Baldur’s Gate 3’s boasts many encounters ranging from simple worldbuilding to epic adventures with great rewards, with the story around Lump the Enlightened in Blighted Village landing smack dab in the middle of the two.
Lump is an ogre that has mistakenly consumed a Headband of Intellect, and is using his newfound intelligence to secure the two things that matter most. No, it’s not innovation or invention—but rather money and food. Interacting with Lump can go a couple of different ways, and offers a couple of variations on similar rewards.
Where to find Lump the Enlightened in Baldur’s Gate 3
Finding Lump the Enlightened is a pretty simple undertaking. Simply head north from the Mind Flayer crash site after the game’s introductory mission, take a left on the stone bridge, and enter The Blighted Village.
Once inside the village, enter the second house on the left—the one with a collapsed roof and three giant ogres inside. From there, simply approach the ogres to begin the interaction.
Keep in mind, Blighted Village is occupied by a group of goblins—it is not necessary to fight these goblins, as various methods of persuasion or deception can be used to avoid violence, but you’ll want to be prepared for the worst regardless. Once you begin the encounter, you’ll have two options:
- Recruit Lump the Enlightened
- Kill Lump the Enlightened
How to recruit Lump the Enlightened
When speaking to Lump, he will explain to the player that he has “become enlightened” (we’ll get there), and is now working for the goblins in Blighted Village. Their deal is simple enough—the goblins give Lump food and gold, and Lump gives the goblins three ogres. After Lump explains the parlay, players are given the option to convince Lump to work for them instead.
The options are simple—either pay Lump 500 gold, tell Lump you’ll pay him 1.000 gold after he assists you and pass a deception check, or take an even bigger risk with a DC 20 persuasion check and no money on the table by promising Lump payment in the form of flesh from fallen foes.
Paying Lump outright or succeeding in either check will cause Lump to give the player Lump’s War Horn; an item that can be used to summon ogres to assist the player in combat.
If you fail either check, you will not be able to acquire this specific version of Lump’s War Horn, however, you can still acquire the item by attacking and killing Lump and the other two ogres (I recommend doing this, but not just yet). After using the horn to summon Lump and receiving his aid, you’ll essentially be given the same dialogue options again, but this time with higher gold amounts and more difficult DC checks.
At this point, players will once again have the option to attack Lump if so desired. I personally recommend doing so at this point, so sorry about that Lump.
What happens if you kill Lump in Baldur’s Gate 3?
I found killing Lump the Enlightened to be the better of the two options, as you’ll find a Headband of Intellect. The headband is a ridiculously useful item that raises your character’s Intelligence to 17. This offers great bonuses for a number of different skill checks, unlocks feats barred by intelligence requirements, and blasts the door for multiclassing into Wizard wide open.
Interestingly, if you kill Lump, you’ll still receive Lump’s War Horn. When trying to use the horn, however, players will be told they can’t summon dead ogres. Makes sense enough, right? What is odd about this is the item’s description specifies that the ogres will make an effort to spare the player’s party “if a deal has been made with them,” which implies there is a third way to procure the horn that doesn’t involve murder or persuasion. I have not personally tested it, but, I think it’s safe to say this means the item can be stolen from Lump, with the tradeoff here being he won’t be aligned with the player when called upon.
Killing Lump also results in a fun interaction (depending on your definition) in which the player learns just exactly how Lump became enlightened. When looting Lump, you’ll find his diary, which explains that he just so happened to chow down on a woman who was wearing a Headband of Intellect, and now the effects have transferred to him.
In case you were wondering whether a magical headband MUST be worn on the head in order for the magic to work, apparently the answer is actually no.
For this reason, the item is named Warped Headband of Intellect, instead of the usual name Headband of Intellect. Safe to say it took a bit of a banging when Lump consumed its wearer. Despite being warped, the item is functionally the exact same. This discrepancy is purely for fun, not function.
Be aware, defeating Lump and his two lackeys is no easy feat. You’ll want to be at least level three, have a fully rested and stocked party, and take full advantage of the collapsed roof of the house by placing ranged characters on the roof. The ogres can and will throw rocks and furniture at these characters, so they’re not fully out of harm’s way. Whatever you do, do not place these ranged characters on the catwalk of cracked rafters, as the ogres will attack the support beams and cause your character to plummet straight to them, taking a nasty bit of damage and falling prone. Stick to the outer perimeter of the house where the shingles are still in place.
Which option is best for Lump the Enlightened?
Simple, do both! After paying or tricking Lump into working for you, the dialogue options repeat themselves. This means you can use the horn to receive Lump’s aid and receive the Headband of Intellect by choosing to attack Lump rather than striking a new deal.
Just make sure you’re in a position to defeat the ogres in a fight where and when you should choose to summon them.
