Baldur’s Gate 3’s hidden difficulty mode means permadeath and one save file

A new achievement for Baldur’s Gate 3 dubbed “Foehammer” may indicate a new and challenging game mode where players must complete BG3 in honor mode, meaning one save file and permadeath.

One player reportedly found a new achievement called Foehammer in their BG3 achievement list on GOG, as first reported by Eurogamer on Nov. 7. The player who discovered this achievement posted a screenshot to social media this week as they were concerned they no longer had 100 percent completed their achievement list.

In BG3, you have three difficulty modes to suit every player, from the casuals playing it for the story to the hardest mode, where every action, move, and decision matters and has consequences. But as you’re playing, there are also achievements you can unlock which require you to complete specific tasks. 

To earn this new achievement, you must complete BG3 in “honor mode.” But the interesting thing is that BG3 doesn’t have an honor mode, or at least, not yet or not that we know about.

Larian’s previous title, Divinity: Original Sin 2, however, has an honor mode where you complete it by only having one save file, and if you die, it’s a permanent restart. Like a hardcore mode but with one save file, which is a horrible thought, especially for those who like to save scum. 

By this, I mean creating multiple save files in case you want to go back and repeat an action, scene, or dialogue in case the result didn’t go how you wanted it to.

I did check to see if this achievement was on Steam and the PlayStation, but it’s not showing there. So I’m not sure if this is a new hidden achievement on the PlayStation or if it’s hidden on all platforms bar GOG.

Sadly, we’ll have to wait for Larian to reveal whether Honor will be a fourth difficulty mode coming to BG3 or if this achievement is earned by manually rewriting the same save file and not reloading but instead deleting the file if you die because BG3 currently doesn’t have a hardcore mode. But this seems a bit tedious and not exactly a feasible way to earn the Foehammer achievement.

If you’re like me and like to create multiple save files, then the honor mode and this achievement are one to avoid unless you’re also a collector and want to get all the achievements. However, it could be exciting to try and achieve.