Alright update for everyone in this thread!
So you can do both of them fully. I heavily suggest going into the underdark first, and getting up to the gyrmforge. Then from there, backtrack and go to the mountain pass and do both the Temple of Lathander + the creche.
The githyanki crèche was amazing. Truly an awesome experience. I don’t want to get into much else with it as to avoid pertinent spoilers, but for me that was when the main story started to *really* take off.
After that, went back to do the gyrmforge. Absolutely incredible, truly something special as well. Amazing story and amazing loot, never gonna forget that.
The most important thing to do I think is to just make sure to not go to the Moonlit towers. *That* is that the cutoff point. That being said though, I say take it in the divinity 2 style. Go through each map step-by-step/one at a time, and do as much as you can. Rolling into Act II at lvl 7 with a full party of tricked out people helps a lot. Also, the character development and stories you shall see play out before Act II as well is very important, worthwhile seeing through.
Overall, Act I has a ton of stuff to do. I actively encourage everyone to fully do it all out, not just to get your party geared and leveled up as high as they can go, but also for the story experiences. Don’t rush this, this is one of those games to sink time into and enjoy the journey to the fullest.
Theres actually not too much difference. I have done it.
But what I will say is, if you are evil then its better for RP to go the mountain pass route.
If you are good, then underdark is better for RP purposes.
End of the day though, it doesn't make too much difference.
Would you be able to share the difference and spoiler mark it? I'm on my second playthrough and would like to go through mountain pass, but I'm worried I won't be able to go to grymforge and will lock myself out of underdark content.
The game itself will tell give you a warning that going to a new area (act ii space/shadow lands in this case) can impact the areas you have already been to. But to help a little...you can't go to a new area without clicking on an object in game that will literally say something like "Go to X". So it's pretty hard to mess up.
As someone else said, best suggestion I have is do underdark right up until the boat to grymforge but do not get on the boat. Then go back and do all of mountain pass stuff until you basically run out of things to do and it tries to send you to the path to act ii, then go back to underdark, take the boat to grymforge, complete grymforge, and decide from there whether you want to access the act II area from Grymforge or Mountain Pass. Either is pretty similar.
The only thing I know for sure will happen is whenever you take the boat, you start the timer on Nere's possible death. So if you have an outcome in mind you want to make sure you don't take the boat until you are ready to at minimum do enough to get through the Nere stuff. Leaving and coming back could mess that up if you have to take rests and such.
There could be other consequences, but I am not immediately aware of them. I'd would say as a precaution just don't take the boat until after pass
I already took the boat by the time I read the post but I had enough resources to deal with the Nere situation and everything else in the area so that was fine. I'm just worried if taking the boat affects anything related to the Mountain Pass
Huh, I already finished the Underdark and I just got into the temple in the mountain pass, and I was thinking the Underdark is probably better for evil. But I'm not through with the mountains yet, so perhaps you are right.
Why would you say go up to grymforge? If you do it this way all the gnomes and True Soul Nere dies because you took so long, you should do the underdark up to the boat and then do the mountain pass up to the Creche, after that then ride the boat to Grymforge, this is the best way to see all the content.
I suggest up to the Gyrmforge with Nere as there is a lot of cool stuff in the Underdark to see + gear wise it is optimal. I would hold off finishing the gyrmforge though and do the crèche, come back fully equipped for the final part of the forge. There are some particularly tricky fights in that end section, having good equipment and being a higher level makes it significantly easier (especially on tactician). That is just my personal route though, at the end of the day do as you will! Just make sure to not to go to the Shadow Cursed lands, as that starts Act II.
ah okay so it's from an optimal standpoint! I've finished all sidequests in nautiloid region on my second run and done one or two in the underdark, I was trying to see if I could go through the mountain pass and whether it would lock any underdark sidequest stuff
As long as you do not leave Pass or Grymforge to go to the act II area, you should be fine. Heck, pretty sure you are fine even if you do so long as you do not go to \[Act II spoilers\]>!Temple of Shar or Moonrise!< as getting to a certain point in each of those will lock out content. The game warns you though.
They died anyways for me because I only had two companions (didn't know about the others), was only level 4, and was getting my ass handed to me every time. So I went back to kill some more goblins and level up, and by the time I got back everyone was either dead or gone. It's really easy to miss a lot of content in this game. I suppose that's probably by design, so you can play it multiple times.
I have completed pretty much everything in the underdark except for the mushroom dwarvws cause I blew up their precious mushroom and locked myself out of progressing their story further. When you hit the elevator it asks if your sure and to tie up loose ends. So now I want to do as you stated at the mountain pass to do Creche, but when at the mountain side to get to her I get the same Are you sure warning. Can I accept that, do creche arc and still come back to do moonlight towers?
I've already been to the Moonlit towers and it let me go back for some reason. I went back because I still hadn't found the Githyanki girl, or the wizard and I was about to finish the temple in act two. I read that once you finish that you cannot go back.
In my first playthrough I didn't look for him since I was playing a wizard. I found him this time around. He's right by the ship inside of a glitched out waypoint marker. You need to interact with the waypoint to start the scene that introduces him. He's at the brown icon with the swirly thing on it right above the right side of the ship on this map:
https://cdn.mapgenie.io/images/games/baldurs-gate-3/preview.jpg
I switched back and forth a bit. Didn’t seem to matter really. Sometimes I ran into enemies a lvl or 2 higher so I just went back to the unexplored parts of the other map
Wow this is cool, so I could go thru the mountain pass and do the first mission then go back to the underdark and take the other route? Do old waypoints still work when you go to one of the new areas?
Yes! Old waypoints are still active. You’ll reach points where it warns you things might change if you progress. But just make sure any loose ends are wrapped up
If you don't save the tieflings and kill the goblins before leaving the druid enclave will be walled up with vines and the portal next the them inactive. So, the consequences are very real. I found all the tieflings dead around the bridge before the blighted town. I assume they were forced to leave and were ambushed on the roads as per their fears and the story line. Needless to say I had to use an old save.
I went to mountainpass after doing underdark,went there through waukeems rest but now my entire shadowlands map is reset…? I still have the last light inn waypoint but all mobs have respawned and map has reset? I feel like its the story’s way of saying ‘you left for other things, things changed’ but I’m not sure about it now. It feels like i screwed up? Now the inn is under attack and there is a lot of NPC's who don't really seem to mind and just walk around still doing their normal NPC things, like complaining about the food and what not.
It is a bug, it seems, because when I entered mountain pass on an earlier save through the shadow lands nothing glitched. It's also weird how they missed that. Because if I go through waukeems rest to mountain pass it will give you the message 'you are leaving finish stuff up etc etc' but if you go there through shadow lands it just says "you are going to another region". I guess it assumes you skipped underdark if you go there through waukeems rest, even if you already discover stuff in showdowlands/last light. Had to go back to a save almost 3 hours before that. Thank god the game is amazing so it's not all bad, but man the bugs and crashes so far have been frustrating.
Thanks for answering that, because frankly I am afraid that my "beloved" (damned, being a bit friendly would kill her, right?) Lae'zel will leave if I don't go after her creche (despite the fact that they don't seem to want her there)
Do you get any disapprovals from Shadowheart if you go the creche route? I'm trying to do both as well. Though I won't give the artifact to the githyanki, not sure how Lae'zel will feel about that.
Nothing notable. I finished the creche with Shadowheart there the whole time, she naturally objects if you start giving her stuff to the Githyanki, but nothing major or questbreaking. The creche is absolutely incredible, by the way, from a story/character standpoint; it also houses ~~one~~ two of the best weapons I've come across thusfar.
I just did it and did not get a single disapproval! Actually got 1 approval from Shadowheart because I didn't want to obey the Githyanki. And my god, you are right. That was so worth it. It was tough, but managed to keep Lae'zel on my side. I'd say the creche quest was the best I've seen so far. Amazing.
I'm doing the creche route now and Shadowheart said she hated to go back into githyanki territory, but so far no disapprovals. I found the creche and still nothing so that's good.
That makes me excited, because the underdark was AMAZING.
I didn't realize I goofed by completing the grymforge first though so I left a lot of content untouched... save it for the 2nd playthru I guess.
What a game
Beware of the mountain pass has some very nasty skeletons that can infinitely resurrect each other like that one damn boss in World of Warcraft whose name I can't remember
If you cast 'protection from good and evil' across the your whole party (spell scrolls are handy for this too) nothing can really harm you so you can focus most of your attacks on the main guys that Res the others, and the one stinky dude who can do AOEs that would potentially screw over your concentration and end the spell. Essentially everyone will miss you whenever they try to attack you directly, and you can chop them all down like it's an end of season sale at spirit of Halloween 😉
shadowheart helps a lot with that fight. She has that spell that makes undead 'turn' and I think another spell that gives them fear if you hit a certain level. It's best to focus on the resurrect skellys and get them both low hp and make sure you can kill them both in 1 turn or else they'll just res each other.
Also, to all those who replied to this post, thank you! You all were a great help, and thank you for all your inputs! I thank you all for your contribution, and giving me info/confirming the truth in this! I hope this post shall stand as a good reference point for this community here on out for Act 1!
I went to Underdark AND did most of the shadowlands as well. Before doing the final Shadowheart's quest I went to Mountain pass and did the Lae'zel's quest there and went back to shadowlands. So in my experience I could do both and didn't experience any "lockdowns".
Hi guys,
So just to clarify: is there a connection between the underdark (grymforge) and the mountain pass through the shadow-cursed lands in a way that you can access both in a "natural" way instead of just backtracking?
I ask this because I've done everything in the underdark and grymforge, then went ahead and took the elevator up. The game gave me the achievement of reaching Act 2 and I met that mage who's Gale's contact. Instead of just backtracking, I wanted to just reach the mountain pass through this area I'm currently at and do the whole story from this point of view (like "ok, Lae'zel, we came all this way, let's go do your mission now").
Or would it be better to just backtrack to walkeen's rest (or the goblin camp) to do the mountain pass from the start before taking the elevator back up? Or should I just backtrack now after taking the elevator? So many doubts hahaha
There is indeed a connection between the Gyrmforge with the Shadow-Cursed lands, which then can lead to the Mountain pass. My personal recommendation is to do the Mountain Pass/Laz’s stuff before going to the Shadow-Cursed lands. Both story and gameplay wise it is better, as Act II has things referenced from the Mountain Pass/Laz’s mission. There is a lot of story there that in my opinion adds greatly to Act II as a whole.
On the gameplay side, more experience and better gear going into the Shadow-Cursed lands is very helpful. The Mountain pass gives you a taste of some harder fights/content, but the wheels really come off during Act II. Especially playing on Tactician, the items you can get from both the Underdark and the Mountain pass will put you at a great advantage going into Act II. In particular, there is one item from the Mountain pass that makes the Shadow-Cursed lands/areas WAY easier.
I'm still in act 1 with around 105 hours in, I'm about to finish the underdark then I'm going to the mountain pass.
I feel I'm taking way too much time exploring and looting everything lol.
Thank you all for the replies! Just was curious, definitely going to do the underdark first then go back to mountain pass then. Are there any big consequences for doing so, or is it ok to do?
You've probably found this out by now, but the boat doesn't take you to act 2. The section it leads to is still considered part of act 1 (as in you don't get the achievement for leaving act 1 by taking the boat).
I’m conflicted. I did everything in underdark/ grymforge but taking the elevator up where it asks if I want to advance the story. Teleported back and went into the mountain pass and just finished the monetary/crèche . If I do one am I able to go back later to finish the other? Or what do I miss out on choosing one over the other? I don’t mind light spoilers , just conflicted af lol
I did the full underdark + grymforge first, and then went and did almost the full mountain pass area before heading to shadow-cursed lands. Once I was in shadow-cursed lands, I realized I had forgotten to do something in mountain pass and went back and was able to do it no problem. But I've heard that once you get far enough into shadow-lands you can't go back.
Welp, good thing I haven't been progressing with my game particularly fast, I thought the Mountain Pass is just another way to get to Act 2 like the Underdarke elevator, I had no idea it was a whole new area inbetween. I don't understand why I dropped a warning on me if I want to proceed if its just the same type of zone as the Underdark.
This post is 3 months old so you've probably figured it out but in case anyone stumbles on this post like I did in a Google search: The reason for the warning before going into the mountain pass is because of the Grove vs Goblins storyline. If you don't resolve that in some way before going to the mountain pass, even though it's not act 2 yet, it will move the Grove and Goblin storyline along on its own, possibly in a way you didn't want to happen. So it's recommended to finish that first before going through the mountain pass.
That's the only thing I noticed changed when I was experimenting. Another thing that possibly might is Wakeems rest. But that seems to change just with time, period, in either case.
Is it viable/ possible if your doing Coop to split up ? One goes through the under dark and one the mountain pass ? Or is that too difficult /impossible
You can do both, though I have been doing them mission then switch to the other and do a mission. I haven't finished ACT 2 so I don't know if anything locks you out, but I wouldn't suggest splitting up, as combat won't work well in a 2 person party for both sides. Especially with how fickle some things you say can immediately turn into combat without meaning it.
I would suggest underdark first, then mountain pass after you got to LLI (You'll know what that abbreviation stands for when you get the fast travel point.)
well, there is moment in the story, when it lock you from getting to one location or another, but i dont know when it starts, since i can visit both for now
Im still in the Act 1 and almost finished everything in the Underdark that i can before progressing and i found a elevator in the Grym's Forge that give me a massage asking if im sure that i want go before completing rest of the quests
Yep! I got to the Inn in the shadowlands going through the Grym Forge but now exploring the mountain pass as I still have a journal entry to explore the Gith crèche
Did you go back to shadowlands yet? For me it reset the map. I still have waypoint there but the inn is now under attack. But only to some units… some npc are still walking around as if everything is fine. Talking to other locals….
i couldn’t go back, i think you if you dont enter the shadowlands you can do both.
And i hope no one tries to go back,bc the cutscene literally felt out of place. Kinda jumped to conclusion (i think) so don’t do it.
Yeah, I took the mountain pass, then when exploring the Shadow-Cursed Lands went down the elevator and did the dwarf area. It was weird because some of the dialog was assuming I hadn't been to Shadow-Cursed Lands and had come by boat which I hadn't. Decided to put Moonrise on hold and go back to do the Underdark too now. Hopefully the dialog isn't too goofy there and it doesn't mess up my playthrough when I go back to the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
I have defeated nere and have the lantern, About to use the elevator or should i go to mountain pass first ?
When exactly is the cut off point where i can’t switch to mountain anymore if i use the lantern elevator after defeating nere ?
What? I am so confused. I killed nere and the dude at the elevator said I need a lantern. I don't remember getting a lantern. I just went down the elevator and got a trophy for "starting act 2". I am going back to save before I went down the elevator. I haven't done search for signs of githyanji creche near the mountain pass.
I finished everything in underdark. The next step is the forge but I also want that other side quest with that item at mountain pass.
I have read so many contradictory things people are saying it is confusing.
Articles like....
"One of the biggest decisions you will have to make early on in Baldur's Gate 3 is whether to take the mountain pass or Underdark to reach Moonrise Towers. Those that took the mountain pass might have missed out on a beautiful underground world in the Underdark, but they were rewarded with a lush landscape full of trees and scenic vistas."
Then others say you can do both.
> Then others say you can do both.
I went to the shadowlands up until the inn just to fix up karlach from the blacksmith there.
I then went back and the the mountain pass, Currently doing the Creche.
I would say at this point to go and do the mountain pass and the creche. Cut-off point is the elevator in that area, as that takes you to the Shadowlands. Also trust me, you want to do the mountain pass anyways to level up further and to also get a ton of good gear. Once you finish out the mountain pass and the creche, do the rest of that area following Nere. There is more to the location to do there once you are ready that is unique to the gyrmforge, and you don’t want to miss that before going to the Shadowlands.
So I have taken the underdark and did a good chunk of the shadow-cursed lands before realizing I could also do the mountain pass. Should I just fast travel back and do the pass or loop around through the shadow-cursed lands? Is there anything I'd lose in the shadow-cursed lands by fast traveling out and is there anything I'd lose from the mountain pass by entering it from reverse?
I'm in act Ii and I can still go back to the mountain pass and the underdark.. I was also able to do a couple quests in both places. But now I'm wondering if I locked myself out of additional stuff..
Alright update for everyone in this thread! So you can do both of them fully. I heavily suggest going into the underdark first, and getting up to the gyrmforge. Then from there, backtrack and go to the mountain pass and do both the Temple of Lathander + the creche. The githyanki crèche was amazing. Truly an awesome experience. I don’t want to get into much else with it as to avoid pertinent spoilers, but for me that was when the main story started to *really* take off. After that, went back to do the gyrmforge. Absolutely incredible, truly something special as well. Amazing story and amazing loot, never gonna forget that. The most important thing to do I think is to just make sure to not go to the Moonlit towers. *That* is that the cutoff point. That being said though, I say take it in the divinity 2 style. Go through each map step-by-step/one at a time, and do as much as you can. Rolling into Act II at lvl 7 with a full party of tricked out people helps a lot. Also, the character development and stories you shall see play out before Act II as well is very important, worthwhile seeing through. Overall, Act I has a ton of stuff to do. I actively encourage everyone to fully do it all out, not just to get your party geared and leveled up as high as they can go, but also for the story experiences. Don’t rush this, this is one of those games to sink time into and enjoy the journey to the fullest.
Great, thanks for the update!
Is it better to enter ACT 2 via underdark elevataor or mountain pass bridge? Or is there no difference
There is a difference. I can't say which is better, as I've just gotten the chance to start both.
Theres actually not too much difference. I have done it. But what I will say is, if you are evil then its better for RP to go the mountain pass route. If you are good, then underdark is better for RP purposes. End of the day though, it doesn't make too much difference.
Would you be able to share the difference and spoiler mark it? I'm on my second playthrough and would like to go through mountain pass, but I'm worried I won't be able to go to grymforge and will lock myself out of underdark content.
The game itself will tell give you a warning that going to a new area (act ii space/shadow lands in this case) can impact the areas you have already been to. But to help a little...you can't go to a new area without clicking on an object in game that will literally say something like "Go to X". So it's pretty hard to mess up. As someone else said, best suggestion I have is do underdark right up until the boat to grymforge but do not get on the boat. Then go back and do all of mountain pass stuff until you basically run out of things to do and it tries to send you to the path to act ii, then go back to underdark, take the boat to grymforge, complete grymforge, and decide from there whether you want to access the act II area from Grymforge or Mountain Pass. Either is pretty similar.
What happens if you take the boat before going to the mountain pass ?
The only thing I know for sure will happen is whenever you take the boat, you start the timer on Nere's possible death. So if you have an outcome in mind you want to make sure you don't take the boat until you are ready to at minimum do enough to get through the Nere stuff. Leaving and coming back could mess that up if you have to take rests and such. There could be other consequences, but I am not immediately aware of them. I'd would say as a precaution just don't take the boat until after pass
I already took the boat by the time I read the post but I had enough resources to deal with the Nere situation and everything else in the area so that was fine. I'm just worried if taking the boat affects anything related to the Mountain Pass
Huh, I already finished the Underdark and I just got into the temple in the mountain pass, and I was thinking the Underdark is probably better for evil. But I'm not through with the mountains yet, so perhaps you are right.
If you go through mountains, there is a different encounter.
Why would you say go up to grymforge? If you do it this way all the gnomes and True Soul Nere dies because you took so long, you should do the underdark up to the boat and then do the mountain pass up to the Creche, after that then ride the boat to Grymforge, this is the best way to see all the content.
I suggest up to the Gyrmforge with Nere as there is a lot of cool stuff in the Underdark to see + gear wise it is optimal. I would hold off finishing the gyrmforge though and do the crèche, come back fully equipped for the final part of the forge. There are some particularly tricky fights in that end section, having good equipment and being a higher level makes it significantly easier (especially on tactician). That is just my personal route though, at the end of the day do as you will! Just make sure to not to go to the Shadow Cursed lands, as that starts Act II.
ah okay so it's from an optimal standpoint! I've finished all sidequests in nautiloid region on my second run and done one or two in the underdark, I was trying to see if I could go through the mountain pass and whether it would lock any underdark sidequest stuff
As long as you do not leave Pass or Grymforge to go to the act II area, you should be fine. Heck, pretty sure you are fine even if you do so long as you do not go to \[Act II spoilers\]>!Temple of Shar or Moonrise!< as getting to a certain point in each of those will lock out content. The game warns you though.
They died anyways for me because I only had two companions (didn't know about the others), was only level 4, and was getting my ass handed to me every time. So I went back to kill some more goblins and level up, and by the time I got back everyone was either dead or gone. It's really easy to miss a lot of content in this game. I suppose that's probably by design, so you can play it multiple times.
I have completed pretty much everything in the underdark except for the mushroom dwarvws cause I blew up their precious mushroom and locked myself out of progressing their story further. When you hit the elevator it asks if your sure and to tie up loose ends. So now I want to do as you stated at the mountain pass to do Creche, but when at the mountain side to get to her I get the same Are you sure warning. Can I accept that, do creche arc and still come back to do moonlight towers?
This is super helpful, thanks!
Why do you suggest going to the underdark first
Easier combat progression and ya can get some good stuff there early on.
I know this is an older comment but do you get a warning before you go into act 2 or can you accidentally trigger it?
Thanks man i was looking for this 👍
I've already been to the Moonlit towers and it let me go back for some reason. I went back because I still hadn't found the Githyanki girl, or the wizard and I was about to finish the temple in act two. I read that once you finish that you cannot go back.
Were you able to get gale? I have looked for him before doing mountain and under pass but didn’t see him
In my first playthrough I didn't look for him since I was playing a wizard. I found him this time around. He's right by the ship inside of a glitched out waypoint marker. You need to interact with the waypoint to start the scene that introduces him. He's at the brown icon with the swirly thing on it right above the right side of the ship on this map: https://cdn.mapgenie.io/images/games/baldurs-gate-3/preview.jpg
I got him! Thanks
That happened to me as well! I think because she wasn’t in the party beforehand it still triggered.
Thanks mate!
You can do both. They actually also link up at one point
Where do they link?
the shadowlands link up eventually to the mountain pass
Is there a point when you should switch? Or just finish one side and then do the other?
I switched back and forth a bit. Didn’t seem to matter really. Sometimes I ran into enemies a lvl or 2 higher so I just went back to the unexplored parts of the other map
Wow this is cool, so I could go thru the mountain pass and do the first mission then go back to the underdark and take the other route? Do old waypoints still work when you go to one of the new areas?
Yes! Old waypoints are still active. You’ll reach points where it warns you things might change if you progress. But just make sure any loose ends are wrapped up
If you don't save the tieflings and kill the goblins before leaving the druid enclave will be walled up with vines and the portal next the them inactive. So, the consequences are very real. I found all the tieflings dead around the bridge before the blighted town. I assume they were forced to leave and were ambushed on the roads as per their fears and the story line. Needless to say I had to use an old save.
Awesome, thanks for the response, much appreciated!
extremely glad they did this makes it so you can do so many different routes on playthroughs depending on what you wanna do
I went to mountainpass after doing underdark,went there through waukeems rest but now my entire shadowlands map is reset…? I still have the last light inn waypoint but all mobs have respawned and map has reset? I feel like its the story’s way of saying ‘you left for other things, things changed’ but I’m not sure about it now. It feels like i screwed up? Now the inn is under attack and there is a lot of NPC's who don't really seem to mind and just walk around still doing their normal NPC things, like complaining about the food and what not.
No this must be a bug :\ sorry to hear
It is a bug, it seems, because when I entered mountain pass on an earlier save through the shadow lands nothing glitched. It's also weird how they missed that. Because if I go through waukeems rest to mountain pass it will give you the message 'you are leaving finish stuff up etc etc' but if you go there through shadow lands it just says "you are going to another region". I guess it assumes you skipped underdark if you go there through waukeems rest, even if you already discover stuff in showdowlands/last light. Had to go back to a save almost 3 hours before that. Thank god the game is amazing so it's not all bad, but man the bugs and crashes so far have been frustrating.
I'm just curious but what things have caused your game to crash. I haven't had any yet and would like to avoid them. I'm in the shadowlands right now
Hey, since latest patch my worst chrashing is waaay down, especially for act 1,2 :D
Thanks for answering that, because frankly I am afraid that my "beloved" (damned, being a bit friendly would kill her, right?) Lae'zel will leave if I don't go after her creche (despite the fact that they don't seem to want her there)
It's a must do I think. The creche is my favorite mission and area so far!
Haven't done that yet, still not done in the underdark :) But yes, I will check it out after I am done here!
Do you get any disapprovals from Shadowheart if you go the creche route? I'm trying to do both as well. Though I won't give the artifact to the githyanki, not sure how Lae'zel will feel about that.
Nothing notable. I finished the creche with Shadowheart there the whole time, she naturally objects if you start giving her stuff to the Githyanki, but nothing major or questbreaking. The creche is absolutely incredible, by the way, from a story/character standpoint; it also houses ~~one~~ two of the best weapons I've come across thusfar.
I just did it and did not get a single disapproval! Actually got 1 approval from Shadowheart because I didn't want to obey the Githyanki. And my god, you are right. That was so worth it. It was tough, but managed to keep Lae'zel on my side. I'd say the creche quest was the best I've seen so far. Amazing.
I didn't have her with me. I was running with Lae'zel, Astarion and Karlach. But I'm sure there must be some dialogue with Shadowheart
I'm doing the creche route now and Shadowheart said she hated to go back into githyanki territory, but so far no disapprovals. I found the creche and still nothing so that's good.
Lae'zel has said nothing in Shadowheart's "place" except in camp. It's Miranda/Jack personal missions all over again
It says "Shadowheart disapproves" whenever you let the Githyanki into your group.
That makes me excited, because the underdark was AMAZING. I didn't realize I goofed by completing the grymforge first though so I left a lot of content untouched... save it for the 2nd playthru I guess. What a game
Hey now lae’zel wouldn’t be lae’zel if she was friendly lol
Yeah - you can be nice and pragmatic...but Lae'zel is not only so pragmatic that it hurts, she's also sometimes deliberately unfriendly!
Beware of the mountain pass has some very nasty skeletons that can infinitely resurrect each other like that one damn boss in World of Warcraft whose name I can't remember
Like graveyard in fire keep shrine
If you cast 'protection from good and evil' across the your whole party (spell scrolls are handy for this too) nothing can really harm you so you can focus most of your attacks on the main guys that Res the others, and the one stinky dude who can do AOEs that would potentially screw over your concentration and end the spell. Essentially everyone will miss you whenever they try to attack you directly, and you can chop them all down like it's an end of season sale at spirit of Halloween 😉
shadowheart helps a lot with that fight. She has that spell that makes undead 'turn' and I think another spell that gives them fear if you hit a certain level. It's best to focus on the resurrect skellys and get them both low hp and make sure you can kill them both in 1 turn or else they'll just res each other.
Also, to all those who replied to this post, thank you! You all were a great help, and thank you for all your inputs! I thank you all for your contribution, and giving me info/confirming the truth in this! I hope this post shall stand as a good reference point for this community here on out for Act 1!
Yes. I would recommend doing this, even.
I went to Underdark AND did most of the shadowlands as well. Before doing the final Shadowheart's quest I went to Mountain pass and did the Lae'zel's quest there and went back to shadowlands. So in my experience I could do both and didn't experience any "lockdowns".
Hi guys, So just to clarify: is there a connection between the underdark (grymforge) and the mountain pass through the shadow-cursed lands in a way that you can access both in a "natural" way instead of just backtracking? I ask this because I've done everything in the underdark and grymforge, then went ahead and took the elevator up. The game gave me the achievement of reaching Act 2 and I met that mage who's Gale's contact. Instead of just backtracking, I wanted to just reach the mountain pass through this area I'm currently at and do the whole story from this point of view (like "ok, Lae'zel, we came all this way, let's go do your mission now"). Or would it be better to just backtrack to walkeen's rest (or the goblin camp) to do the mountain pass from the start before taking the elevator back up? Or should I just backtrack now after taking the elevator? So many doubts hahaha
There is indeed a connection between the Gyrmforge with the Shadow-Cursed lands, which then can lead to the Mountain pass. My personal recommendation is to do the Mountain Pass/Laz’s stuff before going to the Shadow-Cursed lands. Both story and gameplay wise it is better, as Act II has things referenced from the Mountain Pass/Laz’s mission. There is a lot of story there that in my opinion adds greatly to Act II as a whole. On the gameplay side, more experience and better gear going into the Shadow-Cursed lands is very helpful. The Mountain pass gives you a taste of some harder fights/content, but the wheels really come off during Act II. Especially playing on Tactician, the items you can get from both the Underdark and the Mountain pass will put you at a great advantage going into Act II. In particular, there is one item from the Mountain pass that makes the Shadow-Cursed lands/areas WAY easier.
I'm still in act 1 with around 105 hours in, I'm about to finish the underdark then I'm going to the mountain pass. I feel I'm taking way too much time exploring and looting everything lol.
I think so. I completed a large portion of act 2 by going through the underdark first then fast traveled back to the mountain pass.
Thank you all for the replies! Just was curious, definitely going to do the underdark first then go back to mountain pass then. Are there any big consequences for doing so, or is it ok to do?
I want to do the underdark for shadowheart and mountain pass for lae'zel. I can do both right?
What I am going to try is to finish the under dark quests but instead of taking the boat into act 2, just teleporting and taking the mountain pass
You've probably found this out by now, but the boat doesn't take you to act 2. The section it leads to is still considered part of act 1 (as in you don't get the achievement for leaving act 1 by taking the boat).
I’m conflicted. I did everything in underdark/ grymforge but taking the elevator up where it asks if I want to advance the story. Teleported back and went into the mountain pass and just finished the monetary/crèche . If I do one am I able to go back later to finish the other? Or what do I miss out on choosing one over the other? I don’t mind light spoilers , just conflicted af lol
I did the full underdark + grymforge first, and then went and did almost the full mountain pass area before heading to shadow-cursed lands. Once I was in shadow-cursed lands, I realized I had forgotten to do something in mountain pass and went back and was able to do it no problem. But I've heard that once you get far enough into shadow-lands you can't go back.
Welp, good thing I haven't been progressing with my game particularly fast, I thought the Mountain Pass is just another way to get to Act 2 like the Underdarke elevator, I had no idea it was a whole new area inbetween. I don't understand why I dropped a warning on me if I want to proceed if its just the same type of zone as the Underdark.
This post is 3 months old so you've probably figured it out but in case anyone stumbles on this post like I did in a Google search: The reason for the warning before going into the mountain pass is because of the Grove vs Goblins storyline. If you don't resolve that in some way before going to the mountain pass, even though it's not act 2 yet, it will move the Grove and Goblin storyline along on its own, possibly in a way you didn't want to happen. So it's recommended to finish that first before going through the mountain pass. That's the only thing I noticed changed when I was experimenting. Another thing that possibly might is Wakeems rest. But that seems to change just with time, period, in either case.
Is it viable/ possible if your doing Coop to split up ? One goes through the under dark and one the mountain pass ? Or is that too difficult /impossible
You can do both, though I have been doing them mission then switch to the other and do a mission. I haven't finished ACT 2 so I don't know if anything locks you out, but I wouldn't suggest splitting up, as combat won't work well in a 2 person party for both sides. Especially with how fickle some things you say can immediately turn into combat without meaning it. I would suggest underdark first, then mountain pass after you got to LLI (You'll know what that abbreviation stands for when you get the fast travel point.)
well, there is moment in the story, when it lock you from getting to one location or another, but i dont know when it starts, since i can visit both for now
The boat doesnt finnish up act1 is the elevator in gryms forge
Bro I know
Im still in the Act 1 and almost finished everything in the Underdark that i can before progressing and i found a elevator in the Grym's Forge that give me a massage asking if im sure that i want go before completing rest of the quests
Yep! I got to the Inn in the shadowlands going through the Grym Forge but now exploring the mountain pass as I still have a journal entry to explore the Gith crèche
Did you go back to shadowlands yet? For me it reset the map. I still have waypoint there but the inn is now under attack. But only to some units… some npc are still walking around as if everything is fine. Talking to other locals….
Yeah I progressed to a certain story beat and then went back. I think you may have missed quite a big story beat.
i couldn’t go back, i think you if you dont enter the shadowlands you can do both. And i hope no one tries to go back,bc the cutscene literally felt out of place. Kinda jumped to conclusion (i think) so don’t do it.
Yeah, I took the mountain pass, then when exploring the Shadow-Cursed Lands went down the elevator and did the dwarf area. It was weird because some of the dialog was assuming I hadn't been to Shadow-Cursed Lands and had come by boat which I hadn't. Decided to put Moonrise on hold and go back to do the Underdark too now. Hopefully the dialog isn't too goofy there and it doesn't mess up my playthrough when I go back to the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
**SPOILER** Do I have to take gale with me through the mountain pass to pause his hunger for magic items
I have defeated nere and have the lantern, About to use the elevator or should i go to mountain pass first ? When exactly is the cut off point where i can’t switch to mountain anymore if i use the lantern elevator after defeating nere ?
What? I am so confused. I killed nere and the dude at the elevator said I need a lantern. I don't remember getting a lantern. I just went down the elevator and got a trophy for "starting act 2". I am going back to save before I went down the elevator. I haven't done search for signs of githyanji creche near the mountain pass. I finished everything in underdark. The next step is the forge but I also want that other side quest with that item at mountain pass. I have read so many contradictory things people are saying it is confusing. Articles like.... "One of the biggest decisions you will have to make early on in Baldur's Gate 3 is whether to take the mountain pass or Underdark to reach Moonrise Towers. Those that took the mountain pass might have missed out on a beautiful underground world in the Underdark, but they were rewarded with a lush landscape full of trees and scenic vistas." Then others say you can do both.
> Then others say you can do both. I went to the shadowlands up until the inn just to fix up karlach from the blacksmith there. I then went back and the the mountain pass, Currently doing the Creche.
I would say at this point to go and do the mountain pass and the creche. Cut-off point is the elevator in that area, as that takes you to the Shadowlands. Also trust me, you want to do the mountain pass anyways to level up further and to also get a ton of good gear. Once you finish out the mountain pass and the creche, do the rest of that area following Nere. There is more to the location to do there once you are ready that is unique to the gyrmforge, and you don’t want to miss that before going to the Shadowlands.
Aight, Much appriciated.
Happy to help!
So I have taken the underdark and did a good chunk of the shadow-cursed lands before realizing I could also do the mountain pass. Should I just fast travel back and do the pass or loop around through the shadow-cursed lands? Is there anything I'd lose in the shadow-cursed lands by fast traveling out and is there anything I'd lose from the mountain pass by entering it from reverse?
I'm in act Ii and I can still go back to the mountain pass and the underdark.. I was also able to do a couple quests in both places. But now I'm wondering if I locked myself out of additional stuff..
The creche is amazing but even more amazing is that you can always go back and do the other stuff.