In Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re tasked with finding the Nightsong, who’s more elusive than your average relic. This main story quest is quite difficult because there’s little indication of where the Nightsong resides in its open world. We’ve made this guide to help you find the Nightsong in BG3.
Where Is the Nightsong in Baldur’s Gate 3?
You’ll find the Nightsong in the Gauntlet of Shar. This is found in the Thorn Mausoleum and entering the Shadowfell plane after collecting all of the Umbral Gems. You’ll then be teleported to the Nightsong’s Prison where you’ll find the Nightsong after a boss fight with Balthazar and his Apostates.
Finding the Nightsong will take multiple Acts in Chapter 1 to complete. The first time you enter the Underdark to look for the relic, the trail will go cold and the objective marker won’t tell you where the Nightsong is located. You’ll have to keep going until you reach the Thorn Mausoleum.
By following the main story quests, you’ll eventually reach here. You can reach it by heading around the Last Light Inn across the waters to the west. Once you reach the House of Healing, the Thorn Mausoleum is directly north. Inside that dungeon, you’ll find the portal to the Shadowfell where the Nightsong resides.
Find the Nightsong Walkthrough
The quest to Find the Nightsong is quite long and spans through multiple Acts in the first chapter. You’ll start the quest by meeting with Aradin and getting him to tell you about the contract he has with a wizard offering a large sum of gold for a relic hidden underneath some temple. After that, go to the Goblin Camp west of Druid Grove.
At the Goblin Camp, look for Tracker Klagga and convince him to give you the Dwarf’s Poem which contains a clue for how to get to the Underdark through the Defiled Temple. The temple itself you can find in the Shattered Sanctum. You’ll first have to get past the Goblin Priestess’ room either by convincing her through Persuasion or just killing every goblin in the area. Once you do get to her room, you can enter the Defiled Temple by lockpicking the backdoor or by using the key if you looted/pickpocketed it from the priestess.
Exploring the Defiled Temple, you’ll see a stone disc Moon puzzle that you’ll have to align. You can use the environment to figure out the solution to the puzzle, or you can read our other guide for it if you’re having trouble. After you solve the Moon Puzzle in the Defiled Temple, the door will open which leads directly to the Underdark. There are a lot of tough encounters in this section so make sure you’re prepared.
The Underdark has a lot of hallucinogenic spores that take the form of purple clouds. When you first go through them, you’ll get a cutscene of your character suffering from visions before you get into combat. Keep going until you reach the Myconid colony full of humanoid mushrooms. This is where you’ll have to side with either the Myconid or the Duergar. Whatever choice you make will proceed the quest.
After you’ve made your choice, the Find the Nightsong quest will simply state that the trail has gone cold. However you can head to the Thorn Mausoleum west across the waters of the Last Light Inn and directly north of the House of Healing. You can get to the Last Light Inn on your way to the Moonrise Towers if you choose to take the Underdark path and go through the Adamantine Forge.
Once you arrive in the Thorn Mausoleum, continue until you reach the Gauntlet of Shar. It’s in here that you need to open the Shadowfell portal. Look for the Umbral Gems and then place them inside the Pedestal of Reckoning. If you have Shadowheart in your party, she’ll want to talk to you about becoming a Dark Justiciar. But first, she needs the Spear of the Night which you can find in the Treasure Room.
To get this weapon, go to the Silent Library and you’ll find that the Iron Portcullis is blocking the way. You can lockpick it if you pass the 21 Dexterity check or using one of the Thieves Tools. Past the Iron Portcullis you’ll find the Riddle of the Night. Descend back downstairs and look at the bookcases on the right. One of them will have the Teachings of Loss: Nightsinger. You need to input this book in the Riddle of the Night to open the door to the Treasure Room. You can then pickup the Spear of the Night from this room which Shadowheart needs to kill the Nightsong and become the Dark Justiciar.
After you’ve found all of the Umbral Gems and gotten Shadowheart the weapon she is asking for, go back to the Pedestal of Reckoning and descend down the platform. Place the Umbral Gems you found on the Ancient Pedestal and the door to the Shadowfell portal will open.
The Shadowfell portal will teleport you directly to Nightsong Prison where you’ll encounter Balthazar. Descend down the path and you’ll meet Nightsong who is being contained in a Soul Cage. From here, you’ll have to defeat Balthazar and his Apostles before you can free her.
The final step is deciding if Shadowheart should kill Nightsong using the Spear of the Night. The choice you make is up to you but will have significant consequences. Afterwards, you’re done with the Find the Nightsong quest.
Should You Save or Kill the Nightsong in BG3?
Saving the Nightsong ultimately leads to a better conclusion than letting Shadowheart kill her off. As it turns out, the Nightsong is a significantly important character whose death also cause other NPCs to die.
Choosing to save the Nightsong is the harder to do as you need 21 Charisma check to convince Shadowheart. You can save before the boss fight with Balthazar to keep trying over again.
We’re entering spoiler territory, so be warned that we’ll be revealing what happens when you save or kill the Nightsong next. If you want to experience it for yourself, then you should make multiple save files as you make each decision. Because once you do make a choice, it’s the Point of No Return with massive consequences for everyone around the world.
Kill the Nightsong Choice Consequences
Killing the Nightsong gets you the Shar’s Spear of Evening which is a legendary weapon that deals 6-16 damage and prevents the user from being blinded. The weapon also grants you Shar’s Blessing which gives you an Advantage on saving throws while obscured; deals additional 1d6 damage against enemies that are obscured.
As we said, killing the Nightsong also has big consequences. Isobel, Jaheira, and Dammon will die because of this decision. This locks you out of a potential companion and potentially locks you out of completing Karlach’s romance quest as you can’t get more Infernal Iron from Dammon. Art Cullagh will also die, possibly preventing you from recruiting Halsin to your party.
When you do kill the Nightsong, Shadowheart will earn her deity’s blessing to become a Dark Justiciar. She’ll tell you that there is no longer room for love but devotion to her deity. This could potentially stunt your romance with her.
Save the Nightsong Choice Consequence
Saving the Nightsong will give you the Moonlight Glaive which is a rare weapon that deals 4-16 damage. It has +2 Weapon Enhancement and shines to a 6 meter radius. You also get another weapon later on because of this decision. During a key moment in Act 3, the Spear of the Night weapon will turn into Selune’s Spear of the Night. This legendary weapon has Selune’s Blessing which grants Advantage on Wisdom saving throws and Perception checks.
This makes the fights against Ketheric Thorn easier since saving Nightsong means that she’ll come back to help you against this necromancer. It turns out that Nightsong is actually an Aasimar who are basically angelic figures in BG3 as well as one of Selune’s daughters. Convincing Shadowheart to not kill Nightsong is also better for your romance overall.