The Baldur's Gate 3 Gauntlet of Shar is one of the biggest challenges in BG3's second act, a dungeon based around the Lady of Loss and the Dark Justiciars, in which Shadowheart is deeply attached. Not only that, but Ketheric Thorm has good reason to send players in there, either to retrieve a relic at the bottom for him, or to get rid of it and remove his immortality. After getting through the Thorm Mausoleum in Baldur's Gate 3, you'll realise that you're in your first big dungeon of the game, a vast network of challenges, enemies and puzzles, as well as some wild card elements like the Devil Yurgir, some peculiar rats, and Balthazar, a necromancer and strong contender for "best voice in BG3".
With the Soft Step Trial, Self Same Trial, and the Faith Step Trial to get through among others, players navigating the Gauntlet in BG3 ultimately are looking to obtain four umbral gems and open the path to the Relic. With that in mind, here's how to complete the Gauntlet of Shar in Baldur's Gate 3, with all the trials and bosses laid out clearly.
Baldur's Gate 3 Gauntlet of Shar trials and objectives
The Gauntlet of Shar can be broken up into the following sections and subsections.
- Find Thorm's Relic
- Soft Step Trial (Umbral Gem)
- Self Same Trial (Umbral Gem)
- Faith Step Trial (Umbral Gem)
- Yurgir boss fight (Umbral Gem)
- Silent Library (Spear of Night) and Shadowfell
Find Thorm's relic
First thing's first: you'll need to find Balthazar in the Gauntlet of Shar. Disciple Z'rell's colleague and fellow Absolute cultist Balthazar will instruct you to find Thorm's relic somewhere in the Gauntlet. The good news is that the quest for the relic overlaps with Shadowheart's desire to become a Dark Justiciar, so all you have to do is embark on each of the three trials.
Each trial will give you one Umbral Gem, glowing orbs that can be placed in certain pedestals you'll find around the gauntlet. You'll need to collect four Umbral Gems, though, with the fourth being found in Yurgir's lair – but more on him later. Let's look at these three trials first.
Soft Step Trial
The easiest way to pass the BG3 Soft Step Trial is to go around the maze before you make the blood sacrifice, disarming all traps and unlocking all doors before the trial even begins. Once in front of the umbral gem through the locked doors at the very end, have Shadowheart activate the trial using the blood sacrifice dish. Swap back over to your party member who's already "completed" the trial, and they should be able to grab the gem and return to the start of the trial.
The Soft Step Trial in BG3 requires only one party member, preferably one well-versed in stealth checks and lockpicking. To reach the trial, leave Balthazar's quarters the same way you came until you reach the Gauntlet of Shar fast travel rune. Take the stairs leading down from it, just on your left if the fast travel point is on your right, and go through the first door.
Self Same Trial
The second and trickiest Gauntlet of Shar trial is the Self Same Trial, one door down from the first one. Here, you'll be fighting the shadow form of yourself. The trick is to not attack any of your other party members' shadow selves, since doing so will inflict Cheater's Folly – a curse that reduces all abilities by one point as a payback for fighting someone else's mirror image. An easy way around this is to just ask all your Baldur's Gate 3 companions to go back to the camp, since now you'll only be fighting against yourself.
At the end of the battle, pick up the Umbral Gem from the ground near the back of the combat arena.
Faith Step Trial
Finally, the last Gauntlet of Shar trial is the Faith Step Trial. Found behind the last door on the same long corridor as the other two, the Faith Step Trial is easy if you have your screen brightness turned up like I do. Again with just one character selected, simply hide while walking a specific path across an abyss and head to the very back of the room. When you reach the end, you should be able to just pick up the Umbral Gem and head back to your party.
Yurgir's Umbral Gem
Yurgir, otherwise known as the devil Raphael's sworn enemy, is hoarding the fourth and last Umbral Gem needed to reach the Shadowfell in the Gauntlet of Shar. You can find him in the eastern wing of the Gauntlet, after turning right and going down the broken stairs once entering the main hall, instead of going left toward Balthazar.
Yurgir is a pretty scary looking boss, but it's his henchmen you'll find more of a pain if you instigate a fight. To beat Yurgir easily in Baldur's Gate 3, ask him to repeat his contract and then tell him there are loopholes. First, persuade him to ask his henchmen to kill themselves. Then, convince him to kill his right-hand pet – and finally, convince him to off himself.
Even if you win the first roll and fail the next two, getting his henchmen out the way will free you up from distractions and let you focus on bringing down Yurgir. Note that when he's on his last bit of health, he will toss out a host of timed blast mines that will go off either when touched or after a certain amount of time, so steer clear of Yurgir for the last round or two if possible! Once he's dead, you can scoop up the Umbral Gem lying amid the rubble directly opposite the chamber entrance.
Umbral Gems aren't the only thing you need from the Gauntlet, though. Part of Shadowheart's mission is to find a specific weapon and use it to kill a Selunite in the inner sanctum – and here's how to find it.
Silent Library and Nightsong puzzle
The Spear of Night in Baldur's Gate 3 is found in a locked room at the back of the Silent Library. To access it, you'll need to defeat some more undead justiciars before tackling a riddle and working out what can silence the Nightsong in Baldur's Gate 3. Our guide will explain all the details on how to go about that, but here's a hint: you need a specific book.
After collecting the Spear of Night, you can make your way back to the pedestal and insert one of the Umbral Gems, powering the lift. Hop aboard the platform, press the button on the right, and the lift will carry you down to yet another pedestal, this time needing three Gems to power it. Place all remaining Umbral Gem on the pedestal to open a secret door to the Inner Sanctum – a pool, leading to the Shadowfell. This is a point of no return, so be sure to save your game before proceeding, as you won't be able to return to Act 1 at all once you enter the Shadowfell!
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