Baldur’s Gate 3 features heroic feats, tough calls, and fierce battles, so it’s odd that the rarest achievement isn’t linked to beating Honour Mode or slaying a god.
But no, the crown ends up on something unexpectedly quiet: Busker. It’s the one you get for performing music and collecting 100 gold from passersby. From the outside, it appears easy.
You only have to perform before a crowd, succeed on Performance rolls, and pick up the coins NPCs give you. However, data from all platforms show that only about 2.4% of players have given it a shot.
The more you explore the cause, the more intriguing and honestly funny it turns out to be.
Why Do So Few Players Have the Busker Achievement?
For starters, the Busker achievement doesn’t reward skill, combat mastery, or deep exploration.
You just need to keep playing music until you earn 100 gold from people passing by. The issue isn’t how hard it is but how slow it is. You can only get one gold from an NPC for a successful performance, and they won’t pay a second time unless you either wait or move away.
Since you can rake in cash fast from combat or looting in BG3, just chilling and hoping for some coins from townsfolk doesn’t make much sense. It’s not uncommon to spend 15 to 30 minutes just busking your way around the Lower City trying to hit that 100 gold mark. Certain players report getting more gold from an accidental funeral crash with a lute than from any real street performance.
Even among the achievement hunters, Busker ranks low on the list. It’s simple, without any cool moments attached, and most players only become aware of it late in the game. Some players begin pursuing it late in the game, but the achievement tracker glitches around 85 to 90 gold and then stops updating.
How Does the Busker Mechanic Work?
Here's the core loop: you activate a musical instrument near a populated spot, and the game will check for a Performance roll.
If you succeed, a group of NPCs (usually around 8 to 10) gathers and tosses coins. That’s it. You can play again, but unless you’ve moved or waited long enough, they won’t donate again. Refugees often don’t contribute gold at all, and some locations don’t attract proper crowds.
There are little tricks players have found—like going to the Elfsong Tavern or the audience chamber during the coronation for Gortash, which are packed with generous NPCs.
One player put four Bards in different spots around Baldur’s Gate to play at the same time and collect gold in chunks. Others use a hireling Bard built specifically for Busker, then respec them after getting the achievement.
What Bugs and Glitches Do Players Encounter?
The most frustrating thing is sometimes the game just stops counting.
The community has reported several cases where progress stalls somewhere in the 70s or 80s, even if the gold clearly keeps flowing. Some found that switching to a hireling resolved the issue. A few did it by earning all 100 gold without leaving the region.
Some simply quit, while others are unsure if actually picking up the coins is required for them to register. Turns out you don’t. The game counts every successful donation toward the total, but it may not be immediately reflected in Steam or console tracking.
Why Is Something So Small Weirdly Satisfying to Unlock?
Busker is oddly famous because it doesn’t rely on strong builds, rare items, or story paths; instead, it's all about patience.
When dragons go down in a single hit and devils can be seduced, pausing to strum a lute for spare change feels oddly grounded. It’s arguably the only achievement that shows your character as a struggling artist on the streets, not a heroic Chosen One.
So yeah, 2.4% isn’t much, but the players with Busker didn’t just get lucky; they earned it through persistence and style. And perhaps that’s the truest bard thing you could pull off.
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