Mae, a content creator who enjoys speedrunning games, has finally beaten Baldur’s Gate 3’s hardest mode, the Honour Mode, in just 21 minutes and 17 seconds, establishing a new world speeding running record for the difficulty class.
Since Honour Mode launched for BG3 in late November 2023, players immediately began their speedrunning attempts, with one player even managing an under-40-minute run. The kicker is the mode is brutally hard; players cannot create more than one save file and have to play one playthrough, regardless of mistakes. This week, content creator Mae has bowled over the record and then some, smashing through the mode in just 21 minutes.
For most players, it takes somewhere in the realm of 60 to 80 hours to complete the entire BG3 campaign in normal mode, let alone when playing Tactician mode, where the enemies are much more challenging to beat. So, for someone to complete the hardest mode in BG3 in 21 minutes is beyond impressive.
It’s important to note speedrunners generally don’t complete all the quests or get time to enjoy the cutscenes or content while completing each act as quickly as possible. So, if you’re hoping to try this for yourself, you must prepare quite a lot, meaning pre-planning your character and route, and ensuring you skip as much of the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired story content as possible. All you have to do is complete enough of the main story to get to the end.
What I found interesting about this particular run is that Mae jumped pretty much all across the map and through the BG3 acts to get around, which seemed the fastest method. She took Jump as one of her abilities and maxed her Strength and Dexterity to jump further. It sounds like a fun way to get around the map (and, of course, very speedy).
Although speed runs aren’t for everyone, this 21-minute Honour Mode run from Mae is impressive and should be celebrated. And who knows? Maybe this will inspire others to try and break this stunning new BG3 record, which would certainly be no easy task.
