Summary
On the surface,Baldur’s Gate 3doesn’t seem like a game that lends itself well to speedrunning. The game’s movement is point-and-click, meaning there isn’t a lot of fluidity to the movement that runners can optimise. However, there are a fair number of interesting glitches and exploits that make the run entertaining for a first-time viewer.
There has been a lot of optimisation over the past year, with theAny% world recordnow clocking in at 3 minutes and 28 seconds. There has also been some exciting back-and-forth trading of world records between runners, namely Mae, Bisc and Chronos. However, the American runner Bisc has now clearly established himself atop the throne of every single speedrun category that Baldur’s Gate 3 has available.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Is A Fast Game
Bisc’sAny% world recordis just three seconds faster than Mae’s, but it hasn’t been beaten in over 4 months. For those unfamiliar with the route, you play as Gale because of his ability to end the game in Act 2 through explosive means. The real key to this category is a strategy called Shadowboxing, an exploit whereby you kill God’s Favourite Princess, stick her in a burning container and, using a bit of out-of-bounds trickery, catapult her long distances.
As the container is burning, it will then break as it lands, spilling the deceased Shadowheart into whatever area you’ve aimed the launch at. Her untimely demise is irrelevant as cutscenes will still trigger, allowing you to essentially teleport to her landing spot. With two quick-fire Shadowboxes, first to the Mountain Pass and then right into the boss room of Moonrise Towers, and an arcane nuke, the credits will roll.
The next category isAny% All Acts, where the only additional rule is that you must ‘see’ all three acts of the game, essentially disallowing Gale’s explode-y method. There are some very interesting adjustments in this run since you need to win a couple of boss fights. To defeat Ketheric, Shadowheart (respecced to Druid) turns into a giant bear and jumps on him twice.
Gortash is manhandled by Jaheira using the throw feature - you can essentially carry NPCs around. You simply silently (in front of everyone) abduct Gortash from the throne room, go outside and then push him off a bridge. Orin’s defeat is a lot buggier, it involves switching the real Orin with the orphan Yenna for an easy kill. With a bit of manipulation of the Illithid power ‘Perilous Stakes’, you just one-shot the Netherbrain with Magic Missile to roll credits.
The world-famousSex%is refreshingly simple, and Bisc holds the world record on both Pre-Patch 5 and Patch 5. Baldur’s Gate 3’s Patch 5 made seducing Lae’zel a whole 2 minutes slower, resulting in the creation of a subcategory. Whereas just humiliating the Tiefling Zorru used to be enough, now you must also blow up the three Ogres in the Blighted Village to win the githyanki’s affection.
In a similar vein,Bear%is about how fast you can get to ‘that’ scene with Halsin. This category isn’t dissimilar to Any%, except you have to do every Halsin-related thing in Act 1 and Act 2. This means encountering him at the Goblin Camp and lifting the Shadow Curse. You know the rest. There aren’t many runners for this one, but Bisc managed it in 21 minutes and 9 seconds.
Several modes have sections for both Honour and Explorer modes, usually the former is a couple of minutes slower. In all cases, Bisc holds the record for both modes.
That only leavesAny% No Major Glitcheswhich prohibits the major exploits you see in other categories. There was a fantastic run of this route by Chronos at the recent Summer Games Done Quick speedrunning marathon (above), with Bisc even providing commentary from the couch. Bisc’s time is 6 minutes faster than Chronos in second place, clocking in at 38 minutes and 56 seconds.
It’s impossible to know if Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunning is going to have longevity. Bisc has been dominant for months, but sometimes it can take years before a worthy challenger comes along. For now, he remains atop every category out there.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.
