[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":190},["ShallowReactive",2],{"article-bg3-act-3-walkthrough":3},{"_path":4,"_dir":5,"_draft":6,"_partial":6,"_locale":7,"title":8,"description":9,"status":10,"slug":11,"cover":12,"coverAlt":13,"game":14,"gameSlug":15,"category":16,"type":17,"tags":18,"topics":22,"author":23,"publishedAt":24,"views":25,"likes":26,"difficulty":27,"icon":28,"coverTheme":29,"ogImage":12,"body":30,"_type":184,"_id":185,"_source":186,"_file":187,"_stem":188,"_extension":189},"\u002Farticles\u002Fbg3-act-3-walkthrough","articles",false,"","Baldur's Gate 3: Act 3 Walkthrough — Baldur's Gate and the Final Battle","Baldur's Gate is the endgame: a sprawling city under the thumb of two would-be tyrants and a third waiting in the shadows. Act 3 demands you collect the three Netherstones, decide the fate of the city, and confront the Netherbrain itself. This guide maps the major beats from the Lower City to the final battle.","published","bg3-act-3-walkthrough","\u002Farticles\u002Fbg3-act-3-walkthrough\u002F0.jpg","Baldur's Gate 3 Act 3 walkthrough artwork","Baldur's Gate 3","baldurs-gate-3","rpg","guide",[19,20,21],"Walkthrough","Act 3","Story",[],"GameNews Desk","2026-10-11",46700,1490,"Intermediate","🏛️","amber",{"type":31,"children":32,"toc":174},"root",[33,40,47,54,59,64,69,75,80,85,90,96,101,106,111,117,122,127,132,138,143,148,153,159,164,169],{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":36,"children":37},"element","p",{},[38],{"type":39,"value":9},"text",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":41,"children":42},{},[43],{"type":34,"tag":44,"props":45,"children":46},"img",{"alt":13,"src":12},[],{"type":34,"tag":48,"props":49,"children":51},"h2",{"id":50},"arriving-in-baldurs-gate",[52],{"type":39,"value":53},"Arriving in Baldur's Gate",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":55,"children":56},{},[57],{"type":39,"value":58},"You surface in the Lower City with your parasite nearly mature and a recurring visitor in your dreams — the Emperor, a mind flayer claiming to protect you. The cult of the Absolute has splintered: Enver Gortash, now Lord Duke of the city, and Orin the Red, Bhaal's chosen assassin, each hold one of the three Netherstones that together command the Netherbrain. You hold the third.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":60,"children":61},{},[62],{"type":39,"value":63},"The city is on a countdown to a coronation that will seal the Absolute's rule, so move with purpose. Before the main quests, explore the open world: Wyrm's Rock fortress, the Counting House bank heist (where you can free the hero Minsc), and the various faction errands that grant gold and gear. Jaheira and the reformed heroes can join your roster here, rounding out a party built for the finale, and a well-stocked camp makes the coming battles far less punishing.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":65,"children":66},{},[67],{"type":39,"value":68},"The Lower City is also a treasure trove of side content: the circus, the Sorcerous Sundries vault, and a dozen minor quests that reward experience and equipment. Spend a Long Rest between expeditions to advance companion storylines — many of them reach their climax here, and their endings depend on choices you make in these quiet moments as much as in the boss fights.",{"type":34,"tag":48,"props":70,"children":72},{"id":71},"lord-gortash-and-the-steel-watch",[73],{"type":39,"value":74},"Lord Gortash and the Steel Watch",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":76,"children":77},{},[78],{"type":39,"value":79},"Gortash greets you with a proposal: an alliance against Orin in exchange for his Netherstone. Whether you trust him or not, his Steel Watch — mindless constructs — and the Steel Watch Foundry are the city's real threat. Infiltrate or assault the Foundry to disable the watch, and descend into the Iron Throne to free the Gondian prisoners and, if you move fast, Duke Ravengard (Wyll's father).",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":81,"children":82},{},[83],{"type":39,"value":84},"Fail the Iron Throne and its captives burn; succeed and you deny Gortash his leverage and rescue a key ally. Note that the Foundry and the Iron Throne are separate timed missions — bring crowd control, a rogue for locks, and a plan to flee, because the timers are unforgiving and a failed rescue is permanent. Disable the watch first if you can; every construct you remove is one fewer enemy at the coronation.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":86,"children":87},{},[88],{"type":39,"value":89},"Gortash also invites you to a formal parley at Wyrm's Rock, where you can weigh his offer face to face. You may accept, betray him on the spot, or play along until the coronation — each route changes which enemies you fight and when. There is no single correct answer, only the one that fits the story you have been telling since the Nautiloid.",{"type":34,"tag":48,"props":91,"children":93},{"id":92},"orin-the-red-and-the-bhaalists",[94],{"type":39,"value":95},"Orin the Red and the Bhaalists",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":97,"children":98},{},[99],{"type":39,"value":100},"Orin has kidnapped one of your companions and demands a duel for her Netherstone. Trace her through the Murder Tribunal and the Open Hand Temple — investigating the slaughtered monks points you to the Bhaal temple beneath the city. There you fight for your companion's life and claim Orin's stone.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":102,"children":103},{},[104],{"type":39,"value":105},"If you are the Dark Urge, Orin is your sister, and the temple forces the ultimate choice between embracing Bhaal or rejecting the murderous urge forever — a decision that defines your ending and may cost you everything you love. Even on a standard run, the Bhaalist layer is one of the game's toughest fights, so come armed with radiant damage and a plan for her shapeshifting tricks, and rescue your captured companion before the ritual completes.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":107,"children":108},{},[109],{"type":39,"value":110},"The companion Orin takes is chosen by the game based on your relationships, so the emotional stakes vary, but the mechanics are fixed: reach the altar, survive her court of killers, and claim the stone from her corpse. Losing the companion to the ritual is a real risk if you dawdle, so treat this as a rescue mission first and a boss fight second.",{"type":34,"tag":48,"props":112,"children":114},{"id":113},"gathering-the-netherstones-and-your-alliance",[115],{"type":39,"value":116},"Gathering the Netherstones and Your Alliance",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":118,"children":119},{},[120],{"type":39,"value":121},"With two stones in hand you must decide how to use them. You can honour the pact with Gortash, betray him at the coronation, or — if you freed the githyanki prince Orpheus — break the Emperor's hold and choose who among you becomes a mind flayer to wield the stones. This is the act's pivotal strategic fork: the Emperor's path or Orpheus's, each with its own consequences for the finale and for your companions' fates.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":123,"children":124},{},[125],{"type":39,"value":126},"The Astral Prism is the stage for this debate. Listen to both the Emperor and Orpheus; the right choice depends on whom you trust and which ending you want. Whoever becomes the new mind flayer to command the stones is changed forever, so weigh loyalty against survival before you commit, and remember that the Netherstones only work together — you cannot half-rule the brain.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":128,"children":129},{},[130],{"type":39,"value":131},"The Emperor's true identity — that he was once the explorer Balduran — reframes the whole ending, and Orpheus offers the githyanki a chance to reclaim their destiny. Neither voice is wholly trustworthy, so let your party's bonds, not convenience, decide who wields the stones in the end.",{"type":34,"tag":48,"props":133,"children":135},{"id":134},"the-final-approach-to-the-netherbrain",[136],{"type":39,"value":137},"The Final Approach to the Netherbrain",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":139,"children":140},{},[141],{"type":39,"value":142},"The Netherbrain looms over the city, shielded and unreachable until you commandeer the hammer-like eldritch device at the High Hall. Fight through the coronation grounds, disable the brain's defences, and open the Astral Prism to board the brain itself. The immunity it grants is your only window to act before the city is devoured.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":144,"children":145},{},[146],{"type":39,"value":147},"This assault is the game's longest set-piece battle, with waves of Absolutists, Steel Watchers, and eventually the brain's own defences. Preserve your best spells and scrolls, keep a healer alive, and remember that the objective is reaching the prism — not clearing every enemy. Once aboard, the endgame truly begins, and the music of the finale swells around you.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":149,"children":150},{},[151],{"type":39,"value":152},"Use the High Hall's cover and the temporary flight the prism grants to reposition past the brain's beams. Focus fire on the watchers first; their area attacks punish a clustered party. When the prism opens, step through without hesitation — the longer you dawdle on the rooftop, the more reinforcements arrive.",{"type":34,"tag":48,"props":154,"children":156},{"id":155},"the-final-battle-and-the-endings",[157],{"type":39,"value":158},"The Final Battle and the Endings",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":160,"children":161},{},[162],{"type":39,"value":163},"Aboard the Netherbrain the last fight begins. With all three Netherstones you can dominate the brain — but the cost and the aftermath vary wildly. Destroying it frees the city but may transform you into an illithid; controlling it makes you a new tyrant; the Dark Urge and the Emperor each offer distinct conclusions, and a heroic self-sacrifice is possible for those who refuse to become a monster.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":165,"children":166},{},[167],{"type":39,"value":168},"Whatever you choose, Act 3 closes the saga of the tadpole, and the epilogue carries your survivors — and every choice you made across all three acts — into a hard-won peace. Take a moment in the camp before you leave; the people you saved, lost, or betrayed are all waiting to say goodbye, and the city you fought for finally has a future.",{"type":34,"tag":35,"props":170,"children":171},{},[172],{"type":39,"value":173},"The epilogue itself is worth savouring: it reflects the alliances you kept, the companions who lived or fell, and the kind of ruler or liberator you became. Few RPGs close the loop so completely, so let the credits roll and revisit the camp one last time before you start the next adventure.",{"title":7,"searchDepth":175,"depth":175,"links":176},3,[177,179,180,181,182,183],{"id":50,"depth":178,"text":53},2,{"id":71,"depth":178,"text":74},{"id":92,"depth":178,"text":95},{"id":113,"depth":178,"text":116},{"id":134,"depth":178,"text":137},{"id":155,"depth":178,"text":158},"markdown","content:articles:bg3-act-3-walkthrough.md","content","articles\u002Fbg3-act-3-walkthrough.md","articles\u002Fbg3-act-3-walkthrough","md",1791713650008]