Rescuing the Druid Halsin - Baldur's Gate III Guide - IGN (2024)

Wondering how to get the parasite out of your head? Rescuing Halsin could be just the ticket.

This Act One quest is part of the Finding a Cure main quest, and it'll take you through a number of tricky battles and challenges to potentially cure your party. This quest will get you closer to Act Two, and there's plenty of Side Quests and Companion Quests to work through while you're at it.

Below, you'll find IGN's complete BG3 Walkthrough for Rescuing the Druid Halsin, including key dialogue choices, item locations, and combat encounter tips.

Rescuing the Druid Halsin BG3 Walkthrough

By the time you get the Rescuing the Druid Halsin quest, you will have entered Emerald Grove and heard about a Druid who went missing. He could be the answer to your problems (or his assistant, Nettie), so it's time to set out and find him.

First things first, you'll need to get to the Goblin Camp. As soon as you get the Halsin quest, you'll get a marker on your map showing where to go. Fast travel to Emerald Grove Environs to start.

Follow the path west toward the quest marker on your mini-map.

Walk past the scene of the battle that took place outside Emerald Grove, through the forest, and up to the bridge. Head over the bridge to continue.

As you cross the bridge, you'll encounter Aradin and the remainder of his crew. Some of them are dead, and there are some Goblin corpses on the ground as well.

If you speak to Aradin, he'll dismiss 'the contract' as a waste of time, informing you that the whole reason that the party went to the Goblin camp was to find a relic under the ancient Temple that the Goblins have built their camp in. The group will then give up and run off.

Remember to loot as you go- loot is random in most cases in Baldur's Gate 3, but dead adventurers and Goblins often have weapons or gold.

As you walk into the camp, you'll find a dead Tiefling on the ground, and your party will roll for a Perception check. If you pass the roll, you'll notice that there's a Goblin ambush up ahead.

Not every Goblin encounter in the Blighted Village is necessarily violent, though. If you roll well (and use the parasite to your advantage) you can diffuse the situation and get the Goblins to listen to you.

As you work your way through the Village, you will come across a Gnome strapped to a windmill, being tortured by a group of Goblins. Getting involved and trying to save the Gnome will start the Side Quest called Rescue the Gnome.

While some Side Quests may seem insignificant, saving people and making allies can be incredibly handy in the last Act of the game. Remember- your actions will have a knock-on effect.

Keep an eye out for Waypoints as you go, and make sure to take a Long Rest and save wherever you need. The upcoming fights can be pretty tricky, so keep your party updated by equipping any new, powerful items you find and leveling up whenever you gain enough XP.

Head Over to the Camp

The Blighted Village is an interesting zone, but it's not where you'll find Halsin. To rescue him, you'll need to keep heading west toward the map marker. This will take you to a Goblin Camp.

Head straight across the bridge and find the Goblin called Sentinel Olak. Speak to him to find out more about the Goblin Camp and where Halsin is.

You can interact with Olak in multiple ways here. You can roll for Persuasion or other proficiencies, threaten him, use the parasite, or even use race or class-specific abilities.

For example, Drow characters will be immediately sent through without question.

If you speak to Sentinel Olak further, you'll learn that Halsin is being kept prisoner in a place called The Pits. You'll also be able to learn that the Goblins are celebrating because they've just taken part in a raid on an Inn called Waukeen's Rest.

You'll also be able to ask about Moonrise Towers and the prisoners that have been taken there.

Before you leave to find The Pits, you can trade with Olak by clicking the trade button at the bottom left corner while talking to him.

Once you're done, press on into the camp by taking the bridge with the barricades.

As you head in, your party will notice that a Bard has been captured.

The Bard Behind Bars

As luck would have it (for you, not him), his cage is in The Pits. This interaction also starts up a side quest to Rescue Volo from the Goblins. Again, this will have a huge impact down the line and it can even up a new potential avenue for curing your party from the parasite.

There are two ways to deal with the issue of getting inside the Temple where Halsin and Volo are.

Firstly, you can take on the entire camp in battle. It is possible, but it's a particularly tricky fight, and you'll need to make good use of the tall structures around the area if you want to have the upper hand. It's important to try and deal with the camp in groups, too.

If you do choose to do this, save before you try, and make sure to use environmental aspects like braziers and wooden structures against your enemies.

One of the best things about Baldur's Gate 3 is how immersive the environments are. You can shoot the hinge of a brazier to drop it on an enemy's head and set them on fire, or explode a wooden structure they're standing on to send them hurtling to the floor.

There's another way into the Temple, though.

To get there, find the Knotted Roots to the west side of where Guard Gurgon is standing and use them to climb up to the higher level. Here, you'll notice two packs of sleepy, drunk Goblins and Bugbears snoozing by a Cracked Wall.

Select 'examine' on the wall to see what you need to break it. It'll tell you that you can use either Force spells or Bludgeoning attacks to break it down.

Shadowheart's bludgeoning mace attack works well for this. The issue here is that breaking the wall will wake up the sleeping Goblins.

Using a Rogue like Astarion to sneakily dispatch the group is ideal here. Put your whole party into stealth and don't stand too close to the edge, so that you don't end up pulling the entire camp or any of the nearby scouts. You can one-shot most of the lower-health Goblins, but the Bugbears will start a combat encounter.

Once the enemies are dealt with, break the wall and head inside.

Finding Halsin

Once you're in, a guard will stop you and demand to know what you're doing.

With some careful rolls and/or the parasite's powers, you will be able to convince the guard to leave you alone and to tell you more about what's going on. Apparently, the Absolute is gathering all the True Souls in one place- and the guard is excited, telling you 'something big' seems to be happening.

Keep pressing onwards.

You'll enter a larger chamber, with some notable True Souls like the Priestess Gut and plenty more Goblins. This is the location where you can rescue Volo, if you choose to.

Enter through the wooden door in the back of the room to get to the Worg Pens.

This is where you will find Halsin. Halsin is in bear form, being tormented by a group of Goblins outside his cell.

You can attack the Goblins to show him that you're on his side and not a threat.

This fight can be tricky, as the Beastmaster Goblin will summon a spider who can use web attacks to stick you in place. There are plenty of environmental tools to use, though, including the giant braziers hanging ahead that can be dropped down on top of people if you shoot at the hinges. The web material is very flammable, which can prove handy.

The smaller characters - One, Two, and Three - will immediately try to escape for backup, bringing more Goblins into the fight.

Use Grease to slow them down or focus your attacks on them at first. Once you've won the fight, Halsin will leave his bear form and thank you.

Before Halsin can help you find a cure, you'll need to help him first. The next task at hand is to kill all three of the Goblin leaders- Drog Ragzlin the Goblin King, Minthara the Drow Commander, and Priestess Gut.

If you're trying to do an evil run where you turn against the Grove and side with the Goblins, don't progress any further here. Head to our Minthara guide instead to see how to start taking the side of the Goblins and working for the Absolute.

You have two options here. You can team up with Halsin and opt for an all-guns-blazing attack, or ask him to wait behind and use more of a stealthy approach.

This is a pretty tricky section, so it's worth saving and taking a Long Rest regardless of which choice you want to make here. Additionally, look for a trader near the main entrance named Roah Moonglow before you set off on your leader-killing quest, as she can provide you with decent gear, spell scrolls, and potions.

There's also some food available in the Worg Pens, which is always worth picking up. Stock up, make your choice with Halsin, and press on.

Taking Out the Leaders

While an attack with Halsin on your side is entirely possible, we went with the stealthy approach as it's much easier to take on the Goblins room by room.

When you leave the Worg Pen, you'll return to the room with the Goblins talking about spiders. Before you start taking out Goblin leaders, it's worth seeing if you can get any Goblins by themselves and take them out quietly to thin out their numbers.

Remember to destroy any drums that you see- this is how the Goblins call for back-up.

Taking out the enemies in the room near the Worg Pen can trigger the enemies in the room next to it (which is where Minthara is), but it's not a horrendous fight to win. There's a high platform in the middle of the rooms which is good for gaining a height advantage and keeping track of your enemies.

The Scrying Eye in the other room can prove to be annoying, but if you can use a ranged attack from the platform, it will die quickly and stop summoning reinforcements.

You can work on fighting Minthara here, but we decided to just take out the Scrying Eye and guards then head over to Priestess Gut.

Clearing this pack of enemies can make dealing with the other Goblins on this level much easier. Using spells that immobilize enemies like Sleep can be very handy, especially if they gain the Witness tag- this means they will spread the word that you're killing Goblins.

Once you've dispatched more of the roaming Goblin packs, Priestess Gut is the easiest to start with, and she can be found back in the main entrance hall, preaching. She'll try to use height against you by running up two ladders to the support beams.

Make the most out of your environment. There are braziers that can be shot down in this hall, which will make quick work of the Goblin guards. Pushing characters off of tall ledges can inflict lots of fall damage as well, so make good use of your additional movement abilities.

There's also an iron bar door behind the Priestess that leads to a cave with huge spiders- if you roll well, you can coerce them out of the cave and into the chamber to attack the Goblins. Interestingly, this will not alert the guards, so it's worth starting with this if stealth isn't your favorite method.

Once you've defeated Priestess Gut, an interesting character named Raphael will approach you and teleport your party to a lavish hall. All is not what it seems here.

Raphael will receive his true form to you and attempt to make a deal about removing the parasite. Turn him down (politely) for now if you want to keep going with the Rescuing the Druid Halsin quest.

You'll be teleported back to where you defeated Priestess Gut after this interaction. Save, heal up, and press on- there are two more Goblin leaders to go, and we'll deal with Minthara next.

Loot the Goblin corpses as you go. If you try to loot Priestess Gut, the parasite will try to urge you to consume the tadpole inside her eye and gain her knowledge.

It is possible to roll and resist this if you wish.

Head back upstairs, along the wooden bridge, and into Minthara's chambers. If you've already taken care of the Scrying Eye and nearby Goblin guards, this fight won't be too difficult. There's still a Goblin boss to take care of, alongside Minthara, but a spell like Sleep or Hold Person will help.

Minthara will often focus on one target and has very heavy-hitting attacks. She's also got a strong self-heal, which can be frustrating. One of the best ways to deal with her is to corner and outnumber her with your party.

We managed to get her stuck on the platform in our run which felt a bit like cheating but made the encounter much easier, so it's worth trying this if you're struggling.

Loot the corpses, heal up, and press on. The Goblin King is a very tricky foe to take down and he has a number of allies nearby, so it's worth taking a Long Rest here.

Continue onwards. Leave Minthara's room and continue towards the Goblin King, using the map marker for guidance if you need it. Enemies will know that something is wrong now, so it's worth entering stealth to try and get the upper hand.

You can get a head start on picking off enemies by shooting them through the gaps in the wall outside of the Goblin King's chambers.

This can be tricky if you're not proficient in archery, but it's worth a shot. Once you've taken down as many enemies as possible from outside, try to stealthily enter the room and look for useful elements like braziers to help you out.

This is a fight where taking the high ground can pay off, but it's also quite risky. The Goblin King's two main attacks can send you flying- but it is also possible to get him stuck in a corner if you jump to one of the almost unreachable ledges.

If you want to go up high, enter the rafters from the room to the right, and use a scroll of Feather Fall if you have one.

The number of enemies in this fight can seem overwhelming, but some of them can be one-shotted, and most only take a few hits. Keep your Healing Potions handy, though.

Once you're done with the fight, it's time to heal up, save, and head back to Halsin. Go back into the main chamber where Priestess Gut was, up the stairs to the right-hand side, over the wooden bridge, and through the door back into the Worg Pens.

Return to Halsin

Halsin will still be where you left him. Speak to him and let him know what's happened. He'll thank you profusely and then tell you to meet him back at the Grove in order to progress.

If you have a fast travel spot that you want to use, open up your map and fast travel to speed up the process of returning to the Grove. If not, head back on foot.

Celebrating the Goblin Downfall

When you return to the Grove, you'll be greeted by Zevlor, who will point you towards a reward for defeating the Goblin leaders and ask to join your camp to celebrate that evening.

Doing this will also complete the side quest called Save the Refugees. Zevlor will tell you Halsin is waiting further inside the camp. If you've met Healer Nettie already, it's where she was. Head further into the camp, down the steps, and through the stone gate.

As you head towards Halsin and select him, you will witness him yelling at Kagha for attempting to perform the Rite of Thorns while he was absent. She will lose her rank and become a Novice Druid once again, then bow out of the conversation.

Halsin will thank you and tell you to find someone called Rath for your reward. Rath can be found inside the Druid's Chambers near Kagha. Rath will give you an item called the Rune of the Wolf.

When you ask Halsin about helping your party with the parasite problem, he says that he will look at it in the morning.

For now, you need to head to camp, rest up, and prepare to go to Moonrise Towers. You've completed the Rescuing the Druid Halsin Walkthrough - and you're well on your way to finding a cure.

Next, you'll need to decide whether to go to Moonrise Towers via the Underdark or via the Mountain Pass route.