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Game Over screens
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| Endings | Game Over screens | Epilogue |
Overview[edit | edit source]
Before reaching the narrative ending of Baldur's Gate 3, players may encounter a Game Over screen as the result of certain (usually unwise) conversation options or failed conditions during combat encounters. Reaching a Game Over does not offer scenes or conversations which conclude the overall story of the campaign. Instead, a screen appears prompting the player to reload from a prior save.
Narrative endings which fully conclude the story through the final quest, Confront the Elder Brain, can be found in Endings.
If Gale is recruited as a Companion or chosen as an Origin, a large number of unique triggers for Game Over screens become available due to the existence of his Netherese orb.
Of note: some game-over triggers may not fire during co-op gameplay and the information detailed below is not always accessible for a single contributor to confirm.
General[edit | edit source]
- All active party members
, in or out of combat, after:
- Jumping or being pushed into a chasm.
- Becoming
(e.g. through damage dealt by enemies or by fall, explosives, or other environmental hazards).
Prologue[edit | edit source]
- Failing to reach the transponder within the 15 allotted turns (without dying in combat).
- Attempting to leave the room with any character while combat between Commander Zhalk and the Mind Flayer is underway. (Running back to the adjoining room's healing pod while the Prologue's final conflict continues is, apparently, not permitted.)
- Even leaving the room after defeating Commander Zhalk and the Mind Flayer causes fires to appear. Continuing to the healing pod causes a game over.
Act One[edit | edit source]
: Failing a 
Wisdom saving throw against a dying Mind Flayer or selecting "Submit to the feeling - lean in, as for a kiss...".-
- Failing a dialogue check or selecting "Surrender to Lae-zel. You will not become an abomination" when Lae'zel holds a dagger to the player character's throat during a long rest cutscene. (Only if Lae'zel and the player character are the only members of the party.)
- Allowing Astarion to completely suck the player character's blood during a long rest cutscene. (Only if Astarion and the player character are the only members of the party.)
- : Jumping into the hole leading to the without having cast
, equipped 
The Blood of Lathander, or used 
to descend. (Only if all members of the party jump without at least one using one of the aforementioned solutions.)[1] 
: Failing to complete the quest to revive Gale within three long rests of its start.- : Equipping the
Whispering Mask and failing a Wisdom saving throw to become a slave of Auntie Ethel. (Only if all members of the party equip the masks and fail the saving throw.) - : Failing a dialogue check or selecting "I don't care. Go on, blow us up" when Philomeen threatens to explode the
Runepowder Barrel. (Only if all members of the party are in the room.) - : During conversation with Vlaakith, selecting dialogue options that taunt her to "prove her godhood" to the party, or failing a
check, if Shadowheart is present. - : Attempting to take The Blood of Lathander without using
Dawnmaster's Crest to deactivate the trap and failing to escape or deactivate it within 4 rounds. (Only if all party members are in the Crèche.)
Act Two[edit | edit source]
- : Activating
anytime after it becomes available at the start of Act Two. The only times this ability does not result in an early game over are:
- If it is triggered during the cutscene of the second combat encounter with Ketheric Thorm in the . The game ends at this very moment, allowing the party to kill Ketheric Thorm, Enver Gortash, Orin the Red and the Absolute in one fell swoop. Though this will not trigger the achivement for completing Honour Mode. Using the ability outside of the cutscene triggers a Game Over as usual.
- If it is triggered through the dialogue with Gale at the brain stem before the final battle of Act Three. Using the ability outside of the dialogue triggers a Game Over as usual.
- If it is triggered during the cutscene of the second combat encounter with Ketheric Thorm in the
- : Attempting to return to Act One after completing and (and ignoring warnings not to).
- : In the Mind Flayer Colony, choosing to kill Mizora in the pod she's held in. (Only if Wyll Ravengard is chosen as an Origin character.)
Act Three[edit | edit source]
- : If The Emperor dies in combat.
- :
- During conversation with Haarlep, selecting conversation options that result in the player character "giving up" both their body and their mind.
- If the player character signed a contract with Raphael, attempting to return to the after alerting the denizens of the House of Hope without having stolen the contract back (see House of Hope for more details).
- : Failing to escape the area before the turn counter expires.
- : In conversation with Raphael, if the party did not previously accept Raphael's deal or steal the
Orphic Hammer before causing the Emperor to abandon the party. Refusing Raphael's deal at this moment within the Astral Prism causes an instant game over. - Attacking The Emperor outside of dialogue after entering the Astral Plane and thus before making a choice regarding 'Deciding the Prince's Fate'.
- : Failing to defeat The Netherbrain before the turn counter expires.
Epilogue[edit | edit source]
- Mind flayer player characters (either when interacting with their third companion or interacting with the same companion twice) have to pass a
DC 15 Constitution check to avoid succumbing to their hunger and devouring a companion's brain. If failing the check, then Withers whisks the player character away, ending the Epilogue prematurely.
