One phrase ruined 70 hours of hardcore play in Baldur's Gate III

Playing Baldur's Gate III on the hardest difficulty requires extreme concentration, as the cost of error is especially high. One player learned this firsthand, losing dozens of hours of progress due to a careless dialogue choice.

A Reddit user named TheBoldShagger shared the story of a failed run on Hardcore, which ended after approximately 70 hours. The key issue was a single line choice in Act III. After allying with Gortash and defeating Orin, the player decided to return to their temporary ally and hand him the Infernal Stone, hoping to continue the story peacefully.

However, expectations were dashed. Gortash suddenly betrayed the player and immediately began combat, leaving no time for preparation. A lack of buffs, potions, and tactical positioning quickly proved decisive, and an attempt to retreat was ineffective. As a result, the entire party perished, and the playthrough ended in failure.

The player himself admitted he wasn't prepared for such a turn of events, as he'd never sided with Gortash before. However, as it turned out, the catastrophe could have been avoided by not giving up the artifact and keeping it to himself.