Baldur’s Gate 3 guide: Overgrown Ruins walkthrough (2024)

In this Baldur’s Gate 3 guide, we’ll help you complete the “Investigate the ruins” quest by exploring the Overgrown Ruins near the Ravaged Beach.

We’ll start with the various ways inside the Overgrown Ruins, and then walk you through exploring both areas of the ruins, the Bedchamber and the Dank Crypt, to meet the Hooded Figure and complete the quest. We’ll also point out any important items or secrets you’ll find along the way.

North-northeast of the Ravaged Beach where you wake up, you’ll find your first (possible) companion, Shadowheart. She’ll be trying to get into a location called the Overgrown Ruins but can’t get through the locked door.

This will add the “Explore the ruins” objective to the “Investigate the ruins” quest to your Journal.

There are four ways into the Overgrown Ruins, and whatever path you take will add “Investigate the ruins” to your Journal. Regardless of how you get in, you’ll have to fight a party of adventurers inside (and maybe a few outside).

Ancient Door

It is (hypothetically) possible to lockpick the Ancient Door where you met Shadowheart. This is probably the hardest (worst) way to approach the Overgrown Ruins. The lockpicking difficulty is high enough that it’s unlikely you’ll get through.

You’ll come to this door again from the other side once you reach the Dank Crypt.

Be warned that this is a one-way route in. You’ll be jumping into a hole, and you can’t jump back out.

North from the Overgrown Ruins waypoint (and east of the Roadside Cliffs waypoint), you’ll come to the Chapel Entrance. Here, you’ll run into Gimblebock and Taman, who are with a group trying to break into the ruins. You can talk them (and their two friends) out of heading to the crashed ship, or you can fight them.

No matter how you handle them, look for the cracked tiles near the stairs. There’s a rock hanging above the crack. Shoot the Coiled Rope to drop it. (If you’re careful on your approach, you can just shoot the rope before talking to Gimblebock and Taman, killing them instantly.)

This will open a hole into the Bedchamber beneath you.

From the statue in the Chapel Entrance, head east. There’s a narrow path there that leads to a locked Wooden Hatch. If you can get it open, that hatch leads to the Dank Crypt.

If you continue north from the Chapel Entrance, you’ll reach an Ornate Door — make sure you loot the Backpack and Burlap Sack by the bedroll on the left as you go past which are super easy to miss because they’re hard to see.

You can lockpick this door or talk your way past Andorn. Inside, you’ll have to fight him. The rest of Gimblebock’s party is behind the next door, and you’ll have to fight them as well.

Your first task in the Bedchamber is to fight five members of Gimblebock’s party (not counting Andorn the doorman).

As you head south, there’s a locked door (“No lock, no handle. How does it open?”) Continue south into the library. At the south end, there’s a statue in an alcove. Behind that statue, there are a couple chests.

While walking around that alcove, you’ll do some passive Perception checks (you won’t click on anything, but the game will roll dice for you). If you (or any of your party) pass, you’ll find a skull-shaped lever. Pull it to unlock that door, and you’ll find another door leading to the Dank Crypt. (If you miss this lever, you’ll have to go back to the cliffside path (above) to reach the Dank Crypt.)

The first room of the Dank Crypt has a few chests and two sets of Heavy Oak Doors. One set is locked. It’s possible to lockpick them with Thieves’ Tools, but retrieving the key is easier.

The unlocked Heavy Oak Doors lead to a room full of sarcophaguses (sarcophagi?). Skip the sarcophagus in the center at first, and loot the rest of the room (the sarcophagi along the sides are safe to open). You’ll make several more passive Perception checks as you explore to reveal Vents, Gargoyle Heads, and a Button.

When you open the main sarcophagus, the Vents will release Grease, and the Garygoyle Heads will fire flaming arrows. You have a few options to deal with them.

The central sarcophagus contains The Watcher’s Guide and an Engraved Key.

The door at the south end of this chamber is the Ancient Door where you met Shadowheart.

Through the locked Heavy Oak Doors, the next room has a statue of Jergal (there will be a passive Religion check for your party as you approach), several Entombed Scribes’ corpses, and a couple of Gilded Chests.

You can attempt to open the Book of Dead Gods with Arcana, Strength, or Dexterity checks. Inside, you’ll find another sheet of paper requiring a Religion check. If and when you decipher it, you’ll get a spell scroll. (We got a Scroll of Ray of Enfeeblement, but this might be random.)

In the northeast corner of the main room, take the steps up into the alcove. Another passive Perception check will (hopefully) reveal a Button. This must be a low difficulty because we’ve never failed it. Push it to open a hidden door … and bring five of the Entombed Scribes back to life. (You can loot them again after they’re defeated for some extra weapons and gold.)

Inside the hidden room, open the Heavy Chest for The Amulet of Lost Voices — a Very Rare item that lets the wearer cast Speak with Dead.

In that same room, interact with the Richly Adorned Sarcophagus. This will introduce you to the Hooded Skeleton. Assuming you don’t attack him, your conversation with him is not really informative. Eventually, he’ll travel to your Camp — you’ll find him standing on the beach to the north. There, he’ll offer to Resurrect any fallen party members for 200 gold.