Should You Kill Gandrel in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)? Answered

Larian Studios’ critically-acclaimed RPG sequel is filled with difficult choices, and these can often lead to unwelcome consequences. For instance, early on in the Sunlit Wetlands, you’ll come across a stinky Gur called Gandrel during the Pale Elf questline, and he is on the lookout for a vampire named Astarion. Thing is, Astarion can potentially be an ally and companion in the game, which obviously throws up the question: Should you kill Gandrel in Baldur’s Gate 3? Well, it’s a wee bit complicated, as there are several outcomes that can play out depending on how you approach the encounter, which we’ll discuss down below.

Where Is Gandrel?

When you speak to Gandrel without Astarion in your party near the Riverside Teahouse, he’ll introduce himself but, at first, he will not tell you who he is looking for. In fact, you’ll need to pass either a Persuasion check or a Barbarian Intimidation check to reveal the identity of who he is hunting.

Killing Gandrel in BG3

If you do pass one of these checks, he will reveal that he’s hunting for Astarion, one of the many vampires who attacked his village and kidnapped all the children. From here, you can do one of a few things:

• Tell Gandrel how to find Astarion — This will make the vampire permanently leave your party and he’ll be gone when you wake up.
• Stop Gandrel — Before you rest, warn Astarion of what’s happened.
• Kill Gandrel — If you choose to attack Gandrel, you’ll fight him and when you defeat him, he’ll drop the following items:
  • Gandrel’s Aspiration, a 3-12 damage heavy crossbow
  • Dagger, a basic 4-7 damage blade
  • Supply Pack, 40 Camp Supplies
  • Leather Armor, Light Armor with +11 Dexterity Modifier
  • Arrow of Fire
  • Arrow of Acid
  • 2 Potions of Healing

Ultimately, the main draw to killing Gandrel is his unique crossbow, Gandrel’s Aspiration, which offers some bonus damage compared to other crossbows in its class. In addition, it also boasts some extra damage to Monstrosity-type enemies as well. If you really want to get you hands on it, we’d opt to kill Gandrel.

Letting Gandrel Go in BG3

On the other hand, if you don’t want to kill Gandrel and you choose to hand over Astarion to the monster hunter, this will remove the vampire permanently from your party and will adversely impact your relationship with not only Astarion, but your party as a whole. In essence, your party will begin to distrust you if you give up your vampiric companion to the huntsman as Gandrel will lock up Astarion in a cage and take him back to his village in Baldur’s Gate.

Should You Kill Gandrel?

Beyond a polite thank you from the stinky hunter, you don’t really get a finite reward straightaway for handing over the vampire. Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether your choice will play out in another storyline further into the game, but for now, it appears that killing Gandrel may be the best way to go in Baldur’s Gate 3.

And that about wraps things up for our guide on whether you should kill Gandrel in Baldur’s Gate 3. For more, here’s whether or not you should buy Mattis’ key and how to beat the Spectator. For everything else, though, keep it locked at Twinfinite.