Choices made in Baldur’s Gate 3 have a huge impact on your adventure and how other NPCs and even your companions interact with you. One of the major choices that can affect one of your companion’s questlines presents itself in the quest “Kill Raphael’s Old Enemy”. Players need to decide whether to kill Yurgir the Orthon in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Yurgir Location in Baldur’s Gate 3
During your journey in Act 2, players will meet one of the most interesting NPCs in the game, Raphael. He can be found in the Last Light Inn before you fight Isobel and Flaming Fist Marcus and just outside the Thorm Mausoleum.
When you talk to Raphael in both locations, he will bring your attention to the markings on Astarion’s back. You will get the quest “Read the Infernal Markings on Astarion’s back”. As it turns out, the only person who can help you read the markings is Raphael himself. However, to make him do so, you must do Raphael a favor by killing his enemy, Yurgir.
Raphael explains that Yurgir the Orthon is a powerful foe and can be found in the lowest part of the Thorm Mausoleum. If you defeat him, Raphael will translate the infernal markings on Astarion’s back.
The Thorm Mausoleum leads players to Gauntlet of Shar. To complete the gauntlet, players need Umbral Gems rewarded for completing different Trials of Shar. However, one of those gems is being held by Yurgir, so an encounter with him is unavoidable.
After players solve the first puzzle in Thorm Mausoleum and enter the Gauntlet, they can find a Displacer Beast leading them somewhere. You can kill the beast or follow it to be taken into an ambush prepared by Yurgir. However, you don’t necessarily have to fight Yurgir.
Should you Save or Kill Yurgir in Baldur’s Gate 3?
The definitive answer to this question is Yes. By killing Yurgir, you can progress Astarion’s storyline and please him and Raphael. By sparing Yurgir, you won’t gain any major benefits.
Saving Yurgir
Once you reach Yurgir, you get two options. Either to kill him or spare him. If you decide to save Yurgir, he will become your ally later in the game. Yurgir is quite a powerful NPC and can help in many encounters. This will also allow you to collect Yurgir’s Umbral Gem peacefully.
But saving Yurgir is not that easy. You first need to pass a DC16 Charisma check, and then Yurgir will tell you why he is here. Raphael sent him to kill all Dark Justiciars, but he can’t seem to find the last one. Yurgir will ask you to find and kill him so he can break his contract with Raphael.
To find the Dark Justiciar, go to the elevator west of the central room. Climb down the cragged rock near it until you reach the bottom level. Find and read the book “One Becomes Many.” A rat will appear as a foe. Kill it, and a swarm of rats will appear. Killing all the rats will make the Dark Justiciar, Lyrthindor, appear in its true form. Kill him and report back to Yurgir.
However, this will not stand well with Astarion as sparing and saving Yurgir means that Astarion will lose his only chance of learning what the Infernal Markings on his back mean. This will impact Astarion’s companion quest, The Pale Elf, and mark the end of your chances to romance him. Raphael will also turn sour towards the party.
Killing Yurgir
Yurgir is an extremely formidable foe. There are various ways of defeating him. You can either snuck up on him or kill his Displacer beast early in the sequence to make the fight easier. However, the easiest method is to trick Yurgir into killing himself.
Make Yurgir read his contract out loud. Then, use a character with the highest Charisma skill to pass three checks. First, Charisma check (DC16) will persuade Yurgir to kill his minions. During the next two checks (DC21), you will assure Yurgir that the only way to escape Raphael’s contract is by killing his Displacer Beast and himself.
If you kill Yurgir, either by tricking him into killing himself or fighting him, you will please both Astarion and Raphael. This allows you to further Astarion’s story and learn the truth about Astarion’s master. It will also allow you to romance Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 later. Furthermore, players can also loot Yurgir’s corpse after killing him to get the Infernal Iron and Hellfire Hand Crossbow, both excellent items.
Even if you kill Yurgir here, you have one more chance to recruit him to your cause at the end of House of Hope before you fight Raphael. Following Yurgir’s death, you can meet Raphael at your camp during a long rest. He will then explain what Astarion’s markings mean.
