Baldur's Gate 3 - Part 37 - Fish in a Barrel

Overview

This summary covers Many A True Nerd (Jonas) — Baldur’s Gate 3, Part 37: “Fish in a Barrel”. The party clears a goblin camp, explores the Underdark, deals with fish-people (kua) and a false deity, and moves up a mountain trail toward a presumed Githyanki crash site. The episode features stealth scouting, surprise tactics, heavy AoE/crowd-control use, environmental kills, and notable roleplay/party-tension resolution.

Story / Scene Progress

• The party finishes clearing and looting the goblin camp and upper sanctum, then heads toward the mountain pass to investigate a Githyanki crash and Lae’zel’s artifact.
• In the Underdark they discover a hidden cavern called the Festering Cove, inhabited by the kua (fish-people) who have psychically manifested a god named Bal/Bual.
• The player impersonates a god to the kua, is accepted as a new deity, and defeats a pretender (a gaunt/redcap) who had been stealing worship.
• Tensions flare at camp over a Githyanki relic (Lae’zel wants it). The player defuses a knife-at-throat argument using an advantaged check (Tides of Chaos) and decides to keep the artifact for now, with an agreement to resolve the tadpole problem later.
• The video ends with the group moving up the mountain trail toward an old monastery (presumed crash site). Several side areas remain available to explore.

Gameplay Highlights & Tactics

• Thorough exploration: collapsed bridges, burrow holes, dig spots, hidden chests and a cracked wall that becomes a new entrance when destroyed.
• Scouting: used Gale’s familiar (“Mr. Pinchy”) and stealth to locate openings without alerting enemies.
• Surprise / high-ground tactics: approached the goblin camp from high ground to secure surprise rounds and quietly eliminate lookouts.
• Mass crowd-control / AoE combos:
  • Upcast Shatter (thunder) from Shadowheart for damage and potential knockback.
  • Cloud of Daggers to finish or badly wound clustered enemies (e.g., drunk goblins).
  • Upcast Fireball and other AoE spells on tightly grouped low-ground enemies.
• Assassination + ranged play:
  • Use an assassin (Astarion) for high-value targets with sneak attack; apply Haste to give an assassin extra actions in the surprise round.
  • Take out higher-level enemies first, then mop up weaker ones.
• Environmental kills: push enemies off ledges into water or ignite hazards for free XP or instant kills.
• Underdark caution: several explosive/booby-trapped areas and a dangerous locked chest in a trap position — use a reliable disarmer or trigger it safely from range (Astarion handled risky lockpicking in the video).

Practical Tips & Lessons

• Always scout for hidden approaches (burrow holes, collapsed bridges, cracked walls). A familiar or stealth scouting is invaluable.
• Take the high ground for surprise and better control of fights; quietly remove lookouts to set the terms of engagement.
• Use upcast thunder spells (Shatter) for both damage and crowd control (pushback/knockdown potential).
• Combine crowd control and AoE against clustered drunk/low-level enemies for very efficient XP and loot.
• Apply Haste to assassins to grant extra actions for lethal opener combos.
• Beware of chests in cramped spaces — assign your best lockpick/disarmer to avoid accidental explosions.
• Rituals like Feather Fall are free and useful for safe vertical movement.
• For tank builds, the Tough feat is a reliable HP boost; Shield Master can feel underwhelming unless you want specific shield mechanics.
• Keep different weapon types (piercing vs bludgeoning) on melee party members to exploit enemy vulnerabilities.

Short Step-by-Step: Clearing the Goblin Camp

1. Scout the area with a familiar and stealth characters.
2. Eliminate the lookout quietly to gain high-ground surprise.
3. Climb to the high ground and set up in turn-based mode.
4. Use assassination/sneak attack and upcast Shatter / Cloud of Daggers to damage clustered enemies.
5. Use environmental interactions: push stragglers off ledges, blow a cracked wall for an alternate entrance, sledgehammer where necessary.
6. Use ranged AoE to finish remaining enemies as they come into range.

Loot & Rewards of Note

• Several chests with gems, gold, scrolls, and elixirs found in the goblin camp.
• An enchanted “slippery” chain shirt in the fish-people area: when the wearer heals another creature, it automatically disengages (prevents opportunity attacks).
• A heavy chest underwater with coins and elixirs near the fish-people cavern.
• Gained worship/status from the kua; the player asked them to build an army — possible future consequences.

Roleplay & Choices

• The player roleplayed impersonating a god to the kua (Performance with advantage) and chose to assume leadership rather than stop their blood rites, altering the encounter and outcome.
• A potentially lethal party conflict over the Githyanki relic was de-escalated via an advantaged check (Tides of Chaos), avoiding intra-party combat.

Notable Characters / Sources Mentioned

• Channel / host: Many A True Nerd (Jonas)
• Party / NPCs: Gale, Mr. Pinchy (familiar), Lae’zel (appears as “Lazelle/Lasel”), Shadowheart, Astarion (appears as “Arya/Aarian”), Wyll (referred to as Will), Scratch (camp dog), Menthara (goblin NPC), Aaron (shopkeeper)
• Enemies / factions: Bal/Bual (fish-people deity), the kua (fish-people), redcap/gaunt pretender, several goblin NPCs, Githyanki (crash target)