After the end of the main quest in the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3, you will have to travel to Moonrise Towers. Getting there, however, is not easy because it entails traveling through one of two dangerous paths. You will need to choose between the Mountain Pass and the Underdark to get to your destination.
But should you take the Mountain Pass or the Underdark?
Mountain Pass vs. Underdark: Which should you choose BG3?
If you want a faster route, we recommend choosing the Mountain Pass. However, the Underdark will level you up quicker and will put you in a more advantageous position when you come back to the surface, especially when it comes to encountering Gale. Both paths will eventually meet at the Last Light Inn to continue on your path to the Moonrise Towers.
Regardless of the path you chose to get here, you will now be in act two of the main questline. The storyline of the game only gets more complex past this point, so strap in and get ready for a wild ride till you get to the end of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Pros and cons of the Mountain Pass
| Pros | Cons |
| Progress Lae’zel’s story | Mostly centered around Lae’Zel |
| Gith’yanki Creche | Not too story-heavy |
Pros and Cons to the Underdark
| Pros | Cons |
| Level up faster | Enemies are difficult |
| More Lore | |
| Information on your tadpole | |
| Progress Shadowheart’s story |
Traveling through the Mountain Pass to Moonrise Towers in Baldur’s Gate 3
Traveling through the Mountain Pass is the more straightforward of the two options. You can access the area through two different paths. One path leads to the north of the Goblin Camp through the Risen Road. This path is littered with Gnolls and is also the area where you recruit Karlach to the east. If you go to the west, however, you will run into the Githyanki creche and the Mountain Pass.
The other path is to the west of the Goblin Camp and is considered to be the more treacherous way to get there. The enemies that you encounter here will be of a considerably higher level, so it is recommended to avoid this path unless you are quite over-leveled (which you won’t be at this point).
Regardless of the path you choose to get here, the Mountain Pass is quite a dangerous area. If you sided with the Goblins during the previous main quest, this is the recommended path since Minthara will accompany you. Once you reach the NPC named Kar’niss, show him Minthara’s Spider Lute, and he will give you his Moonlantern, which negates the effect of the Shadow curse in the area.
Beyond this, all you have to do is navigate toward the northwest till you reach the Shadow-cursed lands, marking the end of the overland route.
However, if you are looking for the easiest path for Gale, we recommend the Mountain Pass. Fortunately, during your expedition through The Mountain Pass, you will encounter Gale’s former mentor, Elminster. Elminster plays a pivotal role in advancing your Wizard’s narrative quest and offers a break from Gale’s demand for your magical possessions to absorb.
The Mountain Pass route is much longer and more challenging than The Underdark. This makes it a convenient detour to enlist Elminster’s assistance, mitigate Gale’s issues, reach the First Light Inn, establish a Waypoint, procure essential items, and then embark on your journey into The Underdark if you’d like to do both routes.
Traveling through the Underdark to Moonrise Towers in Baldur’s Gate 3
Traveling through the Underdark is admittedly more daunting than the Mountain Pass, but the area holds a lot of interesting secrets for you to discover. The fastest way to get here is by solving the puzzle at the bottom of the Goblin camp, past the Shattered Sanctum, and into the Defiled Temple. Solving this puzzle will unlock the hidden path to the Underdark.
Once you’re down here, it can get quite confusing since there are multiple points of interest. You can take your time navigating through all of the interesting areas, but once you’re done, take the boat to Grymforge to continue the story. Once here, you complete a series of quests that involve facing True Soul Nere and eventually fighting the boss of Grymforge: the giant golem named Grym.
If you aren’t strong enough to defeat Grym, you can come back and fight the golem later. The path to Moonrise Towers is opened up by taking the elevator across the main corridor here to get to the Shadow-cursed lands. You can either choose to complete all of the quests in the Underdark or rush past the elevator to get back to the main quest line.
Can you explore both the Mountain Pass and Underdark in Baldur’s Gate 3?
Yes, you can explore both the Mountain Pass and Underdark in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you have the time, we recommend progressing through both so you don’t miss out on the full experience.
Alternatively, you can also let your questing make the decision for you. Depending on the routes and storylines you follow, you may start exploring Mountain Pass or Underdark without even noticing.
In our playthrough, we started with Underdark first and then moved to Mountain Pass after exploring all parts of it. Our questing called the shots for us, and with the path leading us to Underdark, we simply obliged and saved Mountain Pass for later.
