There are many ways to die in Baldur's Gate 3, many of which involve the game's brutal enemies and combat encounters. Especially in Honour mode, where enemies are made tougher and given legendary actions, it is common for players to meet their ends at nearly any point across a playthrough.

But some deaths stand out as so easy to avoid, that almost no one actually suffers through them. These are primarily scripted deaths that occur when players make certain decisions and are fairly obvious in a way that directs most players to steer clear. Still, if specific actions are taken, these ten deaths can prove as deadly as any other in Baldur's Gate 3 for the player character or their companions.

10 Letting Lae'zel Kill You At Your Camp

Giving In To This Githyanki's Brutal Form Of "Mercy"

Early in act one, when the parasite seems poised to destroy your party, Lae'zel will opt to give you another way out. She holds a dagger to your character's throat, saying she will kill you and the others before you turn. In her mind, this is mercy, but she can be talked out of it in several ways with ease. In most cases, she can be dissuaded from this violent act, and wake up in the morning to find the parasite diminished.

Even if Lae'zel doesn't back off, she can be stood up to and killed in turn by the player and their remaining companions. Really, the only way this can result in your guaranteed death is if the player willingly lets Lae'zel cut their throat. Since most players want their characters to live, it's not a common choice, and most characters will not meet their ends this way.

9 Radiant Retorting Yourself In The House Of Grief

Don't Make This Same Combat Mistake Twice

Certain servants of Shar possess an ability called "radiant retort," which enables them to counter radiant damage in combat. When one of these creatures, mostly Dark Justiciars, takes radiant damage, they deal back double the amount of force damage to their attacker. This can result in paladins and clerics taking massive amounts of damage in the Gauntlet of Shar as they encounter these enemies for the first time.

It's common to get slapped by a radiant retort once or twice as players get used to the ability, but by the time they are done in the Gauntlet, most have learned to avoid radiant damage when fighting Shar's servants. But the ability does come up later, in the House of Grief, during the fight with Viconia to finish Shadowheart's quest. It's possible to have spells like Sunbeam or abilities like Divine Intervention by this point, which deal massive AOE radiant damage, and unobservant players may end up destroying themselves against this same ability.

8 Not Resurrecting Gale When He Dies

Take This Wizard's Words Seriously, Or Perish

It's unfortunate to lose any companion, but especially Gale of Waterdeep, whose death can have disastrous consequences. He will tell the player as much over and over again, emphasizing the destruction that the Netherese Orb within his chest could have on the world should he perish. He even has a backup plan involving a magic flute and a lava mephit to revive him, should he die completely.

Outside of dying, Gale's orb can also go nuclear if the player chooses to activate it after meeting Elminster, or if the player has Gale explode to destroy the Absolute in acts two or three. However, those are much more common ways of dying than just letting Gale expire and explode.

But if players ignore all that, leaving Gale dead and making no attempt to bring him back through his resurrection scroll or Withers, they will see he was telling the truth. If the player takes two long rests with Gale dead, his body will explode in a massive ball of arcane destruction, and level everything around it. That includes the player's character, their party, and presumably, everything else in an enormous radius.

7 Killing Mizora in the Oubliette

Sentencing Wyll To A Life In The Hells

As tempting as it may be to kill Mizora when she is found in the Oubliette, restrained within an Illithid pod, doing so delivers nothing but misery. The cambion tasked Wyll Ravengard with saving her life as part of his warlock pact, and failing to do so will reduce him to a lemure on the front lines of the Blood War. Naturally, Wyll begrudgingly decides to save her, though the player need not adhere to that choice.

Upon finding Mizora, the player can press a button to melt her down, which will send her back to the Hells -- and pull Wyll along with her. There isn't any upside to this decision, and freeing Mizora here is actually the only way to potentially secure Wyll's freedom later, so rarely does anyone actually make this choice. But those that do end up losing one of their companions, permanently.

6 Burning Up During Karlach's Rampage

The Most Literal Form Of Friendly Fire

Karlach is a fan-favorite companion among the Baldur's Gate 3 community, but her signature flames can have an adverse effect on the party. Karlach's malfunctioning infernal engine causes her to blaze hot and damage objects and creatures that touch her, especially when she is angry. That can be seen first when the player and Karlach destroy the paladins of "Tyr" pursuing her, and she flies into a rage.

She'll rush back and forth across the building the paladins were using as a base, breaking things and setting them on fire. This fire is pretty easy to escape, since the building is small and the flames only deal 1d4 damage at a time. But it's possible that after a tough fight with the paladins, characters already on the verge of death could be finished off by Karlach's flames. If the whole party happens to succumb to this, it can be pretty bad news for the player and for Karlach, who has just burnt up her new allies.

5 Falling Off Of An Elevator

The Deadly Glitch That Can Turn Elevators Into Death Traps

This next one is less of a choice, and more of a common glitch that can happen in several unfortunate areas. That is, the elevator beneath the player character and their party moving without them, resulting in them all falling to their deaths. It's not clear exactly why this glitch happens, but when it occurs in the Gauntlet of Shar or the Druid's Grove, it can be disastrous.

Luckily, the glitch is no longer as common as it once was, thanks to recent patches. But it can still happen, surprising even expert players and causing them to fail an Honour Mode campaign. As such, it might be best to leave one character behind when using certain elevators, just to ensure that a faulty one doesn't take out your whole party.

4 Surrendering Your Soul To Haarlep

The Worst Possible Choice In The House Of Hope

This is another case where the player basically has to ask for death for it to occur. Haarlep is an incubus found within the House of Hope, who is willing to trade some information on Raphael in exchange for intimate relations with the player character. You can choose to deny this offer and fight Haarlep, or even go through with it and give the fiend use of your body, placing you under a particularly scandalous curse.

Or, for those that have a deathwish, you can choose to give Haarlep your character's soul. This will result in that character's instant demise, in exchange for the information required to steal the Orphic Hammer. It's a bad choice that no one should make, though some do, perhaps in an attempt to avoid combat with the incubus and its curse entirely. Still, it doesn't make much sense to sacrifice an ally right before one of the hardest fights in the game.

3 Wild Magic Surge At A Bad Time

The Highest Form Of Bad Luck

Wild Magic sorcerers possess the chaotic ability to unleash a random magical effect when they cast a leveled spell. Unlike in D&D, where a wild magic surge can have 50 different outcomes, there are only 23 possibilities in Baldur's Gate 3, making a surge a little less dangerous. In addition, most of the surges are good for the player, providing a magical bonus or even an ally.

But some are quite bad, and can even down the party entirely if the sorcerer isn't careful. Some options summon hostile mephits and cambions, some surges light everything in the vicinity on fire, and one can turn the whole party into helpless cats and dogs. Especially at early levels, some of these surges can be deadly, and cause the destruction of both the sorcerer and their companions. Wild Magic is a fun subclass, but it has downsides.

2 Giving Astarion To The Monster Hunter

Giving Away Your Teammate For No Reason

Next up is another choice that doesn't kill the player character, but will result in the death of one of their companions. In this case it's Astarion, the escaped vampire spawn, who can be turned over to the monster hunter named Gandrel in the swamp during act one. Gandrel is a Gur, part of a group that Astarion robbed of their children to give to the vampire lord Cazador. Gandrel seeks to bring Astarion back to his people and put him to justice, forcing him to attempt to free the children he kidnapped.

Naturally, Astarion is not a fan of this plan, but can eventually be persuaded to willingly help the Gur if he makes it to act three with the party. However, surrendering Astarion to the monster hunter here will result in his inevitable demise, as any attempt he makes to break back into Cazador's manor results in him being dead and used in the ritual to make Cazador a vampire ascendant. In short, don't do this.

1 Sacrificing Someone To BOOAL

Betraying Your Companion For A Boost In Power

Last, and perhaps most unlikely, is the option of sacrificing a party member to a group of Kuo-Toa in the Underdark, all to gain power from their lord, BOOAL. BOOAL is a redcap who, thanks to the Kuo-Toa's powers of belief, has gained some of the powers of a god, and offers to make the player character his "chosen" if they give up a member of the party.

Not only does losing a character in this way require the party to find the Kuo-Toa in the Underdark, something many players miss, but it also requires them to give up a valuable member of the team for a relatively weak boost in power. Killing a companion in this way is irreversible, and generally not a good idea, since BOOOAL is obviously a charlatan who will likely not retain his power for much longer. All in all, this is probably the dumbest way to lose a companion in Baldur's Gate 3 and, therefore the least common.