In Baldur’s Gate 3 if you want to respec your character, or respec stock characters or any other companions, there’s only one guy who can do it for you. His name is Withers, and he’s a creepy but friendly undead who will hang around your camp providing respec services in exchange for gold.
Finding Withers isn’t exactly easy, but it can be done very early in Baldur’s Gate 3, and it’s worth recruiting him as soon as possible. As a bonus, Withers can also revive dead companions or provide mercenaries for a fee.
Allowing you to respec is probably the most important feature Withers can provide. Who hasn’t built a character and later decided they wanted to try something else without starting the game over? Or maybe you just want to tinker with the abilities and skills of other members of your party? Here’s how to respec your character and companions in Baldur’s Gate 3.
How to Respec in Baldur’s Gate 3
Before you begin, you must:
- Be level 2 or 3
- Have at least 2 companions
- have hooks
- Have a Trap Disarming Kit
First, you will need to find Withers. He’s in the Dank Crypt near where you start the game after the ship crashes. From the wreckage, simply head north along the ravaged beach until you find the spot where Shadowheart is trying to open an ancient door.
You’ll need lock picks and luck: there’s a DC 20 sleight of hand to open this lock. If you keep failing or have no hooks, there are other ways to access the crypt, although they are much more dangerous. We’ll cover these entries further down this page.
Find Withers in the Damp Crypt
If you entered through the old door, you will see two chambers in front of you. Be careful in the first. there are two traps: ventilation grilles on the floor and fire trap on the walls. The traps will be activated if you open the sarcophagus in the middle of the room. Successful Perception rolls will reveal vents (which can be disarmed if you have a trap disarming kit) and a button on the pillar to your right who will close the traps.
Even if you trigger the traps, you should have time to collect the loot from the sarcophagus in the middle of the room (it contains a key) and then run to the next room (in turn-based mode). In the first round, the grease will come from the vents, but the flames will not start until the second round.
Through the large oak doors to the north you will enter another larger crypt with a statue against the back wall. You’ll also see corpses lying around – loot them before you do anything else as they’re about to come back to life. On the northwest side of the statue a perception test will reveal a button. Once pushed, it will open a secret door leading to Withers’ sarcophagus. (And it will animate those corpses. If you looted them, they’ll be a little easier to fight. You can loot them again afterwards, and they’ll suddenly have gold in their pockets.)
How to bring Withers to your camp
To recruit Withers, you will only have to quickly chat with him. He’ll ask you a question about life and death, then he’ll bounce back. (Don’t forget to loot his sarcophagus.) You’ll see Withers again as soon as you make camp, when he’s relaxing by the boat along the water.
To respect your custom character, a stock character, or any other companion, just talk to Withers. Tell him you want to change class and for 100 gold you will be taken to the character creation screen. Note: You cannot change your appearance here, only your class and ability point distribution.
Once you change class, you will be at level one again and can level up immediately. If you change the class of an original character, the story will ignore the fact that Karlach is now a wizard, but you will know better.
Other Dank Crypt Entrances
Entrance to the chapel: If the lock on the old door doesn’t work, head to the entrance to the chapel, which you’ll find up the hill to the north and west of the old door. At the entrance to the chapel, you will encounter several bandits (you can fight them or intimidate them into leaving). There is also a crumbling piece of stone floor near a statue. If you step on this part of the floor, it will break, dropping your party into the mess hall below. You can also pull the rope holding the stone above, which comes in handy in combat.
Just outside the room you land in is a large group of bandits that you’ll have to fight off (take advantage of the doorway into the room, which is a nice bottleneck). There is also a locked door with no handle or lock. Once you’ve defeated the bandits, go through the mess hall until you find another statue. Behind, on the wall, is a skull which is actually a lever. This will open the locked door in the first bedroom. From there you can enter the Dank Crypt.
wooden hatch: If you continue after the entrance to the chapel, you will find a narrow path along the coast, overlooking the beach. Follow this path north and you’ll find a trapdoor. Picking the lock will take you into the Dank Crypt.