The story of Baldur’s Gate 3 spans three major acts that culminate in a final battle against the ruler of the Mind Flayers.
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Act Three is where the story comes to an end and all major plot points conclude. With the amount of variation that can happen based on your choices, it is important to know what quests you need to complete before you tackle the main quest line.
To make things easier, we have created a checklist of all the important things you need to do before you finish the main story.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Act Three Checklist
The checklist detailed here will only contain quests apart from the main quest line that involves gathering the Netherstones.
Finishing these activities will ensure that the main quests get easier along with granting you rewards and new companions if you play your cards right.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: Everything you need to do in BG3 Act One
The quests will be listed in the order of when you first encounter them. Even though this is the recommended order to complete them, you can finish these quests on your own time. The only thing to remember here is you need to complete them before getting the remaining Netherstones and eventually confronting the Elder Brain.
The Astral-touched Tadpole situation
Right after you finish the second act and enter Act Three, there is a little interlude that will see the Dream Visitor being attacked by Githyanki assassins in the Astral Prism. After you fight them off and save the Dream Visitor, you will learn of his true form, a rogue Mind Flayer that calls himself The Emperor. If you accept his help, he will offer you the promise of more power.
This new-found power comes in the form of a Mind Flayer parasite, but it is a special one. This Astral-touched Tadpole has the power to evolve the parasite in your character’s brain, turning you partially Illithid and granting you new abilities.
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If you have a good enough relationship with your party members, you can convince them to evolve using the Tadpole as well, creating a party full of partial Illithids able to fly around at all times.
Solve the Open Hand Temple murders
This quest starts as soon as you get into the Open Hand Temple and find out that the priest was murdered. Further investigation and speaking with the dead will lead to learning that the priest was a victim of a murderous cult: the Bhaalist Murder Tribunal.
When you have enough evidence of the murders, talking to Investigator Valeria in Sharess’ Caress will progress this plot.
The rest of this questline continues into the Lower City area of Baldur’s Gate where the plot unravels and you get mixed up with Orin and the Bhaal cultists. When you get to the point where you need to confront Orin, wrap up the other quests mentioned on this list before you get back to it and claim her Netherstone for yourself.
Get into Wyrm’s Rock Fortress
The first major thing you need to do after getting to Act Three is figure out how to get into Wyrm’s Rock Fortress without earning the ire of Enver Gortash. If you don’t cause a ruckus, and deal with the guards and accompanying Steel Watchers outside, you should be granted permission to enter the building to attend Gortash’s coronation ceremony.
However, if things don’t go to plan, you will need to find an alternate route inside.
The first option is casting Fly or Misty Step to bypass the drawbridge and get into the fortress. The other option is to jump down and take the lower path which leads to a passageway inside the castle through the prison. Climb out through the top to successfully enter Wyrm’s Rock Fortress.
Recruiting Minsc
Who doesn’t like meeting a familiar face from the previous games? If you play your cards right, you can even recruit them as a companion for the final battle. Minsc has been a mainstay in the Baldur’s Gate series since the first title and the first time you see him here, his petrification spell is broken and he forces his way out of the Mimic chest he was sealed in.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: Everything you need to do in BG3 Act Two
From this point on, Minsc follows who he thinks is Jaheira and supports the Absolutists as the Stone Lord. When you finally battle him in the undercity, we recommend bringing Jaheira with you so that she can make sense of the situation to the easygoing Minsc.
After you convince him that you are going after the true source of evil, Minsc and his faithful hamster Boo will join your cause.
Astarion’s ascension dilemma
Our resident vampire’s Pale Elf storyline comes to a close in Act Three as well. Astarion will finally come face to face with the Vampire Lord Cazador Szarr who turned him into a vampire spawn 200 years before the events of the game.
When you finally track down Cazador in his mansion, you will find him in the midst of his vampiric ascension ceremony that you will have to put a stop to.
Once you incapacitate Cazador, he will retreat to his coffin to slumber and regain his strength. At this point, you can either choose to end his life and free the vampire sacrifices or let Astarion take advantage of the ceremony and become a Vampire Ascendant himself. If you choose the latter, you will have an extremely powerful ally when the endgame comes along.
Shadowheart’s final stand
The House of Grief in the northwestern section of the Lower City is home to the Sharrians and the goddess Shar herself. This is where Shadowheart needs to go to complete her quest. When you first get in, you will speak to another familiar face, Viconia.
At this point, you have the choice to either surrender Shadowheart to the Sharrians or fight them and free her instead.
If you choose the latter, the battle will be a tough one. Following this, you confront Shar and the source of Shadowheart’s traumatic past. If Shadowheart rejects Shar, she will gain her freedom but her parents’ lives will be forfeit instead. Choose wisely because this decision will greatly impact Shadowheart for the rest of the game going forward.
Break into the Iron Throne
This one quest ties into the success of three other quests and can ruin two other quests. Breaking into the Iron Throne will anger Gortash who will call off the alliance for good. When you finally get in here, there are three things to accomplish: saving the Gondians, rescuing the Grand Duke, and breaking Omeluum out of prison.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: How to complete Avenge the Drowned in BG3, explained
Completing these three quests and successfully escaping the prison will nullify the Avenge the Drowned quest, so prepare for a fight. After the skirmish ends, you will have a sizeable force to continue the rest of the quests with.
Lay the remains of Ansur to rest
The underground Wyrmway is home to the Ancient Dragon Ansur. Once a trusted confidant of Balduran, the proud dragon now lies in ruins, dead and broken for centuries. When you find him here, Ansur will reveal the Emperor is in fact, Balduran himself. If you choose to side with the rogue Mind Flayer, Ansur will fight your party.
Related: Baldur’s Gate 3: How to find Ansur the Dragon in BG3
The battle here is a tough one but after a long fight, you will eventually lay Ansur’s remains to rest. The end of this quest also ties into Wyll’s companion quest after you save his father from the Iron Throne and the Grand Duke leads you in this direction.
Destroy the Steel Watch Foundry
The final quest that comes at the tail end of the story is the dismantling of Gortash’s personal guard. The Steel Watch is the biggest obstacle standing between you and Enver Gortash’s Netherstone so it would be prudent to take them down first. While it is possible to defeat Gortash without completing this quest, it would make things a lot easier if you do.
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After (presumably) saving the Gondians, you break into the Steel Watch Foundry and defeat the guards first. Then fight your way down to the core where you will battle three Watchers and the Steel Watcher Titan.
This is a long and involved fight so take your time with it and eventually, Gortash should be left wide open when you choose to attack him.
While there are other matters to attend to in Act Three, these quests truly make up the act and all of the surrounding story at this point in the game. We still encourage players to explore the entirety of Baldur’s Gate to find out interesting things like the backstory of Balduran, the evil Mystic Carrion, and the existence of powerful weapons such as the Nyrulna.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has a lot to offer and it is truly impossible to explore every possibility in one playthrough, so we recommend multiple runs to fully experience everything this game has to offer.
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