The Arcane Tower in Baldur’s Gate 3 is an intriguing location in the Underdark that contains some great loot, hidden stories, and a few interesting scenarios. Although it’s optional and isn’t linked to the main storyline, it doesn’t hurt to have a look inside and if you are like me who don’t like to miss every nook and cranny of what BG3 has given us, I bet you will be keen to explore this tower.
Moreover, it has some benefits to do that because you will get a few valuable items and weapons by getting past through it which will be useful in many quests.But it’s not an easy feat to get inside and then come out successfully after collecting your desired items as this place is surrounded by dangerous Arcane Turrets and there are some challenges in this Underdark journey. So, this BG3 Arcane Tower walkthrough will help you to explore this area as we have cleared this tower without many troubles and will tell you how you can do it.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Arcane Tower Location
To find and reach the Arcane Tower, start in the Underdark and head southern end from the Beach or Sussurr Tree areas, and towards the west of the Selunite Outpost. When you first reach there, you’ll encounter a deadly Arcane Turret that is none too welcoming. It’s only the first one, there are many more waiting for you and these magic-powered cannons pack a punch.
To protect yourself and your party from it, you can use the covers there. From there, you can climb the stairs toward the tower and enter its courtyard but there, you will be welcomed by not one but two Arcane Turrets, and this whole time whenever you come across them, they will start attacking you. To make things easier, it’s best to remove the problem from the root, and with that, I mean disabling these troublemakers.
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How to Disable Arcane Turrets in Baldur’s Gate 3
One of the easiest ways to disable the Arcane Turrets is by using Sussur Blooms as these flowers have the ability to eliminate the magic within its range. You can get these Blossoms from the area around the Sussur Tree in the northwest of the Underdark. It’s not simple as well because there will be some enemies to defeat there.
With Sussur Blooms in your inventory, go back to the Tower and get into turn-based mode by pressing Shift + Space. When you come across the Turret, you need to get closer to it and throw the flower near it. It’s also the best tactic to let the fastest companion in your party do that. These flowers only work within a limited range and with the anti-magic field these Blossoms produce, the turret will get disabled. But keep in mind that after picking these flowers, you won’t be able to use any magic or spells but at least, you will get rid of these magical things.
Alternatively, if there aren’t Sussur Blooms on hand, you can also disable the Arcane Turrets using lightning damage. Spells like Witch Bolt of Gale and Call Lightning work great, and you can use them to repeatedly damage the turrets without expending additional spell slots. Moreover, if you have Fog Cloud or Arrow of Darkness, these magic spells can also deactivate the Turrets temporarily. To remind you again, switch to turn-based mode to allow yourself to attack safely without getting high damage.
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Getting Inside the Arcane Tower
You will find the main doors are locked, you can lock-pick them to enter the Tower but inside the room, you will be attacked by two Arcane Turrets. Use the pillars to get cover and disable them by using Sussur Blooms or lighting spells. This entrance room has some crates that are worth looting as you will obtain useful loot like Broken Machinery and a Dusty Book that I was happy to read.
If you look towards the northern part of this room, you will see a door, and behind it, you’ll get your hands on the Chest of the Mundane — it’s a magical chest that disguises valuable items as basic things. By acquiring it, you will receive many great items including Scroll of Mage Armour, Hearthlight Bomb, One Gold & Two Silver Ingots, Scroll of Protection From Evil and Good, and more.
How to Activate Elevator Generator in BG3 Arcane Tower
Now it’s time to fix the elevator generator which is currently defective. By using the elevator, it will become very easy for you to explore all the portions of the Arcane Tower quickly and with less effort. To start, you’ll want to get to the ground floor of the tower. Look to the left of the entrance room, there is a door that leads you to a balcony.
From there, jump onto the mushrooms and then jump again to the below floor’s balcony. On this floor, you’ll find some useful items and ingredients such as Camp Supplies, Timmask Spores, and a Brimmed Hat. There’s also a Threadbare Book placed on a shelf that’s worth reading, as it provides some important context for later.
After getting what was there, find the balcony with the mushrooms below and jump onto them. This fall gives you good damage but if you have the Feather Fall spell, you can cast it to go down safely. From here, you select any one character to go below and then rejoin the squad after activating the generator. Otherwise, before jumping from the balcony, use a Potion of Feather Fall or the Misty Step spell to jump down without getting hurt.
From the mushrooms, jump again towards the left on the ground and travel a bit and you will come across the blue glowing trees in the garden of Arcane Tower. You can pick two Sussur Blooms from there, you must get at least one if you don’t already have any because it’s required to activate the elevator. While you are in the garden, you can obtain other ingredients like Bluecap and Laculite. Now, go towards the door which is the back of the tower, and lockpick it. Alternatively, you can also a melee weapon to hit the lock and break it.
After getting inside, head over to the generator and interact with it by clicking on it. A small pop-up screen will appear, choose the flower from the inventory and place it in the empty box. Then, there will be a cutscene showing the activation of the elevator, the power turned on for the whole tower and it also disables the Arcane Turrets.
Go to the upper floor with the stairs, and check out the loot which includes items like Laculite, Sylvan Stone, and a Gilded Chest containing a rare necklace called Uncovered Mysteries. After collecting the items, use the elevator to go upward to the main floor where you left your party members and regroup with them. Before moving forward, search around the area and read the second Dusty Book available there.
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Explore the Floors of Arcane Tower
Second Floor
With all your companions, get into the elevator again and go to the top. On this floor, there is a lot of loot to collect but the important thing is reading The Roads to Darkness which is placed on the table at the back of the elevator in the right side corner. While exploring the room, you will also find some other notes you can read and pick. The best loot here includes some Gold, an Alchemist’s Fire, and a Mage’s Friend Ring, which boosts your Arcana and Religion skills.
Additionally, you might spot a small secret button next to the bed. While this button doesn’t do much unless you have a specific dog collar, it’s a fun detail that hints at some of the unique quirks hidden within the Arcane Tower in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Top Floor – Solving Bernard Puzzle
After picking up all the items from the middle portion of the tower, ascend again by the elevator. It’s the top and last floor of the tower and it’s where you will meet Bernard. It’s a robot that puts you in a situation to solve its riddle. He will choose the sentences from the books which already read especially The Roads to Darkness. If you don’t pick the correct dialogue option, he will attack you right away.
The right sequence to his riddle is “Or art thou friend, a rescue from my lonely wake.” Then you should follow up with “How can I trust? How can I ever know? / How can I show myself, my darkest me?” Answering this way makes Bernard peaceful and he will place the Guiding Light ring on the desk; it’s your key to access the basem*nt of Arcane Tower.
If you’d rather fight Bernard, you can kill him to get a powerful weapon called the Light of Creation, it has a strong attack and additional lightning damage. Besides that, this portion also contains some great loot, like Broken Machinery, Trap Disarm Toolkits, and useful scrolls like Magic Missile and Grease.
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The Tower Basem*nt
To access the Arcane Tower’s basem*nt, equip the ring and go inside the elevator. A secret button will appear in the elevator, press it which takes you directly down. The basem*nt is also home to amazing stuff, like the Staff of Arcane Blessing, an uncommon quarterstaff that boosts your spell casting.
There’s also a Gilded Chest containing treasures like Gold, an Elixir of Vigilance, and a unique ring called The Sparkswall, which grants resistance to lightning damage. Other than that, you will find a few useful scrolls from the bookshelves, like Enlarge, Bestow Curse, and Fly, along with other magical ingredients like Basilisk Oil and Tongue of Madness.
After completely exploring the basem*nt and collecting all the items, you can either take the elevator to go upward and move out through the tower doors or use a waypoint to fast-travel. The Arcane Tower in BG3 provides a great amount of valuable loot useful in many side quests and interesting lore, making the exploration well worth your time.
