Gale is one of the ten companions in Baldur’s Gate 3. He is a Human Wizard who has introduced himself as a prodigy of magic. However, due to his hubris and his wishes to prove his worth to his goddess lover, he stumbled upon ancient magic that turned him into a walking time bomb capable of destroying vast lands. Read ahead as we talk more about Gale and how to recruit him as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3.
BG3: How to recruit Gale
Gale can be found at the Roadside Cliffs waypoint, north of where the Nautiloid crash site is located. Upon interacting with the strange waypoint, Gale’s hand will pop out, but he appears to be stuck. At this point, you can do a Strength check to pull Gale out of the waypoint, or leave him to his fate.
If you’re successful at pulling him out, he will then tell you more about the parasite and the imminent ceremorphosis, and because of it, he offers his company to find a cleric that can help take out the parasite. You can then decide to accept him to the party or refuse him.
BG3: Gale Companion Quest – The Wizard of Waterdeep
Gale’s The Wizard of the Waterdeep companion quest starts upon accepting him in the party. On your next camp, talk to Gale and he will tell you about his condition, but only parts of it. He says that if he doesn’t consume magical artifacts, something inside him will explode and destroy an area as large as the city of Waterdeep.
Giving Gale magical artifacts to consume
Gale will then ask you to bring him items and artifacts that are imbued with Weave so that he could consume them and prevent the explosion. Such items are usually magical in nature, such as the Idol of Silvanus and the Shadow of Menzoberranzan, and they are also marked to let you know that they can be given to Gale. Giving such items to Gale will increase his approval towards you.
What happens if Gale is not given magical artifacts
If you do not give Gale any magical items, he will tell you that his condition has worsened and will remind you about it on your next camp. If you still don’t give him one on the following camp, he will then tell you that he no longer needs your help and thus you won’t need to give him magical artifacts.
If you probe on what Gale has done and pass a Wisdom check, you can see into his mind and find out that he has made a pact with Raphael the devil to cure his condition. Afterwards, you have the option to still keep him in the party, but bear the possible consequences of another devil-bound person, or tell him that he is no longer needed in the party.
A visit from Elminster
After some time, you will find an NPC known as Elminster Aumar who turns out to be Gale’s mentor. He came to look for Gale to bring him a message given by Mystra herself. Mystra offers Gale her forgiveness, but in exchange for it, Gale must sacrifice himself and use his curse to destroy the Heart of the Absolute, as letting the Absolute live and do its will will cause the destruction of the fabric of reality. Elminster also bestows the Netherese Orb Blast that allows Gale to explode on command.
After Elminster leaves, Gale will then tell you his full story of how he acquired the orb’s curse. Because of his wanting to prove himself to the goddess Mystra, he sought to find every last piece of the magical material known as Weave, but in his search, he unleashed some primordial magic that now resides in his body as the orb.
Destroy the Heart of the Absolute
If the orb blast is used in the battle, it will cause a wipeout, both on the enemy’s side and your side, which is essentially a bad idea especially if you want to play through the story even further.
On the other hand, the Netherese Orb Blast can actually be used as a way to get one of the endings of the game. As you reach the end of Act 2 and encounter Ketheric Thorm, you will also see the Absolute rising within the depths of the Moonrise Towers. At this point, if you have Gale in the party, you will be given an option to use the ability to destroy the Absolute once and for all. Doing so will trigger the cutscene where Elminster watches the explosion from afar followed by the credits of the game. This ending could also be considered as one of the conclusions of this companion quest.
In addition, this same path and ability was used to get the fastest speedrun of Baldur’s Gate 3. The run only lasted a little over 10 minutes and shows Gale leaping across Faerun until he reaches the Moonrise Towers and sacrifices himself to kill the Absolute. Although this run only spans across two acts, it is still considered as the record holder run, and not to mention, a hilariously done run.
Confront the Elder Brain
Alternatively, if you managed to bring gale to the end of Act 3 where you will confront the Netherbrain, you will also have the option to have gale use the blast to kill it. Depending on your relationship with Gale, he will either present himself or you can convince him to sacrifice himself. Once he blows up the Netherbrain, everyone that has been infected will be freed and all mind flayers will be incapacitated.
Reviving Gale
Gale has a unique way of reviving whenever he is killed. Interacting with his corpse will make his apparition appear. This apparition serves as Gale’s failsafe following his condition of having the orb inside his body. The apparition will then guide you through the steps on how get the True Resurrection Scroll that will revive him.
If you choose to ignore the warning and decide not to revive Gale within 2 days, as you wake up from camp on the third day, Gale’s body will levitate and the orb inside his body charges up and explodes. This will wipe out everyone in the party, causing a game over regardless of the distance of his corpse is from your party.
BG3: Gale Personality and Preferences
Gale can be considered more or less in the lawful good side of things as he prefer actions that would save someone in need of help. Additionally, he despises acts of evil or causing harm to others, unless they are enemies.
Gale is also romanceable and to gain his approval, you will need to always have him in the party or in dialogues, on top of his need to consume magical artifacts. Simply following his companion quest, but not letting him sacrifice himself, will be enough to raise your affection with Gale.
BG3: Gale Stats
Gale is a Wizard with a Sage background. He is a pure Human which gives him Bonus Racial Speed, Civil Militia, and Human Versatility as traits. He has the following base stats:
- Str: 8
- Dex: 13
- Con: 14
- Int: 17
- Wis: 10
- Cha: 13
- Initiative: +1
After successfully recruiting Gale, players will begin to choose which spells, classes, and gear he is best suited to use. Check out our Best Gale build guide as such for complete details.