Baldurs Gate 3 Explore the Ruins: How to Explore the Ruins in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Baldur’s Gate 3 Wiki

Baldur’s Gate III is a highly anticipated role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios, serving as the third main installment in the Baldur’s Gate series. It draws its inspiration from the iconic Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system, providing players with a rich and immersive fantasy world to explore.

The game was initially released in early access format for macOS, Windows, and Stadia on 6 October 2020. After being refined and expanded based on player feedback during the early access period, the full version was officially released on Windows on 3 August 2023, receiving critical acclaim from both players and critics alike.

The development team, led by director Swen Vincke, worked diligently to bring this long-awaited sequel to life, ensuring a captivating and engaging experience for players. Accompanied by the musical compositions of Borislav Slavov, the game offers a diverse range of platforms for players to enjoy, including macOS, Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Unfortunately, the Stadia version was canceled due to the closure of the Stadia streaming service.

Baldur’s Gate III features both single-player and multiplayer modes, allowing players to embark on epic adventures alone or with friends. Its success and critical acclaim upon its full release are a testament to Larian Studios’ dedication to crafting an exceptional role-playing experience within the beloved Baldur’s Gate universe. Players can now delve into a world of magic, mystery, and memorable characters as they shape their own unique story within the rich tapestry of the game’s narrative.

Baldurs Gate 3 Explore the Ruins

In Baldur’s Gate 3, “Explore the Ruins” is an engaging side quest that takes players into one of the early dungeons in the game, known as the “Dank Crypt.” The quest can be accessed during Chapter One of Act 1, offering multiple paths for players to navigate through challenging battles. The main objective of the quest is to explore the crypt and reach the end, where players can obtain valuable rewards such as scrolls and the Amulet of Lost Voices.

As players progress through the Dank Crypt, they will encounter various challenges and enemies, requiring strategic thinking and careful planning to overcome. Successfully completing “Explore the Ruins” will not only grant rewards but also advance the game’s overall story, making it a worthwhile and essential quest for players to undertake.

One of the key rewards players can obtain at the end of the quest is the ability to revive fallen allies or respec their character, which can significantly impact the gameplay and enhance the party’s effectiveness in future encounters. This makes “Explore the Ruins” even more valuable, as it provides crucial resources that can shape the player’s experience throughout the game. With its intriguing dungeon exploration and rewarding loot, “Explore the Ruins” offers players a thrilling and memorable quest in the expansive world of Baldur’s Gate 3.

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How to Explore the Ruins in Baldur’s Gate 3?

To explore the ruins in Baldur’s Gate 3 and enter the Overgrown Ruins, find Shadowheart north-northeast of the Ravaged Beach. Speak to her, and she will add the “Explore the ruins” objective to the “Investigate the ruins” quest in your Journal. There are four entrances to the ruins: the main door, climbing the wall, finding a hidden tunnel, or speaking with a Tiefling named Minthara. Each entry point will lead to a battle with a party of adventurers inside.

Ancient Door

The Ancient Door, where you initially meet Shadowheart, can be hypothetically lockpicked as a way to access the Overgrown Ruins. However, this approach is considered the most challenging and least favorable option due to the high difficulty of the lockpicking task. It is unlikely that players will succeed in picking the lock and gaining entry through this method.

Alternatively, players will encounter the Ancient Door again from the other side once they reach the Dank Crypt. This suggests that there may be a more accessible and practical way to enter the ruins, allowing players to explore the Overgrown Ruins without the need for lockpicking skills.

Chapel Entrance

The Chapel Entrance in Baldur’s Gate 3 is a one-way route into the Overgrown Ruins. North of the Overgrown Ruins waypoint and east of the Roadside Cliffs waypoint, players will encounter the Chapel Entrance. There, they will meet Gimblebock and Taman, who are part of a group attempting to break into the ruins. Players have the option to talk them out of heading to the crashed ship peacefully or engage in a fight with them and their two friends.

Regardless of how players handle the situation, they should search for cracked tiles near the stairs. A rock is hanging above the crack, and shooting the Coiled Rope connected to it will cause the rock to drop, creating a hole into the Bedchamber beneath. It is essential to note that once players enter the Bedchamber through the Chapel Entrance, they won’t be able to return the same way, as it is a one-way route. This marks the start of the next phase of the exploration within the Overgrown Ruins.

Wooden Hatch

In Baldur’s Gate 3, from the statue located in the Chapel Entrance, players need to head east to find a narrow path. This path leads to a locked Wooden Hatch. If players manage to unlock and open the hatch, it will grant them access to the Dank Crypt.

The Dank Crypt is an important location within the game, and accessing it through the Wooden Hatch provides a significant progression point in the storyline. However, players should be prepared for potential challenges, puzzles, or encounters within the Dank Crypt as they explore further into the depths of Baldur’s Gate 3’s intriguing world. Unlocking the Wooden Hatch and venturing into the Dank Crypt opens up new opportunities for quests, rewards, and lore in the game.

Ornate Door

In Baldur’s Gate 3, if you continue your journey north from the Chapel Entrance, you’ll come across an Ornate Door. As you pass by, be sure to loot the Backpack and Burlap Sack located near the bedroll on the left. These items can be easily missed due to their hidden placement.

To proceed through the Ornate Door, players have two options. They can either use lockpicking skills to unlock the door or engage in a conversation with Andorn, the character guarding the door, to find an alternative way past him. However, regardless of the chosen approach, players will end up in a fight against Andorn inside the room.

Bed Chamber

In the Bedchamber of Baldur’s Gate 3, the initial task is to engage in a fight against five members of Gimblebock’s party, excluding Andorn the doorman. The battle serves as a challenging encounter, and players must use their skills and tactics to overcome their opponents and progress further into the Bedchamber.

As players head south from the initial fight, they will come across a locked door with no visible lock or handle. To unlock this door, they need to continue south into the library area. At the south end of the library, there is a statue in an alcove. Behind the statue, players will find a couple of chests.

While moving around the alcove, the game will perform passive Perception checks for the player and their party. If any of the party members pass this check, they will discover a skull-shaped lever. Pulling this lever will unlock the locked door encountered earlier. Beyond this door, players will find another door that leads to the Dank Crypt. Successfully unlocking this door allows players to progress further into the Dank Crypt without having to backtrack to the cliffside path above.

It is essential to keep a keen eye out for the lever during the passive Perception checks to ensure a smoother progression through the Dank Crypt and avoid unnecessary backtracking.

Dank Crypt

In the Dank Crypt of Baldur’s Gate 3, the first room is filled with chests and two sets of Heavy Oak Doors. One set of doors is locked, and players can choose to either lockpick them using Thieves’ Tools or retrieve the key, which is a simpler option.

Sarcophagus Room

Beyond the unlocked Heavy Oak Doors is the Sarcophagus Room. Players should initially skip the sarcophagus in the center and loot the rest of the room, as the sarcophagi along the sides are safe to open. While exploring this room, players will encounter several passive Perception checks that reveal Vents, Gargoyle Heads, and a Button.

Upon opening the main sarcophagus, the Vents will release Grease, and the Gargoyle Heads will fire flaming arrows. Players have several options to deal with these traps:

  • Use Trap Disarm Toolkits: If players have any Trap Disarm Toolkits, they can right-click on Vents or Gargoyle Heads to attempt to disarm them. The difficulty for this is 10, and if the attempt fails, the trap will trigger.
  • Block Vents with Items: Players can click and drag items like Vases or Jugs and place them over Vents to prevent them from releasing Grease.
  • Stop Gargoyle Heads with Button: Once the Gargoyle Heads start firing, players can push the Button in the room to stop them.

The central sarcophagus contains The Watcher’s Guide, a two-handed melee weapon. When attacking with this weapon, if the wielder misses, they gain Advantage on the next attack against the same target. Additionally, players will find an Engraved Key inside the central sarcophagus, which unlocks the other set of Heavy Oak Doors back in the first room.

 Entombed Scribes Room

In the Dank Crypt of Baldur’s Gate 3, after passing through the locked Heavy Oak Doors, the next room contains a significant statue of Jergal, the Lord of the End of Everything (there will be a passive Religion check for the party as they approach the statue). The room also houses the corpses of several Entombed Scribes and a couple of Gilded Chests.

Along the east side of the room, there’s a hole in the wall leading to an underground stream. Following the stream will lead players to a ladder that leads to the Wooden Hatch and the cliff path above.

On the west side of the room, there’s an entrance to another room filled with sarcophagi and a Heavy Chest. Inside this room, players will find the Book of Dead Gods, located along the east wall near an open sarcophagus.

To open the Book of Dead Gods, players can attempt Arcana, Strength, or Dexterity checks. Once opened, they’ll discover another sheet of paper that requires a Religion check to decipher. Successfully deciphering the paper will reward players with a spell scroll. The specific spell scroll obtained from the Book of Dead Gods may vary; in this instance, a Scroll of Ray of Enfeeblement was obtained, but the reward could be random for each playthrough.

Hidden Room

In the Dank Crypt of Baldur’s Gate 3, players can discover a Hidden Room in the northeast corner of the main room. As they take the steps up into the alcove, there will be another passive Perception check, which is typically of low difficulty, to reveal a Button. When the Button is pushed, a hidden door opens, and five of the Entombed Scribes are brought back to life, resulting in a challenging battle. Players can defeat these revived scribes and loot them again for additional weapons and gold.

Inside the hidden room, players will find a Heavy Chest containing The Amulet of Lost Voices, a Very Rare item that enables the wearer to cast Speak with Dead.

Additionally, players will come across a Richly Adorned Sarcophagus in the same room. Interacting with it introduces them to the Hooded Skeleton. Engaging in conversation with the Hooded Skeleton doesn’t yield much information initially. However, the Hooded Skeleton will later appear at the player’s Camp, standing on the beach to the north. There, he offers to Resurrect any fallen party members for 200 gold.

The Hidden Room and the interactions within it present players with unique challenges and valuable rewards. The Amulet of Lost Voices can be a powerful asset for communication and understanding within the game, while the Hooded Skeleton offers a convenient means of resurrecting fallen party members for a fee, potentially saving players from difficult situations and ensuring the continuity of their adventures.

How to Unlock Explore the Ruins?

To unlock the quest “Explore the Ruins” and recruit Shadowheart as a companion in Baldur’s Gate 3, players have two potential ways to encounter her. During the prologue while aboard the Nautiloid, players can find and place a particular rune in a nearby console to unlock a pod containing Shadowheart. Alternatively, if she was not freed from the pod on the Nautiloid, she can be found at the entrance of the Dank Crypt (Abandoned Ruins) at the northern end of the Ravaged Beach.

Once Shadowheart is freed or encountered at the Dank Crypt entrance, she will offer to accompany the player to the helm of the Nautiloid. Upon exiting the Nautiloid, players will find her unconscious on the Ravaged Beach, where she will express gratitude for being freed earlier and offer to join the player’s party.

As a Half-Elf Trickery Domain Cleric, Shadowheart brings valuable healing, buffs, stealth, and deception spells to the party. Her starting equipment includes a circlet, chain shirt, leather boots, mace, and studded shield. Additionally, she has a few cosmetic items like Shadowheart’s Clothes, Tasteful Boots, and Shadowheart’s Underwear.

Shadowheart’s starting skill proficiencies encompass History, Religion, Insight, and Medicine, making her a knowledgeable and capable addition to the player’s group. Players can also change her class via Respec in the camp, allowing for some customization and adjustments to fit the player’s preferred playstyle.

Tips to Explore the Ruins in Baldur’s Gate 3 

When exploring the ruins in Baldur’s Gate 3, keep the following tips in mind to complete the background objectives:

  • Soul for Sale: Look for a Soul Coin in the puzzle area near one of the crypts. Acquiring the Soul Coin will fulfill the Noble objective called “Soul for Sale.”
  • Divinity Undone and Secrets of the Sundering: In the Dank Crypt, locate the Book of Dead Gods near the room where the Entombed Scribes are found. To unlock and read the book, you must pass a lock check and then another check to examine it closely. Successfully completing both checks will fulfill the objectives “Divinity Undone” for the Acolyte background and “Secrets of the Sundering” for the Sage background.
  • The Final Scribe’s Boon: After defeating the Entombed Scribes, loot the chest in a small room. Inside, you will find The Amulet of Lost Voices. Loot the amulet to complete “The Final Scribe’s Boon” for the Acolyte background.

By following these tips and completing the background objectives during the exploration of the ruins, players can gain valuable rewards and enhance the role-playing experience, making their journey through Baldur’s Gate 3 even more fulfilling and immersive.

Disclaimer: The above information is for general informational purposes only. All information on the Site is provided in good faith, however we make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability or completeness of any information on the Site.

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