Baldur’s Gate 3’s most gruesome cutscene is worth it for the buff

One of the most gruesome cinematics to watch in Baldur’s Gate 3 is when Volo asks you to help get your tadpole out of your head. He ends up messing it up badly and removing your eye completely, but the buff is totally worth it. 

After saving Volo from the Goblin’s Camp in Baldur’s Gate 3, he will appear in your camp and ask you about your tadpole. After chatting to him about it a couple of times, he will tell you that he has a possible solution to your Illithid problem. 

This solution involves digging around your eye with a needle, at first, and then just slamming it out with an ice pick. Your tadpole hasn’t been removed, but you get a new fake eye and a nice little buff. 

Specifically, you get a buff that lets you see enemies that are Invisible. This is a powerful perk that gives you a serious advantage in battle. The cutscene is gruesome, though, and it almost acts like the challenge you need to ace to get this perk.

In fact, it’s so brutal that a lot of players were unable to get through it, and as a result, were unaware that a reward was waiting for them at the end of it. “I haven’t had the guts to let it play out yet,” a player commented on a Reddit post titled “Most painful cinematic.”

Despite the gruesome nature of the scene, and the uncomfortable accompanying sound effects, it’s absolutely worth it. Because, unlike real life, you get a reward for making a somewhat questionable decision.

This decision, interestingly enough, was also a reason why the more hardcore roleplayers decided against letting Volo do it at all.

“I find it really hard to find a compelling reason to let him do it through role-play. I trust him less than the Goblin Shaman, and the game never makes you feel THAT desperate,” a player commented. “Knowing that the process has a huge payoff with no downside makes it feel like a power gaming move and only makes me more resistant.” 

Baldur’s Gate 3 is all about experimenting and dealing with the consequences, however, so if you want to make the most of your time in Faerun then don’t be afraid to make bold choices.

It’s just about making the correct questionable choices, and letting Volo try and help you get that tadpole out of your head ends up being one of them. Besides, what other options do you really have?

Whether or not you choose to let Volo experiment on you, though, it’s good to know what you might need to sit through in order to get the buff. At the least, it’s another example of Baldur’s Gate 3 not being shy to dig into the grosser side of telling a story.