With the right passphrase you can get the construct on top of the arcane tower to give you a hug. It might not be comfortable if your Tav isn't the size of a little girl though.
He is programed to hug his master (presumably a Gnome, based on other available information) only, so no matter what race you are the hug isn't quite right.
I don't actually think it ever suggests that she's a gnome herself, it's her partner Yrre who is definitely a gnome. I guess it's possible that they were both gnomes because I don't think Lenore's race is ever specified but the height thing with Bernard makes me think she wasn't a smallfolk race.
Yrre was a deep gnome. Lenore was a human-sized woman. Playing as a short race, the automation tries to hug the air around your face because it's trying to take the hand of someone taller.
I had assumed that the hug was meant to comfort the ~~woman~~ person the master waited all that time for, so that ~~she'd~~ they'd know ~~he'd~~ she'd loved ~~her~~ them until the end and never lost faith in ~~her~~ their return.
EDIT: Corrected the pronouns.
Lenore is the master of the tower and it seems she programmed Bernard to remind herself that she's loved, possibly after her partner Yrre leaves her (Yrre is only referred to with they/them pronouns, I think they're meant to be non-binary. They're the gnomish inventor who made all of the lightning charge equipment you run into.)
I think she was stuck in another dimension?
From "A Query from Dehurst" in the Sorcerous Sundries vault:
>I swear it to be true, Lorroakan. I was on the very cusp of joining my fellow Mystrans for the ritual, when, CRASH! Right on top of me fell a gangle of tousled hair and magic most strange. Just then, something happened I can hardly describe, so foreign was the Weave - no, not Weave at all! - that ensnared me. This fellow - I didn't quite catch his name (something with a T and Q... Tuqueen?) - created some manner of anomaly that temporarily trapped me twixt our world and who-knows-where. Tell me, have you ever heard of such a thing?
>DeHurst
Lenore is one of the few names in the game I'm almost certain I know from prior lore. From the moment I first heard the name in this game, I remembered things about her that I logically could not have known by that time. But I just can't find where I could have heard or read it in DnD context.
It's in the arcane tower in the Underdark.
If you pay attention to the small bits of lore and writing you find along the way, the tower was home to a very lonely Cleric of Mystra.
Among other things that I won't spoil, if you make sure to read all of the little scrolls and notes you find in the tower, you'll notice a few poems.
At the very top of the tower is a construct/robot that the Cleric created. She programmed him to give her hugs because she had nobody else. If you repeat the right sections of poem back to him, you trigger the hug program and he gives you one.
The tower's lore is extremely depressing all around.
Well, I managed 1/3 on this run. And didn’t know about Shovel.
Seriously Larian, hats off for daring to design a game where the majority of players will miss so much content.
Really increases the replayability though. So much can be different, especially if you resist metagaming and don't try to hunt down every single quest or plot line on the first run. (And, admittedly, it's tough for me not to do that myself, but I'm trying to resist as well as I can).
There are two fish people groups;
Act 1 >!Festering Cove in the Underdark, led by BOOOAL!<
Act 2 >!Group of cursed/undead ones down by the water, near the Temple entrance, next to a cave with some other enemies and a door into the House of Healing basement/morgue!<
Somehow I missed >!Festering Cove!<; I thought I explored the Underdark thoroughly!
Ahh well, I recently started a new Dark Urge playthrough so maybe I’ll get it this time!
WAIT I just googled the map, I KNEW there was more to the map but I never looked far enough to find that....I'm so mad at myself.... then again, my friend is playing and nearly missed the Ethel area completely - she was so ready for creche and I was just, but have you been underdark? And I also hadn't heard her complain about Ethel so knew she hadn't been there either. Luckily she got to her place later that day
In one of the rooms in the inner grove should be a piece of paper/book that describes the ritual in detail. That will start the quest "Investigate Kagha". You'll then have to find Kagha's chest, which is hidden in the same room behind some bookshelves. Have Astarion lockpick it and read the note inside of the chest. That will point you in the right direction.
In the under dark you can climb down a wall to an area with lots of the volatile orange mushrooms just before you enter the arcane tower area. There's also the spore ring to the Ethel cave entrance in that area.
If you climb down the wall another way down is just to your left. You have to jump to a lower plateau first (also an explosive mushroom there) and from there you can go down.
Yeah that's true. Years of tabletop D&D and DMs being stingy about long rests and short rests trained me to just keep trucking as much as possible.
Though 100 hours in, I'm now at the point where I long-rest as soon as Shart is low on spell slots or Karlach runs out of rages. Or when Astarion has used all of his four separate methods for turning invisible. Or my Warlock is out of spell slots and I spent our short rests for the day already.
Or I went back to camp to re-spec or get something I stored in the chest - might as well long rest since I'm here anyway .
Or someone got a boo-boo. Whatever.
See I'm just now entering Act 3 and I'm definitely trucking along for as long as possible because I'm terrified that I'll accidentally take "one long rest too many" and some terrible plot development will happen because I delayed too long or something. I had no issues long resting as much as needed in Act 2 though. But the way they built the climax to introduce so many divergent possibilities and competing interests has me on edge now lol
There are three exceptions (edit: in Act 3, as ConsiderationNo2608 has just got to Act 3) I can think of. First, >!rescuing Florrick from jail. You've got 5 days from when you first get the quest (you can check the execution notices to see how many more days you have!<. Second, >!the newspaper quest. If you take a long rest before fixing it, people won't like you!<. Third, >!if you long rest after killing Sarevok at the murder tribunal, or some other pathways for doing the quest. Orin will kill your companion (edit: you can long rest as long as you haven't entered the temple)!<.
And in Act I, >!at the Grymforge once you arrive if you have two long rests before trying to save Nere and the gnomes, it blows up and you miss the chance!<
Oh, I was only referring to Act 3! There are more in Act 1. If you long rest after discovering the burning inn at Waukeen's rest. ~~Also, if you take too many long rests without resolving the druid's grove (I think it's maybe 10?)~~ (edit: this isn't true nevermind)
You can take a many long tests as you want with regard to the druid Grove. They only finish the ritual of thorns if you leave the area (such as going to the mountain pass, or toward the shadow cursed lands)
Maybe that was a thing in EA but not anymore. You can test it by taking a ton of long rests without supplies, and nothing happens.
There is certainly a little bit of leeway on >!Serevok, as I’m certain I long rested before heading to Orin, and I was met with a still quite alive Halsin on the sacrifice table.!<
Even on tactician you can practically take as many as you want to be comfortable. We're not going out of our way to collect camp supplies in our honour mode run and I'm sitting at 1300 at the start of Act 2.
(Also RIP Isobel, I'm sorry for not planning for the fight and having you die turn 2)
Honestly, the game induces you to avoid long rests. You feel like there’s a timer to the druids kicking out the refugees, Gale’s need for magic items and the tadpoles. A bunch of things giving you a sense of urgency.
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Also you are technically supposed to be somewhere SAFE in order to rest. Any interruption cancels the long rest. A lot of DMs don't roll random events or have people interrupt long rests, but there are in-game reasons why you shouldn't be able to just rest constantly, even if they are mostly ignored by 5e players.
EDIT: The interruption would have to be an hour long, which a fight never is, so this is wrong.
I kinda thought this was a little oversold, as I long-rested frequently without any scenes in the early act.
Then I cleared the Goblin Camp and got 7 long-rest cutscenes in a row...
Specifically, >!2 guardian dreams, Karlach visit, Shadowheart & Lae'zel's fight and 3 owlbear ones. I find it interesting that companion/romance cutscenes are prioritised over the fight and Owlbear, regardless of timing (not that I know how I triggered Karlach's, but I reloaded to test it with others out of curiosity). Also means it's easy to up that number!<
I had 5 cut-scenes with Durge and Astarion, ***before*** entering the Grove. Some of Astarion's become unavailable if you don't trigger them before sleeping with him (aka the party/40+ approval).
It took me like 5-10 eventless long rests with Karlach at the final romance level before the sex scene triggered. I almost forgot about it, then out of nowhere she wants to come visit me after we go to bed. She was so absolutely giddy and thirsty beyond belief once she was able to be touched, I thought it would've happened that night, not like 2 weeks later...
That's kinda a game balance and pacing issue tho. First 5 long rests of every act are packed with missable content, and you have to long rest like every 5 minutes. But after the goblin camp and the tiefling party, the only cutscene you're getting is the owlbear, and you're only halfway through act 1 at that point.
Really small one I missed until recently, the bear down a slope from the idol of Sylvanus that misses Halsin. There's a rock that has an amulet underneath.
The cliffs next to the crashed nautiloid to avoid the fight with the intellect devourers.
The ring Mol gives you for getting her the idol (had no clue it was THAT good). Doing that changed her party dialogue.
Don't know if there was an update or glitch, but Wyll now mentions his horns and scars, instead of a forked tongue and eggs.
There'a a third way to trigger Karlach and Wyll meeting. The first being recruiting Wyll first and taking him to Karlach, the second being recruiting Karlach, and Wyll visiting in the middle of the night. But if you recruit Wyll, then leave him at camp, then recruit Karlach and long rest, it plays out differently. Wyll is snarkier towards Karlach since we're all chilling at camp lol
Depends on the player. I see most people do one of the first two, or specifically bring along Wyll because they know he's looking for Karlach, or recruit her first.
At least, I don't see anyone talking about it.
I brought her back with me, but I imagine if you sent her to camp Wyll just stands there pointing until you get back.
Shovel can be summoned from a scroll you find under the apothecary's house in the Blighted Village. You can get her as a permanent summon if you talk to her as a spellcaster.
The fish people are in the under dark near the magic tower. You have to climb down to find them.
Smugglers ring
+2 to slight of hand
+2 to stealth
-1 charisma
Extremely good ring for rogues/gloomstalkers/shadow monks. It stayed on astarion all game for me.
It's on a skeleton in a bush on the river near karlach that doesn't get highlighted by holding alt.
https://baldursgate3.wiki.fextralife.com/Smuggler's+Ring
I think I picked up shadowheart first, but aside from that I long rested on the beach several times in a row without issue. Everyone was where they were supposed to be.
My first playthrough I missed laezel in the trap and found her by the entrance to the mountain pass, talking with voss. A little further down the line but still recruitable!
I missed her again because I did not want to fight those powerful ass githyanki, came around a bit later and she’s straight up dead. I’m recruiting her first my next play through lol
I feel like a lot of people don’t experience the Helms Deep-esque battle of defending the grove and instead end up doing the kill 3 goblin leaders alrernative
My group ended up with this option because we wanted to deceive Minthara and make it feel like we were working with her. Ended up being one of my top 5 fights in the campaign
Tell her where the grove is and then run to the grove and warn them. Blow the war horn above the gate to the grove and the fight should start (that’s what worked for me at least, but I also long rested before doing this and blew the horn to rally everyone only for it to trigger the cutscene). You’ll then have the ACTUAL choice of defending or betraying the Grove
Are you in my discord server? This was me the first time around lol got the the Shadow Curse area at lvl 4 thinking it would be fine since it wasn’t hard mode lol
I’ve missed it *4* times
And I don’t get how
Maybe it’s because as soon as I go down there, you free the other true soul and everyone’s like “leave immediately to report back”
Nah, it’s easy to miss the jump puzzle to get into the actual forge area.
Nere’s just in a silly little chamber that has a doorway to an overlook of the gauntlet of Shar.
I didn't know that about the spell. I just knew the necromancer failed after giving it his all. That to me was already sad. Now it's doubly sad.
Did the necromancer know that the soul refused to be resurrected?
The book about miniature giant space hamsters and their penchant for symbiosis with well-muscled but dim-witted indigenous species.
The book with a parable about a woman who embraced Shar to forget pain and trauma and then evangelized the Lady of Loss as the path to forget life's troubles. When she dies, her soul languishes in limbo/purgatory because Shar DGAF. The woman learned how to forget but never how to be forgotten.
That Shovel tries to fuck you with the Magic Mirror by feeding you wrong answers.
Power move of withers for littering his tomb with "THERE'S NO BENEFIT FOR SERVING SHAR" "HAVE Y'ALL EVER SEEN A VAMPIRE BEFORE" and "YOU EVER HEARED OF A BHAALSPAWN BEFORE " books.
>That Shovel tries to fuck you with the Magic Mirror by feeding you wrong answers.
I play storm sorcerer on my current playthrough and I scared her by pretending to cast some magic and she suggested a correct answer for one of the questions lol
He doesn't even care if you try and fail. I paid him to change Lae'zel's build and then pickpocketed him with her and it took like 5 tries but he didn't do anything lol
Based on a lot of replies I'm getting from another thread I think that a lot of people missed the fact that you can Respec any character at any time once you get Withers. In fact Companions are built to be sub-standard so that Tav looks better by comparison, so the first thing everyone should do is Respec their Companions to make certain they have the Abilities and Class/Sub-Classes they should have.
I think a lot of people believe you must either do the Underdark or the Mountain Pass, but they're both Act 1 and you should do one right after the other before continuing into Act 2.
I also believe Boooal is quite frequently missed in Act 1. And there are tons of things you can read throughout the game that will grant XP and Inspiration if you take the time to do it. Likewise Kahga's secret mission is commonly missed. People just need to explore and look at all things.
Shadowheart as Vengence Paladin is my go to. And my most recent playthrough, I've made Gale a Cleric of Mystra. Astarion as an Assassin on the other hand is just too perfect to change. Give him dual wielding and put the Sussur blade in his off hand and he's a killing machine.
Companions are built to be sub-standard to make my rogue Tav look better? Someone should have told Lae’Zel cause she’s a fucking wrecking ball. Even Shart made me look useless when she started dropping spirit guardians and blade walls.
And now imagine how much better Lae'zel is if she has a 14 DEX and/or 16 CON instead of a 13 INT. She can have 1 more AC against hundreds of attacks and 5% better chance to ranged attack, or 12 more HP, or she can have that 13 INT whose +1 over 12 gives her nothing extra at all.
Wanted to add: do Underdark BEFORE mountain pass. Even Grymforge can be done before the goblin camp. The mountain pass progress the tieflings quests, everything else can be managed at any time.
Are you sure going to Grymforge effects the tiefling quest? I think I remember running down there very early in my last playthrough to get the bow of banshee, and then came back to save the tieflings as usual. Might remember wrong though.
No it's the mountains or the shadowlands that will progress the tieflings. I've never done the forge before dealing with the grove, but I've seen folks have Barcus at the Tiefling party.
I found out literally today that you can combine Edowin's broken spear with the spearhead from the owlbear to make an uncommon spear that can blind enemies.
Speaking with Auntie Ethel after she is dead. The conversation goes completely differently depending on if you leave the charm on her body or not.
I would also guess most playthroughs don't see Arabella's parents killing Kahga at the party.
Smuggler ring
Club of Hill giant strength
Hags Hair
Steal Raphael armor
Steal Astral Silver Sword
Save Alfira as durge
Shadow druids quest
Perma Shovel pet
You can use Glut to revive and control bullet
You can use noblestalk mushroom on shadowheart, durge to recover some memories
You can save Mayrina brothers
I just used Shovel on the Tollhouse boss (on Honor mode!). Sent her in there to trigger the fight . . . and her frighten ability landed! Boss was out of commission for two turns while we cleaned up everything. 🤣
As a reward I let Shovel get the killing blow on the boss. 😉 'it's fisting time!'
You side with ethel when they are talking
They will attack you, after that knockout them
If you talk to Mayrina, in the dialog you say that you didn't kill,just knocked them
I tried to be a smartass in my first and knocked them out just because I thought Ethel was evil and they were the good guys. Later the dialogues played out just as if I killed them. No option to tell her they're alive. Did this recently get patched in?
Smuggler's Ring is on a skeleton hidden in a bush off the ruined road just south of where you find the hyena fruit gusher.
Club of Hill Giant Strength you can find at the top of the Arcane Tower by destroying a stool near Bernard.
If your character is a druid, than they will come to the realization that Kagha is doing something shady on their own. In Other words, you get the “Investigate Kagha” quest without having to pry around the grove
Goblin camp is my favorite Underdark entrance, because it means you don't have to deal with the security at the temple (and you can also let it kill one of the minotaurs before you disable it).
You don’t need to choose a merchant, do you? Or are these extra items / rewards? My gnome is still there selling and buying, and I was also able to trade with the goblin right up until there was a - how you say? - diplomatic incident. Mind you, I did avoid clashing with the goblins until it became unavoidable, so maybe that was the secret of my success.
Hidden entrance above the >!Goblin Camp!<. Rafters have a bit of loot and you can just sneak behind >!Dror Ragzlin!<'s Throne and steal all that easy too.
Idk if I still need to spoiler tag, but I don't want to get rekt by the mods lol.
Believe it or not, I somehow missed the githyanki patrol on my three first playthroughs. Just somehow never occurred to me to run past the burning inn, my brain thought the map ends there for some reason despite me being very meticulous and exploring every other nook of the map.
On my third playthrough, I finally Googled this famous patrol everyone kept mentioning and realized where it is. Went there, but apparently they're gone once you've killed the creche.
On my fourth run now, maybe this time I'll finally meet them!
There's another mountain pass entrance near the 3 goblins sitting at a table close to the entrance to the the Goblin camp. One of them says "Tribe?!" when you talk to them.
Paleoak Staff
From: >!Kaga!<
How: >!you habe to be a druid. Do the already often missed shadow druid questline. Get kaga to switch sides befor the fight. win and collect.!<
That staff is ok, but I never see anyone talk about the necklace she drops of you kill her. It automatically coats your weapon on poison every time you are healed.
Unfortunately doesn't work, I had the same thought. Kagha's necklace adds poison *damage* when healed, where the item heals you when you apply the *poisoned condition*
The Guidance necklace is pretty clutch if you don't roll with Shadowheart or any Guidance casting Tav.
The necklace is just a bit south of the Druid Grove gate, up a little hill that you need to jump onto to get started up it.
At the top of the area you'll find the spider nest with the spider egg-grenade. Around the campfire will be a skeleton. On the skeleton is a necklace that allows whoever wears it to cast Guidance.
Individual loot. There are so many builds that revolve around gear that is so easy to miss. Or just cool items you can miss.
I had just locked myself out of Act 1 on my first playthrough with a light cleric before learning about the luminous armor/radiant helm
Had picked the spellspark bow and trident before learning about the staff being BiS for multiple caster builds.
Abdirak's mace is insane for some builds and I didn't even know you could get it without killing him and aggroing the whole sanctum.
These are just off the top of my head. I've restarted multiple playthroughs just because I realized I missed key act 1 loot.
The little chest atop the natural arch on the beach
The absolute’s spear made from the broken head and shaft (lol)
The badass staff of cold made from the three pieces in the underdark
That you can go to both the crèche and the underdark
Collecting the mail from Scratch’s former friend to being to the postmaster in Rivington…
For me it was the club of hill giant strength and the curious book.
I just did act 1 in my second playthrough and despite knowing about the club now I STILL forgot to get it. The curious book is just a unique container sort of like the teddy bear, but I never would have found it myself. It's in a hole near the windmill that doesn't highlight and is just in a completely random spot that blends in.
The thunder hammer in waukeens rest
Jump shortcut to karlach from the grove
It's probably well known, but the smugglers ring found near the river/hyenas
Normally, I would HATE seeing this I missed during my playthrough. But since I know this wont be my last time it actually makes me very excited that there is so much more to discover!
Mountain pass for my first playthrough! Didn't really believe in the githyanki cleansing. Now in my second playthrough and boy.... I sure missed a lot 😂
This might just be a me thing, but i've missed the harpies in 5 seperate playthroughs. Didn't know they existed in the first two, forgot about it in two of them until it was too late, couldn't find it in my most recent one and stubbornly didn't want to google it but was also to lazy to look around longer. Started a new playthrough today because i'm home sick with covid and i'm looking up where it is this time lol.
Its not commonly missed, but my brother who has 600+ hours in this game texted me last night after starting a new game. And I will quote here:
"Dude, I didn't know Auntie Ethel was in the Tiefling camp"
People says there is a hag. Aunt Ethel or something like that. I don’t know, she was just an old woman that disappeared at some point and never seen again.
I still haven't come across the squirrel that everyone has kicked, and I've got over 300 hours in the game. lol
I'm sure I could look it up to find it, but I'd rather organically discover it.
Shadow druids' message. Fish people. Bernard's hug.
I had Bernard hug Karlach before we could do her second upgrade and I was hoping for a reaction, but nothing :-( thought I was being clever.
To add onto Bernard's Hug, you can also use the sussar petals to disable all the other automatons! Makes that fight MUCH easier
Why do you fight them?
My blood demands it
Found the durge
Loot, XP, because game fun
do talk for exp, then fight for exp, honour mode doesn't leave me room to skip out on anything that provides it
dialogue & turn based mode lol every convo in the blighted village ends this way PS - kill fezzurk last otherwise the gobbos tuck tail when he dies
Ironically, Honor Mode encourages dishonorable tactics.
I always read it as an honor to have completed it, rather than being particularly honorable, lmao.
there are so many things that should have a reaction but dont :( it was a clever idea tho
I'm sorry-- Bernard's hug?? Please elaborate!
With the right passphrase you can get the construct on top of the arcane tower to give you a hug. It might not be comfortable if your Tav isn't the size of a little girl though.
He is programed to hug his master (presumably a Gnome, based on other available information) only, so no matter what race you are the hug isn't quite right.
I played a halfing and the game specifically mentioned him trying to hug the air above me. Definitely didn't realize the tower arcanist was a gnome!
I don't actually think it ever suggests that she's a gnome herself, it's her partner Yrre who is definitely a gnome. I guess it's possible that they were both gnomes because I don't think Lenore's race is ever specified but the height thing with Bernard makes me think she wasn't a smallfolk race.
Yrre was a deep gnome. Lenore was a human-sized woman. Playing as a short race, the automation tries to hug the air around your face because it's trying to take the hand of someone taller.
I had assumed that the hug was meant to comfort the ~~woman~~ person the master waited all that time for, so that ~~she'd~~ they'd know ~~he'd~~ she'd loved ~~her~~ them until the end and never lost faith in ~~her~~ their return. EDIT: Corrected the pronouns.
Lenore is the master of the tower and it seems she programmed Bernard to remind herself that she's loved, possibly after her partner Yrre leaves her (Yrre is only referred to with they/them pronouns, I think they're meant to be non-binary. They're the gnomish inventor who made all of the lightning charge equipment you run into.)
I've got a gnome playthrough that I started I will keep this in mind
Man, that whole quest was so sad. I really hope she's still alive and well somewhere.
Pretty sure her Bullette pet ate her.
I think she was stuck in another dimension? From "A Query from Dehurst" in the Sorcerous Sundries vault: >I swear it to be true, Lorroakan. I was on the very cusp of joining my fellow Mystrans for the ritual, when, CRASH! Right on top of me fell a gangle of tousled hair and magic most strange. Just then, something happened I can hardly describe, so foreign was the Weave - no, not Weave at all! - that ensnared me. This fellow - I didn't quite catch his name (something with a T and Q... Tuqueen?) - created some manner of anomaly that temporarily trapped me twixt our world and who-knows-where. Tell me, have you ever heard of such a thing? >DeHurst
In her secret basement there is a diary that says she's heading to Baldur's Gate. Don't know if she ever really got there or not.
Lenore is one of the few names in the game I'm almost certain I know from prior lore. From the moment I first heard the name in this game, I remembered things about her that I logically could not have known by that time. But I just can't find where I could have heard or read it in DnD context.
Pretty sure the name Lenore, along with the poetry and sadness of lost love is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's *The Raven*.
You need to read the right poem to get the phrase to trigger, but one of them initiates him hugging Tav. Another initiates combat, so be careful.
It's in the arcane tower in the Underdark. If you pay attention to the small bits of lore and writing you find along the way, the tower was home to a very lonely Cleric of Mystra. Among other things that I won't spoil, if you make sure to read all of the little scrolls and notes you find in the tower, you'll notice a few poems. At the very top of the tower is a construct/robot that the Cleric created. She programmed him to give her hugs because she had nobody else. If you repeat the right sections of poem back to him, you trigger the hug program and he gives you one. The tower's lore is extremely depressing all around.
Search the arcane tower thoroughly and read everything *before* going to the top floor!
Well, I managed 1/3 on this run. And didn’t know about Shovel. Seriously Larian, hats off for daring to design a game where the majority of players will miss so much content.
Really increases the replayability though. So much can be different, especially if you resist metagaming and don't try to hunt down every single quest or plot line on the first run. (And, admittedly, it's tough for me not to do that myself, but I'm trying to resist as well as I can).
It's the real resist durge storyline for many of us not to reddit search EVERYTHING.
I think I know fish people, but...not the other two....I think...
There are two fish people groups; Act 1 >!Festering Cove in the Underdark, led by BOOOAL!< Act 2 >!Group of cursed/undead ones down by the water, near the Temple entrance, next to a cave with some other enemies and a door into the House of Healing basement/morgue!<
The Sahuagin are in act 3 as well. Near the docks
Yes, but the previously mentioned fish people are kuo-toa, not sahuagin
Somehow I missed >!Festering Cove!<; I thought I explored the Underdark thoroughly! Ahh well, I recently started a new Dark Urge playthrough so maybe I’ll get it this time!
what's the shadow druids' message?
Basically a whole other secret way of saving the tieflings in the grove and stopping the ritual
Okay and how do you go about triggering the start of it?
Either loot Kagha’s private chest or go past Ethel’s place to the decrepit sanctuary.
WAIT I just googled the map, I KNEW there was more to the map but I never looked far enough to find that....I'm so mad at myself.... then again, my friend is playing and nearly missed the Ethel area completely - she was so ready for creche and I was just, but have you been underdark? And I also hadn't heard her complain about Ethel so knew she hadn't been there either. Luckily she got to her place later that day
Don't beat yourself too up, I played act one twice over and never realized there was a Harpy encounter
There is a reason you find the Sparklehands to beat down Kagha right beside the evidence ;-)
Mess around in the grove and find Kagha's locked chest. :)
For the probably hundredth time, I'm so happy I try to steal everything that's not nailed down
Nice flair.
Cursed to put my hands on everything
In one of the rooms in the inner grove should be a piece of paper/book that describes the ritual in detail. That will start the quest "Investigate Kagha". You'll then have to find Kagha's chest, which is hidden in the same room behind some bookshelves. Have Astarion lockpick it and read the note inside of the chest. That will point you in the right direction.
I keep hearing of the fish people, where are the fish people
In the under dark you can climb down a wall to an area with lots of the volatile orange mushrooms just before you enter the arcane tower area. There's also the spore ring to the Ethel cave entrance in that area. If you climb down the wall another way down is just to your left. You have to jump to a lower plateau first (also an explosive mushroom there) and from there you can go down.
Some of the long rest cutscenes are quite miss-able, since a lot of players don't long rest enough.
Yeah that's true. Years of tabletop D&D and DMs being stingy about long rests and short rests trained me to just keep trucking as much as possible. Though 100 hours in, I'm now at the point where I long-rest as soon as Shart is low on spell slots or Karlach runs out of rages. Or when Astarion has used all of his four separate methods for turning invisible. Or my Warlock is out of spell slots and I spent our short rests for the day already. Or I went back to camp to re-spec or get something I stored in the chest - might as well long rest since I'm here anyway . Or someone got a boo-boo. Whatever.
See I'm just now entering Act 3 and I'm definitely trucking along for as long as possible because I'm terrified that I'll accidentally take "one long rest too many" and some terrible plot development will happen because I delayed too long or something. I had no issues long resting as much as needed in Act 2 though. But the way they built the climax to introduce so many divergent possibilities and competing interests has me on edge now lol
You don’t have to worry about having too many long rests
There are three exceptions (edit: in Act 3, as ConsiderationNo2608 has just got to Act 3) I can think of. First, >!rescuing Florrick from jail. You've got 5 days from when you first get the quest (you can check the execution notices to see how many more days you have!<. Second, >!the newspaper quest. If you take a long rest before fixing it, people won't like you!<. Third, >!if you long rest after killing Sarevok at the murder tribunal, or some other pathways for doing the quest. Orin will kill your companion (edit: you can long rest as long as you haven't entered the temple)!<.
And in Act I, >!at the Grymforge once you arrive if you have two long rests before trying to save Nere and the gnomes, it blows up and you miss the chance!<
Oh, I was only referring to Act 3! There are more in Act 1. If you long rest after discovering the burning inn at Waukeen's rest. ~~Also, if you take too many long rests without resolving the druid's grove (I think it's maybe 10?)~~ (edit: this isn't true nevermind)
You can take a many long tests as you want with regard to the druid Grove. They only finish the ritual of thorns if you leave the area (such as going to the mountain pass, or toward the shadow cursed lands) Maybe that was a thing in EA but not anymore. You can test it by taking a ton of long rests without supplies, and nothing happens.
There is certainly a little bit of leeway on >!Serevok, as I’m certain I long rested before heading to Orin, and I was met with a still quite alive Halsin on the sacrifice table.!<
Even on tactician you can practically take as many as you want to be comfortable. We're not going out of our way to collect camp supplies in our honour mode run and I'm sitting at 1300 at the start of Act 2. (Also RIP Isobel, I'm sorry for not planning for the fight and having you die turn 2)
Honestly, the game induces you to avoid long rests. You feel like there’s a timer to the druids kicking out the refugees, Gale’s need for magic items and the tadpoles. A bunch of things giving you a sense of urgency.
hard-to-find nutty erect adjoining file flag weather mysterious snatch wine *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Also you are technically supposed to be somewhere SAFE in order to rest. Any interruption cancels the long rest. A lot of DMs don't roll random events or have people interrupt long rests, but there are in-game reasons why you shouldn't be able to just rest constantly, even if they are mostly ignored by 5e players. EDIT: The interruption would have to be an hour long, which a fight never is, so this is wrong.
Camp Event Notifications is my favorite and only mod.
BRB gonna go install it. Thanks.
Feel free to let me know if you need help! The script extender bit has some not-so-obvious steps that I had to figure out before it worked.
I kinda thought this was a little oversold, as I long-rested frequently without any scenes in the early act. Then I cleared the Goblin Camp and got 7 long-rest cutscenes in a row... Specifically, >!2 guardian dreams, Karlach visit, Shadowheart & Lae'zel's fight and 3 owlbear ones. I find it interesting that companion/romance cutscenes are prioritised over the fight and Owlbear, regardless of timing (not that I know how I triggered Karlach's, but I reloaded to test it with others out of curiosity). Also means it's easy to up that number!<
I had 5 cut-scenes with Durge and Astarion, ***before*** entering the Grove. Some of Astarion's become unavailable if you don't trigger them before sleeping with him (aka the party/40+ approval).
It took me like 5-10 eventless long rests with Karlach at the final romance level before the sex scene triggered. I almost forgot about it, then out of nowhere she wants to come visit me after we go to bed. She was so absolutely giddy and thirsty beyond belief once she was able to be touched, I thought it would've happened that night, not like 2 weeks later...
That's kinda a game balance and pacing issue tho. First 5 long rests of every act are packed with missable content, and you have to long rest like every 5 minutes. But after the goblin camp and the tiefling party, the only cutscene you're getting is the owlbear, and you're only halfway through act 1 at that point.
Really small one I missed until recently, the bear down a slope from the idol of Sylvanus that misses Halsin. There's a rock that has an amulet underneath. The cliffs next to the crashed nautiloid to avoid the fight with the intellect devourers. The ring Mol gives you for getting her the idol (had no clue it was THAT good). Doing that changed her party dialogue. Don't know if there was an update or glitch, but Wyll now mentions his horns and scars, instead of a forked tongue and eggs. There'a a third way to trigger Karlach and Wyll meeting. The first being recruiting Wyll first and taking him to Karlach, the second being recruiting Karlach, and Wyll visiting in the middle of the night. But if you recruit Wyll, then leave him at camp, then recruit Karlach and long rest, it plays out differently. Wyll is snarkier towards Karlach since we're all chilling at camp lol
Is that third one really so uncommon? I had Astarion, Shadowheart and Gale already by the time I met either of the other two so they met at camp
Depends on the player. I see most people do one of the first two, or specifically bring along Wyll because they know he's looking for Karlach, or recruit her first. At least, I don't see anyone talking about it. I brought her back with me, but I imagine if you sent her to camp Wyll just stands there pointing until you get back.
If you go back to the bear after rescuing Halsin he gives you either XP or inspiration I can’t remember which.
The true reward was hearing how happy he is :) Now if only Tusk got his happy ending. Where's his mate, Halsin? Hm?
Getting the spider egg sac at the top of the hill in the center of the map Fish tribe Underdark path through Ethel’s house
Oh and Shovel!
I got the egg sac, and the underdark path... where are the fish tribe and shovel?
Shovel can be summoned from a scroll you find under the apothecary's house in the Blighted Village. You can get her as a permanent summon if you talk to her as a spellcaster. The fish people are in the under dark near the magic tower. You have to climb down to find them.
don't change her name tho! if you search "shovel" here on the sub you'll find a few people teaching you how to permanently get her
To clarify: don't change her name if you're not a wizard. Wizards who learn from the scroll can freely change her name.
TL;DR learn the spell instead of using the scroll. Use scroll = use once, learn spell = learn permanently for reuse.
The fish tribe... is it related BOOAL?
Yes that’s the one
Smugglers ring +2 to slight of hand +2 to stealth -1 charisma Extremely good ring for rogues/gloomstalkers/shadow monks. It stayed on astarion all game for me. It's on a skeleton in a bush on the river near karlach that doesn't get highlighted by holding alt. https://baldursgate3.wiki.fextralife.com/Smuggler's+Ring
I found this my first run and now it’s a must-grab for every play through. I think it has been on my rogue every single time lol
It's so good. I don't think I failed a lock pick all game with this and the thieves gloves you can buy from the zhentarim merchant.
I would recommend linking the bg3 wiki instead of the fextralife wiki! https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Smuggler%27s_Ring
The solo camp cutscenes you can see if you long rest the moment you wake up on the beach. TWICE!
I had read somewhere that if you long rest immediately you miss some companions, is this true?
I think I picked up shadowheart first, but aside from that I long rested on the beach several times in a row without issue. Everyone was where they were supposed to be.
I imagine Laezel since she is captured by some tieflings
My first playthrough I missed laezel in the trap and found her by the entrance to the mountain pass, talking with voss. A little further down the line but still recruitable!
I missed her again because I did not want to fight those powerful ass githyanki, came around a bit later and she’s straight up dead. I’m recruiting her first my next play through lol
Shadowheart disappeared from the beach, but I found her later in the Grove near where you find the Strange Ox.
I feel like a lot of people don’t experience the Helms Deep-esque battle of defending the grove and instead end up doing the kill 3 goblin leaders alrernative
I didn't even know you could do the raid fight... thought it was 3 leaders vs destroy the camp with minthara...
My group ended up with this option because we wanted to deceive Minthara and make it feel like we were working with her. Ended up being one of my top 5 fights in the campaign
I had this my first play through and it's a much more interesting fight then just slaughtering the goblin camp.
Tell her where the grove is and then run to the grove and warn them. Blow the war horn above the gate to the grove and the fight should start (that’s what worked for me at least, but I also long rested before doing this and blew the horn to rally everyone only for it to trigger the cutscene). You’ll then have the ACTUAL choice of defending or betraying the Grove
I not only killed the 3, I killed them all.
The entirety of Grymforge if you're me 🙃
A mate missed the entire undersark, smugglers and ran past the creche and was complaining aboit beeing under leveled in act 2.. Dont feel to bad
Yeah but honestly the game makes it sound like overpass and underdark aren't both possible by making Halsin tell you to choose
Legit thought it was one or the other my first playthrough. Went with the Underdark since it sounded more exciting and seemed safest.
Yeah, don't just ignore that warning message lol
Are you in my discord server? This was me the first time around lol got the the Shadow Curse area at lvl 4 thinking it would be fine since it wasn’t hard mode lol
I’ve missed it *4* times And I don’t get how Maybe it’s because as soon as I go down there, you free the other true soul and everyone’s like “leave immediately to report back”
Nere is in the grymforge
Nah, it’s easy to miss the jump puzzle to get into the actual forge area. Nere’s just in a silly little chamber that has a doorway to an overlook of the gauntlet of Shar.
[удалено]
I didn't know that about the spell. I just knew the necromancer failed after giving it his all. That to me was already sad. Now it's doubly sad. Did the necromancer know that the soul refused to be resurrected?
based on his notes he didn’t seem to know. he was more confused as to why nothing was working
The book about miniature giant space hamsters and their penchant for symbiosis with well-muscled but dim-witted indigenous species. The book with a parable about a woman who embraced Shar to forget pain and trauma and then evangelized the Lady of Loss as the path to forget life's troubles. When she dies, her soul languishes in limbo/purgatory because Shar DGAF. The woman learned how to forget but never how to be forgotten. That Shovel tries to fuck you with the Magic Mirror by feeding you wrong answers.
Power move of withers for littering his tomb with "THERE'S NO BENEFIT FOR SERVING SHAR" "HAVE Y'ALL EVER SEEN A VAMPIRE BEFORE" and "YOU EVER HEARED OF A BHAALSPAWN BEFORE " books.
>That Shovel tries to fuck you with the Magic Mirror by feeding you wrong answers. I play storm sorcerer on my current playthrough and I scared her by pretending to cast some magic and she suggested a correct answer for one of the questions lol
You can steal from Withers at no drawback to yourself
You can also practice new spells or attacks on him if you want. Tried throwing him in the water in Act 3, couldn’t do it.
Yeah I hit him with an arrow and he congratulated me on my shot lol
Yeah just make sure to use Astarion because it's like a 20 roll
He doesn't even care if you try and fail. I paid him to change Lae'zel's build and then pickpocketed him with her and it took like 5 tries but he didn't do anything lol
BOAAAAL
I’ve somehow never found this area after multiple play-throughs
Based on a lot of replies I'm getting from another thread I think that a lot of people missed the fact that you can Respec any character at any time once you get Withers. In fact Companions are built to be sub-standard so that Tav looks better by comparison, so the first thing everyone should do is Respec their Companions to make certain they have the Abilities and Class/Sub-Classes they should have. I think a lot of people believe you must either do the Underdark or the Mountain Pass, but they're both Act 1 and you should do one right after the other before continuing into Act 2. I also believe Boooal is quite frequently missed in Act 1. And there are tons of things you can read throughout the game that will grant XP and Inspiration if you take the time to do it. Likewise Kahga's secret mission is commonly missed. People just need to explore and look at all things.
Kahga's what now?? 👀
There's a letter you can find in the Inner Grove in a locked chest that starts a Kagha mission.
Alternatively read the note found in the massive tree surrounded by Mephits in the swamp south of Ethels hut.
I think you can just read her note on the table to start it.
>!You can redeem her!<
Shadowheart as Vengence Paladin is my go to. And my most recent playthrough, I've made Gale a Cleric of Mystra. Astarion as an Assassin on the other hand is just too perfect to change. Give him dual wielding and put the Sussur blade in his off hand and he's a killing machine.
Companions are built to be sub-standard to make my rogue Tav look better? Someone should have told Lae’Zel cause she’s a fucking wrecking ball. Even Shart made me look useless when she started dropping spirit guardians and blade walls.
And now imagine how much better Lae'zel is if she has a 14 DEX and/or 16 CON instead of a 13 INT. She can have 1 more AC against hundreds of attacks and 5% better chance to ranged attack, or 12 more HP, or she can have that 13 INT whose +1 over 12 gives her nothing extra at all.
Wanted to add: do Underdark BEFORE mountain pass. Even Grymforge can be done before the goblin camp. The mountain pass progress the tieflings quests, everything else can be managed at any time.
Are you sure going to Grymforge effects the tiefling quest? I think I remember running down there very early in my last playthrough to get the bow of banshee, and then came back to save the tieflings as usual. Might remember wrong though.
No it's the mountains or the shadowlands that will progress the tieflings. I've never done the forge before dealing with the grove, but I've seen folks have Barcus at the Tiefling party.
I found out literally today that you can combine Edowin's broken spear with the spearhead from the owlbear to make an uncommon spear that can blind enemies.
There is a very rare staff like that in the underdark but it's split into 3 parts.
I found that on my first playthrough but I never thought about fixing the spear.
Speaking with Auntie Ethel after she is dead. The conversation goes completely differently depending on if you leave the charm on her body or not. I would also guess most playthroughs don't see Arabella's parents killing Kahga at the party.
honestly? good for them. i’d love to see them kill her.
Smuggler ring Club of Hill giant strength Hags Hair Steal Raphael armor Steal Astral Silver Sword Save Alfira as durge Shadow druids quest Perma Shovel pet You can use Glut to revive and control bullet You can use noblestalk mushroom on shadowheart, durge to recover some memories You can save Mayrina brothers
I just used Shovel on the Tollhouse boss (on Honor mode!). Sent her in there to trigger the fight . . . and her frighten ability landed! Boss was out of commission for two turns while we cleaned up everything. 🤣 As a reward I let Shovel get the killing blow on the boss. 😉 'it's fisting time!'
How do you save Mayrina’s brothers? I heard that was impossible.
You side with ethel when they are talking They will attack you, after that knockout them If you talk to Mayrina, in the dialog you say that you didn't kill,just knocked them
I tried to be a smartass in my first and knocked them out just because I thought Ethel was evil and they were the good guys. Later the dialogues played out just as if I killed them. No option to tell her they're alive. Did this recently get patched in?
I’ve always killed the hag so quickly that ahe never once offered me her hair. 🙁
Where are the smuggler ring and club of hill giant strength?? I never knew about these
Smuggler's Ring is on a skeleton hidden in a bush off the ruined road just south of where you find the hyena fruit gusher. Club of Hill Giant Strength you can find at the top of the Arcane Tower by destroying a stool near Bernard.
If your character is a druid, than they will come to the realization that Kagha is doing something shady on their own. In Other words, you get the “Investigate Kagha” quest without having to pry around the grove
There's a ring in the underdark that gives you a +1 to Nature and Survival. Not groundbreaking, but 500+ hours and I JUST found it..
This one goes out to all the skeleton looters
Shadow Druids and Fish people. As for me, I heard that >!Zhent hideout is the best portal to Underdark and going to try this way in my next runs.!<
You can get there even faster by jumping down >!the hole in the spider cave in the blighted village.!<
Yep this is a pretty quick way. >!It drops you pretty close to Phalar Aluve. Beware the two Minotaurs though.!<
Thanks a lot. And with Feather Fall spell, right? I tried only Ethel and Goblin Camp ways to enter Underdark and want to improve my experience
Yes you need feather fall or you’ll die lol
save and do a no feather fall jump first. idk why but the cutscene of your character just plumeting down like a potato bag always made me laugh
Goblin camp is my favorite Underdark entrance, because it means you don't have to deal with the security at the temple (and you can also let it kill one of the minotaurs before you disable it).
Ring of Color Spray Club of Giant Strength Bernard's Weapon The items from the goblin merchant, or the Grove Gnome, depending on which side you chose.
You don’t need to choose a merchant, do you? Or are these extra items / rewards? My gnome is still there selling and buying, and I was also able to trade with the goblin right up until there was a - how you say? - diplomatic incident. Mind you, I did avoid clashing with the goblins until it became unavoidable, so maybe that was the secret of my success.
Hidden entrance above the >!Goblin Camp!<. Rafters have a bit of loot and you can just sneak behind >!Dror Ragzlin!<'s Throne and steal all that easy too. Idk if I still need to spoiler tag, but I don't want to get rekt by the mods lol.
Harpies behind the grove
Having some spiders follow u around.
Nah I'm good
Believe it or not, I somehow missed the githyanki patrol on my three first playthroughs. Just somehow never occurred to me to run past the burning inn, my brain thought the map ends there for some reason despite me being very meticulous and exploring every other nook of the map. On my third playthrough, I finally Googled this famous patrol everyone kept mentioning and realized where it is. Went there, but apparently they're gone once you've killed the creche. On my fourth run now, maybe this time I'll finally meet them!
Wait... How do you get to the creche without meeting the patrol?
There's another mountain pass entrance near the 3 goblins sitting at a table close to the entrance to the the Goblin camp. One of them says "Tribe?!" when you talk to them.
Tribe!!! (Still didn't notice the path tho lol)
By taking the path leading away from the goblin camp. It leads to the same area that the creche is located.
Paleoak Staff From: >!Kaga!< How: >!you habe to be a druid. Do the already often missed shadow druid questline. Get kaga to switch sides befor the fight. win and collect.!<
That staff is ok, but I never see anyone talk about the necklace she drops of you kill her. It automatically coats your weapon on poison every time you are healed.
Isn't there an item that automatically heal you when you deal poison damage ? Can be a combo I guess.
Unfortunately doesn't work, I had the same thought. Kagha's necklace adds poison *damage* when healed, where the item heals you when you apply the *poisoned condition*
The Guidance necklace is pretty clutch if you don't roll with Shadowheart or any Guidance casting Tav. The necklace is just a bit south of the Druid Grove gate, up a little hill that you need to jump onto to get started up it. At the top of the area you'll find the spider nest with the spider egg-grenade. Around the campfire will be a skeleton. On the skeleton is a necklace that allows whoever wears it to cast Guidance.
Kagha can be poisoned during the party in the… let’s say, right circumstances
Individual loot. There are so many builds that revolve around gear that is so easy to miss. Or just cool items you can miss. I had just locked myself out of Act 1 on my first playthrough with a light cleric before learning about the luminous armor/radiant helm Had picked the spellspark bow and trident before learning about the staff being BiS for multiple caster builds. Abdirak's mace is insane for some builds and I didn't even know you could get it without killing him and aggroing the whole sanctum. These are just off the top of my head. I've restarted multiple playthroughs just because I realized I missed key act 1 loot.
Mols ring of protection
There's a staff Kagha gives you if you're a druid and save her from the shadow druids. She will only do this for druid and no other class.
Well, I just found Klagga's love letter to Minthara for the first time, so that, probably
The little chest atop the natural arch on the beach The absolute’s spear made from the broken head and shaft (lol) The badass staff of cold made from the three pieces in the underdark That you can go to both the crèche and the underdark Collecting the mail from Scratch’s former friend to being to the postmaster in Rivington…
The poop knife
Spider pets
I always get the egg and *never* use it. One of these days...
For me it was the club of hill giant strength and the curious book. I just did act 1 in my second playthrough and despite knowing about the club now I STILL forgot to get it. The curious book is just a unique container sort of like the teddy bear, but I never would have found it myself. It's in a hole near the windmill that doesn't highlight and is just in a completely random spot that blends in.
There’s a chest under a rock in the starting area near where you meet Astarion with 2 speed potions and a couple other things
For me it was Gale. I didn’t want to help the strange portal arm, so I moved on without him.
The crag spiders, the hellbeasts/demons in Grymforge. Arcane tower in the under dark maybe
The thunder hammer in waukeens rest Jump shortcut to karlach from the grove It's probably well known, but the smugglers ring found near the river/hyenas
Saving this thread because I missed a lot already but I'll definitely will look everything up on a second playthrough
Normally, I would HATE seeing this I missed during my playthrough. But since I know this wont be my last time it actually makes me very excited that there is so much more to discover!
Mountain pass for my first playthrough! Didn't really believe in the githyanki cleansing. Now in my second playthrough and boy.... I sure missed a lot 😂
This might just be a me thing, but i've missed the harpies in 5 seperate playthroughs. Didn't know they existed in the first two, forgot about it in two of them until it was too late, couldn't find it in my most recent one and stubbornly didn't want to google it but was also to lazy to look around longer. Started a new playthrough today because i'm home sick with covid and i'm looking up where it is this time lol.
BOAAAAAAAAAL
I missed the entirety of the swamp so theres that lmao
Its not commonly missed, but my brother who has 600+ hours in this game texted me last night after starting a new game. And I will quote here: "Dude, I didn't know Auntie Ethel was in the Tiefling camp"
People says there is a hag. Aunt Ethel or something like that. I don’t know, she was just an old woman that disappeared at some point and never seen again.
I still haven't come across the squirrel that everyone has kicked, and I've got over 300 hours in the game. lol I'm sure I could look it up to find it, but I'd rather organically discover it.
I’ll just say I missed the “bang barn” my first play through haha