Highlights

  • Elminster, a famous mage in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons setting, appears briefly in Baldur's Gate 3 as part of Gale's companion story.
  • Elminster provides hints and advice to the adventuring party in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, congratulating them on their accomplishments and giving hints about next steps.
  • While Elminster can be attacked and killed in the games, it is difficult to defeat him due to his high level and teleportation abilities. However, killing him awards a significant amount of experience points and good items, but not in BG3.

The mage Elminster Aumar is one of the most famous characters in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons setting. In Baldur's Gate 3, he shows up briefly as part of the wizard Gale's companion story, bringing Gale a message from the goddess Mystra. But before Baldur's Gate 3 and his mentorship of Gale, the mysterious and powerful wizard occasionally dropped by to provide hints and advice for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2's adventuring party.

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Baldur's Gate: The Mysterious Old Man

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Elminster was a friend of Gorion, the foster father of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2's protagonist. It was Elminster who warned Gorion that the Bhaalspawn Sarevok Anchev was targeting his ward. After Gorion's death, Elminster occasionally shows up to give hints to the party. In Chapter 1 of the game, he is encountered simply as a "Mysterious Old Man," but future meetings correctly label him as Elminster.

All of Gorion's Ward's meetings with Elminster himself are beneficial, as the wizard congratulates the party for their accomplishments and gives hints about possible next steps. However, in Chapter 6 of the game, when the party visits the scholarly enclave of Candlekeep, a Greater Doppelganger in Baldur's Gate disguises itself as Elminster in order to attack the party. Fortunately, the Doppelganger, although a powerful enemy, does not have access to Elminster's repertory of spells.

Killing Elminster In Baldur's Gate

Like many other non-hostile NPCs, Elminster can be attacked by the party. Killing him can be beneficial, as he awards 26,000 EXP upon defeat. However, due to his high level and habit of immediately teleporting away, actually defeating Elminster can be quite tricky. Popular strategies include:

  • Using a Thief Rogue to surround him with traps
  • Using a Bolt of Polymorph to turn him into an animal
  • Hitting him with Arrows of Detonation (scoring at least one critical hit is generally required)

Baldur's Gate 2: "Terminsel"

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Elminster only shows up in person in Baldur's Gate 2 in Jaheira's personal quest. The druid will be conflicted about remaining as a Harper after the brutal death of her husband Khalid. After uncovering corruption within the ranks of the Harpers, she will ultimately renounce membership in the organization. However, several in-game days after Jaheira does this, a mage named "Terminsel" will show up and question her convictions.

If the player's Reputation is above 10, and they are romancing BG2's Jaheira (only available to male humans, elves, halflings, and half-elves), Jaheira receives the Harper Pin item and is restored to the Harpers. The player also gains 100,000 EXP. If Jaheira is not romanced, the requirement to gain the Harper Pin is 15 Reputation, and the player does not gain any experience. "Terminsel" is an anagram for Elminster, although it is never confirmed why he chooses to use a false name during this time.

Throne of Bhaal

Elminster also appears briefly during Throne of Bhaal, an expansion to Baldur's Gate 2. He shows up in Chapter 9 after players have defeated four members of the group of Bhaalspawn known as "the Five." He shares information about Balthazar, the final member, with the player. As is typical for Elminster, he acknowledges that Balthazar is a serious threat, but refuses to help out the player directly, only offering his typical cryptic advice.

Notably, Elminster can also be killed for large amounts of EXP during his brief appearances in the second Baldur's Gate game, although he knows a high number of powerful spells and will not hesitate to use them against the party. In Baldur's Gate 2, he can potentially drop powerful items including the Bracers of Defense AC+6 and the Spirit's Shield cloak. Unfortunately, Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 players hoping to reuse this exploit when he shows up to advise Gale in Baldur's Gate 3 were disappointed to find that this time the great mage was only a projection and yielded no rewards when defeated.