific circumstances, either after certain actions or only being accessible by a certain class. Uncovering all the Dark Urge’s memories can take some work in Baldur’s Gate 3, but completing the picture of the Dark Urge’s past is worth it.

Interacting With The Nautiloid Prisoners

A Secret Near The Start

The first possible memory a Dark Urge player can uncover is discovered by interacting with the younger incapacitated prisoner on the Nautiloid and can be quite easily missed. Interacting with the older prisoner will still result in unique dialogue for the origin, but won’t cause the Dark Urge to remember anything concrete. This requires you to inspect them directly, and not release them, however tempting that might be.

The state the prisoners are in will remind the Dark Urge that they were once in a similar predicament, strung up on a dirty operating table. Though they won’t recall all the details, this is probably foreshadowing their past with Orin or a reference to Kressa Bonedaughter.

Eating The Noblestalk

The Underdark Holds A Surprise

Eating the Noblestalk is perhaps the most obvious way a player can restore their memories, but also one of the trickiest. The noblestalk can be found in the rightmost corner of the Mushroom fields in the Underdark and is most easily reached with the use of the misty step spell. Only this specific item can be used to help with Amnesia — giving this Noblestalk to Derryth will cause her to sell three more in her Apothecary in the Lower City, but these will only have regular healing properties and won’t cause any cutscenes.

The Noblestalk can also be given to Shadowheart and Baelen.

The same can be said for the Noblestalk piece found in the Facemaker’s Boutique in Act Three. If they eat the Noblestalk, a different memory will be restored depending on whether the Dark Urge has encountered the mysterious Sceleritas Fel. If you haven’t met him, the Dark Urge will recall a gruesome scene of a child killed by their hand. If you have come across Sceleritas, the narrator will describe the Dark Urge’s butler helping them to store and preserve heaps of bodies and organs.

Killing The Goblins In Moonrise Towers

Cruelty Is Necessary Here

After meeting Ketheric Thorm for the first time late into Act 2, Z’rell will give the player full reign over the fate of the goblins. The Dark Urge origin has a particularly brutal unique dialogue option, commanding them to “beg, choke, and die.” If you choose this specific option, the taste of power will cause the Dark Urge to vaguely remember how they were once worshiped in the walls of Moonrise Towers, much like Ketheric.

They will also briefly recall how they once worked alongside Ketheric but now wish to see him dead. Although specific details are unclear, the Dark Urge will feel as if their “disgrace” has something to do with him. This prompts the character to look around Moonrise Towers to find out more information about their past.

Talking To Steelclaw The Cat

Not One For Animal Lovers

Meeting Steelclaw as the Dark Urge, who can be found near the southeast wall of Moonrise Towers, is one of the worst possible moments for the animal-loving fans of Baldur’s Gate 3. If you use the Speak with Animals spell to interact with her, she will immediately recognize the Dark Urge as someone who used to torture her and reveal that she has since been meticulously planning her revenge. The Dark Urge will not initially recall who she is, but can choose to dig deeper into their memory to find an answer.

Even if the player kills Steelclaw, Outlander characters such as Karlach and Halsin will still gain inspiration from this interaction.

This will cause them to remember how they used to kick Steelclaw during their time in Moonrise Towers. Unfortunately, choosing this option will cause the screen to fade to black, and the Dark Urge will become lost in their thoughts. Once they come back to their senses, Steelclaw will be dead at their feet.

Talking To The Absolute

A Direct Link To The Big Bad

At coordinates 127 -178 in Moonrise Towers, you can find a strange crack in the wall, which contains a pulsating mass. If you choose to stick a hand inside, you’ll experience a cutscene where you can talk directly to the Absolute. When playing as the Dark Urge, you’ll unlock some unique dialogue where the Absolute will remember you as its disgraced heir who abandoned it to the mercy of the three Chosen and will beg you to work together once more, a moment that truly solidifies the Dark Urge as the main character of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Interacting With A Mind Flayer Pod By The Colony’s Brine Pools

Another Secret Near Moonrise

You can find two stray pods in the mind flayer colony’s brine pools in Act Two, which you can interact with. If Wyll has been recruited, one of these will contain Mizora, who can be saved or killed. The other will always be empty, but if the Dark Urge interacts with it, they will remember that they were once trapped in this pod.

Choosing to focus on the memory with a charisma check will uncover more details of their desperate attempt to escape, severely injuring themselves in the process, which is likely the cause of their throbbing headache at the very start of the game. The main thing of note in this memory is the laughter of a woman who betrayed the Dark Urge — most likely referring to Orin the Red. If you’re traveling with Astarion, you can ask him to smell some blood that remains on the pod. He will confirm that it definitely belongs to the Dark Urge.

Encountering Kressa Bonedaughter

More Mind Flayer Secrets

Kressa Bonedaughter can be found in the north of the mind flayer colony’s barracks, and in most playthroughs, she’ll just be another enemy to fight. However, when playing as the Dark Urge, she will recognize the player character and allow for a more comprehensive conversation, though this does still lead to combat. If you choose to play dumb, she will reminisce about the times she used to torture the Dark Urge and establish that she remembers how they fought whilst being forced into the mind flayer pod.

You can find a clasped book in Balthazar’s chambers at the coordinates -126, -179, which contains a log of Kressa’s work, adding the context that she is one of his necromancers. The notes describe her studying the Dark Urge after an “attack,” and becoming morbidly attached to them. It details how she kept them as a “pet” and became inconsolable when their pod was shipped away.

Entering Wyrm’s Rock Fortress

An Unmissable Piece Of The Story

The most iconic memory that the Dark Urge will remember is practically unavoidable, assuming you have made it as far as Act Three. Once you reach Wyrm’s Rock Fortress, you’ll immediately be placed into an animated cutscene, where you wake up in the Temple of Bhaal. The horrific truth then becomes clear: the Dark Urge’s violent impulses are a result of being a Bhaalspawn and a child of the god of murder. The easiest way to get into the fortress is by casting a spell such as Feather Fall , Fly , or Misty Step , and making your way around to the prisons at coordinates 46, 187.

Passes
How to Obtain

Admission Pass
Complete the “Investigate the Suspcious Toys” Quest

Lower City Pass
Complete “Solve The Open Hand Temple Murders” Quest

Urgent Report for Duke Ravengard
Found at Coordinates 15, 12 in the Sword Coast Couriers

Getting yourself arrested for small crimes such as property damage and allowing yourself to be escorted to prison is also a quick way to get to the destination without the use of spell slots. However, you will have to go through the trouble of breaking out without your items. You can also gain access to the fortress with a pass, or try to convince Blaze Elin to let you in with a hefty DC 30 charisma check. This can be lowered to 25 with the donation of 20,000 gold to the ‘Orphans’ fund.

Bribing Helsik In The Devil’s Fee

Lower City Secrets

Though Gortash will recognize the Dark Urge as his old friend, you’ll discover more about their past relationship by bribing Helsik for information in the Devil’s Fee in the Lower City. You can bribe her with an initial fee of 100 gold, or persuade her to tell you the information for free. Helsik will reveal that she opened a portral to the Hells for Gortash and the Dark Urge, but will then ask for another payment. You can offer 100 or 1000 gold, but it will take 5,000 for her to share the rest of the information at once.

The reason Gortash and the Dark Urge broke into the Hells was because they were in pursuit of the crown of Karsus, catching the attention of Mephistopheles and Raphael in the process. This is likely what Gortash is referring to when he offers to rekindle their old alliance. If you hand out two separate payments amounting to 2,000 gold, then this will satisfy Helsik enough to reveal this information without paying the full fee.

Talking To Gortash & Confronting Orin

Villains From The Past

Orin and Gortash, the Dark Urge’s old allies, will often reference memories from their past together. As soon as you meet him, Gortash will reminisce about his “favorite assassin,” and he isn’t shy about his admiration for the character. The Dark Urge had a more tumultuous relationship with Orin. Confronting her in the Temple of Bhaal will lead her to reveal that she was the reason for their memory loss, quite literally scrambling their brains and infecting them with the illithid parasite.

“I always preferred your methods to hers. You have mastery over your urges, Orin was consumed by her gruesome obsessions.” – Enver Gortash to the Dark Urge

Upon receiving this information, the narrator describes the player character remembering how they used to lead Bhaal’s cultists before Orin usurped them. They were originally Bhaal’s chosen and orchestrated the Absolute plot themselves. This is one moment that makes the Dark Urge origin definitely worth playing, as they will hardly be mentioned with a regular custom protagonist despite being so central to the main narrative.

Talking To The Oathbreaker Knight

Paladins Have Their Own Content

Some memories belonging to the Dark Urge are completely unique to those playing as an oathbreaker, which is a subclass which can only be obtained after a paladin character breaks their oath. After you discover the character’s true nature as a Bhaalspawn, if the Oathbreaker Knight is still in your camp, you’ll be able to ask him how they became a paladin in the first place. He will respond by telling them that Bhaal actually had no part in this decision, as it’s your actions that determine their oath, not who you are.

If the Oathbreaker paladin subclass interests you, then the quickest and easiest way to break your oath is by killing the tieflings who captured Lae’zel next to the Emerald Grove.

You can also ask the Oathbreaker Knight if the Dark Urge has broken their oath before, to which the answer is yes. The Dark Urge has broken their oath many times, and they have met the Oathbreaker Knight before. The Oathbreaker Paladin class in BG3 is extremely fitting for a Dark Urge playthrough, so it’s great to see that there are some unique interactions for it.

Using A Level Six Heal Spell On The Dark Urge

Support Is Appreciated

Once a cleric or druid reaches level 11, they will unlock the level six Heal spell. This will heal a target for 70 points of healing, and remove blindness or any diseases. In the Dark Urge’s case, the spell also seems to help with Amnesia. This cutscene can occur mid-battle, and will often come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with it — I personally first experienced it in the middle of the Gortash fight. This is another memory that differs depending on where you are in the campaign.

If the spell is performed after beating Orin the Red, the Dark Urge will remember a sweet childhood memory before the urge took hold of them. They used to play like a normal child, and they were raised with foster parents. In true Dark Urge fashion, however, nothing can truly be so simple. Having the spell cast upon them before Orin is defeated, they will remember sitting atop the corpses of their foster family, calling it “baby’s first murder spree.” The Dark Urge is the most unique origin in Baldur’s Gate 3, but it definitely is not for the faint of heart.