While exploring the Goblin Camp during Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3, most players will stumble across Halson. He’s a recruitable Druid with the power to transform into an animal, but he’s trapped as a bear in a ramshackle prison. Now, players are confused about why Halsin hasn’t escaped long before they meet him.
While there should be an easy solution to Halsin’s depraved situation, the game’s mechanics and his actions make it difficult to understand what’s going on. The only reasonable solution seems to be that Halsin likes being battered with rocks by Goblin children as he slowly rots behind bars.
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Players Don’t Understand Why Halsin Doesn’t Escape From His Prison Cell in the Goblin Camp
A recent post on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Subreddit has questioned why Halsin, a recruitable Druid, hasn’t used Wild Shape to transform into a small creature and escape the Goblin Camp by the time players arrive there. Most believe the Goblins can’t watch him during every waking moment, so there must have been a few seconds where he could have slipped out. Yet instead, players find him locked up while Goblin children throw stones at him.
The comments on this post cover every possible angle of the argument. It’s already been established that at some point, likely a change of guard, Halsin could have transformed and escaped. Some fans believe it could be an in-game logic problem, “He’s already used his two wild shapes, and the goblins won’t let him get even a short rest.” This suggests that Halsin is sleep-deprived and physically cannot transform.
However, as others point out, and we have experienced ourselves when murdering poor Halsin, he transforms multiple times during the ensuing battle when he escapes the cage. “When I fought him, he wild shaped 3 different times.” This shows Halsin could easily transform given the opportunity, so he’s choosing not to.
One counterpoint is that Halsin has a few different abilities and spells that allow him to transform. “He has bear wild shape as an additional cast separate from normal wild shape.” One of these abilities turns him into a bear, which he may use during the fight with players if they choose to kill him. It’s a stretch, but it could explain why he’s still a bear in the Giblin Camp.
Ultimately, most players accept Halsin’s situation as a plot device. “Because plot demanded him to stay.” The story is clearly crafted to allow players to meet him so they can choose to kill or free and recruit him. It’s a moment that many are annoyed by because it highlights limits in what is otherwise a very open and free world and story in Baldur’s Gate 3.
