It’s the fourth and final meeting of the RPG Club for the month of August, and it’s all about to go down in my no weapons playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. To trust The Emperor, or not to trust him? That is the question most people agonize over in the RPG’s twilight hours. But for me, there is no other choice.

Instead of leading Lae’zel down a darker path as Vlaakith’s Chosen, I made the mistake of encouraging her to think for herself and challenge her tyrannical “goddess”. This is usually seen as Lae’zel’s best ending, at least for players who want to see her freed from Vlaakith’s reign of terror and not dying at the pointy end of her greatsword.

The only snag is that my self-imposed restrictions forbid the quintessential “good guy” ending most players swear by. Freeing Orpheus, the Githyanki Prince of the Comet, has never been on the table. I need a weapon to do that, and I am expressly barred from using any this time around. Now, Lae’zel has been left in limbo. And I really, really should have seen this one coming.

Quest Log

Duty calls

I mentioned in BG3 RPG Club Part 3 that Lae’zel was snatched by Orin and held prisoner in the Temple of Bhaal for the majority of Act 3. It’s something I deeply resented at the time, and I even prioritized slaying Orin earlier in the story than in past playthroughs just to get my beloved tank back.

But I didn’t really need her after all. I cleared the House of Grief, killed Cazador and stopped Astarion from ascending, even helping Aylin cut down Lorroakan to install Rolan in charge of Ramazith Towers in his stead – all sans Lae’zel. I even rescued Duke Ravengard from the Iron Throne without her help, despite Mizora doing her darndest to scupper my efforts (thank goodness for Shadowheart’s Sanctuary spell). So after freeing Lae’zel and swiping Orin’s Netherstone, I only recruited her back to my party to help destroy the Steel Watch. I’d finally settled on my prime squad – Gale, Karlach, Shadowheart – and it got me through everything from Ansur (you don’t know pain until you have to sell Balduran’s Giantslayer) to Gortash and the final fight against the Netherbrain.

Eagle-eyed readers and fellow dedicated players might notice that I’ve failed to mention one of the best boss battles in the RPG. That’s because I chose to completely ignore Raphael’s House of Hope this time around, since I had no need for the Orphic Hammer to begin with.

Lae’zel was oblivious to that, of course. Every time I’d speak to her at camp, she’d remind me of my duty to help her liberate Gith’s children from the evils of Vlaakith. Which is when I’d hit the “leave” button and refuse to comment further.

Even if I wanted to bring her with me to the final fight, it would be pointless. She’d have had to watch The Emperor chow down on Orpheus’ gray matter, “assimilating” his psionic anti-Netherbrain protection that make him so holy to her people, and immediately threaten to turn on me. It would have been a very risky persuasion check if I wanted to avoid her leaving or turning hostile – not only because I’d been encouraging her to break free from Vlaakith since day one, but because I’d passed the point-of-no-return.

Facing the brain with two companions rather than three, not including The Emperor himself, was too real of a threat to take a chance on it. So Lae’zel cooled her heels at camp until the deed was done.

Brainiacs

The Netherbrain fight is never as bad as I fear it will be. It helps that I’ve managed to amass a choice array of allies this time around, from Aylin to the Harpers and Rolan’s insanely overpowered flame strike. Even with Orpheus’ brains still glistening on The Emperor’s tentacled maw, I somehow convince Kith’rak Voss to help me out too; his dragon’s Wall of Flame is instrumental in getting me through the first wave of near endless enemies.

This might even have been the easiest time I’ve had in climbing the brain stem. With the Knock spell always coming in clutch, I manage to get through the shortcut door to the left of the brain stem chamber and Misty Step (or Levitate, in The Emperor and part-Illithid Gale’s cases) my party to the top in record time. By the time I reach the restoration pod and head up to the crown for the last barrage, I’ve almost forgotten about the angry Githyanki awaiting me at camp.

The fight against The Netherbrain is brutal, even with all my allies. I have control over Aylin and The Emperor, but without their weapons to aid them, I rely primarily upon their spells or Illithid powers. Next, I teleport Gale and The Emperor with Dimension Door straight to the Crown of Karsus. Here, Gale can protect The Emperor while he compels the brain to let us enter its inner sanctum.

Meanwhile, Shadowheart casts Sanctuary on herself once again to fire off healing spells without being targeted herself. Karlach and a team of Hellriders and Harpers draw aggro long enough for my player character to hop into the portal and help the mindflayer duo weaken the brain, thanks to a powerful spell scroll I’d picked up in Ramazith Towers.

Both she and Gale have access to the turbo-powerful Artistry of War spell, packing a walloping 12d6 + 36 force damage across five bolts of magic. This, paired with a lot of smokepowder bombs, eventually brings the brain to its non-existent knees.

Critical failure

But eventually, the lizard-skinned piper demands to be paid. I have no time to congratulate myself on actually completing Baldur’s Gate 3 without any weapons whatsoever before I’m standing on the pier explaining myself to a furious Lae’zel. She reprimands me for dooming her entire people – without the Prince of the Comet, how are the rebels meant to convince the rest of the githyanki of Vlaakith being a false goddess?

A cruelly unfair DC 30 persuasion check greets me. Having wasted all of my inspiration points trying to restrain the brain at the morphic pool (rookie mistake), I fail it miserably. Lae’zel will not stay in Baldur’s Gate “for me,” she says, as the one who had every opportunity to save Orpheus. Instead, she vows to join the fight against Vlaakith – albeit not as a dragonrider, as she would have if Orpheus was freed instead of brutally slain.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow. I’d gone out of my way to secure a true “good guy” playthrough in every other way – God Gale is a good ending for him, right? But I think Lae’zel might have been happier if I’d just left her under Vlaakith’s thrall.

I’m pleased to see her hologram attending Withers’ epilogue party, and shocked when she admits that she actually missed my Prince-slaying ass while it was chasing demons in Avernus with Wyll and Karlach. It’s a small comfort as I wrap up my no weapons run for good – even if, out of all the things I knew the challenge would prevent me from doing, the consequence of not having access to the Orphic Hammer totally slipped by mind.

Cheers to us

So there you have it: I played and finished Baldur’s Gate 3 using nothing but fists, magic, and smokepowder, and I never want to do it again – though I’m very glad you joined me (and possibly even participated).

It’s been a fun way to test my playstyle adaptability, adding a fresh perspective to an RPG I’ve played and loved for years now. But if I have to sell off another powerful hammer or greatsword that would absolutely make my battlemage build shine, I’ll walk into the Shadow-Curse without a moonlantern and end it all myself.

I can’t say I ever outright missed having a weapon unless teased with a particularly juicy one. Everyone has the tools of the trade that they love to pick up time after time, so it was really a matter of trying not to sulk too much and just moving on with my adventure. Early-game is where I felt the loss the hardest. Basic spells and cantrips don’t quite hold up to the fake Paladin of Tyr’s greatsword after all.

But having to restrict my class and race choices at the very beginning revealed how broad and dynamic BG3’s combat system is, feeding right back into the character, worldbuilding, and progression systems too. I’d taken the game’s vast intersections for granted up ’til now. But as much as blades and spells are two halves of a whole, I’m proud of myself for daring to separate them and push the game’s mechanics even further.

But what do you think? Did I choose the easy way out? I mean, what would a no magic Baldur’s Gate 3 run have looked like? Hah. No. No, I couldn’t possibly… Could I?

Join the GamesRadar+ RPG Club