Baldur’s Gate 3’s no-rest challenge may be the toughest way to play

Baldur’s Gate 3 has already been dissected, dismembered, stitched, revived, and dissected again to find new ways to enjoy the game. But the no-rest challenge, as presented by YouTuber Fracture, is perhaps the most brutal way of playing through Larian’s RPG.

Fracture uploaded a video to YouTube on Oct. 19, showcasing the challenge and their playthrough of the game’s first act. At the time of writing, this is the only part of the series Fracture uploaded, but considering the challenges posed by this play style, it’s honestly no wonder. So what’s it about? As the name implies, the challenge encompasses the player avoiding using long rests. This doesn’t only mean losing out on free HP refreshes, but a complete inability to recoup your abilities or even progress the story during some quests.

Fracture embarked on the journey by assembling a cast of elusive characters focusing on stealth. They used an Assassin Rogue, a Gloomstalker Ranger, a Shadow Monk, and a Warlock equipped with the Alert trait. This allowed them to engage most combat situations first, applying continuous surprises and stacking bonus damage modifiers. Even without resting, this party of stealthy characters stormed easily through most encounters (albeit with some cheesing).

In general, Fracture seems to have made the start work. However, the game forces the player to rest to continue with the story when going through the mountain pass. Before anyone figures out how to skip these parts in a ymfah-styled video, Fracture was forced to rest but healed up to full HP and spent ability points to avoid benefitting from the rest at all.

The playstyle certainly requires a specific party structure to be feasible. Though Fracture made everything run relatively smoothly with their group of bandits, I’m almost certain that other Baldur’s Gate 3 players will discover even more efficient ways of conquering the game without resting. This is especially so if they reanimate the Spider Matriarch in the Underdark after pushing her off the ledge (as Fracture did), which is something I completely missed in my playthrough.

Fracture’s no-rest strategy highlights many unique moments presented by BG3 that players may have missed, proving again that Baldur’s Gate 3 can is best enjoyed in small bites, as its flavors are too many for one gulp.