Throughout the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3, the companion Gale will beg to consume the party’s magic items; however, it can be difficult to choose whether to give them up. Gale is one of 10 companions in Baldur’s Gate 3, a human wizard with an Icarian backstory. In his insatiable hunger for power, Gale sparked an unfortunate romance with the goddess Mystra, and wound up with a Netherese Destruction Orb in his chest. This is more than just heartbreak; the Orb is akin to a bomb, and its timer is forever ticking down. Gale needs to put the big kaboom off as long as possible, and the best way to do that is by consuming magic items.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3.]
“Magic items” is a broad category in Baldur’s Gate 3. It mostly refers to accessories and armor pieces that have special, spell-infused effects. There are some outliers, though, including a handful of magic weapons and a few necessary quest items. Gale can’t consume every single one, but at least for a while, he can be demanding. And as soon as he consumes one, it’s forever destroyed – there’s no way to get these unique items back. It can be difficult to balance the rest of the party’s need for useful magic items with Gale’s seemingly insatiable hunger for magic, but it is possible with just a little bit of planning.
Yes, You Should Help Gale In Baldur’s Gate 3
As sorrowful as parting with magic items can be, it’s worth giving at least a few of them to Gale, since they help heal his heart and progress in his quest. After all, that explosive condition of his sounds terrifying – not to mention potentially useful, if harnessed. There is an end to Gale’s hunger in Baldur’s Gate 3. Once he’s consumed enough, he’ll pull the player character aside to confide that his health is worsening, but he won’t request any more magic items. The next step, he says, is to consult his mentor Elminster, who can be found along the Rosymorn Monastery Trail.
Go there, and Elminster will be concerned. However, he sees the Netherese Destruction Orb as a promising prospect; Gale can use its blast to destroy the Heart of the Absolute, the root of the evil deity that threatens Faerûn in Baldur’s Gate 3. With the help of Elminster’s magic, Gale gains some control over his power in the form of the Netherese Blast ability. This is a powerful destructive force – it’s always important to save before testing it out, as it’ll almost always lead to a game over.
Gale’s Unique Ending In Baldur’s Gate 3
At the end of Act Two in Baldur’s Gate 3, the party will travel to the Mind Flayer Colony, where they’ll see the Absolute emerging from the Heart. This can be Gale’s time to shine – if he’s allowed to activate the Netherese Blast, it’ll destroy the place instantly, and the credits will roll. This particular ending also happens to be key to a subsection of Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunning, as it’s the fastest proper ending to the game, although its applicability in general campaigns is a lot more situational.
It’s not the worst ending possible in Baldur’s Gate 3 – the Absolute is certainly defeated – but it’s not the best, either. There’s a whole other act that the player will miss if they decide to stop with this ending, with plenty more places to see and stories to uncover. Plus, it does result in the death of the entire player party. There’s no reason not to let Gale do it, as long as the player’s willing to save scum in Baldur’s Gate 3; just make sure to have a save file to return to afterward.
How Many Magic Items Gale Needs
Gale only needs to consume three magic items during Act One in order to move onto the next phase of his quest in Baldur’s Gate 3. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not too many – there are at least three times that many magic items available in the first Act alone. Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t shy about deploying magic items, as the lack of a Dungeon Master means that ensuring any class can have something useful requires a surplus of items. This also means certain ones are likely to be unnecessary for each composition, as a party without a paladin won’t have a crucial need for something tailored to a paladin’s abilities, for instance.
It’s easy enough to have some magic items and let Gale eat them, too, with just a little bit of forethought. And even if the party has to sacrifice one or two useful ones, it’s worth avoiding the consequences of ignoring Gale. Magic items that are great in the early parts of the game are generally eventually superseded by options available in later acts, so any drawbacks to giving up a resource that seems precious are likely to be largely temporary. Although the game can be challenging, a campaign on the standard difficulty also isn’t grueling enough to necessitate any kind of major loadout optimization.
What Happens If You Ignore Gale
In the short term, each time the player character denies Gale’s request, he’ll suffer a slight, temporary penalty to all Constitution rolls. In the long term, repeatedly denying Gale magic items will upset him; he may even begin stealing them. Every companion in Baldur’s Gate 3 has a baked-in approval rating that reflects how well they regard the player character. Although it’s never represented numerically, it’s easy to tell how it slides up or down based on the characters’ reactions and in-menu descriptions. If they go low enough, it’s possible to lock the player character out of certain romance options in Baldur’s Gate 3.
If Gale’s approval rating dips below a certain mark, he’ll appear in camp with an exclamation point over his head. He passive-aggressively snarks that he’s found a solution to his Orb problem, and intends to leave the group. A DC 13 check allows the player character to probe the depths of Gale’s psyche, eventually gaining some insight. Gale’s hiding something: he struck a deal with a cambion, a type of demonic offspring, to rid him of his Netherese Orb. This cambion, named Raphael, is likely familiar to the player character, as he earlier offered to remove their parasitic brain tadpole for a price. Whatever the case, Gale will say his goodbyes and depart, never to return.
Why Gale Has General Utility In Baldur’s Gate 3
Even for those uninterested in romance, Gale has an engaging story in Baldur’s Gate 3. Act One isn’t a good time to dismiss any Origin characters out of hand, as all of them have interesting aspects and layers that are yet to be revealed in the earliest parts of the game. While Lae’zel might offer the most extreme example of this phenomenon, with her brusque behavior losing a lot of fans early on who might later miss out on strong character development, Gale is no slouch in the narrative department.
Gale isn’t the most independent character in Baldur’s Gate 3, but he’s also well worth having in the party from a mechanical perspective. He’s a wizard, which means he can do a lot of damage – especially at higher levels – but lacks in defense. With the proper support from a decent paladin or cleric, though, Gale can be immensely helpful in battle, and access to powerful area of effect spells can turn the tide in some major encounters. His high Intelligence is also handy on any lore- or history-related checks. Therefore, it’s worth feeding him the occasional magic item if it means keeping him around.
What Magic Items Gale Needs (& How To Get Them)
Unfortunately, Gale is a picky eater, and won’t consume just any magic item lying around in Baldur’s Gate 3. Gale will turn up his nose at anything not of Uncommon rarity or better, and will refuse items blessed by a particular deity or the Absolute. The easiest way to tell if he’ll accept a particular item is to check its description – if he can use it, there will be a small blurb at the bottom explicitly saying so. Also, when he requests a magic item, the only ones that’ll appear in the ensuing popup window will be those that he can use, so there’s no need to worry about wasting an item for no reason.
Certain magic items in Baldur’s Gate 3, however, seem especially well suited to Gale’s diet. The Amulet of Selûne’s Chosen, found in the goblin camp at Shattered Sanctum, has a significant drawback: it heals a target of 1d8 HP, but may also put them to sleep. There’s also the Ring of Color Spray, which can be lifted from a harpy’s nest in the Druid Grove to put on the Gale pile. This lets the bearer cast the blinding spell of the same name – but other party members, including Gale, can simply learn it if they want to use it. The third magic item is up for consideration – the party should give Gale whatever they don’t have a use for.
Giving up magic items isn’t always easy, but it’s worth saving Gale in the long run. He’s an interesting character who can be a great boon to the party, with many useful options both in combat and out. Magic items, on the other hand, can generally be easily replaced, and there’s no need to give Gale any particularly crucial ones to keep him satisfied. Ultimately, the choice of whether to help Gale comes down to whatever’s best for the party and whatever makes the most sense for the player character in Baldur’s Gate 3.
