How To Solve Balthazar’s Chambers Bookcase Puzzle

The diplomatic approach to Chapter 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3 involves walking the line between the Harpers at Last Light Inn and the Absolute Cultists at Moonrise Towers. Getting into the necromancer Balthazar’s room on the second floor is a good step toward making your time in the Shadow Cursed Lands bearable.

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While getting into Balthazar’s room isn’t too difficult, figuring out how to get past the suspicious bookshelf isn’t as straightforward.

How To Reach Balthazar’s Room

Ascend the staircase behind Ketheric Thorm’s throne in the main room on the first floor of Moonrise Towers. Up the winding staircase and to the left, you will find Commander Z’rell. Have a conversation with Z’rell (and pass some deception, intimidation, or persuasion checks) to gain permission to enter Balthazar’s room. Z’rell will give you a key, saving you the trouble of sneaking in and lockpicking the door. Considering Z’rell’s office is right in front of the door to Balthazar’s room, this is the easiest way in.

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Bookcase Puzzle Solution

Z’rell told you to take one of Balthazar’s spare lanterns, which is leaning up against a chest for you to take. But, there is more to find in Balthazar’s room: walk toward the sole bookshelf on the far wall to investigate. You should notice several rows of books. These are switches that can be pulled — don’t touch them yet.

Pulling the wrong protruding book will trigger traps! Poison clouds will fill the room and lock the doors behind a DC 30 lock. Spikes may come through the floor in front of the bookshelf. The undead may be raised, forcing you into a fight.

• First, pull the lever close to the far door by the urn and the board of diagrams.
• You will notice a click from an odd-shaped altar next to the bookshelf.
• Inspecting this altar reveals it needs an object to be inserted into it; luckily, there are plenty of viscera and dead bodies to pick through.
• Loot one of the many piles or corpses to get a heart.
• Insert the heart into the altar.
• Then, pull the top right book on the bookshelf.

You’ll get Inspiration for completing this puzzle: Secrets of the Necromancer and A Little Too Familiar with the Grotesque.

If you have the wizard Gale with you, you can let him interact with a ritual circle on a desk near some broken moon lanterns and a dead pixie. You can choose to allow Gale to craft a Shadow Lantern by combining a dead pixie and a broken lantern. The Shadow Lantern will allow you to summon a Shadow Wraith.

But, if you give Gale the choice, he will destroy the ritual circle, granting him the Mystra’s Benevolence Buff. This buff gives Gale a permanent advantage on concentration checks.

NEXT: Baldur’s Gate 3: How To Remove The Shadow Curse

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