Act 1 Walkthrough & Checklist - Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive game, but it has to start somewhere. The first Act of Baldur’s Gate takes you from Nautiloid to Wilderness, from Blighted Village to the treacherous Underdark. And, with a game as large as Baldur’s Gate 3, and with so many choices, it can become quite daunting. We are here to help you make sure that you don’t miss anything and make all the right choices. Though, we make no guarantees on your dice rolls once you get there.

Each Act of Baldur’s Gate 3 is divided into a number of different regions, and we have a guide for each and every one of them. As follows, with important choices and moments listed:

A Nautiloid in Hell: The prologue to Baldur’s Gate 3, fight your way through a Mind Flayer Nautiloid.
- Meet Us (4)
- Meet Lae’zel (5)
- Rescue Shadowheart (or Don’t) (8)
- Escape the Nautiloid (13)
Ravaged Beach & Wilderness: After crash landing, explore the beach and gather your first few companions.
- Recruit Shadowheart (2)
- Recruit Astarion (6)
- Recruit Lae’zel (10)
- Recruit Gale (W2)
- Dispatch the Goblin Attack (13)
Overgrown Ruins Chapel: Go through the first dungeon in Baldur’s Gate 3, ending with a meeting with one of your most important allies.
- Make Your Way into the Chapel (1)
- Kill the Outlaws (3)
- Meet Withers (8) / Survive the Undead Onslaught (6)
The Emerald Grove: The Emerald Grove is home to the druids, and a slew of Tiefling Refugees. Filled with quests and shopkeepers, this is the first hub you’ll come across.
- Save Nadira (1)
- Speak to Zevlor (4)
- Recruit Wyll (8)
- Intervene on the Goblin Sazza’s Behalf (or Don’t) (14)
- Discover a Fledgling Thieves’ Guild (15)
- Speak with the Druids (31/32/34)
- Save the Child at the Beach (24)
Sunlit Wetlands / Putrid Bog: There is something fishy about the Wetlands to the south. And that something, it turns out, is a deadly hag.
- Reveal and Explore the Bog (2)
- Find Proof Against Kagha (5)
- Meet an Addled Frog (8)
- Meet a Monster Hunter (10)
Teahouse: The home of Auntie Ethel, and where she keeps her toys.
- Rescue Mayrina (17)
- Defeat Auntie Ethel, and Make a Deal (or Don’t) (17)
Blighted Village & Forest: The center of the Act 1 map, the Blighted Village & Forest are filled with notable loot and unique interactions.
- Recruit Scratch (The Goodest Boy) (4)
- Talk Your Way Past a Group of Goblins (or Don’t) (6)
- Interact with a Group of Enlightened Ogres (7)
- Assist a Deep Gnome Strapped to the Windmill (9)
- Interrupt a Bugbear and Ogre… en flagrante (11)
- Find the Whispering Depths (E)
- Explore the Cellar for the Necromancy of Thay (F)
The Whispering Depths: Underneath the Blighted Village lies a nest filled with the most devious of foes: a really big spider.
- Find Information About a Forge Far Below the Earth (3)
- Kill a Gigantic Phase Spider (4)
- Featherfall into the Underdark (4)
Risen Road: On the road to the Mountain Pass, you can collect an additional companion, as well as engage with many plots that will come up later.
- Recruit Karlach (the Best Companion) (2)
- Witness Gnoll Birth (3)
- Dispatch the False Paladins of Tyr (5)
- Rescue the Zhentarim Agents (and their Wares) from Gnolls (7)
- Rescue Councillor Florrick from Waukeen’s Rest (13)
- Meet Kit’rack Voss and Dispatch his Githyanki Warriors (19)
- Find the Zhentarim Hideout (D)
- Continue to the Mountain Pass (E)
Zhentarim Basement: Underneath Waukeen’s Rest, you can find the Zhentarim. They have about as much interesting loot as you’d expect of smugglers.
- Meet the Zhentarim and their Leader (2)
- Meet Oskar Fevras the Artist (4)
- Be Rewarded for Rescuing Zhentarim (Or Their Loot) (5)
- Steal Some Valuables from the Smugglers (9 / 10)
- Find a Way to the Underdark (B)
Goblin Camp: A massive camp of goblins has set up camp in the west. You’ll need to infiltrate or bypass them to progress.
- Infiltrate the Goblin Camp (2)
- Encounter Volo (8)
- Rescue and Recruit an Owlbear Cub (14)
- Continue to the Shattered Sanctum (B)
- Continue Through to the Mountain Pass (D)
Shattered Sanctum: Within the headquarters of the Goblins, you can learn much about the “Absolute”, as well as progress the main plot (and recruit one of two companions).
- Attempt to be “Cured” by True Soul Priestess Gut (2)
- Rescue Volo (7)
- Kill the Goblin Chieftains (2 / 11 / 13)
- Acquire a Massive Treasure (12)
- Solve a puzzle (20)
- Find a Way to the Underdark (H)
- Meet potential future companions Halsin (16) and Minthara (13)
The Underdark: Far below the surface, you’ll find the fungi-strewn Underdark, a massive area with many quests, and a possible path forward.
- Uncover an Old Selunite Outpost (1)
- Fight a Spectator (5)
- Defeat a Bulette (7)
- Get Answers from a Mind Flayer (20)
- Meet the Sovereigns at the Myconid Colony (22 / 25)
- Save a Dwarf from some Bibberbangs (27)
- Get Sussur Bark (29)
- Shed a Tear for a Dead Dog (31)
- Meet the god BOOOAL (C)
- Make Your Way Across the Undersea to the Grymforge (E)
Arcane Tower: An abandoned tower with plenty to see and do, but a sad backstory.
- Turn Kitchenware into Exciting Loot (6)
- Restore Power to the Tower (9)
- Learn some Gith History (15)
- Recite Poetry to a Construct (16)
- Find Hill Giant Stool — the Good Kind (17)
Grymforge: One of the last areas of Act 1, Grymforge is ruled by the Duergar, at the expense of the Deep Gnomes. To say nothing of the Forge itself.
- Rescue and then Defeat True Soul Nere (3)
- Defeat Some Mimics (4)
- Talk to Some Angry Deep Rothé (6)
- Talk Down a Deep Gnome with Explosives (14)
- Discover a Sentient Amulet with the Spirit of a Monk (17)
- Forge a Weapon at the Adamantine Forge (18)
- Defeat Grym (19)
- Make Your Way to the Shadow-Cursed Lands (B)

There are also 3 areas that many consider to be part of “Act 1.5,” all involving the Githyanki Crèche in the Mountain Pass. Though we consider them with Act 2, they are as follows:

Mountain Pass: After passing through the Risen Road, the Mountain Pass can bring you to Act 2, but you might want to head to Rosymorn Monastery first.
- Speak to a Lady Who Wants a Githyanki Egg (2)
- Talk to a Boisterous Bird (5)
- Make Your Way to the Shadow-Cursed Lands (C)
- Make Your Way to the Rosymorn Monastery (D)
Rosymorn Monastery: A mysterious, decrepit monastery, something seems to have happened here. Get the important Dawnmaster’s Crest.
- Find the Missing Weapons (2 / 6 / 7)
- Solve the Puzzle to Get the Dawnmaster’s Crest (9)
- Find the Entrance to Crèche Y’llek (B)
Crèche Y’llek: Beneath the monastery, having replaced its original inhabitants, is a Crèche of Githyanki, who have a vested interest in the artifact that you carry.
- Vandalize the Vlaakith Portrait (3)
- Attempt to Remove your Parasite with the Zaith’isk (5)
- Steal the Githyanki Egg (or Don’t) (6)
- Speak to Queen Vlaakith and Meet the Dream Visitor (10)
- Fight the Githyanki Inquisitors (10)
- Bypass the Trapped Passageway (12)
- Use the Dawnmaster’s Crest to get the Blood of Lathander (13)

After you’ve completed everything in Act 1, then it will be time to move on to the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Be careful, as once you go into Act 2, you won’t be able to return to the many areas in Act 1.

Now that you’ve got your feet under you, it is time to traverse the Shadow-Cursed Lands as part of Baldur’s Gate 3’s Act 2. This 2nd Act sees you going from the Gith-controlled Mountain Pass to the Shadow-Cursed Lands, from the corrupted Reithwin Town to the Gauntlet of Shar, and from the protected Last Light Inn to the dreaded Moonrise Towers.