Baldur's Gate 3: Best "Speak With Dead" Scenes

Highlights

"Speak With Dead" is a chilling and unsettling spell in Baldur's Gate 3 that allows players to have disturbing conversations with deceased NPCs.
Conversations with companions like Lae'zel and Naaber can be distressing, as they reveal unfulfilled dreams and desperate loneliness through the spell.
The "Speak With Dead" scenes with characters like Arabella, Volo, Ffion, Johl and Demir, Gortash, Helena Anchev, and Auntie Ethel provide chilling and impactful dialogue that explores themes of tragedy, existentialism, and horror.

"Speak With Dead" is one of the many spells available to players in Baldur's Gate 3. It is a level 3 necromancy spell, but it is also a ritual spell. This means that when it is cast outside of combat, which it almost certainly will be, it doesn't use a spell slot.

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The unique spell opens up some interesting dialogue and can help players in any number of ways, from solving murders to uncovering hidden secrets. Despite its undeniable usefulness, "Speak With Dead" is an understandably chilling spell, and some conversations with deceased Baldur's Gate 3 NPCs can be particularly unsettling.

10 Lae'zel

Since players tend to grow particularly close to their companion characters, "Speak With Dead" conversations with any of them tend to lean towards the chilling. Out of all of them, though, Lae'zel's can be particularly distressing.

Primarily, this is down to a lot of Lae'zel's "Speak With Dead" dialogue reflecting her unwavering commitment to her lifelong dream of becoming a Kith'rak, riding a red dragon, wielding a silver sword, and fighting for her people. Hearing this with the knowledge that she has perished without achieving that dream can be quite upsetting.

9 Naaber

Baldur's Gate 3, 'Speak With Dead' Spell On Naaber

Naaber is quite a comical character, acting as a reference to the infamous Adoring Fan from Oblivion. Despite this, talking to him with "Speak With Dead" can be distressing, although perhaps for different reasons than usual. For those who find his constant chatter oddly endearing, it can be quite upsetting to hear him lament how all he really wanted was someone to be his friend. The amusingly sinister aspect of this conversation is that Naaber's need for chatter is so strong that it defies the boundaries of the spell itself.

"Speak With Dead" should only allow the caster to ask a limited number of questions before the corpse is unable to answer anymore, but Naaber continues to talk after the spell should have lost its power. The only way to end the connection is to actively leave him, and he will still state that he has so much more to say. A tragically funny encounter, it is quite chilling that Naaber talks so much that he's able to rewrite the rules of magic.

8 Arabella

Arabella is a sweet tiefling child that players can meet in the Druid Grove in Act One. She's found herself in a predicament after attempting to steal a druidic idol to save her people from eviction. Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't shy away from tragedy, and it is entirely possible for Arabella to meet a tragic end, killed by the stand-in druid leader, Kagha.

The raspy talking corpse effect when using "Speak With Dead" is particularly disturbing when talking to the corpse of a child, but even more distressing is the fact that Arabella herself doesn't know what the players should tell her poor parents.

7 Volo

Volo is an infamous bard from Dungeons and Dragons lore. He plays an important role in the game and can actually be killed, notably in Act Three by an incensed mob. For such a goofy character, talking to his corpse through "Speak With Dead" is surprisingly impactful, moving, and indeed chilling.

He can discuss his lifelong ambitions and unfinished business, give players some tragically touching advice from beyond the grave, and even comment on what it's like to die. While Volo's "Speak With Dead" interactions can be quite beautiful, they also manage to nail the chilling existentialism that surrounds the topic of death.

6 Ffion

Baldur's Gate 3, 'Speak With Dead' Spell On Ffion

One of the notable plot lines in Act Three surrounds the brutal serial killings that are plaguing the city of Baldur's Gate. What better way to solve a murder mystery than by speaking to the victims themselves?

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But would-be sleuths should tread with caution as any of these "Speak With Dead" interactions are particularly chilling. Out of all of them, though, Ffion's stands out. Her body can be found in a hidden room in Fraygo's Flophouse, and she reveals that she has been murdered by her son, who seems to relish killing.

5 Johl And Demir

Baldur's Gate 3, 'Speak With Dead' Spell On Demir

The brothers of the missing girl, Mayrina, have some disturbing "Speak With Dead" dialogue if they are killed in the Sunlit Wetlands/Putrid Bog. This is an area shrouded in mystery, and not just the fate of Mayrina. The whole area seems to radiate a disturbing and unnatural magic. This may be to do with Auntie Ethel, the strange old woman that players saw Johl and Demir confronting.

Their corpses' comments to the player are often cryptically creepy, such as responding to the question of what killed them with, "Wasn't a sheep," or warning players against drinking the water or eating the apples. After talking to their bodies, players will be eyeing the strange sheep and their juicy red apples with caution, and rightfully so.

4 Gortash

Using "Speak With Dead" on the prominent villain, Enver Gortash, reveals a unique encounter. This scene may have been left in the game unintentionally, as it isn't voice-acted and the dialogue plays out unusually in comparison to other "Speak With Dead" scenes. In a way, this adds to its sinister feel.

Gortash is the chosen of the god of tyrants, Bane. When players call out to Gortash's body, he's not the one who answers. Instead, players get to talk with Bane. The unusual feel of the scene, as well as the communication with the evil god, makes it a particularly chilling encounter.

3 Helena Anchev

Baldur's Gate 3, 'Speak With Dead' Spell On Helena Anchev

Helena is the mother of the terrifying villain, Orin the Red. Like her daughter, Helena was a follower of Bhaal, the god of murder. Her father, Sarevok, can tell players the twisted tale of how Helena, in her efforts to please Bhaal, attempted to kill her infant daughter, Orin, but Orin killed her instead, using her hand as a plaything.

However, players can find Helena's corpse in Orin's chambers, and she tells a different story. It turns out Sarevok was the one who ordered her to kill her daughter. Messed-up family drama aside, Helena's "Speak With Dead" scene is particularly disturbing not only for its content but for the horrific manner in which her emaciated corpse talks.

2 Yurgir's Bed

Baldur's Gate 3, 'Speak With Dead' Spell On Bed Made Of Corpses

The spell is "Speak With Dead" not 'Speak With Bed', but there is a... unique piece of furniture that players can use the spell on. The orthon devil, Yurgir, encountered in the Gauntlet of Shar, has a bed made out of the many corpses of the Dark Justiciars he has killed. Using "Speak With Dead" on this vile bed can yield one of the most disturbing scenes from the spell.

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While it is sinister enough to hear the fate of the Dark Justiciars, this scene is particularly disturbing, as the corpses speak in unison and the disgusting mass of flesh writhes around as they talk. There are some messed-up scenes in this game, and this one is definitely up there.

1 Auntie Ethel

Baldur's Gate 3, Auntie Ethel True Green Hag Form

Once again, the infamous green hag, Auntie Ethel, proves to be one of the most interesting characters in the game. While most corpses will be unwilling to speak to the person who killed them, Auntie Ethel is more than willing, and notably aggressive. She also has unique dialogue depending on whether she still has the Tarnished Charm on her person or not. Without the Tarnished Charm, her speech will be stilted like most "Speak With Dead" corpses.

With it, however, she is much more lively, with players even able to comment on this. And there is one thing that she promises. She is used to death. And she will be back. The combination of her unusual sentience for a corpse, alongside the vow to return and her aggression towards her killer, makes this a truly chilling "Speak With Dead" scene.