In Baldur’s Gate 3 there is a special room in the Towers of the Moonsrise that belongs to Balthazar. We will show you how to enter this room and solve the puzzle around his bookshelf.
Where are the Towers of the Moonsrise? On your journey through Baldur’s Gate 3, you will encounter the Towers of the Moonsrise in Act 2. So follow the main quest until you reach this location.
Once there, you will find a locked door on the first floor of the towers, near Z’Rell’s room. This door will lead you into Balthazar’s chamber and a puzzle.
How to Open Balthazar’s Room
Balthazar’s room is located at coordinates X: -132, Y: -182. You will receive the key and permission from Z’Rell himself to open the door to his quarters. After that, you can enter the room and look around.
You can loot a Moon Lantern that protects you from the curse in the Shadowlands. It is located next to the wooden desk near the telescope. If you already have a Moon Lantern, the item is not as relevant, but it can never hurt to have a backup lantern.
To the west of your position, you will find a suspicious bookshelf that turns out to be a secret door. You need to open this now.
How Do I Solve the Bookshelf Puzzle?
To solve the bookshelf puzzle and unlock Balthazar’s secret Necromancy room, proceed as follows:
- The easiest method is to interact only with the row of books located at the top right of the bookshelf. Be careful: If you don’t do this and interact with the wrong row, you will deal with traps in the form of undead corpses or sharp spikes.
- If you have touched the right row, you will now have the opportunity to interact with the altar located to the right of the bookshelf.
- Your task now is to take the heart of the corpse nearby. Once you have the heart, place it in the altar. Make sure you put the heart in the construct, not on it, otherwise the mechanism won’t work.
What is in this secret room? In Balthazar’s secret Necromancy room, you can find pieces of lore and an interesting, but locked chest that can be easily unlocked. Inside, you will find an elixir and a hat that, once per turn, causes a condition created by the wearer with spells and cantrips to also last for 2 turns as ‘Encrusted with Frost’.
Additionally, in the same room, there is a ritual circle on a wooden table to the north. Now you have two options if you have Gale with you:
- Destroy the circle with Gale, granting him a permanent buff for his concentration checks.
- Or: You can build a Shadow Lantern. With the lantern, you can summon a shadow spirit after each long rest to assist you in combat.
That was all important about Balthazar’s room. What did you decide, and did you solve the puzzle yourself? Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments! One last tip: Be careful with your long rest, as wasting too much time may cause you to miss quests.
