In 2026, I still can’t walk away from Baldur’s Gate 3. I have finished the game more times than I care to admit, and yet every new run teaches me that Larian built a world where curiosity is often rewarded and common sense is optional. On my latest playthrough, I stopped asking what the designers intended and started asking a much more dangerous question: what if I try the thing the game clearly doesn’t expect? That question led me to seven outrageous discoveries, and I still laugh at how well most of them worked.
7. I Skipped Almost Every Companion
On one run, I decided to be a lonely hero. Not because I dislike the companions, but because I wanted to know whether the game would actually let me abandon them. It did. I was forced to meet Lae’zel at the beginning, but I never recruited her afterward. Shadowheart is the other forced encounter, yet the Astral Prism she carries always ends up in my inventory, so I did not need her to stick around either. Is the road lonelier? Absolutely. Is it possible? Yes, and that still surprises me. Games with party members usually punish you for ignoring them, but Baldur’s Gate 3 simply lets you walk on.
6. I Kissed The Dying Mind Flayer
In Act 1, I found the dying mind flayer crushed under debris. It tried to lure me closer so it could eat my brain, and I knew it was too weak to influence my mind. So I did the only sensible thing: I willingly surrendered to its allure. My character saw the mind flayer as the most beautiful thing in the world and leaned in for a lover’s kiss. Who kisses a brain-eating squid? Apparently, I do. The reward was instant death, some restored hit points for the mind flayer, and a mind blast that likely finished off whatever was left of my party. I have never been so proud of such a terrible decision.
5. I Used A Potion To Revive After A Lethal Blow
I first saw this trick used against Grym: lure the giant toward the forge hammer, drop a health potion on the ground, and trigger the hammer. The hammer kills your character and destroys the potion, spilling its contents over the body and instantly making the character succeed on death saving throws. Then I realized I could do this anywhere. Enemies do not get death saving throws. So I placed a potion on the ground, lured enemies into a massive explosion with the many explosive barrels the game provides, and blasted everyone to smithereens. I was the sole survivor, revived by soup and spite. Why do enemies not get death saving throws? Because the game says so, and I am not complaining.
4. I Walked Past Act 1
I did not mean to skip an entire act. It started as a shortcut through the Mountain Pass, and then I wondered how far I could push it. With calculated jumps and potions of invisibility, I sneaked past the many undead and headed straight for the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Would I recommend it? No, unless you enjoy being underleveled and under-resourced. You do need to interact with what Act 2 offers, so Act 1 is the only act you can truly skip with careful pathing. Still, the fact that the game allows it at all is wild.
3. I Tricked Esther With An Owlbear Egg
When I first entered the Mountain Pass, I met Esther, an adventurer trying to get a Githyanki egg from a nearby creche. I could have done the honest thing, but instead I handed her an owlbear egg of a similar size. 
She paid me anyway. I never saw her again after that encounter, and I can only assume her employers were unhappy that their green Githyanki egg came back brown. It is not the most profitable scheme in the game, but it is one of the funniest. Is deception wrong? Probably. Did I laugh? Definitely.
2. I Killed Nere By Going To Sleep
True Soul Nere is trapped under rubble in the Underdark, and once you discover him, you are on a time limit to save him. I discovered this the lazy way: I took a long rest. When I came back, Nere was dead. The gnome slaves were also dead, and the Duergar had left camp, but most quests want Nere dead anyway. The myconid colony asks for his head, for example. So the easiest way to deal with the True Soul was to simply go to sleep and let the rubble do the work. Is it cruel? Yes. Is it efficient? Also yes. I still earned nearly all the rewards without lifting my sword.
1. I Used Gale’s Netherese Orb Early
Once Gale is tasked by Mystra to use his Netherese Orb to slay the Absolute, he gains the Netherese Orb Blast. The description warns that it destroys everything in a wide radius, including all party members and even the ones at camp. That means game over. I used it early anyway, just to see the explosion. Gale can use the Orb in Act 2 for a fake ending and in Act 3 for a real ending, but you never need to use that skill at all. It exists because Gale can technically do it. Would I do it again? Only if I want to finish an Honor Mode run with style and a very large bang.
| Trick | Why I Tried It | Would I Repeat It? |
|---|---|---|
| Skipping companions | To see if the game would stop me | Yes, for a lonely challenge run |
| Kissing the dying mind flayer | Pure curiosity | Once was enough 😅 |
| Potion revival after a lethal blow | To survive an explosion | Absolutely |
| Walking past Act 1 | To test the boundaries | Only for experienced runs |
| Tricking Esther with an owlbear egg | Because it was funny | Every time |
| Killing Nere by sleeping | Because I was tired | Yes, it is efficient |
| Using Gale’s orb early | For the spectacle | Only for a dramatic ending |
Baldur’s Gate 3 rewards players who ask ridiculous questions. Have I found everything? No, and that is exactly why I am still playing in 2026. Every run reminds me that the game is not just a story about heroes and villains; it is a sandbox for terrible ideas that somehow work. And honestly, that is the best kind of adventure.
As reported by OpenCritic, Baldur’s Gate 3 has maintained an exceptional critical reputation thanks to its reactive quest design, systemic freedom, and willingness to support wildly unconventional player choices. That broader consensus helps explain why experiments like skipping companions, bypassing major progression paths, or solving encounters through strange item interactions feel less like exploits and more like an intended part of the game’s improvisational identity.