Complete Walkthrough of Act 2 in Baldur's Gate 3

Navigate the Shadow-Cursed Lands with our complete Baldur's Gate 3 Act 2 walkthrough. Discover main quests, side quests, and essential tips for survival and progression.

As with Act 1, the quests available to you during Act 2 will vary depending on your prior choices. In this case, most of what is and isn’t available to you will be related to whether or not you decided to save the Emerald Grove, or attack it. If you chose to attack it, you’ll have fewer quests available to you during Act 2 in general. As you might expect, anything related to helping the Tieflings or Halsin’s questline will be blocked if you’re playing the baddie, so you’ll miss out on a significant amount of XP from additional quests related to them. You also won’t have access to Dammon’s shop at the Last Light Inn, which also prevents you from acquiring the Helldusk armor that he can craft. So, if you played the baddie during Act 1, your experience of Act 2 is likely to be shorter and less rewarding.

In addition to the main quests, side quests, and secrets / side content covered below, you will also be continuing the companion quests that you started in Act 1. There is some overlap between these and the main content, and it’s difficult to miss the objectives so long as you cover everything. If you want to make the most of the story in the Shadowlands during Act 2, we highly recommend having Shadowheart in your party, but you will also have more options for interaction with Astarion and Raphael here too. However, if these aren’t your preferred companions, you can get a condensed version of their reactions back at camp after completing the relevant quests. Needless to say, Shadowheart won’t be too pleased if you go to the Gauntlet of Shar without her.

Table of Main Quests and Side Quests in Act 2

Act 2 Checklist in Baldur’s Gate 3

If you’re looking for a brief summary of the steps necessary to advance Act 2 in both the Mountain Pass and the Shadow-Cursed Lands, we’ve included one below. This includes essential steps to get through this part of the story, but also to make the most of the side content without missing out. This is not an exhaustive list, so we’ve included more details in the breakdowns below, including links to relevant guides for each quest. Some of the quest objectives here are time-sensitive, which we’ve highlighted, so be aware to prioritize those and complete them as soon as possible.

• Make sure you’ve covered everything in the Underdark and Mountain Pass
• Be sure to rest frequently to advance companion dialogue & quests
• Prioritize finding the Last Light Inn when you reach the Shadowlands
• Don’t advance to Moonrise Towers before acquiring a reliable lightsource
• Complete Wake up Art Cullagh quickly to recruit Halsin
• Make a manual save before you approach Moonrise Towers so you can save Rolan
• Complete all side content roughly in the order below before advancing main quests
• Bring Shadowheart to the Gauntlet of Shar to make the most of it
• Make use of traders within Moonrise Towers, and take Infernal Iron to Dammon
• Avoid fighting with Moonrise Towers inhabitants until you’ve explored it thoroughly
• When ready, assassinate Moonrise Towers inhabitants to make the last fight easier

Make use of the traders in Moonrise Towers before killing them.

Main Quests

Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse

One of the first things you’ll need to do when you enter the Shadow-Cursed Lands is find a way to protect yourself from the Shadow Curse. This is a blight that has spread throughout the land, and it will slowly kill you unless you have a light source that is sufficiently powerful to withstand the curse. There are multiple ways of obtaining such a li