Hidden dialogues, a world-saving fish, and a unique encounter which can lead to an instant game over are just a few of the many secrets locked behind the Nether Stones. Because of how completely nonsensical some of these scenarios are, I'm confident almost no one has ever seen them. Which is why, in this video, I've explored the Nether Stone's hidden fail-safes and will share the illogical decision-making necessary to pull them off.
Before I get to the super-secret parts, I'll cover the basics regarding these Nether Stones. The first Nether Stone obtainable in the game comes from Krick once he's been defeated in the Mind Flayer Colony. These Nether Stones are required to complete the game, but they can still be moved out of your inventory. When dropped on the ground, it prompts a message from your Dream Guardian to pick it back up. "I wouldn't recommend losing that. We can't defeat the brain without that stone." These voice lines serve to combat poor decision-making and will grow in frustration should you continue this idiotic behavior. "Are you trying to annoy me or just careless?"
Attempts to leave the Mind Flayer Colony without the stone will be blocked by The Dream Guardian, and if ignored, will lead to the first of many instant game overs related to these Nether Stones. All Nether Stone-related game overs use the same cut scene of the Elder Brain finding the player and turning them into a Mind Flayer.
Where it begins to get a bit more interesting though is after the Githyanki are defeated at the end of Act 2. You can drop the Nether Stone inside the Prism without any message from the Emperor. This is the only area in the game that you're not told to pick it back up, and the game doesn't prevent you from entering Act Three without the stone. So, did we manage to outdo the devs and soft lock ourselves? Surprisingly, no. As the Emperor chimes in to say, "You left K's Stone behind. I sent it to your camp."
This made me wonder, since Larian created this dialogue for people who dropped the stone in a location you can't go back to, is there anywhere else they may have created a similar fail-safe? Let's first look at the Iron Throne, a location in Act Three which you can never revisit after leaving in a playthrough. Dropping the Nether Stone inside this underwater prison is met with the Emperor's usual frustration, and we can climb back up the ladder to leave the area forever. When you return to the street level, the Emperor is understandably upset. "Of all the things you could have lost, and see, you lost the Nether Stones! Pray that we'd find them on the nearest shore, or you have doomed us all."
If we check the map after this dialogue, there's a new marker titled Ball Stone. Traveling to this area begins an encounter with several Swagens, and when they're slain, you'll find they have the Nether Stones that you dropped inside the Iron Throne. Once looted, the Emperor has one final comment. "Of course, you are as lucky as you are careless. Do not let the stones out of your sight."
This Beachside battle is not a special or unique encounter, and it always appears for players who walk in the area regardless of what you did with the Nether Stones. Which made me want to find out what happens if these were already dead when you first entered the Iron Throne. So, I killed these fish people again, traveled to the Iron Throne, dropped my Nether Stones, and returned to the surface.
Once again, the Emperor instructs us to search the shore; only this time, when I traveled to the marker, there was a different voice line. "Wait, that hum of Kk's power, it's coming from the merchant." You can then speak with Old Troutman to learn that he found a few shiny bits in his latest catch while fishing and will have the Nether Stones available for purchase at the low, low price of three gold each. As ridiculous as this all is, I love the idea that there's a universe where Old Troutman here saved the world and has no idea. But unfortunately for Old Troutman, this is a fail-safe video.
So, it's time to find out if the backup has a backup. I went to the Throne, dropped the stone, returned to the beach, and once again, the Emperor popped up to say, "Wait, that Hum power, there's a Nether Stone nearby." Following the marker on the map, I washed up on the shore, and there is a bloated fish. You can loot the fish to find the Nether Stones. This fish swallowed the Nether Stones and brought them back to land, giving its life to save Eion.
As amazing as all that is, the Iron Throne is not the only location in Act Three you can forever lose your ability to return to. The Steel Watch Foundry, once destroyed by the player, is no longer accessible. So, that's where I was off to next. I dropped my stones inside, set up my bomb, blew up the factory, and was met by a new message. "You dropped the Nether Stones. Search the rubble and pray no one else found them." Walking to the marked location on the map, there's a totally unique encounter with several Cobalts which appear to have looted the Nether Stones from the rubble.
These Cobalts only spawn if you intentionally drop the Nether Stone inside The Foundry before blowing it up. You're then given one additional instruction by the Emperor, "There, the Cobalts have the stones. Get them before they escape." An easy task as these Cobalts don't fight back at all and have only 20 HP. After looting the stones, there's one last funny remark from the Emperor, "To think the world could have ended thanks to a pack of scavenging Cobalts. If your fingers are so slippery, leave the Nether Stones in your camp."
I wanted to rerun that test though because the first message from the Emperor about that encounter was to slay them before they escape. Surely Larian didn't account for anyone losing the easiest fight in the game, right? So, I passed my turns and after five turns of doing nothing in a row, the Cobalts really did escape. They disappeared forever with the Nether Stones, leading to an instant game over.
Now, just stopping for a minute to think about this scenario, it's so illogical that it can only exist for someone purposely trying to lose the game. And I love that Larian. Don't ever change. It's super impressive all the extra work Larian did for the players that almost no one would ever find. But, there is one more location to test, which is only visitable once per playthrough in Act Three. The Genie and the Circus can teleport the player to the Jungle if they've won the Spinning Wheel game. So, I took my grand prize trip to the Jungle, dropped the stones, and returned to the city.
But this time, there was no message from the Emperor and no marker on my map. I explored the rest of the areas in the act, waiting to see if anything would pop up. But unfortunately, I had soft-locked the game. You can never go back to the Jungle to retrieve the stones, and you can't progress into the Morphic Pool without them. There was no fail-safe put in for the very first location that you'll lose your ability to return to. It's funny to think that these scenarios wouldn't exist if not for the players given the freedom to actually drop these.
Though in the same way that the Mysterious Artifact can't be dropped, but I'm not going to complain about one detail they missed when all these other discoveries were so unexpected. Considering it took nearly a year for me to find this, I wonder what other Secrets could still remain in Baldur's Gate 3. If you've learned anything new in this video, leave a like to help out the channel. If you've ever encountered these situations or know any important details I missed, let me know in the comments below. As always, thanks for watching.
Q: What are Nether Stones in the game mentioned in the text? A: Nether Stones are special items required to complete the game. They have unique properties and interactions with the game world. Q: What happens if you leave the Mind Flayer Colony without the Nether Stone? A: Leaving the Mind Flayer Colony without the Nether Stone will lead to an instant game over, specifically involving the Elder Brain turning the player into a Mind Flayer. Q: Are there any hidden fail-safes related to the Nether Stones? A: Yes, there are several hidden fail-safes and unique encounters related to the Nether Stones. These fail-safes prevent the player from making illogical decisions and provide alternative pathways. Q: Can you soft-lock the game by losing the Nether Stones? A: In some scenarios, dropping the Nether Stones in certain locations can soft-lock the game. However, the developers have implemented fail-safes to prevent complete progression blockages. Q: What are some unexpected encounters or surprises involving the Nether Stones? A: The encounters range from unique dialogues to finding the Nether Stones in unexpected places such as inside fish or being looted by creatures. These encounters add a layer of complexity to the gameplay.
