Baldur’s Gate 3 Act One Route: Grove, Underdark and Mountain Pass

Treat this as a route through major decisions

Act One offers several paths and quest outcomes. The sequence below is a practical exploration plan, not a requirement to complete every encounter in a fixed order. It includes travel and quest-consequence spoilers.

1. Explore around the crash site and recruit an initial party.
2. Visit the Emerald Grove and understand the conflict involving the druids, refugees and goblins.
3. Follow local leads and improve the party before resolving that conflict.
4. Explore the Underdark and the Mountain Pass content you want.
5. Enter the Shadow-Cursed Lands when the remaining Act One business is in a state you accept.

Finish the Grove conflict before taking the pass

Entering the Mountain Pass or the Shadow-Cursed Lands can advance unresolved Grove events. A warning at a region boundary deserves attention even when the destination is reachable.

Before crossing, speak with the people involved in your chosen resolution, check the journal and decide whether there are rescues or companion meetings you still want to complete. This is especially important if you intend to protect the refugees: reaching the next region does not preserve every unresolved local situation.

Return to the Grove after major decisions rather than assuming a fight alone finished the entire quest. Dialogue and a follow-up celebration can be part of the resolution.

For individual rescues, follow Save Arabella inside the Grove and Rescue Volo in the Goblin Camp. The Owlbear Cub route connects the nearby cave, camp and later visits to your own camp.

You can explore both onward paths

The Underdark and the Rosymorn Monastery Trail are not mutually exclusive exploration choices. Both have their own encounters and rewards before you enter Act Two.

The Underdark route eventually leads through Grymforge, where a lift provides an exit into the Shadow-Cursed Lands. One entrance begins beneath the temple in the Goblin Camp; it is not the only entrance to the Underdark. The Mountain Pass leads through the monastery region and offers the githyanki crèche branch.

If you want both regions, finish one area’s immediate objectives, return to explore the other, and only then select your route into the next act. Reaching Grymforge is not an instruction to use its onward lift immediately.

The Adamantine Forge is an optional Grymforge branch with moulds, two pieces of Mithral Ore and a boss guarding the crafting process.

Keep local rescues ahead of sightseeing

A threatened NPC can require action after the scene is triggered. Avoid discovering an emergency and then treating it as a permanent map marker while you tour another region. Use the resting guide to distinguish ordinary recovery from travel or rest that advances an active situation.

Later, entering the Shadowfell during Act Two closes access to the earlier maps. The game’s major progression warning is your last opportunity to stop and review unfinished earlier business.

Before travelling onward, finish available level-ups, prepare your spells, and check each companion’s supplies. A geographically correct route is still difficult when half the party is under-equipped.