One of the main appeals of Baldur’s Gate 3 is that anyone can experience one of the biggest, most content-rich adventures ever released at their own pace. And that adventure also makes for some excellent speedruns.
Many players take the time to explore the vast world of Faerûn, engaging in sidequests and random conversations for a truly unique experience. But the epic scope and wealth of options available also present an enticing challenge for players wanting to show off their speedrunning skills.
There are currently three main speedrunning categories in Baldur’s Gate 3—Any%, Sex%, and Bugbear%. Find below who currently holds the world record for each of those speedrunning categories and their methods.
The best Baldur’s Gate 3 speedruns
Any%
The primary BG3 speedrunning category is Any% on Tactician difficulty, which simply requires players to finish the game via the quickest means possible. Speedrunners tend to play as Gale as his story allows them to complete the game as early as Act Two. The Enhance Leap and Feather Fall spells are also extremely valuable, as speedrunners use them to seamlessly jump over any obstacle with ease.
Mae was the first notable Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunner, having completed the game in 10 minutes and three seconds on Aug. 13. Since then, however, other speedrunners joined the race and a player named ImTaiyl beat Baldur’s Gate 3 in three minutes and 57 seconds on Sept. 4.
ImTaiyl accomplished this by playing with Gale and using Shadowheart as a companion. The method requires you to get out of the Nautiloid as fast as you can, take Shadowheart to the Ruined Battlefield and kill her there, and dispose of her body in a chest. After that, ImTaiyl put the chest in Gale’s inventory and triggered one of the magician’s endings.
Sex%
The “Sex%” run involves racing to take a companion to bed as fast as possible. This speedrun requires a similar strategy to the Any% category, using a wizard’s long jump ability to quickly leap through the map, though the Longstrider spell is also used to cover small distances at speed.
Mae was once again the first to get the ball rolling, having taken Lae’Zel to bed in less than 10 minutes on Aug. 14. The Canadian speedrunner has gotten way better at this and managed to trigger a sexual encounter with Lae’Zel in just two minutes and four seconds on Aug. 29, playing with a custom wizard.
The tactic to do it that fast requires getting out of the Nautiloid as fast as possible with the use of jump and Feather Fall and immediately head to free Lae’Zel from the cage she’s trapped in, and approach her at the Emerald Grove.
Bugbear%
The Bugbear speedrun revolves around a barn in Blighted Village, where players can find a bugbear and ogre enjoying some intimate time together before they’re rudely interrupted. For nerds, this speedrun category is effectively a race to get to the coordinates X:30, Y:470.
The best Bugbear speedrun in Baldur’s Gate 3 was accomplished by Mae on Aug. 17 and it lasted only two minutes and 14 seconds. Mae made a custom wizard and accurately used jump after casting Feather Fall to get to Blighted Village as fast as possible after leaving the Nautiloid.
What’s next for BG3 speedrunning?
Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunning is in its infancy, as many people who enjoy speedrunning want to appreciate the game at a slower pace to get the maximum of its rich narrative and creative characters.
That said, there’s a ton of promise for more impressive speedruns, even at this early stage: Categories like No Gale any% and Bear% (of course referencing the viral sex scene with a Druid in bear form) have been added as official categories, although they haven’t been attempted yet. It’s no surprise that no one has tried to speedrun BG3 without Gale yet, as this would require mastering the punishing Third Act.
New players are set to play Baldur’s Gate 3 in the near future as the game is coming out for PlayStation 5 on Sept. 6 and for Xbox until the end of 2023. There’s a chance more people will be interested in trying to set new records while playing on a console rather than a PC.
