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Baldur's Gate 3 is true to its Dungeons & Dragons roots, offering fans an almost endless amount of ways to approach its sprawling world and story. As a result, players can lose hundreds of hours uncovering everything the best-reviewed game of the year has to offer. Act 1 alone can easily take over 30 hours, with many players taking a lot longer to explore it all.
At the end of Act 1, however, Baldur's Gate 3 has a point of no return of sorts. Although players can return to the areas, many of the characters move on and the world may change slightly. Therefore any unfinished side quests are left unresolved if players progress before completing them. Here are the 10 most important things to finish up in Act 1 before traveling onwards.
Recruit All the Companions and Progress Their Quests
Players can recruit several companions to join them on their mission. A maximum of three can accompany them at any one time, with the rest waiting at the group's camp. The first companion that players encounter will be Lae'zel. She joins the player on the Nautiloid ship at the very start of the game, but once on land, she needs saving from a hanging cage just North of the crash site. While on the Nautiloid ship, players can also free another companion, Shadowheart, from a Nautiloid pod and she'll automatically join the party at the beach crash site.
Astarion, a high-elf vampire spawn Rogue, is to the North of the crash site and Gale, a human Wizard, is nearby, crying for help from a magic portal. Players can pull him out to have him join the party. As the story progresses, players will reach Emerald Grove and meet Wyll, who can be recruited if players speak with him once inside. He's hunting a demon, Karlach, who can also be recruited if the player convinces Wyll not to kill her.
Finally, players can choose to recruit Minthara, one of the evil Goblin leaders, but doing so will make both Wyll and Karlach immediately leave so it's a steep price to pay. Each companion also has their own questline. Although they won't be completed in Act 1, it's important that players follow up on as many leads as possible before progressing.
Recruit Withers to Your Camp
Creating a character for Baldur's Gate 3 can be a daunting task. Not only is there a huge amount of customization options, but things like race, class, and background can have lasting impacts on how the game plays out. Fortunately, players do have the ability to respect their character by paying Withers a relatively small amount of coin.
Withers is found in the Dank Crypt to the North of the Nautiloid crash site. Once players speak to him, regardless of their dialog choices, he'll head back to the party's camp. There, players can talk to him to change their class, skills, and ability scores. He can also revive dead companions and sell Hirelings who can join the party for a set amount of gold. Given everything he offers, it's important players find him early on.
Find the Missing Shipment
As players explore the early areas, they'll likely encounter some dying hyenas on the road Northwest after crossing the river to the North of the Blighted Village. Players should search the nearby corpse of the Dead Caravan Agent to find a note entitled "Shipment Orders," which starts the side quest "Find the Missing Shipment."
Following the blood trail will eventually lead to a cave, where two men are guarding a magical chest from a pack of knolls. The knolls put up a tough fight, so players might want to attempt it towards the end of the Act. The shipment they're guarding is the missing shipment, which can either be taken to the tavern in Waukeen's Rest later in Act 1, or sold to a fence in Baldur's Gate. Although it's not the most important quest, it highlights to the player how random encounters and exploration can reap huge rewards in terms of both loot and intriguing new storylines.
Defeat the Goblin Camp and Their Leaders
Early on in the story, players learn that Emerald Grove is being attacked by goblins. The Grove's Druid leader, Halsin, is also linked to the game's main story and can be freed from the Worg Pens deep inside the goblin camp. Completing these quests is useful for several reasons. Firstly, it's a great way to build XP and level up the party, which makes a real difference to the game's difficulty. It's also a good idea to free Halsin as he can later be recruited as a powerful companion in Act 2.
Players can also free the bard, Volo, from the goblin camp. He doesn't become a companion, but he does stay with the party at their camp. He's interested in the player's Mindflayer Parasite and offers to try and remove it. He's ultimately unsuccessful and if players endure the entirety of his surgery, he'll accidentally remove their eye instead. Fortunately, as an apology, he replaces it with an eye that can see invisibility, which is incredibly useful. Overall, this side quest is hugely important and not to be missed.
Recruit the Ogres in the Blighted Village
In the Southwest of the Blighted Village, players can find a trio of ogres in a ruined house. The end result of this encounter can go one of two ways and players will need to weigh up the pros and cons of each to decide their course of action. The first, and perhaps most instinctive option, is to fight them. This can be a very tough fight for lower-level parties, but it's made easier if players attack from the rooftop of the house to avoid facing them in a melee battle. The reward for defeating them is a powerful headpiece that raises the wearer's Intelligence stat to 17.
However, one of the ogres, aptly named Lump the Enlightened, seems a lot more with it than the others because of the aforementioned headpiece. He's willing to actually have a conversation. Through talking with him, players can pass several dialog checks, including a DC 20 check on either Persuasion or Deception to recruit them via the sound of a horn to aid the party in times of need. The caveat is that the ogres expect to be paid a large sum of money—1,000G in the first instance and 5,000G after that. It's also worth noting that refusing to pay them later will initiate combat, where players can loot the powerful headpiece anyway.
Deal with Auntie Ethel
The swamp to the Southwest of the Blighted Village is home to one of Act 1's most memorable quests. Players will meet two brothers, who insist that an elderly woman, Auntie Ethel, has kidnapped their sister Mayrina. Auntie Ethel can be found inside the Riverside Teahouse, encouraging Mayrina to finish a pie as she's pregnant and eating for two. She'll offer to help remove the player's parasite, but it's strongly suggested that players don't take up her offer as it results in several long-lasting negative consequences.
Auntie Ethel will eventually reveal herself to be an evil witch and will disappear further into the Teahouse, taking Mayrina with her. Following after her will result in a tough, but enjoyable boss fight with Auntie Ethel in her powerful hag form, where players must also save Mayrina from a burning cage by dousing the fire, either with magic or thrown water. Once Auntie Ethel is defeated, players can explore her Teahouse further, finding several strange potions, some of which are beneficial and some of which are harmful. Finally, players can conclude Mayrina's bizarre storyline once back outside.
Rescue Animal Companions and Convince Them to Join Your Camp
There are two animal companions that players can recruit to their camp during Act 1 in some of the game's more wholesome side content. The first is Scratch, the loyal dog who can be found near the Blighted Village, to the North of the bridge that players travel across to reach the village from the Emerald Grove. He'll defensively be by the side of his dead previous owner, who he believes is simply asleep. Players can pass a series of checks to convince him to join their camp. After smelling the protagonist's scent, he'll wander off, only to make his way to the camp two nights later.
Nearby is a cave with an Owlbear inside. Players can pass several checks to both realize she's protecting a cub and convince her that they aren't a threat and back away. Even if players fail those checks and fight the Owlbear mother, if they spare and interact with the cub afterward, they'll still have the chance to recruit it. The Owlbear cub is then later found at the Goblin Camp and, if players defeat the goblins or persuade them to gift them the cub, it can be recruited to the camp.
With both animals, it's vital that players let them sniff their scent to find their way to the camp. The two animals become good friends and provide some heartwarming cutscenes and interactions at the camp that players won't want to miss.
Finish the Masterwork Weapon
In the Blighted Village, players will find a well that they can climb down. A blacksmith's forge is at the bottom, through a cracked wall which players need to destroy. Opening a nearby chest and collecting Highcliff's Blueprints will start a side quest to complete the masterwork weapon. To do so, players will require a piece of Sussur bark from a rare Sussur tree.
The Sussur bark can be obtained from the Sussur tree in the Underdark, right next to the Underdark - Beach fast travel point to the North. From here, players can turn Southeast and travel along a branch of the Sussur tree until they reach its trunk, where they can collect a single piece of bark. Combining the bark in the Blighted Village's forge with either a sickle, dagger, or greatsword will create a powerful Sussur weapon.
The greatsword is the hardest-hitting and is a great weapon for fighters and other melee builds. If players don't have a greatsword in their inventory already, there's conveniently one by the webbed corpses at the bottom of the well. The forged Sussur Greatsword deals a relatively large amount of damage and has the added bonus of silencing opponents when it strikes them, making them unable to cast verbal spells.
Use the Adamantine Forge
Deep in the Underdark, beyond the rubble at the Grymforge, players will find the giant Adamantine Forge. The easiest way to reach it is to ungroup a party member and give them a Potion of Feather Fall. Then, have them jump off the back of the area next to where Nere was stuck behind the rubble, by the broken Lady Shar statue. A fast travel point awaits at the bottom and the rest of the party can then simply use it to regroup.
Around the area, players can find molds and veins of Mithral rocks which can be attacked to drop Mithral Ore. It's worth noting that there's only enough Mithral Ore to forge two pieces of equipment, so players should choose which molds to use carefully. The armor and shield offer the best long-term benefits as the weapons will be quickly surpassed by those found in Act 2. Activating the forge also starts a tough boss fight against Grym, who can be lured into the center of the forge and crushed to deal large amounts of damage. The effort it takes to reach and activate the forge is definitely worth it for the benefits.
Fully Explore Both the Underdark and the Mountain Pass
It can be a little unclear where Baldur's Gate 3's first Act actually ends. Despite confusing warnings, simply entering the Underdark and the Mountain Pass isn't a point of no return. Players need to actually make their way through these areas and reach the end, which is also signaled with warnings, to complete the Act. Therefore, it's important that players fully explore both of these areas before progressing to ensure they don't miss out.
In the Underdark, for example, players will want to find the Myconid Colony, Grymforge, and Adamantine Forge before taking the elevator in the Grymforge to start Act 2. The Mountain Pass is a more scenic route to Act 2 and offers a series of different challenges. The most notable is finding and completing the Githyanki Creche questline and entering the Astral Plane at the end. Once players are satisfied that they've explored both, they should then be ready to start the game's second Act.