Some approaches in Baldur’s Gate 3 are so obvious that almost all players have implemented them immediately. However, one player discovered that a formal “invitation” for a fireball can be used even more beneficially – and that you can even be rewarded for it.
Which cellar is being referred to? One player (on Reddit “Doglatine”) warned in a post in the subreddit of Baldur’s Gate 3 not to “waste” the rats in Roveer’s storehouse in Act 3 of the game. Here, you are given the task of dealing with the rat infestation in the cellar of the house.
“Waste” is indeed the right choice of words here. A lot of rats that charge at the characters during your turn practically invite you to be wiped out by an area spell within a turn. This is made very clear in the comments under the post.
However, Doglatine explains that you can use the rats for a much better purpose and even gain strong buffs if you use them correctly.
Here you can see the animated short film for patch 8 of Baldur’s Gate 3, where no rats get harmed:
36 rats are not strong opponents, but you should not kill them – at least not all at once
How can one get buffed through the rat cellar? The player explains that there are enough weapons or other items that provide strong buffs through killing enemies. For example, he mentions the “Staff of Cherished Necromancy” or the dagger “Rhapsody”.
- The Staff of Cherished Necromancy can absorb the life energy of a defeated hostile creature, allowing the use of necromancy spells without spell slots – until the next long rest.
- With Rhapsody, you gain a maximum bonus of +3 to attack rolls and saving throw values for each defeated opponent (maximum 3). This effect lasts until you drop the weapon.
The two weapons are just examples, but there are several items in Baldur’s Gate 3 that reward killing enemies with buffs that can last until the next long rest and significantly change battles to your advantage.
The rats in the cellar only have 1 HP, and you can easily leave the cellar quickly, preventing the rats from following. Additionally, the cellar of the storehouse is located close to a fast travel point, making it quickly accessible, and there are enough rats (36) to use this trick multiple times.
Why do players find this so difficult? The comments under the Reddit post clearly show how most players have dealt with the rat cellar and why, despite the hint, they don’t know if they can resist their own approach:
- bigbadbosp (with the most upvotes, currently 1,217): “It’s way too much fun to throw Hunger of Hadar or Evard’s Black Tentacles into the room.”
- profossi: “Activating protective spirits and then finishing the turn in the room is also fun.”
- siLtzi: “I always have a wizard (or a scroll) to set up a wall of fire and have all companions and myself stand behind it. Then I just watch as the rats run into the fire.”
Another player (Jonnehdk) adds that one can receive an achievement through the rats if one defeats 20 enemies while drunk. Those who use similar approaches as those shown in the comments above but drink enough alcohol beforehand to make the character drunk can easily achieve this through the rats.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has enough players that at least some of them still find hidden tips and tricks that can be used to their advantage in the game. Another player discovered that one can make the bard Volo grant buffs not just to one character, but to up to 4 party members. You just have to slightly torture him, don’t worry: Baldur’s Gate 3: Player finds a way to make Volo do constant work
