Baldur's Gate 3 - Free Orpheus/No Illithid Transformation Walkthrough 

The emperor comes off as a villain because it’s plain to see they’ll say or do anything for their cause. It’s hard to discern the emperor’s priorities even in late game so there’s always a feeling of distrust for me.

@@ThatFont I think basically he'll do and say whatever to survive. Whether that means manipulating you or running off to join the brain because there's even a slight chance he might be able to slip away again, he'll do it. The reason he doesn't stay if you free frog boy is because gith boy would absolutely obliterate him on sight as an ilithid and because he's been siphoning his power.

Honestly, I don't think thats very accurate to how I think The Emperor thinks, lemme give you an analogy: Imagine you had to rely on a monkey to topple a mad dictator ruling over your country. Hes smart for a monkey, but hes still a monkey, you kinda see that his chances are minimal as he is. Fortunately, you possess a machine that will turn him into a human, thus improving his cognitive abilities and chances of success overall. Of course, you see no downsides to him becoming human, nor do you see that there are downsides to being human. You offer this to the monkey, he signs to you "no, I will stay monkey" Considering you have so much riding on him, wouldn't it seem at least a little fustrating that the monkey rejects such an obvious "upgrade"? (At least in your mind)

@@Ailobyte Interesting that you went with "monkey". How would it change things if you followed the above reasoning with "Chinese" or "African" instead? If he sees your complaints as you being judgmental while he sees his complaints as sage observations, that shows a lot of arrogance.

@@Ailobyte That's also part of what he is. Mindflayers are cold, manipulative and uncaring. He sees his own form as superior and you as a tool to be used. During his shirtless dream if you say he plays the part of acting human well he'll outright call you his puppet

This is the line we're missing in this game.

Trusting him means trusting that absorbing Orpheus is necessary

@@RedMage8BT Trusting isn't same as agreeing.

@@CroGamer002 in the Emperor's mind it is

honestly, you shouldn't trust him. look up Emporor shows his true color on youtube. he's one sick bastard.

It is wild, but I guess he’s deathly afraid of what Orpheus will do to him for keeping him imprisoned and abusing his powers for so long.

It’s wild but it makes sense. The princess was going to kill him he was not needed. Self preservation was the logical route at that point.

Yeah, it's a real bad look for him that as soon as you put your foot down and dont agree to do whatever he tells you, he pitches a fit and decides to go full evil.

Exactly why I personally don’t trust him

Keep in mind, this dude's a master manipulator. Everything he has told you has been a half-truth, going so far as to omit the fact he was mind-controlling all of his "friends." Like Stelmane. It's always been his way or the highway for him, and when you essentially break free of his manipulation and free Orpheus, he basically says "Aight, fuck u den" and dips. Orpheus would not have allowed him to live, and he most certainly knew he is not able to overpower your whole group *AND* Orpheus. So the only logical conclusion was to rejoin the Netherbrain.

umm i have to lie??? not letting me lie is crossing my boundaries and thats toxic so??

It's scary effective manipulation. The Emp makes even the player doubt themself. But you notice toward the end 5/6 dialog options side with the emperor and the last one is a weak refusal, it's a sign that his manipulation is digging deep into the player character.

Yup, I wish we could have ask him to elaborate XD

No. The hammer is simply designed to free these infernal/Orpheus chain, but not the only thing that can free him. Think of it as a master key to a lock. It’s not a designed key but could literally open everything. The guard did break the cage’s first defense and very close to the second one. I think they will succeed.

@@hazekaze Wasn't that orb spell put by the Emperor?

Honestly, in the cutscene before you fight them, his honor guard were doing a pretty good job of cracking the barrier with their bare hands. *We* need the hammer, but they didn't.

Wait Is Raphael the only one to tell us that only the hammer can free him? The hammer that only he has and tries to exchange with us for the crown he wants.

I've seen that happen to a lot of smart people. You're so smart that you end up being STUPID. Like, we have other options Emperor! (As someone who does not like Gale)

Ye. To be fair, Orpheus is hella fucking threatening to anything that is proud of being a Mind Flayer.

I feel as though Orpheus would be far less forgiving towards the Emperor. Yes, you (potentially) kidnapped a Gith egg, yes, you aided in the deaths of his honor guard... and yes, you're partial Illithid. However, most of that would not have happened if not for the Emperor. And if it were up to the Emperor, Orpheus would not have been freed at all, but consumed. I'm doubtful even Orpheus would be so forgiving, nor would he trust the Emperor with the destruction of the Netherbrain.

Gosh that would be lovely.

Dude that would be so epic.

It's possible this is sometype of cut content. Possibly similar to Halsin and Minthara with Grove and Goblins. You can only choose either bug out to choose both?

I'm honestly tired of people going BUT HE WOULD KILL THE EMPEROR ON SIGHT. Seriously, he didn't become a prince by being a moron: he knows as well as the Emperor that they need a mind flayer to succeed. Quote from Voss, verbatim: "The Prince of the Comet aches for githyanki liberation more than he abhors ghaik".

Lots of folks have asked for this option. The argument is that Omeluum wouldn't be able to resist the Netherbrain this close to her.

@@agirlnamedmichael1670 Then how does the protagonist in the guise of a "squid" do it? He's basically just been "born" and that doesn't stop him from confronting the brain.

​@@96Haron96 I would assume because you have his protection. Remember Orpheus literally says "You will be the one ghaik I salute instead of slaughter". Orpheus would not protect Omeluum

@@agirlnamedmichael1670 It's just that the developer didn't give us complete freedom. The Illithid has to be, and it's a must.What's also strange is that you can't convince the emperor not to kill Orpheus. Although when we choose Orpheus' side, the emperor leaves and that's when things get interesting. The Emperor takes the stones and kills Orpheus, why? Because if I choose Orpheus' side and become an illithid myself, I don't need to kill him anymore, and the emperor just chooses the side of the brain. How does that work? That's what I don't like.

@@96Haron96 It's been widely discussed and the Emperor is(mistakenly) under the impression that you'll fail without him, and since he "broke free" from the Elder Brain he thinks he'll be able to do it again at a later time...he doesn't even realize that the Elder Brain ALLOWED him to "break free". She needed him to think he was free so that she could use him to get the pieces set up to gain her own freedom. He can't see past his own ego to realize he had been played. I think most people agree that he was unreasonable to bail on us, but it does make sense once you start looking at it a bit deeper.

Yeah, the visual glitch is odd, but beyond that cinematic no one acts like you transformed, so seems to work. :)

I hope that there’s a like, a high Persuasion DC option to free Orpheus and work with The Emperor. Like, the Emperor (if anybody) should be the one to sacrifice himself for Baldurs Gate. It’d be poetic since he founded it, and will defend it to the end and at least have some form of redemption considering his atrocities against Stelmane and betraying Ansur. This would be the best ending, no one becomes a Mindflayer, the Prince of The Comet and Gale live and the city heals with Duke Ravengard’s watch.

@@b.v.2705 tbf he didn't exactly betray ansur. Ansur tried to kill him in his sleep

@@lokiserpentem8534 The Emperor, who has lied to you, is the one that informs you that Ansur tried to kill him in his sleep... But peep this: Why would Balduran be sleeping in a ceremonial crypt? Why would Ansur's body be in such a state it's in if he'd snuck up on Balduran and died in a subsequent battle? Ansur is furious at Balduran's betrayal when you meet him, and does tell you he tried to kill Balduran as he was an illithid, but, the actual circumstances surrounding the battle are up in smoke. Balduran, who is keen on manipulating you for your aid, would not be honest about a single thing (He also lied about his relationship with Stelmane and the others), and tries to convince you that Ansur doesn't even exist, it's a myth as you enter the Shrine. He's keen on you not finding out his true nature via Ansur. The evidence kinda points to Ansur telling the truth about Balduran's betrayal after becoming Illithid.

@@kibuki91 ansur literally admits to it Also, it seems implied he had a legit partnership with her BEFORE the enthrallment He doesnt lie to the player he just leaves out information

Gale: "Kaboooooooom?" Tav: "Yes, Gale. Kaboom."

Gale: what to do? Direct me.

You need to blow up gale for that to work, otherwise someone needs to turn in order to cast the spell on the crown.

@@BreadCancer But its gale. He's like the least likable character besides maybe Wyll, who is just UNBERABLY one dimensional.

@@PauloGarcia-sp5ws I disagree. Gale's great. If he's the least likable it's only because everyone else is even better.

@@PauloGarcia-sp5wsleast likeable for you, He’s chill.

No, Minsk is the least likeable character. The only thing worse than an idiot is an annoying idiot.

It's interesting how Wyll says he is willing to sacrifice his very soul for the people of Baldur's Gate, yet its Karlach that is willing to make the sacrifice in the end, not Wyll.

@@TootsyBootsy To be fair he kinda already did sacrifice his soul to help people.

@@TootsyBootsy Wyll still doesn't technically own his soul yet at that point lol

@@biomegnome8764 That wouldn't matter as the soul gets obliterated when turning into a mindflayer and Mizora is in no position to stop him. It fits his personality of being all talk though i will say that.

Meanwhile Omeluun being nice and trustworthy, genuinely trying to help us multiple times Not even hiding his real identity in front of people because he is just chill like that

@@Sweatopod98and also suggesting you save other prisoners before him. Ironically, the worst part of the "Emperor" seems to be his original identity as Balduran. huh.

I have not yet tested this, but seems that you can start the battle against the brain together but during it, you can at any chance, click on Gale’s orb button and start the cut scene of Gale blow up the brain still(he will say I think so it seems we still need to do this after all, and then teleport you away), I’m sure we can at least take down the emperor before that

That was a move out of pure desperation. Remember all mind flayers are soulless, no exceptions. The moment that clues you in outside of several other conversations in the game, is when he shows you truth of his relationship with Stelmane.

huh, nice discovery. But you still need Gale in party, yes?

@@honestbenny if you want to actually beat the game without anyone transforming, yes.

This is the best ending for gale he lives happy with mistra after this but you need to play the origin character to see it

going back to his abuser isn't necessarily a happy ending... @@elmarucham75

Like if you could use Omeluum. He is already illithid and so why couldn’t he be of use? Like surely after saving him and because he likes this realm, then he would want to help 🤔

I like it personally. Taking a good path isn't easy, sometimes it's muddy uncomfortable and painful.

But his soul doesn't die, unlike an Illithid transformation.

Yeah, I've just found that now, which I'm pretty upset about, guess Lae'zel is gonna have to take the hit

If you check out my epilogue video that comes from this method you might see it’s quite similar. :P

I felt like having orpheus die was a better ending, He wants to continue his mothers dream of conquering the multiverse. I saved him and killed him when he was a mindflayer. Though One cool thing I noticed. Lae'zel can still join the rebellion in the astral sea if you side with the emporer. I'm assuming its because I passed my persuasion check with Voss. But she can have the same ending regardless of who you side with. At first she's pissed but in the party she talks about missing you and your friendship and that soon shell be able to come back and adventure with us again

⁠​⁠@@lokiserpentem8534I don’t think you’re simply trading one gith tyrant for another. The epilogue indicates that the Orpheus side of the githyanki is entering peace talks with the githzerai

@@JKDavitz it was an alliance between the rebels and githzerai. It might end up not the case, but I have a hard time trusting it based on his conversation with voss in my playthrough about completing the one sky

Oh ok I’ll try it in my next playthrough I let Orpheus become the mind flayer and honestly I think it was great for Laezel

THIS!!! gahh i am so tired of people not understanding why the emperor ditches you when it's so obvious after you put the manipulative pieces together

Spoil it for me please.

@@exrhythm exactly, the only values that he sees in you, are the ones that you provide to him, while with the companions, you share the burden and you care for each others, even the red comet is actually more an ally in those 5 minutes than the emperor in the whole adventure and he admits that he's forced to work with you to defeat the netherbrain, but when the emperor would have ditched you, the comet fights with you. Like... when you are in front of the emperor's ex, he goes like "yeah, he's really mad that we work togheter... by the way by by" or when the guards try to free the comet he's like "yeah, this is my battle to fight, so I'm going to use some weak charm spells, while you do the heavy lifting"

@@Vandriar Duke Stelmane, was killed by the cult, but rendered disabled by the Emperor's visits to keep the woman enthralled (he confesses it if you upset him). Ansur was his former lover and freed him from the colony, tried to cure him and according to the emperor tried to kill him once he (Ansur) lost all hopes for a cure and I have all the reasons to belive that the emperor is lying. The emperor's former identity is Balduran and he was a manipulative POS also back then, since he says all over again the 4 pillars ( justice, courage, insight and strenght) and then leaves his lover to go to adventures because he actually careS aboute fame and adventures, which blindly lead him to moonrise tower where he got caught by ilithids and turned into one of them (so much for insight). For unknown reasons history does not remember about Ansur. If you are nothing but extremely polite, while rejecting him, he goes confesses what he did to the Duke and he says that tav should be grateful that he changed his tactics, with a not so veiled threat. He hides that Orfeus is the power in the artefact. He doesn't say that he was formely known as Balduran, yes that Balduran, the founder of Baldur's gate (a bit egocentric to call a city after yourself, because the city already existed, he just expanded it). He appears to Minsc as Dynaheir, Minsc's former ''witch'', for the traditions of his birthplace, he was supposed to protect her and he was really affectionate to her, I would actually say that he loved her and, she died to save him and the emperor took the semblances, not as she was, but as she would be if she was still alive, which caused him to cower into a corner, until the emperor said what Dynaheir would have never said to Minsc, she '' said what I wanted to hear, not what she always said, which is a variant of stupid'' and throught your interaction with Minsc you actually see how much that hurt him, he's not himself when he recounts the encounter and he's not very willing to talk about it and that, alongside with the last sentence that Ansur spoke before he collapses dead ("Balduran what have you done") in a sad and exausted voice really cemented my hate for the emperor.

Considering this video is from the end of the game, I think spoilers are warranted

I also didn’t have gale speak up during the Orpheus interaction but I also didn’t get the speech option either so this didn’t work for me!! I had to choose myself or Orpheus or karlach who was also with me. Perhaps that’s why?

@@SatansLtlBabysame for me🥲 maybe they fixed that? Thats my guess…

yeah like, my 22 charisma bard has told endless bosses and mini bosses alike to off themselves why can't they also convince them to work together? seems pretty tame in comparison

@@Hailoow exactly it makes no sense. I have the charisma to tell a werewolf to kill a group of people, it’s pack and itself with my fucking mind but convincing a guy to not join an enemy he’s been fighting for a long time is too much? The writing in act 3 for the main story is so bad and rushed. It’s weird cause the astarion and raphael quests are fantastic, but they couldn’t keep that same quality for the main part of the game

The issue is Emperor doesn't really care about stopping the brain. He cares about his own survival and power. He couldn't care less about anything other than his own desires. He wants to create his own mindflayer empire and you're just a pawn towards that goal. He ditches you because you don't give him what he wants. The brain is just an obstacle in his way. If he doesn't get his say he couldn't care less about what happens to it.

He doesn't trust you. He thinks you're incapable by this point, and he's not going to wager on anything that isn't a sure bet. He also thinks he knows far more than you. So when you choose to double-down on Orpheus, he doesn't even consider the possibility you're right. He just decides he'll wait until he can escape again and try to kill the brain at the next opportunity that arises.

It's in character with who he is. In the dialoque he admits a liar and deceitful is who he is and he can't help it. Him saying saying "fuck it, I'm going back" is within his very selfish character

Do mind that that is not karlach but her tadpole with her memories

Sacc'ing Karlach is now the worst option imo. Before, it was passable as her engine was not able to be fixed, and if not in a romance with her you couldn't convince her to go back to Avernus. But with the new epilogue, you can convince her to go back to Avernus, and later she finds out a solution to her problem that may let her stay in Faerun for good.

​@kibuki91 You could always send her and Wyll to Avernus but yeah it's definitely the worst option now imo.

Yeah as it’s presented, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The only reason the Emperor needs to kill Orpheus is so that he can absorb his powers, and then be able to leave the prism and use the stones against the brain. But if you become a mind-flayer instead, and wield the stones yourself… then the Emperor shouldn’t have to leave the prism anymore! Yet somehow one of you is still forced into killing Orpheus.

@@oliverlow2474 Yeah, right? Then again, because of this I rather sacrifice an Npc than any of my companions Becoming a Mindflayer yourself, means that once you get close to an elderbrain without that powerful help, you are screwed. The elderbrain can control a Mindflayer and then you become a danger to your possible partner and everyone. So I never picked that option Who knows what the developers come up with for maybe any updates or addons. ^^

Easy solution: Don't bring Lae'zel to the final battle. In one of my play-throughs, I failed that last DC with her asking her to stay (after the battle is over), so she only appeared at the after-party as a projection, but sounded like she didn't hold any grudges against Tav. Last play-through I rolled a 20 on that last check, so she stayed and was present at the party "for real". Not a huge difference in her attitude, though. I was doing an Honour-run, so I chose the obvious scenario for the final battle and let the Emperor assimilate Orpheus. I also would never want Karlach to turn into a squid, so the only other option I ever chose was to reject the Emperor and let Orpheus grow tentacles. He seemed quite happy to do it, too.. :D

You either sacrifice Gale or you use the tadpole the Emperor gave you to turn Illithid in order to open the gate into the brain. :P

Well if you choose to Free Orpheus, you put him in a predicament. He's fully convinced Orpheus will slay him once freed, so the choice is between certain death and a life of slavery to the brain. He chooses to live no matter what, and believes that at least with the Netherbrain he'll have a chance at surviving Orpheus' wrath. Unfortunately for him, I killed him anyway.

You can still fight the brain but you need an Illithid so you’d use the tadpole. If you want no Illithids then Gale’s got a job to do.

Haha, true enough, but I couldn’t upset Lae’zel by dooming her Space Jesus. :P You just need Lae’zel and Gale to be in the party, and the key dialogue options are telling the Emperor you will turn to a Mindflayer, then saying you’ll do it later (so that you have the tadpole in your inventory for if you don’t use Gale’s Orb at the Brain). Then you side with Lae’zel to free Orpheus and tell Orpheus to trust Gale’s plan. He’ll accept his “assurance” without you actually properly turning ingame because you have the option to transform with the tadpole. Then just go through with Gale’s plan.

@@Praetorian349 wow, one of my playthroughs was a monk chick and I thought I’d be able to bypass becoming ilithid so the monk became ilithid then sacrificed herself not to be ilithid anymore. Had her with karlach so they both died. A tragic yet bitter sweet end for that character, at least they both now have each other in the afterlife 🤷‍♂️

@@Praetorian349 yeah, but then Gale dies. I like Orpheus much less than I like Gale.

That’s odd, I wonder if you’ve had interactions with him earlier in the game where a dialogue option has turned him off to the idea of using the Orb? :-/

@@Praetorian349 Yeah, probably i did something to mess this up beforehand. But today i manage to do this without sacrificing anyone but i don't even know how i did it :D I agreed to become a mindflayer, and in a brief moment in the cutscene it showed me as a mindflayer, but after that cutscene everything was normal and i didn't turn to a mindflayer and nobody mentioned about it either. Game proceeded as normal and in the end Gale sacrified himself and i got the ending i wanted in the end (with nobody turned into a mindflayer). I suppose it was a bug but it worked out for me so i don't care xD ps: Before speaking to Orpheus (while speaking with Emperor), i said to Emperor that we need a moment to discuss internally about turning into a mindflayer, and in that moment i spoke with Gale about him exploding himself. He proposed that he could blow himself up if needed. This could be the reason of the bug that prevented myself becoming a mindflayer. Just wanted to add this so if anyone have the same issue as mine can use the same pattern. This conversation probably be needed beforehand in order to work this bug out.

Wanted to add that I had the same error... Gale never entered the convo. So I picked that I would be the one to transform when talking to the prince. When all was said and done I was still fine. I followed all the other dialogue prompts and convos in the order they appeared.

In this video we say we’re going to use Gale’s Netherese Orb explosion to kill the Netherbrain. We weren’t lying about that. :P I’ve got another video of the aftermath of this decision where Gale blows himself up on the Netherbrain and everyone mourns the loss of our Wizard, with no one sprouting tentacles.

@@Praetorian349 fascinating! I've genuinely never heard of this outcome. Definitely a solid way to end everything if you're not attatched to Gale.

@@thearoy3338 I quite like Gale as a character, but watching him martyr himself for the world, and seeing his epilogue scenes was really special. :)

That's irritating. I just finished my honour mode run and did this method again, worked like a charm. :) Meant I didn't have to fight the Netherbrain fight and risk my run, so I took the coward's way out. ;)

You told Orpheus you’re gonna use Gale’s bomb. You’re not a liar. :P

@Praetorian349 OH gotcha. That's not what I wanted to do haha.

You have to use the tadpole to turn Illithid if you want to do the fight and open the portal. Otherwise you use Gale’s bomb to keep everyone less-than-tentacled. :P

@@Praetorian349 ooooh I see. Bummer 😭(but still helpful, thank you!)

Yep, here are the epilogue scenes with Lae’zel from this, and I have the Gale scenes in another video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VbXiGSxrV30.htmlsi=PWZTTwtbqz-8yDoQ

Yeah, Gale is the key to having an alternative way to kill the Netherbrain, without needing an Illithid. :)

No one refers to you as a Mindflayer even once. :) Options that are closed to Mindflayers are open with this walkthrough, like previously Lae'zel wouldn't be convinced to stay with you in Faerun when you're a Mindflayer, but she will stay no questions asked.

@@Praetorian349 so how do you defeat the netherbrain without being illithid

Highly doubt it. After the emperor abused his powers, killed his guards and kept him imprisoned, there is no way Orpheus was going to let him live.

@@shaktosh524 So let the dice roll, they can add high diff persuasion roll

@@savinkov3584 Sorry diplomancers, at some point you need to roll up your sleeves and make decisions.

Same for me, but you can resurrect her ! ;-)

Dammon sells this armor in act 3 if he is alive.

Armour of Persistence, from Dammon in Act 3 (if he's still alive) :P bg3.wiki/wiki/Armour_of_Persistence And yeah, the key difference is taking the tadpole, so you have a way to turn Illithid yourself if you choose, without Orpheus just doing it to you by lowering his guard against the Netherbrain.

The cutscene you’re talking about is further back at the start of act 3. This walkthrough is for much later. :)

Yeah, that'd be cool. And nah, the game treats everything as normal. I put up a couple of videos of the aftermath with Gale and my romance with Lae'zel. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VbXiGSxrV30.html

Used Gale's bomb. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pXrYoXWlzgE.html Might be a glitch, might not be, but everything functions exactly as you'd expect. :)

@@Praetorian349 Okay, thanks. I thought so, but it wasn't clear.

You either use the tadpole to be able to do the final fight, or you skip the final fight with Gale’s bomb if you don’t want an Illithid.

@@Praetorian349 Damn, well guess I'll call this playthrough finished lmao. Thanks dude!

No, they don’t treat you like an Illithid. If you check my other two uploaded videos you can see the aftermath of this, everyone acknowledges you are not Illithid and Lae’zel will kiss you and such (which she wouldn’t do for an Illithid). Gale is the key as you use him to beat the Netherbrain with his self destruct explosion, instead of having an Illithid use the Netherstones. This isn’t a glitch as far as I can tell, as if you decide not to use Gale in the end, your companions will say voice lines about instead using the tadpole to turn Illithid to fight the Brain. It just does appear to be a little buggy.

@@Praetorian349 ah I see, so you say you will sacrifice Gale as a consequence but then don't use him like at moonrise? Or you 100% have to kill him this time? I'm trying to spoil as a little of the ending as possible while getting the best ending possible so apologies if I missed anything.

@@LukeEvans55 Haha, you either use Gale’s explosion or you use the tadpole and turn Illithid. It doesn’t appear you can have Gale alive and no Illithid transformation or Emperor assistance. Although someone pointed out that if you play as Origin Gale you can turn Illithid and then Mystra can turn you back, which is cool, that seems like the only no-Illithid ending with Gale still alive, from what I can tell. :)

@@Praetorian349 She can't turn Gale back unless he goes with her to Elysium

I sacrificed Gale. You either do that or you go to fight the brain and use the tadpole mid fight to turn Illithid.

@@Praetorian349Yes, that was my point, you have to be mindflayer to finish it normally, just postponing inevitable then.

@@scanix100 Or you sacrifice Gale. No Mindflayer. If you try to sacrifice Gale without getting the Emperor’s tadpole Orpheus will make you still need a Mindflayer. This method means you can sacrifice Gale without a Mindflayer.

We weren't lying about having Gale blow up the Netherbrain. He just goes up there alone and gets the job done: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pXrYoXWlzgE.html

It depends if you pushed gale to blowing himself up during the earlier parts of his quest line. You can give him hope or tell him to do it. Only then will he offer himself, otherwise he wants to live and defy Mystra.

@@trisst9370 interesting, in another pt,I discouraged him from blowing himself up & I had to pass a persuasion check for him not to do it, sometimes I wonder if it's random, I still managed to get the ending this time though, but I had to pass a dc 25 check to get him to go ahead, ah well

I don't see why it wouldn't. :)

​@Praetorian349 what happens to the Crown? Does it get destroyed with Gale?

@@liquidpleasure6123 Yep. Which I imagine would upset your business partner. :P Would be worth testing, but unfortunately I killed our favourite Devil. :(

Thanks! :D

Yes, it still works.

I tried it just now, still works

I just tested it on my save and yeah, it looks like if you drop the tadpole then Orpheus doesn't consider that you're able to turn yourself, so he will turn you when you say you'll do it. If you have the tadpole in your inventory then he just accepts that you'll turn yourself, I guess. :( Sorry buddy, hope you have a save from before you dropped it!

Hahaha, tested it some more, when you drop it it disappears, but you still have the option of offering for Orpheus to use the tadpole. When you do he says "Are you kidding, you misplaced it? Find it!". But if you say you will turn he will turn you without waiting on the tadpole.

Did you maybe convince Gale previously to not blow himself up? I never goaded him into doing it in conversation, but I also never expressly convinced him not to, so that could be why he volunteers.

@@Praetorian349 I convinced him not to use the crown to become a god, that's all. Also after I started rowing my boat towards the ending area, the enhanced tadpole disappeared from my inventory. 👀 It looks like you still have yours here, and it looks like the Emperor presented you with another one? He didn't do that when I spoke to him either. After talking to Orpheus though, Gale did have something to say to me, but talking to Orpheus again after I didn't get any prompt to tell him about the orb at all. 🤔 So unfortunately or if he has had to transform in this run through for me and Gale sacrifices himself. So perhaps I definitely didn't follow the same steps up until that point as you did, or maybe this is something specific to the console version as I'm on PS5. Hard to say. 🤷

@@MizuMing The tadpole he gives here is different from the original tadpole you get at the start of Act 3, and without getting this one here you cannot do this method. The one the Emperor gives you here won't turn you into a partial Illithid like the other one, this one will do the complete transformation into a proper Illithid. :)

@@Praetorian349 Guess I'll try it again on another run then. Finished this one earlier. 😅

@@Praetorian349ty that what confused me the most about this i can acually use the illith powers

No, it’s after the initial confrontation with the Netherbrain using the stones.