This is a complete walkthrough of Baldur's Gate 3's (BG3) Act 1 Main Quest: Find a Cure! Read on to see detailed walkthroughs for the main quest, important notes for the quest itself, and relevant side quest guides along the way!
List of Contents
- Find a Cure Walkthrough
- Explore the Ruins
- Travel to the Emerald Grove
- Resolve the Grove's Issues
- Finding a Cure
- Travel to the Shadow-Cursed Lands
- Side Quests and Content
- Recruitable Companions
- Related Guides
Find a Cure Walkthrough
| Escape the Nautiloid Objectives | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explore the Ruins |
| 2 | Travel to the Emerald Grove |
| 3 | Resolve the Grove's Issues |
| 4 | Find a Cure |
| 5 | Travel to the Shadow-Cursed Lands (Moonrise Towers) |
Explore the Ruins
Head east from the Roadside Cliffs Waypoint to discover the Chapel Ruins where the Gnome Grimblebock and his adventurers are guarding the location.
Persuade or kill them and head inside the Refectory to deal with the remaining looters, and explore the Dank Crypt inside where you can find and invite Withers to your camp.
After exploring the Dank Crypt, head west from the Chapel Ruins and free Lae'zel so that she can join your party.
How to Unlock Withers: Dank Crypt Guide
Travel to the Emerald Grove
Head north of the Roadside Cliffs Waypoint and you'll encounter a group of adventurers being chased by Goblins.
Wyll, the Blade of Frontiers, will join this fight and you'll need to wipe out the Goblin forces to get access to the Emerald Grove.
With the Goblins defeated, you now have access to The Hollow and the Emerald Grove and can recruit Wyll, as well as complete sidequests such as Stealing the Sacred Idol or following Lae'zel's lead on the Githyanki Patrol.
Resolve the Grove's Issues
There's tension in the Emerald Grove between the two resident factions. The Druids of the Emerald Grove want to evict the Tiefling Refugees, while the refugees want to leave but can't travel the road due to increased Goblin Presence.
How you handle the situation in the grove will result in the following situations:
- Killing Kagha will cause a fight to break out between the Druids and The Tieflings
- The Druids and Tieflings band together after rescuing the Druid Halsin
- Side with Kagha and force the Tieflings out of the Grove
Helping resolve the grove's issues will point you to several leads on how to get rid of your illithid parasite, and you can complete sidequests to gain experience for your party.
Save the Refugees
Finding a Cure
| Find a Cure Leads | ||
|---|---|---|
| Healer Nettie | Priestess Gut | Auntie Ethel |
| Volo | First Druid Halsin | Minthara |
| Omeluum | Githyanki Crèche | |
You now have several leads on how to get rid of the illithid parasite such as the local druid healer Nettie, the Goblin Priestess Gut, as well as the Githyanki Crèche in the Mountain Pass.
Get Help From Healer Nettie
The Druid Nettie is the local healer in the Emerald Grove and both Zevlor and the other druids will point you to her direction as she may have answers on how to get rid of the illithid parasite.
Request Help from Nettie
Ask the Goblin Priestess For Help
The Tieflings have captured a Goblin named Sazza who claims that their leader, Priestess Gut, can heal almost any ailment.
In exchange for her freedom and leading her safely out of the Emerald Grove, she can bring you to her priestess in the Goblin Camp and allow you to freely access the Shattered Sanctum.
Alternatively, you can let Arka kill Sazza and use Speak with Dead spell to get the information from her corpse.
| Ask the Goblin Priestess for Help Quests | |
|---|---|
| How to Save Sazza | Seek Help from Priestess Gut |
Get Help From Auntie Ethel
You'll meet a strange woman called Auntie Ethel in The Hollow who says she has a cure for whatever ails you.
She invites you to her home in the Riverside Teahouse where she claims she can get rid of the mindflayer tadpole.
Find Auntie Ethel
Rescue Volo
The eccentric Volo was captured by Goblins after attempting to interview them regarding the Absolute. Once rescued and invited to the camp, he claims that he can help remove the mindflayer tadpole after a few days of research.
Unfortunately, Volo can't get rid of the parasite and instead gets rid of one of your eyes. He repays his mistake with the Ersatz Eye, which grants your character permanent See Invisibility.
Rescue Volo from the Goblin Camp
Rescue the Druid Halsin
Nettie doesn't have the knowledge to cure your party of the illithid parasite but she says that Halsin, the original First Druid of the Emerald Grove, may have the means to help your party.
Unfortunately, Halsin was captured by the Goblin forces led by three powerful Absolute Leaders. You need to free him and help him kill the Absolute Leaders so that he can help you.
Rescue the Druid Halsin
Ally with Minthara
One of the Goblin Leaders, Minthara, will ask you to help her raid the Emerald Grove with her Goblin forces. By revealing the location of the Emerald Grove and earning her trust, she may lead you to the source of the mindflayer tadpoles and hopefully a cure for your own parasite.
This route alllows you to betray the Emerald Grove and raze the location regardless of how you resolved the civil issues there between the Druids and Tiefling Refugees.
How to Side with Minthara
Help Omeluum Investigate the Parasite
A friendly Mindflayer called Omeluum who has set up shop in the Myconid Colony, and with his expertise, he may be your best lead to curing the illithid parasite.
All he needs is a couple of Tongue of Madness and Timmask Spores, which you can find in the Arcane Tower in the Underdark.
How to Enter the Arcane Tower
Find the Githyanki Crèche
Ater Lae'zel interrogates Zorru, she discovers that a group of Githyanki are patrolling the area west of Waukeen's Rest near the mountain pass.
Lae'zel hopes to make contact with the Githyanki Patrol and find the location of a Crèche where she claims a zaith'isk can extract the illithid parasite.
Travel to Moonrise Towers
| Moonrise Towers Paths | |
|---|---|
| The Underdark | The Mountain Pass |
All leads point to one location: Moonrise Towers, located in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, and where the infected True Souls of the Absolute Cult are coming from.
The Druid Halsin recommends going through the longer but relatively safer path through the Underdark, while allying with Minthara allows you to travel through the Mountain Pass and directly to the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
Underdark vs Mountain Pass Path
Travel Through the Underdark
After solving a puzzle in the Defiled Temple, you'll reach the Underdark and find that you'll need to travel through the Grymforge to reach the elevator to the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
Once you arrive at the Shadow-Cursed Lands, you'll encounter some Harpers from the Last Light Inn where the residents there are protected from the curse.
After meeting Jaheira and preventing Isobel from being abducted, you'll need to ambush an Absolute group led by the drider Kar'niss and obtain a Pixie's Blessing from the Moonlantern he carried that will allow you to traverse the shadows and head to Moonrise Towers unscathed.
How to Get to the Underdark
Travel Through the Mountain Pass
Travelling through the Mountain Pass leads you straight to the Shadow-Cursed Lands where Minthara summons your guide, the drider Kar'niss who has the Moonlantern that will allow you to pass through the Shadow-Cursed lands unscathed.
After fending off an ambush from Harpers, you'll arrive at Moonrise Towers where the Absolute Cult's forces have gathered.
Act 1 Side Quests and Contents
Nautiloid Crash Region Quests
| Nautiloid Crash Region Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dank Crypt Guide | The Dying Mind Flayer | Auntie Ethel Quest Guide |
| How to Get Owlbear Cub | Spiderling Nest Guide- | How to Open the Selunite Chest |
| How to Get Scratch | Should You Heal Pandirna | Underground Passage Guide |
Druid's Grove Quests
| Druid Grove Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| How to Steal the Sacred Idol | Should You Save The Goblin Sazza? | How to Avoid Tiefling Pickpockets |
| Save the Refugees | How to Save Nadira | How to Save Mirkon |
| How to Save the First Druid Halsin | How to Open the Stone Slab | Request Help from Nettie |
| How to Investigate and Expose Kagha | Save Arabella | - |
The Risen Road Quests
| The Risen Road Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| Find the Missing Shipment | How to Rescue the Grand Duke | Rescue the Trapped Man |
Blighted Village Quests
| Blighted Village Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| How to Beat the Goblins: Blighted Village | How to Open the Necromancy of Thay | How to Recruit the Ogres |
| How to Finish the Masterwork Weapon | That Barn: Avoid Killing Buthir | Rescue the Gnome and Stop the Windmill |
Goblin Camp Quests
| Goblin Camp Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| How to Get Volo's Ersatz Eye | Defiled Temple Puzzle | Find the Nightsong |
| Ask the Goblin Priestess for Help | - | - |
Underdark Quests
| Underdark Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arcane Tower Guide | Defeat the Duergar Intruders | Save the Grymforge Gnomes |
| Find the Adamantine Forge | Deliver Nere's Head | How to Find the Mushroom Picker |
| How to Cure the Poisoned Gnome | Help the Cursed Monk | - |
Mountain Pass Quests
| Mountain Pass Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| Steal a Githyanki Egg | How to Beat Gremishkas | How to Access Guardian of Faith Room |
| Dawnmaster Puzzle Guide | - | - |
Act 1 Recruitable Companions
| List of Act I Companions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadowheart | Astarion | Gale | La'ezel |
| Wyll | Karlach | Halsin | Minthara |
Shadowheart
Shadowheart is one of the first companions you'll have during the Prologue, but is first recruitable in the Ravaged Beach not far from where your character wakes up after the crash.
Shadowheart Companion Guide
Astarion
Astarion is found not far from the Ravaged Beach and, after a brief confrontation, is recruitable after convincing him to group up in search for a cure.
Astarion Companion Guide
Gale
You first meet Gale stuck halfway in the Roadside Cliffs Waypoint. After freeing him from the rock, you can convince him to group up in search for a cure.
Gale Companion Guide
Lae'zel
Lae'zel is one of the first companions you'll have during the Prologue, but is first recruitable west of the Chapel Ruins. After freeing her from a trap, she insists to join your group in search for a cure for the mindflayer tadpole.
Lae'zel Companion Guidel
Wyll
Wyll appears to assist you in fending of the Goblins assaulting the gates of the Emerald Grove. You can then recruit the famed Blade of Frontiers after speaking with him in The Hollow.
Wyll Companion Guide
Karlach
Karlach is the runaway "devil" that Wyll is hunting. After convincing Wyll that she's innocent and wiping out the Paladins of Tyr, Karlach will join you in your journey to find a cure for the illithid parasite.
Karlach Companion Guide
Halsin
The First Druid Halsin is a possible companion and, although not recruitable during Act I, requires you to side with the Emerald Grove and kill the Absolute Leaders in the Shattered Sanctum so that you can recruit him later in Act II.
Halsin Companion Guide
Minthara
The Absolute Leader Minthara is a possible companion and, although not recruitable during Act I, requires you to side with the Absolute Leaders and raid the Emerald Grove so that you can recruit her later in Act II.
Minthara Companion Guide
Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) Related Guides
Main Campaign Walkthrough
Act 1 Campaign Walkthrough
| All Act 1 Main Quests | |
|---|---|
| Prologue | Find a Cure |
Act 2 Campaign Walkthrough
| All Act 2 Main Quests | |
|---|---|
| Infiltrate Moonrise Towers | Help Your Protector |
Act 3 Campaign Walkthrough
| All Act 3 Main Quests | ||
|---|---|---|
| Get Gortash's Netherstone | Get Orin's Netherstone | Confront the Elder Brain |
