There are two wolves inside me. One wants to watch this entire video, right now. The other wants to finish my Durge run with no spoilers. I am torn. I am suffering. I am the hero of a Greek tragedy. I am a shaking pile of rags. I am
Don’t spoil yourself, watch the video after. I managed to avoid spoilers during my entire dark urge run and it was so worth it once you get to the end and learn everything
I’ve always found it interesting that the Dark Urge is default a Dragonborn. Dragonborn are essentially alien to Toril as a whole, having been transported from their home world of Abeir during the Spellplague. It kinda goes with how unique the Durge is compared to the other Bhaalspawn, as the only one not naturally born as well as being the only one with the form of a non Toril native species. Perhaps Bhaal wanted them to be as foreign a creature as to not have any existing ties that bind them to the land, as connections with others is always what defeats Bhaal’s plans for his Bhaalspawn
I think the emphasis on them being independent from gods and others in Toril is essentially why Bhaal chose to create Durge as a Dragonborn. After all, it's much easier to abandon one god in favour of another than it is to just leave outright.
When I told one of my BFFs about the Dark Urge, she said that the urges reminded her of OCD's intrusive thoughts. My first Dark Urge was a half-drow dude named Jaeger and I made him the embodiment of my inner emo kid who has to learn how to empathize with others after spending most of his life being nihilistic.
This was so well done! Durge runs so deep it had to be difficult. Some random Durge thoughts: 1. While resist Durge & Astarion have a lot of parallels, one of my favorites is their relationship to "sweetness". In dialogue options, Astarion may tell Durge/Tav "isnt that....sweet". He doesnt say it with admiration or disgust, moreso like he doesnt know what to do with it. While faced with Sebastian, Astarion recalls him with horror. He finally lands on "sweet" to describe Sebastian and is horrified at the fate that sweetness led to. With Durge, if they talk to Alfira in the Grove and help with the song, they look pleased. Then the narrator comes in suddenly, calling that sweetness revolting and must be punished. And of course, the famous "Was I sweet once?" line. 2. I wonder what mindset Durge was in when they began the Absolute plot. While Durge understood the quantity vs quality requirement in being a Bhaal spawn, memories of their acts seem VERY personal. Up close with corpses, hands deep in their victims, completely engulfed in their victims. The Absolute plot doesnt seem to fit with this - calculated and ultimately distant with the many many victims. Add to the prayer letter regarding Gortash. Was Durge cognizant and in control at the time, willingly fulfilling the role they grew into? Or was the Absolute plot strictly Bhaal's influence?
In regards to your second point, it's hard to say since we don't really have a timeline of the memory crumbs we do get. But I think Bhaal's influence probably played a big part in the absolute plot. I think it's also a fair read to see Durge as someone who may have grown away from the more personal killings, and started to see the merit and "joy" in mass destruction for Bhaal. I do think that Durge was cognizant, mostly because when we see them be controlled by the urges, it appears more primal and with little thought. And I think a lot of thought went into the absolute plot, not only on Goratsh's end, but everyone involved, including Durge.
I do love the small detail with the two of them longing for sweetness. It's cute and tragic in seeing the niavete they were stripped of. As for what the Dark Urge was thinking when concocting the absolute plot, I always imagined it as a rock bottom, last ditch effort to make something worthwhile of the life they've been forced into. By now, they would've seen their efforts to be good thwarted and tainted countless times. They were never going to have the life they wanted, so they committed to the life they were forced into. The Dark Urge would have a use for their darkest machinations and talents of leadership. They could cement themselves as a steadfast leader of the cult. And now, as a newly committed Bhaalspawn, strive to make their father proud. I also wonder what role Gortash would've played in this, if he could've been a catalyst to encourage the Dark Urge's worst desires. It would fit, seeing that Gortash would've been their first true companion, their first equal they could share affection with. And it even add another layer of tragedy to the Dark Urge's story. The Dark Urge gave up the last scrap of themselves to be the person Gortash wanted to see in them, only for him to abandon them when they were in Orin's clutch.
*Spoiler-ish, proceed with caution* Two dialogues for Durge that made me laugh out loud (there's probably more) were: 1) In the moonrise towers you can talk to a hairless cat. She claims Durge kicked her or something and if you try to recall the memory then obviously it doesn't end well And one of the dialogue options is (paraphrased) "What the fuck is actually wrong with me?!" It read that way to me 2) In Act 3 when you meet a diabolist she gives you Sceleritas hat and starts talking like she knows Durge and one of the dialogue options is (paraphrased) "Shit, not this again."
THAT CAT ENCOUNTER WAS DOWNRIGHT TRAUMATIC FOR ME. This was back in my first Dark Urge playthrough and I was so distressed trying to figure out what was happening to my poor Durge that I didn't even think twice when I saw the "remember" dialogue option was in italics. I was deeply distressed. Then I saw Araj and that whole encounter is obviously awful. Then I told Karlach not to take the soul coins, which she got all pissed over. Then I walked into the throne room and was recognized by everyone, including the dog. Then Ketheric called *my girl* a dog and ordered her to kill the goblins. So obviously, out of spite, I didn't TO WHICH ASTARION DISAPPROVED. AND WHEN WE GOT BACK TO CAMP THE FUCKING DEPRESSED WIZARD WAS MISSING. Anyways, it was very emotionally chaotic and I spent 30 minutes flipping off every single character on screen while also hysterically laughing from the stress. 10/10 experience. One of the most memorable moments in my 400 hours with the game.
The prayer for forgiveness, found in the illithid colony beneath moonrise seemed to indiacte that Durge had lost his mind from being Bhall's puppet. Gortash refers to Durge with more respect than Orin, so he definitely had a more commanding and noble presence in the view of others. But the prayer is just so desperate. In the prayer, Durge is begging Bhaal forgiveness for respecting Gortash's intellect. He claims this to be a failure on his own part, and insists that him fulfilling the Absolute plot will all be for Bhaal. He ends the prayer by telling Bhaal he wants nothing else than to make his father proud. Bhaal strikes me in bg3 as an abusive parent. He made his son kill his foster parents, made him join the cult, made him bring about the apocalypse, and based on the note, Bhaal has never once been proud of his son. Durge is very respected by Sceleritas, but Bhaal only sees his son as a means to an end. Bhaal's ultimate goal is to fulfil his own rebirth through the death of all his children, including Durge. He never had any chance of making his father proud. The Bhaalspawn are all regarded as filth, belitled for the fact that they are what keeps Bhaal from returning. He doesn't care about them, despite all his promises. He's just an awful dad that can never be impressed because he never wanted kids in the first place.
3 things regarding Durge that’s been on my mind. 1) When in the brothel and saving the druid/nymph lady we get the chance to imagine what we truly want. And the Durge specific option to choose is to be Sane. 2) When remembering killing a baby. I think it was through the memory plant from the underdark. Durge is thinking, and I’m paraphrasing, that killing the baby was a mercy because living in a world with a monster like you in it would be worse. And that stuck with me. Maybe that’s how Durge is viewing ending the world. As a mercy. 3) It’s mentioned in the Myrkul lady’s notes that Durge was not passive in their resisting. At one point trying to strangle the Myrkul lady with Durges own innards during one of her “experiments”.
You might not say it but I'LL say it, I love ALL Dark Urges! Redeemed Durges, Chosen of Bhaal Durges, Evil Resisting Durges, Self-sacrificing Embraced Durges, they are all precious babies to me! Yes, even those who romance *sigh* Astarion. I'll forgive it, so long as you killed the grove. Stupid druids. Seriously though, while I've only gotten around to my second full playthrough of the game (ie., this one I'm playing is only the second to reach act 2), I'm so happy I made this one a Dark Urge. It's basically been a do over of my first playthrough Tav, doing a lot of similar decisions as before, with one major difference; rather than raiding the grove outright, I teamed up with Minthara to get revenge on the druids who slaughtered the tieflings while we were genuinely trying to help them. Sorry Halsin, they didn't leave us much choice - or maybe Durge!Alice isn't making the best choices at the beginning. Don't worry, she'll get better! Maybe! Either way, Karlach and Wyll are still around (thanks to the hinted at exploit which, to my knowledge, doesn't work if you actually have a grove battle against the surviving tieflings. It's got to be the situation where Minthara shows up to an empty (but not closed off) grove, in which it implies an off screen battle where she and the goblins took out those remaining. How you interpret that is up to you, imo.) The point is, I'm loving playing as the Dark Urge, to the point where I'll have to think long and hard about whether to make any future characters a Tav, or another Durge. Honestly it could go either way for most characters I create, since you really do have the freedom to insert your own background, and in my experience, the Dark Urge canon details served to fill out the holes I had in my character's backstory, so it was a natural union. Plus the way you're tied into the over-arching plot feels more satisfying, even if there aren't that many differing story beats throughout. You can really tell they intended Dark Urge to be the go-to custom character, and added Tav as an appeal to those who wanted to make their own character completely unconnected to the in-game plot. The downside being, it can be hard to immerse your original character in what is happening in the story, unless you headcanon something (like they have a connection to one of the other companions). And even then, it's hard to write anything that embodies the same themes of bg3 origins of escaping or embracing cycles of abuse, not that that should stop anyone ofc. Thank you for all your videos, and congratulations on completing all Origins/Companions!
Made my first full playthrough with a durge Seldarine Drow Bard named Fleur. He was someone who since childhood had a desire for freedom, and had a deep rooted hatred for Lolth and an unwavering pity towards Lolth-Sworn Drow feeling like a God that strips away their followers freedom to reject them is the worst kind there is, only for him to end up discovering that he was a bhaalspawn and had little choice in their life. Giving up completely as the urge grew stronger, and all bonds he formed were ripped away by his own hands, he resigned to follow his father, bidding his time until a chance to rid himself of his divine blood. I played the path of redemption and I cried when Withers brought him back as I genuinely thought he would permanently die.
Durge is just such a tragic figure. Their entire life they longed for the love of a father who created them as a meat puppet to ultimately die so Bhaal can be reborn. Gortash was most likely the first person who ever showed them respect, not fear, and also can relate to abusive parents who can't do anything but criticise. But Durge knows they will have to kill him as well as Orin, who they call sister, to "make Bhaal proud". That must be a terrible feeling. This all gets even worse on the evil Durge route, when they accept Bhaal's legacy. They are now doomed to kill everyone they ever loved. Durge at this point stops existing as a person and becomes just a thrall. Making dad proud is all Durge ever wanted but as Sarevok says: "Bhaal never feels pride. He bore the disgrace of creating life in his spawn. We can only atone for the shame of birth." Bhaal has some parallels to Shar in that regard. When you play Shadowhearts origin Shar presents herself as Shadowheart's "real mother" and just like Bhaal she demands her child to kill their parents to show their loyalty. Neither Shar nor Bhaal actually care for anyone, not mortals or even their own allies. They just want to see the world burn. The quest log is chilling. Just full caps "YOU ARE THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS, blah blah, etc." and noticeably in 2nd person, while other origin quest logs are in 1st person (written by Sceleritas I assume). If Durge resists the last entry will also be in 1st person. I just love that little detail so much. There is a cut ending for Durge, that is still buried in the dialogue files where Durge wakes up next to a gnoll, naked and exhausted with no recollection what happened since they defeated the Netherbrain. A voice then tells them because they failed to do their duty they are now tasked with creating more Bhaalspawn. I assume that ending was a bit too horrifying to include 🥲
As a certified lover of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, playing Durge was such a blast. The first two games you play as a different Bhaalspawn, the one Jaheira references. I played Tav first because I didn't see I could customize Durge, and i was kind of disappointed at how I was essentially disconnected to the plot, much like Astarion but even worse. Playing Durge on my second run was like a return to form. Being a Bhaalspawn was always intergal to the plot of Baldur's Gate so to say i felt the lack of that while playing Tav is an understatement.
I've heard that about the previous games, and that being the reason a lot of players consider Durge as the main character/canon player character. Tav is literally just a blank slate for the players to make up whatever character they want, so I don't mind Tav being just some guy totally unconnected. But I'm also lacking the experience with the older Baldur's Gate games, so maybe I'd feel differently if I'd played those in the past.
I’m tempted to try a killing Isobel but saving Aylin playthrough, like essentially using shadowhearts decision as a turning point towards “wait….I can defy my god?!?”
Okay so I actually did this! Aylin ends up not knowing you killed Isobel if you release her and then go to last light in when it’s isobel there alone 😂
My first Durge run was my first playthrough that reached Act 2. I sided with the goblins and slaughtered the tieflings. Finally she reached Isobel, having been approached to kill her in advance. She had already been to Moonrise and was obsessed with the idea of getting revenge on the Absolute. Marcus had reduced Isobel to 1 HP and I realized that I wouldn't be able to save her, so I used a well placed magic missile to finish her off and deny my enemy what they wanted. The Fall of Moonrise was a turning point for that character, realizing how much devastation and horror the actions she had been taking rather mindlessly could actually cause. It was from there she decided that she would never give Sceleritas Fel what he wanted again. She wasn't a good guy after that point, but she started thinking about her actions rather than lashing out at every opportunity. She learned enlightened self interest.
I RP my Durge as someone who prior to Orin causing his amnesia, did recognise that Bhaal was an abusive father, and was essentially playing along, planning to use the Crown of Karsus to find a way to set himself free, and seek revenge against Bhaal himself for his abuse. But the amnesia left him the just the Dark Urge and the desire to be free. It cut out the memory of the compassion his parents ingrained in him. So my Durge is still working against Bhaal but for personal gain instead of righteous vengance. I became the Absolute, and in my headcanon, I used my control over Astartion to force him to turn me into a true vampire (the Netherbrain is shown to follow its last command even if the Netherstones aren't actively being used, so it could force him to turn me completely and override the control he'd have over me as a spawn), and if I managed it before the Gith arrived, I'd replicate his ritual to become a Vampire Ascendant. All the while I'd have Gale (still dominated) working to replicate Karsus' ritual. I planned to steal the mantle of God of Ambition or go down in a blaze of glory, possibly cutting my losses and becoming a powerful vampire lord in the Underdark, leaving the Netherbrain to the Gith and letting Gale and Mystra fight over the Crown.
Shout out to Neily Roberts for default Durge voice (aka: Tav 5). And embrace (lol) the evil runs, they take so~ much less time than the good ones. :) My favorite embrace durge was a NB wood elf sorc/bard/rogue... because I love making stupid builds. lol Favorite resist durge was a tiefling Cleric/Paladin of Kelemvor... but then my mods broke so I never finished their run. D:
This is such a fun, good take. Really enjoying it. The Slayer Form was always just a bit disappointing even in BG 2: TOB. You spend all that time learning just how to be really effective with your player character, optimizing your tactics and picking all the best gear. And then the Slayer comes and you have to learn a completely different fighting style. It's a bit like being a Wildshaping druid. You end up having to balance your spell-casting weapon-using tactics against the best time to switch to teeth and claws. I much prefer the Redeemption Durge path, even if I'm not really sure Durge can redeem themselves given the things they have done eagerly over the course of their life. Hoping you keep finding things to explore in BG3. Your deep dives are always a good listen.
I play my Durge very much like Raven from Teen Titans, born from a great evil and trying to do what good she can hoping to counteract the evil "prophecy" of her father.
Right? It's such a neat part of the fandom where so many of us love this fairly defined character, but still have our own drastic variations. Like neat little AUs.
You’ve just given me an amazing idea for my playthrough once the evil endings come to PS5! Someone who struggled with split personality order because of the urge, but eventually became the monster he was most of the time whilst with Bhaal’s cult. But when Orin stabs him the the head, the personalities unravel & the playthrough consists of each persona taking their turn on the wheel.
I’ve been listening to / reading a lot of Durge lore for an upcoming video and have to say, I absolutely *love* the thoughtfulness you put into your BG3 deep dives! You really stand out with your exploration of these characters and IM SO HERE FOR IT
Also if Durge loses the fight with Orin, they will lose themself to their urge at the end of the game, just like it does if they wait until the last second to defy Bhaal. Either way, they can either choose to kill themself, or they will end up a soulless husk of who they once were.
I was surprised that Durge defaults to Sorcerer and not Paladin. Its the only change I make to their default character, and I personally feel like throwing in Oath of Vengeance (or Oathbreaker if you go evil) makes the class mechanics intertwine more with the story. But thats just me.
@@coltsfan354 I have an interesting interpretation for paladin durge, my idea is that a paladin durge used religion as a way to calm the urge, similar to how people in real life might use religion and God as a way to handle their addictions
Personally I think that barbarian makes a lot of sense for a dark urge character. Barbarians don't have to be dumb, "haha axe go smash" characters after all, and the rage mechanic ties in really nicely with Durge's accidental murder sprees. Rogue would also make a lot of sense narratively though considering they were, ya know, an assassin. Rogue is just my least favorite class so far. But rogue might make the most sense actually for durge. But to argue for sorcerer durge, I think that perhaps it makes sense because they have power they were born with, and that power comes from having a god as a father? Maybe they just don't have a "god is my father" subclass so they used storm sorcerer.
Considering how much of a terrible "father" Bhaal is, if you can even call him that, I like to believe that in the most pure form of irony, Good Durge ends up being a very attached father. Durge would be kinda similar to how a mother cat refuses to sleep unless the kitten is in her embrace first. The group can't decide if it's wholesome or disturbing to see the former harbinger of doom just hugging and laughing with his infant Dragonborn.
Excellent work, as usual. Out of my 8 playthroughs only one of them was a Durge run, and it was resist playthrough every step of the way. And while I did enjoy the different things that a Durge run can bring, I think just one playthrough is all I need. As for your next BG3 video, Drow Twins!
I'm stuck in the city for 2 weeks for midterms. can't wait for friday so I can go home and finally start playing bg3 on my dad's computer!!! your vids have gotten me soooo eager to play this game I can hardly wait
Playing a Shadar-kai resist Durge now and my first Durge run and with a sorcerer who just slams flame strike down on enemies. (The Gortash thing absolutely is romantic for Bhallists if you find the bodies in the temple with notes about their wedding. Guess you could say Durge was caught in a Bhaal romance)
My favorite Dark Urge ending will always be Resist Durge being recruited by Jaheira to become a Harper. It feels like the greatest defiance. (Plus, it's one step closer to being adopted by Jaheira.)
I absolutely loved this video! My first ever play through was as a Tav but then my next was a dark urge run, I played as seladrine drow wild magic sorcerer who was resisting the urge. I personally believe that the dark urge origin was meant to be the main character just because it fits in so well with the story. I managed to avoid spoilers while playing and so when I got to the twist that we started the plan for the absolute I was so shocked lol. Also super funny that you’re starting dragon age. I just started Dragon Age Origins a few days ago and was thinking that it was similar to baldurs gate. Definitely would recommend it though! Fair warning if you do the city elf the beginning for that has some really serious SA themes.
I found your channel through baldurs gate but i will stick around to see your thoughts on other media cause you're well spoken and easy to listen to and it tickles my brain in a nice way. So thank you for the content so far, and i look forward to a mutually beneficial creator/consumer relationship
I've been going full "have fun with violence" in my durge run. Camellia from WOTR is a favorite character of mine, and I'm taking inspiration from her.
I’d like to share a story of one of my Dark Urges. Drail was a male drow. He was inspired by Ramsay from Game of Thrones in many ways of his behavior. Thoughout the game he has two things in his mind: 1: Kill and maim 2: Seek out powers by whatever means and by whatever way. Examples is the Loviatar’s blessing and forcing Astarion to bite that drow woman. In Act 1: He had no concept of dignity for others, he took pleasure in humiliating others and alienated himself from his companions at times. My little headcanon almost all of them feared him enough that they didn’t oppose him. As a male drow he was particularly nastier towards his kind especially Female drow and liked the idea of destroying Minthara especially since she comes from royalty. But I had another character knock her out and robbed him of his fantasies. I basically wanted to make a murder hobo incel who egomaniacal and a megalomaniac. Act 2: Drail was in his element and was constantly annoyed with the cult shenanigans as they knew more of his past than he did. He hated Ketheric on start as something in him reminded of an annoying man in his past (Ketheric). He hated the Harpies and thought Jaheira was self righteous. For some reason has no idea was he holds such contempt for her (she help kill Saravok and end Bhaal’s plans). He begins to learn more of himself and learn a lot from his companions particularly Gale, Lae’Zel, and Shadowheart. Each having a god that looms over them. Minthara though he took pleasure in seeing her tortured even he grew to tolerate her as for some reason being an obedient servant touched him for some reason and has no idea why it’s relatable. The party would go on to save Dame Aylin and kill Ketheric For the majority of Act 2 I was having Wyll take the lead as I felt he the defacto leader after Drail and def the moral center. So it wouldn’t make sense for Drail to do it himself. He’d likely take Aylin’s immortality for himself if he could. Act 3: Drail goes on to have more of a transformation, learning bits and pieces of himself. Meeting people like the refugees again, Karlach’s old friend, Sharrans, and Gortash and Lorroaken. Each case showing an aspect of his past or what he secretly desires. Karlach’s friend is expecting a baby, she’s happy. Drail thinks how little anyone would feel if he was gone and how he takes from the world but brings nothing but sadness. He sees the Refugees, though struggling are happy to be around each other as community which he lacks too. Then those Shar worshippers make him think how hollow and empty cultish life is with people so blinded for a God who doesn’t care if they live or die. Especially when he learns of his sister Orin and how hollow her life is without Bhaal. Lorroaken hits his part about being some power hungry loser like Gortash these men are self interested and when gone no one will care. As Act 3 continued and he learns more about his past and how he is responsible for his troubles and his companions, Drail thinks a lot about his life, and at times thinks being dead is a better thing even good thing for all his sins. He slowly turns from this hateful incel murderer to a selfless and honest man. With his companions the only one who he would’ve called a friend was Astarion since they both enabled each other’s evil habits with Wyll being this “nagging wife” beside him. He tolerated him and Karlach as he needed their strength, he had little time to care about Lae’Zel’s culture or the Gith and employed to wipe them when given the chance. Shart’s religion to him was just plain stupid since it justifies cruelty when to him he doesn’t want or need to a reason to be evil. These people to him were instruments and nothing more and had little thought for their well being, Astarion blasted off in the gith sanctuary, denying Gale artifacts if he could help it, tossing an idol of Shar into the magma cuz he wouldn’t want to be nice to Shart. But I guess misery and the experiencing more near death moments had him think this is the closest he has to a family. During the Grove Party he sat alone and knew why none of the companions wanted to bed him or talk with him. He just didn’t know why he cared and why he should care. Drail’s whole arc to was stop pretending to be this cruel and genius villain who was too cool for feelings and admit he was a loser and disgusting loathful man. He could have daddy’s approval and a cult of sycophants but even then he knew he wasn’t happy. He thought that and love it was an illusion that sheeple made up. Even then that love he got from Bhaal was conditional and even his sister Orin would betray him. His journey was when he was the most happy. In the end of the game I chose two endings and some parts I like both. Ending A: He defeats the Elder Brain and saves Baldur’s Gate, has the party and a happy ending where he chooses his fate from now on. Ending B: He defeats the Elder Brain but afterwards kills himself. Believing he deserves to answer for his sins and finally be at peace and away from the world. With him in that dreamscape with Withers awaiting what great task would befall him. If he means to become a God. He’d be a just one. He also had heterochromia. Both red eyes but his right eye with black sclera. But at the end of the game he loses his urges he loses that blacken eye. Symbolizing Bhaal finally removed of him.
One thing that I like about durge interactions is the ability to confide with your party members about the urges. And all of them except for one from what I remember basically say the same vibe of things ' oh we all have thoughts like that' Except for Karlach, which says 'hey the first step is admitting the problem!' so for my first durge run, a resist durge, I romanced Karlach that run. My second durge run was a more.... betray evil embrace run. SO essentially, the long-con evil cuz I wanted to be as evil as I could. (Plus it was honor mode, AND wanted to go for the save the teifling achievements so getting that portent robe for wyll was too much to pass up on.... double agonizing blasts go brrrrrrrrrrr!!! so alfira has a case of minor concussions.... until quill took her place in camp) So my goal that playthrough was to be good, but an asshole in a way, until act 3. Unfortunately, I couldn't do my 'full evil' plan because Jaheria fell in the tower raid. But my plan basically was - Romance Karlach. safe the tieflings. This also meant that I went for Selunite Shadow Heart. In the end, I made astarion ascend only to be the durge puppet (until the patch 7 evil endings have him die anyways essentially) And turn shadowheart in to viconia.... then have Karlach become the mindflayer. Then dominate the brain. If Jaheria would have survived, then I would mind control minsc to eliminate her from behind after embracing. Fun fact... for me at the ending when I played through the final fight again to see the durge patch 7 ending for them, Karlach was still alive for the scene where you send everyone off the brain... no dialogue with her though. Now I'm doing an evil durge that will resist. for the evil tav endings. I have a tav at that point, but... it's a Gith tav, and I don't exactly see him doing it. (Plus I found a tiefling horns for everyone mod thanks to a twitter thread of clerics for all the deities in bg3, with glowing cracked tiefling horns and... wanted that asthetic for an evil playthrough lol)
It's honestly funny how little the companions seem to care/react to the Durge stuff. I wish it was done better, but also if someone you just met is telling you about these dark urges, how are you even supposed to respond? So the companions are kind of real for that, especially if you're having these conversation in early on in the game.
we got more awesomesauce content!!!! your channel is actually really good and its nice to sit down and have it play while playing/eating so im excited to see what else you make. also the jewelry on the ear looks pretty!
absolutely love watching all of you videos! originally started with the BG3 videos but then when i saw you did black butler videos i was SO EXCITED. It was one of my first animes that I loved. Also since watching your channel Ive binge watched dungen meshi too! Thank you so much for being an amazing creator :) so excited to see whats next!
So I have a durge that's done all their urges until the last moment. They cling onto every word about ambition from astarion and ascend him. She's a tiefling named Deir. But she's not evil because she wants to be. She's evil because she's lost and feels powerless she clings to astarion as her source of guidance because he kind of gets her (terrible idea lmfao). My other durge, Morgan, is on a path of self discovery and after slaughtering the teiflings is like "never again". After alfira she believed it wasn't her fault but when she decides to slaughter the grove, she feels sick Morgan and realizes that she deluded herself into thinking it was a pragmatic decision to get closer to the cult and understanding what's going on but really she just wanted to see the slaughter of all the innocents. Even after saving Arabella and mirkon. She CARED about the teiflings and still killed them. But after that she tries to always do what she thinks is right and supress the urges. Gale calls her out and she realizes he's right. She was headed down the wrong path.
I'm currently playing my embrace Durge a bit different. I honestly just can't bring myself to do a pure evil run, both due to my own moral standards and my ingrained fomo so she spared the tieflings as she's one herself and has little tolerance for those who don't acknowledge the inherent superiority of their infernal lineage but she also absolutely massacred the druids because fuck those racist bastards for even daring to drive them out. She indulges in causal acts of cruelty and malice when there's nothing to be lost but she saved Last Light from Marcus as she wasn't about to give up a useful refuge and it's resources at the behest of some peon who had to rely on The Absolute for power, at least for now. That said she'll almost certainly be convincing Shart to kill Aylin, Astarion to ascend, etc. I'm basically playing her as a neutral evil utilitarian who believes the right decision is the one that benefits you the most and impresses that selfish motivation on those around her as well.
You can get a character named Quil Grotsong as replacement/failsafe for Alfira if she is knocked-out or killed before your next long rest after interacting with her.
Fun fact, as Durge you don't have to go to the Murder Tribunal or interact with Sarevok in any way, bc Scaleritas will just let you into the temple anyways bc he's a homie. This is specifically one of the reasons I decided to play Durge in my Honor Mode run, bc I did NOT wanna fight Sarevok in HM if I could avoid it lmao
How about an Unpacking of the new evil endings? It could serve as a “tying up loose ends” kind of thing for your old videos. Honestly after watching them all, excluding the three (or four?) Tav endings, it’s crazy to see how, well, *in character* each of those endings feels.
I havent fully watched the video yet but i did want to note that playing a Dark Urge whom is trying to redeem themselves is incredibly satisfying. Especially when, spoiler alert You reach bhaals temple and reject your lineage, it felt like everything you had done to resist finally paid off and it was emotional. To me at least😂
I still have a Durge run going, I think it is a redemtion story. But it is something that I hadn't considered that the Durge is the only non companion of the OCs. Hadn't considered that before.
Durge was my first Baldur's Gate 3 run and I am very eager to do more runs with them after catching up with other games, they are such a unique character and honestly has the best story in game imo. I also love Durge x Shadowheart as a romance since I feel they have a lot in common.
the first time i finished a playthrough was an evil durge run, that was a few months ago and i haven't stopped being obsessed about her (my custom durge) since
Ptolemae, my Durge Jesus parallel beloved ❤ (And of course their mother is a twisted version of Mary, having been impregnated by a god, because why wouldn’t she be)
You want to know what's funny? As soon as I saw the video while I'm currently playing as default dark urge on pc right now as you I'm well listening to your video.
As someone who recently stumbled into Slayer Vs Slayer by accident, i can highly recommend it. Especially if you have at least 3 levels of Thief Rogue for an extra Bonus Action. It is intense and really difficult (practically impossible on Tactician and Honour), but so freaking fun and intense. Orin has more moves sure, but if you have built your Durge as a pure Martial Character it is a genuine coin flip on who'll win. It all depends on the damage rolls
Spoilers ahead Speaking of the Durge, i kinda wanted to talk about a romance you can have, and thats gale. See, generally people dont want to let gale get his "bad" ending, but the cool thing about romancing G!gale is that you can ascend as well. I like to headcanon that as a Durge that resists is that they become a god of redemption, showing that no matter who you are, you can seek redemption, even the lowliest can seek redemption, even bhaalspawn, people basically doomed to help fulfill their dark fathers will I also think its fitting that a god of ambition is together with a god of redemption, for how can you get redeption without the ambition to seek it out?
My Dark Urge Elfie since she has flashes of her childhood of killing children in a orphanage she was so scared of being around children terrified shed hurt another little one thankfully though one of her partners Halsin helped her be less scared
One cool thing I found while playing durge was that you actually get a lot of inspiration but only by giving into your urges, so if you're doing a redeemed durge like I was you have to choose to miss out on a lot of rerolls, potentially making your game harder for the sake of yourself and your companions
Oh yeah that is true! I feel like it can be pretty easy to get a lot of inspiration with the other companions though, so I didn't really find myself missing the potential inspiration. (although this heavily depends on how you're playing, who's in your party, and how often the dice just decide to hate you)
@@PocketLeaves I just think it's interesting how the devs like Bhaal in game really try to temp you by rewarding you with things like inspiration and the slayer form, and how you like durge have to consciously choose to reject these things that might be really helpful for you, that is of course if you didn't just reject Bhaal last minute
In this way I feel like durge can be seen as a really good allegory for addiction, which makes it only all the more poignant that it is only through friends and loved ones that you are able to resist and overcome the urges
asdfasdf honestly that's so fair. I've killed the elephant on good runs just to avoid having to fight the tribunal once I realized I may be biting off more than I could chew. (honour mode and maybe a tad under-level for the encounter)
I'm really confused as to who or what Sceleritas Fel is supposed to be. I am a lore enthusiast and know tons of stuff about the Forgotten Realms setting. And Sceleritas Fel is a giant ? to me. Is he a demon? Is he a familiar? Is he an avatar of Bhaal? Is he some goblin creature? I am leaning on him being a familiar since Orin apparently had a butler too. And strangely enough Sceleritas Fel begs for his life when you go to dismiss him permanently.
I have honestly never thought about it, but some kind of mix between familiar and maybe even an avatar of Bhaal seem likely! Only reason I say avatar of Bhaal though is because of the way Bhaal seemed to communicate through him after fighting Orin, but that could easily have another explanation.
What do we feel the best class to represent Durge is? We have to start with Sorcerer as it’s the default image. I feel you could just go 12 Sorcerer on good or evil run however evil run gets so much rogue gear I feel a 9/3 Sorcerer/Rogue works well. For a resist playthrough again 12 Sorcerer works, or maybe 6/6 Sorcadin? Going back to his pre-absolute Paladin days?
omg yeah it's so sad, and I hate how Gale is like "welp, I guess we won't be seeing him anymore" But if you're romancing Astarion you know shortly after that he's fine. Otherwise, at the epilogue party he's chilling. Ascending him can be fun, and the new powers he gets are cool to play with. Not my favorite way to play out his story, but the game mechanics are neat!
That's all up to you! A redeemed durge is a lot easier to stomach, and after Alfira there's not really another scene in game that's that brutal, unless you choose to indulge in more violence. But the Alfira cutscene is still probably one of the more graphic ones until the ending?
Just beat the game for 4th time, 2nd durge run, the only thing i dont like is the saving throws and stuff , i was lucky this time playing on easy but god dam they annoying
There are two wolves inside me. One wants to watch this entire video, right now. The other wants to finish my Durge run with no spoilers. I am torn. I am suffering. I am the hero of a Greek tragedy. I am a shaking pile of rags. I am
Ooh yeah there's a lot of spoilers in this, especially for things towards the end. But that's ultimately up to you!
Woof woof. That’s my wolf telling your wolf to do both: play the game and listen as you go.
Don’t spoil yourself, watch the video after. I managed to avoid spoilers during my entire dark urge run and it was so worth it once you get to the end and learn everything
I’ve always found it interesting that the Dark Urge is default a Dragonborn.
Dragonborn are essentially alien to Toril as a whole, having been transported from their home world of Abeir during the Spellplague. It kinda goes with how unique the Durge is compared to the other Bhaalspawn, as the only one not naturally born as well as being the only one with the form of a non Toril native species. Perhaps Bhaal wanted them to be as foreign a creature as to not have any existing ties that bind them to the land, as connections with others is always what defeats Bhaal’s plans for his Bhaalspawn
I think the emphasis on them being independent from gods and others in Toril is essentially why Bhaal chose to create Durge as a Dragonborn. After all, it's much easier to abandon one god in favour of another than it is to just leave outright.
that's more 4e lore
@@ravensflockmate DnD has yet to offer any other origins for the Dragonborn, so it's safe to assume this still holds up
My headcanon is that Durge is also a changeling but lost the ability due to the brain damage and got stuck in the form they were currently using.
I think canonically Bhaal thought a white Dragonborn with red eyes would look sick af so that’s what he went for
When I told one of my BFFs about the Dark Urge, she said that the urges reminded her of OCD's intrusive thoughts. My first Dark Urge was a half-drow dude named Jaeger and I made him the embodiment of my inner emo kid who has to learn how to empathize with others after spending most of his life being nihilistic.
Cool! My Durge is a half-drow, too, but I made her an arrogant sassy bitch. her first encounter with Astarion was priceless)
This was so well done! Durge runs so deep it had to be difficult. Some random Durge thoughts:
1. While resist Durge & Astarion have a lot of parallels, one of my favorites is their relationship to "sweetness". In dialogue options, Astarion may tell Durge/Tav "isnt that....sweet". He doesnt say it with admiration or disgust, moreso like he doesnt know what to do with it. While faced with Sebastian, Astarion recalls him with horror. He finally lands on "sweet" to describe Sebastian and is horrified at the fate that sweetness led to. With Durge, if they talk to Alfira in the Grove and help with the song, they look pleased. Then the narrator comes in suddenly, calling that sweetness revolting and must be punished. And of course, the famous "Was I sweet once?" line.
2. I wonder what mindset Durge was in when they began the Absolute plot. While Durge understood the quantity vs quality requirement in being a Bhaal spawn, memories of their acts seem VERY personal. Up close with corpses, hands deep in their victims, completely engulfed in their victims. The Absolute plot doesnt seem to fit with this - calculated and ultimately distant with the many many victims. Add to the prayer letter regarding Gortash. Was Durge cognizant and in control at the time, willingly fulfilling the role they grew into? Or was the Absolute plot strictly Bhaal's influence?
In regards to your second point, it's hard to say since we don't really have a timeline of the memory crumbs we do get. But I think Bhaal's influence probably played a big part in the absolute plot. I think it's also a fair read to see Durge as someone who may have grown away from the more personal killings, and started to see the merit and "joy" in mass destruction for Bhaal. I do think that Durge was cognizant, mostly because when we see them be controlled by the urges, it appears more primal and with little thought. And I think a lot of thought went into the absolute plot, not only on Goratsh's end, but everyone involved, including Durge.
I do love the small detail with the two of them longing for sweetness. It's cute and tragic in seeing the niavete they were stripped of.
As for what the Dark Urge was thinking when concocting the absolute plot, I always imagined it as a rock bottom, last ditch effort to make something worthwhile of the life they've been forced into. By now, they would've seen their efforts to be good thwarted and tainted countless times. They were never going to have the life they wanted, so they committed to the life they were forced into. The Dark Urge would have a use for their darkest machinations and talents of leadership. They could cement themselves as a steadfast leader of the cult. And now, as a newly committed Bhaalspawn, strive to make their father proud.
I also wonder what role Gortash would've played in this, if he could've been a catalyst to encourage the Dark Urge's worst desires. It would fit, seeing that Gortash would've been their first true companion, their first equal they could share affection with. And it even add another layer of tragedy to the Dark Urge's story. The Dark Urge gave up the last scrap of themselves to be the person Gortash wanted to see in them, only for him to abandon them when they were in Orin's clutch.
*Spoiler-ish, proceed with caution*
Two dialogues for Durge that made me laugh out loud (there's probably more) were:
1) In the moonrise towers you can talk to a hairless cat. She claims Durge kicked her or something and if you try to recall the memory then obviously it doesn't end well
And one of the dialogue options is (paraphrased) "What the fuck is actually wrong with me?!"
It read that way to me
2) In Act 3 when you meet a diabolist she gives you Sceleritas hat and starts talking like she knows Durge and one of the dialogue options is (paraphrased)
"Shit, not this again."
THAT CAT ENCOUNTER WAS DOWNRIGHT TRAUMATIC FOR ME. This was back in my first Dark Urge playthrough and I was so distressed trying to figure out what was happening to my poor Durge that I didn't even think twice when I saw the "remember" dialogue option was in italics. I was deeply distressed. Then I saw Araj and that whole encounter is obviously awful. Then I told Karlach not to take the soul coins, which she got all pissed over. Then I walked into the throne room and was recognized by everyone, including the dog. Then Ketheric called *my girl* a dog and ordered her to kill the goblins. So obviously, out of spite, I didn't TO WHICH ASTARION DISAPPROVED. AND WHEN WE GOT BACK TO CAMP THE FUCKING DEPRESSED WIZARD WAS MISSING.
Anyways, it was very emotionally chaotic and I spent 30 minutes flipping off every single character on screen while also hysterically laughing from the stress. 10/10 experience. One of the most memorable moments in my 400 hours with the game.
The prayer for forgiveness, found in the illithid colony beneath moonrise seemed to indiacte that Durge had lost his mind from being Bhall's puppet. Gortash refers to Durge with more respect than Orin, so he definitely had a more commanding and noble presence in the view of others. But the prayer is just so desperate.
In the prayer, Durge is begging Bhaal forgiveness for respecting Gortash's intellect. He claims this to be a failure on his own part, and insists that him fulfilling the Absolute plot will all be for Bhaal. He ends the prayer by telling Bhaal he wants nothing else than to make his father proud.
Bhaal strikes me in bg3 as an abusive parent. He made his son kill his foster parents, made him join the cult, made him bring about the apocalypse, and based on the note, Bhaal has never once been proud of his son. Durge is very respected by Sceleritas, but Bhaal only sees his son as a means to an end.
Bhaal's ultimate goal is to fulfil his own rebirth through the death of all his children, including Durge. He never had any chance of making his father proud. The Bhaalspawn are all regarded as filth, belitled for the fact that they are what keeps Bhaal from returning. He doesn't care about them, despite all his promises. He's just an awful dad that can never be impressed because he never wanted kids in the first place.
3 things regarding Durge that’s been on my mind.
1) When in the brothel and saving the druid/nymph lady we get the chance to imagine what we truly want. And the Durge specific option to choose is to be Sane.
2) When remembering killing a baby. I think it was through the memory plant from the underdark. Durge is thinking, and I’m paraphrasing, that killing the baby was a mercy because living in a world with a monster like you in it would be worse.
And that stuck with me. Maybe that’s how Durge is viewing ending the world. As a mercy.
3) It’s mentioned in the Myrkul lady’s notes that Durge was not passive in their resisting. At one point trying to strangle the Myrkul lady with Durges own innards during one of her “experiments”.
You might not say it but I'LL say it, I love ALL Dark Urges! Redeemed Durges, Chosen of Bhaal Durges, Evil Resisting Durges, Self-sacrificing Embraced Durges, they are all precious babies to me! Yes, even those who romance *sigh* Astarion. I'll forgive it, so long as you killed the grove. Stupid druids.
Seriously though, while I've only gotten around to my second full playthrough of the game (ie., this one I'm playing is only the second to reach act 2), I'm so happy I made this one a Dark Urge. It's basically been a do over of my first playthrough Tav, doing a lot of similar decisions as before, with one major difference; rather than raiding the grove outright, I teamed up with Minthara to get revenge on the druids who slaughtered the tieflings while we were genuinely trying to help them. Sorry Halsin, they didn't leave us much choice - or maybe Durge!Alice isn't making the best choices at the beginning. Don't worry, she'll get better! Maybe! Either way, Karlach and Wyll are still around (thanks to the hinted at exploit which, to my knowledge, doesn't work if you actually have a grove battle against the surviving tieflings. It's got to be the situation where Minthara shows up to an empty (but not closed off) grove, in which it implies an off screen battle where she and the goblins took out those remaining. How you interpret that is up to you, imo.)
The point is, I'm loving playing as the Dark Urge, to the point where I'll have to think long and hard about whether to make any future characters a Tav, or another Durge. Honestly it could go either way for most characters I create, since you really do have the freedom to insert your own background, and in my experience, the Dark Urge canon details served to fill out the holes I had in my character's backstory, so it was a natural union. Plus the way you're tied into the over-arching plot feels more satisfying, even if there aren't that many differing story beats throughout. You can really tell they intended Dark Urge to be the go-to custom character, and added Tav as an appeal to those who wanted to make their own character completely unconnected to the in-game plot. The downside being, it can be hard to immerse your original character in what is happening in the story, unless you headcanon something (like they have a connection to one of the other companions). And even then, it's hard to write anything that embodies the same themes of bg3 origins of escaping or embracing cycles of abuse, not that that should stop anyone ofc.
Thank you for all your videos, and congratulations on completing all Origins/Companions!
In pocket leaves we trust for banger bg3 unpacking videos.
Made my first full playthrough with a durge Seldarine Drow Bard named Fleur. He was someone who since childhood had a desire for freedom, and had a deep rooted hatred for Lolth and an unwavering pity towards Lolth-Sworn Drow feeling like a God that strips away their followers freedom to reject them is the worst kind there is, only for him to end up discovering that he was a bhaalspawn and had little choice in their life. Giving up completely as the urge grew stronger, and all bonds he formed were ripped away by his own hands, he resigned to follow his father, bidding his time until a chance to rid himself of his divine blood.
I played the path of redemption and I cried when Withers brought him back as I genuinely thought he would permanently die.
Durge is just such a tragic figure. Their entire life they longed for the love of a father who created them as a meat puppet to ultimately die so Bhaal can be reborn. Gortash was most likely the first person who ever showed them respect, not fear, and also can relate to abusive parents who can't do anything but criticise. But Durge knows they will have to kill him as well as Orin, who they call sister, to "make Bhaal proud". That must be a terrible feeling. This all gets even worse on the evil Durge route, when they accept Bhaal's legacy. They are now doomed to kill everyone they ever loved. Durge at this point stops existing as a person and becomes just a thrall.
Making dad proud is all Durge ever wanted but as Sarevok says: "Bhaal never feels pride. He bore the disgrace of creating life in his spawn. We can only atone for the shame of birth." Bhaal has some parallels to Shar in that regard. When you play Shadowhearts origin Shar presents herself as Shadowheart's "real mother" and just like Bhaal she demands her child to kill their parents to show their loyalty. Neither Shar nor Bhaal actually care for anyone, not mortals or even their own allies. They just want to see the world burn.
The quest log is chilling. Just full caps "YOU ARE THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS, blah blah, etc." and noticeably in 2nd person, while other origin quest logs are in 1st person (written by Sceleritas I assume). If Durge resists the last entry will also be in 1st person. I just love that little detail so much.
There is a cut ending for Durge, that is still buried in the dialogue files where Durge wakes up next to a gnoll, naked and exhausted with no recollection what happened since they defeated the Netherbrain. A voice then tells them because they failed to do their duty they are now tasked with creating more Bhaalspawn. I assume that ending was a bit too horrifying to include 🥲
As a certified lover of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, playing Durge was such a blast. The first two games you play as a different Bhaalspawn, the one Jaheira references. I played Tav first because I didn't see I could customize Durge, and i was kind of disappointed at how I was essentially disconnected to the plot, much like Astarion but even worse. Playing Durge on my second run was like a return to form. Being a Bhaalspawn was always intergal to the plot of Baldur's Gate so to say i felt the lack of that while playing Tav is an understatement.
I've heard that about the previous games, and that being the reason a lot of players consider Durge as the main character/canon player character. Tav is literally just a blank slate for the players to make up whatever character they want, so I don't mind Tav being just some guy totally unconnected. But I'm also lacking the experience with the older Baldur's Gate games, so maybe I'd feel differently if I'd played those in the past.
I love to play a Durge who loves murder, but hates Bhaal.
"Just let me murder who I want, DAD!" They say, rebelling despite the similarities.
I’m tempted to try a killing Isobel but saving Aylin playthrough, like essentially using shadowhearts decision as a turning point towards “wait….I can defy my god?!?”
Oooh, that's such a fun way to connect your story with the others!
Okay so I actually did this! Aylin ends up not knowing you killed Isobel if you release her and then go to last light in when it’s isobel there alone 😂
Don’t forget to do karlach’s heart thing with Damon beforehand if you somehow keep her when being evil
My first Durge run was my first playthrough that reached Act 2. I sided with the goblins and slaughtered the tieflings. Finally she reached Isobel, having been approached to kill her in advance. She had already been to Moonrise and was obsessed with the idea of getting revenge on the Absolute. Marcus had reduced Isobel to 1 HP and I realized that I wouldn't be able to save her, so I used a well placed magic missile to finish her off and deny my enemy what they wanted.
The Fall of Moonrise was a turning point for that character, realizing how much devastation and horror the actions she had been taking rather mindlessly could actually cause. It was from there she decided that she would never give Sceleritas Fel what he wanted again. She wasn't a good guy after that point, but she started thinking about her actions rather than lashing out at every opportunity. She learned enlightened self interest.
I RP my Durge as someone who prior to Orin causing his amnesia, did recognise that Bhaal was an abusive father, and was essentially playing along, planning to use the Crown of Karsus to find a way to set himself free, and seek revenge against Bhaal himself for his abuse.
But the amnesia left him the just the Dark Urge and the desire to be free. It cut out the memory of the compassion his parents ingrained in him. So my Durge is still working against Bhaal but for personal gain instead of righteous vengance.
I became the Absolute, and in my headcanon, I used my control over Astartion to force him to turn me into a true vampire (the Netherbrain is shown to follow its last command even if the Netherstones aren't actively being used, so it could force him to turn me completely and override the control he'd have over me as a spawn), and if I managed it before the Gith arrived, I'd replicate his ritual to become a Vampire Ascendant. All the while I'd have Gale (still dominated) working to replicate Karsus' ritual.
I planned to steal the mantle of God of Ambition or go down in a blaze of glory, possibly cutting my losses and becoming a powerful vampire lord in the Underdark, leaving the Netherbrain to the Gith and letting Gale and Mystra fight over the Crown.
as a Dark Urge main, Im proud to be part of that 13%
Shout out to Neily Roberts for default Durge voice (aka: Tav 5).
And embrace (lol) the evil runs, they take so~ much less time than the good ones. :) My favorite embrace durge was a NB wood elf sorc/bard/rogue... because I love making stupid builds. lol Favorite resist durge was a tiefling Cleric/Paladin of Kelemvor... but then my mods broke so I never finished their run. D:
This is such a fun, good take. Really enjoying it.
The Slayer Form was always just a bit disappointing even in BG 2: TOB. You spend all that time learning just how to be really effective with your player character, optimizing your tactics and picking all the best gear. And then the Slayer comes and you have to learn a completely different fighting style. It's a bit like being a Wildshaping druid. You end up having to balance your spell-casting weapon-using tactics against the best time to switch to teeth and claws.
I much prefer the Redeemption Durge path, even if I'm not really sure Durge can redeem themselves given the things they have done eagerly over the course of their life.
Hoping you keep finding things to explore in BG3. Your deep dives are always a good listen.
I play my Durge very much like Raven from Teen Titans, born from a great evil and trying to do what good she can hoping to counteract the evil "prophecy" of her father.
Thank you for this, I’ve been terribly hungry for more dark urge content online 😩😍
Right? It's such a neat part of the fandom where so many of us love this fairly defined character, but still have our own drastic variations. Like neat little AUs.
Delighted to have found this channel. Bg3 deserves deep dives like this and you did Durge justice
You’ve just given me an amazing idea for my playthrough once the evil endings come to PS5! Someone who struggled with split personality order because of the urge, but eventually became the monster he was most of the time whilst with Bhaal’s cult. But when Orin stabs him the the head, the personalities unravel & the playthrough consists of each persona taking their turn on the wheel.
YEEEEESS NEW POCKET LEAVES UNPACKING VIDEO. I. HAVE. BEEN. WAITING. FOR. THIS. FOR. SO. LONG!!!!!
I’ve been listening to / reading a lot of Durge lore for an upcoming video and have to say, I absolutely *love* the thoughtfulness you put into your BG3 deep dives! You really stand out with your exploration of these characters and IM SO HERE FOR IT
Also if Durge loses the fight with Orin, they will lose themself to their urge at the end of the game, just like it does if they wait until the last second to defy Bhaal. Either way, they can either choose to kill themself, or they will end up a soulless husk of who they once were.
I was surprised that Durge defaults to Sorcerer and not Paladin. Its the only change I make to their default character, and I personally feel like throwing in Oath of Vengeance (or Oathbreaker if you go evil) makes the class mechanics intertwine more with the story. But thats just me.
@@coltsfan354 I have an interesting interpretation for paladin durge, my idea is that a paladin durge used religion as a way to calm the urge, similar to how people in real life might use religion and God as a way to handle their addictions
Personally I think that barbarian makes a lot of sense for a dark urge character. Barbarians don't have to be dumb, "haha axe go smash" characters after all, and the rage mechanic ties in really nicely with Durge's accidental murder sprees. Rogue would also make a lot of sense narratively though considering they were, ya know, an assassin. Rogue is just my least favorite class so far. But rogue might make the most sense actually for durge. But to argue for sorcerer durge, I think that perhaps it makes sense because they have power they were born with, and that power comes from having a god as a father? Maybe they just don't have a "god is my father" subclass so they used storm sorcerer.
Considering how much of a terrible "father" Bhaal is, if you can even call him that, I like to believe that in the most pure form of irony, Good Durge ends up being a very attached father.
Durge would be kinda similar to how a mother cat refuses to sleep unless the kitten is in her embrace first. The group can't decide if it's wholesome or disturbing to see the former harbinger of doom just hugging and laughing with his infant Dragonborn.
Excellent work, as usual. Out of my 8 playthroughs only one of them was a Durge run, and it was resist playthrough every step of the way. And while I did enjoy the different things that a Durge run can bring, I think just one playthrough is all I need.
As for your next BG3 video, Drow Twins!
Im honestly annoyed more people haven't done an evil Durge playthrough. Its so fun.
It is interesting how you can save Alfira, but in return a Dragonborn bard pays the price
I'm stuck in the city for 2 weeks for midterms. can't wait for friday so I can go home and finally start playing bg3 on my dad's computer!!! your vids have gotten me soooo eager to play this game I can hardly wait
Playing a Shadar-kai resist Durge now and my first Durge run and with a sorcerer who just slams flame strike down on enemies. (The Gortash thing absolutely is romantic for Bhallists if you find the bodies in the temple with notes about their wedding. Guess you could say Durge was caught in a Bhaal romance)
Caught in a Bhaal romance you stop that right now 😂😂😂😂😂👌🏻
Woooo! It’s here! I love your character dissections!
My favorite Dark Urge ending will always be Resist Durge being recruited by Jaheira to become a Harper.
It feels like the greatest defiance. (Plus, it's one step closer to being adopted by Jaheira.)
I absolutely loved this video! My first ever play through was as a Tav but then my next was a dark urge run, I played as seladrine drow wild magic sorcerer who was resisting the urge. I personally believe that the dark urge origin was meant to be the main character just because it fits in so well with the story. I managed to avoid spoilers while playing and so when I got to the twist that we started the plan for the absolute I was so shocked lol.
Also super funny that you’re starting dragon age. I just started Dragon Age Origins a few days ago and was thinking that it was similar to baldurs gate. Definitely would recommend it though! Fair warning if you do the city elf the beginning for that has some really serious SA themes.
I found your channel through baldurs gate but i will stick around to see your thoughts on other media cause you're well spoken and easy to listen to and it tickles my brain in a nice way. So thank you for the content so far, and i look forward to a mutually beneficial creator/consumer relationship
Found this channel today! Easy to listen to while on campus of college, great job on the content!
I've been going full "have fun with violence" in my durge run. Camellia from WOTR is a favorite character of mine, and I'm taking inspiration from her.
I’d like to share a story of one of my Dark Urges. Drail was a male drow. He was inspired by Ramsay from Game of Thrones in many ways of his behavior. Thoughout the game he has two things in his mind:
1: Kill and maim
2: Seek out powers by whatever means and by whatever way. Examples is the Loviatar’s blessing and forcing Astarion to bite that drow woman.
In Act 1: He had no concept of dignity for others, he took pleasure in humiliating others and alienated himself from his companions at times. My little headcanon almost all of them feared him enough that they didn’t oppose him. As a male drow he was particularly nastier towards his kind especially Female drow and liked the idea of destroying Minthara especially since she comes from royalty. But I had another character knock her out and robbed him of his fantasies. I basically wanted to make a murder hobo incel who egomaniacal and a megalomaniac.
Act 2: Drail was in his element and was constantly annoyed with the cult shenanigans as they knew more of his past than he did. He hated Ketheric on start as something in him reminded of an annoying man in his past (Ketheric). He hated the Harpies and thought Jaheira was self righteous. For some reason has no idea was he holds such contempt for her (she help kill Saravok and end Bhaal’s plans). He begins to learn more of himself and learn a lot from his companions particularly Gale, Lae’Zel, and Shadowheart. Each having a god that looms over them. Minthara though he took pleasure in seeing her tortured even he grew to tolerate her as for some reason being an obedient servant touched him for some reason and has no idea why it’s relatable. The party would go on to save Dame Aylin and kill Ketheric For the majority of Act 2 I was having Wyll take the lead as I felt he the defacto leader after Drail and def the moral center. So it wouldn’t make sense for Drail to do it himself. He’d likely take Aylin’s immortality for himself if he could.
Act 3: Drail goes on to have more of a transformation, learning bits and pieces of himself. Meeting people like the refugees again, Karlach’s old friend, Sharrans, and Gortash and Lorroaken. Each case showing an aspect of his past or what he secretly desires. Karlach’s friend is expecting a baby, she’s happy. Drail thinks how little anyone would feel if he was gone and how he takes from the world but brings nothing but sadness. He sees the Refugees, though struggling are happy to be around each other as community which he lacks too. Then those Shar worshippers make him think how hollow and empty cultish life is with people so blinded for a God who doesn’t care if they live or die. Especially when he learns of his sister Orin and how hollow her life is without Bhaal. Lorroaken hits his part about being some power hungry loser like Gortash these men are self interested and when gone no one will care. As Act 3 continued and he learns more about his past and how he is responsible for his troubles and his companions, Drail thinks a lot about his life, and at times thinks being dead is a better thing even good thing for all his sins. He slowly turns from this hateful incel murderer to a selfless and honest man.
With his companions the only one who he would’ve called a friend was Astarion since they both enabled each other’s evil habits with Wyll being this “nagging wife” beside him. He tolerated him and Karlach as he needed their strength, he had little time to care about Lae’Zel’s culture or the Gith and employed to wipe them when given the chance. Shart’s religion to him was just plain stupid since it justifies cruelty when to him he doesn’t want or need to a reason to be evil. These people to him were instruments and nothing more and had little thought for their well being, Astarion blasted off in the gith sanctuary, denying Gale artifacts if he could help it, tossing an idol of Shar into the magma cuz he wouldn’t want to be nice to Shart. But I guess misery and the experiencing more near death moments had him think this is the closest he has to a family. During the Grove Party he sat alone and knew why none of the companions wanted to bed him or talk with him. He just didn’t know why he cared and why he should care. Drail’s whole arc to was stop pretending to be this cruel and genius villain who was too cool for feelings and admit he was a loser and disgusting loathful man. He could have daddy’s approval and a cult of sycophants but even then he knew he wasn’t happy. He thought that and love it was an illusion that sheeple made up. Even then that love he got from Bhaal was conditional and even his sister Orin would betray him. His journey was when he was the most happy.
In the end of the game I chose two endings and some parts I like both.
Ending A: He defeats the Elder Brain and saves Baldur’s Gate, has the party and a happy ending where he chooses his fate from now on.
Ending B: He defeats the Elder Brain but afterwards kills himself. Believing he deserves to answer for his sins and finally be at peace and away from the world. With him in that dreamscape with Withers awaiting what great task would befall him. If he means to become a God. He’d be a just one.
He also had heterochromia. Both red eyes but his right eye with black sclera. But at the end of the game he loses his urges he loses that blacken eye. Symbolizing Bhaal finally removed of him.
One thing that I like about durge interactions is the ability to confide with your party members about the urges. And all of them except for one from what I remember basically say the same vibe of things ' oh we all have thoughts like that' Except for Karlach, which says 'hey the first step is admitting the problem!' so for my first durge run, a resist durge, I romanced Karlach that run.
My second durge run was a more.... betray evil embrace run. SO essentially, the long-con evil cuz I wanted to be as evil as I could. (Plus it was honor mode, AND wanted to go for the save the teifling achievements so getting that portent robe for wyll was too much to pass up on.... double agonizing blasts go brrrrrrrrrrr!!! so alfira has a case of minor concussions.... until quill took her place in camp) So my goal that playthrough was to be good, but an asshole in a way, until act 3. Unfortunately, I couldn't do my 'full evil' plan because Jaheria fell in the tower raid.
But my plan basically was - Romance Karlach. safe the tieflings. This also meant that I went for Selunite Shadow Heart. In the end, I made astarion ascend only to be the durge puppet (until the patch 7 evil endings have him die anyways essentially) And turn shadowheart in to viconia.... then have Karlach become the mindflayer. Then dominate the brain.
If Jaheria would have survived, then I would mind control minsc to eliminate her from behind after embracing.
Fun fact... for me at the ending when I played through the final fight again to see the durge patch 7 ending for them, Karlach was still alive for the scene where you send everyone off the brain... no dialogue with her though.
Now I'm doing an evil durge that will resist. for the evil tav endings. I have a tav at that point, but... it's a Gith tav, and I don't exactly see him doing it. (Plus I found a tiefling horns for everyone mod thanks to a twitter thread of clerics for all the deities in bg3, with glowing cracked tiefling horns and... wanted that asthetic for an evil playthrough lol)
It's honestly funny how little the companions seem to care/react to the Durge stuff. I wish it was done better, but also if someone you just met is telling you about these dark urges, how are you even supposed to respond? So the companions are kind of real for that, especially if you're having these conversation in early on in the game.
we got more awesomesauce content!!!! your channel is actually really good and its nice to sit down and have it play while playing/eating so im excited to see what else you make. also the jewelry on the ear looks pretty!
absolutely love watching all of you videos! originally started with the BG3 videos but then when i saw you did black butler videos i was SO EXCITED. It was one of my first animes that I loved. Also since watching your channel Ive binge watched dungen meshi too! Thank you so much for being an amazing creator :) so excited to see whats next!
So I have a durge that's done all their urges until the last moment. They cling onto every word about ambition from astarion and ascend him. She's a tiefling named Deir. But she's not evil because she wants to be. She's evil because she's lost and feels powerless she clings to astarion as her source of guidance because he kind of gets her (terrible idea lmfao).
My other durge, Morgan, is on a path of self discovery and after slaughtering the teiflings is like "never again". After alfira she believed it wasn't her fault but when she decides to slaughter the grove, she feels sick Morgan and realizes that she deluded herself into thinking it was a pragmatic decision to get closer to the cult and understanding what's going on but really she just wanted to see the slaughter of all the innocents. Even after saving Arabella and mirkon. She CARED about the teiflings and still killed them. But after that she tries to always do what she thinks is right and supress the urges. Gale calls her out and she realizes he's right. She was headed down the wrong path.
I'm currently playing my embrace Durge a bit different. I honestly just can't bring myself to do a pure evil run, both due to my own moral standards and my ingrained fomo so she spared the tieflings as she's one herself and has little tolerance for those who don't acknowledge the inherent superiority of their infernal lineage but she also absolutely massacred the druids because fuck those racist bastards for even daring to drive them out. She indulges in causal acts of cruelty and malice when there's nothing to be lost but she saved Last Light from Marcus as she wasn't about to give up a useful refuge and it's resources at the behest of some peon who had to rely on The Absolute for power, at least for now. That said she'll almost certainly be convincing Shart to kill Aylin, Astarion to ascend, etc. I'm basically playing her as a neutral evil utilitarian who believes the right decision is the one that benefits you the most and impresses that selfish motivation on those around her as well.
omg i was just watching all of ur other bg3 deep dives the other day, so excited for this one! i’m too much of a softie to play as durge myself lol
Great Durge deepdive! I loved ur analysis
Durge is so fascinating, especially if you play them as a stereotypically "good" class like a Paladin
Yea, my first durge was a selidrine drow cleric of selune who romances shadowheart and resists the urge.
*feral growling noises* hell yeah!
You can get a character named Quil Grotsong as replacement/failsafe for Alfira if she is knocked-out or killed before your next long rest after interacting with her.
On one hand the crazy attack the party dark urge is a horrible ending on the other hand it’s the only one that lets you piss yourself
Fun fact, as Durge you don't have to go to the Murder Tribunal or interact with Sarevok in any way, bc Scaleritas will just let you into the temple anyways bc he's a homie. This is specifically one of the reasons I decided to play Durge in my Honor Mode run, bc I did NOT wanna fight Sarevok in HM if I could avoid it lmao
The evil route doesn't add Minthara, just beat her unconscious
I don’t want to seem weird when I say this. But your laugh is the CUTEST thing
Minthara is ride or die. Love her
we need more Baalist romance novels
How about an Unpacking of the new evil endings? It could serve as a “tying up loose ends” kind of thing for your old videos. Honestly after watching them all, excluding the three (or four?) Tav endings, it’s crazy to see how, well, *in character* each of those endings feels.
I've run multiple durge playthroughs, it's just so much fun!
I havent fully watched the video yet but i did want to note that playing a Dark Urge whom is trying to redeem themselves is incredibly satisfying. Especially when, spoiler alert
You reach bhaals temple and reject your lineage, it felt like everything you had done to resist finally paid off and it was emotional. To me at least😂
Clicks on durge video: “This contains spoilers for the new patch 7 endings…”
Me, a console player: 😢
Another day, another banger
AAYYYYYY WE FINALLY GOT THE UNPACKING DURGE VID
I still have a Durge run going, I think it is a redemtion story. But it is something that I hadn't considered that the Durge is the only non companion of the OCs. Hadn't considered that before.
Durge was my first Baldur's Gate 3 run and I am very eager to do more runs with them after catching up with other games, they are such a unique character and honestly has the best story in game imo. I also love Durge x Shadowheart as a romance since I feel they have a lot in common.
the first time i finished a playthrough was an evil durge run, that was a few months ago and i haven't stopped being obsessed about her (my custom durge) since
My first dark urge run was a life domain cleric redemption run
Been patiently waiting in the bushes for this 🔪
Ptolemae, my Durge Jesus parallel beloved ❤
(And of course their mother is a twisted version of Mary, having been impregnated by a god, because why wouldn’t she be)
You want to know what's funny?
As soon as I saw the video while I'm currently playing as default dark urge on pc right now as you I'm well listening to your video.
As someone who recently stumbled into Slayer Vs Slayer by accident, i can highly recommend it. Especially if you have at least 3 levels of Thief Rogue for an extra Bonus Action. It is intense and really difficult (practically impossible on Tactician and Honour), but so freaking fun and intense. Orin has more moves sure, but if you have built your Durge as a pure Martial Character it is a genuine coin flip on who'll win. It all depends on the damage rolls
That sounds so wild! I feel like I struggle fighting her as Slayer vs normal Orin, so I can't imagine how difficult a Slayer vs Slayer would be.
another GREAT video!!!! here's some engagement
Spoilers ahead
Speaking of the Durge, i kinda wanted to talk about a romance you can have, and thats gale. See, generally people dont want to let gale get his "bad" ending, but the cool thing about romancing G!gale is that you can ascend as well. I like to headcanon that as a Durge that resists is that they become a god of redemption, showing that no matter who you are, you can seek redemption, even the lowliest can seek redemption, even bhaalspawn, people basically doomed to help fulfill their dark fathers will
I also think its fitting that a god of ambition is together with a god of redemption, for how can you get redeption without the ambition to seek it out?
My Dark Urge Elfie since she has flashes of her childhood of killing children in a orphanage she was so scared of being around children terrified shed hurt another little one thankfully though one of her partners Halsin helped her be less scared
One cool thing I found while playing durge was that you actually get a lot of inspiration but only by giving into your urges, so if you're doing a redeemed durge like I was you have to choose to miss out on a lot of rerolls, potentially making your game harder for the sake of yourself and your companions
Oh yeah that is true! I feel like it can be pretty easy to get a lot of inspiration with the other companions though, so I didn't really find myself missing the potential inspiration. (although this heavily depends on how you're playing, who's in your party, and how often the dice just decide to hate you)
@@PocketLeaves I just think it's interesting how the devs like Bhaal in game really try to temp you by rewarding you with things like inspiration and the slayer form, and how you like durge have to consciously choose to reject these things that might be really helpful for you, that is of course if you didn't just reject Bhaal last minute
In this way I feel like durge can be seen as a really good allegory for addiction, which makes it only all the more poignant that it is only through friends and loved ones that you are able to resist and overcome the urges
I love your videos
I went drow swords/ rouge bard durge. You may call him Damien Darkurge. A bit on the nose, I know lol but I think it fits the character roleplay.
Gortash and Durge say gex.
Being evil is kind of fun
Well not my redeem Durge killing that elephant cuz my cleric loves the bhaalist armor 😅
asdfasdf honestly that's so fair. I've killed the elephant on good runs just to avoid having to fight the tribunal once I realized I may be biting off more than I could chew. (honour mode and maybe a tad under-level for the encounter)
Unpa- oh wait this is the Unpacking Dark Urge yahoo! 😄
YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! DURGE CONTENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i made my durge a lady murder lizard vengeance paladin just trying her best to be nice and feeling really sad about it
I'm really confused as to who or what Sceleritas Fel is supposed to be. I am a lore enthusiast and know tons of stuff about the Forgotten Realms setting. And Sceleritas Fel is a giant ? to me. Is he a demon? Is he a familiar? Is he an avatar of Bhaal? Is he some goblin creature? I am leaning on him being a familiar since Orin apparently had a butler too. And strangely enough Sceleritas Fel begs for his life when you go to dismiss him permanently.
I have honestly never thought about it, but some kind of mix between familiar and maybe even an avatar of Bhaal seem likely! Only reason I say avatar of Bhaal though is because of the way Bhaal seemed to communicate through him after fighting Orin, but that could easily have another explanation.
What do we feel the best class to represent Durge is?
We have to start with Sorcerer as it’s the default image. I feel you could just go 12 Sorcerer on good or evil run however evil run gets so much rogue gear I feel a 9/3 Sorcerer/Rogue works well.
For a resist playthrough again 12 Sorcerer works, or maybe 6/6 Sorcadin? Going back to his pre-absolute Paladin days?
In a way i relate to durge. Very much.
Ok I’ll bite. Explain? I feel like you want to talk about it.
A big giant murder lizard u mean Godzilla 😂 maybe reptar or T. rex
IN THE NAME OF BHAAL F BEING NORMAL I WANT POWER!!!
The phrase butler(im sorey i cannot write his name) says about astarion got me fucking sobbing
It was 2 am i wasnt expecninh something like that okay
OH ur gonna have thoughts about dragon age!
Redeemed durge x astarion is my one true canon ship.
Then maybe shadowheart and laezel 😂
I'm doing 2nd playthrough I'm Ascending Astarion I kept as spawn in first playthrough I felt so bad when I saw him running from the sun 😢😢
omg yeah it's so sad, and I hate how Gale is like "welp, I guess we won't be seeing him anymore" But if you're romancing Astarion you know shortly after that he's fine. Otherwise, at the epilogue party he's chilling.
Ascending him can be fun, and the new powers he gets are cool to play with. Not my favorite way to play out his story, but the game mechanics are neat!
DUrge, I tried to play imthis origin twice, always pushed me back from how heavy it is. Maybe it's time to give it try again?
That's all up to you! A redeemed durge is a lot easier to stomach, and after Alfira there's not really another scene in game that's that brutal, unless you choose to indulge in more violence. But the Alfira cutscene is still probably one of the more graphic ones until the ending?
@@PocketLeaves I will probably try to not kill Alfira. She should be companion not just "adventure" for durge
Just beat the game for 4th time, 2nd durge run, the only thing i dont like is the saving throws and stuff , i was lucky this time playing on easy but god dam they annoying
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Hehe balls influence 💀
He is not a Kobal. He’s a dragon born.
🎉🎉🎉
First?! Looking forward to this!
My cannon dark urge is always a duergar Ranger Level 5 Infinite Invisibility let's gooooooo