The Baldur's Gate 3 Volo eye surgery choice explained

The Baldur's Gate 3 Volo eye surgery choice is one of the strangest, grizzliest choices out there, with Volo the Bard and adventurer offering to remove the parasite from your eye if you can rescue him from the Goblin Camp first. Once back at your own Baldur's Gate 3 camp and given the chance to research mind flayers, it's up to you whether you'll allow Volothamp Geddarm to start prodding around in the hope of saving your brain at the risk of your eye. And Volo knows what he's doing... right?

With that in mind, here's what to do with the offer of eye surgery from Volo in BG3 - and what the consequences are. How bad can amateur eye surgery with a sewing needle truly go?

What happens if you let Volo try to remove the parasite in Baldur's Gate 3?

If you turn down the offer from Volo to remove the parasite in Baldur's Gate 3, nothing happens. However, if you agree to the eye surgery, Volo will invite you to lie down on a nearby slab before extracting a needle. There's then an agonising sequence wherein Volo tries to fish around through your eye socket for the parasite (with multiple opportunities for you to back out and cancel the procedure early). If you keep going through with it, Volo will eventually get frustrated and swap out the needle for an ice pick - with disastrous results, as he accidentally pulls out your eyeball and doesn't even reach the parasite. He'll panic and give you a magical prosthetic eye before fleeing. 

So if you let Volo try to remove the parasite in Baldur's Gate 3, this is what happens: 

• The prosthetic eye has an enchantment that lets you See Invisibility, a permanent upgrade that can be very useful. You'll be able to automatically see invisible creatures and objects for the rest of the game.
• Your character's right eye will have a permanent cosmetic change, now matching the blue glow of the prosthetic. There's no way to undo this effect.
• Everyone in your party disapproves of you letting Volo attempt the surgery.
• Volo will leave your camp and come back later in the campaign.
• You are not cured of the Parasite.

There used to be other effects associated with "Volo's Ersatz eye", but they were removed with the full release of the game. With all this in mind - yes, you probably should let Volo go hunting for the parasite in your eye. There's no reputational damage done to your teammates that can't be healed with the right actions later, and the ability to see Invisible creatures for the entire rest of the game can be incredibly useful, ranging from the living Shadows that try to conceal themselves in darkness, to the Baldur's Gate 3 hag that uses invisibility to move about unseen - the eye reveals them all! Volo might've screwed up, but his consolation prize is well worth it - even if the story about how you lost that eye is a little embarrassing.

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