Baldur’s Gate 3: All Permanent Bonuses (& How To Get Them)

BG3 is full of permanent bonuses players can obtain. Here’s a guide to finding them all.

Baldur's Gate 3 - Araj, Gut, Necromancy of Thay, and Scratch

Baldur’s Gate 3 is an impressively large game that has a ton of content for players to find and dig into. Some of the content in the game is pretty well-hidden, while other content is easy to find so long as players look.

One thing that players will find is the many bonuses that can be permanently added to their characters throughout the game. Here is a guide to every permanent buff/bonus, its effect, and how to unlock it.

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Act 1 Permanent Bonuses

There are thirteen known permanent bonuses that players are able to obtain during Act 1. Remember, both the Mountain Pass and the Underdark can be explored before moving on to Act 2, so be sure to grab everything you want before heading on.

Buff Name	Effect	Location	How To Unlock
Auntie Ethel’s Hair	+1 to an Ability Score of the player’s choice	Riverside Treehouse	Spare Auntie Ethel’s life after fighting her to save Mayrina
Awakened Illithid Powers	Illithid Powers can now be a Bonus Action	Githyanki Creche	Use the Zaith’isk in the Creche and pass all the Skill Checks
BOOOAL’s Blessing	Gives players an Advantage on Attack Rolls against Bleeding enemies	Underdark	Sacrifice a companion in The Fester Cove and don’t hurt the Kuo-toa
Brand of the Absolute	Unlocks dialogue about being in the Cult of the Absolute	Goblin Camp	Allow Priestess Gut to mark the player
Find Familiar: Scratch	Summon Scratch	The Forest	Let Scratch join the camp
Find Familiar: Shovel	Summon Shovel	Blighted Village	Find the scroll in the Apothecary’s Cellar
Forbidden Knowledge	+1 to Wisdom Saving Throws and Ability Checks	Blighted Village	Succeed the Skill Checks while reading Necromancy of Thay
Instrument Proficiency	Allows the player to successfully play instruments	Emerald Grove	Pass the Charisma Checks with Alfira
Loviatar’s Love	Gain +2 to Attack Rolls and Wisdom Saving Throws while having 30% HP or less	Goblin Camp	Allow Abdirak to hit you in the Goblin Camp
Necromancy of Thay	Speak with Dead Spell added	Blighted Village	Reading the Necromancy of Thay
Paid the Price	+1 Intimidation Check (but -1 Perception Checks)	Riverside Treehouse	Allow Auntie Ethel to remove the Parasite
Survival Instinct	Adds the Survival Instinct Illithid Power	Underdark	Help Omeluum investigate the Parasite
Volo’s Ersatz Eye	Adds permanent See Invisibility	Camp	Allow Volo to remove the Parasite

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Act 2 Permanent Bonuses

Act 2 features eight different permanent bonuses/buffs, some of which are for characters other than Tav. Here’s a breakdown of them all.

Buff Name	Effect	Location	How To Unlock
Arabella’s Shadow Entangle	Adds the spell Entangled to use on Undead	House of Healing	Tell Arabella about her parents
Bardic Inspiration	Adds a 1d12 charge of Bardic Inspiration	Moonrise Towers	Talk to Alfira at the end of Act 2
Gale’s Level 3 Spell Slot	Grants Gale an extra level 3 Spell Slot	Shadow-Cursed Lands	Play Gale’s Origin and consume the Shadow Weave from the Thorms’ corpses
Githzerai Mind Barrier	+1 Advantage on Intelligence Saving Throws	Mind Flayer Colony	Speak to the Waking Mind via the Mind-Archive in the colony
Mystra’s Benevolence	Gale gains an Advantage on Concentration Saving Throws	Moonrise Towers	Have Gale destroy Balthazar’s ritual
Potion of Everlasting Vigor	+2 Strength (even past 20 Strength)	Moonrise Towers	Have Astarion bite Araj Oblodra
Slayer Form	Grants the Slayer Form	Anywhere	Kill Isobel, Tav’s lover, or the highest-approval companion during The Urge.
Summon Us	Summon Us from the prologue	Mind Flayer Colony	Save him in Act 1 and rescue him from the Mind Flayer Colony in Act 2

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Act 3 Permanent Bonuses

The final act of the game features ten permanent bonuses, and once again, they can be used on characters other than Tav. Here’s a breakdown of those bonuses/buffs.

Buff Name	Effect	Location	How To Unlock
Anointed in Splendour	+2 to Saving Throws	Stormshore Tabernacle	Make enough offerings to a deity in the tabernacle
Danse Macabre	Summons 4 Undead to fight alongside the player	Sorcerous Sundries Vaults	Read the Tharchiate Codex and then Necromancy of Thay
Monk’s Curse	Adds the Spell Tasha’s Hideous Laughter	Open Hand Temple	Place the Sentient Amulet (obtained in Act 1) in the Monk’s casket
Mirror of Loss	+2 to an Ability	House of Grief	Pray to the mirror and then sacrifice an Ability
Partial Ceremorphosis	Adds Tier 3 Illithid Powers	Anywhere	Consume the Astral-Touched Tadpole
Slayer Knowledge	Gain an Advantage against Slayers	Camp	Rescue Volo and speak to him at the campsite
Sweet Stone Features	Adds +1d4 Slashing bonus to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws	Circus of the Last Days	Have Boney construct a statue of Tav for the campsite
Tharchiate Codex Vigor	Gain +20 temporary HP after every Long Rest	Sorcerous Sundries Vault	Read the Tharchiate Codex
Unstable Blood	Blood is now highly flammable	Lower City	Help Araj Oblodra again
Vampire Ascendant	Grants Astarion the Ascendant Bite and Misty Escape actions	Cazador’s Palace	Allow Astarion to Ascend