Baldur's Gate 3 Netherbrain Completing a run of Baldur’s Gate 3’s in honour mode remains one of the game’s most coveted prizes, with only 2.3 per cent of Steam players having accomplished this feat according to global achievement statistics. For many, a successful honour mode run involves hours of meticulous preparation and careful progression, and the gruelling journey often makes the final reward taste sweeter.

Unfortunately for several players, an insidious bug is illegitimately ending honour mode runs right before Act 3’s final boss fight against the Netherbrain. As reported most recently by SlytherJean, there’s a bug with an unknown cause that seems to occur as the player triggers the cutscene at the end of the High Hall sequence before one climbs the stem to face the Netherbrain.

An Unfortunate End


After the short cutscene ends, the player immediately experiences a total party kill (TPK) and is prompted to either delete the save or continue the run in custom mode. This bug has been reported multiple times, including by Reggie_Is_God over a month ago, with them saying “78 hours, nearly a year. And it ends to a bug. Struggling not to throw up at the moment.”

Both of these reported cases occur at the same time, but there’s no discernible commonality between them that could explain what exactly triggers this unfortunate end. There are theories: people have speculated that your party being too far apart causes this bug to occur, or perhaps it’s something to do with Gale’s troublesome Netherese Orb exploding. There’s also speculation the spell Dominate Person is involved, but nobody knows for certain.

The illusion of Gale after his death in Baldur's Gate 3

Regardless of the cause, losing hours of time investment is assuredly a sickening feeling. If your run-ending TPK is legitimate, then you’ll feel bitter but understanding, but a bug being one’s undoing is tragic.

Larian Studios has yet to comment on this specific bug, but hopefully, the studio is aware of the problem and can rectify it in Baldur’s Gate 3’s eighth and final patch. There’s nothing to be done for those who have already lost their runs, but perhaps this problem can be prevented in the future.