Baldur's Gate 3 sadist beats the RPG's hardest mode with an even more brutal custom ruleset: No companions, no hirelings, no long rests, no tadpoles, no trading, and not even any stealing

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"Next challenge, we will have to make it harder"

Baldur's Gate 3
(Image credit: Larian)

One Baldur's Gate 3 streamer has not only created the most sadistic self-imposed challenge we've seen so far, but they also proved the game is entirely beatable while playing with pretty much every single handicap you could dream up.

Streamer Luality is no stranger to tough rulesets and frightening challenges, having previously killed the RPG's hardest bosses while fighting totally solo (She's also the same player who, miraculously, rolled four consecutive nat ones last year). She's now taken her knack for self-inflicted suffering to the next level in a scarily sadistic run. 

"After so many hours and near-death experiences we finished Baldur's Gate 3 Honor mode," Luality tweeted. Completing the game on its hardest difficulty is no mean feat, but the streamer did so while also folding in several other ultra-hard challenges. Luality's playthrough had no companions, no "buying, selling, or stealing from NPCs," no gaining abilities by eating tadpoles, no hirelings recruited through Withers, and no rests to restore health whatsoever. 

In response to a comment asking about how she restores spell slots, Luality simply said, "We don't."

Other Baldur's Gate 3 streamers have beaten the game while abstaining from long rests, for example, which already proved to be a nightmare challenge for many, so you can imagine how brutal Luality's playthrough would be as she bundled in several other restrictions on top.  

The streamer is seemingly not content with leaving it there, however. "Next challenge we will have to make it harder," she continued, though I can barely imagine how. No leveling? No equipment? One pacifist went 20 hours without attacking anyone, so maybe anything is possible. 

"This was one of my favorite runs," the streamer added, unphased, "we were so limited that opening any chest and random box was exciting. We basically could only heal using potions we found in the world, the little things made this run so much fun!"

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Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.