Baldur’s Gate 3: Should You Help He Who Was? – Answered (BG3)

The most evil looking NPC to ever exist

As you travel through the Ruined Battlefield, you’ll meet a Drow conducting some pretty suspicious rituals on a corpse. But he can’t get it to work until he has a ledger. That’s where you come in. But should you help He Who was in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Should You Help He Who Was in BG3?

The drow He Who Was in the Ruined Battlefields might be one of the most evil-looking NPCs you’ll run into. And the necromancy he’s getting up certainly doesn’t make him seem trustworthy. But should you help him?

Spoilers for the quest ahead.

If you opt to help He Who Was, you’ll have to fetch the corpse’s ledger in the Waning Moon Inn. Within, you’ll find that while the corpse is guilty, it’s clear that she didn’t intend for the deaths of her friends to happen.

Telling that to He Who Was doesn’t change his stance, though. He really wants to punish her, and giving him the ledger will cause him to summon her into his body. You’ll then have the choice to forgive her, berate her, ask her to kill herself, or just kill He Who Was outright.

Forgive her, and He Who Was will attack you. You’ll then have to kill him, and the loot you can take from his body is very middling. The only thing of interest is the note, which proves that he’s a deserter and a Divine Bone Shard (alchemic ingredient which can be used to make a Potion of Universal Resistance).

If you choose to berate her, He Who Was will be pleased and will admit that he got a perverse pleasure out of it. That was the “real” justice he was pursuing. For your trouble, he’ll give you the Raven Gloves, which will let you summon a very weak (1 HP) white raven named Quothe. Shadowheart will also be inspired, and you’ll get a bit of exp.

Related: What is the Strange Ox in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)? – Answered

Tell her to kill herself, and He Who Was will come to and be very angry that you caused him to stab himself. You’ll then have to fight him, netting the same rewards as forgiveness.

Or you could skip the fetch quest and just kill He Who Was after accepting the quest but before giving him the ledger! Doing so will inspire Shadowheart, netting her the Inspirational Event ‘Let Sleeping Dogs Lie’.

Once you leave the Ruined Battlefield, you’ll find yourself amongst familiar faces. Including Mattis, who’s selling a key. But should you buy it?

About the Author

Daphne Fama

A Staff Writer at Prima Games since 2022, Daphne Fama spends an inordinate amount playing games of all stripes but has a soft spot for horror, FPS, and RPGs. When she’s not gaming, she’s an author and member of the Horror Writers Association with a debut novel coming out in 2025. In a previous life, she was an attorney but found she preferred fiction to contracts and forms