Baldur’s Gate 3: Search The Cellar Guide (2024)

You can’t go more than five minutes without running into an interesting quest while exploring the wonderful world of Baldur’s Gate 3. Most of these quests are quite unusual and solving them generally requires you to think outside the box. Search the Cellar, a quest you’ll come across during Act 1, is a good example of this.

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At first glance, Search the Cellar seems like a pretty unassuming quest that tasks you with, well, searching a cellar. If this was any other game, the cellar would probably contain a couple of healing potions and maybe an uncommon sword or a bow. But this is Baldur’s Gate 3 and Search the Cellar is most certainly not a generic quest. Keep reading to find out how to unlock and complete it.

The Blighted Village

Your first order of business is to make your way to the Blighted Village, which is located just southwest of the Druid’s Grove. You’ll need to head in that general direction anyway to get inside the Goblin Camp and kill their leaders after saving Sazza. As soon as you enter the village, you’ll be greeted by a group of Goblins who are looking for a fight. You can fulfill their wish if you’re in a fighting mood, or you can try to convince them to let your party proceed peacefully by using your Illithid power or by passing a Persuasion or Intimidation check. Either way, you’ll need to get through them to progress further.

Once you’ve dealt with the Goblins, look to your right to find a building with a pair of Shabby Wooden Doors. You can Lockpick your way past the doors, but we recommend going upstairs first. If you look around upstairs you’ll find Highcliff’s Journal along with an Old Key. You can read the journal to unlock another quest called Finishing the Masterwork Weapon. Meanwhile, the key can be used to unlock the Shabby Wooden Doors. You can also make your way to the lower level of the building by burning the spiderweb upstairs and jumping down.

Look around the basem*nt to find a couple of useful items, including a Shovel and Trap Disarm Toolkit. Head into the next room to find two Wooden Chests along with a furnace and some other knick-knacks. Loot the chests to find Highcliff’s Blueprints, a Blacksmith’s Note, some Infernal Iron, and a Steelforged Sword . Reading the blueprints and the note will give you more information about the Masterwork Weapon, but you won’t be able to forge it just yet. While facing the furnace, look to your left to spot a hidden area. Make your way up there and destroy the Cracked Wall to gain access to the Whispering Depths.

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The Whispering Depths

The Whispering Depths is a fairly large cave system inhabited by dangerous spiders. As soon as you enter, look to your left to spot a well with a skeleton next to it. Interacting with the well will take you back to the center of the Blighted Village, but don’t use it just yet. Instead, prepare for a fight as you start delving deeper into the cavern. The first batch of enemies isn’t too dangerous, so try to save as many of your cooldowns as possible for the next one.

Once you’ve defeated the first batch of enemies, look for a skeleton with an Apprentice’s Backpack next to it. The skeleton itself doesn’t contain anything of interest, but you will find an Apprentice’s Journal in the backpack. Go ahead and read it to unlock the Search the Cellar quest. To progress the quest you’ll need to progress deeper into the caverns. Before you do that, you can search the side room just across from the skeleton to find a bunch of useful items, including a chest full of scrolls and a pair of boots that prevent the wearer from becoming Enwebbed.

Before you proceed deeper into the Whispering Depths, you may want to use the well mentioned earlier to go back to the Blighted Village for more supplies. Taking a Long Rest wouldn’t hurt either. There’s a powerful Phase Spider Matriarch up ahead accompanied by several smaller spiders. This fight can be quite challenging, however, you don’t necessarily have to engage the creepy crawlies. Your goal is to acquire an item known as the Dark Amethyst, which can be found on the ground right beneath the area patrolled by the Matriarch.

If you’re careful, you can use a sneaky character like Astarion to grab the item and get out without alerting the spiders. Don’t be ashamed to save scum if you’re taking the sneaky approach. And don’t forget to equip the boots you found earlier before going in. Regardless of how you decide to handle the situation, get your hands on the Dark Amethyst and head back to the Blighted Village afterward.

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Search The Cellar

The cellar in question can be found in the building right next to the Ancient Sigil Sign. This used to be some sort of alchemist shop by the looks of it, but the building has since been abandoned. Luckily, you can still find a bunch of useful items inside, including ingredients and potions. Among other things, you’ll also find the Apothecary’s Ledger. Interact with the book to learn about the secret cellar. Although you can clearly see the entrance to the cellar just behind the Wine Wrack, so perhaps it wasn’t that secret after all.

Once down there, your journal will update and you should start looking around. Aside from more potions, ingredients, and a couple of chests, there doesn’t seem to be anything interesting down here at first glance. However, if you approach the back room with the Tigermist painting hanging on the wall, you’ll notice a lever hidden behind a stack of crates. You can move objects in Baldur’s Gate 3 by simply dragging and dropping them, but you can activate the lever even without touching the crates. Once you do, the bookshelf will move to reveal a hidden tunnel beneath the cellar. Make sure to read the nearby Healer’s Log before you proceed.

Following the tunnel will lead you to an area with Mouldering Caskets scattered all around. The Caskets contain undead warriors who won’t be too happy to see you. You can avoid a fight using stealth, but these enemies aren’t particularly dangerous, so we recommend taking a more direct approach instead. Just keep in mind that once you disturb one of the undead, it will attempt to wake up some of its friends.

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How To Open The Ornate Mirror

Once you’re done with the skeletons, locate the Dark Journal and read it to learn that the cellar was owned not by an apothecary or alchemist, but by a necromancer. Make your way to the opposite side of the area to find an Ornate Mirror. Interact with it and try to convince the mirror that you’re an ally of its master.

Trickery isn't going to work here, so you need to make sure that all the answers you give are the correct ones. If you're successful, the mirror will grant you passage to the next area. If you're not, the Ornate Mirror will turn hostile and will incinerate your entire party.

Ornate Mirror Answers

Your options here will vary depending on your race and class, but the following answers will work for everybody:

• Tell it your name.
• Yes, I’m an ally! I’m an ally of your master’s.
• A foul lich. May he die a thousand more deaths.
• I read a doctor’s journal – he used the balsam to clean a wound. (This option will only be available if you read the Healer’s Log earlier)
• I’d look for whatever spell will rid me of this worm in my head.

If you gave all the right answers the mirror will allow you to proceed to the next area, a secret underground laboratory.

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The Necromancy Of Thay

As you enter the laboratory, turn right and make your way to the far end of the room while grabbing the Basilisk Oil and Scroll of Feather Fall along the way. Grab the Rusted Key and return to the opposite side of the room to unlock the Rusted Iron Gate. There’s a Marble Plate right in front of it that you can disarm. There are traps in the next room, but you can prevent taking too much damage by separating one of your characters from the rest of the party. Enter the room with that character to find a book called Necromancy of Thay on the table.

At this point, you’ll have a couple of options at your disposal. You can either destroy the book using Radiant damage, try to read it, or store it in your inventory and decide later. You’ll gain some approval with certain companions and a small amount of experience if you destroy the book, but there are no other rewards aside from that. If you want to get more out of this quest, you’ll need to read it. Only Gale, Astarion, and the player character can read the book. If you want to get rid of it without destroying it, you can give the book to Gale or Astarion instead.

To read the Necromancy of Thay start by inserting the Dark Amethyst into the slot of the book and then choose the first option to open it. You’ll be met with three Wisdom checks, but you only need to pass one of them to proceed with the quest. If you fail all the rolls, the book will close and you won’t be able to open it again, so don’t hesitate to use Inspiration rolls to tilt the odds back in your favor. Partially reading the tome will grant you the Necromancy of Thay status effect, which gives you Speak with Dead once per long rest. However, the quest isn’t over just yet.

Next up, you’ll want to grab the tome and make your way to Baldur’s Gate. The last part of the quest involves traveling to the Sorcerous Vault, which you can access via a portal from the office of the Sorcerous Sundries. The place is a bit of a maze, but most of the doors are closed at this stage, so you shouldn’t struggle too much with finding the right path. Your objective is to reach the Elminster Vault. There you can find the Tharchiate Codex, an item that allows you to finish reading the Necromancy of Thay.

Delve back into the tome and you’ll receive a powerful Necromancy spell known as Danse Macabre as a reward for reading it in its entirety. The spell allows you to create six ghouls that will fight by your side and is an absolute game-changer.

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