Killing BG3 Companions Might Skip Certain Effects
The answer to avoiding some tough dilemmas with Baldur's Gate 3 party members rests in killing them before dealing with the problems, a harsh strategy that has surprisingly few implications of its own. In Baldur's Gate 3, resurrection is simple; as touchy as they can be about other concerns, party members don't seem to have resentment when the player character kills them and brings them back. Although it's not quite moral, some of the trick's best uses fit bad parties nevertheless.
Maybe nobody has shown as much dedication to this approach as General-N0nsense, who shows in a Reddit post how they performed an especially protracted gambit with the idea. Act 1, where a dangerous scenario with Astarion can be avoided with the technique, is one of the most fundamental uses of murdering and recovering a party member. General-N0nsense left Astarion dead when he accomplished this, choosing to bring his corpse with him across the trip to Act 3 instead of allowing him participate as a working party member.
Astarion Is Not The Only BG3 Character Designed To Break
Act 1 offers a more simpler and more generally applicable illustration of the tactic when the Emerald Grove housing a clan of druids and a batch of tiefling refugees offers a main point of intersection for decisions. Both Wyll and Karlach have sympathies for the refugees, hence recruiting either of them depends mostly on good behavior toward the grove. Although killing them before visiting the grove won't stop their approbation from draining, it is still possible to save things before resurrection.
This approach could be pulled off at one point with Wyll and Karlach, however Reddit user OutlawX18 reports that their own test following the release of patch 5 observed more mixed outcomes. Though Karlach only left once restored, Wyll left as a corpse—an apparently remarkable feat. If Patch 6 didn't further alter anything (at least, the official patch notes don't indicate a repair), then managing to raise her approval before bringing her back seems to remain a strategy to retain her in the party.
Third Baldur's Gate: Decisions and Reversals
Though with some deft play, Baldur's Gate 3 is a game entirely about decisions and consequences; it's not always essential to truly face those ramifications. Baldur's Gate 3's roleplaying freedom often encourages a lot of creative thinking outside the box—a quality it shares with its Dungeons & Dragons inspiration. Although the constraints of the Video Game format don't always let this go quite as far as a dungeon master might allow in DnD, they can also allow for some tricks that definitely wouldn't fly in tabletop play.
When it comes to the game's companion characters, who aren't always ready to put up with anything the player character might do, consequences in Baldur's Gate 3 usually hit extremely hard. While all of them can make their way to at least somewhat happy endings, it's possible to lose them as party members or unintentionally guide them down sinister paths by making the incorrect choices. It's not too difficult to balance approval with guiding friends in the correct path; yet, for individuals who find this reasonable method limiting, there is another way to approach things.
Killing Baldur's Gate 3 Companions Has Drawbacks
Clearly, killing important characters to keep them out of significant decisions and events has big negative consequences since their participation in these situations can often be the most meaningful aspect. Particularly Astarion has some amazing moments with the Cazador material; missing all of it only to prevent some possible complications won't be worth it in the typical Baldur's Gate 3 playing.
All the same, these scenarios and others could be worth looking at on more experimental playthroughs; it's definitely an intriguing approach to disrupt the game in some key respects. Pushing and prodding at how Baldur's Gate 3 operates has resulted in lots of fascinating findings since launch; although many of the more disruptive have been fixed out of the game, others surely remain yet unrevealed. Though every campaign doesn't have to follow the guidelines, Temporally killing friends might not be the planned Baldur's Gate 3 experience.
Astarion: An Intriguing Personality
Though it comes as a cost, Astarion's morally right conclusion in Baldur's Gate 3 is not ascending and staying a Vampire Spawn.
Although finishing Astarion's story arc calls for one very difficult decision, browsing the alternatives can help to highlight the correct course of action.
Emerald Grove: A Tough Decision
The Emerald Grove predicament in Baldur's Gate 3 often ends in violence, but one particular approach has the most horrifying effects.
Petting Scratch proves once more that nobody should skip out on recruiting Baldur's Gate 3's resident good boy; it is a great approach to somewhat increase dead Karlach's acceptance.
Shadowheart: A Dark Side Character
MCleartist also describes another helpful situation whereby he survived a challenging Act 2 time by momentarily killing Shadowheart. Usually set on killing Dame Aylin, a character discovered during a fleeting excursion into the Shadowfell, Shadowheart aims to satisfy the dark goddess Shar. She can be pushed away from this road, and while this is a major component of her character journey, it could be difficult if a good relationship with Shadowheart or some strong Charisma-based responsibilities aren't in place.
Usually, Shadowheart will just depart the party if they save Dame Aylin, even if she is kept behind in camp to avoid her participation in the choice. It's evidently feasible to keep Shadowheart around if she is left dead and only resurrected upon the completion of the assignment. It's not the most beautiful approach as usual, but it works still.
