Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of secrets that players are still uncovering even 2 years after its release. For instance, in Act 3, you can acquire a sheep as a (relatively strong) companion. While this was already known, players have only just figured out how exactly to obtain this companion.
What kind of companion is this?
- Harvard Willoughby is a comedian from Act 3 of Baldur’s Gate 3 and is not one of the actually recruitable companions of the game.
- You cannot hire him as a human; instead, you can get another form of him: a rather evil sheep with strong abilities. The sheep is, similar to the brain ‘Us’, a summoned companion.
- Players had already found “Harvard Willoughby (Nature’s Vengeance)” at release (via Reddit) and have been puzzling over how to obtain him ever since. The trick is now known.
This is how you get the sheep: At the beginning of April, a short by YouTuber Toyhouze appeared on YouTube, in which the creator explains how to recruit Willoughby. How he found that out… no idea, as the steps are quite strange:
- First, you must kill the human Harvard Willoughby. You can find him in the Elfsong Tavern, where he challenges you to a poetry slam.
- After that, you need to ring the bells in the bell towers at the Temple of the Open Hand and at the Central Wall of the Undercity; the order doesn’t matter.
- Then, head to your camp in Rivington (when you’re in the village, go “to the camp,” without taking a long rest). Next to Gale’s tent, you’ll find a strange egg.
When you click on the egg, a sheep hatches from it – just like in real life. “Harvard Willoughby (Nature’s Vengeance)” will become your summoned companion from then on. Unlike Scratch or Shovel, however, Willoughby cannot be resummoned if he is killed. This only works if you actively “send him away.”
- This sheep is quite a tough fighter with numerous abilities:
- Willoughby knows the spells Call Lightning, Entangle, Thorn Whip, and Wall of Thorns. The latter is a 6th-level spell, making it one of the strongest spells in the game.
- At the start of combat, Willoughby ignites but is permanently immune to fire damage. Ideal for fights where everything is on fire.
- Unlike other summons, Willoughby can use potions, scrolls, and other consumables.
Unfortunately, the companion is a bit… unstable. Each round, a random number between 0 and 27 is rolled and added to the current round. If the result is 30 or more, Willoughby explodes, dealing damage like a fireball, but dies in the process. Warcraft says hello.
“This is the kind of content I like in a game”
The fact that Harvard Willoughby is not just a companion in the game but can be obtained in such a strange way thrills the community. On Reddit, many users express their disbelief or delight that something so absurd has been discovered.
By the way, it is likely that Willoughby was initially planned as a sheep. In the internal data, there is a developer note indicating that the comedian is supposed to be a “tribute to our favorite sheep” (via BG3 Wiki).
Unlike other “tricks,” Willoughby is a planned companion in Baldur’s Gate 3, although from a design standpoint, he is purely temporary. If shadows, Minthara, Halsin, and Co. are not enough for you, you can recruit many more people for support – if you have the guts: You can recruit many more NPCs as companions in Baldur’s Gate 3 than you think, but you have to be really evil for that
