In Act Two of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate 3, cꦅlear skies and lush greenery become all but extinct as you're thrust into a gloomy battlefield afflicted by the shadow curse—which continually saps your hit points and transforms the fallen into aggressive undead.

Related
Baldur's Gate 3: How To Get The Moonlantern

Do you really trust a pixie?

While there are temporary measures to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:♔shield yourself from 🥀the malevolent effects, the curse gets stronger as you delve deeper, making it a nuisance at best and deadly at worst. There is, however, a way to accomplis🦹h what even Halsin couldn't: permanently cleanse the land of the shadow curse. Lifting Ketheri✅c's curse for good is no easy task, but this guide is here to illuminate the path.

Updated March 18, 2024, by Zoë J. Osik: With the recent updates to Baldur's Gate 3, we've updated our guide to highlight the benefits of lifting the Shadow Curse and how the Dark Urge may struggle to heal the land. If you're invested in the impact your choices make, it's well worth the effort to try and lift the Shadow Curse.

How To Lift The Shadow Curse

Baldur's Gate 3 - Thaniel asking the player to lift the curse by killing Thorm

The questline leading to the remoꦓval of the shadow curse is long and arduous, spanning much of Act Two in its entirety. Here's a quick breakdown:

  • Invite Halsin to your camp during Act One.
  • Enter Act Two (via the Mountain Pass or the Underdark).
  • Find and wake Art Cullagh at Last Light Inn (alternatively, if Art dies, you can learn the information from him with ).
  • Help Halsin retrieve Thaniel from the Shadowfell.
  • Find and win over Oliver, Thaniel's other half.
  • Defeat 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ketheric Thorm.

Each step will be discusseꦓd in greater detail below.

How To Recruit Halsin

Halsin Rushes Into Portal To Retrieve Thaniel And Orders Player Behind Him

The first step of this long questline starts in Act One, and ties in greatly with the main storyline: the Tiefling and Goblin conflict.

Upon arriving at the Emerald Grove shortly after the Nautiloid crash of Act One, you'll learn that Halsin, their First Druid, has been kidnapped by goblins.

You'll need to traverse into the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:goblin camp to rescue him. He's not easy to find, however, as he's stuck in bear form and imprisoned deep in the camp. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Our guide to rescuing Halsin will show you exactly where you can find him, and what you have to do to save him.

After saving Halsin, you'll need to defeat the three leaders of the goblin camp to properly win him over.

If you protected the Grove from the goblins, you'll be able to enjoy a brief party with Halsin and the tieflings, during which he'll instruct you to travel to Moonrise Towers in the shadow-cursed lands.

Until you reach a certain point of the questline (helping Halsin defend his Shadowfell portal), Halsin will not be able to accompany you in your party, but can be found at any time within your Camp.

How To Get To Act Two

Baldur's Gate 3 - Duergar skiff sails into Grymforge

Halsin is adamant that you should travel to Moonrise for answers about your tadpole, b♉ut how exactly do you get to the🃏se shadow-cursed lands?

There are two ways of entering Act Two, which marks the start of the shadow curse. You can enter these lands through the Mountain Pass—via a path near the Githyanki Crèche Y'llek, or through the Underdark—via Grymforge, a duergar outpost.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Our guide to reaching Moonrise Towers explains in greater detail which path you should take to the shadow-cursed lands, and what to expect from either choice.

How To Wake Up Art Cullagh

Baldur's Gate 3 - Halsin comforting Art Callugh

Once you've reached the shadow-cursed lands, you'll eventually find yourself shepherded toward the Last Light Inn, one of the few sanctuaries in these c😼ursed l🔜ands.

In one of the rooms of the Last Light Inn, you'll find the Flaming Fist desperately trying to wake up an unconscious Flaming Fist officer, Art Cullagh, who seems to have been wandering the cursed lands for a cent🍒ury.

Art Callugh can be found mumbling about a boy named Thaniel; after hearing this, you can head back to Halsin at your camp, where he'll recognize Thaniel's name and request to meet Art Cullagh.

If you 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:finish Shar's Sanctum (the dungeon under the Thorm Mausoleum) before waking Art Callugh, you will be locked out of this questline entirely and will not be able to lift the shadow curse for your playthrough. Make sure to finish up this questline before heading in there!

Unfortunately, the key to waking Art Callugh lies elsewhere, to the southwest of the Grand Mausoleum waypoint. You'll need to visit the House of Healing and defeat Malus Thorm to obtain the Battered Lute, which is the key to waking the unconscious man.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Our guide on waking Art Callugh will cover this step of the quest in greater detail, as well as explain 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:how to defeat Malus Thorm—a formidable mini-boss in his own right.

How To Defend Halsin's Portal

Baldur's Gate 3 - Halsin speaking to the player in the shadow-cursed lands

After waking Art Callugh, the following quest is fairly straightforward—no more mysteries or scavenger hunts, just some good, old-fashioned 𒅌monster-bashing.

For the unprepared adventurer, however, defending Halsin's portal against the waves of endless shadowy monstrosities might be one of the most challenging fights of the game so far.

Baldur's Gate 3 -Player defending Halsin's portal in the shadow-cursed lands

Our guide to defending Halsin's Portal will provide guidance and possible strategies to help you keep Ha🍌lsin safe.

After this fig🌸ht, you'll finally be able to recruit Halsin as an active memb🧜er of your party. Hooray!

How To Find Thaniel's Other Half

Baldur's Gate 3 - Halsin trying to heal an unconscious Thaniel

When three rounds are up, Halsin will emerge with Thaniel from the Shadowfell—but t🍰he quest isn't over yet. Thaniel has been fractured by the curse, and you'll need to find his other half, Oliver, to reunite them.

You can fi♎nd Oliver in the House in Deep Shadows near the Shadowed Battlefield waypoint.

Nothing is ever that easy in the shadow-cursed lands, however, so you'll need to play the world's most unfair gam🍌e of hide-and-seek and win Oliver over by killing🔯 his family and friends.

Our guide to finding Thaniel's shadow half will go into more extensive detail about how to find Oliver and f🅰ight him.

How To Defeat Ketheric Thorm

Baldur's Gate 3 Ketheric Thorm In Throne

Finally, after reuniting the two halves of Thaniel, he'll come to your camp and tell you that in order to fully lift the Shadow Curse, you'll need to defeat Ketheric Thorm.

Unfortunately, as the game is fond of reminding us, Ketheric is immortal and cannot be killed by normal means. In order to take him down for good, you'll need to traverse 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Shar's Sanctum, located under the Grand Mausoleum, and descend into the Shadowfell to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:free or kill the Nightsong, the source of Ketheric Thorm's immortality.

This is a major story beat for Shadowheart's personal story, and we h⭕ighly🌌 recommend bringing her along with you when you do this part of the quest.

After dealing with the Nightsong, you'll finally be able to put Ketheric down permanently. If you've been aligned with the Harpers up to this point, you can join them in a raid against Moonrise Towers, where they'll help you storm and kill all the cultists of the Absolute within the towers.

Ketheric Thorm Boss Fight

Ketheric Thorm is a penultimate, multi-phase boss of Act Two, and this will likely be the toughest series of fights you'll have faced in the game yet.

You'll face him first on the rooftop of Moonrise Towers, after which he'll retreat to the Mindflayer Colony deep under the towers.

You won't be able to leave, go back to camp to swap out party members, or long rest when you're inside the Mindflayer Colony. Be prepared bef♊ore jumping༒ in!

But don't fret; we've got you covered here too. Our guide t🐻o defeating Ketheric Thorm onꦬce and for all will walk you through every phrase of this terrifying boss fight.

After defeating Ketheric, if you've followed all the steps so far, the curse will finally be lifted.

Though the area will remain rather gloomy, you'll be able to progress into the city of Baldur's Gate in Act Three, knowing that you've done all you can help the land heal, and having made a loyal ally out of Halsin, the Archdruid.

If you do not lift the curse by the time you enter Act Three, Halsin will remain in the shadow-cursed lands in order to try and do so himself and will leave your camp and party permanently.

Should You Lift The Shadow Curse?

The Shadow Curse is lifted in Baldur's Gate 3

Lifting the Shadow Curse has many benefits. Aside from the moral implications of healing the land and helping Thaniel, you'll also gain favor with Halsin. This endears him to you and opens the way for you to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:romance the Archdruid, Halsin. While the romance is optional, you'll still gain an powerful ally on your way to the final act.

If you're playing as the Dark Urge, there may be reasons why you don't want to lift the Shadow Curse. As the Dark Urge, you can lift the Shadow Curse if you want to redeem yourself and play a noble hero, but you can also leave the land to its miserable fate if you have no intention of being good.

Because you need Halsin to lift the Shadow Curse, siding with the goblins in Act One will prevent you from being a𒁃ble to.

Ultimately, the choice is up to you. The additional work it takes to lift the Shadow Curse will give you vital experience and help you connect more with the plight of your party members, but it can be skipped with little to no impact on events later in the game, minus Halsin's personal journey.

Next
Baldur's Gate 3: How To Get The True Love's Caress And True Love's Embrace Rings

Here's 𓆏how to get the two wedding rings that offer the Warding Bond effect in Baldur's Gate 3.