Summary
SomeBaldur’s Gate 3NPCs are so heinous that players can’t help but kill them during every playthrough, but sparing one or a few of them leads to some interesting outcomes. It’s a testament to Larian Studios’ ability tomake player choices matterthatall of these branching choices are accounted for. It setsBaldur’s Gate 3apart from RPGs likeStarfield,which stops players from making certain choices. Even if a choice is evil,Baldur’s Gate 3still fleshes it out and makes the experience rewarding.
Thanks to this wide variety of branching story paths, players are still discovering new details aboutBaldur’s Gate 3long after its release. The more unappealing a certain choice is, the longer players will likely wait to see what it does to their game. That means most players will play throughBaldur’s Gate 3’s long campaignat least once beforediscovering the interesting consequences of sparing certain evil NPCs.
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Nere Returns In The Gauntlet Of Shar If Players Spare Him
True Soul Nere Is Found At Grymforge
True Soul Nere is far fromBaldur’s Gate 3’s most memorable character, and even further from its most likable. His main function in the story is to be trapped behind a wall, forcing players to find a way to get him out. If players long rest twice before freeing him, Nere will die. If players do save him,he can only be spared by the player, allowing him to kill his deep gnome slaves. This is likely where most players decide to kill Nere instead, but sparing him will have him return later in the Gauntlet of Shar, sort of.
The next time players see Nere after siding with him will be in the Gauntlet of Shar as a zombie under Balthazar’s control, as seen in a post by Reddit userPadzi. It’s worth noting this only happens if he stays loyal to the Absolute. Players can also convince Nere that the Absolute isn’t what he thinks it is, and he will abandon them and never return. However, if players are already sparing Nere, they’re likely doing an evil run, so they might as well just send Nere to his death for this fun reappearance.
Working With Balthazar Reveals Other Zombie NPCs
Players Can Choose To Work With Balthazar During The Gauntlet Of Shar
Nere isn’t the only NPC that Balthazar will turn into a zombie, though seeing the others means making even more questionable decisions. In order to see other NPCs from Act 1 turned into zombies by Balthazar,players will have to side with him against the Nightsong, aka Dame Aylin. Not only is this an evil option, but it’s not even the most popular one. Many players who are doing an evil playthrough will prefer to let Shadowheart kill Aylin to become a Dark Justicar, or keep Aylin around until Act 3 so they can turn her in to Lorroakan.
If players do decide to side with Balthazar and allow him to take Aylin to Moonrise Towers, the party will then be imprisoned by Ketheric Thorm. Players will find themselves in Balthazar’s Necrotic Lab with Balthazar trying to steal the artifact from them.It’s only under these circumstances that players will also get to see a zombie Minthara and Dror Ragzlinafter killing them at the Goblin Camp. There will also be zombies of some of the Tiefling NPCs from the Emerald Grove whom players didn’t save.
Players Miss Out On Serious Advantages By Working With Balthazar
Although seeing these NPCs returned as zombies is a fun moment, and a testament to Larian’s attention to detail, it likely isn’t worth doing for most players. There aren’t any inherent benefits to giving Aylin over to Balthazar, since players will still need to kill him and Thorm eventually. Perhaps these were once necessary steps forrecruiting Ketheric Thormbefore that option was removed from the game, but as it is now, players only lose out on opportunities by taking this path. Players are probably better off simply killing Balthazar and taking an evil route that rewards them.
That said, some players like to experience every playthrough option for themselves, instead of simply hearing about them or watching gameplay. Aside from these true completionists, however, players likely won’t find it worth going so far out of their way just to see a couple of familiar faces as shambling corpses. If players really want to experience this, but not compromise theirBaldur’s Gate 3run, they can always save it just before confronting Balthazar in the Shadowfell, then revert the save after visiting the Necrotic Lab.
Source:Padzi/Reddit
Baldur’s Gate 3
Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur’s Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.
