Baldur's Gate 3: How To Beat The Game Early | Hero of the Forgotten Realms Guide

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]

Secret Ending | Requirements
Ending At Act 2

There’s an official ending to Baldur’s Gate 3 in Act 2, putting an end to the threat of the Absolute. Getting this hidden ending requires using a specific character and preparing him for one big confrontation. It’s a hilarious little ending — and even if it isn’t the best ending, the credits do roll. If you want to finish the game in 50~ hours instead of 75~ hours, you can do that and earn the ‘Hero of the Forgotten Realms‘ achievement. Learn how to get this completely ridiculous ending below.

More Baldur’s Gate 3 guides:

Secret Ending | Requirements

To end the game early, you must reach the end of Act 2. You’ll need to follow Gale’s Companion Quest ‘The Wizard from Waterdeep‘ — In the Mind-Flayer Colony, you’ll encounter Ketheric Thorm for the second time. Before we get to the big moment, you’ll need to prepare.

To get the hidden ending, you must recruit Gale. Learn how to recruit Gale here.
With Gale, you need to progress his Companion Quest. Give Gale three Magic Items to keep his curse in check. Learn more about the curse here.
Next, progress until you reach Act 2. When entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands with Gale in your party, you’ll meet an NPC.
Talk to the Chosen of Mystra and he’ll offer to travel to camp. Do so and he’ll offer Gale an ultimatum. This is vitally important.

At the start of Act 2, the Chosen of Mystra will give Gale a message. If he sacrifices himself to stop the Cult of the Absolute, he will be forgiven for toying with forces he doesn’t understand. This means that he needs to kill himself by detonating the magic bomb in his chest. The bomb is powerful enough to level an entire city.

Once you’ve unlocked the special class skill that allows Gale to detonate himself at will, you can unlock the hidden ending.

Ending At Act 2

Progress into Act 2 until you storm the Moonrise Towers. At the very end of Act 2, you’ll attack Moonrise with your allies and fight Ketheric Thorm on the rooftop. After the battle, a hole will open in the towers that leads underground to the Mind-Flayer Colony. At this point, you’ll be able to unlock the secret early ending.

In the Act 2 Mind-Flayer Colony, make sure you have Gale in your party.
When you’re ready, take the floating platform down to the lower level of the colony.
Down below, interact with the door leading to a cutscene with the three Chosen of the Absolute.
During this cutscene, an Elder Brain will be revealed as the source of the Absolute’s Power.
If Gale is in your party, and has completed all other requirements, he will offer to detonate himself as part of his pact with Mystra.

Agree to his request, and he’ll detonate the magic bomb. A short cutscene then plays, destroying the collected villains instantly in a blast of brilliant white light. The party is vaporized with the villains, instantly ending the threat of the Absolute.

Unfortunately, this alternate ending isn’t perfect — by destroying the Elder Brain keeping control of the Illithid Parasites, all the infected instead become fully-fledged Mind-Flayers. With thousands of Mind-Flayers appearing in Baldur’s Gate instantly, the city quickly falls and is enslaved by the evil squid-faced monsters. Not exactly a perfect ending.

But, this does defeat the Absolute and his Chosen. The plan isn’t foiled exactly the right way, but the realms will remain even if one major city is destroyed in the process. That’s almost an acceptable ending, right? For earning this ending, you’ll unlock this secret achievement.