10 Times Failing Made The Game Way More Fun

Failure isn’t supposed to feel rewarding in Baldur’s Gate 3. Although sometimes, missing a roll or losing a fight leads to more interesting – even favorable – outcomes. Most quests offer multiple solutions, and not succeeding right away can push players to come up with more creative tactics.

Rather than treating failure as a setback, the game often turns it into an opportunity for new narrative directions or character growth. Here are some of the best moments where things going wrong end up making BG3‘s story even better.

11

Failing The Constitution Checks In The Bloodied Shrine

Earn A Permanent Bonus That Can Only Be Dispelled By Death

Failing all three constitution checks when being whipped by Abdirak will give you the same result as passing the performance checks to convince him of your pain. If you’re not a bard or have a low constitution score, rolling poorly can be an easier way of gaining the “Loviatar’s Love” permanent buff.

The condition gives the affected avatar a +2 bonus to attack rolls and wisdom saving throws when they’re below 30% HP. This is a great buff to give to any character, but it works particularly well for tank builds and other melee fighters.

10

Not Lifting The Illusion Of The Putrid Bog

There’s Something Weird About That Sheep

After playing the game a few times, it makes sense that you may want to skip straight to the point when entering the Sunlight Wetlands, but it’s a lot more fun to investigate the area before you uncover it to be the Putrid Bog.

Not only is the atmosphere a lot more pleasing while under the spell, but piecing together that the area isn’t what it seems by interacting with the “sheep” is a more enjoyable process compared to uncovering the mystery with one roll.

9

Accidentally Revealing Yourself To Dolor

Succeeding The Stealth Roll Is Actually The Worst Outcome Here

One example of failing directly resulting in a good outcome is during the “Investigate the Murders” quest. If Dolor makes it away from the Wine Festival, he’ll take Gauntlet Devalla and the owner of the Facemaker’s Boutique, Figaro Pennygood, as hostages.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game that focuses on world building and challenging players, but sometimes the risk is too great with bosses in Honour Mode.

If you find Dolor before he kills Figaro and decide to sneak up on him, succeeding the stealth roll will actually just give Dolor enough time to kill him. On the other hand, failing the roll will alert Dolor to your presence, and he’ll momentarily pull away from his victim, giving you a chance to save both the hostages.

8

Impersonating Lolth Incorrectly

The Dialogue Tag Is A Little Misleading

If you’re playing as a Lolth-sworn drow, you can choose to impersonate Lolth to convince the giant spiders in the Shattered Sanctum to help you defeat the goblins. Failing the charisma check angers Lolth herself, and it’s implied that she intervenes to make the spiders attack you instead.

“Suddenly, a suffocating wave of divine rage surges through the spider pit. It hadn’t occurred to you that Lolth might be listening.” – Narrator

Though this isn’t exactly useful, gods and goddesses rarely show any interest in the player, so it’s a very unique interaction. Weirdly enough, Lolth seems to have no issue with the player impersonating her if they pass the charisma check, so it’s rather funny that she only cares if they portray her poorly.

Even though you’re deceiving the spiders here, you have to roll a persuasion check instead of deception. The spiders seem to believe you before Lolth reaches out to them, which implies that, unbeknownst to the player, you’re actually trying to convince Lolth to let you imitate her instead of the check having anything to do with lying to the spider.

7

Falling For Priestess Gut’s Kidnap Attempt

Kill Gut Without Any Effort And Watch A Great Cutscene

If you decide to comply with Priestess Gut instead of simply killing her, she’ll hand you a mysterious potion which she claims will help purify you. Failing the arcana check will cause you not to realize that it’s a Potion of Sleep – if you continue to drink it, you’ll pass out and wake up in a prison cell.

Gut will begin to interrogate you, which provides some decent context on how mind flayer transformations work. After some time passes, you’ll meet the mysterious Korilla, who kills Gut and frees you on the order of Raphael. Not only do you witness an incredibly rare cutscene featuring a fairly unknown character, Gut will die without alerting the rest of the goblins.

6

Getting Arrested

An Unconventional Way To Sneak Into Places

Similarly to falling for Priestess Gut’s tricks, committing a crime and failing to convince guards of your innocence is a one-way trip to a prison cell. Throughout the game, this can be a quick way of getting into otherwise restricted areas.

All Prisons In BG3:

• Makeshift Prison (Emerald Grove)
• Prison Cell (Goblin Camp)
• Last Light Inn – Cellar
• Moonrise Towers Prison
• Wyrm’s Rock Prison
• Heapisde Prison

In the Emerald Grove, this can lead to you befriending Sazza and discovering the hidden passage that connects to the forest. Allowing yourself to get arrested at the start of Act Three is also a simple way to get past the guards at South Span Checkpoint and into Wyrm’s Rock fortress.

5

Dancing With Two Left Feet

You Don’t Need To Be A Professional To Be Wyll’s Dance Partner

If you’re planning to get closer to Wyll or just want to see your Tav dance with him, failing the strength, acrobatics, or performance check during his Act Two romance scene will result in a short, hilarious sequence where they desperately flail around him.

This will only endear you to Wyll further, so failing one roll is a very sweet set-up for partnering with him later in the story.

4

Being Killed By Astarion

You Can’t Get Rid Of Tav That Easily

Death doesn’t always mean game over in Baldur’s Gate 3, and one of the funniest examples of this is having Astarion accidentally kill you when drinking your blood. In the morning, you’ll be able to get someone else in your party to revive you, then confront him. If you don’t fancy using your words, you can start the conversation by punching him.

This scene is especially comical if you’re playing as a member of one of the shorter races, as your character will jump pretty high to reach him. Astarion also has a distaste for gnomes, which adds more salt to the wound if you happen to be playing as one.

3

Letting Gale Fail His Death Saving Throws

A Fun Alternative To Using A Spell Slot

It’s normally very inconvenient to have a character die in battle, but Gale adds a very fun twist to revival. If you don’t use Revivify on him, you’ll soon be visited by his projection, who will give you a very specific set of instructions for using the “Scroll of True Resurrection.”

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To resurrect Gale in Baldur’s Gate 3, players can follow a complicated set of instructions to make a Scroll of Revivify, or opt for simpler solutions

This complicated side-quest will simply reward you with a Scroll of Revivify to save Gale with, but if you’re short on resources or just want to try a fun puzzle, letting Gale die once can make your playthrough a little more interesting.

2

Leaving Astarion In Rosymorn Monastery

Witness One Of BG3’s Most Iconic Lines

Astarion will have quite a few choice words for you after triggering the laser security system in Rosymorn Monastery and letting him be incinerated.

Reviving him with Withers afterward will unlock a hilarious dialogue sequence where he’ll scold you for leaving him in the blast area of such a dangerous weapon. His “full concentrated power of the sun” line is so iconic that it’s even been immortalized in The Sims 4 Life & Death DLC.