GamesRPGBaldur’s GateBaldur’s Gate 3Baldur’s Gate 3’s champion speedrunner just smashed two world records in as many days through the power of friendly fire, invisible bears, and throwing a guy off a bridgeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

GamesRPGBaldur’s GateBaldur’s Gate 3Baldur’s Gate 3’s champion speedrunner just smashed two world records in as many days through the power of friendly fire, invisible bears, and throwing a guy off a bridgeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Image for Baldur�s Gate 3�s champion speedrunner just smashed two world records in as many days through the power of friendly fire, invisible bears, and throwing a guy off a bridge

Even after astandout AGDQ showing, prolific Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunner Mae shows no signs of pumping the brakes any time soon. Building on the strategies shown off at AGDQ, the runner brought BG3’s all-actsworld record under 20 minutesbefore zipping through the megahard permadeathHonour mode in 21:17for another world record the very next day.

I didn’t notice any new strategies on display in these two runs, just a faster, cleaner implementation. Indeed, there are some maneuvers from thetwo-act any% runthat remain crucial here. Max Strength with magically enhanced leaps allow Mae to moon jump past encounters, while killing companions and stuffing them into boxes or other characters' inventories seems to be the Divinity Engine’s kryptonite, enabling all kinds of skips and mischief.

The real highlight vs. the any% run, for my money, is how Mae deals with the main villains of the game. We start off strong with Shadowbear, a polymorphed, invisible Shadowheart who repeatedly jumps on top of act 2’s boss to deal a ton of crushing damage (see also:Owlbear orbital strike). Staying invisible means Shadowbear can keep jumping back and forth in real time while the boss is stuck in turn-based mode, a hilarious abuse of the split between BG3’s combat and exploration.

There could very well be further improvements to be made to the all acts record as well: a good two thirds of these runs are spent in act 3, and I can only guess what optimizations remain to be found. In the meantime, you can check out a back catalogue of great speedruns and stay abreast of future updates viaMae’s YouTube channel.

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2024 was still the year of Baldur’s Gate 3: Why we’re all still playing Larian’s once-in-a-decade RPG 16 months later

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Baldur’s Gate 3 romance - Shadowheart raising a cup with the player

The voice of Shadowheart, Jennifer English, would love to return to the role after Baldur’s Gate 3—as long as Hasbro doesn’t mess it up and ‘make her into a cartoon’

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