Baldur's Gate 3's Oath Of The Crown Is Very Easy To Break

Summary

Baldur’s Gate 3 has a new Paladin oath: the Oath of the Crown.
This oath mostly centres around doing good, but only if you’re honest in your dealings.
So, breaking a promise to a bad guy will cause you to break your oath.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s final major patch gave every class a new subclass, meaning that Paladin players have a new oath they can follow. Paladins are unique in that they have to follow the rules of their oath, or they will lose their abilities and become an Oathbreaker Paladin. You can restore your oath for a fee, but it’s a pain, so you’re better off trying to follow the oath as best you can.

Going back to Baldur's Gate 3 after the final patch.

Now Is The Perfect Time To Replay Baldur’s Gate 3, And This Time I Mean It

If you’re thinking about going back to Baldur’s Gate 3, the final patch is a perfect excuse.

However, some fans are getting confused over the new paladin subclass, Oath of the Crown. This compels players to follow these tenets:

Law: Uphold civilisation and order.
Loyalty: Your word is your bond; without loyalty, oaths and laws are meaningless.
Responsibility: Deal with the consequences of your actions, and fulfil your duties and obligations.

Now, if you interpret that as “don’t be an ass”, you’re sort of right. However, if you agree to do something that makes you behave like an ass, you are compelled to go through with it. Yep, Oath of the Crown will punish you for going back on your word, even if it’s for the greater good.

The Oath Of The Crown Is Surprisingly Easy To Break

Checking out the BG3 Wiki page for the subclass, there are some very specific scenarios that will cause you to break your oath. One of the first you’ll encounter is attacking the tieflings who have imprisoned Lae’zel – better try and talk them down if you want to save her. Another early game one is either letting Sazza the Goblin die or freeing her. I suppose following the law means keeping her in a cage indefinitely…

Here’s a list of other surprising ways you can break this oath:

Saving the tiefling refugees if you said you’d help Minthara kill them (otherwise, saving them is fine)
Freeing Dame Aylin if you’d lied to Ketheric, promising to help him
Betraying either Gortash or Orin if you agreed to kill the other on their behalf
Going into Baldur’s Gate without the Strange Ox if you’d promised to help him

Other than that, doing good will help you keep your oath, you just have to do good honestly. So, if you go down this route, you’d better be dedicated to the lawful good path.