The Wizard of Waterdeep is a companion quest linked with an NPC wizard, Gale, in Baldur’s Gate 3. You will encounter this human mage early in Act 1 and follow his sense of morality. Gale is a good guy and always strives to save others in need, so adding him to your party is worth it. He will fulfill the wizard rank in your team.
After you gain Gale’s approval, he will offer insight into his deteriorating condition. He needs magic items to cure his condition temporarily. You can offer to help him find a cure during his campaign quest, the Wizard of Waterdeep in BG3.
Steps to Complete The Wizard of Waterdeep
The Wizard of Waterdeep is one of the longest quests in Baldur’s Gate 3. It will require you to complete multiple objectives. 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’s companion quest for the Gale, you must add him to your party in Baldur’s Gate 3. You will find him during ACT 1, towards the west side of Baldur’s Gate 3 Overgrown Ruins area.
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 the Strength check by rolling out 20 to pull him out.
Once he is out, 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 in BG3.
After he agrees to join your party, you must choose actions and responses that suit his liking. This will increase his respect for you, and eventually, you will be able to gain his approval.
Since it is always good to have a wizard in your party, Gale can quickly fulfill that purpose. However, Gale’s companion quest, The Wizard of Waterdeep in Baldur’s Gate 3, will be available when he gets added to your party.
You will learn something about him that he needs to consume the Weave from magic items in BG3. You can keep some magical items in your inventory for later use if he needs them. Gale will eventually request these later on and mention that a catastrophe is bound to occur if he doesn’t take them.
Gale’s 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 in Baldur’s Gate 3. Due to his somewhat arrogant and prideful nature, he releases volatile magic.
Due to this Act, 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.
Due to this, he needs to refresh 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 Baldur’s Gate 3 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.
After using those, his demeanor will change, and he will become more trusting towards you. He 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 in the Wizard of Waterdeep quest in BG3.
Find Elminster and why he is interested in Gale.
Apart from Gale’s magic deficient condition, you will also learn another detail that he is a student to a great wizard as well. This will happen to be the Wizard Elminster in BG3, and you will find him randomly during the game.
In my case, there is no fixed location for this character; I came across him near the Shadow cursed lands. You must travel and meet his mentor to progress in BG3, 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.
Eradicate the Heart of the Absolute
The message from Mystra will signify that Gale needs to find the Heart of the Absolute first in BG3. Then he needs to destroy it, and this Act can be done by detonating the orb. But this Act can be fatal for Gale, so he must think it through.
Either way, his mentor will give Gale a powerful spell, temporarily stabilizing the orb within him and halting his condition.
However, it won’t last long, and he needs to spend that time and find the Heart of the Absolute to enact Mystra’s plan for him in Baldur’s Gate 3. Now you must aid him as a fellow party member in this endeavor and seek out the Heart.
This scenario can also play out in different plays, as Gale is a prideful wizard who can also go against you. I have laid out the scenarios for you.
Scenario 1: Gale stabs himself
As you remember, Gale was treated Temporarily by the Great Wizard Elminster for his magic deficiency. 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 the second Act, you will have to fight against Ketheric Thorm. Since this enemy boss 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 in BG3.
At the end of this second Act, you will see the Absolute emerging at that particular 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”.
Remember to save beforehand because if Gale ends up stabbing himself, he will resultantly blow you up as well, ending your game in Baldur’s Gate 3. Now you have a choice beforehand while re-rolling your saved file and avoiding this outcome.
Moreover, 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, for you in BG3.
Scenario 2: Stop Gale from exploding
You can open that previously saved file and try to go the other way in this scenario. 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 sight on the Netherese Crown. You must journey to Sorcerous Sundries and go to the bookseller there to learn about the Netherese magic in Baldur’s Gate 3. This way, Gale and your party will also come in contact with Raphael, and the devil will offer some details, but he will demand the crown for himself.
You can decline that offer, search the Sorcerous Sundries vault and bring the Annals of Karsus to Gale to decipher in BG3. As part of the Wizard of Deepwater companion quest in BG3, Gale can also attempt to make the true crown and summon its power.
By doing that, Elminster will approach you and ask Gale to meet Mystra at her shrine in the Stromshore Tabernacle area. However, the crown will corrupt Gale, and when Mystra asks for it, he won’t give it. Instead, he intends to wield its power for himself.
However, if he gives her the crown, Gale will be cured of his condition, but he can choose to become the most powerful wizard by taking the crown.
After that, 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 in BG3, will also end for your party.
