The entrance to the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate 3, Wyrm’s Rock is ruled by the Archduke of the city. Unfortunately for you, that Archduke is Gortash — made so shortly after your arrival. But, there is still much you can do here, including interact with Gortash, spring some captive from jail, or explore the abandoned Wyrmway, beneath Wyrm’s Rock itself. In this walkthrough, we will guide you through the huge structure, and what’s beneath it, in your effort to dispatch Gortash and save the city.
Map
Points of Interest 1 – Mizora 2 – Quartermaster 3 – Fist Reynash 4 – Back Entrance 5 – Coronation Ceremony 6 – Throne Chamber 7 – Gortash’s Chamber 8 – Wyrm’s Rock Prison Entrance 9 – Secret Passage 10 – Escape Pathway 11 – Flaming Fist Guards 12 – Counsellor Florrick 13 – Player Prison Cell 14 – Wyrmway 15 – Trial of Justice 16 – Trial of Courage 17 – Trial of Strategy 18 – Trial of Insight 19 – Ansur’s Lair
Exits A – Wyrm’s Crossing B – Lower City W – Waypoint
Waiting for Wyll at the base of Wyrm’s Rock, Mizora will “greet” Wyll (or the rest of the party) and warn them that Gortash lies ahead, up the stairs. While neither Mizora nor Gortash are an immediate threat, she is just here to set up further developments.
The quartermaster of Wyrm’s Rock, you can try to convince Arkelia Oloril to show you the goods available at Wyrm’s Rock with a successful DC-10 Deception, DC-15 Persuasion with 500 gold, or a DC-18 Intimidation check.
Going into the Flaming Fist’s living quarters on the first floor of Wyrm’s Rock, you can encounter Fist Reynash, a successful Perception check can reveal that he is attempting to lockpick a chest in the room.
You can yell, exposing Raynash (who will promptly run away), and then you will need to pass a DC-10 Persuasion check to convince the Flaming Fists of Reynash’s attempted thievery.
Alternatively, you can attempt a DC-15 Intimidation or Persuasion check will cause him to explain himself, at which point you can choose to blackmail him to learn where his stash is. You can also simply tell him to go away, or give him 300 gold to help him flee (which is why he is stealing in the first place). If you give him the gold, he will also reveal the location of his stash.
There is a hidden door in a corner, behind the stairs going up to Gortash, which can be opened from the inside of Wyrm’s Rock via a lever. The door cannot be opened from the outside.
After going up the stairs, you can approach the center of the room to witness Gortash’s coronation. During it, he will use Wyll’s father as a pawn in order to obtain this status, giving him great power over the city. After the ceremony, he will then talk to the party, offering them a deal.
Gortash will ask the party to help him eliminate Orin, who holds one of the three Netherstones (with Gortash holding another and the party having taken one from Ketheric). He will also inform the party that Orin has infiltrated their camp, after which point she may kidnap a member of your party.
You can choose to agree to help Gortash at this point, but if you don’t, then you can choose to fight him instead. This fight is extremely difficult (with many, many Steel Watchers), and results in the death of the Gondians in the Steel Watch Foundry and the Iron Throne, so is not recommended. Instead, you should agree to help (especially since you can always backstab him), regardless of your actual intentions.
If you have destroyed the Steel Watch Foundry or rescued the prisoners in Iron Throne (or both), then Gortash’s troops will be hostile to you when you return, and the room will be filled with traps and Flaming Fists, though this fight will be much easier than if you attack Gortash during the coronation.
After the Coronation, Gortash can be found on this throne until the player takes a Long Rest, after which point he will move to Gortash’s Chamber (#7) above.
If you have destroyed the Steel Watch Foundry or rescued the prisoners in Iron Throne (or both), then Gortash’s troops will be hostile to you when you return, and the room will be filled with traps and Flaming Fists, though this fight will be much easier than if you attack Gortash during the coronation.
Upstairs, you can find Gortash’s personal office and private chamber. He will go here after the coronation. If the players destroy the Steel Watch Foundry or rescue the prisoners from the Iron Throne before visiting him, regardless of whether you’ve acquired Orin’s Netherstone, he will be hostile, alongside 2 Black Gauntlets and 2 Iron Consuls.
If you have acquired Orin’s Netherstone and not disrupted his operations, though, then you actually can ally with him, simply by refusing to give him the Netherstones you have (if you do give up the stones, he will turn on you, seeing you as weak). This will result in him joining you to face down the Netherbrain, though it… won’t go well for him either way.
In Gortash’s chamber, you can also find the Helldusk Boots and Servitor of the Black Hand Gloves in guarded chests, and behind a painting in the southwest of the room, you can locate a safe containing the High Security Vault no.5 Key, to use at the Counting House.
Brena Brightmoon is at the entrance to Wyrm’s Rock Prison, but has falled asleep. In order to enter the prison, you can either pickpocket the key to the door with a DC-8 Sleight of Hand check, unlock the door with a DC-20 Sleight of Hand check with Thieves’ Tools.
If you want to enter legitimately, you can talk to Brena. Before you wake her up, attempting a DC-15 Perception check can give you an advantage, and if you succeed then you can use the information you get to talk your way in. Once awake, you can enter if you succeeded on the previous check or if you told Arfur Gregorio to turn himself in back in Wyrm’s Crossing (#34*). You can also enter if you wake her up and convince her to let you in with a DC-15 Persuasion or Intimidation check.
In order to reach the Wyrmway (#14), where Ansur is located (#19), you will need to access the Secret Passage. You have a few options to do so. From inside the prison, you can go to the west to find 2 “Dragon’s Head Torches”. While they are on, dealing lightning damage will turn them blue. When they are both blue, the secret passage will open.
Alternatively, you can go to the beach next to Wyrm’s Rock to the west, looking for a hole that you can go through. You will need to shrink down (like via a Druid‘s Wild Shape or by casting Gaseous Form), but once you do you, will find yourself on the other side of the secret door.
By destroying a fragile wall in the prison’s storage room, you can open up a pathway to the beach outside the prison. This can be a good escape route if you find yourself imprisoned (#13), or (perhaps more importantly), if you are trying to break Counselor Florrick out (#12).
There are 3 Flaming Fist guards in the guard room, and 1 Flaming Fist patrolling the prison. If any of them see you or Counselor Florrick escaping, they will become hostile, though they can be avoided with relative ease.
Counselor Florrick, who you likely met in Act 1 at Waukeen’s Rest along the Risen Road (#13*), has been imprisoned. A loyalist to Duke Ulder Ravengaurd (Wyll’s Father), she has been imprisoned for her opposition to Gortash. Rescuing her can aid a player’s quest to free Duke Ravengaurd and put a stop to his Steel Watch, as well as ensure she is present for the final battle. She can be rescued from her cell (after convincing her via a DC-10 Intimidation and Persuasion check) by unlocking it with either a pickpocketed key from the patrolling guard, or by picking the DC-15 Sleight of Hand lock.
Once she is free, she will follow you. From here, you may need to deal with the patrolling guard (#11), but you should be able to sneak past the room of guards in order to get Florrick to the Escape Pathway (#10). If you do so, she will appear in your camp later to discuss freeing Duke Ravenguard, and will be willing to help fight during the final battle.
If the player is arrested in Wyrm’s Crossing or Wyrm Rock, they will be put into this prison cell, which can be unlocked with a DC-15 Sleight of Hand check, with the key off the patrolling guard, or can be bypassed with a variety of spells.
After entering the Wyrmway (and letting the Statue of Baldur at the front that you think you’re worthy), you will find a door that is impossible to lock pick. To get through it, you will need to either succeed at all 4 trials of Baldur (#15, #16, #17, and #18). If you fail any of these, however, you will be attacked by a variety of fallen warriors, though the door to Ansur’s Lair (#19) will open.
To solve the Trial, you need to start by dismissing the shadowy Judge in the center of the room, which you can do with Remove Curse, Banishment, Polymorph, or any spell that controls undead. This will reveal 3 paintings, one of which much be placed on the Empty Niche to decide what the appropriate punishment for a criminal (whose story is told by the paintings around the room) is. The correct painting to place on the Niche is “The Cell,” and once you’ve done so, the statue of Baldur will announce that you are correct.
Placing any other painting on the Niche will result in failing the trial, causing the Fallen warriors to attack (and opening the Wyrmway’s Door (#14)).
The Trial of Courage requires someone in your party to hold a torch for 4 turns without being knocked down. Whoever equips the torch cannot hold any weapons, so it is best to ensure a spellcaster like a Wizard, Warlock, or Sorcerer does so. The torch bearer also cannot turn invisible and will be prioritized by enemies.
After beginning the trial, several Air and Water Elementals and Mymidons will spawn over the course of 3 turns, making for a tricky fight. The easiest way to resolve this, however, is to simply cast Santuary on the torch bearer, preventing them from being targeted by any of the enemies.
You will come across a chessboard, and the solution for the puzzle is randomized. You play white, and must ensure the Black King is checkmated. To do so, you should start threaten the Black King by moving your Queen diagonally to the corner in order to put the enemy King into check, and then moving the Queen diagonal to the Black King from there.
Alternatively, you can cast Lightning Damage to destroy the Black King directly, which also solves the puzzle.
If you give the incorrect solution 3 times, you will fail the trial. The Fallen warriors will activate, but the Wyrmway’s door to Ansur (#14) will open.
Following a hard-to-find path to the left of the Wyrmway’s main door (#14), you will come into the Chamber of Insight. There are various flying books around the room that help reveal the answer at the end of the puzzle, and these books can be most easily grabbed by approaching one and then succeeding on a Sleight of Hand check.
Reading all the books will make it clear to the player that Suelto, one of the three ghosts at the end of the trial, has adopted a cruel outlook, and should be killed. Killing either of the other counsellors will result in a failure of the trial. Fallen warriors will spawn, but the Wyrmway’s main door (#14) will open.
After passing (or failing) the Trials of Baldur, you can enter Ansur’s Lair, where an enormous, long-dead dragon rests. Approaching Ansur, his spirit will awaken, and reveal the truth about the Emperor — and his past connection to Ansur. No matter what happens, Ansur will then reawaken his corpse and attack, alongside 2 Water Mymidons.
This fight can be very hard, as Ansur is a truly legendary threat. The best way to deal with him, though, is to spread out (to avoid his many AoE attacks), deal with his Myrmidon allies, and to give yourself Lightning Resistance through whatever means you have available to you. About halfway through his healthbar, Ansur will begin to charge himself up. The party should move away from Ansur quickly, since he will release a huge attack that does massive damage all around him shortly after that.
After Ansur has been dispatched, you will have a chance to question the Emperor about his history with Ansur and his pre-squid identity. After this, players can retrieve Balduran’s Giantslayer, the Helm of Balduran, and the note “Dear Ansur” from the room at the back of Ansur’s lair.
You can freely walk into the Lower City after entering Wyrm’s Crossing. It is recommended that you witness Gortash’s Coronation first, however, so that he can offer you his deal.
There is 1 Waypoint in Wyrm’s Rock, fittingly titled Wyrm’s Rock.
Where To Go Next
There are 2 places you can go from Wyrm’s Rock:
Wyrm’s Crossing & Rivington: In case you have any further business in Rivington or Wyrm’s Crossing, like solving the Open Hand Temple murders, it can be wise to return. After talking to Gortash, all of Orin’s Impersonation victims (save for the one that is dying anyway) can no longer be impersonated, so you can talk to them without fear of their deaths (provided you haven’t already done so).
Lower City: Wyrm’s Rock is the entrance to Baldur’s Gate, and as such, you can use Wyrm’s Rock to enter the massive, sprawling cityscape that is Baldur’s Gate’s Lower City.
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Graves
Graves is an avid writer, web designer, and gamer, with more ideas than he could hope to achieve in a lifetime. But, armed with a mug of coffee and an overactive imagination, he'll try. When he isn't working on a creative project, he is painting miniatures, reading cheesy sci-fi novels, or making music.
