How to Get to the Shadow-Cursed Lands: Mountain Path vs Underdark

The Shadow Cursed Lands is a location in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) that is accessible either through the Underdark or through the Mountain Pass. Check out our guide to learn how to get through the Underdark and Mountain Pass, learn which path is better to take, and a list of all side quests that you can find in this location!

How to Get to the Shadow Cursed Lands

	All Available Paths
1	Through the Underdark
2	Through the Mountain Pass

The Shadow Cursed Lands is a location in Baldur's Gate 3 where much of Act II takes place, and is normally impassable due to the very shadow curse that eats away at those that dare pass through it.

Safely getting through the Shadow Cursed Lands requires siding with either the Druid Grove or the Goblin's Absolute Leaders to obtain magical protection from the shadow curse.

Through the Underdark

	Through the Underdark Guide
1	Solve the Defiled Temple Puzzle
2	Board the Duergar Boat
3	The Grymforge Elevator
4	Arriving at the Shadow Cursed Lands
5	Obtaining the Moonlantern

This path to the Shadow Cursed Lands takes you through the Underdark and requires you to side with the Druid Grove by saving the First Druid Halsin.

Freeing Halsin from the Goblin's forces in the Shattered Sanctum and finishing his questlline will have him reveal that the path to the Underdark is through the Defiled Temple in the Shattered Sanctum.

How to Save the First Druid Halsin

Solve the Defiled Temple Puzzle

You need to solve the Defiled Temple's Moon Riddle to access the passage to the Underdark. You can do this by rotating the Stone Discs in the following order:

• Rotate the top stone disc once.
• Next, rotate the left stone disc once.
• Rotate the right stone disc twice.
• Rotate the bottom stone disc three times.
• Finally, rotate the left stone disc twice to solve the puzzle

Alternatively, you can pass a Perception check by checking the lever near the door and simply lockpicking it to unlock the door.

How to Solve the Defiled Temple Puzzle

Board the Duergar Boat

Once in the Undedark, you'll need to travel to the Underdark Beach and ride the Duergar Boat to the Grymforge.

The Duergard Slavers in the area won't let you use their boat and you have the option to either help them retrieve a pair of boots to grant you access, or by simply killing them.

Defeat the Duergar Intruders

The Grymforge Elevator

Once you arrive at the Grymforge, you'll need to take the elevator across the waypoint back to the surface to access the Shadow Cursed Lands.

Note: The Grymforge has its own set of sidequests and attempting to ride the elevator will cause True Soul Nere to contact you telepathically and ask you to help him. It's recommended to finish the quests here to get experience and better gear!

Arriving at the Shadow Cursed Lands

The Grymforge elevator will take you to the mountain area in the Shadow Cursed Lands and is closer to two areas of importance: the Last Light Inn and Moonrise Towers.

This path, however, leaves you with no magical protection from the curse itself. You'll need to equip a torch to avoid getting damaged by the shadows or by casting Produce Flame, Dancing Lights, and Light spell on a character.

Shadowheart is also immune to the initial effects of the Shadow Curse and will only get affected if she ventures to areas in deep shadow. Consider taking her in your party when traversing the area!

Note: Certain areas in the Shadow Cursed Lands are impossible to pass through even with a torch and light spells, Shadowheart's immunity and even Selûne's Blessing.

How to Free Shadowheart

Obtaining the Moonlantern

To get a permanent way to traverse the area safely, you'll need to help the Harpers ambush an Absolute convoy and obtain the Moonlantern.

Once obtained, free the pixie to get a Pixie's Blessing that grants full immunity to the curse without having to hold the Moonlantern!

Alternatively, you can directly head to the House in Deep Shadow and attack the drider Kar'niss directly to obtain his Moonlantern.

Through the Mountain Pass

	Through the Mountain Pass
1	Picking a Mountain Pass
2	Obtaining the Moonlantern
3	Head Northwest

This path to the Shadow Cursed Lands takes you through the Mountain pass and requires you to side with the Absolute Leaders in the Goblin Camp and wiping out the Druid Grove together with Minthara.

Picking a Mountain Pass

There are two mountain passes that you can go through to reach the Shadow Cursed lands. The first path is located west of Waukeen's Rest through the Risen Road and requires going through the Githyanki Patrol in the area.

The second one is located southwest of the Goblin Camp and while there's no Githyanki Patrol here, this section of the Mountain Pass has significantly higher level enemies than the northern one.

Obtaining the Moonlantern

Once you arrive at the Mountain Pass, Minthara will accompany you and you'll simply need to follow the path northwest to the Shadow Cursed Lands.

Eventually, you'll encounter a drider named Kar'niss who has the Moonlantern and you'll need to show him Minthara's Spider Lute for him to give you the lantern.

Head Northwest

With the Moonlantern providing you protection, all you need to do is head northwest following the path and into the Shadow Cursed Lands.

From here, you can head to the Last Light Inn or go straight to Moonrise Towers to resume the main quest.

Underdark or Mountain Pass Route?

Underdark Path is Longer but Offers More Experience

Choosing to travel through the Underdark is longer and will take you to 2 other areas before you reach the Shadow Cursed Lands.

However, this path offers more experience for your party as you'll need to finish several sidequests to progress between the maps.

This means that by the time you reach the Shadow Cursed Lands, you're more prepared to take on the difficult enemies and more challenging sidequests in the area!

Mountain Pass is Shorter and Provides Moonlantern Earlier

Traveling through the Mountain Pass is faster as it's a direct path to the Shadow Cursed Lands. Additionally, you'll immediately get full protection from the shadows since you'll get the Moonlantern earlier.

The trade off is that you'll get less experience once you reach the Shadow Cursed Lands, which means you might encounter a significant difficulty spike once you reach the area.

List of the Shadow Cursed Lands Side Quests

All Available and Related Quests

Baldur's Gate 3 Related Guides

Baldur's Gate 3 Beginner's Guide