Paladins in Baldur’s Gate 3 are subject to certain rules and principles corresponding to their values. Depending on the subclass choice players make at level one; they They will need to adhere to certain moral principles if they are to keep their oath and the powers it grants. Since many of the paladin’s abilities are based on oaths, it is quite significant if they are lost, which is a very real possibility given all the moral choices the game offers players.
BG3 includes three different types of paladin oaths: devotion, ancient, and vengeance. Although everyone has their own codes and moral system, there are certain acts that generally break each of them, such as killing innocent people and committing crimes in the presence of guards. But these ten choices are mistakes that players should watch out for, especially when it comes to fulfilling certain oaths; or, in the case of players who wish to become oathbreakers, these are opportunities for them to gain that status.
10
Freeing Sazza means joining the enemy
Leave this elf in his cage
In the druid’s grove, players can encounter Sazza, a goblin held captive after a failed attack. She is in a cage in the woodland prison, and upon first meeting her, players will find a tiefling named Arka holding a crossbow to her head, upset after the death of her brother. Players can choose to intervene or allow the execution to take place, but this does not affect their oath. Paladins need to be careful when it comes to freeing the goblin prisoner.
If Sazza survives the encounter with Arka, she will offer the player some information about the goblin camp and even offer to take the players there if they let her leave. This is a good way to peacefully enter the goblin camp, but Vengeance paladins must remember not to side with their enemies. Opening Sazza’s cage will immediately break his oath, and not even killing the goblin afterwards can fix it.
9
Don’t resort to violence with these Tieflings
Find a better way to save Lae’zel
Right after beating the Nautiloid, players can head up the beach a little to find their ally, Lae’zel, who has been trapped in a cage. Surrounding them are two tieflings, Damays and Nymessa, who are debating whether they should kill the Gith. The tieflings have reason to fear Lae’zel as other Gith in the area have killed some of her friends. But Lae’zel will ask for help to free her, and players may be forced to fight these tieflings to get her out. Any paladin must know, however, that harming these two will result in a broken oath.
Even using non-lethal force to knock out these tieflings can result in breaking the oath.
All three paladin oaths can be broken if both tieflings are killed or incapacitated, so paladins who wish to maintain their powers must seek a more peaceful solution. There are some dialogue options to make the tieflings leaveand since paladins are charisma-based characters, this is probably the best way to go. There is also the option to leave Lae’zel behind, and as she tends to encourage brutal and cruel behavior, this may be the best choice for characters trying to create a friendlier group.
8
Don’t respond like that to Zevlor’s call for help
Sometimes intentions are more important than actions
The next choice only applies to the Oath of Devotion subclass and may confuse many players. Within the druid grove, players will encounter the leader of the tiefling refugees, Zevlor, who asks for help in getting his people safely to Baldur’s Gate. He’ll ask once outside the grove gates, and this choice won’t be all that impactful. The real dialogue choice for breaking the oath comes when he returns to the cave it turned into his office.
Players can speak to him again there, and regardless of what they say when he first asks for help, they can either agree to eliminate the goblins blocking the road or refuse. Refusal results in breaking the oath, as it would mean abandoning innocents to the whims of cruel forces, but devotion Paladins can also break their vows if they agree to help for the wrong reasons. Only agreeing to help in exchange for a reward, or because Kagha, the druid leader, says to do so, will cause these paladins’ oaths to be broken.
7
Letting Ethel take your eye
Empowering a dangerous witch
Baldur’s Gate 3The first act shows the group searching for a cure for their illithid parasites, and one potential source of healing is Aunt Ethel. Ethel is a witch who lives in the southern part of the first map and offers to cure the parasite in exchange for a look at the player’s eyeball. Of course, Ethel can’t actually cure the parasite, but she will try if the players agree to the deal. However, this agreement is an obstacle to the oath of the ancients.
Ancient paladins are particularly aligned against Ethel, who, as a witch, gets involved in many practices that go against nature and the natural world. Ethel’s examination of the player’s eye actually places a permanent curse on him that allows him to see through it, meaning that agreeing to her deal gives him more power and corrupts the paladin’s body. It’s just another reason why Ethel’s deal almost never pays off.
6
Letting Ethel go is seen as dishonorable
This paladin doesn’t let his enemies live
Although Ethel is a secondary character, many interactions with her can affect paladins. Another comes after players broke into her hidden basement and fought her under Mayrina’s cage. Ethel imprisoned Mayrina until her baby was born so she could trade him to Ethel in exchange for her late husband’s life. Defeating Ethel BG3 It’s difficult, but just before the witch dies, she will offer the player a deal: Let her go with Mayrina and offer a benefit that increases the player’s ability scoresaccording to izunapost on Reddit.
Paladins, be careful because accepting any version of this agreement will break the oath of vengeance. Just like freeing Sazza, letting Ethel live is seen as a show of mercy towards the enemy, something that the oath of revenge cannot support. Even making a charisma test to get the upper hand and force Ethel to let Mayrina go will still break the oath of this paladin subclass, so the only option is to kill the witch.
5
Using Ethel’s wand raises certain ethical concerns
Disrupting the natural balance between life and death
Even in death, Ethel can cause paladins some problems. After defeating her (or accepting her deal), Ethel will leave her basement and players will be able to loot the magical items she kept in a back room. One is a wand, also called “Bitter divorce” or “Second marriage,“ depending on whether Mayrina is free. Players can grab him and take him back to the ground, where they will find the coffin containing Mayrina’s dead husband, Connor. The wand can be used to bring Connor back to life, something Mayrina desperately wants, although former paladins must be careful.
Because Ethel’s business is always cursed, using the wand simply brings Connor back as a mindless zombie. This will horrify Mayrina, but if players are willing to give her the wand, she will take Connor to Baldur’s Gate in search of a cure. Alternatively, it can become a relatively weak zombie summon for the player. Either way, using the wand will be seen as a violation of nature and will break the oath of the ancients.
4
Kill the Flameshade Clan under certain circumstances
Violence is not always rewarded by this paladin’s oath
The oath of vengeance may reward the “no mercy” approach, but in this case, the oath of devotion does not. In the Underdark, during the first act, players can encounter the duergar of the Flameshade clan, who have been hired by the Absolute cult to unearth the Adamantine Forge. The duergar are mercenaries and slavers and have captured a group of deep gnomes that they are forcing to dig through the rubble. The duergar are cruel and sadistic towards the gnomes and allies of the Absolute.and killing them can be tempting.
Killing the duergar in a sneak attack in water will not break any oaths, despite their similar aggressiveness.
But attacking them head on without provocation will break the paladin’s oath of devotion. Instead, paladins who wish to free the gnomes must first go through the quest to free True Soul Nere, who will attempt to kill the gnomes and start a fight where the duergar can be eliminated without blame. There is even a quest that allows the player to get some duergar on their side. Be careful, though, because these duergar will try to keep their gnome slaves if they survive the fight, and Killing them after siding with them will also cause the oath to be broken.
3
Torturing Liam is objectively evil
This should be a given
The paladins’ different oaths may define right and wrong differently, but none of them support the torture of innocents. Even so, players have the chance to torture a captured adventurer named Liam in the goblin camp if they interrupt his interrogation. After starting this interaction, Players have several options to avoid maiming the poor guyand they can always choose to attack the goblins head on. However, some players looking to preserve their disguise as true souls may take the opportunity to be sadistic.
It should come as no surprise that choosing any of the torture options with Liam will cause the oath to be broken. This same logic applies many times throughout the game. Whenever the player has to choose between cruelty and compassion, the cruel action will usually break their oath. This can cause problems especially for a certain origin character, who will have a harder time than others avoiding the fate of an Oathbreaker.
2
Telling Minthara where to find the Grove is a huge obstacle
Don’t try to side with this Drow
Near the end of the Emerald Grove storyline in the first act, players will encounter Nightwarden Minthara, the drow in charge of the Absolute force in the goblin camp. If the players have preserved their true soul covering thus far, Minthara will address them as a fellow absolutist and ask for help in finding the druid’s grove so that her forces can attack it. Of course, players will know where the woods are at this point and can try to hide it from Minthara or tell her.
Telling her will lead her forces straight to the grove’s gate, and even if the players intend to lead her into a trap, this action will break all of the paladins’ oaths. Which is understandable since directly endangers the inhabitants of the forest. However, paladins who still wish to fight Minthara from the strategic position of the gate can subvert this obstacle by having another character in the party tell them the location of the grove.
1
Cutting off Gale’s hand is perfect for breaking Bhaalspawn’s oath
The Dark Urge has a unique and early way to break your oath
More than any other character in Baldur’s Gate 3the Dark Urge commits violent atrocities that would break any paladin’s oath. But there is one choice that comes before any other and is quite monumental in its impact on the game. Upon discovering Gale trapped in his portal near the Nautiloid’s crash site, most players have the option of freeing him. The Urge also has this option, along with another: to clean Gale’s hand.
This is not only one of the quickest ways for any paladin to break their oath, but also an incredibly quick way to lose a potential party member. Because this kills Gale outright, leaving him handless and trapped between the realms. Dark Urge players who wish to keep their oaths must subdue their violent desires. But is a great way for Urge to become an Oathbreaker as quickly as possiblealso.
Source: izuna/Reddit,