Highlights
- Act 2 of
Baldur’s Gate 3
features unique locations like Shadow-Cursed Lands & Ketheric Thorm, adding depth to the gameplay experience. - Optional side-quests in the game, such as aiding Astarion and Punishing the Wicked, offer cool rewards & unique dialogue for players to enjoy.
- Investigating Selunite Resistance in Act 1 can lead players to various locations, providing valuable experience points, gear, and story exposition.
Baldur’s Gate 3 consists of three acts, and the second one is unique in the sense that it’s made up of a few different locations. Act 1 has the Wilderness and Act 3 takes place in the big city, but for Act 2 there’s the dreaded Shadow-Cursed Lands and the fearsome and seemingly immortal Ketheric Thorm.
Each one of these locations in Baldur’s Gate 3 takes some special effort to find or reach, and they all have their secrets and side-quests. Even if they have a tenuous connection to the main quest, they’re always optional, but given the unique dialogue and cool rewards, it’s worth taking the time to finish them.
5 Kill Raphael’s Old Enemy
Uncover Astarion’s Tragedy & Deal With A Devil
- Head to the mausoleum west of the Shadow-Cursed Lands
Fans of Astarion will adore this mission, and it’s essential to have him at the party so he can propose a deal with Raphael. The mission itself involves Tav and the party heading to the mausoleum, where they will be approached by the dangerously elusive devil, Raphael; tasked with entering the mausoleum and killing a dangerous orthon. Details are scarce, but doing this is essential to move forward, and learning more about Astarion is definitely an added bonus.
The mission itself can be fairly challenging regarding the countless enemies found within this orthon’s army, but if players have a silver tongue and a talent for persuasion, they can basically make the orthon kill his allies, his pet, and then himself, thus giving Astarion what he wants.
4 Punish The Wicked
Aid A Mysterious Figure And His Pet Raven As Judge, Jury & Executioner
- Find his camp next to the Ruined Battlefield Waypoint
He Who Was is a mysterious character who seems to have a lot going on, with his albino raven and Shadow-cursed Lands survival skills, so it’s disappointing that he has nothing else to do in this game but an obscure side quest. There’s also a great reward involved, the Raven Gloves, which give the wearer the ability to summon their own Quothe the Raven companion.
The ledger that is needed to find this quest is in The Waning Moon in Reithwin, and the protagonist has to go there to face Thisobald Thorm anyway. Return the ledger, and return it to He Who Was so he can “punish the wicked” when he casts an even more eerie variation of Speak With Dead on his target.
3 Find Arabella’s Parents
Not The Happy Ending Tav Wanted, Or Arabella Deserved
- Find Arabella at the cemetery gates to the east of the House of Healing
Save Arabella from Kagha and her pet viper in Act 1, she’ll appear again in Reithwin Town near the main gates to the cemetery. She uses a powerful spell to bind some wraiths, which explains how she’s been able to survive, but in the ambush that separated the Tieflings, she loses her folks and asks Tav to find them.
They’re nearby in the House of Healing, but well beyond the help of the protagonist or anyone else. Deliver this information to Arabella, assuming she’s waiting in camp, she doesn’t take it well. That’s not the end of the quest, however, and after Arabella simmers down and talks to Withers, she teaches the player a handy spell and hits the open road on her own.
2 Find Zevlor
Uncover The Truth Behind A Tragic Story
- Found in the Illithid nursery section of Moonrise Towers, next to the room with Mizora’s pod
For those table-top players that want more BG3-related content, there’s Descent Into Avernus, the story of how Elturel was sucked into Avernus, a layer of the Nine Hells. It explains why Zevlor and the Teiflings, former residents of the city, are wandering the country roads as refugees.
Zevlor was once a Hellrider, a special group of Paladins that protected Elturel, but after the city was recovered his Order was dissolved and all of the Tieflings driven out. Tragedy strikes them again after they leave Druid Grove and are attacked while on the road in the Underdark.
Speak to the surviving Teiflings, they mention Zevlor’s disappearance but venture into the right part of Moonrise Towers to find and rescue him. The reward is that the remaining Hellriders can join as allies in the fight against the Absolute in Act 3.
1 Investigate The Selunite Resistance
A Secret Temple In Reithwin
- Search beneath the Mason’s Guild in Reithwin Town, or find a note in the locked Potter’s Chest in the Potter’s Workshop
There’s a road that passes through this strange little sunken building, so be wary of the ambush within, and don’t forget the locked chest on the northern corner. It contains a statue of Selune and a note from someone named Halfred, who was a secret Selunite worshipper.
The best thing about this quest is that it leads to various points in the Shadow-cursed Lands, including Last Light Inn and the Mason’s Guild of Reithwin Town, and then finally to an underground library guarded by wraiths. The only rewards are experience points, but the exposition, valuables, and gear that the player finds along the way are worth the effort.