The first Act in Baldur’s Gate 3 culminates in the party preparing to set foot into the hostile Shadow-Cursed Lands, and discovering new leads for a cure to the parasite in their heads. In comparison to the first Act, the second Act takes place against a gloomy backdrop with danger lurking around every corner.
Despite its hostile nature, the second Act is equally full of interesting quests that progress the main plot and companion stories. However, it’s critical that you’re mindful about how you pick up and progress certain quests, as there’s a chance of locking yourself out of content or turning a region hostile if certain quests are completed before others. With that said, here’s the best quest order for Baldur’s Gate 3 in Act 2.
Spoilers below, proceed with caution.
Baldur’s Gate 3: Best Quest Order In Act 1
Learn the best quest order in Act 1 of Baldur’s Gate 3 to explore efficiently, gain key rewards, and progress the story seamlessly.
Updated on June 11, 2026, by Nahda Nabiilah: Although the Shadow-Cursed Lands in Act 2 is smaller than the available maps in Act 1, there are a lot of quests to go through. Some of the powerful items also start to appear in Act 2, which is great because the fights get tougher and longer. Here’s how to navigate the shadow curse without missing any quests in BG3.
Entering The Shadow-Cursed Lands
The Shadow-Cursed Lands is a gloomy and hostile region, enshrouded in the Shadow Curse. The Shadow-Cursed Lands spans across the entire playable region in Act 2, except a few indoor and underground areas. In Act 2, your primary goal is to find a safe hub that offers protection from the Shadow Curse. Fortunately, the Last Light Inn happens to be closer to both the Mountain Pass and Underdark exits.
Whichever option you choose to approach the Shadow-Cursed Lands, an important NPC named “Weary Traveler” will be waiting for you. Interacting with him progresses Gale’s quest. If you have Shadowheart in your party as you enter the Shadow-Cursed Lands, you can explore special dialogues with her and learn that she is immune to the curse shrouding the region.
Although you will get the Lift the Shadow Curse Quest early on in Act 2, don’t worry about it as it requires a lot of preparation to complete.
Underdark
If you went to Act 2 from the Underdark, players will quickly stumble upon a group of Harpers. Head west to help them fight the shadow creatures and then continue further southwest to discover the Last Light Inn. The inn serves as a safe hub housing important NPCs, including Jaheira (companion), Raphael, Dammon, Mol, etc.
- Seek Protection from the Curse
Mountain Pass
Choosing the Mountain Pass means you spawn closer to a group of cultists. A goblin will lead you to a somewhat safe area, and you need to use the Spider’s Lyre to summon Kar’niss, who holds a Moonlantern. Here, you have a choice; defeat the cultists alone without endangering the Harpers and take the Moonlantern to safely travel in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, walk with Kar’niss to eventually meet the Harpers and defeat the Absolutists together, or side with the cultists and kill the Harpers.
No matter the choice, you can still go to the Last Light Inn later on. As for the Moonlantern, it can be equipped normally as a torch, or inspect it to free Dolly Dolly Dolly from the lantern to get the Pixie Blessing. You can use the Filigreed Feywild Bell to get the blessing again if it’s gone.
Take In The Last Light Inn
The Last Light Inn is your safe haven amid the Shadow-Cursed Lands, populated with important NPCs and merchants. After acquainting yourself with Jaheira, take your time to explore the inn and speak to the various NPCs inhabiting it. The following are the key NPCs you should prioritize interacting with:
- Mol: Progress Mol’s story
- Raphael: Consider having Astarion in your party before interacting with Raphael for special dialogue.
- Dammon: Provide Dammon with Infernal Iron to stabilize Karlach’s heart.
- Barcus Wroot: If saved from the Underdark, he asks you to save Wulbren and also sells great wares.
- Quartermaster Talli: A merchant standing outside in a tent sells some of the most valuable items.
- The Strange Ox: You can choose to kill it to acquire some valuable loot or keep it alive to gain an ally in Act 3.
- Mattis: Persuade her to access additional inventory.
- Rolan: He is sitting sadly at the bar because his family has been abducted.
- Isobel: Only speak to Isobel once you’ve interacted with every NPC in the inn as it would put you straight into a challenging fight.
Once you find the sleeping Flaming Fist, call Halsin from the camp and tell him about Art. Also, speak with Florrick so she can go to Baldur’s Gate 3 safely, as the upcoming fight is deadly.
You can pick up and progress through the following quests while at the Last Light Inn:
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Save Isobel Or Don’t
Upon speaking with Isobel in the Last Light Inn, the moment she cast the protection spell, a fight will break out. Marcus will ambush you and ask that you hand over Isobel to him, since he assumes you’re a True Soul. If you accept, all Harpers inside the inn will attack you, including Jaheira, and the protective shield placed by Isobel is gone. Refusing Marcus and failing to protect Isobel will remove the shield and all characters inside are turned by the Shadow Curse.
If you manage to save Isobel and protect the Inn, Marcus and the Ghouls are defeated and the cleric returns to her duties as before. However, the Dark Urge has a special dialogue with her and can kill her as per orders from their butlers, which leads to the same results when Isobel gets abducted. On the other hand, you can be a good Urge and refuse to kill her.
Explore The Shadowed Battlefield
With Isobel safe or captured, you can head out to the inn’s main entrance to find a group of Harpers who are on the hunt for a goblin convoy. You can accompany them to acquire a Moonlantern, if you meet them before Kar’niss, which will protect you from the Shadow Curse. You can explore the Shadowed Battlefield for valuable items and gear. Here are the two quests you should pick up while exploring this region:
The Path To Moonrise Towers
West of the Shadowed Battlefield lies the Moonrise Towers. However, you should consider exploring the nearby Tollhouse to defeat Gerringothe Thorm and Waning Moon tavern to defeat Thisobald Thorm. These two unique NPCs can be taken care of through dialogue. They can also be fought, but the battle will be tough, especially on harder difficulties such as Honour. Before leaving the tavern, make sure to search for a hidden space on the ground to find Madeline’s Ledger. This progresses the Punish the Wicked quest.
Next, you can then head north from the Moonrise Towers waypoint to discover the Sharran Sanctuary. After defeating the enemies around the structure, you can proceed to solve the plaque puzzle to enter the sanctuary. You need to press on them in away the words make sense in a sentence. Underneath are three statues of Shar that can give various buffs. It’s recommended to leave these statues until the final fight of Act 2 since they last until the next Long Rest.
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Explore Moonrise Towers Under The True Soul Cover
You can now head south to discover the Moonrise Towers waypoint and enter the tower. It’s best to save your game before talking with the guards, as it’s not recommended to enter open combat at this moment in the game. You should consider talking to the following NPCs while in the Moonrise Towers:
- Lann Tarv (Merchant): To obtain three Soul Coins and some powerful armor later on.
- Roah Moonglow (Merchant): You met her previously in Act 1.
- Araj Oblodara (Merchant): Consider bringing Astarion along to either obtain a potion or increase his approval if you refuse to ask him to bite her.
- Sazza: if she survived in Act 1, you can save her again to get an achievement.
- Disciple Z’rell: She will search your mind for proof of your worship, so you might want to quick save before talking with her. She then asks you to locate Balthazar and help retrieve the artifact. If you manage to pass a DC 14 Insight check and then a DC 18 Persuasion check, you can unlock a secret stash with Lann Tarv.
Here’s a quest you can progress at this point in the Moonrise Towers:
- Find Ketheric Thorm’s Relic
- Discover the History of Prince Orpheus
Head To Moonrise Towers Prisons
After exploring the upper part of Moonrise Towers, use the stairs to go down to the prison. First thing first, there’s a torture room to the left where you can find Minthara as she survived in Act 1. Once you decide her fate, the Tieflings and Wulbren are inside the cells and players can convince them that they are here to free them. Before helping anyone, make sure to find a way into the Oubliette to get some loot.
The best method to free everyone is by killing all the guards and floating eyes, then letting them use the boat to go to Last Light Inn, if it’s still standing. Otherwise, you might risk losing the prisoners, as the guards will attack immediately and most of them can one-shot prisoners.
Some quests you can progress in:
Explore Reithwin Town
From the Moonrise Towers waypoint, you can head north to discover the Riethwin Town, which leads to the Mason’s Guild and House of Healing. On your way to the House of Healing, you should find Arabella, who’ll ask for your help in finding her parents. Enter the building from the back, otherwise you need to lie to the nurse to be let inside.
Head to the children’s ward to find Sister Lidwin with Arabella’s dead parents. If you convince her that she took care of them, you can unlock the nurse as a merchant, and she sells some good weapon coatings like 
Karabasan’s Poison and 
Purple Worm Toxin. Next, speak with Malus Thorm and you can initiate a fight or take him out through dialogue like the previous Thorms. Grab the
Battered Lute from his corpse to advance Wake Up Art Cullagh quest.
In the Ruined Battlefield near the Reithwin Tollhouse, you can find Rolan about to be attacked by shadows.
The following quests can be progressed in the Reithwin Town:
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Lift The Shadow Curse
You can now return to Last Light Inn and wake up Art Cullagh by playing the Battered Lute you picked at the House of Healing. Next, you can speak to Halsin and help him defend the portal. After the fight, you can head back to the camp where Halsin can be recruited to the party. However, the curse will not lift because the other half of Thaniel is missing. Players must find and locate Oliver in House in Deep Shadows and play hide and seek. Next, confess that you know who he is to trigger a fight.
To finally lift the Shadow Curse, defeat Oliver to wake up Thaniel. The spirit confesses that you only removed one half and the other half is gone after Ketheric Thorm is dead.
Explore The Grand Mausoleum
Heading east from the House of Healing, you can encounter Raphael, who promises to translate Astarion’s inscription provided that you do something for him in return in the Grand Mausoleum, which is killing an old enemy.
The Grand Mausoleum grants you access to the Gauntlet of Shar, where you can progress through Shadowheart’s companion quest and tackle Raphael’s request. You can either solve the Shar’s lantern puzzle or meet Balthazar’s skeletons, or go through another door to arrive exactly in front of his room.
From here on, you need to complete Shar’s trials to get most of the required orbs to activate the elevator. Before completing the Gauntlet of Shar, make sure to deal with Yurgir by either helping him complete his contract, which angers Astarion, or defeat him to gain approval. The boss can be fought or talked to death, your choice.
Consider progressing the following quests in the listed order while at the Grand Mausoleum:
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Decide Nightsong’s Fate At The Shadowfell
After completing the trials and reaching the deepest level of the Gauntlet of Shar, players will access the Shadowfell. It is heavily recommended to bring Shadowheart here if you care about her story, otherwise she permanently leaves the party.
At the end of the Shadowfell, players will finally meet the Nightsong. Balthazar will interfere if you haven’t killed him before. You must make a major decision on whether to kill or spare her. The following quests can be progressed at the Shadowfell:
- Find the Nightsong
- Daughter of Darkness (Shadowheart’s companion quest)
- Infiltrate Moonrise Towers
Assault On Moonrise Towers
With Nightsong’s fate decided, your party can now march on to the Moonrise Towers and take on Disciple Z’rell’s army before facing Ketheric Thorm. Consider quick saving after every combat encounter to reset if things don’t play out as planned. You can also get Jaheira to join your party, but it’s best to recruit her after taking on Ketheric Thorm for the first time.
The following quests are progressed automatically when assaulting the Moonrise Towers:
- Infiltrate Moonrise Towers
- Defeat Ketheric Thorm
Confront Ketheric Thorm
Head upstairs to the rooftop of the Moonrise Towers to finally face Ketheric Thorm. If Dame Aylin is alive, she helps in battle. Once the general takes significant damage, a cutscene will play where he takes Aylin and moves to the Mind Flayer Colony.
Here, players can ask Jaehira to join the party to explore the colony and defeat Ketheric. Keep in mind the moment you jump into the sticky gap, you can’t rest or fast-travel anywhere else until the Defeat Ketheric Thorm quest is completed.
Explore The Mind Flayer Colony
Once you’ve cleaned up Ketheric’s remaining forces on the rooftop, you can proceed to the Mind Flayer Colony. There are many things to do here, and some companions are involved. Consider heading to the following areas to complete some quests:
- Tadpoling Center: Rescue Zevlor and Mizora. You can get a special weapon if Wyll is in the party.
- Necrotic Lab: Find Mol’s Eyepatch and solve the brain puzzle to get the Waking Mind. Speak with it using the strange contraption to get a permanent buff.
- Morgue: Free Us to get a permanent companion summon if you managed to free it in the Prologue.
Proceed to the elevator once you’re done to meet the Dead Three. You can kill Ketheric Thorm in the mind flayer colony, effectively finishing the second act of the game. When you decide to go to Baldur’s Gate, the Shadow Curse is lifted if the previous step is completed. Here is the recommended quest progression order as you enter the Mind flayer Colony:
- Find Mol
- Find Zevlor
- The Blade of Frontiers (Wyll’s companion quest)
- Defeat Ketheric Thorm
- The Wizard of Waterdeep (if you decide to finish the game early at the cost of sacrificing Gale and your entire party)
