A Baldur’s Gate 3 player finds that killing Elminster nets you 1,000 XP — as long as you’re not too fussed about keeping Gale alive.
Elminster is an incredibly powerful wizard that's been around forever — both in universe and as a character in The Forgotten Realms. He's such a big deal, in fact, that he hasn't got time to speak with your party in person in Baldur's Gate 3, and instead sends his simulacrum to do his bidding. Still, his simulacrum means business too, so you wouldn't want to start a fight with it.
Well, one player did exactly that and actually managed to defeat it. In doing so, they got 1,000 XP — a decent amount so early on in the game. The fight might be a little tricky — and dooms Gale to certain death — but hey, that XP will be a huge help as you enter Act 2, so it might be worth keeping in mind if you're on an Honour Mode run.
This was discovered by Reddit user Dizak55. In a multiplayer run, their party lost Gale fairly early on, so meeting with Elminster at the end of Act 1 didn't matter. However, he still turned up, so they made the most of the situation. Which, of course, means opening fire on the poor guy.
At level six, the party thought they'd be destroyed, but it all worked out. "Through some lucky rolls and the fact that this game doesn't have 9th-level spells, we actually managed to blitz him and take him down," says Dizak55. "We went from just being over level 6 to almost hitting level 7 in a single fight."
So, if you don't have Gale in your camp anyway, I suppose you might as well take down Elminster's copy for that XP boost. No one actually dies, after all. But it will make you look a bit odd, picking a fight with an NPC literally called "the weary traveller". Poor guy.
While that XP gain would definitely help on an Honour Mode run, it might not be the most optimal strategy for the whole playthrough. It locks you out of having Gale in your party (even if he's still there for the Elminster fight, he'll have to leave shortly after this), and therefore, locks you out of the option to have him sacrifice himself to defeat the Netherbrain. This is great for Honour Mode runs, since it skips a tough boss fight that has two stages, and is full of other enemies trying to stop you. In either case, poor Gale isn't making it to the credits, but at least he's going out like a hero.
