One Baldur's Gate 3 player has answered the question we've all had since the RPG's breakout launch: yes, you can beat the game as a squad of four very cute cats. Just don't expect to do it without busting the game using strats straight out of the speedrunning scene.
YouTuber Proxy Gate Tactician specializes in breaking Baldur's Gate 3 wide open, doing everything from a full pacifist run to finding all the ways Larian has tried to account for your murder sprees. But beating the game in cat form might just be the ultimate challenge. The basic rule Proxy Gate Tactician set is that you have to play as a Druid and stay in cat form for as long as the game will allow you to.
"Fundamental elements of any great RPG," Proxy Gate Tactician explains, "include the ability to equip useful items, converse with people, and use a variety of combat skills. All of which cats are unable to do." Being a cat in the opening moments of Act 1 alone, you can't speak to Shadowheart, you can't hope to defeat any intellect devourers, and you can't even jump more than three feet.
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Early in the game, the trick is to stack your inventory with boxes and explosive barrels. The former is the only way you're getting around the map, and the latter is the only way you're killing any enemies. Much of your experience is going to come from setting up stacks of exploding barrels, meowing to lure enemies over, and then setting off explosions to do the dirty work.
Cutscenes will either pull you out of cat form or, occasionally, turn you into a horrific monstrosity, but these are generally the only way you're able to talk to any NPCs. Stumbling into a cutscene trigger is how Proxy Gate Tactician managed to recruit Shadowheart, who was swiftly converted to Druid class so she, too, could be a cat. The instant Withers appeared in camp, a couple of hirelings filled out the cat party.
The most surprising thing about this cat run to me is just how tough it is to get through a door. Cats can't open doors, so in areas with only one way through, you've got to build up big stacks of crates to help you clip through walls. Towards the end of Act 2, you've even got to make use of the infamous Shadowbox strat - a speedrunning technique that involves murdering Shadowheart, stuffing her in a box, and flinging that box into the nether - to make it to the final boss.
While the rules of the challenge do require you to stick to cat form, it doesn't matter which cat form - so when you reach higher Druid levels, you can turn into a panther or a saber-toothed tiger. Properly specced, those forms can deal quite well with the more imposing boss fights, and by the time you've leveled up enough to graduate from house cat I figure you've probably proven your survival skills anyway.
There are plenty more fun moments in the full video, including details on how the cat party managed to shred the final boss in two turns, and it's a very fun exploration of the more esoteric Baldur's Gate 3 mechanics. The full run took 41 hours and 22 minutes, which is damn sight faster than I managed to beat the game without any arbitrary restrictions.
Shadowheart is the glue that holds this 'throw only' Baldur's Gate 3 run together.
