I finally beat the game after something like 150 hours of in-game time according to Steam. I tried to play the role of a good guy half-elf monk that wasn't afraid of to use violence to achieve his goals. My major story decisions included:
- Recruiting all party members (excluding Minthara obviously) and doing their side-quests except for Astarion
- Saving all Tieflings
- Romancing Shadowheart because I'm basic
- Telling the Emperor the entire playthrough that I will consider all of the options until the time comes
- Not evolving into a half Illithid to maintain my appearance and free-will
- At the final moment, freeing Orpheus against the Emperor's wishes, leading him to turn against me and side with the Elder Brain
- Convincing Orpheus to become a Mindflayer
- Deciding to destroy the Elder Brain/Emperor instead of allowing Gale to explode himself
- Letting Karlak die in a blaze of glory instead of convincing her to go back to Avernus (as she insisted the entire game)
- Watching Astarion burn in the sunlight
- Telling Gale to leave the crown beneath the water and to move on.
- Telling Lae'zel to go fight Vlaakith
- Killing Orpheus honorably at his request
- Living happily ever after as a legend of Baldur's Gate?
Overall, I feel like I achieved my good guy run pretty well. Maybe it would have been better had I convinced Karlach to return to Avernus, but it was hard for me to do that when the only thing she said the entire game was how she never would allow herself to go back. I felt like siding with the Githyanki was better than siding with the Emperor despite not viewing him as entirely evil. At the end of the day, he was a soulless husk of the person he used to be and more Mindflayer than anything else.
I'm curious to hear how everyone else's runs ended.
It's so hard to choose between doing another heroic run versus embracing a full dark run. But I find it so hard to be a baddy I feel like I know what I'm going to end up doing.
I'll be like this time I'm going to pick the evil playthrough and on my first rude dialogue option I immediately regret it and start a new non evil run lmao.
Killing Karlach and Wyll
I am pretty sure you can recruit them, be evil and raid the grove, and then they will leave (and presumably die off screen, oh well...)
You can, it just makes more sense to me for them to confront the main character's party. I think if you recruit them, you just get some sort of "party members have left your camp" popup and their stupid bags getting dumped on your main character lol.
I've heard that Minthara is still kinda broken, so I'm also hesitant to take a totally evil scumbag playthrough into Act 2. I've started a DU sorcerer that I'm planning on having an end game party of: DU Sorcerer, Minthara, Ascended Asterion, and Shar-doheart. I haven't taken this run to the underdark yet, so who knows if I'll complete it or not.
I have heard that if you take DU to act 3, and are nice enough to recruit Jaheira and Minsc, they'll confront you if you accept Bhaal's embrace after defeating Orin. A late game face-heel turn might be kinda fun!