Discover the easiest ways to clear the Goblin Camp in Baldur's Gate 3. Learn strategies for stealth, combat, and bypassing enemies to find Halsin and progress your quest.
As you learned in the Emerald Grove from the Druids there, the last known location of First Druid Halsin is the Goblin Camp, which is located almost directly to the southwest of the Emerald Grove, beyond the Blighted Village. You can pass through the Blighted Village without any bloodshed if you convince the goblins there to let you pass, or you can choose to kill them all if you prefer. It’s possible to do this in an organized way by targeting specific groups of goblins without alerting the others, but to do this you’ll need to make sure that any War Drums nearby are destroyed first.
After destroying any nearby War Drums, you can enter stealth (preferably with a rogue-like character such as Astarion if you have one), then assassinate individual goblins or small groups of them without alerting the others. It’s a good idea to separate the character you’re using to assassinate enemies from the rest of the group (by pressing ), to ensure that they don’t blow their cover. You can leave the rest of the group in a relatively hidden spot in the meantime but keep them close by just in case your assassin is detected.
You can see the location of the Goblin Camp circled in red here, southwest of the Emerald Grove.
Once you’ve passed through the Blighted Village, whether by killing all of the goblins and their allies or by placating them with dialogue options, you can make your way on to the entrance of the Goblin Camp by taking the western road from the village, as it heads southwest. You’ll soon come upon a bridge that you can cross without issue, but on the other side there are goblins stationed with a few beasts for allies. You have three main options to navigate here:
- Enter stealth and climb the rock to the right of the bridge to assassinate the goblins and destroy the War Drum.
- Take the path immediately to your left over the bridge and bypass the goblins in stealth.
- Try to speak with the goblins, face them head-on and kill them all.
If you take option one, there’s a good chance that you’ll be caught after killing one or two goblins and destroying the War Drum, but this will be enough to thin their forces and give you an easier fight.
Option two will allow you to bypass the larger group of goblins here, but you’ll still need to fight a group of three goblins on the path behind them as you make your way around. You will also need to jump over a hole in the ground as you make your way westwards here, and be ready to avoid some Blast Mine traps around this hole. Take your time and use turn-based mode to make sure that you avoid the traps. After killing the three goblins by the wagons you should be able to continue north, over the bridge and into the main part of the goblin camp, while avoiding the guards at the entrance that you bypassed.
Option three will almost certainly result in you having to face the goblins head-on without thinning their forces or having the option to bypass them. They aren’t susceptible to being bribed here and there are no persuasion or intimidation checks, so it will inevitably result in a bloodbath. If that’s what you want (and a bit more of a challenge), go for it.
If you take the path to the left of the bridge (westwards), you need to jump over this hole. Be careful to avoid the Blast Mines around the hole on this path.
Save Volo in the Goblin Camp Courtyard
As you make your way into the courtyard of the goblin camp, you’ll notice a bunch of goblins being entertained by Volo, Procurer of Associates, Stories, and Curios, who you may have already met in the Emerald Grove. He’s in the center of the courtyard so difficult to miss, and you can speak with him to begin a cutscene. Here you’ll go through a number of dialogue options, but they all result in the same outcome: Volo being brought inside and imprisoned by the goblin named Gribbo. You’ll be able to rescue him later, so be sure to check our guide for this on the How to Save Volo in the Goblin Camp page.
Enter the Shattered Sanctum in the Goblin Camp
After the scene with Volo, you can take some time to explore the goblin courtyard if you wish, but there isn’t much to see here other than a few amusing dialogue exchanges with the goblins. At this point you can go through the Heavy Oak Doors to enter the Shattered Sanctum, unless you want to spend a bit more time in the courtyard in the interests of nefarious intent first…
How to Poison the Goblins in the Courtyard
If your heart is filled with malice and you want to have a bit more fun, you can actually poison most of the goblins here by dropping a Basic Poison potion in one of the nearby cauldrons. You’ll then need to convince the goblins to drink by raising a toast, and make sure that you pass the roll checks for them to drink first. If all goes well, most of the goblins will be dead, but a few will survive and they’ll immediately suspect you as the one who poisoned them. You’ll need to pass a roll check based on your stat strengths, or by using the Illithid Wisdom check, to calm the goblins at this point. Alternatively, you can choose to slaughter all those that remain in the courtyard.
Look for this hole in the wall on the southeast side of the courtyard.
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