Baldur’s Gate 3takes a lot of pride in making its player base question their morality. There are plenty ofchoices that can change the outcome of your game, whether it be choosing sides in an ongoing war or giving a helping hand to some strangers in need.
In all three acts, there are certain choices that, while they don’t impact the game overall, can earn you a few raised eyebrows from others. Some choices have a pretty clear distinction between the route of good and evil, and choosing wrong won’t change the game, but it will change how your friends look at you. If you make some of these choices in Baldur’s Gate 3, it might be time to question your morals.
Spoiler warning as far in as Act 3. Some are more major twists than others, so be warned.
8Killing Karlach
Location
Act One, south of the Risen Road checkpoint. Karlach is standing on the other side of a fallen log next to the river.
Karlach is one of the most beloved companions in Baldur’s Gate 3. With her bright personality and heartbreaking storyline, it’s difficult not to fall in love with her during your travels. you’re able to stumble into Karlach accidentally or be guided by a few NPCs that are looking to have her killed.
Karlach is labeled early on as a killer who needs to be taken care of. When meeting her, though, it doesn’t take long to discover she’s a victim of the war and was looking to escape. It’s safe to say that anyone who decides to kill Karlach, even after learning of her kind nature, needs to be avoided at all costs.
7Killing The Owlbear Cub
Act One, west of the Blighted Village, below the bridge and inside a cave entrance.
Who doesn’t want tohave a huge owlbear cubrunning around their camp and keeping spirits high? Evil people, that’s who. Encountering an owlbear and its cub happens quite early in Act One and can be a difficult fight if you’re not prepared.
If you do manage to dispose of the owlbear, its cub will be left all alone. you’re able to choose to leave the cub alive and watch as it starts feeding on its own mother. Or, if you hate happiness and fluffy creatures, you can kill it and live with the guilt for the rest of the game.
6Not Saving Arabella
Act One, inside the Druid’s Grove. Arabella is inside a cave where you first meet Kagha.
Act One made a lot of people struggle to choose between right and wrong, but protecting Arabella from Kagha shouldn’t be a hard decision at all. Yes, she stole a sacred idol that meant a lot to the druids of the grove, but does that warrant death by a snake?
If you’re going through an evil playthrough, you’ll probably say yes and ignore all the horrified gasps of your companions. Arabella is only a child, after all, with an interesting story to follow in later acts.
You’ll need to save Arabella to complete the Leave No One Behind achievement, so keep that in mind when heading through the Grove.
Act Two, inside the Gauntlet of Shar. The spider is north of Yurgir and in the northeast corner of the map.
Traversing through the Temples of Shar in Act Two is like experiencing an entirely new section of the game. There are lots of things to do in the Temples, like dealing with an old enemy of Raphael, meeting Balthazar on his quest for the Nightsong, and discovering more about Shadowheart’s past.
In one secluded corner is a dead spider, which you can lick. That’s obviously not anyone’s first thought when coming across it, but what else can you do when the prompt pops up? The outcome is grossly weird and teaches you a lot about charmed meat. With that lesson out of the way, there’s no reason to do it again, sostop licking the damn thing!
4Romancing The Emperor
Act Three, during a long rest after discovering the Emperor’s old hideout underneath Elfsong Tavern.
You can dress this one up as morbid curiosity all you like; we’re still going to look at you weirdly if you proudly admit that you romanced the Emperor. As a character shrouded in mystery for a large chunk of the game, learning the one who protects you for most of the game is actually a Mind flayer came as a big shock to many players.
An even bigger shock comes during one certain night sequence, where the Emperor shows up half-dressed to romance you. This scene happens whether you’ve romanced a companion or not and will even give you an achievement, so there’s no hiding what you’ve done.
3Choosing The Bear In Halsin’s Romance
Act Three, during a long rest after reaching a high enough approval to start a romantic relationship with Halsin.
Halsin is a companion you can meet first in Act One when saving him from the cells of the goblin camp. From then on, after the Tiefling party at your camp, you can recruit him as a companion and take him with you on your adventures. As with all companions,you can romance Halsinif you’re nice enough to gain his approval.
One certain scene during Halsin’s romance did come as a surprise to many people, whether they’d played the game or not. It’s not exactly something you’ll hear people boasting about when talking about their in-game romances, anyway.
2Killing The Nightsong
Act Two, inside the Gauntlet of Shar, when passing all the trials and descending to discover the Nightsong.
Discovering that the Nightsong was actually a trapped woman forced to share her power of immortality was a big surprise to many. Saving the Nightsong introduces you to a unique character and a powerful ally, Dame Aylin. If you have Shadowheart with you, then you’ll face the choice of killing the Nightsong to become a Dark Justiciar or freeing her to abandon Lady Shar.
While it might be useful to allow Shadowheart to become a Dark Justiciar, killing an innocent woman for it isn’t a great price. Killing Dame Aylin won’t only have your friends judging you, but your other in-game companions and Aylin’s beloved Isobel won’t be happy with you either.
1Giving Scratch Back To His Old Owners
Act Three, in the Sword Coast Couriers in Rivington. The building is to the right as you approach the South Span Checkpoint.
Scratch is your character’s best friend all the way from Act One when you find him besides what seems to be his previous owner. Scratch can be invited back to your camp and can even be summoned to join you in the wilderness to search for loot.
At the beginning of Act Three, you meet an angry member of the Sword Coast Couriers who demands to take Scratch back. Passing a few checks will let you keep Scratch by your side, but it’s worth the trouble. If you let go of Scratch that easily, don’t be surprised when people don’t let you near their pets anymore.
