There’s nothing worse than getting softlocked — having no way to progress forward — and you may think this happened to you inBaldur’s Gate 3Act 2. Once you reach the Shadowlands, if you don’t have a working Moonlantern or a Pixie, you may think you can’t get to Moonrise Towers and therefore can’t progress through the campaign.
I thought I was softlocked, doomed to reload an old save near the start of my time in the Shadowlands. I’m here to tell you you don’t need to do that! Here ishow to prevent getting softlockedinBaldur’s Gate 3Act 2 andhow to fix it if you think you are.
Note:As you progress throughBaldur’s Gate 3, you should try out thesethree OP spells.
How to prevent getting softlocked inBaldur’s Gate 3Act 2
The Shadowlands inBaldur’s Gate 3hastwo types of Shadow Curse: a major and a minor type. The minor Shadow Curse can be dispelled by carrying a torch and by getting the Blessing of Selune fromsaving Isobel. However, you can’t penetrate the major Shadow Curse blocking your way forward without a Moonlantern or a Pixie.
There arethree ways to get a Moonlantern inBaldur’s Gate 3: through Kar’ness in the Mountain Pass and the Shadowlands, through Nere in Grymdark, and through Balthazaar in Moonrise Towers. Notice how if you missed the first two options, there’s still a way to get a working Moonlantern by getting to Moonrise Towers… but you have to cross the major Shadow Curse and get to Moonrise Towers.
I chose to go through the Underdark, but after Idefeated Grym, the Forge boss, I found Nere dead and his Moonlantern broken. There isno way to fix a broken Moonlantern, so I was out of luck. Luckily, you’ll find Kar’ness going toward the Moonrise Towers, and he has a working Moonlantern.
You can and should ambush Kar’nessno matter what to get his Moonlantern, but I successfully rolled a Stealth check to not ambush since I felt underleveled. If you do that, Kar’ness and his crew keep going forward and you’ll be unable to get the Moonlantern because they enter the major Shadow Curse area.
If you traveled through the Mountain Pass, there are many ways for you toget the Moonlantern from Kar’ness. You can alsokeep the Pixie inside or free the Pixieand receive a bell that you can use to traverse through the major Shadow Curse sections. To do that, open your inventory, select the Pixie bell, and use it.
In my case,the two Moonlantern options were gone for goodwhich meant I was softlocked, right? Time to load an old save and undo hours of progress? No!
How to fixBaldur’s Gate 3Act 2 softlock
If you may’t get a Moonlantern or a Pixie inBaldur’s Gate 3,you are not softlocked— there’s still a really easy way to get through the major Shadow Curse and into Moonrise Towers.
To get through the major Shadow Curse and get to Moonrise Towers, you need togo to the southernmost part of the Shadowlands, where you need to kill Rolan ortoggle non-lethal modeto knock him out.
Once here, it’sa really short jog through the major Shadow Curse section to the Moonrise Towers which is protected by Moonshield lightsthat dispel the major Shadow Curse.
To get through,I ungrouped my party and progressed throughin one turn with my high Dexterity Monk by using Dash and Misty Step. I then used my Warlock to cast Fly on both himself and my Wizard which allows them to make it to Moonrise Towers in two turns, and they only took five to 10 Necrotic damage per turn which isn’t bad at all. Lastly, I turned my Druid into a raven and flew over which took two turns.
There are multiple ways for you to get through the major Shadow Curse section and into the safety of Moonrise Towers.I recommend Dash, Fly, and Misty Step.
Once you are at Moonrise Towers,quicksave immediately. Then, I highly recommend youconvince the guard that you’re on their sidesince you’re a True Soul so that you’re able to explore the entirety of Moonrise Towers without any threats. I also recommend you travel north first to unlock the Moonrise Towers fast travel point which is just inside the major Shadow Curse section past the northern Moonrise Towers bridge.
Now that you’re in Moonrise Towers, you have a fast travel point to get from the Last Light Inn to Moonrise Towers with ease, you can defeat Ketheric Thorm, and you can find the Balthazaar Moonlantern to explore the rest of the major Shadow Curse sections. I really hope you found this guide useful and that youshare it with anyone who might think they are softlockedinBaldur’s Gate 3.
Noah Nelson
From his early days of blog-style music, movie, and game reviews to working as the Esports Writer at Coastline Community College, Noah Nelson now works fulltime as a Staff Writer for Attack of the Fanboy and PC Invasion. He has been helping gamers everywhere with Destiny 2 god rolls, Warzone 2 DMZ missions, and collectibles in any indie game for over a year and a half. His Bachelor’s Degree in English Rhetoric and Composition with a minor in Journalism from CSULB has shaped him to be a strong writer and editor. His fondest gaming memory is playing Sly Cooper 2 after begging his mom (for hours) to play it before his birthday and he still cries myself to sleep remembering the time he accidentally saved over his 99% completion save file in Kingdom Hearts 2.
