The Wizard of Waterdeep is a companion quest for the party wizard, Gale, in Baldur’s Gate 3. You will encounter this human mage early in Act 1 and follow his sense of morality. Despite being a bit cocky, Gale is a good guy and always strives to save others in need, so adding him to your party is worth it.
After you gain Gale’s approval, he will offer insight into his deteriorating condition. He needs magic items to cure his condition temporarily. However, you can help him find a permanent cure by completing his companion quest.
How to Complete The Wizard of Waterdeep quest in Baldur’s Gate 3
The Wizard of Waterdeep is one of the longest quests in Baldur’s Gate 3. It will require you to complete multiple objectives from Act 1 to Act 3. For your convenience, we have divided this walkthrough into steps so that you don’t get confused while completing this quest.
Recruit Gale
To start The Wizard of Waterdeep companion quest for the Gale, you must recruit him. You will find him during Act 1, towards the west side of Baldur’s Gate 3 Overgrown Ruins area, or by going North from the crash site of the Nautiloid ship.
So, after reaching the Roadside Cliff area, you will come across an ancient (purple) Sigl Circle. Interact with it, and you will be able to notice the magic swirling around it.
Suddenly, a hand will pop out, and someone from the other side will ask for assistance. This will happen to be Gale. You can inquire about him and pass a DC20 Strength check to pull him out.
Once Gale is freed, you can chat with him and learn that he also needs a healer. You can then offer him to join your party, searching for a common cause: finding a potent healer.
This will allow you to learn something about him that he needs to consume the Weave from magic items. You can keep some magical items in your inventory for later use if he needs them. Gale will eventually request these later and mention that a catastrophe is bound to occur if he doesn’t take them.
Gale explains his Condition
As mentioned earlier, Gale will consult you on using magic items, but his condition’s decline is related to another matter. As it happens, he falls victim to a love trap for the goddess Mystra. Due to his somewhat arrogant and prideful nature, he releases volatile magic.
He had to keep this Weave within him, but it wasn’t enough, and he required more. He resorted to absorbing the weaves from the magical items to fill that gap. But that wasn’t always sufficient for him, and it altered his condition.
Gale needs to replenish himself occasionally with magic items. You can see the indication on this character with an (!) mark when he needs magical items (Weave).
How you can Treat Gale’s Condition
Now that you have learned about Gale’s Condition, you can offer him a magic item from your inventory. However, it won’t be enough to fill him up entirely, as his condition is somewhat fixed for now. So, you can offer him magic items two more times.
There is a bug where, despite donating magic items to Gale, it will still appear that he hasn’t received any. To fix this problem, make sure that you move the magic item into Gale’s Inventory. Then, talk to Gale and select the Donate option once more. The same item will still appear in your donation list. Once you donate it, select Gale and Consume the item from the inventory.
Gale is very picky about magic items. He won’t accept any item below an uncommon rarity. Make sure that you check the items first before donating. Items that say “Gale can consume this” should be given to him, or multiple failed donations will tick him off.
After consuming the magic items, his demeanor will change, and he will become more trusting towards you. Gale will then disclose that his condition isn’t stabilizing with this remedy and is worsening daily. You will have to look towards finding a solution for Gale to stabilize the orb and proceed onwards with the Wizard of Waterdeep quest in BG3.
Find Elminster Aumar
Apart from Gale’s magic condition, you will learn another detail that he is a student to a great wizard as well. This will happen to be the Wizard Elminster, and you will find him randomly during the game.
In our case, there is no fixed location for this character. We came across him near the Shadow cursed lands. You must travel and meet his mentor to progress The Wizard of Waterdeep Quest. You will learn that this great wizard was waiting for Gale to come to him as Elminster has a message to deliver from Mystra.
Destroy the Heart of the Absolute
The message from Mystra will signify that Gale needs to find the Heart of the Absolute first. Then he needs to destroy it, and this Act can only be done by detonating the orb in his chest. But this Act can be fatal for Gale, so he must think it through.
Elminster Aumar will give Gale a powerful spell, temporarily stabilizing the orb within him and halting his deteriorating condition. However, it won’t last long, and the only solution left for Gale is to enact Mystra’s plan. Now, you must aid him as a fellow party member in this endeavor and seek out the Heart of the Absolute.
This scenario can also play out in two different ways.
Scenario 1: Gale stabs himself
As you remember, Gale was treated Temporarily by the Great Wizard Elminster for his condition. So, he will be able to gain a powerful ability known as Netherese Orb Blast. This ability can affect a large radius and blow up everything within its range.
During Act 2, you will have to fight and defeat Ketheric Thorm. Since this enemy can evade death at your hands, you will eventually find him again at the Mind Flayer Colony while you complete a side quest related to finding Zevlor.
At the end of Act 2, you will see the Absolute emerging at that location. So, as part of Gale’s companion quest, you need to destroy its heart. Gale will offer to do the job using the Netherese Orb Blast ability.
If you want to go with Gale’s plan to blow up the Absolute, select “Go ahead. We stand no chance against such forces. Let’s end this together” from the dialogue options.
Remember to save beforehand because if Gale ends up stabbing himself, he will resultantly blow you up as well, ending your game prematurely in Baldur’s Gate 3.
You can also choose to banish Gale from your party to avoid this outcome, but this will lead to ending his companion quest, The Wizard of Waterdeep.
Scenario 2: Stop Gale from exploding
You can load that previously saved file and try to go the other way. For this, select the option “Gale; you cannot do this. You can’t condemn us to death.” This can be done by passing the persuasion check and persuading Gale not to destroy the heart.
Somehow, Gale will be convinced and set his sights on the Netherese Crown. You must journey to Sorcerous Sundries in the Lower City during Act 3 and talk to the bookseller there to learn about the Netherese magic. This way, Gale and your party will also meet Raphael, and the devil will offer some details, but he will demand the crown for himself.
You can decline that offer, solve the Sorcerous Sundries vault puzzle, and bring the Annals of Karsus to Gale to decipher. This will allow Gale to understand the crown worn by Netherbain is the Crown of Karsus. He will also learn to restore its power completely by combining it with three Netherstones that you can obtain from Ketheric Thorm, Orin the Red, and Lord Enver Gortash.
Elminster Aumar will approach you at the camp and ask Gale to meet Mystra at her shrine in the Stromshore Tabernacle area. What happens next is totally up to you.
- If you tell Gale to keep the Crown for himself, the crown will corrupt Gale, and when Mystra asks for it, he won’t give it. Instead, he intends to wield power for himself.
- If you ask Gale to hand over the crown, he will be cured of his condition.
If you choose the first option, Gale will leave your party and even turn against you. You can defeat him, and in doing so, he will die in Baldur’s Gate 3. You won’t be able to resurrect him; this way, his companion quest, The Wizard of Waterdeep, will also end in Baldur’s Gate 3.
