Should You Kill Gortash Or Orin First In Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 3? (2024)

At the end of Baldur's Gate 3's second act, players fight and defeat Ketheric Thorm, the Chosen of Myrkul and general of the Absolute's army. This leads to the realization that the ultimate villains of the game are the Dead Three: Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, as well as their mortal Chosen. Going into Act Three, players are tasked with finding and defeating the other two Chosen within the city of Baldur's Gate and claiming their Netherstones.

[Warning: Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3.]

This is easier said than done, with both Chosen hiding behind a wall of supporters and lurking in positions outside the player's reach. Early on in the act, however, both will appear in certain places to offer players a deal. That is, to strike an uneasy truce while focusing on destroying the other Chosen. The player's choice of what to do, whether to work with one Chosen or the other or to reject both deals entirely, changes the order in which the rest of act three plays out.

Where To Meet With The Chosen In Baldur's Gate

Accept The Offer From Gortash, Orin, Or Neither

Enver Gortash, the Chosen of Bane and prospective archduke of the city, will likely be the first Chosen players can make a deal with. He invites the party to his coronation, where he reveals the power of his Steel Watcher constructs, as well as the logic behind his plan. He then offers the player advice on how to find and kill Orin the Red, the Chosen of Bhaal, saying that she is too chaotic and bloodthirsty, and that their alliance has reached its end. He also proposes sharing his power with the party in exchange.

Orin, meanwhile, offers no such grace. Instead, she can be found the first time the party enters the city sewers, at which point she reveals that she has kidnapped a member of the party. She threatens their lives and holds them hostage, saying that she will only let them go if the player kills Gortash for her, then meets her in her temple for a duel. It's a less peaceful offering, but one that is perhaps a bit more honest, as Gortash is a renowned manipulator who likely plans to betray the party later on.

When speaking with Gortash or Orin, players can choose to accept the offer from one, both, or neither of them. This choice affects the hostility of certain enemies later on, but at this point, players can still choose to pursue whichever Chosen they wish to deal with first. And while technically, players can go straight to the hideouts of either endgame boss, both have quest lines which make their final fight considerably easier.

Siding With Gortash Leads Players Towards Investigating A Murder Mystery

Kill Or Become Of Bhaal's Assassins To Get Clues

If players accept Gortash's deal and try to hunt down Orin, they must seek out and gain entry to the Temple of Bhaal. This means investigating the ritualistic murders being committed by Bhaal cultists around the city to learn the secret way to enter this villain's lair. One murderer, Dolor, can be tracked down as he commits his murder spree, and once he is defeated, the way forward can be found within documents on his corpse.

This leads to a meeting with the murder tribunal, a group of Bhaal worshipers beneath Candulhollow Tombstones in the Lower City. Players need a certain amulet given to Bhaal's unholy assassins to enter the temple, and must gain it by either killing the members of the tribunal, or impressing them enough to become an assassin of Bhaal themselves. Once this is done, players can venture to the sewers, find the Undercity Ruins, and use the amulet they got from the tribunal to enter the temple.

If players have not yet dealt with Gortash, the path forward from here is much harder than it would otherwise be. Servants of Bhaal attack relentlessly to keep the party from reaching Orin, using high-damage attacks and powerful spells. Finally, the party can reach Orin in the temple's sanctum, where their captive party member is held and Orin waits to duel.

The Rewards And Consequences Of Killing Orin First

You Can Save Or Lose Your Companion That's Being Held Hostage

If players do all of this and go up against Orin without doing what she asked, she will express immense displeasure and immediately go to kill her hostage. This can still be avoided with a Charisma check, but otherwise, this may cost the permanent death of a companion. After this, Orin and her Bhaalist allies will attack the party, leading to a difficult outnumbered fight at the center of the murder god's power.

If players manage to take down Orin and her followers, they can claim her weapons and her Netherstone. Orin's dagger, Bloodthirst, in particular is an amazing weapon, and early access to it will give players a valuable item to use for the rest of Act Three. Plus, this allows them to skip a conflict with Gortash entirely, as returning to him now will allow players to work with him in order to reach the Netherbrain.

This conflict can go very differently if the player is the Dark Urge. Using this Origin character changes the dynamic with Orin and Bhaal entirely, and can lead to very different rewards. If players are using this character, it might be worth dealing with Gortash first, in order to have a one-on-one climactic duel with Orin.

Following Orin's Instructions Leads Players To Dismantle Gortash's Forces

Without His Steel Watchers, It Is Easier To Kill Gortash

If players want to take up Orin's offer and kill Gortash first, they can actually do it very quickly if they want to. Gortash is in his office at the top of Wyrm's Rock Fortress, where he tells the party to go after dealing with Orin. If they wish, players can simply ascend the fortress from the outside and breach Gortash's office to fight him at the beginning of Act Three. This is, however, inadvisable, given the strength of the Steel Watchers guarding Gortash and his hold over the city.

Instead, Orin advises players to first dismantle the Steel Watch by destroying the Foundry in the Lower City. The Foundry is well-guarded and full of captive gnomes, making destroying it without bloodshed difficult. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to go about getting help to destroy this place, from working with Wulbren and the Ironhand gnomes to use their bombs, to freeing Gortash's prisoners in the Iron Throne to gain the help of the gnomes in the Foundry.

Of course, taking any hostile action against Gortash, whether by attacking the Iron Throne or destroying the Foundry, will trigger his fortress to go into lockdown and make reaching him harder. But after destroying the Foundry and permanently deactivating the Steel Watchers, Gortash's defenses are no longer as impenetrable. From there, players can fight or sneak their way back up Wyrm's Rock to confront Gortash in his office.

Killing Gortash First Has Its Perks And Its Downsides

Worse Loot But Good Development For Karlach

When players confront Gortash, even after destroying his Watchers and attacking his fortress, he will offer peace in exchange for dealing with Orin. But for players who want to ensure Orin's victim does not die, they will need to attack Gortash anyway. This leads to a fight with the archduke himself, his Bane-worshiping guards, and his constructed defenses within his office.

This includes flamethrowers, machines that shoot bombs, and contraptions which grant Gortash magical shields. If players can defeat all of this and take Gortash down once he ascends to his godlike final form, the archduke dies and his Netherstone can be looted off his corpse. The other loot Gortash has is not near as good as the weaponry players can take off of Orin, but there is still a fair bit of neat stuff to take from the tyrant's lair.

Plus, for players with Karlach in their party, defeating this foe grants some cathartic dialogue and a climax for her character arc. As much trouble as siding with Gortash may save players, doing so with Karlach in their party never feels good. In addition, defeating the archduke clears the Steel Watchers from the streets, taking out some difficult enemies who may prove troublesome if players start fights in the streets.

The Dark Urge Factors Into The Gortash Vs. Orin Decision

Some New Dynamics When Confronting Orin

As stated before, playing as the Dark Urge changes this decision quite a bit. Orin feels like a greater antagonist than Gortash, and one that should be saved until later to make the payoff more climactic. In addition, going down the route of becoming an unholy assassin can be incredibly in-character for the Urge. And defeating Orin in single combat is a way for the Urge to reclaim their position as Bhaal's Chosen, which grants a unique ending for the game.

On the other hand, it is outright stated that the Dark Urge and Gortash once worked together to great effect. Playing into this aspect of the character, it may also make sense for the Dark Urge to kill Orin first and then ally with Bane's Chosen. Much like playing as Karlach changes the emotional impact of killing Gortash, playing as the Urge gives this whole decision a great deal more weight.

Is There A Right Choice For This Decision?

A Story Choice, Because Both Can Be A Hard Fight

Mechanically speaking, no. The rewards one can gain for defeating either Chosen do not change depending on who players fight first; they are merely acquired at different times. Fighting Gortash and his Steel Watch is probably easier than fighting Orin's horde of assassins, but killing Orin first can remove the need to fight Gortash entirely, so difficulty-wise, it evens out. This decision matters mainly for storytelling purposes, and will change depending on the kind of character players want to be.

Fighting Gortash first to spare Orin's hostage shows that players care more about their party members than the power that might come with Gortash's alliance, while fighting Orin first may show desperation to gain Bhaal's favor for Dark Urge characters. Karlach players may even choose to fight Gortash before receiving his offer of a truce, which is incredibly difficult, but could play into the anger her character feels towards the tyrant. The right choice for the order in which to fight these Baldur's Gate 3 villains depends on the story that players want to tell.

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Baldur's Gate 3

RPG

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

Number of Players

1-4

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 Players

Split Screen Orientation

Vertical Only