Baldur’s Gate 3 has only recently been playable on PC, but the first players have already discovered speedrun techniques. They finish the game in 10 minutes using certain game mechanics – as well as a secret and rather tragic ending.
What kind of ending is it?
- The secret ending occurs already in Act 2, where you can learn more about your main adversaries. You skip more than a third of the game.
- For the ending, you absolutely need Gale, one of the companions in Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Unlike the “happy ending” after about 20 minutes, the secret ending actually has credits, not just a Game Over.
Spoiler Alert! Since this is about the ending of Baldur’s Gate 3, spoilers are obviously unavoidable. Nonetheless, we will try to reveal as little about the story as possible and focus on what’s important.
This is how the secret ending works: Gale is the key character for the ending. This is due to his special circumstance: there is a magical bomb implanted in his chest, which is the reason for his hunger for magical items.
At the beginning of Act 2, Gale has the option to talk to the “Maker” of the bomb and plan its use. When he first encounters the 3 adversaries and “the Absolute”, he can detonate it.
If he does that, Gale sacrifices himself but also takes out all the villains at once. The power of the bomb is enough to completely eradicate the power of the adversaries.
With jumps and a strong mage to the speedrun
This secret ending is now being used by speedrunners to create the fastest runs possible. This might be one of the reasons why Gale is the most popular origin character.
YouTuber Mae holds the current record with his run of 10:03 minutes. He not only uses the secret ending but also makes full use of some game mechanics. You can see the entire run here:
For instance, Mae builds Gale as much as possible to increase his jump range. With the “Jump” spell, he triples the distance for jumps and hops through the world.
In the end, he uses a protective spell from Shadowheart that allows him to move faster through Act 2 to the Moonlight Towers, where he jumps directly to the end through a hole in the wall. Half-naked and with the bomb in his chest, he then faces the enemies.
This is not actually a “good” ending. The parasites that are implanted in you at the beginning are kept in check by the Absolute – or more precisely, by the control of the Three.
If this control is gone, either all deployed larvae hatch or their hosts die in other ways. Strictly speaking, that would probably be the lesser evil, since the return of the Illithid Empire is temporarily prevented.
It is to be expected that in the coming time, more speedrunners will refine the technique or even find better, faster ways to the end. Perhaps with a bit less cruelty.
Jumping is by the way not the only helpful ability that everyone masters:
