Experimenting With Elminster from Baldur's Gate 3

Answering the most critical questions of BG3 like: what happens if you sneak past Elminster and refuse to long rest for the entirety of Act II? Is it possible to bring Gale into Act III without him finding out about Mystra's task? And, of course, the most pressing question: does Papa Elminster still like me even if I make a joke about Gale blowing himself up?
#baldursgate3 #bg3 #gale #videogames #rpg #elminster

[@kiayaoi]

love how you keep calling him elminister 😂 bro is ordained

[@erininsoup]

💀💀😂

[@tedarcher9120]

Just moved to Spain

[@marchuerta4234]

The exact reason i’m not gonna watch the whole video loll

[@lycantabris]

Elminster gets pissy about Gale not minding his manners because he wants to delay telling Gale Mystra's message. It's mean, but it's coming from a place of caring about Gale. He doesn't believe this is the way to deal with the Absolute or the Orb, but he cannot openly defy Mystra. That's what he means with the whole "Be a moon unto yourself." schpeal. It's literally what he's saying - "Seriously, dude, you're too smart and ambitious to go out like that, but I can't say that out loud or directly when Mystra is making me tell you to do this. Figure out a better way, Gale Dekarios."

[@n.henzler50]

Now I want to see what happens if I manage to avoid Elminster as Origin Gale. I don't think I can leave my own party.

[@SirDoots]

I wonder if it would force you into a game over with you getting blown up

[@mrdewarion]

That's a brilliant thought, well done

[@erininsoup]

Ooooh yeah, I would love to know the answer to this!

[@magister343]

In my current playthrough as origin Gale I avoided consuming any magic items until reaching Moonrise. Elminster never showed up to talk. While trying to cross the bridge, I was transported back to camp and promptly exploded, setting the camp on fire, killing Shadowheart, and injuring the rest of the companions. I then save scummed to back right after I'd looted the Helldusk armor from a knocked-out Raphael. I let Gale eat some magic items that time and then talked to Elminster as usual.

[@zoefezius6615]

So my gale self destruction run is in act 3 now.. Dead elminster in my camp, i dont remember why there, if he showed up a second time or i dodged him at his original spots by proceeding the story too fast, but i neither exploded nor i left my party.... 🤨 Game decided in my case to proceed in act 3 as if i had the conversation with him in act 1 and denied him, not even mentioning that i killed him before.... Seems he is too busy to check if his constructs succeeded their missions and allways thinks things played out as planned... 🤯

[@christina4914]

"I can't tell if I love Elminster or if I want him to explode" funnily enough, that's how Elminster feels about Gale

[@erininsoup]

😂😂😂

[@adirmugrabi]

it's funny that in "honor mode" i play the least honorably. i lure everyone i can to their death with minor illusion and slay them with Ass-tear-ion

[@erininsoup]

Minor illusion can be so strong, I need to use it more! I keep dying on honor mode because I see terrible dialogue options that spark fights I'm not prepared for but I can't help going with the new option 😫

[@zeez145]

Dude these videos exploring the dialogues of some npcs are the best, I'd love to see more of them.

[@erininsoup]

Aww, glad you liked it! Definitely planning on doing at least a couple others ♥️

[@alexsherman7153]

Elminster is such a bum. Imagine telling your bestie to self delete but being like “hmmm I could go for some cheese rn”

[@rwulf]

He didn't even bother to come to tell Gale himself. He sent a simulacrum. If you examine Elminster, he reads as a "Construct." And he even had his construct eat up your good cheese, just to be a jerk.

[@kingofgrim4761]

@@rwulfhe is the most powerful wizard in the realms, and I’m pretty sure even though he cares for Gale, he knows he can’t just abandon his duties for an unknown period of time. He didn’t want Gale to blow himself up, so he made sure to stall for a while.

[@rwulf]

@@kingofgrim4761 Goddess of magic gives you a personal mission to order your close friend to kill himself and save the world, but you decide to photocopy yourself and subcontract the job. Yeah, naw. That dude's a jerk.

[@kingofgrim4761]

@@rwulf I see your point, but to just leave your position as the guardian of the realms (for an unknown amount of time)to deliver a message to a former friends seems like something forgivable. If anything it could be the way he acted while stalling. Like the decorum, and eating shenanigans bc he didn’t wanna say what he was sent to say

[@artofgameplaying]

@@kingofgrim4761 Indeed! It seems to me that he was stalling since it was hard for him to say what he had to. About the counstruct... well, he is essentially arming a nuke in such a way that it could go off at any moment. I do not blame him for his self preservation...

[@ReunionMana]

its weird that elminster leaves behind a corpse in act 2 but in act 1 he disintegrates into snow because he's a simulacrum

[@erininsoup]

Right?! I liked that he had loot on him too...a weird bug, because why would they give him items if he was never meant to be corporeal?

[@JulianaBlewett]

Elminster will not be denied

[@diamond_knightt8516]

I was so happy when I saw this series of videos! They're so well done! You should totally have more subscribers and likes! This is great!

[@erininsoup]

Awww, you just made my week, that's so nice to hear ❤ I love BG3 so much so I'm sure I'll make more of these with different questions I have

[@diamond_knightt8516]

@@erininsoup please do!!!

[@erininsoup]

Also, sorry for the missing scenario headings in the second half - I accidentally deleted a few effects from the last 10 minutes. It's what I get for uploading at 3am 😢 anyways if you're reading this love you a little, hope you have a good week

[@mrkillerar1]

Thanks for good content. Hope ya week is awesome.

[@erininsoup]

​@@mrkillerar1❤❤❤

[@Tattahs]

poor elminster, he just wanted to eat some cheese

[@erininsoup]

Truly, I can relate

[@Voeluspa45]

Elminster. The guy is called Elminster. He is no mexican politician.

[@kiemugen9830]

I like elminster, but I like 1000 exp for him more

[@cannyvalley8522]

Thank you for these experiments, wouldn't bother myself, I'm trying to get more cohesive narrative experience (and fail anyway because constantly reload to see what other options do)

[@erininsoup]

Aww, of course! Yeah, the full narrative experience is so beautiful - I started experimenting more after my second run, but I wish I could hypnotize myself to forget everything and then play it from the start again

[@cannyvalley8522]

I wanted to comment how Elminster cutscene triggers automatically when you step off the wooden bridge in Mountain pass, but no, it doesn't if you're in stealth mode 0_0

[@bodysnatcher256]

I used to call him Elminister too, until I read "Elminster, a making of a mage"

[@erininsoup]

Woo-hoo, solidarity 💛

[@kwdblade4683]

Elminster complaining about having to travel and not having anything to eat or drink is especially amusing when you consider this version is simply a simulacrum.

[@erininsoup]

I wonder if he puts the cheese into his mouth and it just drops back down to the ground through his stomach or if it's stored somewhere physical lol so he can bring it back to the real Elminster

[@E_D___]

Q: How Eliminister reacts if Gale dies infront of him?

[@erininsoup]

Oooooh haha I spent so much time killing Elminster that I neglected to kill Gale - definitely have to try this. Thanks for the question!

[@alhovera]

the only way u might be able to keep gale is an origin run but that might just lead to a game over

[@erininsoup]

Oh wait now I really want to spend the next two days trying this out haha 🤔

[@alhovera]

@@erininsoup tbh im getting pretty close on my own origin run ill let u know

[@erininsoup]

@@alhovera yes please!! 😍

[@kingofgrim4761]

@@alhoveraI’m curious too

[@treehugger0241]

@@alhovera Following because I'd like to know the results too!

[@magister343]

In my current game I'm playing an origin Gale. Before save scumming, I made it all the way to the Moonrise Towers waypoint without consuming a single magic item. Elminster never showed up to talk to me. I died without explanation when crossing the bridge.

[@erininsoup]

Lmao this is so sad, but also hilarious. Did it kill your whole party or just Gale?

[@magister343]

@@erininsoup It killed Gale instantly and did enough damage to Shadowheat that she failed her second death saving throw. Wyll was badly injured (maybe down to 15% of his prior hp), but survived. (That might be because he had fire resistance from wearing the Helldusk Armour I'd looted from Raphael after attacking him with an arrow from an ungrouped character when he first appeared, silencing him when he came to my camp, and knocking him out while he couldn't fight back or initiate the dialogue cutscene. Raphael remained bruised and at 1 hp during Act 2 and at the brothel in Act 3, but was fully healed by the time I stole the Orphic Hammer and freed Hope last night.) The party was teleported back to camp at about the same time as Gale exploded. Most of the camp was set on fire. Characters who were not active in my party at the time dropped to about half hp and slowly lost some more due to the burning condition. If I recall correctly, Lae'zel did not follow us back to camp and did not get injured at all. I might be confusing this with the events that happened on the bridge the next time after save scumming, but I believe I had just passed the roll to convince her not to abandon the party and head to the Creche on her own. (I was trying to save that part until Minthara could join us, as I heard she had some funny dialogue there. I was disappointed that I had to silence her to make her travel back to Act 1 locales.) Perhaps her trying to leave caused her to become ungrouped from the rest of us, so she stayed by the waypoint instead of going to camp to explode. II don't think Karlach was hurt at all, probably because I'd modded the Infernal Fury condition from her soul coin consumption to make her completely immune to Fire.

[@magister343]

I just made it to Last Light Inn in a Wyll playthrough after doing the same thing to steal The Helldusk armor, and found thsi time that Raphael has all his HP back. I'm not sure if that is due to installing a hotpatch first or due to a mod I installed to make tactician mode harder by doubling enemies' hp.

[@declanraven2350]

Correction! Two of them are the bomb... Karlach :(

[@erininsoup]

😭😭😭

[@chipsalom]

I wonder what would happen if you temporarily killed Gale right before entering act 3, put him in a box, then rezzed him after starting act 3?

[@erininsoup]

Oh interesting - I'll have to give it a try!

[@Nikkidafox]

Wow! I'm surprised this has so few views! Very well done girl~

[@erininsoup]

Aww, that's so nice to hear 🥺❤️ thank you!

[@dragongirl1139]

There is one way to shuttle act locked items between acts that might apply to gale. Get a hire from withers. Kill a gale. Put a gale in their inventory. Get withers to take back hire. Go to act 3. Get hire. Get gale corpse. Dismiss hire. Revive gale?

[@erininsoup]

Oooooooh ooooh this made me excited - thanks for the tip! I'll have to try it out later this week

[@gerstein03]

The fact that Elminster sent a simulacrum makes me mad. God forbid he come himself to tell his old friend to off himself

[@dimnacja]

i like how after all previous games he stops running at you at full speed

[@er8066]

I do wonder if there's contingencies for Wyll, like if you don't know that Duke Ravenguard is his father at the brine pool, would he still yell out for him/would he be surprised to see his father like that.

[@er8066]

Or if there is anything new if you don't know about Mizora before getting to Moonrise and then she pops up to say hi.

[@erininsoup]

Ooooh great questions!! This would be so fun to try!

[@revelreads]

i fucking love these videos wow

[@erininsoup]

Awww that makes me so happy thank you 🥹

[@unevilGenius]

whaaat Elminster is worth 1000 XP? Ok he won't survive my next game

[@erininsoup]

😂😂 rip to Elminster, the OG yapper

[@YokomichiSilver]

To answer the point if the guy was a peeper? There exist multiple definitions of the word itself one being the most obvious but others include, an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion and an object (such as a small stone carving of an animal) believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner. As per Merriam Webster it does go over the origin of the word dating to the 17th century referring to objects (often amulets) believed by certain West Africans to have supernatural powers and by the 19th century an object of irrational devotion or reverence. The object need not be physical: a person may have a fetish for an idea, such as an unwarranted belief that a particular economic system will solve society’s ills. It wasn't until the 20th century did the word take it's current meaning that we all know. So to summarize I don't think the ring is using the 20th century definition but most likely the 17th century as the world of Baldur's Gate does have it's fair share of magical artefacts containing otherworldly powers.

[@erininsoup]

Okay okay you're definitely probably right that this is the true definition...but it'd be so funny if Larian meant the other meaning haha

[@intricatic]

Why, though, is Gandalf in my DND game?

[@DanishSegaGamer]

In BG1 every normal DND player would react "wait a minute, was that Elminster?" I was kind of disappointed in my reaction of him showing up in bgg3. Then again, Gale sleeps with fuxking Mystra

[@greentea2993]

ive had elminister wait by moonrise towers in one of my playthroughs i believe at the bridge just going in

[@bingonight1504]

Mizora showed up for me at that spot too. She usually shows up at your camp to tell you that? I would have had no idea

[@erininsoup]

I think she'll either show up on a long rest during Act 2 or if you hit moonrise towers she'll automatically be there - but I kind of wonder what happens if you take the back entrance to moonrise and if you could ignore her there.

[@miranda__8478]

i wonder what happens when u let kahga kill arabella and then confront her for consorting with the shadow druids. does she have remorse

[@Khantia]

And what happens if you do invite Elminster to your camp and kill him there? Any difference?

[@erininsoup]

Good question! If my memory is right (and it often is not) I did this as an experiment but nothing new happened so I didn't include it

[@canariancat]

I wondered about this very thing last night. I was on my way to Act 2 via the Mountain Pass. I walked by Elminster, but no cutscene happened. I walked by him a few times to try and trigger it but it never happened. Gale wasn't in my party at the time. I wondered if it would mess up Gale's storyline if we moved on without talking to Elminster first. I decided to click on him and the dialogue played as normal. It must have been a bug because I wasn't trying to sneak past him, just walking by. Then today, your video comes up in my suggestions, lol. I didn't know that he'd end up stalking us in Act 2 if we ignored him in Act 1, now I do!

[@erininsoup]

I love your description of him stalking our parties - and funny that my video popped up right after you were wondering that. The algorithm must be tapping into your thoughts haha

[@irgendwer3610]

what if you ignore Elminster while playing Origin Gale? Do you kick yourself out?

[@erininsoup]

Someone else in my comments actually tried this out! It led to a lot of buggy encounters (like Elminster showing up after defeating Ketheric) but they were able to get to act 3

[@tymoteuszmotyka2849]

So how about sneaking past Elminster while playing Gale origin?

[@erininsoup]

Another person in my comments actually tried this and reported back! They gave a detailed explanation although I forgot what comment it was under - but it gets a lot more glitchy, and I think they said that Elminster will still show up with the same spiel even after you kill Ketheric

[@truekurayami]

one question still remains, what will happen if you ignore Elminster all the way through act 2 when playing as Gale.

[@erininsoup]

Such a good question - and actually someone in the comments tried it out and gave a detailed report. Forgot which comment it was, but essentially you were able to get to act 3 but Elminster became very buggy and also still arrived after fighting Ketheric haha

[@williamblack2904]

Now I’m deeply curious what happens if you play Gale as your origin character and manage to avoid Elminster the whole time.

[@erininsoup]

I think someone else in my comments actually tried this!! It was really interesting - I belive Elminster popped up to explain things even after they had already defeated Ketheric haha.

[@sylvansheep4833]

HAHA I never put it together, the FETISH of Callarduran SMOOTH HANDS turns you invisible! He must be using a lot of lotion to get hands that smooth, I wouldnt put that ring on my hand if you paid me Truly an incredible observation and a horrific discovery I love it

[@theflemming9216]

i love this little series of experiments youre starting!! now im wondering is if youre able to merge combat with Elminster and the Harper/Cultist fight up ahead of him at all, and if it does anything interesting... i will report back in 3 to 300 business days if i remember to try it :D

[@erininsoup]

Awww, thanks ♥️ and ooooh good question - if you end up trying it out lemme know!

[@FantasyZealot_]

Whaaaaat, was not expecting that ending

[@erininsoup]

I tried so hard but I couldn't save him 😪

[@commentary2378]

What IS Gale's robes? I need those robes. Tell me the name, damn you!

[@erininsoup]

Haha, I think it's the Robe of Exquisite Focus that I dyed red...but I'm travelling without my laptop so that's a guess.

[@commentary2378]

@@erininsoup Thank youuu 🙏

[@Jules_Diplopia]

I was getting worried halfway through this video, that you wouldn't try killing Elminster, but never fear you had it covered. It is a shame that you can't take Gale any further, but has some logic, in that he seems to need more magic items, but he hasn't actually demanded any since way back in Act 1. I wonder how he has been keeping the Orb satisfied since then?

[@kingofgrim4761]

He states after the third magic item that the items aren’t working anymore. It’s just presumed you will always reach elminster before he would naturally explode, due to how in game time works and that long rests don’t count against you. (Unless you trigger something for said long rest)

[@Jules_Diplopia]

@@kingofgrim4761 But that is the strange thing, and I am surprised that the Devs never included an N +1 option here. Gale after insisting that he needs to consume magic items, stops needing to consume them. Elminster was around the corner but what if, like Erin, you missed Elminster or avoided him. It wouldn't have been that hard to add an extra N+1 scene, with Gale dying because he hadn't had his magic snack, indeed if he does die he has the whole magic flute scene, that could have been slipped in and then a line from Gale saying that "now the clock really IS ticking". It just seems odd that a Dev team who covered so many odd things that we could do, missed that one.

[@kingofgrim4761]

@@Jules_Diplopia if Gale dies from his orb it kills everyone bc it’s a magical nuclear bomb though. So regardless, that other option wouldn’t make sense story wise, as they’d have to change almost everything about Gale and his orb for it to remain consistent with the story

[@Jules_Diplopia]

@@kingofgrim4761 But the fact that Gale "forgets" that he needs to eat magic items breaks the story already. And Gale can "safely" die once, he just needs you to do the magic flute thing.

[@erininsoup]

haha if there's one thing I'll always do in experiment videos it'll be some light murder

[@michae976]

I love this gsme but goooooodddddddd yapminster just goes on and on and on and on doesnt he?

[@erininsoup]

Yapminster!!! I'll never pronounce his name as El-minister again because I'm gonna call him this instead

[@shadowsoul2778]

I think you don't encounter him if you choose the route where you meet the goblin.

[@Botjer1]

I think I missed him altogether??

[@GabbyPlaysGames02]

What happens if Gale leaves your party after defeating Ketheric? Is Elminster still on the road there where you ignored him? Or does he disappear as well?

[@erininsoup]

Oh good question - my guess is he'd still be there but bugged, but I'll try and remember to give it a try tomorrow

[@minotaur818]

El Minister no será ignorado

[@LightStreak567]

It's El-min-ster, not El-mini-ster, and he is a much more likeable character when he is in a good mood.

[@erininsoup]

Haha don't worry, I've been corrected in the comments many times 😭 I've been saying that for 300 hours now though so it's gonna be a hard habit to break in real life

[@snipermonkey8665]

First sentence is a lie. Karlach is also the bomb, literally

[@theredeft5319]

I wonder if young rested after killing elminster in act 2 if then Gale would say anything?

[@erininsoup]

Hmm I'll give it a go! Thanks for the suggestion 💛

[@travishartzler9155]

The title of your video sounds like a lead into a "hear me out".

[@erininsoup]

Hahaha, but actually hear me out... (Is that a wand in Elminster's pocket, or is he just happy to see me 🤔)

[@littlegeckle]

2:16 why is shadowheart glowing

[@erininsoup]

I...I didn't even notice that until now, huh

[@littlegeckle]

@@erininsoup please I want answers

[@matty4376]

What happens if you do this on Origin Gale tho??

[@erininsoup]

Some legend on here actually tried that out and gave a summary somewhere in my comments - the gist was that if you play as origin Gale and defeat Ketheric, you'll just die. You can revive him via Withers, at which point Elminster pops up in camp immediately and then Elminster gives you the same spiel even though you've already defeated Ketheric

[@Sarah-nl2rv]

I'm confused on how you heard him say the name correctly and still mispronounced the guy's name...

[@erininsoup]

I'm confused too 💀

[@Trethan3266]

God I hate Elminster. What a PoS.

[@222patapon222]

This video seems super interesting but alread 30 seconds in and you said Elminister 3 times it's really triggering he's not part of the government...

[@erininsoup]

Ahaha, I don't know why I've been saying Elminister in my head from the start. I only realized I was making up the extra I in time to change the thumbnail 😭

[@Kekasweat]

wow its almost like the video is on the character named elminister. crazy huh

[@Kekasweat]

ill leave this here as after typing i realized what was wrong… lmao

[@jp8649]

Why are people such aholes about you pronouncing his name wrong? I wish people would be more understanding since things like learning disabilities exist and you never know if someone has some kind of issue. Plus, it's just a simple mistake. Is it annoying, only a little? Not enough to ruin my day. Makes me worried people aren't experiencing enough strife irl.

[@LobsterLover64]

elMINSTER NOT MINISTER

[@PopeDope69-420]

You spent a really long time making this video. Please don’t change it just because you didn’t get the guys name right

[@erininsoup]

Ah, thanks haha - calling him Elminister was a rookie mistake, but in my head he's called that because he's the head of the Wizarding union or something 🥸